Monday, February 27, 2017

SATURDAY/SUNDAY- 2-25,26- 17
2Samuel 23:5 Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.
https://youtu.be/fgPa8nCXo7s  Jesus n Tolstoy [2nd Sam.23]
JESUS N TOLSTOY [2nd Samuel 23]
ON VIDEO- [past links- verses below]
.View of Kennedy Blvd. to Bergenline Ave.
.Tolstoy
.God’s sure promise
.The discipline of ‘routine’
.Time of snow
Saturday 2-25-17-
Today I went to see a friend- I haven’t seen him in about 15 years.
Over the years I heard how he had lost everything- been going thru some very difficult times.
Physical- mental- spiritual battles.
And every time I heard about his situation- I simply felt one day I need to simply see him- talk to him- and pray for him.
A ‘deliverance’ prayer if you will.
But it’s been hard to have the chance to get with him.
So I made the ride- and sure enough the meeting happened.
I talked with him for around 3 hours- quoted lots of verses that I felt applied.
He told me he did not even know I was doing stuff like this- ministry- teaching the bible- etc.
In the middle of our talk- I stopped- and said ‘brother- let me pray’.
I prayed- took authority over the oppression he was going thru- claimed healing for the mind and body- and asked God to do a miracle for him.
As I was quoting verses- I decided to get a note pad- and write down a few key verses on the pad.
Sort of like what I do when I’m in Texas.
As I got back to the house-I read Isaiah 58- and the theme was God wants us to free the oppressed –
To ‘let go the captives’- to ‘pour out our soul to the hungry’.
In short- he calls us to deliver the captives.
It was strange in a way- because it was Saturday- and even though we are not ‘under the law’- I felt-
‘Maybe I should take the day off- yeah- on the Saturday/Sabbath’-
Now- I know the entire debate on Sunday/Saturday- and I have taught it before.
My friend even brought up the issue- about Sunday/ Saturday- and the whole Sabbath debate.
I tried to give him both sides of the issue- and how in the new covenant we are in the Sabbath rest of grace [it’s not really about a day any more].
But when I got back to the house and read Isaiah 58- it talks about the Sabbath- the fast God wants.
And it reminded me of Jesus when he healed the man on the Sabbath.
I felt like God was saying he wants to set people free- he wants us to engage in a fight for the souls of men.
He wants us to reach out- to pour out our souls to the hungry.
He wants us to set the captives free.
And if you need to do it on the Sabbath [or any other day] that’s fine with him.
Here are some of the vesres I quoted and wrote down for my friend-
VERSES [more below]
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John

I recommended to my friend to begin reading the gospel of John- 1 chapter a day- all the way thru.
I told him it’s a simple discipline- but to be consistent with it.
When he’s finished with John- continue thru the entire New Testament.
He is a believer and has been seeking God- I just felt the simple discipline of consistent bible reading- sort of like training the mind- was important.
I also advised him to begin setting aside a specific time each day- to pray the Lord’s Prayer.
Most people pray- read the bible sporadically- but I felt the discipline of doing these things- every day- at a set time- was important.
I’m typing this on Sunday morning- at 6:15 am.
 I just was outside- in the cold- doing my 5-6 a.m. prayer.
These disciplines are basic- but important.
When believers are going thru hard times in their lives- then these disciplines are already in place.
They ‘come easy’ if you will.
Ok- that’s it for now.
I’ll just add this note to the next post.
Here’s what I read when I got home that night-
Isaiah 58:5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?
Isaiah 58:6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
Isaiah 58:7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
Isaiah 58:8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward.
Isaiah 58:9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
Isaiah 58:10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day:
Isaiah 58:11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
Isaiah 58:12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
Isaiah 58:13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:
Isaiah 58:14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
And this is the verse I thought about after this day’s experience-
If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?

Below are my complete studies- These bible books deal with the believers relationship to Sabbath- how it has been fulfilled in Christ- and all who are in grace- the New Covenant- are actually in ‘the Sabbath’ rest every day.

It is no longer about a particular day- either Sunday or Saturday- but the Sabbath rest of grace for all who believe.



Sunday- 2-26-17
Isaiah 58:12 And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
I made the video today- and talked about the last 2 days.

Shared some verses from the Mass [Our Lady of Fatima] and the scriptures the Priest spoke on.

He mentioned Tolstoy- and I’ll try and add some past teaching I did on him in the past.

The main theme I talked about on the video was trusting God- not money.

Also spoke on Isaiah 58 and 2nd Samuel 23.

God made promises to King David- and these promises were not based upon how well everything was going in David's own family.

As I have taught the past few months- King David had a rebellion in his own house- he went thru many ups and downs- yet in this chapter he says God still kept his promise.

In Isaiah 58 we read how God wants his people to show mercy and do justice.

It’s not just about ceremonial worship to God.

Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath- and the Pharisees found fault with him.

Yet Jesus was doing the will of God- he was setting the captives free- and if he did it on the Sabbath- that was fine.

The religious leaders were only seeing their worship of God thru ceremonial acts.

The prophet Isaiah said God was more concerned with mercy and justice-
acts of righteousness- that extend to our fellow man.

A theme David himself mentions in the Samuel chapter for today’s post.

Ok- that’s it for now- I’ll try and add the key passages below.

PAST LINKS [ Past teaching I did that relate to today’s post- verses below]
[parts]
Okay- once again I really needed to do a post or 2 on philosophy- before I get too ahead of  myself in the study; but let me make a few comments on Hitchens book [see- I told you I shouldn’t have hit the book store!] Okay- I’m gonna try and be nice to Hitchens- he is one of the famous atheist writers of the past few years- these guys are referred to as ‘the new atheists’ the group consists of some notable names- Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris- a few others. These guys kind of became popular in reviving some of the old arguments against religion and God- most modern readers are not aware that they are simply re-hashing the same old arguments that have been refuted in the past- and to be honest this bunch make a whole lotta errors in their thinking/arguments. Most well trained Christian apologists have thoroughly refuted them. But being Hitchens is dying [or died? I haven’t checked recently] of cancer- I’ll try and be nice [try!]. Okay- like some of the book reviews I read- Hitchens is crude and mean- and yes- at times ignorant of his glaring mistakes. He describes a nice old teacher he had as a youth- as a young boy growing up in England- she taught the schoolboys about nature and science- and yes- God. I thought he was being nice telling the story. Then he calls her ‘a pious old trout’. He refers to the sex abuse scandal that’s rocked the Catholic church- he calls it the ‘no child’s behind left’ scandal [a takeoff on the no child left behind policy]. So yes, this book- while containing some real good history- also sounds overly crude. Hitchens also appeals to mans great intellect and sophistication as being all we need for true morality- he says man does not need God, religion or the bible to be moral- after all we have the great works of literature! Sounds good- right? He then goes on and mentions the names of the great authors- he mentions Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy among others- and makes the argument ‘see- we have morality and truth contained within these books without needing religious truth’- geez- every well read person will tell you that these authors are known for their books being inundated with religious morality- it’s no secret that these 2 authors are considered some of the greatest Christian/religious writers of their time. How Hitchens could appeal to the ethics contained in their writings and say ‘see- we don’t need religious ethics- we have these guys’. I mean these types of obvious flaws jump right out at you- to be honest I have only read the reviews from these famous atheists in the past- but most of the reviews have pointed stuff like this out- I just didn’t think these guys would be this ‘amateurish’ [geez- don’t want to call the guy an idiot- or an old trout- that wouldn’t be the Christian thing to do].  So anyway I guess I’ll hit a few high points of the book the next week or so.

VERSES-
2Samuel 23:1 Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,
2Samuel 23:2 The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.
2Samuel 23:3 The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.
2Samuel 23:4 And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.
2Samuel 23:5 Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.
2Samuel 23:20 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man, of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, he slew two lionlike men of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow:
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Matt.
12 For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him:
13 But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance.
14 We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.
Ps. 55
One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.
Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

Note- Please do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on- Thanks- John.#





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