created to belong Created to belong and love means that we are inherently designed to experience connection and love within a community, signifying a deep- seated purpose to be part of something larger than oneself and to express regard towards others; this concept is associated with spiritual beliefs, where the truth is that we are made by God with the inherent capacity for relationship and love. We are incredibly loved and made for purpose. Our faith is evidenced in obedience, and we are commanded to love one another. Faith is intensely individual because no one can force us to believe anything. God gives to all the measure of faith, however, the choice to exercise faith is a conscious personal decision. But faith must be practiced in community. So belonging is marked by obedience to God’s summons and by the promise and heart of Jesus. This is a supernatural kind of togetherness, given to believers by the Holy Spirit. It isn’t defined by how we’re similar to one another but rather by how we overcome the differences the world around us might use to separate us from Christ. Jesus offers absolute, unhindered belonging in and through himself. It’s upward-pointing belonging so that the world may know that God chose us. This is the gathering. Our every discourse is to bring us to the knowledge of the only living and true God. And let us understand this from the beginning - God is love means, the living, dynamic activity of love has been going on in God forever, and has created everything else. He is, in every particular manner, the Creator of man, of all mankind. God made the first man, he makes every man, He is the former of every man's body and the Father of every man's spirit. He has made the nations of men, not only all men in the nations, but as nations in our geopolitical capacity; He is our founder, and disposed us all into communities for our mutual preservation and benefit. He made us all of one blood, of one and the same nature; He fashions our hearts alike. We are descended from one and the same common ancestor, in Adam we are all akin, so as we are in Noah, that thereby we might be engaged in mutual affection and assistance, as fellow-creatures and brethren. Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created us? He made us not to live in one place, but to be dispersed over all the earth; one nation therefore ought not to look with contempt upon another. For those on all the face of the earth are of the same blood. The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb. The bone of my bone, the flesh of my flesh, that becomes one flesh is the bonding union of love. Now here is the truth revealed in the narrative…blood does not make the family, love does. The bonds of love must be our chosen connection. That is the core idea that is of God, for God is love! And He so loved us that He gave us His Son. Thereby we are made one in Him by his blood-stained love. The life is in the blood, and it is because of God’s love that we have life. Love exists to ensure the flourishing of both truth and life for all who seek them. More precious than riches, true love is the font from which all that is good springs. Love is to be preserved and enriched. God’s people appreciate all forms of love as long as the expression of that love does not unjustly harm others. No one loves like God without God’s help. Love is a good gift of God’s common grace meant for our development. Our love is more than a sentiment – it is a principle. A principle founded on the truth that God is a spirit and God is love. The spirit of the Lord's people is a love which is far above selfishness, and is based upon fixed principles, which should, day by day, be more and more distinctly discerned, and always firmly adhered to at any cost. Love is the principal thing! At its core, biblical love is selfless, committed to truth, and driven by a divine work inside of us. It never happens unless we draw near to God in Christ. Our belonging is to always be discerned with a practical self-examination on love. We are "to prove ourselves" by this examination of love - whether we are something or nothing, in God's estimation, is to be measured by our love for Him, our love for Christ, for His brethren, for His cause, for the world in general and even for our enemies, rather than by our knowledge, or our oratory. Love is the very spirit of the begetting to the new nature. We are not to understand that one could have a knowledge of the deep mysteries of God without having been begotten by the holy spirit of love; for the deep things of God knoweth no man, but by the spirit of God; but one might lose the spirit before losing the knowledge it brought him. In the measure of character, therefore, we are to put love first, and to consider it the chief test of our nearness to and acceptance with the Lord. Try describing God as a spirit. Try describing God as love. The measure of our appreciation that God is a spirit and that God is love will be the measure of our zeal in conforming our characters to His divine pattern. Biblical love can also be expressed and experienced in any relationship. That means we must do that which is first; and that is love toward God, love toward Christ and love for the truth. Love of the truth comes before love of the brethren every time. In fact, if we truly love the brethren, we will adhere to the truth at all costs. It is deeper than any romantic type love enjoyed in the ultimate union of two. Biblical love takes us even deeper into that wondrous love of God. Our love for one another models his covenant love for us - a love so zealous to uphold his covenant with us that he will die for us, even when he had every justification to leave us. Death is at the center of God’s love for us, and death is at the heart of all biblical love. We are betrothed by a vow to die to self, for the other - to keep the covenant at all costs, doing whatever good thing it takes to serve God’s purpose. This relationship is grounded in deep eternal truths. This kind of love comes out of who God is. God is love. His very essence and makeup and character is love defined. Because of this, we must seek our love for one another from him. In order to love our every family member rightly, and deeply, we need the love of the Father to be infused in us. These graces must be produced by the Spirit of love, filling and expanding within our own heart. The truth of our image of divinity must radiant a sense of harmony and eternal love. The night before Jesus gave His life for us, just hours before He was arrested, beaten, and falsely accused, He gave His disciples a new commandment – a new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. Christ tells us to reflect the same kind of love that He would show on the cross - pure, sacrificial, enduring love. Christ would submit Himself to pain, rejection, shame, suffering, and death, all to bring people back to the Creator Father. The love of Christ working in us is the anchor underneath the rise and fall of every trial we are to pass through. We could never reflect that kind of love without God’s help. So, God pours His love into us through the gift of His Spirit, and that love grows in and around us. When others see that love, they know that Someone special is working through us. We must serve with love - we cannot survive without it. To be truly a godly people, we must reflect all of God’s character. We must be just, true, and righteous, and we must be loving. If we do not love others, we do not give them a complete picture of God. Love is our choosing to reflect God’s goodness to others. By God’s grace, we love people, we encourage them, we challenge them, and we connect them to His truth. But the love of truth doesn’t necessarily mean attachment. Sometimes it’s best to love from a distance; to let another grow and develop. This does not mean that love would treat evil-doers in precisely the same manner as it would treat its friends. This is why love needs to be firm and inflexible where clear principles are involved, where valuable lessons are to be inculcated. There is a time when righteous indignation must be exercised, but it must be exercised in doing good, and must not lead to bitterness or harshness toward others whom we would assist or instruct or correct. Sometimes it is necessary to take notice of offenses on the part of others and to withhold a certain degree of cordiality; but no hatred, malice or strife should be manifested. We are never to barter with truth, yet always striving to leave the door of opportunity open for a full reconciliation as soon as possible. We must love the truth so much that we embrace it and serve it and stand up for it, even though this might mean the loss of religious friends and the loss of the esteem of our relatives and neighbors. In the Lord's estimation, it is all the same whether we are ashamed of Him or ashamed of His Word; and of all such He declares that He will be ashamed when He comes to be glorified in His saints. We will never rejoice in iniquity, but rather we will rejoice only in the truth. As we love by the power of this Spirit, we share in the life, death, resurrection, and love of Christ. This love is something that can only be experienced and expressed by a true follower of Christ. God is love, but love is not a god. We do not worship love. God is love, but He is also holy, just, good, and true. Since true love reflects God’s goodness, we must study God to know what our love should look like - and what it should not look like. An appetite for self-aggrandizement, ignorance, ignoring truth and sin, can, over time, corrupt our “love” into something hurtful. From God flows all grace, goodness, and truth. To truly love others, therefore, we should connect them to the goodness of God. We should comfort and encourage them with the truth. We should help them understand God’s Word. We should help them seek God’s will for their lives. This highest form of love makes no sense apart from God. This love is a decision that can only be made by those who abide in Christ - by those who represent His love to others. This is the love that lasts beyond human attraction or other forms of bonding. Its foundation is not sin - nor is it even built on good things like fun, companionship, or desire. Rather, this love is built on God’s love for us. God defines what is good, so God defines what is love. To love others, therefore, we must know God and rest in His love for us. God is the epitome, the embodiment of true love. All His attributes work in harmony with perfect love - even if we don’t always understand how. The clearest act of love is the clearest reflection of God’s character. God made us in His image. Though we don’t yet understand all of what that idea means, scripture explains that we have a spiritual dimension to our being - something that points to a higher reality. And even though we have tarnished His image, we are to reflect it in the highest spiritual dimension of our being. He expects us to reflect His love and truth to others. Consider the love at the cross. God took all the punishment for all the sin every person has ever committed - and bore it Himself. He tore Himself apart for us - suffering the lashes and the torture, but more painfully, He divided the Father from the Son for the first time in all eternity. He endured this separation in order to bridge the divide between Himself and us. Only someone with the purest love could choose this kind of suffering to reach out to people who rejected Him. The best form of love that can ever be is the love of God. It endures with and for us day after day. It was the truth on the cross that showed the love of God. Jesus says, “I and my Father are One.” Truth and love must be kept in perfect balance. That is how we present the message of the bible. Love resolves that great mystery of death. Because we love we understand the sorrow of death, tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword. The great gift of life – love and faith make every life a gift from God. And because God is love, love is not contained by the boundaries of our physical bodies, it returns to us through the Spirit. We are commanded to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. We must love Jesus more than father, mother, son, or daughter. Two powerful, deep, life-transforming commands. What is the relationship between these loves? What is the nature of these loves? It is massively relevant that we understand this love. The love God calls us to is a long process. It goes well beyond love at first sight, and focuses ahead instead on eternity. This love is a choice and a well-developed practice - a grace- filled, moment-by-moment, day-by-day effort. Biblical love is going long distance, We worship God and we worship Jesus. Loving Jesus is the test of whether we love God. Loving God is the test of whether we truly love Jesus. This is deeper than mere affections. This love is transformative. It is the obedience to every command of God. Love is God’s willingness to show up as all of creation…the divine purpose to come into being - to come into form according to its own desire to express Itself. This expressed purpose was cause and effect. God came forth in Christ made in God’s image and likeness. This is the form that love takes. We are in the last time and love working through us will show up in difficult ways. Love is the power of God working in us that keeps the storm going on outside in the world from affecting us on the inside. Love is the spiritual truth that connects and keeps us in Christ as the bigger storm approaches. There is a presence in us, a creative intelligence in us, an infinite consciousness that we call God within and its nature is Love. This presence is at the very center of our consciousness. In the depth of our being, there is a spirit within every one of us that is not and cannot be touched by outer circumstances, no matter what storm we are currently traveling through. It is the love of God. This love in us bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. God’s grace, His mercy takes form within us. God’s impartial nature, His image and likeness allows us to choose, and to choose again. Love willingly allows itself to fill the mold we create by our choices. By this we choose our way through life. How might you and I behave because we know that there is such a Presence in us and in the person we are speaking to and about? Hard conversations would find appropriate words. Structure and consistency would find boundary and agreement. We are created to belong to God and to one another. There is a very close relationship of how we love God and the way we experience God. The only image of God which is adequate is ourselves. We are the image of God, and this image of God is made magnificently visible in Jesus. Jesus who reflects to us who we truly are. He is the mirror, as it were, of our true self, the image of the invisible God in us. Scriptural reasoning teaches us that we must let go of God, the God of our minds, the God of our concepts in order to love the God of creation, the God whom we come to know only in the mind of Christ. To love, we must move beyond the image that may have formed itself in our minds in order to find the reality of God as manifested in Jesus himself. We must know God by love. Love means being united in the same act. It means both loving and being loved. It is not fully love until the loving and the being loved are being balanced. Love is only fulfilled when the passive and the active dimensions or elements are balanced; and the receptive part of ourselves, the interior part of ourselves, is balanced by the giving fully of ourselves as was the Son of God given fully to us. The giving of love, the receiving of love, and the ecstasy of love is in the Spirit. We see it expressed perfectly in the language of Jesus as he describes his relationship as God the Son with God the Father through his human relationship with his Father. He does not exclude from that human relationship with his Father all his human relationships with his family, his friends, his disciples, and indeed all humanity. Learning to love ourselves, which is the first step into this balance of love, requires that we learn to be still, that we learn to accept ourselves, to know ourselves and to allow ourselves to be led beyond ourselves through stillness of the spirit. Learning to love others means, in that stillness, we allow ourselves to learn to accept others and see others for what they really are, not putting them into the molds of our own desires or our own fears, or projecting our images onto them, but allowing ourselves to see them and relate to them as they are in themselves in Christ. We need to be able to see our relationships as something that we share with others, as the covenant of God’s love brings us, each of us and all of us, to wholeness, to the wholeness that allows us to share in the very being of God through Jesus. It is love that divines us. And we learn to love to love ourselves, to love others - we learn to love by entering into the mystery of relationship. So, learning to love ourselves and learning to love others, going hand in hand, teaches us how to love God. It teaches us who God is, because it is only by loving that we discover who God is. The unloving know nothing of God. Prepare for the very difficult ways that are going to show up in this last time. We must have the deepest love, the deepest faith in God. That is a wonderful description of wholeness. It’s the wholeness that we are to seek: the balance, the integration, the reconciliation of all things in our lives in love – all things. If we learn to love ourselves by being still, and we learn to love others by withdrawing the way we project our reactions on to them, we learn to love God simply by being loved, by allowing ourselves to be loved. Our love of God originates in God’s love for us. There’s nothing more obvious than that God must have loved us first; God has created us out of his love for us. Nothing is more obvious, but it’s the obvious that we always forget. What we learn in deliberately focusing with spiritual awareness is to remember that God loved us first, and by opening ourselves to that truth, by accepting that truth, we experience the love of God flooding our inmost heart through the Holy Spirit he has given us. We experience ourselves loved; we accept ourselves as loved; we allow ourselves to be loved. That is what we are doing in a heightened spiritual sense. And it is as a direct result of that, that we are empowered to love ourselves, and love others, and love God. We don’t love God before God loves us and we don’t love God so that He will love us. The true center of reality then is that the experience of being loved, is the whole meaning of redemption, and that impels a response in us. We don’t have to try to love others. It’s impossible to try, to force ourself to love someone, to force ourself to love ourself. It isn’t an act of the will. We are impelled by the very nature of the experience of being loved by God to become loving. It reveals to us our spiritual nature and our spiritual potential. The journey from head to heart is one of the longest and most difficult that we have to traverse. How might we understand what it is to love God with our entire being? With the very essence of our spiritual being? It is not just about obtaining knowledge, but about growing in wisdom. This is deeper than the mind and deeper than the reactions. It opens us up to the fundamental relationship of our being, the deepest identity we have. And it’s in this relationship with God that all our other relationships, including even our relationship with ourselves, are rooted. What can be deeper than our relationship with ourselves? What is deeper is our relationship with God, the source of our being. This experience of being loved by God floods the mind and floods the emotions, and even floods the body. It transfigures every aspect of our being - body and mind, all the levels of the mind. But it is deeper than all of that. It is precisely because it can touch every part of our being, including our spirit that it is deeper than them all. It can be seen by the mind to some degree, and it can be felt in the emotions, and the emotions are part of our bodies. When we become whole, the more whole we become, the more integrated we become, the more we realize that this love of God is not only the background radiation of the universe; it is what we as a whole person are bathed in. Here we discover one of the great fruits of spiritual discernment, in that this experience of God, silently and through stillness, and unselfconsciously, develops and flowers in us day by day through our journey of self- reflection in Christ. This experience of God sends us back to the words and the images of the gospel, not only our own gospel but indeed all scriptures. It enhances our idea of God as it penetrates our knowledge of ourselves. We notice phrases, words, images in scripture that we didn’t even notice before. We notice that Jesus, for example, calls God the One who truly is; we notice that revelation is reality. We begin to understand that God is greater than our conscience. That God is greater than our conscience means that God is deeper than our own thought projection, deeper than our very essence, deeper than our concept of righteousness. God is the wisdom which enlightens all light. And this enlightenment is the combination of our own experience and the teaching we receive through the wisdom of the understanding of the enlightened minds of the past. We learn that the only morality is the morality of love; that forgiveness and compassion are not signs of weakness or compromise or condescension, but forgiveness and compassion are the very structure of reality. This is the God who is equally loving to good and bad alike. This experience of loving God is rooted in our capacity to be loved. And it’s the great quality of a child that a child wants to be loved. It is that child-like capacity to be loved that we recover through meditation, our deepest and truest identity as a child of God. And it is this self-knowledge of ourselves as a child of God wanting to be loved, and accepting the poverty, the vulnerability of needing to be loved - it’s that which heals us to ponder all the day remembering God. God created us to belong. Sin hindered every relationship. God determined all things from the beginning and purposed us in Jesus Christ to good works. Our path is one of the spirit. Our deepest identity is that we struggle with. It is a real part of us, but it is not the whole person. Our deepest identity is our identity as a child of God, and it is by discovering that and knowing that, that we release the pursuit of self. God shows us Jesus. He shows us love in its capacity to replace impatience and intolerance with understanding and compassion and love. Love sustains, love strengthens; love is the willingness of all sacrifice as it manifests character. This is the higher calling of God. God’s love is such of faith that we must have the mind of Christ to have the revelation of the reality to even be conscious of His love let alone His invisibility. Because God's love is so profound and beyond human comprehension, we can only truly understand and experience it by aligning our thoughts and perspectives with that of Jesus Christ, essentially "having the mind of Christ," which allows us to access a deeper understanding of God's love through faith. An unconditional, sacrificial love…how can we grasp it. In Jesus, characterized by humility, compassion, and an intenseness on serving others. We must have a spiritual experience through faith to begin to comprehend the intentions of such love. And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God is to have confidence in the day of judgment. God has never been seen. In other words, because God is love, He can never be an object outside of ourselves. It is the mind that is always creating an eternal reality. We do this continually, which is why in our prayer we need to go deeper than the mind, to that level of our being - the heart, the spirit where there is no thing outside of us; where we understand that we are in relationship, in communion, in the dance of being, with everything that is in God. And this is what each of us is called to, each of us is capable of. That’s why in our meditation, we surrender God in us. We surrender all ideas or images of God as being an object that can be seen, or a thing that can be thought, some thing outside of ourselves. As a believer, the thoughts and ideas that shape our beliefs and attitudes must be filtered through truth. God has never been seen, but dwells in us if we love one another. That is the whole structure of the believer’s life. God cannot be seen but dwells in us, if we love one another. Love is then brought to perfection. Love is a school. We are learning to love by loving. Meditation is the principal lesson by which we are learning. We learn from meditation that love is the only thing on which we will be evaluated as the aim of life. We must offer love in abundance without guile or deceit. Ours must be tendrils of love clinging to the garment of God visibly woven, maintained, and restored through grace. We are to strive for the love that can only be reached when human love is intense and always present as of Jesus. Beyond the confines of worldly relationships, in all places, at all times, under all circumstances. For such a one, all experiences and perceptions are suffused with love, all thoughts, words and deeds emanate from this love, all relationships and interactions are based on love. This aspect of love is imperishable, it is eternal. This degree of love is immanent in everyone - as human beings, we all have the potential to attain this manner of love. We must understand the difference between relationship and encounter. Encounter is to meet as an adversary or enemy. It is that unexpected experience whereby we are faced with hostility. It’s a confrontation measured by violence and controversial circumstances. A relationship is a connection regarding and behaving toward another where thoughtful and clear support and growth are fostered. It is the sincere belonging and sharing of experiences always in the openness of truth. Love is the foundation of God-purposed relationships, and that love should be characterized by selflessness, kindness, and forgiveness. There is no gap, no compromise in a truthful love relationship – only one side – the Lord’s side. Focused and driven mutually and prayerfully in its Christ centeredness. As we come to the fullness of such love, we will experience a peace that passes all understanding. This is the resurrection power of faithful, sacrificial, joyful, biblical love. We will be the people of God who are arranged in advance to be spoken of in generations of eternities by sincere men and women. We will be living answers to the question of "what is love". 📖 Applying the Study For ongoing spiritual encouragement and prophetical insights, visit Higher Learning.

5 stones There is a biblical account in 1 Samuel 17 that led to the death of Goliath by the hand of David in his youth. Let’s read it: Read 1 Samuel 17 [37] David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee. [38] And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. [39] And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved (tested, tried) them. And David put them off him. [40] And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine. The account of David and Goliath recorded in 1 Samuel 17 is not merely history; it is a God-given revelation of how heaven works when faith cooperates with divine power. Scripture does not present David’s victory as an isolated event, but as part of a consistent, unchanging principle: God conquers His enemies through faith-filled obedience, not through human strength. David declared with certainty, not possibility, “The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:37). This was not presumption—it was faith grounded in experience with God. When Saul clothed David with armor, David removed it, saying, “I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them” (1 Samuel 17:39). David understood a foundational truth of Scripture: methods not appointed by God cannot secure victories ordained by God. The Word consistently testifies that deliverance comes by reliance upon the Spirit of the LORD, not human apparatus. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). David’s rejection of the armor was an act of spiritual discernment, not youthful defiance. Scripture states plainly that David “chose him five smooth stones out of the brook” (1 Samuel 17:40). God does not record unnecessary details. The inclusion of five stones is intentional and instructive. While only one stone was used, the presence of five establishes preparedness under divine guidance, not uncertainty. David did not doubt God’s power, but neither did he act carelessly. Faith never negates readiness; it sanctifies it. Yet when the moment of conflict came, one stone—guided by God—was sufficient to end the battle (1 Samuel 17:49). This victory by a stone is not an isolated biblical motif. In 1 Samuel 7, Israel was delivered from the Philistines when they turned fully to the LORD. After God thundered upon their enemies, Samuel set up a stone and named it Ebenezer, declaring, “Hitherto hath the LORD helped us” (1 Samuel 7:12). That stone stood as a permanent witness that deliverance belongs to God alone. The same Philistine power that opposed Israel corporately was embodied in Goliath individually. Scripture presents no ambiguity here: Goliath was the Philistines’ champion, their representative, and his fall signified God’s judgment upon the enemy of His people. The certainty of this pattern reaches its prophetic climax in Daniel 2. Nebuchadnezzar’s image, representing all earthly dominions, stood upon unstable feet of iron and clay. A stone, “cut out without hands,” struck the image and destroyed it entirely (Daniel 2:34–35). Scripture itself interprets this stone as the kingdom of God, established by divine authority, not human agency (Daniel 2:44–45). This is the same God-formed stone principle seen with David: what God prepares, God empowers, and God uses to overthrow all opposition. David’s stone was smooth, taken from a brook. Scripture does not present this detail accidentally. Throughout the Word of God, water consistently represents the work of the Holy Spirit in cleansing, shaping, and giving life. Jesus declared, “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water,” and the evangelist explains, “This spake he of the Spirit” (John 7:38–39). Isaiah likewise records, “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty… I will pour my spirit upon thy seed” (Isaiah 44:3). The brook from which David selected his stones represents the continual, patient work of the Holy Spirit upon God’s instruments. A stone does not become smooth in a moment. Its sharp edges are worn away through constant contact with flowing water. In the same way, God’s people are shaped through repeated surrender to the Spirit’s influence. The Holy Spirit removes pride, self-reliance, and roughness of character, producing meekness, humility, and obedience. This process is not symbolic imagination; it is a confirmed biblical principle. Paul writes that believers are “washed… sanctified… justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11). David’s stone was already prepared before the battle because God had already been at work. David’s years in solitude, guarding sheep, communing with God, and trusting Him in moments of danger were the means by which the Spirit shaped him as well. The Spirit of Prophecy affirms this certainty, stating that David’s faith “was strengthened by communion with God” and that his victory over Goliath was the direct result of trust developed in the quiet places of duty (Patriarchs and Prophets, chapter 63). It explains that God educates His servants through trial and discipline, fitting them for greater responsibilities. The smooth stone from the brook and the shepherd prepared in the wilderness testify to the same truth: the Holy Spirit prepares God’s instruments long before they are called into open conflict. The Bible is equally certain concerning grace. Grace is not theoretical; it is operative power. When David later found favor with Saul (1 Samuel 16:22–23), Scripture reveals that God used David as a channel of peace and deliverance. The apostle Paul confirms the same principle when Christ declares, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Grace is divine strength manifested through human weakness. The certainty of overcoming is one of the strongest testimonies of Scripture. “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world” (1 John 5:4). Christ Himself promises power, authority, and permanence to those who overcome (Revelation 2–3). Overcoming is not optional, theoretical, or symbolic—it is the expected outcome of a life united with Christ by faith. Though David carried five stones, God required only one. This reveals a settled truth of Scripture: when faith, obedience, and divine purpose are perfectly aligned, nothing more is needed. Scripture consistently exalts the power of oneness—one God, one faith, one Spirit, one body, one victory. Christ prayed, “That they all may be one… that the world may believe” (John 17:21). Unity with God is power. David’s stone was not powerful because of David, but because of God. The lesson of the five stones is ultimately the lesson of the one stone: God never employs excess when faith is complete, because perfect trust gives Him unrestricted access to act with full authority. As Scripture declares, “From thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel” (Genesis 49:24). The same God who prepared the stone, guided the sling, and felled the giant still prepares His people today. His method has not changed. His power has not diminished. His certainty remains absolute. 📖 Applying the Study For ongoing spiritual encouragement and prophetical insights, visit Higher Learning.

He did not carry his cross...he carried the cross of Christ...he carried Jesus’ cross. We know of our indebtedness to Christ, but what of our spiritual obligation and responsibility to Simon of Cyrene? We are to weigh his inspiration. Simon saw our Lord physically broken down under the suffering weight of the burden of sin. Now, let’s pause purposedly to reason. Central to our reasoning must always be the suffering servant of God. His suffering, his death is the sufficient sacrifice for all mankind. There should be no debate as to the bearing of the wooden cross while there exists a much more severe bearing of all the sins of all the sinners of the whole of the world!! Study Matthew 27:26-35 What happened when the soldiers came out of the hall? Study Mark 15:15-25 The soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium. He was scourged, and crowned with thorns and contumeliously used. There they mocked him, dressed him. Then what occurred? Study Luke 23:20-31 Did they do something to prevent the further instances of malice? Reason the word “after”. Was Simon following Jesus or did he relieve Jesus of the cross? Study John 19:13-17 and Isaiah 53:4 Let’s reason precept upon precept... What was the weighty burden carried by Jesus? What cross was he bearing when he went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha? Was his cross wooden or spiritual? There is no conflict. Jesus admonishes us to take up our cross. He denied himself and he was ready and willing to suffer, he shows us that we must suffer too, and must be ready and willing. Here, the law of faith is laid down. The terms are fixed, upon which we may have the honor and benefit the awesome sacrifice made for us. It is by this that we are examined. It is a deliberate choice. Psalms 110:3 Jesus says we are to be steadfastly minded to come to him, and if we are that, we in like manner are to adhere to him. It is upon these terms, these and no other; we must follow him in sufferings as well as in other things, and therefore when we sit down to count the cost, we reckon upon it. We must come after Christ in a continued act of self-denial, of self-emptying. We must deny ourselves absolutely, we must not admire our own shadow, nor gratify our own accommodation; we must not lean to our own understanding, nor seek our own things, nor be our own end. We must deny ourselves comparatively; we must deny ourselves for Christ, and his will and glory, and the service of his interest in the world; we must deny ourselves for our brethren, and for their good; and we must deny ourselves for ourselves, deny the appetites of the body for the benefit of the soul. The cross is here put for all sufferings, as people of faith; providential afflictions, persecutions for righteousness' sake, every trouble that may befall us, either for doing well or for not doing ill. The troubles of believers are fitly called crosses, in allusion to the death of the cross, which Christ was obedient to; and it should reconcile us to troubles, and take off the terror of them, that they are what we bear in common with Christ, and such as he has borne before us. Every true follower of Christ has his cross, and must count upon it; as each have his special duty to be done, so each has his special trouble to be borne, and every one feels most from his own burden. Crosses are the common lot of God's children, but of this common lot each has his purposed share. That is our cross which Infinite Wisdom has appointed for us, and a Sovereign Providence has laid on us, as fittest for us. It is good for us to call the cross we are under our own, and give consideration to it accordingly. Every faithful follower of Christ must take up that which the wise God has made his cross. Simon carried Christ's cross after him, this phrase was illustrated. The cross is prepared for us. We must not make crosses to ourselves, but must accommodate ourselves to those which God has made for us. Our guide is, not to go a step out of the way of duty, either to meet a cross, or to miss one. We must not by our rashness and indiscretion pull crosses down upon our own heads, but must take them up when they are laid in our way. We must so manage every affliction, that it may not be a stumbling-block or hindrance to us in any service we have to do for God. We must take it up out of our way, by getting over the offence of the cross; none of these things move us; and we must then go on with it in our way, though it lie heavy upon us. That which we have to do, is, not only to bear the cross, not only to be silent under it, but we must take up the cross, must improve it to some good advantage. When we rejoice in our afflictions, and glory in them, then we take up the cross. This fitly follows upon denying ourselves; for he that will not deny himself the pleasures of sin, and the advantages of this world for Christ, when it comes to the push, will never have the heart to take up his cross. The cross is the focal point of the sanctuary and is clearly visible in the arrangement set forth for revelation of who God is. It is the reality of the love of God. Simon was in full obedience to God. Christ says, “follow me”, and scripture records the act of Simon bearing the cross as he followed Jesus. In this particular of taking up the cross. Suffering believers must look unto Jesus, and take from him both direction and encouragement in suffering. Do we bear the cross? We therein follow Christ, who bears it before us, bears it for us, and so bears it from us. He bore the heaviness of the cross, that which had the curse upon it, and so made the other light and easy for us. Or, we may take it in general, we must follow Christ in all instances of holiness and obedience. To do well and to suffer ill, is to follow Christ. We are to follow Jesus in truth. We are to follow him in beginnings and continuing to with all perseverance. The cross Jesus bore was composed of our sins and our transgressions. What was laid on him was the iniquity of us all. He took all the things that were against us; the transgressions, the sins, the bondage, the sickness, and the pain. There was a wooden cross borne by Simon of Cyrene, the spiritual cross, by Jesus. How does this purpose God’s last day people? It is not only accepting the difficulties of life. It is above all bearing the salvation of the world, the load of all souls, the fight between Heaven and hell, sin and grace. To bear one’s cross is to co-operate in the salvation of souls. We embrace the wood of the cross in our humanity. It was our iniquities that Christ bore. It was Jesus’ humanity that hung and died on that wooden cross. It was his divinity that understood that He would take upon Himself the disobedience and rebellion of humanity, thus providing an atonement for sin. This was foreordained by God. And as we are becoming like Christ, we come to a certain kind of death whereby the promising perfection of humbly lowering ourselves grant us to be sharers of His own divinity as recorded in the gospels. This cross of affliction that we are to bear brings us to Christ as one with him whereby the faith of Jesus is shown to be the pursuit of atonement. At stake is nothing less than life eternal. Atonement takes us beyond faith. It puts us back in a perfection of relationship with God. Simon carrying the cross of Christ, following Christ, represents the nature of atonement for all who accept the sacrifice of God. Redemption, substitution, propitiation, and reconciliation illuminate the nature of Christ’s atonement. God is sovereign, and therefore this was not an accident or a random detail added into the story. What’s the significance of Simon carrying Jesus’s cross? What does God want us to see here? We don’t always choose the moment of our cross bearing. We don’t always choose the moment of our suffering. They come upon us in unexpected ways, frightening ways, heavy ways, painful ways, seemingly random ways. It is our carrying on the mission of Christ. Jesus couldn’t carry his cross, he was too weakened. Somebody had to because the soldiers are charged, crucify him. The plan of redemption had to be completed. Christ could not die on the street. Simon recognized that death loomed in front of Jesus. Yet this did not deter him from obedience...he took up the cross and followed him, bearing the cross to the place of execution where our Jesus was crucified. What a grace in Simon’s life. It's one thing to prepare oneself and schedule time to help our brothers and sisters in need, but it can be quite another when that need comes up unexpectedly. This was a perfect moment as the humanly weak Jesus - now on the road to the cross - needed help to finish his mission. Our redemption was made sure. We who were sold under sin choose to accept the provision Christ made for deliverance – carrying the cross and following him. Christ was our substitution on the cross – we can serve as his substitution in carrying whatever cross is placed upon us willing to sacrifice all. He is the propitiatory sacrifice for us that averts punishment for sin. We can be propitiatory “saviors” to others according to the mercies of God. Nehemiah 9:27 We are called to see Christ suffering all around us in the poor, in the powerless, in the misunderstood. When a suffering person is thrust on us unexpectedly, we may hesitate to come to their aid - His aid. We sometimes find an excuse. We sometimes remain aloof. We must overcome and find the wisdom and courage to help, and see the least of our brothers and sisters just as that, and through them to serve Christ by carrying his cross. Some have a cross that is too heavy to bear. We need not have soldiers require us to carry the cross. Ours is to be a response to grace. If we can love the persons in our paths so as to desire their salvation and take responsibility for the purpose assigned us by God, humbly and prayerfully, serving as ambassadors for Christ, fulfill our vital role in reconciling people to God, who has given us both the service and message of reconciliation. This is the ministry of the cross – to serve mankind. As the election purposefully called, we have the wonderful privilege of telling unsaved people about the bountiful blessings of salvation through Christ. Call it “witnessing,” call it “sharing our faith,” the point is that we open a discussion about Jesus Christ with people who may not know him or do not believe in him. And we must understand that doing so is a genuine expression of godly love toward another person. The enemies of God are doing a good job of deceiving many people into believing that it is not “loving” to share your faith with someone, as if that somehow invalidates what the other person believes and belittles him as a human. A well-meaning person might say, “You can’t tell another person his belief is not true. That’s not loving!” God’s people are never fooled by such erroneous reasoning. Helping someone have everlasting life is perhaps the most loving thing we could do for another. It is absolutely not loving to stay quiet while people around us get closer and closer to their death and everlasting destruction. The true message of the cross destroys the kingdom of Satan and accomplishes salvation for God’s people. It is a message filled with the awesome power and wisdom of Almighty God. It is a message of pain, suffering and death. The message of the cross is that our strength comes out of His utter weakness. Our endurance out of His faintness, our healing out of His wounds, our life out of His death. We see the message of the cross as this - that out of His shame and nakedness comes His glory and crown. This is how the Word is above the name. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name. Please know and understand this...God turned the lights out on the cross. It is as if God was saying, “You have mocked Him enough!” But, it was during those hours of darkness where the bearing of the cross Jesus suffered the worst of His torments. For, it was during those dark hours that your sins and especially mine were transferred to Him. All the pain of hell and the undiluted wrath of Almighty God were unleashed on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He literally took our place on that cross. He died our death; He suffered our hell; He paid our price! It was the darkness of death in the cross for Christ, but for Simon, for us, it was the light of his life received in our hearts. The bearing of our cross is our identifying with Christ. It is our casting off sin. It is our suffering yet choosing to be faithful. The bearing of our cross is reasonably living life for others, surrendering to God no matter where He leads us. Let us bear one another’s burden...fulfilling the law of Christ! ⛰ Go Deeper This reflection is part of a larger Bible-based study on faith and transformation. 👉 Read more at OnlineBibleCourse.com

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