Week 6
The Lords day, week 6!
Thoughts on Romans 11 & 12:
- Romans 11 - Israel, the people, are the original branches, but the tree is Jesus, we’ve been grafted into Jesus. Though Israel had been given all that’s necessary to believe many did not. Gentiles now have the gospel and as such have been grafted into Jesus. Believe in Jesus. Take nothing for granted but seek Him and believe!
- Romans 12 - now this belief leads to a changed life. A renewed mind, gifts to serve the church and love for one another!
God bless you and if you are looking for a place to worship today come join us at 458 Wilson Blvd, Central Islip at 10am. Have a wonderful day!
Monday, week 6!
Pardon my later than usual post, I had to take the girls to Brooklyn this morning!
Thoughts on Genesis 20-23:
· Genesis 20 - Abraham is still a man of little faith, but even that little faith was enough for God to declare him righteous. However; we see his failures even so close to the promise coming. He'd walked with God many years, and yet didn't trust him to protect him and his wife.
· Genesis 21 - The promise arrives, Isaac is born to them at a very late stage in life, which is part of the miracle. They had no reason to expect to have a child now, Sarah was beyond child bearing years, but God is able to open her womb. God also provides for Hagar and Ishmael. What I find fascinating is that God doesn't bother rebuking Sarah for her treatment of Hagar... Not sure what that means, but it is interesting.
· Genesis 22 - Abraham matures and trusts God to provide the sacrifice. There is so much going on in this chapter, but it is all pointing to Jesus, the promised Son whom God will not hold back as a sacrifice for us.
· Genesis 23 - The death of Sarah and the purchase of the land... Abraham had already developed a reputation among the people of the land, but more importantly the God of Abraham had a reputation. Notice Abraham refuses to take the land for free, this to is for the sake of the name of the Lord. An important principle is at work here, one that we would do good to learn from especially given the entitlement culture of today. Take nothing for free, God says if you don't work you don't eat, so let's get to work!
Hope you all have a wonderful day today. I hope to be starting the new church Youtube page today, and posting our sermons from the last two weeks, both there and on Truthnlife... God bless!
Tuesday, week 6!
Thoughts on Judges 1-6:
· Chapters 1 & 2 - Before Joshuas death the Israelites have already begun being disobedient. They don't destroy the Canaanites and God curses them for their disobedience. The Canaanites will be their enemy, a thorn in their side, and so the rest of the OT reveals this does come to pass.
· Chapter 2 & 3 - The people do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, but when they begin to cry out to Him, God hears them and says Judges to lead them and destroy the enemies of God. The first two Judges are Othniel and Ehud, and their stories are pretty simple. God calls them, they lead the nation out of sin and out of the hands of the enemies of God.
· Chapter 4 & 5 - Then we get to Deborah, and this is an interesting story because it says that Deborah was Judging Israel at the time, yet God sends her to Barak to be the one whom God will use to lead the Army of Israel to victory. But we see something with Barak, he is ultimately a coward, and won't do what the Lord says without Deborah going with Him. God punishes him for this by having another woman steal his glory by having her kill the other king. All this to say that Deborah isn't a departure from Gods order in the world, that He has appointed men to lead both in the nation of Israel and in His church today. As a Judge and Prophetess she wasn't the leader of Israel, that was to be Barak's job and He was punished for not stepping up. Judges did exactly that, they judged the people of Israel, and many times, God often used the Judges to lead but as in this case, not always. Deborah is to be celebrated for her faithfulness and the fact that she did show more courage than Barack, and trusted the Lord where He didn't. But she shouldn't be used as an example to be disobedient to Gods word elsewhere in scripture as some churches do today.
· Chapter 6 - Gideon, he is not a hero, he is a coward. We should not look to follow Gideons example and attempt to test God with every decision. That shows a lack of faith in God. Gideon feared man, but what it does show is Gods mercy and grace in that God still used Gideon, so there is hope even for the coward.
May the Lord bless you and keep you this day! It's ugly here in NY, so be careful on the streets. God bless and have a wonderful day.
Wednesday, week 6!
Thoughts on Psalms 15-17:
· These are all Psalms of David, and most of us are familiar with King David. When you read these, do you think, yes, David you were the most righteous man that ever lived? Yes, David you were so pure, completely blameless, and you have never done wrong to your neighbor... Do you read these and think, there I am. That's me too! I'm just as righteous as David... If so, then you've missed the point of these Psalms completely.
· Psalm 15 - Who will dwell on His Holy Hill? Only those who are perfect and completely without sin... This should make you say, Uh OH! I'm in trouble, line by live, conviction should set in as you realize you and I do not meet this righteous requirement. Notice, David never attributes these characteristics to himself. We know David doesn't meet these requirements, he killed his neighbor because he got his neighbors wife pregnant...So, who meets this perfect requirement? JESUS, only JESUS...
· Psalm 16 - So what's the answer, God must preserve us, in Him we must take refuge because apart from God there is not good in us! This whole Psalm is a response to the previous one, we aren't blameless but God gives counsel, He instructs, He is before us, for though we deserve to abandoned to hell, He will not do so, and in His presence there is fullness of Joy... Praise Him!
· Psalm 17 - Only in the presence of the Lord can vindication come, can we be justified... David seeks after God, knowing that only in Him can refuge be found, only in Him is there salvation. In this case there is a historical context that's relevant. David is being chased by the army of Saul, and he is seeking a specific refuge, but it has spiritual meaning for us as well. We too must behold His face that we would be satisfied in His likeness... We are being made into His image, that is the goal of the Christian life. To become like Christ.
I hope you have a wonderful day, please listen to this:
Thursday, week 6!
Thoughts on Job 11 & 12:
· The dialogue continues, and in Job 11 we have Zophar speaking out against Job. Essentially saying that Job deserves worse than what he got and that he needs to confess. Only if he confesses what he has done will God show him mercy, if he does not then his only hope his death. Important to remember that his friends do mean well, this is their understanding, and it's not completely wrong. We've all sinned and we all need to confess, however, where they've gone to far is in assuming his current condition is due to sin. What Job needs is compassion and prayer, not to be rebuked. This is behavior that is seen in prosperity circles, God didn't answer your prayer because you did something wrong, or you got sick because you just didn't have enough faith, and on it goes. No, bad things happen, we live in a fallen world but the promise to Christians is that when bad things happen, God always has a purpose through it. Next Sunday, Feb. 23, I'll be preaching on the Sovereignty of God in our suffering... If you want to hear more about it, come on out.
· Chapter 12 - Job replies,I know just as much as you do, but I don't understand this! God is all wise and all powerful and all belong to him. God does completely as He pleases, gives to some and takes away from others, He raises up nations and destroys others, no one understands why...
Today I ask that you please pray for our new church, I am expecting some news this morning that will determine a lot as far as the direction of the church. We know Gods will, will be done, but we still ask that God would provide for us in the way that we believe would be best and hope that it lines up with what God knows is best. So please pray for that and for our family today as times of transition are always stressful, and it feels like we've been in a time of transition for going on almost 5 years now! God bless and let me know how I can be praying for you.
Friday, week 6!
Thoughts on Isaiah 29-33:
· I'm going to keep this short today, I have a super busy day, so one sentence each chapter! lol
· Isaiah 29 - God is the potter we are the clay, He does as He wishes and no one can stop Him.
· Isaiah 30 - The people will still try to do as they please, and there will be consequences, but even then God desires to be gracious and lead to repentance.
· Isaiah 31 - Those who do not repent will suffer, and there will be actual hell to pay.
· Isaiah 32 - The savior will reign for eternity over those who do repent and they will never hunger or thirst.
· Isaiah 33 - Salvation is of the Lord, who will heal and care for His people. He is Judge, lawgiver and king, all branches of the government!
God bless you all, please continue to pray for us, and I hope you have a wonderful day!
Saturday, week 6!
Thoughts on Matthew 14-16
Some mornings I wake up and don't want to read my bible, don't want to pray or spend time with my Heavenly Father... But then I think of His Son, who is my only hope in life. The only one who can pay for my sin and did so in obedience to His Fathers will. But yet I'm complaining about reading or praying, I'm complaining about whatever trial is going on in my life, when any trial is still better than what I deserve? So, I got up this morning, and though I didn't feel like it, though I had a million excuses... I still read, and you know what? He fed me, He ministered to my soul and gave me what I needed though I was behaving like a spoiled child. With that being said, here are my thoughts on Matthew 14-16:
· Matthew 14 - I apparently went ahead last week with this one, and shared on Matthew 14, but I want to point out this week that Jesus miracles weren't about providing, or healing, they were about Him. Jesus provides food, but He is the bread of life, Jesus walks on water, He is the creator and as such controls all of nature, etc... Don't be like the crowds, who in showing up for the miracle, miss the true gift and blessing.
· Matthew 15 - First Jesus teaches us about human tradition, I recently wrote a blog on this subject and I'll put it below. But don't fall into this trap of treating your traditions as the law. Truthfully its in conservative circles where we see this most, but don't be fooled, liberal churches are often legalistic too only there's is a bit more hidden. Verses 21-28 were the first sermon I ever preached, and all I'm going to say is if all I ever get are scraps, then Lord those are enough for me!
· Matthew 16 - Two things here I want to point out, first, it was the Father who revealed it to Peter, nothing or no one else. Don't ever think that you can convince someone of the truth of the Gospel, you speak boldly and truthfully and believe God for the rest. Second thing, the Christian life is one walked carrying a cross and at times the cross is really heavy. But Jesus lived, died and rose again that we would have life... So let's pick up our crosses and follow Him, and when one needs help, let's help because this walk is never done alone.
Love you, and God bless.
https://www.truthnlife.net/blog/legalism-in-disguise