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God’s message to me: Be careful of the company you keep. As if it wasn’t bad enough that former kings of Judah spent so much time with the kings of Israel that their children led Judah in the same evil idolatry, Hezekiah welcomed the emissaries of Babylon and gave them the grand tour of every treasure in Israel. As Isaiah pointed out to him, he had shown the thieves where the valuables were kept. It was only a matter of time before they would come to claim those treasures as their prize.
Promises: Ours is a forgiving God who will protect those who honestly recognize their sin and ask forgiveness from God.
Commands: God loves you and wants to be with you but, He cannot be with you unless you recognize your sin and ask his forgiveness.
Timeless principles: The most important thing you can learn is not how you have sinned but how you react to learning of it. When Josiah learned the law of Israel he went into mourning for their sin and begged God to show him what to do about the law he had discovered. Because he humbled himself and mourned for past sin, God promised him security in his time and that the punishment for those past sins would not happen in his lifetime.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: I’ve already done it. I am washed in the blood of Jesus the Christ and forgiven by God for my sins. You can be too. Read this.
more to learn for in-depth study: Read John Chapter 3 and understand the path to salvation.
tomorrow: Second Kings 23-25
Showing posts with label forgiveness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label forgiveness. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Exodus chapters 34-36
The theme of these last few lessons has focused on the commandments. Have you kept the 10 commandments? How many have you broken? Are you good enough? Take the good test and find out
God’s message to me: 34:23-34 God is our protection and we have no need to worry about our protection when we serve Him. When the people of Israel celebrated Holy Days the Levites took up arms and replaced them as guard. In modern times, most of the invasions of Israel came on Holy days when most of the Israeli army was at home on leave. In every case they have found themselves out maneuvered, out gunned and out classed and caught so completely off guard that they often had half the country taken over before they could effectively recall the soldiers to service. In every single case, within days, they have retaken all lost ground and taken over large portions of the attacking country’s territory. Militarily this is impossible and the nation of Israel should have ceased to exist long ago. With God nothing is Impossible and He makes certain His people are safe, even when they are to busy worshiping to be battle ready. God uses those times to bring glory to Himself.
I have asked non believers to explain this and they can’t . I have asked Muslims to show me an example of their people winning and they can’t. I have been asked by Muslims what I will say when their people rush Israel into the sea and I point out the facts I have just shown then ask them to accept God before He destroys them for attacking His people.
Promises: God is willing and able to forgive you if you ask. Most of the Israelites were forgiven for their actions regarding the golden calf. Aaron made the calf, led the worship and then lied about how it was made and was not only forgiven but made High Priest.
Commands: Obey God. Ask forgiveness for you sins. Rely on God.
Timeless principles: God Knows what you are to do long before you do. When He laid out the design of the temple He didn’t ask for just any willing artisans. He called for the men who were best for the job by name. Ministry isn’t left for just anyone willing to try his hand. It is what God has made you for and called you to. A willing heart is necessary but so is the calling and the gifting.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: Ask God for forgiveness of those things I have done, don’t repeat the sins, and trust God to bring me through the tough times.
more to learn for in-depth study: 334:27 god says “write these words” I keep telling you this is a written record.
Exodus 34:6b-7 “The Lord God , merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and fourth generation.”
God is filled with mercy, grace, patience, goodness, and truth. God forgives sin whether it is a mistake or intended evil, when asked for forgiveness.
Contrary to popular belief God is a just God. The guilty are not forgiven without asking for forgiveness and accepting Him. Reject God and the result of your sin is on your children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. Of course they can get right with God and escape the generational curse.
This is one of those passages that explains the reason for hell to those who “never heard the Gospel.” Visiting iniquity to the 3rd and 4th generation means around 100 years realistically. The idea being, that those who had the message and rejected it would have a difficult time not knowing the message for a long time. Atheists and agnostics can’t claim to not know the message. They simply reject it. Communists fall into this area. Communism suppresses religion to make the state the ultimate power but, both the party officials and the little guy on the street still know the message of God decades after the bible has been banned.
I have heard a number of “philosophies” from native tribesman in parts of the world that had no contact with “Christendom” for hundreds of years. While many are pagan, polytheist ramblings you find world wide there is always at lest one that is the gospel, at least from the Old Testament view. They may not have the message of Christ as risen savior but they have the message He taught from the Old Testament including not only the law but the faith in Messiah yet to come. Unlike those who seek Messiah and reject Christ these people never knew of Christ and converted quickly when they learned of Him. History classes don’t pay much attention to these peoples but they can be found in books and historical documentaries.
Keep in mind we all started in Northern Iraq(Kurdistan)at the foot of Mt Ararat. We all came from the children of Noah. We spread across the earth from there slowly and migrated to the various lands. History is filled with contacts between cultures who knew the events of the New Testament and those who didn’t. Vikings visited the America’s hundreds of years before Columbus. India and China were invaded by Romans. China traded and warred with Japan and the outlying nations like Korea and Vietnam. Australia, New Zealand, the Cook Islands and many others were settled by people from mainland areas and continued to trade and make contact by sea with others.
Before I forget, AGAIN, tomorrow we will cover Exodus chapters 37-39.
God’s message to me: 34:23-34 God is our protection and we have no need to worry about our protection when we serve Him. When the people of Israel celebrated Holy Days the Levites took up arms and replaced them as guard. In modern times, most of the invasions of Israel came on Holy days when most of the Israeli army was at home on leave. In every case they have found themselves out maneuvered, out gunned and out classed and caught so completely off guard that they often had half the country taken over before they could effectively recall the soldiers to service. In every single case, within days, they have retaken all lost ground and taken over large portions of the attacking country’s territory. Militarily this is impossible and the nation of Israel should have ceased to exist long ago. With God nothing is Impossible and He makes certain His people are safe, even when they are to busy worshiping to be battle ready. God uses those times to bring glory to Himself.
I have asked non believers to explain this and they can’t . I have asked Muslims to show me an example of their people winning and they can’t. I have been asked by Muslims what I will say when their people rush Israel into the sea and I point out the facts I have just shown then ask them to accept God before He destroys them for attacking His people.
Promises: God is willing and able to forgive you if you ask. Most of the Israelites were forgiven for their actions regarding the golden calf. Aaron made the calf, led the worship and then lied about how it was made and was not only forgiven but made High Priest.
Commands: Obey God. Ask forgiveness for you sins. Rely on God.
Timeless principles: God Knows what you are to do long before you do. When He laid out the design of the temple He didn’t ask for just any willing artisans. He called for the men who were best for the job by name. Ministry isn’t left for just anyone willing to try his hand. It is what God has made you for and called you to. A willing heart is necessary but so is the calling and the gifting.
How can I apply what I’ve learned: Ask God for forgiveness of those things I have done, don’t repeat the sins, and trust God to bring me through the tough times.
more to learn for in-depth study: 334:27 god says “write these words” I keep telling you this is a written record.
Exodus 34:6b-7 “The Lord God , merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and fourth generation.”
God is filled with mercy, grace, patience, goodness, and truth. God forgives sin whether it is a mistake or intended evil, when asked for forgiveness.
Contrary to popular belief God is a just God. The guilty are not forgiven without asking for forgiveness and accepting Him. Reject God and the result of your sin is on your children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. Of course they can get right with God and escape the generational curse.
This is one of those passages that explains the reason for hell to those who “never heard the Gospel.” Visiting iniquity to the 3rd and 4th generation means around 100 years realistically. The idea being, that those who had the message and rejected it would have a difficult time not knowing the message for a long time. Atheists and agnostics can’t claim to not know the message. They simply reject it. Communists fall into this area. Communism suppresses religion to make the state the ultimate power but, both the party officials and the little guy on the street still know the message of God decades after the bible has been banned.
I have heard a number of “philosophies” from native tribesman in parts of the world that had no contact with “Christendom” for hundreds of years. While many are pagan, polytheist ramblings you find world wide there is always at lest one that is the gospel, at least from the Old Testament view. They may not have the message of Christ as risen savior but they have the message He taught from the Old Testament including not only the law but the faith in Messiah yet to come. Unlike those who seek Messiah and reject Christ these people never knew of Christ and converted quickly when they learned of Him. History classes don’t pay much attention to these peoples but they can be found in books and historical documentaries.
Keep in mind we all started in Northern Iraq(Kurdistan)at the foot of Mt Ararat. We all came from the children of Noah. We spread across the earth from there slowly and migrated to the various lands. History is filled with contacts between cultures who knew the events of the New Testament and those who didn’t. Vikings visited the America’s hundreds of years before Columbus. India and China were invaded by Romans. China traded and warred with Japan and the outlying nations like Korea and Vietnam. Australia, New Zealand, the Cook Islands and many others were settled by people from mainland areas and continued to trade and make contact by sea with others.
Before I forget, AGAIN, tomorrow we will cover Exodus chapters 37-39.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Exodus chapters 29-30
Sanctify the priests
God’s message to me: God is righteous, holy and just. He cannot abide in the presence of sin. Everything placed before him in the temple had to be consecrated to Him. Cleansed and atoned for then anointed to His service.
Promises: No sin is too great for God to forgive. He has prepared an atonement for our sin and a path to sanctify us to His service.
Commands: That which is meant for God is meant for Him alone. It is not intended for general use by anyone else. Using those things meant for His service and glory in a manner that does not serve and glorify Him is wrong.
Timeless principles: There is an idea I come across pretty regularly. People think that their tithes and offerings can be delayed when they need to use them elsewhere. The idea is that they can always pay it back later. These passages make it clear that these things are meant for God and putting them to other use is wrong. It is difficult to live up to this when the bills are due and the gas prices skyrocket and the kids need new things for school but, Serving God first and foremost will allow God to help you through all the rest.
more to learn for in-depth study: It’s difficult, for us, to understand all the sacrifices and atonement rituals of the Old Testament. God provided rules of atonement and blood sacrifice to atone for the sins of those people. When Christ died on the cross he became the ultimate sacrifice. A sinless man was executed in brutal fashion to make up for all our sins, past, present and future. Because of Jesus Christ, we no longer need all these rituals and devices.
There are some basic principles that still exist today. The Tithes and Offerings we bring to God at our churches are to be used for the maintenance of our church and to provide for our ministers. In later portions of the Old Testament we will see that the temple is neglected as the priests tend their fields and businesses to provide for their families and them selves. This was a result of the failure of the people to bring their offerings to God and thereby support their ministers.
It is true that some churches are small and don’t have the budget to provide for the ministers needs. In this case it is incumbent upon believers, not only to find more ways to support their ministers but, also, to grow the church so that it can better support them. God didn’t call them to a life of poverty and the constant need to find other ways of supporting themselves. He called them to serve Him, teach His word, Lead His people and build His church. God calls the church body to provide for the needs of it’s ministers so that they can concentrate on their jobs.
Your pastors teach the word, manage the church and it’s finances, pray with and tend to the sick, perform your weddings and funerals, lead the prayer ministries, oversee the efforts of the other teachers and workers in the church, and continually go to God in prayer and study to better serve you by serving Him. Is it to much to ask that they have a nice home for their family, good clothes to wear when they are representing God and your church family, Food on their table and provision for the ministries they oversee?
Does your church provide food or supplies to the needy? Does it have outside ministries in the hospitals and prisons? Do they provide Sunday school and other teaching programs? Do they have fellowship meals and socials for the fellowship of the saints? How do you expect these common ministries to be fulfilled if your pastor has to do all that and hold down a full time job to feed his family? How can the church prosper if the pastor is working 40 hours a week to provide for his family and another 40 to keep up the church? When is your minister supposed to spend time with his children?
The most important message here is that we are to support the church and the ministers so that the body of believers can be properly served.
God’s message to me: God is righteous, holy and just. He cannot abide in the presence of sin. Everything placed before him in the temple had to be consecrated to Him. Cleansed and atoned for then anointed to His service.
Promises: No sin is too great for God to forgive. He has prepared an atonement for our sin and a path to sanctify us to His service.
Commands: That which is meant for God is meant for Him alone. It is not intended for general use by anyone else. Using those things meant for His service and glory in a manner that does not serve and glorify Him is wrong.
Timeless principles: There is an idea I come across pretty regularly. People think that their tithes and offerings can be delayed when they need to use them elsewhere. The idea is that they can always pay it back later. These passages make it clear that these things are meant for God and putting them to other use is wrong. It is difficult to live up to this when the bills are due and the gas prices skyrocket and the kids need new things for school but, Serving God first and foremost will allow God to help you through all the rest.
more to learn for in-depth study: It’s difficult, for us, to understand all the sacrifices and atonement rituals of the Old Testament. God provided rules of atonement and blood sacrifice to atone for the sins of those people. When Christ died on the cross he became the ultimate sacrifice. A sinless man was executed in brutal fashion to make up for all our sins, past, present and future. Because of Jesus Christ, we no longer need all these rituals and devices.
There are some basic principles that still exist today. The Tithes and Offerings we bring to God at our churches are to be used for the maintenance of our church and to provide for our ministers. In later portions of the Old Testament we will see that the temple is neglected as the priests tend their fields and businesses to provide for their families and them selves. This was a result of the failure of the people to bring their offerings to God and thereby support their ministers.
It is true that some churches are small and don’t have the budget to provide for the ministers needs. In this case it is incumbent upon believers, not only to find more ways to support their ministers but, also, to grow the church so that it can better support them. God didn’t call them to a life of poverty and the constant need to find other ways of supporting themselves. He called them to serve Him, teach His word, Lead His people and build His church. God calls the church body to provide for the needs of it’s ministers so that they can concentrate on their jobs.
Your pastors teach the word, manage the church and it’s finances, pray with and tend to the sick, perform your weddings and funerals, lead the prayer ministries, oversee the efforts of the other teachers and workers in the church, and continually go to God in prayer and study to better serve you by serving Him. Is it to much to ask that they have a nice home for their family, good clothes to wear when they are representing God and your church family, Food on their table and provision for the ministries they oversee?
Does your church provide food or supplies to the needy? Does it have outside ministries in the hospitals and prisons? Do they provide Sunday school and other teaching programs? Do they have fellowship meals and socials for the fellowship of the saints? How do you expect these common ministries to be fulfilled if your pastor has to do all that and hold down a full time job to feed his family? How can the church prosper if the pastor is working 40 hours a week to provide for his family and another 40 to keep up the church? When is your minister supposed to spend time with his children?
The most important message here is that we are to support the church and the ministers so that the body of believers can be properly served.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Genesis Chapters 43-46
God’s message to me: God prepares the way to preserve us in disaster
Promises: All things work together for the good to those who serve God
Commands: Forgiveness is a virtue. Be virtuous.
Timeless principles: If God brings you to it He will also bring you through it. Josephs service provided a safe home for his family in the time of need.
more to learn for in-depth study: Joseph played a few tricks on his brothers but when Judah offered himself in place of his younger brother Joseph could no longer hide himself. He forgave his brothers and explained their action was used by God to ensure the family would survive the drought.
God placed Joseph in the right place at the right time so that the Children of Israel would have a place to grow into a nation. He gave Joseph such favor in the eyes of Pharaoh that the ruler of Egypt ordered Josephs family be treated as the family of royalty.
It seems I need to fall behind to get ahead. I had an early morning planning music with the pastor. He is also working on a funeral for a family member of one of our members. Being late today I started the studies for the next couple of posts. I'm Sorry for the late post today.
Promises: All things work together for the good to those who serve God
Commands: Forgiveness is a virtue. Be virtuous.
Timeless principles: If God brings you to it He will also bring you through it. Josephs service provided a safe home for his family in the time of need.
more to learn for in-depth study: Joseph played a few tricks on his brothers but when Judah offered himself in place of his younger brother Joseph could no longer hide himself. He forgave his brothers and explained their action was used by God to ensure the family would survive the drought.
God placed Joseph in the right place at the right time so that the Children of Israel would have a place to grow into a nation. He gave Joseph such favor in the eyes of Pharaoh that the ruler of Egypt ordered Josephs family be treated as the family of royalty.
It seems I need to fall behind to get ahead. I had an early morning planning music with the pastor. He is also working on a funeral for a family member of one of our members. Being late today I started the studies for the next couple of posts. I'm Sorry for the late post today.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Genesis chapters 35-37
God's message to me: When God appoints you the leader, don't expect everybody to like it. Jealousy is a lot more likely.
Reuben sinned, not only against God but against Isaac when he slept with is step-mother Bilhah. Notice there is no retribution from Isaac despite the fact that the next verse says he learned of it. Later Reuben is the one who protects Joseph. Forgiveness is a powerful thing.
Reuben's loyalty to his father and desire to do write after being forgiven for such a wrong is powerful. Reuben knew the price he could have paid. His brothers slaughtered every man in an entire city for such sin with their sister and he had joined the rest of his brothers in plundering that city for the same sin. Make no mistake, Reuben knew to be thankful he was still breathing.
Promises: God fulfills his promises completely. Jacob and Esau remained friendly after Jacob returned. They buried their father together and when their family ranches became to prosperous to share the same land it was Esau who sent in search of other pastures. As with Ishmael, Esau was the father of nations and the Edomites are his descendants. The Ishmaelites are the children of Ishmael. Many became traders roaming throughout the land and living among their brothers in the prosperity of trade. They were nations and tribes of their own and their trade served the needs of their brothers in Israel and Edom.
Commands: I see no direct command here. Doing the right thing is God's desire for us. Reuben got a bad start but he sought to do the right thing. He kept his brothers from killing Joseph and intended to sneak him out of the pit and back to his father when the rest weren't looking. His actions saved Joseph's life and, when he learned that Joseph was gone, he tore his clothes in anguish and mourning for what had been done.
Going along with his brothers would have been easy but Reuben didn't do it. He preferred to take his chances at becoming Joseph's servant to doing the wrong thing. Remember, in all you do, there are only two opinions that count. Everyone else is transient, family can ignore you or even die. Friends can dump you and even spouses occasionally leave. The rest of the world just does not matter. Every morning you have to look yourself in the mirror and be satisfied that you are honorable. Every moment of every day you know that God is with you and will judge your actions. Your's and God's are the only opinions of value.
Timeless Principles: Doing the right thing is not always popular and being God's chosen is not the path to popularity either. Reuben wasn't even consulted on selling Joseph. He had pushed to spare his life in the first place. They weren't interested in his sparing the runt again.
Joseph was chosen to lead. Like his Father and Grandfather he was the youngest and tradition said the firstborn was the heir apparent and the others would serve the oldest. It's telling to note that Reuben was the oldest. Despite Joseph's dreams that said his right would go to the baby in the family, Reuben was still willing to do what was right.
Christ told his Apostles something they should have known from this history. "The last shall be first and the first shall be last."
How can I apply what I've learned: Always seek to do the right thing. Going along with the crowd is easy and safe but going along with God is the key to prosperity. Regardless of the life you lead it is easier to live with yourself if you are doing what's right.
More to learn for in-depth study:
Quick facts:
Rachael died in childbirth when Joseph was born.
The brothers had plenty of reason to hate Joseph. At 17 he tattled on brothers to his father. It was bad enough to get in the historical record. His dad doted on him and even gave him a coat of many colors. Keep in mind that color dyes weren't cheap and multi colored clothing would have been the height of luxury. Just think of how you felt about the "cool kids" in school who always got the latest fashions while you were wearing hand me downs or K-Mart specials.
2 Dreams portrayed Joseph ruling over his brothers and parents. The boys binding sheafs of wheat in the field only to have Joseph's stand tall while the others bowed down to it. The dream of the sun, moon and 11 stars bowing down to Joseph. As the baby of the family and an annoying tattle tale, none of the brothers would have been keen on the idea of being ruled by their baby brother.
Finally, we get to see that Ishmael's children were fulfilling God's promise to become a nation. They were now known as the Ishmaelites and they were traders in the land with their trade routes and caravans serving the needs of their brothers Israel and Edom. While slavery was certainly not the trade most of us would want to be in, The primary business seemed to be trade goods. The bible names camels, spices, lotions and perfume as trade goods they were hauling.
Reuben sinned, not only against God but against Isaac when he slept with is step-mother Bilhah. Notice there is no retribution from Isaac despite the fact that the next verse says he learned of it. Later Reuben is the one who protects Joseph. Forgiveness is a powerful thing.
Reuben's loyalty to his father and desire to do write after being forgiven for such a wrong is powerful. Reuben knew the price he could have paid. His brothers slaughtered every man in an entire city for such sin with their sister and he had joined the rest of his brothers in plundering that city for the same sin. Make no mistake, Reuben knew to be thankful he was still breathing.
Promises: God fulfills his promises completely. Jacob and Esau remained friendly after Jacob returned. They buried their father together and when their family ranches became to prosperous to share the same land it was Esau who sent in search of other pastures. As with Ishmael, Esau was the father of nations and the Edomites are his descendants. The Ishmaelites are the children of Ishmael. Many became traders roaming throughout the land and living among their brothers in the prosperity of trade. They were nations and tribes of their own and their trade served the needs of their brothers in Israel and Edom.
Commands: I see no direct command here. Doing the right thing is God's desire for us. Reuben got a bad start but he sought to do the right thing. He kept his brothers from killing Joseph and intended to sneak him out of the pit and back to his father when the rest weren't looking. His actions saved Joseph's life and, when he learned that Joseph was gone, he tore his clothes in anguish and mourning for what had been done.
Going along with his brothers would have been easy but Reuben didn't do it. He preferred to take his chances at becoming Joseph's servant to doing the wrong thing. Remember, in all you do, there are only two opinions that count. Everyone else is transient, family can ignore you or even die. Friends can dump you and even spouses occasionally leave. The rest of the world just does not matter. Every morning you have to look yourself in the mirror and be satisfied that you are honorable. Every moment of every day you know that God is with you and will judge your actions. Your's and God's are the only opinions of value.
Timeless Principles: Doing the right thing is not always popular and being God's chosen is not the path to popularity either. Reuben wasn't even consulted on selling Joseph. He had pushed to spare his life in the first place. They weren't interested in his sparing the runt again.
Joseph was chosen to lead. Like his Father and Grandfather he was the youngest and tradition said the firstborn was the heir apparent and the others would serve the oldest. It's telling to note that Reuben was the oldest. Despite Joseph's dreams that said his right would go to the baby in the family, Reuben was still willing to do what was right.
Christ told his Apostles something they should have known from this history. "The last shall be first and the first shall be last."
How can I apply what I've learned: Always seek to do the right thing. Going along with the crowd is easy and safe but going along with God is the key to prosperity. Regardless of the life you lead it is easier to live with yourself if you are doing what's right.
More to learn for in-depth study:
Quick facts:
Rachael died in childbirth when Joseph was born.
The brothers had plenty of reason to hate Joseph. At 17 he tattled on brothers to his father. It was bad enough to get in the historical record. His dad doted on him and even gave him a coat of many colors. Keep in mind that color dyes weren't cheap and multi colored clothing would have been the height of luxury. Just think of how you felt about the "cool kids" in school who always got the latest fashions while you were wearing hand me downs or K-Mart specials.
2 Dreams portrayed Joseph ruling over his brothers and parents. The boys binding sheafs of wheat in the field only to have Joseph's stand tall while the others bowed down to it. The dream of the sun, moon and 11 stars bowing down to Joseph. As the baby of the family and an annoying tattle tale, none of the brothers would have been keen on the idea of being ruled by their baby brother.
Finally, we get to see that Ishmael's children were fulfilling God's promise to become a nation. They were now known as the Ishmaelites and they were traders in the land with their trade routes and caravans serving the needs of their brothers Israel and Edom. While slavery was certainly not the trade most of us would want to be in, The primary business seemed to be trade goods. The bible names camels, spices, lotions and perfume as trade goods they were hauling.
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