My Journey Through The Bible

Luke
9 – 10

The reading opens with Jesus sending out the 12. Later
chapter 10 opens with Jesus training and sending 70 more disciples out to teach
the gospel. Interesting the same instructions are found in Matthew 10 and Mark
6 when he sends the 12 out. Why is chapter 10 the only mention of 70?

Verse 9:17 ends the story of feeding 5000 plus:

Everyone eats. Everyone is
satisfied. Nobody goes away hungry. In fact, when the disciples recover the
leftovers, they have 12 baskets full of broken pieces.

Robert Morris has a great teaching on this passage, check it
out at:

http://12stone.com/message/principle-multiplication/

He talks about this passage and why it was this way. Think about it the 12 did
not have faith that they could feed all the people. The leftovers were doggie basket
for the 12!! It’s a bit of God’s humor injected into the story and emphasizes
that reliance on God. It also shows them that they are way beyond anything
natural.

Verse 9:24 is a sobering message:

If you try to avoid danger and
risk, then you’ll lose everything. If you let go of your life and risk all for
My sake, then your life will be rescued, healed, made whole and full. 

This often gets twisted into the investment and gambling
world and needs to be watched. What Jesus is saying is take risks proclaiming
His name, not just take risks!! It mean more then when proclaiming Jesus could
cost you your life. It means the same today if you travel in Islamic countries.
Vern did a mission trip in east Africa and needed to be silent of her faith.
See in that same region a few died spreading the gospel. Now is this saying all
Christians need to flow into the Middle East to become martyrs for Christ? No,
but it does mean stand tall and be strong in professing your love and faith in
Jesus.

Verse 10:29 is the end of different slant to a similar
theme:

The scholar was frustrated
by this response because he was hoping to make himself appear smarter
than Jesus.

Scholar: Ah, but who is
my neighbor?

This is presenting the “two greatest commandments” in a
different light. This time a scholar is saying what they are and getting
frustrated when he is told he is correct and to live that way. This leads into
the story of the good Samaritan which becomes the example of the “neighbor” for
the scholar. We must learn to love all, not just those nice to us or who we
respect.

Lamentations
1 – 5

Verse 1:3 opens with the underlying premise of Lamentations:

Carried off to a foreign place, Judah
is exiled in misery
    and debased by affliction and hard labor;
She cannot find rest living among the pagan nations.
    She tried to run and hide, but in her
distress pursuers have overcome her.

This book is one of the more depressing books in the Bible.
You have to understand the period in which it was written around 586bc. If you
remember the reading in Jeremiah, it was the period where Babylon had taken and
destroyed Israel. The torment they are going through is reflected in the
writings.

Verse 2:3 talks about what happened:

Cut down by God’s anger,
    the pride and strength of Israel
falls;
He withdrew His right hand and stood back and allowed Israel’s
enemies
    to wreak havoc in the land.
God has burned and consumed Jacob
    in an insatiable fire.

Israel was handed to their enemies by God and they lost
their protection. As we move through this book we see the “setup” for Jesus
happening. Israel has lost their ability to repent and save themselves. I pray
we are not doing this today, but based on many of the modified gospels being
preached today (namely the prosperity gospel) I fear we may be too late.

Man is like electricity, we follow the path of least
resistance. That is until we hit a shunt, switch or diode, or a path like
Israel’s that is stopped by God. The road God wants us down is not easy, but is
not a complex one either.

Verse 4:10 captures the despair they must have been living:

Just imagine the injustice: loving
mothers
        are forced to cook
their babies’ flesh.
    Children have become their food!
        All because of the destruction
of the daughter of my people.

Turning into cannibals to survive is awful. It’s unclear if
this is an illustration of the despair or if it actually was happening. Either
way the though is unnerving and gives us a glimpse into what happened some 600
years before Roman occupation and Jesus. No wonder they were looking for a
warrior and not who they got!!

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Proverbs
2 – 3

Verse 2:8 starts our rapid fire run through the verses:

God protects the paths of those
who pursue justice,
    watching over the lives of those who keep faith with
Him.

Justice is the key, not only doing what is right for yourself,
but for others. Life can be mixed at times and often our sense of justice
becomes myopic where justice sometimes equals “just us.” We have to pursue
justice for all, like our founding fathers did some 240 years ago. Today
justice has become perverted by those who have money, the law has become too
complex and full of nuances to navigate without shelling out bucks for a
lawyer.

Verse 2:12 starts a list of benefits to using wisdom:

Wisdom will keep you from following
the way of evildoers,
    of those who twist words to pervert the truth,

Much of proverbs is
single verse “fortune cookie” nugget of wisdom, much of the first few chapters
the nuggets are expanded on the next few verses, as with this one. Read it in
more detail and gain insight on why we must embrace developing wisdom. To the
men who read this verses 2:16-19 are a must read since it focuses on wisdom
dealing with women.

Verse 3:3 reminds
us where to focus our attention:

Stay focused; do not
lose sight of mercy and truth;
    engrave them on a pendant, and hang it
around your neck;
    meditate on them so they are written upon
your heart.

Remain focused on mercy and truth, the rest of life will
fall into place. If you remain honorable, you will never get into shady
dealings. If you focus on mercy, you will not take advantage of people when
they are down.

Verse 3:6 is my favorite of today’s reading (and will be the
last one to discuss):

Give Him the credit for everything
you accomplish,
    and He will smooth out and straighten
the road that lies ahead.

This is something I do not do often enough, even when
talking about recent experiences with death. Often I forget to mention that God
has spared my life. If things had happened only slightly different I would
either not be here today, or be a bowl full of mush. I do this whenever I
accomplish something too! A win, a successful project, a kind gesture or
whatever, I tend to forget to give “credit” to God first or if at all.

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Psalms
66 – 68

Notice something in the next few Psalms. Verse 66:4 is the
first mention:

The entire earth will bow
down to worship You
    and will sing glory-songs to You;
    they will sing praises to Your name!

It seems like there is a subtle move from God’s chosen
people to the all the nations. Is this setting us up for Jesus or has God
always been there for every nation? We look back at how he blessed King Hiram
but granted that was after this was written, so who knows.

Verse 67:4 is very similar:

May all nations
celebrate together, singing joy-filled songs of praise
to You
    because You judge the people fairly
    and give guidance to all the nations
of the earth.

Is this acknowledging that God is with all nations and not
just Israel? I know the OT gives us the impression that most nations worship
pagan gods and worthless idols, with Israel being the only nation in God’s
favor. But when nations honor and praise God, they are blessed also, just as
our nation once was.

Verse 68:3 focuses on our personal relationship with God:

But may those who are righteous
rejoice
    in the presence of the True God—so may they be glad and
rejoice.
    Yes, let them celebrate with joy!

The key to the relationship with God is a pure heart. God
cannot stand sin and therefore we need to be cleansed before God. In OT days
that required an animal sacrifice. Today Jesus took the place as the final
sacrifice. Today we just need to repent and confess in the name of Jesus to be
“righteous” before God and to be in His presence. How cool is that?

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1 Kings
5 – 9

This reading talks about Solomon the builder as he rebuilds
the temple, his palace and the nation. Verse 5:3 starts with Solomon giving the
reason why he is to begin building:

You remember that David did not
have the opportunity to construct a temple honoring the reputation of the
Eternal his God, because of my father’s involvement in the warfare
which plagued him until the Eternal suppressed all of his enemies under his
feet. 

Part of the reason was David was busy in battles, but
another reason was he had too much blood on his hands and the Lord wanted the
construction performed by a purer hands. Also, since Solomon had great wisdom,
he was working with other kings and nations to help in his projects. Hiram was
one of the major contributors to these projects and Solomon made sure he was kept
happy.

Verse 6:1 gives you an idea at the time frame of this
project:

During the second month called Ziv
in the 4th year of Solomon’s reign, 480 years after the Israelites had departed
from Egypt, Solomon began constructing the Eternal’s temple.

480 years between Moses and the people leaving Egypt to
Solomon finishing the temple. When you read the Bible it’s only a few chapters,
but if you add the number up we see the time. Imagine if you had to wait 10
years for a promise? See we look at time much different than the Eternal, since
he is working with infinity and we have at best a 100 year bound from start to
finish.

Verses 6:12 & 13 is God’s if then statement for His
blessing on Israel:

Eternal One: ¹² Regarding
the temple which you are building: if you live by My laws and enforce My ways,
if you honor My instructions by keeping them, then I will honor the promise I
made to your father, David, and establish that promise with you. ¹³ I
will live among the Israelites, and I will not abandon the community of Israel,
My people.

Simple follow God’s ways and all will be fine. Oh how I wish
I could do that regularly. We all tend to drift and fortunately the grace of
Jesus with the Holy Spirit usually gets us back on the right track. Some of us
it takes longer than others, but God does not seem to abandon us. Now as you
read Kings you will see God does not abandon His people, but for a season. So
as harsh in writing sound, God’s compassion for us will save us with true
repentance.

In writing this I have The Voice of Truth by the Casting
Crowns playing. Man what a powerful song using Peter and David as prime example
of faith facing a stormy sea and a giant. We tend to put God in a box or temple
when He is much greater than that. We forget that this building is not God’s
home, but rather the point of interface between the people and God. This was
for the people and not for God!!

Final quick note, verse 9:12 shows Hiram had some problems
with Solomon’s gifts:

Hiram traveled from Tyre to view
the cities Solomon was giving to him, but he was not satisfied.

This seems like it could become a thorn in Solomon’s
side, but 2 verses later Hiram is giving him 9000 pounds of gold. As with most
relationships communications is the key and although not noted, Solomon must
have communicated with Hiram to quell his anger. Since someone not satisfied
would not give that much gold shortly afterwards.

Exodus
37 – 40

Verse 38:1 sums up the end of Exodus:

Bezalel made the altar for burnt
offerings out of acacia wood. He made it square—seven and a half feet long by
seven and a half feet wide—and four and a half feet high.

First comment I have concerning this reading is it’s full of
minutia of the temple and the priest’s clothes. Base, linen, alters, lampstands
and the covenant chest are all described in these chapters. I think many miss
the point of how God commanded these powerful symbols to be created for a clear
understanding of the separation between Him and mankind. The attention to
detail is important since this is where God resides with his people.

Second comment is Bezalel is mentioned throughout this
reading. He is the artisan in charge of making sure all the details are
correct. You notice he either does the work or collaborates with the craftsman
to finish the work.

As you read chapter 40, you suddenly see this is a portable
tabernacle. It made me think of when we were doing church at the high school.
Every Sunday we took the school and set up our stuff to make it a church. Like
the Israelites did, we would systematically set up the areas to ensure God
could be worshiped and the focus not be on where they were, but rather on God.

Chapter 40 has Moses given the schedule on when to set up
and worship in this tabernacle. Also, he anoints everything and everyone to
ensure the blessing of God is on its entirety.
In the end we see the people build the tabernacle to specification and
God blesses them.

Galatians
1 – 3

In looking at verse 1:4, I wish there was more of this in
the church today:

Frankly I am stunned. I
cannot believe that you have abandoned God so quickly—even after He called you
through the grace of the Anointed One—and have fallen for a different gospel.

We see many led astray by people preaching a gospel that is
not pure. I pray to have the ability to know the difference if this ever
happens. I have only experienced it a few times and it’s spooky. The most
memorable was watching Joel Osteen who quoted scripture that to this day I have
not found. This has concerned me since the message was focused on “beginning
again”. Not going to lambast Osteen for being a false prophet, but it concerned
me that he may be corrupting the word of God.

Verse 1:12 reminds me of what we are facing today:

It is not a legend I learned or one
that has been passed down from person to person, ear to ear. I was
gifted with this message as Jesus the Anointed revealed Himself miraculously
to me. 

Today there is a huge push to say the story of Jesus is not
real. After 2000 years people are saying it’s a myth and if there was a Jesus,
He was just a man. Funny how there is no evidence to suggest Jesus was not who
the stories claim. The early Christians who were killed are not considered
fake. So if Christians were being martyred for a fake story, that no one of
that time every claimed was fake. The only claims were that Jesus was NOT the
Messiah, and not that He did not do all that was written. But 2000 years later,
we suddenly have the insight to tell when something is a story and when
something is truly history.

Think about it, if the story was a fraud one would think it
would have been squashed by people early on. Those who knew Jesus or were there
could provide first-hand accounts of what happened. The only ones are from
people who confirm what Jesus did. Also, you cannot dismiss what’s happening in
the church today.

Verse 3:10 is something I struggle with often:

Listen, whoever
seeks to be righteous by following certain works
of the law actually falls under the law’s curse. I’m giving it to you straight
from Scripture because it is as true now as when it was written: “Cursed
is everyone who doesn’t live by and do all that is written in the law.”

Do we follow the Law or not as a Christian? This is a big
dilemma for many. Paul makes it clear there is no way we can follow the Law,
and if we try we are held to its standards and not Jesus’. Yet take the food
Laws, they are for our health but if you think it’s a sin for eating pork then
there is a problem. So it becomes a quandary, if you follow the food Laws are
you then judged by the whole Law?

Luke
7 – 8

Verse 7:25 Jesus is asking the people about John the
Baptist:

What were you looking for? A man in
expensive clothing? Look, if you were looking for fancy clothes and luxurious
living, you went to the wrong place—you should have gone to the kings’ courts, not
to the wilderness!

If you think about
this, even if someone had been of means, they would have been ousted quickly.
We tend to reject what is not the status quo in society. If John had been
preaching the coming Messiah, then the people would have most likely rejected
him as a fraud, thus pushing him into the wilderness.

Verses 7:33 &
34 are a perfect juxtaposition of why people should not try to judge someone
from God:

³³ You
can’t win with this generation. John the Baptist comes along, fasting and
abstaining from wine, and you say, “This guy is demon-possessed!” ³⁴ The
Son of Man comes along, feasting and drinking wine, and you say,
“This guy is a glutton and a drunk, a friend of scoundrels and tax
collectors!” 

I expect the same thing to happen on Jesus’ return. The ones
in power who will lose much if Jesus actually returns will reject the return
and call out his flaws. There is a statue in Davidson, NC that has Jesus curled
up sleeping as a homeless man on a park bench. People who expect Him to return
on a chariot of fire will reject a humble return on a park bench. Hence “they”
will say similar things.

Verse 7:49 ends the story of the prostitute washing Jesus’
feet with her tears, drying them with her hair and applying perfumed oil on
them:

Who does this guy think He is? He
has the audacity to claim the authority to forgive sins?

This was the response of the people we was guests with; they
saw this woman and judged her based on past transgressions. Jesus was judging
her based on her remorse and desire for forgiveness. We must watch and not fall
into these kinds of traps, where our self-righteous mindset ignores the word of
God!!

I think the Voice has one of the clearest explanations of
the sower’s story and suggest reading verse 8:10-15 on your own. I like the way
it clearly shows what actually happens to the word in man.

Verse 8:37 ends the story of the man possessed with many
called Battalion in this version and Legion in others:

The people are scared to death, and
they don’t want this scary abnormality happening in their territory. They ask
Jesus to leave immediately. Jesus doesn’t argue. He prepares
to leave, 

They are not amazed that this once insane man is now sane,
but rather the money that was lost when the heard of pigs committed suicide. In
this case money trumps God!! Think about how this is the case in most lives;
Jesus is the one to follow until it really starts to cost. We need to ensure we
focus on the good that happens and not the lost pigs!!

Jeremiah
47 – 52

Verse 48:7 follows a theme for the next few chapters:

You depended on your own works and
your own wealth,
        and now you will be
humbled and taken captive.
    Your so-called god, Chemosh, will go with
you into exile
        along with his priests and
officials.

The next few chapters are the destruction of various nations
who drifted and worshiped other Gods. God is a jealous God in so much as He
want acknowledgement for all that transpires on the earth. These lesser gods
like Chemosh may be just statues or fallen angels with limited powers. Either
way God does not like misdirected worship and praise.

We see it today with “The Secret” or the law of attraction.
You give something up to the universe and the universe then aligns itself to
make it happen. Suddenly God is completely out of the equation and we have
people tapping into this power without acknowledging the source. Much in the
same way the people of Moab worshiped Chemosh, many today are worshiping this
cosmic universal energy that gives them stuff.

Verse 48:26 got my attention:

Make Moab drink deeply from
this cup until he is drunk, for he has exalted himself above the
Eternal. Make him drink until he wallows in his own vomit; then
he will be ridiculed by all who see him.

When you think about this it’s a very sad place to be. I
know I have been there a few times and am not proud of them. People tend to get
upset at you or take advantage of you in the process. It’s very sad and ugly.

Verse 48:35 talks about ending the idol worship:

I will put an end to idol
worship in Moab, to those who make offerings on shrines in high places
and burn incense to so-called gods.

When God says He is putting an “end to idol worship” that is
a very final statement. Ironically, He ends it one place and it pops up
another. Over and over again our rebellion against an authority keeps us
searching for powers without responsibility. Hence why people end up worshiping
gods, idols or the universe.

Interestingly chapter 51 ends with “the messages of
Jeremiah end here” yet it continues with another chapter. The final chapter is
more a history chapter than anything else, it just tells what happened.

Just a little story on prayers.

Yes to many this may seem frivolous, but I hope it gives you confidence of God’s involvement in our lives. I work in engineering and often am faced with some complex problems. Well the other day I was trying to solve a long term problem and had been focusing on this for a month without any progress.

The pressure was building and every avenue I had followed were dead ends. It was late Friday and I was having to give the machine back soon and still had not found the solution. I had enlisted  another engineer to help with no success. 

I was at my wits end. 

Well I sat down after the last test failed and relaxed. I closed my eyes and cleared my head, then prayed to God for insight to the solution. Well within 5 minutes the “fix” popped into my head and within a half an hour it was working on the machine! 

Was it prayer that solved it? I can only say the timing was very coincidental and believe that prayer had to have been a factor.

I can’t say how many prayers appear to go unanswered and only a few become clear on why they were unanswered. I can point you to the end of Job for clarity on why God is sovereign and not really to be questioned, just have peace He is aware and working all the time.

Proverbs
1

Verse 1:4 opens with why Solomon is writing these Proverbs:

These proverbs teach the naive how
to become clever;
   they instruct the young in how to
grow in knowledge and live with discretion.

One can learn a ton from one single verse in this book, it’s
designed that way. Many you can dwell on for hours before you are clear in
understanding, where many are instantly understood. Enjoy as we read through
and share your favorites as we read.

Verse 1:10 is a message we all should have gotten at an
early age:

My son, should your less honorable
peers pressure you to do what is wrong,
    you should be strong enough not to go along.

The phrase “if all your friends were jumping off a cliff,
would you” comes to mind. How many times in my youth did I let this happen. I
went from drinking to trying weed to doing some stupid stuff just because my
“friends” wanted to. Oh how I could have saved a bunch of the stupid tax if I
had listened to my own logic. Funny thing is when we get in situations where “less
honorable peers pressure” us we tend to justify it and think it’s our idea. Key
is do what is right!!

Verse 1:33 sums up why we should listen to Solomon:

But those who listen to me now will
live under divine protection;
    they can rest knowing they are out of harm’s way.

The only thing I don’t like about this is it makes life
sound rosy following God. It’s not! Look at Paul, Peter, James and others who
followed Jesus. They died listening to God! I think what Solomon is trying to
say is the “self-inflicted” pain or the pain getting wrong advice will be
limited. We will still have the hiccups in life, but we will be better prepared
to “roll with it.”

 

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Psalms
63 – 65

Verse 63:1 is a powerful opening:

O True God, You are my God, the One whom I trust.
    I seek You with every fiber of my
being.
In this dry and weary land with
no water in sight,
    my soul is dry and longs for You.
    My body aches for You, for Your presence.

How many of us can say they seek God “with every
fiber of my being?” How many of us have our soul’s “long” for the presence of
God? I know when things were “down” and I was coming from my death, I yearned
for God. But as the weeks plod on, and normalcy returns to life, I remain
thankful but not seeking “with every fiber of my being.” Why is that? Why when
in crisis do we turn to God, but in normal day to day life we may acknowledge
Him, but praying tends to become routine and loses passion.

I think we need to read Psalm 63 more than once in a while
to regain the passion we once had for following our Lord!

Verse 64:1 opens like many of our prayers today:

O True God, hear my voice! Listen to my
complaint!
    Guard my life; keep me safe from my enemy’s threats.

We
tend to want God to fix our problems and ailments rather than bask in God’s
glory. Sure God wants to hear our complaints and petitions, but not all the
time. One thing I learned these past weeks is how casual I have always taken
God. Sure He is Lord in  my life, but say
a magnificent healer that I wondered. It’s taking a while to sink in, but my
story is not a normal one. I have talked with paramedics who have never seen my
story play out. I am a novelty at the doctor’s office, since I am the one who
survived.

Was
it God? Was it just a coincidence that the timing worked perfectly? I tend to
believe it was God and not just dumb luck. Now I just need to convince my inner
self;-)

Verse
65:13 ends the reading:

Meadows are clothed with frolicking flocks of lambs;
    valleys are covered with a carpet of
autumn-harvest grain;
    the land shouts and sings in joyous
celebration.

God
is not just some old man in the sky, but rather He is everywhere and in
everything. He is not just man’s God, but rather God over all. We tend to
personify God too much and put limits on His character. But when the earth
explodes with bounty, It’s just as much a joyous celebration as church was this
weekend!

1 Kings
1 – 4

This opens with David on his death bed and his sons
struggling for the throne. Adonijah in the initial struggle comes out on top,
until David in verse 1:30 names Solomon his successor:

today I will uphold what I promised to you by the Eternal,
the God of Israel, when I said, “Your son, Solomon, will reign as king after
me. He will inherit my throne.”

I have always
found it interesting how David chose his youngest as his successor, since
tradition usually had the eldest. Although since Saul did not hand his throne
down to family and David was the first to do so, guess there really was no
tradition at this time.

Verse 2:4 has
simple rules for David, Solomon and their successors:

for the Eternal will be faithful to His promise to me throughout your life. He
promised me, “For as long as your sons are devoted to Me and live by My truth
and embrace it with all their being, your offspring will always sit upon
Israel’s throne.”

It’s a simple
order, yet we find the family does not follow it over time.

Verse 3:9 is one
of the most telling verses on Solomon:

Please give Your servant a listening heart for judging Your
people and for knowing the difference between what is good and what is evil.
Who is capable of judging Your chosen ones, a great people?

He is not looking
for “wealth and pelf and fame and name and all of that noise” (Pippin- Simple
Joys), the world’s definition of “happiness,” but rather what would make him a
great ruler. This is very important in Solomon’s initial kingdom, since people
came from far and wide to see him and experience his wisdom. This makes Solomon
one of the great leaders of Israel!

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Exodus
33 – 36

They have just been chastised for making the golden calf and
are ready to move forward. Verse 33: 3 lays out what God had decided:

Travel to the land that flows with milk and honey,the land
of your inheritance. However, because
you are such an incredibly stubborn people, I will not be going with you.
Otherwise, I would completely destroy you during the journey.

Imagine loving
someone so much, but not being able to be around them because they infuriated
you so much? I know many in our family who say that about me. They love me but
can’t be around me.

Verse 34:14
clarifies why God is this way:

because you must not worship any god except for Me. My name is
Jealous, and I am a jealous God.

I believe one of
the reasons God does not want us worshiping these idols and gods is many are
the ones cast out with Satan. They are trying to be like God and therefore
gather the wrath of God, since he cast them out of heaven. This is the constant
battle between man, demons and God where we are trying to elevate ourselves to
God like levels.

Take the books
“The Secret” it tries to break down “the law of attraction” into some
scientific thing that over powers any belief of God. Heck all I have to do is
want it and the “universe” will get it for me, without having to pray to God to
get it. I have become God like in this case!! See the danger? The book focuses
on God being a genie to give you things and not a ruler over all.

Verse 35:21 ties
offerings from the heart vs forced:

Then all those whose hearts and minds moved them came back,
bringing their valuables as a contribution to the Eternal One for
the congregation tent, all its service, and the sacred garments. 

See the difference? Those who changed their “hearts and
minds” gave offerings pleasing to God. God does not want you to seem forced to
give something you do not wish, rather He wants you to give from love. It’s
that simple, don’t give from the law, but give from the heart and then you will
see what was talked about in Luke 6:38.

2 Corinthians
11
– 13

Verse 11:3 is the fear of most church planters:

But now I’m afraid
that as that serpent tricked Eve with his wiles, so your hearts and
minds will be tricked and you will stray from the single-minded love and pure
devotion to Him.

Imagine pouring your heart and soul into a
church plant only to have them stray from God! Paul is in a rough position with
the church in Corinth, since it appears they drift wildly from “the way”. After
this for the rest of the chapter Paul makes his case how much you can expect to
endure for Jesus. It’s not a road of easy, happy go lucky happenings, but
rather a narrow and difficult path. Today’s church seems to miss this in many
of their messages; we are not expecting resistance or trials along the way.

Verse 12:2 caught me in something I wanted to explore:

Fourteen years
ago, there was this man I knew—a believer in the Anointed who was caught up to
the third heaven. (Whether this was an in- or out-of-body experience I don’t
know; only God knows.)

Interesting how most translations include
the mention of the “third heaven”, but rarely is it ever talked about in
church. The common definitions among those who deal with the multi-heaven
theology is the first heaven is here on earth, the  second heaven is on earth but is the domain
the demons and other entities move about and the third heaven is God’s domain.
So seeing into that must have been fantastic!!

Verse 12:7 talks about Paul’s “thorn”:

To keep me
grounded and stop me from becoming too high and mighty due to the
extraordinary character of these revelations, I was given a thorn in the
flesh—a nagging nuisance of Satan, a messenger to plague me!

It has never been said what his “thorn” was
a physical ailment to a tormenting by Satan to even a sin like homosexuality.
We will never know but often let it play into our agenda in our walk. All we do
know is it challenged Paul throughout his days.

Verse 13:4 sinks in a bit when you think
about it more:

Now it’s true that
He was crucified in weakness, but it’s also true that He lives by God’s
power. For we who belong to Him are weak in Him, but we will live with
Him by God’s power for you.

I read this initially and wonder if God’s
power is if we live in Jesus, but if we just “belong” to Him it’s not the same.
Jesus did die in weakness, but in the end revealed God’s power to all. Now how
cool is that?

Luke
5 – 6

Verse 5:15 shows a common problem Jesus has:

Even though Jesus
said not to talk about what happened, soon every conversation was consumed by
these events. The crowds swelled even larger as people went to hear Jesus
preach and to be healed of their many afflictions.

How often did Jesus say “don’t talk about
what happened” and the word gets out anyway? I often wonder if Jesus really
didn’t want the word out or if he was protecting His life from the Pharisees?
Either way, the word always seemed to get out and it stirred the passions of
the Pharisees.

When asked why Jesus spent so much time
with sinners He responds in verse 5:31:

Healthy people don’t need a doctor, but sick people do.

Over the years one of the riders, Mustache
Greg,  we use to judge had a sticker on
his helmet that said “Jesus is for losers”. Finally after almost ten years of judging
him for being a blasphemer we finally talked. I asked him about it and he said
because it’s true, Jesus did not come for the righteous, but rather for the
sinners or losers. I was immediately humbled and apologized for a decade of
judgment.

Now Chapter 6 from verse 20 is full of
piercing commands that one could write a book on.  Verse 6:27 is one of the hardest ones to get:

If you’re
listening, here’s My message: Keep loving your enemies no matter what they do.
Keep doing good to those who hate you.

Love your enemy, easy to say but hard to
do. How many of us would love on someone who stole our fortune? How many of us
would love on someone who spat in our face? How many of us would love on
someone who murdered our child? See these are easy words to say, but very hard
to follow.

Verse 6:38 is another we tend to miss:

Don’t hold
back—give freely, and you’ll have plenty poured back into your lap—a good
measure, pressed down, shaken together, brimming over. You’ll receive in the
same measure you give.

God wants us to give! He said himself it
will come back more than we can imagine. I can point you towards Robert Morris
for an example. He once gave it all, two cars, his house and savings. Within
hours of him saying “top that God” had arranged to give him a jet with a
pilot!! I am not saying give it all away, Mr. Morris had built up a life of
trust and understanding. The last thing I want is everyone giving their homes
away for selfish reasons only to be homeless. The key is give and give freely
without worry to the cost. And please in all this be a joyful giver!!

Jeremiah
42 – 46

Verse 42:3 opens with the people asking Jeremiah for
guidance from God:

Pray that
the Eternal your God will tell us where to go and what to do.

As you read the story you find out that the
people really didn’t want this, but rather to be told what they wanted to hear.
How many times have we done something like this ourselves? We ask for guidance
and when we get it we don’t like it only to change direction. Verse 42:10 is
very clear on what God wants of his people:

“If you will stay
here in this land, I will bless and protect you. I will rebuild you and
not tear you down. I will plant you anew and not uproot you. For I
deeply regret the disaster I had to bring upon you.

But if they go to Egypt the “wars
<they> fear and the famine <they> dread will follow <them>
into Egypt.” (v42:16) Seems like a simple option, say and prosper or leave and
die. The choice is clear, but not what the leaders wanted to hear. They wanted
to be “safe” in their minds and said “these words are lies!” (v43:2) With that
their minds were made up, even though Jeremiah attempted to sway them, off to
Egypt and death was the decision.

Verse 44:10 is God lamenting their
disobedience:

To this day, I’ve
seen no evidence of sorrow or regret for what has been done by My people.
They have shown no reverence for Me, nor have they obeyed My law and the
decrees I set before them and their ancestors.”

They go into Egypt worshiping idols and
other gods without any though to the one true God who saved them so many times.
God will play only so long with our insolence and then he breaks. As you read
on He still gives them an opportunity to save themselves, but they choose to do
what they want.

The sad part of this story is we still see
this rejection every day in the church. Sometimes it’s by teaching and other
times it’s the congregation just saying no. There has been some questionable
teaching, mostly notably the “Prosperity Preachers” who require you to give to
them to receive “monetary blessings from God”. They twist scripture out of
context to get hoards to believe that giving to Pastor XYZ will give them great
wealth and therefore happiness.

I wonder what God truly thinks about us
today? Does Jesus really cover a multitude sins or are we just a ticking time
bomb? I know I live in fear sometimes of doing things wrong and not figuring it
out until it’s too late. Revelations is “a coming” and we need to be ready!

Job
41 – 42

For some reason I am glad to end this part of the study. Job
is not one of those books I clearly understand or even get why it was allowed.
I do enjoy verse 41:1 and beyond:

Eternal One:
Now let us not stop here.
    What
of Leviathan?
    Can
you haul it in on the end of a hook
        or strap down its tongue with your line?

Throughout the Bible we tend to dismiss
creatures of fantasy like the Leviathan. This huge creature that comes from the
water yet breathes fire is from fables and fairy tales. Or is it? Maybe there
are dinosaurs that did in fact breathe fire? Think about all the cultures
around the world that have almost the exact same “fable” of dragons. Just
consider this, maybe they did live on the earth with man, hence the commonality
of the stories. So do you consider this truth or fable?

Job 42:4 is Job acknowledging God’s words
to him:

 You said, “Hear Me now, and I will speak.
        I’ll be asking the questions, and you will supply the answers.”

How many times have we actually listened to
what God had to say? I know in my prayer time, I tend to do all the talking
without listening to answers to comments. I think we all need to just settle
down and let the Holy Spirit guide us. We need to learn which little voice in
our head is God and which is our own nature.

Verse 42:13 is the only one that tends to
bother me:

He also fathered 7
more sons and 3 more daughters.

If you remember before any of this started
he had 7 sons and 3 (Job 1:2) and Satan took them almost immediately in the
story (Job 1:19). Sure God replaced his family, but again how could you not
continue to mourn for those originally lost? The final verse 42:17 says “Then
Job died, old, and satisfied with his days.” Again it almost seems like the
children were more like cattle than family. Sure let’s just give you 10 more
children that should satisfy the fact I let Satan kill your original 10.

See I would harbor bitterness towards God
and THAT is why I do not like this book!

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Psalms
60 – 62

Verse 60:7 opens my eyes how God works on this earth:

Gilead belongs to
Me, and so does Manasseh;
    Ephraim
is the helmet that protects My head;
    Judah
is the scepter through which I rule;

Notice in this verse and the next one God
talks about how he uses nations to work for him. Judah, the tribe of David and
the linage of Jesus has always meant to rule. I think it’s cool how this
personifies God, but at the same time shows He is beyond bounds. You may need
to read verses 60:6-8 a few time to see if either I am nuts or you observe it
the same way. Either way we see how God uses nations and people to do his
bidding, not necessarily just coming down and doing it supernaturally.

Verse 61:2 is one that we need to realize:

You are the One I
will call when pushed to the edge,
    when
my heart is faint.
    Shoulder
me to the rock above me.

This is so true as we get pushed to the
edge most have a “come to Jesus” moment and try to fix it all then.
Unfortunately, more often than not, we need to have that moment BEFORE we get
pushed to the edge. I know many salvations are in crisis, yet slowly slip after
things get back to normal. We need to rely on God not while on the edge, but
during our day to day lives. Once you can rely on God to help you through the
mundane, the heart attack is no big deal.

Verse 62:2 is so important it’s repeated in
verse 6:

He alone is my
rock and my deliverance,
    my
citadel high on the hill; I will not be shaken.

One thing we have to remember is this
messed up world we live in with our flawed lives has one unmovable standard,
God. We tend to take the flaws and focus on why God is not correcting them,
where often times it’s just life. Sure we have bad hearts, accidents and cancer
show up in our lives but it’s not that God is orchestrating it, but rather it’s
just happening. See our bodies are flawed or lives are not perfect and that is
where our connection with God must be. See God is the perfect rock we must rest
our broken and weary bodies on.

2 Samuel
20 – 24

Verse 20:1 shows the divide David had in his kingdom:

A worthless
troublemaker, Sheba the Benjaminite, the son of Bichri, blasted a trumpet and
silenced everyone.

 

Sheba: We
don’t have any share in David, no interest in the son of Jesse! Israel, let’s
go back to our tents and show loyalty to only our own tribes!

David
was to unify the nation of Israel, but as you may expect with a nation that was
so hard headed in the wilderness, this is not as smooth as David would like. As
we continue reading we see that it takes time and some strife to bring the
nation of Israel back under on king. We see in Chapter 21 that some of this was
punishment for things Saul did not do as king, so David had a deep pit to dig
out of.

Verse
22:28 is a theme I like to point out when I can:

For You rescue
weak people,
        but the proud You bring low.

God really has a problem with the
braggadocios and the proud. We see this over and over again with people think
it’s more them than God and they get humbled. I use to have this happen over
and over again in racing; when I was fast it was ME. When I was trying to get
fast I was talking with God on how that could happen. Problem was when it was
all about ME, I tended to get humbled quickly, either by a fast new guy, a
mechanical issue or a major crash. Not saying the God mixed up the day to
humble me, but rather as we get full of ourselves we start overlooking details
that could save our skins.

Verse 24:24 ends with David acknowledging
an offering is not a gift from someone else you decided to give:

David: ²⁴ No,
I will buy these things from you. Name your price. I will not make an
offering to the Eternal One, my True God, that has cost me nothing.

Often we tend to give from excess and not
from scripture. See we are told to offer 10% of the first fruits. This tends to
follow with all offerings that God is looking for some skin in the game from
the giver. We are not told to give till it hurts, but rather out of joy. So
David is not only doing that, but making sure it is HIS offering and not
another’s.

Giving is so hard to discuss, but it is
something that is critical in our relationship with the Lord. I would suggest Robert
Morris’s book the Blessed Life if you want to dive into the Biblical reasons
for giving.

Exodus
29 – 32

Verse 29:37 explains the reasoning behind the purification
of the altar:

For seven days you
must purify the altar and consecrate it. As a result of these rituals it
will be most holy and anything that touches the altar will become holy.

Through much of the reading we get a feel
for the details God gave to his people for honoring Him. Today we look at this
as a bunch of ceremony that often seems unnecessary. It obviously was important
to do since God required it. The only question that I have is we to take our
relationship with God a bit more reverent?

Think about this for a moment. I think of a moment in
Crocodile Dundee where Mick is asked about God, he said “me and God are mates”.
This implies that his relationship with the almighty is like any drinking
buddy. I wonder if our casualness with God is ruining our relationship with
Him. Maybe we should approach God with a bit more reverence than we tend to
today. Although David’s prayers were sometimes out of shear frustration, he came
to God with total respect and dignity.

Now as we read each chapter we see procedures for dress,
procedures, materials, altars, Sabbath laws and blending anointing oils and
incense. Notice is verse 30:33 has a definite warning:

Whoever makes a
similar blend or anoints anyone who is not ordained as a priest will be cut off
from the community.

Today I believe we can go to any
“Christian” book store and purchase the recipe for anointing oil and incense,
even though each recipe has this warning. Why is this? Is this ok with God?
What if I were to purchase this or make it and then anoint someone? Would I be
“cut off” from God? Do we just consider this OT and ignore it? Understand I
don’t know the answer now, but do know the answer then and feel maybe we should
take this more serious that just mixing and making a buck.

I love reading these chapters because
interspersed with God’s Commandments and Laws are history lessons on what was
going on at the time. Chapter 32 is the famous story of the “golden calf” which
most believe is the reason Israel was not allowed into the Promised Land. No
God just killed a bunch as an example. Verse 32:19 shows Moses as not some cool
dude:

As soon as Moses
arrived at the camp, he saw the calf and the revelry around it. His anger
flared, and he hurled down the stone tablets and they shattered at the
foot of the mountain.

His anger is something he has been working
on all his life. Think about how he was in exile for 40 years after murdering
an Egyptian. He has anger issues, which one could say was righteous
indignation, in this instance caused him to shatter the tablets God inscribe
the Law on. These were not just some rocks he had, but rather something made
before him by God!! The people had no clue the significance of these tablets
and just assume Moses lost it again. We must all learn to control our wrath,
let God’s furry deal with things and not ours. Although God lost it just as
much as Moses earlier, so maybe “righteous indignation” is ok.

2 Corinthians
9 – 10

Verse 9:6 opens a dialog on giving:

But I will say
this to encourage your generosity: the one who plants little harvests
little, and the one who plants plenty harvests plenty.

This goes way beyond talking to people
about Jesus and you will see it includes giving. Read though verse 9 and you
will see the promises of God blessing you if you cheerfully give. I think these
are verses that hurt many people and get abused by “preachers”. We cannot go
into this deeply, but would suggest Robert Morris’s The Blessed Life. It goes
deep into giving and allows you to understand the heart of a giver. He has
literally given it all away only to be blessed with more, that he gave away.

The key point you need to take from this is
giving is not about getting, but rather blessing. We need to bless people
without expectation of God blessing us, sure it’s way cool when he does, but
it’s not necessary for our giving to continue. I think we need to give not till
it hurts, but rather give in joy. That is what this passage says! If it brings
you great joy to tithe, then tithe. If it brings you great joy to give houses
away, then give houses away. If you don’t have joy giving $20 into the plate,
then don’t!!

Verse 10:8 makes sure we understand our job
is not to convict:

I’m not
embarrassed, even if it seems to others I have gone overboard in speaking about
the power the Lord has given us to edify and encourage you and not to destroy
anyone who strays.

People who stray from the Lord often have
targets on their backs by many in the church. They want them back and sitting
in the pews. Paul is saying just keep doing what you are doing, to encourage
not destroy. He does not want us on fire convicting every backslid believer,
rather focus on the words “edify and encourage” so we can build up the body. If
the Holy Spirit convicts, then let it do so. IT’S NOT OUR JOB!!

Verse 10:11 is critical:

 They
need to understand this: whatever we say through our letters when we are away,
that is exactly what we will do when we are looking you in the eye.

I have watched someone who was new to the
faith have it crushed when their pastor failed them in their eyes. A pastor I
know made a big deal on giving up smoking and how it was God who gave him the
power to quit. It was miraculous how he went from a chain smoker to nothing.
This was awesome, until he was so frustrated in life; he started back up and
made up for lost time. This crushed the new followers since he had led them to
Jesus and were now seeing it as folly. Do what you say and say what you do,
have honor and character!

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Luke
3 – 4

Notice when reading Luke he gives more historical details
and time frames so people can understand the period when Jesus lived. Also
notice he gives scripture references for the prophecies which Jesus fulfilled.
Verse 3:4 references Isaiah 40:3-5:

 As
Isaiah the prophet had said,

A solitary voice
is calling:
“Go into the wilderness;
    prepare
the road for the Eternal One’s journey.
In the desert, repair and straighten
    every
mile of our True God’s highway.

John the Baptist was preparing the way for
the Lord. I often wondered how much interaction these two had since John’s
mother Elizabeth and Mary were cousins. Mary spent the first few months of her
pregnancy with Elizabeth so I assume John had contact with Jesus. We read these
accounts and it’s like they first met when Jesus was baptized, but I have to
wonder.

John’s message was hard hitting and in
their face. Verse 3:13 had his response to the tax collectors asking what God
wanted:

Stop overcharging
people. Only collect what you must turn over to the Romans.

This why Matthew was considered a
questionable “disciple” since he was of this ilk. See the tax collectors
collected more than they sent to Rome to line their pockets. This made them
very unpopular with the Jewish people and John the Baptist calls them out on
doing this.

Verse 3:16 sets the stage for Jesus:

I baptize you with
water, but One is coming—One far more powerful than I, One whose sandals I am
not worthy to untie—who will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

They are still expecting Jesus to overturn Rome and free
them, but did not expect what actually happened. Again I wonder if the Church
today would reject Jesus if He came in another way than on a white horse with
smoke and pageantry. Be aware and don’t reject someone saying they are Jesus just
because they are in jeans and a tee.

Chapter 4 opens with the Devil tempting Jesus. Verse 4:13
caught my attention:

The devil had no
more temptations to offer that day, so he left Jesus, preparing to
return at some other opportune time.

When does Satan come back to tempt Jesus?
Or does he return to corrupt Judas? Which leads me to the question if Judas and
Jesus were working together without anyone else’s knowledge? Think about it
Jesus knew, but did He help Judas along the way? One of the “Gnostic Gospels”
is that of Judas which implies this was orchestrated since it had to be done.

Notice in the remaining of the chapter, he
heals and then get over run by people wanting the same thing. I can see how
“healing ministries” get so much support. There is a lot of pain and hurt in
this world which these ministries take advantage of. Not saying that all a
frauds, but it’s been shown how many are “setups” and stage “healings”. That
just shows the enormity of the problem and how much he would be in demand today!!
Could you imagine the riots that would follow Jesus just trying to get to Him?
Now we can understand the pressure He felt.

Jeremiah
37 – 41

Verse 37:2 shows the problem with new rulers:

Neither young
Zedekiah nor his inexperienced advisors nor the people of Judah
themselves listened to what the Eternal said through His prophet Jeremiah.

As Jack Nicholson as Col. Jessep in A Few
Good Men said, “you can’t handle the truth”. Unfortunately, most new leaders
can’t handle the truth; they want what tickles their ear and be happy. We can
see this in almost all the new leaders of our time, it’s become a narcissistic
job, where image is more important than leadership. Case in point is our
current occupant in the White House. The White House traditionally has a dog,
and this was no different except for the occupant named the dog after himself.

Anyway I don’t want to drift too far down
the rabbit hole of today’s political scene and rather notice it was no
different then. Verse 37:19 was Jeremiah’s Jack Nicholson moment:

I told you
nothing but the truth about Babylon from the beginning, so why am I in this
cell? Meanwhile, your so-called prophets keep telling you, “Don’t
worry, the king of Babylon will never attack you or this land,” and they
go unpunished?

We naturally want to hear what we want. If
someone today came to you and said sell everything the market will crash
tomorrow, where everyone else is buying like there is no tomorrow and making
good money who would you listen to? Would it be the “gloom and doom” or the
“happy days are here again” advisor?  If
someone said you would win the lottery tomorrow, while another said your
fortune would dissolve if you did that, would you buy the ticket or not?
Zedekiah is not different than the majority of us, he wants to hear the good
and ignore the bad.

We do the same with Jesus’ teachings. We
take the good and dismiss the bad. We focus on “praying in Jesus’ name” to get
blessings, yet oddly forget that all the money is His and we should at the very
least tithe. Sure we can say “the church is spending too much on the building,
the staff or fruitless projects, we should give the money directly to the
poor!” We feel good and then oddly forget giving to the poor. I think of Robert
Morris’ teaching about giving. At one time he gave a house, two cars and
emptied his bank account only to have God out give him. See God want’s
obedience and not fellowship.

As you finish the reading it’s painful to
see how the king wants to obey, but ignores God and loses. We can learn a bunch
from this story and must sometimes feel the pain before we start to follow
God’s prompts anyway. But keep stories like this in the back of your head to
really understand what God can do if we do not obey fully.

be right we ؎��]�=

See three years ago today I dropped dead!! Thank God I am here today … read what happened:

http://journeythroughbible.tumblr.com/post/86575400368/sorry-i-it-seems-like-i-dropped-of-the-face-of-the

http://journeythroughbible.tumblr.com/post/87889189063/the-return

http://journeythroughbible.tumblr.com/post/119179388711/may-17-2014-i-died

http://journeythroughbible.tumblr.com/post/116988359234/then-i-died

Job
39 – 40

In starting this reading I cheated and looked ahead … only 2
more chapters!! Sorry, but Job is in my opinion a difficult book to read since
it’s a story that is horrible and I have still not reconciled why God would
have allowed this much suffering and death to satisfy a “bet” with Satan. Verse
39:1 has God continuing his talk with Job:

Eternal One:
Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth?
        Do you attend at the doe’s delivery?

As science and knowledge increases we can
actually predict these times closer and closer, but definitely not in the wild,
but rather in a controlled environment. The thing I find interesting when I
studies science and biology in college is that although it’s not definitive,
it’s truth. I look at what is not known and see God, most will not accept a God
and assume it’s all the beauty and randomness of nature.

Not to berate this issue, let’s look at
what God is saying to Job. Basically, He is showing Job how little he actually
knows about life and this world. Now verses 39:13 – 18 point to the ostrich and
point out how odd the bird is, yet as dumb it appears it has a purpose.
Although it can’t fly, it flies on the ground!

Verse 40:15 gets me back on the subject of
science:

But before you
undertake My challenge,
        turn your attention to Behemoth,
    The
beast which I fashioned along with you.

When describing this beast it appears to
only fit one animal in the fossil record and that’s a dinosaur. Now
creationists will say the large dinosaurs were only large lizards adapted to
their environment and has food became more scares they adapted and became
smaller.  Science will say something
completely different and claim they were monstrous beasts that roamed the earth
millions or even billions of years ago who became extinct because of radical
“climate change”. Maybe account proves that man and dinosaurs walked the earth
together at one time. Can we prove this?

Yes and no, the only real convincing
argument that man and Dino did not walk the earth is because bones of man and
Dino do not appear together. We will take away anomalies like Malachite Man
assuming they got their either by forgery or through mining which no other
evidence was found with the fossils. Also, we will ignore a T-Rex bone that
still had marrow in it, since that would imply a recent death or a very well
preserved bone over billions of years. Although this data tends to suggest the
Bible may be right we cannot prove it since a good theory can be falsifiable
and any data that proves the Bible would be considered a forgery. Funny how
that works.

Psalms
57 – 59

Once again we see David struggling with foes and trying to
save his life. Verse 57:4 describes the fear he has:

I am surrounded by
lions;
    I
lie in a den of ravenous beasts.
Those around me have spears and arrows for teeth,
    a
sharpened blade for a tongue.

We have seen this description of lion’s
dens in the Bible with Daniel. Granted Daniel came after, but we see in both
cases they were spared the wrath of their predators. David’s of course were
figurative while Daniel’s were literal. As we read this we can feel the tension
David has and see it come out in prayer.

This often gives me comfort since there is
a belief that prayers should not be “selfish” but rather for others. We see
time and time again examples of David’s prayers where he is praying for his
skin. Sure he is the leader of a great nation and one could say his wellbeing
is that of the nation. But we do not need to fear saying prayers for ourselves;
we just need to balance them. I like the “formula” of confess first to open the
pathways to the Lord, praise God’s glory, give thanks for something specific,
petition for others and then finally petition for self. It’s simple and when
things are tough, I eliminate much and go straight to the “self-petitions”.

Verse 58:2 is a petition of David not to destroy:

No, your real
selves have been revealed. You have wickedness in your heart,
    and
many people have suffered by your hands.

As we work with others and see how the
story changes we can relate to this. I think the “salesman” is the one we see
this most often. They want to be your best friend and will do anything for you,
until they make the sale when this “friend” and their promises evaporate. You
are suddenly stuck with a vacuum that sucks (pun intended). I think with
everything we need to be on guard and not be so impulsive. We need to test with
Biblical truth first to ensure we are not going down the wrong path with
investments or fads.

Verse 59:17 ends with praise:

I will lift my
voice to sing Your praise, O my Strength—
    for
You came to my defense.
    O
God, You have shown me Your loving mercy.

We need to lift up our praise to God all
the time!! It’s something we don’t do often, especially when we get hung up
life’s problems. We need to sing praises on those also since it’s strengthening
us for future events.

2 Samuel
15
– 19

Verse 14:15 sets the stage for today’s reading:

David could see
now that he had been outmaneuvered, so he called for his advisors in
Jerusalem and instructed them.

David: Gather
your things, and let’s flee from the city right now, or we won’t
escape Absalom’s revolt. Hurry, or he will catch us and kill us and
anyone left in the city.

David’s son Absalom was leading a revolt
and instead of fighting, David retreats. I find it interesting that when David
is challenged by outsiders, he fights, but when it comes from within either
from his king Saul or his son Absalom he runs. David respects God to the point
he will accept whatever is thrown at him. This is a virtue that we all should
learn, since most of us tend to “buck up” and fight when challenged. Often
times this resistance is just what we need to get back on track.

I believe also this is a sign of David’s
dysfunctional family. He loves God enough to pursue Him, but somehow forgot to
raise a family in the process. It appears that Bathsheba was just a byproduct
of this problem and not the reason.

Verse 18:33 is a result of what happened
when David found out about Absalom’s death:

Then the king was
stricken with grief. He went to a chamber over the gateway and wept as he
went.

David: O my
son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you,
Absalom, my son, my son!

David had a similar response when he
discovered Saul was dead, in both cases these men were hunting David down to
kill him. Interestingly, Joab, the man who killed Absalom confessed what he had
done and accepted any punishment, including death. David showed mercy and did
not have Joab put to death.

Now the end of chapter 19 starts showing the kingdom
starting to split as Israel and Judah are already considered separate. I wonder
if this has always been going on since Saul’s death and I assume it’s because David
came from the tribe of Judah and therefore they remained loyal. So where many
assume the split was with David’s infidelity, it was going on before David
became king.

Exodus
25 – 28

Verse 25:8 gives the use for the offerings described in the
previous verses:

 Direct
them to build a holy sanctuary in My honor so that I can dwell among
them.

As we get into building a moveable
sanctuary for God we need to think of what Jesus did for us. That is a very
important aspect to understanding what He did for us. I am still not sure I
understand why an omnipresent God needed a special place to hang out and
interface with the people.

Verse 25:10 describes the size of the
covenant chest:

I want them to
build a covenant chest made from acacia wood. It should be 45 inches
long, 27 inches wide, and 27 inches high.

For some reason I always imagined it
larger. I often wonder what ever happened to it, if it is lost in some
warehouse or just has been lost to rot and decay. What would the world be like
if it was found again? But we have to read more to see its power;-)

Verse 26:33 is a critical piece of the
temple to understand the significance of Jesus:

suspended beneath
the clasps that hold together the curtains; and place the covenant
chest, which holds the sacred tablets, behind the veil. The veil will
separate the two rooms and serve to divide the holy place from the most holy
place.

See the veil is critical when you go to
Jesus’ death on the cross. This veil was torn, not from the bottom up, but from
the top down opening the Most Holy Place to all. The Israelites were looking
for a triumphant leader to free them from Rome at that time, not to free them
from the Law and sin!! The theological discussion could go on for days on this
subject, but look at the importance of each level and how fewer and fewer can
get in as the significance goes up.

One thing I don’t like about the sanctuary
and the temple is how God is being put into a box. God is so much bigger than a
Most Holy Place that even if that was the point of interface to His realm it
seems to narrow God.

2 Corinthians
6 – 8

Verse 6:1 opens with a tough comment:

As for those of us
working as His emissaries, we beg you not to take the grace of God lightly.

“Do not take the grace of God lightly” is a
bold statement and something I think we all tend to do from time to time. Think
about our past and what we have been forgiven of and what God puts up with. I
know I have been all over the board in life and still am considered a loose
cannon at times. I hope I amuse God more than annoy Him, and that’s why His
grace is something we should never take lightly.

Now in verse 6:4 we see words like “great
endurance” and “persevere even in anguish and hardship” and think burden. Yet
this morning at Men’s Step Up we studied Matthew 11:28-30 where Jesus says
words like “My yoke is easy and My burden is light”. So what is it? Are we
going to have an easy life or a hard one? Jesus did not say it was going to be
easy, but rather the main tool used by a beast of burden is the yoke and it
will be easy. Meaning we can get through the hard life with faith in Jesus …
basically what Paul is saying!!

Verse 8:3 really demonstrates giving as God
desires:

I watched as they
willingly gave what they could afford and then went beyond to give even more.

They were not giving from abundance, but
through poverty and in excess from that. Verse 2 shows that God blessed this
act with abundance. Now this is not to be a give to get message, but rather if
we give with a pure heart God will many times bless us beyond what we could
imagine. I just finished a Robert Morris book, The Blessed Life, which went
into giving. He is a great example of one with the gift of giving. He once
tried to out give God and gave two cars, his home and all the cash they had
only to get a jet given to them. God is always greater than we can imagine.

Verses 8:13 & 14 is on the same thread:

^13-14 The
objective is not to go under so others will have some relief; the objective is
to use this opportunity today to supply their needs out of your abundance. One
day it may be the other way around, and they will need to supply your needs
from what they have. That’s equality.

See God does not want you to hurt giving,
but understand that you will be cared for. Think about it this is the ONLY
thing that He dares us to test Him on!! The reason God talks about money so
much is that is really shows your heart. If you think it is yours it will be
yours, if you know it is God’s you know he will change things for the better in
your time of need.

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Luke
1 – 2

A sentence from verse 1:3 caught my attention:

Like those other
servants who have recorded the messages, I present to you my carefully
researched, orderly account of these new teachings.

People try to discredit the Gospels as
being written well after Jesus walked the earth or being second hand accounts
as in Luke. Like most if not all historians today, Luke gathered his
information from taking with people who witnessed the events. He ministered
with Paul, so he was with many of the disciples and could talk with them about
what they remembered.

The first two chapters are devoted to the
foundation of Jesus’ ministry and prophetic validation. We have the birth of
John who was the one making the way for Jesus and the birth of Jesus, in
Bethlehem in the line of David. Verse 2:10 highlights something with Luke’s
focus:

Don’t be afraid!
Listen! I bring good news, news of great joy, news that will affect all people
everywhere.

Here the Lord’s Messenger is talking to
shepherds in the field. Luke does not mention the Magi or the kings who
traveled great distances, but rather the disadvantaged ones. The phrase “Jesus
is for LOSERS” is driven home in Luke. See Jesus came to free the losers, not
the righteous. He came for the shepherds as well as the kings, He came for
all!!

Verse 2:46 is one of those verses that
caught one eye:

After three days
of separation, they finally found Him—sitting among a group of religious
teachers in the temple—asking them questions, listening to their answers.

The common understanding is they all came
to Jerusalem as a family and left without noticing Jesus was not with them. Realize
at this time Jesus was almost considered a man and would not have been
traveling at the side. Also, they were traveling in a caravan, so it would have
been easy to miss him. This is the only account of any significance between
birth and when He comes on the scene in his 30’s. I often wonder why, but at
the same time notice he was asking questions and listening, not preaching as
many believe. He was learning and expanding his knowledge. I often wonder if He
was asking the questions to press the leaders understanding. I believe this
shows the start of Jesus’ training as a rabbi.

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Jeremiah
32 – 36

Verse 32:27 is obvious, but needs to be said:

Look! I am the
Eternal, the God of all living things. Is anything too difficult for Me?

We tend to limit God and place Him in a box
confined to our understanding of nature. God is above nature and therefore the
Laws which are in place do not apply. Consider this the study of quantum
mechanics is showing a realm in which the natural laws we know today don’t
apply, therefore giving us a glimpse into God’s domain.

Verse 33:5 shows a Messianic Prophecy:

In those days,
when the time is right, I will cause a righteous Branch to sprout from the
old stump of David’s lineage; He will do what is right and just in
the land.

Hindsight is always 20/20 and we can see
this to be true. Unfortunately during the time Jesus walked the earth and even
to today those that do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah are waiting for a
king to save the nation like David did. We can easily see 2000 years later how
this prophecy 700 or so years before Jesus was fulfilled by Jesus, it’s really
cool!!

Verses 33:20 & 21 (note the Voice
breaks this up funny, so I am just taking what is prevalent) gives Israel the
strength of Gods bond to them:

Eternal One:
²⁰ If you can figure out a way to break My covenant with the
day and with the night so they do not always arrive on schedule, the very
rhythm of life on this earth, ²¹ only then will My covenant
with My servant David be broken and his son not rule from his throne. Only then
will My covenant with the Levitical priests who minister before Me be null and
void.

You will have to violate major laws of
nature to have this happen, and that shows the love God has for his people. And
the beautiful thing is I believe God has transformed those who follow Jesus and
are not of Jewish descent.

Verse 36:23 is not only a problem then, but
today also:

The king
listened as Jehudi read column after column of the scroll. As soon
as he finished reading three or four columns, Jehoiakim would take a knife, cut
that section out of the scroll, and then throw it on the fire.

Somehow many think they can ignore portions
of the Bible or just “cut that section out” of the Bible. I think homosexuality
is one of those that people have a tough time with. I know I sure do, since I
know many from an early age were obviously gay. I believe they were born that
way, so how could God make a child who is loving, just to the same sex, and not
be ok with God. Some argue the OT Law just applied to Jews and Paul’s NT
writings are about “bath houses” and promiscuous behavior. Some also say the “thorn”
in Paul’s side was his homosexual tendencies. Some also say that we are all born with a tendency towards sin, doesn’t matter what kind of sin, and it’s our job to fight it and come to righteousness. 

Me I don’t know and am not worried about
it. My job is to share the love of Jesus with anyone who will listen and if
they are gay not to judge. Figure at worse their salvation will be secure if they accept Jesus! I’ll
let the Holy Spirit work in them if “natural” homosexuality really is a sin to
God. 

Job
37 – 38

Verse 37:2 has Elihu continue his monologue unchallenged:

Listen! Listen to
the raging anger in His voice,
        the rumbling that’s coming from His mouth.

He is comparing the storm to God’s furry
and might. For some reason we think we can control God or feel we know what God
needs to do. After some time I am learning God wants our prayers and petitions,
but not our demands. God is so much bigger than a genie to meet our needs,
often there a bigger things in play here than just our desires.

Also, we do stupid things and expect God to
bail us out. I can think of multiple accidents I have had that have caused
major injuries and can pinpoint what I did wrong. The high-slide in turn on at
Sears Point was running too lean. The Cow Palace, did not maintain my
suspension. Heck can look at the credit card debacle and although the crash was
out of my control how we prepared and handled it was not. God has protected me,
but he lets me feel the pain of my misteaks.

Verse 38:4 is God addressing Job:

Where were you
when I dug and laid the foundation of the earth?
        Explain it to me, if you are acquainted with understanding.

The whole of chapter 38 is God addressing
Job asking foundational questions. (ha ha get the pun … didn’t even realize it
until I wrote it) Verse after verse God is asking Job and I assume the reader
questions about His might. As I read this I want God to proclaim this to the
scientific community, specifically the “historical” scientists who are trying
to answer things like how we got here.

We should all dog ear this this chapter so
we can return to it often when God is not doing what we expect. Sure we look at
the blessings God has given us and assume this is all for us when it’s for his
glory and his alone. God is so much bigger than our eternal fathers and the
great thing is he is also so much bigger that he can be all that AND our
eternal father to EACH and every one of us. How cool is that?

So next time you are in a “woe is me”
mindset read Job chapter 38 and understand the enormity of God. Also understand
his blessings and love towards you personally. Think about your children and
how we raise them to be adults. It’s not good for a 16 year old to still be
spoon fed and the same is for us. God is raising us for use in his kingdom, not
so we can have all our wishes granted every day.

“Wow” is all I can say to how much of a mess we are in today. Obamacare is being “replaced” by something that is not a solution but rather a can being kicked down the road. To figure out where were are we must first look at how we got here. 

Way back in the 1940′s during WWII the government determined wage controls were necessary in order to control costs. Well to compete in the job market companies began offering incentives like vacation and health care. Fast forward 80 years we have a ballooning

Corporatocracy which is a odd corporate control of government policy for their ultimate profit. We got to the point where large corporate bureaucracies now control our health care delivery system and not the people. We have to indirectly pay for so much unnecessary tests because of a legal CYA mentality, now if we were in full control of the health care our fingers would be closer to the pulse and we would ask more questions.

In all fairness to the doctors … if I were possibly going to be sued on each and every case I had go the wrong direction, I would most likely do excessive testing as well. But back to the ultimate point and that is how to solve the problem. AND I HONESTLY DON’T KNOW THE ANSWER.

First you could dismantle the whole system and bring true free market into play, but that would destroy the current industry built around health care today. Second, provide total government provision. This has it’s obvious problems, but in a industry that has seen it’s profits triple since Obamacare has been in place we can see that 1 bureaucratic nightmare may be better than hundreds of 

bureaucratic nightmares. 

See the problem is if I want a new car I can shop around and eventually do what I did and just clean up my old car. I could not do that when my heart stopped and I was on the floor turning blue. And this is where health care has a social responsibility factor that we cannot ignore. I am not saying do it for free, but am saying that maybe the billions spent on health care today could be converted into a health care tax and used for all. It would become a profit center for the government and therefore could reduce taxes and maybe deficits if managed properly since hundreds of companies are profiting quite well.

What would that do to care today? I have no idea, but it can be worse that what we have today. My costs are complex and I need to worry about which hospital, which doctor, how the visit is being handled, how the testing is being billed, etc. A visit could cost $45 or $2000 depending on the way the hospital bills the insurance. Sorry, I want it simple … let the docs determine the proper testing and also maybe penalize those who do not wish to follow proper diet habits in a “fat tax” on HFC’s and other junk foods that would go directly into the health care system. This would give people a financial incentive to eat healthy and stay fit, reducing costs for all …. BUT THEN AGAIN ONE COULD SAY THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT THE HEALTH SYSTEM DOES NOT WANT. THEY NEED CUSTOMERS!!

So, confused? I sure am … and know the current political solutions are NOT going to solve the problem of cost effective health care. And as much as my “free market capitalism” roots say no, in this instance I can see the government potentially providing a better overall product than what we have today.

Psalms
54 – 56

Verse 54:1 starts a Psalm of lamenting his betrayal to Saul:

Liberate me, O
God, by the authority of Your name.
    Vindicate
me through Your legendary power.

Most read this and consider the pressures
of this world to be what David was lamenting. In reality his life was in danger
and he had people hunting him and trying to kill him. We on the other hand, for
the most part, only have a slight possibility to be in this position for a
moment (robbery namely). So we need to remember that this is not lamenting not
getting the promotion, but his running for literally his life. So when trying
to apply these Psalms of David to your life remember the circumstances were
often times different.

Verse 55:4 shows David’s angst:

My heart seizes
within my chest; I am in anguish!
    I
am terrified my life could end on any breath.

If
you think about it our next breath could be our last. Even being healthy and
lying in bed, a rock from the cosmos could land on us and extinguish us
instantly. We never know! Now does that mean live in fear of death? Or  does that mean enjoy life and “do as thou
wilt” (the Satanic Law)? Granted again this is from a man who is being hunted
and later will be king over a nation where everyone wants them off the map. The
one thing we can learn from this is lean into David and believe in God’s divine
plan for your life. That does not mean be reckless, but don’t worry about
things you cannot control.

Before
we leave this your health and heart is something YOU CAN control! Don’t think
for a minute that God has a plan and it will happen. If we do not follow God in
our eating, finances and general moralistic lives our plan may not be fulfilled
if we are fat, broke and suffering some STD!

Verse
56:1 is something I pray often:

Show mercy to me,
O God, because people are crushing me—
    grinding
me down like dirt underfoot—all day long.
    No
matter what I do, I can’t get myself out from under them.

I personally need to pray this in earnest
at least once a week. Fortunately mostly it’s “mental attitude” sins which if
not arrested quickly can lead the body into some dark places. It freaks me out
that “thoughts” can equal the same physical sin. My biggest “mental” sin is
looking at other women. I have learned over the years to keep my eyes glued on
Katy but simple things like an attractive host of a news show that interests me
starts to make that show off limits. Advertisements are the most dangerous
since they just show up and I need to be quick on the refresh. I would not
dishonor my wife in a physical act and try my hardest not to do so in a mental
act as well.

Jesus said looking at another woman with
lust is no different than sleeping with her for a reason.

2 Samuel
10
– 14

This is the story that causes problem with Israel for some
time. The dysfunction of the family can be seen and the damage of David’s sin
is apparent. Verse 11:1 lays out one fundamental issue:

In the springtime
of the year, the season when most kings took their soldiers out to
fight, David stayed in Jerusalem and sent Joab out as general in
charge of David’s men and the whole army of Israel. They destroyed the
Ammonites and put the city of Rabbah under siege.

First campaign David stayed back and got
himself in trouble. He lusted after Bathsheba and got her pregnant. To cover up
his sin he ended up killing her husband Uriah by ordering him to the front
lines and having everyone else fall back, leaving him stranded.

Everyone points to this as the downfall of
his dynasty, but I suggest it was just a symptom. David was a “ladies man”
right from the start with a harem of wives and just women for sex (concubines).
He had lustful urges and could not contain them, eventually those urges ended
up in his affair. The only difference between this one and the others was this
was with a married woman. Why was it ok for David to have sex slaves that he
was not married to, but it was not ok for him to have the affair? Neither were
ok, just one lead to murder.

Verse 12:4 is the end of a story the
prophet Nathan told David:

Now a traveler
came to the city to visit the rich man. To offer a proper welcome,
the rich man knew he needed to fix a meal, but he did not want to take one of
the animals from his flocks and herds. So instead he stole the poor man’s ewe
lamb and had it killed and cooked for his guest.

This was a story about what David had just done,
my question is was the ewe Uriah or Bathsheba?

Now the dysfunction of his family continues
with Tamar sister of Absalom. She was tricked to help her half-brother Amnon
who raped her and ruined her life. In return Absalom waited, but eventually too
revenge and killed Amnon. This was just another sign of David’s lust.

Now I am not saying “blended” families are
wrong, this was not a “blended” family. This was David’s lustful urges creating
multiple off spring that he could not or would not raise and teach the ways of
the Lord. He just assumed they would learn by example and they did. They did by
learning not controlling their urges and taking revenge. Unfortunately this
dysfunction is rampant among the family with it continuing through the
generations. But one could say it’s not David’s sins, but rather our nature
that caused these problems.

. 

Exodus
21 – 24

Here we go verse 21:2 condones slavery:

If you purchase a
male Hebrew slave, he will be your servant for six years only. When the
seventh year arrives, he will go free without having to pay a price for his
freedom.

There
you have it; the Bible condones slavery so the south was Biblically correct. Or
was it? Having just watched 12 Years A Slave the horrors of the south were
shown. How could the Bible condone that? It doesn’t! You could do a very long
study on the culture and the use of the word, but to simplify things a few
critical points. First the never condone harsh or sub human treatment. Second,
it’s very short term. Third, it’s not by force but rather economic reasons.
Forth, it would be considered more “indentured servitude” or “interns” as they
are called today. No slavery in the Bible is nothing close to what the south
had going in the 1800’s.

Verse
21:22 are laws about killing the unborn:

If two men
are fighting with each other and happen to hit a pregnant woman during
the quarrel causing her to give birth prematurely (but no other harm is
done), then the one who hit her must pay whatever fine the judges determine
based upon the amount demanded by the woman’s husband.

I find this very interesting since the
punishment is not death. The standard argument against abortion is a pregnancy
is a life. If you were to strike another and kill them, you would be put to
death. Why is this not the case for an unborn baby that dies. This only
condones accidental strikes. Verse 23 clears this up a bit since an abortion is
not an accidental occurrence it could be considered a “life or a life”
punishment.

Verse 22:29 is the foundation of the tithe:

You must not hold
back or delay your offering from the bounty of your harvest or the
juice of your vineyard. Dedicate every one of your firstborn sons to Me.

This is critical to understand. God has
always asked for your first, not because he needs them but rather to show your
allegiance to God. Think about Cain’s offering and why it was not pleasing to
God. It was not pleasing because it was done over time, where Abel’s was the
first. The tithe is not an out dated Hebraic Law, but rather a foundational
Biblical truth. It was from the beginning and God himself gave His first born
as a sacrifice for you!! So when the plate passes, before paying bills, pay
that first 10%, it’s not a Law it’s a must to show one’s trust in God.

2 Corinthians
4 – 5

Verses 4:7 & 8 talk about the people God uses:

⁷ But
this beautiful treasure is contained in us—cracked pots made of earth
and clay—so that the transcendent character of this power will be clearly seen
as coming from God and not from us. ⁸ We are cracked and
chipped from our afflictions on all sides, but we are not crushed by them. We
are bewildered at times, but we do not give in to despair.

Granted not all Christians are crack pots,
but some often wonder! I really love this analogy about how God uses imperfect
people to show His glory. I think of the story of Samson where you had what
appeared to be a perfect man, but he was heavily flawed on the inside. Over and
over we have stories of the least likely people having God work through them.

Paul is a cracked pot; he was persecuting
Christians and was going to destroy the church in Damascus when something
happened along the road. God used him in a powerful way with all his problems.
Make me have hope that all my cracks and flaws will be used some day to advance
the kingdom in a powerful way.

Verse 5:13 makes me think how some must think coming into a
“Night of Worship” at 12 Stone:

If we seem out
of control or act like fanatics, it is for God. But if we act in a coherent
and reasonable way, it is for you.

In normal services we are often reserved,
but when the body gets together to worship without worry of alienating others
it’s fun. I think if a non-believer were to walk into a church with people
waving their hands, praying in tongues prostrate on the ground, they would
leave laughing. But to the body this should be ok and normal, even if you are
very reserved.

Verse 5:17 talks about the change in us:

Therefore, if
anyone is united with the Anointed One, that person is a new creation. The old
life is gone—and see—a new life has begun!

This is a verse paraphrased often when
people are baptized and represents what really happens to our cracked pots from
the inside. I think the greatest movie example of this was the end of Bogart’s
film Treasure of Serra Madre. In the end they are packing their gold in
non-descript bags covered in furs. The robbers assume they are making the furs
seem more and dump the entire treasure on the road and take the furs. Often
people may look at us on the surface and assume we are trash when there is
worth about to bust out of burlap bags!!

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Mark
15
– 16

Verse 15:15 starts the torture that Jesus went through to
his death:

When Pilate saw
that he could not persuade the crowd to change its mind, he released Barabbas
to them and had Jesus publicly whipped, which was the normal prelude to crucifixion.
Then he had Jesus led away to be crucified.

Pilate has tried to release Jesus and not
kill Him, yet the people insisted. Now he is being beaten, ridiculed and mocked
before his death. As you look back to prophecies you will see many that match
the events here. Mark does not embellish the story much with flowery comments
but rather give bullet points of the events.

Verse 15:28 is another one of those points
I wonder why it’s missing in some accounts:

[²⁸ And
the Hebrew Scripture was completed that said, “He was considered just
another criminal.”]

This is quoting from Isaiah 53:12 which
says:

Because he exposed
his very self—
    laid
bare his soul to the vicious grasping of death—
And was counted among the worst, I will count him among the best.
    I
will allot this one, My servant, a share in all that is of any value,
Because he took on himself the sin of many
    and
acted on behalf of those who broke My law.

The exact quote is not in here and I can
only assume that is a translational issue, but either way the ramifications are
significant when you look at Isaiah writing this some 700 years before Jesus
walked the lands. It’s significant when you really look at it from a big
picture. At the same time we need to explore this deeper, because
inconsistencies like the text not being in all manuscripts or it not matching
exactly are ammo for non-believers or weak in faith to dismiss Jesus as real.
If you read Isaiah 53:10-12 you see there is no one else that matches this
prophecy other than Jesus. It’s very cool once you study more.

Mark 16:15 & 16 spell out the Gospel
simply:

¹⁵ Go
out into the world and share the good news with all of creation. ¹⁶ Anyone
who believes this good news and is ceremonially washed will be rescued, but
anyone who does not believe it will be condemned.

Believe and get baptized, it’s that simple.
The difficult part is following Jesus. We have so many parts tugging at all
aspects of our beliefs. We have some saying salvation is secured and that’s it,
this of course gets twisted to mean “do what thou wilt” on earth. Or salvation
requires works, which gets twisted into works are required for salvation. The
key with any “doctrine” or religious “dogma’s” is to verify them and allow the
Holy Spirit to help you understand the translation.

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Jeremiah
27 – 31

Verse 27:2 opens with an analogy of a yoke:

Eternal One:
Make a yoke out of leather straps and wooden bars, and place it
upon your neck as you would upon an ox.

For
the next few chapters this analogy is used by God, Jeremiah and Hananiah (a
false prophet) to describe what Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon would
do. I notice that one thing Satan does is say things people want to hear and
not based in reality at all. One of the problems of churches today is we get
too involved in the marketing and the message and not the reality.

Sure God is awesome and God will do great
things, but often that is not the case. We need to endure hardships to learn
the lesson God intends for us. I believe it’s what we do yoked that determines
the hardship we endure. If you are like the dwarfs and whistle while we work in
the mines than maybe our suffering will be shorter and if not shorter we are
having fun.

As we get into chapter 30 and 31, the
Messianic prophecies begin. Verse 30:9 promises a king from David, a Messiah:

Instead, they will
serve the Eternal their God, and I will raise up a descendant of David
their king to rule over them.

Now Jesus does not rule over them, but
rater is Lord over then. Big difference, a ruler controls his people often
begrudgingly where a Lord offer the option. It’s your choice, not the rulers.

Verse 31:22 is said to predict the virgin
birth:

How long will you
drift this way and that,
        My renegade daughter?
    Take
heart—for now the Eternal will do a new thing on the earth:
        a woman will surround a man.

Looking at a few versions it’s hard to draw
this analogy, but studying the Hebrew word for man (gerber) we see this man is
a champion or hero.

Verse 31:31 talks about the new covenant:

Look, the days are
coming when I will bring about a new covenant with the people of Israel and
Judah.

When people heard this I can see why they
were expecting something different than a meek, homeless guy making the “old”
covenant even harder. Think about it, every time Jesus talked about the Law, he
made it more difficult. Adultery now includes ones thoughts, giving went from
10% to all and the list can go on. We need to understand that Jesus is not more
restrictive, but more freeing. Sure we have higher goals, but we have greater
grace and can stumble the path of life without fear of death.

Job
35 – 36

As we march ahead Elihu is continuing his monologue to Job.
Verse 35:12 explains the power of prayer:

And so, in the
absence of such prayers,
        God does not answer the cries of the people
        because they cry with the arrogance of the wicked.

As true as this may seem, it’s not always
the case. I know in my life God has answered my cry without me praying
specifically for it. I can also think of many times I was on my knees and
crying without an apparent answer. In most of those cases He was making sure I
understood what got me there and what I needed to do to correct it.

We tend to look at prayer as a wish list
that should be granted and not a petition. The key is focusing on God’s will
and not ours. His will be done, not ours!

I enjoy reading Elihu because he makes a
lot of great points. At the same time I see many of his statements are lacking
a complete understanding of God’s character. Not saying I have it figured out
at all, like the verse above it’s true to a point but not always the case. We
need to understand God is so much more than a genie or a punisher, He is
everything.

Psalms
51 – 53

Verse 51:4 raises an eyebrow:

It was against
You, only You, that I sinned,
    for
I have done what You say is wrong, right before Your eyes.
So when You speak, You are in the right.
    When
You judge, Your judgments are pure and true.

This was David’s Psalm after Nathan called
him on his affair with Bathsheba. I say this is wrong from the first line. Sure
David sinned against God, but NOT only God. He ordered her husband Uriah the
Hittite into harm’s way so he would die to cover up his affair. He wronged his
many wives by lusting after yet another. His actions set Israel on an odd twist
because of dysfunction in his family. Granted his in ability to be faithful to
one woman was there way before Bathsheba and may be the root of his family
problem. The affair just tipped the scales in his families problems.

Sure God likes to use the least likely to
show his glory, and He does it here too. Think about it, David was a lowly
shepherd and became a mighty warrior and leader of Israel. In later life he
became a murderer and an adulterer, yet still is the line our savior Jesus came
from. If he had been faithful and honorable, would Jesus have been needed?
Would David’s character spread across the nation?

Verse 53:1 talks about people faith:

The foolish are
convinced deep down that there is no God.
    Their
souls are polluted, and they commit gross injustice.
    Not
one of them does good.

As you know I am one to focus on the
atheistic bend in science today. Men like Copernicus broke from the traditional
beliefs of the church, but did not bend his faith. Today it seems like the main
role of science is to disprove God and crush religion. Don’t believe me study
Jerry Coyne. Over 20% of his work attempts to prove religion to be “perverse”.
One of the greatest minds of all times was a theist and Albert Einstein focused
on the NOW and things we could change.

It’s foolish to look at nature which shows
cause and effect work. Science is be able to date the universe and earth
showing there was a beginning that just happened. Now without ever observing
something spontaneously happening in nature we are led to believe that nature
occurred from a multitude of “Big Bangs.” You have the cosmological Big Bang
where the universe came from nothing. Next you have the biological Big Bang
where life started from inorganic matter. Next you have the anthropological Big
Bang where this life became the diversity we see today, from bacteria to man.
Finally you have the psychological Big Bang where our minds developed conscious
and the ability to think outside survival mode. It’s impossible to observe any
of this in nature today and just take the models science provides without a
creator on faith that it happened their way.

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2 Samuel
5 – 9

Verses 5:13 & 16 show David in a different light:

^13-14 After
the move from Hebron to Jerusalem, David married more women from
Jerusalem, took more concubines, and fathered more sons and daughters: Shammua,
Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ¹⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶ Elishama,
Eliada, and Eliphelet.

David may have been mighty and walking with
God but he had the “thing” for the ladies, that we shall see will be his
downfall. Two as one has always been the pattern since Genesis 2 and Adam and
Eve. For some reason a few look at actions of Abraham, Joseph, David and
Solomon to say polygamy is ok. Sorry but that is not how God designed us from
day 6, just because it’s in the Bible does not make it a Biblical Truth we all
must live by.

One other thing I noticed from this verse
is the mention of Solomon and the absence of Absalom. I have to wonder
sometimes about the historical accuracy of some of these sections and ask why
some sons were missed.

Verses 6:15 & 16 caught my end:

So David and the
house of Israel carried the covenant chest of the Eternal One up to the city of
David with shouts and the sounding of the trumpet. When Michal, the daughter of
Saul, looked out the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the
Eternal without thought for how he looked, she hated him.

This is what I like about David; he does
what he feels like. If he is so happy that he cannot control his joy for the
Lord, then he only worries about God and not what people think here on earth.
Interestingly Michal is the last hope for Saul’s bloodline to be heir to the
throne and God ended that as she chastised David.

Honestly that is the way we should all be
when worshiping God, with no regard to earthly opinions. I know it has taken a
long time for me to be comfortable just raising my hands in church, but that is
almost a half a century of believing worship is private. My anal-retentive ways
would find it difficult to dance like David in church or out. The key is I don’t
judge or get mad at those who do, I think it’s cool!!

Chapter 9 has the story of Mephibosheth,
Jonathan (Saul’s son) son. He was crippled and allowed to get Saul’s
inheritance and spend his life in the palace. That was kind of David and shows
he honors those who ruled before him. Think about it he was a subject of Saul
when he was anointed king by Samuel and yet he did not seize the throne by
force. He continued to honor the king even after his death.

David was a class act less his thing with the
women.

Exodus
17
– 20

Need Charlton Heston to help me on this one. The talk about
how long the movie “The Ten Commandments” played over Easter with commercials
was. Think about it a movie that runs 3 hours and 40 minutes before commercials
must have been agonizing to watch with commercials every 20 minutes. Anyway, if
you haven’t already figured it out, Moses comes off the mountain in todays
reading.

Chapter 17 has two stories which blend together, first is
him bringing water from a rock and the battle with the Amalekites where he
holds his staff over the battle. I find it interesting how I read these stories
today and remember them being different. The water from the stone I though was
in more detail and I did check back other versions to ensure I was not missing
something in this translation. Same thing when I read the story with the staff
and getting the 10 Commandments. I wonder how much Hollywood and sermons
expanding on these stories have altered what I expected to read?

Verse 19:5 is a powerful verse:

Now if you will hear
My voice, obey what I say, and keep My covenant, then you—out of all the
nations of the world—will be My treasured people. After all, the earth belongs
to Me.

These are simple rules to follow until you
let other distractions get in the way of God’s voice. If I knew for real what
God was saying to me all the time this would be simple. But all too often my
inner voice or a more sinister one gets heard. Now to balance the inability to
discern God talking to me, I read the Bible. It helps me to filter what is
being said verses what I know from the Bible.

Verse 20:3 opens with the first commandment
(or as this translation calls them “directive”):

You are not to
serve any other gods before Me.

People often say the church is all about
money, that’s all they talk about. I agree to a point but remember Jesus talked
about money more than any other subject so it’s Biblical. Now you may ask why I
am talking about money here! Simple, in modern civilization we talk about God
or dismiss any supernatural beings altogether. Jesus saw this happening and
hence why he talked about it so much. Our “other gods” are no longer idols, but
rather dead presidents on paper. So be careful with your walk in life not to
focus on the Jackson’s or Franklin’s, but on God. Manage the money well, but
don’t let it manage you or you will be in violation of number 1.

AND NO WE ARE NOT OUTSIDE THE LAW!! But
that’s another LONG study.

One other quick note about these
Directives, notice God has inscribed them on all mankind’s heart. These are
universal across all cultures and tribes.

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2 Corinthians
1 – 3

Verse 1:13 makes me laugh:

We are not writing
to you in anything resembling codes or riddles; we only write those
lessons you are ready to read and understand. I hope you will study them,
value them, and truly understand them until the end.

I get a chuckle from this since I read much
of Paul’s writing and see riddles. I get confused and this next few verses show
this. He said he was coming and then he said he wasn’t, I am confused. You need
to study his writings to understand them. The idea of a parable makes sense
when you see actual application of theology. When I read Paul, he confuses me
more than makes sense.

Verse 2:14 is one I can relate to:

Yet I am so
thankful to God, who always marches us to victory under the banner of the
Anointed One; and through us He spreads the beautiful fragrance of His
knowledge to every corner of the earth.

My subject is science, I believe knowledge
in science will strengthen faith and not destroy it. The problem is everyone
pushes faith in naturism is really science. See that is no different than
saying Genesis 1 is a science. Follow me, science is based on data where
naturism is based on a belief. The data shows a diamond can be radiometric
dated to be either billions of years old or 10,000 years old. What do you
choose? The “truth” is based on your view of the world and not the data. You
will say the Carbon 14 is a contaminate if you believe the earth is old or it’s
proof the world is young if you are so inclined.

My point is we don’t have to shy away from
some aspects in fear of God not being there. He is in subtitle ways; we have to
stand up (stand up) for Jesus in all arenas. I am marching into the coliseum
with the lions to battle science with passion. You may think I am insane, but I
believe science shows God just as much as a beautiful sunrise.

Verse 3:1 expresses Paul’s frustration:

Are we back to
page one? Do we need to gather some recommendations to prove our validity
to you? Or do we need to take your letter of commendation to others to gain
credibility?

I can imagine how God must feel with me.
Seems like I go back to page one all too often. Glad I don’t have a “Paul”
around who will be honest;-)

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Mark
13
– 14

Chapter 13 starts with Jesus talking about his return and
the end times. What signs will be happening and that we will not know the day
or time. Interestingly verse 13:30 lays out a timeline in a way:

It’s true—this
generation will not pass away before all these things have happened.

Unfortunately what he says will lead to His
return is very generic, if you look at time there has always been wars and talk
of wars plus many natural disasters. I believe when Jesus returns it will be
clear to those who know. I have an internet friend who insists President Obama
is the anti-Christ. I know many in the conservative world and Christian
community believe this may be true, but I don’t think it’s so. For support you
are going to have to wait for the Revelations study starting in 7 or 8 months
(otherwise check out TheFuelProject’s YouTube channel for his study).

Verse 14:8 is one of those verses that
should have had the disciples wondering:

She has done what
she could for Me—she has come to anoint My body and prepare it for burial.

Normally you don’t “anoint” a living body
for burial, so why did they not question that?

I need to lay out the time line for Jesus’
crucifixion and the Passover Lamb sacrifice. But we get a good picture in
chapter 14 that Passover has been celebrated before Jesus is laid on the cross.
Many say they celebrated it early while others say Jesus died at the time of
the Passover sacrifice. Verse 14:12 seems to verify the idea that Jesus was
sacrificed after the Passover Lamb:

On the first day
of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the customary day when the Passover lamb is
sacrificed, His disciples wondered where they would celebrate the feast.

Jesus
was welcomed as the Passover Lamb when he entered Jerusalem, which many believe
was Monday and not Sunday. It’s very difficult to get into the timeline of
Jesus’ death, but it’s clear the symbolism God was using. Jesus’ blood will
allow God to Passover us in time of Judgment.

One
interesting difference in Mark is the story of Peter’s three denials. Luke and
Matthew say before the cock crows, where Mark says before the cock crows twice
(v 14:30). We get to his first denial and in brackets it says a cock crowed
with a note saying some manuscripts deleted this section (v 14:66). On the
third denial it says in brackets the cock crowed “a second time” (v14:77).  I notice it says “earlier” manuscripts omit
this portion which makes me wonder when it came in. Was it to resolve the fact
this was different that Matthew and Luke or was never there in the first place?
This is one of those places the Bible that people look at and question the
validity. Personally it concerns me that there was stuff not in earlier
versions that showed up in later. The twice thing doesn’t bother me since
anyone who has heard a rooster crow, they don’t stop at one. I wonder what the
original manuscript says?

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Jeremiah
22 – 26

We as people somehow think we have evolved mentally into
superior beings than Biblical times. Look at how they though the earth was
created or the number of diseases that have been cured in recent times. But
then I read verse 22:3 and wonder:

This is what the
Eternal has to say: ‘Do what is just and right. Rescue those poor ones
being robbed by the extortionists. Protect the outsiders, orphans, and widows in
your land from any oppression, for they have no one. Stop the
violence and the shedding of innocent blood in this place.

This is still going on today, the only
difference is how much more sophisticated they have gotten. Now they never have
to meet you face to face, but do it in the comfort of their bedroom. With this
I say technology has evolved and our understanding of technology but if you
trained a toddler from Biblical times they would have the same understanding as
anyone today. We just know more, not evolving into greater men.

I read this verse and verse 22:13 and
wondered if this was not a prophecy for then and potentially now. Again a Babushka
Doll Prophecy, where they may apply to other times. Or is this just a common
sickness with mankind and it is so generic it could be applied to all times.
Like the “blood red moon” which happens ever lunar eclipse.

Verse 23:5 is another one of these only a bit more specific:

Watch! The days
are coming when I will raise up a righteous Branch of David—an heir of his
royal line—who will rule justly, act wisely and make things right again in
the land.

Is this talking about another king to save
Israel and Judah or is this referring to Jesus? Or both? See how reading
prophecies can be difficult at times. You get out your map of history and today
to try to apply them to a point so you can say, here it was fulfilled. Hence
why many say trying to understand God will lead you to insanity, it’s best to
ride with faith. Although at the same time the greater you understand God the
stronger your faith shall be.

Another thing with prophecies is
highlighted in verse 25:3 where Jeremiah says:

I have been
warning you since the word of the Eternal started coming to me in the 13th
year of King Josiah (son of Amon), ruler of Judah. For these last 23 years, I
have been telling you again and again what was coming, but you never
listened.

For 23 years he has had his “The End Is
Near” placard and people stopped taking notice. Just like all those who are
saying this today. I think Harold Camping blew this for many, since he
predicted a day that The End would happen and it didn’t. I can look to Jonah
and wonder if Mr. Camping experienced that or if he really blew it. We may
never know, but you have to really study the apoplectic prophecies to get a
true understanding of the signs to come and what they could be.

When you look at prophecies that have been
fulfilled and their signs before, it was clear what the signs were. Like the 10
horned beast in revelations is a New World Order with 10 “districts” and on
“horn” in the middle east district will rise up to control the world. If that
were to happen, guess you’d have to bend over, put your head between your knees
and kiss your … well you understand.

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Job
33 – 34

Verse 33:2 makes me think Elihu thinks he’s something
special:

Wait for it!
I am about ready to part my lips;
        even now, my tongue begins to stir within my mouth.

I
mean get real, he is saying eagerly await what I am about to say. How arrogant
can one be!! Just say it, don’t waste a bunch of air making sure people
understand you think what you have to say is important. At the same time when
talking with children you often have to preface what you are about to say, but
that’s different. He’s trying to make sure his elders actually listen.

As
with most of what his friends say there is a lot of truth, mixed in with flawed
opinions. You need to carefully read each statement to determine the truth and
confusion.

Verse
33:25 makes me think of a future tense in Jesus:

He has instead
paid that ransom
        and spared me from descending into the pit
        and my life now sees the light.”

Sometimes I try to force evoking Jesus’ name
in OT scripture and there was no reference in this Bible. My justification is
the only ransom God paid was through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.

In chapter 34, after offending the elders
in chapter 33, he changes his approach to get a consensus. Verse 34:23 sounds
nice, but I think it’s in error:

God does not need
to scrutinize people further
        or bring them before Him for judgment.

He is saying all God needs to do is watch
the path we are on and can see when it will lead to folly. It all sounds
logical, but I believe God does scrutinize people more because often the path
they may be on is from false teachings. As you can see reading Job is
difficult, because there are many half-truths and things that seem logical, but
are not. I can see making a whole devoted study on Job and still not answer
things like why did God allow this in the first place!

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Psalms
48 – 50

Verse 48:1 sums up what our adoration towards God should be:

The Eternal is
great and mighty, worthy of great praise
    in
the city of our True God, upon His holy mountain.

God is worth of all praise, period. We need
to learn to realize that and see how everything works together for the good,
even if in the moment it seems bad. My ability to worry has been maxed out the
past 13 years and through it all things seem to work out. God has had this
perfectly orchestrated all the time and although it has not gone the way I wanted
or expected things are still good today.

I think my worry comes from more trying to
control the situation more than anything. I think too much and try to analyze
each move way before it happens, guess that’s why I am good at chess. But in
life that leads to angst and worry, so I am being taught over and over again to
stop worrying. God is in control NOT me … the control freak!

Verse 49:17 somberly reminds us the
uselessness of following our vanities:

For they cannot
take anything with them when they die.
    Their
fame and glory will not follow them into the grave.

We can’t take it with us but we live like
we think we can. We work ourselves to the grave thinking it’s more important to
provide than to live. For some reason “providing” gets in the way of all the
other major components of family life to the point a week vacation is meant to
fix it all. No, we need to focus on our legacy in our children and not in our
work because work will end but our children live on.

Verse 50:3 shows the end times:

Our God will come,
and He will not enter on a whisper.
    A
fire will devour the earth before Him;
    the
wind will storm wildly about Him.

God judged and destroyed the world with
water when Noah built the ark. This time God will do the same, but with fire and
unfortunately the time is coming soon I fear. So back to the second Psalm, what
are we focusing on? Are we hoarding and hunkering down or making sure our
friends understand the love of Jesus? That is the key to all this … make our
time on this earth matter and do God’s will, not ours!!

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2 Samuel
1 – 4

Saul is dead and now the conflict on who will be heir to the
throne. We see David the anointed one or Ish-bosheth Saul’s
son struggle for the leadership. Interesting point, while watching this is to
see David’s response. Verse 1:15 shows the first response:

So David called
for one of his soldiers to come forward and kill the Amalekite soldier, which
he did.

This was a soldier who basically put Saul
out of his misery and yet David considered this murder and killed him per
Hebraic Law. He does this a second time with the men who killed Ish-bosheth and
freed David to be king over all Israel. Both cases these men made David’s rise
smoother, yet David did not want to be king by murder, but by God. Wonder if
God’s hand was in this killing and we just are not told. If so I think David’s
response would have not gone unpunished.

Verses 4:9-11 is David’s response to the
men who killed Ish-bosheth:

David: ⁹ As
the Eternal One lives, the One who has redeemed my life from every danger, ¹⁰ when
the messenger brought me the word, “Saul is dead”—as though that would be some
reason for me to rejoice, that would get him a reward—I seized him and
had him killed at Ziklag. That was his reward for bringing me such news. ¹¹ How
much more do you deserve to be punished, you wicked men who kill a
righteous man in his own bedroom? Don’t you imagine that now I’ll make you
answer for his blood with your own and wipe you from the face of the earth?

Instead of doing the earthly thing David
does not put his convenience before God’s Laws. He punishes the men for what
they did, not for how they made life simpler for him. With the Amalekite I
questioned his response since it was on the battlefield, but these two did the
act as a murder.

We see top leaders assassinated throughout
history and often wonder how many were judged the same way? And were the
“patsy’s” to cover a greater conspiracy. Don’t need to go there today, but we
see David follows the Law and not his benefit.

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