Monday, June 30, 2014
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Job 16:19-21
19 There must be Someone in heaven who knows the truth about me, in highest heaven, some Attorney who can clear my name — 20 My Champion, my Friend, while I'm weeping my eyes out before God. 21 I appeal to the One who represents mortals before God as a neighbor stands up for a neighbor
JESUS!
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Job 2:9-10
9 His wife said, "Still holding on to your precious integrity, are you? Curse God and be done with it!"
10 He told her, "You're talking like an empty-headed fool. We take the good days from God — why not also the bad days?"
Not once through all this did Job sin. He said nothing against God.
Job 2:2-6
GOD singled out Satan, saying, "And what have you been up to?" Satan answered GOD, "Oh, going here and there, checking things out." 3 Then GOD said to Satan, "Have you noticed my friend Job? There's no one quite like him, is there — honest and true to his word, totally devoted to God and hating evil? He still has a firm grip on his integrity! You tried to trick me into destroying him, but it didn't work."
4 Satan answered, "A human would do anything to save his life. 5 But what do you think would happen if you reached down and took away his health? He'd curse you to your face, that's what."
6 GOD said, "All right. Go ahead — you can do what you like with him. But mind you, don't kill him."
Job 2:2-6
GOD singled out Satan, saying, "And what have you been up to?" Satan answered GOD, "Oh, going here and there, checking things out." 3 Then GOD said to Satan, "Have you noticed my friend Job? There's no one quite like him, is there — honest and true to his word, totally devoted to God and hating evil? He still has a firm grip on his integrity! You tried to trick me into destroying him, but it didn't work."
4 Satan answered, "A human would do anything to save his life. 5 But what do you think would happen if you reached down and took away his health? He'd curse you to your face, that's what."
6 GOD said, "All right. Go ahead — you can do what you like with him. But mind you, don't kill him."
Job 1:8-11
8 GOD said to Satan, "Have you noticed my friend Job? There's no one quite like him — honest and true to his word, totally devoted to God and hating evil."
9 Satan retorted, "So do you think Job does all that out of the sheer goodness of his heart? 10 Why, no one ever had it so good! You pamper him like a pet, make sure nothing bad ever happens to him or his family or his possessions, bless everything he does — he can't lose!
11 "But what do you think would happen if you reached down and took away everything that is his? He'd curse you right to your face, that's what."
It’s no surprise that Satan didn’t care for this about Job!
Friday, June 27, 2014
2 Chron 12:7-8
the word of GOD came to Shemaiah: "Because they are humble, I'll not destroy them — I'll give them a break; I won't use Shishak to express my wrath against Jerusalem. 8 What I will do, though, is make them Shishak's subjects — they'll learn the difference between serving me and serving human kings
Thursday, June 26, 2014
2 Chron 1:11-12
11 God answered Solomon, "This is what has come out of your heart: You didn't grasp for money, wealth, fame, and the doom of your enemies; you didn't even ask for a long life. You asked for wisdom and knowledge so you could govern well my people over whom I've made you king. 12 Because of this, you get what you asked for — wisdom and knowledge
David said to his son Solomon:
1 Chron 22:12-13
may GOD also give you discernment and understanding when he puts you in charge of Israel so that you will rule in reverent obedience under GOD's Revelation. 13 That's what will make you successful, following the directions and doing the things that GOD commanded Moses
He told him that following God would help him be successful and this is there to teach us the same thing now!
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
2 Kings 4:42-44
42 One day a man arrived from Baal Shalishah. He brought the man of God twenty loaves of fresh baked bread from the early harvest, along with a few apples from the orchard.
Elisha said, "Pass it around to the people to eat."
43 His servant said, "For a hundred men? There's not nearly enough!"
Elisha said, "Just go ahead and do it. GOD says there's plenty."
44 And sure enough, there was. He passed around what he had — they not only ate, but had leftovers
Hmm, this is as when Jesus fed the multitudes!
2 Kings 2:23-24
Elisha was on his way to Bethel and some little kids came out from the town and taunted him, "What's up, old baldhead! Out of our way, skinhead!" 24 Elisha turned, took one look at them, and cursed them in the name of GOD. Two bears charged out of the underbrush and knocked them about, ripping them limb from limb — forty-two children in all!
2 Kings 2:9-11
Elisha said, "Your life repeated in my life. I want to be a holy man just like you."
10 "That's a hard one!" said Elijah. "But if you're watching when I'm taken from you, you'll get what you've asked for. But only if you're watching."
11 And so it happened
He had to be fully paying attention
2 Kings 1:3-4
3 GOD's angel spoke to Elijah the Tishbite: "Up on your feet! Go out and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria with this word, 'Is it because there's no God in Israel that you're running off to consult Baal-Zebub god of Ekron?' 4 Here's a message from the GOD you've tried to bypass: 'You're not going to get out of that bed you're in — you're as good as dead already.'" Elijah delivered the message and was gone.
1 Kings 19:11-12
"Go, stand on the mountain at attention before GOD. GOD will pass by."
A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before GOD, but GOD wasn't to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but GOD wasn't in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake fire, but GOD wasn't in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper
God is not what we expect Him to be
1 Kings 19:5-9
an angel shook him awake and said, "Get up and eat!"
6 He looked around and, to his surprise, right by his head were a loaf of bread baked on some coals and a jug of water. He ate the meal and went back to sleep.
7 The angel of GOD came back, shook him awake again, and said, "Get up and eat some more — you've got a long journey ahead of you."
8 He got up, ate and drank his fill, and set out. Nourished by that meal, he walked forty days and nights, all the way to the mountain of God, to Horeb. 9 When he got there, he crawled into a cave and went to sleep.
God’s will is accomplished regardless of what we do
Monday, June 23, 2014
1 Kings 8:35-36
35 When the skies shrivel up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, but then they pray at this place, acknowledging your rule and quitting their sins because you have scourged them,
36 Listen from your home in heaven, forgive the sins of your servants
It’s a 2 part process… first YOU admit it THEN He forgives it
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Saturday, June 21, 2014
1 Sam 23:3-4
But David's men said, "We live in fear of our lives right here in Judah. How can you think of going to Keilah in the thick of the Philistines?"
4 So David went back to GOD in prayer. GOD said, "Get going. Head for Keilah. I'm placing the Philistines in your hands."
They gave their opinion but David checked with God
1 Sam 20:32-34
32 Jonathan stood up to his father. "Why dead? What's he done?"
33 Saul threw his spear at him to kill him. That convinced Jonathan that his father was fixated on killing David.
34 Jonathan stormed from the table, furiously angry, and ate nothing the rest of the day, upset for David and smarting under the humiliation from his father
Jonathan managed to preserve his Earthly life but what about his Eternal life?
1 Sam 19:22-24
Saul went to Ramah himself. He came to the big cistern at Secu and inquired, "Where are Samuel and David?"
A bystander said, "Over at Naioth in Ramah."
23 As he headed out for Naioth in Ramah, the Spirit of God was on him, too. All the way to Naioth he was caught up in a babbling trance! 24 He ripped off his clothes and lay there rambling gibberish before Samuel for a day and a night, stretched out naked
1 Sam 17:32-37
32 "Master," said David, "don't give up hope. I'm ready to go and fight this Philistine."
33 Saul answered David, "You can't go and fight this Philistine. You're too young and inexperienced — and he's been at this fighting business since before you were born."
34 David said, "I've been a shepherd, tending sheep for my father. Whenever a lion or bear came and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I'd go after it, knock it down, and rescue the lamb. If it turned on me, I'd grab it by the throat, wring its neck, and kill it. 36 Lion or bear, it made no difference — I killed it. And I'll do the same to this Philistine pig who is taunting the troops of God-Alive. 37 GOD, who delivered me from the teeth of the lion and the claws of the bear, will deliver me from this Philistine."
Saul said, "Go. And GOD help you!"
He didn’t say: “I can do it because I have a degree!” NO! He went over what he had already done and he didn’t base his abilities on curriculum
1 Sam 16:17-18
Saul told his servants, "Go ahead. Find me someone who can play well and bring him to me."
18 One of the young men spoke up, "I know someone. I've seen him myself: the son of Jesse of Bethlehem, an excellent musician. He's also courageous, of age, well-spoken, and good-looking. And GOD is with him."
The very LAST thing that he said was that God was with him…
1 Sam 15:20-23
20 Saul defended himself. "What are you talking about? I did obey GOD. I did the job GOD set for me. I brought in King Agag and destroyed the Amalekites under the terms of the holy ban. 21 So the soldiers saved back a few choice sheep and cattle from the holy ban for sacrifice to GOD at Gilgal — what's wrong with that?"
22 Then Samuel said,
Do you think all GOD wants are sacrifices —
empty rituals just for show?
He wants you to listen to him!
Plain listening is the thing,
not staging a lavish religious production.
23 Not doing what GOD tells you
is far worse than fooling around in the occult.
Getting self-important around GOD
is far worse than making deals with your dead ancestors.
1 Sam 15:20-21
Saul defended himself. "What are you talking about? I did obey GOD. I did the job GOD set for me. I brought in King Agag and destroyed the Amalekites under the terms of the holy ban. 21 So the soldiers saveds back a few choice sheep and cattle from the holy ban for sacrifice to GOD at Gilgal — what's wrong with that?"
An opinion verses what God said
Friday, June 20, 2014
1 Sam 10:17-19
Samuel called the people to assemble before GOD at Mizpah. 18 He addressed the children of Israel, "This is GOD's personal message to you:
"I brought Israel up out of Egypt. I delivered you from Egyptian oppression — yes, from all the bullying governments that made your life miserable. 19 And now you want nothing to do with your God, the very God who has a history of getting you out of troubles of all sorts.
"And now you say, 'No! We want a king; give us a king!'
"Well, if that's what you want, that's what you'll get!
Judg 21:16-18
16 The elders of the congregation said, "How can we get wives for the rest of the men, since all the Benjaminite women have been killed? 17 How can we keep the inheritance alive for the Benjaminite survivors? How can we prevent an entire tribe from extinction? 18 We certainly can't give our own daughters to them as wives."
Why didn’t they just simply ask God?
Judg 17:7-10
7 Meanwhile there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah and from a family of Judah. He was a Levite but was a stranger there. 8 He left that town, Bethlehem in Judah, seeking his fortune. He got as far as the hill country of Ephraim and showed up at Micah's house.
9 Micah asked him, "So where are you from?"
He said, "I'm a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I'm on the road, looking for a place to settle down."
10 Micah said, "Stay here with me. Be my father and priest. I'll pay you ten pieces of silver a year, whatever clothes you need, and your meals."
A human being?
Judg 17:2-4
His mother said, "GOD bless you, my son!"
3 As he returned the 1,100 silver pieces to his mother, she said, "I had totally consecrated this money to GOD for my son to make a statue, a cast god." 4 Then she took 200 pieces of the silver and gave it to a sculptor and he cast them into the form of a god.
She had been saving it for him and not for God!
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Judg 7:2-15
2 GOD said to Gideon, "You have too large an army with you. I can't turn Midian over to them like this — they'll take all the credit, saying, 'I did it all myself,' and forget about me. 3 Make a public announcement: 'Anyone afraid, anyone who has any qualms at all, may leave Mount Gilead now and go home.'" Twenty-two companies headed for home. Ten companies were left.
4 GOD said to Gideon: "There are still too many. Take them down to the stream and I'll make a final cut. When I say, 'This one goes with you,' he'll go. When I say, 'This one doesn't go,' he won't go." 5 So Gideon took the troops down to the stream.
GOD said to Gideon: "Everyone who laps with his tongue, the way a dog laps, set on one side. And everyone who kneels to drink, drinking with his face to the water, set to the other side." 6 Three hundred lapped with their tongues from their cupped hands. All the rest knelt to drink.
7 GOD said to Gideon: "I'll use the three hundred men who lapped at the stream to save you and give Midian into your hands. All the rest may go home."
8 After Gideon took all their provisions and trumpets, he sent all the Israelites home. He took up his position with the three hundred. The camp of Midian stretched out below him in the valley.
9 That night, GOD told Gideon: "Get up and go down to the camp. I've given it to you. 10 If you have any doubts about going down, go down with Purah your armor bearer; 11 when you hear what they're saying, you'll be bold and confident." He and his armor bearer Purah went down near the place where sentries were posted. 12 Midian and Amalek, all the easterners, were spread out on the plain like a swarm of locusts. And their camels! Past counting, like grains of sand on the seashore!
13 Gideon arrived just in time to hear a man tell his friend a dream. He said, "I had this dream: A loaf of barley bread tumbled into the Midianite camp. It came to the tent and hit it so hard it collapsed. The tent fell!"
14 His friend said, "This has to be the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite! God has turned Midian — the whole camp! — over to him."
15 When Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he went to his knees before God in prayer
Judg 6:14-15
GOD faced him directly: "Go in this strength that is yours. Save Israel from Midian. Haven't I just sent you?"
15 Gideon said to him, "Me, my master? How and with what could I ever save Israel? Look at me. My clan's the weakest in Manasseh and I'm the runt of the litter."
What God chooses to do WON’T seem normal or usual or right
Judg 2:1-3
2:1 GOD's angel went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you out of Egypt; I led you to the land that I promised to your fathers; and I said, I'll never break my covenant with you — never! 2 And you're never to make a covenant with the people who live in this land. Tear down their altars! But you haven't obeyed me! What's this that you're doing?
3 "So now I'm telling you that I won't drive them out before you. They'll trip you up and their gods will become a trap."
Josh 24:2-14
This is what GOD, the God of Israel, says: A long time ago your ancestors, Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor, lived to the east of the River Euphrates. They worshiped other gods. 3 I took your ancestor Abraham from the far side of The River. I led him all over the land of Canaan and multiplied his descendants. I gave him Isaac. 4 Then I gave Isaac Jacob and Esau. I let Esau have the mountains of Seir as home, but Jacob and his sons ended up in Egypt. 5 I sent Moses and Aaron. I hit Egypt hard with plagues and then led you out of there. 6 I brought your ancestors out of Egypt. You came to the sea, the Egyptians in hot pursuit with chariots and cavalry, to the very edge of the Red Sea!
7 "Then they cried out for help to GOD. He put a cloud between you and the Egyptians and then let the sea loose on them. It drowned them.
"You watched the whole thing with your own eyes, what I did to Egypt. And then you lived in the wilderness for a long time. 8 I brought you to the country of the Amorites, who lived east of the Jordan, and they fought you. But I fought for you and you took their land. I destroyed them for you. 9 Then Balak son of Zippor made his appearance. He was the king of Moab. He got ready to fight Israel by sending for Balaam son of Beor to come and curse you. 10 But I wouldn't listen to Balaam — he ended up blessing you over and over! I saved you from him.
11 "You then crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. The Jericho leaders ganged up on you as well as the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites, but I turned them over to you.
12 "I sent the Hornet ahead of you. It drove out the two Amorite kings — did your work for you. You didn't have to do a thing, not so much as raise a finger.
13 "I handed you a land for which you did not work, towns you did not build. And here you are now living in them and eating from vineyards and olive groves you did not plant.
14 "So now: Fear GOD. Worship him in total commitment
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Josh 10:3-4
3 Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem sent word to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon: 4 "Come and help me. Let's attack Gibeon; they've joined up with Joshua and the People of Israel."
Humans very often feel that more or bigger humans will win over the God who created them…
Josh 6:2-5
2 GOD spoke to Joshua, "Look sharp now. I've already given Jericho to you, along with its king and its crack troops. 3 Here's what you are to do: March around the city, all your soldiers. Circle the city once. Repeat this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry seven ram's horn trumpets in front of the Chest. On the seventh day march around the city seven times, the priests blowing away on the trumpets. 5 And then, a long blast on the ram's horn — when you hear that, all the people are to shout at the top of their lungs. The city wall will collapse at once. All the people are to enter, every man straight on in."
Josh 4:23-24
23 "Yes, GOD, your God, dried up the Jordan's waters for you until you had crossed, just as GOD, your God, did at the Red Sea, which had dried up before us until we had crossed. 24 This was so that everybody on earth would recognize how strong GOD's rescuing hand is and so that you would hold GOD in solemn reverence always."
Rahab told the men:
Josh 2:12-16
12 "Now promise me by GOD. I showed you mercy; now show my family mercy. And give me some tangible proof, a guarantee 13 of life for my father and mother, my brothers and sisters — everyone connected with my family. Save our souls from death!"
14 "Our lives for yours!" said the men. "But don't tell anyone our business. When GOD turns this land over to us, we'll do right by you in loyal mercy."
15 She lowered them down out a window with a rope because her house was on the city wall to the outside. 16 She told them, "Run for the hills so your pursuers won't find you. Hide out for three days and give your pursuers time to return. Then get on your way."
faith AND works!
Deut 30:12-14
It's not on a high mountain — you don't have to get mountaineers to climb the peak and bring it down to your level and explain it before you can live it. 13 And it's not across the ocean — you don't have to send sailors out to get it, bring it back, and then explain it before you can live it. 14 No. The word is right here and now — as near as the tongue in your mouth, as near as the heart in your chest
Deut 18:15-19
15 GOD, your God, is going to raise up a prophet for you. GOD will raise him up from among your kinsmen, a prophet like me. Listen obediently to him. 16 This is what you asked GOD, your God, for at Horeb on the day you were all gathered at the mountain and said, "We can't hear any more from GOD, our God; we can't stand seeing any more fire. We'll die!"
17 And GOD said to me, "They're right; they've spoken the truth. 18 I'll raise up for them a prophet like you from their kinsmen. I'll tell him what to say and he will pass on to them everything I command him. 19 And anyone who won't listen to my words spoken by him, I will personally hold responsible.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Monday, June 16, 2014
Num 20:17-18
17 "Will you give us permission to cut across your land? We won't trespass through your fields or orchards and we won't drink out of your wells; we'll keep to the main road, the King's Road, straying neither right nor left until we've crossed your border."
18 The king of Edom answered, "Not on your life. If you so much as set a foot on my land, I'll kill you."
This is there to teach us that most people will not go along with what we say
Num 17:8-9
8 Moses walked into the Tent of Testimony the next day and saw that Aaron's staff, the staff of the tribe of Levi, had in fact sprouted — buds, blossoms, and even ripe almonds! 9 Moses brought out all the staffs from GOD's presence and presented them to the People of Israel. They took a good look
God gave them something that they could actually see!
Num 14:20-23
20 GOD said, "I forgive them, honoring your words. 21 But as I live and as the Glory of GOD fills the whole Earth — 22 not a single person of those who saw my Glory, saw the miracle signs I did in Egypt and the wilderness, and who have tested me over and over and over again, turning a deaf ear to me — 23 not one of them will set eyes on the land I so solemnly promised to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with such repeated contempt will see it.
Will this be God’s response to you regarding Heaven?
Num 12:1-3
Miriam and Aaron talked against Moses behind his back because of his Cushite wife (he had married a Cushite woman). 2 They said, "Is it only through Moses that GOD speaks? Doesn't he also speak through us?"
GOD overheard their talk.
3 Now the man Moses was a quietly humble man, more so than anyone living on Earth
Are you like the Bible says that Moses was?
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Ex 35:30-34
Moses told the Israelites, "See, GOD has selected Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 31 He's filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability, and know-how for making all sorts of things, 32 to design and work in gold, silver, and bronze; 33 to carve stones and set them; to carve wood, working in every kind of skilled craft. 34 And he's also made him a teacher
Imagine that! God made someone a teacher!
Ex 32:19
When Moses came near to the camp and saw the calf and the people dancing, his anger flared. He threw down the tablets and smashed them to pieces at the foot of the mountain
Moses threw down the tablets which contained God’s words and when we don't read AND follow the Bible we do the same thing
Ex 32:9-10
9 GOD said to Moses, "I look at this people — oh! what a stubborn, hard-headed people! 10 Let me alone now, give my anger free reign to burst into flames and incinerate them. But I'll make a great nation out of you."
Do you want to spend eternity in Heaven? Then be like Moses otherwise...
Ex 31:1-6
GOD spoke to Moses: 2 "See what I've done; I've personally chosen Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur of the tribe of Judah. 3 I've filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him skill and know-how and expertise in every kind of craft 4 to create designs and work in gold, silver, and bronze; 5 to cut and set gemstones; to carve wood — he's an all-around craftsman.
6 "Not only that, but I've given him Oholiab, son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan, to work with him. And to all who have an aptitude for crafts I've given the skills to make all the things I've commanded you
Hmm, God vrs. Man developed text
God clearly told the Israelites:
Ex 23:20-22
I'm sending my Angel ahead of you to guard you in your travels, to lead you to the place that I've prepared. 21 Pay close attention to him. Obey him. Don't go against him. He won't put up with your rebellions because he's acting on my authority. 22 But if you obey him and do everything I tell you, I'll be an enemy to your enemies, I'll fight those who fight you
Friday, June 13, 2014
Ex 17:11-13
It turned out that whenever Moses raised his hands, Israel was winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, Amalek was winning. 12 But Moses' hands got tired. So they got a stone and set it under him. He sat on it and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on each side. So his hands remained steady until the sun went down. 13 Joshua defeated Amalek and its army in battle.
Faith AND works
Ex 16:2-8
The whole company of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron there in the wilderness. 3 The Israelites said, "Why didn't GOD let us die in comfort in Egypt where we had lamb stew and all the bread we could eat? You've brought us out into this wilderness to starve us to death, the whole company of Israel!"
4 GOD said to Moses, "I'm going to rain bread down from the skies for you. The people will go out and gather each day's ration. I'm going to test them to see if they'll live according to my Teaching or not. 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they have gathered, it will turn out to be twice as much as their daily ration."
6 Moses and Aaron told the People of Israel, "This evening you will know that it is GOD who brought you out of Egypt; 7 and in the morning you will see the Glory of GOD. Yes, he's listened to your complaints against him. You haven't been complaining against us, you know, but against GOD."
8 Moses said, "Since it will be GOD who gives you meat for your meal in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, it's GOD who will have listened to your complaints against him. Who are we in all this? You haven't been complaining to us — you've been complaining to GOD!"
ALL that is ever taught is “manna” or bread but it clearly says: meat AND bread
Faith AND works: every time anyone did anything in Egypt God required them to do something also. He certainly was very capable of making it happen on His own without any help from them but this was to show us that faith AND works are like a hand in a glove. In other words we must demonstrate what we believe
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Gen 48:17-19
17 When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim's head, he thought he had made a mistake, so he took hold of his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's, 18 saying, "That's the wrong head, Father; the other one is the firstborn; place your right hand on his head."
19 But his father wouldn't do it. He said, "I know, my son; but I know what I'm doing…
The things that God does don’t match what humans would do
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Gen 30:2-5
2 Jacob got angry with Rachel and said, "Am I God? Am I the one who refused you babies?"
3 Rachel said, "Here's my maid Bilhah. Sleep with her. Let her substitute for me so I can have a child through her and build a family." 4 So she gave him her maid Bilhah for a wife and Jacob slept with her. 5 Bilhah became pregnant and gave Jacob a son.
If God refused to give you children in the first place then why would you try again with a human?
Gen 19:15
15 At break of day, the angels pushed Lot to get going, "Hurry. Get your wife and two daughters out of here before it's too late and you're caught in the punishment of the city."
This is meant to remind us that OUR SALVATION does not rely on what anyone else chooses to do but only on what we choose to do
As Christians we are Jesus body on Earth but what does that mean? Well, Jesus came to Earth to sacrifice His Earthly body for our salvation and He got His Heavenly life back. And so as His Earthly body our role can be no different than His was. If we want to go to Heaven too then we have to sacrifice our Earthy bodies, we certainly can’t bring about salvation BUT we can continue to teach others as He did when He was here! And we have to give up ALL reference to our actual status as He did and play second fiddle as He did and as He told us in the Bible, we have to let Him lead which does make a lot of sense because we ARE His body!
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Gen 16:1-2
16:1 Sarai, Abram's wife, hadn't yet produced a child.
She had an Egyptian maid named Hagar. 2 Sarai said to Abram, "GOD has not seen fit to let me have a child. Sleep with my maid. Maybe I can get a family from her."
If God hadn’t seen fit to bless her with a child yet then why didn’t she just ask Him?
Gen 12:1-4
GOD told Abram: "Leave your country, your family, and your father's home for a land that I will show you.
2 I'll make you a great nation
and bless you.
I'll make you famous;
you'll be a blessing.
3 I'll bless those who bless you;
those who curse you I'll curse.
All the families of the Earth
will be blessed through you."
4 So Abram left just as GOD said
Abram was obedient to God are you?
Gen 6:9-22
9 This is the story of Noah: Noah was a good man, a man of integrity in his community. Noah walked with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 As far as God was concerned, the Earth had become a sewer; there was violence everywhere. 12 God took one look and saw how bad it was, everyone corrupt and corrupting — life itself corrupt to the core.
13 God said to Noah, "It's all over. It's the end of the human race. The violence is everywhere; I'm making a clean sweep.
14 "Build yourself a ship from teakwood. Make rooms in it. Coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 Make it 450 feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high. 16 Build a roof for it and put in a window eighteen inches from the top; put in a door on the side of the ship; and make three decks, lower, middle, and upper.
17 "I'm going to bring a flood on the Earth that will destroy everything alive under Heaven. Total destruction.
18 "But I'm going to establish a covenant with you: You'll board the ship, and your sons, your wife and your sons' wives will come on board with you. 19 You are also to take two of each living creature, a male and a female, on board the ship, to preserve their lives with you: 20 two of every species of bird, mammal, and reptile — two of everything so as to preserve their lives along with yours. 21 Also get all the food you'll need and store it up for you and them."
22 Noah did everything God commanded him to do
Unlike Adam and Eve! Do you want for God to spare you too? Then act like Noah!
God says to US the same thing in the Bible that He said to Noah so listen to Him and do it
Gen 6:9-22
9 This is the story of Noah: Noah was a good man, a man of integrity in his community. Noah walked with God. 10 Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 As far as God was concerned, the Earth had become a sewer; there was violence everywhere. 12 God took one look and saw how bad it was, everyone corrupt and corrupting — life itself corrupt to the core.
13 God said to Noah, "It's all over. It's the end of the human race. The violence is everywhere; I'm making a clean sweep.
14 "Build yourself a ship from teakwood. Make rooms in it. Coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 Make it 450 feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high. 16 Build a roof for it and put in a window eighteen inches from the top; put in a door on the side of the ship; and make three decks, lower, middle, and upper.
17 "I'm going to bring a flood on the Earth that will destroy everything alive under Heaven. Total destruction.
18 "But I'm going to establish a covenant with you: You'll board the ship, and your sons, your wife and your sons' wives will come on board with you. 19 You are also to take two of each living creature, a male and a female, on board the ship, to preserve their lives with you: 20 two of every species of bird, mammal, and reptile — two of everything so as to preserve their lives along with yours. 21 Also get all the food you'll need and store it up for you and them."
22 Noah did everything God commanded him to do
Unlike Adam and Eve! Do you want for God to spare you too? Then act like Noah!
Gen 3:11-23
11 GOD said, "Who told you you were naked? Did you eat from that tree I told you not to eat from?"
12 The Man said, "The Woman you gave me as a companion, she gave me fruit from the tree, and, yes, I ate it."
13 GOD said to the Woman, "What is this that you've done?"
"The serpent seduced me," she said, "and I ate."
14 GOD told the serpent:
"Because you've done this, you're cursed,cursed beyond all cattle and wild animals,Cursed to slink on your belly and eat dirt all your life. 15 I'm declaring war between you and the Woman,between your offspring and hers.He'll wound your head,you'll wound his heel."
16 He told the Woman:
"I'll multiply your pains in childbirth;you'll give birth to your babies in pain.You'll want to please your husband,but he'll lord it over you."
17 He told the Man:
"Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree That I commanded you not to eat from,'Don't eat from this tree,'The very ground is cursed because of you;getting food from the ground Will be as painful as having babies is for your wife;you'll be working in pain all your life long. 18 The ground will sprout thorns and weeds,you'll get your food the hard way, Planting and tilling and harvesting, 19 sweating in the fields from dawn to dusk,Until you return to that ground yourself, dead and buried;you started out as dirt, you'll end up dirt."
20 The Man, known as Adam, named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living.
21 GOD made leather clothing for Adam and his wife and dressed th em.
22 GOD said, "The Man has become like one of us, capable of knowin everything, ranging from good to evil. What if he now should reach out and take fruit from the Tree-of-Life and eat, and live forever? Never — this cannot happen!"
23 So GOD expelled them from the Garden of Eden
They all blamed someone else for their personal behavior but they all got expelled so if you want to spend eternity there then TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOURSELF!
Gen 3:11-13
GOD said, "Who told you you were naked? Did you eat from that tree I told you not to eat from?"
12 The Man said, "The Woman you gave me as a companion, she gave me fruit from the tree, and, yes, I ate it."
13 GOD said to the Woman, "What is this that you've done?"
"The serpent seduced me," she said, "and I ate."
Blaming someone else for something that we had control over doing!
Monday, June 9, 2014
Sunday, June 8, 2014
God said:
Rev 3:18-19
18 "Here's what I want you to do: Buy your gold from me, gold that's been through the refiner's fire. Then you'll be rich. Buy your clothes from me, clothes designed in Heaven. You've gone around half-naked long enough. And buy medicine for your eyes from me so you can see, really see.
19 "The people I love, I call to account — prod and correct and guide so that they'll live at their best. Up on your feet, then! About face! Run after God!
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Heb 11:1-31
The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see. 2 The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.
3 By faith, we see the world called into existence by God's word, what we see created by what we don't see.
4 By an act of faith, Abel brought a better sacrifice to God than Cain. It was what he believed, not what he brought, that made the difference. That's what God noticed and approved as righteous. After all these centuries, that belief continues to catch our notice.
5 By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. "They looked all over and couldn't find him because God had taken him." We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken "he pleased God." 6 It's impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.
7 By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn't see, and acted on what he was told. The result? His family was saved. His act of faith drew a sharp line between the evil of the unbelieving world and the rightness of the believing world. As a result, Noah became intimate with God.
8 By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God's call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. 9 By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise. 10 Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations — the City designed and built by God.
11 By faith, barren Sarah was able to become pregnant, old woman as she was at the time, because she believed the One who made a promise would do what he said. 12 That's how it happened that from one man's dead and shriveled loins there are now people numbering into the millions.
13 Each one of these people of faith died not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing. How did they do it? They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world. 14 People who live this way make it plain that they are looking for their true home. 15 If they were homesick for the old country, they could have gone back any time they wanted. 16 But they were after a far better country than that — heaven country. You can see why God is so proud of them, and has a City waiting for them.
17 By faith, Abraham, at the time of testing, offered Isaac back to God. Acting in faith, he was as ready to return the promised son, his only son, as he had been to receive him — 18 and this after he had already been told, "Your descendants shall come from Isaac." 19 Abraham figured that if God wanted to, he could raise the dead. In a sense, that's what happened when he received Isaac back, alive from off the altar.
20 By an act of faith, Isaac reached into the future as he blessed Jacob and Esau.
21 By an act of faith, Jacob on his deathbed blessed each of Joseph's sons in turn, blessing them with God's blessing, not his own — as he bowed worshipfully upon his staff.
22 By an act of faith, Joseph, while dying, prophesied the exodus of Israel, and made arrangements for his own burial.
23 By an act of faith, Moses' parents hid him away for three months after his birth. They saw the child's beauty, and they braved the king's decree.
24 By faith, Moses, when grown, refused the privileges of the Egyptian royal house. 25 He chose a hard life with God's people rather than an opportunistic soft life of sin with the oppressors. 26 He valued suffering in the Messiah's camp far greater than Egyptian wealth because he was looking ahead, anticipating the payoff. 27 By an act of faith, he turned his heel on Egypt, indifferent to the king's blind rage. He had his eye on the One no eye can see, and kept right on going. 28 By an act of faith, he kept the Passover Feast and sprinkled Passover blood on each house so that the destroyer of the firstborn wouldn't touch them.
29 By an act of faith, Israel walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. The Egyptians tried it and drowned.
30 By faith, the Israelites marched around the walls of Jericho for seven days, and the walls fell flat.
31 By an act of faith, Rahab, the Jericho harlot, welcomed the spies and escaped the destruction that came on those who refused to trust God.
Heb 8:8-13
God said,
Heads up! The days are coming
when I'll set up a new plan
for dealing with Israel and Judah.
9 I'll throw out the old plan
I set up with their ancestors
when I led them by the hand out of Egypt.
They didn't keep their part of the bargain,
so I looked away and let it go.
10 This new plan I'm making with Israel
isn't going to be written on paper,
isn't going to be chiseled in stone;
This time I'm writing out the plan in them,
carving it on the lining of their hearts.
I'll be their God,
they'll be my people.
11 They won't go to school to learn about me,
or buy a book called God in Five Easy Lessons.
They'll all get to know me firsthand,
the little and the big, the small and the great.
12 They'll get to know me by being kindly forgiven,
with the slate of their sins forever wiped clean.
13 By coming up with a new plan, a new covenant between God and his people, God put the old plan on the shelf. And there it stays, gathering dust
Heb 4:1-11
For as long, then, as that promise of resting in him pulls us on to God's goal for us, we need to be careful that we're not disqualified. 2 We received the same promises as those people in the wilderness, but the promises didn't do them a bit of good because they didn't receive the promises with faith. 3 If we believe, though, we'll experience that state of resting. But not if we don't have faith. Remember that God said,
Exasperated, I vowed,
"They'll never get where they're going, never be able to sit down and rest."
God made that vow, even though he'd finished his part before the foundation of the world. 4 Somewhere it's written, "God rested the seventh day, having completed his work," 5 but in this other text he says, "They'll never be able to sit down and rest." 6 So this promise has not yet been fulfilled. Those earlier ones never did get to the place of rest because they were disobedient. 7 God keeps renewing the promise and setting the date as today, just as he did in David's psalm, centuries later than the original invitation:
Today, please listen, don't turn a deaf ear . . .
8 And so this is still a live promise. It wasn't canceled at the time of Joshua; otherwise, God wouldn't keep renewing the appointment for "today." 9 The promise of "arrival" and "rest" is still there for God's people. 10 God himself is at rest. And at the end of the journey we'll surely rest with God. 11 So let's keep at it and eventually arrive at the place of rest, not drop out through some sort of disobedience
Heb 3:16-19
who were the people who turned a deaf ear? Weren't they the very ones Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And who was God provoked with for forty years? Wasn't it those who turned a deaf ear and ended up corpses in the wilderness? 18 And when he swore that they'd never get where they were going, wasn't he talking to the ones who turned a deaf ear? 19 They never got there because they never listened, never believed
Heb 1:1-3
1:1 Going through a long line of prophets, God has been addressing our ancestors in different ways for centuries. 2 Recently he spoke to us directly through his Son. By his Son, God created the world in the beginning, and it will all belong to the Son at the end. 3 This Son perfectly mirrors God, and is stamped with God's nature. He holds everything together by what he says — powerful words!
After he finished the sacrifice for sins, the Son took his honored place high in the heavens right alongside God
2 Tim 3:15-17
There's nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another — showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. 17 Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us
Friday, June 6, 2014
2 Tim 2:20-21
20 In a well-furnished kitchen there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters, but waste cans and compost buckets — some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage. 21 Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing
1 Tim 2:5-7
there's one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us — Jesus, 6 who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. Eventually the news is going to get out. 7 This and this only has been my appointed work: getting this news to those who have never heard of God, and explaining how it works by simple faith and plain truth
simple faith and plain truth
2 Thess 1:5-9
5 All this trouble is a clear sign that God has decided to make you fit for the kingdom. You're suffering now, 6 but justice is on the way. When the Master Jesus appears out of heaven in a blaze of fire with his strong angels, he'll even up the score by settling accounts with those who gave you such a bad time. 7 His coming will be the break we've been waiting for. 8 Those who refuse to know God and refuse to obey the Message will pay for what they've done. 9 Eternal exile from the presence of the Master and his splendid power is their sentence
trouble is a clear sign that God has decided to make you fit for the kingdom
Spending eternity in Heaven which is God’s kingdom where He is master IS A GIFT from God to us after we have died which is making something out of nothing (which He did for Jesus and we are His body), so to get there then God has to become our master during our lives on Earth (which is also something that Jesus did)
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Col 3:12-17
chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. 13 Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. 14 And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.
15 Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. 16 Let the Word of Christ have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! 17 Let every detail in your lives — words, actions, whatever — be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.
Col 3:3-4
3 Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life — even though invisible to spectators — is with Christ in God. He is your life. 4 When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you'll show up, too — the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ
Phil 4:11-13
I don't have a sense of needing anything personally. I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. 12 I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. 13 Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am
Phil 2:3-8
3 Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. 4 Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
5 Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. 6 He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. 7 Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! 8 Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death — and the worst kind of death at that: a crucifixion.
YOU ARE HIS BODY!
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