Young people at YWAP's Teen Action Night were treated to a special presentation that brought Dr. Martin Luther King's words to life. 
     When Leo Kayembe stepped in front to the crowd, he gave a powerful and deeply moving reenactment of Dr. King's "Mountain Top Speech."
     As they listened to history come alive before them, you could sense their awe and appreciation. Leo's intensity planted a deep respect in the hearts of the young crowd.
     Prepping for his presentation was a token of his love and respect to a towering figure, a man who loved America in spite of her unfaithfulness and still gave his life for her. It's a landmark speech, the last one he ever gave which turned out to be more prophetic than anyone could have ever imagined. Onward to the promised land..... - This last paragraph are Leo's words as he describes his own admiration and respect for a man who changed the world and loved God.
     Thank you Leo. Your words left an indelible imprint on the hearts of the young people and their families. Jesus loves you and so do we.

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           Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Friends, Ywapsters & Buffalonians!
          Youth With A Purpose is proud to announce the appointment of Mr. Derek D. Murphy as our new Media Director at Teen Action Night. Mr. Murphy has accepted a YWAP Leadership Role and takes over the responsibilities of photographer and videographer for our Youth Program at The Bread of Life. We are honored to have Derek as a member of the YWAP Leadership Team. Thank you Derek, Jesus loves you and so do we.  
          Teen Action Night is a program for guys and girls 12-18 yrs. old. We get physical exercise, listen to an inspirational speaker, study Biblical Leadership, eat a full course meal, make new friends and SMILE A LOT! Call 716-830-8240 if you'd like to know more.

     YWAP Teen Action Night Season Two was a night to remember!
     When young folks get exercise while they're smiling, hearts get warmer.
     After getting them hungry we feed them, after we've fed them some Bread of Life.
     Plenty of time remains for your kids to get involved as we've only just begun! Exercise, fun, food, inspiration, Biblical leadership and mentoring for 12-18 yr. old guys and girls. We help young people and their families become Christ-centered mentors for the next generation.

           Awake and unable to sleep at 1:30 AM, I had my first cup of coffee in 21 days. My first fast 0f 2019 is over. I spent my first hour of being awake reading a book called: "The Way To God" by Dwight L. Moody." As I was reading, I posted several verses on Facebook. The last one I posted was: 
                                          “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:16
          After I shut down my tablet and tried to sleep, thoughts about what Christ endured entered my mind. Then, peoples names and faces passed by my thoughts, I prayed for them all individually. After awhile my thoughts began to focus on people with back pain. So I prayed for them before I finally faded into a deep sleep. Now, at this later hour of the morning, I continue to pray in the same manner. During my prayers, God brought to mind the suffering of Jesus as he endure back pain through scourging (whipping) and the weight of His own cross (which He needed help with.) The caption to the picture above is from John 19:1 in The Living Bible. The picture was taken at Canaan In The Desert Prayer Garden in Phoenix, Arizona.
​

Author's Note: This article is part of a 21-day Series called, "YWAP Fast 2019." Each year, the YWAP Directors and countless other folks begin the New Year on a 21 Day Fast. We set aside extra time to honor God and seek His will for the New Year. The study follows the word “love” as it appears 280 times in 310 verses in the King James Bible. This series will eventually be written in book form as a model to teach future YWAP generations. We welcome your comments or questions. Jesus loves you and so do we.

          As soon as the words left her mouth, the tears from her eyes seemed to follow her words. Walking away from the pool table, she started to retrieve her coat and belongings. She'd broken a rule and knew the penalty for her actions was to be expelled from the youth center for the rest of the day. In the blink of an eye, my heart was cut. There had to be a better way, a more excellent way to handle a broken boundary.
          The rules in the youth center at Holy Cross were fairly simple; no cursing, stealing, bullying, fighting, play fighting or personal displays of affection. We had a code that we tried our best to teach and live by:
                    "Positive Words Only - Are Spoken, Negative Words Make People Feel Broken."
The young lady had uttered a few curse words after being taunted by some guys. She lost her cool and defended herself in the only manner she knew how, by throwing curse words at immature young boys. It was normal in our culture for people to use what we once considered foul language. As soon as the words left her mouth, the realization of her guilt and subsequent penalty brought about  instant shame and remorse. Some things don't go together very well, like anger and cursing in young girls or a skunk in a rose bush. The story of Jesus standing by a woman about to be stoned came to my mind. He questioned the would be stoners until, one by one, they put their stones down and left.
 “Is there anyone here who has never sinned?
The person without sin can throw the first stone at this woman.”
Then Jesus knelt down again and wrote on the ground.
Those who heard Jesus began to leave one by one.
​The older men left first, and then the others."
John 8:7-9 International Children's Bible    
Jesus did not condemn the woman and I couldn't throw this girl out of the youth center either.
          I stopped her as she headed for the door and said, "Maybe there's a better way to handle this." We talked about what happed and how she reacted to being teased by the boys. I told her that sometimes women have to rise above the taunting's of men. I opened a Bible to the story of a Judge named Deborah who lead a nation when men wouldn't step up to lead. I asked her to take it home and read it. For the rest of the day at the youth center she helped younger children make positive signs with their crayons. I told her my new name for her was "Deborah." I still call her that today because I believe in her as a leader for God.    

“And the Lord
​thy God
will circumcise
thine heart,
and the heart of
thy seed,
to love the Lord
thy God
with all
thine heart,
and with all
thy soul,
that
thou mayest live.” 
Deuteronomy 30:6

          Personal pollution in our hearts is like a brick wall that blocks out the grace of God. If a skunk lifts its tail and lets go of its pungent spray under a rose bush, you won't be smelling the roses! Sin, guilt and shame might as well be personal pollution that keeps us from smelling like the aroma of Christ. 
          God's Love is conditional. Circumcision is the spiritual cutting away of anything that separates us from God. Recognition of our sin is only the beginning of receiving His Love. God's regenerating grace will remove and renew our hearts after the sin has been removed. It's like taking death out of a cemetery as all of the dead bodies are raised to life (keep this in a spiritual perspective.) 
          When conviction comes from the Holy Spirit, it's the beginning or our realization that something is wrong in our hearts. We don't feel right in our inner selves. Yes, there's a skink in the rose bush of our lives. God wants to circumcise us with His love so that we "mayest live." He has promises for us, and our children of showing us the greatest lives we can possibly live. 
“We have become the unmistakable aroma of
the victory of the Anointed One to God--
a perfume of life to those being saved
and the odor of death to those who are perishing.
The unbelievers smell a deadly stench that leads to death,
but believers smell the life-giving aroma that leads to abundant life.
And who of us can rise to this challenge?
For unlike so many, we are not peddlers of God’s Word
who water down the message.
We are those sent from God with pure motives,
who speak in the sight of God from our union with Christ.” 
2 Corinthians 2:15-17 The Passion Translation

Thank You God for physical reminders of your spiritual Love.
You gave us a world that is corrupted and yet,
You have planted Your incorruptible Seed in us.
Prune away our selfishness.
Cut away anything that separates us from You.
Make us into a pleasing aroma of Life
That leads others to know Christ.
In Jesus Name.
Amen.

Author's Note: This article is part of a 21-day Series called, "YWAP Fast 2019." Each year, the YWAP Directors and countless other folks begin the New Year on a 21 Day Fast. We set aside extra time to honor God and seek His will for the New Year. The study follows the word “love” as it appears 280 times in 310 verses in the King James Bible. This series will eventually be written in book form as a model to teach future YWAP generations. We welcome your comments or questions. Jesus loves you and so do we.

          Everyday guys get out of jail and everyday guys go back to jail. Sometimes they get out and they're greeted by someone who loves them. Sometimes they get out and a gang is waiting to kill them. Some guys even successfully live life to the fullest and become contributing members of society. The sad fact is, most guys end up back in jail.
          The rate of recidivism, or the rate at which released inmates are arrested and reincarcerated is about 75%. That means that three out of four released inmates will go back to jail. Only one in four released inmates will successfully stay "cage free." I don't know how many are killed by gangs who've been waiting to get revenge.
          It may be because we are raising generations of young men who have allowed institutionalization to become the accepted norm in their lives. Guys grow up fatherless, their dads are missing or in prison. A friend of mine, Tom Burger, was a Prison Chaplain for almost 20 years. He once told me that he saw three generations of one family locked up in the same prison. In another instance, he was approached by an inmate who was filled with anxiety because his son was going to be locked up in the same prison with him. When Tom asked him why he was nervous, he said that he never met his son before.
          Is society a safe haven for released inmates who have served their sentence's? How do we lower the rate of recidivism? How can we keep young guys from getting arrested in the first place? Can we teach them that it should not be the norm to spend part of your life in jail? I believe the answer is found in disrupting the pattern of fatherlessness. Tom Burger developed a program that he used in prison called "How To Be A Great Dad." It was successful and guys graduated. The time is now to take that program to new levels outside the prison walls. Time is of the essence to help dads become responsible fathers who respect the mothers of their children.
          In the upcoming months, the Directors of Youth With A Purpose will be developing a plan to launch a Great Dads Program in Buffalo. We hope to begin in September 2019 one location at The Bread Of Life in South Buffalo. Eventually we hope to have the Court System mandate that young men attend the Great Dads Program for 13 weeks. If you're interested in attending the program or hosting your own Great Dads Program, please let us know. 716-830-8240, [email protected]

“If thou shalt keep
all these commandments
to do them,
which I command thee this day,
to love the Lord thy God,
and to walk ever in his ways;
then shalt thou add three cities more for thee,
​beside these three:.”
Deuteronomy 19:9

          The word "If" is a tiny word with a large impact. God once again lays out His conditions for his people to enlarge their territory. A prisoner getting out of jail has a lot of hope for enlarging the enjoyment of his life. The cities that God was speaking about in this passage were called "cities of refuge." God outlines His law concerning people who killed somebody accidentally, called "the slayer." The slayer could flee to a city of refuge and be safe if they truly were innocent of having previously hating the one who died accidentally. 
          When someone was killed, people wanted revenge. The law allowed for execution of guilty killers. The family would choose one of their own to exact revenge upon the slayer. That person was called the "blood avenger." The people were given a guarantee from God that He would enlarge their territory and would build three more cities of refuge.  The purpose of building extra cities was to ensure the safety of a slayer fleeing a blood avenger. If the distance between refuge cities was too great, the slayer may not be able to reach them before the blood avenger came and killed him. 
         History shows they never built those three extra cities. Just like the inmate who's released from jail and breaks the law causing his return to jail, the Israelites turned from God. Instead of enlarging their territory, it was taken from them. It seems to me the Israelites were practicing their own act of recidivism. Can you see the bigger picture here?
          A refuge city was a place where folks could go after they did something without purpose or out of ignorance. Jesus is a Savior to folks who've been ignorant to God's Love. Ignorance causes separation. The slayer had to stay in the city of refuge until it was proven he was innocent of murder. If he couldn't prove his innocence and there was no proof of his guilt (they didn't protect guilty people,) he stayed in the refuge city until the death of the high priest. Jesus was our High Priest who died for us so that we could be released from the ignorance of our sin.
          Jesus is like our refuge city. All of us are like slayers who've sinned and fallen short of God's love through our ignorance. Prisons are full of fathers who left their son's fatherless. God is a father who gave His only Son so that we would know how much a father loves us. A dad is meant to have a place of refuge in his heart for his children. Let it be so.

Thank You God showing us a Father's Love.
You're our refuge and strength,
Our very present help in times of trouble.
We do have trouble God and we know why.
The fathers among us haven't done enough to
Enlarge Your territory in the hearts of their children.
You are our dwelling place.
​You are the refuge for our children.
Turn the hearts of the fathers to their children.
Turn the hearts of the children to their parents.
Turn all of us to You.
In Jesus Name.
Amen.

Author's Note: This article is part of a 21-day Series called, "YWAP Fast 2019." Each year, the YWAP Directors and countless other folks begin the New Year on a 21 Day Fast. We set aside extra time to honor God and seek His will for the New Year. The study follows the word “love” as it appears 280 times in 310 verses in the King James Bible. This series will eventually be written in book form as a model to teach future YWAP generations. We welcome your comments or questions. Jesus loves you and so do we.

          There are some folks among us who seem to face adversity continually from the moment they were conceived. Yes I said conceived, from the time before they were born. A mom who is being abused while she's pregnant can cause an adverse effect on the child in her womb. A mother addicted to drugs can pass her addiction onto her baby. A mom contemplating or having an abortion can kill the child or severely injure a child who survives the abortion. Children can be born into abusive families. Disease has no boundaries in choosing who to infect. Random violence steals, kills and destroys innocent people.  Why do some folks seem to suffer immeasurably more that most of us?    
          My adversities are minimal when I look at the suffering of people around me. As an old head, adversity in my own life and watching others has taught me a few things about what I believe could be some of God's purposes for suffering. Here are six things I've learned about adversity and suffering.

1. Suffering and brokenness create greater capacities for love.
2. Compassion is teachable and is learned through serving suffering people.
3. Empathy is the effect and the cause is suffering. Empathy reveals what's in our hearts.
4. Out of kindness comes the desire to serve. Kindness multiplies the more it is used.
5. Without adversity, one would not know blessing. Without ashes, one would not know beauty.
6. Suffering in others causes us to pray and bring us into communication with God. 

          I'm sorry if you are suffering, but please be encouraged. God has considered you worthy of being one of His chosen vessels. Your greater suffering is the cornerstone for greater works of His Love. It's okay to ask for help. It's okay to receive help. Asking and receiving are the keys that unlock the heart of giving.

“Thou shalt not hearken unto
the words of that prophet,
or that dreamer of dreams:
for the Lord your God
proveth you,
to know whether
​ye love the Lord your God
with all your heart and
with all your soul.”
Deuteronomy 13:3

          There are truthful prophets and there are lying prophets. There are also people who tell the truth that God gave them that's different from the truth that God gave you. There's a time and a season for everything under heaven, do not assume that your times and seasons are the same as everyone else. In Phoenix, Arizona you can plant a vegetable garden in February. In Buffalo, New York you cannot plant a vegetable garden in February. Do not act on anyone's advice until you have filtered their words through the wisdom of God.
          The word "hearken" in Hebrew is "shama" which means; "to listen, to understand, to obey." The word "proveth" in Hebrew is "nacah" which means to; "to test, try, prove, tempt, assay, put to the proof or test."  The phrase "to know" in Hebrew is "yada" which means: to know, learn to know, to perceive and see, find out and discern. God regularly tests us to see what is in our hearts. People with a good word of advice will come along, it may be true or it may not be. Trust God and He will help you discern the truth. 
          Sometimes suffering comes because we trusted the wrong people. God can use your surrender to Him as a means of removing the suffering. It's a good habit to always ask God what He wants you to learn from the times and seasons you're going through. I believe God created the change of seasons to let us know that each season will pass. Your season of suffering and mourning will someday turn to joy and thanksgiving. Seek Him. Know Him. Ask Him. Trust Him. Wisdom and discernment received from God, will give you the revelation of Truth uniquely designed for your understanding.

You are the God of Truth
Who tests us to know our hearts.
Create in us a clean heart O God.
Test us to prove our ways.
Gives us greater knowledge of You.
Make some sense of our sufferings.
We know that You conceal many things from us
That are too inconceivable for us to understand.
But we trust You.
Guide us through the valleys and
​Over the mountains of this world.
Keep us from temptation.
And deliver us from evil.
In Jesus Name.
Amen.

Author's Note: This article is part of a 21-day Series called, "YWAP Fast 2019." Each year, the YWAP Directors and countless other folks begin the New Year on a 21 Day Fast. We set aside extra time to honor God and seek His will for the New Year. The study follows the word “love” as it appears 280 times in 310 verses in the King James Bible. This series will eventually be written in book form as a model to teach future YWAP generations. We welcome your comments or questions. Jesus loves you and so do we.

          Basketball is more important to me than shoveling snow. When I was about 14 yrs. old, I would shovel half the driveway so I could play basketball. My dad would peek his head out the door and stare at the unshovelled half of the driveway. he didn't have to say anything, his mannerisms told me I should finish removing snow from the whole driveway. Without a word he spoke, "Finish the job!"
          Birds who give birth seldom leave their hatchlings until they are ready to live on their own. Finishing the job in life is important. Fathers who leave their children have accomplished half their legacy as Dads. Human beings have a tendency to leave things half finished for many reasons. Among them are losing motivation to finish after the initial excitement of something new has worn away. Some men stop pursuing their wives after they're married. That's only a halfway pursuit.  They need to continue pursuing more ways to show love as a lifelong endeavor.
          When Jesus died on the cross He said "It is finished." He did what He came to do, even though He asked His Father to remove the suffering that He was about to endure. It was excruciating,, but He finished what He came to do. Pursue God and be a finisher in taking Love to places you've never gone before.
           

“For if ye shall diligently keep
all these commandments
which I command you,
to do them,
to love the Lord your God,
to walk in all his ways,
and to cleave unto him;”
Deuteronomy 11:22

          When my Dad looked at me and gave a message without speaking, he communicated a deeper meaning through silence. Within the spoken word, there are deeper meanings that are silent to those whose ears are unwilling to hear. The word "trust" is held in high esteem when applied to a person. If you don't trust somebody because they're known as someone who doesn't finish the job, you might silently mistrust them.
          In my life, I desired to help everybody. It may have been a futile attempt to feel valued, to be liked and to be included. There's a funny thing about always saying "Yes, I'll help!" You end up being mistrusted because you can't help everybody and then you might as well be known as a liar and untrustworthy person. Folks won't say it, but there's a silent undercurrent of disapproval when your name comes up.
          In Deuteronomy 11:22, God is once again urging His people to keep His commandments and Love like He does. I think brought His record of repetition up to a greater level.  The first phrase,  “For if ye shall diligently” and the word “keep,”  are both defined with the same Hebrew word,  "shamar." The Strong's Concordance defines shamar with these words, to keep, guard, observe, give heed, to keep, have charge of, protect, save life, watch, watchman (participle), to watch for, wait for, retain, treasure up (in memory), to keep (within bounds), restrain, to observe, celebrate, keep (sabbath or covenant or commands), perform (vow), to be on one's guard, take heed, take care, beware, to keep oneself, refrain, abstain. You could say that God is using the word "keep" two times in a row. That's taking repetition to another level.
          What caught my eye next was the things that God is asking us to do, to do them, to love the Lord your God,
to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him; Here is the breakdown on the meaning of those phrases from the Strong's Concordance: 
“to do them” – asah; to do, fashion, accomplish, make, to do, work, make, produce, to deal (with),
to act, act with effect, effect, to prepare, to make (an offering), to attend to, put in order, to observe, celebrate
to acquire (property), to appoint, ordain, institute, to bring about, to use
 “to love” – ahab; human love for another, includes family, and sexual, human appetite for objects such as food, drink, sleep, wisdom, human love for or to God, act of being a friend.
 “to walk” – yalak; to go, walk, come, to go, walk, come, depart, proceed, move, go away, to die, live, manner of life, to lead, bring, lead away, carry, cause to walk.
 “and to cleave” – dabaq;  to cling, stick, stay close, cleave, keep close, stick to, stick with, follow closely, join to, overtake, catch, to cling, cleave to, to stay with, to be joined together, to cause to cleave to, to pursue closely, to overtake, to be made to cleave.
          To wrap up what went on in my mind after reading through those definitions is this: God wants us to take action that causes an effect of greater love to God and man as the manner of life that we pursue and follow God closely. God's Love keeps going to a new level. 

Thank You God for pursuing us.
You don't leave us in our guilt and shame.
You rescue us when we surrender to You.
Repetition is something we need.
Thank You for never giving up on us.
You keep repeating forgiveness.
May we do the same.
In Jesus Name.
Amen.

Author's Note: This article is part of a 21-day Series called, "YWAP Fast 2019." Each year, the YWAP Directors and countless other folks begin the New Year on a 21 Day Fast. We set aside extra time to honor God and seek His will for the New Year. The study follows the word “love” as it appears 280 times in 310 verses in the King James Bible. This series will eventually be written in book form as a model to teach future YWAP generations. We welcome your comments or questions. Jesus loves you and so do we.

          Many things in life are worth repeating. "I love you" are words worth repeating many times, as often as possible. Some birds mate for life. The albatross is known as the most monogamous of birds. They may not say "I love you," but they show fidelity by returning to each other year after year.
          You cannot travel to the Promised land unless you repeatedly put one foot in front of the other. I like to call it "Purposeful Repetition." Sometimes thins in our lives get repeated so we can learn the lesson a little better.
          Several years ago at a Boy Scout Camp, we made all of the Scouts attend mid-week church services. There were several denominations to choose from. One boy complained about going, as most kids do! He was told it was mandatory, so he went. Afterward, he continued complaining, "That preacher said the same thing this year that he said last year!" I told him that was a good thing which made him complain more until I explained to him why, "It proves to me that you listened well last year and you listened well this year. That's what leaders do, even when they may not be happy with what they're doing, they remain teachable. I'm proud of you." The boy smiled, his complaining was over.
          Repetition can get boring, but it can also give us comfort. Sometimes repetition will provide direction that leads to a more satisfying and exciting life.

“And it shall come to pass,
if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments
which I command you this day,
to love the Lord your God,
and to serve him
with all your heart and
with all your soul,” 
Deuteronomy 11:13

          The Bible is full of repetition - mostly because people keep forgetting to repeat God's Love. God keeps repeating His commandments because folks tend to forget and follow the way of the self. A child has to be repeatedly reminded of the family boundaries and rules. Married folks should continually remind their spouses how much they love each other through their actions.
          Today's Bible verse is another example of God's repetitive Love. When studying a Bible passage, it's best to examine the context closely. That means taking into consideration who the speaker was, who they're speaking to, the time in history, the culture and the deeper meaning of the words in Hebrew or Greek. It's also important to study the surrounding verses.
​          Once again in Deuteronomy 11:13, God is repeating His command to keep His commandments and to love Him. Moses is considered to be the Author of Deuteronomy. Jesus gave evidence of this authorship in Matthew 19:8 when he quoted Deuteronomy 21:1-4. Ironically, Jesus was answering a question from the Pharisees about divorce which could be called the rejection of fidelity.
          Moses was leading the Israelites across the desert after leaving their lives of slavery in Egypt. They were on their way to the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey. When you read about their journey, you will see their repetitive nature of turning away from God. He freed them, He fed them and He lead them, but still, they turned away repeatedly. To me, Deuteronomy 11:13 has a flow to it that builds excitement and makes me want to read the next verse. "It shall come to pass" that peaks my curiosity and makes me wonder what "it" is.
          The flow continues with an "if." I'm beginning to understand that if I follow God's commandments though loving and serving Him with everything I've got, something good will happen. Here's what we find in the next verse, "14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil."  God is pretty much saying He'll give us what we need for the season we're in. Everything we need will be provided to us as we trust in Him. Sow in fidelity, reap in plenty.
          God wants fidelity from us, but he knows our selfish nature. most folks think of infidelity as an act of cheating on a spouse in a sexual manner. It can be that, but more often it appears as faithfulness to a person, place or thing or God. Here are some definitions and synonyms for fidelity found in the Dictionary.  
Ø  faithfulness to a person, cause, or belief, demonstrated by continuing loyalty and support.
synonyms: loyalty, allegiance, obedience, constancy, staunchness, fastness
Ø  sexual faithfulness to a spouse or partner. 
synonyms: faithfulness, loyalty, constancy; devotedness, devotion, commitment, true-heartedness, trustworthiness, trustiness, honesty, dependability, reliability; monogamy;
Ø  the degree of exactness with which something is copied or reproduced. 
synonyms: accuracy, exactness, exactitude, precision, preciseness, correctness,
          For the sake of repetition, let me copy, paste and repeat the latter definition of fidelity: {the degree of exactness with which something is copied or reproduced.} That reminds of some good wisdom found in Ephesians 5:25 "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;" So we are to repeat Christ's love in our actions toward other people. Love and fidelity are all about repeating the Love of God. Do it for Life.

Thank You God for Your unwavering Love for us.
Your commands are all about a more excellent Way of Love.
Teach us O God to be lovers of your Word.
Grow in us a nature of stick-to-itiveness that never gives up on Love.
Please keep repeating Your affirmations of Love.
We need the repetition of Your overwhelming Love.
You made the sun to repeat its rising in the sky everyday.
May we remember everyday -  Your Son rising into eternal glory.
In Jesus Name.
Amen.

Author's Note: This article is part of a 21-day Series called, "YWAP Fast 2019." The YWAP Directors and countless other folks begin the New Year on a 21 Day Fast. We set aside extra time to honor God and seek His will for the New Year. The study follows the word “love” as it appears 280 times in 310 verses in the King James Bible. This series will eventually be written in book form as a model to teach future YWAP generations. We welcome your comments or questions. Jesus loves you and so do we.

          On January 11, 2019 in Buffalo, New York, the 8:30 AM temperature was about 13 degrees Fahrenheit. The wind chill or "real feel" was at or near zero degrees. I was not a comfortable day to be hanging around on a cold concrete sidewalk on a windy street. Two Buffalo women were carrying signs in support of innocent children. They walked in front of a building where children's heartbeats were silenced. They were given no hope for the future, nor will their voices ever be heard. They were deemed expendable and unwanted, so they would be discarded. The building was used by a company that profits from abortion.
          These women couldn't see the children and didn't know the children or their mothers. What compels someone to sacrifice a part of their life in frigid conditions for folks they don't even know? The only possible answer is love. They demonstrated love in such a way that revealed their friendship with God. These two Buffalo women walked by faith and not by sight. 

DAY 16 WORD

“Therefore thou shalt love
the LORD
thy God,
and keep his charge,
and his statutes,
and his judgments,
and his commandments,
alway.” 
Deuteronomy 11:1

          When I thought about the passage above, I believe God brought these two brave women to my mind. I studied the verse out and found eight phrases with particular meanings. I believe these women were acting out or showing God's Love. Their committed perseverance in being obedient to His laws and His Love creates a deeper compassion in me for children still in their mother's wombs.
          Strangely enough, God's Love and Laws work together for our good. They are simple and not restrictive. If we had the ability to love God and everyone all the time- 100% of the time, we wouldn't have any need for laws. We're human and we fall short of God's Love. The purpose of the laws are to show what is not Love and that will cause us to act in a manner consistent with Love.
          What you will find below is a Verse Study of Deuteronomy 11:1 from the King James Bible. The Hebrew words and their meanings were taken from the Strong's Concordance with the exception of one definition from the New American Standard Concordance regarding love that says "show your love." Apply these definitions to the actions of the two Buffalo women and you will see the Word come alive in God's Love.
           “Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.” Deuteronomy 11:1
“Therefore thou shalt love” – ahab –to love, to breathe after something, to produce fruit, human love for or to God,                                                     act of being a friend The NAS Concordance gives a definition of, “show your love.”
“the Lord” –                             Yehovah – the one true God.
“thy God” –                              elohyim – God, great, exceeding, mighty.
“and keep” –                           shamar - to keep, guard, keep watch and ward, protect, save life, watch, watchman, to                                                   keep, retain, treasure up (in memory), to keep (within bounds), restrain, to observe,                                                       celebrate, keep (sabbath or covenant or commands), perform (vow), to keep, preserve,                                                  protect.
“his charge” –                         mishmereth - guard, safeguard, charge, function, obligation, service, watch
“and his statutes” –               chuqqah - statute, ordinance, limit, enactment, something prescribed, rites
“and his judgements” –        mishpat – judgment, act of deciding a case, place, court, seat of judgment, process,                                                     procedure, litigation (before judges), case, cause (presented for judgment), sentence,                                                    decision (of judgment) execution (of judgment), time (of judgment), justice, right,                                                             (attributes of God or man), decision (in law). right, privilege, due (legal), proper, fitting,                                                     measure, fitness, custom, manner, plan
“and his commandments” – mitzvah - the commandment (of God)
“alway” –                                yowm - a working day, a day's journey, days, lifetime (pl.), time, period (general), year,
                                               today-yesterday-tomorrow, day (24 hour period), daily, ever, continually, always.
                    
 To breathe after God's Love is producing human fruit that shows love to all people. I pray that God infuses you with a hunger and a thirst to breathe after his Love.

Thank You God for Your breath.
You breathe life into us by loving us.
Your laws are honey on our lips as
Your Love is spread abroad in our hearts.
Cause us to take up the mantle of Your righteousness
And stand in the world's courts of wrongful laws.
The laws that allow your children to be killed.
You desire that none should perish.
We know You will make a way where there is no way.
Thank You God for Your continual Love -
Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow and Always.
In Jesus Name.
Amen.