Devotional Rewind 1/30/16

Here's the rundown of my devotions for last week:

I finished the Elisha devotional that I was doing last week so it’s time to start a new one, Chasing Failure, which is only a 4 day devotional. Once again, I will have selected this free devotional from the Bible app. I also fell a couple days behind on the Bible 1 year plan, so I’m gonna be doing some catch-up this week.

Sunday

Chasing Failure
(Deuteronomy 31:6-8, 1 Timothy 1:6-7, Romans 8:31)
“The person God wants you to become is a person that isn’t afraid of anything regardless of the outcomes of your dreams.”
Deuteronomy – The one thing that God told all of the Israelites and He told specifically to Joshua, is to “be strong and courageous.” No matter if you’re the last person in the line leading into the promised land, or if you’re the guy leading the march, be strong and courageous. Walk in the path Yahweh has set before you, and walk with strength and courage because the God of all creation has your back.
1 Timothy – Don’t abandon ship because of fear. Stay on target.
Romans – I almost quoted this verse when writing the notes for the Deuteronomy portion of this. Then I looked up at the verses included in today’s devotions and thought to myself, “Oh wait, that verse is coming later.” It’s pretty self-explanatory so here it is: if God is for us who can be against us?

Monday

Chasing Failure
(Deuteronomy 31:23, Genesis 18:12, 1 Corinthians 16:13-14)
“What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?”
“What would you do if you knew God was with you wherever you go?”
Deuteronomy – God told Joshua that He would be with him always. Do we not have the Holy Spirit with us always? Do we not have God with us at all times?
Genesis – Sarah couldn’t believe that she would have a child at such an old age. Even her unbelief didn’t stop God from bringing that promise to fruition.
1 Corinthians – It’s good to remember that, even though we are told to be strong and courageous, this all must be anchored in love.

1 Year Bible Plan
Let’s do some catch-up…
(Psalms 13-15, Proverbs 3:1-10, Matthew 15-18, Genesis 43-50)
Psalms – David is a man after God’s heart, but he sure did whine a lot…
Matthew – Washing hands doesn’t purify the heart. This has nothing to do with saying that all animals are acceptable to eat. Jesus was attacking the Pharisees acceptance of the Oral Law, which was not given by God, which said that you had to wash your hands a certain way if you were to be clean.
We’re often told how amazing grace is, and told not to worry ourselves with concerning over our actions, but in Matt 16:27 Jesus says that we will be rewarded for our actions. We are not saved by our works, but we are rewarded for them.
Genesis – If Joseph’s life is somewhat parallel to that of Jesus, is there any symbolism in his dealings with his brothers when they come to Egypt?

Tuesday

Chasing Failure
(Joshua 1:5-7, Psalm 27:14)
Become today who you intend to be tomorrow. The bridge between who you are and who you want to become is simply courage.
Don’t hold off doing something simply because you intend on getting to it later. If you have the ability to do it, do it. You never know when today is going to be the last opportunity you’re going to have.

1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalms 16, Matthew 18, Job 1-3)
Psalms – In verse 8 it says “I have set Yahweh before me always. Because e is at my right hand I will not be shaken.” I guess my question is, do I have God always at the forefront? Do I keep Him at my right hand to help me throughout all of my day?
Matthew – Here, Jesus talks about the church, before there was a church. Was He talking about the future, or was He talking to the people of that day? Was He using ekklesia the same way that the Septuagint did, and just speaking about the congregation of Israel, or was He talking about the future body of Christ? I tend to think that he was talking about the congregation of Israel, but it’s something to think about.
Job – Here we see the satan described separately from the sons of God. He is simply The Accuser/Adversary.
I used to always read “have you considered My servant, Job?” as a question Yahweh asks the satan prompting him to consider him. But it’s possible that the question is more of an accusation, to be read, “you have considered m servant Job, haven’t you?”
It should not also be lost on us that the opening of the book of Job is set in the Divine Council of Psalm 82 and 89.
Verse 16 talks about “the fire of God” falling and killing Job’s sheep and goats. It is the fire of God, but it was sent from the satan. This is something to think on but I think that the God allowed the satan to say what he wanted to happen, and so long as it wasn’t taking Job’s life, God was willing to prove that point to the satan.

Wednesday

Chasing Failure
(Joshua 1:8, 1 Peter 1:3-4)
While you make up your mind about if you have enough in the tank to become who you dream of being, there’s a life out there waiting to meet you.
The way to success while going after the outlandishly awesome is for the Word of Yahweh to be everpresent on our lips and minds.

1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalms 17, Matthew 19, Job 4-5)
Psalms – “I have held my steps in your path, my feet will not slip.” I think it’s important to realize that the reason that our feet won’t slip isn’t simply because of God, it’s because we are taking part in it too. We’re the ones keeping our steps in His path. We have to take an active role in the process if we truly want to succeed.
Matthew – I need to make a point of treating everyone evenly and fairly.
Job – Sometimes we’re going to have friends try to help us by saying things to ease our mind. We need to remember that Yahweh is still in control and we shouldn’t take consolation from friends and just accept it at face value. It may be nice to join them in their uplifting resentment, but God has everything in His hand.

Thursday

Chasing Failure
(Joshua 1:9)
The reality for you and I is that when it comes to strength and bravery, it’s not a suggestion… it’s a command.
Yahweh has commanded that we be strong and courageous. Much like, you shall not kill and steal and covet your neighbor’s wife… you shall be strong and courageous.

1 Year Bible Plan
(Proverbs 3:11-20, Matthew 19, Job 8-10)
Proverbs – As painful as it may seem at times, it is a good thing to seek the rebuke of God. This is how we learn, and this is how we grow.
Matthew – We say that we are followers of Jesus, but how “all-in” have we gone? Do I still pull my punches when I think that I may offend someone?
Job – When I read through Job, I am often reminded that, no matter what I’m going through, it could be worse. And, much like yesterday’s thoughts, I need to remember to not just let the consolation of my friends be an excuse to be bitter.

Friday

Yesterday I completed the Chasing Failure devotion plan and I haven’t picked a new one yet so I’m just going to do the 1 Year plan today. I love that the Bible app provides these devotionals for free but so many of them are only 3-5 days long. I wish they were longer.

1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalms 17, Matthew 20, Job 11-14)
Psalms – Don’t get caught in the trap of thinking that you can’t concern yourself with the abuses of your enemies. Express your discontent to God. Ask for His saving grace. He wants to hear these things.
Matthew – Be happy with what you have. And be happier that someone else was blessed, as well. They probably needed it.
Job – Even here, walking without sin isn’t what saves you. That’s what I take out of Job’s response.

Saturday

1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalms 17, Matthew 20, Job 15-18)
Psalms – We can seek all of the worldly treasure that we want and it won’t compare even a little to seeking the face of God.
Matthew – Don’t get caught up with vane pursuits. Help those who need help. By doing that, you will find fulfillment. If the world doesn’t notice it, at least the Father in heaven will.
Job – It’s good to remember that hardship doesn’t come upon us just because we’ve sinned. We should also try to surround ourselves with people who are uplifting…

Devotional Rewind 01/23/16

Here's a recap of my devotions from last week.

Sunday

Elisha
(2 Kings 4:38-44)
Elisha is sometimes portrayed as performing miracles almost flippantly. Especially when those around him are being big whiners. How does this relate to today? As Elisha was a prophet of Yahweh, and he spoke for Yahweh, I think that the message here is God saying, “Stop whining, I got this.”

1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalms 10, Matthew 12-13, Genesis 34-35)
Psalms – Sometimes it can feel like God isn’t paying attention, and it’s ok to ask Him where He is. In fact, that probably just strengthens your prayer life. Don’t be scared to ask God where He’s been, what He’s been up to. Don’t be scared to seek out that answer.
Matthew – We need to be sure to look at the parable of the sower and the seed correctly. I think that too often we look at like some happenstance thing. Well, some fell here and some fell there. But, we play a huge role in this. We need to make sure that we have the right type of soil. We need to remember that we are the soil in this parable. If there are thorns, it’s because we let them grow up.
Genesis – Simeon was the first born of Jacob, and he would’ve been in line to get the first born blessing (Reuben was first born but he also lost the privilege because of his later act of sleeping with Bilhah), and his would’ve been the line which rightfully would’ve been king. It was because he acted rashly, even in the face of what he considered righteous retribution, that he lost this privilege (and Levi, as well), and the kingly line passed on to Judah.
When Reuben slept with Bilhah it wasn’t just Reuben wanting to get busy, it was a power play. At that time, when a son wanted to take power from his father, he slept with his mother to show who “the man” was in the house. Now, at least Reuben showed the “class” to not sleep with his actual mother, but with his mother’s maidservant, but the meaning was the same.

Monday

Elisha
(2 Kings 5:1-27)
Naaman sought out the supernatural, and when it didn’t appear to him in the way which he had expected it, he denied it. He wanted Elisha to have his hands, or to make him to do something amazing (like maybe climb a mountain and claim a prize at the top) but when Elisha said to simply wash in the Jordan 7 times, he felt like he was being cheated his supernatural experience. How often do we do the same thing?

1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalms 10, Matthew 13, Genesis 36-37)
Psalms 10 – Even though, sometimes, it seems like God isn’t listening, have no doubt about it. He is listening and He will, eventually, make it known to you. So you may as well just be secure in this now. Even if not now, it will happen later.
Matthew – God can’t just take away all of the evil in the world. If He does this, he may uproot some of those who will be led to salvation, as well. When you see evil, see an opportunity to make lemonade out of lemons. Just make sure you have that sweet, sugar that is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
There’s something here to look into. Oftentimes yeast is used to represent sin. But this time yeast is meant to represent the Kingdom of Yahweh. I need to remember to search into this and see what the deeper meaning could be.
Genesis – This first chapter was a list of names. I tried to be attentive, but I’m sure I missed something. I just have to keep reminding myself that they are there for a reason. God doesn’t put things in there which aren’t going to be called upon later.
Two lessons from this early part of the telling of Joseph. Number 1: God can use you even when you are being an immature idiot. Number 2: The more you tell people that you’re better than them, the more they want to kill you.

Tuesday

Elisha
(2 Kings 6:1-7)
Elisha made a fallen ax head float so that it could be retrieved from the river. I think there’s more here than meets the eye. He used a stick which he had cut off, from a tree that had been cut (probably by the ax head which was lost) to get it back. I can see this meaning that we can lose things, but God will restore them to us if it is something that is in His plans, but stay close to His plans because He just may use that thing to help the restoration process.

1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalms 11, Matthew 13, Genesis 38-39)
Psalms – In Psalms 11:5 we see that God loves the righteous but that He hates the wicked, and the lover of violence. Does God really love the sinner but hate the sin? It doesn’t say that He hates the love of violence, He hates the loveR of violence.
Matthew – One thing often overlooked, when looking at the pearl of great price, is that pearls probably would’ve made you unclean. Oysters are an unclean animal and they would not have been allowed to eat them, and the pearl is made in the oyster, so the pearl in general probably would’ve been looked at in a Hebrew context as something of an abomination. And yet, it is shown in this parable to be as the kingdom of heaven.
Genesis 38 – We get the story of Judah and Tamar thrown in here. It’s important to remember that this is the lineage of Yeshua. While Tamar is not a temple prostitute, we see the character of Judah here.
Genesis 39 – The moral of the story with Potiphar’s wife just might be to wear extra clothes when you’re hanging around whores. But it should probably be to avoid whores altogether

Wednesday

Elisha
(2 Kings 6:8-23)
Elisha’s prays that his servant would have his eyes opened up so that he can see the supernatural realm. In contrast to this, Elisha prayed that the physical army surrounding them would be struck blind. And then they are shown mercy. How often am I, like Elisha’s servant, devoid of faith so that I don’t see God moving around me? And, how often am I on the other side? How often do I move with those moving against God, and am blinded TO God because of my ignorance?

1 Year Bible
(Proverbs 2:12-22, Matthew 14:1-21, Genesis 40-41:40)
Proverbs – Don’t succumb to the enticement of evil. Even if evil looks like good.
Matthew – John the Baptist is killed for speaking truth. What I want to relate to is not the normal thing. If I were Herrod, would I have the strength to hear rebuke? Would I just want to have John the Baptist silenced? These are the losses we don’t often pay attention to.
Genesis – Joseph has grown so much since the days of his youth when he was telling his brothers he would reign over them. Now he gives all credit to God. This is still a thing I have trouble with. Do I give credit where it’s due? Am I even willing to?

Thursday

Elisha
(2 Kings 6:24-33, 2 Kings 7:1-20)
There was no faith and there was a famine in the land of Israel. The people didn’t gain any faith, but when the king threatened the life of Elisha, God’s prophet, the faith of Elisha was enough for Yahweh to produce a mighty miracle.

1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalms 12, Matthew 14:22- 15:9, Genesis 41-42)
Psalms – Even when all of the faithful seem to have disappeared, we need to seek the favor of Yahweh.
Matthew – Jesus walks on water and Peter almost does, too. Too often we overlook that the others did nothing, and we focus on Peter not quite making it. Just remember, he did a heck of a lot more than the rest of them.
Genesis – Joseph’s Egyptian name was Zaphenath, and his Egyptian wife was the daughter of the priest of On. I have to wonder how this marriage went, with Joseph being so close to his own God, and she being indoctrinated in the cult of On.
Joseph began his service at the age of 30, the same age which Jesus began his ministry on the Earth.
It would seem that Jacob still needs to work on that favoritism thing, even after Joseph was taken away from him.

Friday
I don’t know what it is about Friday’s but I didn’t’ do devotions last Friday, and today has been a struggle, too. But, I’m not going to fall behind!

Elisha
(2 Kings 8:1-6)
There’s no such thing as coincidence. God will put in our path the very things that need to happen. But, right now, I want to think about the reverse of this. Sure, it’s awesome when God makes things happen in our lives, but we need to realize that when God put someone in our life, that other person was there, too. How often should we have been that other person and God had to farm it out to someone else? I need to be more open to being the instrument through which God shows blessing to someone. It’s kind of exciting to think about it that way.

Saturday

Elisha
(2 Kings 13:10-21)
It strikes me today that Elisha (and other Prophets of Yahweh) do some strange things when obeying God and having His will come about. Since they were acting on behalf of God, should we really expect the answers to our prayers to come out looking like the neat, tidy things we expect? Shouldn’t we expect something totally unexpected?

What Does It Mean To Be A Christian (This Is A Call)

Bible Verses:
(1 Peter 2:9, Romans 3:31, Romans 6:15, Exodus 23:21, Jeremiah 31:33, Exodus 20:1-17)

This stuff keeps popping up all around me. How IN the world can we be before we are also OF the world? How much like the world should we look like, even if we’re supposedly doing it in the name of preaching the name and acclaim of Jesus to those who need it most? How “secular” is too secular? There are some examples which are obviously going way too far (admittedly, this is only my opinion of what is obvious). But I would say that a church telling a witch that she’s on the right path and that God is proud of her is going too far for any church. (Although, I’m guessing that this is more an example of a false prophet than it is a sanctioned act of the church.) Well, at least any church which is a Christian church. This may be a good thing for a church of satan…

But, how much is too much? If you ask some people, they would say that sitting in chairs instead of uncushioned pews in a sanctuary is an abomination before God. If you ask some people, they would say that reading any translation of the Bible other than the King James Version (even though you may have trouble reading it) is not true Christianity. Is all of this true? Does a pastor have to stand behind a pulpit in order for the church to be a Christian church? I guess my answer to that would be that the early church met in houses, not buildings with pulpits, were their teachings any less filled with the Holy Spirit’s anointing?

In the end, all of these arguments are about tradition, not Biblical truth. The truth, as I see it, is that none of these things matter. Do you love Jesus? Have you submitted your actions to the authority of the Messiah? Do you seek to make yourself discernably different than the world so that you can act as a light shining out into the darkness, attracting those lost in the darkness?

And, how many of us are in danger of “taking the LORD’s name in vain”? Admittedly, most people think this means saying “goddamn”, which certainly isn’t a good thing, but explain to me how that even makes sense when being described as “taking the LORD’s name in vain”. Let’s look at this reasonably, though. In Exodus 23:21 we learn that the Angel of Yahweh (most feel that when the “Angel of the LORD” show up in the “Old Testament” that this an appearance of Jesus) has the name of the Yahweh inside of Him. When we take up the mantle of being “Christians” are we not taking the name of the LORD (even if we rarely say the actual name [Yahweh – or however you want to pronounce it])? How many of us call ourselves Christians (take the name of the LORD) and yet do nothing to show that we are His? Are we not, at that point, taking the name of the LORD in vain?

Isn’t this what being a Christ follower should truly be? Shouldn’t we, like Him, live our lives in subjection to the will of God? Shouldn’t we avoid sin at all costs, if we are truly trying to follow Jesus?

But, too often, we call upon the grace given to us through the sacrifice of Jesus (which is amazing, don’t get me wrong) as an excuse to continue to live in sin (Romans 3:31, Romans 6:15). I am not “holier than thou”, I am not nearly as set apart as I should be. I am convicted of this every day. If my body is truly a temple (1 Corinthians 6:19), why do I keep profaning it? Every day there is a new abomination of desolation, if the body is truly the temple of the Holy Spirit. Why don't I care more? 

This isn’t meant to depress you (or me), this is a call to holiness. In days of old, worshippers had to go to a building, just to be close to a room which God resided in, and there His law was written in stone. But now, our bodies are the temple, and the Holy of Holies is our heart where Jesus lives, and the Torah of Yahweh is written upon it (Jeremiah 31:33/Hebrews 10:16). How many of us even know that law which is supposed to be written on our hearts? We can sing every word of our favorite album, but God wrote down what is important to Him, and we’re lucky if we can even paraphrase His top ten (Exodus 20:1-17).

I’m speaking to myself, as much as, and more than, anyone else.

If I am truly God’s workmanship (poiema), why do I oftentimes look so much like something He would never come close to for fear of destroying it because of it's lack of holiness?

Teach me, O Lord. Show me the path you have set out for me. Guide me through the snares of the accuser. Let me have Your Word always on my heart, mind and tongue. Help me to be an example of Your love to those around me. Let me hear valid reproach without being resentful. Let me feel the guiding of your Holy Spirit, so that I can help others find their way to You. And let my every intention be only to grow in my knowledge of You and to help others grow in their knowledge of You.

All these things I ask in the name of Yeshua, Jesus, my Lord and Savior.

Amen

And God spoke all these words, saying, "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. "You shall have no other gods before me. "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. "You shall not murder. "You shall not commit adultery. "You shall not steal. "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's." (Exo 20:1-17 ESV)

Devotional Rewind 1/16/16

Here's a recap of my devotions I had over the past week.

Sunday

(Psalm 7:1-9, Matthew 7-8, Genesis 19-20)

The main thing that struck me today comes from Ps 7:3-5
O Yahweh, my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands, if I have repaid my ally with harm, or if I have plundered my enemy without cause, let the enemy of my soul pursue, and overtake and trample my life into the ground, and lay my honor in the dust.
How many of us live our lives in a way that we would make this statement to God (the one who could actually make it come to pass)? Do we live our lives in a way that we’re prepared to ask God to let our enemy trample us if we’ve dealt unjustly with anyone?

Monday

Today I’m starting a new devotion plan on the Bible app. I have started Elisha: A Tale of Ridiculous Faith. I’ll be adding my thoughts on this to my rewind.

Elisha
(1 Kings 19:14-21)
How weird is it that Elijah came through and told Elisha that he was the new prophet and, just like that, he slaughtered his oxen (you know, the ones he made a living with) and made a dinner and then moved on? I know I don’t have faith like that. I keep trying to justify it; back then, Elijah was a mighty prophet, known throughout Israel, so maybe it’s no big deal that he dropped everything to take up Elijah’s mantle. There’s really no correlation which I can think of which relates, but if the President of the United States (regardless of your politics) came to my house and told me that he was going to make me the next President, would I drop everything and follow that guy? That’s some serious faith!

Tuesday

Elisha
(2 Kings 2:1-18)
Am I willing to follow Yahweh, even those around me are telling me to do things differently?

Wednesday

I’ve taken a couple days off from the 1 year Bible plan so I’m going to attempt to catch up today.

1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalms 7-9, Proverbs 1:20-33, Matthew 8-11, Genesis 21-28)
Gen 21 – First we see Hagar at the well in Beersheba, and then we see “at the same time” Abraham and Abimilech talking about this well and Abraham gaining pledge that this well is his. Are these 2 things related?
Gen 26 – Did Isaac really pull an Abraham and say Rebecca was his sister? And did he do this to Abimilech?

Matt 9 – The new wine and new wineskins reference comes right after John’s disciples ask about fasting. What is this referring to?
                - “by the ruler of demons, he expels the demons.” What was the belief about demons at the time, and what would they have meant by this?

Thursday

Elisha
(2 King 3:1-27)
We have to show the faith to start a thing before God will finish it for us.
If you dig your ditch, the water will come.
The king of Edom burnt his son as a sacrifice and great wrath came upon the Israelites? There seems to be a few renderings of this statement. It could be that the Israelites were so shocked by this abhorrent behavior that they abruptly left, or it could be that when the Moabite soldiers saw the sign being offered to their god they fought with an increased ferocity and drove the Israelites back from the walls.

1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalms 9, Matthew 11, Genesis 29-30)
Ps 9:9-10 – Is it strange that we read “those who know Your name will trust in You,” and we think that the name being referred to is LORD? We’re told that the Angel of the LORD has Yahweh’s name inside of him (Ex 23:21), but how often do we meditate on the actual name of Yahweh?
Matthew 11 – No matter what you do, somebody is going to criticize you. Just do what you are supposed to do and rest easy knowing that you are doing the will of God. But, also, accept a rebuke if it can be discerned to be from God.
Gen 29-30 – I know that this is often said, but I’m not sure how Jacob got any work done with Leah and Rachel fighting over giving him children. “Time of Jacob’s Trouble”, indeed!

Friday

I’m writing this on Saturday because I was a slacker and didn’t do any devotions yesterday. I wasn’t too busy or, had to rush out of the house, or anything. In fact, not only did I not leave the house yesterday, I barely left the couch yesterday. Yesterday was my relaxation day. I watched TV all day. And yet, how relaxed can I be when I spend no time with God. I don’t really feel convicted by not having devotion time, I feel like I lost out.

I don’t know how this is actually going to work but I’m thinking of instituting a new rule for my TV watching: however much time I pray or spend reading the Bible, that is the amount of time that I am allowed to watch TV. For instance, if the Steelers are playing, I better spend at least 3 hours in prayer or the Bible if I want to actually finish that game. But, I don’t want to read the Bible with a timer on, either. This isn’t a science yet…

Saturday

Elisha
(2 Kings 4:1-7)
Through Elisha, God provided enough olive oil to the widow for her to pay all of her debts. Don’t ever look down on the one thing you have, it just may end up being the one thing you need to be able to start over.

(2 Kings 4:8-37)
Sometimes, the ill fortune that happens can be used as a test to make sure that we are still walking in the right amount of faith to carry it out.

1 Year Bible Plan
Psalm 9 –
Proverbs 2:1-11 – To fear Yahweh is the goal, to seek the treasure of Wisdom is how you understand how to fear Yahweh.
Matthew 12 – David eating the show bread is often used to say that it’s ok break the laws of Moses, but this really isn’t doing this. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, and He can heal and do good on the Sabbath, but should that justify us in doing anything we want on the Sabbath, or should that justify us in doing good works on the Sabbath?
Genesis 31-33 – Jacob and Laban are good examples of how not to treat people. Anyone who thinks that the Bible is not divinely inspired, and was just made up by the Jews, needs to answer the question of why they would make every one of their patriarchs look so idiotic at times. When the Angel of Yahweh appeared and wrestled with Jacob, it was exactly what Jacob needed at that point. Jacob was so scared of what Esau would do to him , even though God had told him that He would with with him, that Jacob needed to not only see God but also struggle with Him, in order to have the faith he needed to face his brother the next day. If he can struggle with God and survive, he can face Esau and survive.

I'm the King of the World!

Bible Verses: Matthew 24, Psalms 2:1-5

Does anyone remember how there were all those people who claimed the Barack Obama was The Antichrist?

What’s that, you say? People are still saying that? Oh. I mean, do they have good arguments?

So they say that when he said “yes we can” he was actually saying “thank you satan” backwards? Well that’s weird. I mean, looking at the word he said, you really shouldn’t be able to make it say the other thing. But, it kind of does sound like there’s something said before the yes. Ok, I’m still not buying it, but I’ll listen to more. What else do they have?

He said that America is not a Christian nation? Well, considering that the founders were deists, and most of them were Luciferians, I’m not sure America was ever a Christian nation. Did it have ideals founded on the Word of God? Definitely, but there’s a pentagram in the streets of Washington D.C., with its head being the White House; that’s not very Christian, is it?

He wants to take your guns? Well, I’m not really sure what that has to do with God, or Barack Obama being the Antichrist, but I don’t like the gun thing.

Oh wait, you’ve heard that he’s going to cancel the 2016 election and continue being President? Oh, come on now, guys. This one is just ridiculous. Surely, if he were the Antichrist he would have higher aspirations than just being the President of the United States of America. I mean, that’s pretty powerful but it’s just one country. And, moreover, the entire time he’s been in office he’s been giving more and more power within the country to the U.N. anyway. He’s actually done a decent job of making the U.S. subject to the U.N. and the policies they set forth. He could stay on as President but that position almost doesn’t matter anymore. Some Antichrist he would be then…

Wait – you heard what? No, that can’t be. Barack Obama has been talking topeople about potentially taking over as U.N. Secretary General later this year? So what you’re saying is that for the last 8 years our President has been giving more and more power to the U.N., and now they’re talking of putting him in charge of the U.N. right after he leaves the Presidency? Ok, that is a little scary.

It’s a good thing there already is a Secretary General of the U.N. so that there’s no opening. Wait, the current Secretary General’s term ends in a couple months and they will be looking for a new one? Well, crap!

At least the church will be raptured away to heaven before the Antichrist presents himself. What’s that? The Bible never says that and America is really the only place that you find a belief like that? You mean, the Bible actually teaches that the rapture of the church happens after the Antichrist presents himself? So you mean this all could be happening? Well, crap!

If only there were some writing somewhere that told us the way this was all going to end. What’s that? There is? Oh, well then, nevermind. It’s all good.

Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against His Anointed, [saying], "Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us." He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure: (Psa 2:1-5 NKJV)





Post Script: It should be noted that I do not hold the theory that Barack Obama is the Antichrist. I do, however, believe in noting when some crazy stuff is happening. And President Obama making a play to be the Secretary General of the U.N. is some pretty crazy stuff. And, that makes me look at the situation a little more closely.

The Insanity of Stubbornness

Bible Verses: Jeremiah 29:11, Proverbs 3:5-6, Matthew 6:26-30

The last week or so has been pretty difficult. It’s been a time of contemplation, and of resolve. Resolve. I guess sometimes we can confuse stubbornness for resolve, and we need to be able to discern between the two.

When does resolve turn into being stubborn? Is there even a difference?

Maybe I should take a minute to give my distinction. And then, if I’m wrong, somebody can resolve to tell me so and I’ll stubbornly tell them that they’re wrong.

To be stubborn, in my mind, you have to have an extra special kind of dumb. That’s not to say that I’ve never been stubborn (I’ve never claimed to not have extra-special dumbness), but it’s not an attribute that I enjoy, or intend to pursue. Stubbornness is kind of like being insane. There’s a quote which is often attributed to Albert Einstein (or Benjamin Franklin, or Mark Twain) that goes like this, “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Or, something like that. None of the people listed above probably ever said this, and we can debate until the cows come how if “insanity” is a term we should be using (really, where do these cows go that they’re getting home at such a late hour…), but I think that we can agree that this quote pretty much perfectly describes “stubbornness.” Stubbornness is doing the same thing over and over because you know you’re right and expecting something to be different this time because it’s the only way you know to go about things.

So what makes resolve any different? When you have resolve, you have an outcome in mind and you fight to get to that outcome. But, when you go about getting to the desired result in a way which doesn’t work, you change up what you’re doing the next time you try. Why? Because you have resolve and you want to accomplish your mission!

So what does this all mean? God has a plan for our lives (Jer 29:11) and you can keep trying to figure out your own way to get there, even when it’s obviously not working (stubbornness), but God has resolve and He is willing to wait through our stubbornness, placing things in our path which eventually lead us down the path which He had originally intended, so that we can eventually get to His intended outcome for our lives. Was that a little too neat and tidy? Too bad, because I was told that cleanliness is next to Godliness. Actually, that’s another quote which I’m not so sure of who it should be attributed to so maybe I’ll talk about that one some other time…

But, the key lesson here, is to seek your path through God’s word (Prov 3:5-6). Don’t over think all of it (Mat 6:26-30). Trust in Yahweh and His omniscient ability to get you where you’re supposed to be, and you will get there.

I know, easier said than done, but I may as well give it a try, at least…

For I know the plans that I am planning concerning you,’ declares Yahweh, ‘plans for prosperity and not for harm to give to you a future and a hope.’ (Jer 29:11 LEB)

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. (Pro 3:5-6 NKJV)

Look at the birds of the sky: They don't sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you worth more than they? Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying? And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don't labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! If that's how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won't He do much more for you -- you of little faith? (Mat 6:26-30 HCSB)

Devotional Rewind 1/9/16

I’m going to use this time to kind of do a rehash of my devotions throughout the week. This serves quite a few purposes. I’ll be able to give you guys some of the things that have been shown to me, I’ll be able to go over the things I thought were key takeaways and maybe help them sink in more, AND if I have this blog to post then maybe I’ll do a better job of sticking with my devotions.

This week I’m doing a devotion plan on the Bible app called The Forty Day Word Fast (but it’s only 7 days and I’m a little confused). I’ve also done that thing that I do every year… I started a 1 Year Bible Plan. Maybe this will be the year that I make it more than 1/10 of the way through…

I’ll be writing down the thoughts that come to me as I’m going through my devotions. This may be a bit jerky, and it may make no sense at first, but you may get something from it. Here’s how that went this week…

Monday

WordFast

We have all spoken words of judgement, criticism, sarcasm, negativity, complaining, and gossip

Psalm 39:1, Proverbs 13:3, James 1:26, Psalm 141:3

What words would You have me speak?

1 Year Bible Plan

Walking:

-          Gen 5:24, Gen 6:9 – Enoch and Noah both walked with God. This week I have quite a few fitbit step challenges going and this has me thinking that maybe I should put my walking to better use…

-          Gen 3:8 – God was walking in the Garden in the cool of the day. God walks a lot…

Matt 3:15 – “to fulfill all righteousness” What did this mean if John didn’t think it was proper? Was this part of the High Priest passing authority over to a priest in the order of Melchizedek?

In Gen 5:3 Adam had a son “in his own image”. How does this relate to being in God’s image? And does this make Seth an imager of Adam?

Gen 6:4 – You guys may get sick of me talking about this one… Understanding this passage really helps you understand the entire Bible better. The Bible is all about Yahweh’s Plan for salvation for us. Included in that is the fight that battles fought in order to win that salvation. Yahweh promised redemption (Gen 3:15) and that the nachash would be defeated, so the enemy attempted to destroy the human bloodline by intermingling its DNA with that of the Fallen Angels. I’m sure I’ll go more into this soon…

Tuesday

WordFast

                The same way a person’s language reveals what part of the country he’s from or his national origins, as followers of Christ our words quickly reveal what kingdom we’re living in.

                Have the words I’ve spoken recently reflected the kingdom of this world, or God’s kingdom?

These are two quotes from today’s wordfast devotional. The truth is, I can be a sarcastic jerkhead. In today’s society, sarcasm has kind of been lifted up as the smart person’s humor, but I find myself convicted every time I catch myself being sarcastic anymore. Is my use of sarcasm really the best use of the words coming out of my mouth? Hardly.

Matt 12:34, Matt 15:18-20, Prov 4:23
Matt 12:34 – If I’m really as “Godly” as I’m trying to be, why am I not acting and speaking that way?
Matt 15:18 – out of the heart we get all kind of evil thing. This reminds me of the times that we do something contrary to the laws of God and we say,” well He knows my heart.” Do we really want Him to judge us by our hearts?
Prov 4:23 – “with all vigilance, keep your heart, for from it comes the source of life.” Compare to Leviticus 17:11 (“For the life of the flesh is in the blood”) and we see that there was an understanding that blood is life and in the heart is blood. The heart is a blood pumping organ. Not sure why but this connection between these two verses is really cool to me.

1 Year Bible Plan

Matt 4 – Even Jesus, who is the Word of God, didn’t just say whatever he wanted to when confronted by the accuser (though He could’ve because anything He would’ve said would’ve been the Word of God), He quoted from the Torah of God. The Torah of God is important, yesterday, today, and forever. 

One of the cool things I learned over the past year was that a Rabbi usually began collecting disciples at around the age of 30 (like Jesus), and that these disciples were usually around 17 years old. So a lot of the disciples may have been a lot younger than we tend to think about them. 

Gen 7 – “Noah was 600 years old when the flood waters came upon the earth.” One of the theories is that the flood started on Noah’s birthday.
Gen 8 – “And God caused a wind to blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.” Here the Hebrew word used for “wind” is the word “Ruach” which is also the word for Spirit. So it is possible that this verse may be saying that the Holy Spirit went over the earth and caused things to be dried.
Gen 9 – it isn’t until Gen 9:3 that man is given the permission to eat meat. Before this, we were supposed to be vegetarians. But now, it’s almost as if we’re commanded to eat meat.

Wednesday

WordFast

When I speak, am I paying attention to how people are perceiving me? And am I a good example (torch bearer) for Yeshua?

Col 4:6 – We have been shown grace so, if we are to follow Yeshua, we should show the same grace to others.
Eph 4:29 – Everything we say should be in an attempt to build up others.
1 Pet 3:15 – If we are constantly giving grace to others, and building them up, we should be ready to tell people why we’re acting how we’re acting. Because we were shown grace by God when Yeshua died on the cross for us.

1 Year Bible Plan

Ps 4 – Verse 5 says “Offer correct sacrifices and trust in YHWH”. While we’re no longer sacrificing animals to God, are we still mindful of the sacrifices we’re bringing before the Father? Will they be pleasing to Him? Or, are our sacrifices, like Cain’s, not what the Father is looking for?

Matt 4-5 – Beattitudes: try to approach life in a way that I can be one of those who Yeshua blesses.
(5:17)“Do not think I come to destroy the law and the prophets.” We keep saying that Yeshua’s sacrifice did away with the law, but what if He meant what He said here? What if fulfill doesn’t mean abolish, but simply what it means: that He walked in the law and showed us the way to follow after Him?

Gen 9-11 – We get into the lineages here. This used to be really boring, but looking at it and thinking of this as the table of nations, and with a Deutoronomy 32 worldview, makes this a lot easier to get through. And, lest we forget, Nimrod shows up in chapter 10. I think we’ll go a lot deeper into Nimrod in the very near future.

Thursday

WordFast

How many people have I hurt with my words? How many have I hurt this week?

Prov 12:18, Ps 17:3, Ps 139: 23-24

1 Year Bible Plan

Ps 5 – vv 5-6 – Does God really love the sinner and hate the sin?

Mat 5 – Actions are not the key, it’s the intent in the heart that is more severe

Gen 11-13 – And all families of the earth will be blessed in you. Because of Abram’s faith, the whole world has the ability to be grafted into his lineage.
                                - I don’t think I’ll ever understand this thing that Abram does where he gives his wife away (and again later). Everytime I’ve read these passages I have not been able to understand it.

Friday
Today I didn’t do the 1 Year Bible plan so I’m going to try to catch up tomorrow

(Psalm 34:1, Psalm 145: 1-7, Ephesians 5:20)

WordFast

What words should be coming out of my mouth? I’ve spent all this week focusing on the words which don’t need to be coming from me, but what should be replacing those words?


Saturday

Mission accomplished on the catching up thing. The WordFast plan was over so I did double-duty on the One Year Plan.

1 Year Bible Plan

(Psalm 6, Proverbs 1:8-19, Matthew 5-7, Genesis 14-18)

The main thought for today is Mercy. If God is willing to have mercy on us after all the wrong that we do, how can we not have mercy on others?

The Pope Said What?!?!

This is kind of “old news” at this point, but if I talk about it quick enough, it may still be relevant. So here goes…

The Pope (the current one, you know, Pope Francis) told a crowd gathered at a mass that this past Christmas will very likely be the last Christmas. What The Francis?? And he said that we are currently living in the end times?? I thought it was only the “crazy evangelicals” that thought like this? This may require some further looking into...

So what exactly did he say?

“While the world starves, burns, and descends further into chaos, we should realize that this year’s Christmas celebrations, for those who choose to celebrate it, may be their last.”

Well, that statement could easily be taken as the Pope saying that the world is going to end, but he could just as easily be saying that the people who are dealing with starvation and the chaos of war may die so this may be their last Christmas. At this, I'm still not certain that the Pope intended his statement to mean that nobody will have another Christmas. Though, I'll admit that my predilection for riding the wave of conspiracy theories wants me to buy into this one.

In an earlier event the Pope stated that Christmas this year would be a “charade” because the world was engulfed in World War 3. This doesn’t, necessarily, speak to whether we’re talking about the last all-time Christmas or just the last Christmas for the dead and dying (both are… bad), but it does speak to a mindset that the Pope seems to have. This dude (forgive me if it is bad form to refer to the Pope as dude, I'm not sure of the formalities here) is either being melodramatic, or he believes that the whole shebang is coming to end pretty immediately.

Now, I wasn’t alive for World War 1 or World War 2, so I’m not sure if either of them were referred to as a World War while they were going on. Actually, I know that WW1 was called The Great War while it was going on, and possibly even The World War (but certainly not World War 1, as it's not like they intended to make this a tradition). But was WW2 referred to as such while it was going on?

(I just did a google search, and it would appear that it WAS called WW2 at the time. Who would’ve thought…)

So, I guess a new question would be, should we be referring to the current state of war in the world as WW3? I mean, there are wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6), so this very possibly is the end times. And then there’s the whole Petrus Romanus thing. We all know that I have a penchant for conspiracy theories, but I don’t even think I’m stretching that far on this one. My only real concern about this being the real deal is that it seems a bit strange that he’s telegraphing his punches so much. Or is this the beginning of the coming great deception? Could it be so evident that we wouldn't think that the enemy would show us that much, and that's how he gets away with it? OK, I'm willing to admit that may be a bit paranoid, but I doubt anyone's surprised that I think that way.

Oh and here’s a fun fact: you know that place in Matthew 24 that says “many will come in my name saying, ‘I am the Christ’”? One of the titles for the Pope is the Vicar of Christ. Back when that title was given to Popes the term actually meant “in place of Christ.” Now I’m not saying that PF (that’s what I call Pope Francis…) is saying that he is the Christ, but PF is trying to put himself in the place of Christ, so... Jesus said that no man can come to the father but through Him, well… PF has stated the atheists can go to heaven so it appears that he has changed the dictates of Jesus, thus putting himself in the same place as Christ, in his mind.

Do I sound like a crazy conspiracy theorist yet? If I do, why?

I personally don’t believe that this past Christmas was the last one that we’ll see. But I know this much, I’m going to be watching for signs that I might be wrong...

Bible Verses: Matthew 24: 3-8, John 14: 5-7

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there wil be famines, pestilences, and earthquake in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows." -Mat 24: 3-8

Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him." - Jhn 14:5-7 NKJV

I had this entire post written I was about to push the publish button when I read an article which I think is pertinent to what has been said here. In this article, Charisma magazine asks why so many people believe PF to be the Anti-Christ (or, maybe the False Prophet of the book of Revelation). While this is not entirely what this post was about, I believe that it is related because of the whole "End Times" portion. Please read the linked article (which I think is fair in its opinion) and let it sink in. What thoughts do you have on this? If PF isn't the Anti-Christ (I'm not going to go so far as to say that), are his statements overreaching? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

A Piece of Work(s)

I want to talk a little bit about the name of this site, and what it means to me. So, what is that weird word? Poiema. It’s a Greek word. A long time ago I watched a movie called My Big Fat Greek Wedding and I was informed that pretty much every word, ever comes from a Greek root. I’m not so sure that’s the truth, but in this case it happens to be true. This Greek word is used two times in the Bible and one of those times happens to be in the book of Ephesians:

Ephesians 2:10 – For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Poiema is translated into English as the word “workmanship”. The definition of poiema is as follows: "The word signifies that which is manufactured, a product, a design produced by an artisan". You can look at the word poiema and see inside of it the origins of the word 'Poem'. So, quite literally, we are a poem created by God. We are each a work of art.

There are a few ways of looking at this and all of them are awe inspiring, and potentially life changing (which really shouldn't be that big of a surprise since, you know, the Bible...). But the biggest thing we need to realize is that we are more than just hastily thrown together bags of blood and guts. Looking deeply into this travels deep into the realm of intelligent design, but let’s, for now, just allow this to mean that we are skillfully put together with the attention to detail of your favorite poem or short story, or sculpture or painting, or song or movie. Even if you, like me, oftentimes feel like a Pollock painting, if you’ve never looked into the studies on the intricacies of Pollock’s paintings then you would be amazed at the minute detail in what looks to be a mess of splattered paint. Just a simple understanding of this brings great value to yourself, and your life. Later on we can go into more depth on this. Probably much later on, as in, a different post.

We’ve briefly looked at the first part of this verse (“For we are His workmanship,”) so why don’t we move onto the second part:

created in Christ Jesus for good works

I guess the first thing I should point out is that the word “works” (you know, the last word, the one coming after “good”) is a totally different word than workmanship word (poiema). For the record, this root word is “ergon”, which is much like “ergo”, which reminds me of that second Matrix movie. But that’s not really relevant, so – um – nevermind… While we are God’s workmanship (creation), upon our rebirth (born again) we were created in Jesus so that we could perform good works (acts). This, for some reason, is a little controversial. You get into that whole works/grace argument. There is, amazingly, a lot of contention in the Christian community over whether we should be doing good works. Some say that there is no need to do good works because Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross, and our acceptance of Him as Lord and Savior, is all that’s needed and that nothing more need be done to earn our salvation. Then there’s the other side of the argument which says that we have been saved by grace trough faith and that we don’t need to do anything else to earn our salvation, but we should still be doing the good works precisely because we’ve given our lives to Christ. I will acknowledge that I land in the second camp so my representation may be a little biased. But, to me, it’s not about needing to perform good works, it’s about wanting to because if you have truly given your life to Christ then the want to do these works will naturally flow out of you. And this is just a personal feeling but, if you profess to be a Christian, and you don’t feel the pull of the law of God on your heart to do good works, you may want to do some internal searching and make sure that you’ve have actually accepted Jesus not just your savior, but also your lord.

What’s next? Oh yeah, the part of the verse where we’re told that God has set aside good works in advance for us to do and if we don’t do them then we’re not walking in the path God has set out for us…

which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

It should probably be noted that the “saved by grace through faith” reference comes from directly before the verse in question in this post. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” But then this is directly followed by “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” It seems obvious to me (though I admit that this could still be open to other interpretations, I guess…), that we should read the “grace through faith” passage as a whole, and that it should be seen it’s complete context to be saying that we have to do nothing more because Jesus has already done all the work to create us anew, and that He created us to do good works. And if you truly love Jesus, you will get out there and do those good works.

And that’s it. That’s where the title of this page comes from. We are God’s workmanship, and we’re supposed to be doing good things for God, so what work are you doing? We are the poiema so what poem are you living? Is it a poem that glorifies God? I’ll be the first to admit that it’s not always easy. I struggle every day with living that set-apart life. But I give it my best, at least 80% of the time. And every day I strive to make that percentage go up.

So who’s gonna join me? Who will be a part of the poiema? Who is going to be a work of art?