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God’s message to me: Faith and the fear of God should always be a part of leadership. Religion should never be a matter of politics. It works one way but not the other. The goal of God is to provide protection and prosperity to His people. As such it is wise for a leader to look to God for direction and to guide his leadership based on God’s direction.
When leaders begin to set up principles and call them religion, WATCH OUT. The goal of the political leader is power and the quest for personal power is hindered by recognition of God’s power. For as long there have been governments there have been men willing to lead people down the wrong path in the guise of religious values. Always remember that truth is found in the bible not in philosophy. No matter how good something sounds or how convincing the speaker, if it disagrees with the bible it will lead to destruction.
Promises: God can make you great or destroy you and the fact that He has made you great will not stop Him from destroying you if you turn from Him and by your action lead others astray.
Commands: Turning from God is an act of evil but, intentionally turning the hearts of others from God and leading them into the sin of worshiping false gods is worse. Jeroboam turned most of Israel to false worship in order to secure political power and God promised to destroy his house for that sin. He also promised that the false priests and false prophets of those false religions would be killed on their own alter.
Timeless principles: Leaders fear what they cannot control. The Israelites served God and looked to the temple in Jerusalem as their most holy site. Jeroboam felt that they would turn against him and back to Rohoboam if they continued to go to the temple so he set up idols and strengthened worship in false gods so that the people would look to false religion outside of Jerusalem and not have a chance of their religion guiding their politics.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: Understanding the bible and what God truly intended for us is the only antidote to political correctness. Politically correct is just the current standard that politicians can convince people is right. They will use all the right words to make it seem like it is of God but they will lead you straight to hell.
Freedom of choice sounds like a good thing but amounts to murder. Euthanasia seems like a dignified act of love but amounts to patricide(killing your parents). Population control is the political effort to avoid starvation, poverty and other evils brought on by overpopulation. It also goes by the name of Eugenics, National Socialism(the Nazi Party), Holocaust, Forced abortion, extermination of the weak or “defective”. In other words, all the evils that led to the worst and darkest days of the last century. Think “ethnic cleansing.”
It sounds great when people say we should give back to the community but the community didn’t give you anything to begin with. God did. Charity is wonderful, socialism is destructive. Remember this basic principle. Any beautiful thing that God creates, Satan will try to adopt, pervert and undermine. The best lie is the one hidden in the truth. Forced charity is anything but charitable. Volunteering isn’t an act of selflessness if you don’t have a choice not to volunteer. Sharing the wealth is charity, tax and spend is theft.
more to learn for in-depth study: Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, Acted foolishly in his first big decision as king. He could have kept all of Israel united by following the advice of those his father had chosen as advisers. God intended to break up the kingdom and so Rehoboam listened to his personal friends instead.
Those who had a rough time under Solomon asked to be treated better and that would have been wise. Rehoboam was not wise and his friends even less so and he listened to the advice of his friends who said that he should be aggressive. Faced with those who wanted more fairness he promised less and all of Israel, except the tribe of Judah in which the capital lay, turned against him. When he sent out the tax collector to demand the money he expected to receive as king the people killed the tax collector. The king was left to run away and the rest of Israel appointed Jeroboam as their king.
tomorrow: First Kings 14-16
Showing posts with label charity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label charity. Show all posts
Monday, April 13, 2009
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Deuteronomy 22-25
God’s message to me: Do not show favoritism. Be evenhanded in all dealings. Be fair and just.
Promises: Life will be well with you so long as your dealings are honest, fair, and even handed.
Commands: If you see something wrong you have a duty to help. Ignoring the problem doesn’t make it go away. Considering it someone else's business just isn’t helpful to anyone.
Timeless principles: We see some basic civil rules here as well. Rooftops were typically flat and a parapet is a low wall around the roof to prevent accidental falls. Without one the owner is liable for harm to those who do fall.
Times change, civilization advances, people get new attitudes but, SEXUAL SIN REMAINS THE SAME. No amount of political correctness will change God’s view on this. “The world is different now” is not an excuse. It’s not different. The Old Testament is discussing the same issues 6000 years ago that we are claiming should change our views since the sexual revolution of the 1960’s. Adultery, prostitution, homosexuality, bestiality, child molestation, and the list goes on. These are not new, they are not reasonable or natural and they are always sin.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: A man in the western US recently followed the principle of the gleanings. Having taken only the base portion of his harvest he left the field and arranged a day when people could come and gather the remainder. Thousands showed up and picked the fields clean, grateful for the opportunity to gather food for their families. Imagine if every US farm followed this practice, what would be left of our hunger problems.
more to learn for in-depth study: This section is filled with commands as the law of Israel is repeated and extended. The book of the law is a separate text but it would be easy to recreate it by simply gathering the laws written in the first five books of the bible. Keep in mind the bible is not intended to give you a comprehensive picture of Israel at the time, but to provide you with the details God wanted to pass on for the purpose of teaching us truth. Israel’s history, legends and a lot of details not useful to our study but, interesting historically, can be found in the Jewish Talmud.
Edomites were the children of Esau, twin brother to Jacob who was named Israel by God. they were to be considered brothers to the nation of Israel. Egypt was the nursery in which the young nation of Israel was reared and they were to be considered friends.
tomorrow: Deuteronomy 26-28
Promises: Life will be well with you so long as your dealings are honest, fair, and even handed.
Commands: If you see something wrong you have a duty to help. Ignoring the problem doesn’t make it go away. Considering it someone else's business just isn’t helpful to anyone.
Timeless principles: We see some basic civil rules here as well. Rooftops were typically flat and a parapet is a low wall around the roof to prevent accidental falls. Without one the owner is liable for harm to those who do fall.
Times change, civilization advances, people get new attitudes but, SEXUAL SIN REMAINS THE SAME. No amount of political correctness will change God’s view on this. “The world is different now” is not an excuse. It’s not different. The Old Testament is discussing the same issues 6000 years ago that we are claiming should change our views since the sexual revolution of the 1960’s. Adultery, prostitution, homosexuality, bestiality, child molestation, and the list goes on. These are not new, they are not reasonable or natural and they are always sin.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: A man in the western US recently followed the principle of the gleanings. Having taken only the base portion of his harvest he left the field and arranged a day when people could come and gather the remainder. Thousands showed up and picked the fields clean, grateful for the opportunity to gather food for their families. Imagine if every US farm followed this practice, what would be left of our hunger problems.
more to learn for in-depth study: This section is filled with commands as the law of Israel is repeated and extended. The book of the law is a separate text but it would be easy to recreate it by simply gathering the laws written in the first five books of the bible. Keep in mind the bible is not intended to give you a comprehensive picture of Israel at the time, but to provide you with the details God wanted to pass on for the purpose of teaching us truth. Israel’s history, legends and a lot of details not useful to our study but, interesting historically, can be found in the Jewish Talmud.
Edomites were the children of Esau, twin brother to Jacob who was named Israel by God. they were to be considered brothers to the nation of Israel. Egypt was the nursery in which the young nation of Israel was reared and they were to be considered friends.
tomorrow: Deuteronomy 26-28
Friday, February 27, 2009
Deuteronomy 14-17
God’s message to me: Love your neighbor as yourself and do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Simple Ideas but, God promises prosperity to those who follow them. He promised that doing so would ensure that his people were lenders and not borrowers and rulers but not ruled. how clear can God be. Forgive debt at a reasonable time and give to the poor and you will be RICH.
Promises: Do you want prosperity? GIVE. Do you want debt freedom? FORGIVE. The poor will always be among you(this was not a call to socialism but to charity).
Commands: The Easter season is starting and that means that the time of Passover is coming. God appointed a number of feasts for the Israelites to always celebrate and Passover is the first. It is one we Christians see as the foreshadowing of Christ’s death on the Cross for our salvation. With all the debate over the origins of Easter we must not forget what it is we are commemorating as Christians. The Easter Bunny didn’t rise from the dead. Easter Eggs don’t grant salvation. Jelly beans can’t wash away our sins. The Son of God was Born as a man, lived a perfect life, was murdered brutally to be a sacrifice for all our sins, was buried and rose from the dead victorious over death, hell and the grave.
Timeless principles: The tithe belongs to God. PERIOD. With the spreading of the Israelites across the land it would become difficult to haul grain, produce and livestock to the temple from some locations. For that situation God permitted the tithe offering to be sold and the money for it taken to the temple where it could be used to purchase other produce, grain and livestock for the tithe. No excuses were given for not bringing the tithe. If you couldn’t bring the original product you could bring the durable cash it bought.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: When a slave was set free, in the year of debt forgiveness, his owner sent him away well supplied with food and wine and livestock. No slave was kept longer than 6 years unless owner and slave both chose to stay together as family rather than as master and servant.
more to learn for in-depth study: Chapter 14 gives a partial list of clean and unclean animals in regard to Kosher laws. Deuteronomy 17:18 hundreds of years before the Israelites even asked for a king, God mad it law that such a king would be required to copy all the law in writing and read it and keep it. He would be required to copy it from the written book of the law that was before the priests. In other words, once again, we clarify that these laws and books were in written form from the beginning and kept by the leaders and priests of Israel in written form. THIS IS NOT AN ORAL TRADITION!!!!
Here is a thought. Where do you think the US got the idea for a law that clears things from your credit record after seven years. More importantly, isn’t it interesting that the governments financial situation with deficient, debt and instability worsens dramatically the more it tries to exempt itself and it’s allies from this debt forgiveness.
tomorrow: Deuteronomy 18-21
Promises: Do you want prosperity? GIVE. Do you want debt freedom? FORGIVE. The poor will always be among you(this was not a call to socialism but to charity).
Commands: The Easter season is starting and that means that the time of Passover is coming. God appointed a number of feasts for the Israelites to always celebrate and Passover is the first. It is one we Christians see as the foreshadowing of Christ’s death on the Cross for our salvation. With all the debate over the origins of Easter we must not forget what it is we are commemorating as Christians. The Easter Bunny didn’t rise from the dead. Easter Eggs don’t grant salvation. Jelly beans can’t wash away our sins. The Son of God was Born as a man, lived a perfect life, was murdered brutally to be a sacrifice for all our sins, was buried and rose from the dead victorious over death, hell and the grave.
Timeless principles: The tithe belongs to God. PERIOD. With the spreading of the Israelites across the land it would become difficult to haul grain, produce and livestock to the temple from some locations. For that situation God permitted the tithe offering to be sold and the money for it taken to the temple where it could be used to purchase other produce, grain and livestock for the tithe. No excuses were given for not bringing the tithe. If you couldn’t bring the original product you could bring the durable cash it bought.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: When a slave was set free, in the year of debt forgiveness, his owner sent him away well supplied with food and wine and livestock. No slave was kept longer than 6 years unless owner and slave both chose to stay together as family rather than as master and servant.
more to learn for in-depth study: Chapter 14 gives a partial list of clean and unclean animals in regard to Kosher laws. Deuteronomy 17:18 hundreds of years before the Israelites even asked for a king, God mad it law that such a king would be required to copy all the law in writing and read it and keep it. He would be required to copy it from the written book of the law that was before the priests. In other words, once again, we clarify that these laws and books were in written form from the beginning and kept by the leaders and priests of Israel in written form. THIS IS NOT AN ORAL TRADITION!!!!
Here is a thought. Where do you think the US got the idea for a law that clears things from your credit record after seven years. More importantly, isn’t it interesting that the governments financial situation with deficient, debt and instability worsens dramatically the more it tries to exempt itself and it’s allies from this debt forgiveness.
tomorrow: Deuteronomy 18-21
Friday, February 6, 2009
Leviticus chapter 24-25
God’s message to me: Always be fair in your treatment of others.
Promises: God’s laws are applied evenly to all and so His grace is also. No matter who you are or where your from He will deal with you the same as if you were one of his chosen people.
Commands: help the poor and those who need a hand up. Do not use them for profit.
Timeless principles: Be a fair employer. Don’t demand more than is reasonable. Willingly help those who need it and don’t oppress them with heavy interest or unreasonable terms.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: All of the above is application. These are the caring acts of Christians. This should be second nature to us but for some it is not and many new Christians don’t know any better. Teach them and remember for yourself.
more to learn for in-depth study: While the 24th chapter makes it clear that the Lord supports the death penalty for murderers, it is important to note, He also establishes that the law should apply equally to foreigners and Israelites. This is an important precedent that gives everyone equal protection under the law.
Jubilee: every 7 years is a year of rest but every 50 years is a rest and celebration. the captives are set free, everyone returns to their families and their family lands.
Usury is another word for interest rates. I imagine the payday loan business would be in trouble with this law since no interest could be charged on a loan to poor people. The idea was to encourage brotherhood. It is exceptionally unusual for a family member to charge interest when they loan money. These rules also prevent employers from being harsh taskmasters.
tomorrow: Leviticus chapter 26-27
Promises: God’s laws are applied evenly to all and so His grace is also. No matter who you are or where your from He will deal with you the same as if you were one of his chosen people.
Commands: help the poor and those who need a hand up. Do not use them for profit.
Timeless principles: Be a fair employer. Don’t demand more than is reasonable. Willingly help those who need it and don’t oppress them with heavy interest or unreasonable terms.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: All of the above is application. These are the caring acts of Christians. This should be second nature to us but for some it is not and many new Christians don’t know any better. Teach them and remember for yourself.
more to learn for in-depth study: While the 24th chapter makes it clear that the Lord supports the death penalty for murderers, it is important to note, He also establishes that the law should apply equally to foreigners and Israelites. This is an important precedent that gives everyone equal protection under the law.
Jubilee: every 7 years is a year of rest but every 50 years is a rest and celebration. the captives are set free, everyone returns to their families and their family lands.
Usury is another word for interest rates. I imagine the payday loan business would be in trouble with this law since no interest could be charged on a loan to poor people. The idea was to encourage brotherhood. It is exceptionally unusual for a family member to charge interest when they loan money. These rules also prevent employers from being harsh taskmasters.
tomorrow: Leviticus chapter 26-27
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