11/17/12

MOM


If you have had teenagers, this little statement in the picture will mean a lot to you!!!  Children always need something and as they get older they often need more and more and more until MOM breaks down and says something like:  Do you think I am MADE OF MONEY???  In fact, mothers are far more patient than fathers (as my wife will testify) and I think make better parents overall.  So, when you bachelors out there go looking for a wife, look carefully!!! Here is one mother's advice to her son....


Proverbs, Chapter 31

  1 The words of king Lemuel; the oracle which his mother taught him.

  2 “Oh, my son!
Oh, son of my womb!
Oh, son of my vows!  

  3 Don’t give your strength to women,
nor your ways to that which destroys kings.

.....


 10 Who can find a worthy woman?
For her price is far above rubies.


  11 The heart of her husband trusts in her.
He shall have no lack of gain.


  12 She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life.


  13 She seeks wool and flax,
and works eagerly with her hands.


  14 She is like the merchant ships.
She brings her bread from afar.


  15 She rises also while it is yet night,
gives food to her household,
and portions for her servant girls.


  16 She considers a field, and buys it.
With the fruit of her hands, she plants a vineyard.


  17 She arms her waist with strength,
and makes her arms strong.


  18 She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp doesn’t go out by night.


  19 She lays her hands to the distaff,
and her hands hold the spindle.


  20 She opens her arms to the poor;
yes, she extends her hands to the needy.


  21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household;
for all her household are clothed with scarlet.


  22 She makes for herself carpets of tapestry.
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.


  23 Her husband is respected in the gates,
when he sits among the elders of the land.


  24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
and delivers sashes to the merchant.


  25 Strength and dignity are her clothing.
She laughs at the time to come.


  26 She opens her mouth with wisdom.
Faithful instruction is on her tongue.


  27 She looks well to the ways of her household,
and doesn’t eat the bread of idleness.


  28 Her children rise up and call her blessed.
Her husband also praises her:


  29 “Many women do noble things,
but you excel them all.”


  30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain;
but a woman who fears Yahweh, she shall be praised.


  31 Give her of the fruit of her hands!
Let her works praise her in the gates!

Talk about a tough job description!!!  But, remember, this is what Lemuel's mother taught him!!!  Humm, I wonder if he ever did marry?  If he did, I can safely assume she was something special!!!  And so, we come to the common word for mother... MOM.  To me, this word has three meanings to her children, a different one for way you view the word.  As a young child, MOM is there for practically everything; especially emergencies (MOM turned sideways is SOS [ use Greek Letters ]).  As a teen, the Made Of Money term seems to be dominant.  When her child reaches adulthood and begins to realize how much it really takes to raise children... the word is turned upside-down and WOW becomes how she is viewed.  Who can find a worthy woman?  One who is a Mother Of Maturity; that's who!!!  At least this is true in Lemuel's case.


Bible Reading, Nov. 17


Nov. 17
Jeremiah 18-21
 
Jer 18:1 The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, saying,
Jer 18:2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear my words.
Jer 18:3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he was making a work on the wheels.
Jer 18:4 When the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of the potter, he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Jer 18:5 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Jer 18:6 House of Israel, can't I do with you as this potter? says Yahweh. Behold, as the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.
Jer 18:7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up and to break down and to destroy it;
Jer 18:8 if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them.
Jer 18:9 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;
Jer 18:10 if they do that which is evil in my sight, that they not obey my voice, then I will repent of the good, with which I said I would benefit them.
Jer 18:11 Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return you now everyone from his evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.
Jer 18:12 But they say, It is in vain; for we will walk after our own devices, and we will do everyone after the stubbornness of his evil heart.
Jer 18:13 Therefore thus says Yahweh: Ask you now among the nations, who has heard such things; the virgin of Israel has done a very horrible thing.
Jer 18:14 Shall the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of the field? or shall the cold waters that flow down from afar be dried up?
Jer 18:15 For my people have forgotten me, they have burned incense to false gods; and they have been made to stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths, to walk in byways, in a way not built up;
Jer 18:16 to make their land an astonishment, and a perpetual hissing; everyone who passes thereby shall be astonished, and shake his head.
Jer 18:17 I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity.
Jer 18:18 Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
Jer 18:19 Give heed to me, Yahweh, and listen to the voice of those who contend with me.
Jer 18:20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have dug a pit for my soul. Remember how I stood before you to speak good for them, to turn away your wrath from them.
Jer 18:21 Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, and give them over to the power of the sword; and let their wives become childless, and widows; and let their men be slain of death, and their young men struck of the sword in battle.
Jer 18:22 Let a cry be heard from their houses, when you shall bring a troop suddenly on them; for they have dug a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet.
Jer 18:23 Yet, Yahweh, you know all their counsel against me to kill me; don't forgive their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from your sight; but let them be overthrown before you; deal you with them in the time of your anger.
 

Jer 19:1 Thus said Yahweh, Go, and buy a potter's earthen bottle, and take of the elders of the people, and of the elders of the priests;
Jer 19:2 and go forth to the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the gate Harsith, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell you;
Jer 19:3 and say, Hear you the word of Yahweh, kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem: thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring evil on this place, which whoever hears, his ears shall tingle.
Jer 19:4 Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it to other gods, that they didn't know, they and their fathers and the kings of Judah; and have filled this place with the blood of innocents,
Jer 19:5 and have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire for burnt offerings to Baal; which I didn't command, nor spoke it, neither came it into my mind:
Jer 19:6 therefore, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter.
Jer 19:7 I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life: and their dead bodies will I give to be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth.
Jer 19:8 I will make this city an astonishment, and a hissing; everyone who passes thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues.
Jer 19:9 I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters; and they shall eat everyone the flesh of his friend, in the siege and in the distress, with which their enemies, and those who seek their life, shall distress them.
Jer 19:10 Then you shall break the bottle in the sight of the men who go with you,
Jer 19:11 and shall tell them, Thus says Yahweh of Armies: Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter's vessel, that can't be made whole again; and they shall bury in Topheth, until there be no place to bury.
Jer 19:12 Thus will I do to this place, says Yahweh, and to its inhabitants, even making this city as Topheth:
Jer 19:13 and the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, shall be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the army of the sky, and have poured out drink offerings to other gods.
Jer 19:14 Then came Jeremiah from Topheth, where Yahweh had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of Yahweh's house, and said to all the people:
Jer 19:15 Thus says Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring on this city and on all its towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it; because they have made their neck stiff, that they may not hear my words.
 

Jer 20:1 Now Pashhur, the son of Immer the priest, who was chief officer in the house of Yahweh, heard Jeremiah prophesying these things.
Jer 20:2 Then Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which was in the house of Yahweh.
Jer 20:3 It happened on the next day, that Pashhur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah to him, Yahweh has not called your name Pashhur, but Magormissabib.
Jer 20:4 For thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself, and to all your friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and your eyes shall see it; and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive to Babylon, and shall kill them with the sword.
Jer 20:5 Moreover I will give all the riches of this city, and all its gains, and all the precious things of it, yes, all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies; and they shall make them a prey, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.
Jer 20:6 You, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house shall go into captivity; and you shall come to Babylon, and there you shall die, and there you shall be buried, you, and all your friends, to whom you have prophesied falsely.
Jer 20:7 Yahweh, you have persuaded me, and I was persuaded; you are stronger than I, and have prevailed: I am become a laughing-stock all the day, every one mocks me.
Jer 20:8 For as often as I speak, I cry out; I cry, Violence and destruction! because the word of Yahweh is made a reproach to me, and a derision, all the day.
Jer 20:9 If I say, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name, then there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with forbearing, and I can't contain.
Jer 20:10 For I have heard the defaming of many, terror on every side. Denounce, and we will denounce him, say all my familiar friends, those who watch for my fall; peradventure he will be persuaded, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.
Jer 20:11 But Yahweh is with me as an awesome mighty one: therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail; they shall be utterly disappointed, because they have not dealt wisely, even with an everlasting dishonor which shall never be forgotten.
Jer 20:12 But, Yahweh of Armies, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance on them; for to you have I revealed my cause.
Jer 20:13 Sing to Yahweh, praise you Yahweh; for he has delivered the soul of the needy from the hand of evildoers.
Jer 20:14 Cursed be the day in which I was born: don't let the day in which my mother bore me be blessed.
Jer 20:15 Cursed be the man who brought news to my father, saying, A boy is born to you; making him very glad.
Jer 20:16 Let that man be as the cities which Yahweh overthrew, and didn't repent: and let him hear a cry in the morning, and shouting at noontime;
Jer 20:17 because he didn't kill me from the womb; and so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great.
Jer 20:18 Why came I forth out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?
 

Jer 21:1 The word which came to Jeremiah from Yahweh, when king Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, saying,
Jer 21:2 Please inquire of Yahweh for us; for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon makes war against us: peradventure Yahweh will deal with us according to all his wondrous works, that he may go up from us.
Jer 21:3 Then said Jeremiah to them, You shall tell Zedekiah:
Jer 21:4 Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, with which you fight against the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans who besiege you, without the walls; and I will gather them into the midst of this city.
Jer 21:5 I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation.
Jer 21:6 I will strike the inhabitants of this city, both man and animal: they shall die of a great pestilence.
Jer 21:7 Afterward, says Yahweh, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, even such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those who seek their life: and he shall strike them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.
Jer 21:8 To this people you shall say, Thus says Yahweh: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.
Jer 21:9 He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; but he who goes out, and passes over to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be to him for a prey.
Jer 21:10 For I have set my face on this city for evil, and not for good, says Yahweh: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.
Jer 21:11 Touching the house of the king of Judah, hear you the word of Yahweh:
Jer 21:12 House of David, thus says Yahweh, Execute justice in the morning, and deliver him who is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn so that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings.
Jer 21:13 Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, and of the rock of the plain, says Yahweh; you that say, Who shall come down against us? or who shall enter into our habitations?
Jer 21:14 I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, says Yahweh; and I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it shall devour all that is around her.


Nov. 17
Hebrews 3

Heb 3:1 Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Jesus;
Heb 3:2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, as also was Moses in all his house.
Heb 3:3 For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who built the house has more honor than the house.
Heb 3:4 For every house is built by someone; but he who built all things is God.
Heb 3:5 Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were afterward to be spoken,
Heb 3:6 but Christ is faithful as a Son over his house; whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the glorying of our hope firm to the end.
Heb 3:7 Therefore, even as the Holy Spirit says, "Today if you will hear his voice,
Heb 3:8 don't harden your hearts, as in the provocation, like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness,
Heb 3:9 where your fathers tested me by proving me, and saw my works for forty years.
Heb 3:10 Therefore I was displeased with that generation, and said, 'They always err in their heart, but they didn't know my ways;'
Heb 3:11 as I swore in my wrath, 'They will not enter into my rest.' "
Heb 3:12 Beware, brothers, lest perhaps there be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God;
Heb 3:13 but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called "today;" lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Heb 3:14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm to the end:
Heb 3:15 while it is said, "Today if you will hear his voice, don't harden your hearts, as in the rebellion."
Heb 3:16 For who, when they heard, rebelled? No, didn't all those who came out of Egypt by Moses?
Heb 3:17 With whom was he displeased forty years? Wasn't it with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
Heb 3:18 To whom did he swear that they wouldn't enter into his rest, but to those who were disobedient?
Heb 3:19 We see that they were not able to enter in because of unbelief.