2 Corinthians 13 ~ all the saints greet you

2 Corinthians 13

This is the third time I am coming to you. Every charge must be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 2 I warned those who sinned before and all the others, and I warn them now while absent, as I did when present on my second visit, that if I come again I will not spare them— 3 since you seek proof that Christ is speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. 4 For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God.

5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! 6 I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. 7 But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. 8 For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. 9 For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for. 10 For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, that when I come I may not have to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.

11 Finally, brothers,^{[brothers and sisters]} rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another,^{[listen to my appeal]} agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 12 Greet one another with a holy kiss. 13 All the saints greet you.

14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.


The Christian community comes under fire for being judgmental and not like Jesus Christ. We appear, to some, not to pass the test. Enmity has existed, for the Church as part of God's plan, yes, existed for centuries. Ignoring the people who are fed hope and peace as they worship Father God.

Our saints today may not wear robes, yet Abraham was righteous for believing.

However, the Church exists today for one reason. For 2,000 years God is pleased to help sustain the Church. In Jesus Christ we seek His forgiveness and try again, individually, and in community. We aim for restoration, comfort, agree-ability, peacefulness and to show we love a God of LOVE.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. And us as well. In the power of the Lord for building up. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.




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Ecclesiastes 7 ~ Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

Ecclesiastes 7


A good name is better than precious ointment,
and the day of death than the day of birth.
2 It is better to go to the house of mourning
than to go to the house of feasting,
for this is the end of all mankind,
and the living will lay it to heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter,
for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.

5 It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise
than to hear the song of fools.
6 For as the crackling of thorns under a pot,
so is the laughter of the fools;
this also is vanity.
7 Surely oppression drives the wise into madness,
and a bribe corrupts the heart.

8 Better is the end of a thing than its beginning,
and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

9 Be not quick in your spirit to become angry,
for anger lodges in the heart of fools.
10 Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?”
For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.

11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance,
an advantage to those who see the sun.

 12 For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money,
and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.

13 Consider the work of God:
who can make straight what he has made crooked?

14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.

15 In my vain^{[vapor or mere breath]} life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing. 16 Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? 17 Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? 18 It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

19 Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

21 Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others.

23 All this I have tested by wisdom. I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me. 24 That which has been is far off, and deep, very deep; who can find it out?

25 I turned my heart to know and to search out and to seek wisdom and the scheme of things, and to know the wickedness of folly and the foolishness that is madness. 26 And I find something more bitter than death: the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and whose hands are fetters. He who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is taken by her. 27 Behold, this is what I found, says the Preacher, while adding one thing to another to find the scheme of things— 28 which my soul has sought repeatedly, but I have not found. One man among a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I have not found. 29 See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.

Recently I heard two famous evangelists talking about sin. One said complaining is breaking a commandment. The other listed being judgmental, angry, and generally negative as a sin.

Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you.

Well, twice warrants some thought...

Exodus 20

 And God spoke all these words:

 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

¹“You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶ but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

²“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

³ “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 

⁴ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

⁵ “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

⁶ “You shall not murder.

⁷ “You shall not commit adultery.

⁸ “You shall not steal.

⁹ “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

¹⁰ “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.


Proverbs 6 
 There are six things that the Lord hates,
    seven that are an abomination to him:
¹⁷ haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
    and hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸ a heart that devises wicked plans,
    feet that make haste to run to evil,
¹⁹ a false witness who breathes out lies,
    and one who sows discord among brothers.
 
7 Deadly Sins have been used since early Christian times are usually given as wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony.

The Catholic Church divides sin into two categories: venial sins,  guilt is relatively minor. Mortal sins are considered deadly and might cause damnation.

Complaining can only be a sin if we put our needs as a god. Jesus came to be our sacrifice and we may come to God to give Him the desires of our heart.  Not as a way to complain endlessly. God lifts us, we are to look for His blessings each day.


Micah 6:8
He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Recently a study was done on Google showing the world sees Christians as very unlike Christ.  Judgmental, irritable, rude, self-centered. 


James 4:4
You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Life is a balance. If we are convicted of sin, we should please God with the meditations of our heart and the words of our mouth. If we are told we sin because we are judgmental, we need to be clear within ourselves to love God and look to His Holiness. If we complain a lot, to offer to God the desire to please Him.

1 John 4:7
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.


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Psalm 147 ~ The Lord builds up Jerusalem

Psalm 147


1 Praise the Lord.

How good it is to sing praises to our God,
how pleasant and fitting to praise him!

2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the exiles of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
4 He determines the number of the stars
and calls them each by name.
5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
his understanding has no limit.
6 The Lord sustains the humble
but casts the wicked to the ground.

7 Sing to the Lord with grateful praise;
make music to our God on the harp.

8 He covers the sky with clouds;
he supplies the earth with rain
and makes grass grow on the hills.
9 He provides food for the cattle
and for the young ravens when they call.

10 His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his delight in the legs of the warrior;
11 the Lord delights in those who fear him,
who put their hope in his unfailing love.

12 Extol the Lord, Jerusalem;
praise your God, Zion.

13 He strengthens the bars of your gates
and blesses your people within you.
14 He grants peace to your borders
and satisfies you with the finest of wheat.

15 He sends his command to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
16 He spreads the snow like wool
and scatters the frost like ashes.
17 He hurls down his hail like pebbles.
Who can withstand his icy blast?
18 He sends his word and melts them;
he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.

19 He has revealed his word to Jacob,
his laws and decrees to Israel.
20 He has done this for no other nation;
they do not know his laws.

Praise the Lord.

This week we read 1 Kings 13.  Why would God allow Jeroboam, Solomon's appointed slave foreman to split David's Kingdom by the time his grandson became King.  The Lord would use Israel and Judah to protect His people, to preserve a remnant. To enable the Temple to survive. Even Hezekiah's  father tried to teach Hezekiah to strip the gold from every surface of the Temple to allow God's country and God's people to become a client state of an Empire.

But to whom are God's promises given today?  The first chapter of Roman's says we all know God. This is different from the time of the Psalm 147. The Holy Spirit had not been given to all nations.  Who is Jerusalem? During its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times. We first learn of Jerusalem as Salem, city of Melchizedek. Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High.

Hebrews 7:2
and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace."

Jerusalem was inhabited by Jebusites the Tribe of Judah could not remove until David, removed the Jebusites. That is why Jerusalem is called the City of David.

1 Corinthians 8:1
Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.


So, the history lesson has a point. David, as King, not only embraced the men who came to David after Saul was killed and his concubine's son proclaimed King, David embraced the men who would only flock to him as a victor.  As God runs to the prodigal son, David took Judah's land, being from the tribe of Judah and perfected the dream of Joshua, 40 years in the wilderness, to give the Children of Israel a home. The City of David is his homecoming victory. 

David was not sustained by war horses and palaces built behind the city walls. David was sustained in his humility of relying upon God's mercy. Left to him from the wonders he thought of as he counted the stars above the flock.  

When we read about Jerusalem or Israel or Judah, we read of God's love for us.

Psalm 5:7
But I, by your great love, can come into your house; in reverence I bow down toward your holy temple.

Psalm 13:5
But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.

Psalm 36:5
Your love, LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.

Psalm 37:28
For the LORD loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones.

Psalm 40:11
Do not withhold your mercy from me, LORD; may your love and faithfulness always protect me.


David's Palace was built using Phoenician architecture, drawing by Professor Eilat Mazar, the archeologist who found David's Palace by reading the Scriptures.


View from David's Palace - artistic rendition
Phoenician Column found in David's Palace

View looking outside from David's Palace archaeological dig



Matthew 23:37
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.


Acts 1:6-8

Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”




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Psalm 33 ~ For our heart is glad in Him, because we trust in His Holy Name.

Psalm 33

Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!
Praise befits the upright.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;
make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!
3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

4 For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap;
he puts the deeps in storehouses.

8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
9 For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.

10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!

13 The Lord looks down from heaven;
he sees all the children of man;
14 from where he sits enthroned he looks out
on all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 he who fashions the hearts of them all
and observes all their deeds.
16 The king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
17 The war horse is a false hope for salvation,
and by its great might it cannot rescue.

18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his steadfast love,
19 that he may deliver their soul from death
and keep them alive in famine.

20 Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
22 Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.


Two days ago we looked at a miracle sent to Jeroboam, the usurper of Rehoboam, Solomon's son.  The man of God summoned by the word of God knows not to stay, dine and visit with Jeroboam.  The next part of 1 Kings 13 is a prophet beguiled by another prophet to disregard GOD's instructions to him. 

 1 Kings 13:16-25

 And he said, “I may not return with you, or go in with you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place, ¹⁷ for it was said to me by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall neither eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by the way that you came.’” ¹⁸ And he said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But he lied to him. ¹⁹ So he went back with him and ate bread in his house and drank water.
 
²⁰ And as they sat at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back. ²¹ And he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord and have not kept the command that the Lord your God commanded you, ²² but have come back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’” ²³ And after he had eaten bread and drunk, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. ²⁴ And as he went away a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his body was thrown in the road, and the donkey stood beside it; the lion also stood beside the body. ²⁵ And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown in the road and the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the city where the old prophet lived.
 


he Lord looks down from heaven;
he sees all the children of man;
from where he sits enthroned he looks out
on all the inhabitants of the earth,
he who fashions the hearts of them all
and observes all their deeds.

This would be a reminder to listen to the voice of God 

 For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.

even when godly friends would say relax, enjoy.

The king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
 The war horse is a false hope for salvation,
and by its great might it cannot rescue.



This would be one more reason to be grateful to our Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God our mediator and advocate.

Hebrews 4:15, 16

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.





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Luke 7:11-17 ~ “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”

Nain is known as the Arab village of Nein, the north side of the Hill of Moreh. Nein means pleasant. The town of Jesus’ day was probably placed on the hill than the present village. Named for the pleasant view across the plains of Esdraelon. To the west is Mt. Carmel, and to the north, Nazareth stands out, about 6 mikes away. To the northeast is snow-capped Mt. Hermon.

Luke 7:11-17

 Soon afterward ^{[The next day]} he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. ¹² As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. ¹³ And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 

 ¹⁴ Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” ¹⁵ And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.  

¹⁶ Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” ¹⁷ And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.


The fourth chapter of Luke is the beginning of Jesus' ministry. In the 5th Chapter, Jesus calls His disciples and begins to minister to large crowds. We remember Lazarus so very clearly (in the 16th Chapter of Luke as a parable) and in the raising of Lazarus in the Eleventh Chapter of The Gospel, According to John. The seventh chapter of Luke is still the Early days of Jesus' ministry.

Remember Peter's profession of faith for Jesus as Lord, in Matthew 16. Yet Jesus did something the Old Testament did as well. Jesus told the woman at the well in John Chapter 4,   The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” ²⁶ Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

Jesus talked about, in Nazareth,  the obscure miracles which have gained in the telling.


Luke 4:23-30

What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.” 24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But passing through their midst, he went away.

Jesus being GOD, did not just converse with His disciples, He went out to the people -the original Hebrew word expresses heart-felt "sympathy" as a personal identification with suffering from grief as a physical condition.


when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”

We can expect today, GOD has compassion on us. Even when we feel far away from HIM.


Isaiah 41:10
 Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

Matthew 28:20
Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

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1 Kings 13:1-10 ~ And the man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’

1 Kings 13:1-10


English Standard Version, David Cochran Audio   

And behold, a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel. 

 Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make offerings. 

 2 And the man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’” 3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: ‘Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.’”  

4 And when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him.”  And his hand, which he stretched out against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself.  

5 The altar also was torn down, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.  

6 And the king said to the man of God, “Entreat now the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” And the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king's hand was restored to him and became as it was before. 

 7 And the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.” 8 And the man of God said to the king, “If you give me half your house, I will not go in with you. And I will not eat bread or drink water in this place, 9 for so was it commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘You shall neither eat bread nor drink water nor return by the way that you came.’” 10 So he went another way and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel.

 
Some Background History:

While still young, Jeroboam was promoted by Solomon to be chief superintendent of the slaves. Upon hearing the prophet Ahijah (1 Kings 11:29-39), he began to conspire to become king; but was discovered,  fled to Egypt, remaining under the protection of pharaoh Shishak. Upon the death of Solomon, Rehoboam assumed the throne. The 10 northern tribes revolted against Solomon's son and asked Jeroboam to become king. Rehoboam's poor conduct helped Jeroboam, and Jeroboam was accordingly proclaimed "king of Israel".

Jeroboam fortified Shechem as the capital of his kingdom. and in Dan and Bethel,built "golden calves," which he set up as symbols of God, pulling worship away from Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, but to bring their offerings to his shrines.

He became distinguished as the man "who made Israel to sin."

This miracle made no abiding impression on him.He was in constant war with the "House of Judah."

Translocate

verb (used with object), trans·lo·cat·ed, trans·lo·cat·ing.

to move or transfer from one place to another; cause to change location; displace; dislocate.

Saint Pio (Pius) of Pietrelcina was said to have translocated to be with people in prayer. This information is not readily available in his saint literature. It would be difficult to prove and might cause someone to cry out "seize him" in order to ascertain the situation. This didn't work out well for Zechariah in Luke 1 either. 

What a unique reaction. Usually people have fear and trembling when dealing with Mighty Acts of God. The Scriptures do not record God trying again with Jeroboam.  The Word of God, He sent forth, was fulfilled.

Isaiah 55:11
so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

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Mark 8:27-38 ~ If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Mark 8:27-38

 And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” ²⁸ And they told him, “John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” ²⁹ And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” ³⁰ And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

³¹ And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³² And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³ But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

³⁴ And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ³⁵ For whoever would save his life  ^{[The same Greek word can mean either soul or life, depending on the context; twice in this verse and once in verse 36 and once in verse 37]} will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. ³⁶ For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? ³⁷ For what can a man give in return for his soul? ³⁸ For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Jesus told the crowd to take up a horrible instrument of death to be His followers. This is the Eighth chapter of Mark. This shocking statement did not put a dent in the people willing to follow Jesus. Which would say something about the wonders of God they have seen Jesus do. The comfort His Words of life offer. People followed Jesus into the wilderness without food, sometimes going 3 days to hear Him. Jesus was filled with compassion for His people.

Psalm 77:19
Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen.


The Children of Israel were asked to believe and to follow the LORD. They were afraid to leave slavery, yet they did with gifts from the Egyptians. So many times we read of these great acts and wonder what Jesus would have us do with our lives.

Romans 4
And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. ¹² And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

What are Abraham's footsteps?

Genesis 15:6
Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Romans 4:9-10
Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. 10 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before!

Abraham went by faith. Just as Paul went by faith to the Gentiles, having been educated at the feet of Gamaliel, and climbing quickly in his career at the Temple. 

These people who did not know the next step, but trusted God to provide the path.

Psalm 119:133
Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me.

Joshua 6:7
And he said to the people, “Go forward. March around the city and let the armed men pass on before the ark of the LORD.”

Philippians 2:23
Therefore I hope to send him immediately, as soon as I see how things go with me

John 16:33
have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

Isaiah 41:10
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

A cross.  A public stand. Making a vow. Keeping a vow. Caring enough to create action. Refraining from action and letting God in prayer. Putting forth the thought, the action to have our lives reflect His love.



2 Corinthians 5:20
So we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, "Come back to God!"



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