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Tag: repent

Complaint to the Lord

Job 6

English Standard Version (ESV)

Job Replies: My Complaint Is Just

6 Then Job answered and said:

2 “Oh that my vexation were weighed,
and all my calamity laid in the balances!
3 For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;
therefore my words have been rash.
4 For the arrows of the Almighty are in me;
my spirit drinks their poison;
the terrors of God are arrayed against me.

8 “Oh that I might have my request,
and that God would fulfill my hope,
9 that it would please God to crush me,
that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!
10 This would be my comfort;
I would even exult in pain unsparing,
for I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
11 What is my strength, that I should wait?
And what is my end, that I should be patient?

21 For you have now become nothing;
you see my calamity and are afraid.
22 Have I said, ‘Make me a gift’?
Or, ‘From your wealth offer a bribe for me’?
23 Or, ‘Deliver me from the adversary’s hand’?
Or, ‘Redeem me from the hand of the ruthless’?

24 “Teach me, and I will be silent;
make me understand how I have gone astray.

Go not your own way

Or run to your own understanding,

But seek the answer of the Lord

The eternal truth of temporal trouble.

Numbers 15:39 NIV

You will have these tassels to look at and so you will remember all the commands of the LORD, that you may obey them and not prostitute yourselves by chasing after the lusts of your own hearts and eyes.

Psalm 22

English Standard Version (ESV)

Why Have You Forsaken Me?

27 All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before you.
28 For kingship belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.

29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
even the one who could not keep himself alive.
30 Posterity shall serve him;
it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
that he has done it.

November 12, 2013
Moving on…

Luke 4:14-30 English Standard Version (ESV)

Jesus Begins His Ministry

14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.

Nazareth (inland); Tyre, Syria (top) to the N.; Capernaum (Sea of Galilee) to E.; Jerusalem to S.

23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.”

24 And he said, “Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown.

25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, 26 and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

Elijah worked miracles for the widow of Zarephath, who welcomed the Prophet and gave him a room.

27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”

[MAP]

Jesus will heal a leper and raise a widow’s son from the dead: both in Galilee.

Luke 6: 20-26

22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

26 “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.

A Tree and Its Fruit

43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.

45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?

Matthew 10:

And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction…

5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’

9 Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, 10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food.

11 And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. 12 As you enter the house, greet it. 13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.

IF anyone will not listen.. Shake off the dust of your feet when you leave that house.. It will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah. + “Jesus – Matthew 10:14-15

14 And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. 15 Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

Not Peace, but a Sword

34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

35 For I have come to set a man against his…

… a man against his nearest and most beloved family members. Rejection! Rejection by loved ones for taking up your cross… when your loved ones will not.

36 And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Rewards

40 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.

41 The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward.

Do you receive the prophet’s reward?

Or does he shake off his sandals and move on?

To be continued…

October 31, 2013
My Blessing

The Choice of Life or Death

Deuteronomy 30:11 “For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off.

Psalm 34:18

The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.

A woman has put off her dreaded appointment – the one with the cancer doctor.

Finally after some urging she makes the call and goes into the hospital for those tests. Now all there is to do is wait for the results – the call from the doctor.

A hopeful call the same afternoon is unsuccessful. No word. We must wait until tomorrow.

Morning. No call. (How could these medical people be so unfeeling for one waiting for an answer that seems like a choice of life or death? How can they take so long?)

Finally late in the afternoon the doctor calls.

Conversation. Sounds good. (He asks her some questions about what she eats.) NO cancer.

What a blessing had been given to her just six years ago in answer to her prayer.

She did have cancer, then. She had treatments and love and patience for the patient. She had the answer of blessing to her prayer. The Lord healed her brokenness. The Lord healed her cancer. The Lord blessed her.

Now… after receiving the freeing news once more, the Lord has once more kept her from cancer.

It is the Lord who has kept her, though she did not witness His power and love.. though she never mentioned her Great Healer… though she rejected His blessing.

Deuteronomy 30

New King James Version (NKJV) excerpt

The Blessing of Returning to God

“Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you…

and you return to the Lord your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today…

6 And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

For the Lord will again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers, 10 if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Mark 1:

32 That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. 33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door.

34 And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

Jesus likely thanked our Heavenly Father for healing these who were sick and for His casting out the demons from their tormented souls.

Do you pray?

What is your prayer?

Do you ask for blessing and not curse? Do you ask for casting out of your demons or do you rely on those who have brought curse into your house? Are you friend of the world? OR Do you really pray to God for the blessing and healing and grace to free you from your cancer of sin?

And what, therefore, do you do when the Lord answers your prayer?

Matthew 12

For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Return of an Unclean Spirit

43 “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.”

Luke 17

English Standard Version (ESV)

Temptations to Sin

And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers

11 On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13 and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” 14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. 15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16 and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?

18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

I was once a blessing to one with cancer. The Lord sent me.

Then the Lord also sent cancer to me. (Surely it was a curse.)

But then the doctors removed my tumor. For this I thank the Lord for healing.

Thank you, Lord. (It is small offering for the great blessing from your love and mercy, the blessing of your healing grace.)

I am witness to Christ Jesus and praise Him for His great mercy.

Yet what of my Blessing? (For I am greatly grieved.) We do love her.

October 29, 2013