Author: chuck

Genesis
36 – 39

We open the reading with Esau’s family lineage. Interesting
to note that in this case, the Edomites are blessed through God’s promises,
proving the promise was not exclusive to Jacob. After this we start the story
of Joseph, Jacob’s most loved (v 37:3) and that gave Joseph a bit of an
attitude. It didn’t help that he had two dreams that had his family bowing to
him. Joseph let this get to his head and was prideful and arrogant. This cause
strife in the family and eventually lead to his brothers plotting against him.

In the end Joseph was not killed but sold into slavery, but
the brothers told Jacob/Israel that he was mauled by an animal. Dad’s response
in verse 37:34 was what one would expect:

Then Jacob wailed
in agony and tore his clothes with the depth of emotional pain only a
father could feel upon losing a child. He dressed in sackcloth and mourned
his son for a long time.

I could not imagine how I would respond if
I got word that one of my children died. We see Joseph mourns for quite some
time.

Now chapter 38 is one that seems to be
dropped into the story with no real logic. It’s about Judah and his three sons,
the eldest marries Tamar and then gets God upset to where he is killed. Then
the next in line marries and does the same thing and dies. Finally, Judah keeps
his third son away and this causes Tamar to be upset. It ends with Judah
fathering twins (Perez and Zerah) with Tamar.

Now this is one of those chapters that one scratches
their head for many reasons. The first is passing ones wife from brother to
brother. Then the deception of Judah into being tricked and the fact Judah
slept with a “prostitute” is unsettling. Then why is this story dropped into
the story of Joseph? Judah’s line plays a key role in Israel’s later history.
We find that King David and his eventual grandson, saves the world. It’s
interesting that the one who was stepped on and pushed out of the way at birth
is again the saving grace of Israel.

Even in slavery Joseph is blessed in all he
does and follows God closely. Verse 39:20 is the resulting consequences of
denying sex with his masters wife:

So Potiphar,
Joseph’s master, put him into prison and locked him up in the place where the
king’s prisoners were confined. Joseph remained there for a time.

So honoring God, Joseph is humbled even
more by doing the right thing and still being jailed. Yet instead of being
angry with God, he humbles himself and honors God, who continues to bless him
even as a slave in prison (now think how low that has to be). This is often
what happens to the most prideful of the world, we get humbled. And I said we,
since I often times get full of myself and don’t give credit to God.

This is something I personally need to work on,
because often this innocently starts as being embarrassed to acknowledge God
in  my life, I guess that comes from
years of being in engineering where the Flying Spaghetti Monster gets more
credit when God is talked about. I tend to initially not give credit which
morphs into taking credit, which often times results in humbling. I pray that I
have learned my lessons, but even then it seems to be difficult. Like today, I
am out of work, over extended in debt and we are closing on a house we have
paid off. God is big time in the mix here, yet I rarely give credit. Sure I
imply, but even among Christians I withhold this story out of embarrassment of
the blessing. I am looped when it comes to logic!

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1 Corinthians
1 – 2

Verse 1:10 opens with a warning to Christians not to get
caught up in personalities:

My brothers and
sisters, I urge you by the name of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed, to come
together in agreement. Do not allow anything or anyone to create
division among you. Instead, be restored, completely fastened together with one
mind and shared judgment.

This is a hard line since there are many
great teachers and often we get into almost a cult following them. We need to
know that it’s about Jesus and not Billy Graham, Pat Robinson, Joel Osteen or
Creflo Dollar. In our own community here in Atlanta we have many huge churches
with awesome teachers. I know my church, 12 Stone, get accused of being a cult
since every campaign gets seen throughout the community. Another I recently
attended was Mars Hill in Portland. In both cases the teaching is awesome and
on point, but often I wonder do many get wrapped up in the “cult of
personality”?

Preachers have a tough job with this as their
church grows to make sure the people are following Jesus and not them. It’s
hard not to get wrapped up in the fame when you can fill an arena as I have
seen with Joyce Meyers. Suddenly people are wrapped up in your fame and less on
the teaching. For you personally, find good Bible teaching teachers and follow
Jesus first.

Verse 1:18 give you some understanding on
why people think we are nuts sometimes:

For people who are
stumbling toward ruin, the message of the cross is nothing but a tall tale for
fools by a fool. But for those of us who are already experiencing the reality
of being rescued and made right, it is nothing short of God’s power.

 

Honestly, the story is unbelievable when
you think about it. This thing we call God made everything, then focused on a
family that grew but was rebellious. It had murder, adultery, parting of large
bodies of water, healing of sick, raising of the dead and a homeless guy who
gets executed only to come back and save the world. If you don’t know God this
is a “tale for fools.” One thing that people have a hard time with is why not
today! Why is this kind of stuff not happening today? Maybe it is and like when
the people walked across dry ground in the Red Sea only to rebel shortly
thereafter.

If God didn’t realize that personal change
and experience is the way to man’s heart, not a grand spectacle, we would have
more people walking on water and parting the seas to prove to themselves over
and over that God is real. No this story becomes real when you realize it is and
can see past the science and live in the glory.

Verses 2:15 & 16 are ones I marked and
circled:

¹⁵ A
person who walks by the Spirit examines everything, sizing it up and seeking
out truth. But no one is able to examine or size up that kind of
spiritual person, ¹⁶ for the Scripture asks, “Does
anyone know the mind of the Lord well enough to become His advisor?” But we do
possess the mind of the Anointed One.

First thing is we need to have childlike
faith, so what does that mean? Think about what we are taught, that childlike
faith is not questioning anything concerning a story and just accepting it like
a child. But for those who have children we know what it looks like. Sure they
may accept something for a short time, but the litany of questions that follow
solidifies this verse. So ask, pray and keep asking. Don’t look at the pastor
as an orator, but rather a teacher who can answer questions. If something
stumps you keep asking.

Personally it took almost thirty years of
being a Christian to understand and accept the “trinity”. Up to that point I
assumed it was more to reconcile the fact we were not to worship any other God,
while we worshiped Jesus. So therefore Jesus had to be God or we would be in
violation of one of the 10 Commandments. I took the Bible as literal, where God
was Jesus’s father and they were two different beings. Well you’ll have to get
my book to understand how I reconciled it, but now I understand through Quantum
Mechanics that they are one in the same.

The other thing I note is verse 16 where we
don’t have the mind of God, but we do possess the one of Jesus. This again is
hard to reconcile with the trinity, but again we have the image of God or his
energy. The mind of Jesus is the soft quiet voice that leads us through each
day.

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Matthew
23 – 25

Verses 33:2 & 3 open a chapter of condemning to the
religious elite of the time:

² The
Pharisees and the scribes occupy the seat of Moses. ³ So you
should do the things they tell you to do—but don’t do the things they do.

“Do as I say not as I do” is a famous
“father proverb” to their children. I know I must have given that to our
children multiple times and can remember it once or twice growing up. Each
after this starts with “Woe to you Pharisees, woe to you who teach the law,
hypocrites!” Then it gives a laundry list of problems with their teachings and
actions. Verse 23:13 I think is one of the most ominous of these warnings:

Woe to you, you
teachers of the law and Pharisees. There is such a gulf between what you say
and what you do. You will stand before a crowd and lock the door of the
kingdom of heaven right in front of everyone; you won’t enter the
Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from doing so.

I get concerned that Jesus will say this to
the church today. Go to some of those “faith healers” who fake healings to line
their pockets. Or maybe the prosperity preachers who preach give the dollar
with faith so it will grow, to line their own pockets. Or maybe the ones who
say once you accept Jesus as your savior your name is sealed. I have no idea
the line that will be drawn, I just do no the key is in this book and it must
be read so you understand it clearly. Don’t rely on others to interpret
scripture and context for you. Fact check every sermon on your own, and if you
notice deception bring it up to the elders. Be diligent and keep watch for
false teachings. (NOTE – often times you will not expose false teachings but
understand why they were correct!!)

Chapter 24 is one to read as a whole, since
it is the foundation of end time prophecies. You will notice that the seals
that get open in Revelations match what Jesus is teaching his disciples. As you
read these you will notice that many of these signs are happening today. Do we
need to hunker down or spread the word? Think of it this way if you saw a man
walking towards an open manhole texting, would you save him or film him for
YouTube?

Verses 25:35 & 36 are one of those keys
that can help and hurt us at the same time:

³⁵ You
shall be richly rewarded, for when I was hungry, you fed Me. And when I was
thirsty, you gave Me something to drink. I was alone as a stranger, and you
welcomed Me into your homes and into your lives. ³⁶ I
was naked, and you gave Me clothes to wear; I was sick, and you tended to My
needs; I was in prison, and you comforted Me.

How many times have we stepped over a bum asking
for help? I know I do more times than I care to admit. We often times look and
expect others to help or the government to step in. Heck our system of welfare
is based on the collective helping the needy in numbers that individuals alone
cannot do. Churches do the same with their collection in helping needy people.
With both working we get the idea our taxes and donations are helping those in
need and we don’t need to take the time. That is something we need to squash
today! If someone is in need help them, but help them as you would the savior
of the world and not a “street rat”!! That is the key! And imagine if every
Christian did this, while investing time teaching them to fish, the government
and churches would have less work to do as a whole.

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Isaiah
45 – 50

This is a complex situation, Israel is being delivered by
Cyrus who although they are not the chosen ones, God is blessing them. Verse
45:5 states this fact:

I am the Eternal
One; there is no other God but Me,
        and even though you don’t know Me, I am preparing you for victory.

God
is speaking to people that do not know Him to reveal His glory to them and to
deliver Israel from slavery. This shows God will help anyone to meet his end
goal.

Verse
45:8 is another potter analogy which shows the people truth:

How bad it will be
for anyone who disputes with the very One who created him!
    After
all, a human being is nothing more than one clay pot among many.
Imagine the clay saying to the potter, “What do you think
you’re doing?”
    or
“You don’t have the hands for this.”

Think about this analogy and what it means.
We are created not to “do what we want” but rather to glorify the maker. We
need to first acknowledge that there is a maker and that we are not evolved
from some primordial ooze. People have a tough time with this since even when
we accept God’s gift, we want it on our terms. We want our pot lined with gold
and in a prominent spot, not used as a waste receptacle. I am not saying strive
for a better life, just understand you are where you are to give glory to God.

Verse 47:2 brings to light the different
economic “strata” in our society:

And with those
delicate fingers grab the heavy millstones and grind the grain.
        Take off your lacy veil, lift your skirt, bare your legs, and
    Cross
the mud and muck of the river on foot like any other slave.

Think
about this statement, does it say the rich just rest on their laurels? We all
need to get it and work like everyone else; wealth does not give us privilege
but rather an ability to help others even more. I think that is the problem
people have had with rich over the years, they become so obsessed with wealth
that they lose perspective on people. When all is said and done how you treat
others fills your funeral, not how much you have.

Think about this
more. When you are dead, you are dead. All the money in the world will not stop
this fact and therefore that should never be the focus in life. People often
look at life and figure the stages of significance. First part is dependence on
parents, then independence from all, to striving for wealth, to finally wanting
significance. The key is when these steps happen and when they change. If you
can get to striving for significance in your 20’s that rocks! The key is money
only helps, people are what really matters in the end.

Job
17
– 18

Verse 17:1 shows Job is at the end of his rope:

Job: My
spirit has collapsed; my days have been blotted out;
        the grave is prepared for me.

Have you ever been at this point? Have sure
have to some extent, obviously not as sunk as Job, but “sucky” all the same. We
get there from time to time; mine was a combination of debt, family and
employment issues that were all culminating into a perfect storm. I felt it was
best I wasn’t around anymore since I had caused the problems. But God took
ahold of me and slapped me around a bit to straighten me out.

In my case the biggest key was learning
money management, which after 6 years I am just starting to get. It started
with the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace program. Although I knew the key to
spending less than you make and keep doing it, I drifted big time. Well to make
a long story short after 6 years we are slowly digging out of debt and learning
to lean on God more.

Verse 17:6 needs a quick comment:

But God has turned
me into a swear word for everyone;
        I have become a symbol of human darkness;
        I am the face on whom one spits.

I am not sure if there is a connection, but
“job” to many is a swear word, or at least used with many cursing adjectives to
describe the “job”. I could not find anything on the origins of how “job”
became a word for our daily work, but I often wonder if it’s connected to Job?

Once again Bildad chimes in with his
“opinion” on Job’s situation. Verse 18:21 sums up his feelings:

Surely this is the
way it goes with all evil people;
        surely this is the lot in life for those who do not know God.

As we know all Job’s friends have no clue
to what is really happening in the background. They would rather assume what
they believe to be true than actually just help and comfort Job. Isn’t it funny
how we often have to inject our opinions when things are bad. I know I do this
often with Devon! He will just be venting and I take things personal. This puts
me on the defensive and I “buck-up” and defend myself. That starts an argument
which often escalates from my pride. Devon just wanted to have a “shoulder to
cry on” and not a solution to my assumptions.

We need to take this from Job’s friends
that often times it is best just to shut-up and listen than to interject our
opinions.

Psalms
24 – 26

Verse 24:1 is something we really need to understand:

The earth and all
that’s upon it belong to the Eternal.
    The
world is His, with every living creature on it.

Everything is God’s, we own nothing. To put
this into perspective when people start talking about the government owning our
homes, we get upset. We can’t imagine that something would be able to take what
we feel we own at their free will. Well when you think about it God is the same
way. The only difference is God is not seen and therefore people don’t take
this serious, where the government has guns and the ability to take things by
force.

When all is said and done and we look at
all the rich people in the world, the only consistent thing is they all die and
leave what the acquired. The only “old” money I can think of are the
Rothschild’s and that is only 300 or so years old. After that it’s more stories
of families blowing it after the “responsible” one dies. In the end we own
nothing and are only borrowing it for a very short time. Once we accept that we
can be more thankful for what we have here on this earth.

Psalm 25 is the ABC Psalm which most
translations do not pick up. In Hebrew the first word starts with the first
letter of the alphabet. Unfortunately with most Hebrew to English translations
this gets missed, since our words don’t always line up. The Voice has done a
great job attempting to do this. A few notes, in the original text there are a
few missing letters, showing that life is not always orderly. Also, in the
English we are missing W, X, Y and Z. Finally, not how David handle adversity,
he focuses on fixing him and not the problem.

Verse 25:4 jumps out to me:

DEMONSTRATE Your
ways, O Eternal One.
    Teach
me to understand so I can follow.

Understanding God’s word and desires
sometimes is not easy. I have struggled with “prosperity” for years, with
images of what would be God’s plan. I finally have had to take to heart the
previous verse. I struggle with trying to regain lost family riches, yet have
not accepted the gifts God has given us today. We are in a tough time, on
unemployment and almost out of money, yet a pending sale of two homes turn this
around to the point where I can be more selective on the work I do. So although
things seem awful, God has protected us and led us to his light.

Verse 26:2 ties into the other verse quite
well:

Put me on trial
and examine me, O Eternal One!
    Search
me through and through—from my deepest longings to every thought that
crosses my mind.

Think about asking this. Would you want to
be before God today on trial for your life? Initially I would say no, but
imagine what you would learn!! You could fix your flaws and serve God more
purely. That is something that is tough, but would be more valuable to us that
gold. Character matters in life more than money.

For an example of this just look at the
banking sector today. They are taking advantage of peoples desires for more and
then when it falls apart the government bails them out. You would think that
would have caused them to examine their practices. Instead they are back at it
and just trying to defraud more. Oh I pray I am examined and put on trial so I
can understand what I am doing wrong.

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Judges
17
– 21

We read about Micah who admits to stealing money from his
mother. Initially verse 17:2 seems like a great example in grace:

Micah (to
his mother): ² Do you remember those 1,100 pieces of
silver that were stolen from you? I heard you curse the person who took them.
Well, I have them. I took them, and now I want to return them to you.

Micah’s Mother:
May my son be blessed by the Eternal!

She forgives him and then makes an idol.
What is going on here? Why are these people ignoring God, while quazi-following
God? I think verse 17:8 really give us insight to what is happening:

In those days of
the judges, there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what seemed right
in his own eyes.

People so often can justify their version
of truth Biblically. We often distort the Bible to fit what we want to hear or
do, as with Micah’s mother. Having a household god seems right and they often
can worship it. They may believe that their worship is going to God, but rather
misses the mark.

I am rambling, but as you read to the end
of Judges the key to the end is just this. People are doing what they think is
right and not want God wants. We are doing this today with the “Prosperity
Gospel” where preachers are selecting verses that work for their theology and
rejecting the rest of the Gospel. Think about it, where do the disciples live
lavishly and are blessed beyond their dreams?

Interestingly near the end the nation of
Israel almost wipes one of their tribes. I still am trying to get this story,
but it’s interesting how this tribe drifts from the one true God and needs
correction. My question today is do Jews today relate themselves back to one of
Jacob’s sons or is the “tribal” system gone completely?

Genesis
32 – 35

Jacob was wrestling with a “man” which may be God. During
this he is told in verse 32:28 of a name change:

You will no longer
go by the name Jacob. From now on, your name will be Israel because you
have wrestled with God and humanity, and you have prevailed.

Interestingly it’s not until chapter 35 and
God states the name change again that it finally changes. This is one of those
sections that one has to wonder who the “man” was that he was wrestling and
what the meaning of that was. Why did he dislocate Jacob’s hip?

Leading up to this encounter Jacob was
stressing about meeting his brother. Now this man who conned is father and
brother to get the birthright and blessing. He lied and manipulated events to
be in his favor now had to face his brother. He faced God before having to face
his brother. Interestingly in crippling Jacob, God is showing us that He is
looking for the unlikely to build his nation, not just the rich, dynamic and
powerful. What man would think as the logical choice, God realizes that would
only provide doubt it was his glory.

Chapter 34 has a disturbing story about
Jacob and Rachel’s daughter Dinah. A Hivite named Shecham rapes Dinah and then
falls in love with her. He then asks her hand in marriage, yet ends up killed
in a fit of revenge by her brothers. This story is disturbing and shows how
barbaric many cultures are. In western civilization we consider this rare, but
it still happens. I don’t have any comment other than people who read this
somehow tie it into God’s truths, when it’s just a historical account and is no
way an example of how man should live a Godly life.

The 12 tribes of Israel are not set and we
see how the name arrived. The next story is of Joseph, where God takes the most
unlikely once again.

Romans
15
– 16

Verses 15:1 & 2 sum up what’s next:

¹ So
now what? We who are strong are not just to satisfy our own desires. We are
called to carry the weaknesses of those who are not strong.² Each of us must strive to please our neighbors,
pursuing their welfare so they will become strong.

This is something that often times we miss.
If you remember Paul said earlier that we should not do something we don’t
think is a sin while it is considered one of another “brother” in Jesus. This
is a continuation of that, where we are to strengthen the relationship of
others with the Lord, and this will help improve ours in the same manner. See
“sacrifice” is not doing something that is comfortable for you, but rather
going outside your comfort zone.

If we take yesterdays “first will be last
and last will be first” order then this solidifies the understanding. The key
is “love” and with that a love for your neighbors with service. We tend to fall
into the “invite” trap expecting a sermon to help them and that is “service”.
When they may be disabled and need some help, or they may just need a morale
booster. We don’t know what their needs are but if you see something that will
help, jump in and do it. Or just simply ask, it doesn’t matter what YOU may
think their needs are, God knows for sure.

Notice in this chapter how often he prays
for the people of Rome. Three times he specifically says “I pray” in chapter
15, showing his care and compassion for the people. Verse 5 is one where he
prays for the people to join together to serve God. Verse 13 he is praying for
joy and hope. Finally in verse 33 he prays for peace to all. Prayers I believe
we are need prayed over us each and every week.

Verse 15:16 shows Paul’s focus is more for
“gentiles” than it is for Jews:

His grace makes
me who I am, a minister of the Anointed One, Jesus, called to serve the
nations. The good news of God is the focus of my priestly work. In effect,
these nations have become an offering to God, totally acceptable, indeed made
holy by the work of the Holy Spirit.

The beauty of Jesus’ sacrifice was it was
not isolated to just the Jewish people, but all peoples of the world. Like we
saw in yesterday’s reading in Matthew, the king had a wedding and he eventually
opened the door for all, since most of his “honored” guests rejected his
invitation. Think about how many Jewish people today reject the fact Jesus is
the Messiah, or for this version “the Anointed One”. He has the invite out to
all, and our job is to show as many as we can the true loving salvation of his
grace.

Finally I just have to touch on much of
chapter 16 with a specific focus on verse 16:1:

I commend to you
our beloved sister Phoebe; she serves the church in Cenchrea as a faithful
deacon.

You don’t know how many times I hear that
“men” are selected as leaders of the Church, while Paul clearly demonstrates
here that is not the case. Throughout the Bible we see women leaders, yet many
believe this is for leading other women and not the “body” of the church. At
the same time as I am writing this I get concerned for those reading it in
churches where this is doctrine and often preached that I may be shaking their
faith. I want to be clear on this, I am not judging but rather commenting. On
this your heart is the judge, if you truly believe God does not want women leading
men then that is your faith. At the same time neither “camps” should be judging
the other or criticizing, but rather being joyous that their view is from God.

Now at the same time the “truth” seekers
would call this “relativism” where suddenly anything may be allowed in church.
I disagree since these decisions are of the Holy Spirit. If someone is an
alcoholic then their “doctrine” would be no drink and they would seek churches
that do not promote this at all. In the case of social drinkers, they may
consider this “doctrine” backwards.
Scripture is clear that the disciples drank wine and it is also clear
that we should not get drunk. So if a church does not want alcoholics to
stumble, the doctrine of no drink is foundational in scripture since they do
not want their brother to stumble. They actually are doing what Paul is
preaching …

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Matthew
20 – 22

Verse 20:16 is a picture of how God loves his followers:

And that is
your picture: The last will be first and the first will be last.

This is the moral of the parable of the
workers who all get paid the same, no matter how hard they worked. The ones who
labored the most are jealous of the ones who did little work for the same pay.
This is key to salvation and is needed to eliminate pride from the equation.
Let’s say you just saved a murdering, raping, politician and then the rapture
happened. Guess what, both would have the same place in heaven. So even if you
have thousands of souls and they have no track record but a lascivious life
they are now equal. You’re to have joy and satisfaction that one was saved by
your actions, not jealousy that they get the same place as you.

Verse 21:21 is one of those verses that make others question
their faith:

I tell you this:
if you have faith and do not doubt, then you will be able to wither a fig tree
with one glance. You will be able to tell mountains to throw themselves into
the ocean, and they will obey.

How many of us have tried to do this? How
about walk on water? How many have successfully done it? Sometimes it makes
people question their faith, when they feel it’s strong, yet they cannot
perform the same miracles that Jesus says only needs faith. I have no idea what
to say on this since the scriptures are clear we should be able to do this, yet
I know many who have tried and failed. So are we all short of faith or is the
supernatural of those proportions not easily obtained? I have no clue, but pray
it’s not a faith issue!

Verse 22:14 is another one of those verses
that concern me:

For many are
invited, but few are chosen.

Where is the line? Is it people who have
not accepted the Christ? How about people who have accepted Him at some time,
yet back slid? How about people who have been saved who later reject the
“Christhood” of Jesus? How about follower who have not confessed their sins
recently? How about those not living the message of Jesus? Or is it drawn with
those with faith, but not in works? All these positions can technically be
justified in scripture. Who are the few and are we part of them?

That is something we must take serious and
read to get our own clear understanding. After 4 complete reads of the Bible
and this being my fifth, it’s still not crystal clear on what the “rules” are
for man.

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Isaiah
40 – 44

Verse 40:1 has God giving Isaiah clear and concise
instructions when talking to the people:

“Comfort, comfort
My people,” says your God.

I read this and think of a movie called Ghost, this movie
was about a guy who died and his ghost was trying to contact his wife. He found
a “medium” that he could communicate through and went to his wife. Well he was
basically saying what God said to Isaiah, but the “medium’s” (played by Whoopee
Goldberg) response was: “Girl, you in danger”. This was in no way comforting to
his wife.

Imagine knowing the future and having to tell people about
it. What if you knew without a doubt the Jesus was returning tomorrow. Would
you hide in a corner and pray or would you run around like a mad man telling
everyone you could? The problem with being a mad man is you will not get much
notice other than maybe a 72 hour lock down in the county “funny farm”. With
something like this you have to comfort the people and not panic them. So that
was what Isaiah was charged to do.

Verse 40:7 is directly conflict with Matthew 6:26 (saying
birds are cared for and we are more important):

The grass withers,
the flower fades
    as
the breath of the Eternal One blows away.
People are no different from grass.

On one hand we are told we are important,
on the other we are compared to grass. You know the same grass they walk on,
that feeds their livestock and gets poo’ed on by them. So we have this view of
self-importance, but are really nothing in the grand scheme of things. Sure we
make our mark on the people around us, but as with Moses parting the Red Sea,
we will be forgotten quickly. So although God cares about us like Matthew, in
the end we are just like the grass.

Verse
42:25 is shows the headache God is going through:

That’s why God
sent all fury against Jacob
    in
the shape of war, and we were burned.
    We
experienced all this;
Yet we didn’t get it. God’s people did not take it to heart.

We can get hit against the head with a 2×4
and still not get it, at least that is often the case for me. God is talking to
a people who have a long history of being delivered with miracles and then in
short order they are worshiping false gods. I often wonder looking at today
when God will just say enough.

I have postulated that Revelations has
already happened. Think about Adam and Eve in Eden, they had paradise and how
they fell. What if we were in Eden again and fell away again? Heck it’s
happened over and over again, why not over and over again for ever? Think about
it Satan as cast out of Heaven, so why not again. Sorry for the depressing
though today, but we live for God and never forget and we never have to worry.
Don’t let the future paralyze you, but at the same time never forget the past
so we don’t repeat it in the future.

Job
15
– 16

Job is once again be assured by his friend Eliphaz with
stating how his view is Job is paying for sin. Job finally unloads on them and
rebukes their friendship. Verse 16:2 starts this onslaught:

Job: All
the things from you sound the same.
        You are all terrible as comforters!

How many times has this happened with you? Your friends know
how to fix the problem and will quickly tell you. Or they will point out the
obvious, like “does that hurt” as you have a stream of profanities coming from
your mouth while dancing like a wild man. Sure we all have them and often need
to just say stop. Job does this since what he needs is comfort and what he gets
is aggravation.

Verse 16:5 points out the other key issue here:

But I believe
I would use my words to encourage you;
        my lips would move only to offer you relief.

As much as we’d like to voice our opinions,
Job knows when to “bridle his tongue” (James 1:26) and just be there for
someone. That’s what we must learn to do, control our opinions until we know
the whole story. As they eventually learn they were wrong.

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Psalms
21 – 23

Psalm 21 is a prayer of worship to God. Verse 21:3 talks
about the abundant life God may give if asked:

True blessings You
lavished upon the king;
    a
crown of precious gold You placed upon his head.

I love the Psalms because they show us
there is hope in prayer. Since most were written by David, we can see the
history and time of each one. We get to see prayer in action. How cool is that?
David was blessed after in an essence literally being poo’ed on my King Saul.

Psalm 22 dives into many Messianic
Prophecies. Verse 22:18 is just one glaring example of one:

They make a
game out of dividing my clothes among themselves;
    they
cast lots for the clothes on my back.

This is a clear example of what happened to
Jesus on the cross. One could read this two ways, the Psalm is a clear example
of prophecies that Jesus fulfilled to prove He is the Messiah. The other, more
current, one is the story of Jesus was fake. Interestingly, there is no
historical documentation during the time of the original stories that refute
them. I believe the story as written was true and nothing has proven otherwise.
This is proof that Jesus is the Savior.

Psalm 23 is one of the most used in
funerals. Verses 23:1 & 2 are one of the most quoted verses as times get
rough:

¹ The
Eternal is my shepherd, He cares for me always.
² He provides me rest in rich, green fields
    beside
streams of refreshing water.
    He
soothes my fears;

Unfortunately I don’t like the Voice’s read
here. The NIV, KJV and others sound so much more harmonious and that is the
real flow of Psalms. I would love to hear this in Hebrew and just listen to the
flow.

Guess what Google did for us today!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYpjoUDqbU4

It sound beautiful even though I have no
idea what is being said!!

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Judges
12
– 16

Verse 13:1 is the end of a long string of Judges:

Once again,
though, the Israelites did evil according to the Eternal God, and He gave the
Philistines power over them for 40 years.

This is the “lead in” to the story of
Samson. Interesting how Samson is the one chosen to lead Israel from the
Philistines with all his flaws. First and foremost we can see what part of the
body leads his decisions. Since his first wife was in direct conflict with his
families instructions. Also, he sleeps with a prostitute and gives up his power
to a pretty face.

The longer the Israelites are in Canaan the
more corrupt they become, Samson is just one example. Even still it’s
interesting how God uses these powers to save the people. In the end, Samson
dies in a building collapse that he causes in his final act of strength.

So once again God uses the most unlikely
people to save his people. Again they are eventually punished for their issues,
but end up being the “heroes” of the day. In this case Samson dies but in the
process saves his people.

Like the stories of many in the Bible we
assume God uses the strong of faith or the prominent, when in reality he uses
an ambitious swindler (Jacob), a prideful bragger (Joseph), a murderer (Moses),
a ladies man (Samson), an adulterer (David) and a “bastard” kid (Jesus, am I
going to burn for this??) to save the people and eventually the world. So look
for the unlikely to be used in moving God’s kingdom forward.

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Genesis
28 – 31

This section is the story of Jacob and his quest for a
marrying his love Rachael. Verse 28:15 though brings an ominous message today:

Know I am with
you, and I will watch over you no matter where you go. One day I will
bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done all I have
promised you.

This is ominous today, because most of the
prophecies have been fulfilled and the ones that haven’t appear to be cueing up
on the horizon. So I take this as once it’s over … it’s over. Now is this
because it will be God and “redeemed” man in paradise or God will be fed up?
Now don’t worry, there is enough in scripture to support the first option, but
out of context this could be a worry.

Now back to Jacob’s story and his
adventure. After this dream he realizes his purpose with God and is instructed
to go to Laban and marry one of his daughters. As you read the story notice how
the tables get turned on Jacob. Remember the one who took advantage of his
brothers hunger to gain the birthright and then deceived his father to get the
blessing. Well for 20 years Laban takes advantage of Jacob because his love for
Rachel, but he gets deceived and taken advantage of over and over.

Even as he is leaving, he had to work to
get what was promised to him. Funny how God takes the one who took advantage of
his brother only to be taken advantage of himself. Remember this story as you
read the story of Joseph and see how God corrects his problems. A common theme
in most of these stories is God’s selected person has some personal issues to
deal with and it is masterful how it’s done.

 

Here Jacob sees the latter in a dream that
indicates that he is God’s chosen one and then summarily spends 20 years as an
indentured servant all while building the heads of the 12 tribes of Israel. Now
when you have spent many years in a difficult situation, know what the end
result may be. Also, don’t expect it either, since that seems to cause problems
with God.

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Romans
13
– 14

Verse 13:3 gets into a very difficult subject for many to
accept:

You see, if you do
the right thing, you have nothing to be worried about from the rulers; but if
you do what you know is wrong, the rulers will make sure you pay a price. Would
you not rather live with a clear conscience than always have to be looking over
your shoulder? Then keep doing what you know to be good and right, and they
will publicly honor you.

But what if the leader is morally wrong?
Then what, do you keep paying taxes into a corrupt system or break free? This
country was founded by men who did not follow this verse and realize the
corrupting influence that was destroying the colonies. See how this gets sticky.
Also, today you can’t help not mention a recent book that dismisses Jesus as
being a story to make good tax payers, which this chapter supports.

Today many in the Christian complain about
Obama, and some even have called him the Anti-Christ. I don’t believe that to
be the case, but do agree something isn’t right.  Does that mean we quit paying taxes? Our
system of elections is designed to purge evil every few years. Often we need to
be reminded that this is our civic duty and not just submit to the current
authority. Look at it this way, if enough people stop paying taxes, the
government would default and we would be owned by our creditors, namely China.
I would rather have this flawed system than theirs!! So pay your taxes.

Verse
13:10 really is God’s Law in a nutshell:

Does love hurt
anyone? Absolutely not. In fact, love achieves everything the law requires.

If we just followed this, and realize it’s
not the same “love” as we feel for our spouses or children, but a more
compassionate love, then things tend to work smooth. It’s when selfish desires
and pride work into the mix that life becomes a problem for all. If we loved
someone, we would not care about petty things and focus on serving them, not
the other way. Back to spouses; imagine if every marriage was based on this
love first!! Divorce lawyers would be out of business!!

Verse 14:5 highlights the point Paul is
making in Chapter 14:

There may be a
believer who regards one day as more sacred than any other, while another views
every day as sacred as the next. In these matters, all must reach their
own conclusions and satisfy their own minds.

We get into petty bickering over this and
that in scripture. For a while I was convinced that it was a sin to eat pork,
while almost all my Christian friends though I was nuts. We turned to Peter’s
visions and they said it was ok, I said it was allowing all into the family of
Christ. My argument was once we are saved we are obliged to follow the Law.

Boy was I wrong, but the point is during my
“belief” no one really should have corrected me since I believe in faith, at
the same time I should not have tried to save people to my interpretation. Same
goes with drinking, many churches have you believe it’s a sin to drink, while
preaching of the disciples drinking with Jesus. But at the same time for many
it is a sin and the church is providing sanctuary for those people. The key is
read the Bible and let the Holy Spirit guide you. To a person who enjoys a
glass of wine or an occasional beer, drinking is not a sin. To an alcoholic,
having beer in your fridge while they are visiting you is a sin, since any
drink is a sin to them.

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Matthew
17
– 19

Sit down, strap in and let’s dive into a lot of subjects
quickly. Verse 17:9 is interesting:

The four men hiked
back down the mountain, and Jesus told His disciples to stay silent.

Jesus:
Don’t tell anyone what happened here, not until the Son of Man has been raised
from the dead.

Interesting here since Peter, James and
John first saw Jesus with Elijah and Moses with God and Jesus is saying be
silent. Also, notice he says until he has been “raised from the dead”. That
would be the first question out of my mouth as to what does that mean. He
continues to answer the questions and provide insight into the prophecies that
have been fulfilled for Him being the Messiah.

Jesus then heals a man who the disciples
could not and goes on to explain to them why this was the case. In verse 17:20
he gives the “mustard seed” analogy and then verse 21 is as follows:

[²¹ But
this kind is not realized except through much prayer and fasting.]

I was curious why it was in brackets so
time to explore. The reason is the earliest manuscripts omit this verse which
makes one wonder if Matthew revised this text or if it was revised but
transcribers to clarify the meaning. Also, could this be a clue there was an
earlier text that has not been found that included this verse. I read this as a
clue that maybe we need to pray and fast more.

Verse 18:7 starts a series of critical
warnings to all Christians:

Beware indeed of
those in a world filled with obstacles and temptations that cause people to
turn away from Me. Those temptations are woven into the fabric of a world not
yet redeemed, but beware to anyone who lures righteous women and men off
the narrow path.

I could write a book on this but need to
trim down. I implore you to read through verse 14 to really get a flavor on
what Jesus is warning them of in this world. I believe the biggest one in this
world today is porn. I know more good men that have been drawn into the lure of
this world. I know for a while I was caught up in it and fight it constantly to
this day. Today it’s easy and dangerous! Men say I’m only looking, but what is
though is often acted out upon. These warnings and instructions are critical to
this very day!!

The next story is the man in debt who was
forgiven by the king and then does not forgive a lesser debt. The king reversed
his decision and threw him in jail. In verse 18:35 Jesus ties this together:

And that is what
My Father in heaven will do to you, unless you forgive each of your brothers and
each of your sisters from the very cockles of your heart.

All over the Gospels, Jesus warns us about
forgiveness. The Lord’s Prayer even says forgive us like WE forgive others. Do
we really want that? If not we need to change our ways immediately and learn to
forgive as we desire God to forgive. God’s grace is not so great He will
overlook this detail and we ARE warned!!

The last story is chapter 19 is the rich
man who was asked to give it all. Without pointing out a specific verse what is
often missed is the rich can join the kingdom as long as they are not
worshiping their money over God. I know for a fact that money can be a huge
distraction and can easily draw anyone away from following God. We are blessed
and then start focusing more on the blessings then serving the one who gave
them.

As I move into my next “quarter” of my life
I am now searching for significance. My view was I needed riches to help others
and that has really changed since riches only help others help others. Let me
unpack this, often we donate to charities so missionaries can get their hands
dirty and work with the needy. What if God gave us these riches so we could
walk away from the rat race and personally help others? Our goal should be
serving God to the grave. So as my next “quarter” comes in, I am moving towards
significance and less towards comfort. Sure I would love a windfall, but will
change direction on how it’s managed.

One last note on yesterday’s reading .. one of the
reasons I decided to read the Voice was because of Isaiah 34:14 where the
mention Lilith by name … long story but this is from a view that Lilith is one
of the angels who were cast from heaven and ties into the porn  problem today.

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Isaiah
34 – 39

Verse 34:2 should break any mold about God being even
tempered:

For the Eternal
One is furious with all the nations. He has had it with their armies.
    He
has marked them for destruction, and has given them over to slaughter.

If God was, why would He get “furious”?
Mankind has done what it always has done, throughout history. Rise from
despair, worshiping God, then slowly move from bondage to prosperity only to
get distracted and drift away. I believe every society in history will so this,
be it following God or not. We gain comfort and become complacent only to lose
it again. So why wouldn’t God get angry? And why haven’t we learned our lesson?

Verses 35:3 & 4 bring hope to the ones
that worry:

³ So,
with confidence and hope in this message,
    strengthen
those with feeble hands, shore up the weak-kneed and weary.
⁴ Tell those who worry, the anxious and
fearful,
    “Take
strength; have courage! There’s nothing to fear.
Look, here—your God! Right here is your God!
    The
balance is shifting; God will right all wrongs.
None other than God will give you success.
    He
is coming to make you safe.”

Sure things may be rough, but have faith
and don’t fret the rough spots since they are promised. Jesus never says rest
in me I will satisfy all your desires and give you what you want. No He wants
us to rest in Him to satisfy our desire for love and give us what we need in
strength. That is the point, we need to be like Paul and have joy be it a free
man with friends or in bondage for his beliefs.

Verse 39:6 sums up the real value of
“stuff”:

“The time is
coming when everything in your palace—everything of value kept, passed
down, and stored by your ancestors to this present time—will be taken away to
Babylon. Of everything that you showed this Babylonian contingent,
nothing will be left. Absolutely nothing will remain here,” says the
Eternal One.

When you get right down to it, what does it
really matter in the long run? Nothing, absolutely nothing will change the fact
that we can’t take it with us. The only thing we can rest on is glory in
heaven, which if you use the crown analogy, requires a bunch of work. “Stuff”
becomes a point of worship, be it a Golden Calf or a silver Porsche, we all
tend to worship things over God, even the most holy of us. Focus on God, if you
have the silver Porsche great, have fun and focus on God.

Note 34 with Lillith

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Job
13
– 14

Verse13:4 hit me this morning:

    But you! You smear me with lies as if to help,
        but as healers you are worthless.

How many times in life do you have friends
who seem to make matters worse than better? Their opinions and ideas tend to
get you in more problems than less. I know for me that is the way often. The
only time that comes to mind actually worked out. We were at Riverside Raceway
getting some track time and I wasn’t feeling it. I started to pack up, when my
friend David barked at me and said you are doing the greatest thing in the world,
get back on the bike and ride. I did and almost went off once the tires warmed
up in turn 1!! I regained composure and had a great day.

So we should not always dismiss your
friends, just know when what their saying is WRONG and not just what you DON’T
want to hear!

Verse 13:13 and on is Job going right to
God:

    So keep your mouths shut around me, and let me speak to God.
        And whatever may come, let it come.

I would love a relationship with God that
was clear and easy to figure out. Part of me says I have it and another is
still seeking. Case in point was a home we are trying to sell. We had an offer
above asking that the appraisal came in significantly below asking. During this
time I had another offer come it for more than the appraisal, cash and quick
closing. I was stuck; I did not know what to do. The buyer had skin in the
game, but would not go off the appraisal. I went back and forth till eventually
settling on the higher offer.

I believe I understood God’s prompt and
things seem to be working out perfectly, but it was not crystal clear. But as I
have said, it will be clear in hindsight.

Verse 14:7 is the ultimate optimistic view:

You know,
at least there is a kind of hope for a tree:
        if it gets cut down, it may yet sprout again out of the roots.
        And very likely then, its tender shoots will not die.

When all may seem at its darkest, God’s
light will shine through if you keep the faith. My debt journey started in 2001
and it was darkest in 2008 when the real-estate deal fell through and our debt
was well over a half a million dollars. God opened doors and things have been
moving slowly, but positively since. All makes sense in the long run, just
preserver.

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Psalms
18
– 20

Verse 18:2 sums up how we need to look at God:

The Eternal is my
rock, my fortress, and my salvation;
    He
is my True God, the stronghold in which I hide,
    my
strong shield, the horn that calls forth help, and my tall-walled tower.

We tend to fall away from God when things
are not as we desire. But more often than not, God is being our Rock is
limiting our desires more for what we need. I know over the years we have had
things come up that have been our saving grace, or what we though was our
saving grace, only to have it fall away. Then 6 years later it makes sense and
we see life in a different light.

We had a land deal that would have cleared
our debt and given us capital to buy the building our business was in. That
fell through and shortly after that I got a “real” job and eventually the
business closed. As we chugged along slowly paying the debt, we considered
walking away from it and declaring bankruptcy. But that “deal” was still in the
back of our heads. Well 6 years later our debt is reduced greatly from hard
work and perseverance, as God desired, and we now have another similar deal.

I am still waiting for the finish, but one
thing is for sure, God is in the mix. He has been steadfast and on task, not
listening to my selfish desires. If all were to fail, again faith that
something is on the horizon that will be better for the future. But all in all,
this feels right. Timing seems awful, then amazingly makes sense.

Verses 19:12 & 13 hit me:

¹² Who
could possibly know all that he has done wrong?
    Forgive
my hidden and unknown faults.
¹³ As I am Your servant, protect me from my
bent toward pride,
    and
keep sin from ruling my life.
If You do this, I will be without blame,
    innocent
of the great breach.

This is something I pray often, since I
forget what I have done throughout the day and often need a smack upside the
head to ensure I am repenting the right things. Repentance is ok, when you stop
doing it, but is shallow otherwise. Again if we ask for general repentance
without actually knowing what is wrong we fall short of what is asked.

The biggest problem in life is pride since
it hurts everything we do. If we live towards others and less on our self, we
tend to have peace. I know when things get out of control it’s when I think I
am in the right and have to win. Doesn’t matter if the truth is being rammed
down my throat, pride will have me dismiss this and move forward.

David is saying to humble yourself before
the Lord and be open to his guidance. Learn to be humble and not prideful, to
be able to understand God’s instructions. This way you can see your sin and
pride.

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Judges
7 – 11

Verse 7:2 is one of those verses we have to consider in
everything we do:

You have too many
warriors for Me to allow you to defeat the Midianites. As it is now, the people
of Israel would just deny Me the credit and claim they had won the
victory on their own.

So often we start taking credit for what
God has done in our lives we stop giving thanks. I know I tend to get a case of
the “I”s when talking about things that have happened in my life. It quickly
goes from look what God has done to look with I did, with God’s grace, to just
I did. It is easy to do since giving God glory in today’s culture is difficult.
Sure when we are talking with our friends at Church, giving Him credit is easy;
it’s going to work and doing the same with your “Flying Spaghetti Monster”
friend (an atheist).

This was the same for Gideon; He wanted the
people of Israel to know it was God who conquered the Midianites. Even then as
you continue in the readings the people drifted from God quickly after Gideon
died. Verse 8:33 shows this change:

As soon as Gideon
died, the Israelites turned away from the Lord, and they began to
prostitute themselves again to the Baals. They made Baal-berith their chief
god.

Notice how often Baal comes up in the
writings. Often we look at Baal as a false god, or none existent. But think of
this, could Baal be one of the fallen angels when Satan (and/or Lucifer) was
cast out of heaven? They would want to be worshiped like God and could do some
amazing things to get the people on board. Notice how debauchery and “the
flesh” seems to be the theme of Baal worship throughout the Bible.

Today Aleister Crowley, an occultist and
author, preaches “do as thou wilt” giving everyone into just having fun. Those
of us who followed that path in life and now follow Jesus know the lack of
fulfillment one gets just having “fun”. Real joy is not found in Satan, Baal,
Asherah or whomever, but rather in Jesus.

It’s interesting to watch God perform
public miracles; bring the people back only to drift again within a generation.
Has me think of the people I debate in science asking for proof of my God and
me only being able to give evidence that they can explain away as chance. Now I
know that “chance” is one thing, but “chance” over and over is proof, but that
does not work.

As story from a friend is enough for me,
but not for them. In a nutshell the family had been trying for 2 years to have
children. They had been prayed over and the like from their friends and small
group. One week, some visitors from Africa” who had the gift of praying for
fertility came to their small group. One had a “prophecy” that they would be
holding a son in 9 months. In 9 months they were holding a son … note they had
just been giving the bad news two weeks earlier from their doctor that this was
most likely not going to work.

How many generations will that story build
faith before it is forgotten? No wonder God gets so upset with us, since He is
doing this over and over.

Genesis
24 – 27

I am sorry but I have to mention this because it’s something
I don’t get. Verse 24:9 implies something that seems odd:

The trusted
servant took the oath, holding in his hand Abraham’s power to give life. He
swore to do what his master required.

“Abraham’s power to give life” near his
“thigh” is his “tally-whacker”. I read this and cannot imagine how or why
someone would ever start that tradition. That would freak me out!!

Today is going to be a bunch of questions,
like after Sarah’s death Abraham takes another wife and has more children, what
comes of them? And in verse 24:67 Isaac takes a wife:

Then Isaac brought
Rebekah into his mother Sarah’s tent. He took her as his wife and slept with
her, and grew to love her deeply. In this way, Isaac found comfort
in the wake of his mother’s death.

This is not a traditional love story, since
the sex part comes before love. Sounds like modern day courtship!! I understand
arranged marriages, but doesn’t mean I agree with them or accept them as
“normal”.

Finally the story of Esau and Jacob always bothered me since
Jacob manipulated his way into the head of the Jewish nation. Why did God allow
this? He got the birth right by taking advantage of his brother’s hunger. In
verse 27:24 he says “I am” Esau to his father and got the blessing by telling a
lie to his father. How can that be a true blessing? And then why could he only
“bless” one of his children? I want to “bless” mine “equally” and give them an
“equal” share of the estate. No one is special or above the other.

Sometimes you have to ask why in Malachi he said that God
hated Esau. Why did God grow the nation of Israel from a manipulative and lying
mama’s boy over a self-centered independent one? Just questions, and am not yet
happy with the answers I have found over the years. In the end, it’s God’s will
and that’s all we really have to know about it.

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Romans
11
– 12

Verse 11:18 is something we need to take to heart as we
grow:

It doesn’t give
you license to become proud and self-righteous about the fact that you’ve been
grafted in. If you do boast, remember that the branches do not sustain the
root—it is the system of roots that nourishes and supports you.

Paul is comparing the Gentiles being
joining the family of God’s anointed like grafting a wild olive into a
cultivated one. The major point is don’t get so full of yourself that you are
part of God’s Kingdom, since that same graft could be pruned away. No our focus
should not be on our salvation, but that of others. We need to be adding to the
tree no resting in the comfort of the tree, therefore push pride away.

Pride is a killer in almost everything we
do. Arguments and conflict are almost all the time based in pride of one of the
parties. We “buck up” and ignore what the other party has to say and start to
defend. I hate using the word “defend” since it implies an attack, but when we
are trying to “defend” our point of view, we often attack. So if we all “sucked
it up” and learned to listen with acceptance the world would get along much
better.

Verses 12:1 & 2 really lay out how we
should be as Christians:

¹ Brothers
and sisters, in light of all I have shared with you about God’s mercies,
I urge you to offer your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice to God, a
sacred offering that brings Him pleasure; this is your reasonable, essential
worship. ² Do not allow this world to mold you in its own
image. Instead, be transformed from the inside out by renewing your
mind. As a result, you will be able to discern what God wills and whatever God
finds good, pleasing, and complete.

Does he imply we sacrifice ourselves like
Jesus to die on the cross? No, but we should go way out of our comfort zone in
helping others. Service is not a sacrifice if it’s a social event first. We
really need to take the one line to heart and understand what Paul is saying.
If we sacrifice our bodies, then we are doing as he desires which may lead us
into a very uncomfortable life. But as we see in Paul, we can gain JOY in
suffering!!

Verse 2 reminds me of how we tend to mold
God into our image as some grey haired Adonis that sits on a throne in the sky
sending lightning bolts of justice down. The world has molded God, so can you
imagine how easy it will be to mold you? I can’t say this enough, but pray and
grow from the inside out. The best way is to read your Bible every day. If not
a chapter or section, just pick a verse and learn it in context, but do this
daily!!

After being a Christian for 30 years I can
say one thing, it’s hard to figure out God’s will. Often I miss the 2×4 being
swung at me until it catches the backside of my head. This is one avenue I pray
for daily, is more clear guidance. I can’t say how many times I have bought
lottery tickets being sure it was God prompting me. Never have I won squat and
finally realized that voice in my head is me wanting an easy way out. Paul had
it easy, Jesus appeared before him! We have to pray and hope we can discern
which voice is God and which is our own prideful desires.

ciden�=�N:*

Matthew
14
– 16

Verse 14:14 is a good snapshot of Jesus’ life:

 Though
Jesus wanted solitude, when He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them,
and He healed the sick and the lame.

Think about it, He didn’t do what He wanted
but rather what needed to be done. We get into the selfish mindset often where
we need “personal time” where we help ourselves. If you notice Jesus does
eventually get that time, He just needs to help others first.

In today’s reading you get the stories
where he feeds 5000 with 5 loaves of bread and two fish and 4000 with seven
loaves and a “few” fish. Each time there is excess and everyone is amazed. In
chapter 16 He uses these events into his teaching and in verse 16:12 the
disciples get it:

And then the
disciples understood: Jesus was not talking about the bread you eat, but
about the food that feeds your soul. He was speaking in metaphor; He was
warning them against imbibing the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

I love how Jesus works in lessons in all
that happens in His life. In this case he was warning them about teachings that
were corrupt. We need to be aware today of these teachings, specifically I
think of the prosperity Gospel preachers. Where does it say we will get rich
following God? No I see the disciples all being jailed and killed, not living
in big houses and enjoying their pool. We will live life to the full, and full is
not defined and Porsche’s and parties.

Now nestled between the two feeding stories
is on where Peter walks on water. Peter saw Jesus walking on the water and with
faith stepped out of the boat and walked towards Jesus. While he was walking he
realized what he was doing and began to sink.

Verse 14:31 Jesus’ catches Peter and calms
him:

Immediately Jesus
reached for Peter and caught him.

Jesus: O
you of little faith. Why did you doubt and dance back and forth between
following Me and heeding fear?

Honest
question: How many have taken a step of faith and tried to walk on a pool or
other body of water? I have more than once and often wonder is  my faith really that weak? But if this were
the case every person of true faith would be walking on water. This begs to
question do we all have the same doubt that Peter had?

Think about it Peter
was there first hand when Jesus was walking on water. Peter saw him change
water to wine, raise the dead and heal the lame, yet he had doubt. How can any
of us really have the faith that Peter had? That is a question that bugs me
every day? He was there and did not have enough faith not to sink, yet we just
read these 2000 year old stories and hope answered payers and “odd” life events
are not just “common coincidences” but rather nudges by God. Our faith will be
put to the test often, we need strength to keep pressing into it and don’t fear
searching for the truth. As the X-Files use to say “the truth is out there.”

Isaiah
29 – 33

Verse 29:5 talks about Gods power:

But in an instant
your ruthless enemies, who seem too many to count,
    will
become as fluttering dust, as wind-driven chaff.

“In an instant” are words I would love to
hear many times in my life. Often we tend to want that “instant” to help bail
us out of our own self-created mess. We want God to swoop in and save out
backsides in order so we can do it again. Notice this time is after a long period
without God in the mix. They were suffering and finally figuring out where they
needed to turn to in life.

Often, if we got instantly bailed out every time we messed
up, the end results would be we would end up in the same boat shortly
afterwards. I know that has been my case in life. My first “bailout” was short
lived as I did not end the credit cards, but started to use them more wisely.
Please note when you have $225,000 in credit cards that cannot be “used
wisely”. I continued to spend over what we brought in and eventually when the
revenue slowed my credit bubble popped. Now 6 years later I have learned to
spend less than you make and keep doing it.

Verse 30:12 is God talking directly to Israel:

But the Holy One of Israel says,

Eternal One:
Because you refused to accept this truth, My word and purpose,
        and trusted instead in deceit and manipulation, you will fall.

This
again gets to the root of the problem; people are not accepting the truth. The
world is getting more and more that way today, where we reject God’s truth only
to form what we believe is our own. Science and Creation are one of those
debates that are ongoing and are pushing God out of the equation. See
randomness is what science believes as truth and therefore means no God. I
could write a book on this subject alone, and should, but the root is we start
doubting God and his presence in the world.

We
are being “spanked” or will be soon for our rejection of God’s truth. I hope
this isn’t the final one since that will be very ugly.

I will not post this,
but look at verse 33:1 and think about how the banks are run today. I expect
this will be a problem real soon, if it hasn’t already started. The banks did
risky loans and are getting “bailed out” by the government. Eventually that
will end and they will be not able to find more money and the house of cards
will collapse.

me �=�N:*

Job
11
– 12

Verse 11:20 interests me in how Zopar talks about the
wicked:

    But the eyes of the wicked will grow dark as they lose hope;
        they’ll find no escape, and in despair,
        they’ll long only to breathe their last dying breath.

All
these are great assumptions and feelings, but none are really fully grounded in
the situation. All his friends assume they understand what is going on and each
seem to have an ever increasing misunderstanding of what is really happening. I
know when life happens outside of what I think it should be I go back to what
may or may not be the underlying reason.

A
good recent example was the sale of our farm a few years ago. It was all on, we
would have been debt free at our peak and would have put any free cash into the
building Board n Bike was in. The deal fell through after months of “counting
my “chickens” before they hatched.” I started dissecting what I did wrong and
why God would have allowed that deal to fall trough. I looked at every sin and
mistrust of God and immediately assumed it was because I was still buying
lottery tickets and not having faith God would provide in abundance.

Five
years later I look back and realize it was His plan, since it had us
considering selling the property I was sure was perfect for our “retirement
home” but has it planned for the right time. See two things that needed to
happen, first was money management. If I had paid off the $576k without
learning how to budget, life would have been miserable quickly. Also, if we had
dumped the remaining capital into the building in Buford, we would have an
empty monolith, costing us money. Instead God had the perfect plan and I just
assumed it was a spanking when the deal fell through.

Verse
12:12 speaks to me as I grow older:

But you tell
me, “With age comes wisdom,
        and a long life grants understanding.”

Often I think I am more a “wise guy” than a
wise counselor. I wish wisdom would just happen, but it appears to have missed
me in most cases. I am still learning by the “school of hard knocks.” It a
common fallacy in most societies, that as we grow old we gain wisdom. Honestly
if we fail to learn the Biblical meaning of our “hard knocks.” We just ramble
though life without gaining insight. Debt was one for me. I have amassed a
tremendous amount of debt twice, once was cleaned out quickly with a home sale,
the other has been a long row to hoe, but has been a learning experience. The
problem was the quick fix just gave me increased faith without any correcting
measures.

B

Psalms
15
– 17

 

Verse 15:5 talks about living life with God:

The one who does
not lend money with gain in mind
    and
cannot be bought to harm an innocent name.

If you live this
way, you will not be shaken and will live together with the Lord.

This
Psalm is a view on how to live together. One could cry “communism” but at the
same time if everyone is working FOR God, then all is in harmony. Communism
unfortunately is derived from the shellfish desires of man. This grows from
peoples jealousy over those with money which grows from the shellfish desire to
gain more than helping the community as a whole. Finally is coopted by peoples
shellfish desires to control the “system”, which if was rooted in God would not
need control.

No,
most of life’s problems would not be if they were rooted in truly following
God. Now I heard a dangerous quote this morning that I needed to comment on.
The cult member said “They were protesting a papacy that burned you at the
stake if you didn’t worship a God who tortured his own son to death to satisfy
his need to punish sinners.” I can’t say enough about this, but it’s an example
on how the Bible is twisted to push an agenda. Yes the church may have gotten
over zealous in pushing the faith, but that in no way is condoned in scripture.
But to twist God sacrificing his son to FORGIVE the sinners to “punish” them is
dangerous “theology” and how people justify death in the name of God.

We
are living in dangerous times where things like this can seem logical to the
uneducated or non-believers. This is the reason it’s IMPORTANT to read
scriptures and follow God closely. That way you can quickly see the fallacy in
statements like this and not let them corrupt the faith. If you are reading
this, understand the importance of reading scriptures first hand and complete.
A snippet here with lies can quickly corrupt your understanding of God to, in
extreme cases, justify murdering others. We MUST be on guard and follow God and
His holy word. I am not saying ignore other people work, but rather to ensure
you can discern what is truth.

The
other two Psalms are prayers of David and it’s interesting to read them in full
context. They both show the concerns and desires of a great leader. Verse 17:3
is one that people need to include more in their prayers:

You have searched
me—my heart and soul—awakened me from dreaming and tested me.
    You’ve
found nothing against me.
    I
have resolved not to sin in what I say.

Would you ask to be “tested”? I know the
“tests” I have undergone are not fun and to ask God for this is from a person
desiring to be right with Him. Think about David’s life and how his
transgressions are repented and forgiven, but the “consequence” have
ramifications for generations to follow. So ask God to test your heart and for
strength to endure what is in store, you will come out with a better
relationship on the other side.

Judges
1 – 6

In what appears to be a never ending cycle we see Israel
drifting once again towards the gods of nations that live among them. Everyone
points to God as being some brutal dictator that makes people bow to Him or
they are destroyed. One of the reasons God commanded His people to clean how is
He knew this would happen. It’s interesting how people resist God and will
flock to other gods even after watching the Red Sea or Jordan River part.

Verse 3:7 introduces Asherah:

Israel committed
what the Eternal considered evil: they forgot the Eternal, their True God, and
instead worshiped the Baal and Asherah deities, the various local gods of the
people of Canaan.

Although
Baal was introduced early on we see Asherah for the first time in The Voice. We
notice that although not mention in this version, others note Asherah Poles
prior and later in the versions. Also, Asherah is supposedly Nimrod’s wife
Semiramis, who is steeped in legends. What are Asherah Poles or obelisk anyway?
In essence they are large phallic symbols to represent Baal’s “manhood” and
placed throughout the land to worship Asherah.

Interestingly
you find these all over the world; most significant is the Washington Monument.
These Poles will often be found within a circle representing the woman and the
act of sex. I know that is something we cannot wrap our heads around since one
of the most famous monuments in our nation. God says tear them down and destroy
them. I am NOT suggesting we tear down the Washington monument, but at the same
time one has to wonder the origin, since the Washington was laid out by
Freemasons.

Verse
5:7 is a stanza from the Song of Deborah:

But those from
rural areas stayed away,
    the
destitute in Israel kept far off,
Until I, Deborah, arose
    to
be a mother to Israel.

One of the major complaints of the church
is it’s “sexist” and does not view women well. Sure there are the biological
differences that are undeniable, but this is not based in scripture. The story
of Deborah is one of those where the triumphant characters are women. The two
heroines are Deborah who leads them into battle and Sisera who drives a spike
into the head of the king. If it was “scriptural” that women could not lead or
have roles of power these stories would never have been included.

Chapter 6 starts the story of Gideon and
his prompting. Verse 6:15 shows God uses the most unlikely to do His will:

But, Lord, how am
I supposed to deliver Israel? My family is the weakest in the tribe of
Manasseh, and I am the least of my family.

Think about all the stories in the Bible,
rarely do they take the most obvious choice for a leader. Moses was an outcast
murderer and David was his brothers’ helper. God’s glory can be explained away
if the logical choice is used since God’s power can be applied to man and not
where it rightfully should be. God wants it to be clear who is working here in
this world.

I have to comment on the fleece story since
that always gets me. Is Gideon actually testing God twice? He hears a voice,
tests the voice and then tests it again. I think I would have got it the first
time, but then again I would want to be sure before risking my life and the
life of others. So in a way this is a good way to be sure. I wish all decisions
were answered this way!!

鮱����=��:*

Genesis
20 – 23

Verse 20:2 is Abraham still not trusting God:

Because he was
living in Gerar as a foreigner, Abraham once again told everyone
that his wife, Sarah, was his sister. King Abimelech of Gerar sent for Sarah
and took her into his harem.

Interesting as you read on, you find out
that Abraham was technically not lying since she is his half-sister. I believe
this story is a perfect example of God’s grace since you have a man who is to be
the head of the nation of Israel failing often. He lied twice about his wife,
slept with a servant and laughed at God, yet when he was commanded to sacrifice
his son, he did what he was told. Out of all those I could see not doing the
first minor ones, but sacrificing my son would be something out of the
question. I may go through the motions knowing this story, but I would not drop
the knife. I would expect God to butt in before then.

Verse 23:13 has Abraham not accepting a
gift:

and replied to
Ephron so all those present could hear.

Abraham:
Please, listen to what I have to say. I will gladly pay you a fair price for
the field. Please accept it from me. That way I can bury my dead in peace.

Interesting
that Abraham did this, I believe it was partially out of pride but also so he
did not “owe” Ephron anything. Often when things are given, especially to those
who are not in need, something is expected in return. I believe this is what
Abraham was protecting his family from.

A
lesson to learn here is discerning ones motives on gifts. If they are just
giving out of love it should be no problem accepting gifts, but often it’s a
“you scratch my back” arrangement. This is much the same with political gifts,
where as the “donation” is given without “expectations”, most large donors want
access. It’s a game that unfortunately gives an unfair advantage to the
wealthy.

In
this nation we call the donations free speech, yet is it “free” when it blocks
access to people without money? That is where publically funded campaigns,
where everyone gets the same access, is appealing. Also, easier access to the
ballot would be a helpful since right now “the machine” is the only groups that
have real access to getting on a ballot.

Sorry,
sometimes I drift as I did today. I think what we need to learn from Abraham is
God will forgive us and His will trumps all.

Romans
9 – 10

Verse 9:3 is something we can say, but I believe Paul meant
it:

It may sound
extreme; but I wish that I were lost, cursed, and totally separated from
the Anointed—if that would change the eternal destination of my brothers
and sisters, my flesh and countrymen.

Think about it, would you lay down your
eternal security for the security of others? That is the selfless love that
Jesus was talking about when He said love others as yourself. This again
is easy to say but not so easy to follow, as said it is “extreme”.

Now as we read this verse I did a bit of “translation”
searching since when you read this there are some italic text. In The Voice
translation they try to convey the meaning of the original scriptures. The
italic texts within this translation are points they added. So I went to other
translations to get a feeling for why and what was said. In doing this the
translation seems solid, since when you read it in other versions specifically
the OJB has names implying they were left out since this may be the only place
mentioned.

Verse 9:21 starts the “potter” analogy and stems to question
predestiny:

Doesn’t the potter
have the right to shape the clay in any way he chooses? Can’t he make one lump
into an elegant vase, and another into a common jug? Absolutely.

We
all get hung up on greatness and stardom some time in our lives. As parents we
support our children and telling them they are destined for greatness. This is
most often just blowing smoke up our children’s posterior and not getting them
ready for reality. I consider myself a Walter Mitty type and have honestly
believed I was a grand vase to be the centerpiece of a king’s palace. When in
reality I am just a fancy trash container.

The
point is not to bash on me or expect people to respond with praise, but rather
to state a more realistic view of life. Honestly we all can’t be a movie star
or a professional baseball player, because who would be in the stands to watch
and enjoy? Paths and choices are the key to life and living with God without
expectations of grandeur for yourself is key. Maybe Verse 3 ties into this a
bit?

Verse
10:1 is something we all miss from time to time, if not most often:

My brothers and
sisters, I pray constantly to God for the salvation of my people; it is
the deep desire of my heart.

Always pray and give focus to God. Is this
saying lock yourself in your prayer closest 24/7? No, but it is saying be in
focus and connection with God. Acknowledge Him throughout the day and in times
of decision. I know I have broken that rule recently with trying to move.
Things are working perfectly and appear to be going to right way, yet I am
starting to push things along and not be patient. I believe we have found the
perfect place and I am trying to secure it my way and not let God work.

As I drift into my daily drama, I want to come back and
focus on the word “constantly” since it’s in italics. This is one of those
verses I initial read and got it confused with 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, since
that says pray without ceasing. This added word is for emphasis, but is changes
the tone from other translations. Granted the meaning is not lost, it just
implies Paul is always where other translations imply it’s a heavy burden. I
think the key here is although the translation is tad different from others;
the underlying point of praying for salvation of all is the key to our prayer
life.

Matthew
11
– 13

It’s so tough getting into long readings of the Gospels
without talking about almost every verse. Verse 11:19 caught my eye:

Then the Son of
Man appeared—He didn’t fast, as John had, but ate with sinners
and drank wine. And the people said, “This man is a glutton! He’s a
drunk! And He hangs around with tax collectors and sinners, to boot.” Well,
Wisdom will be vindicated by her actions—not by your opinions.

One
of the problems with Jesus as the Messiah is so many people had this
preconceived idea of who He should be. To most He was going to be a warrior and
great political figure to free the people from Roman rule. He broke the mold
and focused on relationships more than rituals and traditions. Don’t think we
are immune today; just look how Christians get judged when they get a six pack.
I fear Jesus could come and stand before the church today only to be rejected
again because He did not fit the mold we expected.

I
need to touch on verse 11:21 since we talked about this subject yesterday:

Woe to you,
Chorazin! And woe to you, Bethsaida! Had I gone to Tyre and Sidon and performed
miracles there, they would have repented immediately, taking on sackcloth and
ashes.

Tyre obviously returned and notice the
difference in response. In reality Jesus is for losers and not the righteous.
Follow me here, Jesus did not come to save the God loving and following people,
but the sinners. Now one can argue since NO ONE can be righteous before God, He
came for everyone, but the point is more our perceptions of ourselves.

Think about it, if we think about how we
judge others without looking inward we may be in the same place. Honestly, we
need to just live for all and focus on our own sin and not everyone else’s.

Verse 12:7 sums up how we should focus:

Do you not
understand what the prophet Hosea recorded, “I desire mercy, not
sacrifice”? If you understood that snippet of Scripture, you would not
condemn these innocent men for ostensibly breaking the law of the Sabbath.

God is not looking for us following rules
and procedures, but rather following HIM. He wants a relationship and not that
of a drinking buddy but rather a parent/child. We need to follow Him without
question or pause. And it’s simple even if you can’t read the “God prompts” yet;
just love God and each other as you love yourself.

Look at verse 12:40 and tell me if you
think this is a prophecy of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Chapter 13 is full of stuff to talk about
with 4 parables. There are hours of sermons and tons of pages on these, so I
would say carefully read and understand how they can apply to your life, even
if this is the “hundredth” time you have heard these stories.

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Isaiah
23 – 28

Today is another day of digging into prophecies while trying
to determine if it’s pointing to times past or time ahead. Of course one always
has to question if this is just the way of mankind without any divine
influence. Think about it, extreme hardship and burden lead to cultural revolt,
which tends towards more freedom, to growth and prosperity, to comfort, to
complacency, to overburdened systems, to hardship. No nation has survived
without cycles like this. Look at communist China, the change started in Tiananmen
Square and is currently in a prosperous time.

It’s interesting how the message about Tyre could be applied
to many places in the world Verse 23:18 talks about Tyre being restored after
70 years, yet returning to their wicked ways:

But everything
Tyre earns—her profit, her goods—won’t be stored or saved: all will be devoted
to the Eternal; her stocks will supply all the food and fine clothing needed by
those who serve in the presence of the Eternal One.

This time the earnings will be moved towards
the people who serve God. Interestingly as I wrote this I thought of my example
about China. One could say this is what is happening with trade between us and
China. Because of their ways persecuting Christians, the Chinese are restored
as a trade country but their profits are being used for those that serve God or
the USA. Now if you read this you may have gagged, but I am not saying this is
the case but rather could be DISTORED to mean that.

Verses 24:5 & 6 almost make me wonder
if it’s not today they are talking about:

⁵ The
earth is polluted by those who live on it;
    they
pay no attention to God’s teaching.
    They
violate His directives and break the everlasting covenant.
⁶ Consequently, a nasty curse consumes
the earth,
    and
those who inhabit it are to blame for it.
They’ll be burned up,
    leaving
very few people to survive.

Think
of what “Climate Change” scientists are harping on! Our pollution will destroy
the world, and that is this prophecy. One has to wonder if this was meant for
today or for the city of Tyre around that time. Archeological digs imply this
happened, but again one must ask if hold some future since these verses seem
more general.

Verse
26:10 is interesting:

If grace is
extended to those who do wrong,
    the
perpetrators never learn what is right.
Even when surrounded by upright people, they gravitate to evil
    and
never even notice the awesome beauty of the Eternal.

As Christians we are focused on saved by
grace, but at the same time dismiss the punishment. Sure our eternal salvation
may be secured by grace, but does that mean we avoid the spanking that is due?
This implies NO! So although we are saved by grace we are not immune from
punishment or the resulting consequences.

Job
9 – 10

Verse 9:2 asks an interesting question:

If one wanted to
argue with Him,
        even in a thousand questions he would not be able to answer Him
once.

How many times have we argued with God over
our problems or the injustice in the world? I know it’s constantly on my mind
and tend to vent at God more than argue, since I can say all I want to and it’s
unlikely that things will change outside His will. We fight and struggle for
justice and fairness in our own opinion but rarely look at God’s when arguing.
Honestly, we can never know why or even if something is being done for a reason
or just circumstances.

As I am reading this I am reminded, “God
will never give us more than we can handle.” So off to find the reference this
is commonly attributed to 1 Corinthians 10:12 – 13, but it doesn’t say that.
The verse is clear to note that God will not TEMPT us more than we can handle,
but not give us burdens more than we can bear. So I found this was not a saying
that could scripturally apply to Job.

Verses 9:21 & 22 are pointed about how
our life on the world ends:

²¹     I am
blameless, but I don’t know myself.
        I hate my life.
²²     Well, then this is what I say: it’s all the same.
        In the end, He kills off both the innocent and the depraved.

It’s awful to think about, but we all end
up in the ground as worm food. The key is salvation after death. Life after
death is one of those concepts that we must take by pure faith, because the
only evidence I have is from when my grandmother died. My mom was at her
bedside and just before she died she called the names of her family members
that had died. It wasn’t a calling for, but more of a greeting. Now my father
explained it as missing them, since they never came to visit she missed them
and called for them before leaving. I on the other hand believe they were
welcoming her to “the other side” of our existence.

I think Job is evidence we often time do
get more than we can handle. If anyone has sat bedside and cared for a loved
one who is suffering, often times it is more than they can handle. The pain and
agony that drugs do not seem to quell can be awful. We see active youths
confined to wheel chairs in seconds, never to walk again. Through this all we
beg and plea for healing from God and most times to no avail nothing happens.

We see suffering and misery only to ask why
and rest on the miss guided assumption that God will not give us more than we
can handle. I believe this is one fallacy that needs to be ended, because it’s
a cliché that only gets people mad at God. I often wonder if the temptation
thing is misguided also, since I know many Godly people who have been tempted
into some sin that has destroyed their lives.

So the question is does God heap more
pressure on us or does he allow life to happen. Since these bodies are not
perfect we cannot expect pain not to happen. Since we tend to drift we cannot
assume that God is tempting us when our sins results in further drifting. Also,
this world is in change we cannot assume that our little piece will not have a
catastrophic event happen. This is only where faith in God will help us through
not make it easier. (I hope that made sense)

Psalms
12
– 14

Verse 12:1 sounds ominous since David was in the nation of
Israel:

Help me, O Eternal
One, for I can’t find anyone who follows You.
    The
faithful have fallen out of sight.

I sometimes tend to feel like this when
debating a person on the topic of science and the Bible. Once it becomes
ultra-technical and the name calling starts, the faithful tend to drop away
quickly. I see this in many other debates, where once our faith is challenged
we tend to fold and clam up. This may be where David is right now, like when he
challenged Goliath.

Think about it a great nation stood before Goliath and shook. No one had the
faith that God was going to prevail until David showed up. With no experience
in war, he slayed Goliath with no armor or weapons other than a sling and a
stone. If we really did follow God we would not back down, we would have faith
that God will prevail. This can mean tackling an enemy or discussing our faith
with non-believers.

Verse 13:1 is another emotion I often feel:

How long, O
Eternal One? How long will You forget me? Forever?
    How
long will You look the other way?

Often we feel alone and abandoned in the
world. When in reality we are never alone from God. I think the reason we feel
alone is we pray for something and expect something to happen. When in reality,
things happen much different, so when God does not match our expectations than
God is forgetting us. I can point to more times that I have thought God was
silent when the answer was different than what I expected.

Verse 14:1 is actually a warning to believers:

A wicked and
foolish man truly believes there is no God.
    They
are vile, their sinfulness nauseating to their Creator;
    their
actions are soiled and repulsive; every deed is depraved;
    not
one of them does good.

We need to beware of engaging people who do
not believe in God. Sure we need to spread the faith, but I have seen many who
have found the engagements weaken their faith and cause problems. Jesus even
sends His disciples in pairs. We should never engage the faithless without
support, if not there at least a pastor to talk with afterwards.

So keep up the good fight, don’t be
discouraged that God is not with you or that others are not following God
firmly. The key is don’t fail on your walk!!

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Joshua
21 – 24

As I read this reading, I underlined a bunch and enjoyed the
story, but honestly got nothing to say. Chapters 21 and 22 discuss the problems
in the division and some infighting about sacrificing on alters being used
outside the proper place. Chapters 23 and 24 is a history to the people and
Joshua’s last words.

Verse 24:14 I think fits today:

So remember: fear
the Eternal and serve Him sincerely and faithfully. Put away from you any gods
your ancestors served across the Euphrates River or in Egypt, and serve
only Him.

Today we no longer worship gods per se, but
rather we worship stuff and dismiss God. It’s different but the same trap.
Satan has discovered the best way to get people to not worship God is to
distract them. We just had an awesome sermon on comfort, we all pray for it.
The problem is when we get it, we become complacent and stop furthering the
kingdom.

Evil is there and Satan is really active!!
I wish I could say more, but don’t get lost in the rush of emotions expecting
them always to be there and then move to stuff to maintain them. No we need to
focus on God and be happy with what we have. Learn to USE what we have for the
glory of God so we can use what we get tomorrow. It’s really not for US, but
rather a reward to keep up the fight.

The reason I am not connected today in a
string of discussions with atheist on various YouTube channels. My energies
have been used recently discussing evolution with biologists who dismiss God.
Since I have limited background I need to study and understand what I am saying
so not to sound like a fool and hopefully change a heart or two.

Sometimes I just babble and make sense, hope
this does today;-)

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Genesis
16
– 19

This is the story of the creation of the nation of Islam. In
this Sari decides to take matters into he own hands and give her servant Hagar
to Abram. Today we don’t understand this, but at that time this was actually a
custom to keep the family lineage. We see the immediate conflict between Sari
and Hagar throughout the period and when Ishmael is born. We get to see envy
and pride both rear their ugly heads.

Time moves on and Abraham continues to age when at 99 years
old God says Abraham will have another child. Verse 17:17 is his response:

Then Abraham fell
on his face and erupted into laughter in a moment of private absurdity,
as he thought to himself, “Yeah, right! How can a centenarian father a
child? Am I supposed to believe that Sarah, my 90-year-old wife,
is going to have a baby?”

This is the first LAMO or ROLF recorded,
since to him and nature this would be impossible. But as we know with God nothing
is impossible. Interestingly Sarah has the same response, to which God corrects
both.

Notice the change in names? God changed
Abraham’s and Sarah’s names to ensure people understood they were the head of a
great nation. It seemed odd that God would not have named them right from the
beginning as he does with Ishmael and Isaac. But I guess Abraham needed to meet
the criteria first before being chosen.

Chapter 19 has the destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah. Verse 19:8 caught me as a little odd:

Look—I have two
daughters. Both are virgins. How about this: I’ll bring them out for you
instead. You can do with them as you please. But please don’t do anything to
these men. They are my guests. They deserve the protection of my home.

I don’t get if Lot was doing this knowing
they would not go after them or if he was honestly giving his daughters up for
the safety of some guests. This is one of those instances where God does
protect both and ironically they continue to mess up, later getting dad drunk
and having children with him.

The problem with stories like these is many take
them as Biblical truths and not just stories. So in peoples mind God condoned
their actions since it’s in the Bible. When this is just a story or history and
not something we should live by. Remember the Bible has truths, history and
examples (of both good and bad). So don’t take stories like this and assume
they are what God agrees with or wants us to live by.

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Romans
7 – 8

Verses 7:4 -6 discuss a subject I struggle with all the time
and that’s the law. Verse 6 puts in in a nutshell:

But now that we
have died to those chains that imprisoned us, we have been released from the
law to serve in a new Spirit-empowered life, not the old written code.

That Hebraic Law is something I have
struggled with for a long time. Reason being is we are always told to tithe,
yet never told not to eat pork. Neither are sins based on Paul’s assertions,
but are they not having us live a full life? Think about it, we have been
released from the Law, but still should live by it. Not in the legalistic way the
Israelites do, but rather for a better life in general.

God did not say don’t eat pork to be mean,
rather to ensure we did not eat a meat that was from an animal that was
designed for processing waste. What they eat goes right to their flesh and therefore
has toxic properties that are not good for the body. Ever wonder why shrimp are
used as indicator species? Because they retain all the toxins they consume in
their flesh. Now many took “don’t eat pork” as being a sin since God said it.

Verse 8:5 has us understand the difference
between living for God and not:

If you live your
life animated by the flesh—namely, your fallen, corrupt nature—then your
mind is focused on the matters of the flesh. But if you live your life animated
by the Spirit—namely, God’s indwelling presence—then your focus is on
the work of the Spirit.

That is the key, not to focus on the Law
but rather on God’s will. It’s simple when you think about it, love others like
you would love yourself and sin tends to stop. The idea eating pork or not
tithing is a sin is wrong, but doing them does have you live a healthy and
financially full life. Simple when you think about it.

I think verse 8:31 the key to life:

So what should we
say about all of this? If God is on our side, then tell me: whom should
we fear?

Honestly I live in fear often and really shouldn’t. When everything is going
wrong, I panic then it all comes together perfectly. That wasted energy was
just that wasted. We could have been living free and less focused on what may happen
and not enjoying what was happening in the moment.

Matthew
7 – 10

Verse 7:11 is on the “Prosperity Gospel” top 10:

So if you, who are
sinful, know how to give your children good gifts, how much more so does your
Father in heaven, who is perfect, know how to give great gifts to His children!

For those who have had children or were one
at one time, do you remember getting everything you wanted? I sure didn’t and I
know my children will say the same. So why is it, we expect God to bow down to
all our wishes? I look at my life and am thankful I did not get all our wishes.
One in particular was large land deal, if it had gone through we would now own
a monolith in Buford that cannot be sold or rented at this time. On and on I
could go on with stories like this, but you get the picture “some of God’s
greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.” – Garth Brooks

Verse 7:21 – 26 is a section that questions
the salvation of many. Here it’s clear that “only those who do the will of My
Father” will inherit the kingdom. He later says that many who do cast demons
and perform miracles in His name will not be known. This begs the question, how
do we really know? Is it “enough” to read the Bible and talk about salvation
with others? Or do we need to sell everything and go to Zimbabwe to serve those
communities?

Verse 8:12 is another one of those
bothersome verses:

But those who have
feigned their faith will be cast out into outer darkness where people weep and
grind their teeth.

What does God consider “feigned” faith? Is
it saying the prayer, meaning it and doing nothing afterwards? Or is it just
doing it because? I read Jesus’ words and the “once saved” crowd spooks me,
since this and other verse imply more to “salvation” than just a prayer. I
worry for all mankind that this becomes clear to all. Following Jesus is not
just going to church on Sunday, but rather a change in heart that changes the
way one lives their lives.

Verse 8:34 is one to note briefly on, since
the town ran Jesus off after casting out demons in two men. Why was this? Most
likely he cast them out in a herd of pigs who committed mass suicide. How would
you feel if you entire livelihood just died because of what this man did for
the crazy guys in the corners?

Verse 9:38 is very key to our work:

 Ask
the Lord of the harvest to send more workers into His harvest field.”

This is very clear that more workers are
needed. I don’t know how many people I have talked with at church that fall into
a volunteer for an internal task and never talk to anyone outside of the faith.
We tend to settle into a safe environment and avoid conflict or ridicule. Heck
coming to someone any professing so guy came to earth was God and saved us from
our sins does not make sense to someone who has no clue what a sin is or if
there is this unseen entity called “God”.

I know I have personally done this in a
Small Group. I started a “Discipleship for Dummies” group with the intention of
doing volunteer work and evangelism. We have met every week and talked about
stuff, but have never took action other than one scheduled event that got
rained out. I have failed, because I just kept comfortable.

Verse 10:37 is one of those verses that
confound people:

you love your father
or mother more than you love Me, then you are not worthy of Me. If you love
your son or daughter more than you love Me, then you are not worthy of Me.

The Greek word is “philia” in this context
and is clear, but is very difficult to understand, especially 2000 years later.
Sure we can “love” Jesus and want to serve him, but more than your children or
parents? That is difficult to comprehend when you think about it. I am sure it
was when the disciples were face to face with Jesus, so now it’s very hard to
understand when Jesus is not physically with us.

I think Jesus is using radical language here not
to say love Him more, but rather don’t love them so much as to avoid Jesus. I
think He realizes that’s impossible to love someone you hardly know more than
your own flesh and blood, but He wants to ensure we don’t put that love OVER
our following Him.

Isaiah
18
– 22

Verse 18:4 opens with something than man seems to struggle
with constantly:

Because the
Eternal told me,

 

Eternal One:
I am in control—calm and serene.
        I am watching quietly from where I dwell
    Just
as surely as the heat shimmers in the blazing sun
        and the dewy mists cool the warmth of a harvest day.

This is something we all have a problem
with accepting. How many times have we said “I am in control”? I know that
comes out of my mouth at least once a week. Also, how many times have we said
that when all heck is breaking loose? I know for me it’s about 50%.

My most glaring time was trying to start a
fire in a pool we were filling in. It would not start, so I put a “little” gas
on it to motivate the fire to start. When I threw the match in the pool the
concept that gas fumes are heavier than air didn’t really sink in until the
fireball almost caught me on fire. Any piece of exposed skin had nasty burns
and I had an out of control fire that was close to a gas line for the pool
heater and a kudzu patch that would have caused a major forest fire if caught.
So out came the hose … which is too short to get to the pool and I start
putting the fire out. A guy saw the fireball mushroom cloud and pulled in
asking if he should call the fire department. My response to him was “I am in
control”!! Luckily, I did put it out and the red blistering face healed
quickly, but I was nowhere in control or “calm and serene.”

Through the rest of the reading we see
prophecies against Israel and the people who invaded them, since they went a
little overboard. In the case of Israel, in their arrogance they thought that
no one could touch them, since God was “in control”. Unfortunately they did not
respect or acknowledge God in the process. They took “control” and paid the
price of their actions.

I think these stories, which are throughout
the Bible, help us understand that we are only really “in charge” of this life
and not “in control”. If we follow the simple things that God asks of us, things
may not be rosy, but we will be in His will. It’s simple to follow the “laws”
if you love pleasing God. They are actually quite simple; focus of your
personal health and eat right, focus on your financial health and spend well,
love others as you would yourself and serve, and finally focus on God and go to
Him always. Simple, but hard.

 

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Job
7 – 8

Before starting today … I have to wonder was Job the reason
employment in English is job. Verse 7:9 reminds us how brief our life is on
this earth:

As clouds thin and
finally vanish,
   so it is
when people enter the land of the dead.

As a fan of Robert Frost, this reminds me
of one of his poems, Out, Out. The little boy dies and everyone just goes about
their business, a sad commentary, but so often true. The poems title came from
Macbeth’s soliloquy where he says “out, out brief candle, life is but a walking
shadow.” As depressing as death may be here on earth it’s a release of our
earthly meat suit for time with God. How cool is that?

Job through this is asking why and he too
is wondering if he did something “inadvertently” that he is being punished for.
In Chapter 8 his friends Bildad and Shuhite come to visit and push this theme
even more. Verse 8:3 has Bildad starting to tell him the problems:

    Does God corrupt justice,
        or does the Highest One corrupt the good?

That is an interesting question when one is
in misery. I know when jobs are lost, house sales fall through and despair sets
in, I ask what have I done? Was it just bad timing, or is God teaching me a lesson?
Is He correcting sin in my life or is this the hand of Satan or Lucifer? What
will happen on the other side to show God’s glory? As I sit typing on my
computer each day these questions run through my head, much like Job must have.

As you read, Bildad is less effective than
Eliphaz since he implies this may be the sin of his children. Imagine having
someone come to you and imply the reason you are sucking right now is little
Bobby had premarital sex. This even becomes more absurd when you get into it.
God does punish, God does correct, but God is also graceful and will forgive
the repentant heart.

Now does this make things rosy on the flip
side or repentance? Not always since oftentimes our “punishment” is not because
of our sins but rather by our sins. Since little Bobby is sleeping around, we
will look at his sin. Bobby takes his sin to an extreme and starts sleeping
with other men. One has HIV and infects little Bobby, now this will take its
toll. Little Bobby realizes his sinful ways and whole heartily repents of his
sins. Does that mean his HIV is wiped clean, most likely no.

That is where we get all messed up, we think
God will fix things and make it better. Well oftentimes the resulting mess
cannot be cleaned or will not be cleaned by God. Little Bobby’s HIV is a result
of his leaving God’s will. Our nation’s current fiscal mess is a direct result
of spending more than we make. We can repent all we want, but the hand of God
is not going to come down and pick your lottery numbers. As I have prayed for
that over and over, it “ain’t gonna happen.” Now I have tried following God’s
principles in money management and a $576k debt is not down to $340k in 5 years
with NO lottery win. So remember we are often not punished for our sins but
rather by our sins. Now in Job’s case his is being messed with more than
punished.

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Psalms
9 – 11

Interesting that in Hebrew Psalms 9 & 10 are actually a
“acrostic pome”, meaning each stanza begins with the next letter in the
Alphabet. As you can easily see this is lost in English. Verse 9:1 opens with
thanks to God:

All my heart will
give thanks to You, Eternal One.
    I
will tell others about Your amazing works.

Notice that is one of the first things
David says in most of his prayers. Maybe that should be integrated into our
prayers. “The attitude of gratitude” is one of the main themes in many new age
thoughts like “The Secret”. Unfortunately they express the gratitude to get
things and not just to be thankful. It’s a fine line between loving God and
loving stuff that gets blurred frequently in new age thinking.

Off on a tangent now, but think about how
much of these “new age” ideas integrate much of the Bible and prayer. The focus
or idea is to get us thinking we don’t need God. The Secret is dangerous in a
way since it implies we are all like gods and can manifest our desires. True we
tend to go where we are focused, but take your eyes off God and the tangents
can get hairy.

Verse 10:2 often I pray this, but think it
may be selfish:

Mean and haughty
people hunt down the poor.
    May
they get caught up in their own wicked schemes.

Shouldn’t we ask for protection and also
for their salvation? Love is the main key to Jesus’ teachings and is it “love”
to wish harm on anyone? Unfortunately we are seeing this happen in full bore
today. I honest look at the government and wonder if they are hunting down the
poor. Think about how rich some are getting on the backs of the poor? Sure the
poor are not “paying” for this, but they are being held down to continue the
scheme. Take money from caring people use some for helping and the rest for and
ever growing “administration”.

Let’s stop this tangent before it gets out
of hand. The key to this verse is David did not like the acts of evil people
and hoped they “got theirs”. I guess that is ok, if they cannot accept
salvation. Either way I say, let God sort it out and we just “keep on keeping
on”.

Verse 11:4 has some issue with the
illustration:

But the Eternal has
not moved; He remains in His holy temple.
    He
sits squarely on His heavenly throne.
    He
observes the sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, examining us within and
without,
    exploring
every fiber of our being.

The reason I have problems with things like
this is we are making God in OUR image and not trying to make ourselves in HIS.
Now God may reveal himself to us in this way since we would not comprehend all
His glory. I think of the film Contact, where the scientist meets her father
and it’s explained that she would be overwhelmed otherwise. Maybe that’s the
same for us?

The only real danger I see is for
non-believers who read this and then get confused when they hear God is all
knowing and everywhere. We have to look at God in different ways as we grow in
Jesus; otherwise we get stuck on the old man in the clouds and not His real
glory!

How arrogant was that? Dissin’ David’s
writings! I really think we need to be aware that most of these are “examples”
of David’s faith and not Biblical truths. If not we can get into this
contradiction spiral that atheists love to glom onto.

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Joshua
16
– 20

Today’s reading is one of those sections that is rater dry
and not full of great insight, but one can still find lesions in life. Chapter
16 and 17 starts the division of the land with Joseph’s sons, who get 1 potion
between them. This causes conflict later and Joshua steps in during verse 17:17
to resolve the problems:

All right;
it’s true that there are many of you and that you are powerful. You should not
have just one share.

As for conflict resolution goes this is an
awesome technique to quell discontent. First thing Joseph does is acknowledge
the problem. Often times we tend to go for resolution which may be the same end
result, but if you don’t have all parties agreeing it’s worthless. So first
acknowledge the problem and then look for solutions. That is the key in
starting to get all parties on board with the solution. This takes the focus
off the problem and opens them to a solution.

Verse 18:3 has Joseph getting people to
work:

 How
much more time do you intend to waste before going to claim the land the
Eternal God of your ancestors is giving to you?

Often times in good management, one must
get the attention of the workers. This is done by being direct with the
problem. Notice Joseph does not use adjectives that may belittle the people. He
just goes right to the problem and then directs them to a solution. Often times
your people need a little direct motivation to get things done. I know often
times I find myself just doing things that is not on task and need a swift kick
in the pants to get me back on track. Notice this is done in a way that gets
them back on task.

Other than conflict resolution and
management techniques we see in verse 20:2 that God is setting aside a place of
refuge:

Tell the
Israelites, “You must set apart cities of refuge, as I directed you through
Moses,

This is actually quite critical since the
people of the time were quite direct and often violent. The positive was swift
solutions to problems, the negative was often innocent people were punished.
This is something God knew and planned for in their society so someone who
unintentionally killed another would be safe until all the facts were shown.

I always wondered about this since a good
psychopath could manipulate the systems into having an intentional murder seem
unintentional. But I guess that could happen today without much question. Case
in point is Michael Hastings, a Rolling Stone reporter, who was about to break
a big corruption story. He died in a high speed single vehicle accident.
Nothing odd other than the vehicle he drove could have easily been hacked and
piloted remotely. Also, an explosion was heard before the impact. This along
with an engine that was dislodged and in a location that would have required an
different force acting on it other than momentum, makes this unintentional
death seem intentional. So systems can always be manipulated except for the
divine judgment of God.

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Genesis
12
– 15

We start in this chapter with the story of Abraham (Abram
now). In verse 12:3 God gives Abram his first promise of descendants:

I will also bless
those who bless you and further you in your journey, and I’ll trip up
those who try to trip you along the way. Through your descendants,
all of the families of the earth will find their blessing in you.

They key here is an immediate reference to
Jesus with the statement of “all families” since there was other descendants of
Noah who repopulated the earth. We see statements like this all over the Old
Testament that get thrown in as “bread crumbs” so we can see the trail to
Jesus. When this was written Moses probably had no idea what was being reviled
to him, but just wrote it as he was told.

One story to look at in Chapter 12 was his
first entrance into Egypt and how he immediately got God upset not claiming
Sarai as his wife. When you think about it, this is a story of the head of a
nation who is quite flawed. His faith that God will protect him and honor His
promises is weak in many cases, yet God still teaches him.

One can look at stories like this and have
faith that all will be good, no matter how bad we mess up. In verse 13:16 God
reassures Abram with His promise:

 I
will make your descendants as many as there are specks of dust on the earth. If
anyone could count the dust of the earth, then he could also count how many
descendants I’m talking about!

Interesting here God uses “specks of dust”
while in another place in the reading He uses stars in the sky, yet the “sands
on the seashore” from verse 22:17 is the most remembered and quoted. Either way
the illustration is he will be the head of many people.

Verses 15:13 & 14 foretell another
event to the people of Israel:

¹³ I
will tell you this on which you can stake your life: Your descendants will first
be foreigners in a land that is not theirs. They will be made slaves there and
will be oppressed for 400 years. ¹⁴ But then I will judge the
nation that enslaves them. When that time comes, your descendants will emerge
from that land with many possessions.

I know one could argue that this was not told to
Abram, but rather interjected by Moses, but it does show the forethought that
God had in how the people would live. I can only assume this was a recording of
a story that was passed down through the generations, since much of it prior to
Moses has been proven in archeological digs. I think the biggest thing to take
away from today’s reading was how many times God revealed the future.

Romans
5 – 6

Verse 5:18 is Jesus’ sacrifice in a nutshell:

So here is the
result: as one man’s sin brought about condemnation and punishment for
all people, so one man’s act of faithfulness makes all of us right with God and
brings us to new life.

This is very straight forward and simple
when you read it. The Gospel tends to get overly complex when you start trying
to tie Old and New Testament doctrine into all the teachings of Jesus, when
really salvation is found through Jesus and then the rest can be learned.

Chapter 6 is the answer to the question if
we can sin or not. Verse 6:6 opens with the promise:

We know this:
whatever we used to be with our old sinful ways has been nailed to His cross.
So our entire record of sin has been canceled, and we no longer have to bow
down to sin’s power.

But now we must decide how to behave after
receiving this salvation. Can we sin because we have a “Get Out of Jail Free”
card or do we live lives of righteousness? The answer is simple and can be very
disturbing when researched, but live pure. In the previous reading we see that
heaven appears to have levels and living saved, but knowingly sinning could
place you in the not so nice section … which I am sure is better than hell.

Paul addresses this in Verses 6:15 & 16
addressing the issue of sin:

¹⁵ So
what do we do now? Throw ourselves into lives of sin because we are cloaked in
grace and don’t have to answer to the law? Absolutely not! ¹⁶ Doesn’t
it make sense that if you sign yourself over as a slave, you will have to obey
your master? The question before you is, What will be your master?
Will it be sin—which will lead to certain death—or obedience—which will lead to
a right and reconciled life?

This was the root of Jesus’ question to the rich
man, who does he honor more money or God. This is the key and was addressed in
the 10 commandments by putting “no other gods before Him.” In this case as
really seen today “gods” is no longer Zeus or Osiris, but rather Porsche or
Armani. Now we tend to worship sports stars or stuff and not mythical figures.
So Paul nails it in simple easy to understand words. Obey God and life will be
blessed. NOTE – Will not be “easy”, but will be in God’s will.

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Matthew
5 – 6

The Sermon on the Mount is one of the most preached teaching
of Jesus in the Bible, but I believe often misinterpreted. Verse 5:3 opens with
the first one that I noticed something new:

Jesus:
Blessed are the spiritually poor—the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

Luke 6:20 is the more commonly preached
sermon, since it only says “blessed are the poor” and that is something we can
relate to. This says something completely different since the “spiritually
poor” implies that it could be anyone. The poor in spirit is more defined as
someone who knows they need the salvation of Jesus, where just poor means they
are in need of earthly things. Big difference between the two scenarios, since
you could have all the money in the world and realize it means nothing in
relationship to ones relationship to God.

Due to the quantity of verses to look at I
am not going to snip each one, so opening your Bible is required!! Verse 15:16 has
the action one must take as the “light on the hill” in doing more than just
professing. This is a problem in today’s Church since the doctrine of “once
saved, always saved” and “works will not get you into heaven” may be true on
one level, but makes for a complacent church. We are told to DO not just
attend.

Verses 6:19-20 actually spook me since it
implies we can lose salvation. We need to be aware that righteousness, like the
Pharisees who appear holy on the outside but have internal issues, is
fundamental to our afterlife. We need to do two things; run away from sin and
when we do sin confess it before Jesus quickly. If we continue to knowingly sin
without repentance, which is turning away, then our salvation is in question.
Also, Jesus addresses the law and states clearly that we must follow it. So was
that to the Jews or all Christians? Why is it we only seem to be preached
follow the basic moral laws and tithing, but not say the food laws?

Verse 5:22 is something that we may not do
in public, but the gossip is just as bad. Sorry, even with “brothers” in Jesus,
we need to hold from saying slanderous things. We just need to “suck it up” and
pray not only for them, but that we are not the problem.

Verse 5:32 is very clear; past lusting
mentioned in verse 5:27 this is clear that divorce is not an option. Interestingly
it says if the “wife” cheats then divorce is ok, but nothing if the husband
does. Either way this is something we need to examine very closely when
thinking about getting married, if we look at it as a lifelong commitment and
not just a more serious form of dating then this is different.

Verses 6:5-8 talks about praying in the
open and how we do it. You listen to prayers in church and small groups where
there are some that put the words together like it’s something meant for God.
Then we pray and it’s a garbled mess since we try to use the right words with
simple straightforward requests. I personally hate praying in public, since I
like simple prayers like “God help so and so.” After this Jesus gives the model
prayer that is a simple formula: praise God, petition God, confess to God, ask
God for protection and accept His divine will. Be thankful for everything and
just continue on being genuine.

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Isaiah
12
– 17

Once again we get prophecies that are mixed between
different times. This becomes very difficult to track since it’s not given out
clearly as x will happen, then y around this time, then finally z. Instead we
get x, y and z presented as one possible event. The key is don’t let yourself
spin too much on this, but just observe what we know to be true.

Verse 13:19 maps to the history of Babylon:

But afterward,
the awesome and mighty city Babylon, pride of the Chaldeans,
    will
be razed to the ground like Sodom and Gomorrah, which God destroyed.

Interesting that when things like this are
written, the non-believers (lump Christians/Jewish/Islamic religions here as
believers) assume this was either written afterwards or forced into matching
history.

Verse 16:5 does this again:

Then God
will establish a royal throne, in loyal love—
    the
One who rules there will be utterly reliable,
With absolute integrity under the auspices of David.
    With
a passion for justice, He will be quick to decide and do what is right.

Christians immediately latch on to this and
say it’s Jesus, while Jews and Muslims believe this one has not come yet.
Again, this is where the interpretation is not clear and is biased on one’s
belief on who Jesus really is to mankind. Is he the savior, a prophet or the
example of God we must live to? We can only go on what we know from the Bible
and our hearts.

I think back to when my mother was
searching for “spiritual meaning” in the 70’s. We entered many churches and
places like an Indian temple. All of which, without salvation of Jesus, seemed
wrong. It wasn’t until landing at West Side Bible and Pastor Miller that the
salvation thing became clear and felt right. That is when I knew in my heart
that we had found truth. So do the same when reading these prophecies.

Verse 17:4 is I think the key to our own
destruction:

Eternal One:
Israel will be humbled then too;
        our cousins, the children of Jacob, will lose their luster,
their wealth and excess.

When we get too full of ourselves, suddenly we
are humbled. Often in ways that are subtle and others that are grand. There was
a period when I was going my own way and was way outside God’s plan. I was
getting very fast on my motorcycle and full of myself. I was just out of an
adulterous relationship and now involved with a roommate when I was humbled. In
this case it was being all but naked in front of the audience in the Cow
Palace. I never really recovered from that injury since I never was at my peak
again and I seemed to fail at work. I think this is why I latch on to verses
like this since I appear to always be humbled when I get full of myself.

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Job
5 – 6

Job’s afflictions are now being scrutinized by his friends.
In verse 5:1 Eliphaz chimes in:

Eliphaz: As
for you, Job, feel free to call, but will anyone reply?
        Among His holy attendants, to whom will you turn?

The problem with his friends is they make
assumptions based on teachings and experience, ignoring the root cause. Job is
a good man is being tormented by Satan and not because of transgressions. I
know I think like Eliphaz more often than not. When things are down, I wonder
if I was praying the right prayer, or if I did something wrong. The economy
crashed in 2007 and by 2010 our shop closed. We were provided for with a job
and survived. I question if we would have thrived if I had not followed God.
Now that is foolish since God would not punish the entire nation/world because
my lack of faith bought lottery tickets.

Or should I say misplaced faith assuming
God was going to give me a lottery win. Either way it may have just been a
consequence of everyone spending more than they made and not “driven” by God at
all. One thing that Eliphaz assumes is all “bad” things are punishment
from God. I tend to think God has a more hands off approach, where we reap the
consequences more than receive God’s wrath. Spend more than you make and
eventually someone will fail, either the banks loaning the money or the people
over burdened by debt. In the most recent case, it was both!!

Verse 5:17 is something to remember when we are “corrected”:

    Remember, a happy man accepts God’s correction,
        so don’t despise the discipline of the Highest God.

Honestly don’t despise the discipline of any one, when
justified. The only time in my life I received “discipline” I did not deserve
was in 1^st grade in Arizona. We had a substitute and everyone
decided to sit in different seats, but did not tell me. Well I am standing
before my seat and could not compute the person sitting in it, so I waited for
them to move. The substitute assumed I was the cause and set me to the
principal’s office. I was only doing what I was told, yet someone was in MY
SEAT!! It’s been almost 50 years and that still bothers me!!

Now Eliphaz is a man of strong beliefs and convictions
guided by his ancestors who made it seem that all bad things were punishment
for sin. That is the bias for his comments and unfortunately is not changed by
Job’s response. Verse 6:15 has Job calling his friends out:

    But you, my brothers, are unpredictable
        like an unexpected flood of the wadi that quickly rises and
then falls,

They latch on to something that they observed
or learned in the past and do not open their minds to something different.
Ironically this ties into the discussion this week on YouTube with a M.R. about
evolution. Both of use perceive the other as being this way. I keep questioning
the data and he keeps saying the same thing. That is not rooted in fact and
since the “data” is so convoluted and difficult to understand for the
“layperson”, he assume mine is blind faith in God. Rather I have discovered a
ton of this on my own research and understand the “data” … he has gotten into
my head!! I pray I have gotten in his!! Key today is be open and not rooted in
your beliefs. Do not drift from the word, but understand it fully and not
compartmentalized.

C

Psalms
6 – 8

In reading the Psalms I see many of my prayers that I often
dismiss as frivolous when in reality David wrote them for us to see that many
are normal. Verse 6:4 is something that I seem to always ask:

Come back, Eternal
One, and lead me to Your saving light.
    Rescue
me because I know You are truly compassionate.

I am constantly asking for clear guidance
and rescue. Today I sit in panic, since the holidays are among us and I have
not gotten any “nibbles” on my resume. The house that is our saving grace is in
title turmoil that implies I may only own half of it. We are looking at new
homes if we sell the farm … again another saving grace, but far into the
future. Then if all falls in place and I do not get work we can only survive a
few years. So right now I am praying this exact Psalm.

Through all of the above I must say the
“panic” is not really that bad. It comes in waves and then I pray for clarity.
Then the panic subsides. What is the worse? What if everything was lost? We
still have options and family to fall back on, and I thank God for that every
day!

Verse 7:9 is another Psalm that I pray, in
my own words of course:

Please, bring the
evil actions of these wicked, wicked people to an end!
    But
secure the righteous,
For You, righteous God,
    examine
our hearts and minds.

Today evil and wicked people are on all
levels of society. The slums are full of “entrepreneurs” dealing drugs and the
Hampton’s are full of bankers looting grannies savings. So I pray that all this
wickedness ends and people find salvation in Jesus. And the key to this verse
is after praying for “all them evil folk” is to examine oneself to ensure we
are pure. How many times have you seen evil and rebuked it only to find
yourself in the middle of it?

Verse 8:5 is in a Psalm where David is
acknowledging Genesis 1:

But You placed the
son of man just beneath God
    and
honored him like royalty, crowning him with glory and honor.

I tend to read this and look at the current human
condition and wonder why. David can think like that since as a king, he is
crowned and treated like royalty. While on the other hand one of the most
“Godly” families I know are met with tragedy and crisis with their son Brice
being paralyzed in his high school years. Sure we may be crowned with glory and
honor in heaven, but David implies now.

Joshua
11 – 15

Joshua is basically two stories about the Promised Land. The
first part is the battles waged and God’s favor to take the land. The second
part is dividing of the land. We see this split in today’s reading. Verse 11:6
is God ensuring that the army they are going to fight will be defeated:

Don’t be afraid of
them. By this time tomorrow, I will have given all of them as dead bodies into
your hands. You will disable their horses and burn their chariots.

Before we are told their numbers are huge!
And as God promises they come in and rout the enemy. One thing I have a problem
with and often question is why God is so brutal with conquering enemies. I
understand that even a small amount of impurities can corrupt the nation, as we
see later. But why must everyone die? Can’t anyone convert?

Verse 13:1 starts the final part of
Joshua’s role:

Now the years
passed and Joshua grew old; and one day the Eternal came to him.

Eternal One
(to Joshua): You have grown old and there is still work to do,
for part of the land I have promised has yet to be conquered.

Once they have secured the land, now they
must divide it for the tribes and people of Israel. Think about how this must
be done in an orderly fashion, since they are probably millions that need to be
given land. This honestly is a beautiful story in leadership, because he is
able to do this without any recorded incidents.

Also I think the biggest key to leadership
is how he relies on God for his guidance. Now it appears he, as with Moses, has
a clearer connection with God. But honestly we have that today, we just have to
clearly listen. We have the Bible to assist us in the clarity and now are
growing into a deep relationship with God.

This is why it is key to life is to read
the Bible daily. It doesn’t hurt to read it over and over again, after 3
complete reads I am getting new revelations this time. It’s something that you
must do to experience. So as Nike’s motto says; “Just do it”!!

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