When the letter of the word struggles with the spirit of the word...

Be careful when the letters of the word over rule the spirit of the word. Every word has a spirit and if I am going to read the letters of words so I can avoid the spirit of the word then my spirit is on slippery ground. Many people use words to paint them against others as epithets and this demonizing spirit is a killing spirit. My words about others reveal the spirit within me. Quite a few, it seems to me, do not realize that what they say about others tell others more about them than those they are talking about. I listen to the motive of words, not just the information of the word. When someone for instance says the God answers prayers but sometimes he does not, then they are saying God changed his promise, changed his mind, whatever it is, it is over looking the spirit of the words of Jesus, be it done onto you according to your faith. For more about the existence of God see  Specific Theory of Existence.

the fruit of the vine reveals itself

I do not trust just any spirit that comes attractively along because I cannot be sure where it is taking me or in what state I will be when the enticing entrance finally reveals itself and there will be no exit. There is only one spirit I trust and that is the Holy Spirit sent to me by Jesus Christ. I judge everything alongside the fruit of that tree it falls from. It is my spirit that recognizes the true vine.

muddy waters

When a person in his discourse interchanges a specific with a generality I see the recipe for confusion, confrontation, and contrary argument, which is to say the three-C's of mis-understanding ;-) have struck again. It is very important for me not to unravel an illogical presentation because the object of the enterprise initially is to mess me up with the muddy muddle of the argument. If I suspect insults or demonizing, it is a sign of anger and anger is a sign of weakness in any argument. I try to keep my plow straight. Responding to an opposing view offers the chance of opening a line of conversation leading to reaction instead of action. Reaction is a slave to action. Just my view.

John 14:12

"He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father."

Because He goes to the Father, the Holy Spirit will come and do the greater work through the believer. Just as Jesus marveled at the centurion, this work will take great faith as Jesus mentioned in Matt 8:8. I consider my job is not to figure out if or how it the world it will be done, but to believe it. And in believing it will require great faith so long as it is not manifested, since after it is manifested it is known and evident. It will be in that day no longer the evidence of things not seen.

Mark 11:23

"What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them."

I do not parse the words of Jesus. I do not limit them. I do not redefine them rendering them poetic platitudes. Nor do I add to them thinking that if I do not receive them that I am disenfranchised in any way. These words of Jesus do not say anything about losing salvation. They do speak about believing. The bedrock foundation of believing is persistence. If I can see it already then it does not require belief. I believe in what I cannot yet see and I persist in that forever. I do not clock God since time is an illusion rising up before me only in a comparitive state. I do not time eternity. All that is another dimension of which I do not as yet have all the facts. So I decide to believe right now with the facts that I do have. This requires faith and I persist in that without any timeline.

Luke 7:50

And He (Jesus) said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."

I notice here that Jesus did not say that His faith healed her, but that her faith healed her. This particular phrasing, repeated at other healings by Jesus, is a significant point in my view. God has the power but she had to believe in His power, and that is what healed her. This is what the words of Jesus say to me. And speaking itself also is important. Words have significant power for the believer. God spoke the worlds into existence. It is the same as yesterday as it is today and forever. Jesus had only to speak a word and the centurion's servant was healed. The centurion said this before his servant was yet healed. Matt 8:13 were then the words that Jesus spake.

Matt 8:13

Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you."

I notice here that Jesus said that as we believe so God's power will be done for us.