6/16/12

"Airheads R us"


I want it known that I LIKE Lays potato chips!!!  What irks me is that they all (except Pringles) market them by weight in oversize bags!!!!  When you buy potato chips you always think you are getting more than you actually are.  Now, I have known for decades that potato chips are sold this way, but the optical illusion works every time.  It isn't until I actually lift the bag to place it into the cart that I remember what is going on.  If Madison Avenue is good at this, Satan is better; trying to trick us at every turn; deception at its finest.  When is the Bible NOT THE BIBLE?  When someone changes the words to paraphrase what the Bible means what it says to what some "expert" says it means. This can be overcome if we ALL do our part and build one another up to withstand all the trickery that Satan can come up with....

Ephesians, Chapter 4
11 He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers; 12 for the perfecting of the saints, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Christ;  13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;  14 that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error; 15 but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, Christ;  16 from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love.

Do you rely on some professional to tell you what to believe in matters of religion?  If so, then you are in real trouble!!!!  Study The Bible yourself; spend time learning the book and you will know what it says for yourself!!!!!  A good place to start is with the major things that you believe; write them down on a piece of paper and ask yourself: Do I have Book, Chapter and Verse for what I know is true.  Then, before you look them up, ask yourself:  Is my Bible a literal translation of the original languages or someones paraphrase?  Some of the more literal translations are:  Young's Literal, LITV, KJV3, Darby Bible and the American Standard Version of 1901.  Two others of note are... Rotherham's Emphasized Bible and The Companion Bible by Bullinger.  Bible "light" is NOT THE WAY TO GO!!!  If you have a problem understanding something, compare several versions and THINK.  Or you could use an interlinear Bible or even my own "Composite Bible" (compositebible.com).  Whatever you do, realize that people are tricky and will try to convince you that their belief is the ONLY WAY TO BELIEVE.  Don't do it, THINK FOR YOURSELF!!!!

June 16 1 Samuel 25, 26


June 16
1 Samuel 25, 26

1Sa 25:1 Samuel died; and all Israel gathered themselves together, and lamented him, and buried him in his house at Ramah. David arose, and went down to the wilderness of Paran.
1Sa 25:2 There was a man in Maon, whose possessions were in Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
1Sa 25:3 Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail; and the woman was of good understanding, and of a beautiful face: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.
1Sa 25:4 David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.
1Sa 25:5 David sent ten young men, and David said to the young men, Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name:
1Sa 25:6 and thus you shell tell him who lives in prosperity, Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have.
1Sa 25:7 Now I have heard that you have shearers: your shepherds have now been with us, and we did them no hurt, neither was there anything missing to them, all the while they were in Carmel.
1Sa 25:8 Ask your young men, and they will tell you: therefore let the young men find favor in your eyes; for we come in a good day. Please give whatever comes to your hand, to your servants, and to your son David.
1Sa 25:9 When David's young men came, they spoke to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased.
1Sa 25:10 Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there are many servants who break away from their masters these days.
1Sa 25:11 Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men who I don't know where they come from?
1Sa 25:12 So David's young men turned on their way, and went back, and came and told him according to all these words.
1Sa 25:13 David said to his men, Every man put on his sword! Every man put on his sword; and David also put on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the baggage.
1Sa 25:14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to Greet our master; and he railed at them.
1Sa 25:15 But the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we anything, as long as we went with them, when we were in the fields:
1Sa 25:16 they were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.
1Sa 25:17 Now therefore know and consider what you will do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his house: for he is such a worthless fellow that one can't speak to him.
1Sa 25:18 Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched grain, and one hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys.
1Sa 25:19 She said to her young men, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she didn't tell her husband, Nabal.
1Sa 25:20 It was so, as she rode on her donkey, and came down by the covert of the mountain, that behold, David and his men came down toward her; and she met them.
1Sa 25:21 Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that pertained to him: and he has returned me evil for good.
1Sa 25:22 God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, if I leave of all that belongs to him by the morning light so much as one who urinates on a wall.
1Sa 25:23 When Abigail saw David, she hurried, and alighted from her donkey, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground.
1Sa 25:24 She fell at his feet, and said, On me, my lord, on me be the iniquity; and please let your handmaid speak in your ears. Hear the words of your handmaid.
1Sa 25:25 Please don't let my lord regard this worthless fellow, even Nabal; for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I your handmaid didn't see the young men of my lord, whom you sent.
1Sa 25:26 Now therefore, my lord, as Yahweh lives, and as your soul lives, seeing Yahweh has withheld you from blood guiltiness, and from avenging yourself with your own hand, now therefore let your enemies, and those who seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.
1Sa 25:27 Now this present which your servant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord.
1Sa 25:28 Please forgive the trespass of your handmaid: for Yahweh will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord fights the battles of Yahweh; and evil shall not be found in you all your days.
1Sa 25:29 Though men be risen up to pursue you, and to seek your soul, yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with Yahweh your God; and the souls of your enemies, them shall he sling out, as from the hollow of a sling.
1Sa 25:30 It shall come to pass, when Yahweh shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you, and shall have appointed you prince over Israel,
1Sa 25:31 that this shall be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. When Yahweh shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember your handmaid.
1Sa 25:32 David said to Abigail, Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me:
1Sa 25:33 and blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, that have kept me this day from blood guiltiness, and from avenging myself with my own hand.
1Sa 25:34 For in very deed, as Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, who has withheld me from hurting you, except you had hurried and come to meet me, surely there wouldn't have been left to Nabal by the morning light so much as one who urinates on a wall.
1Sa 25:35 So David received of her hand that which she had brought him: and he said to her, Go up in peace to your house; behold, I have listened to your voice, and have accepted your person.
1Sa 25:36 Abigail came to Nabal; and behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: therefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.
1Sa 25:37 It happened in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, that his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.
1Sa 25:38 It happened about ten days after, that Yahweh struck Nabal, so that he died.
1Sa 25:39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be Yahweh, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from evil: and the evildoing of Nabal has Yahweh returned on his own head. David sent and spoke concerning Abigail, to take her to him as wife.
1Sa 25:40 When the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spoke to her, saying, David has sent us to you, to take you to him as wife.
1Sa 25:41 She arose, and bowed herself with her face to the earth, and said, Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.
1Sa 25:42 Abigail hurried, and arose, and rode on a donkey, with five ladies of hers who followed her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.
1Sa 25:43 David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they became both of them his wives.
1Sa 25:44 Now Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.
1Sa 26:1 The Ziphites came to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doesn't David hide himself in the hill of Hachilah, which is before the desert?
1Sa 26:2 Then Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.
1Sa 26:3 Saul encamped in the hill of Hachilah, which is before the desert, by the way. But David abode in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness.
1Sa 26:4 David therefore sent out spies, and understood that Saul was come of a certainty.
1Sa 26:5 David arose, and came to the place where Saul had encamped; and David saw the place where Saul lay, and Abner the son of Ner, the captain of his army: and Saul lay within the place of the wagons, and the people were encamped around him.
1Sa 26:6 Then answered David and said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Abishai the son of Zeruiah, brother to Joab, saying, Who will go down with me to Saul to the camp? Abishai said, I will go down with you.
1Sa 26:7 So David and Abishai came to the people by night: and, behold, Saul lay sleeping within the place of the wagons, with his spear stuck in the ground at his head; and Abner and the people lay around him.
1Sa 26:8 Then said Abishai to David, God has delivered up your enemy into your hand this day: now therefore please let me strike him with the spear to the earth at one stroke, and I will not strike him the second time.
1Sa 26:9 David said to Abishai, Don't destroy him; for who can put forth his hand against Yahweh's anointed, and be guiltless?
1Sa 26:10 David said, As Yahweh lives, Yahweh will strike him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall go down into battle and perish.
1Sa 26:11 Yahweh forbid that I should put forth my hand against Yahweh's anointed: but now please take the spear that is at his head, and the jar of water, and let us go.
1Sa 26:12 So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul's head; and they got them away: and no man saw it, nor knew it, neither did any awake; for they were all asleep, because a deep sleep from Yahweh was fallen on them.
1Sa 26:13 Then David went over to the other side, and stood on the top of the mountain afar off; a great space being between them;
1Sa 26:14 and David cried to the people, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, Don't you answer, Abner? Then Abner answered, Who are you who cries to the king?
1Sa 26:15 David said to Abner, Aren't you a valiant man? and who is like you in Israel? why then have you not kept watch over your lord, the king? for there came one of the people in to destroy the king your lord.
1Sa 26:16 This thing isn't good that you have done. As Yahweh lives, you are worthy to die, because you have not kept watch over your lord, Yahweh's anointed. Now see where the king's spear is, and the jar of water that was at his head.
1Sa 26:17 Saul knew David's voice, and said, Is this your voice, my son David? David said, It is my voice, my lord, O king.
1Sa 26:18 He said, Why does my lord pursue after his servant? for what have I done? or what evil is in my hand?
1Sa 26:19 Now therefore, please let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it is so Yahweh that has stirred you up against me, let him accept an offering: but if it be the children of men, cursed be they before Yahweh: for they have driven me out this day that I shouldn't cling to Yahweh's inheritance, saying, Go, serve other gods.
1Sa 26:20 Now therefore, don't let my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of Yahweh: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one does hunt a partridge in the mountains.
1Sa 26:21 Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David; for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.
1Sa 26:22 David answered, Behold the spear, O king! let then one of the young men come over and get it.
1Sa 26:23 Yahweh will render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness; because Yahweh delivered you into my hand today, and I wouldn't put forth my hand against Yahweh's anointed.
1Sa 26:24 Behold, as your life was much set by this day in my eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of Yahweh, and let him deliver me out of all oppression.
1Sa 26:25 Then Saul said to David, You are blessed, my son David: you shall both do mightily, and shall surely prevail. So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.

"THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS" Chapter One by Mark Copeland




                      "THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS"

                              Chapter One

OBJECTIVES IN STUDYING THIS CHAPTER

1) To be impressed with the all-sufficiency of the gospel

2) To see how God's wrath may be directed toward our society today

SUMMARY

As is the custom in most of his epistles, Paul begins by extending
greetings and offering thanks.  Identifying himself as a bond-servant
of Christ, he mentions his apostleship and its mission in the gospel of
God concerning His Son:  to bring about the obedience of faith among
all the Gentiles (1-6).  Addressing the recipients of his epistle as
"all who are beloved in Rome, called as saints," he extends to them the
popular two-fold greeting of that day:  "grace" and "peace" (7).  He is
thankful for their well-known faith and reveals his desire to visit
Rome and to proclaim the gospel there (8-13).  The motivation behind
that desire is his sense of obligation and bold conviction that the
gospel is God's power to save (14-17).

The mention of "salvation" naturally leads to the need for all men to
be saved.  Paul begins to demonstrate this need on the part of the
Gentiles.  He explains that because of the Gentiles' failure to
acknowledge the eternal power and divine nature of God as revealed in
the world around them, and for their subsequent pride and idolatry,
they were therefore exposed to God's wrath from heaven (18-23).  This
wrath manifested itself in God simply letting them reap the fruits of
their vanity.  By giving them over "to uncleanness, in the lusts of
their hearts," "to vile passions," and "to a debased mind," the result
was such corruption that even those who knew better were caught in its
clutches (24-32).

OUTLINE (adapted from Jim McGuiggan)

I. INTRODUCTION & THEME (1-17)

   A. CONCERNING PAUL (1-5)
      1. His place in life:  servant & apostle (1)
      2. His story in life:  the gospel of Christ (2-4)
      3. His purpose in life:  to produce obedience based on faith (5)
     
   B. CONCERNING THE ROMANS (6-15)
      1. Paul's description of them (6-7)
      2. Paul's report of them (8)
      3. Paul's deep desire to visit them (9-10)
      4. Paul's reason and eagerness to visit them (11-15)

   C. CONCERNING THE GOSPEL (16-17)
      1. Its respectability:  nothing to be ashamed of (16a)
      2. Its nature:  the power of God (16b)
      3. Its aim:  salvation (16c)
      4. Its scope:  for everyone who believes (16d)
      5. Its content:  the revelation of God's righteousness through
         faith (17)

II. THE GENTILES' NEED OF SALVATION (18-32)

   A. WICKED MAN DISHONORING GOD (18-23)
      1. Wicked man stifling God's revealed truth (18-19)
      2. Wicked man despising the testimony of nature (20)
      3. Wicked man ungrateful and foolish (21-22)
      4. Wicked man given to idolatry (23)

   B. HOLY GOD "GIVING UP" ON WICKED MAN (24-32)
      1. Giving them up to disgusting uncleanness (24-25)
      2. Giving them up to lesbianism and homosexuality (26-27)
      3. Giving them up to debased minds and all unrighteousness
         (28-32)

WORDS TO PONDER

gospel - literally, "good news;" in the NT it denotes the good tidings
         of the kingdom of God and of salvation through Christ (VINE)

grace - "favor, goodwill, lovingkindness;" as used in reference to
        God's favor toward man, it's freeness is stressed; i.e.,
        unmerited favor

faith - "trust, conviction;" produced by God's Word (Ro 10:17), it
        expresses itself through obedience and love  (Ro 1:5; Ga 5:6)

power - from the Greek word dunamis (from which derives "dynamite");
        "strength, ability"

righteousness of God - 1) God doing that which is right (cf. Ro 3:25- 
                       26); or 2) God's way of making one right with
                       Him (related to the concept of "justification," 
                       declaring one to be "not guilty;" cf. Ro 4:6-8)

REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR THE CHAPTER

1) List the two main points of this chapter
   - Introduction (1-17)
   - The Gentiles' Need Of Salvation (18-32)

2) How was Jesus declared to be the Son of God? (4)
   - With power, through His resurrection from the dead

3) What was the objective of Paul's apostleship? (5)
   - To bring about the obedience of faith among all nations

4) Why did Paul want to go to Rome? (11-12)
   - To see them and share in their faith together

5) To whom was Paul obligated? (14)
   - Both to Greeks and barbarians, both to wise and unwise

6) What is God's power to save? (16)
   - The gospel of Christ

7) Why is it God's power to save? (17)
   - In it the righteousness of God is revealed

8) What two invisible attributes of God are revealed in nature? (20)
   - His eternal power and Godhead (divine nature)

9) How does God express His wrath?  (24,26,28)
   - By "giving people up" to their own sinful passions

10) What one sin in particular is an indication that God's wrath toward
    man is in full force?  (26,27)
    - Homosexuality