Where Is God Fitting Into Your Picture?

" Why do you judge your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God.  For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God."  So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. "

Rom.14:10-12

Have you ever noticed in the scripture, how much emphasis there is on doing for others? One of the first commandments given to Israel outside of Loving God, is to love your neighbor as  yourself.  This is because God wants us to take the love that we have for him, and communicate that love in our lives to others. In other words, to take our minds off of self centered living. This begs the question, how much time am I spending on what I want versus what God wants?  Then, answer that question in light of Rom.14:12, "Each of us will have to give a personal account to God."  

One day God will compare how much time and energy we spent on ourselves compared with what we invested in serving others. Think about the implications of this. There will come a day when God will compare how much time and energy we spent on ourselves compared with what we invested in serving others and serving Him.  Mt.25:40 reminds us, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." At that point, all our excuses for self-centeredness will sound hollow: "I was too busy," or "I had my own goals," or "I was preoccupied with working, having fun, or preparing for retirement."  To all excuses God will respond, "I created, saved, and called you and commanded you to live a life of service. What part did you not understand?"

We are only fully alive when we're helping others. Jesus said, "If you insist on saving your life, you will lose it. Only those who throw away their lives for my sake and for the sake of the Good News will ever know what it means to really live." (Mk 8:35; 10:39; 16:25; Lke 9:24; 17:33).  If you are not serving, you are just existing -- because life is meant for serving God, and in that, God wants you to learn to love and serve others unselfishly.but for Christians it will mean a loss of eternal rewards.  The Bible warns "but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey wickedness, there will be wrath and fury (Rom.2:8)."  Wouldn't it be a shame, to say we are a Christian, go to church, etc., only to be denied entrance to heaven because "I was too busy," or "I had my own goals," or "I was preoccupied with working, having fun, or preparing for retirement."   Where is God fitting into the picture of your life and what are you doing to serve Him today?

Jim

BAR Article Was Mary Magdalene Wife of Jesus? Was Mary Magdalene a Prostitute?

Was Mary Magdalene Wife of Jesus? Was Mary Magdalene a Prostitute?

How did her reputation evolve “From Saint to Sinner?”

Biblical Archaeology Society Staff • 09/24/2013

Was Mary Magdalene a prostitute? Was Mary Magdalene wife of Jesus? Her being a repentant whore was not part of the biblical text. Photo: Private Collection /Bridgeman Art Library /Courtesy of IAP Fine Art

When novelists and screen writers try to insert something salacious into the life of Jesus, they focus on one woman: Mary from Magdala. Was Mary Magdalene a prostitute? Was Mary Magdalene the wife of Jesus? Birger A. Pearson addresses these popular notions in the article “From Saint to Sinner” below.

As Pearson notes, there’s no substantial evidence to either of these theories. As for her being named in the New Testament, none of the Gospels hints of her as being Mary Magdalene, wife of Jesus. Three Gospels name her only as a witness of his crucifixion and/or burial. All four Gospels place her at the scene of Jesus’ resurrection (though Luke does not list her as a witness). Only in the Gospel according to Luke is there even the slightest implication that she might have had a past life that could raise eyebrows and the question: Was Mary Magdalene a prostitute? Luke 8 names her among other female followers and financial supporters and says that she had been released from the power of seven demons.

Theologians in later centuries consciously tried to downplay her role as an influential follower of Jesus. She became identified with the “sinful woman” in Luke 7 whom Jesus forgives as she anoints his feet, as well as the woman “taken in adultery” whom Jesus saved from stoning. In the sixth century Pope Gregory preached of her being a model penitent.

Only the Western church has said that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute. The Eastern church has always honored her as an apostle, noting her as the “apostle to the apostles,” based on the account of the Gospel of John which has Jesus calling her by name and telling her to give the news of his resurrection to the other disciples.

As Birger A. Pearson sets forth in “From Saint to Sinner” below, a noncanonical Gospel of Mary enhances her role to a greater proportion. Her ongoing role in the early church is subject to speculation, but she is indeed getting more respect in theological circles, not for being Mary Magdalene wife of Jesus nor for being Mary Magdalene a prostitute but for being a faithful follower of her Rabboni—Teacher.

From Saint to Sinner

by Birger A. Pearson

Dan Brown, William Phipps, Martin Scorsese—when looking for a lover or wife for Jesus, they all chose Mary Magdalene. It’s not surprising. Mary Magdalene has long been recognized as one of the New Testament’s more alluring women. Most people think of her as a prostitute who repented after encountering Jesus. In contemporary British artist Chris Gollon’s painting of The Pre-penitent Magdalene (at right), Mary appears as a defiant femme fatal adorned with jewelry and make-up.

Yet, the New Testament says no such thing. Rather, in three of the four canonical Gospels, Mary Magdalene is mentioned by name only in connection with the death and resurrection of Jesus. She is a witness to his crucifixion (Matthew 27:55–56; Mark 15:40–41; John 19:25) and burial (Matthew 27:61; Mark 15:47). 1 She is one of the first (the first, according to John) to arrive at the empty tomb (Matthew 28:1–8; Mark 16:1–8; Luke 24:1–12; John 20:1–10). And she is one of the first (again, the first, according to John) to witness the risen Christ (Matthew 28:9; John 20:14–18).

Only the Gospel of Luke names Mary Magdalene in connection with Jesus’ daily life and public ministry. There, Mary is listed as someone who followed Jesus as he went from village to village, bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. “And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means” (Luke 8:1–3).

The Galilee is one of the most evocative locales in the New Testament—the area where Jesus was raised and where many of the Apostles came from. Our free eBook, The Galilee Jesus Knew, focuses on several aspects of Galilee: how Jewish the area was in Jesus’ time, the ports and the fishing industry that were so central to the region, and several sites where Jesus likely stayed and preached.

The epithet “Magdalene,” used in all the Gospels, indicates that Mary came from the mercantile town of Migdal (Taricheae) on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. 2 She must have been a woman of some means, if Luke’s account can be trusted, for she helped provide Jesus and the twelve with material support. She had also experienced Jesus’ healing power, presumably involving an exorcism of some sort. 3 It should be noted, though, that the author of the Gospel of Luke has a tendency to diminish Mary Magdalene’s role, in comparison with her treatment in the other three canonical Gospels. For example, Luke is alone among the canonical Gospels in claiming that the risen Lord appeared exclusively to Peter (Luke 24:34; cf. 1 Corinthians 15:5). No appearance to Mary is recorded in Luke. 4 Accordingly, his reference to seven demons may be tendentious. 5

So how did Mary become a repentant whore in Christian legend?

Critical scholarship has provided the answer to this question: It happened as a conscious attempt on the part of later interpreters of the Gospels to diminish her.a They did this by identifying her with other women mentioned in the Gospels, most notably the unnamed sinful woman who anoints Jesus’ feet with ointment and whose sins he forgives (Luke 7:36–50) and the unnamed woman taken in adultery (John 7:53–8:11). 6 This conflation of texts was given sanction in the sixth century by Pope Gregory the Great (540–604) in a famous homily in which he holds Mary up as a model of penitence. Pope Gregory positively identified the unnamed anointer and adulteress as Mary, and suggested that the ointment used on Jesus’ feet was once used to scent Mary’s body. The seven demons Jesus cast out of Mary were, according to Gregory, the seven cardinal sins, which include lust. But, wrote Gregory, when Mary threw herself at Jesus’ feet, “she turned the mass of her crimes to virtues, in order to serve God entirely in penance.” 7

Thus was invented the original hooker with a heart of gold.

Interestingly, the legend of Mary the penitent whore is found only in the Western church; in the Eastern church she is honored for what she was, a witness to the resurrection. Another Gregory, Gregory of Antioch (also sixth century), in one of his homilies, has Jesus say to the women at the tomb: “Proclaim to my disciples the mysteries which you have seen. Become the first teacher of the teachers. Peter, who has denied me, must learn that I can also choose women as apostles.” 8

Mary’s historical role as an apostle is clearly tied to her experience of an appearance of the risen Christ. As noted above, in the Gospel of John, Mary Magdalene goes alone to the tomb, where she is the first to see the risen Jesus. He tells her to tell his “brethren” that he is ascending to God the Father. She then goes to the disciples and tells them what she has seen and heard (John 20:1, 11–19). 9 Later that same day Jesus appears to the disciples gathered behind closed doors. He thus confirms in person the message Mary had given them. In contrast to Luke’s picture of Mary, in John she emerges as an “apostle to the apostles.” 10

To learn more about Biblical women with slighted traditions, read How Bad Was Jezebel? and Lilith: Seductress, Heroine or Murderer? online for free in Bible History Daily.

The positive role played by Mary Magdalene in the Gospel of John was considerably enhanced in Christian circles that honored her memory. The Gospel of Mary, quoted in the accompanying article, is the product of one such early Christian community. In her recent book The Resurrection of Mary Magdalene, Jane Schaberg presents the following nine-point “profile” of Mary:

(1) Mary is prominent among the followers of Jesus; (2) she exists as a character, as a memory, in a textual world of androcentric language and patriarchal ideology; (3) she speaks boldly; (4) she plays a leadership role vis-à-vis the male disciples; (5) she is a visionary; (6) she is praised for her superior understanding; (7) she is identified as the intimate companion of Jesus; (8) she is opposed by or in open conflict with one or more of the male disciples; (9) she is defended by Jesus. 11

All nine characteristics are prominent in the Gospel of Mary, although many of these nine points are found in other noncanonical texts.

But does this portrait of Mary Magdalene as an early Church leader reflect historical reality? Perhaps. One scholar has suggested that Mary may even be mentioned along with a few other female leaders whom Paul sends greetings to in Romans 16:6, where he writes: “Greet Mary, who has worked very hard among you.” 12 But this must remain speculative. It is true that we have no reason to suspect Mary was a prostitute or lover or wife of Jesus. But it is also true that if she was an apostle to the apostles, the evidence for her role has successfully been suppressed—at least until now. As a result of the recent work of a number of scholars, Mary Magdalene’s apostolic role in early Christianity is getting a new hearing.

That, in my view, is more important than viewing her as Jesus’ wife.

The recent discovery of a Coptic papyrus fragment reignited the discussion on Jesus’ marriage. Read more about early Christian text featuring the words “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife …,’” and “Mary is worthy of it.”

Notes

1 Luke 23:55 refers to “the women who had come with him from Galilee” without naming any of them.

2 On that town, see esp. Jane Schaberg, The Resurrection of Mary Magdalene: Legends, Apocrypha, and the Christian Testament (New York: Continuum, 2002), pp. 47–64.

3 Reference to seven demons may mean that she was totally possessed. On the seven demons see Esther de Boer, Mary Magdalene: Beyond the Myth (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 1997), pp. 48–55.

4 See esp. Ann Graham Brock, Mary Magdalene, the First Apostle: The Struggle for Authority (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003), pp. 19–40.

5 In a secondary ending to the Gospel of Mark, it is said that Jesus “appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons” (Mark 16:9). The secondary ending is probably dependent upon the Gospel of Luke. As the best manuscripts attest, the earliest versions of Mark end at 16:8.

6 Mel Gibson makes that identification in his movie, The Passion of the Christ. On the tendentious conflation of traditions, see esp. Schaberg, Resurrection of Mary Magdalene, pp. 65–77, 82.

7 Quoted in Schaberg, Resurrection of Mary Magdalene, p. 82.

8 Quoted in de Boer, Mary Magdalene, p. 12.

9 Vv. 2–10 are probably a later interpolation into a more original account and interrupt the flow of the narrative.

10 On this term see Brock, Mary Magdalene, the First Apostle, p. 1. Brock’s book is a valuable discussion of the apostolate in early Christianity and Mary’s role in it.

11 Schaberg, Resurrection of Mary Magdalene, p. 129.

12 de Boer, Mary Magdalene, pp. 59–60.

“From Saint to Sinner” by Birger A. Pearson originally appeared in Bible Review, Spring 2005, 36-37.

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Dalmanoutha - Jesus in Gospel of Mark

Biblical-Era Town Discovered Along Sea of Galilee

By Owen Jarus, LiveScience Contributor   |   September 16, 2013 08:15am ET

The Sea of Galilee boat is the most famous artifact that we can now associate with this newly discovered town. It dates back to either the first century B.C. or A.D. Although the boat was uncovered in 1986 the discovery of the town means we now know it was found on the ancient town's shoreline. Credit: Photo by Berthold Werner, released into public domain, courtesy Wikimedia View full size image

A town dating back more than 2,000 years has been discovered on the northwest coast of the Sea of Galilee, in Israel's Ginosar valley.
The ancient town may be Dalmanutha (also spelled Dalmanoutha), described in the Gospel of Mark as the place Jesus sailed to after miraculously feeding 4,000 people by multiplying a few fish and loaves of bread, said Ken Dark, of the University of Reading in the U.K., whose team discovered the town during a field survey.
The archaeologists also determined that a famous boat, dating to around 2,000 years ago, and uncovered in 1986, was found on the shoreline of the newly discovered town. The boat was reported on two decades ago but the discovery of the town provides new information on what lay close to it.

The evidence the team found suggests the town was prosperous in ancient times. "Vessel glass and amphora hint at wealth," Dark wrote in an article published in the most recent edition of the journal Palestine Exploration Quarterly, while "weights and stone anchors, along with the access to beaches suitable for landing boats — and, of course, the first-century boat … all imply an involvement with fishing." [Photos: 4,000-Year-Old Structure Hidden Under Sea of Galilee]
The architectural remains and pottery suggest that Jews and those following a polytheistic religion lived side by side in the community. In addition, the researchers found that the southern side of the newly discovered town lies only about 500 feet (150 meters) away from another ancient town known as Magdala.

View looking southwest showing the mountains bounding the Ginosar Valley in Israel. Archaeologists found pottery remains, cubes known as tesserae and, in the modern town, architectural fragments indicating a town flourished in the area from the second or first century B.C. until after the fifth century A.D.
Credit: Photo copyright Dr. Ken Dark

View full size image

Architecture and pottery
Fields between the modern-day town of Migdal and the sea coast contained hundreds of pottery pieces dating from as early as the second or first century B.C. to up to some point after the fifth century A.D., the time of the Byzantine Empire, the archaeologists found. The artifacts suggest the town survived for many centuries.
Also among their finds were cubes known as tesserae and limestone vessel fragments, which were "associated with Jewish purity practices in the early Roman period," indicating the presence of a Jewish community in the town, Dark told LiveScience in an email.
Some of the most impressive finds, however, were not made in the fields but rather in modern-day Migdal itself. The archaeologists found dozens of examples of ancient architectural remains, some of which the modern-day townspeople had turned into seats or garden ornaments, or simply left lying on the ground. In one instance, the researchers found more than 40 basalt ashlar blocks in a single garden.
After talking to the local people, and trying to identify the source and date of the findings, the researchers determined that many of the architectural remains came from the local area and likely were part of this newly discovered town. [Photos: Amazing Ruins of the Ancient World]

Roman column fragments, along with the top of a rotary quern (for grinding), lying on the side of a road in the modern-day town of Migdal and believed to be part of a newfound ancient town.
Credit: Photo copyright Dr. Ken Dark

View full size image

These remains included a number of ancient column fragments, including examples of capitals (the top of columns) carved in a Corinthian style. "This settlement may have contained masonry buildings, some with mosaic floors and architectural stonework," Dark wrote in his paper.
The finds also included a pagan altar, made of light-gray limestone and used in religious rituals by those of a polytheistic faith, Dark said.
Is it Dalmanutha?
In the New Testament, Dalmanutha is mentioned only briefly in the Gospel of Mark.
The gospel says that after feeding 4,000 people by miraculously multiplying a few fish and loaves of bread, Jesus "got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha. The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply and said, 'Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to it.'Then he left them, got back into the boat and crossed to the other side." (Mark 8:10-13, New International Version)
Dark isn't certain the newly discovered town is Dalmanutha, but there is evidence to support the idea. From the remains found, researchers can tell the newly discovered town would have been a sizable, thriving location in the first century A.D., and the name Dalmanutha has not been firmly linked to a known archaeological site.
It's likely that the newly found town's name is among the few place-names already identified by other researchers relating to the Ginosar valley shore, and one of those places is Dalmanutha, Dark said.
Follow us @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on LiveScience.

The Learning, Learned and Learners

We've all heard preachers talk about the need to reprove false doctrine, and rightly so, for so the Bible teaches. For many this has become a mantra, a cause, a crusade. Yet, there comes a time to move on.  Basic teaching is a needed thing, yet many do not let even the simplest matters sink in and have to be taught over and over again.  Hebrews 5:11-14 speaks to this end - let's consider what it says.

The writer states, "About this we have much to say, and it is  hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food,  for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.  But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil."  

To always have to be taught something over and over again, can be the fault of two things.

1. The Fault of the Hearer - who is not listening or paying attention to what is said and therefore never learns in order to progress.  I have known many like this, both in school and in life. Always distracted or distracting, they never pay attention. In essence, they do not want to learn. Even Jesus encountered people like this, whom He would try to teach and get to grasp basic truth, yet they never "heard" what He was saying.  Another category in this, is one who thinks themselves too learned to be taught. This person cannot be taught because they "already know everything."  In either case, the fault is not the teacher's in this instance. 
2. The Fault of the Teacher - who is either too simple to progress to greater things, or one who is too complicated. I have known both. I have known many teachers through the years who could not teach anything but basic things because that was all that they studied.  Saying the same things, teaching the same things over and over again until like a recording the audience learns nothing. Not because there is no content, but because as the Hebrew writer puts it, there is no "meat" to encourage growth.   At the same time, I have known of and have been myself so complicated in my teaching, that the audience could not grasp what I was saying.  Like a teacher I once had in high school, whom her students labeled the "talking encyclopedia" because she taught so far above their heads that they could not understand what she taught. 

Many do not stop to consider Heb.6:1f that continues the thought of Heb.5.   "Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, instruction about washings,  the laying on of hands,  the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do  if God permits."  

It takes both in order for progress to occur and begs the following questions.  What kind of listener am I?  Am I so distracted that I cannot hear what is being taught?  Am I so distracting that others cannot learn, or that the teacher cannot teach?  With what intent do you go to be taught - to hear, build up and encourage, or to argue and find fault?  Do you make learning a joy? or do you make it hardship?

Heb.10:24 24  "And  let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works..."

Jim

Notes from Last Night's - God Wants to Visit With You

Lk.1:78,79 "Because of the tender mercy of our God, his light from on high has visited us"

This verse given regarding the birth of the Messiah is one that summarizes what God truly wants for every human being.  God literally wants to "visit" us.  "Visit" here is the same as used in James 1:27, meaning to inspect for the purpose and intent of relieving the affliction of another.  Literally with Jesus it is Jn.3:16.

But  WHY?  Why would God want to come and make His home with us, to come to us in our affliction and be with us, when it is we who have sinned against Him?

• Because God wants for us what He has wanted with man since creation, to live with, be part of man and to want man to be part of Him. To know and enjoy the same type of relationship with Him, that He knew with His Son - the oneness of God!
• With this intent, He has come to us to....
•  To give light   Psa.107:9-12  "For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things. Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons, for they had rebelled against the words of God, and  spurned the counsel of the Most High. So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor; they fell down, with none to help."
• It is not God's desire to leave us squandering in darkness, nor to leave us prisoners without providing for us a way to escape. He "visited" us that we may know light, and that we may see clearly the means to escape the pit we have fallen into.
• To LIVE WITHIN US  
• Jn.14:6,7 Jesus said to him, “I am  the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have  known my Father also.  From now on you do know him and  have seen him.” 
• Rom.8:9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have See Acts 16:7 the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
• To have His Kingdom Be Within Us!  
• Lk.17:220,21 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” 

The Problems of Marriage

The Problems of Marriage

Marriage is a ticklish subject, whether you look at it from the traditional standpoint, or, whether you put the modern twists on it. Two separate people coming together to form one “house” yet, coming in with two separate sets of standards. As fact, one partner will assume the “dominant” role – the role of leadership and the other will assume the “compliant” role. The whole objective of marriage is to work together for the common cause. It is a relationship where two different ideals get shared in a common venue, and in the ideal world where the best course of action is mutually chosen and agreed to. However, our world is not perfect and WE definitely are not perfect. Marriage is also a great magnifier. Marriage does not create problems, but it WILL reveal them and can intensify them. It WILL reveal how skilled or unskilled we are from the top of our emotions to the bottom of our pocketbooks. It is at this point we usually see one partner or the other accusing the other. Sometimes this is justified, but more times than not – both are equally to blame.

This is why, regardless of the emotional or spiritual state of your partner, you need to have or begin a relationship with God yourself. You need to get spiritually connected to God. Commit yourself to God’s standard and don't let the oceans of emotions sway you into making a stupid decisions. Decisions, especially those that are going to involve or effect another person, need to be carefully considered before they are made. So the first question is, have we spoken to God about it and researched His word to see what He has said about it and/or what His will is?

• James 1:5 And if any of you lacks wisdom, let them ask of God (who gives abundantly to all, and without reproach), and it shall be given them.
• 2 Tim.2:15 Give diligence to present yourself approved by God, a workman who doesn’t need to be ashamed, properly handling the Word of Truth.

The more you do this, the happier, more God-honoring, and more fulfilling your marriage is going to be. Creating that deep soul intimacy with God first, enables you to share the oneness that comes from being unified by a relationship to another person. And, in those times when things get out of balance with one another (and they will) it gives you a means to get if nothing else yourself, back into balance.

The Bible is abundant with examples of marriages both good and bad. From marriages of youth, to forced marriages and old marriages. Why do you suppose this is? We see examples of marriages that suffer the loss of a spouse, to examples of ones with abuse, ones that involve adulterous affairs to spouses abandoned. All of these show us that God's word covers the gambit. The adage of Ecclesiastes ch. 2:12; 3:15; 6:10; What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. proves true. God has included them so that we can learn from them.

Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (2 Tm.3:16; Ps. 119:50)

Jim

The In-Between ( Notes from his vening)

Job 14:14 If a man dies, shall he live [again]? All the days of my appointed time I will wait until my transformation comes.

Job~David~Abraham anticipated Heb 11:13 All these came to their end in faith, not having had the heritage; but having seen it with delight far away, they gave witness that they were wanderers and not of the earth.

Jesus Taught Joh 11:25 BBE Jesus said to her, I am myself that day and that life; he who has faith in me will have life even if he is dead;

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

1 Fact is Supreme Either I HAVE or Haven't Done God's Will 1Th 4:16 Because the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a word of authority, with the voice of the chief angel, with the sound of a horn: and thee dead in Christ will come to life first;

THE TEACHING OF Lk.16:19-31 :::::::::::::::::::::::

Lazarus - DOERS :::::::::::::::::::::
Rest (Rev 14:13 BBE And a voice from heaven came to my ears, saying, Put in writing, There is a blessing on the dead who from now on come to their end in the Lord: yes, says the Spirit, that they may have rest from their troubles; for their works go with them.) ,
peace (Rev 21:4 BBE And he will put an end to all their weeping; and there will be no more death, or sorrow, or crying, or pain; for the first things have come to an end.
comfort (Luk 16:25 BBE But Abraham said, Keep in mind, my son, that when you were living, you had your good things, while Lazarus had evil things: but now, he is comforted and you are in pain.)

Rich Man - DON'T -- ::::::::::::::::::::
Tormented Despair (Luk 16:24 BBE And he gave a cry and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus, so that he may put the end of his finger in water and put it on my tongue, fo r I am cruelly burning in this flame.),
Regret (Luk 13:28 BBE There will be weeping and cries of sorrow when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves are shut outside.)


- Sent from MySword

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Who Is The Lord? (notes from this morning)

Exodus "Who is the LORD? Why should I obey him?

Who is the Lord? What makes God any different from any other myth, legend, story?

Pharoah responds "I do not know" NOTE- Ignorance is a Choice

Rom 1:21 Because, having the knowledge of God, they did not give glory to God as God, and did not give praise, but their minds were full of foolish things, and their hearts, being without sense, were made dark.

Who is He to YOU? Have you sought God out? Do you KNOW God?

Why should I listen to Him? Listening costs nothing-gives opportunity to weigh evidence 1Jn 4:1 My loved ones, do not put your faith in every spirit, but put them to the test, to see if they are from God: because a great number of false prophets have gone out into the world.

Pharoah gambled and lost! Will you?


- Sent from MySword

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Conflict ~ Reconciliation

Conflict ~ Reconciliation

Reconciliation is the process of re-establishing a relationship. Re-establish is the process of bringing together something that has gone apart. In our endeavor to be like Christ, we should remember that He came to be the “peace between God and man” and is described as our Mediator. God sent Jesus to Earth to reconcile us because we are in conflict with God “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim.2:4-6.) You are most like Jesus Christ when you are reconciling torn relationships, whether your own or with others. You are most like Jesus when you’re building bridges, not walls.

It’s always more rewarding to resolve the conflict than to dissolve a relationship. It definitely is not easier, but it’s more rewarding. At times, there are people in your life you want to just wash your hands of because the struggle is simply not worth it. You can do that, but there isn't any reward it, and there certainly isn't any joy on anyone's part. It’s always more rewarding to resolve a conflict than to dissolve a relationship. We are instructed, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” Rom 12:17-19

One fact for those who seek to be the people that God wants them to be, is that you cannot make peace with other people until YOU make peace with God. Perhaps that’s part of the problem? We are not at peace with God in our lives and therefore cannot be at peace with ourselves. When not at peace with ourselves, and as such find it difficult to be at peace with others. First you've got to make peace with God. Then you get the peace of God that enables you to attempt to make peace with others. That’s the starting point: You need to get peace in your heart by letting the Prince of Peace inside. Paul stated, “bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” (Col.3:12-14)

It is a human trait, that we are simply not going to be able to agree on everything. There will never be resolution on all your issues. Can you have a loving relationship without agreeing on everything? Of course you can. If you learn to disagree without being disagreeable, that’s called wisdom. If you learn that you can have unity without total robotic uniformity, that’s called wisdom. If you learn to walk hand in hand without having to see eye to eye on every nuance, that’s called wisdom. You don’t have to agree on every issue to come to reconciliation. Yet remember what Jesus says, “Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. Matt 18:18-20

If you focus on the relationship and not the issues, you’re going to find that some of the issues you’re arguing over are just not that important. Some things just aren't worth arguing about. You need to let it go!

Jim

Your Choice - Be Careful The Decision You Make

Today I am giving you a choice. You can choose life and success or death and disaster. 

~Dt.30:15 

This is a moving statement made by Moses to the people of Israel as they are getting ready to enter into the promised land. To this point, they had followed Moses, and Moses had directed them in what God had said, shown them the things that God wanted, and given them God's law. Now at a critical juncture in their lives, when a leader they had known for years would no longer be there to guide them, they had a critical choice to make. This was a moral choice – a life choice. It was a choice that would have to be made upon heart and self resolution. It was not something that could be made by a mechanized process, they were not robots and God didn't want robots. As with us, God was giving them the freedom to make moral choices. God made man in his image, so we are not like an animal that just goes by instinct. In effect, God says, “I gave you the capacity to make moral choices because I don’t want to force you to love me. I want you to choose. You can either love me or not love me. You can follow my purpose for your life, or you can go make up your own purpose for your life. I’ve given you that choice.”

There's a thing about the freedom of choice: You must be willing to live with the consequences of that choice, understanding that you made that decision of your own validity. While you’re free to choose anything you want to do in life, you’re not free from the consequences. The consequences are part of the choice. There will be a day when God will ask you to explain why you made the choices you did. Eccl.3:17 reminds us, "God has planned a time for everything, and he has planned a time to judge everything people do. He will judge good people and bad people."

When we decide to not hear God, it is not God's fault. He has given us the opportunity – we are the ones choosing not to hear. When we decide not to obey God, it is not God's fault. He has supplied to us what is written, that we may know His way – we are choosing not to heed. When we decide that we do not need what God has provided and that we can better do it our own way – we cannot blame God who gave us the road God's signs and warnings not to do so. We made the decision.

The same Israel Moses spoke to above, is "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as they did when they provoked me."the same Israel that was known for their stubbornness and rebellion. The consequence of that rebellion kept all but two of the older generation from seeing the Promised Land they so sought. God makes the plea with us today, not to make their mistake. Heb 3:15 As it is said, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as they did when they provoked me." What is your choice?

Jim