Principles of Perfection, Part 7

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7 February 22 2026

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Principles of Perfection

“We are His Workmanship” Part VII

Okay, so in our last segment on what started as an idea on a quest to discover the best definition of “the meaning of life,” and we suggested several weeks ago that a good working definition might be that a well lived life, looking at the through line of the scripture, might ultimately defined as “to love and to be loved.”

Why that – because agape love is said to be preeminent even over faith.

And that led us to asking about what kind of love are we talking about and we concluded that biblically speaking that this love is the kind that “works” – which we said is synonymous with a kind of love that “labors or transfers energy to others, of course, for their betterment” and because we see this love in the life of God and God with us, we also concluded that this kind of transmittal of energy is usually to the detriment of those bestowing it.

Taking it out even further as a means to really narrow in on the labors we do and the means to vet them, we also said that there are three way we might personally assess the labors of the acts we do so that we do not find ourselves in the audience that Yeshua told,

In that day you will say, Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in thy name, cast out devils and have done many wonderful works – and His response was, I never knew you – depart from me ye that work iniquity.

The first method to test our labors is to ask, “What is my motivation?”

And we talked about Cain and my own realization of one buried within my own heart.

The second method we talked on last week was to ask ourselves, “What empowers my actions or transference of energy,” and we discussed how the scripture clearly states it should not be empowerment from man, things or objects, self-will or dark forces and we concluded that it should be from the Spirit of God.

And then we come to the last way to vet our actions which we will cover today and that would be, “to whom or what do we give glory” for our labors.

If we were to look at a diagram of this cycle it might look like this –

The best meaning of Life?

To love and be loved?

What is best summary of this love?

Transference of energy - work

How can we test the labors we do?

1 Look at our motivation

2 Look at source of what empowers us

3 Look at who takes or is given the glory.

Some believe that “the fruit of the labors” should be a sign that our labors are of God but I question this as something far more teleologically based and religiously inclined rather that a deontological ethic that does what is right irrespective of the outcome.

And just a reminder because I get these two confused teleological ethics are actions that create the best results but deontological ethics are actions we take out of duty.

In other words, some might suggest that fear is a great motivator for getting results but the Bible teaches that love is better and that sharing this love is our duty as recipients of salvation.

Before concluding this seven part teaching up, and before addressing the third way to examine our labors of love, I want to slip back for a minute and better define the labor of love we do by narrowing it down to one more important summary distinction of the word love (in addition to the transferring of energy or labor) and I am of the opinion that the best summary of Godly transference of energy selflessly, sacrificially and unconditionally is carried forward in a one word summary – (Can you guess what that one word summary of SSU laborious love is???)

Giving.

Captured in the Apostolic Record in the Greek word, didomee – used over 400 times in the record alone with several different meanings

The verb is Give the nouns include words like, doron (which refers to the gift given, paradidomee (which means to hand something over) anadidomee (to deliver), metadidomee (to share) dosis (the act of giving).

Of course, there are innumerable ways to give to others our energy through SSU giving, and I found a recent study that helps put them into eight distinct categories – to take a look for a second –

GRAPHIC HERE

We suggest the following relative to the above eight areas of giving to aid in the betterment or wellness of the world and every person on it – and this is a Yeshuan distinctive.

That well being in all eight areas are important to life here and now and serve to help individuals find balance and purpose in this life.

We maintain that God Himself designed the human experience with these dimensional needs in mind for our material lives and to give and serve in them this life lends to a disposition of peace of all who are involved while here in this world.

What makes Mormonism so a force to be reconned with is they have managed in their institution to directly address all eight of these facets within the very walls of their institution – and that it is good for humans.

But like our model of the two trees, we must be fair to understand the biblical model of the fruit of the fruit from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and see that seven of these eight areas speak to this life, this world, and the benefit of having them rightly balanced pertains only to the hear and now through what is the Spirit of Man.

Which is why human beings without any notion or care for God find meaning and even happiness devoted to giving in one or more of these areas – and because they are from God’s design – they bless man and the giving they do.

These acts of giving are taught by Yeshua to His own in that day, as summarized in the following teaching that He gave to them/then:

Matthew 25:31-46 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

All that said, we stridently maintain, urge and teach the following:

That in this world what is often overlooked or placed at the bottom of priorities is that of first giving others Spiritual Wellness.

That this is not only a mistake for the here and now but that it completely misses the order God established all the way back in the Garden.

In other words, as Yeshuans we suggest that the first and sole priority and aim for a better management of these other wellness areas the Spiritual should be front and center and once that is in place, fortified and understood, the other seven dimensions of wellness will assume the order God wants for each individual in their respective lives.

The key to this is found in the words of Yeshua who taught His disciples concepts that in principle remain true,

Matthew 6:19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Distinguishing Himself from the gurus of life and promisers and promoters of earthly happiness, our King said in John 10:10,

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Over the centuries we have lost the heart of this teaching, and have justified ourselves as believers the re-prioritizing of where we give our time and attention but God is calling for His Children to the very same principles taught by His Son – and that is the primary area of our time, and attention, of our giving to others is BEST focused not on

The Emotional (but our world seems to disagree)

Environmental (Home Depots disagree)

Financial (Enough said)

Intellectual (Colleges, books everywhere)

Occupational (look at the power of Corporations that steal the hearts)

Physical (Gyms, fitness, trainers)

Social (we have an entire media for this)

. . . but on the Spiritual first. So the giving we do in these other areas as His disciples are not the goal nor the primary focus but are expressions of our heart for having sought Him and His Kingdom first.

We see the import of this in two parables of the Kindom when Yeshua taught

Matthew 13:44-46 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:

46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

What I am trying to say hearkens to a principle many think is an ancient Chinese proverb but its origins are likely a 19th-century English novel, Mrs. Dymond by Anne Isabella Thackeray Ritchie, which says,

Give a man a fish you feed him for a day, teach him to fish and he feeds himself for a lifetime.

From the biblical perspective, Yeshuans primary aim is to first and emphatically strive to impart (give) to others the greatest gift that can possibly be given, and it’s not giving money, or emotional support, or fitness or business tips – it’s giving others a true knowledge of God and His Son, what they have accomplished for the world, and the logic behind seeking them first, while from a position of faith letting everything else come into view and fall into place.

We would argue it till the cows come home that Spiritual giving and the SSU transference of energy to others is paramount for the following reasons –

GRAPHIC

It has value in the temporal and the eternal,

It is what lasts

It is what makes all other needs better, prioritizes them as God directs throughout scripture, and

It is what God and His Son, out of their SSU love, did and do for us.

On this last point, think about the SSU giving God did and does when He transferred His energy and labors to us when He

created and gave us this world to have dominion over.

In giving us freewill to choose.

In giving the rain and sun to shine on the just and the unjust.

In giving Abraham promises

In giving Moses the Law

In giving us His written inspirations to enhance our understanding,

James says (James 1:17) Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Of course, the biggie is captured in the passage

For God so LOVED the world He gave His only begotten Son . . .

Romans 6:23 says,

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

But the giving of God didn’t stop there, did it? Because out of love for His Father and for the same world His father loved, Yeshua gave the world -

A material recorded example of how to live, how to be blessed and how to live lives dedicated on what to give to others for their betterment.

In the accounts we see Him giving His time by humbly washing the feet of His disciples, healing the sick, raising the dead – all material emblems for that age for what our giving and investing as His Children will do for the world spiritually today.

And what does Paul proclaim in Galatians 2:20?

I have been crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Of course, we remember Yeshua feeding the masses and them seeking Him out the next day and He plainly says to them,

John 6:26 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.

27 Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

Paul taught in that day of Grecian games,

1st Timothy 4:8 For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.

And we remember that after Pentecost we read the following in Acts 3:1-10

Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.

2 And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple;

3 Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked an alms.

4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.

5 And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them.

6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.

7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.

8 And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.

9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God:

10 And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him.

Proving the power of Spiritual wellness being the focus, remember how Paul boasted of the paradoxical power of the Spirit in the apostles lives when he said in

2nd Corinthians 6:4-10 of them,

4 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,

5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings;

6 By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by love unfeigned,

7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,

8 By honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true;

9 As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed;

10 As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

We also remember the fascinating and informative story from the Life of Christ where he gave or taught an important lesson on how to give to James and John. He had earlier described to all the apostles how He was going to die, and it says in Mark 10:35-45,

And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire.

36 And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you?

37 They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.

38 But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?

39 And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized:

40 But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.

41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John.

42 But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them.

43 But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister:

44 And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.

45 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

In another act of Giving and before going to give Himself up to the hands of evil men, Yeshua said in John 14:27

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Fulfilling this promise, after giving His all for us, and ascending into the heavenly realm, He gave the world His Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God Himself, that would serve to guide and direct us in all things as He would do them, as He did them, helping His disciples to also prioritize our lives as He prioritized His.

Too radical for you – He gives you the liberty to choose to dial it down to whatever level you want – but we teach ultimate truths, not things that men desire.

So where the definition of a life well lived might be to love and be loved, Yeshua plainly taught, in a different context and from the words of Paul,

“it is more blessed to give than to receive, embodying a life of service (giving love) over a life of being served. (receiving it)

Wrapping this segment up, lets consider Yeshua’s words in John 15 beginning at verse 9 where He says,

John 15:9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

In this light, on giving our very life time for the betterment of others lives spiritually first, there is another Greek term (Charisma) that bears profound meaning in the act of giving.

Why? In Scripture, charisma refers to a "free gift" of His divine grace, not an outgoing personality or charm.

Do we agree with the blessing of spiritual gifts in the world today? I do, but the caveat is how are they used, employed and to whom go all the honors, rewards and glory?

In the Apostolic record these gifts were used to influence the people in that day of the need to believe and receive and bless the Bride.

I believe that all spiritual charisma’s today are given to do the same but in one on one settings and not in grand gestures of show.

In the Apostolic Record there are lists various gifts, including prophecy, service, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership, mercy, and miraculous gifts

Of course Romans 6:23 identifies eternal life as the ultimate "gift" (charisma) of God.

And 1 Peter 4:10 Encourages using these gifts to serve one another as stewards of God's grace.

But all done with grace, humility a heart for God, love for others and never ever using them to glory in ones own flesh, but always used with an eye single to the Glory of God.

Why? We will discuss this in our final installment on this series next week.

Questions/Comments

Prayer

Remember every Sunday Delaney and I we go live and field calls and questions in the Yeshuan Firesides 2PM MTN

(God Judges the heart)

(Listen to what He is saying here)

(The kingdom and the world though this refers to money and God)