Time and time again God's chosen refused to listen to Him. Now we have to understand that those who weren't God's chosen, weren't chosen for a reason. They were worshippers of false gods. They did not believe in our Creator God at all whatsoever. They worshipped the sun and made gods for the sun, they worshipped the moon, they worshipped objects, they worshipped situations- fertility and so many other things. They chose to NOT follow God and because of this God granted them their desire to NOT want to follow Him and He chose a man among men that sought Him, believed in Him. Noah, Enoch, Abraham each of these men chose God over the worshipping of other gods. Each of these men chose the Creator God over false gods. When these men chose to follow our Creator God they found favor with God. God DID NOT force anyone to choose Him. God DID NOT force others to worship false gods. Lest it appear that God favored a people over another lets be perfectly clear here- the other people that God did not favor DID NOT want His favor! People REJECTED GOD! When God wanted His chosen people to destroy the heathen nations it was because they lived in a time when it was kill or be killed, adapt or be destroyed. People were constantly warring with each other for land rights, for so much. Today we still have battles for land rights but NOTHING like it was then, nothing. When God wanted the heathen nations destroyed He was NOT destroying the innocent and we are tremendously naïve if we believe that. Some will throw out the children - how could God want the children destroyed. Stop right there! God did NOT want anyone destroyed, not a single person. But people rejected Him and chose the opposite of Him and His love, they chose a path of destruction and yes, parents chose the path for their children. Will the truly innocent destroyed be destroyed of the second death? I really don't think so. Every single child as individuals in accountability determined by God will be judged by Him and they - if they are innocent God will give them eternal life. Not a single innocent will be destroyed eternally, not one and we can't forget that!
Read this...
Psa 106:34 They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them:
Psa 106:35 But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.
Psa 106:36 And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.
Psa 106:37 Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils,
Psa 106:38 And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.
Psa 106:39 Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went a whoring with their own inventions.
This is discussing God's chosen people who did NOT truly follow God with their hearts and rebelled against Him. They did NOT listen to God. God wanted them to destroy the heathen nations. They not only didn't destroy those God commanded them to destroy but they MINGLED with them! They learned from the heathen! They served the heathen idols. They sacrificed their sons and daughters to devils! They shed INNOCENT blood, the blood of their own children because they were being taught by heathen to sacrifice these children to their idols! These were God's people who apostatized from God! They defiled themselves when they stopped following the true Creator God and chose instead to follow false gods.
Psa 106:40 Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.
Imagine it! Take a moment and truly imagine it! Our LORD abhorred His own PEOPLE!
WHY do we believe we can do whatever we please and our LORD will not care but love us no matter what? WHY?! Because this was old covenant and not new covenant time?
Remember this verse from yesterday--
Mat 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Mat 23:38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
Read this--
'Into this picture comes the issue of accountability. The Jewish leadership sealed their probation in their action against Jesus Christ in securing His death by Pilate. This can be deducted from Peter's defense before the same council who had tried Jesus (Acts 4:5-12)
He offered them no opportunity to repent as he had in preaching to others in Jerusalem (Acts 2:38; 3:19).
The nation as a corporate body sealed its fate in the stoning of Stephen in AD 34 (Dan. 9:24).
The Israel of the Diaspora as well as the Jews of Jerusalem had to decide whether their leadership did right in pressuring the Roman authority to kill Jesus, or was He indeed the Messiah. If they decided that their leadership had denied "the Holy One," and killed "the Prince of life," they had a choice to make. They could no longer remain in that corporate body under that leadership sharing in that guilt (Acts 3:13-15; 17-19).
Act 4:5 And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes,
Act 4:6 And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem.
Act 4:7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?
Act 4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel,
Act 4:9 If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole;
Act 4:10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
Act 4:11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.
Act 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Act 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Act 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
Dan 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
Act 3:13 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.
Act 3:14 But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;
Act 3:15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.
Act 3:17 And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.
Act 3:18 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
Act 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord'
We CANNOT let ourselves believe that we have no accountability to our God just because Jesus came and did away with the ceremonial laws all of which were answered in His existence. The rituals geared towards needing a Savior, a Redeemer and that Savior, that Redeemer was realized in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Did Jesus destroy the moral law of God? NO.
Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Mat 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Mat 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 22:36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Mat 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
Mat 22:38 This is the first and great commandment.
Mat 22:39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mat 22:40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
The moral laws of the Ten Commandments encompass loving God (1-4) and loving mankind (5-10). NONE of these was done away with. Jesus lived this law to perfection, it was His perfection in living the law of God that gave Him the innocence He took to the cross, the sinlessness He took to His death so that we may live.
We were NEVER told that we could now ignore God's commandments- that they were no longer necessary. Jesus NEVER told us that, NEVER!
Always God's moral law remains from Creation to Eternity, it will NEVER change, not ever! To have His moral laws change is to deem them imperfectly given and if imperfectly given they are given from an imperfect source which God has never and will never, ever be!
Old testament or new, God remains unchanged. His people then, His people now have the choice to disobey Him and that choice will result in certain consequences. Sometimes the temporary consequences for those who abandon God and seek to worship other things including themselves, will have detrimental effects here and now. Most assuredly the eternal consequence of disobeying God- of NOT believing in our Creator God- is eternal death.
*******
God chose a people to be His to come from the ancestry of a man who loved Him. These people often trampled on the love of God, disobeying them. God...
Psa 106:41 And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them.
Psa 106:42 Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand.
Psa 106:43 Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.
Psa 106:44 Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry:
Psa 106:45 And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.
Psa 106:46 He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives.
God loves us but despises our rebellion against Him, our lack of love, of faith, of trust in Him. God allowed His people to be taken captive time and time again and just as often God heard the cry of His people and remembered the covenant He'd made with them.
Psa 106:47 Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise.
Psa 106:48 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the LORD.
God's true people, those who truly love God among the chosen people of the first covenant or those among the gentiles who were given the message of the kingdom of God through Jesus Christ and the new covenant, all of these will forever be His and loved by Him as long as their love remains true to God and not caught up in anything else at all.
We've been studying Jerusalem and this plays into that study because Jerusalem was a city of God- chosen by God to represent God in many, many ways.
More tomorrow on Jerusalem, on God's people, on God's most amazing LOVE!
In His mercy, in His grace, by HIS righteousness all through His love in the forgiveness of His Son, Jesus Christ.
All praise, all thanksgiving, all honor, all glory to God!
Amen.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
Jerusalem - 2
1Ki 2:11 And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.
David, beloved of God, chosen of God as a young man to be His champion, His king for His people reigned for forty years. Seven of those years he was king in Hebron but for thirty-three years he was king in Jerusalem.
Thirty-three years. Our Savior lived upon earth thirty-three years and He cried over Jerusalem.
Mat 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
A bit of Jerusalem history-
Ceramic evidence indicates occupation of the City of David, within present-day Jerusalem, as far back as the Copper Age (c. 4th millennium BCE),[13][42] with evidence of a permanent settlement during the early Bronze Age (c. 3000–2800 BCE).[42][43] The Execration Texts (c. 19th century BCE), which refer to a city called Roshlamem or Rosh-ramen[42] and the Amarna letters (c. 14th century BCE) may be the earliest mention of the city.[44][45] Some archaeologists, including Kathleen Kenyon, believe Jerusalem[46] as a city was founded by Northwest Semitic people with organized settlements from around 2600 BCE. According to Jewish tradition, the city was founded by Shem and Eber, ancestors of Abraham. In the biblical account, Jerusalem ("Salem") when first mentioned is ruled by Melchizedek, an ally of Abraham (identified with Shem in legend). Later, in the time of Joshua, Jerusalem lay within territory allocated to the tribe of Benjamin (Joshua 18:28), but continued to be under the independent control of the Jebusites until it was conquered by David and made into the capital of the united Kingdom of Israel (c. 11th century BCE)
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1Ki 8:16 Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that my name might be therein; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.
1Ki 8:17 And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.
1Ki 8:18 And the LORD said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart.
1Ki 8:19 Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name.
1Ki 8:20 And the LORD hath performed his word that he spake, and I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.
1Ki 8:21 And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.
1Ki 8:22 And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven.
The heart of David was to build a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. David's son Solomon built this house for God. You see, the people of Israel ever since they were set free from Egyptian rule keep the covenant of God through a ceremonial law. The Temple of God in Heaven was seen and after that vision a Tabernacle on earth was made. This Tabernacle traveled with the people of God for a long, long, long time and David kept the ceremonial law in the portable Tabernacle as God required of His chosen. David wanted something more permanent, more ornate, more amazing for God than what had originally been given them to make. Because David was beloved of God and followed after God keeping His commandments, God wanted David to have this but it would be David's son, not David who would build the Temple on earth that was not built to be portable. Jerusalem, the city of God, would house that Temple.
Is it any wonder that Jerusalem became known as the City of God? The true God of Israel, the God of all Creation, would make this city something amazingly important.
Let's read the prayer of Solomon to God upon the day of dedication for the Temple.
1Ki 8:23 And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart:
1Ki 8:24 Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day.
1Ki 8:25 Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me.
1Ki 8:26 And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.
1Ki 8:27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?
1Ki 8:28 Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day:
1Ki 8:29 That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place.
1Ki 8:30 And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive.
1Ki 8:31 If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house:
1Ki 8:32 Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
1Ki 8:33 When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house:
1Ki 8:34 Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers.
1Ki 8:35 When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them:
1Ki 8:36 Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.
1Ki 8:37 If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be;
1Ki 8:38 What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:
1Ki 8:39 Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;)
1Ki 8:40 That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.
1Ki 8:41 Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake;
1Ki 8:42 (For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house;
1Ki 8:43 Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy name.
1Ki 8:44 If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the LORD toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name:
1Ki 8:45 Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
1Ki 8:46 If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;
1Ki 8:47 Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;
1Ki 8:48 And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name:
1Ki 8:49 Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause,
1Ki 8:50 And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them:
1Ki 8:51 For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron:
1Ki 8:52 That thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee.
1Ki 8:53 For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.
1Ki 8:54 And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.
1Ki 8:55 And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,
1Ki 8:56 Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.
1Ki 8:57 The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us:
1Ki 8:58 That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers.
1Ki 8:59 And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the LORD, be nigh unto the LORD our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require:
1Ki 8:60 That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and that there is none else.
1Ki 8:61 Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.
1Ki 8:62 And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD.
So amazing, and yet now as we live with thousands of years of history between us and Solomon, and the time of his prayer, we know some of the long history of Jerusalem. We know that the temple was destroyed- more than once. We know that Jerusalem has been razed more than once and held in the hands of those who have been enemies of God. We know this has happened and we know why- Satan.
Satan has filled the hearts of people and caused them to abandon God, our Creator, our Redeemer. Corruption, deception, lies, blasphemies, rebellion, commandment breakers, covenant breakers, men's hearts filled with sin and they continuously left God, abandoned their Creator, their Deliverer time and time again.
Let's look at a bit more of the history of Jerusalem thus far…
According to Hebrew scripture, King David reigned for 40 years. The generally accepted estimate of the conclusion of this reign is 970 BCE. The Bible records that David was succeeded by his son Solomon,[50] who built the Holy Temple on Mount Moriah. Solomon's Temple (later known as the First Temple), went on to play a pivotal role in Jewish history as the repository of the Ark of the Covenant.[51] For more than 400 years, until the Babylonian conquest in 587 BCE, Jerusalem was the political capital of the united Kingdom of Israel and then the Kingdom of Judah. During this period, known as the First Temple Period,[52] the Temple was the religious center of the Israelites.[53] On Solomon's death (c. 930 BCE), the ten northern tribes split off to form the Kingdom of Israel. Under the leadership of the House of David and Solomon, Jerusalem remained the capital of the Kingdom of Judah.[54]
When the Assyrians conquered the Kingdom of Israel in 722 BCE, Jerusalem was strengthened by a great influx of refugees from the northern kingdom. The First Temple period ended around 586 BCE, as the Babylonians conquered Judah and Jerusalem, and laid waste to Solomon's Temple.[52]
In 538 BCE, after 50 years of Babylonian captivity, Persian King Cyrus the Great invited the Jews to return to Judah to rebuild the Temple.[55] Construction of the Second Temple was completed in 516 BCE, during the reign of Darius the Great, 70 years after the destruction of the First Temple.[56][57] In about 445 BCE, King Artaxerxes I of Persia issued a decree allowing the city and the walls to be rebuilt.[58] Jerusalem resumed its role as capital of Judah and center of Jewish worship.
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Such amazing history. More tomorrow on Jerusalem, the City of God, by the will of our LORD.
In His love may we learn more of the history both Biblical and secular of the City of Jerusalem. Can we do no less, it is a city our Savior in the flesh mourned for. Please Lord bless us with understanding, help us to watch as we've been told to watch, help us to pray as we've been told to pray. Prepare us for Your soon return Lord, all through Your LOVE, Your RIGHTEOUSNESS.
By Your mercy and grace, by Your forgiveness.
Amen.
David, beloved of God, chosen of God as a young man to be His champion, His king for His people reigned for forty years. Seven of those years he was king in Hebron but for thirty-three years he was king in Jerusalem.
Thirty-three years. Our Savior lived upon earth thirty-three years and He cried over Jerusalem.
Mat 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
A bit of Jerusalem history-
Ceramic evidence indicates occupation of the City of David, within present-day Jerusalem, as far back as the Copper Age (c. 4th millennium BCE),[13][42] with evidence of a permanent settlement during the early Bronze Age (c. 3000–2800 BCE).[42][43] The Execration Texts (c. 19th century BCE), which refer to a city called Roshlamem or Rosh-ramen[42] and the Amarna letters (c. 14th century BCE) may be the earliest mention of the city.[44][45] Some archaeologists, including Kathleen Kenyon, believe Jerusalem[46] as a city was founded by Northwest Semitic people with organized settlements from around 2600 BCE. According to Jewish tradition, the city was founded by Shem and Eber, ancestors of Abraham. In the biblical account, Jerusalem ("Salem") when first mentioned is ruled by Melchizedek, an ally of Abraham (identified with Shem in legend). Later, in the time of Joshua, Jerusalem lay within territory allocated to the tribe of Benjamin (Joshua 18:28), but continued to be under the independent control of the Jebusites until it was conquered by David and made into the capital of the united Kingdom of Israel (c. 11th century BCE)
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1Ki 8:16 Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that my name might be therein; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.
1Ki 8:17 And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.
1Ki 8:18 And the LORD said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart.
1Ki 8:19 Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name.
1Ki 8:20 And the LORD hath performed his word that he spake, and I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.
1Ki 8:21 And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.
1Ki 8:22 And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven.
The heart of David was to build a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. David's son Solomon built this house for God. You see, the people of Israel ever since they were set free from Egyptian rule keep the covenant of God through a ceremonial law. The Temple of God in Heaven was seen and after that vision a Tabernacle on earth was made. This Tabernacle traveled with the people of God for a long, long, long time and David kept the ceremonial law in the portable Tabernacle as God required of His chosen. David wanted something more permanent, more ornate, more amazing for God than what had originally been given them to make. Because David was beloved of God and followed after God keeping His commandments, God wanted David to have this but it would be David's son, not David who would build the Temple on earth that was not built to be portable. Jerusalem, the city of God, would house that Temple.
Is it any wonder that Jerusalem became known as the City of God? The true God of Israel, the God of all Creation, would make this city something amazingly important.
Let's read the prayer of Solomon to God upon the day of dedication for the Temple.
1Ki 8:23 And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart:
1Ki 8:24 Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day.
1Ki 8:25 Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me.
1Ki 8:26 And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.
1Ki 8:27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?
1Ki 8:28 Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day:
1Ki 8:29 That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place.
1Ki 8:30 And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive.
1Ki 8:31 If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house:
1Ki 8:32 Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
1Ki 8:33 When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house:
1Ki 8:34 Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers.
1Ki 8:35 When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them:
1Ki 8:36 Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.
1Ki 8:37 If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpiller; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be;
1Ki 8:38 What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:
1Ki 8:39 Then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;)
1Ki 8:40 That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.
1Ki 8:41 Moreover concerning a stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake;
1Ki 8:42 (For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm;) when he shall come and pray toward this house;
1Ki 8:43 Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy name.
1Ki 8:44 If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the LORD toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name:
1Ki 8:45 Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
1Ki 8:46 If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;
1Ki 8:47 Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;
1Ki 8:48 And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name:
1Ki 8:49 Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause,
1Ki 8:50 And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them:
1Ki 8:51 For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron:
1Ki 8:52 That thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee.
1Ki 8:53 For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.
1Ki 8:54 And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.
1Ki 8:55 And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,
1Ki 8:56 Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.
1Ki 8:57 The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us:
1Ki 8:58 That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers.
1Ki 8:59 And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the LORD, be nigh unto the LORD our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require:
1Ki 8:60 That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and that there is none else.
1Ki 8:61 Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.
1Ki 8:62 And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the LORD.
So amazing, and yet now as we live with thousands of years of history between us and Solomon, and the time of his prayer, we know some of the long history of Jerusalem. We know that the temple was destroyed- more than once. We know that Jerusalem has been razed more than once and held in the hands of those who have been enemies of God. We know this has happened and we know why- Satan.
Satan has filled the hearts of people and caused them to abandon God, our Creator, our Redeemer. Corruption, deception, lies, blasphemies, rebellion, commandment breakers, covenant breakers, men's hearts filled with sin and they continuously left God, abandoned their Creator, their Deliverer time and time again.
Let's look at a bit more of the history of Jerusalem thus far…
According to Hebrew scripture, King David reigned for 40 years. The generally accepted estimate of the conclusion of this reign is 970 BCE. The Bible records that David was succeeded by his son Solomon,[50] who built the Holy Temple on Mount Moriah. Solomon's Temple (later known as the First Temple), went on to play a pivotal role in Jewish history as the repository of the Ark of the Covenant.[51] For more than 400 years, until the Babylonian conquest in 587 BCE, Jerusalem was the political capital of the united Kingdom of Israel and then the Kingdom of Judah. During this period, known as the First Temple Period,[52] the Temple was the religious center of the Israelites.[53] On Solomon's death (c. 930 BCE), the ten northern tribes split off to form the Kingdom of Israel. Under the leadership of the House of David and Solomon, Jerusalem remained the capital of the Kingdom of Judah.[54]
When the Assyrians conquered the Kingdom of Israel in 722 BCE, Jerusalem was strengthened by a great influx of refugees from the northern kingdom. The First Temple period ended around 586 BCE, as the Babylonians conquered Judah and Jerusalem, and laid waste to Solomon's Temple.[52]
In 538 BCE, after 50 years of Babylonian captivity, Persian King Cyrus the Great invited the Jews to return to Judah to rebuild the Temple.[55] Construction of the Second Temple was completed in 516 BCE, during the reign of Darius the Great, 70 years after the destruction of the First Temple.[56][57] In about 445 BCE, King Artaxerxes I of Persia issued a decree allowing the city and the walls to be rebuilt.[58] Jerusalem resumed its role as capital of Judah and center of Jewish worship.
Pasted from
Such amazing history. More tomorrow on Jerusalem, the City of God, by the will of our LORD.
In His love may we learn more of the history both Biblical and secular of the City of Jerusalem. Can we do no less, it is a city our Savior in the flesh mourned for. Please Lord bless us with understanding, help us to watch as we've been told to watch, help us to pray as we've been told to pray. Prepare us for Your soon return Lord, all through Your LOVE, Your RIGHTEOUSNESS.
By Your mercy and grace, by Your forgiveness.
Amen.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Jerusalem
Ezr 1:3 Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.
Too often people believe that Jerusalem means nothing today.
Do people really believe that God could make Jerusalem His city upon earth for such a long, long time and then take away that distinction entirely. Listen to David--
Psa 87:1 His foundation is in the holy mountains.
Psa 87:2 The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
Psa 87:3 Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah.
God's city. God's Holy city - Jerusalem.
Read this…
Ezr 4:1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the LORD God of Israel;
Ezr 4:2 Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.
Ezr 4:3 But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.
Ezr 4:4 Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,
Ezr 4:5 And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
The children of God had disobey Him and Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and took the Jews captive. Then later a Persian King made a decree that the captives be free to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple that had been destroyed. The children of God went back and began to rebuild the temple and then adversaries of God tried to stop them from completing their rebuilding.
They DIDN'T succeed.
God's holy city has been destroyed, the people of God taken captive more than once, and yet Jerusalem remains the city of God. Others have tried to claim the city as theirs but to no real avail. After that temple was rebuilt the children of God wanted God's blessings but they knew they'd transgressed against God and they'd joined themselves to those who did not follow God. The solution was to put away those wives the men had joined themselves to. Joining with the ungodly will forever will incur God's disfavor.
Jesus said these things about Jerusalem-
Mat 5:33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
Mat 5:34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
Mat 5:35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
Mat 5:36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
Mat 20:18 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death
Mat 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Luk 18:31 Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.
Luk 21:20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
Luk 21:24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Jerusalem has forever been in God's plan.
Forsaken, renewed, forsaken, renewed, trodden down, no longer trodden down- all in God's plan. Until the end it will be in God's plan.
A NEW Jerusalem will even descend from God out of heaven.
Rev 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
So if people believe they should NO LONGER look to Jerusalem as part of our Savior's plan, to watch and know the signs of the time, they are sadly mistaken. Even as it stands today with so many UNGODLY forces within the city, it is STILL a place to look for signs of the times.
Jerusalem.
We're going to study a bit more about Jerusalem in the coming days by the will of God.
In His amazing love!
Amen.
Too often people believe that Jerusalem means nothing today.
Do people really believe that God could make Jerusalem His city upon earth for such a long, long time and then take away that distinction entirely. Listen to David--
Psa 87:1 His foundation is in the holy mountains.
Psa 87:2 The LORD loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
Psa 87:3 Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God. Selah.
God's city. God's Holy city - Jerusalem.
Read this…
Ezr 4:1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the LORD God of Israel;
Ezr 4:2 Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.
Ezr 4:3 But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.
Ezr 4:4 Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,
Ezr 4:5 And hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.
The children of God had disobey Him and Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and took the Jews captive. Then later a Persian King made a decree that the captives be free to go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple that had been destroyed. The children of God went back and began to rebuild the temple and then adversaries of God tried to stop them from completing their rebuilding.
They DIDN'T succeed.
God's holy city has been destroyed, the people of God taken captive more than once, and yet Jerusalem remains the city of God. Others have tried to claim the city as theirs but to no real avail. After that temple was rebuilt the children of God wanted God's blessings but they knew they'd transgressed against God and they'd joined themselves to those who did not follow God. The solution was to put away those wives the men had joined themselves to. Joining with the ungodly will forever will incur God's disfavor.
Jesus said these things about Jerusalem-
Mat 5:33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
Mat 5:34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
Mat 5:35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
Mat 5:36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
Mat 20:18 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death
Mat 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Luk 18:31 Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.
Luk 21:20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
Luk 21:24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
Jerusalem has forever been in God's plan.
Forsaken, renewed, forsaken, renewed, trodden down, no longer trodden down- all in God's plan. Until the end it will be in God's plan.
A NEW Jerusalem will even descend from God out of heaven.
Rev 3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
So if people believe they should NO LONGER look to Jerusalem as part of our Savior's plan, to watch and know the signs of the time, they are sadly mistaken. Even as it stands today with so many UNGODLY forces within the city, it is STILL a place to look for signs of the times.
Jerusalem.
We're going to study a bit more about Jerusalem in the coming days by the will of God.
In His amazing love!
Amen.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
They've philosophized away creation
Rev 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
*******
All thing were and are created for God's pleasure. Another word used in place of pleasure is 'will'. This is from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible-
Rev 4:11 Worthy art thou, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honour and the power: for thou didst create all things, and because of thy will they were, and were created.
Because of God's will all things are and were created. It's by God's will that we exist. Too many people like to take the verse and use 'pleasure' and they expound on God being sadistic getting pleasure from our suffering. Nothing was created by God to suffer. That suffering occurs is something that will be rectified, not kept as if it were a cherished condition of mankind. God did NOT want sin to enter the world He'd created. The result of sin grieved Him, angered Him. God could have ended mankind right then and there after that first sin. As He'd brought mankind into existence He could have ended that existence. How often do we throw things away when a single flaw occurs in it? Some people will be able to answer all the time, others will say never, I fall in between there. I don't like to discard something because of single flaw. I might work crocheting an afghan and look back and see a missed stitch and depending on how noticeable, and how it affects the overall afghan I might just leave it there, not unravel everything to fix a tiny flaw. Of course we like to believe that in really important things that even the tiniest flaw would be unacceptable- such as surgery, or in the manufacturing of our various products, we want things as unflawed as possible especially if we're paying for them. God could have rejected us, and some might argue should have rejected us, but those people have to realize the very fact they can have that thought is because God willed them into existence.
Creating us and allowing us to continue in spite of our failure to live for Him in hopes that among all the millions and billions of people brought into existence there would be those who would desire His will, desire His laws, desire a covenant with Him is a magnificent revelation of love towards mankind.
Psa 105:4 Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore.
Psa 105:5 Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth
Psa 105:42 For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant.
Psa 105:43 And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness:
Psa 105:44 And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labour of the people;
Psa 105:45 That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the LORD.
God had a plan of salvation ready much the same way any smart person has a contingency plan when they are undertaken something monumental. They people put on the task of -If something goes wrong then this is what we do- back up plans. Some really fantastical endeavors have teams of people going over and over a situation trying to come up with all feasible ways something could go wrong, even the wildest craziest of scenarios are brought into play and then when a good amount of time is spend doing this every single scenario is examined and for each of them the possible outcomes to rectify the problem. This doesn't mean things don't still happen that weren't thought of but most planners of such things will do all they can to foresee problems and create possible solutions. Best case scenario is that no contingency plan will be necessary- everything goes as desired- as planned. But sometimes that worst case scenario occurs and then the plan for that goes into effect. We understand on our level of comprehension that having contingency plans are a good idea. How can anyone truly disagree that having contingency plans is a bad idea? Maybe some will say that having contingency plans allows for a less focused, less determined person to get the plan right the first time, and they might be right but planning for the unthinkable, planning for the worst case scenario especially when lives are at stake is a must. You hope for the best, plan for the worst.
God hoped for the best and planned for the worst. If He hadn't planned for the worst we most likely would never have been allowed to live as a species.
God allowed us to continue to live and multiply all in the belief that there would be those who would choose to love Him. When we worship God, when we obey God's commands, when we surrender ourselves to Him we do it ALL out of love for Him. God created a people that He could call His, a people that would follow Him out of love. Abraham LOVED God, and from Abraham these people came. But not all of those people chose to love God. The people were eventually taken into captivity. The people were shown the dark depths of oppression under the hand of the god-less. Then the people were delivered from that oppression by the hand of God. Why?
Psa 105:42 For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant.
Psa 105:43 And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness:
Psa 105:44 And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labour of the people;
Psa 105:45 That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the LORD.
That they might observe his statutes and keep his laws.
That they might follow God.
That they might choose God as the One to obey.
That they might understand the Love of God towards them- their Deliverer.
This amazing event in the history of mankind is a prophetic revelation of a greater plan of God's.
We are enslaved to sin, we are captives of Satan, none can escape the fact they are born with the propensity towards sinning. God understood that this enslavement of mankind under an evil master needed a Deliverer. The Deliverer would free mankind from the captivity of Satan allowing them to claim the Deliverer's righteousness as theirs. The Deliverer would free mankind and allow them to choose to worship God, to keep His commandments, to love God. Unlike an entire group of people being brought out of a captive nation, this Deliverer would offer deliverance to ALL people no matter who, no matter where, all would have an opportunity to follow their Deliverer throughout their lives.
Rev 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Our God is worthy to receive glory and honor and power.
Our God created all things by His will.
We can't allow ourselves to forget or disbelieve that we are CREATED beings. Too many have forgotten this, way too many. They've philosophized away creation and this suits Satan's plan perfectly. If we stop believing we are all the result of the first God created beings who received the breath of life from God to pass on and on to all generations of mankind then we are left floundering with all sorts of theories- none fully explainable, none.
By faith we believe. And many will save faith is senseless, but the very nature of faith is the acceptance that we need to believe without having full evidence of the seen. Adam and Eve were to live by faith in God and they chose not to do that. They chose to believe the seductive voice of another, one who had nothing to do with their creation. They wanted to live without faith and Satan promised them they would be as God knowing good and evil, in effect they wouldn't need to live by faith in God because they'd be gods. They were tragically wrong. Without faith in God, without faith in our Creator we have nothing. It is more than obvious that living without faith results in tragedy yet many choose to live without faith in God, still hoping they can be like gods themselves and all they're left with in the end is a deep down dissatisfaction with things they absolutely cannot control and have no ability to control. Not even the richest, smartest person in the world can control life and their ultimate end, not ONE, yet most of mankind still insists they are very wise to believe in themselves and not in God. That belief gives them no hope, none at all, they'll be left empty. A belief in our Creator gives us all things through our Savior, our Deliverer, our Redeemer- we have hope.
By His amazing LOVE, His amazing GRACE, His amazing RIGHTEOUSNESS, all through His amazing FAITH.
May His will be done, may His kingdom come!
Amen.
*******
All thing were and are created for God's pleasure. Another word used in place of pleasure is 'will'. This is from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible-
Rev 4:11 Worthy art thou, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honour and the power: for thou didst create all things, and because of thy will they were, and were created.
Because of God's will all things are and were created. It's by God's will that we exist. Too many people like to take the verse and use 'pleasure' and they expound on God being sadistic getting pleasure from our suffering. Nothing was created by God to suffer. That suffering occurs is something that will be rectified, not kept as if it were a cherished condition of mankind. God did NOT want sin to enter the world He'd created. The result of sin grieved Him, angered Him. God could have ended mankind right then and there after that first sin. As He'd brought mankind into existence He could have ended that existence. How often do we throw things away when a single flaw occurs in it? Some people will be able to answer all the time, others will say never, I fall in between there. I don't like to discard something because of single flaw. I might work crocheting an afghan and look back and see a missed stitch and depending on how noticeable, and how it affects the overall afghan I might just leave it there, not unravel everything to fix a tiny flaw. Of course we like to believe that in really important things that even the tiniest flaw would be unacceptable- such as surgery, or in the manufacturing of our various products, we want things as unflawed as possible especially if we're paying for them. God could have rejected us, and some might argue should have rejected us, but those people have to realize the very fact they can have that thought is because God willed them into existence.
Creating us and allowing us to continue in spite of our failure to live for Him in hopes that among all the millions and billions of people brought into existence there would be those who would desire His will, desire His laws, desire a covenant with Him is a magnificent revelation of love towards mankind.
Psa 105:4 Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore.
Psa 105:5 Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth
Psa 105:42 For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant.
Psa 105:43 And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness:
Psa 105:44 And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labour of the people;
Psa 105:45 That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the LORD.
God had a plan of salvation ready much the same way any smart person has a contingency plan when they are undertaken something monumental. They people put on the task of -If something goes wrong then this is what we do- back up plans. Some really fantastical endeavors have teams of people going over and over a situation trying to come up with all feasible ways something could go wrong, even the wildest craziest of scenarios are brought into play and then when a good amount of time is spend doing this every single scenario is examined and for each of them the possible outcomes to rectify the problem. This doesn't mean things don't still happen that weren't thought of but most planners of such things will do all they can to foresee problems and create possible solutions. Best case scenario is that no contingency plan will be necessary- everything goes as desired- as planned. But sometimes that worst case scenario occurs and then the plan for that goes into effect. We understand on our level of comprehension that having contingency plans are a good idea. How can anyone truly disagree that having contingency plans is a bad idea? Maybe some will say that having contingency plans allows for a less focused, less determined person to get the plan right the first time, and they might be right but planning for the unthinkable, planning for the worst case scenario especially when lives are at stake is a must. You hope for the best, plan for the worst.
God hoped for the best and planned for the worst. If He hadn't planned for the worst we most likely would never have been allowed to live as a species.
God allowed us to continue to live and multiply all in the belief that there would be those who would choose to love Him. When we worship God, when we obey God's commands, when we surrender ourselves to Him we do it ALL out of love for Him. God created a people that He could call His, a people that would follow Him out of love. Abraham LOVED God, and from Abraham these people came. But not all of those people chose to love God. The people were eventually taken into captivity. The people were shown the dark depths of oppression under the hand of the god-less. Then the people were delivered from that oppression by the hand of God. Why?
Psa 105:42 For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant.
Psa 105:43 And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness:
Psa 105:44 And gave them the lands of the heathen: and they inherited the labour of the people;
Psa 105:45 That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the LORD.
That they might observe his statutes and keep his laws.
That they might follow God.
That they might choose God as the One to obey.
That they might understand the Love of God towards them- their Deliverer.
This amazing event in the history of mankind is a prophetic revelation of a greater plan of God's.
We are enslaved to sin, we are captives of Satan, none can escape the fact they are born with the propensity towards sinning. God understood that this enslavement of mankind under an evil master needed a Deliverer. The Deliverer would free mankind from the captivity of Satan allowing them to claim the Deliverer's righteousness as theirs. The Deliverer would free mankind and allow them to choose to worship God, to keep His commandments, to love God. Unlike an entire group of people being brought out of a captive nation, this Deliverer would offer deliverance to ALL people no matter who, no matter where, all would have an opportunity to follow their Deliverer throughout their lives.
Rev 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Our God is worthy to receive glory and honor and power.
Our God created all things by His will.
We can't allow ourselves to forget or disbelieve that we are CREATED beings. Too many have forgotten this, way too many. They've philosophized away creation and this suits Satan's plan perfectly. If we stop believing we are all the result of the first God created beings who received the breath of life from God to pass on and on to all generations of mankind then we are left floundering with all sorts of theories- none fully explainable, none.
By faith we believe. And many will save faith is senseless, but the very nature of faith is the acceptance that we need to believe without having full evidence of the seen. Adam and Eve were to live by faith in God and they chose not to do that. They chose to believe the seductive voice of another, one who had nothing to do with their creation. They wanted to live without faith and Satan promised them they would be as God knowing good and evil, in effect they wouldn't need to live by faith in God because they'd be gods. They were tragically wrong. Without faith in God, without faith in our Creator we have nothing. It is more than obvious that living without faith results in tragedy yet many choose to live without faith in God, still hoping they can be like gods themselves and all they're left with in the end is a deep down dissatisfaction with things they absolutely cannot control and have no ability to control. Not even the richest, smartest person in the world can control life and their ultimate end, not ONE, yet most of mankind still insists they are very wise to believe in themselves and not in God. That belief gives them no hope, none at all, they'll be left empty. A belief in our Creator gives us all things through our Savior, our Deliverer, our Redeemer- we have hope.
By His amazing LOVE, His amazing GRACE, His amazing RIGHTEOUSNESS, all through His amazing FAITH.
May His will be done, may His kingdom come!
Amen.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Blood of the Lamb
Lev 14:25 And he shall kill the lamb of the trespass offering, and the priest shall take some of the blood of the trespass offering, and put it upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot
The lamb of the trespass offering.
The blood of the trespass offering.
To be cleansed.
Isa 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Isa 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isa 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
A lamb was ONLY ever brought to be slain as an offering to God for CLEANSING. The blood of the slain lamb was used for cleansing. Every single time a blood offering was made it was made as sacrifice for something man had done in sin. Blood is NOT shed in sacrifice without a reason.
1Pe 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
1Pe 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot
We are NOT redeemed by anything other than the PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST! Christ the LAMB of GOD!
Joh 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world
Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
We are clothed in FILTHY RAGS- OUR RIGHTEOUSNESSES are filthy rags. Is it any wonder we must be WASHED in the blood of the Lamb? Only the blood of the Lamb can redeem us. Only the blood of the Lamb has any cleansing power. There is not a single thing on earth that can cleanse us, that can take away the stains of sin that lays upon us thickly. Not one million good deeds for a single deed of evil will cleanse us from that stain of evil. We try to cleanse ourselves all too often. We try to redeem ourselves. We are constantly trying to make up for the wrong we've committed. We try to justify our evil acts in all sorts of ways and unfortunately Satan is all too eager to tell us we are justified, that there was good reason for our evil actions. We were provoked into committing evil. We were done evil and that warrants our justification to return evil for evil. We have RIGHTS we are born with those rights which allow us to justify ourselves. We are all about our individual rights. If we sin it is only because we are too weak to do otherwise, and it's not our fault we were made weak. It's not our fault we were born with a propensity towards sin. It's NOT our fault we are filthy so because it's not our fault we are NOT accountable. WRONG! We are accountable! We might not be Eve who sinned first, or Adam who sinned second - but we just like them are given a CHOICE. We are given a choice and that choice is whether or not we will choose to WASH our robes in the blood of the Lamb. It is our choice whether or not we will accept the sacrifice made for our filthy sinfilled state. We do not have to accept it, it's our choice. Adam and Eve were originally clothed in righteousness- the righteousness given them by God and it was their choice to disobey and that righteousness God clothed them with, they stained with sinned, with disobedience. The only way the filthy righteousness is made clean is by the Lamb's blood. We choose.
Rev 7:14 ...These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Isa 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Rev 15:3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
Zec 3:4 And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.
Rev 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
Mat 17:2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
Mat 28:3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow
Mar 9:3 And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.
Luk 9:29 And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering.
Rev 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 4:4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
Act 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
We are purchased with Jesus Christ's blood, His amazing, His precious, precious blood.
Psa 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Psa 51:6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
Psa 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Psa 51:8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
Psa 51:9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
Psa 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Psa 51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Psa 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
AMEN.
The lamb of the trespass offering.
The blood of the trespass offering.
To be cleansed.
Isa 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Isa 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isa 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
A lamb was ONLY ever brought to be slain as an offering to God for CLEANSING. The blood of the slain lamb was used for cleansing. Every single time a blood offering was made it was made as sacrifice for something man had done in sin. Blood is NOT shed in sacrifice without a reason.
1Pe 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
1Pe 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot
We are NOT redeemed by anything other than the PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST! Christ the LAMB of GOD!
Joh 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world
Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
We are clothed in FILTHY RAGS- OUR RIGHTEOUSNESSES are filthy rags. Is it any wonder we must be WASHED in the blood of the Lamb? Only the blood of the Lamb can redeem us. Only the blood of the Lamb has any cleansing power. There is not a single thing on earth that can cleanse us, that can take away the stains of sin that lays upon us thickly. Not one million good deeds for a single deed of evil will cleanse us from that stain of evil. We try to cleanse ourselves all too often. We try to redeem ourselves. We are constantly trying to make up for the wrong we've committed. We try to justify our evil acts in all sorts of ways and unfortunately Satan is all too eager to tell us we are justified, that there was good reason for our evil actions. We were provoked into committing evil. We were done evil and that warrants our justification to return evil for evil. We have RIGHTS we are born with those rights which allow us to justify ourselves. We are all about our individual rights. If we sin it is only because we are too weak to do otherwise, and it's not our fault we were made weak. It's not our fault we were born with a propensity towards sin. It's NOT our fault we are filthy so because it's not our fault we are NOT accountable. WRONG! We are accountable! We might not be Eve who sinned first, or Adam who sinned second - but we just like them are given a CHOICE. We are given a choice and that choice is whether or not we will choose to WASH our robes in the blood of the Lamb. It is our choice whether or not we will accept the sacrifice made for our filthy sinfilled state. We do not have to accept it, it's our choice. Adam and Eve were originally clothed in righteousness- the righteousness given them by God and it was their choice to disobey and that righteousness God clothed them with, they stained with sinned, with disobedience. The only way the filthy righteousness is made clean is by the Lamb's blood. We choose.
Rev 7:14 ...These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Isa 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Rev 15:3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.
Zec 3:4 And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.
Rev 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
Mat 17:2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
Mat 28:3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow
Mar 9:3 And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.
Luk 9:29 And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and his raiment was white and glistering.
Rev 3:5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 4:4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
Act 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
We are purchased with Jesus Christ's blood, His amazing, His precious, precious blood.
Psa 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Psa 51:6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
Psa 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Psa 51:8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
Psa 51:9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
Psa 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Psa 51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Psa 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
AMEN.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Psalms 104:35
Psa 104:35 Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD.
If something is no more- then it doesn't exist, right?
Psa 1:4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Psa 37:38 But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off.
Psa 68:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm or Song of David. Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.
Psa 68:2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
Psa 73:27 For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee.
Pro 2:22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
Isa 9:18 For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.
Hos 13:3 Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.
Let the wicked be no more.
Why do so many people believe they will have eternal life after death, a second chance to redeem themselves after death? Why do people cling to the hope of some sort of purgatory where they'll be able to suffer enough to be saved? Why don't people believe God's word?
Very few people live today with the fear of God in them, a real fear of His wrath. They say God is love so don't fear any wrath, that's all old timey stuff to scare you- that ol' fire and brimstone preaching that is long outdated and no longer applicable. Who wants to hear about hell and damnation when they could be hearing about love, love, love? We want the Pollyanna preaching, not the ministers of fury trying to put the fear of God deep inside you. Speaking of Pollyanna, that whole movie was about being happy and spreading cheerfulness with very little left for anything like fear inducing preaching.
People take the soft side of our Savior and want to sell that as His being more compassionate than the old testament God, but it's not true! Nothing that went on during the old testament times occurred without our Savior as God with God, knowing about it, not one thing and it all met with His approval. God being a consuming fire is a reality, not something that was done away with over time. Jesus did not come to change God's ways, but to reveal the Father to us fully. The Father's long suffering and compassion were truly displayed by His Begotten Son, His sorrow over the wicked, unrepentant sinner was revealed. The wrath over presumptuous sin was clearly evident as Jesus rid the temple of buyers and sellers, cheaters, thieves. Jesus' words to us about the wicked and their end are so incredibly relevant but we want to forget He said stuff like this--
Mat 13:49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just
Luk 13:5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Mat 12:35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
The wicked are NOT acceptable.
The unrepentant are NOT acceptable.
The evil man is NOT acceptable.
The evil and the just will both have good things happen to them in this world now, but at the end of the world when our Savior returns the evil, the unrepentant wicked will NOT inherit the kingdom of God! We need to realize this! We need to understand that the love of God is amazing, it's powerful, it's beyond our imagination, but so too is His wrath. None will be saved that choose NOT to be saved. None will be saved that choose to disobey God. None will be saved that defy all that our God calls on us to be in Him, through Him.
We are to LOVE those who hurt us and do wickedness towards us- but that doesn't mean our loving them will alter their wicked ways. If we for one moment believe that God is going to have all loving people upon earth when He returns then we are BLIND, DEAF, and LACK UNDERSTANDING of God's word to us.
The wicked will far out number the righteous and there will be NO SECOND CHANCE! Stop it right now, stop believing you have all the time in the world or the world hereafter to become God's, to accept God, to ask for forgiveness, to truly repent! STOP IT! You do NOT have time to imagine that being evil is good or acceptable at any time, ever! The very thought of repenting later after you've 'lived a little on the wild side' is a damning thought! It's a presumption that you cannot afford to EVER make! You are not guaranteed tomorrow, no one is. You are only guaranteed right this moment you are living in right now and in this moment you can choose God over Satan, Good over Evil, Righteousness in Christ over self righteousness. Don't wait!
Psa 104:35 Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD.
Sinners really will be consumed.
Sinners really will be NO MORE!
All those in Christ and Him alone will be blessed with life and that life will be everlasting.
Don't fool yourself that God is not exacting, don't, please don't.
By the grace of God, our loving, loving God!
May we be blessed with Him always choosing God! Choosing to fear our God in a healthy fear that allows us to comprehend good from evil. Let us never, ever lose that fear which stems from the love of God towards us.
Rev 14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Rev 14:8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
We recently studied this very part of Revelation we can't ignore the duality of our God's workings. Fear God- reverence Him, and yes, fear God who has the power to render punishment to the wicked - righteous punishment, justice. That punishment is permanent-the wicked will be no more.
By the grace of our Lord always in His love!
Amen.
If something is no more- then it doesn't exist, right?
Psa 1:4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Psa 37:38 But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off.
Psa 68:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm or Song of David. Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.
Psa 68:2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
Psa 73:27 For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee.
Pro 2:22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
Isa 9:18 For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.
Hos 13:3 Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.
Let the wicked be no more.
Why do so many people believe they will have eternal life after death, a second chance to redeem themselves after death? Why do people cling to the hope of some sort of purgatory where they'll be able to suffer enough to be saved? Why don't people believe God's word?
Very few people live today with the fear of God in them, a real fear of His wrath. They say God is love so don't fear any wrath, that's all old timey stuff to scare you- that ol' fire and brimstone preaching that is long outdated and no longer applicable. Who wants to hear about hell and damnation when they could be hearing about love, love, love? We want the Pollyanna preaching, not the ministers of fury trying to put the fear of God deep inside you. Speaking of Pollyanna, that whole movie was about being happy and spreading cheerfulness with very little left for anything like fear inducing preaching.
People take the soft side of our Savior and want to sell that as His being more compassionate than the old testament God, but it's not true! Nothing that went on during the old testament times occurred without our Savior as God with God, knowing about it, not one thing and it all met with His approval. God being a consuming fire is a reality, not something that was done away with over time. Jesus did not come to change God's ways, but to reveal the Father to us fully. The Father's long suffering and compassion were truly displayed by His Begotten Son, His sorrow over the wicked, unrepentant sinner was revealed. The wrath over presumptuous sin was clearly evident as Jesus rid the temple of buyers and sellers, cheaters, thieves. Jesus' words to us about the wicked and their end are so incredibly relevant but we want to forget He said stuff like this--
Mat 13:49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just
Luk 13:5 I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Mat 12:35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
The wicked are NOT acceptable.
The unrepentant are NOT acceptable.
The evil man is NOT acceptable.
The evil and the just will both have good things happen to them in this world now, but at the end of the world when our Savior returns the evil, the unrepentant wicked will NOT inherit the kingdom of God! We need to realize this! We need to understand that the love of God is amazing, it's powerful, it's beyond our imagination, but so too is His wrath. None will be saved that choose NOT to be saved. None will be saved that choose to disobey God. None will be saved that defy all that our God calls on us to be in Him, through Him.
We are to LOVE those who hurt us and do wickedness towards us- but that doesn't mean our loving them will alter their wicked ways. If we for one moment believe that God is going to have all loving people upon earth when He returns then we are BLIND, DEAF, and LACK UNDERSTANDING of God's word to us.
The wicked will far out number the righteous and there will be NO SECOND CHANCE! Stop it right now, stop believing you have all the time in the world or the world hereafter to become God's, to accept God, to ask for forgiveness, to truly repent! STOP IT! You do NOT have time to imagine that being evil is good or acceptable at any time, ever! The very thought of repenting later after you've 'lived a little on the wild side' is a damning thought! It's a presumption that you cannot afford to EVER make! You are not guaranteed tomorrow, no one is. You are only guaranteed right this moment you are living in right now and in this moment you can choose God over Satan, Good over Evil, Righteousness in Christ over self righteousness. Don't wait!
Psa 104:35 Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD.
Sinners really will be consumed.
Sinners really will be NO MORE!
All those in Christ and Him alone will be blessed with life and that life will be everlasting.
Don't fool yourself that God is not exacting, don't, please don't.
By the grace of God, our loving, loving God!
May we be blessed with Him always choosing God! Choosing to fear our God in a healthy fear that allows us to comprehend good from evil. Let us never, ever lose that fear which stems from the love of God towards us.
Rev 14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Rev 14:8 And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
Rev 14:9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
Rev 14:10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
Rev 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
We recently studied this very part of Revelation we can't ignore the duality of our God's workings. Fear God- reverence Him, and yes, fear God who has the power to render punishment to the wicked - righteous punishment, justice. That punishment is permanent-the wicked will be no more.
By the grace of our Lord always in His love!
Amen.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created
Psa 104:29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.
Psa 104:30 Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.
Psa 104:31 The glory of the LORD shall endure for ever: the LORD shall rejoice in his works.
Yes, I'm still stuck on this business of creation and dying, it's a subject that is forever pertinent.
When God hides his face it is troublesome isn't it? Seriously, when we feel as if God is choosing not to let us see Him (of course in a spiritual sense) it's something that upset us. We like to believe God is close to us. So many say He's just a prayer away, and they're not wrong, it's just that people believe they can constantly rebel against God and He'll forever strive with them- this isn't true!
Gen 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years
Sin separates us from God. True, genuine repentance and desire for forgiveness heals that separation. God knows the difference between genuine and false- we can't hide from Him. As long as we keep alive the desire to sin, as long as we stop fighting sin and just allow it to be part of our lives, we cannot hope to have God close to us. Yes, we are saved by grace through Jesus Christ our Lord and nothing else but His righteousness, His forgiveness of our sins, can save us. Yet, this does NOT give us a free pass allowing us to continue on in presumptuous sin without thoughts of the consequences.
Some believe that God hides His face from them when they are overwhelmed with life's all to numerous tragedies, but we know that isn't true. We know that God will never hide His face from those who truly love Him- even if they are called to suffer unimaginably. We cannot hope to have a better path than our Savior had.
Rev 2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Php 1:29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake
We cannot gauge our eternal life on whether or not we are living a pain free life, a life free of troubles and heartaches. God isn't hiding His face from those who love Him when those loved ones are suffering. God will hide His face from those who are not his because sin will separate them from God.
Psa 104:29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.
We talked about our breath being taken away yesterday and here is yet another verse on that very subject.
When God takes the breath away- we die- we return to dust.
Psa 104:30 Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.
Psa 104:31 The glory of the LORD shall endure for ever: the LORD shall rejoice in his works.
When God sends forth His Spirit- we are created. Remember how we discussed how we will receive new flesh bodies one day? God who created the earth and all the things therein, God who created the sun, the moon, the stars. God who can create something from nothing will be able to do this miraculous thing for all of those who love Him.
It is so true that the glory of the LORD will endure forever.
The LORD can rejoice in His works, they are amazing.
By the word of the Lord creation exists so how can we even begin to question His ability to call all the dead in Him to new life? We have way too many horror movies out there that love to portray the dead returning to life and they very seldom do so in any sort of good way. Is it any wonder we tend to question the hows and whys of things when we are overwhelmed with 'man's' version of how things are? Satan has corrupted so much and he'll never stop filling the minds of those who don't want to hear truth -with deception. We live in a world today where our government has actually implemented plans for a world filled with the living dead- people who have died and yet are reanimated through some sort of virus or some such. Could it happen? Who am I to say it could not? Yet, my Bible tells me that no matter what sort of evil the devil is able to work with his ability to perform miracles, that Christ is my Savior and I will have everlasting life in Him and NO other!
Psa 104:29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.
Psa 104:30 Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.
Psa 104:31 The glory of the LORD shall endure for ever: the LORD shall rejoice in his works.
God our Creator, God our Redeemer will forever exist- He's from everlasting to everlasting and I, by His grace will be found in Him and His everlasting.
Amen.
Psa 104:30 Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.
Psa 104:31 The glory of the LORD shall endure for ever: the LORD shall rejoice in his works.
Yes, I'm still stuck on this business of creation and dying, it's a subject that is forever pertinent.
When God hides his face it is troublesome isn't it? Seriously, when we feel as if God is choosing not to let us see Him (of course in a spiritual sense) it's something that upset us. We like to believe God is close to us. So many say He's just a prayer away, and they're not wrong, it's just that people believe they can constantly rebel against God and He'll forever strive with them- this isn't true!
Gen 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years
Sin separates us from God. True, genuine repentance and desire for forgiveness heals that separation. God knows the difference between genuine and false- we can't hide from Him. As long as we keep alive the desire to sin, as long as we stop fighting sin and just allow it to be part of our lives, we cannot hope to have God close to us. Yes, we are saved by grace through Jesus Christ our Lord and nothing else but His righteousness, His forgiveness of our sins, can save us. Yet, this does NOT give us a free pass allowing us to continue on in presumptuous sin without thoughts of the consequences.
Some believe that God hides His face from them when they are overwhelmed with life's all to numerous tragedies, but we know that isn't true. We know that God will never hide His face from those who truly love Him- even if they are called to suffer unimaginably. We cannot hope to have a better path than our Savior had.
Rev 2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
Rom 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Php 1:29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake
We cannot gauge our eternal life on whether or not we are living a pain free life, a life free of troubles and heartaches. God isn't hiding His face from those who love Him when those loved ones are suffering. God will hide His face from those who are not his because sin will separate them from God.
Psa 104:29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.
We talked about our breath being taken away yesterday and here is yet another verse on that very subject.
When God takes the breath away- we die- we return to dust.
Psa 104:30 Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.
Psa 104:31 The glory of the LORD shall endure for ever: the LORD shall rejoice in his works.
When God sends forth His Spirit- we are created. Remember how we discussed how we will receive new flesh bodies one day? God who created the earth and all the things therein, God who created the sun, the moon, the stars. God who can create something from nothing will be able to do this miraculous thing for all of those who love Him.
It is so true that the glory of the LORD will endure forever.
The LORD can rejoice in His works, they are amazing.
By the word of the Lord creation exists so how can we even begin to question His ability to call all the dead in Him to new life? We have way too many horror movies out there that love to portray the dead returning to life and they very seldom do so in any sort of good way. Is it any wonder we tend to question the hows and whys of things when we are overwhelmed with 'man's' version of how things are? Satan has corrupted so much and he'll never stop filling the minds of those who don't want to hear truth -with deception. We live in a world today where our government has actually implemented plans for a world filled with the living dead- people who have died and yet are reanimated through some sort of virus or some such. Could it happen? Who am I to say it could not? Yet, my Bible tells me that no matter what sort of evil the devil is able to work with his ability to perform miracles, that Christ is my Savior and I will have everlasting life in Him and NO other!
Psa 104:29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.
Psa 104:30 Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.
Psa 104:31 The glory of the LORD shall endure for ever: the LORD shall rejoice in his works.
God our Creator, God our Redeemer will forever exist- He's from everlasting to everlasting and I, by His grace will be found in Him and His everlasting.
Amen.
While I have my being
Psa 104:33 I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
While I have my being.
We lose our being, our being is temporary.
Psa 63:4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
While I live.
We lose our lives.
Psa 146:2 While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.
While I live. While I have any being.
So many people really believe that they'll have the ability to praise God always forever without end. Yet why would David say these words? Why would we read - 'while I have my being.' And 'while I live.'
David KNEW there would come a time when he no longer had his 'being', when he no longer 'lived', and then he wouldn't be able to praise, sing, lift up his hands to God. Yet if…as so many people believe…we never really die but simple switch from having a physical being to a spiritual being upon death then WHY can't that spiritual being sing praises to God? Angels are spiritual beings and they sing. We cannot imagine being unable to speak after death- right? If we in fact we are among those who believe in instant life after death- which I don't and neither did David.
Psa 31:12 I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.
Psa 88:9 Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.
Psa 88:10 Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.
Psa 88:11 Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?
Psa 88:12 Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
Psa 115:17 The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.
Ecc 9:5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
How can ANYONE believe that we live after we die?
Yes, there are a lot of verses that indicate there is life after death, but that doesn't mean there is IMMEDIATE LIFE after death.
Why are we told the dead in Christ shall rise and meet the Lord in the air, if they are already living with Him in heaven?
We've had plenty of studies on the dead being dead not living on in any existence after death until Christ returns, but I've been thinking a lot about it lately. Yesterday's study talked about us being dust. We die and return to dust.
Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Ecc 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
The spirit shall return to God. The word spirit here is the word used for breath. God gave Adam his first breath- remember?
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
The breath of life. It's that breath of life given to Adam that has subsequently been given to EVERY human being who has ever lived.
Think about it! We have the breath of God in us. Adam's breath, Eve's breath created Cain and Seth's breath and on and on. When Adam died, the breath that enable Him to live was expelled and he never took in another breath. That breath returned to God who gave it.
Now one of the things I've been thinking on is this-- will we get that breath of life back from God?
Lazarus stopped breathing when he died and was wrapped in his burial shroud and laid in his tomb. The breath that he received from his parents, who all the way back to Adam and Eve received the breath from God went back to God. But then Jesus call Lazarus back to life. That breath returned to his body. It had been given by God through long line of ancestors and God gave it back to Him, without receiving that breath back into his body he could not have lived again. We have to remember that Lot had begun to decay already- a human body doesn't stay well preserved for very long unless it is frozen and he wasn't frozen-not even close. The body begins decay immediately going through the process of deterioration. Remember this…
Joh 11:39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
She knew her brother was decaying in the tomb, she wasn't under any other impression at all whatsoever. So when that breath of life returned to Lazarus another change took place as well, the process of decay was instantly reversed, new life was given to Lazarus by the power of God.
No matter when we die- a day before Christ returns or 1000 days, or 6000 days, or more when we are called from our graves no matter where they may be we will be given a new body of dust and that breath of life that God took back from us will return to that new incorruptible body. We will have bodies that will be preserved by the tree of life and never ever see corruption.
God who formed Adam from dust, God who formed Eve from Adam, God who gave Lazarus new life and reversed the decay he'd undergone, God who gave our SAVIOR new life, God who gave back our Savior His breath of life will give us that breath of life again along with new life - new flesh.
God knows each one of us.
God knows all who have been born.
God knows all who have been formed by the miracle of new life that He enable mankind to perform.
There isn't a single person that God doesn't know, not one.
Right now there is a big to do over there being 7 billion people upon earth now and that is an incredible amount of people- God knows every single one. God knows every person that lived and we can't even count that number. Each one received His breath in order to live and each one will receive that breath again- some to eternal life and others to eternal death.
Dear God may we PLEASE be among those who receive Your breath again if we die before Your return, and if we are blessed to not die let us please receive the new flesh you will give to all who will be yours!
By Your grace Lord, by Your righteousness!
In Your love always, always!
Amen.
While I have my being.
We lose our being, our being is temporary.
Psa 63:4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
While I live.
We lose our lives.
Psa 146:2 While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.
While I live. While I have any being.
So many people really believe that they'll have the ability to praise God always forever without end. Yet why would David say these words? Why would we read - 'while I have my being.' And 'while I live.'
David KNEW there would come a time when he no longer had his 'being', when he no longer 'lived', and then he wouldn't be able to praise, sing, lift up his hands to God. Yet if…as so many people believe…we never really die but simple switch from having a physical being to a spiritual being upon death then WHY can't that spiritual being sing praises to God? Angels are spiritual beings and they sing. We cannot imagine being unable to speak after death- right? If we in fact we are among those who believe in instant life after death- which I don't and neither did David.
Psa 31:12 I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel.
Psa 88:9 Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.
Psa 88:10 Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.
Psa 88:11 Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?
Psa 88:12 Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
Psa 115:17 The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.
Ecc 9:5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
How can ANYONE believe that we live after we die?
Yes, there are a lot of verses that indicate there is life after death, but that doesn't mean there is IMMEDIATE LIFE after death.
Why are we told the dead in Christ shall rise and meet the Lord in the air, if they are already living with Him in heaven?
We've had plenty of studies on the dead being dead not living on in any existence after death until Christ returns, but I've been thinking a lot about it lately. Yesterday's study talked about us being dust. We die and return to dust.
Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Ecc 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
The spirit shall return to God. The word spirit here is the word used for breath. God gave Adam his first breath- remember?
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
The breath of life. It's that breath of life given to Adam that has subsequently been given to EVERY human being who has ever lived.
Think about it! We have the breath of God in us. Adam's breath, Eve's breath created Cain and Seth's breath and on and on. When Adam died, the breath that enable Him to live was expelled and he never took in another breath. That breath returned to God who gave it.
Now one of the things I've been thinking on is this-- will we get that breath of life back from God?
Lazarus stopped breathing when he died and was wrapped in his burial shroud and laid in his tomb. The breath that he received from his parents, who all the way back to Adam and Eve received the breath from God went back to God. But then Jesus call Lazarus back to life. That breath returned to his body. It had been given by God through long line of ancestors and God gave it back to Him, without receiving that breath back into his body he could not have lived again. We have to remember that Lot had begun to decay already- a human body doesn't stay well preserved for very long unless it is frozen and he wasn't frozen-not even close. The body begins decay immediately going through the process of deterioration. Remember this…
Joh 11:39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
She knew her brother was decaying in the tomb, she wasn't under any other impression at all whatsoever. So when that breath of life returned to Lazarus another change took place as well, the process of decay was instantly reversed, new life was given to Lazarus by the power of God.
No matter when we die- a day before Christ returns or 1000 days, or 6000 days, or more when we are called from our graves no matter where they may be we will be given a new body of dust and that breath of life that God took back from us will return to that new incorruptible body. We will have bodies that will be preserved by the tree of life and never ever see corruption.
God who formed Adam from dust, God who formed Eve from Adam, God who gave Lazarus new life and reversed the decay he'd undergone, God who gave our SAVIOR new life, God who gave back our Savior His breath of life will give us that breath of life again along with new life - new flesh.
God knows each one of us.
God knows all who have been born.
God knows all who have been formed by the miracle of new life that He enable mankind to perform.
There isn't a single person that God doesn't know, not one.
Right now there is a big to do over there being 7 billion people upon earth now and that is an incredible amount of people- God knows every single one. God knows every person that lived and we can't even count that number. Each one received His breath in order to live and each one will receive that breath again- some to eternal life and others to eternal death.
Dear God may we PLEASE be among those who receive Your breath again if we die before Your return, and if we are blessed to not die let us please receive the new flesh you will give to all who will be yours!
By Your grace Lord, by Your righteousness!
In Your love always, always!
Amen.
Monday, October 31, 2011
He remembers we are dust
Psa 103:14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
*******
God KNOWS our frame. God knows what we are made of- He created us from dust. Just because we weren't continuously created from dust but rather miraculously formed within the womb of our mothers after the essence from both father and mother join, doesn't mean that we are not dust. I think WE tend to forget that we are but dust and we also imagine God believing we are something other than dust as well. The most God fearing man of God was too made of dust, not of anything even remotely immortal.
Do you remember a study we did a short while back on immortality? In the study we saw how God planted the tree of life in the garden where Adam and Eve were created.
Gen 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
The tree of life.
Man was not created with immortal flesh. Man was created with the ability to life forever as long as He had access to the 'Tree of Life'. Man was created from the dust of the ground, and even then he wasn't a living thing. He didn't become a living thing until God breathed into him the breath of life.
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
God KNOWS we were created out of dust, He took that dust and He used His power to form all that we are, every intricate detail that we have was formed by God.
If a person's heart stops beating, or his lungs stop breathing we have measures we try to take to get that heart beating again, to get that breath going. We do CPR, we breathe our breath into the mouth and down into the lungs of another hoping to jumpstart the other person's lungs into responding, barring that we do it until mechanical means can take over and breathe for the person who isn't breathing. Without that breath going in and out of the body it doesn't live. God put the first breath into the lungs of Adam, God brought that lifeless body He'd created from dust- to life.
AFTER God brought that dust formed body to life man had to eat- he was created that way.
Gen 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
'…good for food.'
Food. Man was created with the need to eat and given wonderful food to eat. Man was also given the TREE OF LIFE.
The Tree of LIFE-
Rev 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
12 manner of fruits.
Brought forth fruit every month.
Fruit is for eating. Man even in his immortal flesh will eat from this tree of life, man will eat every month a different fruit from that tree of life. That fruit will allow man to continue in immortality as He was designed. Remember…
Gen 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and NOW, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Gen 3:23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
Gen 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
Man made of dust was NO longer allowed to eat from the tree of life- man made of dust was NO longer allowed to have immortality.
Rev 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
The tree of life will one day belong to mankind once more, but only to those who are God's. No unrepentant, no unforgiven, no God-less person will have immortality.
God remembers we are dust- He remembers we are not immortal.
Psa 103:14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
Psa 103:15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
Psa 103:16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
Psa 103:17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children;
Psa 103:18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
Our days are like the grass, our days are like the flowers in the field. We grow new as a tender shoot of grass until we reach full maturity as our season of life continues, then slowly we begin to wither as our life cycle winds down. Our life just like the life cycle of all living things is temporary. And unless we are some very important historical figure making some major contribution to history- we are soon forgotten. Sure we ALL know we've had ancestors dating all the way back in time- but we don't remember them.
God's mercy lasts forever! And it will last forever for those who are HIS, those who reverence Him, those who fear Him, those who claim God's righteousness because they have none of their own. Those who keep the Lord's covenant, those who remember the Lord's commandments, they will have the Lord's mercy. Long after we've returned to dust again, God will remember us. He knows we are housed in bodies of living dust, bodies that will wither away just as wild flowers and grass disappears. He loves us and every single person that is found in Him, loving Him, will one day receive a body of dust once more and immortality. Jesus took on a dust formed body, and Jesus rose from the grave in the dust formed body. He was touched, His flesh was felt and He had the same dust formed flesh as all humans have. He rose from the earth in that body of dust- He been given immortality. Our Savior, our Lord, He will forever bear His humanity- the first fruit of humanity given salvation through His innocence, through His complete obedience to His Father, to the truth they'd both created. Our Savior died pure so that we could live through His purity.
God remembers we are dust.
We need to remember this too.
We are dust. And while we will return to dust part of us that BREATH we are given by God, that LIFE we are given by God as we are formed within our mother's wombs, that part of us returns to God. WE do not return to God, our bodies, our thoughts, our memories, our ability to praise Him all cease as we sleep and know nothing- until by the Grace and Mercy of our Savior we will be raised from the dead when Jesus returns. That breath of life will return to us as we are raised in new bodies of dust and given immortality. What a blessing, what miracles!
God knows we are but dust and He has MERCY upon us.
In His love may we be His always!
Amen.
*******
God KNOWS our frame. God knows what we are made of- He created us from dust. Just because we weren't continuously created from dust but rather miraculously formed within the womb of our mothers after the essence from both father and mother join, doesn't mean that we are not dust. I think WE tend to forget that we are but dust and we also imagine God believing we are something other than dust as well. The most God fearing man of God was too made of dust, not of anything even remotely immortal.
Do you remember a study we did a short while back on immortality? In the study we saw how God planted the tree of life in the garden where Adam and Eve were created.
Gen 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
The tree of life.
Man was not created with immortal flesh. Man was created with the ability to life forever as long as He had access to the 'Tree of Life'. Man was created from the dust of the ground, and even then he wasn't a living thing. He didn't become a living thing until God breathed into him the breath of life.
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
God KNOWS we were created out of dust, He took that dust and He used His power to form all that we are, every intricate detail that we have was formed by God.
If a person's heart stops beating, or his lungs stop breathing we have measures we try to take to get that heart beating again, to get that breath going. We do CPR, we breathe our breath into the mouth and down into the lungs of another hoping to jumpstart the other person's lungs into responding, barring that we do it until mechanical means can take over and breathe for the person who isn't breathing. Without that breath going in and out of the body it doesn't live. God put the first breath into the lungs of Adam, God brought that lifeless body He'd created from dust- to life.
AFTER God brought that dust formed body to life man had to eat- he was created that way.
Gen 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
'…good for food.'
Food. Man was created with the need to eat and given wonderful food to eat. Man was also given the TREE OF LIFE.
The Tree of LIFE-
Rev 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
12 manner of fruits.
Brought forth fruit every month.
Fruit is for eating. Man even in his immortal flesh will eat from this tree of life, man will eat every month a different fruit from that tree of life. That fruit will allow man to continue in immortality as He was designed. Remember…
Gen 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and NOW, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Gen 3:23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
Gen 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
Man made of dust was NO longer allowed to eat from the tree of life- man made of dust was NO longer allowed to have immortality.
Rev 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
The tree of life will one day belong to mankind once more, but only to those who are God's. No unrepentant, no unforgiven, no God-less person will have immortality.
God remembers we are dust- He remembers we are not immortal.
Psa 103:14 For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
Psa 103:15 As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
Psa 103:16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.
Psa 103:17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children;
Psa 103:18 To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
Our days are like the grass, our days are like the flowers in the field. We grow new as a tender shoot of grass until we reach full maturity as our season of life continues, then slowly we begin to wither as our life cycle winds down. Our life just like the life cycle of all living things is temporary. And unless we are some very important historical figure making some major contribution to history- we are soon forgotten. Sure we ALL know we've had ancestors dating all the way back in time- but we don't remember them.
God's mercy lasts forever! And it will last forever for those who are HIS, those who reverence Him, those who fear Him, those who claim God's righteousness because they have none of their own. Those who keep the Lord's covenant, those who remember the Lord's commandments, they will have the Lord's mercy. Long after we've returned to dust again, God will remember us. He knows we are housed in bodies of living dust, bodies that will wither away just as wild flowers and grass disappears. He loves us and every single person that is found in Him, loving Him, will one day receive a body of dust once more and immortality. Jesus took on a dust formed body, and Jesus rose from the grave in the dust formed body. He was touched, His flesh was felt and He had the same dust formed flesh as all humans have. He rose from the earth in that body of dust- He been given immortality. Our Savior, our Lord, He will forever bear His humanity- the first fruit of humanity given salvation through His innocence, through His complete obedience to His Father, to the truth they'd both created. Our Savior died pure so that we could live through His purity.
God remembers we are dust.
We need to remember this too.
We are dust. And while we will return to dust part of us that BREATH we are given by God, that LIFE we are given by God as we are formed within our mother's wombs, that part of us returns to God. WE do not return to God, our bodies, our thoughts, our memories, our ability to praise Him all cease as we sleep and know nothing- until by the Grace and Mercy of our Savior we will be raised from the dead when Jesus returns. That breath of life will return to us as we are raised in new bodies of dust and given immortality. What a blessing, what miracles!
God knows we are but dust and He has MERCY upon us.
In His love may we be His always!
Amen.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Matthew 24:32-51 We've been warned
Mat 24:32 Now learn a PARABLE of the fig tree
When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh
A fig tree would not have tender branches newly filled with leaves IF it weren't summer, it would be against all nature. People KNOW when they see the new leaves forming that summer is on its way- it is inevitable.
Mat 24:33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Christ's return is inevitable.
Christ's return is on the way.
We see the signs. We've lived through so many years that we cannot help but realize that the signs are all there.
Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
This is TRUE. As sign by sign is fulfilled and we hold witness to them we KNOW that the generation witnessing the signs that are fulfilled at the very end will NOT pass away into the next generation without our Savior returning. THIS will happen and people make the grave mistake of believing that there is a fallacy here. They'd rather simply believe that all this is untrue than honestly imagine the words of our Savior coming to pass. It's easy to fall asleep when you are waiting for something and it takes a long time, longer than perhaps expected. I'm very confident in saying that I believe almost everyone in the world at one point or another has fallen asleep as they've waited for something. Many, many people have fallen asleep, in fact the Bible tells us that all fall asleep and it's HOW they awaken that will matter. Will they awaken prepared and ready, or will they have fallen asleep unprepared so that when they wake they are not ready? Before people fall asleep they NEED to be ready, completely ready for our Savior's return.
Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Mat 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Mat 24:37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
Mat 24:39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
As it was in the DAYS of Noah- people were going about their lives totally unconcerned with the flood that was going to come upon the earth. Just as today many, many people are totally unconcerned with the end of the world and the return of our Savior. In Noah's day they didn't believe it would happen. Today they don't believe it will happen. People laugh and scoff at those heralding the end of the world and in some ways they are justified - such as when people put a date on that moment and prepare for that date as the end of the world. The days constantly come and go without the end of the world happening and this has led many people to simply laugh at the idea of the world ever ending, and Jesus Christ returning to earth. Just as we can imagine them laughing at Noah as he built that ark- a flood, ha! Yet the flood came leaving many to perish along with their unbelief.
Mat 24:40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Mat 24:41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
The situation… our Savior will return and some will be prepared and some will not. It is the same theme in this passage since our Savior told us the parable of the fig tree. When we see things come to pass that point to a future reality we have to know they WILL come to pass. As it was in Noah's day it will be in our day. Christ will return and the dead in Christ will rise and the living in Christ will rise and meet the Lord in the air. The prepared person next to the unprepared will SEE that prepared person rising to meet the Lord in the air, even as they will be destroyed moments later by the brightness of our Lord's coming. The prepared are saved, the unprepared are NOT saved.
Mat 24:42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
WATCH. Be prepared! Look for the signs!
Mat 24:43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
If we know a thief is headed our way we would NOT leave our house vulnerable to being robbed.
We KNOW that the end of the world is coming and we HAVE to WATCH and be ready, or we will suffer the consequences of NOT being prepared.
Mat 24:44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
BE ready! Because our Savior will return when people least expect Him. Remember- all will sleep but we can fall asleep READY. We can be ready even if our Savior comes when we don't expect Him to. We need to be ready ALWAYS! Not a day should go by when we aren't prepared for our Savior's second coming.
Mat 24:45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
Mat 24:46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Those who are ready.
Those who are doing all the Lord tells them they should be doing.
Those who are faithful in serving the Lord will be BLESSED if they continue on in their faithfulness serving Him.
Mat 24:47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
Mat 24:48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
Mat 24:49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
Mat 24:50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
Mat 24:51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
We have a choice! We have to choose to serve our Lord always, faithfully! We have to be prepared. We cannot EVER believe that our Savior will NOT come for us! We have to be FAITHFUL! Many will fall away. Many will lose faith. All will fall asleep but many will fall asleep UNPREPARED.
We've been WARNED!
No one will be able to say that they were not forewarned, NO ONE. That excuse will not be acceptable.
So go ahead call those who are waiting and watching for their Savior's return among the lunatic fringe, they won't mind because those waiting know there are going to be many that will scoff at their belief.
Ready or not, our Savior is going to return, it is my pray, my desire that we are all READY.
We have to keep watching the signs, we have to keep looking at the truth. No one will be able to say they didn't have an opportunity to be saved, no one. Every single person will have that choice. Please Lord let our choice be to know You to be Yours always! Help us to be prepared, to be ready, to be faithfully Your servant!
We do NOT want to be among those weeping and gnashing our teeth!
In Your love, through Your righteousness, by Your grace and mercy in Your forgiveness, ALWAYS!
Amen.
When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh
A fig tree would not have tender branches newly filled with leaves IF it weren't summer, it would be against all nature. People KNOW when they see the new leaves forming that summer is on its way- it is inevitable.
Mat 24:33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Christ's return is inevitable.
Christ's return is on the way.
We see the signs. We've lived through so many years that we cannot help but realize that the signs are all there.
Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
This is TRUE. As sign by sign is fulfilled and we hold witness to them we KNOW that the generation witnessing the signs that are fulfilled at the very end will NOT pass away into the next generation without our Savior returning. THIS will happen and people make the grave mistake of believing that there is a fallacy here. They'd rather simply believe that all this is untrue than honestly imagine the words of our Savior coming to pass. It's easy to fall asleep when you are waiting for something and it takes a long time, longer than perhaps expected. I'm very confident in saying that I believe almost everyone in the world at one point or another has fallen asleep as they've waited for something. Many, many people have fallen asleep, in fact the Bible tells us that all fall asleep and it's HOW they awaken that will matter. Will they awaken prepared and ready, or will they have fallen asleep unprepared so that when they wake they are not ready? Before people fall asleep they NEED to be ready, completely ready for our Savior's return.
Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Mat 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Mat 24:37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
Mat 24:39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
As it was in the DAYS of Noah- people were going about their lives totally unconcerned with the flood that was going to come upon the earth. Just as today many, many people are totally unconcerned with the end of the world and the return of our Savior. In Noah's day they didn't believe it would happen. Today they don't believe it will happen. People laugh and scoff at those heralding the end of the world and in some ways they are justified - such as when people put a date on that moment and prepare for that date as the end of the world. The days constantly come and go without the end of the world happening and this has led many people to simply laugh at the idea of the world ever ending, and Jesus Christ returning to earth. Just as we can imagine them laughing at Noah as he built that ark- a flood, ha! Yet the flood came leaving many to perish along with their unbelief.
Mat 24:40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Mat 24:41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
The situation… our Savior will return and some will be prepared and some will not. It is the same theme in this passage since our Savior told us the parable of the fig tree. When we see things come to pass that point to a future reality we have to know they WILL come to pass. As it was in Noah's day it will be in our day. Christ will return and the dead in Christ will rise and the living in Christ will rise and meet the Lord in the air. The prepared person next to the unprepared will SEE that prepared person rising to meet the Lord in the air, even as they will be destroyed moments later by the brightness of our Lord's coming. The prepared are saved, the unprepared are NOT saved.
Mat 24:42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
WATCH. Be prepared! Look for the signs!
Mat 24:43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
If we know a thief is headed our way we would NOT leave our house vulnerable to being robbed.
We KNOW that the end of the world is coming and we HAVE to WATCH and be ready, or we will suffer the consequences of NOT being prepared.
Mat 24:44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
BE ready! Because our Savior will return when people least expect Him. Remember- all will sleep but we can fall asleep READY. We can be ready even if our Savior comes when we don't expect Him to. We need to be ready ALWAYS! Not a day should go by when we aren't prepared for our Savior's second coming.
Mat 24:45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
Mat 24:46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
Those who are ready.
Those who are doing all the Lord tells them they should be doing.
Those who are faithful in serving the Lord will be BLESSED if they continue on in their faithfulness serving Him.
Mat 24:47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
Mat 24:48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
Mat 24:49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
Mat 24:50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
Mat 24:51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
We have a choice! We have to choose to serve our Lord always, faithfully! We have to be prepared. We cannot EVER believe that our Savior will NOT come for us! We have to be FAITHFUL! Many will fall away. Many will lose faith. All will fall asleep but many will fall asleep UNPREPARED.
We've been WARNED!
No one will be able to say that they were not forewarned, NO ONE. That excuse will not be acceptable.
So go ahead call those who are waiting and watching for their Savior's return among the lunatic fringe, they won't mind because those waiting know there are going to be many that will scoff at their belief.
Ready or not, our Savior is going to return, it is my pray, my desire that we are all READY.
We have to keep watching the signs, we have to keep looking at the truth. No one will be able to say they didn't have an opportunity to be saved, no one. Every single person will have that choice. Please Lord let our choice be to know You to be Yours always! Help us to be prepared, to be ready, to be faithfully Your servant!
We do NOT want to be among those weeping and gnashing our teeth!
In Your love, through Your righteousness, by Your grace and mercy in Your forgiveness, ALWAYS!
Amen.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Duality of the 4th Commandment
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days shalt thou labour,
and do all thy work but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God
in it thou shalt not do any work . . . (Exodus 20:8-10)
This is a commandment not only to rest, but a commandment to use six days to labor. Seriously. It's easy to overlook this aspect of the fourth commandment when we are studying it because we tend to focus on the resting aspect of the day. But if we really examine it, this IS a commandment to WORK for six days prior to the one day of REST.
People have six days to work, six days to labor, not one, not two, not three, four, or five but six days to work. A lot of people have five days of what they call work but in truth when we are not focused upon our Creator we are usually focused where? Upon ourselves, upon the things that we want or need to do. On the seventh day we are to focus upon our Creator and that entails EVERY SINGLE facet of our Creator from beginning to end and by end I mean the end of our ability to know our Creator. There is infinite knowledge of our Creator in truth, and because He is a living being, a being without beginning and without end we can never, ever reach an end of knowing Him. Unlike so much in life that has a beginning and an end where we can discover all we can about things, God is a being that transcends all that. So no one can ever get to a point in their relationship with God where they can say they know everything there is to know about Him.
Six days of work. Six days of the secular. Six days to eke out a living for ourselves.
One day of rest. One day of the spiritual. One day to focus on solely living for God, as God would have us live.
We have one day in seven to store up a spiritual blessing enough to last us the next six days.
The Sabbath was created for us, for our spiritual existence.
Satan would have mankind believe they have no need of a spiritual existence, that a carnal existence is more than enough. Satan convinced Eve that she had no need to listen to God's command, that she needed to indulge HERSELF, she needed to focus on self, not God. Her flesh desires mattered more than God's spiritual desire. The fruit was *pleasing* to the sight. The fruit would give her a knowledge of *good and evil like God*. Yet the bottom line was it was God who told her NOT to eat of that fruit, not to indulge that flesh desire, but rather trust Him to know that it was best for them NOT to know good and evil, but to know rather only good. To gain a knowledge of evil is to open the door to evil.
Today in our sad, sick world we call those raised without exposure to a lot of worldly evils- naïve, as if that is a really bad thing. Our children are missing out on something good if we don't allow them to be exposed to worldly evil. Our children are missing out on vital mental and emotional building blocks when we keep them from evil. It's better people say to let them be exposed to evil at its worse then that way they are prepared to face life armed with necessary knowledge to get them far in our world. LIES!
It is Satan that does NOT want our children protected, any more than He wanted God's children protected. Rather than allowing our children to grow up without be exposed to the intense evil mankind exists in we try to protect them and THEN when they are mature enough is time enough to allow them the full knowledge of the evils out there. Why do we insist they grow up abused by life, just to teach them to develop a tough outer shell?
Satan wanted mankind exposed to evil, God did not. God wanted His children to trust Him and that trust protected them from evil. Satan did not want God's children protected, he wanted them exposed to evil and therefore become unworthy of God and partakers of the same evil he'd become a partaker of.
God wanted mankind to feed spiritually for a full day with Him- this was before sin entered the world. Adam and Eve were tending the beautiful garden and the creatures of the world- this was their six days of labor, just as God had labored in creating their world and bringing them into existence in six days, the seventh Day God rested, the seventh day God set aside as holy, the day after He'd completed His creation of mankind, for mankind. From nothingness into existence and this was worthy of great reflection.
From the beginning until now we have had a seven day week without any astronomic reasoning for it- unlike the month and the year.
Seven days.
Symbolic of creation no matter how the devil has tried to twist even that to become perverted through paganism and pagan titles.
Seven days.
Six days for man to do all they need to do for their flesh existence.
One day for man to do all they need to do for their spiritual existence.
One day out of every seven days we are to be reminded of God in all His glory, we are to be reminded of how we came to exist, why we exist. And Satan would have us forget how and why, rather desiring that we focus on our flesh self, our carnal self. As long as we are focusing on self we are NOT focusing on God and this pleases Satan.
Satan doesn't want us to believe we need to work six days. Satan would much rather have us believe that we deserve two days of rest or more. Satan is equally pleased if we want to work seven days a week. Satan wants us to do anything and everything that will defy God.
Told to work six days we are in essence being told that we need to use six days a week to prepare for the one day of rest. Get all the things we absolutely need to get done in order to provide for ourselves and those under our care and then give ourselves the blessing of devoting the seventh day to God, a spiritual blessing allowing us to set aside everything concerned with our providing for ourselves and allow God to provide for us a spiritual feast. Does this mean we are to shut ourselves up in a closet for a full day? Absolutely NOT! We are to live our lives as our Savior gave us an example to live them and He preached, He taught, He healed, He allowed provisions for eating all on the Sabbath day. He didn't want this day of spiritual renewal, this day of spiritual reminding of our Creator to be a day we abhorred. He didn't want the Sabbath day to be more important than the creature He'd created and MADE the Sabbath for. There would be absolutely NO need for a Sabbath if man hadn't been created. The Sabbath was made FOR US as a GIFT, a special gift and it is Satan who wants it to be seen as a burdensome, restrictive commandment of God's, something to limit us, to take away our time, to take away our carnal desire, something that is bad, not wonderful. It was Satan who allowed the Sabbath to become something seemingly more important than the mankind it was created for. Satan and his deception hard at work.
Six days we are to labor.
One day we are to rest.
This isn't to say we aren't supposed to rest at all during those six days. We are made to need sleep daily, to need the rest of sleep daily. It's been proven that those who undergo severe sleep depravation can actually die- after going through all sorts of horrible things- hallucinations, etc.
We rest during the six days but that entire day is not to be set aside to rest, and it is NOT a spiritually focused rest that we undertake during those six days. The Sabbath day is a day of full rest- flesh and spirit rest, a day we are to actually focus on spiritual resting in our God without anything to distract us from that renewing rest in our Creator. As we cease from labor we are acknowledging our need for spiritual renewal in God. It is a necessity, it is a chance for a BLESSING from God! The Sabbath was blessed and made holy so that we who entered into that Sabbath rest are given a special blessing and are sanctified- we are being made holy by our obedience to our Creator, our God, our King, our Savior!
We are to work six days as commanded by our God- and this isn't necessarily work as we know it today but rather work as God meant it- toiling towards providing for ourselves and those under our care. Your job could be working at home as a support to your family- not necessarily a job outside of the home working nine to five. Also, those who work nine to five - their obligation to work, to toil six days a week does not end with the work time clock. They too are commanded to work six days a week following God's plan which isn't Satan's plan. We need to really contemplate this aspect of the commandment of God as well as the RESTING one day, the Sabbath day.
By the grace and mercy of our Savior we will be blessed with understanding through the Holy Spirit so that we may truly follow our God in all ways, not just the ways we assume are right.
In the everlasting love of our God, of our Savior, of the Spirit may we live now and always.
In His love! May His will be done now and forever, may His kingdom come!
In Christ!
Amen.
Six days shalt thou labour,
and do all thy work but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God
in it thou shalt not do any work . . . (Exodus 20:8-10)
This is a commandment not only to rest, but a commandment to use six days to labor. Seriously. It's easy to overlook this aspect of the fourth commandment when we are studying it because we tend to focus on the resting aspect of the day. But if we really examine it, this IS a commandment to WORK for six days prior to the one day of REST.
People have six days to work, six days to labor, not one, not two, not three, four, or five but six days to work. A lot of people have five days of what they call work but in truth when we are not focused upon our Creator we are usually focused where? Upon ourselves, upon the things that we want or need to do. On the seventh day we are to focus upon our Creator and that entails EVERY SINGLE facet of our Creator from beginning to end and by end I mean the end of our ability to know our Creator. There is infinite knowledge of our Creator in truth, and because He is a living being, a being without beginning and without end we can never, ever reach an end of knowing Him. Unlike so much in life that has a beginning and an end where we can discover all we can about things, God is a being that transcends all that. So no one can ever get to a point in their relationship with God where they can say they know everything there is to know about Him.
Six days of work. Six days of the secular. Six days to eke out a living for ourselves.
One day of rest. One day of the spiritual. One day to focus on solely living for God, as God would have us live.
We have one day in seven to store up a spiritual blessing enough to last us the next six days.
The Sabbath was created for us, for our spiritual existence.
Satan would have mankind believe they have no need of a spiritual existence, that a carnal existence is more than enough. Satan convinced Eve that she had no need to listen to God's command, that she needed to indulge HERSELF, she needed to focus on self, not God. Her flesh desires mattered more than God's spiritual desire. The fruit was *pleasing* to the sight. The fruit would give her a knowledge of *good and evil like God*. Yet the bottom line was it was God who told her NOT to eat of that fruit, not to indulge that flesh desire, but rather trust Him to know that it was best for them NOT to know good and evil, but to know rather only good. To gain a knowledge of evil is to open the door to evil.
Today in our sad, sick world we call those raised without exposure to a lot of worldly evils- naïve, as if that is a really bad thing. Our children are missing out on something good if we don't allow them to be exposed to worldly evil. Our children are missing out on vital mental and emotional building blocks when we keep them from evil. It's better people say to let them be exposed to evil at its worse then that way they are prepared to face life armed with necessary knowledge to get them far in our world. LIES!
It is Satan that does NOT want our children protected, any more than He wanted God's children protected. Rather than allowing our children to grow up without be exposed to the intense evil mankind exists in we try to protect them and THEN when they are mature enough is time enough to allow them the full knowledge of the evils out there. Why do we insist they grow up abused by life, just to teach them to develop a tough outer shell?
Satan wanted mankind exposed to evil, God did not. God wanted His children to trust Him and that trust protected them from evil. Satan did not want God's children protected, he wanted them exposed to evil and therefore become unworthy of God and partakers of the same evil he'd become a partaker of.
God wanted mankind to feed spiritually for a full day with Him- this was before sin entered the world. Adam and Eve were tending the beautiful garden and the creatures of the world- this was their six days of labor, just as God had labored in creating their world and bringing them into existence in six days, the seventh Day God rested, the seventh day God set aside as holy, the day after He'd completed His creation of mankind, for mankind. From nothingness into existence and this was worthy of great reflection.
From the beginning until now we have had a seven day week without any astronomic reasoning for it- unlike the month and the year.
Seven days.
Symbolic of creation no matter how the devil has tried to twist even that to become perverted through paganism and pagan titles.
Seven days.
Six days for man to do all they need to do for their flesh existence.
One day for man to do all they need to do for their spiritual existence.
One day out of every seven days we are to be reminded of God in all His glory, we are to be reminded of how we came to exist, why we exist. And Satan would have us forget how and why, rather desiring that we focus on our flesh self, our carnal self. As long as we are focusing on self we are NOT focusing on God and this pleases Satan.
Satan doesn't want us to believe we need to work six days. Satan would much rather have us believe that we deserve two days of rest or more. Satan is equally pleased if we want to work seven days a week. Satan wants us to do anything and everything that will defy God.
Told to work six days we are in essence being told that we need to use six days a week to prepare for the one day of rest. Get all the things we absolutely need to get done in order to provide for ourselves and those under our care and then give ourselves the blessing of devoting the seventh day to God, a spiritual blessing allowing us to set aside everything concerned with our providing for ourselves and allow God to provide for us a spiritual feast. Does this mean we are to shut ourselves up in a closet for a full day? Absolutely NOT! We are to live our lives as our Savior gave us an example to live them and He preached, He taught, He healed, He allowed provisions for eating all on the Sabbath day. He didn't want this day of spiritual renewal, this day of spiritual reminding of our Creator to be a day we abhorred. He didn't want the Sabbath day to be more important than the creature He'd created and MADE the Sabbath for. There would be absolutely NO need for a Sabbath if man hadn't been created. The Sabbath was made FOR US as a GIFT, a special gift and it is Satan who wants it to be seen as a burdensome, restrictive commandment of God's, something to limit us, to take away our time, to take away our carnal desire, something that is bad, not wonderful. It was Satan who allowed the Sabbath to become something seemingly more important than the mankind it was created for. Satan and his deception hard at work.
Six days we are to labor.
One day we are to rest.
This isn't to say we aren't supposed to rest at all during those six days. We are made to need sleep daily, to need the rest of sleep daily. It's been proven that those who undergo severe sleep depravation can actually die- after going through all sorts of horrible things- hallucinations, etc.
We rest during the six days but that entire day is not to be set aside to rest, and it is NOT a spiritually focused rest that we undertake during those six days. The Sabbath day is a day of full rest- flesh and spirit rest, a day we are to actually focus on spiritual resting in our God without anything to distract us from that renewing rest in our Creator. As we cease from labor we are acknowledging our need for spiritual renewal in God. It is a necessity, it is a chance for a BLESSING from God! The Sabbath was blessed and made holy so that we who entered into that Sabbath rest are given a special blessing and are sanctified- we are being made holy by our obedience to our Creator, our God, our King, our Savior!
We are to work six days as commanded by our God- and this isn't necessarily work as we know it today but rather work as God meant it- toiling towards providing for ourselves and those under our care. Your job could be working at home as a support to your family- not necessarily a job outside of the home working nine to five. Also, those who work nine to five - their obligation to work, to toil six days a week does not end with the work time clock. They too are commanded to work six days a week following God's plan which isn't Satan's plan. We need to really contemplate this aspect of the commandment of God as well as the RESTING one day, the Sabbath day.
By the grace and mercy of our Savior we will be blessed with understanding through the Holy Spirit so that we may truly follow our God in all ways, not just the ways we assume are right.
In the everlasting love of our God, of our Savior, of the Spirit may we live now and always.
In His love! May His will be done now and forever, may His kingdom come!
In Christ!
Amen.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Matthew 24:23-31
Mat 24:23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
Believe it not.
BELIEVE … IT... NOT.
Mat 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
FALSE Christs.
FALSE prophets.
GREAT SIGNS.
GREAT WONDERS.
Signs and wonders so great that IF it were possible those great signs and wonders would deceive the very elect. But it's NOT possible to deceive the very elect. Why? Because the very elect are God's, wholly God's and they are walking in the truth with the Holy Spirit guiding them, fully living under the righteousness of Jesus Christ, covered by His forgiveness, His grace, His love in all these things. The very elect are NOT blind, they are NOT deaf, they are not void of understanding. The very elect are allowed to discern between truth and error, good and evil and they are not able to be deceived by the greatest of all deceivers, Satan himself.
Mat 24:25 Behold, I have told you before.
Mat 24:26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
Do NOT believe those who try and convince you that Christ has come and is living on earth and we can go and travel to see Him, it's simply NOT TRUE and will NEVER be true.
Mat 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
The Lord will descend from heaven and … walk around? No. Go about working miracles? No. The Lord STAYS IN THE AIR where we who are His will meet Him!
If ANYONE ever says the Lord is somewhere here on earth and we are to go to Him just don't believe them! Do NOT, no matter what sort of miracles this pretender Christ is working. The Lord- our Bible tells us- will descend from heaven and we will meet Him in the AIR where He stays! We won't meet Him on the ground, NO ONE will meet Christ on the ground. When He returns we meet Him- He doesn't hide somewhere, He isn't inaccessible to His followers-all His followers will be caught up together in the clouds to meet our Savior in the air! This is FACT, this is TRUTH!
Mat 24:28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
It's a fact- where there is a dead animal birds of prey will be gathered to eat from that carcass, yes? Of course it's not guaranteed but I've seen it myself- animals dead in the road and on the road side buzzards gathered to feed off what remains of animal. Now this verse to be can be of two meanings…
First- where false Christ's are preaching there will be followers of that false Christ.
Second- where Christ is in the air, there His followers will be.
Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken
Signs in the sun, the moon, the stars.
Mat 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
The tribes of the earth mourn as they see our Savior returning in power and glory- why? Because the people of earth, the people who call this world their home, the followers of the prince of this world do NOT want our Savior to return! Remember that broad path many find which leads to destruction? Well the tribes of the earth will have gone down that path and they'll realize their destruction is imminent when they see the Lord returning and it's too late for them to choose to walk the narrow path.
Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Again…God's elect, God's chosen are GATHERED together by the angels. We are gathered together to meet our Lord in the air. Praise God! Oh glorious day!
You have to really, really take it to heart when we are told the manner of Christ's second coming, because if we don't take it to heart we will be deceived. If we ignore the truth, if we ignore the words of God, if we ignore prophecy, if we ignore the gospel of the kingdom our Savior has preached to us Himself then we will be deceived. It's so easy to believe that it's impossible for us to be deceived, and yet ALL but the very elect will be deceived. MILLIONS will be deceived. BILLIONS will be deceived. I'm not lying to you! This is the truth. We are told, we are warned, we are cautioned, we are given the word of God and we must take heed to His word or we will be among those billions of people deceived. We can't simply think we won't be deceived. We read in the very word of God that we are to TAKE HEED. If someone tells you to take heed they are giving you a warning. I know I've spoken on this a lot lately but it bears repeating over and over, we have to take all this seriously and know that deception is very possibly and highly likely if we are not heeding our Lord's warnings.
Please Lord we would be Yours and Yours alone!
All praise, all glory, all honor to YOU!
Bless us Lord, bless us with Your Holy Spirit, please Lord, please we are at your mercy in all things.
In Your amazing love!
Amen.
Believe it not.
BELIEVE … IT... NOT.
Mat 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
FALSE Christs.
FALSE prophets.
GREAT SIGNS.
GREAT WONDERS.
Signs and wonders so great that IF it were possible those great signs and wonders would deceive the very elect. But it's NOT possible to deceive the very elect. Why? Because the very elect are God's, wholly God's and they are walking in the truth with the Holy Spirit guiding them, fully living under the righteousness of Jesus Christ, covered by His forgiveness, His grace, His love in all these things. The very elect are NOT blind, they are NOT deaf, they are not void of understanding. The very elect are allowed to discern between truth and error, good and evil and they are not able to be deceived by the greatest of all deceivers, Satan himself.
Mat 24:25 Behold, I have told you before.
Mat 24:26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
Do NOT believe those who try and convince you that Christ has come and is living on earth and we can go and travel to see Him, it's simply NOT TRUE and will NEVER be true.
Mat 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
The Lord will descend from heaven and … walk around? No. Go about working miracles? No. The Lord STAYS IN THE AIR where we who are His will meet Him!
If ANYONE ever says the Lord is somewhere here on earth and we are to go to Him just don't believe them! Do NOT, no matter what sort of miracles this pretender Christ is working. The Lord- our Bible tells us- will descend from heaven and we will meet Him in the AIR where He stays! We won't meet Him on the ground, NO ONE will meet Christ on the ground. When He returns we meet Him- He doesn't hide somewhere, He isn't inaccessible to His followers-all His followers will be caught up together in the clouds to meet our Savior in the air! This is FACT, this is TRUTH!
Mat 24:28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
It's a fact- where there is a dead animal birds of prey will be gathered to eat from that carcass, yes? Of course it's not guaranteed but I've seen it myself- animals dead in the road and on the road side buzzards gathered to feed off what remains of animal. Now this verse to be can be of two meanings…
First- where false Christ's are preaching there will be followers of that false Christ.
Second- where Christ is in the air, there His followers will be.
Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken
Signs in the sun, the moon, the stars.
Mat 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
The tribes of the earth mourn as they see our Savior returning in power and glory- why? Because the people of earth, the people who call this world their home, the followers of the prince of this world do NOT want our Savior to return! Remember that broad path many find which leads to destruction? Well the tribes of the earth will have gone down that path and they'll realize their destruction is imminent when they see the Lord returning and it's too late for them to choose to walk the narrow path.
Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Again…God's elect, God's chosen are GATHERED together by the angels. We are gathered together to meet our Lord in the air. Praise God! Oh glorious day!
You have to really, really take it to heart when we are told the manner of Christ's second coming, because if we don't take it to heart we will be deceived. If we ignore the truth, if we ignore the words of God, if we ignore prophecy, if we ignore the gospel of the kingdom our Savior has preached to us Himself then we will be deceived. It's so easy to believe that it's impossible for us to be deceived, and yet ALL but the very elect will be deceived. MILLIONS will be deceived. BILLIONS will be deceived. I'm not lying to you! This is the truth. We are told, we are warned, we are cautioned, we are given the word of God and we must take heed to His word or we will be among those billions of people deceived. We can't simply think we won't be deceived. We read in the very word of God that we are to TAKE HEED. If someone tells you to take heed they are giving you a warning. I know I've spoken on this a lot lately but it bears repeating over and over, we have to take all this seriously and know that deception is very possibly and highly likely if we are not heeding our Lord's warnings.
Please Lord we would be Yours and Yours alone!
All praise, all glory, all honor to YOU!
Bless us Lord, bless us with Your Holy Spirit, please Lord, please we are at your mercy in all things.
In Your amazing love!
Amen.
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