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<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER">“<b>TWO
ARE BETTER THAN ONE” MINISTRIES</b></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER"><b>Jim
& Marie Watt</b></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER"><b>Tel:
<a href="tel:253-517-9195" target="_blank">253-517-9195</a> - Email:
<a href="mailto:jmbetter@gmail.com" target="_blank">jmbetter@gmail.com</a></b></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER"><b>Web:
<a href="http://www.2rbetter.org/" target="_blank">www.2rbetter.org</a></b></p><p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER">March 28, 2013</p><p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER">
<br></p><p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER"></p><p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER">
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</p><p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER"><font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b>OCT
5 - 1 THESSALONIANS 5:12-28 - A LIFE OF CONCORD AND CONSTANCY</b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="CENTER"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="LEFT"><font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b>1.
5:12-13 (NNT) THOSE WHO LABOR: ATTITUDE TOWARD THEM. <font size="3">“</font><font size="3">But
we ask you, brethren, to know them that labor among you, and are over
you in </font><font size="3"><i>the</i></font><font size="3"><span style="font-style:normal">
Lord, and admonish you; </span></font><font style="font-size:8pt" size="1"><span style="font-style:normal">13
</span></font><font size="3"><span style="font-style:normal">and to
esteem them exceeding highly in love for their :work. Be at peace
among yourselves.” </span></font></b><span style="font-style:normal"><span style="font-weight:normal">We
bless You Father for the ministries, leaders and laborers You have
given the church of Christ. We receive them as from Christ. We
receive one another as fellow members of Christ’s body. </span></span><b><i>Hallowed
be your name.</i></b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in" align="LEFT"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b>2.
5:14-15. GENERAL EXHORTATIONS. <font size="3">“And we exhort you,
brethren, admonish the disorderly, encourage the fainthearted,
support the weak, be longsuffering toward all. </font><font style="font-size:8pt" size="1">15
</font><font size="3">See that none render unto any one evil for evil;
but always follow after what is good, one toward another, and toward
all.” </font></b><span style="font-weight:normal">We are
</span><u><span style="font-weight:normal">established</span></u><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">
and </span></span><u><span style="font-weight:normal">confirmed</span></u><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">
when we walk in Your Words, Father! Apostolic words are Christ’s
words. Christ’s words are Your words. We receive Your “nouthetic”
admonishments. </span></span><b><i><span style="text-decoration:none">Your
:kingdom come!</span></i></b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b><span style="text-decoration:none">3.
5:16-18 (5:16-21) JOY, PRAYER AND THANKSGIVING WITH PRECEPTS.
</span><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“</span></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">Rejoice
always; </span></font><font style="font-size:8pt" size="1"><span style="text-decoration:none">17
</span></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">pray
without ceasing; </span></font><font style="font-size:8pt" size="1"><span style="text-decoration:none">18
</span></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">in
everything give thanks: for this is God’s will in Christ Jesus
toward you.” </span></font></b><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">Hosanna!
We receive this, Father. We thank You for Your Kingdom of
righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Spirit. </span></span><b><i><span style="text-decoration:none">Your
:will be done, As in heaven, so on earth.</span></i></b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b><span style="text-decoration:none">4.
5:22-24. ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION: UNTO THE “PAROUSIA”. </span><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“Abstain
from every form of evil. </span></font><font style="font-size:8pt" size="1"><span style="text-decoration:none">23
</span></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">And
the God of :peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your :spirit
and :soul and :body be preserved entire, without blame at the
presence of our :Lord Jesus Christ. </span></font><font style="font-size:8pt" size="1"><span style="text-decoration:none">24
</span></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">Faithful
he that calls you, who will also do </span></font><font size="3"><i><span style="text-decoration:none">it</span></i></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">.”
</span></font></b><u><span style="font-weight:normal">Holiness</span></u><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">
becomes Your Name, Father! And You say to us, You too be holy, for
“I” a</span></span><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">m</span></span><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">
holy! Spirit, soul and body: all holy for You - till Jesus returns.
</span></span><b><i><span style="text-decoration:none">Our :daily
:bread Give us this day!</span></i></b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b><span style="text-decoration:none">5.
5:25. A REQUEST: PRAY FOR APOSTOLIC MINISTRIES. </span><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“Brethren,
pray for us also.” </span></font></b><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">We
are humbled by the humility of Paul! What a privilege we have - to
pray for our leaders! Father, give us a revelation of the importance
of this! </span></span><b><i><span style="text-decoration:none">And
forgive us our :debts, As we also have forgiven our :debtors.</span></i></b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b><span style="text-decoration:none">6.
5:26-27. COMMAND: AFFECTION, WITH HEED TO THIS LETTER. </span><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“Salute
all the brethren with a holy kiss. </span></font><font style="font-size:8pt" size="1"><span style="text-decoration:none">26
</span></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">I
adjure you by the Lord that the letter be read to all the brethren.”
</span></font></b><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">Sanctification
- holiness for us: body, soul and spirit; this is a high priority in
Your heart for us, Father. May we not betray Your hope and trust in
us. May our relationship with one another be holy and pure. </span></span><b><i><span style="text-decoration:none">And
bring us not into temptation.</span></i></b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b><span style="text-decoration:none">7.
5:28. BENEDICTION OF GRACE. </span><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“The
grace of our :Lord Jesus Christ </span></font><font size="3"><i><span style="text-decoration:none">be</span></i></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">
with you.” </span></font></b><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">Joy!
This is Your basic nature, Father! Out of Your heart of joy flows
</span></span><u><span style="font-weight:normal">forgiveness</span></u><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">.
Thank God! This forgiveness is expressed in Your Grace! This in turn
is manifested through Charismatic</span></span><u><span style="font-weight:normal">
gifts</span></u><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">.
Our response is </span></span><u><span style="font-weight:normal">thanksgiving</span></u><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">!
</span></span><b><i><span style="text-decoration:none">But deliver
us from the evil </span></i><i><u>one</u></i><i><span style="text-decoration:none">!</span></i></b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b><u>NOTE</u><span style="text-decoration:none">:
5:19-21 (5:16-21) FOUR POWERFUL EXHORTATIONS. </span><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“Quench
not the Spirit; </span></font><font style="font-size:8pt" size="1"><span style="text-decoration:none">20
</span></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">despise
not prophesyings; </span></font><font style="font-size:8pt" size="1"><span style="text-decoration:none">21
</span></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">but
prove all </span></font><font size="3"><i><span style="text-decoration:none">things</span></i></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">;
hold fast what is good.” </span></font></b><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">We
will not throw the baby out with the water. We will hold fast that
which is good. We will not quench the Spirit by despising prophecy.
We honor Your way of doing things Father, even if some abuse it.</span></span></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><b><span style="text-decoration:none">Our
Psalm for the Day: 95:6-7 (95, ESV) LET US SING SONGS OF PRAISE.
</span><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">“Oh come,
let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
</span></font><font style="font-size:8pt" size="1"><span style="text-decoration:none">7
</span></font><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none">For he
is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of
his hand.” </span></font></b><font size="3"><span style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-weight:normal">Father,
David knew You and worshiped you</span></span></font><b><span style="text-decoration:none">
</span><span style="text-decoration:none">as a man after Your own
heart. We would have a united heart like David. </span><i><span style="text-decoration:none">Hallowed
be your :name!</span></i></b></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt">This
Psalm has no title, and all we know of its authorship is that Paul
quotes it as “in David” (Hebrews 4:7). It is true that this may
merely signify that it is to be found in the collection known as
David’s Psalms; but if such were the Apostle’s meaning, it would
have been more natural for him to have written, “saying in the
Psalms”; we therefore incline to the belief that David was the
actual author of this poem. We will call it “The Psalm of the
Provocation.”</font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">95:1.
</span><i><span style="text-decoration:none"><b>O come, let us sing
unto the Lord. </b></span></i><span style="text-decoration:none">Other
nations sing unto their gods; let us sing unto Jehovah. We love Him,
we admire Him, we reverence Him; let us express our feelings with the
choicest sounds, using our noblest faculty for its noblest end.</span></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">95:2.
</span><i><span style="text-decoration:none"><b>Let us come before
His presence with thanksgiving. </b></span></i><span style="text-decoration:none">Here
is probably a reference to the peculiar presence of God in the Holy
of Holies above the mercy-seat, and also to the glory which shone
forth out of the cloud which rested above the tabernacle. Everywhere
God is present, but there is a peculiar presence of grace and glory
into which men should never come without the profoundest reverence.
Our worship should have reference to the past as well as to the
future; if we do not bless the Lord for what we have already
received, how can we reasonably look for more? </span><i><span style="text-decoration:none"><b>And
make a joyful noise unto Him with Psalms.</b></span></i><span style="text-decoration:none">
We should shout as exultingly as those do who triumph in war and as
solemnly as those whose utterance is a Psalm. It is not always easy
to unite enthusiasm with reverence, and it is a frequent fault to
destroy o</span><span style="text-decoration:none">ne</span><span style="text-decoration:none">
of these qualities while straining after the other. It is to be
feared that this is too much overloo</span><span style="text-decoration:none">k</span><span style="text-decoration:none">ed
in ordinary services. People are so impressed with the idea that they
ought to be serious tha</span><span style="text-decoration:none">t</span><span style="text-decoration:none">
they put on the aspect of misery and quite forget that joy is as much
a characteristic of t</span><span style="text-decoration:none">ru</span><span style="text-decoration:none">e
worship as solemnity itself.</span></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">95:6.
</span><i><span style="text-decoration:none"><b>O come, let us
worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. </b></span></i><span style="text-decoration:none">As
suppliants must we come; joyful, but not presumptuous; familiar as
children before a father, yet reverential as creatures before their
Maker. Posture is not everything, yet is it something; prayer is
heard when knees cannot bend, but it is seemly that an adoring heart
should show its awe by prostrating the body and bending the knee.</span></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">95:8.
</span><i><span style="text-decoration:none"><b>Harden not your
heart</b></span></i><span style="text-decoration:none">. If you
will hear, learn to fear also. The sea and the land obey Him; do not
prove more obstinate than they! We cannot soften our hearts, but we
can harden them, and the consequences will be fatal. Today is too
good a day to be profaned by the hardening of our hearts against our
own mercies. While mercy reigns, let not obduracy rebel.</span></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">95:9.
</span><i><span style="text-decoration:none"><b>Proved me.</b></span></i><span style="text-decoration:none">
If we were for ever testing the love of our wife or husband, and
remained unconvinced after years of faithfulness, we should wear out
the utmost human patience. Friendship only flourishes in the
atmosphere of confidence; suspicion is deadly to it: shall the Lord
God, true and immutable, be day after day suspected by His own
people? Will not this provoke Him to anger?</span></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">
</span><i><span style="text-decoration:none"><b>And saw My work.
</b></span></i><span style="text-decoration:none">They test Him
again and again, throughout forty years, though each time His work
was conclusive evidence of His faithfulness. Nothing could convince
them for long. Fickleness is bound up in the heart of man, unbelief
is our besetting sin; we must for ever be seeing or we waver in our
believing. This is no mean offense and will bring it no small
punishment.</span></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">95:10.
</span><i><span style="text-decoration:none"><b>Forty years long
was I grieved with this generation. </b></span></i><span style="text-decoration:none">The
impression upon the divine Mind is most vivid. He sees them before
Him now and calls them “this generation.” He does not leave His
prophets to upbraid the sin, but Himself utters the complaint and
declares that He was grieved, nauseated, and disgusted. </span><i><span style="text-decoration:none"><b>And
said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not
known My ways.</b></span></i><span style="text-decoration:none"><b>
</b></span><span style="text-decoration:none">The heart is the
mainspring of the man, and if it be not in order, the entire nature
is thrown out of gear. If sin were only skin deep, it might be a
slight matter; but since it had defiled the soul, the case is bad</span><i><span style="text-decoration:none"><b>
</b></span></i><span style="text-decoration:none">indeed. Forty
years of providential wisdom, yes, and even a longer period of
experience, have failed to teach them serenity of assurance and
firmness of reliance. </span><span style="text-decoration:none"><b>
</b></span><span style="text-decoration:none">There is ground for
much searching of heart concerning this. Many treat unbelief as a
minor fault; they even regard it rather as an infirmity than a crime.
But the Lord thinks not so. Faith is Jehovah’s due,
especially from those who claim to be the people of His pasture and
yet more emphatically from those whose long life has been crowded
with evidences of His goodness: unbelief insults one of the dearest
attributes of Deity. It does so needlessly and without the slightest
ground and in defiance of all-sufficient arguments, weighty with the
eloquence of love. L</span><span style="text-decoration:none">e</span><span style="text-decoration:none">t
us, in reading this Psalm, examine ourselves and lay these things to
heart.</span></font></font></p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;text-decoration:none" align="LEFT">
<br>
</p>
<p style="margin-top:0.01in;margin-bottom:0in;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal" align="LEFT">
<font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"><font style="font-size:11pt"><span style="text-decoration:none">95:11.
</span><i><span style="text-decoration:none"><b>Unto whom I swore
in My wrath that they should not enter into My rest. </b></span></i><span style="text-decoration:none">There
can be no rest to an unbelieving heart. If manna and miracles could
not satisfy Israel, neither would they have been content with the
land which flowed with milk and honey. Solemn warning this to all who
leave the way of faith for paths of petulant murmuring and mistrust.
The rebels of old could not enter in because of unbelief. “Let us
therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His
rest, any of us should even seem to come short of it.” </span><span style="text-decoration:none"><b>(From
“The Treasury of David” by C.H. Spurgeon, abridged by D.O.
Fuller)</b></span></font></font></p>
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