4/20/12

Beyond painting with Light...


Recently, Thomas Kinkade died.  When I looked at the water in this beautiful picture I thought of him.  This looks like something he would do; something peaceful and pleasant to view.  This self-proclaimed "painter of light" has been someone both Linda and I have admired for many years.  His paintings have brought much pleasure to both ourselves and to millions of others.  The art critics of this world have held him in disdain; as someone who has done nothing to advance the arts, but what do they know???  There is an artist I admire much more than him and this verse speaks of his works....


WEB: Genesis 1:31. God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.


Look again at the picture, everything you see was made by God and it is good!!!!
The Earth and everything in it; all that encompasses what we can conceive of as beautiful... it is ALL GOOD!!!  I will miss not seeing new works from Thomas Kinkade, but the work of the greatest painter of them all remains and becomes new every single day.  Thomas knew this too and earnestly sought God in his private life.  May we all seek out the very best in life and if you take time and really consider what life is all about... YOU WILL SEEK GOD!!!!!

Apr. 20 Numbers 31, 32


Apr. 20
Numbers 31, 32

Num 31:1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
Num 31:2 Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward you shall be gathered to your people.
Num 31:3 Moses spoke to the people, saying, Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian, to execute Yahweh's vengeance on Midian.
Num 31:4 Of every tribe one thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, you shall send to the war.
Num 31:5 So there were delivered, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.
Num 31:6 Moses sent them, one thousand of every tribe, to the war, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.
Num 31:7 They warred against Midian, as Yahweh commanded Moses; and they killed every male.
Num 31:8 They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they killed with the sword.
Num 31:9 The children of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones; and all their livestock, and all their flocks, and all their goods, they took for a prey.
Num 31:10 All their cities in the places in which they lived, and all their encampments, they burnt with fire.
Num 31:11 They took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of man and of animal.
Num 31:12 They brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan at Jericho.
Num 31:13 Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them outside of the camp.
Num 31:14 Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war.
Num 31:15 Moses said to them, Have you saved all the women alive?
Num 31:16 Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against Yahweh in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of Yahweh.
Num 31:17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him.
Num 31:18 But all the girls, who have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.
Num 31:19 Encamp outside of the camp seven days: whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives.
Num 31:20 As to every garment, and all that is made of skin, and all work of goats' hair, and all things made of wood, you shall purify yourselves.
Num 31:21 Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who went to the battle, This is the statute of the law which Yahweh has commanded Moses:
Num 31:22 however the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
Num 31:23 everything that may abide the fire, you shall make to go through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless it shall be purified with the water for impurity: and all that doesn't withstand the fire you shall make to go through the water.
Num 31:24 You shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean; and afterward you shall come into the camp.
Num 31:25 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
Num 31:26 Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of animal, you, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers' houses of the congregation;
Num 31:27 and divide the prey into two parts: between the men skilled in war, who went out to battle, and all the congregation.
Num 31:28 Levy a tribute to Yahweh of the men of war who went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the cattle, and of the donkeys, and of the flocks:
Num 31:29 take it of their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest, for Yahweh's wave offering.
Num 31:30 Of the children of Israel's half, you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, even of all the livestock, and give them to the Levites, who perform the duty of the tabernacle of Yahweh.
Num 31:31 Moses and Eleazar the priest did as Yahweh commanded Moses.
Num 31:32 Now the prey, over and above the booty which the men of war took, was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep,
Num 31:33 and seventy-two thousand head of cattle,
Num 31:34 and sixty-one thousand donkeys,
Num 31:35 and thirty-two thousand persons in all, of the women who had not known man by lying with him.
Num 31:36 The half, which was the portion of those who went out to war, was in number three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep:
Num 31:37 and Yahweh's tribute of the sheep was six hundred seventy-five.
Num 31:38 The cattle were thirty-six thousand; of which Yahweh's tribute was seventy-two.
Num 31:39 The donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred; of which Yahweh's tribute was sixty-one.
Num 31:40 The persons were sixteen thousand; of whom Yahweh's tribute was thirty-two persons.
Num 31:41 Moses gave the tribute, which was Yahweh's wave offering, to Eleazar the priest, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
Num 31:42 Of the children of Israel's half, which Moses divided off from the men who warred
Num 31:43 (now the congregation's half was three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep,
Num 31:44 and thirty-six thousand head of cattle,
Num 31:45 and thirty thousand five hundred donkeys,
Num 31:46 and sixteen thousand persons),
Num 31:47 even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animal, and gave them to the Levites, who performed the duty of the tabernacle of Yahweh; as Yahweh commanded Moses.
Num 31:48 The officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, came near to Moses;
Num 31:49 and they said to Moses, Your servants have taken the sum of the men of war who are under our command, and there lacks not one man of us.
Num 31:50 We have brought Yahweh's offering, what every man has gotten, of jewels of gold, armlets, and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for our souls before Yahweh.
Num 31:51 Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, even all worked jewels.
Num 31:52 All the gold of the wave offering that they offered up to Yahweh, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred fifty shekels.
Num 31:53 (For the men of war had taken booty, every man for himself.)
Num 31:54 Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the Tent of Meeting, for a memorial for the children of Israel before Yahweh.
Num 32:1 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that behold, the place was a place for livestock;
Num 32:2 the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the princes of the congregation, saying,
Num 32:3 Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Sebam, and Nebo, and Beon,
Num 32:4 the land which Yahweh struck before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock; and your servants have livestock.
Num 32:5 They said, If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession; don't bring us over the Jordan.
Num 32:6 Moses said to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brothers go to the war, and shall you sit here?
Num 32:7 Why do you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which Yahweh has given them?
Num 32:8 Your fathers did so when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land.
Num 32:9 For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which Yahweh had given them.
Num 32:10 Yahweh's anger was kindled in that day, and he swore, saying,
Num 32:11 Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me:
Num 32:12 save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun; because they have wholly followed Yahweh.
Num 32:13 Yahweh's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander back and forth in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, who had done evil in the sight of Yahweh, was consumed.
Num 32:14 Behold, you have risen up in your fathers' place, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of Yahweh toward Israel.
Num 32:15 For if you turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all this people.
Num 32:16 They came near to him, and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones:
Num 32:17 but we ourselves will be ready armed to go before the children of Israel, until we have brought them to their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.
Num 32:18 We will not return to our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance.
Num 32:19 For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan, and forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side of the Jordan eastward.
Num 32:20 Moses said to them, If you will do this thing, if you will arm yourselves to go before Yahweh to the war,
Num 32:21 and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before Yahweh, until he has driven out his enemies from before him,
Num 32:22 and the land is subdued before Yahweh; then afterward you shall return, and be guiltless towards Yahweh, and towards Israel; and this land shall be to you for a possession before Yahweh.
Num 32:23 But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against Yahweh; and be sure your sin will find you out.
Num 32:24 Build cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which has proceeded out of your mouth.
Num 32:25 The children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, Your servants will do as my lord commands.
Num 32:26 Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock, shall be there in the cities of Gilead;
Num 32:27 but your servants will pass over, every man who is armed for war, before Yahweh to battle, as my lord says.
Num 32:28 So Moses commanded concerning them to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the children of Israel.
Num 32:29 Moses said to them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over the Jordan, every man who is armed to battle, before Yahweh, and the land shall be subdued before you; then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession:
Num 32:30 but if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.
Num 32:31 The children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, As Yahweh has said to your servants, so will we do.
Num 32:32 We will pass over armed before Yahweh into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us beyond the Jordan.
Num 32:33 Moses gave to them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, according to the cities of it with their borders, even the cities of the surrounding land.
Num 32:34 The children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,
Num 32:35 and Atrothshophan, and Jazer, and Jogbehah,
Num 32:36 and Beth Nimrah, and Beth Haran: fortified cities, and folds for sheep.
Num 32:37 The children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kiriathaim,
Num 32:38 and Nebo, and Baal Meon, (their names being changed), and Sibmah: and they gave other names to the cities which they built.
Num 32:39 The children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were therein.
Num 32:40 Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh; and he lived therein.
Num 32:41 Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its towns, and called them Havvoth Jair.
Num 32:42 Nobah went and took Kenath, and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name.

Apr. 20, 21 Luke 12


Apr. 20, 21
Luke 12

Luk 12:1 Meanwhile, when a multitude of many thousands had gathered together, so much so that they trampled on each other, he began to tell his disciples first of all, "Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
Luk 12:2 But there is nothing covered up, that will not be revealed, nor hidden, that will not be known.
Luk 12:3 Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light. What you have spoken in the ear in the inner chambers will be proclaimed on the housetops.
Luk 12:4 "I tell you, my friends, don't be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
Luk 12:5 But I will warn you whom you should fear. Fear him, who after he has killed, has power to cast into Gehenna. Yes, I tell you, fear him.
Luk 12:6 "Aren't five sparrows sold for two assaria coins? Not one of them is forgotten by God.
Luk 12:7 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore don't be afraid. You are of more value than many sparrows.
Luk 12:8 "I tell you, everyone who confesses me before men, him will the Son of Man also confess before the angels of God;
Luk 12:9 but he who denies me in the presence of men will be denied in the presence of the angels of God.
Luk 12:10 Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
Luk 12:11 When they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, don't be anxious how or what you will answer, or what you will say;
Luk 12:12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that same hour what you must say."
Luk 12:13 One of the multitude said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."
Luk 12:14 But he said to him, "Man, who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you?"
Luk 12:15 He said to them, "Beware! Keep yourselves from covetousness, for a man's life doesn't consist of the abundance of the things which he possesses."
Luk 12:16 He spoke a parable to them, saying, "The ground of a certain rich man brought forth abundantly.
Luk 12:17 He reasoned within himself, saying, 'What will I do, because I don't have room to store my crops?'
Luk 12:18 He said, 'This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns, and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
Luk 12:19 I will tell my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry." '
Luk 12:20 "But God said to him, 'You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared-whose will they be?'
Luk 12:21 So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."
Luk 12:22 He said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, don't be anxious for your life, what you will eat, nor yet for your body, what you will wear.
Luk 12:23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.
Luk 12:24 Consider the ravens: they don't sow, they don't reap, they have no warehouse or barn, and God feeds them. How much more valuable are you than birds!
Luk 12:25 Which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his height?
Luk 12:26 If then you aren't able to do even the least things, why are you anxious about the rest?
Luk 12:27 Consider the lilies, how they grow. They don't toil, neither do they spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Luk 12:28 But if this is how God clothes the grass in the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith?
Luk 12:29 Don't seek what you will eat or what you will drink; neither be anxious.
Luk 12:30 For the nations of the world seek after all of these things, but your Father knows that you need these things.
Luk 12:31 But seek God's Kingdom, and all these things will be added to you.
Luk 12:32 Don't be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.
Luk 12:33 Sell that which you have, and give gifts to the needy. Make for yourselves purses which don't grow old, a treasure in the heavens that doesn't fail, where no thief approaches, neither moth destroys.
Luk 12:34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Luk 12:35 "Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning.
Luk 12:36 Be like men watching for their lord, when he returns from the marriage feast; that, when he comes and knocks, they may immediately open to him.
Luk 12:37 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord will find watching when he comes. Most certainly I tell you, that he will dress himself, and make them recline, and will come and serve them.
Luk 12:38 They will be blessed if he comes in the second or third watch, and finds them so.
Luk 12:39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what hour the thief was coming, he would have watched, and not allowed his house to be broken into.
Luk 12:40 Therefore be ready also, for the Son of Man is coming in an hour that you don't expect him."
Luk 12:41 Peter said to him, "Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everybody?"
Luk 12:42 The Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the right times?
Luk 12:43 Blessed is that servant whom his lord will find doing so when he comes.
Luk 12:44 Truly I tell you, that he will set him over all that he has.
Luk 12:45 But if that servant says in his heart, 'My lord delays his coming,' and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken,
Luk 12:46 then the lord of that servant will come in a day when he isn't expecting him, and in an hour that he doesn't know, and will cut him in two, and place his portion with the unfaithful.
Luk 12:47 That servant, who knew his lord's will, and didn't prepare, nor do what he wanted, will be beaten with many stripes,
Luk 12:48 but he who didn't know, and did things worthy of stripes, will be beaten with few stripes. To whoever much is given, of him will much be required; and to whom much was entrusted, of him more will be asked.
Luk 12:49 "I came to throw fire on the earth. I wish it were already kindled.
Luk 12:50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished!
Luk 12:51 Do you think that I have come to give peace in the earth? I tell you, no, but rather division.
Luk 12:52 For from now on, there will be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three.
Luk 12:53 They will be divided, father against son, and son against father; mother against daughter, and daughter against her mother; mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."
Luk 12:54 He said to the multitudes also, "When you see a cloud rising from the west, immediately you say, 'A shower is coming,' and so it happens.
Luk 12:55 When a south wind blows, you say, 'There will be a scorching heat,' and it happens.
Luk 12:56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, but how is it that you don't interpret this time?
Luk 12:57 Why don't you judge for yourselves what is right?
Luk 12:58 For when you are going with your adversary before the magistrate, try diligently on the way to be released from him, lest perhaps he drag you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison.
Luk 12:59 I tell you, you will by no means get out of there, until you have paid the very last penny."

"THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW" Chapter Two by Mark Copeland

                        "THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW"

                              Chapter Two

Unlike Luke, Matthew does not record events related to the day of Jesus’
birth.  But he does describe the visit of the wise men who followed the
star to find the infant child and to worship Him (1-12).  Warned by an
angel in a dream, Joseph takes Mary and Jesus to Egypt, escaping the
massacre of infants by an enraged Herod (13-18).  After the death of
Herod, Joseph and his family return to settle in the village of Nazareth
(19-23).

POINTS TO PONDER

   *  The details of the visit of the wise men from the East

   *  Fact versus fiction related to the birth of Jesus

   *  Old Testament prophecies fulfilled by the events in this chapter

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1) What are the main points of this chapter?
   - The visit of the wise men - Mt 2:1-12
   - The flight to Egypt and massacre of infants - Mt 2:13-18
   - The return from Egypt and residence at Nazareth - Mt 2:19-23

2) Why had the wise men from the East come to Jerusalem? (1-2)
   - They had seen the star of the King of the Jews and had come to
     worship Him

3) How did the priests and scribes determine the location of Christ’s
   birth? (4-6)
   - From Mic 5:2

4) How did the wise men find the young Child?  Where did they find Him?
   (9-11)
   - Heading to Bethlehem, they followed the star; in a house with Mary
     His mother

5) Why did Joseph and his family flee?  What prophecy would be
   fulfilled? (13-15)
   - Warned by an angel to go to Egypt, in order to escape Herod’s
     effort to destroy Jesus
   - "Out of Egypt I called My Son" (Hos 11:1)

6) What prophecy did the slaughter of the innocents fulfill? (16-18)
   - That spoken by Jeremiah the prophet (Jer 31:15)

7) What prompted Joseph and his family to return?  Why to Galilee?
   (19-22)
   - An angel told Joseph of Herod’s death, and told him to return to
     Israel
   - Hearing that Herod’s son ruled over Judea, they turned aside to
     Galilee

8) Where did the family settle?  What prophecy did that fulfill? (23)
   - In a city called Nazareth
   - "He shall be called a Nazarene" (no one prophecy in particular)