“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” Heb. 10:25. Our dear brother, friend, and shepherd, Kåre J. Smith, has on several recent occasions emphasized how important it is to attend our meetings and conferences. This is not merely a matter of outward faithfulness; it is crucial for our personal lives and for the church. God has blessed these conferences richly. He has revealed Himself to all who long for a life of discipleship, through His liberating word. Praise be to God for His calling and His election! Here are some excerpts from the meetings held during the conferences. During the Easter conference, Kåre J. Smith reminded us of something fundamental: Not many people truly understand who Jesus is. Most people know Jesus as the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and as Christians we understand that it was a great and unfathomable grace that He died for us. The joy of having received forgiveness of sins should be deep and genuine, but is that where we are meant to stop? We are called to start a whole new chapter. John the Baptist also preached the forgiveness of sins. But if we want to follow Jesus, it takes more than that! He is our forerunner, and we are called to follow in His footsteps. When Jesus lived here on earth, not many people understood who He was either. And so it is today. “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets”—these were the answers when He asked. Matt. 16:13-14. But when Jesus asked His disciples this question, Simon Peter replied: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” V. 15-16. Peter could not have answered this way if he had not received a revelation from God. And it is this personal revelation that we need. Because there is a difference between knowing Jesus as the Redeemer and knowing Him as Lord. “The Rock is Jesus Christ!” This simple truth has sustained God-fearing people down through the ages. On the Rock, you are safe, even when the storm is raging. To build your life on the Rock, it takes more than receiving forgiveness for your sins. It is a matter of being set free from the sin that dwells in our flesh. Paul writes: “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” Rom. 5:10. It is the life of Jesus that is the life-giving power at the center of salvation. Many people “stop short” at Jesus’ death, but we are called to live as He lived. We have now reached “the last days,” and God’s spiritual temple is still under construction. “Coming to Him as to a living stone,” Peter writes, “you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house.” 1 Pet. 2:4-5. Everyone who comes to the Rock and builds their life upon it becomes a living stone in this building. This is the body of Christ, the church. But just as Jesus, the cornerstone, was rejected by people, in the same way the church is rejected today by those who are not upright and who have only a form of godliness. Nonetheless, this building stands unshakable. Jesus said it Himself: “The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” Matt. 16:18. If we are to become living stones in this spiritual building, something will be required of us. “And the Lord added to the church daily those who allowed themselves to be saved.” Acts 2:47. [Norw.] Allowing ourselves to be saved is something we choose, actively and consciously. This means that we acknowledge that evil clings to our human nature, and that we understand we cannot manage it in our own strength. Rom. 7:20-21. Only when we are honest and sincere with God—and with ourselves—can this profound salvation begin. Anyone who is drawn to the glory and greatness of the world can never be built up as a spiritual stone in the house of God. Peter reminds us that judgment will begin with God’s own house. 1 Pet. 4:17. That is why we must listen to the Holy Spirit, who can guide us to the acknowledgment we need to have. Then we will see what only the pure in heart can see—something to lay hold of, leading us to a deeper salvation. Let us therefore stand unshakably in our faith in the Rock—Jesus Christ! His life will become our life—at home, in the church, and for all eternity. There is no safer foundation to build on. Easter is not merely about a historical event—it is about something that can completely transform our lives. It is almost impossible to fully grasp what Jesus Christ has done for us. Throughout His life on earth, He chose, time and again, to do God’s will rather than His own. This faithfulness continued right to the very end, right up to His death on the cross. Then came Easter morning. Matt. 28:1-2. Through His resurrection, the way to God was opened anew. As a result of the Fall, humanity became estranged from God. It was as if a wall had risen between us and Him. Through Jesus’ death on the cross, this wall was torn down. Sin received its final judgment, and all who long to return to God now have open access to His blessing and peace. A great and mighty grace came upon mankind on the day Jesus died on the cross. “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.’” V. 18. It was on the cross that Jesus gained power over death. The devil—the power that holds people captive in sin, fear, and torment—lost his power forever. But the resurrection wasn’t the end of the story; it was the beginning of something entirely new! Jesus sent His disciples out into the world as messengers: A way had now been opened, leading back to the Father. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” V. 19-20. Jesus became an atoning sacrifice for our sins, but we must believe that the message of Easter is also about a work that is to take place within us today. When Jesus cried out, “It is finished!” (John 19:30), the veil of the temple was torn in two. Matt. 27:51. It was a visible sign that the way to the Father now lay open before us. To walk on this way means doing God’s will in every situation in life. “Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—in the volume of the book it is written of Me—to do Your will, O God.’” Heb. 10:7-9. Jesus offered Himself to God as a spotless sacrifice, through the power of an eternal Spirit. Ch. 9:14. He has sent the same Spirit to us so that God can create something entirely new within us. In Eph. 2:15-16, we read that it is on the cross that the enmity is abolished. Not only the enmity between God and mankind, but also that which divides people from one another. Imagine a marriage or a home where people choose to set aside their own will in order to seek God’s will instead. When we follow in Jesus’ footsteps and truly live according to God’s will, we are joined together into a building characterized by a wonderful spiritual fellowship—the body of Christ. Not many people are willing to walk this way. But on this way, a mystery is revealed to us: When we walk on it, sin loses its power over us. We are set free, not through our own strength, but through a salvation that runs deeper than we can comprehend. Jesus, our forerunner, has made it entirely possible for us to follow Him! There are people who are hardly noticed, yet who have great significance. They are not interested in attention and do not try to stand out. There is a peaceful atmosphere around such people, and they are often described as reliable and responsible. It is people like this that Jesus had in mind when He said: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Matt. 5:9. Paul knew people like that, and held them in high regard. He sent special greetings to Andronicus and Junia, who had been his fellow prisoners. Rom. 16:7. These two may not have held any visible position in the church, but they served God wholeheartedly with the gifts He had given them. It is possible to achieve peace on a purely human level. Some people have a natural ability to defuse tension, and others are good at creating a positive atmosphere, but such peace quickly hits its limits because it is based on good human intentions. The peace Jesus spoke of was on a completely different level. It is the fruit of a conscious inner work, in which we allow the sword of the Spirit to cut through our own thought life, so that our own reactions and the demands we may place on others are brought to light and can be judged. James said it clearly: “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable . . .” Jas. 3:17. True peace always goes hand in hand with purity. The believers in Corinth serve as a serious example for us. They had been given abundant spiritual gifts, but they became puffed up because of their gifts. They had such great thoughts about themselves that they even wanted to reign without the apostle Paul. 1 Cor. 4:7-8. And the result? Paul feared that it would lead to strife, jealousy, anger, self-seeking, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorder. Read 2 Corinthians 12. That is precisely what happens when spiritual gifts are used to seek honor and praise, rather than being used in the service of others. A peaceful person knows deep down that he does not wish to draw the honor and favor of others to himself, because he immediately feels uneasy if such thoughts come to mind. Kåre J. Smith exhorted us to read 1 Corinthians 9 and to spend time thinking about this chapter. We read there about how Paul lived and how he served God. He explained the rights that his ministry could have given him, but which he deliberately chose not to make use of. The fact that he refrained from doing so spared him from many missteps in his ministry. This is how both Paul and the many who have gone before us have worked from the very beginning, and this is also how we must work today. Making peace is inseparably connected to our personal life with God: “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” Heb. 12:14. God works with us so that we may partake of His holiness. V. 10. This is not something that can be accomplished overnight; it is a lifelong journey which must be lived in sanctification. Those who know the art of making peace are noble people who have learned to allow God’s Spirit to work within them. First, they acknowledge their own sin, give up their own rights, and choose to serve and sacrifice their lives. And that is precisely why Jesus calls them children of God—not because of their great achievements, but because of what they reflect: the very nature of their heavenly Father. God made two covenants with us. The old covenant brought earthly glory, and many today—including Christians—seek to obtain these earthly blessings. The new covenant came with Jesus Christ and God wanted Him to open the way into the sanctuary. That is what He did; not by the power of outward laws, but by the power of an indestructible life Jesus obtained eternal redemption. Heb. 7:16-17. The law made no one perfect. It made it possible to achieve a certain degree of outward purity and to live a life of high moral standards. Paul could say about himself that he was blameless according to the law. Phil. 3:6. But the law could do nothing about that inner lust, that demand that came from the depths of the flesh, which had been corrupted by sin. Those who wanted to remain faithful to the law had to come and make sacrifices, time and time again. After all, the blood of goats and calves could not take away sin. The law could punish those who had committed a sin, but it was powerless against the lust hidden in the depths of the heart. Heb. 9:9-10. Jesus entered the sanctuary once and for all, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood, and obtained eternal redemption. Read V. 11-14. What the law could not do, God did by sending His own Son. Jesus came in the likeness of sinful flesh, and it was in this flesh that sin was condemned. Rom. 8:3-4. The new covenant that Jesus invites us to opens up a whole new way for us: not only can we receive forgiveness of sins, but we also have the opportunity to draw near to God by ceasing to sin. This is not a reality we might experience someday in the future—or, in the best case, in heaven. No, it can become a reality today, and that goes for every single new day. God’s desire is that we might partake of His divine nature and become new creations. 2 Pet. 1:3-4. To walk in the Spirit means to fight against the lusts of the flesh. “. . . but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Rom. 8:13. The Spirit can lead us on this way, and the Spirit is far quicker than the law. He helps us take up our battle stance and go on the offensive before sin has gained a foothold in our hearts. And how are we to equip ourselves for such a battle? It is possible if we love the Lord. Jesus had a burning love for His Father: “Behold, I have come . . . to do Your will.” Heb. 10:7. This love was genuine and deep. It gave Jesus the strength to wage a relentless battle against everything that arose within His flesh. Heb. 5:7. If we receive this burning love in our hearts, we can serve God in the newness of the Spirit. We have a choice between two paths: living confined within the “letter of the law,” surrounded by rules that restrain us but do not transform us, or living and serving in the newness of the Spirit, where we can grow and be transformed into the image of Jesus. Let us choose the right path! “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount with these words. Matt. 5:3. When you sense this inner poverty—this deep awareness of your inadequacy before God—you can also have the same certainty that Paul expressed to the Philippians: “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Phil. 1:6. By nature, none of us has the right standard by which to judge spiritual matters. “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Cor. 2:14. That is why the Spirit needs to help us. He intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Rom. 8:26. These groanings are always directed at our own flesh, the indwelling sin that we must rid ourselves of. The Spirit seeks out the sacrifices in our lives, even the most hidden ones—those we would never have found on our own. That is how you can be kept in a poverty of spirit. The mind of the Spirit is life and peace. V. 6. The moment we stray from the way the Spirit is leading us on, we lose our peace and become restless. There are many kinds of groanings in this world: sighing against one another, and groaning due to illness or want. But this is not the “groaning of the firstfruits.” The groaning of the firstfruits comes from those who long for more of God. We see this clearly in Paul: “For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” Rom. 7:22-23. And then the groaning of the firstfruits comes forth: “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” V. 24. This is the groaning of one who is unable to do God’s will, even though he desires it so deeply with all his heart. Where this groaning is present, the Spirit is at work, and there is growth and development. Many are content to have victory over manifest sin, so that their conscience no longer judges them. But without the groaning of the firstfruits, it is a short step to becoming great in our own eyes, or to beginning to lord it over others, or to loving the world and the things that are in the world. 1 John 2:14-17. We must watch over ourselves so that we may always remain in the groaning of the firstfruits. For those who live with this longing for the divine nature, there is a glorious promise. They receive a hope that serves as an anchor for the soul and that helps them on the way that Jesus went as their forerunner. Heb. 6:17-20. We must hold fast to this confession of our hope and never stray from it. Ch. 9:28. It will keep us poor in spirit and will grant us a share in the kingdom of heaven. May we all allow ourselves to be saved, so that we may be set free from this natural man and that we may enter into life in God!Marc Tombre

“And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” Rev. 22:1-2. This is the effect the word of God has on those who long for salvation. It continuously bears fruit and brings life and spiritual healing. The sharp, clear word that is preached enables us to see ourselves, and thereby leads us from darkness into light. The word brings need and poverty and leads us into working on our salvation. We can clearly sense this crystal-clear stream flowing through our gatherings and meetings. I thank God for that with all my heart. It is this sharp preaching that divides and separates and discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart. My own human thoughts are brought to light and judged, and God’s thoughts stream like sunlight into our hearts and minds. This in turn leads to a deepening of a noble, genuine, and warm brotherhood, and we are bound ever more closely together by eternal, unbreakable bonds. “’Twill make you free, and happy you will be.” WotL 365. We sense this clear stream flowing through the center of our fellowship, right where we find the heartbeat of the church. That is why it must be a matter of life and death that we stay as close to this clear stream as possible. Our relationship with this noble brotherhood must be sincere, warm, intimate, and trusting. There we encounter the fire of humility, which consumes my own grandiose, conceited thoughts, my soulish thoughts, my own opinions, my stubbornness, my religious ideas, and so on. It is these thoughts that lead me away from God and onto the way of wickedness. David, that humble, sincere, and God-fearing man, was also aware of the potential within his flesh and soul to go astray. In Ps. 139:23-24, he writes: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” His greatest need was to be kept from the wicked way, which lies much closer than we think. It was his great sincerity and anguish of heart that led to the prayer we read about in Psalm 16. “Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust. O my soul, you have said to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord, my goodness is nothing apart from You.’ As for the saints who are on the earth, ‘They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.’” May it be this way for all of us, that it is a matter of life and death for us to keep close to the saints who are on the earth, and that we truly regard them as the excellent ones, in whom is all our delight. Then we will be preserved on the way everlasting. It is in this noble brotherhood that the Lord has commanded the blessing and life forevermore. That is where I want to remain forever.Einar Johnsen

In Amos 6:1 it is written: “Woe to you who are at ease in Zion, and trust in Mount Samaria, notable persons in the chief nation, to whom the house of Israel comes!” We have an amazingly good life in the church, both spiritually and in earthly terms, but in our personal lives we must be watchful that a sense of ease and complacency does not creep in that would cause our spiritual growth to come to a halt. When you have overcome manifest sins and reached a certain “stage” in life, it is easy to slip into a superficial and carefree life. It can become a sort of paradise life where poverty in spirit and hunger and thirst for righteousness quickly disappear. You “surf” through the waves of life without a deeper and deeper salvation taking place, in a sense of need and acknowledgment of your own sin. In 1 Cor. 10:1-12, Paul exhorts us to take what happened to Israel as an example and a warning to us, so that we do not desire evil things. For example, he writes in verse 7: “And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.’” When seriousness and the fear of God disappear, red warning lights should go off for us, because there is danger ahead in our spiritual lives. Then we need a genuine spiritual awakening so that we do not sleep regarding the opportunities we have received through the gospel, and the future that God desires for us who have received a heavenly calling. When Moses and Joshua returned from Mount Sinai with the tablets of the law, as it is written in Exodus 32, they heard the sound of singing as they approached the camp. It was not a shout of victory they heard, and as they drew closer they saw that the people were dancing around the golden calf, and that Aaron had allowed them to revel in idolatry. Then Moses became zealous and threw down the tablets of the law and shattered them. He took the golden calf, ground it to dust, and threw it into the fire. Then he stood at the entrance to the camp and said: “Whoever is on the Lord’s side—come to me.” And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together to him and were consecrated as priests to the Lord that day. May we truly have the same mindset as the sons of Levi, so that we break free from everything that would bind and hinder us in the race. May nothing we can look up to or worship here on earth prevent us from serving the living God with a whole and burning heart! In Isa. 52:1-2 there is a glorious exhortation: “Awake, awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! For the uncircumcised and the unclean shall no longer come to you. Shake yourself from the dust, arise; sit down, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion!” It may well be that we have fallen into a false sense of security, a carefree attitude, and perhaps even bad habits, and we feel that life is not as it should be in light of the high and holy calling we have. Then the exhortation rings out: “Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck.” If you need to get a car out of a rut, you have to turn the steering wheel sharply so you can get back onto the road. It is the same in our lives—it takes zeal and determination to bring everything into its rightful order. Then we experience peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, and receive an assurance that we are on the way. We stay the course and are heading toward eternal glory together with all the saints!Vidar Solberg

It is very easy to lose the substance but keep the form. And the substance comes through denying yourself! You can certainly deny yourself one thing or another, yet still without denying yourself. I do what suits my own taste (Ezek. 33:30-33) but not what does not suit my taste—in other words, I do not deny myself. The angel of Sardis was dead, but appeared very much alive. He had lost the substance, but retained the outward form. Rev. 3:1. The same was true of the angel of Laodicea. He had become lukewarm; he considered himself to be rich, but that was only when he looked at the form. If he had focused on the substance, he would have seen it in a completely different light. The substance—or one might say, the very point of it all—was, after all, to hear Jesus’ voice and do His will. And that does give a certain form, but the moment I focus on the form, the substance goes adrift. Then you lose the substance, and it all ends up as hypocrisy. And that is precisely what Jesus warned so strongly against. And the Pharisees had lost the substance but kept the form to such a degree that you would think they themselves would have seen the irony. But no, the form had become their god, so no one was allowed to lay a finger on it—but the substance was gone. And it is easy to look at them from a historical perspective and in the light of Jesus’ words about them, and conclude that they must have been foolish. But they were most likely not foolish, humanly speaking, but they had been deceived by our adversary, the devil. And in practice, in my own situations, it takes some sharp sailing not to lose the substance. But thankfully, this is possible if I am kept in a burning, fervent love for Jesus! Thanks and praise for that! But we find that it requires complete focus and full surrender and refocusing every day: to hear His voice and do His will, and to deny myself.Ruben Olstad

“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love.” Eph. 4:1-2. Paul wrote this from his imprisonment in Rome. We can imagine that the treatment he received there was not always so kind and pleasant, but Paul was able to respond with gentleness and longsuffering and love. What enabled him to do this was all lowliness! It is impossible to react like this to unpleasant and unreasonable treatment if there is the least bit of pride in my heart. And it is precisely in such circumstances that the pride in my flesh quickly rises up. But this gives me the opportunity to put it to death, by humbling myself even deeper, so that I can lay hold of even more of eternal life, gentleness, longsuffering and love. It is possible to bear unreasonable treatment and conduct by putting up with it, but it is quite another thing to bear it in love. Then a death must take place! With the latter we have joy in our hearts, but there is no joy in the former. Paul refers to himself here as the prisoner of the Lord. The circumstances were ordained by the Lord, and the purpose was that the Lord should be glorified in this situation, by the life of Christ being revealed in his body. May we take this exhortation to heart so that walking worthy of our heavenly calling is always before our eyes, in every situation we encounter.Tom Harris

Without a clearly defined opponent, there will never be victory! Without proper preparation, there will never be victory over Satan’s cunning attacks either. A wholehearted conversion and the corresponding laying aside of everything that weighs us down and all sin, is a powerful decision and a glorious beginning of a life of sanctification. This leads us into a determined warfare against everything that comes from the flesh. Heb. 12:4. The secret and the power to live a victorious life after making a good start, are found in my daily preparations for the evil day. Eph. 6:13. My wholeheartedness, humility, and genuine love for the light God sends, and the need, hatred, and zeal I have toward my own sin, desires, tendencies, and all the turmoil that dwells within me—these are absolutely decisive on the day of victory! Is it written anywhere in the Bible that God is not powerful enough and that I need to figure things out on my own? No! “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” 2 Chron. 16:9. The Book of Psalms begins by praising those who are wholehearted, those who have all their delight in the law of the Lord and who meditate on it! Psalm 1. In other words, those who thoroughly prepare themselves to face their adversary—their own sin, which clings so closely to us and must therefore be suffered out—victory by victory! Heb. 12:1. God desires that the body of sin be destroyed, and that the fruits of the Spirit grow in its place: “. . . love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Gal. 5:22-23. Not only does He desire this, but He also gives us the opportunities we need and the corresponding strength we need in order to overcome, if we seek Him with all our hearts. What a possibility we have to follow Jesus on this way of victory. Fighting the good fight of faith every day and laying hold of the eternal life that has already been prepared for us in every situation—keeping a heavenly balance—so that we, whose hearts are fully with Him, are always able to carry this out. Any effort that only goes halfway and that is halfhearted, does not lead us into the kingdom of God—which consists of righteousness, peace, and joy—but into frustration, doubt, and endless worries. “And He said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.’” Rev. 21:6-7. What a glorious life to live, and what an indescribable eternity awaits all who overcome!Rune Bratlie

“‘If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,’ let Israel now say—‘If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive, when their wrath was kindled against us.’” Ps. 124:1-3. Honor seeking and self-confidence, and trust in our own deeds, are like a deep, black root in our human nature. It is possible to give God the honor and, in almost the same breath, add something to the effect of “me too”—especially when it comes to money, human knowledge, or spiritual gifts. That is why it is so fitting to take note of the heartfelt exhortation that David gives to Israel—to pause and affirm once again that it is, and will always remain, to God’s honor when things succeed for us. In a letter dated May 27, 1908, Johan O. Smith gives the exhortation: “We must conquer when we have been struck, and we must conquer when we strike . . .” David was an example of this—even when his wives and children were taken captive by the Philistines, he inquired of the Lord before attacking the enemy. 1 Sam. 30:6-8. This humble and lowly attitude toward God, combined with his living faith, made him invincible. It is impossible to have a living faith in victory while at the same time seeking honor from others. Paul says that he had “. . . labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” 1 Cor. 15:10. By expressing himself this way, it is clear that Paul was aware that grace was not something to which he had an automatic “right of ownership.” Because of his exceptionally low thoughts about himself, God was able to grant Paul an exceptionally large measure of grace to carry out his work. Grace was with him, and so it was not he himself who had done the work, but the grace that was with him. Without this grace, Paul could not have accomplished what he did, nor could the work have succeeded. May God preserve us so that we hate, crucify, and judge anything that has a whiff of self-praise, and that we never depart from this important acknowledgment. Then God’s grace will also be abundant over us for the rest of our lives!Edward Risa