The great God of the universe created you and me. He had a purpose for doing it, do you know what that purpose was? It was to take care of the garden that He created and also to take care of the animals that He created and also to reflect His character, in other words to be like Him in character and life. What an awesome God to be like Him and take care of His creation. He wants us to express His thoughts to others and to reveal His glory in our lives. Can we do that? Others have and I know that we can if we so desire.
Psalms 100:1-5 "Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing, Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving. And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting. And His truth endures to all generations."
Psalms 119:89-91 "Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven. Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You established the earth, and it abides. They continue this day according to Your ordinances."
Psalms 148:5,6 "Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded and they were created. He also established them forever and ever; He made a decree which shall not pass away."
It is God's power that we have all these things in nature that flourish for the happiness of man. That's why we should praise His name.
I am astounded by the little bit that we even say 'thank you' to those that do us favors, like meals, laundry and keeping the house tidy, or for the hard work that our husbands do to keep food on the table and clothes on our bodies and a roof over our heads. All this deserves a big 'thank you'. But how about the God of the universe providing us with the health to do all these things and sometimes when our health is gone, we realize how precious it was. How about thanking Him for our health, and for the strength to do the work that it takes to live, and all of what nature provides for our enjoyment. We have so much to be thankful for and most of us take it all for granted until it is gone. Let's not wait until all is gone to realize how good God is to us. Let us give Him thanks all the time and praise His name for His loving kindness towards us. That is the very least that we can do for His abundant love and care.
He created us to enjoy His bounties and to give thanks for them. So with grateful hearts, let's bow before Him in praise and thanksgiving that is due His wonderful name. We need to know Him for His wonderful works and for His love and care for us each day of our lives. I hope you are getting to know Him better each day as we study to have a knowledge of God. There is so much more to know about Him. Keep tuning in and we will learn more and have a deeper knowledge of Him. Grandma Joan
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Friday, December 6, 2013
A Knowledge of God - Revealed in Christ
How many of us know God like we should? I would be very safe in saying that not many of us really know Him as we should. So let's take a look at Christ and what He was like and then we will know what God is like through Christ's life.
Hebrews 1:1-3 "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high."
We can see from this verse that God spoke through His Son and that He is the brightness of His Father's glory and the express image of His person. So let's get a knowledge of God through His Son Jesus.
Matthew 11:27 Jesus speaking, "All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." Does the Son will to reveal God to you? I believe He does through the knowledge of the Scriptures.
2 Peter 1:2,3 "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue." Grace and peace will be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Do you need grace? We all do. Do you need peace? We all need that too, don't we?
Then we need to gain a knowledge of God and of Jesus to be able to have the grace and peace that He has promised us through His Word.
We need to have a knowledge of the personality of God and we get that from studying the personality of Jesus.
Jesus went about doing good, healing the sick, raising the dead, cuddling little children on His lap, and blessing them, speaking words of encouragement and the way to salvation through parables and sermons, like the 'Sermon on the Mount' in Matthew 5. He was an encouragement to His disciples and loved them and they felt His love and tenderness and saw it in His ministry to the poor and the outcasts. His love and care changed lives from despair to hope in life eternal. And it is the same today, we can study His life and receive the same treatment as they received then. He loves and cares for us the same as He did those in His day.
We can have the same hope and be relieved of the despair that some of us are going through. It is this knowledge that Christ wants us to have to know God like He knew Him. And we can have that by reading about Christ's life as He demonstrated the Father's love and care for His children.
Do you want to know God, then get acquainted with Jesus through His word and study His life and then copy it. Jesus is a safe pattern to copy, the only safe One to copy.
There is a promise in John 14:1-3 Jesus speaking, "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me, In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." This is a wonderful promise to all of us who believe on His Word and do it. It is worth believing in, do you believe Him? Do you know Him? Are you willing to follow Him all the way to everlasting life in Him?
Psalms 119:50 "This is my comfort in my affliction, For Your word has given me life." Do you want life, His word will give us life here and now and also life eternal with God and with Jesus Christ whom he has sent to save us from eternal death. It would be a good thing for us to turn our lives over to Him and study to know Him, the reward is everlasting life. It will be worth it all, I truly believe that, we have nothing to lose except eternal life if we refuse. Grandma Joan
Hebrews 1:1-3 "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high."
We can see from this verse that God spoke through His Son and that He is the brightness of His Father's glory and the express image of His person. So let's get a knowledge of God through His Son Jesus.
Matthew 11:27 Jesus speaking, "All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him." Does the Son will to reveal God to you? I believe He does through the knowledge of the Scriptures.
2 Peter 1:2,3 "Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue." Grace and peace will be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Do you need grace? We all do. Do you need peace? We all need that too, don't we?
Then we need to gain a knowledge of God and of Jesus to be able to have the grace and peace that He has promised us through His Word.
We need to have a knowledge of the personality of God and we get that from studying the personality of Jesus.
Jesus went about doing good, healing the sick, raising the dead, cuddling little children on His lap, and blessing them, speaking words of encouragement and the way to salvation through parables and sermons, like the 'Sermon on the Mount' in Matthew 5. He was an encouragement to His disciples and loved them and they felt His love and tenderness and saw it in His ministry to the poor and the outcasts. His love and care changed lives from despair to hope in life eternal. And it is the same today, we can study His life and receive the same treatment as they received then. He loves and cares for us the same as He did those in His day.
We can have the same hope and be relieved of the despair that some of us are going through. It is this knowledge that Christ wants us to have to know God like He knew Him. And we can have that by reading about Christ's life as He demonstrated the Father's love and care for His children.
Do you want to know God, then get acquainted with Jesus through His word and study His life and then copy it. Jesus is a safe pattern to copy, the only safe One to copy.
There is a promise in John 14:1-3 Jesus speaking, "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me, In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." This is a wonderful promise to all of us who believe on His Word and do it. It is worth believing in, do you believe Him? Do you know Him? Are you willing to follow Him all the way to everlasting life in Him?
Psalms 119:50 "This is my comfort in my affliction, For Your word has given me life." Do you want life, His word will give us life here and now and also life eternal with God and with Jesus Christ whom he has sent to save us from eternal death. It would be a good thing for us to turn our lives over to Him and study to know Him, the reward is everlasting life. It will be worth it all, I truly believe that, we have nothing to lose except eternal life if we refuse. Grandma Joan
Thursday, December 5, 2013
A Knowledge of God That Works Transformation
Does your life need transforming? Mine does and I want God to transform my life into His image. That is a big order for me, but I need it and the longer I live the more I desire it. Do you feel that way too? In this world we need something stable and God is the only real stability that we can have. I was reading some thoughts on transformation of character and I found this quote in a book called 'Ministry of Healing'. P. 425.
"The knowledge of God as revealed in Christ is the knowledge that all who are saved must have. It is the knowledge that works transformation of character. This knowledge, received, will re-create the soul in the image of God. It will impart to the whole being a spiritual power that is divine."
2 Corinthians 3:18 "We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory."
2 Corinthians 1:9-11 "We do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness."
These are great promises of being changed into His image and being filled with knowledge and all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that we may walk worthy of the Lord and please Him being fruitful and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness. What wonderful promises, how can we fail Him who has promised such wonderful works in our life.
He has promised to transform us into His image from glory to glory. I pray that He is transforming me and I know He is, I need Him so much in my life. I pray for you also, that He is transforming your life into His image. I know He is doing it for you too. All we have to do is ask, these are the kind of prayers that we can expect answers to. He is thrilled to answer these prayers for our spiritual growth. So let your prayer be,
'transform me, Father, into your image so I may reflect your likeness to others' and He will do it. Grandma Joan.
"The knowledge of God as revealed in Christ is the knowledge that all who are saved must have. It is the knowledge that works transformation of character. This knowledge, received, will re-create the soul in the image of God. It will impart to the whole being a spiritual power that is divine."
2 Corinthians 3:18 "We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory."
2 Corinthians 1:9-11 "We do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness."
These are great promises of being changed into His image and being filled with knowledge and all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that we may walk worthy of the Lord and please Him being fruitful and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness. What wonderful promises, how can we fail Him who has promised such wonderful works in our life.
He has promised to transform us into His image from glory to glory. I pray that He is transforming me and I know He is, I need Him so much in my life. I pray for you also, that He is transforming your life into His image. I know He is doing it for you too. All we have to do is ask, these are the kind of prayers that we can expect answers to. He is thrilled to answer these prayers for our spiritual growth. So let your prayer be,
'transform me, Father, into your image so I may reflect your likeness to others' and He will do it. Grandma Joan.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
The Helper
What is a helper? To help someone is to aid someone. Do you ever feel like you need help with your chores, or with what ever you might be doing. How about in your Christian walk, do you need help with that? I do. All the time, every day and every minute of every day. I can never go alone in my Christian walk and neither can anyone else, even though they think they can, it will always be a failure, we just can't do it without our Helper.
That is why we have been offered a Helper, because God knows that we can't go it alone. I am so glad that He has been so kind as to supply us with all the help we need if we but ask for His assistance.
Romans 8:26 "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."
We may be weak and not even know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit takes over and helps in our weaknesses and turns our prayers into something beautiful before the Father. So take heart my friend and let the Spirit take over your life and mine and life will be so much better for the living.
John 14:16 "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever." He will be with us forever, did you get that. How great is that?
John 14:25,26 "These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."
You will never be left alone to fight the battle with the enemy, never. Only if you choose to go it alone.
The Holy Spirit is only a breath away, He is always near and ready to aid us in our battles of life. He comes to each of us individually, pleading with us to let Him help us. Are we willing to let Him in to dwell in us and do our battles for us. He is willing, are we?
Romans 8:1 "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."
We will not be condemned if we walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh, which is our carnal nature. Let's let the Holy Spirit overpower our carnal nature and be filled with his Spirit so that we can walk the walk of faith in Christ. Ask for His presence in your life and I will do the same and we can overcome together and be found faithful in the end. Grandma Joan
That is why we have been offered a Helper, because God knows that we can't go it alone. I am so glad that He has been so kind as to supply us with all the help we need if we but ask for His assistance.
Romans 8:26 "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."
We may be weak and not even know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit takes over and helps in our weaknesses and turns our prayers into something beautiful before the Father. So take heart my friend and let the Spirit take over your life and mine and life will be so much better for the living.
John 14:16 "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever." He will be with us forever, did you get that. How great is that?
John 14:25,26 "These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."
You will never be left alone to fight the battle with the enemy, never. Only if you choose to go it alone.
The Holy Spirit is only a breath away, He is always near and ready to aid us in our battles of life. He comes to each of us individually, pleading with us to let Him help us. Are we willing to let Him in to dwell in us and do our battles for us. He is willing, are we?
Romans 8:1 "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."
We will not be condemned if we walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh, which is our carnal nature. Let's let the Holy Spirit overpower our carnal nature and be filled with his Spirit so that we can walk the walk of faith in Christ. Ask for His presence in your life and I will do the same and we can overcome together and be found faithful in the end. Grandma Joan
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
The Teacher
After we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we need a teacher to teach us what is our duty towards God. I sure need one, don't you? I believe God is teaching us through His Spirit, every day if we abide with Him and He abides with us.
Luke 12:12 "For the Holy Spirit will teach you in the same hour what you ought to say." He is fast with His teaching, to teach us in the same hour what we ought to say. We can help others if we are filled with His Spirit because He will give us the words to say that would be most helpful.
John 14:26 "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." He will teach us all things and bring all things back to our remembrance the things that we have learned through Him.
1 Corinthians 2:13 "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. We must be VERY careful that what we learn is from God and not from any human source, because the Bible warns us about wolves in sheep clothing going about to destroy in Matthew 7:15 and we need to listen to the Holy Spirit's teaching us what is truth.
1 John 2:27 "But the anointing which you have received from Him, abideth in you, and you need not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things and is truth and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, you shall abide in Him."
Here we are told that the Holy Spirit, when abiding in us will teach us truth as we read and study His word and we won't need to listen to any other teaching. We can listen but we need to be sensitive to truth so that we cannot be led astray. Everything that man teaches should be straight from God's word and nothing else, if it differs from God's word it is not truth. That is what we are learning from this study. That is what I am doing with my studies that I am sharing. It is straight from God's word. If anything disagrees with God's word, I don't print it.
I am praying that we will let God's Holy Spirit teach us all things that are necessary for our Salvation and that you and I will allow the teachings to take hold in our hearts and minds because the times we are living in right now appear to be just before Jesus second coming and we need to be ready, isn't that right, never has the world been in such a turmoil and never has the United States been in such bad straights as it is now. We need to be preparing Spiritually for what ever comes about that we will be ready. I truly believe that.
Let the Holy Spirit come into your heart and life and listen to His teachings and abide by them and you will be ready for whatever takes place in the future. I sincerely want to be ready, don't you? Grandma Joan
Luke 12:12 "For the Holy Spirit will teach you in the same hour what you ought to say." He is fast with His teaching, to teach us in the same hour what we ought to say. We can help others if we are filled with His Spirit because He will give us the words to say that would be most helpful.
John 14:26 "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." He will teach us all things and bring all things back to our remembrance the things that we have learned through Him.
1 Corinthians 2:13 "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. We must be VERY careful that what we learn is from God and not from any human source, because the Bible warns us about wolves in sheep clothing going about to destroy in Matthew 7:15 and we need to listen to the Holy Spirit's teaching us what is truth.
1 John 2:27 "But the anointing which you have received from Him, abideth in you, and you need not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things and is truth and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, you shall abide in Him."
Here we are told that the Holy Spirit, when abiding in us will teach us truth as we read and study His word and we won't need to listen to any other teaching. We can listen but we need to be sensitive to truth so that we cannot be led astray. Everything that man teaches should be straight from God's word and nothing else, if it differs from God's word it is not truth. That is what we are learning from this study. That is what I am doing with my studies that I am sharing. It is straight from God's word. If anything disagrees with God's word, I don't print it.
I am praying that we will let God's Holy Spirit teach us all things that are necessary for our Salvation and that you and I will allow the teachings to take hold in our hearts and minds because the times we are living in right now appear to be just before Jesus second coming and we need to be ready, isn't that right, never has the world been in such a turmoil and never has the United States been in such bad straights as it is now. We need to be preparing Spiritually for what ever comes about that we will be ready. I truly believe that.
Let the Holy Spirit come into your heart and life and listen to His teachings and abide by them and you will be ready for whatever takes place in the future. I sincerely want to be ready, don't you? Grandma Joan
Monday, December 2, 2013
Unworthy - part 2 - last part
I wanted so much yesterday to tell you about a song my husband use to sing. He use to sing solo's for church and occasions and he was asked one time to repeat a song he had sung before and the title to the song is 'Unworthy'. He loved it and so did I. I use to play for him sometimes when he sang.
I want to share the words with you today so you can see why we both loved it so much. I use to go to bed singing it, it was so beautiful. I wish I could share the music with you, but maybe you could find it on You Tube, not sure about that, but here are the words.
Unworthy
Unworthy am I of the grace that He gave, Unworthy to hold to His hand.
Amazed that a King would reach down to a slave, This love I cannot understand.
My sorry and sickness laid stripes on His back, My sins caused the blood that was shed,
My faults and my failures have woven a crown of thorns, that He wore on His head.
Unworthy am I of the glory to come, Unworthy with angels to sing,
I thrill just to know that He loved me so much, A pauper, I walk with the King.
Chorus:
I'm unworthy, unworthy, a beggar, in bondage and alone,
But He made me worthy and now by His grace, His mercy has made me His own.
If you could only hear the music, it is such a beautiful song and the words are so meaningful. I use to sing duets with him but I can barely hold a tune anymore. But I still love to play and pretend to sing. Maybe God will have mercy and restore my voice. I know He will in the earth made new but it would also be nice now. Nothing is impossible for Him. I hope the words of this song help you in your restoration to spiritual things. Just remembering it has helped me. With Christian love, Grandma Joan
I want to share the words with you today so you can see why we both loved it so much. I use to go to bed singing it, it was so beautiful. I wish I could share the music with you, but maybe you could find it on You Tube, not sure about that, but here are the words.
Unworthy
Unworthy am I of the grace that He gave, Unworthy to hold to His hand.
Amazed that a King would reach down to a slave, This love I cannot understand.
My sorry and sickness laid stripes on His back, My sins caused the blood that was shed,
My faults and my failures have woven a crown of thorns, that He wore on His head.
Unworthy am I of the glory to come, Unworthy with angels to sing,
I thrill just to know that He loved me so much, A pauper, I walk with the King.
Chorus:
I'm unworthy, unworthy, a beggar, in bondage and alone,
But He made me worthy and now by His grace, His mercy has made me His own.
If you could only hear the music, it is such a beautiful song and the words are so meaningful. I use to sing duets with him but I can barely hold a tune anymore. But I still love to play and pretend to sing. Maybe God will have mercy and restore my voice. I know He will in the earth made new but it would also be nice now. Nothing is impossible for Him. I hope the words of this song help you in your restoration to spiritual things. Just remembering it has helped me. With Christian love, Grandma Joan
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Are You Unworthy? So am I.
Jesus really is the only One worthy in this world to save us and deliver us from our fallen nature. I know what it is like to feel so unworthy of His love and mercy. It is hard to fathom such love that He has for us that He would accept being crucified on a cruel cross so that we could have eternal life with Him. What suffering He went through just for me, if I had been the only one, He would have died just for me. Can you fathom that, no wonder we feel so unworthy. We really are unworthy, but He died to make us worthy of eternal life with Him.
John the Baptist felt so unworthy of Him that he said he wasn't worthy to even loose His sandal straps. What a preacher John was and yet he felt he was unworthy of the love and mercy shown to him to be the forerunner of Christ. John 1:27. So it is natural for us to feel unworthy, we live in a sinful world and Jesus was without sin and we can by His grace and mercy live that way too, if we choose too, we are suppose to live in this world but not be of this world.
We can only do it by God's grace and the Worthiness of Jesus to forgive us and cleanse us from the sin in our lives. Can you understand all that? Neither can I. Our understanding of what He has done for us will grow as we grow in grace and knowledge of what He has done for us. And we can only do that by staying in His presence day by day.
o
Are you unworthy? Yes, Am I unworthy? Yes, but someday we will stand in His presence in His eternal kingdom worthy of being there because of His worthiness. He was the only One worthy to die for our sins, are you willing to accept such a sacrifice? We have to prove our worthiness here and allow Him to live in and for us so we will be worthy to live with Him forever. Is it hard to do that? Yes, but only because we choose to live without Him. If we choose to live with Him, remember, He says, 'His yoke is easy and His burden is light'. So let's let Him carry our burdens and make us ready to live with Him who is our worthiness. Grandma Joan
John the Baptist felt so unworthy of Him that he said he wasn't worthy to even loose His sandal straps. What a preacher John was and yet he felt he was unworthy of the love and mercy shown to him to be the forerunner of Christ. John 1:27. So it is natural for us to feel unworthy, we live in a sinful world and Jesus was without sin and we can by His grace and mercy live that way too, if we choose too, we are suppose to live in this world but not be of this world.
We can only do it by God's grace and the Worthiness of Jesus to forgive us and cleanse us from the sin in our lives. Can you understand all that? Neither can I. Our understanding of what He has done for us will grow as we grow in grace and knowledge of what He has done for us. And we can only do that by staying in His presence day by day.
o
Are you unworthy? Yes, Am I unworthy? Yes, but someday we will stand in His presence in His eternal kingdom worthy of being there because of His worthiness. He was the only One worthy to die for our sins, are you willing to accept such a sacrifice? We have to prove our worthiness here and allow Him to live in and for us so we will be worthy to live with Him forever. Is it hard to do that? Yes, but only because we choose to live without Him. If we choose to live with Him, remember, He says, 'His yoke is easy and His burden is light'. So let's let Him carry our burdens and make us ready to live with Him who is our worthiness. Grandma Joan
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