Reading Scripture helps us know God's Love. Every Bible verse is written for you. Jesus Christ is all mankind's Light. John 1!
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Psalm 119:25-48 ~ Turn my heart
25 I am laid low in the dust;
preserve my life according to your word.
26 I recounted my ways and you answered me;
teach me your decrees.
27 Let me understand the teaching of your precepts;
then I will meditate on your wonders.
28 My soul is weary with sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word.
29 Keep me from deceitful ways;
be gracious to me through your law.
30 I have chosen the way of truth;
I have set my heart on your laws.
31 I hold fast to your statutes, O LORD;
do not let me be put to shame.
32 I run in the path of your commands,
for you have set my heart free.
33 Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees;
then I will keep them to the end.
34 Give me understanding, and I will keep your law
and obey it with all my heart.
35 Direct me in the path of your commands,
for there I find delight.
36 Turn my heart toward your statutes
and not toward selfish gain.
37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
preserve my life according to your word.
38 Fulfill your promise to your servant,
so that you may be feared.
39 Take away the disgrace I dread,
for your laws are good.
40 How I long for your precepts!
Preserve my life in your righteousness.
41 May your unfailing love come to me, O LORD,
your salvation according to your promise;
42 then I will answer the one who taunts me,
for I trust in your word.
43 Do not snatch the word of truth from my mouth,
for I have put my hope in your laws.
44 I will always obey your law,
for ever and ever.
45 I will walk about in freedom,
for I have sought out your precepts.
46 I will speak of your statutes before kings
and will not be put to shame,
47 for I delight in your commands
because I love them.
48 I lift up my hands to your commands, which I love,
and I meditate on your decrees.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Psalm 26 ~ trusted in the Lord without wavering
Tree of Life (Judeo-Christian) - a tree in the Garden of Eden whose fruit gives immortality. There are some references to the tree of life outside the Old Testament. For example, the Book of Enoch (xxiv. 4) states that the tree of life has a fragrance and its fruit resembles the palm dates. (Jewish Encyclopedia) . Charles Darwin used the tree of life as a metaphor that all life has evolved from the same source. Who could have a problem with that metaphor?
Assyrians and Babylonians share the common legend of the tree of life and a Utopian land called the island of dilmun, which is now located in Bahrain. Assyrians used to live in the north and the Babylonians in the south of the region trapped between Euphrates and Tigris.
It is dated as 400 years old by some and the sign near the tree says 800 years old. The locals say that this tree could have been the place where the Garden Eden had been. The tree does not produce fruit. There are several trees in the area that have no apparent water source, but this tree is largest by far.
1 Vindicate me, O LORD,
for I have led a blameless life;
I have trusted in the LORD
without wavering.
2 Test me, O LORD, and try me,
examine my heart and my mind;
3 for your love is ever before me,
and I walk continually in your truth.
4 I do not sit with deceitful men,
nor do I consort with hypocrites;
5 I abhor the assembly of evildoers
and refuse to sit with the wicked.
6 I wash my hands in innocence,
and go about your altar, O LORD,
7 proclaiming aloud your praise
and telling of all your wonderful deeds.
8 I love the house where you live, O LORD,
the place where your glory dwells.
9 Do not take away my soul along with sinners,
my life with bloodthirsty men,
10 in whose hands are wicked schemes,
whose right hands are full of bribes.
11 But I lead a blameless life;
redeem me and be merciful to me.
12 My feet stand on level ground;
in the great assembly I will praise the LORD.
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Thursday, August 30, 2007
Psalm 18: 1-20 ~ He reached
A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, who spoke the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said:
1 I LOVE You fervently and devotedly, O Lord, my Strength.
2 The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress, and my Deliverer; my God, my keen and firm Strength in Whom I will trust and take refuge, my Shield, and the Horn of my salvation, my High Tower.
3 I will call upon the Lord, Who is to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.
4 The cords or bands of death surrounded me, and the streams of ungodliness and the torrents of ruin terrified me.
5 The cords of Sheol (the place of the dead) surrounded me; the snares of death confronted and came upon me.
6 In my distress [when seemingly closed in] I called upon the Lord and cried to my God; He heard my voice out of His temple (heavenly dwelling place), and my cry came before Him, into His [very] ears.
7 Then the earth quaked and rocked, the foundations also of the mountains trembled; they moved and were shaken because He was indignant and angry.
8 There went up smoke from His nostrils; and lightning out of His mouth devoured; coals were kindled by it.
9 He bowed the heavens also and came down; and thick darkness was under His feet.
10 And He rode upon a cherub [a storm] and flew [swiftly]; yes, He sped on with the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness His secret hiding place; as His pavilion (His canopy) round about Him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
12 Out of the brightness before Him there broke forth through His thick clouds hailstones and coals of fire.
13 The Lord also thundered from the heavens, and the Most High uttered His voice, amid hailstones and coals of fire.
1 4And He sent out His arrows and scattered them; and He flashed forth lightnings and put them to rout.
15 Then the beds of the sea appeared and the foundations of the world were laid bare at Your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
16 He reached from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy and from those who hated and abhorred me, for they were too strong for me.
18 They confronted and came upon me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my stay and support.
19 He brought me forth also into a large place; He was delivering me because He was pleased with me and delighted in me.
20 The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness (my conscious integrity and sincerity with Him); according to the cleanness of my hands has He recompensed me.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
1 Kings 3: 1-15 ~ You have shown great kindness
In December 2004 the findings of a scientific study initiated by the Israel Museum and the Israel Antiquities Authority revealed that the inscription on the Ivory Pomegranate, an ancient object in the Museum’s collections, was added in modern times. The artifact, believed to be the head of a ceremonial scepter, was first seen in 1979 and came into the collection as a gift in 1988. Based on its inscription, the pomegranate had been considered the only known relic from the First Temple in Jerusalem. \
Before its arrival in the Museum, the pomegranate was examined by leading epigraphists (scholars of ancient inscriptions) and deemed authentic. The recent reexamination, which used an environmental scanning electron microscope, subjected the inscription and patina to closer scrutiny than had been possible before. The new study shows that although the object itself dates to the Late Bronze Age (14th-13th century BCE), its inscription is not ancient.
The Israel Museum believes that it is important for the public to understand the process of authentication, and the techniques involved, as well as the interplay of scholarship, connoisseurship, and science which informs archaeological research. The pomegranate will be shown in the archaeology galleries as an example of this ongoing process.
1 Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he finished building his palace and the temple of the LORD, and the wall around Jerusalem. 2 The people, however, were still sacrificing at the high places, because a temple had not yet been built for the Name of the LORD. 3 Solomon showed his love for the LORD by walking according to the statutes of his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.
4 The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you."
6 Solomon answered, "You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
7 "Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?"
10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, "Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both riches and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. 14 And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life." 15 Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream.
He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord's covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he gave a feast for all his court.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Mark 13: 14-27 ~ He will send his angels
There are many more images of the Apocalypse than images of heaven. The enclosed image of heaven is painted by a 12 year old girl, Akaine.
Mark 13:14-27
Max McLean Audio Bible, English Standard Version
14 "When you see 'the abomination that causes desolation' standing where it does not belong—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter the house to take anything out. 16 Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. 17 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 18 Pray that this will not take place in winter, 19 because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now—and never to be equaled again. 20 If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them. 21 At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'Look, there he is!' do not believe it. 22 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect—if that were possible. 23 So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.
24 "But in those days, following that distress,
" 'the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
25 the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'
26 "At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.
Hmmm, lots of hits to this particular Scripture verse. Given 2011 has been interesting in a sad, macabre way with massive die fish, bird and cattle die offs. And the riots of the people across the world.
What did the Lord tell us?
Luke 21:7
They asked, "when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?"
Matthew 24:36
“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only
Did Jesus say anything else? Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, Revelation 6 to name more. And He definitely said this is the answer for Christian eschatology:
Acts 1:7
He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
What Jesus said applied to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, when he would have died a natural death. It will apply again when He comes in glory.
It will apply to your life when your time on earth ends. The second coming of Christ is accompanied by signs, but when Christ returns to the earth will He find faith? Will anyone even be concerned what the signs were? We don't know. Jesus asked the same questions during His time on earth.
People have said during the plagues, it was the end. People believed the printing of the Bible was the end. People have created religions on the end. People believed Martin Luther was the end. People said Hitler was the end. People say the increase of earthquakes indicate the end.
If anyone tells you they have a complete handle on the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Flee. The most wonderful prophets knew of Isaiah. The entire country of Israel heard the Words read in reverence in God's own Temple. Everyone expected a king born in a palace. A crusader, warrior king to set Israel on high. God's plans are His own.
But you know, it could be tomorrow..... Your own personal view of Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:52
in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
And the best question is, the only question is: "Where will you be? Do you know Jesus?" He loves you. All of the Scriptures, all of the prophets, all of it point to Jesus Christ. History. The count down of BC to AD is Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ came to save you.
Start at the earliest BC.
Moses was told. "I am".
John 8:58 Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."
John 6:51:"I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever;"
John 8:12: Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I AM the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."
John 10:9: "I AM the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture."
John 10:11: "I AM the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
John 10:36: 'I AM the Son of God'
John 11:25: Jesus said to her, "I AM the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
John 14:6: Jesus said to him, "I AM the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 15:1: "I AM the true vine, and My Father is the gardener.
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever." AND THIS IS THE WORD THAT WAS PREACHED TO YOU.
Romans 8:19
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God!
Romans 10:13
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Revelation 21:1-6
Max McLean Audio Bible, English Standard Version
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."
5 He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
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Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Psalm 128 ~ May the Lord bless you from Zion all the days of your life
1 Blessed are all who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways.
2 You will eat the fruit of your labor;
blessings and prosperity will be yours.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house;
your sons will be like olive shoots
around your table.
4 Thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
5 May the LORD bless you from Zion
all the days of your life;
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem,
6 and may you live to see your children's children.
Peace be upon Israel.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Mark 11: 12-25 ~ Have faith in God
Click on the photos above for slide show.
http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=r2bc0kga0x - well worth watching
Perito Merino glacier in El Calafate, Argentina
Mark 11:12-25
Listen - click for new tab
12 On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.
15 And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 16 And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” 18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. 19 And when evening came they went out of the city.
20 As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. 21 And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have [are receiving] received it, and it will be yours. 25 And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses [But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your trespasses].”
Jesus spoke in parables on many levels. He spoke of problems. He spoke of mountains. If we look for more proof of literal mountains moving, confirming even the history of the Tower of Babel, we see Pangea and, also, the movement of the North Pole. It's comfortable and easy to debunk Genesis. It's important to remember the context.
Psalm 90:4
For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.
2 Peter 3:8
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
Trouble comes and goes in the world. Change is both good and bad. Whatever our circumstances, whatever is the news, we can be assured God is in control.
Pangea
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Friday, August 17, 2007
Acts 21: 37-22:16 ~ The brilliance of the Light
37 As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, "May I say something to you?"
"Do you speak Greek?" he replied. 38 "Aren't you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the desert some time ago?"
39 Paul answered, "I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people."
40 Having received the commander's permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic:
Acts 22
1 "Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense." 2 When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet.
Then Paul said: 3 "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. 4 I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, 5 as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.
6 "About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?'
8 " 'Who are you, Lord?' I asked.
" 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,' he replied. 9 My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me.
10 "'What shall I do, Lord?' I asked.
"'Get up,' the Lord said, 'and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.' 11 My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.
12 "A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. 13 He stood beside me and said, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight!' And at that very moment I was able to see him.
14 "Then he said: 'The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. 15 You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.'
Psalm 105 ~ give thanks to the Lord
1 Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples!
2 Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wondrous works!
3 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!
4 Seek the LORD and his strength;
seek his presence continually!
5 Remember the wondrous works that he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,
6 O offspring of Abraham, his servant,
children of Jacob, his chosen ones!
7 He is the LORD our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.
8 He remembers his covenant forever,
the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
9 the covenant that he made with Abraham,
his sworn promise to Isaac,
10 which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
11 saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan
as your portion for an inheritance."
12 When they were few in number,
of little account, and sojourners in it,
13 wandering from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another people,
14 he allowed no one to oppress them;
he rebuked kings on their account,
15 saying, "Touch not my anointed ones,
do my prophets no harm!"
16 When he summoned a famine on the land
and broke all supply of bread,
17 he had sent a man ahead of them,
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
18 His feet were hurt with fetters;
his neck was put in a collar of iron;
19 until what he had said came to pass,
the word of the LORD tested him.
20 The king sent and released him;
the ruler of the peoples set him free;
21 he made him lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions,
22 to bind his princes at his pleasure
and to teach his elders wisdom.
23 Then Israel came to Egypt;
Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
24 And the LORD made his people very fruitful
and made them stronger than their foes.
25 He turned their hearts to hate his people,
to deal craftily with his servants.
26 He sent Moses, his servant,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27 They performed his signs among them
and miracles in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness, and made the land dark;
they did not rebel against his words.
29 He turned their waters into blood
and caused their fish to die.
30 Their land swarmed with frogs,
even in the chambers of their kings.
31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,
and gnats throughout their country.
32 He gave them hail for rain,
and fiery lightning bolts through their land.
33 He struck down their vines and fig trees,
and shattered the trees of their country.
34 He spoke, and the locusts came,
young locusts without number,
35 which devoured all the vegetation in their land
and ate up the fruit of their ground.
36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the first fruits of all their strength.
37 Then he brought out Israel with silver and gold,
and there was none among his tribes who stumbled.
38 Egypt was glad when they departed,
for dread of them had fallen upon it.
39 He spread a cloud for a covering,
and fire to give light by night.
40 They asked, and he brought quail,
and gave them bread from heaven in abundance.
41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
it flowed through the desert like a river.
42 For he remembered his holy promise,
and Abraham, his servant.
43 So he brought his people out with joy,
his chosen ones with singing.
44And he gave them the lands of the nations,
and they took possession of the fruit of the peoples’ toil,
and observe his laws.
Praise the LORD!
Ipuwer Papyrus ~ An Egyptian Eyewitness to the Exodus ~ Just as the date of the Exodus is debated for centuries, the Ipuwer Papyrus is placed from 1600 B.C. to 1200 B.C. This was the first plague.
PAPYRUS 2:10 The river is blood.
EXODUS 7:20 ... all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.This water was loathsome, and the people could not drink it.
PAPYRUS 2:10 Men shrink from tasting -- human beings, and thirst after water.
EXODUS 7:24 And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river.The fish in the lakes and the river died, and worms, insects, and reptiles bred prolifically.
EXODUS 7:21 ... and the river stank.
PAPYRUS 3:10-13 That is our water! That is our happiness! What shall we do in respect thereof? All is ruin!
After the first manifestations of the protracted cataclysm the Egyptians tried to bring order into the land. They traced the route of the escaped slaves. The wanderers became "entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in" (Exodus 14:3).
They turned to the sea, they stood at Pi-ha-Khiroth. "The Egyptians pursued after them. The Egyptians marched after them." A hurricane blew all the night and the sea fled.In a great avalanche of water "the sea returned to his strength", and "the Egyptians fled against it". The sea engulfed the chariots and the horsemen, the pharoah and all his host.
Mark 10: 17-31 ~ a man ran up to him & fell on his knees
Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Psalm 95 ~ He is our God and we are the people of His pasture
1 Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
3 For the LORD is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
7 for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
as you did that day at Massah in the desert,
9 where your fathers tested and tried me,
though they had seen what I did.
10 For forty years I was angry with that generation;
I said, "They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they have not known my ways."
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
"They shall never enter my rest."
His rule shall extend from sea to sea... Zechariah 9:10
Monday, August 13, 2007
Acts 20: 17-38 ~ I commit you to God and the word of his grace
17 From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. 18 When they arrived, he said to them: "You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. 19 I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested by the plots of the Jews. 20 You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. 21 I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.
2 2"And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.
25 "Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. 2 6Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. 28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
32 "Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I have not coveted anyone's silver or gold or clothing. 34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' "
36 When he had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. 37 They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. 38 What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.
The chains in the photo are from St. Paul's Basilica Outside the Walls. Where St. Paul's remains carbon dated to be the correct time. And were these chains were taken from the cell Nero had placed Paul in when the prison was torn down.
While Paul was released from his first house imprisonment by the Roman Emperor Claudius, later Paul was imprisoned, tried and convicted by Nero for believing in Jesus as God's Son. Chains could not hold Paul. There are no surviving documents written by Claudius or Nero on hope, faith or love. Paul believed the promises of God were real and for him. Faith - I believe. Hope - it means me! Love - all there every was, loving me as a Child of God, as I am today.
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Saturday, August 11, 2007
Acts 20: 1-16: ~ Paul spoke to the people
Acts 20: 1-16
1 When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples and, after encouraging them, said good-by and set out for Macedonia. 2 He traveled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally arrived in Greece. 3 where he stayed three months. Because the Jews made a plot against him just as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia. 4 He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. 5 These men went on ahead and waited for us at Troas. 6
But we sailed from Philippi after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and five days later joined the others at Troas, where we stayed seven days.
7 On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. 9 Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. 10 Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. "Don't be alarmed," he said. "He's alive!" 11 Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. 12 The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.
13 We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard. He had made this arrangement because he was going there on foot. 14 When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene. 15 The next day we set sail from there and arrived off Kios. The day after that we crossed over to Samos, and on the following day arrived at Miletus. 16 Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.
(To see the youth minister’s perspective from Youthblog: a Christian minister’s thoughts, reflections, and encounters & ,of course, humorous take on Acts 20:7 please see http://www.youthblog.org/archives/Eutychus.jpg)
Friday, August 10, 2007
Mark 9: 14-29 ~ Jesus took him by the hand
14 And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great multitude about them, and scribes questioning with them.
15 And straightway all the multitude, when they saw him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him.
16 And he asked them, What question ye with them?
17 And one of the multitude answered him, Teacher, I brought unto thee my son, who hath a dumb spirit;
18 and wheresoever it taketh him, it dasheth him down: and he foameth, and grindeth his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast it out; and they were not able.
19 And he answereth them and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I bear with you? bring him unto me.
20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him grievously; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
21 And he asked his father, How long time is it since this hath come unto him? And he said, From a child.
22 And oft-times it hath cast him both into the fire and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us, and help us.
23 And Jesus said unto him, If thou canst! All things are possible to him that believeth.
24 Straightway the father of the child cried out, and said, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
25 And when Jesus saw that a multitude came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I command thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
26 And having cried out, and torn him much, he came out: and the boy became as one dead; insomuch that the more part said, He is dead.
27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and raised him up; and he arose.
28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, How is it that we could not cast it out?
29 And he said unto them, This kind can come out by nothing, save by prayer.
American Standard Version
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Acts 19: 1-8 ~ 12 men
Acts 19:1-10
1 It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples. 2 He said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit."
3 And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" And they said, "Into John's baptism."
4 Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus."
5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying.
7 There were in all about twelve men.
8 And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.
We all want to be in God's harbor.
James 4:8a
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.
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Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Psalm 78: 1- 39 ~ Things from of old
In 1909 the text, translated, was published by Alan H. Gardiner under the title, "The Admonitions of an Egyptian Sage from a Hieratic Papyrus in Leiden". It is published today and is a 17 page book. Because the introductory passages of the papyrus is missing the king or pharoah is unnamed. The Papyrus Ipuwer (7:1-2) records only that the pharaoh was lost under unusual circumstances "that have never happened before".
Due to the age of the papyrus, it cannot be claimed that the papyrus purposefully copies the Bible, the book of Exodus. Here are comparisons made by Immanuel Velikovsky & George Konig (below the Palm 78) :
Psalm 78
1 O my people, hear my teaching;
listen to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in parables,
I will utter hidden things, things from of old-
3 what we have heard and known,
what our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children;
we will tell the next generation
the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD,
his power, and the wonders he has done.
5 He decreed statutes for Jacob
and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our forefathers
to teach their children,
6 so the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born,
and they in turn would tell their children.
7 Then they would put their trust in God
and would not forget his deeds
but would keep his commands.
8 They would not be like their forefathers—
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
whose hearts were not loyal to God,
whose spirits were not faithful to him.
9 The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows,
turned back on the day of battle;
10 they did not keep God's covenant
and refused to live by his law.
11 They forgot what he had done,
the wonders he had shown them.
12 He did miracles in the sight of their fathers
in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea and led them through;
he made the water stand firm like a wall.
14 He guided them with the cloud by day
and with light from the fire all night.
PAPYRUS 2:5-6 Plague is throughout the land. Blood is everywhere.
EXODUS 7:21 ... there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
This was the first plague.
PAPYRUS 2:10 The river is blood.
EXODUS 7:20 ... all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.
This water was loathsome, and the people could not drink it.
PAPYRUS 2:10 Men shrink from tasting -- human beings, and thirst after water.
EXODUS 7:24 And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river.
The fish in the lakes and the river died, and worms, insects, and reptiles bred prolifically.
EXODUS 7:21 ... and the river stank.
PAPYRUS 3:10-13 That is our water! That is our happiness! What shall we do in respect thereof? All is ruin!
The destruction in the fields is related in these words:
EXODUS 9:25 ... and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field.
PAPYRUS 4:14 Trees are destroyed.
6:1 No fruit nor herbs are found..
This portent was accompanied by consuming fire. Fire spread all over the land.
EXODUS 9:23-24 ... the fire ran along the ground.... there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous.
PAPYRUS 2:10 Forsooth, gates, columns and walls are consumed by fire.
The fire which consumed the land was not spread by human hand but fell from the skies.
By this torrent of destruction, according to Exodus,
EXODUS 9:31-32 ... the flax and the barley was smitten; for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was boiled. But the wheat and the rye were not smitten: for they were not grown up.
It was after the next plague that the fields became utterly barren. Like the Book of Exodus (9:31-32 and 10:15), the papyrus relates that no duty could be rendered to the crown for wheat and barley; and as in Exodus 7:21 ("And the fish that was in the river died"), there was no fish for the royal storehouse.
PAPYRUS 10:3-6 Lower Egypt weeps... The entire palace is without its revenues. To it belong (by right) wheat and barley, geese and fish.
The fields were entirely devastated.
EXODUS 10:15 ... there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the fields, through all the land of Egypt.
PAPYRUS 6:3 Forsooth, grain has perished on every side.
5:12 Forsooth, that has perished which yesterday was seen. The land is left over to its weariness like the cutting of flax.
The statement that the crops of the fields were destroyed in a single day ("which yesterday was seen") excludes drought, the usual cause of a bad harvest; only hail, fire, or locusts could have left the fields as though after "the cutting of flax". The plague is described in Psalms 105:34-35 in these words: "... the locusts came, and caterpillars, and that without number. And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground."
PAPYRUS 6:1 No fruit nor herbs are found... hunger.
The cattle were in a pitiful condition.
EXODUS 9:3 ... the hand of the Lord is upon the cattle which is in the field... there shall be a very grievous murrain.
PAPYRUS 5:5 All animals, their hearts weep. Cattle moan....
Hail and fire made the frightened cattle flee.
EXODUS 9:19 .. gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field...
21 And he that regarded not the word of the Lord left his servants and his cattle in the field.
PAPYRUS 9:2-3 Behold, cattle are left to stray, and there is none to gather them together. Each man fetches for himself those that are branded with his name.
The ninth plague, according to the Book of Exodus, covered Egypt with profound darkness.
EXODUS 10:22 ... and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt.
PAPYRUS 9:11 The land is not light....
"Not light" is in Egyptian equivalent to "without light" or "dark". But there is some question as to whether the two sentences are entirely parallel. The years of wandering in the desert are described as spent in gloom under a cover of thick clouds....
The Last Night before the Exodus
According to the Book of Exodus, the last night the Israelites were in Egypt was a night in which death struck instantly and took victims from every Egyptian home. The death of so many in a single night, even at the same hour of midnight, cannot be explained by a pestilence, which would last more than a single hour. The story of the last plague does seem like a myth; it is a stranger in the sequence of the other plagues, which can be explained...
...Apparently we have before us the testimony of an Egyptian witness of the plagues.
On careful reading of the papyrus, it appeared that the slaves were still in Egypt when at least one great shock occurred, ruining houses and destroying life and fortune. It precipitated a general flight of the population from the cities, while the other plagues probably drove them from the country into the cities.
The biblical testimony was reread. It became evident that it had not neglected this most conspicuous event: it was the tenth plague.
In the papyrus it is said: "The residence is overturned in a minute." On a previous page it was stressed that only an earthquake could have overturned and ruined the royal residence in a minute. Sudden and simultaneous death could be inflicted on many....
EXODUS 12:30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt: for there was not a house where there was not one dead.
A great part of the people lost their lives in one violent shock. Houses were struck a furious blow.
EXODUS 12:27 [The Angel of the Lord] passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses.
The word nogaf for "smote" is used for a violent blow, e.g. for thrusting with his horns by an ox.
The residence of the king and the palaces of the rich were tossed to the ground, and with them the houses of the common people and the dungeons of captives.
EXODUS 12:29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon.
PAPYRUS 4:3, and 5:6 Forsooth, the children of princes are dashed against the walls.
6:12 Forsooth, the children of princes are cast out in the streets.
PAPYRUS 6:3 The prison is ruined.
2:13 He who places his brother in the ground is everywhere.
To it correspond Exodus 12:30:
... there was not a house where there was not one dead.
In Exodus 12:30 it is written:
... there was a great cry in Egypt.
To it corresponds the papyrus 3:14:
It is groaning that is throughout the land, mingled with lamentations.
The statues of the gods fell and broke in pieces: "this night... against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment" (Exodus 12:12).
A book by Artapanus, no longer extant, which quoted some unknown ancient source and which in its turn was quoted by Eusebius, tells of "hail and earthquake by night [of the last plague], so that those who fled from the earthquake were killed by the hail, and those who sought shelter from the hail were destroyed by the earthquake. And at that time all the houses fell in, and most of the temples."
The earth was equally pitiless towards the dead in their graves: the sepulchers opened, and the buried were disentombed.
PAPYRUS 4:4, also 6:14 Forsooth, those who were in the place of embalmment are laid on the high ground.
Revolt and Flight
The description of distrubances in the Papyrus Ipurew, when compared with the scriptural narrative, gives a strong impression that both sources relate the very same events. It is therefore only natural to look for mention of revolt among the population, of a flight of wretched slaves from this country visited by disaster, and of a cataclysm in which the pharaoh perished.
Although in the mutilated papyrus there is no explicit reference to the Israelites or their leaders, three facts are clearly described as consequences of the upheaval: the population revolted; the wretched or the poor men fled; the king perished under unusual circumstances....
PAPYRUS 4:2 Forsooth, great and small say: I wish I might die.
5:14f. Would that there might be an end of men, no conception, no birth! Oh, that the earth would cease from noise, and tumult be no more!
The escaped slaves hurried across the border of the country. By day a column of smoke went before them in the sky; by night it was a pillar of fire.
EXODUS 13:21 ... by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night.
PAPYRUS 7:1 Behold, the fire has mounted up on high. Its burning goes forth against the enemies of the land.
The translator added this remark: "Here the 'fire' is regarded as something disastrous."
After the first manifestations of the protracted cataclysm the Egyptians tried to bring order into the land. They traced the route of the escaped slaves. The wanderers became "entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in" (Exodus 14:3). They turned to the sea, they stood at Pi-ha-Khiroth. "The Egyptians pursued after them. The Egyptians marched after them." A hurricane blew all the night and the sea fled.
In a great avalanche of water "the sea returned to his strength", and "the Egyptians fled against it". The sea engulfed the chariots and the horsemen, the pharaoh and all his host.
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Monday, August 06, 2007
Psalm 80 ~ Thou didst clear the ground
[1] Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
thou who leadest Joseph like a flock!
Thou who art enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
[2] before E'phraim and Benjamin and Manas'seh!
Stir up thy might,
and come to save us!
[3] Restore us, O God;
let thy face shine, that we may be saved!
[4] O LORD God of hosts,
how long wilt thou be angry with thy people's prayers?
[5] Thou hast fed them with the bread of tears,
and given them tears to drink in full measure.
[6] Thou dost make us the scorn of our neighbors;
and our enemies laugh among themselves.
[7] Restore us, O God of hosts;
let thy face shine, that we may be saved!
[8] Thou didst bring a vine out of Egypt;
thou didst drive out the nations and plant it.
[9] Thou didst clear the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.
[10] The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches;
[11] it sent out its branches to the sea,
and its shoots to the River.
[12] Why then hast thou broken down its walls,
so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
[13] The boar from the forest ravages it,
and all that move in the field feed on it.
[14] Turn again, O God of hosts!
Look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine,
[15] the stock which thy right hand planted.
[16] They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down;
may they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance!
[17] But let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand,
the son of man whom thou hast made strong for thyself!
[18] Then we will never turn back from thee;
give us life, and we will call on thy name!
[19] Restore us, O LORD God of hosts!
let thy face shine, that we may be saved!
Friday, August 03, 2007
Mark 7: 24-37 ~ for such a reply, you may go
Mark 7:24-37
24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25 In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
27 "First let the children eat all they want," he told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."
28 "Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."
29 Then he told her, "For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter."
30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
31 Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. 32 There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged him to place his hand on the man.
33 After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man's ears. Then he spit and touched the man's tongue. 34 He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, "Ephphatha!" (which means, "Be opened!" ). 35 At this, the man's ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.
36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37 People were overwhelmed with amazement. "He has done everything well," they said. "He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Mark 7: 1-23 ~ from within
1 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and 2 saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were "unclean," that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)
5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with 'unclean' hands?"
6 He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
" 'These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.' 8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men."
9 And he said to them: "You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! 10 For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' 11 But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban' (that is, a gift devoted to God), 12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that."
14 Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15 Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.' "
17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 "Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'? 19 For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean.")
20 He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' 21 For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.' "
John 6: 25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"
26 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."
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.
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Acts 15:12-21 ~ a people for himself
12 The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. 13 When they finished, James spoke up: "Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself. 15 The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:
16 " 'After this I will return
and rebuild David's fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
and I will restore it,
17 that the remnant of men may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things'
18 that have been known for ages.
19 "It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. 20 Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. 21 For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath."
Acts 15:9
God put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
Acts 15:19–21
We should not trouble those of the Gentiles who are turning to God
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Ephesians 3:6
This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 4:25
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.
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Thursday, July 26, 2007
Mark 5: 1-20 ~ how much the Lord has done for you
1 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. 3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. 4 For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.
6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7He shouted at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me!" 8 For Jesus had said to him, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit!"
9 Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?"
"My name is Legion," he replied, "for we are many." 10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.
11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12 The demons begged Jesus, "Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them." 13 He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
14 Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. 15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. 17 Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19 Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." 20 So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Mark 4: 35-41 ~ The wind & the waves obey him
Rembrandt's Storm at Sea
Mark 4:35-41
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"
41 They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Mark 4: 21-34 ~ On its stand
21 He said to them, "Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don't you put it on its stand? 22 For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear."
24 "Consider carefully what you hear," he continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. 25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."
26 He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."
30 Again he said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade."
33 With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.
Deuteronomy 10:14
To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it.
Kings 8:27
"But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!
Matthew 3:16
As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."
Matthew 5: 43 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Matthew 13:52
He said to them, "Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old."
Matthew 16:19
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
Matthew 18:19
"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.”
Revelation 19:11
I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war.
Revelation 21:1
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
Revelation 21:2
I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
2 Corinthians 12: 1 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— 4 was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.
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- Scripture for Today Blogspot, by Anne-Laurel Gardere
- Email registry at bottom.! “All Scripture is inspired by God” (2 Timothy 3:16). Men “moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Peter 1:21). The Holy Spirit carried men along, moving and guiding them as they wrote in their own words what God wanted them to say. The Bible is unique; comprised of 80 separate books, & written over a period of thousands of years by more than 40 writers with one Author, spanning the centuries, different states of peace & war & different situations in life. The Bible answers the question: of who is God, who is man & what can their relationship can be. Although the Bible was written on perishable material and copied by hand for many centuries, its accuracy is not in doubt, proven by Dead Sea Scrolls and papyrus from 2,000 years. The Bible has survived persecution & criticism to be read with great interest in each generation. The Bible gives witness to the greatness of the Creator. A loving Father concerned for all of his creation. With each verse of the bible witnessing to God is love and the multitude & vastness of His attributes. The Bible was written for you. <><
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Blessings, Anne-Laurel
Psalm 81 ~ I answered you
Mark 1:1-20 ~ Prepare the way of the Lord, make His path's straight
Ephesians 4 ~ speaking the truth in Love
1 Peter 4:7-19 ~ Beloved, do not be surprised
Psalm 31 ~ O Lord, let me not be put to shame for I call upon You
Mark 12:28-34 ~ love Him with all your heart
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
John 1:29-34 ~ I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God
Beauty Instead of Ashes
Isaiah 61 ~ Beauty instead of Ashes
Being a New Creation in Jesus Christ
Mark 2:18-22 ~ new wine into new wineskins
Matthew 22:34-40 ~ The great and first commandment. And a second is like it
Being Spiritual
Matthew 14:1-12 ~ the fame of Jesus
Believe
Colossians 1:24-2:7 ~ rooted and built up in Him
Genesis 25 ~ sell me your birthright now
The Bible explains the Bible, Prophetically
John 15:12-17 ~ Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends
1 Thessalonians Chapter 4:1-8 ~ gave you through the Lord Jesus
1 John 1 ~ God is light, in Him is no darkness at all
Blessing - unaware
Boundaries
Philippians 2:19-24 ~ how it will go with me, and I trust in the Lord
Ezekiel 24 ~ write down the name of this day, this very day
Crusades as a Permanent Criticism to Christianity
Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 ~ to the place where the streams flow
Decision
John 1:1-5, 9-13, 14-17 ~ grace and truth
Matthew 16:13-20 ~ who do people say the Son of Man is?
Matthew 16:1-19 ~ no sign
Mark 1:1-20 ~ Prepare the way of the Lord, make His path's straight
Matthew 13:1-9 ~ A sower went out to sow
Matthew 25 ~ Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?
Matthew 5:27-37 ~ you have heard
Ecclesiastes 6 ~ whatever has come to be has already been named
Psalm 132:6-10 ~ we found it in the fields of Jaar
Psalm 97~ worshipers of images are put to shame
1 Timothy 3:16 ~ believed on in the world
Matthew 22:23-33 ~ after them
Acts 24:10-21 ~ verify that
John 1:29-34 ~ I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God
1 Corinthians 6 ~ such cases
Psalm 135 ~ who is in your midst
John 1:1-14, 16, 29-51 ~ He was in the world
Details - Putting it all together and discovering it is about God
Psalm 108 ~ In triumph I will parcel out Shechem
Determine your own path, just love Him
Judges 16 ~ like any other man
Divorce
Matthew 19:1-15 ~ your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning, it was not so
1 Corinthians 5:1-8 ~ in the name of the Lord Jesus
Dry, Dusty Old Tomes or the Word of God, Living and Active
Dead Sea Scroll of Isaiah - 2,000 years old
Sennacherib's Prism Isaiah Bible Archaeology
Ancient Giants of Israel
Daniel 3 ~ an image of gold
Ezra 7:27-28, 8:21-36 ~ blessed be the LORD
Psalm 90 ~ For a thousand years in Your sight are but as yesterday when it is past'
1 John 1 ~ God is light, in Him is no darkness at all
Psalm 19:8-10, 14 ~ meditation
Psalm 70 ~ May all who seek thee rejoice and be glad in Thee
Psalm 44 ~ ordain salvation
Daniel 9 ~ He has confirmed his words, which he spoke
Proverbs 24 ~ lest the Lord see it
Archaeology (placed in area instead of alphabetically)
Ipuwer Papyrus
Hebrews 11:1-3, 32-40 ~ by faith we understand
Matthew 16:18 ~ Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church
Psalm 93 ~ The Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed; he has put on strength as his belt.
Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8 ~ Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father
Psalm 105:23-45 ~ Egypt was glad when they departed, for dread of them had fallen upon it.
2 Kings 21 ~ walk in the way of the Lord
Numbers 9:15-23 ~ they remained
2 Chronicles 29 ~ opened the doors of the House of the Lord
Joshua 1:1-9 ~ I am giving
Matthew 22:34-40 ~ The great and first commandment. And a second is like it
John 1:35-42 ~ He said to them, “Come and you will see.”
Jeremiah 48 ~ they acquired
Genesis 49:29-50:14 ~ beyond the Jordan
John 6:52-59 ~ truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you
Zechariah 7:1-14 ~ by asking
Jeremiah 2:1-13 ~ Servant's first fruit
2 Chronicles 32 ~ And many brought gifts to the Lord to Jerusalem and precious things
Matthew 13:1-23 ~ root in Himself
John 1:35-42 ~ He said to them, “Come and you will see.”
Psalm 116 ~ I believe
1 Kings 9 ~ I have heard your prayer and your plea
Psalm 78: 1- 39 ~ Things from of old
2 Chronicles 26:1-22 ~ his pride led to his downfall
Psalm 78:1-39 ~ forgot His works and the wonders that He had shown them
Genesis 14 ~ they also carried off Abram's nephew Lot
Ezekiel 26:1-14 ~ your walls will shake
John 18: 28-40, John 19 ~ The King of the Jews
Deuteronomy 9:4-12 ~ For Days will come upon you
2 Samuel 13:23-39 ~ news came to David
Luke 21:1-4 ~ contributed
Ezra 1:1-11 ~ the Lord stirred
Matthew 11:1-6 ~ what you hear and see
Romans 8:1-21 ~ the law of the Spirit of life has set you [me] free in Christ Jesus
John 11:1-45 ~ had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in Him
Psalm 98 ~ The Lord has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
Holy Spirit, Fire and Halo's
Elements of Nature Displaying HIS Glory
Exodus 40:16-38 ~ In the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was erected.
I Decide What is Right and Wrong - God noticed this in the Garden of Eden from Eve
Evening Prayer
Psalm 134 ~ may the Lord bless you from Zion, He who made Heaven and earth!
Expectations
John 1:47-51 ~ you will see greater things than these
Judges 16:1-22 ~ told me
1 Kings 19:4-8 ~ a day's journey
Psalm 118 ~ The Lord's right hand
Matthew 22:34-40 ~ The great and first commandment. And a second is like it
Philippians 2:19-24 ~ how it will go with me, and I trust in the Lord
Family
Psalm 121 ~ help comes from the Lord
Psalm 16 ~ Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
1 John 3:11-21 ~ God is greater
Mark 1:1-20 ~ Prepare the way of the Lord, make His path's straight
Mark 6:1-13 ~ they went out and proclaimed that people should repent
Mark 11:11-26 ~ He entered Jerusalem and went into the temple
Romans 8:22-39 ~ it is God who justifies
James 3:13-4:12 ~ who speaks against a brother
More Forgiveness
1 Samuel 12 ~ serve the Lord with all your heart
Matthew 17:24-27 ~ give it to them for me and for yourself
Psalm 7 ~ test the minds and hearts
Matthew 5:27-37 ~ you have heard
Luke 8:16-25 ~ Who is this?
Psalm 130 ~ with You there is forgiveness
Psalm 25 ~ For the sake of your name, O Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.
Psalm 51 ~ Renew a right spirit within me
Gates of Heaven
Gates, Walls, Boundaries - all of our defenses
Psalm 118 ~ This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it
Matthew 16:13-20 ~ keys to the Kingdom of Heaven
Revelation 21 ~ the dwelling place of God is with man
Generations are different from one another
Luke 10:38-42 ~ has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her
Psalm 44 ~ at the sight of the enemy and the avenger
Psalm 63 ~ my soul will be satisfied
John 16: 29-33 ~ I have overcome the world
Isaiah 30:19-26 ~ This is the way; walk in it
Romans 14:1-12 ~ observes it in honor of the LORD
Glory
Gravity
Good Friday
His Story. All Scripture is HIS. Jesus fulfills Scripture.
Israel - Destroyed Completely and Rebuilt. A sign of Jesus. Existing today.
The Journey of Joseph
Luke 10:17-24 ~ to see what you see, and hear what you hear
Matthew 6 ~ practicing your righteousness
Psalm 13 ~ I have trusted
Luke 2:22-32 ~ blessed God
Psalm 34 ~ Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but
Joel 2:18-29 ~ be glad and rejoice, for the Lord has done great things!
Psalm 128 ~ May you see your children's children! Peace be upon Israel!
Luke 10 ~ Rejoice that your names are written in Heaven!
Psalm 24:1-6 ~ who shall ascend
Psalm 81 ~ open your mouth wide
Exodus 33:19 ~ The Lord
Psalm 128:1-5
Hebrews 13:17-21 ~ keep watch
Romans 11: 11-12 Homecoming!
Luke 1:39-55 ~ glorifies the Lord
Psalm 31:3-8,17-21 ~ Thou hast redeemed me
Live It
Psalm 117 ~ Praise the Lord
Psalm 82 ~ rescue the weak and the needy
2 Samuel 4:1-12 ~ David answered
Hebrews 12 ~ Thankful
Psalm 31:3-8,17-21 ~ Thou hast redeemed me
Isaiah 40:1-11 ~ His reward is with Him
Matthew 13:31-32 ~ the birds of the air come and perch in its branches
Matthew 6:25-34 ~ your heavenly Father knows that you need
Luke 11:29-32 ~ Rise up
Psalm 126 ~ shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves
Luke 14:15-24 ~ there is still room
Joshua 1:1-9 ~ I am giving
Acts 5 ~ speak in the name of Jesus
John 1 ~ the Light shines
John 3:5-8 ~ born again
~ they went on from there and passed through Galilee
Judges 20 ~ Israel
Losing a Loved One - Passing ON
Revelation 21:22-27 ~ those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life
Not Being Tossed Back and Forth with Emotion
Ephesians 4 ~ speaking the truth in Love
Marriage
Romans 7:1-12 ~ bear fruit for God
1 Corinthians 7 ~ For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband
Genesis 37:12-24 ~ when Reuben
Psalm 143 ~ Your steadfast love
Psalm 86 ~ For great is your steadfast love
Media... taking it down the path
1 Corinthians 10 ~ Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God
Mercy, an Inseparable Component of Truth
Matthew 23:23-26 ~ clean
1 Samuel 12 ~ serve the Lord with all your heart
Matthew 22:34-40 ~ The great and first commandment. And a second is like it
Miscellaneous
Job 38 ~ Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.
Psalm 19 ~ the heavens declare the glory of God
2 Kings 5:1-15 ~ a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper
1 Chronicles 13 ~ the Lord blessed the household of Obed-edom
Mark 11: 12-25 ~ have faith in God
In Old Age and Frustration
Ruth 1 ~ Naomi
Psalm 126 ~ when the Lord restored
Genesis 12:1-4 ~ I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
Mark 13 ~ in those days!
Oops
Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-13 ~ Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son!
Paul - the last of the Disciples to actually see Jesus
Repeat and Repeat
Rock
SALVATION! What is needed?
Shepherd
Luke 1:67-79 ~ Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied
Leviticus 16:1-19 ~ shall be presented alive
Life and Travels of Paul
Walls of Heaven
Who is like our God?
Willingly
Years - Thousands of Them are Yesterday in His Sight
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