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Tag: deuteronomy

  • Running from God – 3 – Elijah

    Running from God – 3 – Elijah

    Are you loyal to God?

    A fair question.

    Deuteronomy 6:5 KJV And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

    You shall love the Lord your God with ALL.

    Jesus even adds some definition for us of the well-recited Hebrew in the familiar Greek.

    Mark 12:30 ESV And you shall love [agapaō] the Lord [kyrios {Note the meaning & implication of calling God, ‘Lord‘}] your God with all your heart and with all your soul [ psychē] and with all your mind [dianoia] and with all your strength.’

    I don’t want to get into the subtlety of this (a whole other sermon), but note that ‘psychē‘ is the Greek word for ‘soul,‘ not ‘mind,’ as you might imagine from all the false teaching of the world and those opposed to God. Jesus and Moses both taught that GOD is to be worshiped personally with ALL of our grateful being.

    Peter had stood on the Mount of Transfiguration and witnessed Jesus and Moses and Elijah together! So how could this man deny three times that he knew the Christ, Jesus, his friend being beaten for our sins?

    As I cautioned earlier, let’s not to hold Peter to a higher standard than we hold ourselves. Elijah also had run.

    1 Kings 17 

    elijahs journeysElijah Predicts a Drought

    17 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”

    …  5 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan.

    [So far, so good; like Peter when he wanted to build shines for worship. (But then, of course, Jesus told Peter not to build shrines.)]

    6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.7 And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.

    It was Elijah’s familiar faith to which Jesus pointed when He taught us:

    Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! – Luke 12:24

    God feeds the ravens; the ravens fed Elijah; therefore have faith: God can even send ravens to feed us.

    The drama and the drought progress.

    1 Kings 18

    After many days the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year…  Now the famine was severe in Samaria.

    The King and God’s people are indicted through Elijah of turning their backs on God.

    Are our national and world leaders – is the 21st c. church so different in our ineffectiveness?

     17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?”

    18 And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals. 19 Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

    A contest! It would be like saying: Bring in all the Oprahs and Choprahs and Hawkings and Dalis; bring in all your priests who worship ancestors and cows and earth; bring in all your princes of oil and casinos and sports; bring in all your stars of Hollywood and Bollywood and worldwide web brothels!

    Need I suggest more to add up to more than these 850 prophets of false worship in these last days? You know the sects of prophets of angels of destruction and men of reproduction. You know well the crowds opposed to the rule of the Living God!

    A contest here: Almighty GOD and his one Prophet Elijah vs. 850 prophets of idols the people loved.

    To be continued…

  • The Glory of Christ Jesus

    The Glory of Christ Jesus

    Luke 2:7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. 8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.

    10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord…

    18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them…

    25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law…

    Matthew 2: 13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod.

    Angels, messengers of God, do not suddenly appear to men, appear in dreams, and bring proclamations and warnings to certain chosen ones without intention to glorify God. The birth of Jesus was first evidence to some of the glory of this Christ child, a son of man, of the lowest of castes, born in a manger, then to become a refugee from the murders in the places of God and the palaces of kings.

    At a time when Jesus is baptized in the Jordan, God the Father makes His glory known.

    jordan riverMark 1: 9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven,

    “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

    Imagine the public scene of the faithful, being baptized by John. Jesus walks into the water of the Jordan. They have a brief conversation.  (Some heard it was about who should baptize and who should be baptized; for John did not feel worthy to baptize Jesus, the Messiah of God.)

    Then the VOICE of GOD ALMIGHTY, the LORD, speaks! The heavens open (this no man can explain) and the Holy Spirit of God descends to the earth and the glory of God rests on Christ Jesus, the Son being baptized.

    No picture can do justice to the glory of this scene at the river Jordan in this awesome moment in time. Suddenly there appeared the glory of LORD and those present for the purification of their sins, the baptism and permanent change of their hearts, hear of the VOICE of the LORD!

    Deuteronomy 5:

    22 “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. 23 And as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders.

    24 And you said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live. 25 Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us.

    If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall die. 26 For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? 27 Go near and hear all that the Lord our God will say, and speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’

    Who, indeed, has heard the Voice of the Living God, chay ‘elohiym? 

    For our God is the Living God, He IS and He exists! He is no idol.

    And the Voice of the Person of the Father speaks as a Living One of His Son and sends down from the heavens (like a dove lighting upon a man) the form of the Very Spirit of the Living God!

    How awesome! is this sight for which words cannot illustrate the glory of the LORD!

     To be continued…

     

  • Above the Golden Rule

    Above the Golden Rule

    Jesus said: “This is the great and first commandment.”

    Do you know what it is?

    You do not have to be a Christian to know the golden rule. We have heard it quoted by unbelievers as a standard of behavior that we should love one another.  But do not fall into the trap of the world in giving a commandment of God and an emphasis of Jesus a misplacement in your priorities.

    In fact, that is the trap the Pharisees and Sadducees often tried to bait with their questions to Jesus. Whatever His answer, they had a better one… or so they thought. In fact in this instance they probably had the Ten Commandments in mind.

    Matthew 22

    The Great Commandment

    34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.

    36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

    37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment.

    39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

    What is Jesus saying here?

    In context of the Ten Commandments, the first four Commandments relate to our obedience to and worship of the Living God. These are the MOST important, yet even Christians have a tendency to overlook their importance.

     Deuteronomy 5:

    6“‘I am the Lord your God…

    7 “‘You shall have no other gods before me.

    8 “‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not bow down to them or serve them…

    11 “‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

    12 “‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God…

    The second is like it… The ‘golden rule’ is a summary of Commandments IV – X, which all relate to how as God’s family we must love one another; yet first: You shall love the Lord OUR GOD!

    Matthew  22:36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”

    37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment.

    Worship God with ALL your heart, soul, and mind!

    What does this “greatest Commandment” mean to followers of Christ Jesus who have a personal relationship with the Living God?

    Understand what Jesus tells us about our worship of the Lord here:

    • Heart -‘ kardia’ – ‘denotes the centre of all physical and spiritual life’
    • Soul – ‘psychē’ – the breath of life; the seat of the feelings, desires, affections, aversions (our heart, soul etc.); the soul as an essence which differs from the body and is not dissolved by death (distinguished from other parts of the body)
    • Mind – ‘dianoia’ – the mind as a faculty of understanding, feeling, desiring; way of thinking and feeling; thoughts, either good or bad

    Does JESUS mean to say that GOD should be the center of our physical and spiritual life? Does our ‘lord’ mean to say that the seat of our feelings, desires, affections ought to focus on God? Does Christ imply that a Christian should think first about God and what God desires for our life?

    Yes. Yes. And yes.

    “You shall love the Lord your God

    with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

    This is the great and first commandment.