I Peter 5:7/post update

 Good morning,  Friends. 

I am writing to let you know that I won't be posting today. I have some other things that need my attention. 

Also for anyone that lost loved ones or have damages due to the hurricane,  I am sorry for what you are going thru. I pray that God will comfort  you as you turn to Him.

1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your worries on Him, for He cares for you.

I will be back tomorrow.  God Bless

My Takeaway from Nehemiah 9

We can certainly identify to some extent with the ancestors of the people in Nehemiah 9. They had been slaves in Egypt for over 400 years. When finally, God answered their cries, they wandered in the desert for another 40. While there, they complained. Even though God took care of them, fed and clothed them.

But they were not satisfied. They rebelled. And they thought it would be better if they returned to Egypt to live.

While Abraham went up on the mountain to be with God, they gathered their jewelry and made it into a god that they could worship. And they danced and did shameful things. 

And still God took care of them. Finally, He showed mercy on them. He did what He had promised them by leading them on to the Promised Land. 

Is that not somewhat like today? Not that we go through all the hardships that they did. Or under the same circumstances.

But have you ever felt like you were wondering in a desert, with absolutely no direction in your life? I know I had at one point.

But the Bible says that we have all turned our own way and sadly many never find their way back. Many don't find their way in the first place.

We see what the United States has become because man is greedy for power. Hungry for money. And those of us that are not at the top pay the price.

And yet, that isn't our goal. To be like them. It is to be more like Jesus. It is to turn to Him. To show others the way to Him. 

And finally, let Him lead us to the ultimate Promise Land called Heaven. 

In the meantime, we pray. We pray for Israel. We pray for the United States. We pray for the World. Because that is our mandate from God until our time here is up. 

Yes, we will still sin. Because we are human. But we have an advocate with the Father, that forgives even though I wonder how often he shakes His head at our stupidity. 

And yet we can count on the following scripture to remind us that:

God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work 2 Corinthians 9:8

Just like He did for the Israelites back in the day.

Thanks for coming by, Friends. Have a blessed evening in Jesus!

 

Levites from Nehemiah 9

Good morning, Friends

As promised from yesterday's post, I found some information about the Levites of Nehemiah 9. Take a look at what it said:

The patriarch Jacob, just before he died, gave each of his twelve sons a blessing. The twelve sons were the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel, and the blessings contained prophetic information about the future of each tribe. In the case of the tribe of Levi, which was paired in the prophecy with the tribe of Simeon, Jacob prophesied: “Simeon and Levi are brothers—their swords are weapons of violence. Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased. Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel” (Genesis 49:5–7). In addition to referring to the future of the tribe of Levi, the prophecy contains within it several lessons for all of us.

Jacob pronounced a curse upon Levi’s (and Simeon’s) anger partly due to their treacherous and violent destruction of the Shechemites (Genesis 34:24–30). Levi’s anger was evil because it was characterized by deeds of fierceness and cruelty. Righteous anger and indignation, the kind Jesus exhibited in cleansing the Temple, for example, is never characterized by cruelty. The swords of Levi, which should have been only weapons of defense, were weapons of violence, to do wrong to others, not to save themselves from wrong or to protect the innocent.

Jacob’s pronouncement, “I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel” certainly came true. The tribe of Levi was scattered through Israel. But they became, by God’s grace and through their loyalty to God (Exodus 32:26–29), the priestly tribe and residents of the cities of refuge. They never possessed their own designated region, as the other tribes did, but Levi’s priestly office was certainly a privileged one.

As Christians, we learn from the tribe of Levi that unrestrained anger is the cause of a great deal of sin. Anger leaves devastation in its wake, often with irreparable consequences. Jacob’s statement “let me not enter their counsel; let me not join their assembly” is a lesson for us as well. We are not to take the counsel of angry people because they are unstable and exhibit an inability to control their passions. When anger is a defining trait, it is an indication of the lack of the spiritual gift of self-control that characterizes all believers (Galatians 5:22–23). An angry person makes a poor counselor, and, in fact, his company should be avoided, especially when the sin of anger is unconfessed and there is no attempt to deal with it in a godly manner.

Finally, the ultimate lesson in the tribe of Levi, for Christians, is that of restoration of the sinner to the privileged position of children of God. Through the high priestly intercession of Christ, who exchanged His righteousness for our sins on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:21), we become a nation of priests in our own right. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).  (Credit: Google Search)

More from Bible Hub:

The People Confess Their Sins

From Creation to Covenant: A Repentant Return to God

The Levites stand to praise the Lord, recounting His creation of the heavens, the earth, and all that is in it. They retell the story of God's faithful deliverance of their ancestors from Egypt, His guidance through the wilderness, and His provision of manna and water.

Verses 16-25: Israel's Rebellion and God's Mercy

Despite God's kindness and miracles, the Israelites repeatedly disobeyed and rebelled. However, because of His great compassion, God did not abandon them, continuing to provide for them in the wilderness and eventually bringing them to the Promised Land.

Verses 26-31: Cycle of Disobedience and God's Enduring Mercy

The Israelites became disobedient again once they were settled in the land. Despite sending prophets to bring them back, they continued to rebel. Yet, even in their suffering, God remained merciful and didn't forsake them.

Verses 32-38: Renewal of the Covenant

The Israelites acknowledge God's justice in all that has befallen them. They confess that even in their prosperous times, they have not served God as they should. In humility, they make a written agreement and decide to renew their commitment to God's law.

Nehemiah 9 presents an impactful moment in Israel's history when the Israelites come together in prayer, fasting, confession, and worship. The Levites lead the people in a solemn retelling of their history, recalling God's consistent faithfulness despite their recurrent disobedience. This act of national repentance and renewal of their covenant with God forms the central theme of this chapter.

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So, there you are, Friends. In tomorrow's post, I will offer my own takeaway on this prayer and compare it to what is going on in todays world. 

My question is: Are we really any different from the people that prayed the prayer of Nehemiah 9?

Thanks for stopping by! Have a blessing filled day in Jesus!

Nehemiah 9:5-38

 5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, and Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, Stand up and bless the Lord your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.

6 Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preserves them all; and the host of heaven worshipped thee.

7 Thou art the Lord the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham.

8 And foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Jebusites, and the Girgashites, to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous:

9 And didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heardest their cry by the Red sea;

10 And shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharaoh, and on all his servants, and on all the people of his land: for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them. So didst thou get thee a name, as it is this day.

11 And thou didst divide the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; and their persecutors thou threwest into the deeps, as a stone into the mighty waters.

12 Moreover thou leddest them in the day by a cloudy pillar; and in the night by a pillar of fire, to give them light in the way wherein they should go.

13 Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments:

14 And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant:

15 And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them.

16 But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,

17 And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.

18 Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, This is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations;

19 Yet thou in thy manifold mercies forsookest them not in the wilderness: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day, to lead them in the way; neither the pillar of fire by night, to shew them light, and the way wherein they should go.

20 Thou gavest also thy good spirit to instruct them, and withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water for their thirst.

21 Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.

22 Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan.

23 Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it.

24 So the children went in and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they would.

25 And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.

26 Nevertheless they were disobedient, and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs, and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations.

27 Therefore thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.

28 But after they had rest, they did evil again before thee: therefore leftest thou them in the land of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them: yet when they returned, and cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies;

29 And testifiedst against them, that thou mightest bring them again unto thy law: yet they dealt proudly, and hearkened not unto thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, (which if a man do, he shall live in them;) and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.

30 Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by thy spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.

31 Nevertheless for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God.

32 Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before thee, that hath come upon us, on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all thy people, since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day.

33 Howbeit thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly:

34 Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers, kept thy law, nor hearkened unto thy commandments and thy testimonies, wherewith thou didst testify against them.

35 For they have not served thee in their kingdom, and in thy great goodness that thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works.

36 Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it:

37 And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.

38 And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it.

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In searching for a prayer for today, I came across one that I have never read been before. Reading down through it, it seems like in some ways, it could have been prayed in what is going on in todays world. But who were these people that prayed it? And what were they going through at that time in Bible History? 

For the next few days, (starting tomorrow) maybe we can do a deep dive and learn some things. asking the questions of who, what, when, where and why?

I would remind you; I am not, nor do I pretend to be a great student of the Bible. However, I have studied a lot of it, in my Ife and believe it to be totally God's authorized Word.

I am curious about those things in it that I have never studied before, and I hope to learn more. 

I pray that what I find, will benefit all that come here, but only as we learn the truth. 

For that is only what I am after.

So, thank you for coming by,

may we learn together,'

and come back tomorrow to see what I can uncover about this prayer.

God bless you and yours!

2 Corinthians 4:9-10

9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.  2 Corinthians 12-9-10

The Apostle Paul was not having an easy life when he penned this passage. He had been killing Christians until he had encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus one day. 

But Jesus had another plan for Paul. And it wouldn't be an easy one. One that would secure a place for him in heaven.

Now he was commissioned to preach the gospel. 

Not only in his own back yard, but in other countries as well. 

And despite the troubles he encountered, it is counted unto him that many people also found mercy from God and would go to heaven, as well.

During this time of trouble, he knew without a doubt that it was God's grace that was getting him through all of what he was encountering.

Can you and I believe that at this time in our lives. As the world gets darker and darker?

If all we have is God, He is all we need. For His mercy endures forever. They are new to us every morning. And His faithfulness is so great, that it will get us through our darkest hour.  Laminations 3:22-23

Yes, His grace is sufficient for us. No matter what stress, persecutions or weakness we are going through. Either now, or in the future.

We can depend on it.

Thanks for coming by, Friends. May you feast today at the table of God's Word and be satisfied.

God bless you!

James 5:1

  If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. James 5:1

Good morning, Friends

We have just a few weeks before we will be voting for the next president of the United States.

Are you ready? Do you know who you will be voting for? 

There are some that still do not know. They are still debating in their own minds as they keep watching the news. 

James 1:5 tells us to ask God for wisdom when we need it. By all means watch what is going on in the news, and then trust God that He will give you what you need to make the best decision. 

Having said that, may I give you a tip?

 Do not just listen to mainstream media for all of your news. There are many good channels on YouTube that give you up to date information that mainstream media often leaves out. And many on YouTube are Christians. 

If you haven't already checked them out, I implore you to do so. Because they will give you the whole picture and not just what they want you to see. 

Some of you may be so frustrated with it all that you have decided not to vote at all.

I have some in my family that have decided this.

But I promise you, our freedoms in this country are at stake. We could lose more of them if the wrong person is elected this November. There are people that want to make the U.S. a communist country.  And they are plotting behind the backs of the American people to do just that. 

However, their plots keep leaking out. And that is why these on YouTube are getting the truth out. But let me tell you, we need to take the time to research what is really going on and not just let one group of people Tell Us what they want us to know. 

They think we are stupid enough to believe them. And sadly many, many, many people have bought into their lies and been deceived. Because friends, that is how the enemy works. 

If you have used mainstream media as your only source of helping you decide, please don't stop there. Our nation and what our founding fathers founded this country to be, are at stake.

To get your started, if you have not already done so and would like to, please go to: True Life News on YouTube.  This channel is just one of my favorites because he is after the truth, and he will give it to you straight. And along with that, he will give you clips of others that will help you as well. 

Besides that, he is a Christian and that is the most important part of why I like him. So please check him out. 

Thanks for coming by today, Friends. Time is running out and soon we will be making a decision for this country and our very freedoms. Be in prayer and when you need wisdom, ask God for it. Because He promises to give it to you!

God bless!!!!!!!!!  And God bless America!!!!

Lamentations 3:21-26

 

21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.

22 It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

24 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.

25 The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.

26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.

Without God, we are without hope. 

Recently a friend of mine, lost her father to death.

I am not sure that they were all that close.

He had left her mother many years ago.

But during that time, my friend became a Christian

and she would witness to the family.

He lived several months with cancer spreading through his body.

But when his death came, she had God's peace that he passed on into the hands of Jesus.

Because of hope.

Hope that surpasses the false hope that the world gives us.

For when we too pass, all that will pass as well.

If that is all we have in this world,

we have nothing.

It will make no difference as we take our first breath into eternity.

Put your trust in God

That is all the hope you have.

From your first breath to your last.

There is nothing more.

I am not trying to be negative here today.

There are good things that we go through in life.

But what I am trying to say is that is, at the end of it nothing else will take the place of Jesus taking us home.

And that is the hope we can live out before that time comes.

Thanks for coming by, Friends.

Have a wonderful and hope filled day!

Jeremiah 29:12 James 1:17

 

12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will listen unto you. Jeremiah 27:12

Friends we are living in confusing times. They are dangerous, and godless times.

And that is why we need to pray for God's deliverance as only He can give it. 

Thank God, He has given us this option to go to him and he will hear us. He is not the god of the Muslims. The God of Buda. The gods of all other false religions.

For they do not have ears to hear us. Neither can they deliver us or give us the good things from God.

No, we who are in the family of God can go to the one and only God of Issac, Abraham and Jacob. 

He and He alone has ears that will listen to us. And even more than that, consider the following verse:

 Every good gift and every perfect gift are from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17

When we go to the Father of Lights, He will listen, and He will answer our prayers. Maybe not today, or tomorrow. Maybe not until next year. Or maybe He won't answer them exactly the way we ask. But even a "No" can be His answer.  

The thing is, He does answer us. In one way or another as he deems what is best for us and at the right time.

But the thing is, He wait for us to go to Him. And He alone listens to what we need. 

Thanks for your visit today. I am truly humbled.

God bless!