Monday, July 23, 2012
Little Ones to Him Belong
Often, in a tragedy, young kids or young people die, and I am often asked, "why did they have to die so young?" Well, if you use the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, there is actually an answer provided:
7 But though the righteous be prevented with death, yet shall he be in rest.
8 For honourable age is not that which standeth in length of time, nor that is measured by number of years. 9 But wisdom is the gray hair unto men, and an unspotted life is old age. 10 He pleased God, and was beloved of him: so that living among sinners he was translated. 11 Yea speedily was he taken away, lest that wickedness should alter his understanding, or deceit beguile his soul. 12 For the bewitching of naughtiness doth obscure things that are honest; and the wandering of concupiscence doth undermine the simple mind. 13 He, being made perfect in a short time, fulfilled a long time: 14 For his soul pleased the Lord: therefore hasted he to take him away from among the wicked. 15 This the people saw, and understood it not, neither laid they up this in their minds, That his grace and mercy is with his saints, and that he hath respect unto his chosen.
16 Thus the righteous that is dead shall condemn the ungodly which are living; and youth that is soon perfected the many years and old age of the unrighteous. 17 For they shall see the end of the wise, and shall not understand what God in his counsel hath decreed of him, and to what end the Lord hath set him in safety. 18 They shall see him, and despise him; but God shall laugh them to scorn: and they shall hereafter be a vile carcase, and a reproach among the dead for evermore. 19 For he shall rend them, and cast them down headlong, that they shall be speechless; and he shall shake them from the foundation; and they shall be utterly laid waste, and be in sorrow; and their memorial shall perish. 20 And when they cast up the accounts of their sins, they shall come with fear: and their own iniquities shall convince them to their face. (Wisdom of Solomon, 4:7-19)
Note, God takes us those who are good to protect them from the corruption of this world.
For you western Christians, not familiar with the Septuagint, it is the source of almost all quotes of the Old Testament found in the New Testament. Matthew is the only New Testament book that does not quote mainly from the Septuagint. But Matthew also does not quote from the Massoritic Text (that used by the west today), but form some other version lost to us.
Mar Michael Abportus
Sunday, June 10, 2012
9 June 2012
This post should really have happened last weeks as the readings we will be looking at come from last Sunday, Trinity Sunday.
Exodus 3:1-16. Moshe and the burning bush.
Often times we are too busy watching sheep, working, or playing on the internet for God to get our attention. In Moshe's case, while tending the sheep, he sees a bush burning, but not being consumed, and he draws near to see what is happening. Immediately, God tells him to remove his sandals, because he is on Holy ground. God identifies himself, as the God of Avraham, Yitzhak and Yakob, and tells Moshe he has seen the suffering of the Hebrew people. Moshe's reaction is fear, he turns away his face because he knows he is unworthy to look upon God, and he knows he is not worthy to do the things that God is going to send him to do. "Who am I" says Moshe, but when God gives us something to do, he will give us the way to do it as well. Let us bear in mind that at this point in time Moshe is 80 years of age. Moshe also desires to know God's name, and God tells him, "I am" has sent you, and gives his name as Yahweh, that is "He is." In other words, God is the source of all other things that have existence. He is not part of creation, nor a product of creation, but above and beyond all things. He is a Holy God, totally different and set apart, but a person as well, who can and desires to communicate with us and have a relationship with us.
Isaiah 6:1-8
Isaiah has a vision in the temple. The Lord is enthroned, his train fills the temple and the seraphim and cherubim worship him. Isaiah's reaction, "Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips from a country of men with unclean lips." Several things are addressed here. First, the king had leprosy of the lips. More importantly, the worship of the people of Israel was false. That is they were worshipping not with their lives, but their lips alone. They had forgotten that to worship God is something done with ones entire life, not merely what might happen in a church or a temple, but that we would do justice, practice mercy and follow the Lord's precepts. More importantly, Isaiah himself can do nothing about his sinful position. Yahweh must send an angel who touches Isaiah's lips to purify them. In other words, we cannot help ourselves. There is nothing that we can do to make our selves pure in God's sight, except recognise our position as sinners. When we see how evil we are, then God can send the angle with the coal to purify us (that is wash us in the blood of the lamb), so that we can go out to serve God.
Proverbs 8:22-31
This is basically a bridge. Yeshua and the Holy Spirit are not something new. They have been with the Father since creation. The Holy Spirit gives life and the ability to obey.
Romans 8:12-17
How is it then that we achieve this. We are told, we cannot live according to the flesh (that is we cannot be of this world, but it is the Holy Spirit living within us which gives us the power to do good things. It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the power to call God our Father, because when the Holy Spirit directs our lives, and we are in obedience to the Father, then we are truly his children. We are now heirs with Christ, ready to suffer with him.
John 3:16
Nicodemus comes by night (for fear of the Sanhedrin to see Yeshua. Nicodemus recognises that Yeshua is indeed sent by God, for only through God could Yeshua do these miracles. But he doesn't really understand. Yeshua explains to him, that he came down from heaven, that the Spirit does as he pleases, and that man cannot have eternal life unless he (or she) is born of water and the Holy Spirit. In other words, only through baptism and the reception of the Holy Spirit can one be saved. The passage ends with the famous verse, “For God so loved the world,[i] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." In other words, when we truly beleive, we will get baptised and filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, when allowed transforms our lives into something new. He takes us out of the world and puts us in the kingdom. We still live in the world, but instead of worrying about the things of this world (money, parties, booze, friends, big houses, etc) we will worry about justice, righteousness, caring for the poor, the widow, and the orphan. We will proclaim the Gospel.
So in essence. God created us. We are not worthy to talk to him because of our sins. We need to recognise that we are sinners, and we need to accept that Yeshua died on the cross for our sins. We need to be baptised and allow him to fill us with his Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit not only helps us see that we need a saviour, but when we allow him in our heart, he will transform our lives from worldly lives to kingdom lives.
Do you want to be of the kindom or of the world. Harden not your hearts and seek Yeshua now. Tomorrow may be too late.
Come visit us for worship.
204 Sylvan,
La Porte, TX 77571
@ 10:00 AM on Sunday.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
This is what God wants of You
While we believe all the Bible (in my case the LXX) is divinely inspired, there are several places, such as the Ten Commandments and John 3:16 which focus on key truths.
Today we would like to look at Micah 6:8, "Has it not been told to you, O man, what is good? or what
the Yahweh requires of you, but to do justice, and love mercy, and be ready
to walk humbly with your God?
First, we need to look at "what is Good." If we want to think Hebraically, then we will realise that only God can really define what is good. Indeed in Genesis, when Havah and Adam eat the fruit of knowledge of good and evil, the point is being made that mankind wants to decide these questions instead of letting God settle them. We also see that Yahweh sees the creation of the first five days is good and the sixth day is very good. In other words, creation before the fall was good. In addition, Yeshua tells us that God alone is good. So to determine what is truly good, we must seek God's revelation, the Bible to discern what good is. We are given direct examples (marriage between one man and one women), the 10 commandments, and we are given historical stories that illustrate points that are not always explicitly stated. While polygamy is no ware specifically prohibited in the Old Testament, the life stories of the Patriarchs, of David and Shlomo (Solomon) make it obvious it is not a good idea, and David shows what can happen to a family if a father does not fulfil his role. So to be good is to follow fully the precepts of the Kingdom, as laid out in the Old and New Testaments.
"To do justice." The Torah lays out what justice is. The prophets' main complaint through many of the prophetic books is that justice is not done. To look at justice, we can look at some specific things stated. No-one was to have two measures or two weights, in other words, we begin with a sense of fairness and honesty. We are not to move the boundary mark, again honesty. We are not to set stumbling blocks in front of the blind, i.e. we do not take unfair advantage. We are not to treat the rich better because they are rich, and we are not to favour the poor because they are poor. This is where we as a country originally got equal rights under the law, it is a Biblical principle.
To do justice also goes back to crime and punishment. Gaol was not listed as one of the punishments commanded in the Torah. In fact there were only two penalties, death or restitution. The death penalty was for a fairly short number of crimes, murder, adultery, homosexuality, blasphemy, and rape. Everything else was covered by restitution. In restitution, if something was stolen, it had to be repaid, often with a fine as well. If the person could not pay it back, then they were sold into slavery (but note that slavery would never last more than 49 years) The point was to restore right relationship between people and between the criminal and God.
Of course society today is much too merciful than this. A child rapist might be back on the street in 20 years. In Honduras and Mexico, long gaol sentences are considered cruel and unusual, so twenty years is the max. Of course if we followed the Old Testament there were would be no gaol except to hold people in preparation for trial.
The question arises then, are we a just society? The Bible emphasises, a fair wage for a day's work. Today many people cannot support their family on what they are being paid. In addition by forcing many to work on Sunday, the poor are robbed of being able to spend time with their families or at worship. There are many employees who are very unfair with their workers. It is not a new problem, and not one that will disappear, but we need to push for true fairness in the workplace and every place. If all employers treated their workers fairly, there would never be call for unions.
Hesed, translated mercy here can refer to kindness, but more refers in this context to relationships, especially covenant relationships, between man and man and between man and God. Mercy in this context would be being faithful to ones wife, and to God. But it also has the characteristic of showing kindness to others. Remember in the Gospels, in almost every healing, Yeshua had compassion on the person who needed healing first. Are we so kind to others that we feel their pain with them? If not, we should.
"To walk humbly with God" sounds easy, but is hard for us. To do this, we need to remember where we come from. Humble comes from the Latin word "humus," dirt. To be humble is to remember that we came from the dirt, that is from the earth, and we receive a brief reminder, Man, or "Adam" is made from earth or dust, "Adamah." To be humble is to know where you come from, or to know your place. God has blessed me with skills in language. I can take credit for studying, but it is only God's gift that allows me to pick up a language in six months. Can I be proud of my green eyes? No! They too are a gift from God. To walk humbly with God, we need to know who we are (sinners, saved by grace) and who God is (our merciful and just king.) We need to quit trying to save ourselves, and we must learn to submit to Yeshua.
Today we would like to look at Micah 6:8, "Has it not been told to you, O man, what is good? or what
the Yahweh requires of you, but to do justice, and love mercy, and be ready
to walk humbly with your God?
First, we need to look at "what is Good." If we want to think Hebraically, then we will realise that only God can really define what is good. Indeed in Genesis, when Havah and Adam eat the fruit of knowledge of good and evil, the point is being made that mankind wants to decide these questions instead of letting God settle them. We also see that Yahweh sees the creation of the first five days is good and the sixth day is very good. In other words, creation before the fall was good. In addition, Yeshua tells us that God alone is good. So to determine what is truly good, we must seek God's revelation, the Bible to discern what good is. We are given direct examples (marriage between one man and one women), the 10 commandments, and we are given historical stories that illustrate points that are not always explicitly stated. While polygamy is no ware specifically prohibited in the Old Testament, the life stories of the Patriarchs, of David and Shlomo (Solomon) make it obvious it is not a good idea, and David shows what can happen to a family if a father does not fulfil his role. So to be good is to follow fully the precepts of the Kingdom, as laid out in the Old and New Testaments.
"To do justice." The Torah lays out what justice is. The prophets' main complaint through many of the prophetic books is that justice is not done. To look at justice, we can look at some specific things stated. No-one was to have two measures or two weights, in other words, we begin with a sense of fairness and honesty. We are not to move the boundary mark, again honesty. We are not to set stumbling blocks in front of the blind, i.e. we do not take unfair advantage. We are not to treat the rich better because they are rich, and we are not to favour the poor because they are poor. This is where we as a country originally got equal rights under the law, it is a Biblical principle.
To do justice also goes back to crime and punishment. Gaol was not listed as one of the punishments commanded in the Torah. In fact there were only two penalties, death or restitution. The death penalty was for a fairly short number of crimes, murder, adultery, homosexuality, blasphemy, and rape. Everything else was covered by restitution. In restitution, if something was stolen, it had to be repaid, often with a fine as well. If the person could not pay it back, then they were sold into slavery (but note that slavery would never last more than 49 years) The point was to restore right relationship between people and between the criminal and God.
Of course society today is much too merciful than this. A child rapist might be back on the street in 20 years. In Honduras and Mexico, long gaol sentences are considered cruel and unusual, so twenty years is the max. Of course if we followed the Old Testament there were would be no gaol except to hold people in preparation for trial.
The question arises then, are we a just society? The Bible emphasises, a fair wage for a day's work. Today many people cannot support their family on what they are being paid. In addition by forcing many to work on Sunday, the poor are robbed of being able to spend time with their families or at worship. There are many employees who are very unfair with their workers. It is not a new problem, and not one that will disappear, but we need to push for true fairness in the workplace and every place. If all employers treated their workers fairly, there would never be call for unions.
Hesed, translated mercy here can refer to kindness, but more refers in this context to relationships, especially covenant relationships, between man and man and between man and God. Mercy in this context would be being faithful to ones wife, and to God. But it also has the characteristic of showing kindness to others. Remember in the Gospels, in almost every healing, Yeshua had compassion on the person who needed healing first. Are we so kind to others that we feel their pain with them? If not, we should.
"To walk humbly with God" sounds easy, but is hard for us. To do this, we need to remember where we come from. Humble comes from the Latin word "humus," dirt. To be humble is to remember that we came from the dirt, that is from the earth, and we receive a brief reminder, Man, or "Adam" is made from earth or dust, "Adamah." To be humble is to know where you come from, or to know your place. God has blessed me with skills in language. I can take credit for studying, but it is only God's gift that allows me to pick up a language in six months. Can I be proud of my green eyes? No! They too are a gift from God. To walk humbly with God, we need to know who we are (sinners, saved by grace) and who God is (our merciful and just king.) We need to quit trying to save ourselves, and we must learn to submit to Yeshua.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
6 March 2011: Transfiguration Sunday
As part of my Lenten Discipline, I am endeavouring to write more and respond less, which means this blog, as well as several others.
Instead of looking at the Tanach directly, we are going to look briefly at the New Testament, and the next few weeks, we will be centering on what it means to be a Christian.
Luke, Chapter 9 beginning at the 28th verse:
+About eight days after these sayings, Yeshuah took with him Peter, John, and James, and went up to the mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became white and
dazzling. And behold, two men were talking with him, who were Moshe
and Eliayahu. They appeared in glory and spoke of his departure,
which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem.
Now, Kefas and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they were fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who
stood with him. As Moshe and Eliyahu were departing from him, Kefas said to Yeshuah, “Master, it is good for us to be here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moshe, and one for Eliayahu.” He did not know what he was saying. While Kephas was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered into the cloud.
A voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!” And after the voice had spoken, Yeshuah was found alone. They kept silent and told no one in those days of what they had seen.
The key verse is here: “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!”
What does a Father mean, when he tells his children to listen to him. Is it not a way of saying, pay attention, because you need to do what I am about to tell you.
The essence then of being a Christian is to listen to God and to obey him. This is how we can test whether or not we are Christian. Do people know we are Christians by our love for one another? Those are Messiah's words, not mine. Many times, in the Gospels, Yeshuah tells us, "If you love me, you will obey me." Do we believe this today? It seems today that there are increasingly flaws in the church, a church which is divided, a church which lacks love. To find the source of these problems, we need to go back to the beginning.
The essence of our faith, is that God is a holy, just loving Father, who created us to be in fellowship with him. Repeatedly we reject him and place our wants before him. He sent Yeshua into the world to take the death penalty for our sins upon himself. To receive the benefit of that sacrifice, we need to accept him as Lord and Saviour. To accept him only as Saviour is to mock him and to place ourselves more firmly in the pit of perdition. Yeshuah, when we accept him as Lord, not only reconciles us to God, one to another, and to nature, gives us the power to conquer sin in our own lives. If we allow that sin to continue in our lives, then we will be weak pitiful Christains, instead of being champions of the faith.
If you are not a champion of the faith, the first question you need to ask, "Have I truly accepted Yeshuah as my Lord and Saviour?" If you haven't, then you need to take this important first step. Next week, we examine Lordship.
Instead of looking at the Tanach directly, we are going to look briefly at the New Testament, and the next few weeks, we will be centering on what it means to be a Christian.
Luke, Chapter 9 beginning at the 28th verse:
+About eight days after these sayings, Yeshuah took with him Peter, John, and James, and went up to the mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became white and
dazzling. And behold, two men were talking with him, who were Moshe
and Eliayahu. They appeared in glory and spoke of his departure,
which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem.
Now, Kefas and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they were fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who
stood with him. As Moshe and Eliyahu were departing from him, Kefas said to Yeshuah, “Master, it is good for us to be here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moshe, and one for Eliayahu.” He did not know what he was saying. While Kephas was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered into the cloud.
A voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!” And after the voice had spoken, Yeshuah was found alone. They kept silent and told no one in those days of what they had seen.
The key verse is here: “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!”
What does a Father mean, when he tells his children to listen to him. Is it not a way of saying, pay attention, because you need to do what I am about to tell you.
The essence then of being a Christian is to listen to God and to obey him. This is how we can test whether or not we are Christian. Do people know we are Christians by our love for one another? Those are Messiah's words, not mine. Many times, in the Gospels, Yeshuah tells us, "If you love me, you will obey me." Do we believe this today? It seems today that there are increasingly flaws in the church, a church which is divided, a church which lacks love. To find the source of these problems, we need to go back to the beginning.
The essence of our faith, is that God is a holy, just loving Father, who created us to be in fellowship with him. Repeatedly we reject him and place our wants before him. He sent Yeshua into the world to take the death penalty for our sins upon himself. To receive the benefit of that sacrifice, we need to accept him as Lord and Saviour. To accept him only as Saviour is to mock him and to place ourselves more firmly in the pit of perdition. Yeshuah, when we accept him as Lord, not only reconciles us to God, one to another, and to nature, gives us the power to conquer sin in our own lives. If we allow that sin to continue in our lives, then we will be weak pitiful Christains, instead of being champions of the faith.
If you are not a champion of the faith, the first question you need to ask, "Have I truly accepted Yeshuah as my Lord and Saviour?" If you haven't, then you need to take this important first step. Next week, we examine Lordship.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Anskar, Apostle to the North: 3 February 2011
http://www.christianhistorytimeline.com/DAILYF/2003/02/daily-02-03-2003.shtml
Anskar, a Saxon, was born in 801, in what would be Picardy today.In 826, when King Harald of Denmark asked for missionaries, Anskar, a Benedictine monk, was one of those who was sent out. Sadly, he was ridiculed by his peers for his missionary fervor. Later he also led a group to Sweden. He built school, and had dealings with the Vikings, who were a tough lot to evangelise, because they thought the breaking of oaths to be honourable. Because of the precariousness of the political situation, he returned to Hamburg, of which he became the first Archbishop. He helped consecrate Gotbert, the first Bishop of Sweden and is held to be the Apostle to the Swedish people. We remember Anskar most for being Apostle to the North, (Denmark, Sweden and Iceland) and because despite the fact he did not see the fruit of his works, he continued his labour. May we do likewise.
Collect: Lord Yeshua, your servant Anskar was called to Denmark and Sweden to proclaim the Gospel, and you gave him strength to continue despite disparagement and deterrence from those around him. Grant to us and our clergy like steadfastness of mind to obey your call, and trust in you for the seed planted to grow. This we ask through Yeshua haMoshiach, who lives and reins with you and the Ruach haKodesh, one God in glory everlasting.
Psalm 69:13-16
Zephaniah 3:9-12
Acts 1:1-9
Mark 6:7-13
Monday, November 22, 2010
I Advent: 28 November 2010
Torah: Deuteronomy 30:10-20
Prophet: Isaiah 40:1-11
Writing: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Psalm: 139
Epistle: I Tim 3: 1-16
Gospel: Luke 3:1-20
Collect: El Shadai, you raised up your prophet, John the Baptist to preach repentance and to prepare the path for Yeshua and the kingdom. So prepare our hearts and minds that our Adonai Yeshua may find a home from where through us he may reign and prepare the world for his future return. This we ask through our Adonai Yeshua who lives and reigns with you and the Ruach haKodesh, one God in shekina glory everlasting. Amen.
22 November: Dear Lord, you gave your servant Clive S. Lewis wonderful ability to proclaim your kingdom, love of you, and spiritual truths through the written and spoken word. Raise up in this and every generation authors who truly love you and proclaim you through word and action. This we ask through Yeshuah haMoshiach who himself used parables to proclaim the truth of the kingdom. Amen. (white)
23 November: Heavenly Father, you raised up your servant Clement to be Bishop of Rome and to reestablish the ecclesiastical authority in Corinth. Help our Bishops to remember that to be bishops apart we must be Bishops together, conforming our lives and doctrine to your most holy scriptures. This we ask through Yeshuah who resisted Satan by using the words of the Old Testament. Amen. (white)
24 November: Your name, O Lord, is great and above every name! You are the head over all things. In you the fullness of God is pleased to dwell and makes peace by the blood of your cross. Fall before him for he is Lord of lords and King of kings! Amen.
25 November: Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
26 November: O Lord, your ways are not our ways. We most often hold grudges against our opponents and seek our own revenge for every offense. Forgive us, O merciful Savior, for withholding forgiveness. Help us to love those who
do not love us so they may find your grace irresistible. This we ask through our Lord and Saviour Yeshua haMoshiach, who lives and reins with you and the Ruach haKodesh, one God in glory everlasting. Amen.
27 November: Forgive your church, O Lord, when she does not proclaim the word which you have called her to do. We most often sing about The Great Commission and overlook the needy and suffering. May our righteous sounding words match our deeds for the sake of HaMoshiach and those in need of hope. Amen.
Prophet: Isaiah 40:1-11
Writing: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Psalm: 139
Epistle: I Tim 3: 1-16
Gospel: Luke 3:1-20
Collect: El Shadai, you raised up your prophet, John the Baptist to preach repentance and to prepare the path for Yeshua and the kingdom. So prepare our hearts and minds that our Adonai Yeshua may find a home from where through us he may reign and prepare the world for his future return. This we ask through our Adonai Yeshua who lives and reigns with you and the Ruach haKodesh, one God in shekina glory everlasting. Amen.
22 November: Dear Lord, you gave your servant Clive S. Lewis wonderful ability to proclaim your kingdom, love of you, and spiritual truths through the written and spoken word. Raise up in this and every generation authors who truly love you and proclaim you through word and action. This we ask through Yeshuah haMoshiach who himself used parables to proclaim the truth of the kingdom. Amen. (white)
23 November: Heavenly Father, you raised up your servant Clement to be Bishop of Rome and to reestablish the ecclesiastical authority in Corinth. Help our Bishops to remember that to be bishops apart we must be Bishops together, conforming our lives and doctrine to your most holy scriptures. This we ask through Yeshuah who resisted Satan by using the words of the Old Testament. Amen. (white)
24 November: Your name, O Lord, is great and above every name! You are the head over all things. In you the fullness of God is pleased to dwell and makes peace by the blood of your cross. Fall before him for he is Lord of lords and King of kings! Amen.
25 November: Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
26 November: O Lord, your ways are not our ways. We most often hold grudges against our opponents and seek our own revenge for every offense. Forgive us, O merciful Savior, for withholding forgiveness. Help us to love those who
do not love us so they may find your grace irresistible. This we ask through our Lord and Saviour Yeshua haMoshiach, who lives and reins with you and the Ruach haKodesh, one God in glory everlasting. Amen.
27 November: Forgive your church, O Lord, when she does not proclaim the word which you have called her to do. We most often sing about The Great Commission and overlook the needy and suffering. May our righteous sounding words match our deeds for the sake of HaMoshiach and those in need of hope. Amen.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Ezequiel 16:1-63: October 31, 2010
This lesson was written as a powerful warning to the nation of Israel. As such it shows that only God cares for Jerusalem. It was God who clothed Israel (remember, clothing is often a symbol of deeds, and clean luxurious clothing stands for good deeds, showing that even our good deeds come from God, and that only God can cover our evil nature, as Messiah's blood covers our evil nature and saves us.
Instead of thanking God, Israel turns to other gods (this is the symbol of prostitution). She even uses the things God gave her to worship false gods. Even worse, she sacrifices her children to those false gods!Even the Phillistines are shocked at her behaviour!
Brothers and sisters, does this description make you think. As well as describing Jerusalem, does it not describe the country we live in? God has blessed this country greatly, and we take those blessings and build houses and buy cars, but we forget the orphan and widow. Children are sacrificed on the altar of convenience by abortion. Other children are sacrificed because no-one has time to take care of them. Sports, money, drugs, exercise, leisure, have these not become the drugs upon which we squander what God has given us. God promised judgment to Jerusalem. Do we think that we shall avoid it. I think not.
The good news in this is twofold. God will not forget the covenant he made with Israel. There is still a role for the Jews to play, and they will come to know Yeshua as Messiah, Lord and Saviour. There is also hope for us, but we must repent and change our ways. Why do we give our enthusiasm and cash to entertainers? Why do we have time to party, but not have time to tell people that Yeshua came into the world to save sinners. Where are you? Are you wasting God's gifts on the idols of this world, or are you working to save sinners and build up other Christians.
Instead of thanking God, Israel turns to other gods (this is the symbol of prostitution). She even uses the things God gave her to worship false gods. Even worse, she sacrifices her children to those false gods!Even the Phillistines are shocked at her behaviour!
Brothers and sisters, does this description make you think. As well as describing Jerusalem, does it not describe the country we live in? God has blessed this country greatly, and we take those blessings and build houses and buy cars, but we forget the orphan and widow. Children are sacrificed on the altar of convenience by abortion. Other children are sacrificed because no-one has time to take care of them. Sports, money, drugs, exercise, leisure, have these not become the drugs upon which we squander what God has given us. God promised judgment to Jerusalem. Do we think that we shall avoid it. I think not.
The good news in this is twofold. God will not forget the covenant he made with Israel. There is still a role for the Jews to play, and they will come to know Yeshua as Messiah, Lord and Saviour. There is also hope for us, but we must repent and change our ways. Why do we give our enthusiasm and cash to entertainers? Why do we have time to party, but not have time to tell people that Yeshua came into the world to save sinners. Where are you? Are you wasting God's gifts on the idols of this world, or are you working to save sinners and build up other Christians.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
