Isaiah 55
Invitation to the LORD’s Salvation
1 “Is anyone thirsty?
Come and drink—
even if you have no money!
Come, take your choice of wine or milk—
it’s all free!
2 Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength?
Why pay for food that does you no good?
Listen to me, and you will eat what is good.
You will enjoy the finest food.
3 “Come to me with your ears wide open.
Listen, and you will find life.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you.
I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.
4 See how I used him to display my power among the peoples.
I made him a leader among the nations.
5 You also will command nations you do not know,
and peoples unknown to you will come running to obey,
because I, the LORD your God,
the Holy One of Israel, have made you glorious.”
6 Seek the LORD while you can find him.
Call on him now while he is near.
7 Let the wicked change their ways
and banish the very thought of doing wrong.
Let them turn to the LORD that he may have mercy on them.
Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.
8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
10 “The rain and snow come down from the heavens
and stay on the ground to water the earth.
They cause the grain to grow,
producing seed for the farmer
and bread for the hungry.
11 It is the same with my word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
12 You will live in joy and peace.
The mountains and hills will burst into song,
and the trees of the field will clap their hands!
13 Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow.
Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up.
These events will bring great honor to the LORD’s name;
they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.”
Drink what?
Wine to intoxicate me, and make me different for a time? Drink wine to help bring ease of pain, temporarily, or to help altar my thoughts for a time?
Drink milk to satisfy my tummy and dull my hunger pains for a time and to fill me up till I’m empty again, with the substance of an infant child?
It is our choice.
The real choices lye within the temporal verses the eternal. In the physical/natural compared to the spiritual.
There is natural wine and natural milk that does altar thinking and ease pain for a time, and milk does fill the belly until one is hungry again. It nourishes young ones who are empty.
Then there is the spiritual wine that will change your life forever and altar you everyday. Come and drink of that wine. Willingly choose its intoxication. It is not mere “spirits”, but is The Spirit of eternal life, available to those who still live, while they live on earth.
There is spiritual milk that satisfies the longing soul with substance like no other. It is the word of God in simplistic form that any willing soul can swallow. It is what those who hunger and thirst begin on that they may grow and become spiritual meat eaters, doing the will of their Father as strong Sons.
What is money spent? It is symbolic of a life given often, daily. One has to work daily to gain life, to eat and to drink. Food and drink must be bought with the life spent. What are we working for and spending our lives on? Mere natural food? Wow.
That needs to change. The real change is in a matter of perspective, for one can do the will of their Father all the while as they work for natural food. Work for natural food and eat and drink of the wine and milk of eternal life, so that when you encounter people everyday that you have been given the opportunity to be an example to, you’ll be able to show them, in living color, The Way, The Truth, the Life, and what it is they are also alive and working, and spending their lives for.
How much of that same life is spent becoming strong in spirit? How much of that life is dedicated for the establishment and work of His Kingdom on earth? How much thought is put into being changed into another person to become more than a witness, but a living, sacrificial, example?
When we go home from our “jobs” or whatever we do in what we live for, and make money for, how do we spend that money? Do we entertain ourselves? Do we recreate? Do we rest?
Do we spend any on studies of the Kingdom of God so we’ll have something to know to change into and apply to the next day’s work?
We are alive to please Him, we are procreators of His image and glory and our true rest is found inside of doing His will.
The world has told us otherwise, led us to believe it is all about us. The Almighty dollar is for us, to work hard is to be justified in spending it as we wish and deem. The world has lied and told us that our time is our own to spend however we deem. It says that we deserve to be entertained. That we can be a consumer and devour whatever we want for our hard earned bucks, all the while our lives are fading away as smoke, being spend on nothing but self. That’s a Pity.
There are serious consequences to being one’s own lord and master. The worms come in and devour all we’ve worked our lives for, we get to see it be taken away, the moths eat holes into the pockets of those who never see their eternal kingdom destiny and wilingly engage in the army of God. They end up wasting all of their time, money and lives, sacrificing it to the god of mammon.
If we sit as kings in our own houses being entertained day in and day out, the enemy has had his way in stealing us away, for we are what we “eat” or “take in”.
Come to Me, says the LORD and Master of ALL, Listen to Me, there is no life anywhere else to be found except in Me. Yes, it may at first, feel like a boring simple thought to you, but remember the life here is just a test to see if each of us really wants to live the true life there. We cannot be truly satisfied outside of living life for Him now and later on. We were created eternal beings unto God.
The Lord of Heaven’s armies is waiting for a people who will eat and drink of life now and see their purpose now and engage in what it is He has them here on earth for now! He wants a faithful and a faith filled people, who will command ”nations” by taking their spiritual places above principalities and powers, might’s and dominions and stand up against hordes of demonic messengers who were given places by ignorant rebellious men before them. Taking back what those that willingly gave them license to run havoc through the earth gave them ignorantly (as Adam did). God is looking for a people to take that havoc spiritually and turn their world disorder upside down!
The call is to WAKE UP, Get in ORDER, beginning with self first, then families, then churches, neighborhoods, communities, cities, counties, states, countries and the world. We are in and not of this world. We have a world assignment from our King! The only way to be a part of it is to listen and obey!
He’s been waiting a long time.
A very long time.
Whether we ever decide to participate or not, His will, will ultimately be accomplished, even if He has to set it so in the very end with a second’s notice. At that time, each one who said they loved Him and were serving Him, will truly see how much they loved self more and the purposed plan they spent notta penny or moment of time on. Regret will be a very mild descriptive word.
There’s grace upon those who will make changes now. There’s much grace available to those who have a heart for change. Grace does run out for those who refuse change. Grace is available in abundance for world changers who start w/ “me”.
Gen 6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
The shortening of even the timeframe that man is alive in order to spend that life on God’s will, has been shortened. For those who obey there is long life, in order to have more time, not to live more for self, but in order to do more of His will. There’s no time like the present time, to engage in His will.
Psalm 91: 14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. 15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. 16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.
Let them turn to the LORD that he may have mercy on them.
Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.
Repentance goes a very long way with God!
Lately our pastor has explained it this way, whenever you see what you’ve done incorrectly and you could easily have regrets, and feel it is impossible for you to have any hope for change or when a feeling of defeat tries to come your way, remember God Most High our awesome redeemer. There is NOTHING too difficult for Him, not one thing. Cry out to the Lord of Hosts, cry out and tell Him how you were mistaken and spent your life incorrectly. Ask or grace to help you change now, and redeem what all you lost in the time of wrong living. Believe Him to help brig all that was lost, back in Jesus name. He is faithful to the obedient ones, faithful is He.
The very reason He showed us the incorrect course was to correct it. He showed us His ways so we could, in grace, change ours. He didn’t send a messenger to expose us or reveal us to fault, shame, or embarrass us and show all of hell how unworthy or horrible we are! He came to help set our course differently, to save us and to help release captivity, meaning save all that would otherwise have been lost!
A correctable people are oh so wise. The wise son wants to be corrected everyday, for correction and obedient change lead to a life of no regrets.
“Search me oh God, know my heart, try me, I willingly open up to You scrutiny now, for if I am judged by anyone here, even wrongly by others now or if I am scrutinized and picked through, even with a fine toothed comb now, I may be saved later on when I stand before You who are the Lord and Righteous Judge of All.”
Thank God for exposure! Thank God for Light! Thank God for Truth! Thank God for grace, to change!
Amen!
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Isaiah 55 Today's Daily Bread Reading
Isaiah 55
Invitation to the Lord’s Salvation
1 “Is anyone thirsty?
Come and drink—
even if you have no money!
Come, take your choice of wine or milk—
it’s all free!
2 Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength?
Why pay for food that does you no good?
Listen to me, and you will eat what is good.
You will enjoy the finest food.
3 “Come to me with your ears wide open.
Listen, and you will find life.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you.
I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.
4 See how I used him to display my power among the peoples.
I made him a leader among the nations.
5 You also will command nations you do not know,
and peoples unknown to you will come running to obey,
because I, the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, have made you glorious.”
6 Seek the Lord while you can find him.
Call on him now while he is near.
7 Let the wicked change their ways
and banish the very thought of doing wrong.
Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them.
Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.
8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
10 “The rain and snow come down from the heavens
and stay on the ground to water the earth.
They cause the grain to grow,
producing seed for the farmer
and bread for the hungry.
11 It is the same with my word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
12 You will live in joy and peace.
The mountains and hills will burst into song,
and the trees of the field will clap their hands!
13 Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow.
Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up.
These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name;
they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.”
Invitation to the Lord’s Salvation
1 “Is anyone thirsty?
Come and drink—
even if you have no money!
Come, take your choice of wine or milk—
it’s all free!
2 Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength?
Why pay for food that does you no good?
Listen to me, and you will eat what is good.
You will enjoy the finest food.
3 “Come to me with your ears wide open.
Listen, and you will find life.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you.
I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David.
4 See how I used him to display my power among the peoples.
I made him a leader among the nations.
5 You also will command nations you do not know,
and peoples unknown to you will come running to obey,
because I, the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, have made you glorious.”
6 Seek the Lord while you can find him.
Call on him now while he is near.
7 Let the wicked change their ways
and banish the very thought of doing wrong.
Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them.
Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.
8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
10 “The rain and snow come down from the heavens
and stay on the ground to water the earth.
They cause the grain to grow,
producing seed for the farmer
and bread for the hungry.
11 It is the same with my word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
12 You will live in joy and peace.
The mountains and hills will burst into song,
and the trees of the field will clap their hands!
13 Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow.
Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up.
These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name;
they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.”
Friday, March 02, 2007
Lena's Journalin' to Jeremiah 29 _ IN or OF the World Where We Live TODAY
Dear, Dear Ones of Faith in The Lordship of Christ personally,
You who live in the world, but are citizens of another kingdom while still on earth. Those who are ambassadors of His Kingdom come and will be done. Those who live as if they are under the rules of another, an out of this world, King. Those who give their life’s efforts to see to another’s destiny and plan.
Those who have been born in the earth for a time and are living right in the center of the terrible effects of the willing unleashing of sin in the earth, yet have come up above its power by deciding a new for your future generations by choosing differently, all the while staying in the same place and physical locations.
To those who seem to be world citizens, but live out the culture of heaven while on earth. Those who choose to do what God says, as He says it, with no justifiable excuses to opt out of His commands.
Bless You! Blessings to You. May His strength, ability, power and mighty be yours both now and forever, Amen.
You love what he says is right and you hate what he says is wrong (evil). You do not choose to live by morals the world has written as acceptable. You have voided out the lies that come against His decrees on purpose, you will not allow your mind to believe in any words but those that match up with His Words, and you know His words well enough to know that.
You are blessed because you believe enough to live this way, no matter what your culture, time, or race tells you. You are in covenant with God Most High Creator of Heaven and Earth. Inside of your covenantal behavior and actions of faith you are blessed. What are 70 years, while we bring His covenant into the here and now?
Blessed are you Oh woman of God (church of Jesus Christ) who says, “Be it unto me in accordance with Your plans and will!” Who will say that and live that now, no matter what captivity you are in. You refuse to bow! You refuse to disobey Him. Love leads you to help bring the blessing of God on others with you now and after you later for you perpertaute the blessings of God all around you by your no compromise obedient living.
What The Lord says is true and right for you personally, for you are passionately in love with truth. You bought it by giving your life, for you see how valuable His was given to you and so you give yourse freely and willingly. You’ll nere sell that cheaply for any lies or liars.
You know THE TRUTH (as a person) and it has made you free even in physical captivity (when things around aren’t seeming to be just so or how you’d like them to be). You love Truth. You discern the precious (what is eternally worth living for) from the vile (that which would distract you into living and spending your life on other menial things). You live for the day of freedom while still a captive, being full of faith, not only for the day of freedom, but for the pleasure of the King! For faith, in even what one does not yet see (and may even die before they physically see it) pleases Him.
You don’t have to save yourself by being right all the time and insisting on your own way, for you’re like a dead person, yet you are alive and living as a visible picture of Christ in the earth. You gave up your right to always need to be right and buried that idea with Him through a symbolism of being baptized in water. It was a memorial day in your Christian walk. Now the life that you now live and offer to God daily is all for Him. It is lived to see to His rights in your own personal life as King of kings and Lord of lords! His rights to have His kingdom come to your earth, is far more important to you than winning arguments are. You want Him to have His way in a very personal way, through you.
Amen!
Be blessed in everyway you obey Him today. Put enemies of disobedience to God under your feet. He has given us the supernatural power to do so, to obey Him with a whole heart. The beginning is in the willingness to do the will of another, to be told what to do by another can either be a wall or a foundation, it depends on how it sits, erect or prostrate. It’s up to you. TODAY.
Captivity or freedom – TODAY.
Choose freedom with your freewill, the blessing will be uncorked.
You who live in the world, but are citizens of another kingdom while still on earth. Those who are ambassadors of His Kingdom come and will be done. Those who live as if they are under the rules of another, an out of this world, King. Those who give their life’s efforts to see to another’s destiny and plan.
Those who have been born in the earth for a time and are living right in the center of the terrible effects of the willing unleashing of sin in the earth, yet have come up above its power by deciding a new for your future generations by choosing differently, all the while staying in the same place and physical locations.
To those who seem to be world citizens, but live out the culture of heaven while on earth. Those who choose to do what God says, as He says it, with no justifiable excuses to opt out of His commands.
Bless You! Blessings to You. May His strength, ability, power and mighty be yours both now and forever, Amen.
You love what he says is right and you hate what he says is wrong (evil). You do not choose to live by morals the world has written as acceptable. You have voided out the lies that come against His decrees on purpose, you will not allow your mind to believe in any words but those that match up with His Words, and you know His words well enough to know that.
You are blessed because you believe enough to live this way, no matter what your culture, time, or race tells you. You are in covenant with God Most High Creator of Heaven and Earth. Inside of your covenantal behavior and actions of faith you are blessed. What are 70 years, while we bring His covenant into the here and now?
Blessed are you Oh woman of God (church of Jesus Christ) who says, “Be it unto me in accordance with Your plans and will!” Who will say that and live that now, no matter what captivity you are in. You refuse to bow! You refuse to disobey Him. Love leads you to help bring the blessing of God on others with you now and after you later for you perpertaute the blessings of God all around you by your no compromise obedient living.
What The Lord says is true and right for you personally, for you are passionately in love with truth. You bought it by giving your life, for you see how valuable His was given to you and so you give yourse freely and willingly. You’ll nere sell that cheaply for any lies or liars.
You know THE TRUTH (as a person) and it has made you free even in physical captivity (when things around aren’t seeming to be just so or how you’d like them to be). You love Truth. You discern the precious (what is eternally worth living for) from the vile (that which would distract you into living and spending your life on other menial things). You live for the day of freedom while still a captive, being full of faith, not only for the day of freedom, but for the pleasure of the King! For faith, in even what one does not yet see (and may even die before they physically see it) pleases Him.
You don’t have to save yourself by being right all the time and insisting on your own way, for you’re like a dead person, yet you are alive and living as a visible picture of Christ in the earth. You gave up your right to always need to be right and buried that idea with Him through a symbolism of being baptized in water. It was a memorial day in your Christian walk. Now the life that you now live and offer to God daily is all for Him. It is lived to see to His rights in your own personal life as King of kings and Lord of lords! His rights to have His kingdom come to your earth, is far more important to you than winning arguments are. You want Him to have His way in a very personal way, through you.
Amen!
Be blessed in everyway you obey Him today. Put enemies of disobedience to God under your feet. He has given us the supernatural power to do so, to obey Him with a whole heart. The beginning is in the willingness to do the will of another, to be told what to do by another can either be a wall or a foundation, it depends on how it sits, erect or prostrate. It’s up to you. TODAY.
Captivity or freedom – TODAY.
Choose freedom with your freewill, the blessing will be uncorked.
Today's Daily Bread Post Jeremiah 29
Jeremiah 29
A Letter to the Exiles
Jeremiah wrote a letter from Jerusalem to the elders, priests, prophets, and all the people who had been exiled to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. 2 This was after King Jehoiachin,[a] the queen mother, the court officials, the other officials of Judah, and all the craftsmen and artisans had been deported from Jerusalem. 3 He sent the letter with Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah when they went to Babylon as King Zedekiah’s ambassadors to Nebuchadnezzar. This is what Jeremiah’s letter said:
4 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: 5 “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. 6 Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! 7 And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.”
8 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let your prophets and fortune-tellers who are with you in the land of Babylon trick you. Do not listen to their dreams, 9 because they are telling you lies in my name. I have not sent them,” says the Lord.
10 This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. 14 I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”
15 You claim that the Lord has raised up prophets for you in Babylon. 16 But this is what the Lord says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all those still living here in Jerusalem—your relatives who were not exiled to Babylon. 17 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: “I will send war, famine, and disease upon them and make them like bad figs, too rotten to eat. 18 Yes, I will pursue them with war, famine, and disease, and I will scatter them around the world. In every nation where I send them, I will make them an object of damnation, horror, contempt, and mockery. 19 For they refuse to listen to me, though I have spoken to them repeatedly through the prophets I sent. And you who are in exile have not listened either,” says the Lord.
20 Therefore, listen to this message from the Lord, all you captives there in Babylon. 21 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says about your prophets—Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah—who are telling you lies in my name: “I will turn them over to Nebuchadnezzar[b] for execution before your eyes. 22 Their terrible fate will become proverbial, so that the Judean exiles will curse someone by saying, ‘May the Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned alive!’ 23 For these men have done terrible things among my people. They have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have lied in my name, saying things I did not command. I am a witness to this. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
A Message for Shemaiah
24 The Lord sent this message to Shemaiah the Nehelamite in Babylon: 25 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: You wrote a letter on your own authority to Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, the priest, and you sent copies to the other priests and people in Jerusalem. You wrote to Zephaniah,
26 “The Lord has appointed you to replace Jehoiada as the priest in charge of the house of the Lord. You are responsible to put into stocks and neck irons any crazy man who claims to be a prophet. 27 So why have you done nothing to stop Jeremiah from Anathoth, who pretends to be a prophet among you? 28 Jeremiah sent a letter here to Babylon, predicting that our captivity will be a long one. He said, ‘Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce.’”
29 But when Zephaniah the priest received Shemaiah’s letter, he took it to Jeremiah and read it to him. 30 Then the Lord gave this message to Jeremiah: 31 “Send an open letter to all the exiles in Babylon. Tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Since he has prophesied to you when I did not send him and has tricked you into believing his lies, 32 I will punish him and his family. None of his descendants will see the good things I will do for my people, for he has incited you to rebel against me. I, the Lord, have spoken!’”
Footnotes:
Jeremiah 29:2 Hebrew Jeconiah, a variant spelling of Jehoiachin.
Jeremiah 29:21 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar.
A Letter to the Exiles
Jeremiah wrote a letter from Jerusalem to the elders, priests, prophets, and all the people who had been exiled to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. 2 This was after King Jehoiachin,[a] the queen mother, the court officials, the other officials of Judah, and all the craftsmen and artisans had been deported from Jerusalem. 3 He sent the letter with Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah when they went to Babylon as King Zedekiah’s ambassadors to Nebuchadnezzar. This is what Jeremiah’s letter said:
4 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: 5 “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. 6 Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! 7 And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.”
8 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let your prophets and fortune-tellers who are with you in the land of Babylon trick you. Do not listen to their dreams, 9 because they are telling you lies in my name. I have not sent them,” says the Lord.
10 This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. 14 I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”
15 You claim that the Lord has raised up prophets for you in Babylon. 16 But this is what the Lord says about the king who sits on David’s throne and all those still living here in Jerusalem—your relatives who were not exiled to Babylon. 17 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: “I will send war, famine, and disease upon them and make them like bad figs, too rotten to eat. 18 Yes, I will pursue them with war, famine, and disease, and I will scatter them around the world. In every nation where I send them, I will make them an object of damnation, horror, contempt, and mockery. 19 For they refuse to listen to me, though I have spoken to them repeatedly through the prophets I sent. And you who are in exile have not listened either,” says the Lord.
20 Therefore, listen to this message from the Lord, all you captives there in Babylon. 21 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says about your prophets—Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah—who are telling you lies in my name: “I will turn them over to Nebuchadnezzar[b] for execution before your eyes. 22 Their terrible fate will become proverbial, so that the Judean exiles will curse someone by saying, ‘May the Lord make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon burned alive!’ 23 For these men have done terrible things among my people. They have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives and have lied in my name, saying things I did not command. I am a witness to this. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
A Message for Shemaiah
24 The Lord sent this message to Shemaiah the Nehelamite in Babylon: 25 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: You wrote a letter on your own authority to Zephaniah son of Maaseiah, the priest, and you sent copies to the other priests and people in Jerusalem. You wrote to Zephaniah,
26 “The Lord has appointed you to replace Jehoiada as the priest in charge of the house of the Lord. You are responsible to put into stocks and neck irons any crazy man who claims to be a prophet. 27 So why have you done nothing to stop Jeremiah from Anathoth, who pretends to be a prophet among you? 28 Jeremiah sent a letter here to Babylon, predicting that our captivity will be a long one. He said, ‘Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce.’”
29 But when Zephaniah the priest received Shemaiah’s letter, he took it to Jeremiah and read it to him. 30 Then the Lord gave this message to Jeremiah: 31 “Send an open letter to all the exiles in Babylon. Tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Since he has prophesied to you when I did not send him and has tricked you into believing his lies, 32 I will punish him and his family. None of his descendants will see the good things I will do for my people, for he has incited you to rebel against me. I, the Lord, have spoken!’”
Footnotes:
Jeremiah 29:2 Hebrew Jeconiah, a variant spelling of Jehoiachin.
Jeremiah 29:21 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Lena Journals to Deut 11 Make a Covenant Exchange? Really? Are you Sure?
Who are we who must obey all Our Lord has decreed? Are we citizens of the earth and its world systems, or are we kingdom of God on earth, beings? Are we spiritually alive eternal spirit beings, living in human bodies, for a time? Have we been called out of the destiny of eternal darkness, translated into an eternal venture to walk in the light? Have we been saved out of the clutches of eternal destiny and doom? Who are we who must love God? Do we have to? I mean is someone making us love and obey God Most High?
We ARE those who have been rescued, reconciled, and saved from eternal separation from our Lover Creator Father. We have come out of the bondages and the slavery of a self serving life! We’ve been brought out of “Egypt” by the supernatural intervention of the Mighty hand of God’s work! We needed a Savior, and He so graciously sent One to release us from “Pharaoh’s” grip on our eternal destiny.
After we realized we needed to be saved, and received the Savior, our enemies hated that we were no longer their servants/slaves. They could not do their work unto themselves, building their own kingdoms without us, for it takes unity to build kingdoms! Our slavery was unified with their efforts, we served their efforts. They cannot stand when their efforts are no longer being served. It makes them furious. They send hordes to go after our souls and snatch us back to serve them, whatever it takes.
BUT God, rescued us. He released us, miraculously. He saved us out of the power of the hands of those who enslave. We were free to leave their world order, if we wanted to, no one would make us, right? We were leaving because we wanted to, right? Or did we just want relief from the pain?
Our children are watching our every step and want to know why we live and walk and head in this direction. Is it something we are trying, or are we becoming citizens of heaven, bringing His Kingdom on earth? If we’re gonna go back, they’d rather we just do that now, rather than take them on a long confusing journey. Wishy-washiness does not fly well with kids, they want security, they want us to be right! They want us to know the Way. They want God to be Lord of us first, so we can prove Him faithful to them as examples. Guinea pigs of the faith? Ok. Is it worth sacrificing one’s life for? The children behind us want to know, by living proof, they have to see through us.
They won’t know Him as we knew Him, unless we show Him to them everyday in how we live. Are we in this world? Are we of it? Who are we? Can they see it? Or do we look like “Egyptian Citizens” with kingdom of God clothes on?
This is serious stuff! This IS why our kids could care less about Christianity and would rather go search for something else when they come “of age”. They’ve been confused by the parents.
Parents, it is time to repent! Get rid of Hypocrisy in yourself first, before you accuse others of it. Do not ever say to a child, “Don’t do what I do honey, just do what I say”! You are a living hypocrite, if you are living that way.
For those who went ahead and came all the way out of Egypt, also ridding their thoughts of Egyptian thinking, made a kingdom change, these had their enemies drowned by God’s awesome power.
There is a power among men that prevents God’s work. It is the power of the will. The will of man, either allows God, or refuses Him. When Jesus came down to earth becoming a human, this was the biggest wrestling He ever had to defeat, the power of the human will to obey or disobey God’s will.
That is an enemy each of us has to defeat. In surrender, it is drowned by obedience to God.
If you obey, you’ll get what you came into the kingdom for. If you obey, you will live long, enjoying the fruit of the earth the Lord will give to you and your family. You’ll have all you need to eat…
Eating and drinking are essentials to life, right? Now that we are Born Again Spiritually alive beings, we must eat and drink to feed our spiritual life. If we do not, we are not, obedient. We may be starving God’s child in us.
Do you read God’s word daily? Study His word daily? Obey His word daily? One cannot really obey without first reading and studying the word. In human nature we at times want to skip over “a” and “b” and go right to “c” and we struggle and wonder why. Go back to “a” then “b”, and then get to “c”. God lays things out that way. Precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little there a little more, one step at a time. A,B,C,D….
If the Bible is saying be careful to do something, that means it would be very easy to care less about doing it. Don’t allow your heart to be deceived…that means stand guard, for what He’s just told you will be an opportunity for you to refuse in a little bit. Be on watch, stand guard, stay aware.
Worship other Gods? Huh, us? Christians, no way! Does God know what He’s talking about or what? Don’t be asleep, “other gods” means others you could spend your life, your attention, and you time on. It’s that easy. How much do you sit and watch TV and can’t seem to find time to talk to God, read His word or worship Him? i.e. = other god.
You may have come out of “Egypt”, but you’ll die and will not have lived for what He’s called you out for.
Flourishing does not just happen by the wave of God’s “magic” hand. He is NOT a magician, He is God, and He is to be obeyed. Obedience’s are always blessed, always.
He says commit wholeheartedly, that means there will be an opportunity to watch out for. The opportunity will be to commit to other things, to make it a second priority, to quit, or take the things of the kingdom and count them as work that is too hard to do and de-prioritize it, losing faith and becoming half-hearted.
Show love to Him BY walking in His ways, counting them of higher importance than that of your own ways and opinions. Be willing to change, daily. Be flexible to whatever He wants to do or have done through you. Be looking for ways to lay down your own desires and to give yours into a unified effort to bring the ways of His kingdom on earth. (See why there is so much that comes against people assembling with a local church body of believers? If we are dis-unified we are powerless against a very fortified unified enemy!)
Hold tightly to Him, means you could probably more easily let go than hold on. God is warning us, has been since the beginning. A wise son heeds the warnings of a father. “Adam, Eve, don’t eat of THAT tree!” Come on, human nature, arise and awaken to the ways of the Lord. Purpose to obey Him, whatever it takes. Learn from Adam & Eve’s mistakes!
We have a freewill choice, blessing or curse. Obedience or disobedience brings one or the other. It is not does God really love me enough to bless me. It is do I love Him enough to obey Him? Don’t blame God for any misfortunes. It is very clear here, in obedience you are blessed, in disobedience, cursed.
This leads us into responsible living. We are responsible to be blessed or cursed. It is time to repent, if you did not know or realize this, your lineage is at stake, both spiritually and naturally speaking. Take back your inheritances in the Lord!
Why did they always have to cross over the Jordan River every time they were gonna go on to the next place God wanted them to live in? Jordan means “humble yourself”! Humble yourself under the Mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time. How is it known by God and our seed that He is God to me? I humble my self-life and put it in subjection to His will, willingly.
The only part of our salvation walk that is free, is that with the power of our wills. We are free to choose. We have a freewill choice. The rest will cost us everything.
Every name named in the Bible, has very significant meaning to the journey being taken. The journey from Egypt to the Promised land was a journey signifying our coming out of the world we lived in and for, and it speaks of heading away from sin, walking out our salvation through obedient actions. When we decide to live obediently we bring the kingdom of God to earth.
Gerizim – cutting off/destroying, Ebal – bare (fruitless) stone (rock/foundation), Jordan – brought low/brought down/humbled, Caanan- place of trade/humbled, Arabah – desert/wilderness/engage/mortgage/darkness/exchange - as in covenant, Gilgal – wheel/turning/rolling away/cut off- as in covenant (same NT word as Golgotha- place of the skull- change of heads, who’s in charge, who’s my protector?).
To sum that up, God has made covenant with man. He sacrificed His only beloved Son so man could be saved, if he really wants to. So man can come out of darkness, if he wants to, can live in the blessings of obedience, if he wants to. The question is, does man really want what God wants, because it is gonna cost that man (who says he does) everything. He’ll have to validate his part of the offered covenant with God. That means that man (or woman) will have to daily lay down their own life. No they won’t have to cut their skin, or die physically, they’ll just have to surrender their wills (the most powerful weapon of warfare they have) to God. If He is (your) God then serve Him, if He is not (your God) then serve others, or yourself. It will be shown what you’ve decided today by whatever it is you choose with your freewill to do, for you can do whatever you really want and you will.
God is asking people to make an exchange with Him, a life for a life. He gave His, will we give ours too? Reciprocal “sacrifice” is the only way to validate our covenant with God! It’s the sacrifice of an obedient heart and will.
We ARE those who have been rescued, reconciled, and saved from eternal separation from our Lover Creator Father. We have come out of the bondages and the slavery of a self serving life! We’ve been brought out of “Egypt” by the supernatural intervention of the Mighty hand of God’s work! We needed a Savior, and He so graciously sent One to release us from “Pharaoh’s” grip on our eternal destiny.
After we realized we needed to be saved, and received the Savior, our enemies hated that we were no longer their servants/slaves. They could not do their work unto themselves, building their own kingdoms without us, for it takes unity to build kingdoms! Our slavery was unified with their efforts, we served their efforts. They cannot stand when their efforts are no longer being served. It makes them furious. They send hordes to go after our souls and snatch us back to serve them, whatever it takes.
BUT God, rescued us. He released us, miraculously. He saved us out of the power of the hands of those who enslave. We were free to leave their world order, if we wanted to, no one would make us, right? We were leaving because we wanted to, right? Or did we just want relief from the pain?
Our children are watching our every step and want to know why we live and walk and head in this direction. Is it something we are trying, or are we becoming citizens of heaven, bringing His Kingdom on earth? If we’re gonna go back, they’d rather we just do that now, rather than take them on a long confusing journey. Wishy-washiness does not fly well with kids, they want security, they want us to be right! They want us to know the Way. They want God to be Lord of us first, so we can prove Him faithful to them as examples. Guinea pigs of the faith? Ok. Is it worth sacrificing one’s life for? The children behind us want to know, by living proof, they have to see through us.
They won’t know Him as we knew Him, unless we show Him to them everyday in how we live. Are we in this world? Are we of it? Who are we? Can they see it? Or do we look like “Egyptian Citizens” with kingdom of God clothes on?
This is serious stuff! This IS why our kids could care less about Christianity and would rather go search for something else when they come “of age”. They’ve been confused by the parents.
Parents, it is time to repent! Get rid of Hypocrisy in yourself first, before you accuse others of it. Do not ever say to a child, “Don’t do what I do honey, just do what I say”! You are a living hypocrite, if you are living that way.
For those who went ahead and came all the way out of Egypt, also ridding their thoughts of Egyptian thinking, made a kingdom change, these had their enemies drowned by God’s awesome power.
There is a power among men that prevents God’s work. It is the power of the will. The will of man, either allows God, or refuses Him. When Jesus came down to earth becoming a human, this was the biggest wrestling He ever had to defeat, the power of the human will to obey or disobey God’s will.
That is an enemy each of us has to defeat. In surrender, it is drowned by obedience to God.
If you obey, you’ll get what you came into the kingdom for. If you obey, you will live long, enjoying the fruit of the earth the Lord will give to you and your family. You’ll have all you need to eat…
Eating and drinking are essentials to life, right? Now that we are Born Again Spiritually alive beings, we must eat and drink to feed our spiritual life. If we do not, we are not, obedient. We may be starving God’s child in us.
Do you read God’s word daily? Study His word daily? Obey His word daily? One cannot really obey without first reading and studying the word. In human nature we at times want to skip over “a” and “b” and go right to “c” and we struggle and wonder why. Go back to “a” then “b”, and then get to “c”. God lays things out that way. Precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little there a little more, one step at a time. A,B,C,D….
If the Bible is saying be careful to do something, that means it would be very easy to care less about doing it. Don’t allow your heart to be deceived…that means stand guard, for what He’s just told you will be an opportunity for you to refuse in a little bit. Be on watch, stand guard, stay aware.
Worship other Gods? Huh, us? Christians, no way! Does God know what He’s talking about or what? Don’t be asleep, “other gods” means others you could spend your life, your attention, and you time on. It’s that easy. How much do you sit and watch TV and can’t seem to find time to talk to God, read His word or worship Him? i.e. = other god.
You may have come out of “Egypt”, but you’ll die and will not have lived for what He’s called you out for.
Flourishing does not just happen by the wave of God’s “magic” hand. He is NOT a magician, He is God, and He is to be obeyed. Obedience’s are always blessed, always.
He says commit wholeheartedly, that means there will be an opportunity to watch out for. The opportunity will be to commit to other things, to make it a second priority, to quit, or take the things of the kingdom and count them as work that is too hard to do and de-prioritize it, losing faith and becoming half-hearted.
Show love to Him BY walking in His ways, counting them of higher importance than that of your own ways and opinions. Be willing to change, daily. Be flexible to whatever He wants to do or have done through you. Be looking for ways to lay down your own desires and to give yours into a unified effort to bring the ways of His kingdom on earth. (See why there is so much that comes against people assembling with a local church body of believers? If we are dis-unified we are powerless against a very fortified unified enemy!)
Hold tightly to Him, means you could probably more easily let go than hold on. God is warning us, has been since the beginning. A wise son heeds the warnings of a father. “Adam, Eve, don’t eat of THAT tree!” Come on, human nature, arise and awaken to the ways of the Lord. Purpose to obey Him, whatever it takes. Learn from Adam & Eve’s mistakes!
We have a freewill choice, blessing or curse. Obedience or disobedience brings one or the other. It is not does God really love me enough to bless me. It is do I love Him enough to obey Him? Don’t blame God for any misfortunes. It is very clear here, in obedience you are blessed, in disobedience, cursed.
This leads us into responsible living. We are responsible to be blessed or cursed. It is time to repent, if you did not know or realize this, your lineage is at stake, both spiritually and naturally speaking. Take back your inheritances in the Lord!
Why did they always have to cross over the Jordan River every time they were gonna go on to the next place God wanted them to live in? Jordan means “humble yourself”! Humble yourself under the Mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time. How is it known by God and our seed that He is God to me? I humble my self-life and put it in subjection to His will, willingly.
The only part of our salvation walk that is free, is that with the power of our wills. We are free to choose. We have a freewill choice. The rest will cost us everything.
Every name named in the Bible, has very significant meaning to the journey being taken. The journey from Egypt to the Promised land was a journey signifying our coming out of the world we lived in and for, and it speaks of heading away from sin, walking out our salvation through obedient actions. When we decide to live obediently we bring the kingdom of God to earth.
Gerizim – cutting off/destroying, Ebal – bare (fruitless) stone (rock/foundation), Jordan – brought low/brought down/humbled, Caanan- place of trade/humbled, Arabah – desert/wilderness/engage/mortgage/darkness/exchange - as in covenant, Gilgal – wheel/turning/rolling away/cut off- as in covenant (same NT word as Golgotha- place of the skull- change of heads, who’s in charge, who’s my protector?).
To sum that up, God has made covenant with man. He sacrificed His only beloved Son so man could be saved, if he really wants to. So man can come out of darkness, if he wants to, can live in the blessings of obedience, if he wants to. The question is, does man really want what God wants, because it is gonna cost that man (who says he does) everything. He’ll have to validate his part of the offered covenant with God. That means that man (or woman) will have to daily lay down their own life. No they won’t have to cut their skin, or die physically, they’ll just have to surrender their wills (the most powerful weapon of warfare they have) to God. If He is (your) God then serve Him, if He is not (your God) then serve others, or yourself. It will be shown what you’ve decided today by whatever it is you choose with your freewill to do, for you can do whatever you really want and you will.
God is asking people to make an exchange with Him, a life for a life. He gave His, will we give ours too? Reciprocal “sacrifice” is the only way to validate our covenant with God! It’s the sacrifice of an obedient heart and will.
Today's Daily Bread Deuteronmy 11
Deuteronomy 11
“You must love the Lord your God and obey all his requirements, decrees, regulations, and commands. 2 Keep in mind that I am not talking now to your children, who have never experienced the discipline of the Lord your God or seen his greatness and his strong hand and powerful arm. 3 They didn’t see the miraculous signs and wonders he performed in Egypt against Pharaoh and all his land. 4 They didn’t see what the Lord did to the armies of Egypt and to their horses and chariots—how he drowned them in the Red Sea[a] as they were chasing you. He destroyed them, and they have not recovered to this very day!
5 “Your children didn’t see how the Lord cared for you in the wilderness until you arrived here. 6 They didn’t see what he did to Dathan and Abiram (the sons of Eliab, a descendant of Reuben) when the earth opened its mouth in the Israelite camp and swallowed them, along with their households and tents and every living thing that belonged to them. 7 But you have seen the Lord perform all these mighty deeds with your own eyes!
The Blessings of Obedience
8 “Therefore, be careful to obey every command I am giving you today, so you may have strength to go in and take over the land you are about to enter. 9 If you obey, you will enjoy a long life in the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors and to you, their descendants—a land flowing with milk and honey! 10 For the land you are about to enter and take over is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you planted your seed and made irrigation ditches with your foot as in a vegetable garden. 11 Rather, the land you will soon take over is a land of hills and valleys with plenty of rain—12 a land that the Lord your God cares for. He watches over it through each season of the year!
13 “If you carefully obey all the commands I am giving you today, and if you love the Lord your God and serve him with all your heart and soul, 14 then he will send the rains in their proper seasons—the early and late rains—so you can bring in your harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil. 15 He will give you lush pastureland for your livestock, and you yourselves will have all you want to eat.
16 “But be careful. Don’t let your heart be deceived so that you turn away from the Lord and serve and worship other gods. 17 If you do, the Lord’s anger will burn against you. He will shut up the sky and hold back the rain, and the ground will fail to produce its harvests. Then you will quickly die in that good land the Lord is giving you.
18 “So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 19 Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 20 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 so that as long as the sky remains above the earth, you and your children may flourish in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors.
22 “Be careful to obey all these commands I am giving you. Show love to the Lord your God by walking in his ways and holding tightly to him. 23 Then the Lord will drive out all the nations ahead of you, though they are much greater and stronger than you, and you will take over their land. 24 Wherever you set foot, that land will be yours. Your frontiers will stretch from the wilderness in the south to Lebanon in the north, and from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.[b] 25 No one will be able to stand against you, for the Lord your God will cause the people to fear and dread you, as he promised, wherever you go in the whole land.
26 “Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse! 27 You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. 28 But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the Lord your God and turn away from him and worship gods you have not known before.
29 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land and helps you take possession of it, you must pronounce the blessing at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal. 30 (These two mountains are west of the Jordan River in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Jordan Valley,[c] near the town of Gilgal, not far from the oaks of Moreh.) 31 For you are about to cross the Jordan River to take over the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you take that land and are living in it, 32 you must be careful to obey all the decrees and regulations I am giving you today.
Footnotes:
Deuteronomy 11:4 Hebrew sea of reeds.
Deuteronomy 11:24 Hebrew to the western sea.
Deuteronomy 11:30 Hebrew the Arabah.
“You must love the Lord your God and obey all his requirements, decrees, regulations, and commands. 2 Keep in mind that I am not talking now to your children, who have never experienced the discipline of the Lord your God or seen his greatness and his strong hand and powerful arm. 3 They didn’t see the miraculous signs and wonders he performed in Egypt against Pharaoh and all his land. 4 They didn’t see what the Lord did to the armies of Egypt and to their horses and chariots—how he drowned them in the Red Sea[a] as they were chasing you. He destroyed them, and they have not recovered to this very day!
5 “Your children didn’t see how the Lord cared for you in the wilderness until you arrived here. 6 They didn’t see what he did to Dathan and Abiram (the sons of Eliab, a descendant of Reuben) when the earth opened its mouth in the Israelite camp and swallowed them, along with their households and tents and every living thing that belonged to them. 7 But you have seen the Lord perform all these mighty deeds with your own eyes!
The Blessings of Obedience
8 “Therefore, be careful to obey every command I am giving you today, so you may have strength to go in and take over the land you are about to enter. 9 If you obey, you will enjoy a long life in the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors and to you, their descendants—a land flowing with milk and honey! 10 For the land you are about to enter and take over is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, where you planted your seed and made irrigation ditches with your foot as in a vegetable garden. 11 Rather, the land you will soon take over is a land of hills and valleys with plenty of rain—12 a land that the Lord your God cares for. He watches over it through each season of the year!
13 “If you carefully obey all the commands I am giving you today, and if you love the Lord your God and serve him with all your heart and soul, 14 then he will send the rains in their proper seasons—the early and late rains—so you can bring in your harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil. 15 He will give you lush pastureland for your livestock, and you yourselves will have all you want to eat.
16 “But be careful. Don’t let your heart be deceived so that you turn away from the Lord and serve and worship other gods. 17 If you do, the Lord’s anger will burn against you. He will shut up the sky and hold back the rain, and the ground will fail to produce its harvests. Then you will quickly die in that good land the Lord is giving you.
18 “So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 19 Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 20 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 so that as long as the sky remains above the earth, you and your children may flourish in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors.
22 “Be careful to obey all these commands I am giving you. Show love to the Lord your God by walking in his ways and holding tightly to him. 23 Then the Lord will drive out all the nations ahead of you, though they are much greater and stronger than you, and you will take over their land. 24 Wherever you set foot, that land will be yours. Your frontiers will stretch from the wilderness in the south to Lebanon in the north, and from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.[b] 25 No one will be able to stand against you, for the Lord your God will cause the people to fear and dread you, as he promised, wherever you go in the whole land.
26 “Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse! 27 You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. 28 But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the Lord your God and turn away from him and worship gods you have not known before.
29 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land and helps you take possession of it, you must pronounce the blessing at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal. 30 (These two mountains are west of the Jordan River in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Jordan Valley,[c] near the town of Gilgal, not far from the oaks of Moreh.) 31 For you are about to cross the Jordan River to take over the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you take that land and are living in it, 32 you must be careful to obey all the decrees and regulations I am giving you today.
Footnotes:
Deuteronomy 11:4 Hebrew sea of reeds.
Deuteronomy 11:24 Hebrew to the western sea.
Deuteronomy 11:30 Hebrew the Arabah.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Lena's Journalin' to 1 Corinthians 11 Be Judged now - willingly, lest ye stand before The Judge of All later on, lacking!
This passage of scripture is mind boggling to a naturally minded man who does not have an understanding of A Covenant God and the Hebrew culture. But we can get understanding, if we are wiling to.
This passage is all about spiritual protection and protocol. This passage is all about authority with God and the God servant angels and the devil and the evil demonic angels.
It is all about how humans stand in the ranks as spirit beings ruling on the earth.
God ordained marriage as a model of His Diving Hierarchy and order. God, is a God of order, and all works well inside of set up order. Outside of the order of God is chaos. Period. There are no excuses to not be in order and there are no excuses to the chaos. Chaos always comes outside of order, always.
We are all ultimately accountable to God. Those who understand the Hierarchy will go ahead and begin to account to God now. Those who give account now will begin to see the blessings of His order unfold for them as a red carpet.
Paul says, “watch me, live in a God ordered rank, following Christ as a human man, then follow my example”…then he begins to write about this. They seem unrelated to the human mind, but they are the same.
God holds men accountable to protect their families. They stand before God now and later on, to do that spiritually and naturally speaking. If they understand that and stand openly and unashamed in the fear of God, they will be men of authority, rank, and power over kingdoms of darkness. The position they have under Christ is one of trust and reliance. They must stand in faith to be able to stay in that place, in close proximity to many spiritual forces of darkness. Their stance there shows they trust God in faith and believe in the power of order and the seriousness of accountability now and later on. God protects them, because they trust and rely on Him, rather than relying on their own abilities to overcome.
Listen intently here, for we are NOT speaking about physical hair. We are speaking about protective covering from an unseen warfare of the world we live in.
It would be sad for a woman to be exposed to enemy powers and cut off from the protection available to her as she stands behind a man, who was set up by God to stand between her and her enemies! To come out from that place and try to defend herself will show humiliation, for GOD did not set it up for a woman to cover herself spiritually. (Think - in warfare how a buddy in a battalion, says, “cover me” while I go attack!) God set it up that the man would “cover” the woman as Christ “covers” the man.
The man is authorized to stand under Christ’s commands and the woman is authorized to stand under the commands of the man given him by Christ. If anyone is out of place those will give an account to God for being out of place. If any are lost, or unprotected they stand before God for being out of place. In all positions we stand covered by God, protected by God and the angels. All of the angels have and know ranks of authority. The angles know who is in rank and who is rebellious desiring to protect themselves by their own strength and will power. All of the angels know who is a prime and uncovered target. When the haughty, “I’ll do it by myself”, person moves out of rank, they stand under their own authority and have no spiritual power at all, they are subject to fiery darts penetrating their beings and possible death.
There is no reason at all to butt heads, and every reason in the spiritual and natural world to stand in our God ordained positions!
We’re NOT speaking of preference. God does not prefer one sex above the other. He has set an order of authorization and empowerment. Once we get this we will assemble ourselves willingly in ranks and become that great army of God! The point is we’re Not alone, neither were we created to be independent of God or of one another!
When a woman prays, she should desire to give an account to God by way of checking in with men (plural, spiritual overseers), being accountable. If we are willing to check in for things now, we’ll not have as much to clear up with God later on.
So we, say we are gonna go and commune with the body of Christ, but our interest is in self and getting ahead, and being first. Wow!
Communion is all about unity, oneness, wholeness, and intimacy, giving a willing account to God now of our positions of submission in trust and reliance on Him. Are we intimate with an enemy, that we’d actually give him any place in the midst of the potential assembling of the armies of the Most High God? What we allow or disallow by way of being in or out of rank or position is allowed or disallowed in the spirit realm. Chaos or wholeness and peace?
How can one criticize those who they are serving in this army with, those who will fight with and for their very lives? It would behoove us to change our minds and actions and begin to love with a great amount of forgiveness, esteeming one another worthy of honor in Him. The honor is unto Him. It is NOT based on a deserving people. He gave His life for those of us who did not deserve it at all. We reciprocate by giving our lives to those who do not deserve His or our love. That is Holy communion. A life for a Life, on purpose; reciprocation of the awesome love of God Himself. It is our time to in demonstration remember that. If we truly remember Him, we’ll not grovel with one another. The memory is the end of all groveling.
This is a serious time to check in, get right with God through forgiveness of others, examine in a way that scrutinizes every part of your own being, not allowing anything that’d hold you back form His love to be hidden from your and His sight. Let these be exposed as darkness, have a great light shine upon them, become uprooted and cleared out!
People are always concerned that someone might be judging us.
Dear Lord, go ahead and let people judge you now, seriously, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, or you’ll be terrifiably humiliated later on. Better wrongly judged now, than righteously judged later on.
This is VERY serious, do you partake of it lightly or seriously? I’ve heard many say, “Well I now see I am unworthy and so I won’t partake if it is that serious”. Man, this is your opportunity to check in with God now! Get things right, make attitude adjustments, forgive and eat-drink LIFE. The Life comes with the changes you’ll make as you honestly check in now with God and with His body of living believers on earth
This passage is all about spiritual protection and protocol. This passage is all about authority with God and the God servant angels and the devil and the evil demonic angels.
It is all about how humans stand in the ranks as spirit beings ruling on the earth.
God ordained marriage as a model of His Diving Hierarchy and order. God, is a God of order, and all works well inside of set up order. Outside of the order of God is chaos. Period. There are no excuses to not be in order and there are no excuses to the chaos. Chaos always comes outside of order, always.
We are all ultimately accountable to God. Those who understand the Hierarchy will go ahead and begin to account to God now. Those who give account now will begin to see the blessings of His order unfold for them as a red carpet.
Paul says, “watch me, live in a God ordered rank, following Christ as a human man, then follow my example”…then he begins to write about this. They seem unrelated to the human mind, but they are the same.
God holds men accountable to protect their families. They stand before God now and later on, to do that spiritually and naturally speaking. If they understand that and stand openly and unashamed in the fear of God, they will be men of authority, rank, and power over kingdoms of darkness. The position they have under Christ is one of trust and reliance. They must stand in faith to be able to stay in that place, in close proximity to many spiritual forces of darkness. Their stance there shows they trust God in faith and believe in the power of order and the seriousness of accountability now and later on. God protects them, because they trust and rely on Him, rather than relying on their own abilities to overcome.
Listen intently here, for we are NOT speaking about physical hair. We are speaking about protective covering from an unseen warfare of the world we live in.
It would be sad for a woman to be exposed to enemy powers and cut off from the protection available to her as she stands behind a man, who was set up by God to stand between her and her enemies! To come out from that place and try to defend herself will show humiliation, for GOD did not set it up for a woman to cover herself spiritually. (Think - in warfare how a buddy in a battalion, says, “cover me” while I go attack!) God set it up that the man would “cover” the woman as Christ “covers” the man.
The man is authorized to stand under Christ’s commands and the woman is authorized to stand under the commands of the man given him by Christ. If anyone is out of place those will give an account to God for being out of place. If any are lost, or unprotected they stand before God for being out of place. In all positions we stand covered by God, protected by God and the angels. All of the angels have and know ranks of authority. The angles know who is in rank and who is rebellious desiring to protect themselves by their own strength and will power. All of the angels know who is a prime and uncovered target. When the haughty, “I’ll do it by myself”, person moves out of rank, they stand under their own authority and have no spiritual power at all, they are subject to fiery darts penetrating their beings and possible death.
There is no reason at all to butt heads, and every reason in the spiritual and natural world to stand in our God ordained positions!
We’re NOT speaking of preference. God does not prefer one sex above the other. He has set an order of authorization and empowerment. Once we get this we will assemble ourselves willingly in ranks and become that great army of God! The point is we’re Not alone, neither were we created to be independent of God or of one another!
When a woman prays, she should desire to give an account to God by way of checking in with men (plural, spiritual overseers), being accountable. If we are willing to check in for things now, we’ll not have as much to clear up with God later on.
So we, say we are gonna go and commune with the body of Christ, but our interest is in self and getting ahead, and being first. Wow!
Communion is all about unity, oneness, wholeness, and intimacy, giving a willing account to God now of our positions of submission in trust and reliance on Him. Are we intimate with an enemy, that we’d actually give him any place in the midst of the potential assembling of the armies of the Most High God? What we allow or disallow by way of being in or out of rank or position is allowed or disallowed in the spirit realm. Chaos or wholeness and peace?
How can one criticize those who they are serving in this army with, those who will fight with and for their very lives? It would behoove us to change our minds and actions and begin to love with a great amount of forgiveness, esteeming one another worthy of honor in Him. The honor is unto Him. It is NOT based on a deserving people. He gave His life for those of us who did not deserve it at all. We reciprocate by giving our lives to those who do not deserve His or our love. That is Holy communion. A life for a Life, on purpose; reciprocation of the awesome love of God Himself. It is our time to in demonstration remember that. If we truly remember Him, we’ll not grovel with one another. The memory is the end of all groveling.
This is a serious time to check in, get right with God through forgiveness of others, examine in a way that scrutinizes every part of your own being, not allowing anything that’d hold you back form His love to be hidden from your and His sight. Let these be exposed as darkness, have a great light shine upon them, become uprooted and cleared out!
People are always concerned that someone might be judging us.
Dear Lord, go ahead and let people judge you now, seriously, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, or you’ll be terrifiably humiliated later on. Better wrongly judged now, than righteously judged later on.
This is VERY serious, do you partake of it lightly or seriously? I’ve heard many say, “Well I now see I am unworthy and so I won’t partake if it is that serious”. Man, this is your opportunity to check in with God now! Get things right, make attitude adjustments, forgive and eat-drink LIFE. The Life comes with the changes you’ll make as you honestly check in now with God and with His body of living believers on earth
1 Corinthians 11 Today's Daily Bread Reading
Message Version
To Honor God
1-2It pleases me that you continue to remember and honor me by keeping up the traditions of the faith I taught you. All actual authority stems from Christ. 3-9In a marriage relationship, there is authority from Christ to husband, and from husband to wife. The authority of Christ is the authority of God. Any man who speaks with God or about God in a way that shows a lack of respect for the authority of Christ, dishonors Christ. In the same way, a wife who speaks with God in a way that shows a lack of respect for the authority of her husband, dishonors her husband. Worse, she dishonors herself—an ugly sight, like a woman with her head shaved. This is basically the origin of these customs we have of women wearing head coverings in worship, while men take their hats off. By these symbolic acts, men and women, who far too often butt heads with each other, submit their "heads" to the Head: God.
10-12Don't, by the way, read too much into the differences here between men and women. Neither man nor woman can go it alone or claim priority. Man was created first, as a beautiful shining reflection of God—that is true. But the head on a woman's body clearly outshines in beauty the head of her "head," her husband. The first woman came from man, true—but ever since then, every man comes from a woman! And since virtually everything comes from God anyway, let's quit going through these "who's first" routines.
13-16Don't you agree there is something naturally powerful in the symbolism—a woman, her beautiful hair reminiscent of angels, praying in adoration; a man, his head bared in reverence, praying in submission? I hope you're not going to be argumentative about this. All God's churches see it this way; I don't want you standing out as an exception.
17-19Regarding this next item, I'm not at all pleased. I am getting the picture that when you meet together it brings out your worst side instead of your best! First, I get this report on your divisiveness, competing with and criticizing each other. I'm reluctant to believe it, but there it is. The best that can be said for it is that the testing process will bring truth into the open and confirm it.
20-22And then I find that you bring your divisions to worship—you come together, and instead of eating the Lord's Supper, you bring in a lot of food from the outside and make pigs of yourselves. Some are left out, and go home hungry. Others have to be carried out, too drunk to walk. I can't believe it! Don't you have your own homes to eat and drink in? Why would you stoop to desecrating God's church? Why would you actually shame God's poor? I never would have believed you would stoop to this. And I'm not going to stand by and say nothing.
23-26Let me go over with you again exactly what goes on in the Lord's Supper and why it is so centrally important. I received my instructions from the Master himself and passed them on to you. The Master, Jesus, on the night of his betrayal, took bread. Having given thanks, he broke it and said,
This is my body, broken for you.
Do this to remember me.
After supper, he did the same thing with the cup:
This cup is my blood, my new covenant with you.
Each time you drink this cup, remember me.
What you must solemnly realize is that every time you eat this bread and every time you drink this cup, you reenact in your words and actions the death of the Master. You will be drawn back to this meal again and again until the Master returns. You must never let familiarity breed contempt.
27-28Anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Master irreverently is like part of the crowd that jeered and spit on him at his death. Is that the kind of "remembrance" you want to be part of? Examine your motives, test your heart, come to this meal in holy awe.
29-32If you give no thought (or worse, don't care) about the broken body of the Master when you eat and drink, you're running the risk of serious consequences. That's why so many of you even now are listless and sick, and others have gone to an early grave. If we get this straight now, we won't have to be straightened out later on. Better to be confronted by the Master now than to face a fiery confrontation later.
33-34So, my friends, when you come together to the Lord's Table, be reverent and courteous with one another. If you're so hungry that you can't wait to be served, go home and get a sandwich. But by no means risk turning this Meal into an eating and drinking binge or a family squabble. It is a spiritual meal—a love feast.
The other things you asked about, I'll respond to in person when I make my next visit.
To Honor God
1-2It pleases me that you continue to remember and honor me by keeping up the traditions of the faith I taught you. All actual authority stems from Christ. 3-9In a marriage relationship, there is authority from Christ to husband, and from husband to wife. The authority of Christ is the authority of God. Any man who speaks with God or about God in a way that shows a lack of respect for the authority of Christ, dishonors Christ. In the same way, a wife who speaks with God in a way that shows a lack of respect for the authority of her husband, dishonors her husband. Worse, she dishonors herself—an ugly sight, like a woman with her head shaved. This is basically the origin of these customs we have of women wearing head coverings in worship, while men take their hats off. By these symbolic acts, men and women, who far too often butt heads with each other, submit their "heads" to the Head: God.
10-12Don't, by the way, read too much into the differences here between men and women. Neither man nor woman can go it alone or claim priority. Man was created first, as a beautiful shining reflection of God—that is true. But the head on a woman's body clearly outshines in beauty the head of her "head," her husband. The first woman came from man, true—but ever since then, every man comes from a woman! And since virtually everything comes from God anyway, let's quit going through these "who's first" routines.
13-16Don't you agree there is something naturally powerful in the symbolism—a woman, her beautiful hair reminiscent of angels, praying in adoration; a man, his head bared in reverence, praying in submission? I hope you're not going to be argumentative about this. All God's churches see it this way; I don't want you standing out as an exception.
17-19Regarding this next item, I'm not at all pleased. I am getting the picture that when you meet together it brings out your worst side instead of your best! First, I get this report on your divisiveness, competing with and criticizing each other. I'm reluctant to believe it, but there it is. The best that can be said for it is that the testing process will bring truth into the open and confirm it.
20-22And then I find that you bring your divisions to worship—you come together, and instead of eating the Lord's Supper, you bring in a lot of food from the outside and make pigs of yourselves. Some are left out, and go home hungry. Others have to be carried out, too drunk to walk. I can't believe it! Don't you have your own homes to eat and drink in? Why would you stoop to desecrating God's church? Why would you actually shame God's poor? I never would have believed you would stoop to this. And I'm not going to stand by and say nothing.
23-26Let me go over with you again exactly what goes on in the Lord's Supper and why it is so centrally important. I received my instructions from the Master himself and passed them on to you. The Master, Jesus, on the night of his betrayal, took bread. Having given thanks, he broke it and said,
This is my body, broken for you.
Do this to remember me.
After supper, he did the same thing with the cup:
This cup is my blood, my new covenant with you.
Each time you drink this cup, remember me.
What you must solemnly realize is that every time you eat this bread and every time you drink this cup, you reenact in your words and actions the death of the Master. You will be drawn back to this meal again and again until the Master returns. You must never let familiarity breed contempt.
27-28Anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Master irreverently is like part of the crowd that jeered and spit on him at his death. Is that the kind of "remembrance" you want to be part of? Examine your motives, test your heart, come to this meal in holy awe.
29-32If you give no thought (or worse, don't care) about the broken body of the Master when you eat and drink, you're running the risk of serious consequences. That's why so many of you even now are listless and sick, and others have gone to an early grave. If we get this straight now, we won't have to be straightened out later on. Better to be confronted by the Master now than to face a fiery confrontation later.
33-34So, my friends, when you come together to the Lord's Table, be reverent and courteous with one another. If you're so hungry that you can't wait to be served, go home and get a sandwich. But by no means risk turning this Meal into an eating and drinking binge or a family squabble. It is a spiritual meal—a love feast.
The other things you asked about, I'll respond to in person when I make my next visit.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Lena's Journalin' Today to 1 Corinthians 10 Who are We Offering Worship to?
Why would the pleasure of the Lord matter so much?
Well, He is God and we are not. He is King of His kingdom. He is all powerful and we are His creation and subjects of His kingdom to do His will and work, if we so choose to participate in it.
To not participate, means to be separated out. To be separated out means death and cursing. No one likes that. It would behoove each of us to choose to be kingdom citizens and follow after His ways, and walk in His truths, doing His good pleasure.
So, if we were created to worship Him His way, according to His good pleasure, and we are here to please Him, how does one do that? He is God and we are mere humans, yes objects of His love, but mere in size and in comparison to Him. How does a human who is weak and frail, please a Master such as God Almighty Most High, Creator of Heaven and earth?
Faith
Yep, that’s what pleases God, faith. Faith in Him, in His words, in His love and in His Grace. Faith in His Son, Jesus who came to earth to set things right. Faith enough to continue to loose bands of undue burdens and set captives free, that they may also set other’s free. Faith to participate in the assignment given Jesus by God His Father as though it is our very own assignment from our very own Father God, for we are One with Him.
What keeps a person walking in holiness? Faith and Hope and Love.
What causes a person to want to obey God as #1? Faith Hope & Love.
A belief in One who is Love. That belief moves us towards actions of faith. It’s not because I have to. It’s because I want to! Love draws me to a response of a life of love and holiness! Holiness closes in the gap of fellowship between me and God. I get closer to Him and am able to see Him clearer. I want that, I need that, I live for that.
Pride is what keeps me from engaging in holiness and purity. I am deceived when I think I am ok to stay as I am, I must be changed into His image, so the whole earth will begin to be filled with His glory. Not my glory, for I have some, but His glory. The response and reciprocation of who He is, alive in humans like me.
When tempted to live for your own desires, look for the way out. Seek God’s direction, showing Him how much you want to follow Him, showing Him your desire is truly seeking to match His. Lose your desire for other things, put your body and soul on a fast of other things.
What is an idol? A statue? Nope! The way God sees it is an object of worship, other than Him. That means anything and everything that takes up your time and you give your attention to more than you spend time or money or attend to Him! Flee from idol worship!
How can we just arrive at a church service go in and partake of the most intimate communion on earth. Communion with God Himself, as a religious act with no relationship involved? If we spend our life on other things and God is really at the mid to bottom on our lists of priorities, how does that make Him feel? That is lie, mockery. God is not interested in our played out, scorekeeping, religious acts!
He is a relational God and is seeking relationship with human beings. He wants to be # 1, not by default (because He is and, in the end He will be), but because someone like me choose to make Him that way, in My own life! He is looking for me to move other things less important, out of my way to make room for who is really important to me, and He is hoping I’ll choose Him to be in that place!
He’d rather I eat and drink with Him everyday, than to go to church just to eat and drink as a religious act. Don’t get me wrong here, he wants us to go to church, more than that, He wants to move in with me and live in my House everday! When I go to church I am a part of the whole making the body complete as I assemble together as one with others in Him.
Sharing in the blood? THIS is SO huge, so key…What does this mean?
This is the part of our salvation that has to do with ever being a part of anything God has provided for us. Christ died for all mankind, yet not all mankind accepts Him. But He did die for all, whether they accept Him or not. Those who do accept Him change, for they are changed by submission to His Spirit. They believe in what He did and who He is. Their belief in Him changes who they are. They respond in faith to Him. The response is a reciprocation of who He is and what He did! He laid down His will and His self life! If we are partakers of His “blood”, we in response give our lives back to His work, His desire, his plan for the earth. That is Holy communion. Not the drinking of wine or juice in a cup, but the laying down of self life, willingly. That is what the symbolism of drinking “blood” is. His life enters in and becomes my life, because I will for it to. I make a covenant exchange with God. He gave His life up for me, now I respond and I give up whatever I thought I was alive for here, for what He has planned. I find out how I can make His dreams come true and I live for those things!
“Is it not the body also, we partake of?” What does that mean? It means I join my life willingly with others who, like me, are aiming to find out how to make God our Father’s dream become a reality in our present world. I am not alone and I refuse to isolate my life and live it for me. I live it for others in demonstration of Him. I submit to imperfect people, who will help lead me into further truth and guide and direct me into more holiness, love and righteousness. I unite with others, even if I don’t feel like it. Without my life involved actively in the body I know there is a missing part. I’m convicted by the Lord to commit my life wherever I live, this way.
When we give our lives over to other things and the service of other temporary things, we are serving God’s enemy. I do not want God’s enemy served!
So I must willingly disassociate the things of my life that serve others other than God. THEN I will truly be in holy communion with the LORD and His body. Then I erase the mockery of religion, that says I can stay as I am and still have communion with God. Not so!
“Don’t be so concerned about yourself, be concerned for the good of others!” Sure you could do whatever you want to do, but using your liberty to liberate yourself, is sin; because you are not looking out to be a good godly example to someone else. In everything we do, and everywhere we go, what we watch and listen to, are all examples for or against Him.
I don’t live for me. I live for Him, and I demonstrate it is real by living for others.
Well, He is God and we are not. He is King of His kingdom. He is all powerful and we are His creation and subjects of His kingdom to do His will and work, if we so choose to participate in it.
To not participate, means to be separated out. To be separated out means death and cursing. No one likes that. It would behoove each of us to choose to be kingdom citizens and follow after His ways, and walk in His truths, doing His good pleasure.
So, if we were created to worship Him His way, according to His good pleasure, and we are here to please Him, how does one do that? He is God and we are mere humans, yes objects of His love, but mere in size and in comparison to Him. How does a human who is weak and frail, please a Master such as God Almighty Most High, Creator of Heaven and earth?
Faith
Yep, that’s what pleases God, faith. Faith in Him, in His words, in His love and in His Grace. Faith in His Son, Jesus who came to earth to set things right. Faith enough to continue to loose bands of undue burdens and set captives free, that they may also set other’s free. Faith to participate in the assignment given Jesus by God His Father as though it is our very own assignment from our very own Father God, for we are One with Him.
What keeps a person walking in holiness? Faith and Hope and Love.
What causes a person to want to obey God as #1? Faith Hope & Love.
A belief in One who is Love. That belief moves us towards actions of faith. It’s not because I have to. It’s because I want to! Love draws me to a response of a life of love and holiness! Holiness closes in the gap of fellowship between me and God. I get closer to Him and am able to see Him clearer. I want that, I need that, I live for that.
Pride is what keeps me from engaging in holiness and purity. I am deceived when I think I am ok to stay as I am, I must be changed into His image, so the whole earth will begin to be filled with His glory. Not my glory, for I have some, but His glory. The response and reciprocation of who He is, alive in humans like me.
When tempted to live for your own desires, look for the way out. Seek God’s direction, showing Him how much you want to follow Him, showing Him your desire is truly seeking to match His. Lose your desire for other things, put your body and soul on a fast of other things.
What is an idol? A statue? Nope! The way God sees it is an object of worship, other than Him. That means anything and everything that takes up your time and you give your attention to more than you spend time or money or attend to Him! Flee from idol worship!
How can we just arrive at a church service go in and partake of the most intimate communion on earth. Communion with God Himself, as a religious act with no relationship involved? If we spend our life on other things and God is really at the mid to bottom on our lists of priorities, how does that make Him feel? That is lie, mockery. God is not interested in our played out, scorekeeping, religious acts!
He is a relational God and is seeking relationship with human beings. He wants to be # 1, not by default (because He is and, in the end He will be), but because someone like me choose to make Him that way, in My own life! He is looking for me to move other things less important, out of my way to make room for who is really important to me, and He is hoping I’ll choose Him to be in that place!
He’d rather I eat and drink with Him everyday, than to go to church just to eat and drink as a religious act. Don’t get me wrong here, he wants us to go to church, more than that, He wants to move in with me and live in my House everday! When I go to church I am a part of the whole making the body complete as I assemble together as one with others in Him.
Sharing in the blood? THIS is SO huge, so key…What does this mean?
This is the part of our salvation that has to do with ever being a part of anything God has provided for us. Christ died for all mankind, yet not all mankind accepts Him. But He did die for all, whether they accept Him or not. Those who do accept Him change, for they are changed by submission to His Spirit. They believe in what He did and who He is. Their belief in Him changes who they are. They respond in faith to Him. The response is a reciprocation of who He is and what He did! He laid down His will and His self life! If we are partakers of His “blood”, we in response give our lives back to His work, His desire, his plan for the earth. That is Holy communion. Not the drinking of wine or juice in a cup, but the laying down of self life, willingly. That is what the symbolism of drinking “blood” is. His life enters in and becomes my life, because I will for it to. I make a covenant exchange with God. He gave His life up for me, now I respond and I give up whatever I thought I was alive for here, for what He has planned. I find out how I can make His dreams come true and I live for those things!
“Is it not the body also, we partake of?” What does that mean? It means I join my life willingly with others who, like me, are aiming to find out how to make God our Father’s dream become a reality in our present world. I am not alone and I refuse to isolate my life and live it for me. I live it for others in demonstration of Him. I submit to imperfect people, who will help lead me into further truth and guide and direct me into more holiness, love and righteousness. I unite with others, even if I don’t feel like it. Without my life involved actively in the body I know there is a missing part. I’m convicted by the Lord to commit my life wherever I live, this way.
When we give our lives over to other things and the service of other temporary things, we are serving God’s enemy. I do not want God’s enemy served!
So I must willingly disassociate the things of my life that serve others other than God. THEN I will truly be in holy communion with the LORD and His body. Then I erase the mockery of religion, that says I can stay as I am and still have communion with God. Not so!
“Don’t be so concerned about yourself, be concerned for the good of others!” Sure you could do whatever you want to do, but using your liberty to liberate yourself, is sin; because you are not looking out to be a good godly example to someone else. In everything we do, and everywhere we go, what we watch and listen to, are all examples for or against Him.
I don’t live for me. I live for Him, and I demonstrate it is real by living for others.
Today's Daily Bread 1 Corinthians 10
1 Corinthians 10
Lessons from Israel’s Idolatry
1 I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters,[a] about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. 2 In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. 3 All of them ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
6 These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, 7 or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.”[b] 8 And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day.
9 Nor should we put Christ[c] to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites. 10 And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. 11 These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.
12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. 13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
14 So, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols. 15 You are reasonable people. Decide for yourselves if what I am saying is true. 16 When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ? 17 And though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body. 18 Think about the people of Israel. Weren’t they united by eating the sacrifices at the altar?
19 What am I trying to say? Am I saying that food offered to idols has some significance, or that idols are real gods? 20 No, not at all. I am saying that these sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God. And I don’t want you to participate with demons. 21 You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons, too. 22 What? Do we dare to rouse the Lord’s jealousy? Do you think we are stronger than he is?
23 You say, “I am allowed to do anything”[d]—but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial. 24 Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others.
25 So you may eat any meat that is sold in the marketplace without raising questions of conscience. 26 For “the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”[e]
27 If someone who isn’t a believer asks you home for dinner, accept the invitation if you want to. Eat whatever is offered to you without raising questions of conscience. 28 (But suppose someone tells you, “This meat was offered to an idol.” Don’t eat it, out of consideration for the conscience of the one who told you. 29 It might not be a matter of conscience for you, but it is for the other person.) For why should my freedom be limited by what someone else thinks? 30 If I can thank God for the food and enjoy it, why should I be condemned for eating it?
31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32 Don’t give offense to Jews or Gentiles[f] or the church of God. 33 I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do. I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved.
Footnotes:
1 Corinthians 10:1 Greek brothers.
1 Corinthians 10:7 Exod 32:6.
1 Corinthians 10:9 Some manuscripts read the Lord.
1 Corinthians 10:23 Greek All things are lawful; also in 10:23b.
1 Corinthians 10:26 Ps 24:1.
1 Corinthians 10:32 Greek or Greeks.
Lessons from Israel’s Idolatry
1 I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters,[a] about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. 2 In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. 3 All of them ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
6 These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, 7 or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.”[b] 8 And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day.
9 Nor should we put Christ[c] to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites. 10 And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. 11 These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.
12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. 13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
14 So, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols. 15 You are reasonable people. Decide for yourselves if what I am saying is true. 16 When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ? 17 And though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body. 18 Think about the people of Israel. Weren’t they united by eating the sacrifices at the altar?
19 What am I trying to say? Am I saying that food offered to idols has some significance, or that idols are real gods? 20 No, not at all. I am saying that these sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God. And I don’t want you to participate with demons. 21 You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons, too. 22 What? Do we dare to rouse the Lord’s jealousy? Do you think we are stronger than he is?
23 You say, “I am allowed to do anything”[d]—but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial. 24 Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others.
25 So you may eat any meat that is sold in the marketplace without raising questions of conscience. 26 For “the earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”[e]
27 If someone who isn’t a believer asks you home for dinner, accept the invitation if you want to. Eat whatever is offered to you without raising questions of conscience. 28 (But suppose someone tells you, “This meat was offered to an idol.” Don’t eat it, out of consideration for the conscience of the one who told you. 29 It might not be a matter of conscience for you, but it is for the other person.) For why should my freedom be limited by what someone else thinks? 30 If I can thank God for the food and enjoy it, why should I be condemned for eating it?
31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32 Don’t give offense to Jews or Gentiles[f] or the church of God. 33 I, too, try to please everyone in everything I do. I don’t just do what is best for me; I do what is best for others so that many may be saved.
Footnotes:
1 Corinthians 10:1 Greek brothers.
1 Corinthians 10:7 Exod 32:6.
1 Corinthians 10:9 Some manuscripts read the Lord.
1 Corinthians 10:23 Greek All things are lawful; also in 10:23b.
1 Corinthians 10:26 Ps 24:1.
1 Corinthians 10:32 Greek or Greeks.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Lena's Journalin to John 6 We Live What We Believe...
Be aware, the words of the Lord are always loaded, and there’s way more than what one can see on the surface!
Jesus constantly spoke in parables, so as students of the word of God, we must train ourselves to think as He thought and taught, in parables. Jesus always laid out a “story” to see if He had any around Him who were truly hungry and thirsty for righteousness. Notice every time He spoke He did not say all there was to be said? He would ask leading questions to see if there was enough hunger for the disciple to inquire further.
He would say something to the multitude, another to the crowd, another to the 70, and then there were the 12 and the 3 and then the 1. Each group or individual who drew closer were the hungry ones. They were not satisfied with the surfacy words of Jesus. The 12 who were closer than the crowds, asked Him questions back. After they’d minister and be a part of serving the crowds they’d sit with Him and ask Him to go over what He’d taught in greater detail. They laid down any pride and humbly told Him they did not get whatever it was he’d said in parable form. When they did that He knew they really wanted to see and he unlocked their understanding at that time. The crowds were after what they could get from Him, while the disciples were interested in becoming like Him.
There is a huge difference.
Disciples get closer, ask questions, not for debate, but to learn how to be changed into His image and likeness.
Who took the leftovers home? Those who served with the Lord, and those who did as He asked them to, and those who stayed to the end. The more we press in to the Lord the more we get (understanding). The more we serve others, the more we’re given. With God it is give/receive, not give and take, not pay and owe, not buy and sell, no trade off’s. Give, give, give, give, not expecting anything in return as the motive of giving, just do it; and the principle is, you will reap of what you’ve sown. It may not come from the same source you sowed it to, but if sown unto God, then God will see to the return no mater the avenue.
What are we after? The miracles, the signs, or the bread? The gift or the Giver?
Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me (Jesus) the seal of his approval… The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world…. give us that bread every day (the disciples said)… I am the bread of life!... this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh… Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him… Does this offend you?
What we eat and drink is what gives us life, it is what we spend our lives on, it is who we are, what we become. If we do not become Him, we are not His. He and the Father were made to be One, because Jesus chose to give His life over to the will of His Father. That caused He and His Father to became One.
What we give ourselves to and for is what and who we are One with. We can say we are One with Jesus, but someday it will be made very clear to us who and what we were truly One with. It is not based on what we say, but what we’ve done. Our faith is known only by our works. If we pursued a career and did not take time for our families and to go after God’s words in order to become them, it will be shown and known who we were really One with.
Eating His flesh and drinking His blood, is us doing His will instead of our own.
His meat and drink were to do the will of His Father. What is our meat and drink?
Are we eating from His words daily? If not, why not? What are we doing daily then that is eternal and so important to us? That will be shown/known.
We do whatever it is we feel is important. We are living right now what we believe right now! We cannot say we believe the word is important and do nothing to show that. What we do is what is really and actually what is important to us. If we don’t take time to read or study the word, it is not important to us, no excuse, that’s just how it is.
Don’t be deceived and excuse your soul, as it screams out in a tantrum as a child does when it doesn’t get its way. There is something we can do to make the word important.
It’s up to us. If we want to, we will.
We make other things in life work, if we want them. We’ll do whatever it takes to get that new car or do stuff with our house, or go on a vacation. We even make plans way ahead of time and save money, or work harder and then take time off of work to go to or be a part of whatever we desire to do or wherever we want to go. We’ll set the TVO and make time to watch a TV show, even if we can’t do it right now. We’ll get up early and lose sleep to go somewhere or meet someone that we want to, we live this way for our own wills, what about His?
We’re living right now, what we believe right now.
Maybe time to make an adjustment, somewhere somehow. God will honor you as you honor Him, if you believe it.
Jesus constantly spoke in parables, so as students of the word of God, we must train ourselves to think as He thought and taught, in parables. Jesus always laid out a “story” to see if He had any around Him who were truly hungry and thirsty for righteousness. Notice every time He spoke He did not say all there was to be said? He would ask leading questions to see if there was enough hunger for the disciple to inquire further.
He would say something to the multitude, another to the crowd, another to the 70, and then there were the 12 and the 3 and then the 1. Each group or individual who drew closer were the hungry ones. They were not satisfied with the surfacy words of Jesus. The 12 who were closer than the crowds, asked Him questions back. After they’d minister and be a part of serving the crowds they’d sit with Him and ask Him to go over what He’d taught in greater detail. They laid down any pride and humbly told Him they did not get whatever it was he’d said in parable form. When they did that He knew they really wanted to see and he unlocked their understanding at that time. The crowds were after what they could get from Him, while the disciples were interested in becoming like Him.
There is a huge difference.
Disciples get closer, ask questions, not for debate, but to learn how to be changed into His image and likeness.
Who took the leftovers home? Those who served with the Lord, and those who did as He asked them to, and those who stayed to the end. The more we press in to the Lord the more we get (understanding). The more we serve others, the more we’re given. With God it is give/receive, not give and take, not pay and owe, not buy and sell, no trade off’s. Give, give, give, give, not expecting anything in return as the motive of giving, just do it; and the principle is, you will reap of what you’ve sown. It may not come from the same source you sowed it to, but if sown unto God, then God will see to the return no mater the avenue.
What are we after? The miracles, the signs, or the bread? The gift or the Giver?
Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me (Jesus) the seal of his approval… The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world…. give us that bread every day (the disciples said)… I am the bread of life!... this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh… Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him… Does this offend you?
What we eat and drink is what gives us life, it is what we spend our lives on, it is who we are, what we become. If we do not become Him, we are not His. He and the Father were made to be One, because Jesus chose to give His life over to the will of His Father. That caused He and His Father to became One.
What we give ourselves to and for is what and who we are One with. We can say we are One with Jesus, but someday it will be made very clear to us who and what we were truly One with. It is not based on what we say, but what we’ve done. Our faith is known only by our works. If we pursued a career and did not take time for our families and to go after God’s words in order to become them, it will be shown and known who we were really One with.
Eating His flesh and drinking His blood, is us doing His will instead of our own.
His meat and drink were to do the will of His Father. What is our meat and drink?
Are we eating from His words daily? If not, why not? What are we doing daily then that is eternal and so important to us? That will be shown/known.
We do whatever it is we feel is important. We are living right now what we believe right now! We cannot say we believe the word is important and do nothing to show that. What we do is what is really and actually what is important to us. If we don’t take time to read or study the word, it is not important to us, no excuse, that’s just how it is.
Don’t be deceived and excuse your soul, as it screams out in a tantrum as a child does when it doesn’t get its way. There is something we can do to make the word important.
It’s up to us. If we want to, we will.
We make other things in life work, if we want them. We’ll do whatever it takes to get that new car or do stuff with our house, or go on a vacation. We even make plans way ahead of time and save money, or work harder and then take time off of work to go to or be a part of whatever we desire to do or wherever we want to go. We’ll set the TVO and make time to watch a TV show, even if we can’t do it right now. We’ll get up early and lose sleep to go somewhere or meet someone that we want to, we live this way for our own wills, what about His?
We’re living right now, what we believe right now.
Maybe time to make an adjustment, somewhere somehow. God will honor you as you honor Him, if you believe it.
Today's Daily Bread Reading John 6
John 6
Jesus Feeds Five Thousand
1 After this, Jesus crossed over to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberias. 2 A huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed the sick. 3 Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with his disciples around him. 4 (It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration.) 5 Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” 6 He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do.
7 Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money[a] to feed them!”
8 Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. 9 “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?”
10 “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.) 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. 12 After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.
14 When the people saw him[b] do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!”[c] 15 When Jesus saw that they were ready to force him to be their king, he slipped away into the hills by himself.
Jesus Walks on Water
16 That evening Jesus’ disciples went down to the shore to wait for him. 17 But as darkness fell and Jesus still hadn’t come back, they got into the boat and headed across the lake toward Capernaum. 18 Soon a gale swept down upon them, and the sea grew very rough. 19 They had rowed three or four miles[d] when suddenly they saw Jesus walking on the water toward the boat. They were terrified, 20 but he called out to them, “Don’t be afraid. I am here![e]” 21 Then they were eager to let him in the boat, and immediately they arrived at their destination!
Jesus, the Bread of Life
22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the far shore saw that the disciples had taken the only boat, and they realized Jesus had not gone with them. 23 Several boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the Lord had blessed the bread and the people had eaten. 24 So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for him. 25 They found him on the other side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. 27 But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man[f] can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.”
28 They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”
29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”
30 They answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do? 31 After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’[g]”
32 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. 33 The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.”
35 Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But you haven’t believed in me even though you have seen me. 37 However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. 38 For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. 39 And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. 40 For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”
41 Then the people[h] began to murmur in disagreement because he had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. How can he say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
43 But Jesus replied, “Stop complaining about what I said. 44 For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up. 45 As it is written in the Scriptures,[i] ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 (Not that anyone has ever seen the Father; only I, who was sent from God, have seen him.)
47 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. 48 Yes, I am the bread of life! 49 Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. 50 Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.”
52 Then the people began arguing with each other about what he meant. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” they asked.
53 So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. 54 But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 I live because of the living Father who sent me; in the same way, anyone who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did (even though they ate the manna) but will live forever.”
59 He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
Many Disciples Desert Jesus
60 Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”
61 Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? 63 The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.) 65 Then he said, “That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.”
66 At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. 67 Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?”
68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.[j]”
70 Then Jesus said, “I chose the twelve of you, but one is a devil.” 71 He was speaking of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, one of the Twelve, who would later betray him.
Footnotes:
John 6:7 Greek Two hundred denarii would not be enough. A denarius was equivalent to a laborer’s full day’s wage.
John 6:14 Some manuscripts read Jesus.
John 6:14 See Deut 18:15, 18; Mal 4:5-6.
John 6:19 Greek 25 or 30 stadia [4.6 or 5.5 kilometers].
John 6:20 Or The ‘I Am’ is here; Greek reads I am. See Exod 3:14.
John 6:27 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
John 6:31 Exod 16:4; Ps 78:24.
John 6:41 Greek Jewish people; also in 6:52.
John 6:45 Greek in the prophets. Isa 54:13.
John 6:69 Other manuscripts read you are the Christ, the Holy One of God; still others read you are the Christ, the Son of God; and still others read you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Jesus Feeds Five Thousand
1 After this, Jesus crossed over to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberias. 2 A huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed the sick. 3 Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with his disciples around him. 4 (It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration.) 5 Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” 6 He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do.
7 Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money[a] to feed them!”
8 Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. 9 “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?”
10 “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.) 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. 12 After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.
14 When the people saw him[b] do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!”[c] 15 When Jesus saw that they were ready to force him to be their king, he slipped away into the hills by himself.
Jesus Walks on Water
16 That evening Jesus’ disciples went down to the shore to wait for him. 17 But as darkness fell and Jesus still hadn’t come back, they got into the boat and headed across the lake toward Capernaum. 18 Soon a gale swept down upon them, and the sea grew very rough. 19 They had rowed three or four miles[d] when suddenly they saw Jesus walking on the water toward the boat. They were terrified, 20 but he called out to them, “Don’t be afraid. I am here![e]” 21 Then they were eager to let him in the boat, and immediately they arrived at their destination!
Jesus, the Bread of Life
22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the far shore saw that the disciples had taken the only boat, and they realized Jesus had not gone with them. 23 Several boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the Lord had blessed the bread and the people had eaten. 24 So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for him. 25 They found him on the other side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. 27 But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man[f] can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.”
28 They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”
29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”
30 They answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do? 31 After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’[g]”
32 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. 33 The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.”
35 Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But you haven’t believed in me even though you have seen me. 37 However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. 38 For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. 39 And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. 40 For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”
41 Then the people[h] began to murmur in disagreement because he had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. How can he say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
43 But Jesus replied, “Stop complaining about what I said. 44 For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up. 45 As it is written in the Scriptures,[i] ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 (Not that anyone has ever seen the Father; only I, who was sent from God, have seen him.)
47 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. 48 Yes, I am the bread of life! 49 Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. 50 Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.”
52 Then the people began arguing with each other about what he meant. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” they asked.
53 So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. 54 But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 I live because of the living Father who sent me; in the same way, anyone who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did (even though they ate the manna) but will live forever.”
59 He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
Many Disciples Desert Jesus
60 Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”
61 Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? 63 The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.) 65 Then he said, “That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.”
66 At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. 67 Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?”
68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.[j]”
70 Then Jesus said, “I chose the twelve of you, but one is a devil.” 71 He was speaking of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, one of the Twelve, who would later betray him.
Footnotes:
John 6:7 Greek Two hundred denarii would not be enough. A denarius was equivalent to a laborer’s full day’s wage.
John 6:14 Some manuscripts read Jesus.
John 6:14 See Deut 18:15, 18; Mal 4:5-6.
John 6:19 Greek 25 or 30 stadia [4.6 or 5.5 kilometers].
John 6:20 Or The ‘I Am’ is here; Greek reads I am. See Exod 3:14.
John 6:27 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
John 6:31 Exod 16:4; Ps 78:24.
John 6:41 Greek Jewish people; also in 6:52.
John 6:45 Greek in the prophets. Isa 54:13.
John 6:69 Other manuscripts read you are the Christ, the Holy One of God; still others read you are the Christ, the Son of God; and still others read you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Lena's Journalin' to Revelation 22 Today To Him who overcomes!
The word “river” here means “refreshing, to drink, as in to intoxicate, being filled up, swept away like a flood”.
The River that flows from the throne is The Spirit of Christ and of God. On the Throne are the Father and the Son, but there are 3 persons of the Godhead, Father, Son And Spirit. We are likened unto the very image and nature of God in 3 personages, for we were created Body, Soul and Spirit.
We as created beings are incomplete without one of these parts. If the Body does not function, we leave the earth.
Our Christian walk is incomplete without the 3 persons of God – The Father, Son & Spirit. Many have believed in the Father through the embrace of the Son, yet have denied the Spirit. We must drink of and swim in the river of God!
To truly drink means to be altered, changed, as a drunk comes under the influence of the spirits he partakes of. To swim takes a great deal of trust based on the security of love. If not drinking or swimming, one is incomplete and are we really living the Christian life or just saying we do?
How is the curse reversed? Only through obediently walking in His ways. His ways are the ways of the Spirit. They who worship Him, must worship in Spirit and in truth.
The cross was the place of the ability to reverse the curse. He died, was laid out as a living sacrifice unto God for man’s sin. The deal does not stop there, for that is the place where it was able to start for whosoever will.
Man won’t have the curse reversed because Jesus died for it to be reversed. Man must reciprocate the deal, become a participator in it, by laying down the resistant power of his own will to live out his days for himself. He died, now I must offer my will up as a sacrifice daily. That means He tells me what to do and I do it, because I trust Him, I swim, in deep waters, by the belief in the power of His Spirit. I no longer depend upon my own abilities to do what is good and right. I just do whatever it is He says to, obediently. I discipline myself life, if I have to, to become conformed to His plans of use for my life inside of His big picture.
It is much easier to change if I am drinking and swimming. If I am trying to change without the empowerment of surrender to His Spirit I’m struggling.
Do I believe in His abilities, or mine?
Blessed is he who obeys My words of Spirit and Life. The Truth makes men free, when they get to know Him intimately.
TIME is running out. Really and truly it is. Man has always been tempted to believe he has time, and is fine left as he is. There will be a time in our lives where there is no more time and change will be impossible. I guarantee that each of us who were waiting for God to move or who resisted change or were weak in faith, unable to believe in the God of impossibilities, will be regretful. Those who are wise sons hear words like this and make the changes now, before that day. Blessed are the sons who make changes everytime they hear the words of life. Adjustments and changes.
God knows you, your weaknesses, your frailty, your unwillingness, stubbornness, self-centeredness, rebellion, unbelief and fear. He does not understand why when His Son came to make every change possible for us that we’d refuse Him, not believe Him, and stay as we are, believing that His love for us was good enough to leave us as we are, unchanged.
Beware there is a huge deception out there, it says: You can stay as you are and be blessed. God will love you, but your life is NOT blessed. He even loves those who do not know Him at all. His love is forever drawing men to meet and respond obediently to His Son. The greatest love – that a man lay down His self life….
Obedience is THE true expression of reciprocated love.
I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds
I wonder if we take this scripture seriously. If not, we need to change our minds. The enemy has wooed us to sleep, that we’d miss the whole purpose for life on earth. Time to wake up and arise oh living Body of Christ! Time to obey God’s words of Spirit and Life.
Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life. 15 Outside the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie.
What does this mean? I wash myself. God does not wash me for me. He provided the blood of His Son. I can be washed or I can stay as I am. Yes, He’ll love me as I am, and if I do not respond, He’ll leave me that way. He does not move to make me change. I change willingly, if I want to. When I move to change, because I died to my own will, His grace comes in like a flood to bring me to the fruition of the decision of my will. Every change takes a decision of the will. I agree with God.
Have I been listening to a lie? The answer is yes. The religious order of the church has told a lie to those who say they want to serve Christ. They have told us He did it all and therefore we do not have to respond, and take response-ability!
I must respond to God visibly. I must follow Him because I choose to obediently. I’m the one who turns my back on the world and its ways. I’m the one who separates myself daily, and makes changes to show I am His. The changes are not made for free. I may have pain as I change, or persecution, but He died a violent death for me. What else is appropriate to do? Dying to myself is the very least I can do to properly respond to God, and His Son by the belief in the empowerment and ability of His Spirit in me!
It’s only for those who want to. You DO NOT HAVE to! People are choosing to live for self, or go to hell, and God is letting them. He says, come and drink from the living water of Life. BUT, YOU DON’T HAVE to!
People say, do I really have to come tonight? I have a lot to do. I’ve been so busy, I’m tired or not feeling well, do you mind if I just skip tonight? (it is about church meetings/Bible Studies)
My answer is, “No, you don’t have to!” You never have to. Come when you want to, ok? Do whatever you prefer. God is not looking for a bride who loves Him because she has to, or one who is overcome with whatever the temporary world has laid out in the pathways of offers. He’s looking for a Bride to reciprocate His love because she wants to, lays down her life because she decided to, loves others because she is one with Him and He does, decides to be with Him through it all forever, because she made a covenant to and that’s the end of all dispute! She made a covenant to love Him and all who He loves forever! She overcomes circumstances and situations through His power and inside of that she can respond to Him. It’s not about her, or is it?
Grace is always there - when change is pursued.
The River that flows from the throne is The Spirit of Christ and of God. On the Throne are the Father and the Son, but there are 3 persons of the Godhead, Father, Son And Spirit. We are likened unto the very image and nature of God in 3 personages, for we were created Body, Soul and Spirit.
We as created beings are incomplete without one of these parts. If the Body does not function, we leave the earth.
Our Christian walk is incomplete without the 3 persons of God – The Father, Son & Spirit. Many have believed in the Father through the embrace of the Son, yet have denied the Spirit. We must drink of and swim in the river of God!
To truly drink means to be altered, changed, as a drunk comes under the influence of the spirits he partakes of. To swim takes a great deal of trust based on the security of love. If not drinking or swimming, one is incomplete and are we really living the Christian life or just saying we do?
How is the curse reversed? Only through obediently walking in His ways. His ways are the ways of the Spirit. They who worship Him, must worship in Spirit and in truth.
The cross was the place of the ability to reverse the curse. He died, was laid out as a living sacrifice unto God for man’s sin. The deal does not stop there, for that is the place where it was able to start for whosoever will.
Man won’t have the curse reversed because Jesus died for it to be reversed. Man must reciprocate the deal, become a participator in it, by laying down the resistant power of his own will to live out his days for himself. He died, now I must offer my will up as a sacrifice daily. That means He tells me what to do and I do it, because I trust Him, I swim, in deep waters, by the belief in the power of His Spirit. I no longer depend upon my own abilities to do what is good and right. I just do whatever it is He says to, obediently. I discipline myself life, if I have to, to become conformed to His plans of use for my life inside of His big picture.
It is much easier to change if I am drinking and swimming. If I am trying to change without the empowerment of surrender to His Spirit I’m struggling.
Do I believe in His abilities, or mine?
Blessed is he who obeys My words of Spirit and Life. The Truth makes men free, when they get to know Him intimately.
TIME is running out. Really and truly it is. Man has always been tempted to believe he has time, and is fine left as he is. There will be a time in our lives where there is no more time and change will be impossible. I guarantee that each of us who were waiting for God to move or who resisted change or were weak in faith, unable to believe in the God of impossibilities, will be regretful. Those who are wise sons hear words like this and make the changes now, before that day. Blessed are the sons who make changes everytime they hear the words of life. Adjustments and changes.
God knows you, your weaknesses, your frailty, your unwillingness, stubbornness, self-centeredness, rebellion, unbelief and fear. He does not understand why when His Son came to make every change possible for us that we’d refuse Him, not believe Him, and stay as we are, believing that His love for us was good enough to leave us as we are, unchanged.
Beware there is a huge deception out there, it says: You can stay as you are and be blessed. God will love you, but your life is NOT blessed. He even loves those who do not know Him at all. His love is forever drawing men to meet and respond obediently to His Son. The greatest love – that a man lay down His self life….
Obedience is THE true expression of reciprocated love.
I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds
I wonder if we take this scripture seriously. If not, we need to change our minds. The enemy has wooed us to sleep, that we’d miss the whole purpose for life on earth. Time to wake up and arise oh living Body of Christ! Time to obey God’s words of Spirit and Life.
Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life. 15 Outside the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie.
What does this mean? I wash myself. God does not wash me for me. He provided the blood of His Son. I can be washed or I can stay as I am. Yes, He’ll love me as I am, and if I do not respond, He’ll leave me that way. He does not move to make me change. I change willingly, if I want to. When I move to change, because I died to my own will, His grace comes in like a flood to bring me to the fruition of the decision of my will. Every change takes a decision of the will. I agree with God.
Have I been listening to a lie? The answer is yes. The religious order of the church has told a lie to those who say they want to serve Christ. They have told us He did it all and therefore we do not have to respond, and take response-ability!
I must respond to God visibly. I must follow Him because I choose to obediently. I’m the one who turns my back on the world and its ways. I’m the one who separates myself daily, and makes changes to show I am His. The changes are not made for free. I may have pain as I change, or persecution, but He died a violent death for me. What else is appropriate to do? Dying to myself is the very least I can do to properly respond to God, and His Son by the belief in the empowerment and ability of His Spirit in me!
It’s only for those who want to. You DO NOT HAVE to! People are choosing to live for self, or go to hell, and God is letting them. He says, come and drink from the living water of Life. BUT, YOU DON’T HAVE to!
People say, do I really have to come tonight? I have a lot to do. I’ve been so busy, I’m tired or not feeling well, do you mind if I just skip tonight? (it is about church meetings/Bible Studies)
My answer is, “No, you don’t have to!” You never have to. Come when you want to, ok? Do whatever you prefer. God is not looking for a bride who loves Him because she has to, or one who is overcome with whatever the temporary world has laid out in the pathways of offers. He’s looking for a Bride to reciprocate His love because she wants to, lays down her life because she decided to, loves others because she is one with Him and He does, decides to be with Him through it all forever, because she made a covenant to and that’s the end of all dispute! She made a covenant to love Him and all who He loves forever! She overcomes circumstances and situations through His power and inside of that she can respond to Him. It’s not about her, or is it?
Grace is always there - when change is pursued.
Revelation 22 Today's Daily Bread Reading
Revelation 22
1 Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit,[a] with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.
3 No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. 4 And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. 5 And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever.
6 Then the angel said to me, “Everything you have heard and seen is trustworthy and true. The Lord God, who inspires his prophets,[b] has sent his angel to tell his servants what will happen soon.[c]”
Jesus Is Coming
7 “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed are those who obey the words of prophecy written in this book.[d]”
8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw all these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me. 9 But he said, “No, don’t worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers the prophets, as well as all who obey what is written in this book. Worship only God!”
10 Then he instructed me, “Do not seal up the prophetic words in this book, for the time is near. 11 Let the one who is doing harm continue to do harm; let the one who is vile continue to be vile; let the one who is righteous continue to live righteously; let the one who is holy continue to be holy.”
12 “Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
14 Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life. 15 Outside the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this message for the churches. I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne.[e] I am the bright morning star.”
17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life. 18 And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the words of prophecy written in this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. 19 And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book.
20 He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!”
Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!
21 May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s holy people.[f]
Footnotes:
Revelation 22:2 Or twelve kinds of fruit.
Revelation 22:6 Or The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets.
Revelation 22:6 Or suddenly, or quickly; also in 22:7, 12, 20.
Revelation 22:7 Or scroll; also in 22:9, 10, 18, 19.
Revelation 22:16 Greek I am the root and offspring of David.
Revelation 22:21 Other manuscripts read be with all; still others read be with all of God’s holy people. Some manuscripts add Amen.
1 Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit,[a] with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.
3 No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. 4 And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. 5 And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever.
6 Then the angel said to me, “Everything you have heard and seen is trustworthy and true. The Lord God, who inspires his prophets,[b] has sent his angel to tell his servants what will happen soon.[c]”
Jesus Is Coming
7 “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed are those who obey the words of prophecy written in this book.[d]”
8 I, John, am the one who heard and saw all these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me. 9 But he said, “No, don’t worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers the prophets, as well as all who obey what is written in this book. Worship only God!”
10 Then he instructed me, “Do not seal up the prophetic words in this book, for the time is near. 11 Let the one who is doing harm continue to do harm; let the one who is vile continue to be vile; let the one who is righteous continue to live righteously; let the one who is holy continue to be holy.”
12 “Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
14 Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life. 15 Outside the city are the dogs—the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idol worshipers, and all who love to live a lie.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this message for the churches. I am both the source of David and the heir to his throne.[e] I am the bright morning star.”
17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life. 18 And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the words of prophecy written in this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. 19 And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book.
20 He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!”
Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!
21 May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s holy people.[f]
Footnotes:
Revelation 22:2 Or twelve kinds of fruit.
Revelation 22:6 Or The Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets.
Revelation 22:6 Or suddenly, or quickly; also in 22:7, 12, 20.
Revelation 22:7 Or scroll; also in 22:9, 10, 18, 19.
Revelation 22:16 Greek I am the root and offspring of David.
Revelation 22:21 Other manuscripts read be with all; still others read be with all of God’s holy people. Some manuscripts add Amen.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Lena's Journalin' to Revelation 2 It's NOT All About me, it IS ALL about HIm who Overcomes!
Who is the church? Is it an invisible edifice, or some figment and an ideal we hope for, but don’t believe it will ever really appear to us? Or is it a building we go to with stained glass windows and fancy altars covered with brass or other ornate and holy objects?
Nope, notta. The church is the Bride espoused to the Lordship of Christ. It is the called ones who have answered their bridegroom’s invitation and will follow Him to the end of the earth, doing His will as an exact representative of His Father, God?
You and I are the church, if we believe, receive, and obey His words. We as individuals compacted and working together, make up the definition of that word. I’m not the church alone. That is on purpose. I must come together with other members to be who I am, in Him.
Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God
Listen.
Jesus said, if you have an ear to hear.
“Hearing” in Hebrew meant, “only when I see you do, do I know you listened or “heard”.”
The action validated the listening. Without the action there was no hearing. “Hear” and “obey” are synonyms in God’s book. This is the reason Jesus could say, “Have you heard Me?” If there was no action, He was bringing to their attention they had not heard. One who purposes to obey, must know what to do, so he goes listening as one who must study to do what is heard specifically in order to carry out the obedience’s.
We must understand, so that we can do the Word of God!
To Him who is victorious…Can’t be victorious just listening and not doing what you’ve heard.
Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.
Victorious? Why? You listen and obey. You live what you believe. If not, you are not, victorious. If God says something like “Please stop listening to music that does not glorify Me”, and we talk our way out of it and into God’s “graces”, or we say, well maybe that wasn’t really God, it was just me, or we excuse ourselves, then simply and bluntly put we’ve not obeyed Him, so through our actions we’ve said He’s not truly our Lord, we are our own.
Now, we are not victorious. Why could we not overcome? We chose not to. We did not rely on His strength. Is He strong enough to help us step out with faith and only listen to worship music? Of course He is, but are we willing and do we believe in His voice, in holiness, etc.?
So we have struggles, pain, sorrow, hard times. Why? We are living under the curses activated by disobediences to the still small voice of God. Yes, we can do whatever we want and God loves us, but He won’t bless us!
The worst part of this is, we are fine with it, fine living this way. We compromise with God and feel His grace to allow us to do whatever we want to do.
We are so selfish, because what we won’t deal with, we’ll leave behind so our children will have to! That is Not victory.
We say things like, “I would die for my children”, but you are unwilling to lay down a bad habit, trusting God all the way, and live for them now, breaking every curse revealed to you in His light, then willingly walking in that light to further expose other habits, attitudes, and curses to annihilate all of the enemies you can see before you die so your children can live free?
That’s the true “death” the death of me. I live, but not to satisfy or pacify my own needs and desires. I let hard things go to bring purposeful blessings on my children and grandchildren’s lives later on, down the line of generations.
We want God to feed us (manna from heaven in our wilderness), manna came to the disobedient! Let’s obey God in the smallest areas and watch the blessings flow. It is selfish to stop up the blessing flow for someone ahead of you!
To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end, To them I will give authority over all the nations. They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots. They will have the same authority I received from my Father, and I will also give them the morning star! “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.
…To the end.
God has been forever waiting for a people who will believe Him to the extent that they get over their own issues so they can do something bigger for Him, like overcome powers of darkness in the heavenlies!
There’s a war He’d like to win! Here on earth He needs us to help Him win it. He needs spiritual rulers, who are wiling to be healed and made right, so they can fully engage, recruited.
If we are not healed, or delivered, or are ailing we must press in and seek Him, and let the things that bind us go. Is our God not big enough to heal and deliver us, or are we choosing to stay that way?
It is very every subtle, but there is a root issue with people having continual diseases in every area. The root causes have to do with attention and focus, wrong focus on self.
My life, my injury, my pain, my problems, my hurts, my feelings, me, me, me. The over comer, overcomes through believing and refocusing on Him. I know that is not pretty, but it is truth and truth sets people free.
Be freed out of the prison of self today. No really.
God came to serve us for a short time, so we’d get healed to serve Him.
We will be so sad later on if we did not believe Him enough to get healed and do all we could have for HIM!
Overcome today!
Nope, notta. The church is the Bride espoused to the Lordship of Christ. It is the called ones who have answered their bridegroom’s invitation and will follow Him to the end of the earth, doing His will as an exact representative of His Father, God?
You and I are the church, if we believe, receive, and obey His words. We as individuals compacted and working together, make up the definition of that word. I’m not the church alone. That is on purpose. I must come together with other members to be who I am, in Him.
Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God
Listen.
Jesus said, if you have an ear to hear.
“Hearing” in Hebrew meant, “only when I see you do, do I know you listened or “heard”.”
The action validated the listening. Without the action there was no hearing. “Hear” and “obey” are synonyms in God’s book. This is the reason Jesus could say, “Have you heard Me?” If there was no action, He was bringing to their attention they had not heard. One who purposes to obey, must know what to do, so he goes listening as one who must study to do what is heard specifically in order to carry out the obedience’s.
We must understand, so that we can do the Word of God!
To Him who is victorious…Can’t be victorious just listening and not doing what you’ve heard.
Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.
Victorious? Why? You listen and obey. You live what you believe. If not, you are not, victorious. If God says something like “Please stop listening to music that does not glorify Me”, and we talk our way out of it and into God’s “graces”, or we say, well maybe that wasn’t really God, it was just me, or we excuse ourselves, then simply and bluntly put we’ve not obeyed Him, so through our actions we’ve said He’s not truly our Lord, we are our own.
Now, we are not victorious. Why could we not overcome? We chose not to. We did not rely on His strength. Is He strong enough to help us step out with faith and only listen to worship music? Of course He is, but are we willing and do we believe in His voice, in holiness, etc.?
So we have struggles, pain, sorrow, hard times. Why? We are living under the curses activated by disobediences to the still small voice of God. Yes, we can do whatever we want and God loves us, but He won’t bless us!
The worst part of this is, we are fine with it, fine living this way. We compromise with God and feel His grace to allow us to do whatever we want to do.
We are so selfish, because what we won’t deal with, we’ll leave behind so our children will have to! That is Not victory.
We say things like, “I would die for my children”, but you are unwilling to lay down a bad habit, trusting God all the way, and live for them now, breaking every curse revealed to you in His light, then willingly walking in that light to further expose other habits, attitudes, and curses to annihilate all of the enemies you can see before you die so your children can live free?
That’s the true “death” the death of me. I live, but not to satisfy or pacify my own needs and desires. I let hard things go to bring purposeful blessings on my children and grandchildren’s lives later on, down the line of generations.
We want God to feed us (manna from heaven in our wilderness), manna came to the disobedient! Let’s obey God in the smallest areas and watch the blessings flow. It is selfish to stop up the blessing flow for someone ahead of you!
To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end, To them I will give authority over all the nations. They will rule the nations with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots. They will have the same authority I received from my Father, and I will also give them the morning star! “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.
…To the end.
God has been forever waiting for a people who will believe Him to the extent that they get over their own issues so they can do something bigger for Him, like overcome powers of darkness in the heavenlies!
There’s a war He’d like to win! Here on earth He needs us to help Him win it. He needs spiritual rulers, who are wiling to be healed and made right, so they can fully engage, recruited.
If we are not healed, or delivered, or are ailing we must press in and seek Him, and let the things that bind us go. Is our God not big enough to heal and deliver us, or are we choosing to stay that way?
It is very every subtle, but there is a root issue with people having continual diseases in every area. The root causes have to do with attention and focus, wrong focus on self.
My life, my injury, my pain, my problems, my hurts, my feelings, me, me, me. The over comer, overcomes through believing and refocusing on Him. I know that is not pretty, but it is truth and truth sets people free.
Be freed out of the prison of self today. No really.
God came to serve us for a short time, so we’d get healed to serve Him.
We will be so sad later on if we did not believe Him enough to get healed and do all we could have for HIM!
Overcome today!
Revelation 2 Today's Daily Bread Reading
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Revelation 2
The Message to the Church in Ephesus
“Write this letter to the angel[a] of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands:
2 “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. 3 You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.
4 “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first![b] 5 Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. 6 But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do.
7 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.
The Message to the Church in Smyrna
8 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna. This is the message from the one who is the First and the Last, who was dead but is now alive:
9 “I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich! I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan. 10 Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life.
11 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. Whoever is victorious will not be harmed by the second death.
The Message to the Church in Pergamum
12 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Pergamum. This is the message from the one with the sharp two-edged sword:
13 “I know that you live in the city where Satan has his throne, yet you have remained loyal to me. You refused to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you there in Satan’s city.
14 “But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin. 15 In a similar way, you have some Nicolaitans among you who follow the same teaching. 16 Repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
17 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.
The Message to the Church in Thyatira
18 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Thyatira. This is the message from the Son of God, whose eyes are like flames of fire, whose feet are like polished bronze:
19 “I know all the things you do. I have seen your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things.
20 “But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman—that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet—to lead my servants astray. She teaches them to commit sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to turn away from her immorality.
22 “Therefore, I will throw her on a bed of suffering,[c] and those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly unless they repent and turn away from her evil deeds. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person. And I will give to each of you whatever you deserve.
24 “But I also have a message for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching (‘deeper truths,’ as they call them—depths of Satan, actually). I will ask nothing more of you 25 except that you hold tightly to what you have until I come. 26 To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end,
To them I will give authority over all the nations.
27 They will rule the nations with an iron rod
and smash them like clay pots.[d]
28 They will have the same authority I received from my Father, and I will also give them the morning star!
29 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.
Footnotes:
Revelation 2:1 Or the messenger; also in 2:8, 12, 18.
Revelation 2:4 Greek You have lost your first love.
Revelation 2:22 Greek a bed.
Revelation 2:27 Ps 2:8-9 (Greek Version).
Revelation 2
The Message to the Church in Ephesus
“Write this letter to the angel[a] of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands:
2 “I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. 3 You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.
4 “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first![b] 5 Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. 6 But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do.
7 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.
The Message to the Church in Smyrna
8 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna. This is the message from the one who is the First and the Last, who was dead but is now alive:
9 “I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich! I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan. 10 Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you. You will suffer for ten days. But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life.
11 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. Whoever is victorious will not be harmed by the second death.
The Message to the Church in Pergamum
12 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Pergamum. This is the message from the one with the sharp two-edged sword:
13 “I know that you live in the city where Satan has his throne, yet you have remained loyal to me. You refused to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you there in Satan’s city.
14 “But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin. 15 In a similar way, you have some Nicolaitans among you who follow the same teaching. 16 Repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
17 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven. And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.
The Message to the Church in Thyatira
18 “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Thyatira. This is the message from the Son of God, whose eyes are like flames of fire, whose feet are like polished bronze:
19 “I know all the things you do. I have seen your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things.
20 “But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman—that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet—to lead my servants astray. She teaches them to commit sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to turn away from her immorality.
22 “Therefore, I will throw her on a bed of suffering,[c] and those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly unless they repent and turn away from her evil deeds. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person. And I will give to each of you whatever you deserve.
24 “But I also have a message for the rest of you in Thyatira who have not followed this false teaching (‘deeper truths,’ as they call them—depths of Satan, actually). I will ask nothing more of you 25 except that you hold tightly to what you have until I come. 26 To all who are victorious, who obey me to the very end,
To them I will give authority over all the nations.
27 They will rule the nations with an iron rod
and smash them like clay pots.[d]
28 They will have the same authority I received from my Father, and I will also give them the morning star!
29 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.
Footnotes:
Revelation 2:1 Or the messenger; also in 2:8, 12, 18.
Revelation 2:4 Greek You have lost your first love.
Revelation 2:22 Greek a bed.
Revelation 2:27 Ps 2:8-9 (Greek Version).
Friday, February 23, 2007
Lena's Journalin' To Hebrews 7 Today
King, THE KING, Capital “K”. The One and Only, judge of righteousness and Truth. The King of true eternal everlasting Peace that sees no end, ever. King of Justice. In whom all compare to in righteousness. The Maker/Creator of Heaven and earth. No beginning, No End, eternally God.
Who could this have been in OT times? Could it have been Jesus? Could it have been any other than He?
John 8 :56 says, Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad."
WHO said this? Jesus did. How is it that Abraham “saw” Jesus? He saw Him ahead of time. The LORD Appeared, Father appeared, Son appeared & Spirit appeared to Abraham. (Smoking oven, burning torch…interesting descriptions of what one sees, but may not have a clear understanding of yet!)
Abraham responded in faith with corresponding actions.
He gave of all he’d been given, a tithe. That is some response from a human man to an invisible God.
It is awesome that God who is so “invisible” can be so clearly seen all around us. Grass, trees, flowers, stars, moon, time, order, weather, people, circumstances beyond our control…
The earth is responding to its creation and Creator, and is waiting for humans to respond just as Abraham did, in faith with follow up action, to demonstrate the faith.
Abraham was quite rich, in all areas of his life. Why would he need to believe in an invisible God? He saw way beyond anything that money could buy. He had a Divine revelation of God Most High, and realized all we are allotted here is only a portion of who He is and of the potential he has inside of His plan for each one of us.
Abraham should not have been one we remember as a one and only of his kind. We are his seed and heirs to the promises of God presented him. Remember each promise is an offer to us to believe, receive and embrace by actions, His kingdom, which He desires to establish on earth using us.
Have you ever thought of yourself as an Abraham? If you are the first one Born Again in your household and extended family, that is who you are. God has called you out of darkness and desires you to stand on His promises for the salvation of your whole family, forever. As many as would fill the earth both before you and after you, like sand fills a sea shore!
God is looking for people who will have faith that remains until every last one is saved. Yes, there are some who are hardhearted and won’t believe or will judge or persecute us.
Let me ask you, when was the last time you sincerely interceded and prayed for these “enemies” in your household or extended family units? Or do you just stand in irritation and agreement with their enemies that they’ll never change or that they are bums, or critics or whatever? Who do you think you are, for them? God called you to break powers of darkness over them, the very enemies of their lives that keep them bound up in their sins. He wants us to uncover blindness that keeps them from seeing Him. This happens only through insistent prayers and intercession, mostly done in the secret place. Then we don’t pull up what we planted in faith by speaking contrary to what we prayed in secret, when we are with them or have just left them.
We read a few days back how Abraham rescued Lot. This is an example of what it takes. Spiritual warfare, is what it takes, not natural arguments or complaints or saying what you see. When we say what we see, we are not living and walking by faith. God does not move at all for murmurers and complainers. No, I don’t mean your relative, I mean you!
Do you care at all about the salvation of the souls of your family? Really? You have been co-missioned by God to bring His promises to fruition in them. You are the one who gets to see their worst. Maybe that’s so you can know what to come against for them in prayer!
Have you ever thought that when you give tithe by faith you sanctify all who are called by the same family name as you? If it is given to God in faith, you do. Don’t ever give grudgingly. Give in faith and for a lot more than just a monetary return.
Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.
Now, let’s be brave enough and humble enough to ask, “What are we living for?” It should be the very same thing He lived for. He came to please the Father. He knew of the hard cases when He died on the cross. His sacrifice through faith perfectly pleased the Father. He laid His life down for the hard cases, even those who would not ever choose to believe.
Is anything impossible to him who believeth? No, nothing, if He truly believes and does not faint or waiver, till the promise is seen in action.
How many believe that way for hard cases, so much that they are not moved by what they see or hear and they stand in faith stronger as it gets harder? How many will not give up on a person, ever, till that person dies on earth? How many? That’s the kind God is searching from in the earth. That very kind. Like kind, for that is what Jesus did and is still doing for us!
Who could this have been in OT times? Could it have been Jesus? Could it have been any other than He?
John 8 :56 says, Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad."
WHO said this? Jesus did. How is it that Abraham “saw” Jesus? He saw Him ahead of time. The LORD Appeared, Father appeared, Son appeared & Spirit appeared to Abraham. (Smoking oven, burning torch…interesting descriptions of what one sees, but may not have a clear understanding of yet!)
Abraham responded in faith with corresponding actions.
He gave of all he’d been given, a tithe. That is some response from a human man to an invisible God.
It is awesome that God who is so “invisible” can be so clearly seen all around us. Grass, trees, flowers, stars, moon, time, order, weather, people, circumstances beyond our control…
The earth is responding to its creation and Creator, and is waiting for humans to respond just as Abraham did, in faith with follow up action, to demonstrate the faith.
Abraham was quite rich, in all areas of his life. Why would he need to believe in an invisible God? He saw way beyond anything that money could buy. He had a Divine revelation of God Most High, and realized all we are allotted here is only a portion of who He is and of the potential he has inside of His plan for each one of us.
Abraham should not have been one we remember as a one and only of his kind. We are his seed and heirs to the promises of God presented him. Remember each promise is an offer to us to believe, receive and embrace by actions, His kingdom, which He desires to establish on earth using us.
Have you ever thought of yourself as an Abraham? If you are the first one Born Again in your household and extended family, that is who you are. God has called you out of darkness and desires you to stand on His promises for the salvation of your whole family, forever. As many as would fill the earth both before you and after you, like sand fills a sea shore!
God is looking for people who will have faith that remains until every last one is saved. Yes, there are some who are hardhearted and won’t believe or will judge or persecute us.
Let me ask you, when was the last time you sincerely interceded and prayed for these “enemies” in your household or extended family units? Or do you just stand in irritation and agreement with their enemies that they’ll never change or that they are bums, or critics or whatever? Who do you think you are, for them? God called you to break powers of darkness over them, the very enemies of their lives that keep them bound up in their sins. He wants us to uncover blindness that keeps them from seeing Him. This happens only through insistent prayers and intercession, mostly done in the secret place. Then we don’t pull up what we planted in faith by speaking contrary to what we prayed in secret, when we are with them or have just left them.
We read a few days back how Abraham rescued Lot. This is an example of what it takes. Spiritual warfare, is what it takes, not natural arguments or complaints or saying what you see. When we say what we see, we are not living and walking by faith. God does not move at all for murmurers and complainers. No, I don’t mean your relative, I mean you!
Do you care at all about the salvation of the souls of your family? Really? You have been co-missioned by God to bring His promises to fruition in them. You are the one who gets to see their worst. Maybe that’s so you can know what to come against for them in prayer!
Have you ever thought that when you give tithe by faith you sanctify all who are called by the same family name as you? If it is given to God in faith, you do. Don’t ever give grudgingly. Give in faith and for a lot more than just a monetary return.
Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.
Now, let’s be brave enough and humble enough to ask, “What are we living for?” It should be the very same thing He lived for. He came to please the Father. He knew of the hard cases when He died on the cross. His sacrifice through faith perfectly pleased the Father. He laid His life down for the hard cases, even those who would not ever choose to believe.
Is anything impossible to him who believeth? No, nothing, if He truly believes and does not faint or waiver, till the promise is seen in action.
How many believe that way for hard cases, so much that they are not moved by what they see or hear and they stand in faith stronger as it gets harder? How many will not give up on a person, ever, till that person dies on earth? How many? That’s the kind God is searching from in the earth. That very kind. Like kind, for that is what Jesus did and is still doing for us!
Hebrews 7 Today's Daily Bread Reading
Hebrews 7
Melchizedek Is Greater Than Abraham
1 This Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of God Most High. When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against the kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him. 2 Then Abraham took a tenth of all he had captured in battle and gave it to Melchizedek. The name Melchizedek means “king of justice,” and king of Salem means “king of peace.” 3 There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors—no beginning or end to his life. He remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God.
4 Consider then how great this Melchizedek was. Even Abraham, the great patriarch of Israel, recognized this by giving him a tenth of what he had taken in battle. 5 Now the law of Moses required that the priests, who are descendants of Levi, must collect a tithe from the rest of the people of Israel,[a] who are also descendants of Abraham. 6 But Melchizedek, who was not a descendant of Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham. And Melchizedek placed a blessing upon Abraham, the one who had already received the promises of God. 7 And without question, the person who has the power to give a blessing is greater than the one who is blessed.
8 The priests who collect tithes are men who die, so Melchizedek is greater than they are, because we are told that he lives on. 9 In addition, we might even say that these Levites—the ones who collect the tithe—paid a tithe to Melchizedek when their ancestor Abraham paid a tithe to him. 10 For although Levi wasn’t born yet, the seed from which he came was in Abraham’s body when Melchizedek collected the tithe from him.
11 So if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron?[b]
12 And if the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it. 13 For the priest we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members have never served at the altar as priests. 14 What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe.
Jesus Is like Melchizedek
15 This change has been made very clear since a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has appeared. 16 Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed. 17 And the psalmist pointed this out when he prophesied,
“You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”[c]
18 Yes, the old requirement about the priesthood was set aside because it was weak and useless. 19 For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
20 This new system was established with a solemn oath. Aaron’s descendants became priests without such an oath, 21 but there was an oath regarding Jesus. For God said to him,
“The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow:
‘You are a priest forever.’”[d]
22 Because of this oath, Jesus is the one who guarantees this better covenant with God.
23 There were many priests under the old system, for death prevented them from remaining in office. 24 But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever. 25 Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save[e] those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.
26 He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven.[f] 27 Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people’s sins. 28 The law appointed high priests who were limited by human weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed his Son with an oath, and his Son has been made the perfect High Priest forever.
Footnotes:
Hebrews 7:5 Greek from their brothers.
Hebrews 7:11 Greek the order of Aaron?
Hebrews 7:17 Ps 110:4.
Hebrews 7:21 Ps 110:4.
Hebrews 7:25 Or is able to save completely.
Hebrews 7:26 Or has been exalted higher than the heavens.
Melchizedek Is Greater Than Abraham
1 This Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of God Most High. When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against the kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him. 2 Then Abraham took a tenth of all he had captured in battle and gave it to Melchizedek. The name Melchizedek means “king of justice,” and king of Salem means “king of peace.” 3 There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors—no beginning or end to his life. He remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God.
4 Consider then how great this Melchizedek was. Even Abraham, the great patriarch of Israel, recognized this by giving him a tenth of what he had taken in battle. 5 Now the law of Moses required that the priests, who are descendants of Levi, must collect a tithe from the rest of the people of Israel,[a] who are also descendants of Abraham. 6 But Melchizedek, who was not a descendant of Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham. And Melchizedek placed a blessing upon Abraham, the one who had already received the promises of God. 7 And without question, the person who has the power to give a blessing is greater than the one who is blessed.
8 The priests who collect tithes are men who die, so Melchizedek is greater than they are, because we are told that he lives on. 9 In addition, we might even say that these Levites—the ones who collect the tithe—paid a tithe to Melchizedek when their ancestor Abraham paid a tithe to him. 10 For although Levi wasn’t born yet, the seed from which he came was in Abraham’s body when Melchizedek collected the tithe from him.
11 So if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron?[b]
12 And if the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it. 13 For the priest we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members have never served at the altar as priests. 14 What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe.
Jesus Is like Melchizedek
15 This change has been made very clear since a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has appeared. 16 Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed. 17 And the psalmist pointed this out when he prophesied,
“You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”[c]
18 Yes, the old requirement about the priesthood was set aside because it was weak and useless. 19 For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
20 This new system was established with a solemn oath. Aaron’s descendants became priests without such an oath, 21 but there was an oath regarding Jesus. For God said to him,
“The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow:
‘You are a priest forever.’”[d]
22 Because of this oath, Jesus is the one who guarantees this better covenant with God.
23 There were many priests under the old system, for death prevented them from remaining in office. 24 But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever. 25 Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save[e] those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.
26 He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven.[f] 27 Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people’s sins. 28 The law appointed high priests who were limited by human weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed his Son with an oath, and his Son has been made the perfect High Priest forever.
Footnotes:
Hebrews 7:5 Greek from their brothers.
Hebrews 7:11 Greek the order of Aaron?
Hebrews 7:17 Ps 110:4.
Hebrews 7:21 Ps 110:4.
Hebrews 7:25 Or is able to save completely.
Hebrews 7:26 Or has been exalted higher than the heavens.
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