Love in Romans 12

Romans 12: 9-21   

Love must be sincere:  Genuine, authentic, not pretended.

Hate what is evil:  Not who, but what.

Cling to what is good:  Again, what, not who; we cling to God, not one another.

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love;  As family members, be continually mindful of one another.

Honor one another above yourselves:  Focus on others, take my focus off of myself.

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual ferver, serving the Lord:  Do not grow tired and lose my enthusiasm, but remember that what I do for others' benefit serves the lord.

Be joyful in hope:  Keep my attitude positive while I wait on the Lord.

Patient in affliction;  Not upset or bitter.

Faithful in prayer:  I need to be praying every day, not skipping days for my quiet time.

Share with God's people who are in need, practice hospitality:  My home always open for someone who needs it, for temporary lodging or small group, or whatever.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and not curse:  Those who would speak or act against me do not understand, and need to know the Truth to be free of their negativity.

Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn:  Empathize with what they're feeling and don't try to change them.

Live in harmony with one another:  Not discord.

Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position (or do menial work):  And don't be too proud to befriend those others turn away from.

Do not be conceited:  Get my mind off myself.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody:  It is never right to do evil, so I must always consider my reactions and act instead on my responses to whatever evil is around me, to respond in positive ways that will be seen as beneficial.

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone:  As much as I am responsible for, to treat everyone in such a way as to promote peace, to live at peace with all who will live at peace with me.

Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath:  I cannot handle revenge--it is so negative it would destroy me. I must just step out of the way and let God be God, for I am not.

"It is mine to avenge; I will repay" (Deut. 32:35) says the Lord:  I can trust God to make sure everyone will receive what is just and fair. 

On the contrary, "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this you will heap burning coals on his head (Prov. 25:21-22).

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good:  This is the sum of this whole passage.   

Obeying the Little Things

Leviticus 16:34   

And just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so he did.

Our Father is the great God Almighty, whose power is so immense that He actually made this whole universe, and His fingers guide the planets in their orbits. Yet His power is also so fine-tuned that He also guides every tiny detail of our lives, because the little things build into the big things, which become the great things. So He gave Moses very detailed plans and instructions, and Moses obeyed every detail of His plans. 

O my Father, teach me to obey every detail of Your plans for me. Whether I see how it all fits together does not matter, just teach my ears to hear Your instructions so that I will obey every detail, not leaving out any little thing. Give me Your eyes so I can see, and understand Your ways; give me Your strength to overcome all the impediments I throw into the path, and the wisdom and compassion to serve others in the ways they need--to serve You by serving others. That all the glory would be Yours.

Sibling Relationships

Luke 15:29-30  

But he answered and said to his father, "Look! For so many years I have been serving you, and I have never neglected a command of yours, and yet you have never given me a kid that I might be merry with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with harlots, you killed the fattened calf for him."  

I hear such wounding here, such pain and hurt. The firstborn, the responsible one, never considered that he could ask his father if he could have a party, and resented his little brother getting all the attention, undeservedly in his eyes. He was in competition with his little brother. Meanwhile, little brother, second-born and the baby, would not compete with big brother, but completely left the scene. When he ended up back home again, he expected to be treated no better than a servant. Of course, the Father loved them both. 

"My son," the father said, "You are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found."

We're not told if the Father's trying to talk sense to his firstborn had any change in his attitude. We can only hope that older siblings will allow their parents or others to speak sense into their hearts, to accept their younger siblings as different from themselves and worthy of friendship within the family. Friends are chosen and can come and go, but God in His goodness gives us family members who will always be family, regardless of any circumstances. 

O my Father, help me to remember this when dealing and interacting with my own family members and others. Grant me to see them through Your eyes, with no blinders or filters.  

Troubles and Joys

II Corinthians 4:18   

So we don't look at the troubles we can see right now; rather we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.

O my Father, You are the God of the Universe; You are El Shaddai, God Almighty. Yet You have looked down and seen us, who are made of dust. You steer the planets in their courses and call them by name, and You count the very hairs on our heads. Your love is totally unfathomable to our human understanding; You care for our every need, and generously provide for us out of Your riches in glory. You take us out of the miry clay and set our feet upon the Rock. You love us just as we are, but You don't leave us there; Your work in us is molding and shaping us into the people You created us to be. And all the trials and troubles we experience now are serving to teach us Your ways.   

My Own Understanding

Proverbs 3:5-7   

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil.   

O my Father, teach me to not trust my own understanding, even what I think I understand of You and Your word! I know I come across as very confident in my own understanding of what You have said, but let my confidence be in You, not my understanding of You, which would be being wise in my own eyes. Father, keep me humble in my submission to You; that Your glory would be foremost in my life, and that I not promote myself, but You. I know that my understanding of You and Your ways is still incomplete no matter how much I study and find answers to questions that come up; until I am perfected at the time of Your Glorious Appearing, when I am changed and rise to meet You in the clouds, and then evermore to be with You, my Lord.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!     

Working Out What God Has Worked In

Ephesians 4:25-32   

Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. "In your anger do not sin" (Psalm 4:4); Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.  

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.   

Pray it:   

O my Father, help me to put off falsehood and speak truthfully to others in my world, seeing each of them as members of one Body. Help me to avoid sin in anger, but to recognize it for what it is and deal with it immediately, so that I won't give the devil a foothold. Father, if I have been stealing or dishonest in any way, reveal this to me, so that I will deal with that immediately, also; and I thank You for providing me the means to share with those in need.

Father, keep Your guard on my mouth, so that no unwholesome talk escape through my lips, but only speak what is helpful for building up others according to their needs, so that it will benefit those who listen, rather than myself. Help me to not grieve Your Holy Spirit with whom You sealed me for that great Day of Redemption. Help me rid myself of any and all bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander, and every other form of malice. Teach me to be kind and compassionate toward others, forgiving and letting slights pass, just as in Jesus Christ You have forgiven me, much more than I will ever need to forgive another.   

My Tongue

James 3:1-12   

Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

Pray it:

O my Father, You have granted me to have learned so much about You, Your Word and Your ways! When I presume to share some of that knowlege, please put Your guard on my mouth, to not presume anything, but speak only what You know the listener needs to hear.

Father, I know that in the past, my tongue has set ablaze a whole situation! Please help me to not do that again--help me to engage my brain before I put my mouth in gear! Help me always to give You praise, and to have ready honest compliments for those made in Your image. Help me to not criticize or find fault, but to recognize the good that You are doing, even in those who don't seem to know You yet. Help me to see others the way You see them, through Your eyes of love.  

A "Bad Hair Day"?

James 1:19-27   

Personalized:

My dear daughter, take note of this: I want you to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. Your human anger does not bring about the righteous life that I desire for you, my dear. Therefore, get rid of moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent in your culture and humbly accept My word that I have planted in you, which can save you from that worldliness.

Do not merely listen to what I'm telling you, dear, and lie to yourself--do what I say. If you only listen to me and not do what I say, it's like looking at yourself in the mirror, and seing your hair a mess, then going off without fixing your hair; you can go all day as a "bad hair day" and not even realize it, but everyone else notices! But if you look into My word, which is perfect and gives you power to be free from social mores, and you don't forget it in the crunch--dear daughter of Mine, I will bless you in everything you do.

My dear, to show your love for Me, continue to trust Me to put my check on your tongue. Don't let yourself become polluted by the attitudes of your society.   

Getting Out Of God's Way

James 4: 1-8   

Personalization:   

My precious daughter Bonnie, what do you think that you have arguments and quarrels? Don't they come from the desires in your heart to fix others and tell them what you think they ought to believe? And they push you away and cut you off. But if you would only trust Me to convict their hearts, and you display My love for them, I will do the hard part, that's My job. When you pray for them, then turn around and take things into your own hands, they can push you away, but you've blocked My working. They can't resist Me, so, Bonnie, get out of My way so that I can work on their hearts.

Bonnie, I know that you care for your family members, but don't you realize that I love them even more than you do, and when you try to be My Spirit to convict their hearts, you're actually acting as My enemy, because I am God, you're not. Don't rely on your own words, your own understanding, your own logic. Don't rely on the world's ways or your cultural mores. Get out of my way; step aside and let Me work. Continue to pray for them and love them just as they are, and I will do the rest.   

Folly and Shame

Proverbs 18:1,2,13    

An unfriendly man pursues selfish ends; he defies all sound judgment. 

A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions.

He who answers before listening--that is his folly and his shame.   

O my Father, please help me to love my own family members as You love them; open my ears to hear what they are saying to me, and close my mouth from airing my own opinions. Please teach me how to listen actively, attentively and undistracted by my own thoughts.   

Practical Rules To Live By

Proverbs 3:1-8   

My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity.  

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and men. 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. 

Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

My Prayer:

O my dear Father, please help me to never forget Your teachings; help me keep Your commands in my heart, so that they can prolong my life many years and bring me health and prosperity.

Let me always to live in Your love and faithfulness; let me wear them on my shirt, help me to know them by heart. Then my life will win the approval of both You and those among whom I live.

Teach me to trust only in You and Your ways, and not depend on my own understanding: let everything I do reveal You and Your ways; and Father, I know You will direct my steps into Your straight paths.   

Who Do I Depend On?

Jeremiah 17:5-8   

Personalization:

Bonnie, don't trust in politics, or business, or those who make decisions that affect your life and society. Those who trust in Politicians will have a scarcity mentality, always feeling deprived and isolated, and won't even notice when prosperity comes.  

But depend on Me, Bonnie, realize that I will provide everything you need, and more than you need. You will always have an abundance, Bonnie; there will always be plenty of whatever you need, even in times of political and financial falling-off-the-cliff; you will not suffer loss of anything you really need in this world. You can depend on Me, Bonnie, beause I will always take care of you according to My glory, My magnificence and My generosity--you are My Princess, My precious daughter, and I will always see to it that you're not deprived of any good thing, in Me you will have it all.   

End Times in Isaiah?

Isaiah 64:1-2   

Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your Name known among your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you!

Rend the heavens--The Sixth Seal in Revelation 6: "There was a great earthquake, ... and all of the mountains and islands were moved from their places." The Seventh Trumpet in Rev. 11: "A mighty earthquake." And the Seventh Bowl in Rev. 16: "A great earthquake struck--the worst since people were placed on the earth. . . . And every island disappeared and all the mountains were leveled."  

Come down to make your Name known . . . cause the nations to quake--Zechariah 14: "On that Day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem. And the Mount of Olives will split apart, making a wide valley running from east to west. Half the mountain will move toward the north and half toward the south. . . . The Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him. . . . The Lord will be King over the whole earth. On that Day there will be one Lord and His Name the only name. . . . Plague will strike all the nations that fought against Jerusalem . . . survivors from all the nations . . . will go up to Jerusalem each year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles."   

Our Brief Life

Psalm 90:5-6   


You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning--
Though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered.

We are all subject to death. However long we will live our lives, however many years, days, hours, it is certain that we will face death, our enemy. And we will not win--we will enter the sleep of Death. Our life we experience in our body does not originate in our physical body, but in our spirit; when our spiritual parts leave our body, then we call it death, for there is no life in our flesh. Without the spirit, the flesh is lifeless.

We start out in life like the new grass that comes up in the morning fresh with dew. But as the day fades into evening, the grass withers and wilts. And like the grass, in the evening of our years, we also can become dry and withered. Then our bodies will sleep in death, as our spirits depart and go into Eternity.   

Jesus' Prayer for Our Purpose

John 17:20-21   

My prayer is not for them alone.

Not only for His disciples and followers at that time.

I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message,  

Jesus looked down that hallway of Time and saw the rest of us; all the way to me! Jesus prayed for me!

That all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You.  

Jesus and God the Father are unified in thought and purpose, one God.

May they also be in us  

We as His church need to be one in thought and purpose, God's thoughts and purposes.

So that the world may believe that You have sent Me.  

This is our primary purpose in our unity, that the world will see the Truth of His message. Whether they choose to trust in Christ for salvation, or refuse to, they will have no excuse. But the onus is on us. We need to stop quarreling among ourselves and focus on the basics.   

Treasure in Jars of Clay

II Corinthians 4:6-7   

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness" (Genesis 1:3), made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.   

What is in the jar is what is important, not the jar itself. When Jesus was "transfigured before them, His face shone like the sun" (Matthew 17:2), and when John was visited on the Isle of Patmos by Jesus, "His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance" (Revelation 1:16). When Moses spent 40 days on the Mountain in the presence of God, his face shone so much that he covered it with a veil so the people could look at him (Exodus 34:29-35). And we "all reflect the Lord's glory, being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit" (II Corinthians 3:18). Paul wrote of our Resurrection bodies in First Corinthians, chapter 15. As part of that discussion, he said, "We will not all sleep [die], but we all will be changed--in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality" (verses 51-53).

As we are being transformed now, gradually, to be fully transformed in the Resurrection, I visualize this continuing process now as though my body is a clay jar containing God's brilliant spiritual light. Light can't shine through opaque clay, but as the pressure comes and I seek His face and grow more godly, it's like God is replacing the clay molecules with molecules of clear crystal, or diamond, tiny bit at a time. So when I am in tune with God, and others see Him rather than me, it's because His glory is outshining my clay darkness through those minuscule cracks of crystal diamond.  So my clay jar is being transformed into a diamond vase, and one day I will "shine like the sun in the kingdom of [my] Father. He who has ears, let him hear" (Matthew 13:43).

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Hope - Riches - Power

Ephesians 1:17-20    

The Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation, [why?] so that you may know Him better.   

To be able to know who God is and what He's like takes His wisdom to discern and revelation from Him to see the truth about Him and His ways, to understand how it all fits together.   

The eyes of your heart may be enlightened 

in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, 

the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, 

and His incomparably great power for us who believe.

That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms.

The same power that raised Christ from the dead into a glorious Resurrection body, and even enthroned Him; that same power is working in me! In us! I have access to the strength, the ability, the skill to be transformed into the very image of Christ, to think His thoughts, do His works, accomplish His purposes! 

So what am I doing down here?   

The Utterance of God

John 1:1-18   

Paraphrased:

Before anything was, there was the Utterance. This Utterance was the Voice of God, and it was God's Voice. This vocal Utterance was the beginning of everything that is. Everything that exists is the result of this Voice saying it. Nothing could exist that wasn't spoken into existence. This Utterance is alive, and His life gives Light to mankind. This Light shines into our darkness, and our darkness refuses to understand it.

Then John came to tell us about that Light. He wasn't the Light, he only knew about it and told us, so that we would believe. The true Light was coming, that could give light to everyone. 

He came into the world, and although He created the world, it did not want to acknowledge Him. He even came to His own Chosen People, but they didn't even want to accept Him. But all those who would accept Him, He caused to be born into God's own Family, conceived not through natural, fleshly means, but from God Himself.  

This Utterance took upon Himself human nature and lived with us. We are eye-witnesses to His magnificence, the majesty of the Only One, Son of God the Father, filled with grace and Truth.

John is giving his legal testimony--he announces clearly that: This is the Man I talked about before, that the Man who appears after me has the pre-eminence before me, because He existed before I was born. We have all received blessings on top of blessings from the super-abundance of His grace. Moses gave us the Law--Grace and Truth are brought to us by Jesus Christ. God the Father cannot be seen by the human eye, but God the Son, who is equal in substance to the Father, has shown Him to us.   

Wake us up, Father!

II Chronicles 7:12-14   

Pray it:

O my Father, You have told us that, "When I shut up the heavens so there is no rain," for us that would be, "Afflict your economy so that there are no jobs, no income;" or "Command the locusts to devour the land," for us that would be, "Send the bill collectors and tax men to eat up all you have saved for the future, for retirement;" or , "Send a plague among my people," for us that would be, "Cause your Federal Government to rob you of your personal and states rights;" then Father, please open our eyes to see that this is what You are doing, and wake up Your people, to humble ourselves before You, acknowledging that You are calling us to seek Your face, turning away from all the worldly and wicked schemes we've relied on, and ask Your forgiveness for these ways, and instead living our lives in honesty and love for You and our fellow sojourners, following Your ways and attitudes.  O Father God, hear our prayer; forgive our sins, teach us Your ways, to heal this land that once served You.  Turn us back to Yourself, O Lord, show the nations of the world how You bless Your own, and draw them, also, to Your beautiful self.   

Worry

Matthew 6: 25-34   

Personalized:

Oh Bonnie, you don't need to worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear.  Don't you consider your life more important than food and your body more important than your clothes?  Bonnie, look at the birds; they don't garden or store up food yet your Father feeds them.  Aren't you much more valuable than they are?  How can worryng add anything to your life? And why, Bonnie, do you worry about your clothes? See how the wild lilies grow.  They don't work or make cloth; yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his splendor was not dressed as beautifully as one of these flowers, which bloom today and wither tonight!  Oh, Bonnie, don't have such small faith that you question what you may have to wear, or to eat or drink! Those who are worldly run after all these worldly things.  But you, Bonnie, set your focus on God's kingdom, and build His righteousness into your daily life; and all these worldly things will also be given to you while you are in this world and need them.  So don't worry about tomorrow, Bonnie, my dear; tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Loving

Matthew 22:34-40    

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharasees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?"

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."    

I personalized this:

Bonnie, I want you to love Me with all your emotion, with all your psyche and with all your intelligence. Love Me with your passion, with your understanding and with your knowledge of Me. I want you, Bonnie, to love Me with everything I made you to be.   

And I want you to express your love for Me in every relationship you have--to love other people with the same thoughtful consideration you would give Me, or even yourself. If you do this, Bonnie, then you will be obeying and carrying out all My commandments, all My will for you.   

"Get thee behind me, Satan!"

Matthew 16:39&42

[Jesus] prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as You will."

He prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may Your will be done."

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus reveals His humanity, in shrinking away from the whole purpose for his becoming a Man--to "drink that cup" of suffering and separation from His Father. We know that He had real, genuine, strong temptation to not succumb to the Father's will, by both this passage and also when He had spoken to Peter at the Last Supper: 

(v.23) Jesus turned and said to Peter "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.   

Jesus had been telling his closest friends about how he would be killed and rise from the dead and Peter, in his loyalty, wanted to protect him: but Jesus replied very strongly, saying, in effect, I will not allow you to be an enabler, enabling me to not have to go through with this! It must have been a strong temptation, to allow Peter to fight on his behalf, as he really didn't want to have to go through with it. We see Jesus passionately fighting the enemy, and emerging victorious!

Jesus was always in tune with his Father, and had agreed to this course before they even created this world. This is why Jesus was born--to die. We are each born so we can live. He came to take our sin upon himself. He had to be human in order to qualify to carry our sin-infested nature upon himself on the Cross, and he had to be God to be the eternal Person who could pay our eternal debt in time. So Jesus "became sin, for us," each one of us.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Marriage

It has occurred to me lately that the church leaders may be mistaken that the primary purpose of Marriage is procreation. I think having children is a consequence of marriage, but not its central purpose. I think God gave us Marriage to illustrate our relationship to Him.

He designed our male and female bodies to fit together in such a perfect way to become "one flesh" in the marital act. No two men nor two women are anatomically capable of producing this perfect union of bodies as a man and a woman can in the safety of Marriage.

That is why God gives His approval on the marital act within Marriage, and why any other sexual union is an aberrration, a twisting, of what God designed.

God is totally "other" from us, and calls us His wife, and the bride of Christ. Jesus prayed that we would be one with Him as He is one with the Father. He wants that intimate relationship with us.  

Taking My Own Advice to Others

Journal of December 28, 2009

It has been my advice to others who are beginning to read Scripture on a daily basis that if they should miss a day or so in their readings to not go back to "catch up" if they miss more than a day, so as not to overwhelm them with the amount to be read, but just pick up on "today's" reading & not worry about what was missed.

Well, I finally took my own advice yesterday. I had spent Christmas with my daughter Sarah with her family while her husband Tim was in the Philippines, and I missed two days of readings while I was there; then yesterday I merely looked over what I had "missed" in Nehemiah and Revelation, reading only the headings to get my bearings, and then read yesterday's reading. It was not easy for me, but I did it! It's not easy for me to leave anything unread, but I trust that I have not "missed" anything I need, that God has provided me everything I need to know and have and study at this time, as well as what I need to maintain my health & heal this broken hip [which I broke on Oct. 21 and the bone was healed in six weeks; I was then using a cane, while I regained muscle tone and strength which took another four weeks.]. Praise the Lord for His bountiful provision of everything we need in abundance!   

Our Fickle Hearts

Joshua 24:19a, 27, 20    

Joshua said to the people, "You are not able to serve the Lord ... " -- Joshua knew the people, he knew that their hearts were fickle. They were very passionate people, and would throw themselves into whatever stirred their passions.

"See!" he said to all the people. "This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the Lord has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God." -- Joshua set up a large stone to witness all the people would do, to remind them of their determination to serve and obey the Lord. When their passions waned, that stone would remind them of their words, to encourage them to continue to follow the Lord even in the mundane every-days. That was the idea, anyway. Joshua did all he could to keep the people's focus on God.

"If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, He will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after He has been good to you." -- As we read the story of God's chosen people, we see that it was very difficult for them to keep their focus on the Lord, and they ended up conquered by other nations and dispersed all over the world.

America also was founded upon the Judeo-Christian traditions, which means, our Founding Fathers based our Constitution and Bill of Rights on biblical principles, acknowledging God our Creator as the Giver of our rights, and the Government as protector of those God-given rights.

But since we as a Nation has turned away from God and kicked Him out of our schools and public life, He is also withdrawing from us His blessings that has in the past allowed us to rise to become the richest nation this world has ever seen. As a result, our prosperity is waning, and our government is imposing more and more tyranny upon the populace by diluting and denying us the rights our constitution emumerates.  

Our Defense Lawyer

I John 2:1-2  

My dear children, -- Tender love and affection.

I write this to you -- specifically to those dear to him.

So that you will not sin. -- His motive, that we be pure.

But if anybody does sin, -- since we're not perfect yet.

We have one who speaks to the Father in our defence, Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. -- Jesus is our defence lawyer, pleading our case before the throne of God.

He is the atoning sacrifice -- the sacrificial Lamb.

For our sins, -- To take away the sin-barrier between us and God.

And not only for ours -- Jesus did not die for only those who would accept His sacrifice on their behalf, even though it can only be applied for forgiveness to those who admit that they owe the price He paid.

But also for the sins of the whole world. -- Jesus took care of the sin/curse problem for the whole world, the whole universe, purchasing it all for Himself and thereby empowering Him with the authority to be the Judge, and also the cleanser and remover of all sin and cursedness, and to "make all things new" in the New Heaven and the New Earth. All paid for by His death. And proven by His Resurrection.   

The Armor of God

Ephesians 6:13-17   

Therefore put on the full armor of God, -- Don't leave anything out, make sure I have all the parts.

So that when the day of evil comes, -- whenever the enemy mounts an attack.

You may be able to stand your ground, -- Stand to fight, to resist and not fall down.

And after you have done everything, -- Everything I am able to do, not shirking any responsibility.

To stand. -- To remain standing, not knocked down or out, not cowering or hiding. Victorious.

Stand firm, then, -- A good, solid stance, ready for anything.

With the belt of Truth buckled around your waist, -- referring to the "skirt" the Roman soldiers wore, with metal greaves covering the hips and upper thighs; to protect our purity.

With the breastplate of Righteousness in place, -- To protect our heart, and everything that includes.

And with your feet fitted with the Readiness that comes from the Gospel of Peace. -- The tall boots, for marching, travelling, to tell others the Good News.

In addition to all this, -- We surely don't want to forget the rest of our equipment.

Take up the shield of Faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. -- Our Faith, our Trusting in God, will be able to answer any argument, defend any attack, no matter from what direction it comes.

Take the helmet of salvation -- To protect my head, my brain, my mind, to guard my thinking processes from deceit and wrong paths and attitudes.

And the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. -- Our only weapon, that double-edged sword that King Jesus the Conquerer will use to "strike down the nations" (Revelation 19:15), all written down for us in a book we call the Bible.  

Our Nature

Ephesians 2:3   

All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature [the flesh] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.

We are "objects of wrath," deserving of the execution death Jesus suffered, by the very nature we have, before we even do any of the things to follow its desires and thoughts. We only do those things because of the sinfulness of our human nature.

And after we are saved from that sinfulness and given a new nature, from above, powered by God's own Holy Spirit, then we are able to choose to do those good works that God planned ahead of time for us to do.   

Living Stones

I Peter 2:5   

You, also, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house . . . 

We are living stones, we are built into God's temple, our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost. We are God's Temple in Heaven, the original, the pattern God showed Moses on the mount, after which, according to which the Tabernacle was made.

Revelation 6:9-10  

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?"


Revelation 16:7  

And I heard the altar respond, "Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments."


The sixth seal showed John the martyrs who were crying out for God to judge those whose rebellion against God resulted in their martyrdom; John saw them as "under the altar" in Heaven.

Then, when the bowls of wrath are poured out on the land, sea, and fresh waters, it is the Altar itself that commends God for His vengeance and justice that the martyrs had cried out for at the Fifth Seal.

It appears to me that, since we are all Living Stones of God's Heavenly Temple, the martyrs seem to be the stones of the very Altar in that Temple. What an exalted, privileged position they have!

Suffering and Hope

Romans 5:3-5   

We also rejoice in our sufferings, -- This seems impossible until we read the rest.

because we know that -- We're not guessing, we're not hoping so, we know.

suffering produces perseverance, -- we learn to patiently keep on keeping on.

perseverance produces character, -- The character of Christ Himself being reproduced in us, conforming us into His very image.

and character produces hope. -- Not an "I hope so" kind of concept, but the very knowing. 

And hope does not disappoint us, -- We know for a certainty that God is always faithful to keep His promises, no matter how bleak matters look to us at the moment.

because God has poured out -- Poured out, not dripped or skimped on. 

His love -- His very Agape love, unconditional and abundant.

into our hearts -- Filled our very selves with this supernatural level of caring, overflowing us, so that we can spill over onto other people whose lives touch ours.

by the Holy Spirit, -- His own Spirit of Life, who is the Seal, the Guarantee and the Deposit; the Down Payment on all God has promised us (Ephesians 1:13-14), just as sure as that the sun will rise tomorrow!

whom He has given us. -- The One who is powering the New Life God gives us when He calls us into His own Kingdom, to be His sons and daughters, to rule as His kings and queens.

Just as Jesus endured the Cross, seeing the Joy that was set before Him (Hebrews 12:2), we can rejoice (take joy in) whatever trials, sufferings, tribulations, afflictions, troubles and persecutions that come into our lives, knowing that they will help us learn patience (perseverance, hopeful endurance, constancy, patient waiting), which develops in us good character (proven trustworthiness, tested integrity), which produces in us a constant attitude of hope (to anticipate with pleasure, expectation, confidence) that will never (shame us down, make us ashamed, disgraced or dishonored) disappoint us. What a wonderful Father we have in our God! 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Abide in Me

Jesus' discourse recorded in John 15:1-17   

Abide in Me; Abide in My love; Keep my commandment to love one another; That My joy may be in you and that your joy may be made full; Abide in Me and whatever you ask in My Name, My Father will give you; That you bear much fruit and your fruit should remain; By this is My father glorified!

So if I love Jesus, if I am "at home" in His love for me, then I will also love others who He loves; and loving others, I will wish no harm to them, keeping the Law; my joy will increase in spite of circumstances; and whatever I pray for will be according to the love Jesus has for me and I have for Him and others, and the Father will be glorified in answering my requests, thereby producing fruit that will endure. Everything is intricately tied into each other, woven together tightly so that love joy, obedience, asking and receiving answers, fruit bearing, and God's glory are all intertwined. Amazing!  

Jesus and the Old Testament Feasts

Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy Feasts   

As I read through the giving of God's comprehensive body of laws in these three books, I am struck that all the feasts and festivals are laid out so precisely, and may be a picture of God's Plan of the Ages.

Leviticus 23:  

1. Passover & Feast of Unleavened Bread -- 1st Month, 14th Day (March/April) The Spring Feast.
2. First Fruits -- Early Harvest
3. Pentecost -- 50 days after First Fruits The Summer Feast.
4. Trumpets -- 7th Month, 1st Day (September/October)
5. Day of Atonement -- 7th Month, 10th Day (just 9 days later).
6. Tabernacles -- 7th Month, 15th Day (just 5 days after that) The Fall Feast.

Let's go over these again, in view of how they may relate to Jesus' earthly career, past and future:

• Passover -- Jesus Christ is our Passover, the Lamb is slain.
• First Fruits -- Jesus is our First Fruits of Resurrection (I Corinthians 15:20).
• Pentecost -- The Church began on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1).

(These are past; now let's look into the future:)

• Trumpets -- There was no sacrifice associated with this feast. But we read in I Corinthians 15:52 that "in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed." So this may represent what Christians today refer to as "The Rapture" of the church.
• Day of Atonement -- Could this be the cleansing of the Earth that King Jesus will accomplish at the beginning of His 1000-year reign?
• Tabernacles -- (Possible scenario:) Rejoicing, we will celebrate our Divine King and His rule on this Earth while we live in temporary shelters as we build our homes and rebuild the cities in the land that is now scoured and cleansed.  

I don't know what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future! These are the thoughts I had as I studied these chapters in the light of what God has given us in the New Testament. 

If anyone has any other (better?) ideas after doing their own study, I would like to hear them.   

Who Is God, Really?

When I consider who God is, what He must really be like, I get the image that God is all the oceans in the world. What He has chosen to reveal to us about Himself is a tiny little drop. And that itty-bitty drip of a drop is so deep, so infinite, that we can not comprehend it. It's like computer animation, getting closer to the drip until it appears huge, then entering into it and getting lost in the enormity and immenseness of it, and never finding the end, only continually going deeper and deeper.

And that's just one drop of all the oceans. And even this picture does not even come close to depicting who God is. He is bigger than all the universe; the whole universe exists inside Him.   

My Prayer for Compassion

Zechariah 7:9,10   

"...Show mercy and compassion to one another...In your hearts do not think evil of each other."

O my Father, give me Your ears to hear what You have said. Help me to understand Your ways, as they are not my ways. Give me Your eyes to see the bigger picture, beyond the confines of my own little world. Teach me the fuller knowledge of what You are doing in my life, the lives of those around me and in the world, that Your mercy and compassion would flow through me to others whose lives touch mine, and that my thoughts of them would not be evil or negative, but of hope and healing and a good future.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!   

Putting Myself In the Picture

Mark 5:21-43 

Jesus heals a sick girl and an older woman.  

When I put myself in the picture I see myself as one of the participants and imagine what I would feel, say and do in that situation.

As Jairus:  I was so afraid when they told me she had died! But Jesus immediately encouraged me, and when He healed her, I was overjoyed!

As the Woman:  My hopes had been dashed every time the doctors had something new to try, but none of them ever worked, for so long! Finally I heard about Jesus--I knew He would be able to heal me. But I didn't want to bother Him, or draw any attention to myself at all, so I thought if I could just get a quick hold on the hem of His robe . . . But He turned around and confronted me! I felt so ashamed when He called me out & I ended up confessing the whole story in front of the whole crowd! But He was so kind, and I felt completely healed and cleansed!

As the Girl:  I was so sick, I felt awful. My Dad was so upset, he left to find that Healer we'd heard about. I didn't have enough strength to hold on, no matter how hard I tried, and I slipped away!  But then when He took hold of my hand and called me, I came back, and I wasn't even sick any more!

As a Disciple:  Wow, what a day! Jesus just keeps on going, like the Energizer Rabbit! We're on our way to heal a sick little girl when He calls out some old woman who just touched His clothes, He knew she'd been healed quietly; then we find out that the sick little girl died, & I thought her Dad would freak out, but Jesus calmed him, and when we got to his house, it was weird, all these "mourners" started to laugh at Him! But then we went in, He took her hand, and she woke up! Wow, Jesus really does do everything well, and never loses patience, either.

There's one more person in this story that's not even mentioned:

The Girl's Mother:  I felt so stressed when my daughter got sick, I'd never seen anyone be so sick and get over it. My husband was so determined that this Jesus we'd heard about would be able to heal her, he took off to look for Him.  I tried to make her comfortable, but her fever was so high, she was burning up.  I turned my back for just a moment to dampen the cloth for her forehead, and she was gone! Since Jairus still hadn't come back, I had to go hire the mandatory mourners so we could have the funeral. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do.  

     Suddenly I heard laughter, instead of the wailing, and the mourners all left. Jairus came in, and he had Jesus with him, but I thought it was too late. Then Jesus took her hand, called to her, and . . . I was shocked! She sat up, alive! I don't know how He did it, but Jesus is not anything like what I would have thought He would be, He was so calm, gentle, and in control, I feel I can trust Him with anything!

As I apply this story to my own life, I want to walk with Jesus and watch what He is doing, there's never a dull moment with Him. I want to keep my eyes on Him all day, every day, and not wander off to the right or the left.