Psalm 72:1-8 ~ prosperity for the people

Psalm 72:1-8

1 Give the king thy justice, O God, and thy righteousness to the royal son!

2 May he judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with justice!

3 Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness!

4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, and crush the oppressor!

5 May he live while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations!

6 May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth!

7 In his days may righteousness flourish, and peace abound, till the moon be no more!

8 May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth!

Yesterday we looked at Titus 2. 
The meaning of Titus 2 completely explains what we all understand as the Holy Spirit. Nothing about Titus 2 is out of line or debatable.

Titus lived among those on Crete and this is historically regarded as "Good People" who tried to meet Jesus and have him come with them. Paul visited Titus, regarded as being one of the 72 Disciples. Titus lived a good life among good people. Something we all rejoice in. The Trail of Jesus talking about the cities is historically accurate. The life of John is Blessed. The Life of those on Crete is equally blessed.

Warms hearts to see Father God taking care of His People.

Titus 2, Psalm 72 of Solomon and Deuteronomy

Brings up something debated today like Baseball. Go Astros!!!

 "Prosperity Gospel"

Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz.

Chances are good I've walked past a good looking car or Mercedes, and you have to understand ... being a believer in constant prayer... the prayer for that make and model has tumbled out. And there may have been a color preference too. And this has probably repeated... a few times. God did tell us to talk to Him about all things. Do we expect Jesus to be my waiter? We do not.

Rich, poor, Greek, Jew - God has all the line up in His Scriptures as His Beloved. The Acts of the Apostles finds all nationalities, races, ages and social standing.

Some religions have tracked the likelihood of blessing monetarily. Mormons have done this. Bishops are the wealthiest God has "blessed." We find the desire for money has caused harm. The Old Testament explains how the ambitious weave into trouble into the Davidic Line. And The Acts of the Apostles and the end of the Gospels include the wealthy as well as the poor.

Deuteronomy - we love to compare this to the dryness of Papyrus. What God is really teaching us that is Good is this - when we give God good choices - doing this with sincerity - God is going to provide a path to Bless. This isn't the Prosperity Gospel this is what Deuteronomy says.

Poverty isn't just money, poverty is anxiety, poverty is cruelty, poverty is lack of health. When God is giving His Deuteronomy Blessings for believing and altering natural behavior for what would please Father God - God tells Joshua - one of the most long term faithful men in Scriptures, waiting 40 years for what God would do next - have Courage. Don't just give God good behavior - give God Courage. Optimism can require Courage. Optimism can require Faith.

We build good lives seeking to Love the people God has given us. To Shepherd them. To believe God is Shepherding our given people and we look to see them show us what God is revealing to them in their lives.

1 Corinthians 13:12,13
12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

We aren't told all of God's Plan. He expects us to Truth Him. To love the people He has given us.

When we consider The Real Blessings of God and our efforts - consider Joshua.

Waiting upon the Lord with all hope and courage for 40 years in the desert. Jesus is called Yeshua. The example of Joshua.

Yeshua (ישוע, with vowel pointing יֵשׁוּעַ – yēšūă' in Hebrew) was a common alternative form of the name יְהוֹשֻׁעַ ("Yehoshua" – Joshua) in later books of the Hebrew Bible and among Jews of the Second Temple period. Not the Prosperity Gospel, the real application of Deuteronomy to Abba.

Jesus spoke about what He thought about the Prosperity Gospel when He told the large crowd seeking Him in the morning, they were following Him for the Bread. Jesus was direct with a huge and large crowd.

Hebrews 11:6

And without faith it is impossible to please him, 

for whoever would draw near to God must believe

 that he exists 

and that he rewards those who seek him.

We Know How to Please God.
Give Justice with Mercy and walk humbly with God.

We please God in prayer by Blessing Seeking the as is of life. Understanding what we do not find as a Blessing - Just might be. We bless our relationship with Father God by explaining our thoughts on our needs. Genuine Love.

God Wants to Save the World in Jesus Christ

Thank God, He loves me for who I am.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Always be joyful 

and never stop praying. 

Whatever happens, keep thanking God because of Jesus Christ. This is what God wants you to do.

Thanks, Abba, Father God, 

You've listened to me for so many years with so much love. I love you. 

Amen, amen, amen in Jesus.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves! †  

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Titus 2 ~ teach what is Good †

Titus 2

But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.

2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness.

3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine.

They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.

6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

9 Bondservants are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us

from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

15 Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.



How is this easily dismissed? Moral Dessert. Doing all we can for reward. Dismissed as Insincere. One of the biggest arguments against "Goodness" is Gain. Reward. Means to an end.

Christ for Moral Desserts.

God dismissed the racquetball volley of inner quandary. Scoffers will Scoff. Fact of life. God said this about Moral Desserts...

1 John 4:18-19
The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because He first loved us.

God says the Basis of all His Promises are His Love for us.

Abraham believed God's Promises and this was credited to him as righteousness. Abraham failed many times. Jesus said He had come to fulfill every Word of God. Every iota and every dot.

Jesus informed us - no one is good. All have fallen.

Making something straight forward out of something that could be complex. God is God. Alleluia. Amen.


† Jesus said when we love, His commandments are not burdensome.






Abba,

Thank You for your blessings. Thank You for the beauty of today. Thank You we heard of no fatalities in the 17 mile Tornado in Dallas.

We will not treat You as our waiter. We will be blessing seekers with Gratitude. We will be honest about our lives, circumstances and the failures in ourselves.

We will Bless You God by being mindful and grateful for Your Mercies. More Heaven on earth. More of Your Glory.

We ask Your Help to do what You'd have us do. And cover us all who ask for Jesus in the Name of Jesus.

We are Blessed. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves! †  

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John 6:1-3, 35-43 ~ Jesus is the Bread of Life †

John 6:1-3, 35-43

Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.

35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. 
Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.

Matthew 6:11
Give us today our daily bread.

Matthew 26:17
Now on the first day of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus, saying to him, "Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?"

The Arch of Titus, showing the Temple Tools - this box is the Show Bread. God always had Bread in the Temple (*and in the absent in this relief Ark of the Covenant.)

Matthew 26:26
As they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks for it, and broke it. He gave to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body."


When Jesus lost part of His 72 (one Gospel says 70 disciples) they fought to leave over Jesus calling Himself The New Covenant Bread. Jesus took being Living Bread very seriously.

We could enter into all types of Theology - however The Temple required bread to be sacrificed for God's Pleasure.

If you were sending Your Children to the desert for 40 years, what food would you choose? God the Almighty chose Bread. Exodus 16.

I just don't doubt God's Wisdom is dated. Bread has B group vitamins thiamine (B1), Niacin (B3) , riboflavin (B2), pantothenic acid, inositol, P-aminobenzoic acid, folic acid and vitamin B6. Niacin is considered by some nutritionists to be of ultimate importance. Niacin opens up blood vessels making blood flow more easily.



Luke 11:1-9

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say:

“Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.

3 Give us each day our daily bread,

4 and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”

5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’;

7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’?

8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.

9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.


Father God gives us a guide to prayer and finishes with prayer is in Godly favor when it's impudent. He relates this as a dire need for bread.

The Scriptures are so interesting... Pray for more Heaven on earth. No one could have a problem with this. This is pure blessing. Give us this day! Our Daily Bread.

Bread isn't a fruit. Bread is like the Prodigal Son - this is a process. Some parts of Bread will wait patiently in storage until they are called for. God is saying Pray impudently. Your Pappa is saying - we have a relationship - call on me as You need me. Sure, your friend will be angry if you call on your friend at midnight. Pappa is not going to be angry. Come to me. If you are heavily burdened, come to Pappa, Pappa will make the burden lighter.

† Might - be important to clarify "Impudent" prayer ! Pappa has a Policy - the 12 Gates of Heaven are always open. Humor - Peter has the keys to Heaven. Might be a slight funny between Jesus and Peter. God is saying Fox Hole Emergency Prayers - C'mon. In a jam? Pray. Haven't been near God in years - the Living Water is Warm and Welcome.

Abba, Pappa, God the Almighty, Father God is not about ideas to harm others. He is more interested in problem solving and personal development. God is wonderfully Pro Mercy!

The Purpose of the Exodus was this - God cares about freedom. About making a living. Having something for your children to have as legacy - inheritance. God wants His Children to have Life and Have Life Abundantly. Pappa is going to ease burdens. God is Bread and God loves the aroma of toasted Bread.

Housetops and midnight. God is not saying show off your prayers and eat a loaf of bread. God is saying in relationship, just talk to Pappa. Don't be lofty about I Pray To God. To allow your Pappa relationship to be dear and familiar and private. Jesus healed the deaf man away from the crowds so the man would know this was his time with God and he was important.

Jesus never said He was:
Broccoli, kale, arugula, brussels sprouts, apple cider vinegar, grapefruit, cranberry or lemons. Probably more the flavor of the Spanish Inquisition.

Jesus said He is Living Bread. God tells us almost 1,500 "God is" and not once did God say your prayer was too short and not that pretty. God tells us rely upon Him.

Abba,

We ask Your Blessings on the coming Holidays. Easy for some, and Blessed. With life changes, even many years of Blessing seeking and finding, Holy Days can seem to be memories of Joy and absent joy. We ask the Holy Spirit to bring Love, Joy and Abundant Life to us. Gratitude for what You have provided Today.

We give You great Thanks that Elliott's cancer has found such low numbers, pleasing his doctors. At age 43 Elliott will undergo a his own stem cell bone marrow transplant and this might take a year of unpleasant health. We ask Your Continued Favor on Elliott to have bypassed cancer, healed, and this year to be healed. Unburdened.

We pray for Dee, recovering from her back surgery and not feeling so well, to have Your Healing Word and Favor.

Giving Thanks for the people in our lives who are joy bringers, challenge us to rise to gratitude and for the people You have given us to Love for all reasons and seasons. Thank You for these prayers keeping us encouraged, strengthened, protected and lively on The Journey and Plan in the Book of Life - we can rejoice in Your, our Pappa, Your Plan.

Blessed to Pray with all of Creation for more Heaven on Earth. Jesus our Daily Living Bread. And all of His Good Plan, Promises and Word to give us Life.

Amen in Jesus.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves! †  

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Matthew 16:13-20 ~ “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

Matthew 16:13-20

13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi,
Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

Peter and Jesus, according to the bones and the Bible, were about the same birth year. When we see art of Peter, he is an old man. For most of his ministry - this is not quite Peter's lifetime look. Peter approaches his ministry as a rather youthful man.


John 20

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.



Peter - friend, Disciple and Servant of Jesus Christ - begins His Ministry...

Peter, is a smart man with good financial intelligence, a family man, good to his wife's mother. Andrew told Peter in John 1, the Messiah has been found. Peter observes Jesus to decide.  Peter and Andrew ask Jesus to return to their original hometown and to heal those in need of God's Messiah.  Peter is compassionate and caring. Evidently, Peter doesn't run very quickly.

Peter is going to Build God's Church. He starts when he is middle aged as the Roman Republic fell to becoming the Roman Empire. Rome is adjusting to cultural changes.

Peter arrives fairly soon in Rome with an enormous task. And finds he has willing souls to hear him. Questions surround Peter and his son in Jesus Christ, by ministry, begin.

Peter contemplates with Mark - where will they begin?

80 feet underneath the Vatican altar, is the Vatican necropolis - originally a burial ground built on the southern slope of the Vatican Hill, adjacent to the Circus of Caligula/Nero. This is where Caligula and Nero trained racing with four horse chariots. In 65 AD, the first fist public persecution of Christians happened in this circus. In accordance with the Roman law, it was forbidden to bury the dead within the city walls. For this reason, burial grounds sprang up along the roads outside of the city cemeteries. One of these streets, the Via Cornelia, ran north along the Vatican hill.

And as you look under the Vatican, you find a Roman street 1st and 2nd century Romans would recognize. Complete with door frames. This street not only held the cemetery, it is a slum, where foreigners would live freely. It's an area of Rome Peter would have known well.

Peter would begin, where he would begin to teach about Jesus. Mark's gospel is not very long, but these are the events Romans had heard of and wanted to learn and speak of. What would be Peter's starting point to tell about Jesus?

Mark 1

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,

“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way,
3 the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight,’”

4 John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 Now John was clothed with camel's hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. 13 And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

21 And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. 22 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.


The Starting Point is interesting...
Taming the Wilderness. Peter is starting where he sees others needing.

It would be fair to say Peter, as a Jew, would feel he was in the wilderness. And Peter, probably did not feel like wearing a toga or Roman attire with ready glee. Homespun Judea probably wasn't 'exactly the thing.' Romans ate a lot of pork, sausage, eels (fished them to extinction), molluscs and shrimp - a great after Kosher workout.  The Roman gods and cultural upheaval - a spiritual trial.

Peter 'probably' spent time remembering why all this upheaval was necessary. And would remember exactly who Jesus is as the Son of God.

Would Peter be able to do what Jesus had given him to do? Baptized with the Holy Spirit, yes. But not without the clear delineation of vast changes. Why was Peter good at what God had appointed him to do? God gave Peter the gifts and abilities God knew he would need!

Maybe Peter was explaining how many others have faced challenges of a changing world, just at the Romans were facing so many changes as the Roman Republic ended and the Empire began - all of family life changed as divorce was easy and free. Women, children and men had to face their lives as inessential to the ones they had held dear. Just as John the Baptist faced his own God call in His Journey. And Peter could relate this well.




Peter was answering “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 
And we are doing this daily as we move and live and have our being in His Journey.

Abba,

Give us this day, our Daily Living Jesus Bread. The aroma is pleasing to You!

Bless us and Keep us, make Your Face to Shine upon us and Thank You, You have been Gracious to me, to us. Bless this Season to be more gracious.

Lift up Your Face and Smile upon me. And those I love. Give us Peace, Your very own Peace.

Surround, uplift, know us before and after in the Name of Jesus and we will be Blessed.

Blessed to hope for more Heaven upon earth in Your Good Will. For me. For you. For our loved ones. For those facing supreme challenges. For those having Good News. For all of the people You have given us. For the Nation Trusting in You. For Peace and having You Sing Joyfully over us. We will trust in You as all of Your Good Creation does.

Amen in Jesus.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves! †  

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