Mal 3:18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.
It's this simple. People love to complicate things but the truth is…it's as simple as this…
Whether we are righteous or wicked will depend upon whether or not we serve God or serve Him not.
So ask yourself that very, very important question- do you serve God or do you serve Him not?
*******
Psa 50:1 ...The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.
Psa 50:2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.
Psa 50:3 Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.
Psa 50:4 He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.
Psa 50:5 Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
Psa 50:6 And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.
Psa 50:7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God.
God will gather His saints unto Himself.
God will gather those who have made a covenant with Him by sacrifice.
Before you quickly point out we don't offer sacrifices any longer, think again.
Psa 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
True sacrifice is not the offering of the life of an animal, but it's having a broken spirit, a contrite heart before our God knowing that it is the sacrifice of the Lamb of God which saves us. We must sacrifice self, all of ourselves to God. We do make a covenant with God by sacrifice-- without the sacrifice, without the shedding of Christ's innocent blood and our acceptance of that sacrifice as ours, we have nothing.
*******
Psa 96:13 Before the LORD: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.
He comes to judge the earth.
He comes to judge the world.
He judges with righteousness.
He judges with His truth.
No on escapes judgment, no one. When you are judged you will be found among the righteous or the wicked- there is no middle ground, none. Those who serve God and those who do not serve God.
Remember the verse we read above-
Mal 3:18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.
*******
Heb 10:30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
Heb 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Isa 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Heb 10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
Heb 10:27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
The judgment of God is a fearful thing. We have to understand our place in the grand scheme of things and we are NOT the ones calling the shots. We are NOT the ones in control. Not even the most powerful human being upon earth is in control. When we realize that we are not in control we must then defer to the One who is in control. And when we understand that we do answer to a power greater than humanity, in fact the Creator of humanity we must know that He has the infinite power to judge with righteous judgment.
Rom 2:5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God
2Th 1:4 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:
2Th 1:5 Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:
2Th 1:6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
2Th 1:7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,
2Th 1:8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
2Th 1:9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
2Th 1:10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
*******
Jas 5:8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
Jas 5:9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
Jud 1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
Jud 1:15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
Jud 1:16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage.
Jud 1:17 But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Jud 1:18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.
Jud 1:19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.
Jud 1:20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
Jud 1:21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
Jud 1:22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:
Jud 1:23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
Jud 1:24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
Jud 1:25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
*******
It's as simple as this, remember? Either believe and serve God or don't believe and serve self, but know this- judgment is coming whether you believe it will or not and the choice you make now while there is still time to choose will decide your fate in the coming judgment- no one escapes-
Behold, the Lord cometh ... To execute judgment upon all.
Jud 1:25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.
Amen.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
In the volume of the book it is written of me
Heb 10:1 For the (CEREMONIAL) law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
The ceremonial law which was set up to enact the varying necessary ceremonies of sacrifices so that God's people could realize the results of their sinning, was a SHADOW of the sacrifice that would be necessary in order for sins to truly be forgiven. Every year, every day sacrifices were made- the ceremonies enacted- but those ceremonial sacrifices could NOT make the people sacrificing the animals perfect.
Heb 10:2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
Heb 10:3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
Heb 10:4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
Truth. The entire sacrificial system pointed to the INNOCENT LAMB being sacrificed. Yesterday we studied a bit about Abraham who was put into the situation where he had to offer up his only begotten son- this was a SYMBOLIC act! God WOULD offer up His only begotten Son, but Abraham's hand was stayed. The symbolic gesture was made. We can fully empathize with Abraham as parents. We can fully comprehend that God was requiring FAITH on Abraham's part- and revealing that agony that He- God would have to endure Himself as a Father watching His Son made flesh suffer a horrifying death. Such sacrifice was necessary by the Father- but NOT by us as human's towards our own children. God would NEVER require us to kill our Children in sacrifice- something that was common in the pagan religions. God stayed Abraham's hand and kept him from sacrificing Isaac, but NO HAND stayed those of the men sacrificing the Son of God. Only that PERFECT Sacrifice could truly satisfy the penalty of sinning, of disobeying God's laws- laws that the Son, as God with God before He took on flesh and became God's Son, created. Every single law of God was known to the Son in flesh, and known to be just and good, not to be done away with, not to be set aside, not to be changed.
Heb 10:5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
Heb 10:6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
Heb 10:7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
In the VOLUME of the BOOK it is WRITTEN of ME!
Dan 9:25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
Dan 9:26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
*******
Zec 6:12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:
Zec 6:13 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
*******
Dan 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
*******
Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
*******
Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isa 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
*******
Read Isaiah 41,42, 43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53
*******
Mic 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
*******
Mal 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
Mal 3:2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
Mal 3:3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
Mal 3:4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.
Mal 3:5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.
*******
The entire Bible in truth is all pointing towards our Savior if we can open our hearts and let the Holy Spirit guide our understanding then we can see that the Old Testament is prophetically giving one example after another of the battle between good and evil with good triumphing, this is all symbolic of our Savior, our God triumphing over sin and Satan. Only the blind will refuse to see, the willingly blind who do not want the truth because it interferes with their selfish desires, their sinfully selfish desires.
May God help us to see, to know, to understand, to believe all through HIM. We need to understand the truth of our Savior and His great sacrifice for us and what was truly done away with at His death and what was not done away with.
Please Lord Help Us!
Please Lord give us comprehension through Your Holy Spirit!
All in Your Love, All by Your Grace and Mercy!
Amen.
The ceremonial law which was set up to enact the varying necessary ceremonies of sacrifices so that God's people could realize the results of their sinning, was a SHADOW of the sacrifice that would be necessary in order for sins to truly be forgiven. Every year, every day sacrifices were made- the ceremonies enacted- but those ceremonial sacrifices could NOT make the people sacrificing the animals perfect.
Heb 10:2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.
Heb 10:3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
Heb 10:4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
Truth. The entire sacrificial system pointed to the INNOCENT LAMB being sacrificed. Yesterday we studied a bit about Abraham who was put into the situation where he had to offer up his only begotten son- this was a SYMBOLIC act! God WOULD offer up His only begotten Son, but Abraham's hand was stayed. The symbolic gesture was made. We can fully empathize with Abraham as parents. We can fully comprehend that God was requiring FAITH on Abraham's part- and revealing that agony that He- God would have to endure Himself as a Father watching His Son made flesh suffer a horrifying death. Such sacrifice was necessary by the Father- but NOT by us as human's towards our own children. God would NEVER require us to kill our Children in sacrifice- something that was common in the pagan religions. God stayed Abraham's hand and kept him from sacrificing Isaac, but NO HAND stayed those of the men sacrificing the Son of God. Only that PERFECT Sacrifice could truly satisfy the penalty of sinning, of disobeying God's laws- laws that the Son, as God with God before He took on flesh and became God's Son, created. Every single law of God was known to the Son in flesh, and known to be just and good, not to be done away with, not to be set aside, not to be changed.
Heb 10:5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
Heb 10:6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.
Heb 10:7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
In the VOLUME of the BOOK it is WRITTEN of ME!
Dan 9:25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
Dan 9:26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
*******
Zec 6:12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:
Zec 6:13 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
*******
Dan 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
*******
Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
*******
Isa 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isa 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
*******
Read Isaiah 41,42, 43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53
*******
Mic 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
*******
Mal 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
Mal 3:2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
Mal 3:3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
Mal 3:4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.
Mal 3:5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.
*******
The entire Bible in truth is all pointing towards our Savior if we can open our hearts and let the Holy Spirit guide our understanding then we can see that the Old Testament is prophetically giving one example after another of the battle between good and evil with good triumphing, this is all symbolic of our Savior, our God triumphing over sin and Satan. Only the blind will refuse to see, the willingly blind who do not want the truth because it interferes with their selfish desires, their sinfully selfish desires.
May God help us to see, to know, to understand, to believe all through HIM. We need to understand the truth of our Savior and His great sacrifice for us and what was truly done away with at His death and what was not done away with.
Please Lord Help Us!
Please Lord give us comprehension through Your Holy Spirit!
All in Your Love, All by Your Grace and Mercy!
Amen.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Jerusalem - a holy city
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
Zion (Hebrew) (also transliterated Sion, Tzion or Tsion) is a place name often used as a synonym for Jerusalem.[1][2] The word is first found in Samuel II, 5:7 dating to c.630-540 BCE. It commonly referred to a specific mountain near Jerusalem (Mount Zion), on which stood a Jebusite fortress of the same name that was conquered by David and was named the City of David. The term Tzion came to designate the area of Jerusalem where the fortress stood, and later became a metonym for Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, the city of Jerusalem and generally, the World to Come.
Pasted from
2Sa 5:7 Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David.
Jerusalem is mention 767 times in the Bible. Clearly it is of great importance. We've been studying Jerusalem a bit in connection with God's people. We've looked at Wikipedia information on Jerusalem and it give a lot of its history.
Undisputedly Jerusalem has been a very important place for a very long time.
Today they say this--
Jerusalem is a holy city to the three major Abrahamic religions— Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Pasted from
A holy city to THREE major Abrahamic religions. Only one of those religions recognizes the Son of God as Savior and that's Christianity. The two other major religions are therefore worshipping a false god, not Abraham's God at all.
Abraham who lived such an important foretelling of our Savior's sacrifice knew of God's promise given in the garden of Eden to Adam and Eve. He knew this--
Gen 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life
Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
A hatred would exist between the seed of the Serpent (Satan) and the seed of the Woman (God's people) The seed of the Serpent would bruise the heel of the of the seed of the Woman. But the seed of the Woman would bruise thy head of the seed of the Serpent.
One would triumph over the other. Our Savior would triumph over Satan.
Abraham knew there was an enmity between the chosen of God and Satan. By Faith Abraham lived listening to God, following His commands. By faith Abraham offered Isaac- but to what end?
Heb 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
Heb 11:18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
Heb 11:19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
Now it's important to note that Isaac wasn't Abraham's only son- Ishmael was.
Gen 16:15 And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son's name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.
So when we read this-- 'By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son', what does it mean? Isaac was the son of PROMISE.
Gen 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
Gen 15:2 And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
Gen 15:3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
Gen 15:4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
Gen 16:1 Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
Gen 16:2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
Gen 16:3 And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.
Gen 16:4 And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
Abram hearkened to the voice of his wife, not the voice of God. God did not tell Abram that His seed would come through an Egyptian handmaid. Ishmael was MAN'S doing, not God's. Ishmael was NOT the promised seed.
Gen 17:15 And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.
Gen 17:16 And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
Gen 17:17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
Gen 17:18 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
Gen 17:19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
Gen 17:20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
Gen 17:21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.
Gen 17:22 And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.
Sarah was way past childbearing age.
Abraham wanted Ishmael to 'live' before God- to be God's promised seed.
God wanted Sarah to bear the promised son. God wanted the MIRACLE of a barren womb to be filled miraculously through HIS power and HIS power alone! Through that miracle child the covenant would be established not through the child born through man's contriving.
Ishmael would be blessed and fruitful- having a great nation as well but that nation would not be God's promised nation. The great nation that would come from Ishmael would not have the covenant promise.
Isaac was born - the miracle son, the ONLY begotten son - the son of promise.
Jesus was born- the miracle son, the ONLY begotten son - the son of promise!
Isaac was offered as a sacrifice (ONLY the hand of God staying Abraham's stopped Isaac from dying.)
Jesus was offered as a sacrifice.
Abraham knew that this great sacrifice He was being told to make was important and it is still important today.
So when I say this--
Jerusalem- a holy city to THREE major Abrahamic religions. Only ONE of those religions recognizes the Son of God as Savior and that's Christianity. The two other major religions are therefore worshipping a false god, not Abraham's God at all.
I'm speaking TRUTH! While the other two religions lay claim to Abraham, they refuse to lay claim to the Son of God, the ONLY begotten Son of the Father! Isaac typified our Savior in more than one way and yet those other religions refuse to acknowledge this, they refuse to see in the prophecies of God the fulfilled coming of the Messiah, the fulfilled death of the Messiah, the fulfilled resurrection of the Messiah, they close their hearts to the truth and hold fast to lies and deception.
Yes, Jerusalem is a holy city, and isn't it just like Satan to want what is God's so much so that he in his prince of this world way has established TWO major religions opposing the ONE true religion- the religion the comes from recognizing God's Son as Savior. Am I saying all who are Christian's are automatically saved? NO! No more than all who have been proclaimed to be God's chosen of the old covenant were saved because they were of that religion. There are certain undeniable truths that cannot be forsaken, truths our Savior lived when He walked the earth, and we must have these truths if we are to be His, fully His.
Jerusalem was mourned by Jesus, a lot of those who clung to the old covenant were destroyed in Jerusalem when it was destroyed- prophesized by Jesus.
Rom 11:18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
Rom 11:19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
Rom 11:20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
Rom 11:21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
There were NATURAL branches- those chosen to be God's people, those of the Jewish nation direct descendents of Abraham. There were branches GRAFFED IN- those who are not descendents of Abraham, but rather from the Gentiles.
Jesus KNEW His people would reject Him no matter what miracles He performed, their hearts were hardened against Him. Jesus would call ALL men unto Him.
Joh 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
Jesus knew that the city of Jerusalem would remain important until His return and He told us to watch the signs. We are watching and by the grace of God we are being guided to understand all that He would have us know, have us realize concerning His soon return. We don't want to be deaf, dumb, and blind, our hearts hard to the truths of our Savior. He would have us watch, He would have us pray. He didn't want us to ignore the sign He gave to us. May we continue on in His love, living our lives as He would have us do so- fully in His love- preaching the gospel of the Kingdom to all we can, bringing the good news of Salvation in Christ, through Christ's righteousness.
Lord help us because without Your help we have no hope, all our hope is in YOU.
Guide us Lord, let the Holy Spirit touch our hearts, opening our understanding all so we can be Yours as fully as we can be through You.
In Your love!
Amen.
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
Zion (Hebrew) (also transliterated Sion, Tzion or Tsion) is a place name often used as a synonym for Jerusalem.[1][2] The word is first found in Samuel II, 5:7 dating to c.630-540 BCE. It commonly referred to a specific mountain near Jerusalem (Mount Zion), on which stood a Jebusite fortress of the same name that was conquered by David and was named the City of David. The term Tzion came to designate the area of Jerusalem where the fortress stood, and later became a metonym for Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, the city of Jerusalem and generally, the World to Come.
Pasted from
2Sa 5:7 Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David.
Jerusalem is mention 767 times in the Bible. Clearly it is of great importance. We've been studying Jerusalem a bit in connection with God's people. We've looked at Wikipedia information on Jerusalem and it give a lot of its history.
Undisputedly Jerusalem has been a very important place for a very long time.
Today they say this--
Jerusalem is a holy city to the three major Abrahamic religions— Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Pasted from
A holy city to THREE major Abrahamic religions. Only one of those religions recognizes the Son of God as Savior and that's Christianity. The two other major religions are therefore worshipping a false god, not Abraham's God at all.
Abraham who lived such an important foretelling of our Savior's sacrifice knew of God's promise given in the garden of Eden to Adam and Eve. He knew this--
Gen 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life
Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
A hatred would exist between the seed of the Serpent (Satan) and the seed of the Woman (God's people) The seed of the Serpent would bruise the heel of the of the seed of the Woman. But the seed of the Woman would bruise thy head of the seed of the Serpent.
One would triumph over the other. Our Savior would triumph over Satan.
Abraham knew there was an enmity between the chosen of God and Satan. By Faith Abraham lived listening to God, following His commands. By faith Abraham offered Isaac- but to what end?
Heb 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
Heb 11:18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
Heb 11:19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
Now it's important to note that Isaac wasn't Abraham's only son- Ishmael was.
Gen 16:15 And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son's name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.
So when we read this-- 'By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son', what does it mean? Isaac was the son of PROMISE.
Gen 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
Gen 15:2 And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
Gen 15:3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
Gen 15:4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
Gen 16:1 Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
Gen 16:2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
Gen 16:3 And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.
Gen 16:4 And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
Abram hearkened to the voice of his wife, not the voice of God. God did not tell Abram that His seed would come through an Egyptian handmaid. Ishmael was MAN'S doing, not God's. Ishmael was NOT the promised seed.
Gen 17:15 And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.
Gen 17:16 And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her.
Gen 17:17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?
Gen 17:18 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!
Gen 17:19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
Gen 17:20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.
Gen 17:21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.
Gen 17:22 And he left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.
Sarah was way past childbearing age.
Abraham wanted Ishmael to 'live' before God- to be God's promised seed.
God wanted Sarah to bear the promised son. God wanted the MIRACLE of a barren womb to be filled miraculously through HIS power and HIS power alone! Through that miracle child the covenant would be established not through the child born through man's contriving.
Ishmael would be blessed and fruitful- having a great nation as well but that nation would not be God's promised nation. The great nation that would come from Ishmael would not have the covenant promise.
Isaac was born - the miracle son, the ONLY begotten son - the son of promise.
Jesus was born- the miracle son, the ONLY begotten son - the son of promise!
Isaac was offered as a sacrifice (ONLY the hand of God staying Abraham's stopped Isaac from dying.)
Jesus was offered as a sacrifice.
Abraham knew that this great sacrifice He was being told to make was important and it is still important today.
So when I say this--
Jerusalem- a holy city to THREE major Abrahamic religions. Only ONE of those religions recognizes the Son of God as Savior and that's Christianity. The two other major religions are therefore worshipping a false god, not Abraham's God at all.
I'm speaking TRUTH! While the other two religions lay claim to Abraham, they refuse to lay claim to the Son of God, the ONLY begotten Son of the Father! Isaac typified our Savior in more than one way and yet those other religions refuse to acknowledge this, they refuse to see in the prophecies of God the fulfilled coming of the Messiah, the fulfilled death of the Messiah, the fulfilled resurrection of the Messiah, they close their hearts to the truth and hold fast to lies and deception.
Yes, Jerusalem is a holy city, and isn't it just like Satan to want what is God's so much so that he in his prince of this world way has established TWO major religions opposing the ONE true religion- the religion the comes from recognizing God's Son as Savior. Am I saying all who are Christian's are automatically saved? NO! No more than all who have been proclaimed to be God's chosen of the old covenant were saved because they were of that religion. There are certain undeniable truths that cannot be forsaken, truths our Savior lived when He walked the earth, and we must have these truths if we are to be His, fully His.
Jerusalem was mourned by Jesus, a lot of those who clung to the old covenant were destroyed in Jerusalem when it was destroyed- prophesized by Jesus.
Rom 11:18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
Rom 11:19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
Rom 11:20 Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
Rom 11:21 For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
There were NATURAL branches- those chosen to be God's people, those of the Jewish nation direct descendents of Abraham. There were branches GRAFFED IN- those who are not descendents of Abraham, but rather from the Gentiles.
Jesus KNEW His people would reject Him no matter what miracles He performed, their hearts were hardened against Him. Jesus would call ALL men unto Him.
Joh 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.
Jesus knew that the city of Jerusalem would remain important until His return and He told us to watch the signs. We are watching and by the grace of God we are being guided to understand all that He would have us know, have us realize concerning His soon return. We don't want to be deaf, dumb, and blind, our hearts hard to the truths of our Savior. He would have us watch, He would have us pray. He didn't want us to ignore the sign He gave to us. May we continue on in His love, living our lives as He would have us do so- fully in His love- preaching the gospel of the Kingdom to all we can, bringing the good news of Salvation in Christ, through Christ's righteousness.
Lord help us because without Your help we have no hope, all our hope is in YOU.
Guide us Lord, let the Holy Spirit touch our hearts, opening our understanding all so we can be Yours as fully as we can be through You.
In Your love!
Amen.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen
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.
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.
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)
Pasted from
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.
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