Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.
If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.
Luke 6:1-49
A Discussion about the Sabbath
1One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples broke off heads of wheat, rubbed off the husks in their hands, and ate the grains. 2But some Pharisees said, "You shouldn't be doing that! It's against the law to work by harvesting grain on the Sabbath."
3Jesus replied, "Haven't you ever read in the Scriptures what King David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4He went into the house of God, ate the special bread reserved for the priests alone, and then gave some to his friends. That was breaking the law, too." 5And Jesus added, "I, the Son of Man, am master even of the Sabbath."
Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
6On another Sabbath day, a man with a deformed right hand was in the synagogue while Jesus was teaching. 7The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees watched closely to see whether Jesus would heal the man on the Sabbath, because they were eager to find some legal charge to bring against him. 8But Jesus knew their thoughts. He said to the man with the deformed hand, "Come and stand here where everyone can see." So the man came forward. 9Then Jesus said to his critics, "I have a question for you. Is it legal to do good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing harm? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?" 10He looked around at them one by one and then said to the man, "Reach out your hand." The man reached out his hand, and it became normal again! 11At this, the enemies of Jesus were wild with rage and began to discuss what to do with him.
Jesus Chooses the Twelve Apostles
12One day soon afterward Jesus went to a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. 13At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles. Here are their names:
14 Simon (he also called him Peter), Andrew (Peter's brother), James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,
15 Matthew, Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (the Zealot),
16 Judas (son of James), Judas Iscariot (who later betrayed him).
Crowds Follow Jesus
17When they came down the slopes of the mountain, the disciples stood with Jesus on a large, level area, surrounded by many of his followers and by the crowds. There were people from all over Judea and from Jerusalem and from as far north as the seacoasts of Tyre and Sidon. 18They had come to hear him and to be healed, and Jesus cast out many evil spirits. 19Everyone was trying to touch him, because healing power went out from him, and they were all cured.
The Beatitudes
20Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said,
"God blesses you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is given to you.
21 God blesses you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied. God blesses you who weep now, for the time will come when you will laugh with joy.
22 God blesses you who are hated and excluded and mocked and cursed because you are identified with me, the Son of Man.
23"When that happens, rejoice! Yes, leap for joy! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were also treated that way by your ancestors.
Sorrows Foretold
24 "What sorrows await you who are rich, for you have your only happiness now.
25 What sorrows await you who are satisfied and prosperous now, for a time of awful hunger is before you. What sorrows await you who laugh carelessly, for your laughing will turn to mourning and sorrow.
26 What sorrows await you who are praised by the crowds, for their ancestors also praised false prophets.
Love for Enemies
27"But if you are willing to listen, I say, love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. 28Pray for the happiness of those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. 29If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn the other cheek. If someone demands your coat, offer your shirt also. 30Give what you have to anyone who asks you for it; and when things are taken away from you, don't try to get them back. 31Do for others as you would like them to do for you.
32"Do you think you deserve credit merely for loving those who love you? Even the sinners do that! 33And if you do good only to those who do good to you, is that so wonderful? Even sinners do that much! 34And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, what good is that? Even sinners will lend to their own kind for a full return.
35"Love your enemies! Do good to them! Lend to them! And don't be concerned that they might not repay. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to the unthankful and to those who are wicked. 36You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.
Don't Condemn Others
37"Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. Stop criticizing others, or it will all come back on you. If you forgive others, you will be forgiven. 38If you give, you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use in giving—large or small—it will be used to measure what is given back to you."
39Then Jesus gave the following illustration: "What good is it for one blind person to lead another? The first one will fall into a ditch and pull the other down also. 40A student is not greater than the teacher. But the student who works hard will become like the teacher.
41"And why worry about a speck in your friend's eye F30 when you have a log in your own? 42How can you think of saying, 'Friend, F31 let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,' when you can't see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log from your own eye; then perhaps you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend's eye.
The Tree and Its Fruit
43"A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. 44A tree is identified by the kind of fruit it produces. Figs never grow on thornbushes or grapes on bramble bushes. 45A good person produces good deeds from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil deeds from an evil heart. Whatever is in your heart determines what you say.
Building on a Solid Foundation
46"So why do you call me 'Lord,' when you won't obey me? 47I will show you what it's like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then obeys me. 48It is like a person who builds a house on a strong foundation laid upon the underlying rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against the house, it stands firm because it is well built. 49But anyone who listens and doesn't obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will crumble into a heap of ruins."
FOOTNOTES:F30: Greek your brother's eye; also in 6:42. F31: Greek Brother.
Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living Translation
~ Lena’s Journalin’~
Is the Lord’s Day of rest also our day of rest? He worked at alll of His work and he rested. We must labor to enter. Not work to obtain our salvation, we are saved, and this is why we’d work. Our faith which is based on the revelation of the wonder of that salvation takes us into the work. The work brings us rest. Ever have a long day’s work and “hit the hay” to snore the night away? A good day’s work, makes for a good night’s sleep. So we labor in the harvest fields of the Lord and we enter His rest. There we find rest for our souls. Struggling in the soul? Enter His work and you’ll find the rest you strive for by working in other places. We do His work, He does ours, it is a miraculous thing this salvation life, a wonder. He is Lord of the rest.
He heals on the day of rest. Like I said, are you struggling with anything? Anything at all. Mental, physical, anything? When we are involved and live in the Day of the Lord, in the Lord’s Day, we have rest and peace. The peace of God is called Shalom, it means wholeness. It means healing for body, mind, and spirit. There is provision for the whole man, when the whole man seeks God’s work first, he’s then enabled to rest from His own works and also his healing or wholeness will be found there. We can search the whole world for ways to be made whole, we can spend all we have for wholeness, but we may as well stop searching elsewhere, because we’ll only truly be made whole in Him and as we work with Him and rest in Him.
Jesus is THE Way, THE Truth, THE Life. That means there are others ways and truths to follow and others ways of living and looking for what we need. If we believe He is The Way, Truth, Life then why do we seek others ways, to rest and for healing? The harvest fields have the treasures in them. All the treasures He needs and we need, they are there. He’s asking, will you go after My treasure as much as you go after the ones you think you’ve seen for yourself? My treasure is found in My fields. The field is the world. the world needs to be saved.
If we’re not out in His fields we’re not able to rest, and we may search but we may not obtain healing. We may get some relief from pain, but not get to the root causes of the ailments.
Notice vs 1-5 says He was in the grain fields with His disciples, then in vs 12, He gathered up those who were with Him and chose 12 to be apostles. The NASV says He chose among them (the disciples) 12, whom He also called apostles. So 12 of the disciples were disciples & apostles.
A disciple is a pupil, a learner, one who is being informed, they’re increasing in knowledge by hearing with habitual application.
An apostle is a representative, a messenger, one who is send out. One of order and appointment.
One must be a disciple before he is entrusted to take the word and teach others. This is the whole vision of God for the earth. That one learns and applies his learning and then teaches others to learn and go do, etc, etc. It’s called reproduction. That grain in that field reproduced itself. There’s reproduction going on all day everyday in some form or another, by disciples of something. How much of it is purposeful kingdom reproduction? Jesus showed us how to live by example in intimate relations with other persons, and reproduce the life of God in those persons who can reproduce that life of God in others too.
What is compassion? It boils down to being desirous of the salvation of another. That no matter who they are or what they’ve done, you go after their soul and do not want them to perish in hell. You love their eternal destiny enough to do some of what it will take to reveal Him to them so they can go where He is and not perish where He is not.
Again hell was not intended for people. I’ve heard people say, “ah, go to hell”, or “we’ll have a party there”, or “see ya when ya get there too”. These jestings are very, very serious, for those who say such things have not even had a glimpse. When one has a glimpse one would never wish it upon even the cruelest of murders. Compassion sees beyond the works of sin and the flesh and says, “Oh God save them from utter darkness and eternal separation from You!” This is what Jesus did for us. He did not judge us, He saved us and we did not deserve it! Even the judgment later on will be based on what He did. Did you receive Him, did you reverence the work of God enough to live for it and die to the works of the flesh while you are here? One work of the flesh is wishing doom on others, on enemies. If we do not forgive others, we will not be forgiven. We know that, it is time to believe it and do it. When we do we will take our judgmental hands off of our enemies and cry out for mercy upon their souls. Maybe, just maybe then they can be saved, when we get out bitter hands off. If we take our hands off judgment and its curses will take their hands off of us. These “hands” may be mental “hands”. That is not a hidden place, for God sees there as well as every where else, and we may think we’re hiding, but we’re not, in fact just about everyone around us can see how bitter we are.
Time to let go, of bitterness and unforgiveness, before it is too late to let go.
Daily Repetitive Verses -
John 17:15 I'm not asking you to take them out of the world but to protect them from the evil one.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Matthew 5 WOW eeee read
Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.
If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.
Matthew 5:1-48
Jesus Teaches the People 1 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a hill and sat down. His followers came to him, 2and he began to teach them, saying:
3 "Those people who know they have great spiritual needs are happy, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
4 Those who are sad now are happy, because God will comfort them.
5 Those who are humble are happy, because the earth will belong to them.
6 Those who want to do right more than anything else are happy, because God will fully satisfy them.
7 Those who show mercy to others are happy, because God will show mercy to them.
8 Those who are pure in their thinking are happy, because they will be with God.
9 Those who work to bring peace are happy, because God will call them his children.
10 Those who are treated badly for doing good are happy, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. 11"People will insult you and hurt you. They will lie and say all kinds of evil things about you because you follow me. But when they do, you will be happy.
12Rejoice and be glad, because you have a great reward waiting for you in heaven. People did the same evil things to the prophets who lived before you. .You Are like Salt and Light 13"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its salty taste, it cannot be made salty again. It is good for nothing, except to be thrown out and walked on. 14"You are the light that gives light to the world. A city that is built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15And people don't hide a light under a bowl. They put it on a lampstand so the light shines for all the people in the house. 16In the same way, you should be a light for other people. Live so that they will see the good things you do and will praise your Father in heaven. The Importance of the Law 17"Don't think that I have come to destroy the law of Moses or the teaching of the prophets. I have not come to destroy them but to bring about what they said. 18I tell you the truth, nothing will disappear from the law until heaven and earth are gone. Not even the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will be lost until everything has happened. 19Whoever refuses to obey any command and teaches other people not to obey that command will be the least important in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys the commands and teaches other people to obey them will be great in the kingdom of heaven. 20I tell you that if you are no more obedient than the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus Teaches About Anger 21"You have heard that it was said to our people long ago, 'You must not murder anyone.F14 Anyone who murders another will be judged.' 22But I tell you, if you are angry with a brother or sister, F15 you will be judged. If you say bad things to a brother or sister, you will be judged by the council. And if you call someone a fool, you will be in danger of the fire of hell. 23"So when you offer your gift to God at the altar, and you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24leave your gift there at the altar. Go and make peace with that person, and then come and offer your gift. 25"If your enemy is taking you to court, become friends quickly, before you go to court. Otherwise, your enemy might turn you over to the judge, and the judge might give you to a guard to put you in jail. 26I tell you the truth, you will not leave there until you have paid everything you owe.
Jesus Teaches About Sexual Sin 27"You have heard that it was said, 'You must not be guilty of adultery.' F16 28But I tell you that if anyone looks at a woman and wants to sin sexually with her, in his mind he has already done that sin with the woman. 29If your right eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away. It is better to lose one part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell. 30If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. Jesus Teaches About Divorce 31"It was also said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a written divorce paper.' F17 32But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife forces her to be guilty of adultery. The only reason for a man to divorce his wife is if she has sexual relations with another man. And anyone who marries that divorced woman is guilty of adultery. Make Promises Carefully 33"You have heard that it was said to our people long ago, 'Don't break your promises, but keep the promises you make to the Lord.' F18 34But I tell you, never swear an oath. Don't swear an oath using the name of heaven, because heaven is God's throne. 35Don't swear an oath using the name of the earth, because the earth belongs to God. Don't swear an oath using the name of Jerusalem, because that is the city of the great King. 36Don't even swear by your own head, because you cannot make one hair on your head become white or black. 37Say only yes if you mean yes, and no if you mean no. If you say more than yes or no, it is from the Evil One. Don't Fight Back 38"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' F19 39But I tell you, don't stand up against an evil person. If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other cheek also. 40If someone wants to sue you in court and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. 41If someone forces you to go with him one mile, go with him two miles. 42If a person asks you for something, give it to him. Don't refuse to give to someone who wants to borrow from you. Love All People 43"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighborF20 and hate your enemies.' 44But I say to you, love your enemies. Pray for those who hurt you. 45If you do this, you will be true children of your Father in heaven. He causes the sun to rise on good people and on evil people, and he sends rain to those who do right and to those who do wrong. 46If you love only the people who love you, you will get no reward. Even the tax collectors do that. 47And if you are nice only to your friends, you are no better than other people. Even those who don't know God are nice to their friends. 48So you must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
FOOTNOTES:F14 You…anyone. - Quotation from Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17.F15 brother…sister - Although the Greek text reads "brother" here and throughout this book, Jesus' words were meant for the entire church, including men and women.F16 'You…adultery.' - Quotation from Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18.F17 'Anyone…divorce paper.' - Quotation from Deuteronomy 24:1.F18 'Don't…Lord.' - This refers to Leviticus 19:12; Numbers 30:2; Deuteronomy 23:21.F19 'An eye…tooth.' - Quotation from Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20; Deuteronomy 19:21.F20 'Love your neighbor' - Quotation from Leviticus 19:18.
Copyright Statement: New Century VersionThe Holy Bible, New Century Version®.Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.
~ Lena’s Journalin’~
Jesus went and sat down (at the right hand of the Father) and His (true) followers come follow Him wherever He goes. He is now far above all principalities and powers and might’s, dominions and names.
Are we there also? Have we followed Him there? The Bible says we are seated with Him. Who is it that takes the seat offered? We do, no one else but us can make the decision to follow Him there and go sit down there. We can also stay here in the lower realm and fight all we fight all alone if we’d like. If we do that we’ve made a choice to be where He is not.
There’s a different perspective there, up there, compared to down here. It’s a kingdom view, rather than a “my world” view.
If/when we get a kingdom view, we’ll see everything differently. Our trials will be like specs of mere dust, because we’ll know the kingdom and the part we have to play while we are assigned here. How else can Jesus say, those who are used, persecuted etc are blessed? He sees the greater kingdom picture.
From the view, we see who we are inside of Him and what we’re here for by seeing ourselves inside of Him.
You are salt and light. In the KJV it says if the salt loses HIS savor. “His”, not “ITS”, but HIS. That means something personal, it is “salt” personified. I looked it up. The characteristic of salt is preservation, one of lasting concord, meaning a lasting agreement, a long lived commitment. Salt makes people thirsty, they season with it for extra flavor and thirst and appetite for more food comes. But if the salt, the man who makes people want more, stops being committed to what people saw in his life that led them to go somewhere and continue there, his life’s influence is of no significance for God’s eternal kingdom. We are the kingdom salt in the earth. We are THE light in someone’s darkness. If we live our faith to ourselves and keep our faith-walk privately hidden then we are not truly walking as lights for the kingdom of God.
Live out loud. Show faith outwardly. Do not hide the light, show it, mistakes, repentance and all. Be visible, continue until the end and beyond. We cannot merely say we believe, we must show our faith by what we do.
Do we have a revelation of hell’s fire? If we are wiling to sin and be separated from God here, we do not. How does one know when they’ll pass away and be done here? How does one know when their last opportunity is up? The time to get right, and be right is now! The Spirit of God knows the times and the hour and knows what we do not know. He is begging us to get right, make it right - Now. Leave the presence of God, the most awesome, peace-giving, awe-inspiring place in the whole universe and go make it right, for the time is now. You could walk out of your place of mental contemplation and your putting off of time and be killed in an instant, with no opportunities left. Why do you think people grieve? The opportunities are gone, they’re over.
People go to hell, which is a place that was never meant for people! Hell was meant for 1/3rd of the evil angles and the devil, that’s it, not people, but people who will not choose life go there everyday, willingly, they contemplate, put off, and die an eternal death.
Do we love God? Yes or no.
Do we love people as He does? Yes or no.
There’s NO in-between.
It is time to love people out of hell’s destination call, before it is too late.
Daily Repetitive Verses -
John 17:15 I'm not asking you to take them out of the world but to protect them from the evil one.
If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.
Matthew 5:1-48
Jesus Teaches the People 1 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a hill and sat down. His followers came to him, 2and he began to teach them, saying:
3 "Those people who know they have great spiritual needs are happy, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
4 Those who are sad now are happy, because God will comfort them.
5 Those who are humble are happy, because the earth will belong to them.
6 Those who want to do right more than anything else are happy, because God will fully satisfy them.
7 Those who show mercy to others are happy, because God will show mercy to them.
8 Those who are pure in their thinking are happy, because they will be with God.
9 Those who work to bring peace are happy, because God will call them his children.
10 Those who are treated badly for doing good are happy, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. 11"People will insult you and hurt you. They will lie and say all kinds of evil things about you because you follow me. But when they do, you will be happy.
12Rejoice and be glad, because you have a great reward waiting for you in heaven. People did the same evil things to the prophets who lived before you. .You Are like Salt and Light 13"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its salty taste, it cannot be made salty again. It is good for nothing, except to be thrown out and walked on. 14"You are the light that gives light to the world. A city that is built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15And people don't hide a light under a bowl. They put it on a lampstand so the light shines for all the people in the house. 16In the same way, you should be a light for other people. Live so that they will see the good things you do and will praise your Father in heaven. The Importance of the Law 17"Don't think that I have come to destroy the law of Moses or the teaching of the prophets. I have not come to destroy them but to bring about what they said. 18I tell you the truth, nothing will disappear from the law until heaven and earth are gone. Not even the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will be lost until everything has happened. 19Whoever refuses to obey any command and teaches other people not to obey that command will be the least important in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys the commands and teaches other people to obey them will be great in the kingdom of heaven. 20I tell you that if you are no more obedient than the teachers of the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus Teaches About Anger 21"You have heard that it was said to our people long ago, 'You must not murder anyone.F14 Anyone who murders another will be judged.' 22But I tell you, if you are angry with a brother or sister, F15 you will be judged. If you say bad things to a brother or sister, you will be judged by the council. And if you call someone a fool, you will be in danger of the fire of hell. 23"So when you offer your gift to God at the altar, and you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24leave your gift there at the altar. Go and make peace with that person, and then come and offer your gift. 25"If your enemy is taking you to court, become friends quickly, before you go to court. Otherwise, your enemy might turn you over to the judge, and the judge might give you to a guard to put you in jail. 26I tell you the truth, you will not leave there until you have paid everything you owe.
Jesus Teaches About Sexual Sin 27"You have heard that it was said, 'You must not be guilty of adultery.' F16 28But I tell you that if anyone looks at a woman and wants to sin sexually with her, in his mind he has already done that sin with the woman. 29If your right eye causes you to sin, take it out and throw it away. It is better to lose one part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell. 30If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. Jesus Teaches About Divorce 31"It was also said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a written divorce paper.' F17 32But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife forces her to be guilty of adultery. The only reason for a man to divorce his wife is if she has sexual relations with another man. And anyone who marries that divorced woman is guilty of adultery. Make Promises Carefully 33"You have heard that it was said to our people long ago, 'Don't break your promises, but keep the promises you make to the Lord.' F18 34But I tell you, never swear an oath. Don't swear an oath using the name of heaven, because heaven is God's throne. 35Don't swear an oath using the name of the earth, because the earth belongs to God. Don't swear an oath using the name of Jerusalem, because that is the city of the great King. 36Don't even swear by your own head, because you cannot make one hair on your head become white or black. 37Say only yes if you mean yes, and no if you mean no. If you say more than yes or no, it is from the Evil One. Don't Fight Back 38"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' F19 39But I tell you, don't stand up against an evil person. If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other cheek also. 40If someone wants to sue you in court and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. 41If someone forces you to go with him one mile, go with him two miles. 42If a person asks you for something, give it to him. Don't refuse to give to someone who wants to borrow from you. Love All People 43"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighborF20 and hate your enemies.' 44But I say to you, love your enemies. Pray for those who hurt you. 45If you do this, you will be true children of your Father in heaven. He causes the sun to rise on good people and on evil people, and he sends rain to those who do right and to those who do wrong. 46If you love only the people who love you, you will get no reward. Even the tax collectors do that. 47And if you are nice only to your friends, you are no better than other people. Even those who don't know God are nice to their friends. 48So you must be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
FOOTNOTES:F14 You…anyone. - Quotation from Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17.F15 brother…sister - Although the Greek text reads "brother" here and throughout this book, Jesus' words were meant for the entire church, including men and women.F16 'You…adultery.' - Quotation from Exodus 20:14; Deuteronomy 5:18.F17 'Anyone…divorce paper.' - Quotation from Deuteronomy 24:1.F18 'Don't…Lord.' - This refers to Leviticus 19:12; Numbers 30:2; Deuteronomy 23:21.F19 'An eye…tooth.' - Quotation from Exodus 21:24; Leviticus 24:20; Deuteronomy 19:21.F20 'Love your neighbor' - Quotation from Leviticus 19:18.
Copyright Statement: New Century VersionThe Holy Bible, New Century Version®.Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.
~ Lena’s Journalin’~
Jesus went and sat down (at the right hand of the Father) and His (true) followers come follow Him wherever He goes. He is now far above all principalities and powers and might’s, dominions and names.
Are we there also? Have we followed Him there? The Bible says we are seated with Him. Who is it that takes the seat offered? We do, no one else but us can make the decision to follow Him there and go sit down there. We can also stay here in the lower realm and fight all we fight all alone if we’d like. If we do that we’ve made a choice to be where He is not.
There’s a different perspective there, up there, compared to down here. It’s a kingdom view, rather than a “my world” view.
If/when we get a kingdom view, we’ll see everything differently. Our trials will be like specs of mere dust, because we’ll know the kingdom and the part we have to play while we are assigned here. How else can Jesus say, those who are used, persecuted etc are blessed? He sees the greater kingdom picture.
From the view, we see who we are inside of Him and what we’re here for by seeing ourselves inside of Him.
You are salt and light. In the KJV it says if the salt loses HIS savor. “His”, not “ITS”, but HIS. That means something personal, it is “salt” personified. I looked it up. The characteristic of salt is preservation, one of lasting concord, meaning a lasting agreement, a long lived commitment. Salt makes people thirsty, they season with it for extra flavor and thirst and appetite for more food comes. But if the salt, the man who makes people want more, stops being committed to what people saw in his life that led them to go somewhere and continue there, his life’s influence is of no significance for God’s eternal kingdom. We are the kingdom salt in the earth. We are THE light in someone’s darkness. If we live our faith to ourselves and keep our faith-walk privately hidden then we are not truly walking as lights for the kingdom of God.
Live out loud. Show faith outwardly. Do not hide the light, show it, mistakes, repentance and all. Be visible, continue until the end and beyond. We cannot merely say we believe, we must show our faith by what we do.
Do we have a revelation of hell’s fire? If we are wiling to sin and be separated from God here, we do not. How does one know when they’ll pass away and be done here? How does one know when their last opportunity is up? The time to get right, and be right is now! The Spirit of God knows the times and the hour and knows what we do not know. He is begging us to get right, make it right - Now. Leave the presence of God, the most awesome, peace-giving, awe-inspiring place in the whole universe and go make it right, for the time is now. You could walk out of your place of mental contemplation and your putting off of time and be killed in an instant, with no opportunities left. Why do you think people grieve? The opportunities are gone, they’re over.
People go to hell, which is a place that was never meant for people! Hell was meant for 1/3rd of the evil angles and the devil, that’s it, not people, but people who will not choose life go there everyday, willingly, they contemplate, put off, and die an eternal death.
Do we love God? Yes or no.
Do we love people as He does? Yes or no.
There’s NO in-between.
It is time to love people out of hell’s destination call, before it is too late.
Daily Repetitive Verses -
John 17:15 I'm not asking you to take them out of the world but to protect them from the evil one.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Mark 11 What do we believe, that is what we do, by faith
Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.
If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.
Mark 11:1-33
The Last Time Jesus Goes To Jerusalem(Matthew 21:1-11; Luke 19:29-44; John 12:12-19)
1Jesus and His followers were near Jerusalem at the Mount of Olives. They were in the towns of Bethphage and Bethany. Jesus sent two of His followers on ahead. 2He said to them, "Go into the town over there. As soon as you get there, you will find a young donkey tied. No man has ever sat on it. Let the donkey loose and bring it here. 3If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing that?' say, 'The Lord needs it. He will send it back again soon.' "
4The two followers went on their way. They found the young donkey tied by the door where two streets crossed. They took the rope off its neck. 5Some men were standing there. They said to the two followers, "Why are you taking the rope off that young donkey?" 6The two followers told them what Jesus had said and the men let them take the donkey. 7They brought it to Jesus and put their coats over it. Jesus sat on the donkey. 8Many people put their clothes down on the road. Others cut branches off the trees and put them down on the road. 9Those who went in front and those who followed spoke with loud voices,
"Greatest One! Great and honored is He Who comes in the name of the Lord! 10Great is the coming holy nation of our father David. It will come in the name of the Lord, Greatest One in the highest heaven."
11Jesus came to Jerusalem and went into the house of God. He looked around at everything. Then He went with the twelve followers to the town of Bethany because it was late.
The Fig Tree With No Fruit
12They came from Bethany the next morning. Jesus was hungry. 13Along the road He saw a fig tree with leaves on it. He went over to see if it had any fruit. He saw nothing but leaves. It was not the right time for figs. 14Jesus said to the tree, "Let no one ever again eat fruit from you." His followers heard Him say it.
Jesus Stops The Buying And The Selling In The House Of God(Matthew 21:12-17; Luke 19:45-48; John 2:13-17)
15Then they came to Jerusalem. Jesus went into the house of God. He began to make the people leave who were selling and buying in the house of God. He turned over the tables of the men who changed money. He turned over the seats of those who sold doves. 16He would not allow anyone to carry a pot or pan through the house of God. 17He taught them saying, "Is it not written, 'My house is to be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? You have made it a place of robbers."
18The teachers of the Law and the religious leaders of the Jews heard it. They tried to find some way to put Jesus to death. But they were afraid of Him because all the people were surprised and wondered about His teaching. 19When evening came, Jesus and His followers went out of the city.
The Fig Tree Dries Up(Matthew 21:18-22)
20In the morning they passed by the fig tree. They saw it was dried up from the roots. 21Peter remembered what had happened the day before and said to Jesus, "Teacher, see! The fig tree which You spoke to has dried up!" 22Jesus said to them, "Have faith in God. 23For sure, I tell you, a person may say to this mountain, 'Move from here into the sea.' And if he does not doubt, but believes that what he says will be done, it will happen. 24Because of this, I say to you, whatever you ask for when you pray, have faith that you will receive it. Then you will get it. 25When you stand to pray, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him. Then your Father in heaven will forgive your sins also. 26*If you do not forgive them their sins, your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins."
27They came again to Jerusalem. Jesus was walking around in the house of God. The religious leaders and the teachers of the Law and other leaders came to Him. 28They asked, "How do You have the right and the power to do these things? Who gave You the right and the power to do them?" 29Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one thing also. If you tell Me, then I will tell you by what right and power I do these things. 30Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men? Tell Me." 31They talked among themselves. They said, "If we say from heaven, He will say, 'Why did you not believe him?' 32But how can we say, 'From men'?" They were afraid of the people because everyone believed that John was one who spoke for God. 33So they said, "We do not know." Then Jesus said, "Then I will not tell you by what right and power I do these things."
Copyright Statement: New Life Bible
~ Lena’s Journalin’~
Bethphage means, house of unripe figs, house in need of restoration. Household, as in “abode”, place of shelter from light and darkness, an organized family, a home, or a prison, dungeon and even an army.
Bethany means, house of dates or misery. On the east side of the Jordan. Jordan is symbolic of humility- time to get off of your high horse, “eastward” is symbolic of beforehand, before crossing over, before the change, before the encounter or confrontation.
Bethany was just before the mountain of Olives. Olives are fruit with expected by-products produced through a processing, a squeezing, a pressing, to bring forth a desired end.
Change can seem like a mountain before us. We need change, others around us need change, or at least we desire their change, yet it seems impossible in coming. “You know, we’ve lived this way as long as we can remember it”, right?
So there’s a need identified, and now that we see it clearly, we see it is in ill repair, needs fixing, but when we really consider the fix, we begin to feel it is too big for us to even blow at. There is an answer.
Jesus and His followers were near Jerusalem at this mountain looking at and being what it’ll take to get over or move the mountain.
Jerusalem means, city of peace, abode of peace. Doesn’t that sound the opposite of Bethphage? Yes it does and it opposes it on purpose, so that we’d see the desired end of the process. There is a way for change and it is God’s way. If we really truly need and want that change we’ll go that way, walk that path, His path. For he is The Answer.
They were in need of restoration, they were abiding in misery right now, but at least they are headed towards peace, if they’ll followed and obey the Prince of Peace.
This is the same for us. Many of us find Jesus is the Way, because we are in such a place of the need of repair. Praise God we are miserable enough to finally come to Him before we die, or perish eternally. Now that we’ve come for some help. He can speak with us, see how serious we really are about the need for a real life change, and set us accordingly on a course of discipline so we won’t return to misery and so we can also be discipled to help others out of theirs.
The rebellion has to first be dealt with, out of rebellion must come praise. We must first in gratefulness acknowledge who Christ is, that He is God! We must state He is our answer. That is the very beginning of the repair, the confession of faith. When we acknowledge Him for who He is, we’ll turn rebellion into obedient action, with no problem, we do want the answer, which is not a concept or idea, but a person, the person God, in Jesus Christ. We believe and receive Him as THE Answer to everything for all of our days. That confess will be proven with purposeful action.
After we meet Him as our Answer and leave our eternal misery behind we’re gonna find out something amazing, God is hungry and He is looking for someone in the earth who is willing to make some dinner for Him. He’s looking for someone who will be dinner for Him!
What in the world? Yep, “be dinner”.
Did He not say, “I Am The Bread of Life”?
So, we want to be Christians? Or is it we just wanted temporary relief?
If we really want to become Christians, what does that make us? Bread for nations. Do you realize being a “Christian” does not mean you believe in God? Or Christ? It means you live and act like Christ. In fact the Christians were first labeled “Christians” not by their own selves, but by others who had seen what they did and said. They looked and acted like Christ, thus they were Christians.
If a person goes to church Sundays, prays memorized prayers before eating and at bedtime, is kind, doesn’t steal or cheat, and says they love God, they could very well be a tree with leaves but no fruit? What makes the difference between a tree with or without fruit?
Are you feeding someone of the will of the Father? Are you feeding God, whenever He comes by and wants something, do you give it to Him? Do you have it to give to Him? How many times can God come to your house and ask for some food from you, expecting to receive some?
Jesus said the kind of food God wants shows up in the form of those who do what He wants done. One BIG thing He wants done is to save people from going to hell. He said go preach and save them, then get them rescued from the east side of the Jordan, dip them in as they cross over to the other side, leaving their old lives behind, get them fueled up for the journey, My journey with My spirit alive and activated in their life. Then make them disciples so more help can be had to do that same action of faith over and over again till all are saved or at least have the opportunity to be saved, by good regular example. Because those who love Him and obey Him are interested in Him being filled full (of glory and honor and praise). They love to feed Him, by doing His will, they know His will is for none to perish, but all to come to repentance.
Jesus goes from houses of misery, making offers for them to see there is an answer in forsaking the rebellion and following after Him and He comes to the House of God, the house of His Father. What does He find, but perversion? Misunderstandings and misinterpretations. His Father wants clear communication. Prayer. His Father is hungry for people who want what He wants. Jesus kicks out the ones who have leaves but no fruit. They are in the House, but not of the House. They are still doing their own thing, not their Father’s will, or are they? It depends on who their father is.
What is robbing the clear communication of the Father and sons, the disciples? Ambition is, greed is, attendance on other things is. Someone is sitting in God’s seat, their will is being accomplished, but His is not.
So now the disciples see that Jesus makes some changes, is showing them how to make some changes too; by faith promoted action, and by declarations of faith. He’s showing them how to come out and bring others out of Bethphage and Bethany. They have to turn their attentions, ambitions, and their passions towards The Father, towards the Father’s will, towards His dwelling place. Change fathers. Rather than just being interested in building their own kingdoms, their desires need to come into alignment with His desires. They have to let a few old things wither up, shrivel up and die. This is the way of true and lasting change. They were trying to eat from a tree of death, so He said, “Let No One ever eat from you (-religion, -death, -unfruitfulness, -dryness, -phoniness) again!” Amen! Notice the religious were always trying to put Jesus to death. He was showing them the way of eternal life was to put man’s organized empowered kingdoms to death.
Do we believe this, would be the question of faith? If we believe it we live it, all else is religion. Saying it is Not good enough and leads to more misery and pain and inability to change.
We cannot say we are “saved” and live for the building of our own kingdoms? Do you know God has kingdoms for us to rule? He does, but we have to become faithful in His first, submit to the rule of His kingdom first. Once we put things in the proper perspective we’ll see His power released in us for further change.
Change will be an action that we participate in through faith in Him, in His words and in His power. It will be released when we engage. We cannot even go through the “right” motions alone, for every action we live out is in and for His kingdom, power and glory. Forgiveness is one of those specific actions, if no forgiveness, no active faith. Forgiveness is giving for someone when they cannot give yet. We give an offering to God for them, in their place, until they can do it themselves. Jesus did that for us, and so by faith we do it too, we’re Christians!
Every action must be an action based on faith. We live by faith, not by sight, yet we must “see” into the spirit realm and perceive with the eyes of faith in order to have faith in Him. To act outside of faith is to be religious. It is sin. Sin again separates us from our communion with God. That separation gets us nowhere, except back on the other side of the Jordan, where we make no progress, bring forth no fruit and must be born-again again.
Daily Repetitive Verses -
John 17:15 I'm not asking you to take them out of the world but to protect them from the evil one.
If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.
Mark 11:1-33
The Last Time Jesus Goes To Jerusalem(Matthew 21:1-11; Luke 19:29-44; John 12:12-19)
1Jesus and His followers were near Jerusalem at the Mount of Olives. They were in the towns of Bethphage and Bethany. Jesus sent two of His followers on ahead. 2He said to them, "Go into the town over there. As soon as you get there, you will find a young donkey tied. No man has ever sat on it. Let the donkey loose and bring it here. 3If anyone asks you, 'Why are you doing that?' say, 'The Lord needs it. He will send it back again soon.' "
4The two followers went on their way. They found the young donkey tied by the door where two streets crossed. They took the rope off its neck. 5Some men were standing there. They said to the two followers, "Why are you taking the rope off that young donkey?" 6The two followers told them what Jesus had said and the men let them take the donkey. 7They brought it to Jesus and put their coats over it. Jesus sat on the donkey. 8Many people put their clothes down on the road. Others cut branches off the trees and put them down on the road. 9Those who went in front and those who followed spoke with loud voices,
"Greatest One! Great and honored is He Who comes in the name of the Lord! 10Great is the coming holy nation of our father David. It will come in the name of the Lord, Greatest One in the highest heaven."
11Jesus came to Jerusalem and went into the house of God. He looked around at everything. Then He went with the twelve followers to the town of Bethany because it was late.
The Fig Tree With No Fruit
12They came from Bethany the next morning. Jesus was hungry. 13Along the road He saw a fig tree with leaves on it. He went over to see if it had any fruit. He saw nothing but leaves. It was not the right time for figs. 14Jesus said to the tree, "Let no one ever again eat fruit from you." His followers heard Him say it.
Jesus Stops The Buying And The Selling In The House Of God(Matthew 21:12-17; Luke 19:45-48; John 2:13-17)
15Then they came to Jerusalem. Jesus went into the house of God. He began to make the people leave who were selling and buying in the house of God. He turned over the tables of the men who changed money. He turned over the seats of those who sold doves. 16He would not allow anyone to carry a pot or pan through the house of God. 17He taught them saying, "Is it not written, 'My house is to be called a house of prayer for all the nations'? You have made it a place of robbers."
18The teachers of the Law and the religious leaders of the Jews heard it. They tried to find some way to put Jesus to death. But they were afraid of Him because all the people were surprised and wondered about His teaching. 19When evening came, Jesus and His followers went out of the city.
The Fig Tree Dries Up(Matthew 21:18-22)
20In the morning they passed by the fig tree. They saw it was dried up from the roots. 21Peter remembered what had happened the day before and said to Jesus, "Teacher, see! The fig tree which You spoke to has dried up!" 22Jesus said to them, "Have faith in God. 23For sure, I tell you, a person may say to this mountain, 'Move from here into the sea.' And if he does not doubt, but believes that what he says will be done, it will happen. 24Because of this, I say to you, whatever you ask for when you pray, have faith that you will receive it. Then you will get it. 25When you stand to pray, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him. Then your Father in heaven will forgive your sins also. 26*If you do not forgive them their sins, your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins."
27They came again to Jerusalem. Jesus was walking around in the house of God. The religious leaders and the teachers of the Law and other leaders came to Him. 28They asked, "How do You have the right and the power to do these things? Who gave You the right and the power to do them?" 29Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one thing also. If you tell Me, then I will tell you by what right and power I do these things. 30Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men? Tell Me." 31They talked among themselves. They said, "If we say from heaven, He will say, 'Why did you not believe him?' 32But how can we say, 'From men'?" They were afraid of the people because everyone believed that John was one who spoke for God. 33So they said, "We do not know." Then Jesus said, "Then I will not tell you by what right and power I do these things."
Copyright Statement: New Life Bible
~ Lena’s Journalin’~
Bethphage means, house of unripe figs, house in need of restoration. Household, as in “abode”, place of shelter from light and darkness, an organized family, a home, or a prison, dungeon and even an army.
Bethany means, house of dates or misery. On the east side of the Jordan. Jordan is symbolic of humility- time to get off of your high horse, “eastward” is symbolic of beforehand, before crossing over, before the change, before the encounter or confrontation.
Bethany was just before the mountain of Olives. Olives are fruit with expected by-products produced through a processing, a squeezing, a pressing, to bring forth a desired end.
Change can seem like a mountain before us. We need change, others around us need change, or at least we desire their change, yet it seems impossible in coming. “You know, we’ve lived this way as long as we can remember it”, right?
So there’s a need identified, and now that we see it clearly, we see it is in ill repair, needs fixing, but when we really consider the fix, we begin to feel it is too big for us to even blow at. There is an answer.
Jesus and His followers were near Jerusalem at this mountain looking at and being what it’ll take to get over or move the mountain.
Jerusalem means, city of peace, abode of peace. Doesn’t that sound the opposite of Bethphage? Yes it does and it opposes it on purpose, so that we’d see the desired end of the process. There is a way for change and it is God’s way. If we really truly need and want that change we’ll go that way, walk that path, His path. For he is The Answer.
They were in need of restoration, they were abiding in misery right now, but at least they are headed towards peace, if they’ll followed and obey the Prince of Peace.
This is the same for us. Many of us find Jesus is the Way, because we are in such a place of the need of repair. Praise God we are miserable enough to finally come to Him before we die, or perish eternally. Now that we’ve come for some help. He can speak with us, see how serious we really are about the need for a real life change, and set us accordingly on a course of discipline so we won’t return to misery and so we can also be discipled to help others out of theirs.
The rebellion has to first be dealt with, out of rebellion must come praise. We must first in gratefulness acknowledge who Christ is, that He is God! We must state He is our answer. That is the very beginning of the repair, the confession of faith. When we acknowledge Him for who He is, we’ll turn rebellion into obedient action, with no problem, we do want the answer, which is not a concept or idea, but a person, the person God, in Jesus Christ. We believe and receive Him as THE Answer to everything for all of our days. That confess will be proven with purposeful action.
After we meet Him as our Answer and leave our eternal misery behind we’re gonna find out something amazing, God is hungry and He is looking for someone in the earth who is willing to make some dinner for Him. He’s looking for someone who will be dinner for Him!
What in the world? Yep, “be dinner”.
Did He not say, “I Am The Bread of Life”?
So, we want to be Christians? Or is it we just wanted temporary relief?
If we really want to become Christians, what does that make us? Bread for nations. Do you realize being a “Christian” does not mean you believe in God? Or Christ? It means you live and act like Christ. In fact the Christians were first labeled “Christians” not by their own selves, but by others who had seen what they did and said. They looked and acted like Christ, thus they were Christians.
If a person goes to church Sundays, prays memorized prayers before eating and at bedtime, is kind, doesn’t steal or cheat, and says they love God, they could very well be a tree with leaves but no fruit? What makes the difference between a tree with or without fruit?
Are you feeding someone of the will of the Father? Are you feeding God, whenever He comes by and wants something, do you give it to Him? Do you have it to give to Him? How many times can God come to your house and ask for some food from you, expecting to receive some?
Jesus said the kind of food God wants shows up in the form of those who do what He wants done. One BIG thing He wants done is to save people from going to hell. He said go preach and save them, then get them rescued from the east side of the Jordan, dip them in as they cross over to the other side, leaving their old lives behind, get them fueled up for the journey, My journey with My spirit alive and activated in their life. Then make them disciples so more help can be had to do that same action of faith over and over again till all are saved or at least have the opportunity to be saved, by good regular example. Because those who love Him and obey Him are interested in Him being filled full (of glory and honor and praise). They love to feed Him, by doing His will, they know His will is for none to perish, but all to come to repentance.
Jesus goes from houses of misery, making offers for them to see there is an answer in forsaking the rebellion and following after Him and He comes to the House of God, the house of His Father. What does He find, but perversion? Misunderstandings and misinterpretations. His Father wants clear communication. Prayer. His Father is hungry for people who want what He wants. Jesus kicks out the ones who have leaves but no fruit. They are in the House, but not of the House. They are still doing their own thing, not their Father’s will, or are they? It depends on who their father is.
What is robbing the clear communication of the Father and sons, the disciples? Ambition is, greed is, attendance on other things is. Someone is sitting in God’s seat, their will is being accomplished, but His is not.
So now the disciples see that Jesus makes some changes, is showing them how to make some changes too; by faith promoted action, and by declarations of faith. He’s showing them how to come out and bring others out of Bethphage and Bethany. They have to turn their attentions, ambitions, and their passions towards The Father, towards the Father’s will, towards His dwelling place. Change fathers. Rather than just being interested in building their own kingdoms, their desires need to come into alignment with His desires. They have to let a few old things wither up, shrivel up and die. This is the way of true and lasting change. They were trying to eat from a tree of death, so He said, “Let No One ever eat from you (-religion, -death, -unfruitfulness, -dryness, -phoniness) again!” Amen! Notice the religious were always trying to put Jesus to death. He was showing them the way of eternal life was to put man’s organized empowered kingdoms to death.
Do we believe this, would be the question of faith? If we believe it we live it, all else is religion. Saying it is Not good enough and leads to more misery and pain and inability to change.
We cannot say we are “saved” and live for the building of our own kingdoms? Do you know God has kingdoms for us to rule? He does, but we have to become faithful in His first, submit to the rule of His kingdom first. Once we put things in the proper perspective we’ll see His power released in us for further change.
Change will be an action that we participate in through faith in Him, in His words and in His power. It will be released when we engage. We cannot even go through the “right” motions alone, for every action we live out is in and for His kingdom, power and glory. Forgiveness is one of those specific actions, if no forgiveness, no active faith. Forgiveness is giving for someone when they cannot give yet. We give an offering to God for them, in their place, until they can do it themselves. Jesus did that for us, and so by faith we do it too, we’re Christians!
Every action must be an action based on faith. We live by faith, not by sight, yet we must “see” into the spirit realm and perceive with the eyes of faith in order to have faith in Him. To act outside of faith is to be religious. It is sin. Sin again separates us from our communion with God. That separation gets us nowhere, except back on the other side of the Jordan, where we make no progress, bring forth no fruit and must be born-again again.
Daily Repetitive Verses -
John 17:15 I'm not asking you to take them out of the world but to protect them from the evil one.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Matt 21 Have we made the proper approach
Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.
If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.
Matthew 21:1-46 -
The Triumphal Entry
1As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. 2"Go into the village over there," he said, "and you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them here. 3If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, 'The Lord needs them,' and he will immediately send them." 4This was done to fulfill the prophecy,
5 "Tell the people of Israel, F109 'Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey— even on a donkey's colt.'" F110
6The two disciples did as Jesus said. 7They brought the animals to him and threw their garments over the colt, and he sat on it. F111
8Most of the crowd spread their coats on the road ahead of Jesus, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9He was in the center of the procession, and the crowds all around him were shouting,
"Praise God F112 for the Son of David! Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God in highest heaven!" F113
10The entire city of Jerusalem was stirred as he entered. "Who is this?" they asked.
11And the crowds replied, "It's Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."
Jesus Clears the Temple
12Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the merchants and their customers. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the stalls of those selling doves. 13He said, "The Scriptures declare, 'My Temple will be called a place of prayer,' but you have turned it into a den of thieves!" F114
14The blind and the lame came to him, and he healed them there in the Temple. 15The leading priests and the teachers of religious law saw these wonderful miracles and heard even the little children in the Temple shouting, "Praise God for the Son of David." But they were indignant 16and asked Jesus, "Do you hear what these children are saying?" "Yes," Jesus replied. "Haven't you ever read the Scriptures? For they say, 'You have taught children and infants to give you praise.' F115 " 17Then he returned to Bethany, where he stayed overnight.
Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
18In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry, 19and he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs on it, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" And immediately the fig tree withered up.
20The disciples were amazed when they saw this and asked, "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?"
21Then Jesus told them, "I assure you, if you have faith and don't doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, 'May God lift you up and throw you into the sea,' and it will happen. 22If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
23When Jesus returned to the Temple and began teaching, the leading priests and other leaders came up to him. They demanded, "By whose authority did you drive out the merchants from the Temple? F116 Who gave you such authority?"
24"I'll tell you who gave me the authority to do these things if you answer one question," Jesus replied. 25"Did John's baptism come from heaven or was it merely human?" They talked it over among themselves. "If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn't believe him. 26But if we say it was merely human, we'll be mobbed, because the people think he was a prophet." 27So they finally replied, "We don't know." And Jesus responded, "Then I won't answer your question either.
Story of the Two Sons
28"But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.' 29The son answered, 'No, I won't go,' but later he changed his mind and went anyway. 30Then the father told the other son, 'You go,' and he said, 'Yes, sir, I will.' But he didn't go. 31Which of the two was obeying his father?" They replied, "The first, of course." Then Jesus explained his meaning: "I assure you, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do. 32For John the Baptist came and showed you the way to life, and you didn't believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even when you saw this happening, you refused to turn from your sins and believe him.
Story of the Evil Farmers
33"Now listen to this story. A certain landowner planted a vineyard, built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country. 34At the time of the grape harvest he sent his servants to collect his share of the crop. 35But the farmers grabbed his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. 36So the landowner sent a larger group of his servants to collect for him, but the results were the same.
37"Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking, 'Surely they will respect my son.'
38"But when the farmers saw his son coming, they said to one another, 'Here comes the heir to this estate. Come on, let's kill him and get the estate for ourselves!' 39So they grabbed him, took him out of the vineyard, and murdered him.
40"When the owner of the vineyard returns," Jesus asked, "what do you think he will do to those farmers?"
41The religious leaders replied, "He will put the wicked men to a horrible death and lease the vineyard to others who will give him his share of the crop after each harvest."
42Then Jesus asked them, "Didn't you ever read this in the Scriptures?
'The stone rejected by the builders has now become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous to see.' F117
43What I mean is that the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit. 44Anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls. F118 "
45When the leading priests and Pharisees heard Jesus, they realized he was pointing at them—that they were the farmers in his story. 46They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid to try because the crowds considered Jesus to be a prophet.
FOOTNOTES:F109: Greek Tell the daughter of Zion. Isa 62:11. F110: Zech 9:9. F111: Greek over them, and he sat on them. F112: Greek Hosanna, an exclamation of praise that literally means "save now"; also in 21:9b, 15. F113: Pss 118:25-26; 148:1. F114: Isa 56:7; Jer 7:11. F115: Ps 8:2. F116: Or By whose authority do you do these things? F117: Ps 118:22-23. F118: This verse is omitted in some early manuscripts.
Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living Translation
~ Lena’s Journalin’~
When we ask something of God in prayer, why do we ask?
Do we ask because we hope he’ll want us to have what we want to have?
Do we hope he’ll like us enough to give us what we want?
Do we hope he’ll even hear us?
Are we just thinking aloud?
Why do we ask?
Do we believe in Him?
In His word?
If we ask and when we ask, we must ask in faith.
For the longest time, I wondered why we “have” to talk to God a certain way. Ya know so many people teach and tell us how to pray and also when you are around a fellowship of believers they often correct your words and help you speak a different way, different than you usually think to speak on your own.
They say things like, “When you approach God, say”, “…”, or they’ll say something like, “God doesn’t even hear those prayers”.
I used to wonder why we couldn’t just speak with God as though He was our buddy and longtime friend and vent on Him and complain and murmur and blow smoke and just about say anything to Him we want, etc.
Then lately I believe He began to show me answers. First off He is God! Do we believe in God? I’m talking Almighty Creator of the whole entire World and the Universe! Yeah- God! Secondly, he’s King, like King of Kings. He knows absolutely everything and is trying to teach us a few things if we are willing to listen. We DO NOT need to vent, we need answers and change. He needs people, to change the world. he needs us to change ours. Venting changes nothing, nothing at all. It only makes me feel ok for brief moments as I’ve blown off some steam, but God needed that steam to accomplish a few things where His will is concerned and wanted to use my energy to do it. he wanted to change my complaint in to a realization of who He is, to turn and look to Him for the answers only He could give, and then do something about it!
Do you remember the story of Esther? (There’s a movie out right now called “One Night with the King”, might be a good one to see). Well Esther became queen. I mean she was the King’s wife, she slept in His bed, talk about buddy-buddy, that’s a bit closer than friends. They were intimate- when he called for her. She had a need, she had a plan, she had a desire and she needed the execution of His will concerning it. She had to pray for the favor of God and then had to walk out a plan to approach the earthly king. Her favor with God allotted her a place in the throne room.
Our favor with Jesus, and our faith in the power of His shed blood allots us a place in the throne room. If Esther was somehow not right with the king, if she wanted the approach to be successful, she’d have to do something different than she was to make things right before the approach.
This is the same way with us and our King. We cannot just storm in and vent! This is God, yes he’s our Father, but only because of the Son and a living active faith in the Son. Also because we have a regular relationship with Him through Jesus, we must maintain our love-walk and our good standing. If we mess up, we can repair through faith, but faith is the way.
Even earthly kings have a way of approach and a weeding through the red tape to get an appointment. We have a continual approach and appointment with our Father through faith in Jesus Christ. Not a one time, “Ah yeah, I believe in God”, but a life that is willing to be cleansed from unrighteousness - daily. A life that is willing to live being daily led by the blood of Jesus and be a demonstrator of its power! A life willing to change to gain more and more favor with God and become an influencer of men for their King. This means change how I speak, change my thoughts and words to faith-filled words. Become who He is to be where He is.
Not use God as a venting station, but saving energy for fervency in the spirit.
Ok, so your Aunt Tilly gets a bad report from the Dr. You are sad about the report, you cry, you say I can’t believe she got this report, man! Now you worry, worry, worry all day long, all week long. Now you tell God how sad and worried you are. He is NOT hearing it and it is not changing the report.
Ok, your child gets in trouble, gets in a fight at school is suspended. You are mad, angry. He tells you the story and you feel he’s been treated unfairly, now you’re really mad. You call people, tell them about the story, tell the parent of the other kids, tell the teacher, tell the principle, tell the coach, now you tell God how mad you are. He didn’t hear any of it, and not one of those things you did changed the situation at all.
Your spouse is hurting you emotionally, he’s getting on your nerves, he’s so unfair, does not help you at all, the he makes you sad, mad, angry, tired. Everyday you talk to God about it. You tell Him how hurt you are, how sad, and how mad he makes you and how nothing ever seems to get better. The enemy hears you in all of this “venting” and knows exactly where to push your buttons next time, though God did not hear any of it. That’s the truth. Love will tell you the truth, because the truth is the only way to freedom.
None of the above even skimmed through any of the requirements of making the approach of help to God.
Thanksgiving is the first approach to His presence. In what part of any of the above did we give thanks?
When we give thinks in (not for) all things, we are only beginning to come into His presence. Now that we’ve come into His presence the way to stay there long enough to be inside of the place of help is to praise. Praise is how we open up the next gate. If we’ve not given thanks or praised where are we? Outside of God’s presence, and He doesn’t hear us outside where murmuring and complaining occur. He doesn’t live out there. Out there no changes will be made, and no help is available. Yet if we do not approach the right way, we stay outside. If we really want and need help and change, we must go inside and stay inside until.
We have a saying- “Pray Until Something Happens”. P.U.S.H.
That does not mean beg until something happens, or complain until something happens, or cry until something happens.
It means, to make the approaches properly and stay in the presence, do what it takes, say what is required the way He requires it, and stay THERE until something happens!
That means ditch the crying, wishing, begging, complaining, venting etc. Leave it outside the door and if and when you come out again, let it burn on the altar! Don’t pick it up. If we live this way, we can take the presence with us.
The veil was rent in two, so we could go in and God could come out, too.
Daily Repetitive Verses -
John 17:15 I'm not asking you to take them out of the world but to protect them from the evil one.
If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.
Matthew 21:1-46 -
The Triumphal Entry
1As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. 2"Go into the village over there," he said, "and you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them here. 3If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, 'The Lord needs them,' and he will immediately send them." 4This was done to fulfill the prophecy,
5 "Tell the people of Israel, F109 'Look, your King is coming to you. He is humble, riding on a donkey— even on a donkey's colt.'" F110
6The two disciples did as Jesus said. 7They brought the animals to him and threw their garments over the colt, and he sat on it. F111
8Most of the crowd spread their coats on the road ahead of Jesus, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9He was in the center of the procession, and the crowds all around him were shouting,
"Praise God F112 for the Son of David! Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God in highest heaven!" F113
10The entire city of Jerusalem was stirred as he entered. "Who is this?" they asked.
11And the crowds replied, "It's Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee."
Jesus Clears the Temple
12Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out the merchants and their customers. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the stalls of those selling doves. 13He said, "The Scriptures declare, 'My Temple will be called a place of prayer,' but you have turned it into a den of thieves!" F114
14The blind and the lame came to him, and he healed them there in the Temple. 15The leading priests and the teachers of religious law saw these wonderful miracles and heard even the little children in the Temple shouting, "Praise God for the Son of David." But they were indignant 16and asked Jesus, "Do you hear what these children are saying?" "Yes," Jesus replied. "Haven't you ever read the Scriptures? For they say, 'You have taught children and infants to give you praise.' F115 " 17Then he returned to Bethany, where he stayed overnight.
Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
18In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry, 19and he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs on it, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" And immediately the fig tree withered up.
20The disciples were amazed when they saw this and asked, "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?"
21Then Jesus told them, "I assure you, if you have faith and don't doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, 'May God lift you up and throw you into the sea,' and it will happen. 22If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
23When Jesus returned to the Temple and began teaching, the leading priests and other leaders came up to him. They demanded, "By whose authority did you drive out the merchants from the Temple? F116 Who gave you such authority?"
24"I'll tell you who gave me the authority to do these things if you answer one question," Jesus replied. 25"Did John's baptism come from heaven or was it merely human?" They talked it over among themselves. "If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn't believe him. 26But if we say it was merely human, we'll be mobbed, because the people think he was a prophet." 27So they finally replied, "We don't know." And Jesus responded, "Then I won't answer your question either.
Story of the Two Sons
28"But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.' 29The son answered, 'No, I won't go,' but later he changed his mind and went anyway. 30Then the father told the other son, 'You go,' and he said, 'Yes, sir, I will.' But he didn't go. 31Which of the two was obeying his father?" They replied, "The first, of course." Then Jesus explained his meaning: "I assure you, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do. 32For John the Baptist came and showed you the way to life, and you didn't believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even when you saw this happening, you refused to turn from your sins and believe him.
Story of the Evil Farmers
33"Now listen to this story. A certain landowner planted a vineyard, built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country. 34At the time of the grape harvest he sent his servants to collect his share of the crop. 35But the farmers grabbed his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. 36So the landowner sent a larger group of his servants to collect for him, but the results were the same.
37"Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking, 'Surely they will respect my son.'
38"But when the farmers saw his son coming, they said to one another, 'Here comes the heir to this estate. Come on, let's kill him and get the estate for ourselves!' 39So they grabbed him, took him out of the vineyard, and murdered him.
40"When the owner of the vineyard returns," Jesus asked, "what do you think he will do to those farmers?"
41The religious leaders replied, "He will put the wicked men to a horrible death and lease the vineyard to others who will give him his share of the crop after each harvest."
42Then Jesus asked them, "Didn't you ever read this in the Scriptures?
'The stone rejected by the builders has now become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous to see.' F117
43What I mean is that the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit. 44Anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls. F118 "
45When the leading priests and Pharisees heard Jesus, they realized he was pointing at them—that they were the farmers in his story. 46They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid to try because the crowds considered Jesus to be a prophet.
FOOTNOTES:F109: Greek Tell the daughter of Zion. Isa 62:11. F110: Zech 9:9. F111: Greek over them, and he sat on them. F112: Greek Hosanna, an exclamation of praise that literally means "save now"; also in 21:9b, 15. F113: Pss 118:25-26; 148:1. F114: Isa 56:7; Jer 7:11. F115: Ps 8:2. F116: Or By whose authority do you do these things? F117: Ps 118:22-23. F118: This verse is omitted in some early manuscripts.
Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living Translation
~ Lena’s Journalin’~
When we ask something of God in prayer, why do we ask?
Do we ask because we hope he’ll want us to have what we want to have?
Do we hope he’ll like us enough to give us what we want?
Do we hope he’ll even hear us?
Are we just thinking aloud?
Why do we ask?
Do we believe in Him?
In His word?
If we ask and when we ask, we must ask in faith.
For the longest time, I wondered why we “have” to talk to God a certain way. Ya know so many people teach and tell us how to pray and also when you are around a fellowship of believers they often correct your words and help you speak a different way, different than you usually think to speak on your own.
They say things like, “When you approach God, say”, “…”, or they’ll say something like, “God doesn’t even hear those prayers”.
I used to wonder why we couldn’t just speak with God as though He was our buddy and longtime friend and vent on Him and complain and murmur and blow smoke and just about say anything to Him we want, etc.
Then lately I believe He began to show me answers. First off He is God! Do we believe in God? I’m talking Almighty Creator of the whole entire World and the Universe! Yeah- God! Secondly, he’s King, like King of Kings. He knows absolutely everything and is trying to teach us a few things if we are willing to listen. We DO NOT need to vent, we need answers and change. He needs people, to change the world. he needs us to change ours. Venting changes nothing, nothing at all. It only makes me feel ok for brief moments as I’ve blown off some steam, but God needed that steam to accomplish a few things where His will is concerned and wanted to use my energy to do it. he wanted to change my complaint in to a realization of who He is, to turn and look to Him for the answers only He could give, and then do something about it!
Do you remember the story of Esther? (There’s a movie out right now called “One Night with the King”, might be a good one to see). Well Esther became queen. I mean she was the King’s wife, she slept in His bed, talk about buddy-buddy, that’s a bit closer than friends. They were intimate- when he called for her. She had a need, she had a plan, she had a desire and she needed the execution of His will concerning it. She had to pray for the favor of God and then had to walk out a plan to approach the earthly king. Her favor with God allotted her a place in the throne room.
Our favor with Jesus, and our faith in the power of His shed blood allots us a place in the throne room. If Esther was somehow not right with the king, if she wanted the approach to be successful, she’d have to do something different than she was to make things right before the approach.
This is the same way with us and our King. We cannot just storm in and vent! This is God, yes he’s our Father, but only because of the Son and a living active faith in the Son. Also because we have a regular relationship with Him through Jesus, we must maintain our love-walk and our good standing. If we mess up, we can repair through faith, but faith is the way.
Even earthly kings have a way of approach and a weeding through the red tape to get an appointment. We have a continual approach and appointment with our Father through faith in Jesus Christ. Not a one time, “Ah yeah, I believe in God”, but a life that is willing to be cleansed from unrighteousness - daily. A life that is willing to live being daily led by the blood of Jesus and be a demonstrator of its power! A life willing to change to gain more and more favor with God and become an influencer of men for their King. This means change how I speak, change my thoughts and words to faith-filled words. Become who He is to be where He is.
Not use God as a venting station, but saving energy for fervency in the spirit.
Ok, so your Aunt Tilly gets a bad report from the Dr. You are sad about the report, you cry, you say I can’t believe she got this report, man! Now you worry, worry, worry all day long, all week long. Now you tell God how sad and worried you are. He is NOT hearing it and it is not changing the report.
Ok, your child gets in trouble, gets in a fight at school is suspended. You are mad, angry. He tells you the story and you feel he’s been treated unfairly, now you’re really mad. You call people, tell them about the story, tell the parent of the other kids, tell the teacher, tell the principle, tell the coach, now you tell God how mad you are. He didn’t hear any of it, and not one of those things you did changed the situation at all.
Your spouse is hurting you emotionally, he’s getting on your nerves, he’s so unfair, does not help you at all, the he makes you sad, mad, angry, tired. Everyday you talk to God about it. You tell Him how hurt you are, how sad, and how mad he makes you and how nothing ever seems to get better. The enemy hears you in all of this “venting” and knows exactly where to push your buttons next time, though God did not hear any of it. That’s the truth. Love will tell you the truth, because the truth is the only way to freedom.
None of the above even skimmed through any of the requirements of making the approach of help to God.
Thanksgiving is the first approach to His presence. In what part of any of the above did we give thanks?
When we give thinks in (not for) all things, we are only beginning to come into His presence. Now that we’ve come into His presence the way to stay there long enough to be inside of the place of help is to praise. Praise is how we open up the next gate. If we’ve not given thanks or praised where are we? Outside of God’s presence, and He doesn’t hear us outside where murmuring and complaining occur. He doesn’t live out there. Out there no changes will be made, and no help is available. Yet if we do not approach the right way, we stay outside. If we really want and need help and change, we must go inside and stay inside until.
We have a saying- “Pray Until Something Happens”. P.U.S.H.
That does not mean beg until something happens, or complain until something happens, or cry until something happens.
It means, to make the approaches properly and stay in the presence, do what it takes, say what is required the way He requires it, and stay THERE until something happens!
That means ditch the crying, wishing, begging, complaining, venting etc. Leave it outside the door and if and when you come out again, let it burn on the altar! Don’t pick it up. If we live this way, we can take the presence with us.
The veil was rent in two, so we could go in and God could come out, too.
Daily Repetitive Verses -
John 17:15 I'm not asking you to take them out of the world but to protect them from the evil one.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Matthew 17 Do you KNOW Him?
Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.
If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.
Matthew 17:1-27 The Transfiguration
1Six days later Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain. 2As the men watched, Jesus' appearance changed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothing became dazzling white.
3Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus.
4Peter blurted out, "Lord, this is wonderful! If you want me to, I'll make three shrines, F87 one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
5But even as he said it, a bright cloud came over them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with him. Listen to him." 6The disciples were terrified and fell face down on the ground.
7Jesus came over and touched them. "Get up," he said, "don't be afraid." 8And when they looked, they saw only Jesus with them. 9As they descended the mountain, Jesus commanded them, "Don't tell anyone what you have seen until I, the Son of Man, have been raised from the dead."
10His disciples asked, "Why do the teachers of religious law insist that Elijah must return before the Messiah comes F88 ?"
11Jesus replied, "Elijah is indeed coming first to set everything in order. 12But I tell you, he has already come, but he wasn't recognized, and he was badly mistreated. And soon the Son of Man will also suffer at their hands." 13Then the disciples realized he had been speaking of John the Baptist.
Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Boy
14When they arrived at the foot of the mountain, a huge crowd was waiting for them. A man came and knelt before Jesus and said, 15"Lord, have mercy on my son, because he has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16So I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn't heal him."
17Jesus replied, "You stubborn, faithless people! How long must I be with you until you believe? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me." 18Then Jesus rebuked the demon in the boy, and it left him. From that moment the boy was well.
19Afterward the disciples asked Jesus privately, "Why couldn't we cast out that demon?"
20"You didn't have enough faith," Jesus told them. "I assure you, even if you had faith as small as a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible." F89
Jesus Again Predicts His Death
22One day after they had returned to Galilee, Jesus told them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed. 23He will be killed, but three days later he will be raised from the dead." And the disciples' hearts were filled with grief.
Payment of the Temple Tax
24On their arrival in Capernaum, the tax collectors for the Temple tax came to Peter and asked him, "Doesn't your teacher pay the Temple tax?"
25"Of course he does," Peter replied. Then he went into the house to talk to Jesus about it. But before he had a chance to speak, Jesus asked him, "What do you think, Peter F90 ? Do kings tax their own people or the foreigners they have conquered?"
26"They tax the foreigners," Peter replied. "Well, then," Jesus said, "the citizens are free! 27However, we don't want to offend them, so go down to the lake and throw in a line. Open the mouth of the first fish you catch, and you will find a coin. Take the coin and pay the tax for both of us."
FOOTNOTES:F87: Or shelters; Greek reads tabernacles. F88: Greek that Elijah must come first. F89: Some manuscripts add verse 21, But this kind of demon won't leave unless you have prayed and fasted. F90: Greek Simon.
Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living Translation
~ Lena’s Journalin’~
Not being recognized seems to be a characteristic of God. Those who have the message of salvation are so real, almost no one would really notice, they’re not putting on a show, they’re being who they are. Jesus was a carpenter’s son and those in His town had a hard time listening to His message.
Not recognizing is also a characteristic of the blind. We are given so many opportunities by God to see Him, in the faces, and hear Him in the voices of others. This seeing and hearing is usually offered through His humble and real messengers. It almost seems the more humble and the more real a person is, the less the spiritually blind and deaf hear and see them. Yet those physically blind are actually more acute to hear and those physically deaf are more acute to seeing.
We as disciples must be very wary of pride. Very wary. Pride will bring us into deafness and blindness and what has been from the Lord and is right before our very eyes, may not be seen or heard. One form of pride that shows up, is that we pick and choose who we hear the voice of God from. This is what the people in Jesus’ day did. They decided who was speaking for God in their ears. If it wasn’t who they chose they’d become deaf to that voice. It amazes me that God the Father that day on the mountain said, “Hear Him!”.
That word “hear” means don’t be deaf to His words, it also means, consider with importance what is said. Attend to it, which means go ahead and do something about it, get more understanding of it so you can. Let your ear be pierced by it – as a bond slave who has been freed chooses to stay and has his ear pierced to the doorpost so his blood would be on that house, and in this act he is saying he is one with the household, and with the piercing he then also wore the mark in the form of an earring, which symbolized that he was free to go, but love kept him there to serve anyway. One more definition is “to sit under on purpose, as in to study one who you want to know all about.”
So Father God says to DISCIPLES, hear Him [Jesus].
Do we as modern-day disciples hear Him? How do we hear Him? Through imperfect earthen vessels like John the Baptist or Peter were, we hear through Pastor Fred, Music, our spouses, kids, in-laws…..etc. Those who know they are being used and those who do not even realize they are. That really depends on us, our pride or humility level. How hungry are we to hear Him? If we’re really attentive, as one who sits under a teacher to get every word, we’ll look for His voice, especially in the most unsuspecting places.
God has given us His word as a filter. No matter the vessel or the presentation, we can hear His voice and obey it, as long as it lines up with His words.
Say you are arguing with someone and the discussion gets heated, they are angry with you and they say, “You are so unkind and unloving, you are think of yourself first so often…..” They are totally in the wrong spirit when they say it to you, they are angry and they are sinning by shooting insulting words your way. Or someone told you someone else said it about you and it was gossip, now we all know that’s sin, right? Can or did you hear God’s voice speak? Can you walk away, pray and say, “Ok God speak to me further, you just opened the door, I’ll let You in, say what You may?”
Are you really a willing disciple or do you pick and choose your voice of receptivity? A root word of “disciple” is “discipline”. Can he use whoever is willing to vent, to discipline you?
Can you be more unselfish in nature? Could you ever tune up on your kindness level? What about love, are you yet perfected? And where did those words, love, kindness, unselfishness come from anyway? Galatians 5:22 has a good lot of them all clumped together. They are called the very characteristic of the God-nature, the Divine evidence of a Christian, God’s fruit.
Can we grow more fruit or have our fruits sweeter? There was truth to extract, for those who really desire truth, in even the words of a bad presentation. There’s also another attribute that can be honed in on for the bad presentation, that’s forgiveness.
Time to hit the knees, please. Humbly be arrested before the presence of God. Say, You’re right, I’m wrong”, confess sin, ask for help in fine-tuning and pruning fruit trees, then thank God for the vessel He used to speak His word to you! It could’ve been your “X-whoever”!!!
There are some pinpointed things I see here as I read the definitions of these key Greek words in the part about the boy being released from demonic activity.
The part where Jesus says you are stubborn and faithless. It was not specifically saying there was no faith, but the key is who was the faith in, and was it complete faith, wholeheartedly rooted in their intimate knowledge of the greatness of God? Jesus set Himself apart from the world to know God everyday, to know God’s desires for the day, to know God as Father, not just as written word.
When Jesus said prayer and fasting, He was saying, “Has anything brought you to that place with God where you separate yourself out from everything else you do? Is there anything that had led you to that place where your hunger for Him increases? Or are you sufficient inside of yourself, and just do what you do on your own? Without a consecrated lifestyle and knowing the very heart of God, you’ll never have enough faith to war against the demonic realm and win for the salvation of people. Who are we saving them for anyways? Ourselves, to get a prize, or some kind of brownie points? Or do we go forth to save them, because He wants them saved oh so very badly, and we know that because we know Him and He told us so, and we believe Him and want to do what He says?”
The words “prayer and fasting” can be unified into saying, “coming way”, going specifically to God to build a further trust and living love relationship, them to become so hungry, and consumed with what is on His heart.
The disciples may have been trying what they saw Jesus do. Like, “Hey Guys, lets’ try that too!” That doesn’t cut the mustard.
The bottom line of the workings of the spirit in and through us - Do you know Him? Are you His? Do you know it? Is your heart consumed with love for other people’s freedom? Can you stand to not deliver those who could be His if only they were loosed from their bonds? Does your heart yearn for that? Are you hungry?
Jesus said His meat and drink was to do the will of God. I’ve heard people not eat till they do the will of God, maybe Jesus did that too sometimes.
Give to Caesar what is Caesars and to God what is God’s. He is oh so hungry for His will to be done.
Daily Repetitive Verses -
John 17:15 I'm not asking you to take them out of the world but to protect them from the evil one.
If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.
Matthew 17:1-27 The Transfiguration
1Six days later Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain. 2As the men watched, Jesus' appearance changed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothing became dazzling white.
3Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus.
4Peter blurted out, "Lord, this is wonderful! If you want me to, I'll make three shrines, F87 one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
5But even as he said it, a bright cloud came over them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with him. Listen to him." 6The disciples were terrified and fell face down on the ground.
7Jesus came over and touched them. "Get up," he said, "don't be afraid." 8And when they looked, they saw only Jesus with them. 9As they descended the mountain, Jesus commanded them, "Don't tell anyone what you have seen until I, the Son of Man, have been raised from the dead."
10His disciples asked, "Why do the teachers of religious law insist that Elijah must return before the Messiah comes F88 ?"
11Jesus replied, "Elijah is indeed coming first to set everything in order. 12But I tell you, he has already come, but he wasn't recognized, and he was badly mistreated. And soon the Son of Man will also suffer at their hands." 13Then the disciples realized he had been speaking of John the Baptist.
Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Boy
14When they arrived at the foot of the mountain, a huge crowd was waiting for them. A man came and knelt before Jesus and said, 15"Lord, have mercy on my son, because he has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16So I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn't heal him."
17Jesus replied, "You stubborn, faithless people! How long must I be with you until you believe? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me." 18Then Jesus rebuked the demon in the boy, and it left him. From that moment the boy was well.
19Afterward the disciples asked Jesus privately, "Why couldn't we cast out that demon?"
20"You didn't have enough faith," Jesus told them. "I assure you, even if you had faith as small as a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible." F89
Jesus Again Predicts His Death
22One day after they had returned to Galilee, Jesus told them, "The Son of Man is going to be betrayed. 23He will be killed, but three days later he will be raised from the dead." And the disciples' hearts were filled with grief.
Payment of the Temple Tax
24On their arrival in Capernaum, the tax collectors for the Temple tax came to Peter and asked him, "Doesn't your teacher pay the Temple tax?"
25"Of course he does," Peter replied. Then he went into the house to talk to Jesus about it. But before he had a chance to speak, Jesus asked him, "What do you think, Peter F90 ? Do kings tax their own people or the foreigners they have conquered?"
26"They tax the foreigners," Peter replied. "Well, then," Jesus said, "the citizens are free! 27However, we don't want to offend them, so go down to the lake and throw in a line. Open the mouth of the first fish you catch, and you will find a coin. Take the coin and pay the tax for both of us."
FOOTNOTES:F87: Or shelters; Greek reads tabernacles. F88: Greek that Elijah must come first. F89: Some manuscripts add verse 21, But this kind of demon won't leave unless you have prayed and fasted. F90: Greek Simon.
Copyright Statement: Holy Bible, The New Living Translation
~ Lena’s Journalin’~
Not being recognized seems to be a characteristic of God. Those who have the message of salvation are so real, almost no one would really notice, they’re not putting on a show, they’re being who they are. Jesus was a carpenter’s son and those in His town had a hard time listening to His message.
Not recognizing is also a characteristic of the blind. We are given so many opportunities by God to see Him, in the faces, and hear Him in the voices of others. This seeing and hearing is usually offered through His humble and real messengers. It almost seems the more humble and the more real a person is, the less the spiritually blind and deaf hear and see them. Yet those physically blind are actually more acute to hear and those physically deaf are more acute to seeing.
We as disciples must be very wary of pride. Very wary. Pride will bring us into deafness and blindness and what has been from the Lord and is right before our very eyes, may not be seen or heard. One form of pride that shows up, is that we pick and choose who we hear the voice of God from. This is what the people in Jesus’ day did. They decided who was speaking for God in their ears. If it wasn’t who they chose they’d become deaf to that voice. It amazes me that God the Father that day on the mountain said, “Hear Him!”.
That word “hear” means don’t be deaf to His words, it also means, consider with importance what is said. Attend to it, which means go ahead and do something about it, get more understanding of it so you can. Let your ear be pierced by it – as a bond slave who has been freed chooses to stay and has his ear pierced to the doorpost so his blood would be on that house, and in this act he is saying he is one with the household, and with the piercing he then also wore the mark in the form of an earring, which symbolized that he was free to go, but love kept him there to serve anyway. One more definition is “to sit under on purpose, as in to study one who you want to know all about.”
So Father God says to DISCIPLES, hear Him [Jesus].
Do we as modern-day disciples hear Him? How do we hear Him? Through imperfect earthen vessels like John the Baptist or Peter were, we hear through Pastor Fred, Music, our spouses, kids, in-laws…..etc. Those who know they are being used and those who do not even realize they are. That really depends on us, our pride or humility level. How hungry are we to hear Him? If we’re really attentive, as one who sits under a teacher to get every word, we’ll look for His voice, especially in the most unsuspecting places.
God has given us His word as a filter. No matter the vessel or the presentation, we can hear His voice and obey it, as long as it lines up with His words.
Say you are arguing with someone and the discussion gets heated, they are angry with you and they say, “You are so unkind and unloving, you are think of yourself first so often…..” They are totally in the wrong spirit when they say it to you, they are angry and they are sinning by shooting insulting words your way. Or someone told you someone else said it about you and it was gossip, now we all know that’s sin, right? Can or did you hear God’s voice speak? Can you walk away, pray and say, “Ok God speak to me further, you just opened the door, I’ll let You in, say what You may?”
Are you really a willing disciple or do you pick and choose your voice of receptivity? A root word of “disciple” is “discipline”. Can he use whoever is willing to vent, to discipline you?
Can you be more unselfish in nature? Could you ever tune up on your kindness level? What about love, are you yet perfected? And where did those words, love, kindness, unselfishness come from anyway? Galatians 5:22 has a good lot of them all clumped together. They are called the very characteristic of the God-nature, the Divine evidence of a Christian, God’s fruit.
Can we grow more fruit or have our fruits sweeter? There was truth to extract, for those who really desire truth, in even the words of a bad presentation. There’s also another attribute that can be honed in on for the bad presentation, that’s forgiveness.
Time to hit the knees, please. Humbly be arrested before the presence of God. Say, You’re right, I’m wrong”, confess sin, ask for help in fine-tuning and pruning fruit trees, then thank God for the vessel He used to speak His word to you! It could’ve been your “X-whoever”!!!
There are some pinpointed things I see here as I read the definitions of these key Greek words in the part about the boy being released from demonic activity.
The part where Jesus says you are stubborn and faithless. It was not specifically saying there was no faith, but the key is who was the faith in, and was it complete faith, wholeheartedly rooted in their intimate knowledge of the greatness of God? Jesus set Himself apart from the world to know God everyday, to know God’s desires for the day, to know God as Father, not just as written word.
When Jesus said prayer and fasting, He was saying, “Has anything brought you to that place with God where you separate yourself out from everything else you do? Is there anything that had led you to that place where your hunger for Him increases? Or are you sufficient inside of yourself, and just do what you do on your own? Without a consecrated lifestyle and knowing the very heart of God, you’ll never have enough faith to war against the demonic realm and win for the salvation of people. Who are we saving them for anyways? Ourselves, to get a prize, or some kind of brownie points? Or do we go forth to save them, because He wants them saved oh so very badly, and we know that because we know Him and He told us so, and we believe Him and want to do what He says?”
The words “prayer and fasting” can be unified into saying, “coming way”, going specifically to God to build a further trust and living love relationship, them to become so hungry, and consumed with what is on His heart.
The disciples may have been trying what they saw Jesus do. Like, “Hey Guys, lets’ try that too!” That doesn’t cut the mustard.
The bottom line of the workings of the spirit in and through us - Do you know Him? Are you His? Do you know it? Is your heart consumed with love for other people’s freedom? Can you stand to not deliver those who could be His if only they were loosed from their bonds? Does your heart yearn for that? Are you hungry?
Jesus said His meat and drink was to do the will of God. I’ve heard people not eat till they do the will of God, maybe Jesus did that too sometimes.
Give to Caesar what is Caesars and to God what is God’s. He is oh so hungry for His will to be done.
Daily Repetitive Verses -
John 17:15 I'm not asking you to take them out of the world but to protect them from the evil one.
Friday, October 13, 2006
James 5 Gotta serve somebody- move or stay put?
Scripture selections are taken from the Rock Church Daily Bread Reading schedule for each month. “Lena’s Journalin’” are Lena’s comments on the specific passages from her Daily Journal.
If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.
James 5:1-20
A Warning to the Rich 1 You rich people, listen! Cry and be very sad because of the troubles that are coming to you. 2 Your riches have rotted, and your clothes have been eaten by moths. 3Your gold and silver have rusted, and that rust will be a proof that you were wrong. It will eat your bodies like fire. You saved your treasure for the last days. 4The pay you did not give the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the workers have been heard by the Lord All-Powerful. 5Your life on earth was full of rich living and pleasing yourselves with everything you wanted. You made yourselves fat, like an animal ready to be killed. 6You have judged guilty and then murdered innocent people, who were not against you. Be Patient 7Brothers and sisters, be patient until the Lord comes again. A farmer patiently waits for his valuable crop to grow from the earth and for it to receive the autumn and spring rains. 8You, too, must be patient. Do not give up hope, because the Lord is coming soon. 9Brothers and sisters, do not complain against each other or you will be judged guilty. And the Judge is ready to come! 10Brothers and sisters, follow the example of the prophets who spoke for the Lord. They suffered many hard things, but they were patient. 11We say they are happy because they did not give up. You have heard about Job's patience, and you know the Lord's purpose for him in the end. You know the Lord is full of mercy and is kind. Be Careful What You Say 12My brothers and sisters, above all, do not use an oath when you make a promise. Don't use the name of heaven, earth, or anything else to prove what you say. When you mean yes, say only yes, and when you mean no, say only no so you will not be judged guilty. The Power of Prayer 13Anyone who is having troubles should pray. Anyone who is happy should sing praises. 14Anyone who is sick should call the church's elders. They should pray for and pour oil on the personF7 in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer that is said with faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will heal that person. And if the person has sinned, the sins will be forgiven. 16Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so God can heal you. When a believing person prays, great things happen. 17Elijah was a human being just like us. He prayed that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years! 18Then Elijah prayed again, and the rain came down from the sky, and the land produced crops again. Saving a Soul 19My brothers and sisters, if one of you wanders away from the truth, and someone helps that person come back, 20remember this: Anyone who brings a sinner back from the wrong way will save that sinner's soul from death and will cause many sins to be forgiven.
FOOTNOTES:F8 pour oil on the person - Oil was used in the name of the Lord as a sign that the person was now set apart for God's special attention and care.
Copyright Statement: New Century Version
~ Lena’s Journalin’~
Is it “wrong” to be “rich”? Rich in what? Faith? No.
But, what is your passion in life, what do you put the most energy forth for? What do you give your life and health and strength to and what fills your mind with thoughts continuously? What takes the most of your time or drives you to accomplish in life? Is it for you to make a name for self glorification, does it build your won self worth or does it being ultimate glory to God?
In that lies the determiner of whether riches are “wrong” or not. What do they do to you, or what do you do with them? Do they lead you, guide you, are they possibly the god you serve? Or do they serve you and your God can tell you whatever He’d like for you to do with them? Do you passionately pursue it for your security here, while there is none being stored for the future which is our true life eternal?
We cannot serve two Masters, we’ll love one and hate the other, which is why the love of money is the root of all evil. We cannot serve God and money. Yet we have to serve somebody, don’t we?
I’ve seen over and over again through a few experiences in life, people choose their location to live based on money. Doesn’t that sound logical? Isn’t that how we are/were raised? Isn’t THAT how we provide for our families?
It could be, if we are the one in charge. It all boils down to who do we really trust? I remember the first time I ever heard the message presented that we are placed in cities, towns, areas on the earth as it pleases the Lord, that He assembles us in families about the earth, for equipping and for ministry. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, Acts 17:26
The message I’d heard was brought forth saying, why do you let your job move you around? That was so foreign in thinking to me. I’d never heard anything like it. Was there any other way to think or live?
After living here now 18 years In the same area and going to the same fellowship. I realize more and more of what the man was sharing. A tree who moves from place to place will never get strong enough to withstand any storm, and there’ll not be deep roots, ever. That tree may never bring forth fruit, because it stays in the cycle of transplanting and shock, when it begins to establish itself in new soil it is uprooted again. If you were that tree you may as well just hang there doing nothing until the next digging.
I’ve seen God bless people who move from place to place to place and I’ve seen them be effective in ministries. I’ve also seen people hurt over and over again, by transplants who stay a bit, get established and then go on to the next location, call or venture. There’s s scripture that comes to mind.
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Rom 12
There is a good, acceptable and a perfect will of God. Where do we live? In His grace, by mercy (because we do things requiring it more and more), or in His Divine favor? Do you know God blesses the wills of men too? He likes when someone will give Him anything, he’s thankful takes it, ahh but the joy of the father when a Son wants what the father wants, what the father knows is best. The perfect will of the father.
I’ve also seen how people can’t seem to come to the house of the Lord, because they have to work 1st, or they are too tired from working so hard and so much, or they are storing up enough energy for the next work day because today they felt weak from working so much, all of this for money and more money. Yet the money keeps running away and we never seem to catch up or “get ahead”. God and His house are 2nd at best, money and its pursuit are 1st.
If that person comes, they can give some and come at least on Sundays, but mostly it is to get a fuel up to make it through the week. If anyone asks them to serve at church or help in kingdom ministry work they can’t, and they not only have excuses, but the excuses are real, they have to go serve somebody. It is all a trust and a faith issue. Having to work for money and all of the things it requires us to pay for is the #1 deterrent of growth in faith and commitment to God. I’d say there is a challenge out there for us all.
Who will we serve? If God is God, serve Him. If money is god, serve him, and we do.
I’ve also seen people say ok then I won’t work as much, but they don’t mix their faith with their time or gift offerings to the house of the Lord. It’s almost like the enemy wants to say, go ahead try it, when you fail, you’ll come back this way, to serve my will anyway.
Trust, reliance and Faith without works is dead. If we trust God, we must apply faith and purposeful work to that specified faith act. We must know our promises in the One we trust and rely on, know His word and insist on its blessing on the life of those who give of their lives for His kingdom work.
So I stay here when I could take a new position at a new company in Timbuktu and make more money. I must do that by faith. I must make declarations of faith concerning that decision.
Such as, “God I serve You and Not money, because I believe You provide all of my needs more than any other job ever could. You fill my mind and heart with creative ideas and energy to make money easily, so that I can have time for the things that are important to You first and them also to me. You are important to me, my family is important to me, and my church and the salvation of those in the world around me are important to me. I want to “kill two birds with one stone” as often as I can to conserve time and energy and be able to work my job(s) and Your kingdom at the very same time. Lord, open doors for me to be a witness that people see as genuine. Give me opportunities to meet new people and say just the right things they need to hear that will lead them to You. I want to stay in one location until You send me somewhere else, if You ever do. I believe my pastors and leaders would see me as being ready to be sent out even before I see it, if that’s what You choose to do. I’ll not choose it, for You set people in the body as it pleases You, people like my pastors will see these kinds of moves before I ever do. I belong to a family, I’m a family member. I’m faithful to You, Lord and to people too. I’m planted here through thick and thin and I grow. My roots grow down deep in love. I love Your house, more than even the furnishing and decorating of my own house. I see the work laid out here in Your local house is so extensive and You’ve been waiting to bring its increase through more of my participation here. I see the main reason for having order in my own house is to be hospitable to those who come through, so they can see You more. I believe that the righteous decisions I make to stay put are based on principles of covenant and covenant is solid. There is blessing to covenant keepers, so I call Your provisional blessings to come to my house, my business ventures, my family and all I put my hands to. You are Almighty God and anything I could ever do, any work I could ever do will not compare to what You can do for me. Forgive me for working for myself and not joining into Your work, for being too busy building my own walls and castle dreams and not tending to Yours. I purpose to lay down my life as You laid Yours down for me and my world. I won’t make my own way in life, I make way for You, I deposit my life trust in You and I expect You to take care of everything I and my family will ever need. Show me more of Your ways Lord, teach me Your pathways, and help me stay on track, not looking at what I must do to take care of me and mine, but what can I do to further care for what You care for, and in so doing I give and it shall be given me.” Amen.
Without these kinds of faith-filled prayers our ventures are dead ventures and will not work. Our pastor just preached about faith and said, what is not of faith is sin. We in America, like formulas and obligations and all we’ve gotten from that is religion, another rote obligation. We even like obligation and at least this one is a good obligation, it motivates us to be good.
Now, God is not looking for good works, though He is looking for works of faith! He’s calling us into a passionate driving relationship to move and rock our present world that is crying out for a revolutionary change.
Patience is the proof of trust. If we trust God we have patience. Those who have problems with patience are either very excited or do not trust. If we really see what God has told us and know Him well enough to know He’ll accomplish His word that we stand on and that we will not budge off of, we’ll have no problem “waiting”. This is the tool the enemy uses to get us to quit. If we quit we’ll possibly never see what we originally saw in the spirit and may never attain it either. The staying is for our faith. If we uproot our faith before its time it’ll die and it will not be able to bring forth fruit. Once the enemy sees we are immoveable the battle is about over. Patience is the process of this work. Will you stay or will you quit? Do you really mean it or just wish for it? Wishing doesn’t go anywhere with God nor does it move out of His enemies.
Did you mean what you said when you started this course? Did you mean it when you confessed Jesus as Lord of your life? That means you no longer rule your own life, you were bought by Him with His blood. He paid for you and then you said, yes I want to follow you. That’s a vow, a promise, before God- not men, God.
Yes, yes. No no. Now, as never before, it is a time to make and keep commitments, not contracts, commitments, especially those made in and to the Lord!
Follow through, follow Him. He’ll make you a fisher of men, whether you want to or not. His want to will become yours too.
Sickness comes into opened doors, or are attacks of enemies.
Is there a difference? Illness is not a test from God. The more involved we are in the will of God the more authority we will exercise over it. Pray, Pray, alone, with others, with elders, with oil, Pray.
Daily Repetitive Verses -
John 17:15 I'm not asking you to take them out of the world but to protect them from the evil one.
If the e-mail text you receive is encrypted at all, just scroll down to the end of all of the text and click on Lena’s Journalin’ , which will take you directly to the web-page where you will be able to read the text quite clearly in it’s purposed form.
James 5:1-20
A Warning to the Rich 1 You rich people, listen! Cry and be very sad because of the troubles that are coming to you. 2 Your riches have rotted, and your clothes have been eaten by moths. 3Your gold and silver have rusted, and that rust will be a proof that you were wrong. It will eat your bodies like fire. You saved your treasure for the last days. 4The pay you did not give the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the workers have been heard by the Lord All-Powerful. 5Your life on earth was full of rich living and pleasing yourselves with everything you wanted. You made yourselves fat, like an animal ready to be killed. 6You have judged guilty and then murdered innocent people, who were not against you. Be Patient 7Brothers and sisters, be patient until the Lord comes again. A farmer patiently waits for his valuable crop to grow from the earth and for it to receive the autumn and spring rains. 8You, too, must be patient. Do not give up hope, because the Lord is coming soon. 9Brothers and sisters, do not complain against each other or you will be judged guilty. And the Judge is ready to come! 10Brothers and sisters, follow the example of the prophets who spoke for the Lord. They suffered many hard things, but they were patient. 11We say they are happy because they did not give up. You have heard about Job's patience, and you know the Lord's purpose for him in the end. You know the Lord is full of mercy and is kind. Be Careful What You Say 12My brothers and sisters, above all, do not use an oath when you make a promise. Don't use the name of heaven, earth, or anything else to prove what you say. When you mean yes, say only yes, and when you mean no, say only no so you will not be judged guilty. The Power of Prayer 13Anyone who is having troubles should pray. Anyone who is happy should sing praises. 14Anyone who is sick should call the church's elders. They should pray for and pour oil on the personF7 in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer that is said with faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will heal that person. And if the person has sinned, the sins will be forgiven. 16Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so God can heal you. When a believing person prays, great things happen. 17Elijah was a human being just like us. He prayed that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years! 18Then Elijah prayed again, and the rain came down from the sky, and the land produced crops again. Saving a Soul 19My brothers and sisters, if one of you wanders away from the truth, and someone helps that person come back, 20remember this: Anyone who brings a sinner back from the wrong way will save that sinner's soul from death and will cause many sins to be forgiven.
FOOTNOTES:F8 pour oil on the person - Oil was used in the name of the Lord as a sign that the person was now set apart for God's special attention and care.
Copyright Statement: New Century Version
~ Lena’s Journalin’~
Is it “wrong” to be “rich”? Rich in what? Faith? No.
But, what is your passion in life, what do you put the most energy forth for? What do you give your life and health and strength to and what fills your mind with thoughts continuously? What takes the most of your time or drives you to accomplish in life? Is it for you to make a name for self glorification, does it build your won self worth or does it being ultimate glory to God?
In that lies the determiner of whether riches are “wrong” or not. What do they do to you, or what do you do with them? Do they lead you, guide you, are they possibly the god you serve? Or do they serve you and your God can tell you whatever He’d like for you to do with them? Do you passionately pursue it for your security here, while there is none being stored for the future which is our true life eternal?
We cannot serve two Masters, we’ll love one and hate the other, which is why the love of money is the root of all evil. We cannot serve God and money. Yet we have to serve somebody, don’t we?
I’ve seen over and over again through a few experiences in life, people choose their location to live based on money. Doesn’t that sound logical? Isn’t that how we are/were raised? Isn’t THAT how we provide for our families?
It could be, if we are the one in charge. It all boils down to who do we really trust? I remember the first time I ever heard the message presented that we are placed in cities, towns, areas on the earth as it pleases the Lord, that He assembles us in families about the earth, for equipping and for ministry. And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, Acts 17:26
The message I’d heard was brought forth saying, why do you let your job move you around? That was so foreign in thinking to me. I’d never heard anything like it. Was there any other way to think or live?
After living here now 18 years In the same area and going to the same fellowship. I realize more and more of what the man was sharing. A tree who moves from place to place will never get strong enough to withstand any storm, and there’ll not be deep roots, ever. That tree may never bring forth fruit, because it stays in the cycle of transplanting and shock, when it begins to establish itself in new soil it is uprooted again. If you were that tree you may as well just hang there doing nothing until the next digging.
I’ve seen God bless people who move from place to place to place and I’ve seen them be effective in ministries. I’ve also seen people hurt over and over again, by transplants who stay a bit, get established and then go on to the next location, call or venture. There’s s scripture that comes to mind.
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Rom 12
There is a good, acceptable and a perfect will of God. Where do we live? In His grace, by mercy (because we do things requiring it more and more), or in His Divine favor? Do you know God blesses the wills of men too? He likes when someone will give Him anything, he’s thankful takes it, ahh but the joy of the father when a Son wants what the father wants, what the father knows is best. The perfect will of the father.
I’ve also seen how people can’t seem to come to the house of the Lord, because they have to work 1st, or they are too tired from working so hard and so much, or they are storing up enough energy for the next work day because today they felt weak from working so much, all of this for money and more money. Yet the money keeps running away and we never seem to catch up or “get ahead”. God and His house are 2nd at best, money and its pursuit are 1st.
If that person comes, they can give some and come at least on Sundays, but mostly it is to get a fuel up to make it through the week. If anyone asks them to serve at church or help in kingdom ministry work they can’t, and they not only have excuses, but the excuses are real, they have to go serve somebody. It is all a trust and a faith issue. Having to work for money and all of the things it requires us to pay for is the #1 deterrent of growth in faith and commitment to God. I’d say there is a challenge out there for us all.
Who will we serve? If God is God, serve Him. If money is god, serve him, and we do.
I’ve also seen people say ok then I won’t work as much, but they don’t mix their faith with their time or gift offerings to the house of the Lord. It’s almost like the enemy wants to say, go ahead try it, when you fail, you’ll come back this way, to serve my will anyway.
Trust, reliance and Faith without works is dead. If we trust God, we must apply faith and purposeful work to that specified faith act. We must know our promises in the One we trust and rely on, know His word and insist on its blessing on the life of those who give of their lives for His kingdom work.
So I stay here when I could take a new position at a new company in Timbuktu and make more money. I must do that by faith. I must make declarations of faith concerning that decision.
Such as, “God I serve You and Not money, because I believe You provide all of my needs more than any other job ever could. You fill my mind and heart with creative ideas and energy to make money easily, so that I can have time for the things that are important to You first and them also to me. You are important to me, my family is important to me, and my church and the salvation of those in the world around me are important to me. I want to “kill two birds with one stone” as often as I can to conserve time and energy and be able to work my job(s) and Your kingdom at the very same time. Lord, open doors for me to be a witness that people see as genuine. Give me opportunities to meet new people and say just the right things they need to hear that will lead them to You. I want to stay in one location until You send me somewhere else, if You ever do. I believe my pastors and leaders would see me as being ready to be sent out even before I see it, if that’s what You choose to do. I’ll not choose it, for You set people in the body as it pleases You, people like my pastors will see these kinds of moves before I ever do. I belong to a family, I’m a family member. I’m faithful to You, Lord and to people too. I’m planted here through thick and thin and I grow. My roots grow down deep in love. I love Your house, more than even the furnishing and decorating of my own house. I see the work laid out here in Your local house is so extensive and You’ve been waiting to bring its increase through more of my participation here. I see the main reason for having order in my own house is to be hospitable to those who come through, so they can see You more. I believe that the righteous decisions I make to stay put are based on principles of covenant and covenant is solid. There is blessing to covenant keepers, so I call Your provisional blessings to come to my house, my business ventures, my family and all I put my hands to. You are Almighty God and anything I could ever do, any work I could ever do will not compare to what You can do for me. Forgive me for working for myself and not joining into Your work, for being too busy building my own walls and castle dreams and not tending to Yours. I purpose to lay down my life as You laid Yours down for me and my world. I won’t make my own way in life, I make way for You, I deposit my life trust in You and I expect You to take care of everything I and my family will ever need. Show me more of Your ways Lord, teach me Your pathways, and help me stay on track, not looking at what I must do to take care of me and mine, but what can I do to further care for what You care for, and in so doing I give and it shall be given me.” Amen.
Without these kinds of faith-filled prayers our ventures are dead ventures and will not work. Our pastor just preached about faith and said, what is not of faith is sin. We in America, like formulas and obligations and all we’ve gotten from that is religion, another rote obligation. We even like obligation and at least this one is a good obligation, it motivates us to be good.
Now, God is not looking for good works, though He is looking for works of faith! He’s calling us into a passionate driving relationship to move and rock our present world that is crying out for a revolutionary change.
Patience is the proof of trust. If we trust God we have patience. Those who have problems with patience are either very excited or do not trust. If we really see what God has told us and know Him well enough to know He’ll accomplish His word that we stand on and that we will not budge off of, we’ll have no problem “waiting”. This is the tool the enemy uses to get us to quit. If we quit we’ll possibly never see what we originally saw in the spirit and may never attain it either. The staying is for our faith. If we uproot our faith before its time it’ll die and it will not be able to bring forth fruit. Once the enemy sees we are immoveable the battle is about over. Patience is the process of this work. Will you stay or will you quit? Do you really mean it or just wish for it? Wishing doesn’t go anywhere with God nor does it move out of His enemies.
Did you mean what you said when you started this course? Did you mean it when you confessed Jesus as Lord of your life? That means you no longer rule your own life, you were bought by Him with His blood. He paid for you and then you said, yes I want to follow you. That’s a vow, a promise, before God- not men, God.
Yes, yes. No no. Now, as never before, it is a time to make and keep commitments, not contracts, commitments, especially those made in and to the Lord!
Follow through, follow Him. He’ll make you a fisher of men, whether you want to or not. His want to will become yours too.
Sickness comes into opened doors, or are attacks of enemies.
Is there a difference? Illness is not a test from God. The more involved we are in the will of God the more authority we will exercise over it. Pray, Pray, alone, with others, with elders, with oil, Pray.
Daily Repetitive Verses -
John 17:15 I'm not asking you to take them out of the world but to protect them from the evil one.
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