In the Old Testament, people carried banners when they went to war, sending the singers and praisers into the battle first. When the tribe of Judah sang, “Oh, give thanks to the L-rd, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever” (2 Chron. 20:21), the enemy was so confused they were self-slaughtered and self-defeated.
When King Jehoshaphat prepared for battle, he took the position of getting on his face to worship G-d. If you have battles to face, get in the position of warfare, and just worship the L-rd your G-d.
His response to our worship is, “Be not afraid or dismayed at this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but Mine, saith the L-rd.”
Ps. 14:7 says “The angel of the L-rd encamps around those who fear Him, who revere and worship Him with awe and each of them He delivers.”
Spending time with the Father keeps you stable, steadfast, and calm. G-d says: “fear not; for I am with you: be not dismayed for I am your G-d: I will strengthen you; yea, I will help you; yea, I will uphold you with the right hand of My righteousness.” (Isa. 41:10).
When your faith is fed daily by G-d’s presence, the adversary can’t control you, because you don’t get easily upset.
Being filled with G-d’s truth makes it easier to live the life G-d had for you. Let G-d be your anchor in the midst of the raging waves of circumstances and remain steadfast in His love.
Gen. 15:6 says: “And Abram believed in (trusted in, relied on, remained steadfast to) the L-rd, and He counted it to him as righteousness, right standing with G-d.”
It is the L-rd’s battle, stop trying to fight it alone.
Remain Steadfast in His love.
Frozen Walls
Long made walls frozen over in time are glittering in His Son’s light. Tall walls, medium walls and small walls displayed in the shadows and openly but none of them held a bridge to cross.
Some were covered in the sot of this world, were others were towering as high as the trees; all were long and wide stretching out to the sea.
Here and there you could see melting going on, leaving flowing water passing between that dismantled them from the others.
They seem to surround the two trees in the garden, as if trying to outline, the pathway to His light.
A new birth is appearing to pop through as it pushes back all our barriers freeing us from hunts of the pass.
Our baggages are getting too hard to carry; we need to let go and let God hold our hand the rest of life’s way.
Father what do You have to say to us today?
“My yoke is easy and My burden is light,
Wouldn’t you sit at My feet
And be My delight?
Only I can give you the peace that passes all understanding.
Push into Me for I am waiting for you with open arms,
As I rock you gently.
Let the tears of sorrow fall, for as they flow down,
Your frozen walls will melt away
Into My sea of forgetfulness.”
Fig Tree
Lesson of the Fig Tree
Jer. 24:1 The L-RD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the L-RD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
[The children of men are all as the fruits of the fig-tree, capable of being made serviceable to G-d and man (Jug. 9:11).]
2. One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
[Figs . . . first ripe - the "boccora," or early fig first-fruits in the Temple.
The good figs were like those that are first ripe, which are most acceptable (Mic. 7:1) and most prized when newly come into season. These represented the pious captives, that seemed first ripe for ruin, for they went first into captivity, but should prove first ripe for mercy, and their captivity should help to ripen them; these are pleasing to G-d, as good figs are to us, and shall be carefully preserved for use.
The bad figs are such as could not be eaten, they were so evil; they could not answer the end of their creation, were neither pleasant nor good for food. If G-d has no honour from men, or their generation any service, they are even like the bad figs, that cannot be eaten, that will not answer any good purpose.]
3. Then said the L-RD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
[The good figs represent Jeconiah and the exiles in Babylon; the bad, Zedekiah and the obstinate Jews in Judea. They are called good and bad respectively, not in a total, but a relative sense, and in reference to the punishment of the latter. This prophecy was designed to encourage the despairing exiles, and to reprove the people at home, who prided themselves as superior to those in Babylon and abused the forbearance of G-d (compare Jeremiah 52:31-34).]
4. Again the word of the L-RD came unto me, saying,
5. Thus saith the L-RD, the G-d of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.
[Acknowledge - regard with favor, like as thou lookest on the good figs favorably.
For their good - Their removal to Babylon saved them from the calamities which befell the rest of the nation and led them to repentance there: so G-d bettered their condition (2 Kings 25:27-30). Daniel and Ezekiel were among these captives.
But those that staid behind were like a child long left to himself, who, when afterwards corrected, is stubborn, and made worse by it, Lam. 3:27. G-d owns their captivity to be his doing. Whoever were the instruments of it, he ordered and directed it.]
6. For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
[(Jeremiah 12:15). Not pull . . . down . . . not pluck . . . up - only partially fulfilled in the restoration from Babylon; antitypical and fully to be fulfilled hereafter (Jeremiah 32:41, 33:7).
G-d assures them of his protection in their trouble, and a glorious deliverance out of it in due time. Being sent into captivity for their good, they shall not be lost there; but it shall be with them as it is with gold which the refiner puts into the furnace.
1."I will set my eyes upon them for good, to order every thing for the best, that all the circumstances of the affliction may concur to the answering of the great intention of it.’’
2. He will be sure to take it out of the furnace again as soon as the work designed upon it is done: I will bring them again to this land. They were sent abroad for improvement awhile, under a severe discipline; but they shall be fetched back, when they have gone through their trial there, to their Father’s house.
3. He will fashion his gold when he has refined it, will make it a vessel of honour fit for his use; so, when G-d has brought them back from their trial, he will build them and make them a habitation for himself, will plant them and make them a vineyard for Himself. Their captivity was to square the rough stones and make them fit for his building, to prune up the young trees and make them fit for his planting. ]
7. And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the L-RD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their G-d: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
[(Jeremiah 30:2, 31:33, 32:38). Their conversion from idolatry to the one true G-d, through the chastening effect of the Babylon’s captivity, is here expressed in language which, in its fulness, applies to the more complete conversion hereafter of the Jews, "with their whole heart" (Jeremiah 29:13), through the painful discipline of their present dispersion. The source of their conversion is here stated to be G-d's most excellent grace.
For they shall return - Repentance, though not the cause of pardon, is its constant accessory: it is the effect of G-d's giving a heart to know Him.
He engages to prepare them for these temporal mercies which he designed for them by bestowing spiritual mercies upon them. It is this that will make their captivity be for their good; this shall be both the improvement of their affliction and their qualification for deliverance. When our troubles are sanctified to us, then we may be sure that they will end well. Now that which is promised is:
1. That they should be better acquainted with G-d; they should learn more of G-d by his providences in Babylon than they had learned by all his oracles and ordinances in Jerusalem, thanks to divine grace, for, if that had not wrought mightily upon them in Babylon, they would for ever have forgotten G-d. It is here promised, I will give them, not so much a head to know me, but a heart to know me, for the right knowledge of G-d consists not in notion and speculation, but in the convictions of the practical judgment directing and governing the will and affections. A good understanding have all those that do his commandments, Ps. 111:10. Where G-d gives a sincere desire and inclination to know him he will give that knowledge. It is G-d himself that gives a heart to know him, else we should perish forever in our ignorance.
2. That they should be entirely converted to G-d, to his will as their rule, his service as their business, and his glory as their end: They shall return to me with their whole heart. G-d himself undertakes for them that they shall; and, if he turns us, we shall be turned. This follows upon the former; for those that have a heart to know G-d aright will not only turn to him, but turn with their whole heart; for those that are either stubborn in their rebellion, or insincere in their religion, may truly be said to be ignorant of G-d.
3. That thus they should be again taken into covenant with G-d, as much to their comfort as ever: They shall be my people, and I will be their G-d. G-d will own them, as formerly, for his people, in the discoveries of himself to them, in his acceptance of their services, and in his gracious appearances on their behalf; and they shall have liberty to own him for their G-d in their prayers to him and their expectations from him.
Note, Those that have backslidden from G-d, if they do in sincerity return to Him, are admitted as freely as any to all the privileges and comforts of the everlasting covenant, which is herein well-ordered, that every transgression in the covenant does not throw us out of covenant, and that afflictions are not only consistent with, but flowing from, covenant-love.
8. And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the L-RD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt:
[In. . . Egypt - Many Jews had fled for refuge to Egypt, which was leagued with Judea
against Babylon.
Here is the moral of the bad figs. Zedekiah and his princes and partisans yet remain in the land, proud and secure enough, Ezek. 11:3. Many had fled into Egypt for shelter, and they thought they had shifted well for themselves and their own safety, and boasted that though therein they had gone contrary to the command of G-d yet they had acted prudently for themselves. Now as to both these, that looked so scornfully upon those that had gone into captivity, it is here threatened,
1. That, whereas those who were already carried away were settled in one country, where they had the comfort of one another’s society, though in captivity, these should be dispersed and removed into all the kingdoms of the earth, where they should have no joy one of another.
2. That, whereas those were carried captives for their good, these should be removed into all countries for their hurt. Their afflictions should be so far from humbling them that they should harden them, not bring them nearer to G-d, but set them at a greater distance from him.
3. That, whereas those should have the honour of being owned of G-d in their troubles, these should have the shame of being abandoned by all mankind: In all places whither I shall drive them they shall be a reproach and a proverb. "Such a one is as false and proud as a Jew’’—"Such a one is as poor and miserable as a Jew.’’ All their neighbours shall make a jest of them, and of the calamities brought upon them.
4. That, whereas those should return to their own land, never to see it more, and it shall be of no avail to them to plead that it was the land G-d gave to their fathers, for they had it from G-d, and he gave it to them upon condition of their obedience.
5. That, whereas those were reserved for better times, these were reserved for worse; wherever they are removed the sword, and famine, and pestilence, shall be sent after them, shall soon overtake them, and, coming with commission so to do, shall overcome them. G-d has variety of judgments wherewith to prosecute those that fly from justice; and those that have escaped one may expect another, till they are brought to repent and reform. Doubtless this prophecy had its accomplishment in the men of that generation yet, because we read not of any such remarkable difference between those of Jeconiah’s captivity and those of Zedekiah’s, it is probable that this has a typical reference to the last destruction of the Jews by the Romans, in which those of them that believed were taken care of, but those that continued obstinate in unbelief were driven into all countries for a taunt and a curse, and so they remain to this day]
9. And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.
[Removed. - (Jeremiah 15:4)."I will give them up to demonstration,
Into all - This verse quotes the curse (Deuteronomy 28:25, 37). Compare Jeremiah 29:18, 22, Psalms 44:13, 14.]
10. And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they
be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.
Now learn a parable of the fig tree; Matt. 24:32 & Mark 13:28 When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
[To them it is a correcting rod in the hand of a tender Father, while to others it is an avenging sword in the hand of a righteous Judge leading them to repentance.]
This prophecy was designed to encourage and to reprove people that prided themselves as superior.
This shows:
(1.) That we cannot determine of G-d’s love or hatred by all that is before us. When G-d’s judgments are abroad those are not always the worst that are first seized by them.
(2.) That early suffering sometimes proves for the best to us.
It is G-d that puts his gold into the furnace, to be tried; His hand is, in a special manner, to be eyed in the afflictions of good people. The judge orders the malefactor into the hand of an executioner, but the Father corrects the child with His own hand.
(3.) Even this disgraceful uncomfortable captivity G-d intended for their benefit; and we are sure that His intentions are never frustrated: I have sent them into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. It seemed to be every way for their hurt, not only as it was the ruin of their estates, honors, and liberties, separated them from their relations and friends, and put them under the power of their enemies and oppressors, but as it sunk their spirits, discouraged their faith, deprived them of the benefit of G-d’s oracles and ordinances, and exposed them to temptations; and yet it was designed for their good, and proved so, in the issue, as to many of them. Out of the eater came forth meat. By their afflictions they were convinced of sin, humbled under the hand of G-d, weaned from the world, made serious, taught to pray, and turned from their iniquity; particularly they were cured of their inclination to idolatry; and thus it was good for them that they were afflicted, Ps. 119:67, 71.
(4.) G-d promises them that he will own them in their captivity. Though they seem abandoned, they shall be acknowledged; the scornful relations they left behind will scarcely own them, or their kindred to them, but G-d says, I will acknowledge them.
Note, The L-rd knows those that are His, and will own them in all conditions; nakedness and sword shall not separate them from His love.
Jer. 24:1 The L-RD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the L-RD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
[The children of men are all as the fruits of the fig-tree, capable of being made serviceable to G-d and man (Jug. 9:11).]
2. One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
[Figs . . . first ripe - the "boccora," or early fig first-fruits in the Temple.
The good figs were like those that are first ripe, which are most acceptable (Mic. 7:1) and most prized when newly come into season. These represented the pious captives, that seemed first ripe for ruin, for they went first into captivity, but should prove first ripe for mercy, and their captivity should help to ripen them; these are pleasing to G-d, as good figs are to us, and shall be carefully preserved for use.
The bad figs are such as could not be eaten, they were so evil; they could not answer the end of their creation, were neither pleasant nor good for food. If G-d has no honour from men, or their generation any service, they are even like the bad figs, that cannot be eaten, that will not answer any good purpose.]
3. Then said the L-RD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
[The good figs represent Jeconiah and the exiles in Babylon; the bad, Zedekiah and the obstinate Jews in Judea. They are called good and bad respectively, not in a total, but a relative sense, and in reference to the punishment of the latter. This prophecy was designed to encourage the despairing exiles, and to reprove the people at home, who prided themselves as superior to those in Babylon and abused the forbearance of G-d (compare Jeremiah 52:31-34).]
4. Again the word of the L-RD came unto me, saying,
5. Thus saith the L-RD, the G-d of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.
[Acknowledge - regard with favor, like as thou lookest on the good figs favorably.
For their good - Their removal to Babylon saved them from the calamities which befell the rest of the nation and led them to repentance there: so G-d bettered their condition (2 Kings 25:27-30). Daniel and Ezekiel were among these captives.
But those that staid behind were like a child long left to himself, who, when afterwards corrected, is stubborn, and made worse by it, Lam. 3:27. G-d owns their captivity to be his doing. Whoever were the instruments of it, he ordered and directed it.]
6. For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
[(Jeremiah 12:15). Not pull . . . down . . . not pluck . . . up - only partially fulfilled in the restoration from Babylon; antitypical and fully to be fulfilled hereafter (Jeremiah 32:41, 33:7).
G-d assures them of his protection in their trouble, and a glorious deliverance out of it in due time. Being sent into captivity for their good, they shall not be lost there; but it shall be with them as it is with gold which the refiner puts into the furnace.
1."I will set my eyes upon them for good, to order every thing for the best, that all the circumstances of the affliction may concur to the answering of the great intention of it.’’
2. He will be sure to take it out of the furnace again as soon as the work designed upon it is done: I will bring them again to this land. They were sent abroad for improvement awhile, under a severe discipline; but they shall be fetched back, when they have gone through their trial there, to their Father’s house.
3. He will fashion his gold when he has refined it, will make it a vessel of honour fit for his use; so, when G-d has brought them back from their trial, he will build them and make them a habitation for himself, will plant them and make them a vineyard for Himself. Their captivity was to square the rough stones and make them fit for his building, to prune up the young trees and make them fit for his planting. ]
7. And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the L-RD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their G-d: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
[(Jeremiah 30:2, 31:33, 32:38). Their conversion from idolatry to the one true G-d, through the chastening effect of the Babylon’s captivity, is here expressed in language which, in its fulness, applies to the more complete conversion hereafter of the Jews, "with their whole heart" (Jeremiah 29:13), through the painful discipline of their present dispersion. The source of their conversion is here stated to be G-d's most excellent grace.
For they shall return - Repentance, though not the cause of pardon, is its constant accessory: it is the effect of G-d's giving a heart to know Him.
He engages to prepare them for these temporal mercies which he designed for them by bestowing spiritual mercies upon them. It is this that will make their captivity be for their good; this shall be both the improvement of their affliction and their qualification for deliverance. When our troubles are sanctified to us, then we may be sure that they will end well. Now that which is promised is:
1. That they should be better acquainted with G-d; they should learn more of G-d by his providences in Babylon than they had learned by all his oracles and ordinances in Jerusalem, thanks to divine grace, for, if that had not wrought mightily upon them in Babylon, they would for ever have forgotten G-d. It is here promised, I will give them, not so much a head to know me, but a heart to know me, for the right knowledge of G-d consists not in notion and speculation, but in the convictions of the practical judgment directing and governing the will and affections. A good understanding have all those that do his commandments, Ps. 111:10. Where G-d gives a sincere desire and inclination to know him he will give that knowledge. It is G-d himself that gives a heart to know him, else we should perish forever in our ignorance.
2. That they should be entirely converted to G-d, to his will as their rule, his service as their business, and his glory as their end: They shall return to me with their whole heart. G-d himself undertakes for them that they shall; and, if he turns us, we shall be turned. This follows upon the former; for those that have a heart to know G-d aright will not only turn to him, but turn with their whole heart; for those that are either stubborn in their rebellion, or insincere in their religion, may truly be said to be ignorant of G-d.
3. That thus they should be again taken into covenant with G-d, as much to their comfort as ever: They shall be my people, and I will be their G-d. G-d will own them, as formerly, for his people, in the discoveries of himself to them, in his acceptance of their services, and in his gracious appearances on their behalf; and they shall have liberty to own him for their G-d in their prayers to him and their expectations from him.
Note, Those that have backslidden from G-d, if they do in sincerity return to Him, are admitted as freely as any to all the privileges and comforts of the everlasting covenant, which is herein well-ordered, that every transgression in the covenant does not throw us out of covenant, and that afflictions are not only consistent with, but flowing from, covenant-love.
8. And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the L-RD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt:
[In. . . Egypt - Many Jews had fled for refuge to Egypt, which was leagued with Judea
against Babylon.
Here is the moral of the bad figs. Zedekiah and his princes and partisans yet remain in the land, proud and secure enough, Ezek. 11:3. Many had fled into Egypt for shelter, and they thought they had shifted well for themselves and their own safety, and boasted that though therein they had gone contrary to the command of G-d yet they had acted prudently for themselves. Now as to both these, that looked so scornfully upon those that had gone into captivity, it is here threatened,
1. That, whereas those who were already carried away were settled in one country, where they had the comfort of one another’s society, though in captivity, these should be dispersed and removed into all the kingdoms of the earth, where they should have no joy one of another.
2. That, whereas those were carried captives for their good, these should be removed into all countries for their hurt. Their afflictions should be so far from humbling them that they should harden them, not bring them nearer to G-d, but set them at a greater distance from him.
3. That, whereas those should have the honour of being owned of G-d in their troubles, these should have the shame of being abandoned by all mankind: In all places whither I shall drive them they shall be a reproach and a proverb. "Such a one is as false and proud as a Jew’’—"Such a one is as poor and miserable as a Jew.’’ All their neighbours shall make a jest of them, and of the calamities brought upon them.
4. That, whereas those should return to their own land, never to see it more, and it shall be of no avail to them to plead that it was the land G-d gave to their fathers, for they had it from G-d, and he gave it to them upon condition of their obedience.
5. That, whereas those were reserved for better times, these were reserved for worse; wherever they are removed the sword, and famine, and pestilence, shall be sent after them, shall soon overtake them, and, coming with commission so to do, shall overcome them. G-d has variety of judgments wherewith to prosecute those that fly from justice; and those that have escaped one may expect another, till they are brought to repent and reform. Doubtless this prophecy had its accomplishment in the men of that generation yet, because we read not of any such remarkable difference between those of Jeconiah’s captivity and those of Zedekiah’s, it is probable that this has a typical reference to the last destruction of the Jews by the Romans, in which those of them that believed were taken care of, but those that continued obstinate in unbelief were driven into all countries for a taunt and a curse, and so they remain to this day]
9. And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.
[Removed. - (Jeremiah 15:4)."I will give them up to demonstration,
Into all - This verse quotes the curse (Deuteronomy 28:25, 37). Compare Jeremiah 29:18, 22, Psalms 44:13, 14.]
10. And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they
be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.
Now learn a parable of the fig tree; Matt. 24:32 & Mark 13:28 When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
[To them it is a correcting rod in the hand of a tender Father, while to others it is an avenging sword in the hand of a righteous Judge leading them to repentance.]
This prophecy was designed to encourage and to reprove people that prided themselves as superior.
This shows:
(1.) That we cannot determine of G-d’s love or hatred by all that is before us. When G-d’s judgments are abroad those are not always the worst that are first seized by them.
(2.) That early suffering sometimes proves for the best to us.
It is G-d that puts his gold into the furnace, to be tried; His hand is, in a special manner, to be eyed in the afflictions of good people. The judge orders the malefactor into the hand of an executioner, but the Father corrects the child with His own hand.
(3.) Even this disgraceful uncomfortable captivity G-d intended for their benefit; and we are sure that His intentions are never frustrated: I have sent them into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. It seemed to be every way for their hurt, not only as it was the ruin of their estates, honors, and liberties, separated them from their relations and friends, and put them under the power of their enemies and oppressors, but as it sunk their spirits, discouraged their faith, deprived them of the benefit of G-d’s oracles and ordinances, and exposed them to temptations; and yet it was designed for their good, and proved so, in the issue, as to many of them. Out of the eater came forth meat. By their afflictions they were convinced of sin, humbled under the hand of G-d, weaned from the world, made serious, taught to pray, and turned from their iniquity; particularly they were cured of their inclination to idolatry; and thus it was good for them that they were afflicted, Ps. 119:67, 71.
(4.) G-d promises them that he will own them in their captivity. Though they seem abandoned, they shall be acknowledged; the scornful relations they left behind will scarcely own them, or their kindred to them, but G-d says, I will acknowledge them.
Note, The L-rd knows those that are His, and will own them in all conditions; nakedness and sword shall not separate them from His love.
Passing Through
[Ecc. 5:20] For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart.
For he shall not - The person who acts in this way, extracts all the good requisite from life. He passes through things temporal so as not to lose those that are eternal: "Calm and serene, the road of life to him, or long or short, rugged or smooth, with thorns overspread, or gay with flowers, is but a road. Such fare as offers grateful he accepts, and smiling to his native home proceeds."
Summery of 18-20:
1. What it is that is here recommended to us, not to indulge the appetites of the flesh, or to take up with present pleasures or profits for our portion, but soberly and moderately to make use of what Providence has allotted for our comfortable passage through this world. We must not starve ourselves through covetousness, because we cannot afford ourselves food convenient, nor through eagerness in our worldly pursuits, nor through excessive care and grief, but eat and drink what is fit for us to keep our bodies in good plight for the serving of our souls in G-d's service. We must not kill ourselves with labour, and then leave others to enjoy the good of it, but take the comfort of that which our hands have labored for, and that not now and then, but all the days of our life which G-d gives us. Life is G-d's gift, and He has appointed us the number of the days of our life (Job 14:5); let us therefore spend those days in serving the L-rd our G-d with joyfulness and gladness of heart. We must not do the business of our calling as a drudgery, and make ourselves slaves to it, but we must rejoice in our labour, not grasp at more business than we can go through without perplexity and disquiet, but take a pleasure in the calling wherein G-d has put us, and go on in the business of it with cheerfulness.
2. What is urged to recommend it to us:
A. That it is good and comely to do this. It is well, and it looks well. Those that cheerfully use what G-d has given them thereby honour the giver, answer the intention of the gift, act rationally and generously, do good in the world, and make what they have turn to the best account, and this is both their credit and their comfort; it is good and comely; there is duty and decency in it.
B. That it is all the good we can have out of the things of this world: It is our portion, and in doing thus we take our portion, and make the best of bad. This is our part of our worldly possession. G-d must have His part, the poor theirs, and our families theirs, but this is ours; it is all that falls to our lot out of them.
3. That a heart to do thus is such a gift of G-d's grace as crowns all the gifts of His providence. If G-d has given a man riches and wealth, He completes the favour, and makes that a blessing indeed, if withal He gives him power to eat thereof, wisdom and grace to take the good of it and to do good with it. If this is G-d's gift, we must covet it earnestly as the best gift relating to our enjoyments in this world.
4. That this is the way to make our own lives easy and to relieve ourselves against the many toils and troubles which our lives on earth are incident to: He shall not much remember the days of his life, the days of his sorrow and sore travail, his working days, his weeping days. He shall either forget them or remember them as waters that pass away; he shall not much lay to heart his crosses, nor long retain the bitter relish of them, because G-d answers him in the joy of his heart, balances all the grievances of his labour with the joy of it and recompenses him for it by giving him to eat the labour of his hands. If he does not answer all his desires and expectations, in the letter of them, yet he answers them with that which is more than equivalent, in the joy of his heart. A cheerful spirit is a great blessing; it makes the yoke of our employments easy and the burden of our afflictions light.
Remember - So as to disquiet himself. He will not remember much, looking back with disappointment, as the ungodly do (2:11), on the days of his life.
The days - The troubles; days being put here for evil or, sad days.
Answereth – G-d answers his prayers in giving him "power" to enjoy his blessings. He desires, in giving him solid joy and comfort.
For he shall not - The person who acts in this way, extracts all the good requisite from life. He passes through things temporal so as not to lose those that are eternal: "Calm and serene, the road of life to him, or long or short, rugged or smooth, with thorns overspread, or gay with flowers, is but a road. Such fare as offers grateful he accepts, and smiling to his native home proceeds."
Summery of 18-20:
1. What it is that is here recommended to us, not to indulge the appetites of the flesh, or to take up with present pleasures or profits for our portion, but soberly and moderately to make use of what Providence has allotted for our comfortable passage through this world. We must not starve ourselves through covetousness, because we cannot afford ourselves food convenient, nor through eagerness in our worldly pursuits, nor through excessive care and grief, but eat and drink what is fit for us to keep our bodies in good plight for the serving of our souls in G-d's service. We must not kill ourselves with labour, and then leave others to enjoy the good of it, but take the comfort of that which our hands have labored for, and that not now and then, but all the days of our life which G-d gives us. Life is G-d's gift, and He has appointed us the number of the days of our life (Job 14:5); let us therefore spend those days in serving the L-rd our G-d with joyfulness and gladness of heart. We must not do the business of our calling as a drudgery, and make ourselves slaves to it, but we must rejoice in our labour, not grasp at more business than we can go through without perplexity and disquiet, but take a pleasure in the calling wherein G-d has put us, and go on in the business of it with cheerfulness.
2. What is urged to recommend it to us:
A. That it is good and comely to do this. It is well, and it looks well. Those that cheerfully use what G-d has given them thereby honour the giver, answer the intention of the gift, act rationally and generously, do good in the world, and make what they have turn to the best account, and this is both their credit and their comfort; it is good and comely; there is duty and decency in it.
B. That it is all the good we can have out of the things of this world: It is our portion, and in doing thus we take our portion, and make the best of bad. This is our part of our worldly possession. G-d must have His part, the poor theirs, and our families theirs, but this is ours; it is all that falls to our lot out of them.
3. That a heart to do thus is such a gift of G-d's grace as crowns all the gifts of His providence. If G-d has given a man riches and wealth, He completes the favour, and makes that a blessing indeed, if withal He gives him power to eat thereof, wisdom and grace to take the good of it and to do good with it. If this is G-d's gift, we must covet it earnestly as the best gift relating to our enjoyments in this world.
4. That this is the way to make our own lives easy and to relieve ourselves against the many toils and troubles which our lives on earth are incident to: He shall not much remember the days of his life, the days of his sorrow and sore travail, his working days, his weeping days. He shall either forget them or remember them as waters that pass away; he shall not much lay to heart his crosses, nor long retain the bitter relish of them, because G-d answers him in the joy of his heart, balances all the grievances of his labour with the joy of it and recompenses him for it by giving him to eat the labour of his hands. If he does not answer all his desires and expectations, in the letter of them, yet he answers them with that which is more than equivalent, in the joy of his heart. A cheerful spirit is a great blessing; it makes the yoke of our employments easy and the burden of our afflictions light.
Remember - So as to disquiet himself. He will not remember much, looking back with disappointment, as the ungodly do (2:11), on the days of his life.
The days - The troubles; days being put here for evil or, sad days.
Answereth – G-d answers his prayers in giving him "power" to enjoy his blessings. He desires, in giving him solid joy and comfort.
Sore Evil
[Ecc. 5:16] And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?
[15-16 They must go to their graves as naked as they were then they came form their mothers’ wombs, without anything concrete to show for all the hard work they have done. Their heirs will be none the richer for all the scrimping and saving they had done.
Sore evil – sickness. A sinful disease in the person with whom it is found, and very disagreeable to others to behold; it is enough to make one sick to see it; and what he is about to relate he himself was an eyewitness of.
So shall he go - He returns in all points as he came, as sinful, as miserable, and much more so. This is a sore evil; he thinks it so whose heart is glued to the world, that he shall take nothing of his labour which he may carry away in his hand; his riches will not go with him into another world nor stand him in any stead there. Man is in all respects alike, when he goes out of the world, as when he came in. A man's birth is signified by "coming", that is, out of his mother's womb, and into the world; and which is a description of every man born into it, (John 1:9) ; he is of the earth, earthly; comes forth like a flower, and springs up as grass; he comes not of himself, nor casually, but by means of his parents; and according to the determinate will of G-d, and to answer some end or other: and his death is signified by "going": a going the way of all flesh; a going out of the world; a going to the grave, the house of all living, a man's long home; it is like going from one house to another; for death is not an total destruction of man, but a remove of him from hence elsewhere; and a man's birth and death are in all points alike. This is to be understood of natural and civil things; of riches and honors, which men cannot carry with them; and with respect to them, they are as they were born, naked and stripped of them; and with respect to the body, the parts of it then are the same, though more grown; it is as naked as it was born; and a man is as much beholden to his friends for his grave as for his swaddling clothes; it becomes what it was at first, earth and dust; and as a man comes not into the world at his own will and pleasure, so neither does he go out of it at his will, but the L-rd's.
The Midrash interprets it thus, ``as a man comes into the world, with crying, weeping, and sighing, and without knowledge, so he goes out.''
Likewise this is only true of natural and unregenerate men as to moral things; as they are born in sin, they die in sin; with only this difference, an addition of more sin; as they come into the world without the image of G-d, without a righteousness, without holiness, and without the grace of G-d, so they go out of it without these things: but this is not true of saints and truly gracious persons; they come into the world with sin, but go out of it without it; being washed in the blood of the Messiah, justified by His righteousness, and all their sins expiated and pardoned through His sacrifice: they are born without a righteousness, but do not die without one; Messiah has wrought out an everlasting righteousness for them; this is imputed to them; is received by faith; given them; they are found in it, living and dying; and this introduces them into heaven and happiness: they are born without holiness, but do not live and die without it; they are regenerated and sanctified by the Spirit of G-d, and at the moment of death made perfectly holy. This only therefore is true of men, as natural, and with respect to natural and civil things.
Laboured - If we labour in religion, the grace and comfort we get by that labour we may carry away in our hearts, and shall be the better for it to eternity; that is meat that endures. But if we labour only for the world, to fill our hands with that, we cannot take that away with us; we are born with our hands griping, but we die with them extended, letting go what we held fast. So that, upon the whole matter, he may well ask, What profit has he that has labored for the wind?
Particularly, what profit has a man of all his riches, which he has got by labour, when he neither makes use of them in life for his own good, nor the good of others; and when he comes to die, they leave him and stand him in no stead; and especially having been unconcerned about his immortal soul; and having been wholly taken up in the pursuit of such vain and transitory things? (Matt. 16:216).
The wind - Riches, which are as unsatisfying as the wind; which are as shifting, and as swift to flee away, as that; and can no more be held, when it is the will of G-d they should go, and especially at death, than the wind is to be held in the fist of men; and which are as unprofitable as that in the hour of death. For riches, which are empty and unsatisfying, uncertain and transitory, which no man can hold or stay in its course, all which are the properties of the wind. Those that labour for the world labour for the wind, for that which has more sound than substance, which is uncertain, and always shifting its point, unsatisfying, and often hurtful, which we cannot hold fast, and which, if we take up with it as our portion, will no more feed us than the wind, Hosea 12:1. Men will see that they have labored for the wind when at death they find the profit of their labour is all gone, gone like the wind, they know not whither.]
[15-16 They must go to their graves as naked as they were then they came form their mothers’ wombs, without anything concrete to show for all the hard work they have done. Their heirs will be none the richer for all the scrimping and saving they had done.
Sore evil – sickness. A sinful disease in the person with whom it is found, and very disagreeable to others to behold; it is enough to make one sick to see it; and what he is about to relate he himself was an eyewitness of.
So shall he go - He returns in all points as he came, as sinful, as miserable, and much more so. This is a sore evil; he thinks it so whose heart is glued to the world, that he shall take nothing of his labour which he may carry away in his hand; his riches will not go with him into another world nor stand him in any stead there. Man is in all respects alike, when he goes out of the world, as when he came in. A man's birth is signified by "coming", that is, out of his mother's womb, and into the world; and which is a description of every man born into it, (John 1:9) ; he is of the earth, earthly; comes forth like a flower, and springs up as grass; he comes not of himself, nor casually, but by means of his parents; and according to the determinate will of G-d, and to answer some end or other: and his death is signified by "going": a going the way of all flesh; a going out of the world; a going to the grave, the house of all living, a man's long home; it is like going from one house to another; for death is not an total destruction of man, but a remove of him from hence elsewhere; and a man's birth and death are in all points alike. This is to be understood of natural and civil things; of riches and honors, which men cannot carry with them; and with respect to them, they are as they were born, naked and stripped of them; and with respect to the body, the parts of it then are the same, though more grown; it is as naked as it was born; and a man is as much beholden to his friends for his grave as for his swaddling clothes; it becomes what it was at first, earth and dust; and as a man comes not into the world at his own will and pleasure, so neither does he go out of it at his will, but the L-rd's.
The Midrash interprets it thus, ``as a man comes into the world, with crying, weeping, and sighing, and without knowledge, so he goes out.''
Likewise this is only true of natural and unregenerate men as to moral things; as they are born in sin, they die in sin; with only this difference, an addition of more sin; as they come into the world without the image of G-d, without a righteousness, without holiness, and without the grace of G-d, so they go out of it without these things: but this is not true of saints and truly gracious persons; they come into the world with sin, but go out of it without it; being washed in the blood of the Messiah, justified by His righteousness, and all their sins expiated and pardoned through His sacrifice: they are born without a righteousness, but do not die without one; Messiah has wrought out an everlasting righteousness for them; this is imputed to them; is received by faith; given them; they are found in it, living and dying; and this introduces them into heaven and happiness: they are born without holiness, but do not live and die without it; they are regenerated and sanctified by the Spirit of G-d, and at the moment of death made perfectly holy. This only therefore is true of men, as natural, and with respect to natural and civil things.
Laboured - If we labour in religion, the grace and comfort we get by that labour we may carry away in our hearts, and shall be the better for it to eternity; that is meat that endures. But if we labour only for the world, to fill our hands with that, we cannot take that away with us; we are born with our hands griping, but we die with them extended, letting go what we held fast. So that, upon the whole matter, he may well ask, What profit has he that has labored for the wind?
Particularly, what profit has a man of all his riches, which he has got by labour, when he neither makes use of them in life for his own good, nor the good of others; and when he comes to die, they leave him and stand him in no stead; and especially having been unconcerned about his immortal soul; and having been wholly taken up in the pursuit of such vain and transitory things? (Matt. 16:216).
The wind - Riches, which are as unsatisfying as the wind; which are as shifting, and as swift to flee away, as that; and can no more be held, when it is the will of G-d they should go, and especially at death, than the wind is to be held in the fist of men; and which are as unprofitable as that in the hour of death. For riches, which are empty and unsatisfying, uncertain and transitory, which no man can hold or stay in its course, all which are the properties of the wind. Those that labour for the world labour for the wind, for that which has more sound than substance, which is uncertain, and always shifting its point, unsatisfying, and often hurtful, which we cannot hold fast, and which, if we take up with it as our portion, will no more feed us than the wind, Hosea 12:1. Men will see that they have labored for the wind when at death they find the profit of their labour is all gone, gone like the wind, they know not whither.]
3 Days 3 Nights
Matthew 12:38-40
This promise meant that 72 hours would pass from His death to His resurrection and that this would be the sign for the Jews that He was who He said He was (the Messiah). The Friday crucifixion with a resurrection before sunrise on Sunday morning totals approximately 36 hours. If we understood Y’Shua to mean that within three days and three nights He would rise again, then any period short of that would suffice. But He taught that after three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, and then He would rise again. This logically would require the crucifixion on a Wednesday, then the daylight and nighttime periods of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday would be three days and three nights. We count from His actual death shortly after 3 PM.
You'll notice that the above text from Matthew 27 recorded that the chief priests met with Pilate the next morning after the crucifixion to get permission to post a guard and seal the tomb. The Bible records that this was the day after the day of preparation. This day of preparation is the 14th of Abib/Nisan, when the homes were scoured for any leavened bread within the house and a preparation of food was readied for the Passover meal, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread [Mark 15:42, Luke 23:54, John 19:14, 31, 42]. Therefore, the grave of Y’Shua was not sealed until the morning of the 15th of Abib/Nisan, on the annual Sabbath. In the text from John 19:31, we learn that the body of Y’Shua needed to be removed from the cross because the Sabbath was about to begin and that Sabbath was a high day or annual Sabbath. This is consistent with the other verses which teach that the day of preparation was the day that Y’Shua died.
The lamb was killed between 3 and 6 PM on the afternoon of the 14th of Abib/Nisan and prepared, because the 15th was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which was an annual Sabbath observance (the first and last days of Unleavened Bread were annual Sabbaths in addition to the normal weekly Sabbaths).
"On the fourteenth day of the first month--between the two evenings (at twilight)--is the Passover to Yahweh (YHVH). And on the fifteenth day of this month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to Yahweh (YHVH); seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work. But for seven days you shall present an offering by fire to Yahweh (YHVH). On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work." Leviticus 23:5-8”.
The Passover meal was an important religious observance in which to remember that the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of their houses kept them alive when the angel of death passed by, and that G-d had delivered them from slavery in Egypt. The Passover is a perpetual observance to celebrate passing from death to life. These ancient events foretold the blood of Y’Shua being spilled for our sins, and our passage from death to eternal life, by the everlasting covenant of the blood of Y’Shua. They also foretold that Y’Shua would die as the national Passover Lamb, exactly on the 14th of Abib/Nisan and that the day following was an annual Sabbath.
But the Jews (Judeans), because it was the day of preparation (evening of the Sabbath), they were saying, "These bodies should not pass the night on their crosses, because the Sabbath say is approaching, for that Sabbath was a high day (an annual Sabbath)." And they asked Pilate to break the legs of those who had been crucified, and they would be taken away (die quickly). John 19:31.
And it was the Preparation Day (the eve of the High Sabbath), and the Sabbath was about to begin. Now these women who had come with Him out of Galilee were approaching; and they saw the tomb and how His body had been laid. And they returned and prepared sweet spices and ointments. Then on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. Luke 23:54-56
Now notice on the Jewish calendar the days ran from 6 pm to 6 pm, were the Greek calendars are from midnight to midnight – of course Y’Shua went under the Hebrew way, we chose to follow the Greek.
But on the first day of the week at early dawn while it was dark they came to the tomb; they brought the sweet spices, these they had prepared. And there were with them other women. And they found that the stone was rolled away from the tomb. Luke 23:56, 24:1-2.
The women saw Y’Shua' body being laid in the tomb on a Wednesday afternoon, they rested on the annual Sabbath on Thursday, and bought spices on Friday. They prepared the spices on Friday and then rested according to the commandment on the weekly Sabbath on Saturday. After the weekly Sabbath, ending at 6 pm, they intended to anoint Y’Shua' body with the perfumes and spices. Therefore both intuitively and by evidence, we have proven that Passover was on a Wednesday, and that Y’Shua did as He had said, which was to rise again after three days and three nights.
You'll notice through a comparison of the four gospels that Mary Magdalene and the disciples went to the tomb a number of times. In some it was still dark, and in some it was already light. It wasn't until it was light on Sunday that they actually discovered that He had risen, in the first visits the tomb was empty. The above text in John 20, tells us of the first visit by Mary Magdalene when it was dark, the tomb was empty, and she had not been told that Y’Shua was risen, and only saw the stone rolled away. There is one verse which seems to tell us that Y’Shua rose on the first day of the week. Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons. Mark 16:9. The above text would seem to conclusively prove that Y’Shua rose early in the evening on the first day of the week, (after 6 pm) what we would call Saturday night. This makes the verse consistent with all the four gospels, where Mary Magdalene visited the grave, shortly after the Sabbath ended, and saw the empty grave with the stone rolled away, but did not see an angel or see Y’Shua. It was later, when the sun had risen on Sunday morning that she came with Mary the mother of James and Salome back to the tomb, saw an angel who told her that he had risen, and then saw Y’Shua. One can imagine that Mary asked Mary Magdalene, "Who would roll away the stone?" as they approached the tomb, since Mary Magdalene had not mentioned that she had been there earlier and saw the empty grave. Then she went and told the disciples that she saw the angel and saw Y’Shua. What any reader should realize is that the Holy Spirit gave us the four gospels with fragments of the story in each, and it takes a study of all together, to arrive at the complete picture. The following verse clearly shows us that Mary Magdalene came to the grave as the weekly Sabbath was ending at 6 pm. Now late on the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. Matthew 28:1.
Y’Shua was buried at the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread since His body was interred at sundown of Passover day. Crucifixion normally took three days. The Roman utilized this slow and terrible way of death to terrify the population of provincial Israel.
The young, strong carpenter of Galilee was dead in just six hours. He was placed on the cross at 9 am. ‘The third hour’ and taken down at 3 pm. There was then time enough to wrap the body and bury it at sundown. The answer to why He died in six hours is that’s all the time He could spare. Our L-rd never omitted a feast.
Candles burn out, flowers fade away, bread gets moldy, and wine turns sour, but as He dwells in us, we become His living sign to the world.
He said, “You are witnesses of these things.” (Lk. 24:48).
Sabbath Shalom = have a good day in the Sabbath - Sabbath peace
This promise meant that 72 hours would pass from His death to His resurrection and that this would be the sign for the Jews that He was who He said He was (the Messiah). The Friday crucifixion with a resurrection before sunrise on Sunday morning totals approximately 36 hours. If we understood Y’Shua to mean that within three days and three nights He would rise again, then any period short of that would suffice. But He taught that after three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, and then He would rise again. This logically would require the crucifixion on a Wednesday, then the daylight and nighttime periods of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday would be three days and three nights. We count from His actual death shortly after 3 PM.
You'll notice that the above text from Matthew 27 recorded that the chief priests met with Pilate the next morning after the crucifixion to get permission to post a guard and seal the tomb. The Bible records that this was the day after the day of preparation. This day of preparation is the 14th of Abib/Nisan, when the homes were scoured for any leavened bread within the house and a preparation of food was readied for the Passover meal, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread [Mark 15:42, Luke 23:54, John 19:14, 31, 42]. Therefore, the grave of Y’Shua was not sealed until the morning of the 15th of Abib/Nisan, on the annual Sabbath. In the text from John 19:31, we learn that the body of Y’Shua needed to be removed from the cross because the Sabbath was about to begin and that Sabbath was a high day or annual Sabbath. This is consistent with the other verses which teach that the day of preparation was the day that Y’Shua died.
The lamb was killed between 3 and 6 PM on the afternoon of the 14th of Abib/Nisan and prepared, because the 15th was the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which was an annual Sabbath observance (the first and last days of Unleavened Bread were annual Sabbaths in addition to the normal weekly Sabbaths).
"On the fourteenth day of the first month--between the two evenings (at twilight)--is the Passover to Yahweh (YHVH). And on the fifteenth day of this month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to Yahweh (YHVH); seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work. But for seven days you shall present an offering by fire to Yahweh (YHVH). On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work." Leviticus 23:5-8”.
The Passover meal was an important religious observance in which to remember that the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of their houses kept them alive when the angel of death passed by, and that G-d had delivered them from slavery in Egypt. The Passover is a perpetual observance to celebrate passing from death to life. These ancient events foretold the blood of Y’Shua being spilled for our sins, and our passage from death to eternal life, by the everlasting covenant of the blood of Y’Shua. They also foretold that Y’Shua would die as the national Passover Lamb, exactly on the 14th of Abib/Nisan and that the day following was an annual Sabbath.
But the Jews (Judeans), because it was the day of preparation (evening of the Sabbath), they were saying, "These bodies should not pass the night on their crosses, because the Sabbath say is approaching, for that Sabbath was a high day (an annual Sabbath)." And they asked Pilate to break the legs of those who had been crucified, and they would be taken away (die quickly). John 19:31.
And it was the Preparation Day (the eve of the High Sabbath), and the Sabbath was about to begin. Now these women who had come with Him out of Galilee were approaching; and they saw the tomb and how His body had been laid. And they returned and prepared sweet spices and ointments. Then on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. Luke 23:54-56
Now notice on the Jewish calendar the days ran from 6 pm to 6 pm, were the Greek calendars are from midnight to midnight – of course Y’Shua went under the Hebrew way, we chose to follow the Greek.
But on the first day of the week at early dawn while it was dark they came to the tomb; they brought the sweet spices, these they had prepared. And there were with them other women. And they found that the stone was rolled away from the tomb. Luke 23:56, 24:1-2.
The women saw Y’Shua' body being laid in the tomb on a Wednesday afternoon, they rested on the annual Sabbath on Thursday, and bought spices on Friday. They prepared the spices on Friday and then rested according to the commandment on the weekly Sabbath on Saturday. After the weekly Sabbath, ending at 6 pm, they intended to anoint Y’Shua' body with the perfumes and spices. Therefore both intuitively and by evidence, we have proven that Passover was on a Wednesday, and that Y’Shua did as He had said, which was to rise again after three days and three nights.
You'll notice through a comparison of the four gospels that Mary Magdalene and the disciples went to the tomb a number of times. In some it was still dark, and in some it was already light. It wasn't until it was light on Sunday that they actually discovered that He had risen, in the first visits the tomb was empty. The above text in John 20, tells us of the first visit by Mary Magdalene when it was dark, the tomb was empty, and she had not been told that Y’Shua was risen, and only saw the stone rolled away. There is one verse which seems to tell us that Y’Shua rose on the first day of the week. Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons. Mark 16:9. The above text would seem to conclusively prove that Y’Shua rose early in the evening on the first day of the week, (after 6 pm) what we would call Saturday night. This makes the verse consistent with all the four gospels, where Mary Magdalene visited the grave, shortly after the Sabbath ended, and saw the empty grave with the stone rolled away, but did not see an angel or see Y’Shua. It was later, when the sun had risen on Sunday morning that she came with Mary the mother of James and Salome back to the tomb, saw an angel who told her that he had risen, and then saw Y’Shua. One can imagine that Mary asked Mary Magdalene, "Who would roll away the stone?" as they approached the tomb, since Mary Magdalene had not mentioned that she had been there earlier and saw the empty grave. Then she went and told the disciples that she saw the angel and saw Y’Shua. What any reader should realize is that the Holy Spirit gave us the four gospels with fragments of the story in each, and it takes a study of all together, to arrive at the complete picture. The following verse clearly shows us that Mary Magdalene came to the grave as the weekly Sabbath was ending at 6 pm. Now late on the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. Matthew 28:1.
Y’Shua was buried at the beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread since His body was interred at sundown of Passover day. Crucifixion normally took three days. The Roman utilized this slow and terrible way of death to terrify the population of provincial Israel.
The young, strong carpenter of Galilee was dead in just six hours. He was placed on the cross at 9 am. ‘The third hour’ and taken down at 3 pm. There was then time enough to wrap the body and bury it at sundown. The answer to why He died in six hours is that’s all the time He could spare. Our L-rd never omitted a feast.
Candles burn out, flowers fade away, bread gets moldy, and wine turns sour, but as He dwells in us, we become His living sign to the world.
He said, “You are witnesses of these things.” (Lk. 24:48).
Sabbath Shalom = have a good day in the Sabbath - Sabbath peace
Bear Witness
Clement was a disciple of Peter, and afterwards Bishop of Rome. His writings were included in one of the ancient collections of the Canon Scripture. Its genuineness has been questioned, particularly by Photius, patriarch of Constantinople, in the ninth century, who objects that Clement speaks of worlds beyond the ocean; that he has not written worthy of the divinity of the Messiah.
Here is an example of his writings: 1 Clement 11:11-20
“Let that be far from us which is written, miserable are the double-minded, and those who are doubtful in their hearts. Who say these things have we heard, and our fathers have told us these things. But behold we are grown old, and none of them has happen unto us.
O ye fools! Consider the trees: take the vine for an example. First it sheds its leaves; then it buds; after that it spreads its leaves; then it flowers; then come the flowers; then come the sour grapes; and after them follows the ripe fruit. Ye see how in a little time the fruits of the tree comes to maturity.
Of a truth, yet a little while and His will shall suddenly be accomplished. The Holy Scripture itself bear witness, That He shall quickly come and not tarry, and that the L-rd shall suddenly come to His temple, even the holy ones whom ye look for.
Let us consider, beloved, how the L-rd does continually shew us, that there shall be a future resurrection; of which he has made our L-rd Y’Shua HaMashiach the first fruits, raising Him from the dead. Let us contemplate, beloved, the resurrection that is continually made before our eyes.
Day and night manifest a resurrection to us. The night lies down, and the day arises; again the day departs, and the night comes on.
Let us behold the fruits of the earth. Every one sees how the seed is sown. The sower goes forth, and casts it upon the earth; and the seed which when it was sown fell upon the earth dry and naked, in time dissolves.
And from the dissolution, the great power of eh providence of the L-rd raises it again; and of one seed many arise, and bring forth fruit.”
Here is an example of his writings: 1 Clement 11:11-20
“Let that be far from us which is written, miserable are the double-minded, and those who are doubtful in their hearts. Who say these things have we heard, and our fathers have told us these things. But behold we are grown old, and none of them has happen unto us.
O ye fools! Consider the trees: take the vine for an example. First it sheds its leaves; then it buds; after that it spreads its leaves; then it flowers; then come the flowers; then come the sour grapes; and after them follows the ripe fruit. Ye see how in a little time the fruits of the tree comes to maturity.
Of a truth, yet a little while and His will shall suddenly be accomplished. The Holy Scripture itself bear witness, That He shall quickly come and not tarry, and that the L-rd shall suddenly come to His temple, even the holy ones whom ye look for.
Let us consider, beloved, how the L-rd does continually shew us, that there shall be a future resurrection; of which he has made our L-rd Y’Shua HaMashiach the first fruits, raising Him from the dead. Let us contemplate, beloved, the resurrection that is continually made before our eyes.
Day and night manifest a resurrection to us. The night lies down, and the day arises; again the day departs, and the night comes on.
Let us behold the fruits of the earth. Every one sees how the seed is sown. The sower goes forth, and casts it upon the earth; and the seed which when it was sown fell upon the earth dry and naked, in time dissolves.
And from the dissolution, the great power of eh providence of the L-rd raises it again; and of one seed many arise, and bring forth fruit.”
Phoenix Bird
Photius, patriarch of Constantinople, in the ninth century, stated that Clement, to prove the possibility of a future resurrection, he introduces the story of the phoenix’s revival from its own ashes. The Phoenix symbolizes rebirth, especially of the sun, and has variants in European, Central American, Egyptian and Asian cultures. According to the most popular variant of the phoenix, the bird lives in Arabia for 500 years at the end of which, it burns itself and its nest. The phoenix' nest is made of frankincense, myrrh and spices, a new phoenix always rises from the ashes. Ancient sources on the mythological phoenix bird include Clement, Ovid, Pliny, Tacitus, and Herodotus. In the version of the phoenix described by Clement, an ante-Nicene (basically, before Constantine legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire) he was a Christian theologian, The life and writing of Clement of Alexandria whose importance lies in that he influenced Origen, died c. 215 The tale is found in 1 Clement chapter 12:1-17.“There is a certain bird called a Phoenix; of this there is never but one at a time: and that lives five hundred years. And when the time of its dissolution draws near, that it must die, it makes itself a nest of frankincense, and myrrh, and other spices into which when its time is fulfilled it enters and dies.
But its flesh purifying, breeds a certain worm, which being nourished with the juice of the dead bird brings forth feathers; and when it is grown to a perfect state, it takes up the nest in which the bones of its parents lie, and carries it from Arabia into Egypt, to a city called Heliopolis:
And flying in open day in the sight of all men, lays it upon the altar of the sun, and so returns from whence it came. The priest then search into the records of the time; and find that it returned precisely at the end of five hundred years. And shall we then think it to be any very great and strange thing for the Lord of all to raise up those that religiously serve him in the assurance of a good faith, when even by a bird he shews us the greatness of his power to fulfil his promise?
For he says in a certain place, Thou shalt raise me up, and I shall confess unto thee. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handy work. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night seweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.”
8 Powerful Prayers
Generational Curses – see yourself back in the womb and speaking for that baby “I forgive you mom and dad for passing on generational curses. And I command (name the curse) _________, _________. & _________ to hit the cross and fall powerless in the Name of Y’Shua HaMashiach, and I release complete health and happiness with all Heavens blessings casting down on this child giving it the fullness of His Light.
Ex. 20:5; Deut. 5:9 …. I the L-RD thy G-d am a jealous G-d, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me.
Casting off word curses – whether you have put them on yourself or others have put them on you. Words once int eh air have power.
Acts 19:36 Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly.
Jer. 32:24 …. and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, behold, thou seest it.
Binding and Loosing – bind all godly things on yourself and loosen off ungodly curses.
Matt. 18:18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Blood covering – place everything under His blood, your sins, your family, your home, your dreams, your body, your pets, there is no end to the protection once under the blood.
Heb 9:21-22 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Ex. 12:7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
Soul ties – If it has taken a negative side of speaking it needs to be break off, unhealthy relationships that have turn to co-dependency. You have stayed to long at your neighbour’s house and developed a familiar spirit.
Prov. 25:17 Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour's house; lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee.
Inter healing – allow the Messiah to walk into your traumas and keep your eyes fix on Him as to what He is doing through it all.
Joel 2:25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
Rewire your brain – ok, so bad things happen to good people – but you do not have to stay that way.
Rewire your brain with the Word of G-d, speak life into your self. Positive will always over shadow the negative.
Ps. 51:8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
PS. 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O G-d; and renew a right spirit within me.
Ps. 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
Rom. 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Messiah? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Apply Anointing – stir up the anointing within yourself, for one of His gifts was sending His Spirit down to teach us of Him to be ready in season and out of season.
2 Tim. 1:6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of G-d, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.
1 Cor. 12:28 And G-d hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
The old question was can a believer be demon possess – the Greek word for possess means “under the influence of” so we can be demonized if we have wounds that have not been dealt with. If something rises up and starts pushing you – it is probably a demon and you need to remove all ‘legal’ rights it has to be there, so start praying these prayers over your self to break off all holds that may be hindering you.
Ex. 20:5; Deut. 5:9 …. I the L-RD thy G-d am a jealous G-d, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me.
Casting off word curses – whether you have put them on yourself or others have put them on you. Words once int eh air have power.
Acts 19:36 Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly.
Jer. 32:24 …. and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, behold, thou seest it.
Binding and Loosing – bind all godly things on yourself and loosen off ungodly curses.
Matt. 18:18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Blood covering – place everything under His blood, your sins, your family, your home, your dreams, your body, your pets, there is no end to the protection once under the blood.
Heb 9:21-22 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
Ex. 12:7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
Soul ties – If it has taken a negative side of speaking it needs to be break off, unhealthy relationships that have turn to co-dependency. You have stayed to long at your neighbour’s house and developed a familiar spirit.
Prov. 25:17 Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour's house; lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee.
Inter healing – allow the Messiah to walk into your traumas and keep your eyes fix on Him as to what He is doing through it all.
Joel 2:25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
Rewire your brain – ok, so bad things happen to good people – but you do not have to stay that way.
Rewire your brain with the Word of G-d, speak life into your self. Positive will always over shadow the negative.
Ps. 51:8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
PS. 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O G-d; and renew a right spirit within me.
Ps. 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
Rom. 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Messiah? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Apply Anointing – stir up the anointing within yourself, for one of His gifts was sending His Spirit down to teach us of Him to be ready in season and out of season.
2 Tim. 1:6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of G-d, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.
1 Cor. 12:28 And G-d hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
The old question was can a believer be demon possess – the Greek word for possess means “under the influence of” so we can be demonized if we have wounds that have not been dealt with. If something rises up and starts pushing you – it is probably a demon and you need to remove all ‘legal’ rights it has to be there, so start praying these prayers over your self to break off all holds that may be hindering you.
Food for your Skin
12 Key Natural Skin Care Ingredients! Keep your kitchen stocked with these essentials to whip up on-the-spot masks, cleansers, and lotions without even a trip to the store.From the scientific side to home remedies.
Avocado Carrot Cream Mask - This mask combines avocados, which are rich in Vitamin E, with carrots, which are high in beta-carotene and antioxidants, and cream, which is high in calcium and protein. These ingredients will rebuild skin collagen, improve tone and texture, and fade age spots. 1 avocado, mashed, 1 carrot, cooked and mashed, 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1 egg, beaten, 3 tablespoons honey. Combine all ingredients in a bowl until smooth. Spread gently over your face and neck, and leave in place 10-15 minutes. Rinse with cool water and follow with your favorite toner.
Cucumber – hair drench: 1 egg, 1 egg shall of olive oil, 1 quartered peeled cucumber. Blend the egg, olive oil and peeled cucumber. Spread evenly through your hair, leave on for 10 minutes, and then thoroughly rinse. For the best results year-round, continue this treatment monthly.
Eggs - The protein in eggs is especially good for your hair. Add one to one ounce olive oil, one tablespoon lemon juice, and ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar for an easy shampoo—or combine one teaspoon of baby oil, one egg yolk, and one cup water for a quick conditioner.
Fruits and Vegetables - You already know they're keys to good health—turns out they're important for great skin, too. Different recipes take advantage of the vitamins, minerals, and clean scents of different foods: avocados are great for vitamin E, carrots are high in beta-carotene and antioxidants, ginger is energizing, the folic acid and nutrients in strawberries have been shown to fight acne, tooth tartar, and cancer.
Ginger - cream: Ginger invigorates, and oil soothes. Try this double dose for dry skin. 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, 2 teaspoons light sesame oil, 2 teaspoons apricot kernel oil, 2 teaspoons vitamin E oil, ½ cup cocoa butter. Preheat oven on lowest setting. Finely grate the ginger just enough so that you have about and 1/8 teaspoon of ginger "juice." To obtain the juice, squeeze the freshly grated ginger over a small bowl. Place the ingredients (including the ginger) in a glass container and heat just until the cocoa butter is melted and the oils are blended. Pour into a clean, dry container and store in a cool dry place. You can add a few drops of orange or other essential oil for a nice twist.
Honey - the bees' sweet stuff is a natural humectant, so it's made to hold moisture. For a simple skin lotion, mix one teaspoon honey, one teaspoon vegetable oil, and ¼ teaspoon lemon juice, rub on dry skin, and rinse off after ten minutes.
Lemon – hair spray for fine hair: 1 lemon and 2 c. H20. Chop up the Lemon in a wooden bowl so that you don't lose any of the juice. Add the chopped Lemon to the water in the top of a double boiler. Simmer the mixture until the liquid has been reduced by half. Strain through cheesecloth or fine silk cloth and pour the liquid into a bottle that will fit a pump-type sprayer. A washed and rinsed Windex bottle will do for your spray container. Add 1/2 cup of water to thin the mixture if necessary. Spray your hair with this mixture whenever necessary. Since it is gentle, with not alcohol or chemical additions, it can be used on children's hair too. Should be made fresh every few days and kept in the fridge between uses. One cup of the Lemon Hair Spray can be preserved with 1 oz. or more of Bay Rum. Substitute an Orange for the Lemon for dry hair.
Olive Oil - The vitamin E and antioxidants in olive oil make it another great moisturizing option: try soaking your nails in a cup for a shiny, at-home manicure; apply it to your hair, leave on half an hour, and then shampoo for gleaming locks; or rub it onto hands and feet for soft skin.
Oranges - are ripe with naringenin, a naturally occurring flavonone that may help shield skin from UV rays. It won't replace regular sunscreen use, but researchers hope it may help stop skin-cell death.
Papaya - You really can fight wrinkles from the inside out. Papaya has loads of Vitamin C, makes youthful skin - fewer wrinkles and less thinning and dryness. Vitamin C is a natural friend to skin. The nutrient is essential for making collagen, the protein fibers that give skin its strength and resiliency. And being a powerful antioxidant, C also disarms free radicals that would otherwise chip away and weaken collagen. It also helps protect skin from this sun scourge.
Sugar - The glycolic acid in suger and the rough texture&makes;makes it ideal for exfoliating while giving skin a healthy glow. Make a body's worth of sugar scrub by combining ½ cup sugar, two tablespoons of cream or whole milk, five drops of orange oil and one cup of olive oil. Leave on for 10-15 minutes and then rinse off.
Walnuts - Munch on walnuts. In the vitamin C study, researchers also noted that diets rich in linoleic acid -- an essential fatty acid in walnuts -- meant moister, plumper skin. When walnuts are part of a healthful diet, they help lower your bad cholesterol -- that sticky blood-fat that clogs your arteries and boosts your risk of a heart attack. It's the fat in walnuts that does such great things for your heart. The nuts are particularly rich in alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), an omega-3 fatty acid with cardioprotective properties, having 6.8 grams. Walnuts are loaded with other good-for-you nutrients, too, including vitamin E, folate, and fiber.
Avocado Carrot Cream Mask - This mask combines avocados, which are rich in Vitamin E, with carrots, which are high in beta-carotene and antioxidants, and cream, which is high in calcium and protein. These ingredients will rebuild skin collagen, improve tone and texture, and fade age spots. 1 avocado, mashed, 1 carrot, cooked and mashed, 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1 egg, beaten, 3 tablespoons honey. Combine all ingredients in a bowl until smooth. Spread gently over your face and neck, and leave in place 10-15 minutes. Rinse with cool water and follow with your favorite toner.
Cucumber – hair drench: 1 egg, 1 egg shall of olive oil, 1 quartered peeled cucumber. Blend the egg, olive oil and peeled cucumber. Spread evenly through your hair, leave on for 10 minutes, and then thoroughly rinse. For the best results year-round, continue this treatment monthly.
Eggs - The protein in eggs is especially good for your hair. Add one to one ounce olive oil, one tablespoon lemon juice, and ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar for an easy shampoo—or combine one teaspoon of baby oil, one egg yolk, and one cup water for a quick conditioner.
Fruits and Vegetables - You already know they're keys to good health—turns out they're important for great skin, too. Different recipes take advantage of the vitamins, minerals, and clean scents of different foods: avocados are great for vitamin E, carrots are high in beta-carotene and antioxidants, ginger is energizing, the folic acid and nutrients in strawberries have been shown to fight acne, tooth tartar, and cancer.
Ginger - cream: Ginger invigorates, and oil soothes. Try this double dose for dry skin. 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, 2 teaspoons light sesame oil, 2 teaspoons apricot kernel oil, 2 teaspoons vitamin E oil, ½ cup cocoa butter. Preheat oven on lowest setting. Finely grate the ginger just enough so that you have about and 1/8 teaspoon of ginger "juice." To obtain the juice, squeeze the freshly grated ginger over a small bowl. Place the ingredients (including the ginger) in a glass container and heat just until the cocoa butter is melted and the oils are blended. Pour into a clean, dry container and store in a cool dry place. You can add a few drops of orange or other essential oil for a nice twist.
Honey - the bees' sweet stuff is a natural humectant, so it's made to hold moisture. For a simple skin lotion, mix one teaspoon honey, one teaspoon vegetable oil, and ¼ teaspoon lemon juice, rub on dry skin, and rinse off after ten minutes.
Lemon – hair spray for fine hair: 1 lemon and 2 c. H20. Chop up the Lemon in a wooden bowl so that you don't lose any of the juice. Add the chopped Lemon to the water in the top of a double boiler. Simmer the mixture until the liquid has been reduced by half. Strain through cheesecloth or fine silk cloth and pour the liquid into a bottle that will fit a pump-type sprayer. A washed and rinsed Windex bottle will do for your spray container. Add 1/2 cup of water to thin the mixture if necessary. Spray your hair with this mixture whenever necessary. Since it is gentle, with not alcohol or chemical additions, it can be used on children's hair too. Should be made fresh every few days and kept in the fridge between uses. One cup of the Lemon Hair Spray can be preserved with 1 oz. or more of Bay Rum. Substitute an Orange for the Lemon for dry hair.
Olive Oil - The vitamin E and antioxidants in olive oil make it another great moisturizing option: try soaking your nails in a cup for a shiny, at-home manicure; apply it to your hair, leave on half an hour, and then shampoo for gleaming locks; or rub it onto hands and feet for soft skin.
Oranges - are ripe with naringenin, a naturally occurring flavonone that may help shield skin from UV rays. It won't replace regular sunscreen use, but researchers hope it may help stop skin-cell death.
Papaya - You really can fight wrinkles from the inside out. Papaya has loads of Vitamin C, makes youthful skin - fewer wrinkles and less thinning and dryness. Vitamin C is a natural friend to skin. The nutrient is essential for making collagen, the protein fibers that give skin its strength and resiliency. And being a powerful antioxidant, C also disarms free radicals that would otherwise chip away and weaken collagen. It also helps protect skin from this sun scourge.
Sugar - The glycolic acid in suger and the rough texture&makes;makes it ideal for exfoliating while giving skin a healthy glow. Make a body's worth of sugar scrub by combining ½ cup sugar, two tablespoons of cream or whole milk, five drops of orange oil and one cup of olive oil. Leave on for 10-15 minutes and then rinse off.
Walnuts - Munch on walnuts. In the vitamin C study, researchers also noted that diets rich in linoleic acid -- an essential fatty acid in walnuts -- meant moister, plumper skin. When walnuts are part of a healthful diet, they help lower your bad cholesterol -- that sticky blood-fat that clogs your arteries and boosts your risk of a heart attack. It's the fat in walnuts that does such great things for your heart. The nuts are particularly rich in alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), an omega-3 fatty acid with cardioprotective properties, having 6.8 grams. Walnuts are loaded with other good-for-you nutrients, too, including vitamin E, folate, and fiber.
Little Ole Me
Can You Use Little Ole Me?
http://mtlmagazine.com/mtlmagazine/inthisissue/inthisissue.php?id=29
None of us are anything without the breath of God motivating, empowering and sanctifying us to do the work He has ordained to be our part of His mighty plan for this world. Many times I marvel that one little word out of my mouth could have a great impact on the life of someone, or even a nation (now that's far out, man!). How could God plan that, and how did He know that I would do it?
How does one describe God's call on our lives? In the beginning I would often say, “Who am I, Lord, that You would choose me?” Then one day I heard Randy Clark teaching on “God Can Use Little Ole Me” and I was reassured that even I, a wife with a houseful of children living in the rural areas of Wisconsin, could be the Lord's ambassador. That catchphrase has become the standard of my life, supporting the call I'd heard years before in the song based upon Isaiah's response to the Lord's call (see Isaiah 6:1-9). Isaiah didn't think he was worthy to be in the Lord's presence, much less to be His ambassador, but God cleansed his sin and asked him to serve Him. By faith, I believe the same applies to me and anyone God has called to do His work. He's God, He can appoint anyone He wants! The neat thing is that we aren't appointed based upon our merit, but upon His—and that's all we need.
Since the day I heard those affirmations, I've concentrated on positioning myself so that I can 'hear' and 'see' with the spiritual ears and eyes God has opened within me. ‘Hearing’ and 'seeing’ in the spiritual realm isn't an instantaneous ability; it must be practiced and fine tuned. Just like the Christian walk, we never reach perfection in hearing and seeing in the spiritual arena—we're always tweaking our understanding. Just when we think it's a sure thing, the Lord throws a monkey wrench in the works and speaks in an entirely different way than we've encountered in the past and we feel once again like we know nothing. It is the outworking of Proverbs 25:2, “It is the glory of God to hide a thing and the glory of kings to find it out.” In essence, we really don't know anything for sure, because nothing is certain but that the Lord loves us, desires a relationship with us and has plans for our lives way beyond all we can possibly imagine. That puts us full circle back at, “Who am I?” All I can do is respond with Isaiah, “Here am I, Lord. Send me!” I don't have to plan my next move, I don't have to evaluate which would be the best option for me, I don't have to seek opportunities, because the Lord has already ordained them to be. All I have to do is seek Him for direction.
God's call on my life for foreign ministry was put into motion in 1994 at a Vineyard conference; however, I have always had a heart for other nations. In high school social studies class, when we had to report on a current event from the media, I took something from a Russian magazine (at the time, I thought I chose it because there was no competition for that material since it was the Cold War era and not too many people favored the Soviet Union). My creative writing assignment in English was a short story about Arabia, yet unfinished today. Cultural geography fascinated me so much in college that I chose to major in it, mostly thanks to one professor at a local college. After our eldest son was a foreign exchange ambassador to another country for 11 months, I wrote a newsletter for the youth ambassadors of that organization for several years. I lived for the vicarious experiences I read in the students' reports and got great pleasure in exhorting them to keep on looking for extraordinary opportunities to enrich their experience.
The series of articles which will be published in the months ahead under this umbrella come from experiences I've had and lessons I’ve learned on ministry trips. For some reason, I had to be in a foreign country to 'see' what I saw. I also have to say that being in those countries has opened my eyes to more easily see things from the Lord's perspective in my own country.
So, this is my invitation to you to come, relax and enjoy what the Lord has to say to you through the fruits of my experiences. I pray what you read will be edification for your soul and spirit and exhortation for you to seek the Lord for His plans for your life. May you be empowered to go out and do likewise, fulfilling your portion of the Great Commission.
Blessings
Darlene Stern
http://mtlmagazine.com/mtlmagazine/inthisissue/inthisissue.php?id=29
None of us are anything without the breath of God motivating, empowering and sanctifying us to do the work He has ordained to be our part of His mighty plan for this world. Many times I marvel that one little word out of my mouth could have a great impact on the life of someone, or even a nation (now that's far out, man!). How could God plan that, and how did He know that I would do it?
How does one describe God's call on our lives? In the beginning I would often say, “Who am I, Lord, that You would choose me?” Then one day I heard Randy Clark teaching on “God Can Use Little Ole Me” and I was reassured that even I, a wife with a houseful of children living in the rural areas of Wisconsin, could be the Lord's ambassador. That catchphrase has become the standard of my life, supporting the call I'd heard years before in the song based upon Isaiah's response to the Lord's call (see Isaiah 6:1-9). Isaiah didn't think he was worthy to be in the Lord's presence, much less to be His ambassador, but God cleansed his sin and asked him to serve Him. By faith, I believe the same applies to me and anyone God has called to do His work. He's God, He can appoint anyone He wants! The neat thing is that we aren't appointed based upon our merit, but upon His—and that's all we need.
Since the day I heard those affirmations, I've concentrated on positioning myself so that I can 'hear' and 'see' with the spiritual ears and eyes God has opened within me. ‘Hearing’ and 'seeing’ in the spiritual realm isn't an instantaneous ability; it must be practiced and fine tuned. Just like the Christian walk, we never reach perfection in hearing and seeing in the spiritual arena—we're always tweaking our understanding. Just when we think it's a sure thing, the Lord throws a monkey wrench in the works and speaks in an entirely different way than we've encountered in the past and we feel once again like we know nothing. It is the outworking of Proverbs 25:2, “It is the glory of God to hide a thing and the glory of kings to find it out.” In essence, we really don't know anything for sure, because nothing is certain but that the Lord loves us, desires a relationship with us and has plans for our lives way beyond all we can possibly imagine. That puts us full circle back at, “Who am I?” All I can do is respond with Isaiah, “Here am I, Lord. Send me!” I don't have to plan my next move, I don't have to evaluate which would be the best option for me, I don't have to seek opportunities, because the Lord has already ordained them to be. All I have to do is seek Him for direction.
God's call on my life for foreign ministry was put into motion in 1994 at a Vineyard conference; however, I have always had a heart for other nations. In high school social studies class, when we had to report on a current event from the media, I took something from a Russian magazine (at the time, I thought I chose it because there was no competition for that material since it was the Cold War era and not too many people favored the Soviet Union). My creative writing assignment in English was a short story about Arabia, yet unfinished today. Cultural geography fascinated me so much in college that I chose to major in it, mostly thanks to one professor at a local college. After our eldest son was a foreign exchange ambassador to another country for 11 months, I wrote a newsletter for the youth ambassadors of that organization for several years. I lived for the vicarious experiences I read in the students' reports and got great pleasure in exhorting them to keep on looking for extraordinary opportunities to enrich their experience.
The series of articles which will be published in the months ahead under this umbrella come from experiences I've had and lessons I’ve learned on ministry trips. For some reason, I had to be in a foreign country to 'see' what I saw. I also have to say that being in those countries has opened my eyes to more easily see things from the Lord's perspective in my own country.
So, this is my invitation to you to come, relax and enjoy what the Lord has to say to you through the fruits of my experiences. I pray what you read will be edification for your soul and spirit and exhortation for you to seek the Lord for His plans for your life. May you be empowered to go out and do likewise, fulfilling your portion of the Great Commission.
Blessings
Darlene Stern
Censer Questions
Government is authorized to count people, not take their private information.
Questions to ask them:
1. Where does Census Bureau derive authority to demand private Information?
2. Is there any limit to invasion of privacy?
3. What is the Census Bureau’s Authority to collect information every year?
4. Do current levels of data collection violate the Fourth Amendment? Which is the government can not search and seize of private information without a court warrant without a probable cause – current censes policy violates that do they not?
5. How may we be penalized for maintaining our privacy?
6. Can security agencies access my private information?
7. May I take the Fifth Amendment?
8. How will my home’s GPS coordinates be used?
9. How can the Census Bureau claim data security with any confidence?
10. Is the Census Bureau responsible for mishandled data?
There were NO ANSWERES to any of the questions
By Jerry Day
http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=RsDhkPym01k
Questions to ask them:
1. Where does Census Bureau derive authority to demand private Information?
2. Is there any limit to invasion of privacy?
3. What is the Census Bureau’s Authority to collect information every year?
4. Do current levels of data collection violate the Fourth Amendment? Which is the government can not search and seize of private information without a court warrant without a probable cause – current censes policy violates that do they not?
5. How may we be penalized for maintaining our privacy?
6. Can security agencies access my private information?
7. May I take the Fifth Amendment?
8. How will my home’s GPS coordinates be used?
9. How can the Census Bureau claim data security with any confidence?
10. Is the Census Bureau responsible for mishandled data?
There were NO ANSWERES to any of the questions
By Jerry Day
http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=RsDhkPym01k
Pay your Vows
[Ecc. 5:4] When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.
[When you vowest - When in distress and difficulty, men are apt to promise much to G-d if He will relieve them; but generally forget the vow when the distress or trouble is gone by. A vow should not be hastily made (Jud. 11:35; 1 Sam. 14:24). When made, it must be kept (Ps 76:11), even as G-d keeps His word to us (Ex 12:41, 51; Joshua 21:45).
Vows - A vow is a bond upon the soul (Num. 30:2), we use them as free and indifferent things, which persons may make or not; there is no precept for them in the word of G-d; instances and examples there are, and they may be lawfully made, when they are in the power of man to perform, and are not inconsistent with the will and word of G-d. Unto G-d - to whom it is made, who expects it, and do so speedily.
Defer not - to vow this, or that, or the other thing, which a man previous to his vow is not obliged unto, had better be let alone: but however, when a vow is made that is lawful to be done.
No pleasure in fools - no excuses nor delays should be made; the Father has no pleasure in them, He will not be mocked by them; He will resent such treatment of Him, as to vow and not pay, or defer payment and daily, with Him.
Pay - precisely and punctually; both as to the matter, manner, and time of it.
[5] Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.
Better not vow – For a vow is an arbitrary thing; a man is not bound to make it, and while he vows not, it is in his own power, and at his option, whether he will do this or that, or not; but when he has once vowed, he is then brought under an obligation.
Then to vow and not pay - for this shows great weakness and folly, lightheartedness and inconstancy, and is resented by the Father.
Deut. 23:21, 23.
[6] Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?
Suffer not thy mouth - Do not get carried away with religious enthusiasm, and do not make promises you cannot or do not intend to keep.
Cause your flesh to sin - making sinful excuses after he has made the vow, and so is guilty of lying, or false swearing, or other sins of the flesh.
The angel - The messenger refers to a functionary sent to collect whatever was pledge.
It was an error - which it was done ignorantly and through mistake: that it was not intended, and that this was not the meaning of the vow; and therefore desires to be excused performing it.
G-d be angry - G-d can be expected to take retributive action against those who make but do not keep their promises.
Work of your hands - wrought with success, for which the vow was made; and so, instead of its succeeding, is destroyed, and comes to nothing. Vows made by the Jews were chiefly about their houses, or fields, or cattle; see (Lev. 27:28); and so the destruction suggested may signify the curse that G-d would bring upon any of these, for excusing or not performing the vow made. Blast all your labors, and particularly that work or enterprise for the success whereof you did make these vows.
People expose themselves to the wrath of G-d, for He is angry at the voice of those that thus lie unto Him with their mouth and flatter Him with their tongue, and is displeased at their dissimulation, and destroys the works of their hands, that is, blasts their enterprises, and defeats those purposes which, when they made these vows, they were seeking to G-d for the success of. If we treacherously cancel the words of our mouths, and revoke our vows, G-d will justly overthrow our projects, and walk contrary, and at all adventures, with those that thus walk contrary, and at all adventures with Him. It is a snare to a man, after vows, to make enquiry.
Why wilt you provoke G-d to anger at these frivolous excuses? We are under constant obligations to live to G-d; no vow can make it more so.
If you are fully determined, and strong in faith relative to the point, bind and hold fast; but if not fully, rationally, and conscientiously determined, "do not suffer your mouth to cause your soul to sin."
[When you vowest - When in distress and difficulty, men are apt to promise much to G-d if He will relieve them; but generally forget the vow when the distress or trouble is gone by. A vow should not be hastily made (Jud. 11:35; 1 Sam. 14:24). When made, it must be kept (Ps 76:11), even as G-d keeps His word to us (Ex 12:41, 51; Joshua 21:45).
Vows - A vow is a bond upon the soul (Num. 30:2), we use them as free and indifferent things, which persons may make or not; there is no precept for them in the word of G-d; instances and examples there are, and they may be lawfully made, when they are in the power of man to perform, and are not inconsistent with the will and word of G-d. Unto G-d - to whom it is made, who expects it, and do so speedily.
Defer not - to vow this, or that, or the other thing, which a man previous to his vow is not obliged unto, had better be let alone: but however, when a vow is made that is lawful to be done.
No pleasure in fools - no excuses nor delays should be made; the Father has no pleasure in them, He will not be mocked by them; He will resent such treatment of Him, as to vow and not pay, or defer payment and daily, with Him.
Pay - precisely and punctually; both as to the matter, manner, and time of it.
[5] Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.
Better not vow – For a vow is an arbitrary thing; a man is not bound to make it, and while he vows not, it is in his own power, and at his option, whether he will do this or that, or not; but when he has once vowed, he is then brought under an obligation.
Then to vow and not pay - for this shows great weakness and folly, lightheartedness and inconstancy, and is resented by the Father.
Deut. 23:21, 23.
[6] Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?
Suffer not thy mouth - Do not get carried away with religious enthusiasm, and do not make promises you cannot or do not intend to keep.
Cause your flesh to sin - making sinful excuses after he has made the vow, and so is guilty of lying, or false swearing, or other sins of the flesh.
The angel - The messenger refers to a functionary sent to collect whatever was pledge.
It was an error - which it was done ignorantly and through mistake: that it was not intended, and that this was not the meaning of the vow; and therefore desires to be excused performing it.
G-d be angry - G-d can be expected to take retributive action against those who make but do not keep their promises.
Work of your hands - wrought with success, for which the vow was made; and so, instead of its succeeding, is destroyed, and comes to nothing. Vows made by the Jews were chiefly about their houses, or fields, or cattle; see (Lev. 27:28); and so the destruction suggested may signify the curse that G-d would bring upon any of these, for excusing or not performing the vow made. Blast all your labors, and particularly that work or enterprise for the success whereof you did make these vows.
People expose themselves to the wrath of G-d, for He is angry at the voice of those that thus lie unto Him with their mouth and flatter Him with their tongue, and is displeased at their dissimulation, and destroys the works of their hands, that is, blasts their enterprises, and defeats those purposes which, when they made these vows, they were seeking to G-d for the success of. If we treacherously cancel the words of our mouths, and revoke our vows, G-d will justly overthrow our projects, and walk contrary, and at all adventures, with those that thus walk contrary, and at all adventures with Him. It is a snare to a man, after vows, to make enquiry.
Why wilt you provoke G-d to anger at these frivolous excuses? We are under constant obligations to live to G-d; no vow can make it more so.
If you are fully determined, and strong in faith relative to the point, bind and hold fast; but if not fully, rationally, and conscientiously determined, "do not suffer your mouth to cause your soul to sin."
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