WARS, FIGHTS, AND ARGUMENTS
1Where do the wars, fights, and arguments among you come from? Do they not come from the selfish desires that wage war in your own bodies? 2You want what you do not have, so you kill for it. You want what belongs to others, but you cannot get it from them, so you fight and wage war. You do not have because you do not ask the Great Spirit. 3When you ask for things, you do not receive them because you ask for the wrong reasons, wanting to satisfy your own selfish desires. 4You are unfaithful people! You must know that if you become friends with the ways of this world, you make yourself an enemy of the Great Spirit.
HUMBLE YOURSELVES
5Do you think our Sacred Teachings have no meaning when they tell us that Creator’s Spirit in us longs for us to be faithful and true to him? 6But his gift of great kindness is more than enough, just as our Sacred Teachings also say, “The Great Spirit stands against the proud and arrogant, but he shows great kindness to the humble of heart.”7 7So humbly follow all of Creator’s ways. Make your stand against the evil trickster,8 and he will turn and run from you. 8Draw near to the Great Spirit, and he will draw near to you. Wash your hands clean of your broken ways, and purify your hearts and minds from trying to walk two different roads. 9Cry out in your misery. Be sad and weep. Turn your laughter into sadness, and your joy into tears. 10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Great Spirit, and he will lift you up to a place of honor.
DO NOT ACCUSE EACH OTHER
11My sacred family members, do not speak accusations against each other. If you do, you are putting yourselves above the law, deciding who is guilty or not. When you do this, you are acting against the law itself instead of doing what it says. 12There is only one true Lawgiver and Judge who has the power to decide who has done right or wrong. He is the one with the right to set people free or bring them to a bad end. So who are you to judge a fellow human being?
LOOK OUT FOR EVIL BOASTING
13Listen to me, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to a trading post in some village. There we will stay for a year trading our goods and gaining more than we started with.” 14You do not even know what tomorrow will bring. Your life is like the morning mist over a lake that is there for a short time and then gone. 15Instead, here is what you should say, “If it is what Creator wants, then we will live and do these things.” 16But as it stands, you are making prideful boasts. All such boasting is evil. 17So then, the one who knows to do good but fails to do it is walking in broken ways.
A WARNING TO THOSE WITH GREAT POSSESSIONS
1Listen to me, you who have great possessions, weep and howl over the times of trouble and sorrow that are coming your way. 2Even now your treasured possessions are rotting away and moths are eating your fine garments. 3Your gold and silver will waste away. It will be a witness against you and eat your flesh like fire. For you have piled up many possessions in the last days.
4Behold! You have held back the goods you owed to the workers who harvest your crops. Their cries for justice have reached the ears of the Chief of Spirit Warriors. 5Your life on this earth has been one of getting for yourselves whatever you want to satisfy your selfish desires. You have fattened yourselves9 like an animal prepared for a day of slaughter. 6You have falsely accused and put to death the innocent, who did not even try to stand against you.
WAITING FOR HIS APPEARING
7So be patient, my sacred family members, until our Honored Chief appears. Look at the worker in the field who patiently waits for the seasonal rains to fall so the land can bring forth its fruits. 8In the same way, you must also be patient and stand firm, for the appearing of our Honored Chief is close at hand. 9So then, my sacred family members, do not grumble against each other or you may be found guilty. Look! The Judge who decides is right outside, ready to come in.
10My sacred family members, follow in the footsteps of the prophets who spoke for the Great Spirit. Even in times of suffering, they remained patient and strong. 11Look at how we honor those who have stood firm in troubled times. You have heard the story of Turns to Creator (Job), how he stood firm to the end and found the Great Spirit to be kind and merciful. The Great Spirit will do the same for you.
12The chief thing I want to say to you, my sacred family members, is that you are not to make solemn promises. Do not promise by the spirit-world above, or by the earth below, or make a solemn promise in any other way. Your simple “yes” or “no” is enough. You may be found guilty if you say more.10
THE POWER OF PRAYER
13Are you suffering? Send up prayers. Are your hearts glad? Sing traditional songs of honor and praise. 14Are any among you sick? Call on the elders of the sacred family to pray over them and smudge them with sweet-smelling smoke11 in the name of our Honored Chief. 15When you send your voice to our Honored Chief, trusting in him, he will heal the sick ones and restore them to health. He will forgive and set free any who have been following their bad hearts and broken ways.
16So admit your broken ways one to another and pray for each other that you may be healed. The prayer of one in good standing with Creator is powerful and good medicine.
17Great Spirit Is Creator (Elijah) was a weak human being, the same as we are. He prayed with much prayer that it would not rain, and for three winters and six moons no rain fell on the land. 18Then, when he prayed for the rain to fall, down it came, and once again mother earth gave a harvest of good food.
FINAL WORDS
19My sacred family members, has any of you wandered from the truth? Has anyone helped you find the way back? 20If so, then let them know, the one who helps someone return from broken ways has rescued their soul from death and hidden the many paths that lead to broken ways.
Aho! May it be so!
FIRST LETTER FROM STANDS ON THE ROCK
1 PETER
GREETINGS
1From Stands on the Rock (Peter), a message bearer from Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One.
To Creator’s chosen ones who have been scattered like seeds throughout Land of Black Waters (Pontus), Land of Pale Skins (Galatia), Land of Handsome Horses (Cappadocia), Land of the Rising Sun (Asia), and the territory of Rushing Storm (Bithynia), who live like strangers among them.
2Our Father the Great Spirit knew long ago that he would take you into his family. By his Spirit he is making you holy so you will obey Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One and be sprinkled with his lifeblood. May the gift of his great kindness and peace overflow to you.
SHARED BLESSINGS
3All blessings belong to the Great Spirit, the Father of our Honored Chief, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One! In his great mercy, when he raised Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One from the dead, we were given new birth, and our hope came to life. We now share with the Chosen One all the blessings he has received. 4These shared blessings are kept safe in the spirit-world above, where they will never grow old, become impure, or fade away.
THE TESTING OF YOUR TRUST
5Creator’s plan to set you free and make you whole is ready to be fully revealed when the time for the end has come. Until then you are kept safe by trusting in Creator’s power. 6You dance for joy now because you know that day is coming, even though for a short time you may have to walk a trail of tears because of the many kinds of troubles you are facing.
7These troubles will test the purity of your trust in him, just like fire tests the purity of gold. Your trust in him is worth more than gold that can fade away. After you have passed through the fire and come out pure, it will bring praise, honor, and shining-greatness to Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One when he is revealed. 8You have never seen him, yet you love him. You cannot see him now, yet you trust him. This makes your heart so glad that you cannot find words beautiful enough, so you have to dance for joy. 9For your trust in him is bringing you to the end of the trail, where your whole being will be set free and made whole.
FORETOLD BY THE PROPHETS
10This time of being set free and made whole was foretold by the p
rophets, who prophesied about Creator’s gift of great kindness that would come to you. The prophets wondered about these things, so they searched deeply into the meaning of it all. 11The Spirit of the Chosen One in them told them ahead of time about the sufferings of the Chosen One and the honor that would follow. They wondered whom the Spirit was speaking about and when these things would take place. 12The Spirit made it known to them that the things they searched out were for you and not for themselves. You have now learned these things from those who told you the good story by the Holy Spirit, who was sent down from the spirit-world above. Even the spirit-messengers long to see and understand more about these things.
STAND READY IN YOUR MIND
13In light of all of this, stand ready in your mind to face what is ahead. Think clearly and set all your hope on the gift of great kindness that will be yours when Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One is revealed. 14Because you are the children of the Great Spirit, follow all his instructions. Do not walk with a bad heart, as you did in the past when you did not know the things you know now. 15Walk in a sacred manner in everything you do. For you were called away from your old life by the Holy One, who walks ahead of you on a sacred path. 16For it is written in our Sacred Teachings, “Be holy, for I am holy.”1
THE PRICE HE PAID TO SET US FREE
17If you call on the Great Spirit as your Father, walk with great respect and awe for him on your journey through this life. Creator decides who has done right or wrong without favoring one person over another. 18-19For you know that the price to set you free was not paid with silver or gold or anything that can fade away. It was the lifeblood of the Chosen One, a spotless lamb with no defect, that set you free from empty ways handed down to you from your ancestors. 20He was chosen to walk this path before the world was made, but he has been revealed in these last days for your good. 21Through him you trust in the Great Spirit, who raised him to life from death and honored him with shining-greatness. Creator did this so you would put all your hope and trust in him.
THE LIVING WORD GIVES US NEW BIRTH
22You have purified your souls by fully following the truth. Now your love for each other can come from a true heart. So keep loving each other in this way. 23You have been given new birth through the living word of the Great Spirit. This living Word is like a seed planted within you that will never decay and will remain to the time beyond the end of all days.
24Just as our Sacred Teachings tell us, “Human beings are like grass. Their beauty is like a wildflower growing in the grass. The grass dries up and the wildflower falls to the ground, 25but Creator’s Word never fades away.”
And that word is the good story that was told to you.
GROWING UP SPIRITUALLY
1So turn away from hatred, lying, cheating, and any false face you have been wearing. Stop bad-mouthing others and being jealous. 2Like newborn babies who long for their mother’s milk, you should long for milk that is spiritually pure. This milk will help you grow strong in the one who sets you free and makes you whole. 3For you have already tasted the goodness of our Honored Chief.
THE CHIEF LODGEPOLE
4You are drawing near to the living Lodgepole,2 the Chosen One who was rejected by human beings but highly honored in the eyes of the Great Spirit. 5You are also like living wooden poles3 whose branches are being woven together into a spiritual and sacred lodge. In this spiritual lodge, as holy men and women, you will send up spiritual offerings that will be like sweet-smelling smoke to the Great Spirit through Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One.
6For it stands true in our Sacred Teachings, “Behold, in Strong Mountain (Zion) I am setting in place the Chief Lodgepole that I have chosen, one that is highly honored. The hearts of all who trust in him will never fall to the ground.”4
7He is highly honored by all who trust in him. But for those who fail to put their trust in him, “The tree the lodge builders threw away has become the Chief Lodgepole.5 8He is a tree pole that many will trip over, a wooden pole6 that will make them stumble.”7 They stumble because they do not do what Creator’s message requires them to do. This is what was decided ahead of time for all who do not trust his message.
CREATOR’S CHOSEN PEOPLE
9But you who trust in Creator Sets Free (Jesus) are a chosen people. You are a family of chiefs who serve as holy men and women. You are a sacred nation, a people who belong to the Great Spirit alone. You are the ones who will show forth the beautiful ways of the one who called you out of darkness and brought you into his wondrous light. 10You are now the people of the Great Spirit, even though at one time you were not known in this way.8 In the past you had not known mercy, but now you have found it.
WALK IN A GOOD WAY
11So then, my much-loved ones, you who are strangers and outsiders to the ways of this world, I speak to you now with strong words. Stay far away from the weak and broken desires within you that make war against who you are. 12Walk in a good way among those who are outsiders to our spiritual ways. In this way, even though they falsely accuse you of wrongdoing, when they see the good you have done they will give honor to the Great Spirit on the day he comes to visit us.
COMING UNDER HUMAN AUTHORITIES
13On behalf of our Honored Chief, I call on you to come under all human governments. This includes the Ruler of the People of Iron (Caesar), as the highest authority, 14and all who represent him. They have been sent to punish wrongdoers and honor those who do what is right. 15Creator wants you to walk in his right ways so that the ignorant and foolish will have nothing to say against you. 16Do this as a people who have been set free, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil ways. Instead, walk out your freedom as willing servants of the Great Spirit. 17Show respect to all people. Love the members of our sacred family. Treat Creator with great respect, and show honor to the Ruler of the People of Iron (Caesar).
INSTRUCTIONS FOR HOUSEHOLD SERVANTS
18Household servants, I call on you to respectfully come under the master of the house. Serve with respect not only masters who are good and kind, but also the ones who treat you in a bad way. 19For the gift of great kindness rests on the ones who, out of respect for the Great Spirit, patiently suffer even when they have done nothing wrong. 20There is no honor in suffering for wrongs you have done. But if you suffer with patience for doing what is right, then Creator will look on you with great kindness.
THE PATH OF SUFFERING
21Suffering in this way is part of what you have been called to do. It was for you that the Chosen One walked a path of suffering, showing you the way to follow in his footsteps. 22Our Sacred Teachings tell us, “He did nothing wrong and never spoke with a forked tongue.”9 23He did not return insult for insult. When he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he kept looking to the one who is always right when he decides who has done right or who has done wrong.
24He took on himself our broken ways when he hung on a tree-pole—the cross. He did this so we could die to our broken ways and come alive to his right ways. By his wounds we have been made whole. 25At one time you were like sheep wandering away, but you have now returned to the one who watches over you like a shepherd who watches over the sheep.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR WIVES AND HUSBANDS
1In the same way, you wives are to come under the guidance of your husbands. In this way, even husbands who do not follow Creator’s message might be won over without a word by the way their wives treat them. 2For they will see the honest and respectful way you live your life. 3Your beauty should not be only on the outside, with fancy braided hair, costly beaded jewelry, or dressing up in fine clothes. 4But let your beauty shine out from who you are deep within your heart—a gentle spirit filled with peace and harmony. That kind of beauty never fades and has great value in the eyes of the Great Spirit.
5For this was how the holy women in times past who put their hope in Creator made themselves beautiful. They followed the guidance of their husbands 6like Noble Woman (Sarah) did. She followed the guidance of her husba
nd, Father of Many Nations (Abraham), and respectfully called him her honored chief. You are her daughters if you do not let fear keep you from doing what is right.
7In the same way, you husbands, live in an understanding way with your wife. She may be physically weaker, but she deserves honor as one who shares equally with you in the gift of great kindness as you walk together on the road of life. Then nothing will stand in the way of your prayers.
LOVE EACH OTHER AS FAMILY
8I have some last things to say to all of you. Walk side by side in harmony with each other. Try to feel what others feel. Love each other as family. Be tenderhearted and walk with a humble spirit. 9Never return evil for evil or insult for insult. Instead, speak words of blessing over each other, for you were chosen to share together in Creator’s blessings.
10Our Sacred Teachings tell us, “Let the ones who love life and long to see good days keep their tongue from evil and their lips from speaking lies. Let them turn away from doing evil and do what is good. 11Let them seek peace and choose to walk in its good ways. 12For the eyes of our Honored Chief watch over the ones who do what is right. His ears are open to their prayers. But his face is against all who do what is evil.”10
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