4/30/12

HOME! Sweet, Sweet HOME!!!!



I am blessed; I have my own study.  It is an area our home where I can read or use the computer in peace.  But this is a STUDY!!!!  If this has an adjoining master bedroom and bath, you would have to pry me out of here with crowbars!!!  OK, confession time:I have really begun to love books again since I retired. Coupled with my kindle fire and my usual computer activities and I have really begun to enjoy life!!!  But, too much of a good thing is just that... too much!!!  The words of Solomon came back to me....

Ecclesiastes  12
 12 Furthermore, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

  13 This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.  14 For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.

2 Timothy 2
  15 Give diligence to present yourself approved by God, a workman who doesn’t need to be ashamed, properly handling the Word of Truth.  


Then I remembered the passage from Paul's letter to Timothy and I realized there is a balance.  Study, be diligent, but remember there are limits.  And the key to limitation is found in the first passage (verse 13): Put God first!!!  Still, I would spend more time in that beautiful study and love it!!!!

Apr. 30 Deuteronomy 15, 16


Apr. 30
Deuteronomy 15, 16

Deu 15:1 At the end of every seven years you shall make a release.
Deu 15:2 This is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release that which he has lent to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother; because Yahweh's release has been proclaimed.
Deu 15:3 Of a foreigner you may exact it: but whatever of your is with your brother your hand shall release.
Deu 15:4 However there shall be no poor with you; (for Yahweh will surely bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance to possess it;)
Deu 15:5 if only you diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do all this commandment which I command you this day.
Deu 15:6 For Yahweh your God will bless you, as he promised you: and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you.
Deu 15:7 If a poor man, one of your brothers, is with you within any of your gates in your land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother;
Deu 15:8 but you shall surely open your hand to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he wants.
Deu 15:9 Beware that there not be a base thought in your heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and your eye be evil against your poor brother, and you give him nothing; and he cry to Yahweh against you, and it be sin to you.
Deu 15:10 You shall surely give him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him; because that for this thing Yahweh your God will bless you in all your work, and in all that you put your hand to.
Deu 15:11 For the poor will never cease out of the land: therefore I command you, saying, You shall surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor, in your land.
Deu 15:12 If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, and serves you six years; then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you.
Deu 15:13 When you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty:
Deu 15:14 you shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, and out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress; as Yahweh your God has blessed you, you shall give to him.
Deu 15:15 You shall remember that you were a bondservant in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you: therefore I command you this thing today.
Deu 15:16 It shall be, if he tells you, I will not go out from you; because he loves you and your house, because he is well with you;
Deu 15:17 then you shall take an awl, and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your female servant you shall do likewise.
Deu 15:18 It shall not seem hard to you, when you let him go free from you; for to the double of the hire of a hireling has he served you six years: and Yahweh your God will bless you in all that you do.
Deu 15:19 All the firstborn males that are born of your herd and of your flock you shall sanctify to Yahweh your God: you shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock.
Deu 15:20 You shall eat it before Yahweh your God year by year in the place which Yahweh shall choose, you and your household.
Deu 15:21 If it have any blemish, as if it be lame or blind, any ill blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to Yahweh your God.
Deu 15:22 You shall eat it within your gates: the unclean and the clean shall eat it alike, as the gazelle, and as the hart.
Deu 15:23 Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it out on the ground as water.
Deu 16:1 Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to Yahweh your God; for in the month of Abib Yahweh your God brought you forth out of Egypt by night.
Deu 16:2 You shall sacrifice the Passover to Yahweh your God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which Yahweh shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there.
Deu 16:3 You shall eat no leavened bread with it. You shall eat unleavened bread with it seven days, even the bread of affliction; for you came forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that you may remember the day when you came forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.
Deu 16:4 There shall be no yeast seen with you in all your borders seven days; neither shall any of the flesh, which you sacrifice the first day at even, remain all night until the morning.
Deu 16:5 You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates, which Yahweh your God gives you;
Deu 16:6 but at the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell in, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at even, at the going down of the sun, at the season that you came forth out of Egypt.
Deu 16:7 You shall roast and eat it in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose: and you shall turn in the morning, and go to your tents.
Deu 16:8 Six days you shall eat unleavened bread; and on the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to Yahweh your God; you shall do no work therein.
Deu 16:9 You shall count for yourselves seven weeks: from the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain you shall begin to number seven weeks.
Deu 16:10 You shall keep the feast of weeks to Yahweh your God with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand, which you shall give, according as Yahweh your God blesses you:
Deu 16:11 and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your male servant, and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates, and the foreigner, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are in the midst of you, in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there.
Deu 16:12 You shall remember that you were a bondservant in Egypt: and you shall observe and do these statutes.
Deu 16:13 You shall keep the feast of tents seven days, after that you have gathered in from your threshing floor and from your winepress:
Deu 16:14 and you shall rejoice in your feast, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your male servant, and your female servant, and the Levite, and the foreigner, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your gates.
Deu 16:15 You shall keep a feast to Yahweh your God seven days in the place which Yahweh shall choose; because Yahweh your God will bless you in all your increase, and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be altogether joyful.
Deu 16:16 Three times in a year shall all your males appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he shall choose: in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tents; and they shall not appear before Yahweh empty:
Deu 16:17 every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of Yahweh your God which he has given you.
Deu 16:18 You shall make judges and officers in all your gates, which Yahweh your God gives you, according to your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.
Deu 16:19 You shall not wrest justice: you shall not respect persons; neither shall you take a bribe; for a bribe does blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
Deu 16:20 You shall follow that which is altogether just, that you may live, and inherit the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
Deu 16:21 You shall not plant for yourselves an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of Yahweh your God, which you shall make for yourselves.
Deu 16:22 Neither shall you set yourself up a pillar; which Yahweh your God hates.

Apr. 30, May 1 Luke 17


Apr. 30, May 1
Luke 17

Luk 17:1 He said to the disciples, "It is impossible that no occasions of stumbling should come, but woe to him through whom they come!
Luk 17:2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, rather than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble.
Luk 17:3 Be careful. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him.
Luk 17:4 If he sins against you seven times in the day, and seven times returns, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him."
Luk 17:5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."
Luk 17:6 The Lord said, "If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you would tell this sycamore tree, 'Be uprooted, and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.
Luk 17:7 But who is there among you, having a servant plowing or keeping sheep, that will say, when he comes in from the field, 'Come immediately and sit down at the table,'
Luk 17:8 and will not rather tell him, 'Prepare my supper, clothe yourself properly, and serve me, while I eat and drink. Afterward you shall eat and drink'?
Luk 17:9 Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded? I think not.
Luk 17:10 Even so you also, when you have done all the things that are commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy servants. We have done our duty.' "
Luk 17:11 It happened as he was on his way to Jerusalem, that he was passing along the borders of Samaria and Galilee.
Luk 17:12 As he entered into a certain village, ten men who were lepers met him, who stood at a distance.
Luk 17:13 They lifted up their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"
Luk 17:14 When he saw them, he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." It happened that as they went, they were cleansed.
Luk 17:15 One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice.
Luk 17:16 He fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks; and he was a Samaritan.
Luk 17:17 Jesus answered, "Weren't the ten cleansed? But where are the nine?
Luk 17:18 Were there none found who returned to give glory to God, except this stranger?"
Luk 17:19 Then he said to him, "Get up, and go your way. Your faith has healed you."
Luk 17:20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, he answered them, "The Kingdom of God doesn't come with observation;
Luk 17:21 neither will they say, 'Look, here!' or, 'Look, there!' for behold, the Kingdom of God is within you."
Luk 17:22 He said to the disciples, "The days will come, when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.
Luk 17:23 They will tell you, 'Look, here!' or 'Look, there!' Don't go away, nor follow after them,
Luk 17:24 for as the lightning, when it flashes out of the one part under the sky, shines to the other part under the sky; so will the Son of Man be in his day.
Luk 17:25 But first, he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
Luk 17:26 As it happened in the days of Noah, even so will it be also in the days of the Son of Man.
Luk 17:27 They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ship, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
Luk 17:28 Likewise, even as it happened in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;
Luk 17:29 but in the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from the sky, and destroyed them all.
Luk 17:30 It will be the same way in the day that the Son of Man is revealed.
Luk 17:31 In that day, he who will be on the housetop, and his goods in the house, let him not go down to take them away. Let him who is in the field likewise not turn back.
Luk 17:32 Remember Lot's wife!
Luk 17:33 Whoever seeks to save his life loses it, but whoever loses his life preserves it.
Luk 17:34 I tell you, in that night there will be two people in one bed. The one will be taken, and the other will be left.
Luk 17:35 There will be two grinding grain together. One will be taken, and the other will be left."
Luk 17:36 Two will be in the field: the one taken, and the other left."
Luk 17:37 They, answering, asked him, "Where, Lord?" He said to them, "Where the body is, there will the vultures also be gathered together."

"THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW" Chapter Twelve by Mark Copeland

                        "THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW"

                             Chapter Twelve

Opposition to Jesus and His ministry increased, spear-headed by
Pharisees who objected to Jesus’ conduct on the Sabbath (1-14).  Jesus
humbly sought privacy, which fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy concerning
God’s Chosen Servant (15-21), but Pharisees followed Him making
blasphemous accusations against the Spirit and demanded a sign (22-45).
When Jesus’ physical family wanted to see Him, Jesus identified His
disciples as His true family (46-50).

POINTS TO PONDER

   *  Jesus and the Sabbath day

   *  The blasphemy of the Holy Spirit

   *  The true family of God

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1) What are the main points of this chapter?
   - Controversies over the Sabbath - Mt 12:1-14
   - The humility of the Chosen Servant - Mt 12:15-21
   - Blasphemous opposition by the Pharisees - Mt 12:22-45
   - Jesus’ true family - Mt 12:46-50

2) What were Jesus’ disciples doing that angered the Pharisees? (1-2)
   - Plucking heads of grain to eat on the Sabbath day

3) What was Jesus doing that angered the Pharisees? (9-14)
   - Healing on the Sabbath day

4) What prophecy did Jesus fulfill warning people not to make Him known?
   (17-21)
   - That He would not quarrel or cry out (Isa 42:1-4)

5) How did the Pharisees explain Jesus’ ability to cast out demons? (24)
   - He did it by the power of Beelzebub, ruler of the demons

6) What was the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? (31-32)
   - Attributing Jesus’ ability to cast out demons to having an unclean
     spirit (cf. Mk 3:30)

7) For what will one give an account in the day of judgment? (36-37)
   - Every idle word

8) What sign did Jesus say He would give to the Pharisees? (38-40)
   - The Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of
     the earth

9) Who did Jesus identify as His true family? (49-50)
   - His disciples, i.e., whoever does the will of His Father in heaven

4/29/12

What we know and what we believe...



This picture is a lie!  Even if you accept the Big Bang Theory, there is a moment in time where everything was in one place; formless and super hot!!!  So, everything was NOT there; only its raw materials.  Today, it is popular to believe the theory of Evolution.  Again, I say, the theory of Evolution!!!  It is a theory, NOT A FACT!!!  Science is the process of experimentation, i.e. running a repeatable experiment, collecting data and drawing consistent repeatable conclusions from that data.  Evolutionary theory is taught as fact, when in reality it is only conjecture.  To be fair, great minds have conceived this, BUT THAT DOES NOT MAKE IT TRULY SCIENTIFIC!!!  Great minds can be wrong!!! For thirteen hundred years humans believed the Earth was the center of the universe and that has been disproved.  Even today, with all our technical capabilities, it is commonplace to hear that a previous study is disproved and then later to find out our newest study is negated by an even newer one!!!  You believe the study that you have faith in, yes, faith!  At this point, it is appropriate to refer to the Bible, a book of faith.  Read on to see what God has to say about it....

  1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  2 Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep. God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.

  3 God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.  4 God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness.  5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” There was evening and there was morning, one day.

  6 God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”  7 God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.  8 God called the expanse “sky.” There was evening and there was morning, a second day.

  9 God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear;” and it was so.  10 God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas.” God saw that it was good.  11 God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with its seed in it, on the earth;” and it was so. 12 The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with its seed in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. 13 There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

  14 God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years;  15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of sky to give light on the earth;” and it was so.  16 God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars.  17 God set them in the expanse of sky to give light to the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. 19 There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

  20 God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of sky.”  21 God created the large sea creatures, and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”  23 There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

  24 God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind;” and it was so. 25 God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good.

  26 God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  27 God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”  29 God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food.  30 To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so.

  31 God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

The complex organization we see around us comes from God.  It isn't accidental or unplanned; there is a pattern and it comes from God.  The chances that things "just happened" are beyond astronomical, they are beyond belief.  I worked in laboratories for many decades and I can tell you that even the most intelligent chemist I have ever known designed experiments that failed and failed miserably.  And this person had an I.Q. of 190!!!!  We all have "faith" in something, whether it be science or God.  Science changes, God does not.... you choose... but choose wisely!!!

Apr. 29 Deuteronomy 13, 14


Apr. 29
Deuteronomy 13, 14

Deu 13:1 If there arise in the midst of you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he give you a sign or a wonder,
Deu 13:2 and the sign or the wonder come to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, Let us go after other gods, which you have not known, and let us serve them;
Deu 13:3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams: for Yahweh your God proves you, to know whether you love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deu 13:4 You shall walk after Yahweh your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and you shall serve him, and cleave to him.
Deu 13:5 That prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to draw you aside out of the way which Yahweh your God commanded you to walk in. So you shall put away the evil from the midst of you.
Deu 13:6 If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend, who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known, you, nor your fathers;
Deu 13:7 of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near to you, or far off from you, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth;
Deu 13:8 you shall not consent to him, nor listen to him; neither shall your eye pity him, neither shall you spare, neither shall you conceal him:
Deu 13:9 but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
Deu 13:10 You shall stone him to death with stones, because he has sought to draw you away from Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Deu 13:11 All Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall not do any more such wickedness as this is in the midst of you.
Deu 13:12 If you shall hear tell concerning one of your cities, which Yahweh your God gives you to dwell there, saying,
Deu 13:13 Certain base fellows are gone out from the midst of you, and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which you have not known;
Deu 13:14 then you shall inquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is done in the midst of you,
Deu 13:15 you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein and its livestock, with the edge of the sword.
Deu 13:16 You shall gather all its spoil into the midst of its street, and shall burn with fire the city, and all its spoil every whit, to Yahweh your God: and it shall be a heap forever; it shall not be built again.
Deu 13:17 There shall cleave nothing of the devoted thing to your hand; that Yahweh may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and show you mercy, and have compassion on you, and multiply you, as he has sworn to your fathers;
Deu 13:18 when you shall listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep all his commandments which I command you this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of Yahweh your God.
Deu 14:1 You are the children of Yahweh your God: you shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.
Deu 14:2 For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God, and Yahweh has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth.
Deu 14:3 You shall not eat any abominable thing.
Deu 14:4 These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat,
Deu 14:5 the hart, and the gazelle, and the roebuck, and the wild goat, and the ibex, and the antelope, and the chamois.
Deu 14:6 Every animal that parts the hoof, and has the hoof cloven in two, and chews the cud, among the animals, that may you eat.
Deu 14:7 Nevertheless these you shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of those who have the hoof cloven: the camel, and the hare, and the rabbit; because they chew the cud but don't part the hoof, they are unclean to you.
Deu 14:8 The pig, because it has a split hoof but doesn't chew the cud, is unclean to you: of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch.
Deu 14:9 These you may eat of all that are in the waters: whatever has fins and scales may you eat;
Deu 14:10 and whatever doesn't have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean to you.
Deu 14:11 Of all clean birds you may eat.
Deu 14:12 But these are they of which you shall not eat: the eagle, and the vulture, and the osprey,
Deu 14:13 and the red kite, and the falcon, and the kite after its kind,
Deu 14:14 and every raven after its kind,
Deu 14:15 and the ostrich, and the owl, and the seagull, and the hawk after its kind,
Deu 14:16 the little owl, and the great owl, and the horned owl,
Deu 14:17 and the pelican, and the vulture, and the cormorant,
Deu 14:18 and the stork, and the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat.
Deu 14:19 All winged creeping things are unclean to you: they shall not be eaten.
Deu 14:20 Of all clean birds you may eat.
Deu 14:21 You shall not eat of anything that dies of itself: you may give it to the foreigner living among you who is within your gates, that he may eat it; or you may sell it to a foreigner: for you are a holy people to Yahweh your God. You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
Deu 14:22 You shall surely tithe all the increase of your seed, that which comes forth from the field year by year.
Deu 14:23 You shall eat before Yahweh your God, in the place which he shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, the tithe of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock; that you may learn to fear Yahweh your God always.
Deu 14:24 If the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry it, because the place is too far from you, which Yahweh your God shall choose, to set his name there, when Yahweh your God shall bless you;
Deu 14:25 then you shall turn it into money, and bind up the money in your hand, and shall go to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose:
Deu 14:26 and you shall bestow the money for whatever your soul desires, for cattle, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever your soul asks of you; and you shall eat there before Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.
Deu 14:27 The Levite who is within your gates, you shall not forsake him; for he has no portion nor inheritance with you.
Deu 14:28 At the end of every three years you shall bring forth all the tithe of your increase in the same year, and shall lay it up within your gates:
Deu 14:29 and the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the foreigner living among you, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.