Recently, I had the misfortune of spotting my garments with paint. People do wear spotted clothes but I am not comfortable. It reminded me of the branding of Cain after he had killed his brother Abel (Gen.4: 1-16). It set him apart from his family, his country and even his God. Sin in our life is like paint. It puts a brand on us that cannot be removed. And like Cain, we have to find an environment where we are feared but tolerated. In time, the entire environment would become like Cain or Canaanites. This was precisely what the world was like in Noah's day and again in Paul's time (Ge.6: 5-7; Ro.1: 28-32).

Two years I had spent preparing for an entrance examine in Theology and be told that my answers were more conducive to Biblical exegesis. Fortunately I was willing to take the examining board's advice and my studies became more productive. I was after all not to represent the great theologians but Jesus the Christ. More to the point, I had to be stopped from pursuing a field of interest that was not beneficial for me.

Jesus compared our settling of our accounts with God to a king that settled his with his servants (Mt.18: 21-35). The head of the servants owed the king a very huge sum of money. There was no way he could repay his obligations. He pleaded before the king and the monarch out of mercy cancelled all his debts. It was an act of grace that set this servant free. Next, this recipient of grace goes to one of his fellow servants that owed him a few dollars and demanded that he be repaid immediately. This servant also pleaded on his knees but received no mercy or forgiveness. Instead, he was imprisoned and the report about this merciless servant reached the king. The monarch rescinded his act of grace and committed this man to the mercy of the jailor. Jesus concluded," This is how my heavenly Father will treat each one of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

I happened to be present when a Canadian and a Russian shared their perceptions about God. They concluded that the English "God" was the same as the Russian "Bog." However, when they talked about what their gods do, they did not resemble the Creator or the one Jesus proclaimed. Rather, they were individualized and nationalized. In competition like sports or wars, these two gods were asked to beat up on each other.

First Corinthians 13 is hailed as the greatest chapter on love. Paul, the writer, if he had been married and had children and one of them had strayed, what would the chapter on love look like? I am convinced that he would have added anger. He knew about anger (Eph.4: 26), but not the kind a father has for a child he loves. This kind of love gets very angry if it is disobeyed or violated.

Today our first granddaughter graduated from High School and yesterday from a Community College. Today's celebration was a hopeful and splendid expression of a promising future for the graduates. Most of them had an idea of what they would like to become. Several weeks ago, I asked one of our grandsons what he would like to become. Without hesitation, he replied, "I will follow my dream." "Just what shall that dream be like," I probed? He was not quite certain. It had to do with a job he would love. Yes, how many people do we know that love their jobs? Most people that I had associations with regarded their jobs as a means to an end. Most of them lived in hope of something more accommodating.

I consulted someone as to what I could say to a person that asked for advice and then informed me that he had the Spirit, the Revelation and the Scriptures to guide him? My consultant answered with one word, "nothing." Of course, people that are grounded or tied to their convictions are not likely to abandon them. I have also experienced that persons with such convictions are easily offended and offend others. Could it be that they are weaker in their faith than those that are more flexible in their acceptance of other beliefs? Once that crutch is taken from them, they easily shipwreck. Many times that crutch is a ritual that has very little to do with salvation. I come from a background where you had to wash your feet and be baptized as a believer. We paid little attention to Jesus that regarded the children as already present in his kingdom and to keep them out had the most stringent consequences (Lk.18: 16; Mk.9: 42).

I define impartiality as being fair with those and with whom we disagree. I had teachers that graded me on their opinion and not on my work. I was also blessed with teachers that disagreed with me and still gave me their highest rating. It is tragic when leaders, teachers or ministers assume the roll of being the final authority on the subject. The discoveries and invention that have been made thus far are but a drop in a bucket. A wise man once said, "Eye has not seen nor ear heard what God has prepared for those that love (trust) him" (1Cor.2: 9). Man will never reach the end of knowledge because every generation thinks it has found the truth.

The Bible tells us that God, after He had completed the world and everything in it, He rested on the seventh day. The Bible also tells us that God trusted man (Adam) with the management of the world and everything that is in it (Gen.1: 26-31). Does the word "rest" imply that God took a break or that He retired? The unexpected tragedies and occurrences appear to support the absence of God. It is difficult for me to accept such conditions as willful acts of God, especially when He intended everything to be good. For that reason, I believe in what Jesus said to Peter that Satan was after him and that he is in the world creating havoc with us and the world Lk.22: 31; Rev.12: 9).

Frequently, we say, "If God wills, we shall be or do whatever?" What is it that God really wills for us? For instance was it His will that I had to be disabled in 1951? For a time, I was led to believe that the accident had to occur so that I was compelled to serve God. A closer look at the Bible suggests six basic things God wills for us.