Luke 1:17
And it is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, "To turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children," and the disobedient to the attitudes of the righteous; so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
God had sent John the Baptist to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus, the Messiah. Now He is raising up forerunners today, to go into all the world to prepare the people, His people, for the coming again of Christ Jesus! To turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and to turn the disobedient around to the attitudes of the righteous!
Who are those who are going into all the World to prepare? Will you go? Shall I go?
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
Monday, August 14, 2017
A Slave With Rights?
Exodus 21: 7-10
If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as menservants do.
If she does not please the master who has betrothed her to himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her.
If he has betrothed her to his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter.
If he marries her, then takes another wife also, he must not deprive the first wife of her food, clothing, and conjugal rights.
If he is not willing to provide her these three, then she is to go free without the payment of any money.
It is interesting that God would be concerned not only for the physical needs of a slave-wife of a master-husband, but also for her emotional welfare, in giving this rule to grant her these three specific rights.
The picture here is of a Hebrew girl, whose family has sold her to another Hebrew man to be his wife, with the payment of a dowry to her father. The law concerning the Year of Jubilee is to free the Hebrew slaves the seventh year, but not the female slaves. She is due the respect of a family member.
If the purchaser changes his mind and decides not to marry her after all, then her family can redeem her, and she can go back home.
If he marries her, but then marries another woman also, then he is not to reduce his care of his slave-wife, but still provide her the same food, clothing, and standing as his wife.
If her master marries her, then is not willing to retain her as his wife, then she is to go free without any payment at all being paid to the slave-owner, no ransom or redemption price at all. He is not allowed to sell her to anyone else to recoup his payment price, because he has broken faith with her.
If he doesn't marry her, but instead betroths her to his son, then he must give her the rights of a daughter. She is now his family.
This is in stark contrast to the nations surrounding Israel. Women had no rights at all, and were treated as property even in the family setting. God is showing us that His ways are not our ways, He considers all His people as worth respect and honor. He wants the women to be respected and honored and cared for, as their worth is no less than the men.
God even allowed the daughters to inherit property, and be property-owners, if they had no brothers.
If Israel had actually followed all the rules and regulations God gave them, their whole economy would have been revitalized every 50 years, Hebrew slaves would have been freed to go back home, and all the properties would have reverted back to the original families. Everyone would have had means of income; land, housing, food, clothing. There would have been no poor, as the poor people who had lost their property would have gotten it back, to start the cycle over again.
God loves us and wants us all to prosper. If He hasn't given us the means to prosper financially, then He has prospered us in other ways, and will provide all we need generously, out of His great abundance.
And He wants us all to love one another, as He has loved us. To have respect for each other person, whether they've earned it or not, because they are made in the image of our Creator, and thereby are worth respect inherently. God has made us with value, and when we value one another we will treat each other with compassion and consideration, not criticism or complaint.
O my Father, thank You for making me, making us all, with great worth. I know I will never deserve or be able to earn Your goodwill, but You have taken the initiative to show me how much You value me, that You consider me worth sending Your only Son to take my place in death, so that I can receive Your life. Now I am able to learn of You, to learn Your ways, and to have the strength to buck the trends of this World to live my life according to Your Plan for me.
And You will receive all the credit, all the glory, because it is Your Plan that is unfolding and progressing in all You have created, and Your purposes will be fulfilled in Your way, in Your time.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as menservants do.
If she does not please the master who has betrothed her to himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her.
If he has betrothed her to his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter.
If he marries her, then takes another wife also, he must not deprive the first wife of her food, clothing, and conjugal rights.
If he is not willing to provide her these three, then she is to go free without the payment of any money.
It is interesting that God would be concerned not only for the physical needs of a slave-wife of a master-husband, but also for her emotional welfare, in giving this rule to grant her these three specific rights.
The picture here is of a Hebrew girl, whose family has sold her to another Hebrew man to be his wife, with the payment of a dowry to her father. The law concerning the Year of Jubilee is to free the Hebrew slaves the seventh year, but not the female slaves. She is due the respect of a family member.
If the purchaser changes his mind and decides not to marry her after all, then her family can redeem her, and she can go back home.
If he marries her, but then marries another woman also, then he is not to reduce his care of his slave-wife, but still provide her the same food, clothing, and standing as his wife.
If he doesn't marry her, but instead betroths her to his son, then he must give her the rights of a daughter. She is now his family.
This is in stark contrast to the nations surrounding Israel. Women had no rights at all, and were treated as property even in the family setting. God is showing us that His ways are not our ways, He considers all His people as worth respect and honor. He wants the women to be respected and honored and cared for, as their worth is no less than the men.
God even allowed the daughters to inherit property, and be property-owners, if they had no brothers.
If Israel had actually followed all the rules and regulations God gave them, their whole economy would have been revitalized every 50 years, Hebrew slaves would have been freed to go back home, and all the properties would have reverted back to the original families. Everyone would have had means of income; land, housing, food, clothing. There would have been no poor, as the poor people who had lost their property would have gotten it back, to start the cycle over again.
God loves us and wants us all to prosper. If He hasn't given us the means to prosper financially, then He has prospered us in other ways, and will provide all we need generously, out of His great abundance.
And He wants us all to love one another, as He has loved us. To have respect for each other person, whether they've earned it or not, because they are made in the image of our Creator, and thereby are worth respect inherently. God has made us with value, and when we value one another we will treat each other with compassion and consideration, not criticism or complaint.
O my Father, thank You for making me, making us all, with great worth. I know I will never deserve or be able to earn Your goodwill, but You have taken the initiative to show me how much You value me, that You consider me worth sending Your only Son to take my place in death, so that I can receive Your life. Now I am able to learn of You, to learn Your ways, and to have the strength to buck the trends of this World to live my life according to Your Plan for me.
And You will receive all the credit, all the glory, because it is Your Plan that is unfolding and progressing in all You have created, and Your purposes will be fulfilled in Your way, in Your time.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, August 13, 2017
The Bread Of Idleness
Proverbs 31: 27
She ... does not eat the bread of idleness.
O my Father, please help me, strengthen me with Your strength, for I have none. In the past I have wasted so many years, "eating the bread of idleness," and I ask that You would restore those years that "the locust has eaten."
Continue to teach me Your ways and Your purposes for me and my life; that what I do each day would promote Your character, Your Plan for this World. Father, continue to work on me and in me to mold and shape my character ever closer to the image of my Lord Jesus Christ.
Thank You for granting me the good physical health, and the emotional and spiritual health, so I will be more suitable to serve You.
Grant me victory, Father, over all my faults, my weaknesses, my sins. Forgive me and enable me to forsake these traits that work against myself and against You. Help me to be strong in Your power, Your wisdom, and Your discernment to make wise decisions and then carry them out.
And may You receive all the credit, all the glory, for everything You are doing in me and in this World, to fulfill and complete Your great Plan of the Ages!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
She ... does not eat the bread of idleness.
O my Father, please help me, strengthen me with Your strength, for I have none. In the past I have wasted so many years, "eating the bread of idleness," and I ask that You would restore those years that "the locust has eaten."
Continue to teach me Your ways and Your purposes for me and my life; that what I do each day would promote Your character, Your Plan for this World. Father, continue to work on me and in me to mold and shape my character ever closer to the image of my Lord Jesus Christ.
Thank You for granting me the good physical health, and the emotional and spiritual health, so I will be more suitable to serve You.
Grant me victory, Father, over all my faults, my weaknesses, my sins. Forgive me and enable me to forsake these traits that work against myself and against You. Help me to be strong in Your power, Your wisdom, and Your discernment to make wise decisions and then carry them out.
And may You receive all the credit, all the glory, for everything You are doing in me and in this World, to fulfill and complete Your great Plan of the Ages!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Saturday, August 12, 2017
A Little Slumber
Proverbs 6: 10
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest ...
How often have I told myself these very words! Not as often as I did before; I do hope I'm doing better at not collapsing on the couch the next day, but continuing to do what is before me to accomplish.
I am learning to take better care of this vessel, my body, and also my mind and my heart. And I am open, looking for what will be my next step in this journey on this road where God has placed my feet.
And my Father has given me this tool, this blog, to go into the World before me, spreading the seed of the Gospel.
May I not regress into making my couch my dwelling place, as I did in my deep grief. My Father has brought me through so much since then, and He gets all the credit for how He has worked in and on me, so that He could work through me.
And may He also draw you ever closer into that intimate friendship and marriage that He wants for each of us as His bride.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest ...
How often have I told myself these very words! Not as often as I did before; I do hope I'm doing better at not collapsing on the couch the next day, but continuing to do what is before me to accomplish.
I am learning to take better care of this vessel, my body, and also my mind and my heart. And I am open, looking for what will be my next step in this journey on this road where God has placed my feet.
And my Father has given me this tool, this blog, to go into the World before me, spreading the seed of the Gospel.
May I not regress into making my couch my dwelling place, as I did in my deep grief. My Father has brought me through so much since then, and He gets all the credit for how He has worked in and on me, so that He could work through me.
And may He also draw you ever closer into that intimate friendship and marriage that He wants for each of us as His bride.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, August 11, 2017
The Peace Of God
Philippians 4: 6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
And the peace of God, which transcends all our understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
God's peace will guard our hearts and our minds. Our emotions and our thinking processes will not be upset with what is going on around us. Nothing this World can throw at us will disturb our hearts or befuddle our minds. How can we be this steady in the storms of life?
When we are resting in God, trusting Him to be Who He says He is and to do what He said He will do. When we know Him that well, that we have confidence in Him to act on our behalf, even working miracles for our benefit. To know that He can and He is able, whether He chooses to do so or not.
When we focus our attention on what is good, and true, and honorable. What is right and pure and lovely and beautiful. What is admirable and excellent and worthy of being praised. These will crowd out the negative and critical and worrisome thoughts that previously occupied our thoughts.
What we are looking at, focusing on, appears bigger in our sight and fills our vision, letting all the other things fade into the background. That's why our Father wants us to dwell on all the good, positive things in life, to lift our hearts and minds into the Heavenly realms even while we are still living on this Earth.
This peace God gives us runs deeper than we can even understand in our human thoughts, because God is so great, and so good. We are His creation, He is the One Who imagines us; and the imagination He gave us can also be realized in our reality, because He made us in His own Image.
God is Love. Everything He does comes from this basic foundation of being. That's why He wants us to love one another. When I love you, I want to see the good in you, I want to do what pleases you, and I want you to love me back. And because God has loved me with a Love beyond my understanding, I want to love Him back, and do what pleases Him.
So when I live my life focusing on what God is doing, instead of what other people are doing around me, then I will experience His peace. Then World events won't upset me. Then I won't get into arguments with family members and friends, and I will be a more pleasant person to be around.
Then I will be a Kingdom person, rather than a Worldly person. Then I will be so Heavenly-minded that I will be of great Earthly good!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
And the peace of God, which transcends all our understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
God's peace will guard our hearts and our minds. Our emotions and our thinking processes will not be upset with what is going on around us. Nothing this World can throw at us will disturb our hearts or befuddle our minds. How can we be this steady in the storms of life?
When we are resting in God, trusting Him to be Who He says He is and to do what He said He will do. When we know Him that well, that we have confidence in Him to act on our behalf, even working miracles for our benefit. To know that He can and He is able, whether He chooses to do so or not.
When we focus our attention on what is good, and true, and honorable. What is right and pure and lovely and beautiful. What is admirable and excellent and worthy of being praised. These will crowd out the negative and critical and worrisome thoughts that previously occupied our thoughts.
What we are looking at, focusing on, appears bigger in our sight and fills our vision, letting all the other things fade into the background. That's why our Father wants us to dwell on all the good, positive things in life, to lift our hearts and minds into the Heavenly realms even while we are still living on this Earth.
This peace God gives us runs deeper than we can even understand in our human thoughts, because God is so great, and so good. We are His creation, He is the One Who imagines us; and the imagination He gave us can also be realized in our reality, because He made us in His own Image.
God is Love. Everything He does comes from this basic foundation of being. That's why He wants us to love one another. When I love you, I want to see the good in you, I want to do what pleases you, and I want you to love me back. And because God has loved me with a Love beyond my understanding, I want to love Him back, and do what pleases Him.
So when I live my life focusing on what God is doing, instead of what other people are doing around me, then I will experience His peace. Then World events won't upset me. Then I won't get into arguments with family members and friends, and I will be a more pleasant person to be around.
Then I will be a Kingdom person, rather than a Worldly person. Then I will be so Heavenly-minded that I will be of great Earthly good!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, August 10, 2017
The Father Of The Prodigal
Luke 15:20
... His father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son ...
This father is a picture of our Heavenly Father, and this is the only place in all of Scripture that shows Him running! And He is running toward the prodigal child who has wasted all the inheritance he's received. This child is stumbling down the road toward home, going over the speech he's prepared to tell his father, to ask him to come home as a servant. But the father cuts the speech short, calling for the servants to bring the new clothes, new shoes, and the "credit card" for the family business (the ring). He then has the fattened calf slaughtered and barbecued for the party to welcome him home.
This is God's attitude toward us when we admit that we don't deserve anything but death, and that Jesus took our death on the Cross.
Then He causes us to be born into His own family as His prince or princess, causes us to be clothed in His own righteousness, and places His Holy Spirit into our spirit, making it alive and granting us the right to run His "Family Business," His Kingdom. And all the Heavenly Angels celebrate.
Jesus is God the Son Who was born into our human family in order to be the Lamb of God, the sacrifice that would not just cover, but wash away our sins. He fulfilled all of the laws of sacrifice: the first, personal one for salvation; and the corporate one for the Nation, to purchase all of the World, for judgement.
That's how much God loves each one of us, to "run" to us with His arms wide open, nailed to that Cross! His love is amazing! He wants all of us to humbly realize our sinful state, recognize Who Jesus is and what He has accomplished for us in our place, and turn around our attitudes toward God's ways. He saves us individually, one by one, but will otherwise have to judge us eternally. I cannot comprehend how deep and wide and long and concentrated and flowing and filling and embracing His love is for me! And also for you!!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
... His father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son ...
This father is a picture of our Heavenly Father, and this is the only place in all of Scripture that shows Him running! And He is running toward the prodigal child who has wasted all the inheritance he's received. This child is stumbling down the road toward home, going over the speech he's prepared to tell his father, to ask him to come home as a servant. But the father cuts the speech short, calling for the servants to bring the new clothes, new shoes, and the "credit card" for the family business (the ring). He then has the fattened calf slaughtered and barbecued for the party to welcome him home.
This is God's attitude toward us when we admit that we don't deserve anything but death, and that Jesus took our death on the Cross.
Then He causes us to be born into His own family as His prince or princess, causes us to be clothed in His own righteousness, and places His Holy Spirit into our spirit, making it alive and granting us the right to run His "Family Business," His Kingdom. And all the Heavenly Angels celebrate.
Jesus is God the Son Who was born into our human family in order to be the Lamb of God, the sacrifice that would not just cover, but wash away our sins. He fulfilled all of the laws of sacrifice: the first, personal one for salvation; and the corporate one for the Nation, to purchase all of the World, for judgement.
That's how much God loves each one of us, to "run" to us with His arms wide open, nailed to that Cross! His love is amazing! He wants all of us to humbly realize our sinful state, recognize Who Jesus is and what He has accomplished for us in our place, and turn around our attitudes toward God's ways. He saves us individually, one by one, but will otherwise have to judge us eternally. I cannot comprehend how deep and wide and long and concentrated and flowing and filling and embracing His love is for me! And also for you!!
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
Intimate Friendship
Exodus 33: 11
Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. ...
The Lord God Almighty is our great God, and no one can look upon His face and live! When God showed Moses His Goodness on the mountain, He put him in a cleft of the rock and covered him with His hand as He passed by, so Moses saw His back; and still, Moses' face shone, it glowed as it reflected God's Glory so brightly that he wore a veil when he addressed the people.
And yet, God spoke with Moses in the Tent of Meeting "face to face, as a man speaks to his friend"! God allowed Moses to have such an intimate friendship with Him, to befriend him so powerfully. And Moses was so meek, he knew he didn't deserve it.
O my dear Father, You put Moses' story in Your Word so that we could know that You offer that same, intimate friendship you had with him, to anyone who will give himself fully to Your purposes; to give You everything considered of value, to receive from You what is beyond worth.
Father, You want to do so many great things in this world, if only one person will give himself totally to You, as Moses did.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. ...
The Lord God Almighty is our great God, and no one can look upon His face and live! When God showed Moses His Goodness on the mountain, He put him in a cleft of the rock and covered him with His hand as He passed by, so Moses saw His back; and still, Moses' face shone, it glowed as it reflected God's Glory so brightly that he wore a veil when he addressed the people.
And yet, God spoke with Moses in the Tent of Meeting "face to face, as a man speaks to his friend"! God allowed Moses to have such an intimate friendship with Him, to befriend him so powerfully. And Moses was so meek, he knew he didn't deserve it.
O my dear Father, You put Moses' story in Your Word so that we could know that You offer that same, intimate friendship you had with him, to anyone who will give himself fully to Your purposes; to give You everything considered of value, to receive from You what is beyond worth.
Father, You want to do so many great things in this world, if only one person will give himself totally to You, as Moses did.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
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