My life has been to seek the Absolute Truth of God; to help others find the real purpose of their lives... Attempt to make this or where ever I am; better for my having been there! Amen!
Having worked with severe major Battery Plants in Industry and on Isolate Power back up facilities, {Uninterupible Power Systems} for over 30 years in many parts of the world, I know what is involved!
First here is an excellent definition of a large Battery Plant -
" A Battery plant is a large source of electrons, just are looking for somewhere to go in a hurry." The Battery Plant is much like a loaf of sliced bread where every time it is discharged it loses a slice. Thus it is only going to support whatever the load - based upon the power {the amount of electrons available} available. This is based upon both size and type to support a given load for an expressed period!
There are several differences in Batteries as to both type and size of a said system! NiCad are good long lasting cells - have been used in an extensive application in the Power Back up systems. Lead Acid are generally less expensive and have a broad footprint in the Backup Power systems in the world. Gel Cells have a limited application. Lithium-ion batteries have been used inside electric vehicles, mainly because of their size and weight factors.
Yet with any Backup Battery Plant there is always a sever fire and or chemical danger!
Batteries can leak, and or/corrode, plus the one must calculate the necessary DC power needed for each type to get the best size, weight and overall operational and configuration for proper application and usage.
I have seen several the result of fires in large Battery Back up plants! It is highly destructive from both the heat as well as the Smoke and Chemical damage. These large battery plants require special monitoring equipment and fire retardant or other fire suppression systems. This includes proper ventilation and special barriers to limit such catastrophic destruction!
In the case of large mobile Battery plants, as with Ships, Airplanes, Automobiles, and other particular application of such Battery Plants.
=====
Following is an excerpt of a recent Auto Battery Fire in Fla!
After an out-of-control Tesla Model S plowed into a stand of palm trees on a highway median outside Fort Lauderdale last month, police rushed to put out the ensuing blaze using a department-issued fire extinguisher. It was a wasted effort. The car kept on burning after the crash, which killed the driver.
The police may not have known lithium-ion batteries inside electric vehicles, once ignited, can’t be put out with chemicals from a conventional extinguisher. The battery fires are susceptible to a self-destructive chain reaction known as thermal runaway, causing a feedback loop of rising temperatures. The Tesla fire stumped a series of first responders in Florida.
Firefighters eventually doused the flames with water, which seemed to work, but the wrecked car reignited twice more after being towed away. That prompted what a police report later termed “extraordinary measures,” including a call to Broward County’s Hazmat unit for advice on stamping out the fire once and for all.
The accident illustrates the challenges faced by first responders unfamiliar with the special characteristics—and hazards—of electric vehicles’ powertrains. Safety experts say the only way to extinguish a lithium-ion battery inside a car is with thousands of gallons of water, much more than what it takes to stop a fire in a typical gasoline engine.
The other option is to just let it burn itself out. “It’s such a difficult fire because it takes so much water to put out,” said Robert Taylor, fire marshal in Davie, Fla., where the crash occurred.
** With all of your leisure and commitments laid out ahead of you, it becomes clear exactly how much time you will have for work. **
Date: 3/31/2019
“We all tend to become procrastinators!”
“Procrastination (noun). The action of ruining your life for no apparent reason.” Putting play before work may seem irresponsible, but experts argue that this counter-intuitive move might actually make you more productive in the long run.
Enter the world of ‘unscheduling’: an upside-down approach to help chronic postponers get their lives back on track. Like most time-planning methods, the technique involves creating a weekly schedule that blocks out specific time blocks for particular tasks.
* Most of which could be controlled.
The key is that rather than just making a plan for the work that you have to do, you must learn to do the opposite:
1) Schedule the activities that you would like to do, such as meeting a friend for dinner, or other social obligations!
2) Then consider such events which are necessary for keeping yourself in tune with life and keeping in proper physical condition, such as going for a run, or swimming and getting enough sleep each night.
3) Strat with small easy to complete taskd rather than jumping into a major financial problem like doing this years taxes. Simple will show better progress and tend to push you in the right direction!
Finally, you can then add in whatever you have already planned for, such as holidays and meetings. The key is not to schedule in any plans for work whatsoever. Your work should end up being available as you have sorted out the numerious problems of your life.
A simple model Unschedule - will never contain the words of unplanned activities “write a book,” “finish presentation” or “revise your last assignment.” Unschedule works because it is about control without all the planning! You must learn to fill in or fit the unplanned activities for it to work! It is about being spontaneous and learning to improvise at the moment!
Rather than cancelling lunches and postponing gym sessions to devote yourself entirely to a particular project, you can slot it neatly into the life that you want to lead. Then with all of your leisure and commitments laid out ahead of you, it becomes clear exactly how much time you will have for work.
Then all you have to do is get started.
Ready set go!
** Adapted from - The Smart Guide to Procrastination! By Zaria Gorvett 26 March 2019
Part 4 - Improve your life by accepting the Gospel
** Salvation is not a reformation, but rather a regeneration, a new birth, a new creation, that can only be accomplished by a creative miracle of the Holy Spirit. ** Date: 3/30/2019 1:37:48 AM ( 25 h ) ... viewed 18 times
Eternal life is nothing without being Born of the Spirit!
Matthew 11:11, "Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."
MATTHEW 11:2-19, LUKE 7:18-35
Much of the Old Testament deals with future events and the coming Messiah and His Kingdom. Not only was John the Baptist the voice of God to his generation, but he was also the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. He did not merely prophesy about the coming Messiah and the New Covenant, as the Old Testament prophets did, but he actually prepared the way for the hearts of the people to receive Jesus by bearing witness to the Light.
Although John the Baptist was the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, he was not a born again "new creature in Christ". When Jesus was raised from the dead, He enabled us to be "born of the Spirit" and become children of God, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. We were enabled to become "partakers of the divine nature" and full-fledged children of God.
John operated under the Old Covenant when none of these promises were yet in effect.
Jesus established a new order, "the Kingdom of God," in which these promises became effective. God saw John and all of the Old Testament prophets through the law.
The new birth is essential for entering into the Kingdom of God. Our spiritual man became dead unto (or separated from) God through sin. Just as we didn't accomplish our physical birth, we cannot produce this spiritual rebirth. We are totally incapable of saving ourselves; therefore, we needed a Savior. We simply believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and we are saved.
Salvation is not a reformation, but rather a regeneration, a new birth, a new creation, that can only be accomplished by a creative miracle of the Holy Spirit. Because of the new birth, He sees us through, Jesus.
** An Abstract Object Don't Bear The Values ** Date: 3/29/2019 2:56:49 AM ( 48 h ) ... viewed 42 times How God Is Good!
All Moral values must be grounded in truth! Values must be either good or not, but never both!
What We Can Know in life is Objective Moral Values And Duties which are Grounded In A Personal Source!
One Of The Very Simple Ways To Know How Moral Values And Duties Are Grounded is to seek a or the Necessary Source, which is The Existence Of The Complete Moral Ideal - or The Concept Of What Is Perfect or proper! I.E. It must be to make it so because there has to be a source to make it so!
It Makes Human Sense When We Say A Person Is Morally Good, But It's Logically Incoherent To Say Moral Goodness Exist By Itself As An Impersonal Abstraction.
An Abstract Object Does not Bear real Values; because An Impersonal Abstract Object Isn't Just Or Merciful Or Loving!
Take Loyalty For Example! If Loyalty Is Good And If It Exist Just of Itself As An Abstract Object; then How Is it Good Because Loyalty Isn't Loyal to Itself, Kindness Isn't Kind of Itself. It's Not Loyal Or Kind To Anybody! Moral Goodness or lack of Morals; Seem Only To Be The Properties Of Agents {independent persons or beings} not nonexistence entities!
So It's Far More Rational That Moral Values And Duties Are The Properties Of Agents Not Mere Abstraction! If This Is The Case And There Are Objective Moral Values And Duties It's Simply Reasons, That The Moral Ideal Is brought forth thru A Necessary Agent.
That Is The Moral Ideal; Because Moral Goodness Is Grounded In God Just As Your Personality Is Grounded In You, God's Will comes Because He Is Good, God’s Will Isn't Arbitrary - It's An Necessary Expression Of God's Nature and His Essential Attribute !!!
Amen!
Without the originator of an idea or thought there would not be any such thing! Therefore it is not possible for some strange thought or idea springing forth into existence from a nonexistent state or being! Not possible!
There has to be some form of origination! Nothing comes from Nothing - because there was nothing there, to begin with! The origin of an idea or thought has to originate with a being or agent!
** Ultimately God is your source, trust Him. ** Date: 3/27/2019 3:12:53 PM ( 4 d ) ... viewed 34 times Self-centeredness and greed:
LUKE 6:17-49
This verse reveals one of God's cardinal laws that will work in the spiritual realm, as well as the physical world. Just as we "give" seed into the ground to receive back many seeds, so it is with everything we give.
Whether it's money, possessions, an emotion such as love or hate, prayers, or our time, we will reap a harvest of whatever we give. We reap exactly what we sow and proportional to the same measure that we give (Gal. 6:7-8).
"He which soweth sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall also reap bountifully" (2 Cor. 9:6).
This law works on positive or negative things that we sow.
Although this is an unchangeable law of God, it can be overcome by a greater law in much the same way that we can escape the law of gravity by using the greater laws of thrust and lift. The negative things we have given don't have to come back to us if we apply the greater law of forgiveness
1 John 1:1-9 (NKJV) What Was Heard, Seen, Smelt and Felt in other words - Life!
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— 2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us — 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that [a]your joy may be full.
Fellowship with Him and One Another
5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declares to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Likewise, the good things we have sown can be voided if we don't continue doing well. (Gal. 6:9).
God is our source, but God uses people. If we pray for finances, God is not going to make counterfeit currency and put it into your wallet. He will use people to get the money to you. God will not just show up at your door one day like the PCH giveaway crew!
God has set up a perfect system on this earth which must follow His original plan and purpose to be complete in the Kingdom of God! Why else would God put a plan into place if we were not to accept and follow it?
Because - otherwise, it will become weak and useless if it could be manipulated by everyone at the whim of humans! This is not how God's Grace works meet our prayers. We must learn to trust and follow His perfect plan and purpose!
So, it is not always as simple as praying for money and receiving it the next minute. We need to believe the Lord hears and answers our prayers, and then pray for the people He's going to use to deliver the answer. This could mean any number of people such as our employer and the people who buy our goods.
God has set a perfect plan in place let's learn to use it and help others so everyone gets a fair shake in life! Stop all the selfishness and greed!
Ultimately God is your source, trust Him. This is the perfect plan for eternal success for all! Use it to improve your life friend!
** Reading will also turn you into a better thinker and writer. Allowing you to be able to reason better! ** Date: 3/25/2019 9:14:29 PM ( 6 d ) ... viewed 74 times How to do whatever!
Part 1 - your life improvement:
Too many people today are being dominated and controlled by the Mass Electronic Computerized system. This tends to channel their thoughts and ideas to a rather limited field of knowledge. But you say how about the Internet and other social media?
Working many years, in the technical fields, using general life facts and happenings - my forte of knowledge which can be applied to life has expanded. As a student of history, geography, physics, electronics, most of the general things in life {Cooking, Health, Finances, Engineering, Basic relationships as well as a general understanding of the so-called Pop culture stuff, ETC} I am a complete person.
What most people do not do well is learn to read today!
Reading is essential for your cognition. But you already knew that.
How about this?
Reading will also turn you into a better thinker and writer. Allowing you to be able to reason better!
“But I still don’t like to read.” Well, there are many things in life we don’t like, but we still do them. One of the most important things in this life is to learn how to seek and find the truth and then apply it! Instead of telling yourself you don’t like to read, learn to enjoy it by doing it every day. Pow! Once you can read properly; many other things will become more apparent and your understanding will increase vastly.
Then POW; like magic, one day, you’ll love to read. Your eyes will be open like never before!
This is like opening a flood gate of knowledge in your life!
The Eternal life is nothing without being Born of the Spirit!
Matthew 11:11, "Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."
MATTHEW 11:2-19, LUKE 7:18-35
Much of the Old Testament deals with future events and the coming Messiah and His Kingdom. Not only was John the Baptist the voice of God to his generation, he was also the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. He did not merely prophesy about the coming Messiah and the New Covenant, as the Old Testament prophets did, but he actually prepared the way for the hearts of the people to receive Jesus by bearing witness to the Light.
Although John the Baptist was the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, he was not a born again "new creature in Christ". When Jesus was raised from the dead, He enabled us to be "born of the Spirit" and become children of God, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. We were enabled to become "partakers of the divine nature" and full-fledged children of God. John operated under the Old Covenant when none of these promises were yet in effect.
Jesus established a new order, "the Kingdom of God," in which these promises became effective. God saw John and all of the Old Testament prophets through the law.
The new birth is essential for entering into the Kingdom of God. Our spiritual man became dead unto (or separated from) God through sin. Just as we didn't accomplish our physical birth, we cannot produce this spiritual rebirth. We are totally incapable of saving ourselves; therefore, we needed a Savior. We simply believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and we are saved.
Salvation is not a reformation, but rather a regeneration, a new birth, a new creation, that can only be accomplished by a creative miracle of the Holy Spirit. Because of the new birth, He sees us through Jesus. Celebrate Life!
** Faith must be present to receive from God (Mk. 11:23-24; Jas. 1:5-7).
Luke 7:13-14, "And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not, And he came and touched the bier: and they that carried him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise."
Refer to LUKE 7:11-17
This example of the widow's son being raised from the dead is often used to demonstrate that Jesus produced many miracles without any faith from those receiving the miracle, but by His faith alone. However, the prayer in Mark 6:5-6 shows that Jesus could not (nor would not) do many mighty works in His home town because of the people's unbelief. Many scriptures reveal that faith must be present to receive from God (Mk. 11:23-24; Jas. 1:5-7).
So, whose faith was present in this instance?
First, the mother of the boy responded to Jesus in faith. For this woman to allow Jesus to interrupt the funeral procession and tell her to stop weeping has to be viewed as a positive response. These people were no different from mourners at funerals today. If she had rebelled at Jesus' intrusion, the crowd would have sided with her because of pity, but none of these reactions are recorded. Jesus was in command.
Second, it cannot be proven that a dead person has no choice in what happens. We may take it for granted, but the scriptures don't state that. A person doesn't cease to exist at death; he simply leaves his body. The person is still very much alive. Many people who have been raised from the dead have mentioned that they had a choice in whether or not to enter their bodies again. Although this principle cannot be verified by scripture, it cannot be ruled out by scripture either.
In any case, to be consistent with the rest of scripture, some degree of faith had to be present in either the person receiving the miracle, or an intercessor (in this case, the mother).
This verse reveals one of God's cardinal laws that will work in the spiritual realm, as well as the physical world. Just as we "give" seed into the ground to receive back many seeds, so it is with everything we give. Whether it's money, possessions, an emotion such as love or hate, prayers, or our time, we will reap a harvest of whatever we give. We reap exactly what we sow and proportional to the same measure that we give (Gal. 6:7-8).
"He which soweth sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall also reap bountifully" (2 Cor. 9:6).
This law works on positive or negative things that we sow.
Although this is an unchangeable law of God, it can be overcome by a greater law in much the same way that we can escape the law of gravity by using the greater laws of thrust and lift. The negative things we have given don't have to come back to us if we apply the greater law of forgiveness
(1 Jn. 1:9).
Likewise, the good things we have sown can be voided if we don't continue in well doing (Gal. 6:9).
God is our source, but God uses people. If we pray for finances, God is not going to make counterfeit currency and put it into your wallet. He will use people to get the money to you.
God has set up a perfect system on this earthly planet which must follow the original plan and purpose to be complete in the Kingdom of God!
Because - otherwise, it will become weak and wonton in that it could and would be manipulated by every whatever and whim of humans! This is not how God's Grace works meet our prayers. We must learn to trust and follow His perfect plan and purpose!
So, it is not always as simple as praying for money and receiving it the next minute. We need to believe the Lord hears and answers our prayers, and then pray for the people He's going to use to deliver the answer. This could mean any number of people such as our employer and the people who buy our goods.
Over the years, I’ve adopted many different “positive” habits.
To me, a habit is positive when it improves the quality of my life. A lot has been written about forming habits.
How hard is? How long does it take? What’s the best way to break habits? How do we adopt new habits?
My experience is that everyone can adopt any habit they want. There’s only one condition though: You need a good reason to make a change (I talk about that in-depth on this podcast episode).
And in 99% of cases, the reason to change comes from personal suffering, sadness, and hurt. At some point, you can’t stand your current behavior anymore.
Don’t worry about how you will change. Focus on what habits you want to form and why.
After one of my friends recently asked me about my current habits, I decided to share them here—with a brief explanation of what the habits are good for.
1. Do a full-body workout with weights 3 times a week
Strength training has several benefits. It protects bone health, muscle mass, keeps you lean, increases energy levels, and prevents injuries.
I’ve been lifting weights since I was 16. It’s the only habit on this list that I’ve been doing for that long. Like many people who lift weights, I started with split routines.
That means you work out different muscle during every session. With most routines, you’re training a specific muscle only one time per week. It turns out that muscles need more stress to become stronger.
Ideally, you want to train all your muscles, 3 times a week. That’s why I’ve been doing full body workouts. It’s simple, practical, and it works.
2. Set 3-4 daily priorities
This is one of the best productivity strategies there is. We all know that focus is what brings us results.
No focus? No results. So how do you focus? By limiting your options and tasks. Elimination is the key.
Be very clear about what you want to achieve every single day, week, and year.
Every day, work on 3-4 essential (and small) tasks that will bring you closer to your weekly and yearly goals.
3. Read 60 minutes a day
I get it, you’re too busy to read. Or maybe you just don’t like to read.
Well, you’re not getting off that easily.
Reading is essential for your cognition. But you already knew that. How about this? Reading will also turn you into a better thinker and writer.
“But I still don’t like to read.” Well, there are many things in life we don’t like, but we still do them. Instead of telling yourself you don’t like to read, learn to enjoy it by doing it every day.
And like magic, one day, you’ll love to read.
4. Sleep 7-8 hours a night
I never sacrifice my sleep for anything. I recently canceled a meeting in the morning because I slept late. The night before, I was reading a good book that totally consumed me.
After reading, I started taking notes. And before I knew it, it was 2 am. I had to wake up at 7 am to make the meeting.
I canceled the meeting. I’m not going to sleep for 6 hours so I can make a meeting when I know that I’ll be tired the whole day.
Some people can perform well with 5 hours of sleep. But most of us need more. If you’re part of the latter group, make sure you get enough sleep. And be dead serious about it. If you’re not in a position to cancel meetings etc, sleep early.
5. Walk 30 minutes a day
If you can’t MAKE the time to go for a daily walk, you’re not in control of your life. I don’t even walk for the health benefits. Sure, walking keeps the body moving and is good for you.
But I go for a daily walk because it breaks the pattern of our mundane lives. Look, we can’t deny that life is routine. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
But when you walk outside, you’re forced to be one with the world. It heightens your senses. You can go alone or with someone else. You can have a good conversation. Or you can simply enjoy the surroundings.
6. Follow the intermittent fasting eating pattern
I don’t eat anything after my dinner. And I skip breakfast. That means I “fast” for 15-16 hours every day.
There are some health benefits associated with intermittent fasting. But we have to be careful with making claims.
The reason I like it is that it makes me feel and look better. Plus, I can eat whatever I want during the day without gaining any weight.
I don’t eat junk food. I stick to whole foods with high nutritional value. Also, my first meal contains a lot of unsaturated fat and protein. And finally, make sure you consume the calories your body needs to operate (2000 for women, 2500 for men, on average).
7. Be present
We’re so focused on our goals that we forget to enjoy the present moment. This is one of my biggest pitfalls.
I really need to remind myself EVERY SINGLE day that I should enjoy the now.
We’re always waiting until we achieve something. “I will be happy then.”
Nope, you won’t if you’re always stuck in the future. Find a trigger that brings you back to the present moment.
For example, I recently bought a new watch. During the same time, I was reading a lot about this spiritual stuff. Now, every time I look at my watch, I say, “What time is it? NOW.”
8. Practice kindness & love
We all treat our love like it’s a depletable resource. That’s false. Love is unlimited and never runs out. You can give it away as much as you like.
But your ego stops you from doing that. You always want something in return.
So give this a try. Realize that you have an unlimited resource. Give some of your love and kindness away every day. Don’t worry about keeping score. You have enough love anyway.
9. Journal or write 30 minutes a day
I need to get my thoughts in order every day. I do that by writing. That helps me to focus on what matters to me. That’s why I journal.
Even when I’m not writing articles, I sit down and journal—only for myself. I don’t write in my journal for others. Journaling is also an excellent tool to become a better thinker and person.
10. Save 30% of your income
If you can’t save 30%, save 10%. Saving is not about how much. It’s about how often.
You save by cutting out useless things you do daily or weekly. You don’t need to buy a latte every day. You also don’t need to buy “organic” cashew nuts for $10.
Save on the small things. They will turn into big lumps of cash in time. Especially if you invest that extra cash.
And that is also the secret to these 10 habits. They are all small. And the daily progress you make seems insignificant.
You will only see the return it has on your life over time. You must stick to these habits until your life gets better.
And when that happens, you’ll keep going—not because you have to, but because you want to.
How to do whatever!
Part 1 - your life improvement:
Too many people today are being dominated and controlled by the Mass Electronic Computerized system. This tends to channel their thoughts and ideas to a rather limited field of knowledge. But you say how about the Internet and other social media?
Working many years, in the technical fields, using general life facts and happenings - my forte of knowledge which can be applied to life has expanded. As a student of history, geography, physics, electronics, most of the general things in life {Cooking, Health, Finances, Engineering, Basic relationships as well as a general understanding of the so-called Pop culture stuff, ETC} I am a complete person.
What most people do not do well is learn to read today! Reading is essential for your cognition. But you already knew that. How about this?
Reading will also turn you into a better thinker and writer. Allowing you to be able to reason better!
“But I still don’t like to read.” Well, there are many things in life we don’t like, but we still do them. One of the most important things in this life is to learn how to seek and find the truth and then apply it! Instead of telling yourself you don’t like to read, learn to enjoy it by doing it every day. Pow! Once you can read properly; many other things will become more apparent and your understanding will increase vastly.
Then POW; like magic, one day, you’ll love to read. Your eyes will be open like never before! This is like opening a flood gate of knowledge in your life!
The scribes were copyists of the holy scriptures. They preserved in written form the oral law, and faithfully handed down the Hebrew scriptures. In New Testament times, they were students, interpreters, and teachers of the Old Testament. Their functions regarding the law were to teach it, develop it, and use it in any connection with the Sanhedrin and various local courts. They were ambitious for honor, which they demanded, especially from their pupils, as well as from the general public. This homage was readily granted them (Mt. 23:5-11).
Ezra was a scribe during the Babylonian captivity of the Jews, and he was a very godly man. The office of a scribe was a worthy one, but the scribes of Jesus' day were often rebuked by Him for having gone beyond the job of copying out the scriptures. They had a large volume of interpretations that they had added to the scriptures based on traditions, and had thus made "the word of God of none effect" (Mk. 7:13).
The scribes became an independent company of interpreters of the law and leaders of the people. Even they, themselves, sought to evade certain of their own precepts (Mt. 23:2-4). They clashed with Christ for He taught with authority and condemned the external formalism that they fostered (Mt. 7:28-29). They persecuted Peter and John (Acts 4:3-7) and had a part in Stephen's martyrdom (Acts 6:12). However, although the majority opposed Christ, some did believe (Mt. 21:15).
Later on, we'll read how Jesus exposed the hypocrisy of the scribes by dealing with issues of the heart. They appeared to be holy outwardly, but their hearts were far from God. It is important for us to keep our hearts tender and receptive to His Word, and give ourselves to Him in worship. Think about the good things he has done for you today and be thankful.
The Sabbath is not a day, but rather a relationship with God:
John 5:16, "And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him because he had done these things on the sabbath day."
JOHN 5:16-27
The Sabbath was first mentioned in Scripture in Exodus 16, when the Lord started miraculously providing the children of Israel with manna in the wilderness. The Israelites were commanded to gather twice as much manna on the sixth day because God would not provide any on the seventh day. Shortly after this, the Lord commanded the observance of the Sabbath day in the ten commandments that were communicated to Moses on Mt. Sinai on the two tablets of stone (Ex. 20:8-11).
In this command, God connected this Sabbath day with the rest that He took on the seventh day of creation.
As revealed in Colossians 2:16-17, the Sabbath was symbolic. According to Exodus 23:12, one of the purposes of the Sabbath was to give man and his animals one day of physical rest each week. Today's medical science has proven that our bodies need at least one day of rest each week to function at our peak. Deuteronomy 5:15, also clearly states that the Sabbath was to serve as a reminder to the Jews that they had been slaves in Egypt and were delivered from bondage, not by their own efforts, but by the supernatural power of God.
However, in the New Testament, there is an even clearer purpose of the Sabbath stated. In Colossians 2:16-17, Paul reveals that the Sabbath was only a shadow of things to come and is now fulfilled in Christ. Hebrews 4:1-11, talks about a Sabbath rest that is available to, but not necessarily functional in, all New Testament believers. This New Testament Sabbath rest is simply a relationship with God in which we have ceased from doing things by our own efforts and are letting God work through us (Gal. 2:20; Heb. 4:10).
The Sabbath is not a day, but rather a relationship with God through Jesus.
Rest in His love and let Him use you today.
When we fret about the deterioration of the American diet, we tend to focus on the excessive amounts of sugar, salt, and calories we’re now eating.
What we don’t talk about: an important ingredient that’s gone missing as we’ve been filling our plates with more chicken and cheese.
Fiber. Only 5 percent of people in the US meet the Institute of Medicine’s recommended daily target of 25 grams for women and 38 grams for men. That amounts to a population-wide deficiency — what nutritionists call the “fiber gap.”
“People are so busy avoiding carbs, they forget that these foods give [them] important dietary components,” said nutritionist Julie Jones, of St. Catherine University.
Fiber is the closest thing we have to a true superfood — or super-nutrient since it’s a part of so many different foods.Eating a fiber-rich diet is associated with better gastrointestinal health and a reduced risk of heart attacks, strokes, high cholesterol, obesity, type 2 diabetes, even some cancers. That’s because fiber is amazingly helpful in many ways: It slows the absorption of glucose — which evens out our blood sugar levels — and also lowers cholesterol and inflammation.
These benefits grow the more fiber people eat. In a recent Lancet review of 185 studies and 58 clinical trials, researchers found that if 1,000 people transitioned from a low-fiber diet (under 15 grams per day) to a high-fiber diet (25 to 29 grams per day), they’d prevent 13 deaths and six cases of heart disease.
If fiber were a drug, we’d be all over it. But the average American gets just 16 grams per day — half of what we should be eating.
A big reason for that has to do with what we now eat. Instead of munching on fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, and seeds, more than half of the calories Americans consume come from ultra-processed foods. On any given day, nearly 40 percent of Americans eat fast food. These prepared and processed meals tend to be low in fiber, or even fiber free. (A cup of cooked oatmeal has 4 grams of fiber and a pear has 6 grams, while a McDonald’s hamburger has one gram and soda has none.)
This pattern of eating is not just leading to weight gain and obesity-related health issues; it’s hurting our gastrointestinal health in ways researchers are only beginning to understand. That’s because fiber’s benefits are a lot more complicated than our prune-peddling moms and grandmothers appreciated.
Fiber doesn’t just help us poop better — it also nourishes our gut microbiome. The science, while still pretty nascent, is fascinating and it points to the fact that the fiber gap may be even more damaging than we’ve realized.
There are many different types of fiber — and they do different things in our guts
To think of fiber as just Metamucil and bran cereal is to do its complexity a disservice.
Fiber (or “fibers,” as the researchers who study it say) is a group of different kinds of plant-based carbohydrates that affect our gastrointestinal tract in myriad ways. The big difference between fiber and other carbs, like starches and sugar, is that we can’t directly digest or absorb it. And some fiber types can only be broken down by the gut microbiome, the ecology of trillions of diverse bacteria lining our intestines and colon.
Scientists have learned over the years that fiber can be soluble (meaning it dissolves in water), viscose (gel-forming), or fermentable (bacteria can metabolize it) — and they’re just beginning to understand how these different fiber types interact with our gastrointestinal tract and affect our health.
Take cellulose, a type of fiber in fruits and vegetables: it’s insoluble and it’s not fermentable. Hemicellulose, found in bran, can’t be dissolved in water and it’s not gel-forming (viscous) but it is fermentable. Psyllium, in Metamucil, is water soluble and gel-forming but not fermentable. There’s also another class, known as “functional fiber”: industrially processed but natural fibers (such as inulin or fructan) and synthetic fibers (such as polycarbophil), all of which can be added to foods and supplements.
Understanding this variety is relevant to our health because different fibers have different health effects on our gastrointestinal tract, said William Chey, a professor of gastroenterology and nutrition at the University of Michigan. Gel-forming fibers like psyllium, for example, hold on to water. So if your stool is hard, they can help soften it, Chey said. “If your stool is too loose, the water-absorbing capacity can add form.”
Fermentability is also important, he explained, because it reflects whether the gut microbiome views fiber as a food source or not. Fermentable fibers can exacerbate gas and bloating, so people who experience those symptoms might want to adjust their intake.Researchers have demonstrated that a low FODMAP diet — which limits fermentable foods, including fibers such as fructan — can alleviate irritable bowel syndrome.
“Most doctors and people think all fiber is created equal,” Chey added. “But different types of fiber have different properties in the gut, especially as it pertains to the microbiome.”
Most humans have evolved to eat lots of fiber
The second thing to know about fiber is that humans evolved to eat it — a lot of it. Long before we learned to cook, domesticate animals, and put McDonald’s on every corner, our evolutionary cousins — such as chimps and bonobos — followed frugivore diets, subsisting mainly on fiber-heavy fruits, roots, shoots, nuts, and seeds. There’s also ample evidence that early humans went to great lengths to eat fiber-rich carbohydrates, such as oats and acorns.
Today, studies of Tanzania’s Hadza people, one of the few remaining hunter-gatherer groups on the planet, are a useful model for understanding just how much fiber early humans probably ate. Tribe members consume 100 to 150 fiber grams per day — enough to fill some 50 bowls of Cheerios, and 10 times what Americans take in, as NPR reported. Their daily diet is rich in roughage — tubers, berries, baobab fruits — and the Hadza people don’t eat any ultra-processed foods.
Researchers who study the health effects of fiber, including Jens Walter at the University of Alberta, say the Hadza’s enthusiasm for roughage should remind us of how much the human diet has shifted away from fiber.
“It’s really just within the last 5,000 years, and definitely within the last 100 years, that we basically took all the fiber away,” he said. “The average amount of fiber consumed by now is a small fraction to what we evolved with.” (Caveat: There are human communities — like the Inuit in Greenland — who’ve adapted to survive on meat-heavy diets without many plants, but they’re outliers.)
This change isn’t just attributable to the advent of fiber-free processed and fast foods in advanced economies. More than 10,000 years ago, before agriculture and selective plant breeding, early fruits and vegetables were almost unrecognizable by today’s standards.
Generation after generation of farmers have since bred them to be bigger and tastier — in many cases increasing their sugar content and stripping them of fiber. Milling, meanwhile, cleared the whole-grain fractions out of our bread and bakery products, which were a major fiber source, Walter said. And meat replaced fibrous beans and lentils as the main source of protein in many parts of the world. Researchers are now documenting the health impacts of that change.
Why fiber is good for our gut
Because our intestines can’t directly digest fiber, we’ve long seen fiber as beneficial for relieving constipation by adding bulk to stool and promoting regular bowel movements.
Another commonly touted fiber benefit: It can help us feel full, so we eat less and maybe even lose weight. (There’s some debate about fiber’s effect on satiety and appetite. The most recent systematic reviews of the research suggest fiber’s impact here is surprisingly modest, though others note that many studies have focused on supplements instead of whole foods, which are probably more satiating.)
Still, all this “was before people [realized] how much the non-digestible things we eat impact our gut bacteria,” said University of Michigan microbiologist Eric Martens.
Researchers now consider fiber’s role in nourishing our gut microbiome — the ecosystem of microbes in our intestines — to be one of its main health benefits. They don’t yet fully understand why fiber is so good for our gut, but they have some ideas.
Fermentable fibers — which include all soluble fibers and some insoluble fibers — are metabolized or fermented by bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract. That process produces chemicals, including short-chain fatty acids, which are important food sources for our gut bacteria.
They also carry health benefits, Martens said. Short-chain fatty acids have been shown to promote insulin production, so we can better manage the spikes of sugar (or glucose) in our blood, for example, helping to manage type 2 diabetes. In addition, they seem to have anti-inflammatory properties.
“When we don’t consume enough fiber, we are essentially starving our gut microbiome,” said Alberta’s Jens Walter, “which is likely detrimentalfor a variety of reasons. We also probably lose [microbiome] diversity.”
Andrew Gewirtz of Georgia State University was among the researchers who noticed that mice develop metabolic syndrome — obesity and its associated disorders, such as diabetes and high cholesterol — when they are fed a high-fat diet. But when fiber was added to the high-fat diet, most of that metabolic syndrome went away.
“We realized the fiber is very important for our metabolic parameters,” Gewirtz told Vox. So he decided to compare the microbiomes of mice on a fiber-enriched high-fat diet with mice on a low-fiber high-fat diet, to figure out what they might reveal about why extra fiber seemed to offset the health harms of dietary fat. And he found the two sets of mice wound up having really different microbiomes: Rodents on the low-fiber diet had a marked reduction in the total numbers of bacteria in their gut and a less diverse microbiome compared to the mice on the high-fiber diet.
That lack of diversity might have negative health effects — one of them to do with the mucus layer in the gut.Mucus acts as a protective barrier between us and the outside world. It’s constantly being replenished by secretions from the cells that make up our intestines, and it’s covered with a layer of bacteria, part of our microbiome. Fiber feeds the bacteria on top of the mucus layer as it passes through, helping to keep our microbiomes robust, Gewirtz said.
Another fiber study — again in mice — showed what happens when the bacteria in the digestive tract don’t get any fiber. Researchers, including Martens, found the bacteria begin to eat away at the mucus layer, bringing them into closer contact with the intestinal tissue.
“The hypothesis is if we stop feeding the microbiome [fiber], the bacteria will resort more frequently to digesting that mucus barrier as a source of nutrients.”
If bacteria eating up the mucus layer sounds bad, well, it is. The mucus layer keeps pathogens out, and the researchers were able to show that if they introduced a pathogen in the context of a low-fiber diet, it had an easier time getting into the intestine and causing an infection. “The lack of a mucus barrier made the disease get much worse much quicker,” Martens added. “It may irritate the [intestinal] tissue or provoke immune responses,” leaving the mice more vulnerable to disease.
And for now, this science shows us that we should start thinking about fiber differently, Gewirtz said. The exclusive focus on fiber’s constipation-fighting properties misses the big picture: “It’s just one thing that fiber does” and maybe not as important as fiber’s impact on our microbiome.
Christina Animashaun/Vox
Only five percent of Americans meet the recommended fiber target — and that means most miss out on fiber’s benefits. So how can you eat more fiber? Every researcher I spoke to suggested aiming to get a diversity of fiber from a varied menu of whole foods, instead of relying only on supplements or fiber-enriched processed foods, especially the sugary bars and brownies now being marketed as fiber-delivery tools.
To do that, consider snacking on whole fruits, replacing white bread with whole-grain alternatives, eating potatoes with the skins on, and tossing berries, nuts, and seeds on your yogurt, cereals, or salads, Hannah Holscher, an assistant professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois, suggested. “Lots of small changes can add up.”
If you like smoothies, throw your fruits, veggies, and nuts in a blender. Contrary to the hype about smoothies degrading fiber, some of the researchers I spoke to actually encouraged this approach. “Even baking does not destroy most fibers,” Walter said.
“[The] natural sources are probably better for both your digestive health and your microbiome. They’re more diverse from the chemical level,” Martens added. “If you can get 25 to 30 grams per day from beans, nuts, vegetables and fruits, and whole grains — that’s a good place to start.”
John 5:14, "Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee."
JOHN 5:1-15
In saying this, Jesus shows that sin causes the tragedies that come into our lives. The reason for holiness in the life of the believer is that when we obey sin, we yield ourselves to Satan, the author of that sin. Yielding to sin is yielding to a person - Satan. God doesn't impute the sin to us but the devil does. Our actions either release the power of Satan or the power of God in us.
Although God is not imputing our sins unto us, we cannot afford the luxury of sin because it allows Satan to have access to us. When a Christian sins and allows the devil opportunity to produce his death in their life, the way to stop it is to confess the sin, and God who is faithful and just, will take the forgiveness that is already present in our born again spirit and release it in our flesh. This removes Satan and his strongholds.
The sins of a Christian don't make him a sinner any more than the righteous acts of a sinner make him righteous. Sin is a very deadly thing that even Christians should avoid at all costs, but it does not determine our standing with the Lord. A person who is born again is not "in" the flesh even though he may walk "after" the flesh.
What is the motive for living a separated life? We live a separated life because our nature has been changed. We were darkness, now we are light (Eph. 5:8). Many people argue for holiness in order to obtain relationship with God. We need to live holy lives because of the relationship that we already have. It's the nature of a Christian to walk in the light and not in darkness.
If Christians were rightly informed of who they are and what they have in Christ, holiness would just naturally flow out of them. It's their nature.
Mark 2:5, "When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee."
MATTHEW 9: 1-8, MARK 2: 1-12, LUKE 5: 17-26
Faith can be seen. Just as Jesus explained to Nicodemus in John 3:8, faith is like the wind. Faith itself is invisible, but saving faith is always accompanied by corresponding actions which can be seen (Jas. 2:17-26).
It was not only the faith of the paralytic that Jesus saw, but also that of his four friends (Mk. 2:3). This demonstrates the effect our intercession in faith can have upon others. Jesus saw their faith. However, although our faith released on behalf of others is powerful, it is not a substitute for their faith. It is simply a help. The person who is to receive the miracle must have some degree of faith, also.
Even Jesus could not produce healing in those who would not believe (Mk. 6:5-6). In this instance, it is evident that the paralytic himself also had faith because he was not resistant to the four who brought him; and he got up and obeyed Jesus' command (v. 7) without having to be helped.
Why did Jesus minister forgiveness of sins to this man instead of meeting the obvious need he had of healing?
God is more concerned with the spiritual health of a man than his physical health.
Or, Jesus, through a word of knowledge, may have perceived that the real heart-cry of this man was to be reconciled to God.
In some instances (not all - Jn. 9:2-3), sickness was a direct result of sin.
Therefore, Jesus would be dealing with the very root of the paralysis. Whether or not this man's paralysis was a direct result of sin, sin in our life (that has not been forgiven) will allow Satan to keep us in his bondage. Through Jesus' act of forgiving this man's sins, the paralytic was free to receive all the blessings of God, which certainly included healing.
The point Jesus is making is that both forgiveness of sins and the healing of the paralytic are humanly impossible. If Jesus could do one of these things, He could do the other. He then healed the paralytic showing that He did, indeed, have the authority to forgive sins. In Jesus' day, the people were more inclined to accept His willingness to heal than they were to accept His forgiveness of sins without the keeping of the law.
Today, the church world basically accepts forgiveness of sins, but doubts His willingness to heal. They were never meant to be separated.
The way that you can tell whether a person is genuine or not is by the fruit they produce.
This fruit is speaking of lifestyle. Jesus made the point that you don't get bad fruit from a good tree, and you don't get good fruit from a bad tree. Many people say one thing, but their actions speak so loudly that you really can't hear what they are saying. If you are in doubt about whether a person is genuine or not, or whether you should receive from them and follow their teaching, look at the fruit they are producing.
In evaluating ministers and ministries, more attention should be given to the fruit that is being produced. Failure to do this could lead someone to reject and even discredit a minister who simply makes a mistake or is wrong in one area. Every minister has shortcomings, just as every other member of the Body of Christ does. But that doesn't mean his ministry is bad. Look at the fruit.
Fruit is the true test of ministers and ministries. If people are being saved, if lives are being changed, there is good fruit. Even though the minister may say something bad and make mistakes, the fruit is good.
Therefore, you can say that the tree is good. When a person says all of the right things and may seem sincere, but you see the lives of people around them shattered and torn, and in confusion and distress, then the fruit is bad. You can judge the effectiveness of a person by the fruit that they are producing in their life. In ministry you can judge the effectiveness of a minister by the fruit that his ministry is producing.
Today, make sure that the fruit that comes from your life is positive. Make sure that you are making a positive impact on people's lives, that you are turning people to the Lord and not leaving them hurt and confused. People are looking at you to see what type of fruit you are bearing.
The Bible has plenty to say about forgiveness. Where the Old Testament focuses mainly on God’s forgiveness of individuals or groups, the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels also address how human beings can and should forgive each other.
Those teachings, however, are a precarious guide for 21st-century human relations. While Jesus mentions forgiveness several times, he never defines the term, leaving contemporary listeners to fill in the blanks. Is forgiveness something a person does,
i.e., does it indicate an action, such as reconciliation or amnesty?
Does forgiveness require action on the part of the offender?
Is forgiveness something a person feels?
While modern conceptions of forgiveness focus mainly on its emotional dimensions, in Jesus’ first-century context, forgiveness had more concrete implications. The Greek word translated as “forgive” in the New Testament, aphiÄ“mi, carried a wide range of meanings, including to remit (a debt), to leave (something or someone) alone, to allow (an action), to leave, to send away, to desert or abandon, and even to divorce.
In fact, the Greek word appears 146 times in the New Testament, but it is translated in most English versions as “forgive” only 38 of those times. Considering the entire range of meanings of this word gives us some indication of what “forgiveness” might have meant to listeners in Jesus’ first-century context. Most of all, forgiveness was an action rather than a feeling, and so our contemporary ideas about forgiveness as an emotional state must come from sources other than the biblical text.
Here I submit five prevailing “myths” about forgiveness that have come into Christian belief and practice. I call them myths not because they are not worthwhile guides for moral behavior, but because they do not actually have their roots in the New Testament. Separating what Jesus taught about forgiveness from what we have assumed and inferred puts a fine point on how Christians can define and practice forgiveness today.
1. Jesus teaches unconditional forgiveness.
Nowhere in the Gospels does Jesus teach that forgiveness should be offered unconditionally. In Matthew, Jesus says that church members should forgive each other “seventy times seven times” (18:22), a number that symbolizes boundlessness. However, even though he preaches boundless forgiveness, he does not indicate whether that forgiveness has conditions. “The author of the Gospel of Luke repeats the same story, but adds a condition to forgiveness, stating that church members must forgive boundlessly “if there is repentance” (17:3).
Further, in Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus warns his disciples that there is a sin that will not be forgiven: “Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 12:31-32; Mark 3:29; Luke 12:10). Blasphemy (Greek: blasphemÄ“o) means to speak against or slander. The meaning of “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit” is open to interpretation, but it is clear that there is a sin that God will not forgive under any circumstances. If Jesus teaches unconditional forgiveness, then God must be exempt from that teaching.
2. Jesus forgives the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11).
Perhaps one of the best-known stories about Jesus comes from the Gospel of John, when Jesus confronts a crowd about to stone a woman who was caught in the crime of adultery. Jesus interrupts the melee, saying, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). When no one moves to attack the woman, Jesus says to her, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again” (8:11).
This story is often cited as an example of Christian forgiveness. However, the Greek term most commonly translated as “forgive,” aphiÄ“mi, does not appear in this story. Jesus’ refusal to condemn the woman is not the same as an offer of forgiveness. Further, Jewish wisdom teaches that only a victim may forgive an offender. Since the woman has not done anything to Jesus, he has nothing to forgive her for. His refusal to condemn her is more a lesson to the crowd about judgment than it is an expression of forgiveness.
3. Jesus forgives his attackers from the cross.
Luke’s depiction of Jesus on the cross is often cited as the quintessential example of unconditional forgiveness. As he is being crucified, Jesus cries out, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Readers often take this to mean that Jesus forgives those who are attacking him. However, a closer look at the syntax reveals that Jesus is not, in fact, forgiving his attackers; rather, he is praying that God might do so.
It is possible that the lack of repentance from his attackers prevents Jesus from forgiving the men directly, since he has taught his followers that repentance is a requirement for forgiveness. Also, earlier in the Gospel of Luke Jesus instructs his disciples to “pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:38). While his prayer from the cross is a perfect model of this teaching, it is not an explicit act of forgiveness.
4. “Turn the other cheek” refers to forgiveness.
Just after he gives the instruction to pray for one’s enemies, Jesus tells his followers, “If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also” (Luke 6:29; the identical teaching appears in Matthew 5:39). Some interpret this instruction — given by Jesus as antithetical to “an eye for an eye” — to mean that the proper response to violence or aggression is to ignore it. However, in the time of Jesus the act of turning one’s cheek when slapped was not a sign of acquiescence. Turning the cheek would force the aggressor to strike with the left hand, which was seen as unclean, or the open right hand, which would signal equality. Thus, turning the other cheek would have been seen as an act of rebellion.
Further, just as the “eye for an eye” teaching served as a check for vengeance, Jesus’ instruction to turn the other cheek applies to a person who is slapped and does not apply to more severe acts of violence. Nowhere does Jesus suggest that turning the other cheek is an act of forgiveness.
5. Forgiveness sets you free.
Theologian Lewis Smedes writes, “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” Much of Christian self-help literature touts the emotional and physical benefits of forgiveness. And while contemporary understandings of forgiveness may very well have positive psychological outcomes for those suffering in the aftermath of mistreatment and abuse, the idea that forgiveness is good for the forgiver, that it “sets you free,” does not come from the Bible.
The closest parallel comes after the parable in which Jesus describes an unforgiving servant being condemned to prison and torture. Then he warns, “So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart” (Matthew 18:35). In this case, forgiving is in the best interest of the one forgiving in order to avoid an afterlife of torture and abuse. However, the concern here is not a psychological one, but rather a concern for salvation.
Again, it may well be true that “Forgiveness sets you free.” However, the idea of forgiveness as a psychological or emotional condition traces to 18th-century moral philosophy, not first-century Christian writings. Forgiveness in the time of Jesus was an action verb, and Jesus’ instructions served as checks for the health of the community, both on earth and in the world to come. There is nothing in the Bible that says that forgiveness is good for the physical or mental health of the forgiver.
It is anachronistic to suggest otherwise. {anachronism meaning: 1. a person, thing, or idea that exists out of its time in history, especially one that happened or existed later than the period being shown, ...}
I have spent most of my adult life seeking the truth and attempting to live a Righteous life! While not always as successful as desired - I have come closer than many whom I have observed! Nor this does not mean that I am some supermodel of perfection absolutely not! Actually more like just a little better than I should have been! When you really look at life and how so many people live it - you come to notice that there is a lost wrong. Now I am not here to attempt to correct all that is possible - because I know it is not possible for a human! What purpose will cause each of us to stop and notice how we are living from the depths of our own heart! Once you see or take note as to your place in life, then you can move forward toward improvement. You must do it, I can not change anyone except myself!
I will attempt to post things that can aid you in becoming a better person! Stop back as we review this decisive action!
What is more valuable or important than knowing Him?
Matthew 6:21, "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
MATTHEW 6:19-21
If isolated from the rest of God's Word, there are some scriptures that could be interpreted to mean that having money or wealth is wrong. However there are other scriptures that speak of riches as a blessing. The harmony between these two apparently opposite positions is that money is neither good nor bad. It is the love of money that is the root of all evil, and many have committed the sin of loving money who don't even have a dime (1 Tim. 6:10)! The love of things (covetousness) is idolatry, and this is what Jesus is addressing.
Because it is so easy to lust after money and the things it can provide, the Lord established a system whereby prosperity is a by-product of putting God first. As Matthew 6:33 states, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you." We should no more reject the blessing of prosperity than we should covet it, which is idolatry.
The reason for not laying up treasures on this earth is so that we will not have our hearts drawn away from the things of God. A key to success in the Kingdom of God is singleness of purpose. We don't have the capacity to do our best in two areas at the same time. If we will simply put God and His Kingdom first in every area of our lives, He will add to us all the wealth that we need.
What is more valuable or important than knowing Him?
** Here is an article on how rouge A.I. can overcome Processors programs to produce some disastrous consequences which can or have disabled many of systems which were on producing many of the modern industrial computerized control ls. * I have made it known that based upon my many years of experience as technical support engineer of Computer Systems around the world working for Emerson Electric - Computer Power of St Louis Mo., - that unless a human is involved in the A.I, it can become a major problem or loss!
Seek the truth: John 8:31-32(NKJV)
The Truth Shall Make You Free
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If youabide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.32 And you shall know thetruth, andthe truth shall make you free.”
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Artical from MIT news:
Triton is the world’s most murderous malware, and it’s spreading
The rogue code can disable safety systems designed to prevent catastrophic industrial accidents. It was discovered in the Middle East, but the hackers behind it are now targeting companies in North America and other parts of the world, too.
As an experienced cyber first responder, Julian Gutmanis had been called plenty of times before to help companies deal with the fallout from cyber attacks. But when the Australian security consultant was summoned to a petrochemical plant in Saudi Arabia in the summer of 2017, what he found made his blood run cold.
The hackers had deployed malicious software, or malware, that let them take over the plant’s safety instrumented systems. These physical controllers and their associated software are the last line of defense against life-threatening disasters. They are supposed to kick in if they detect dangerous conditions, returning processes to safe levels or shutting them down altogether by triggering things like shutoff valves and pressure-release mechanisms.
The malware made it possible to take over these systems remotely. Had the intruders disabled or tampered with them, and then used other software to make equipment at the plant malfunction, the consequences could have been catastrophic. Fortunately, a flaw in the code gave the hackers away before they could do any harm. It triggered a response from a safety system in June 2017, which brought the plant to a halt. Then in August, several more systems were tripped, causing another shutdown.
The first outage was mistakenly attributed to a mechanical glitch; after the second, the plant's owners called in investigators. The sleuths found the malware, which has since been dubbed “Triton” (or sometimes “Trisis”) for the Triconex safety controller model that it targeted, which is made by Schneider Electric, a French company.
In a worst-case scenario, the rogue code could have led to the release of toxic hydrogen sulfide gas or caused explosions, putting lives at risk both at the facility and in the surrounding area.
Gutmanis recalls that dealing with the malware at the petrochemical plant, which had been restarted after the second incident, was a nerve-racking experience. “We knew that we couldn’t rely on the integrity of the safety systems,” he says. “It was about as bad as it could get.”
In attacking the plant, the hackers crossed a terrifying Rubicon. This was the first time the cybersecurity world had seen code deliberately designed to put lives at risk. Safety instrumented systems aren’t just found in petrochemical plants; they’re also the last line of defense in everything from transportation systems to water treatment facilities to nuclear power stations.
Triton’s discovery raises questions about how the hackers were able to get into these critical systems. It also comes at a time when industrial facilities are embedding connectivity in all kinds of equipment—a phenomenon known as the industrial internet of things. This connectivity lets workers remotely monitor equipment and rapidly gather data so they can make operations more efficient, but it also gives hackers more potential targets.
Those behind Triton are now on the hunt for new victims. Dragos, a firm that specializes in industrial cybersecurity, and where Gutmanis now works, says it’s seen evidence over the past year or so that the hacking group that built the malware and inserted it into the Saudi plant is using some of the same digital tradecraft to research targets in places outside the Middle East, including North America. And it’s creating new strains of the code in order to compromise a broader range of safety instrumented systems.
Red alert
News of Triton’s existence was revealed in December 2017, though the identity of the plant’s owner has been kept secret. (Gutmanis and other experts involved in the initial investigation decline to name the company because they fear doing so might dissuade future targets from sharing information about cyberattacks privately with security researchers.)
Some notable cyber-physical threats
2010 💥 StuxnetDeveloped by America’s National Security Agency, working in conjunction with Israeli intelligence, the malware was a computer worm, or code that replicates itself from computer to computer without human intervention. Most likely smuggled in on a USB stick, it targeted programmable logic controllers which govern automated processes, and caused the destruction of centrifuges used in the enrichment of uranium at a facility in Iran.
2013 🕵️♂️ HavexHavex was designed to snoop on systems controlling industrial equipment, presumably so that hackers could work out how to mount attacks on the gear. The code was a remote access Trojan, or RAT, which is cyber-speak for software that lets hackers take control of computers remotely. Havex targeted thousands of US, European, and Canadian businesses, and especially ones in the energy and petrochemical industries.
2015 ⚡️ BlackEnergyBlackEnergy, which is another Trojan, had been circulating in the criminal underworld for a while before it was adapted by Russian hackers to launch an attack in December 2015 on several Ukranian power companies that helped trigger blackouts. The malware was used to gather intelligence about the power companies’ systems, and to steal log-in credentials from employees.
2016 ⚡️ CrashOverrideAlso known as Industroyer, this was developed by Russian cyber warriors too, who used it to mount an attack on a part of Ukraine’s electrical grid in December 2016. The malware replicated the protocols, or communications languages, that different elements of a grid used to talk to one another. This let it do things like show that a circuit breaker is closed when it’s really open. The code was used to strike an electrical transmission substation in Kiev, blacking out part of the city for a short time.
Over the past couple of years, cybersecurity firms have been racing to deconstruct the malware—and to work out who’s behind it. Their research paints a worrying picture of a sophisticated cyber weapon built and deployed by a determined and patient hacking group whose identity has yet to be established with certainty.
The hackers appear to have been inside the petrochemical company’s corporate IT network since 2014. From there, they eventually found a way into the plant’s own network, most likely through a hole in a poorly configured digital firewall that was supposed to stop unauthorized access. They then got into an engineering workstation, either by exploiting an unpatched flaw in its Windows code or by intercepting an employee’s log in credentials.
Since the workstation communicated with the plant’s safety instrumented systems, the hackers were able to learn the make and model of the systems’ hardware controllers, as well as the versions of their firmware—software that’s embedded in a device’s memory and governs how it communicates with other things.
It’s likely they next acquired an identical Schneider machine and used it to test the malware they developed. This made it possible to mimic the protocol, or set of digital rules, that the engineering workstation used to communicate with the safety systems. The hackers also found a “zero-day vulnerability”, or previously unknown bug, in the Triconex model’s firmware. This let them inject code into the safety systems’ memories that ensured they could access the controllers whenever they wanted to.
Thus, the intruders could have ordered the safety instrumented systems to disable themselves and then used other malware to trigger an unsafe situation at the plant.
The results could have been horrific. The world’s worst industrial disaster to date also involved a leak of poisonous gases. In December 1984 a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, released a vast cloud of toxic fumes, killing thousands and causing severe injuries to many more. The cause that time was poor maintenance and human error. But malfunctioning and inoperable safety systems at the plant meant that its last line of defense failed.
More red alerts
There have been only a few previous examples of hackers using cyberspace to try to disrupt the physical world. They include Stuxnet, which caused hundreds of centrifuges at an Iranian nuclear plant to spin out of control and destroy themselves in 2010, and CrashOverride, which Russian hackers used in 2016 to strike at Ukraine’s power grid. (Our sidebar provides a summary of these and other notable cyber-physical attacks.)
However, not even the most pessimistic of cyber-Cassandras saw malware like Triton coming. “Targeting safety systems just seemed to be off limits morally and really hard to do technically,” explains Joe Slowik, a former information warfare officer in the US Navy, who also works at Dragos.
Other experts were also shocked when they saw news of the killer code. “Even with Stuxnet and other malware, there was never a blatant, flat-out intent to hurt people,” says Bradford Hegrat, a consultant at Accenture who specializes in industrial cybersecurity.
Ariel Davis
It’s almost certainly no coincidence that the malware appeared just as hackers from countries like Russia, Iran, and North Korea stepped up their probing of “critical infrastructure” sectors vital to the smooth running of modern economies, such as oil and gas companies, electrical utilities, and transport networks.
In a speech last year, Dan Coats, the US director of national intelligence, warned that the danger of a crippling cyberattack on critical American infrastructure was growing. He drew a parallel with the increased cyber chatter US intelligence agencies detected among terrorist groups before the World Trade Center attack in 2001. “Here we are nearly two decades later, and I’m here to say the warning lights are blinking red again,” said Coats. “Today, the digital infrastructure that serves this country is literally under attack.”
At first, Triton was widely thought to be the work of Iran, given that it and Saudi Arabia are archenemies. But cyber-whodunnits are rarely straightforward. In a report published last October, FireEye, a cybersecurity firm that was called in at the very beginning of the Triton investigation, fingered a different culprit: Russia.
The hackers behind Triton had tested elements of the code used during the intrusion to make it harder for antivirus programs to detect. FireEye’s researchers found a digital file they had left behind on the petrochemical company’s network, and they were then able to track down other files from the same test bed. These contained several names in Cyrillic characters, as well as an IP address that had been used to launch operations linked to the malware.
That address was registered to the Central Scientific Research Institute of Chemistry and Mechanics in Moscow, a government-owned organization with divisions that focus on critical infrastructure and industrial safety. FireEye also said it had found evidence that pointed to the involvement of a professor at the institute, though it didn’t name the person. Nevertheless, the report noted that FireEye hadn’t found specific evidence proving definitively that the institute had developed Triton.
Researchers are still digging into the malware’s origins, so more theories about who’s behind it may yet emerge. Gutmanis, meanwhile, is keen to help companies learn important lessons from his experience at the Saudi plant. In a presentation at the S4X19 industrial security conference in January, he outlined a number of them. They included the fact that the victim of the Triton attack had ignored multiple antivirus alarms triggered by the malware, and that it had failed to spot some unusual traffic across its networks. Workers at the plant had also left physical keys that control settings on Triconex systems in a position that allowed the machines’ software to be accessed remotely.
Triton: a timeline
2014Hackers gain access to network of Saudi plant
June 2017First plant shutdown
August 2017Second plant shutdown
December 2017Cyberattack made public
October 2018Fireeye says Triton most likely built in Russian lab
January 2019More details emerge of Triton incident response
If that makes the Saudi business sound like a security basket case, Gutmanis says it isn’t.
“I’ve been into a lot of plants in the US that were nowhere near as mature [in their approach to cybersecurity] as this organization was,” he explains.
Other experts note that Triton shows government hackers are now willing to go after even relatively obscure and hard-to-crack targets in industrial facilities. Safety instrumented systems are highly tailored to safeguard different kinds of processes, so crafting malware to control them involves a great deal of time and painstaking effort. Schneider Electric’s Triconex controller, for instance, comes in dozens of different models, and each of these could be loaded with different versions of firmware.
That hackers went to such great lengths to develop Triton has been a wake-up call for Schneider and other makers of safety instrumented systems -
** 3 companies like Emerson in the US and Yokogawa in Japan. Schneider has drawn praise for publicly sharing details of how the hackers targeted its Triconex model at the Saudi plant, including highlighting the zero-day bug that has since been patched. But during his January presentation, Gutmanis criticized the firm for failing to communicate enough with investigators in the immediate aftermath of the attack.
Schneider responded by saying it had cooperated fully with the company whose plant was targeted, as well as with the US Department of Homeland Security and other agencies involved in investigating Triton. It has hired more people since the event to help it respond to future incidents, and has also beefed up the security of the firmware and protocols used in its devices.
Andrew Kling, a Schneider executive, says an important lesson from Triton’s discovery is that industrial companies and equipment manufacturers need to focus even more on areas that may seem like highly unlikely targets for hackers but could cause disaster if compromised. These include things like software applications that are rarely used and older protocols that govern machine-to-machine communication. “You may think nobody’s ever going to bother breaking [an] obscure protocol that’s not even documented,” Kling says, “but you need to ask, what are the consequences if they do?”
Ariel Davis
An analog future?
Over the past decade or so, companies have been adding internet connectivity and sensors to all kinds of industrial equipment. The data captured is being used for everything from predictive maintenance—which means using machine-learning models to better anticipate when equipment needs servicing—to fine-tuning production processes. There’s also been a big push to control processes remotely through things like smartphones and tablets.
All this can make businesses much more efficient and productive, which explains why they are expected to spend around $42 billion this year on industrial Internet gear such as smart sensors and automated control systems, according to the ARC Group, which tracks the market. But the risks are also clear: the more connected equipment there is, the more targets hackers have to aim at.
To keep attackers out, industrial companies typically rely on a strategy known as “defense in depth.” This means creating multiple layers of security, starting with firewalls to separate corporate networks from the internet. Other layers are intended to prevent hackers who do get in from accessing plant networks and then industrial control systems.
These defenses also include things like antivirus tools to spot malware and, increasingly, artificial-intelligence software that tries to spot anomalous behavior inside IT systems. Then, as the ultimate backstop, there are the safety instrumented systems and physical fail-safes. The most critical systems typically have multiple physical backups to guard against the failure of any one element.
The strategy has proved robust. But the rise of nation-state hackers with the time, money, and motivation to target critical infrastructure, as well as the increasing use of internet-connected systems, means the past may well not be a reliable guide to the future.
Russia, in particular, has shown that it’s willing to weaponize software and deploy it against physical targets in Ukraine, which it has used as a testing ground for its cyber arms kit. And Triton’s deployment in Saudi Arabia shows that determined hackers will spend years of prodding and probing to find ways to drill through all those defensive layers.
Fortunately, the Saudi plant’s attackers were intercepted, and we now know a great deal more about how they worked. But it’s a sobering reminder that, just like other developers, hackers make mistakes too. What if the bug they inadvertently introduced, instead of triggering a safe shutdown, had disabled the plant’s safety systems just when a human error or other mistake had caused one of the critical processes in the plant to go haywire?
The result could have been a catastrophe even if the hackers hadn’t intended to cause it.
Experts at places like the US’s Idaho National Laboratory are urging companies to revisit all their operations in the light of Triton and other cyber-physical threats, and to radically reduce, or eliminate, the digital pathways hackers could use to get to critical processes.
Businesses may chafe at the costs of doing that, but Triton is a reminder that the risks are increasing. Gutmanis thinks more attacks using the world’s most murderous malware are all but inevitable. “While this was the first,” he says, “I’d be surprised if it turns out to be the last.”
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