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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