YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU GrYOUp READING
I’m going to speak plainly and with care.
What I see across many group readings is that very real stories of harm, betrayal, poisoning, violence, stalking, and trauma are being spoken about symbolically, collectively, and anonymously. The problem is not faith or discernment — the problem is how easily these messages are absorbed as personal confirmations by people who are already vulnerable.
I know this because these themes mirror real events I have lived through — poisoning, attempts on my life, torture, coordinated harassment — things I have never hidden and have taken to police, federal authorities, and media. When stories like these are told without names, facts, or grounding, people who have not lived them can begin to internalize them as happening to them now.
That is dangerous.
I read the comments, and I see fear escalating. I see people talking about witches, enemies, violence, and retaliation. I see people interpreting symbolism as literal threats. That is not discernment — that is confusion. And confusion can get people hurt.
I am not here to accuse, attack, or condemn anyone. I am here to say this plainly:
Truth should bring clarity and peace, not paranoia.
Faith should lead people toward Love, not fear.
If there is darkness in the world, the answer is not to inflame it, dramatize it, or project it onto unnamed people. The answer is Light. The answer is Truth. The answer is Jesus.
Everything that was taken from me — possessions, home, people and pets — all gone. What I have left is Love. And God is Love. That is not symbolic. That is real.
So I say this with humility: please be careful with words, imagery, and implication. Please ground people instead of frightening them. Please guide people toward healing, not constant vigilance against imagined enemies.
And to anyone reading this who feels afraid, targeted, or overwhelmed: you are not alone, you are not cursed, and you are not required to carry fear to be faithful.
I offer Love — freely — because Love is all I have left, and Love in Jesus is here for all.
Amen. Amen.
1 John 4
Test the Spirits (1 John 4:1–6)
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.
Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
God Is Love (1 John 4:7–21)
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.
If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Isaiah 49
The Servant of the Lord (Isaiah 49:1–7)
Listen to me, you islands;
hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the Lord called me;
from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name.
He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow
and concealed me in his quiver.
He said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”
But I said, “I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,
and my reward is with my God.”
And now the Lord says—
he who formed me in the womb to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
and gather Israel to himself,
for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord
and my God has been my strength—
he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”
This is what the Lord says—
the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel—
to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation,
to the servant of rulers:
“Kings will see you and stand up,
princes will see and bow down,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
Restoration of Israel (Isaiah 49:8–26)
This is what the Lord says:
“In the time of my favor I will answer you,
and in the day of salvation I will help you;
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people,
to restore the land
and to reassign its desolate inheritances,
to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’
and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’
“They will feed beside the roads
and find pasture on every barren hill.
They will neither hunger nor thirst,
nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.
He who has compassion on them will guide them
and lead them beside springs of water.
I will turn all my mountains into roads,
and my highways will be raised up.
See, they will come from afar—
some from the north, some from the west,
some from the region of Aswan.”
Shout for joy, you heavens;
rejoice, you earth;
burst into song, you mountains!
For the Lord comforts his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
the Lord has forgotten me.”
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are ever before me.
Your children hasten back,
and those who laid you waste depart from you.
Lift up your eyes and look around;
all your children gather and come to you.
As surely as I live,” declares the Lord,
“you will wear them all as ornaments;
you will put them on, like a bride.
“Though you were ruined and made desolate
and your land laid waste,
now you will be too small for your people,
and those who devoured you will be far away.
The children born during your bereavement
will yet say in your hearing,
‘This place is too small for us;
give us more space to live in.’
Then you will say in your heart,
‘Who bore me these?
I was bereaved and barren;
I was exiled and rejected.
Who brought these up?
I was left all alone,
but these—where have they come from?’”
This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“See, I will beckon to the nations,
I will lift up my banner to the peoples;
they will bring your sons in their arms
and carry your daughters on their hips.
Kings will be your foster fathers,
and their queens your nursing mothers.
They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground;
they will lick the dust at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
those who hope in me will not be disappointed.”
Can plunder be taken from warriors,
or captives be rescued from the fierce?
But this is what the Lord says:
“Yes, captives will be taken from warriors,
and plunder retrieved from the fierce;
I will contend with those who contend with you,
and your children I will save.
I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh;
they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine.
Then all mankind will know
that I, the Lord, am your Savior,
your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
Mark 14
Good News Translation
The Plot against Jesus (Mark 14:1–2)
It was now two days before the Festival of Passover and Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the teachers of the Law were looking for a way to arrest Jesus secretly and put him to death. “We must not do it during the festival,” they said, “or the people might riot.”
Jesus Is Anointed at Bethany (Mark 14:3–9)
Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon, a man who had suffered from a dreaded skin disease. While Jesus was eating, a woman came in with an alabaster jar full of a very expensive perfume made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on Jesus’ head.
Some of the people there became angry and said to one another, “What was the use of wasting the perfume? It could have been sold for more than three hundred silver coins and the money given to the poor!” And they criticized her harshly.
But Jesus said, “Leave her alone! Why are you bothering her? She has done a fine and beautiful thing for me. You will always have poor people with you, and any time you want to, you can help them. But you will not always have me. She did what she could; she poured perfume on my body to prepare it ahead of time for burial. Now, I assure you that wherever the gospel is preached all over the world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”
Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus (Mark 14:10–11)
Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went off to the chief priests in order to betray Jesus to them. They were pleased to hear what he had to say, and promised to give him money. So Judas started looking for a good chance to hand Jesus over to them.
Jesus Eats the Passover Meal with His Disciples (Mark 14:12–21)
On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the day the lambs for the Passover meal were killed, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and get the Passover meal ready for you?”
Then Jesus sent two of them with these instructions: “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house he enters, and say to the owner of the house: ‘The Teacher says, Where is the room where my disciples and I will eat the Passover meal?’ Then he will show you a large upstairs room, fixed up and furnished, where you will get everything ready for us.”
The disciples left, went to the city, and found everything just as Jesus had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.
When it was evening, Jesus came with the twelve disciples. While they were at the table eating, Jesus said, “I tell you that one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.”
The disciples were upset and began to ask him, one after the other, “Surely you don’t mean me, do you?”
Jesus answered, “It will be one of you twelve, one who dips his bread in the dish with me. The Son of Man will die as the Scriptures say he will; but how terrible for that man who will betray the Son of Man! It would have been better for that man if he had never been born!”
The Lord’s Supper (Mark 14:22–26)
While they were eating, Jesus took a piece of bread, gave a prayer of thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples. “Take it,” he said, “this is my body.”
Then he took a cup, gave thanks to God, and handed it to them; and they all drank from it. Jesus said, “This is my blood which is poured out for many, my blood which seals God’s covenant. I tell you, I will never again drink this wine until the day I drink the new wine in the Kingdom of God.”
Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.
Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial (Mark 14:27–31)
Jesus said to them, “All of you will run away and leave me, for the scripture says, ‘God will kill the shepherd, and the sheep will all be scattered.’ But after I am raised to life, I will go to Galilee ahead of you.”
Peter answered, “I will never leave you, even though all the rest do!”
Jesus said to Peter, “I tell you that before the rooster crows two times tonight, you will say three times that you do not know me.”
Peter answered even more strongly, “I will never say that, even if I have to die with you!” And all the other disciples said the same thing.
Jesus Prays in Gethsemane (Mark 14:32–42)
They came to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James, and John with him. Distress and anguish came over him, and he said to them, “The sorrow in my heart is so great that it almost crushes me. Stay here and keep watch.”
He went a little farther on, threw himself on the ground, and prayed that, if possible, he might not have to go through that time of suffering. “Father,” he prayed, “my Father! All things are possible for you. Take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet not what I want, but what you want.”
Then he returned and found the three disciples asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Weren’t you able to stay awake for even one hour?” And he said to them, “Keep watch, and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
He went away once more and prayed, saying the same words. Then he came back to the disciples and found them asleep; they could not keep their eyes open. And they did not know what to say to him.
When he came back the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come! Look, the Son of Man is now being handed over to the power of sinners. Get up, let us go. Look, here is the man who is betraying me!”
The Arrest of Jesus (Mark 14:43–52)
Jesus was still speaking when Judas, one of the twelve disciples, arrived. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs and sent by the chief priests, the teachers of the Law, and the elders. The traitor had given the crowd a signal: “The man I kiss is the one you want. Arrest him and take him away under guard.”
As soon as Judas arrived, he went up to Jesus and said, “Teacher!” and kissed him. So they arrested Jesus and held him tight. But one of those standing there drew his sword and struck at the High Priest’s slave, cutting off his ear.
Then Jesus spoke up and said to them, “Did you have to come with swords and clubs to capture me, as though I were an outlaw? Day after day I was with you teaching in the Temple, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must come true.”
Then all the disciples left him and ran away.
A certain young man, dressed only in a linen cloth, was following Jesus. They tried to arrest him, but he ran away naked, leaving the cloth behind.
Jesus before the Council (Mark 14:53–65)
Then Jesus was taken to the High Priest’s house, where all the chief priests, the elders, and the teachers of the Law were gathering. Peter followed from a distance and went into the courtyard of the High Priest’s house. There he sat down with the guards, keeping himself warm by the fire.
The chief priests and the whole Council tried to find some evidence against Jesus in order to put him to death, but they could not find any. Many witnesses told lies against Jesus, but their stories did not agree.
Then some men stood up and told this lie against Jesus: “We heard him say, ‘I will tear down this Temple which men have made, and after three days I will build one that is not made by men.’” Not even they, however, could make their stories agree.
The High Priest stood up in front of them all and questioned Jesus, “Have you no answer to the accusation they bring against you?” But Jesus kept quiet and would not say a word. Again the High Priest questioned him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed God?”
“I am,” answered Jesus, “and you will all see the Son of Man seated at the right side of the Almighty and coming with the clouds of heaven!”
The High Priest tore his robes and said, “We don’t need any more witnesses! You heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” They all voted against him: he was guilty and should be put to death.
Some of them began to spit on Jesus, and they blindfolded him and hit him. “Guess who hit you!” they said. And the guards took him and slapped him.
Peter Denies Jesus (Mark 14:66–72)
Peter was still down in the courtyard when one of the High Priest’s servant women came by. When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked straight at him and said, “You, too, were with Jesus of Nazareth.”
But he denied it. “I don’t know … I don’t understand what you are talking about,” he answered, and went out into the passageway. Just then a rooster crowed.
The servant woman saw him there and began to repeat to the bystanders, “He is one of them!” But Peter denied it again.
A little while later the bystanders accused Peter again, “You can’t deny that you are one of them, because you, too, are from Galilee.”
Then Peter said, “I swear that I am telling the truth! May God punish me if I am not! I do not know the man you are talking about!”
Just then a rooster crowed a second time, and Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows two times, you will say three times that you do not know me.” And he broke down and cried.
