Joshua

Joshua 

Summary: Moses is gone and Joshua son of Nun is left as leader. Caleb and Joshua are the only ones left who witnessed Egypt with their own eyes. The mantle of leadership has fallen to Joshua who trailed Moses around seeking to see God as he did. If standing in the shadow of Moses was not enough before the Israel laid the walls of Jericho and thirty-one kings with armies and lands promised to them by God. A daunting task for anyone and Joshua felt this weight. So as an spry eighty year old the Lord told Joshua "Be strong and courageous!" and that is where this story begins.

Things I Noticed:

1. Chase after my word and laws follow them sure footed like moses. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may act wisely and have good success wherever you go. 
2. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.
3. Rahab a prostitute who had discernment, with deception and cunning saved her family from the sword by saving the spies of Israel.
4.  An overflowing river Jordan is held back by the Lord's hand and Israel passes over on dry land. The Jordan is a large river.
5. When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” (If he came today would he look like a Spec-op soldier fully geared?)
6. It makes no sense that circling a wall for seven days with trumpets will cause walls to fall flat and prostrate outwards, rather then crumble or collapse. Yet, this is what God caused to happen at Jericho.
7. the Lord threw down large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died because of the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword. (The Lord sent a meteor storm to smite and army. AMAZING.)
8. The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord heeded the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel.
9. And they came out with all their troops, a great horde, in number like the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots.
10.  Joshua did to them just as the Lord said to him: he hamstrung their horses and burned their chariots with fire.
11. And Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim from the hill country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. (More giants in the land of Israel.)
12. Joshua killed or hung 31 kings.
13. The Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the people of Judah could not drive out, so the Jebusites dwell with the people of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.

14. However, they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived in the midst of Ephraim to this day but have been made to do forced labor.
15.  For you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong.
16. Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘Appoint the cities of refuge
17. One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the Lord your God who fights for you, just as he promised you.


The Journey this year had been topsy-turvy as well as rough. I spent all day with Joshua in the murk of battle, the intrigue of Kings, and the hand of God moving. Isaiah and I are taking our times slowly with his strong visual prophecies and harsh words for Israel. I have had to remember to be strong and courageous as well as faithful. Till we meet again next year, Read up, Post up, and Shalom.

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 

Summary: דְּבָרִים‎, Devarim, "These are the words..." more commonly known as Deuteronomy is my favorite book. Within this mighty tome spoken by Moses are a recap of the law, a recap of the history of there journey to the promised land, blessings, cursings and the Shema. The richness of this book continues to build up (edify) my faith upon every read through. It contains many verses Jesus used in his teaching, including the summation of the law. Here is the set up: it is the cusp of of Moses death, God has said no to his last plea to enter into the promised land, so Moses looks to make his last words a legacy. Here is what I found...

Things I Noticed:

1. We have seen the sons of the Anakim there. (The Anakim were giants of the Nephilim line of the sins reference in Genesis 6:4)

2. The Emim formerly lived there, a people great and many and tall as the Anakim. Like the Anakim they are also counted as Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim.

3. (Rephaim formerly lived there- but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim- a people great and many, tall as the Anakim.)

4. (For only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold his bed was a bed of iron...13ft  tall by 6ft wide.)

5. Please let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan... Enough of you; do not speak to me of this matter again. (Even Moses nagging could not change God's mind)

6. Only take care of your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. 

7. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

8. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[b] 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (The Shema)
9. To fear the Lord our God, for our good always.
10. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations.

11. Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.
12. As a man that disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you.
13. A people great and tall the sons of Anakim 
14. Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to posses because your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people. (That word stubborn also could be stiffnecked and obstinate.)
15. I command you today, to love the Lord God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. (The first great commandment.)
16. You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes. (Sounds like America.)
17. For every abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done for their Gods, for they even burn there sons and daughters in the fire to their Gods.
18. For the Lord you God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. (Don't I feel like this at the moment.)
19. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.
20. If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be.
21. Therefore I command you, "You shall open wife your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land."
22. Freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the Lord God blesses you.
23.  Justice and only justice, you shall follow. 
24. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord.
25. You shall be blameless before the Lord your God, for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do this.
26. If the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken presumptuously.
27. Lest innocent blood be shed in your land that the Lord your God is giving you for and inheritance, and so the guilt of blood shed be upon you.
28. A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord God.
29. You shall dig a hole with it and turn back and cover up your excrement. (That is God say make a toilet then cover your crap up.)
30. You shall not give up to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you.
31. Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. And all the people shall say 'Amen.'
32. Cursed anyone who takes a bribe to shed innocent blood.
33. The Lord will cause your enemy who rise against you to be defeated before you.
34. The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands.
35. And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down...if you do not turn aside from any of the words
36. I have led you for forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have note worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn off your feet.
37.The secret things belong to the Lord our God. 
38. There is no God besides me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
39. Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated.  


The Journey has been rough recently. Isaiah never offers soft truths but strong lessons. Maybe as I continue on through this mirky valley Joshua can lighten me up. Just have to remember to be strong and courageous. Till we meet again, Read up, Post up, and Shalom.

II Thessalonians

II Thessalonians 

Summary: The time will come full of deception and lawlessness (abandoning of God's word). A warning and a encouragement of That God will protect and repay justice this second letter to Thessaloniki if short and full of edification for the saints. My favorite part is the end time prophecy from Paul. Take a look at what I found:

Things I Noticed:

1. Since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and grant relief to you who are afflicted.

2. That our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3. For the day will not come, unless rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. (The end time will be herald by rebellion and the revelation of a leader who truly is divorced from all of God's law.)

4. For the mystery of the lawlessness is already at work. (Plans already in movement and being executed.)

5. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. (He will be like a messiah with false miracles and stand against everything that the word calls Holy.)

6. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 

7. The Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. 

8. Do not grow weary in doing good.

Deuteronomy is on the horizon and illuminates wisdom yet unreveiled to me. since my journey to find John will be long I also will be reading Isaiah's writtings. What better way to understand to understand the prophets thenbwith the first. The next length of my quest is led solely by the Spirit. What joys wait over the next hill and dale only God knows. Till we meet again, Read up, Post up, and Shalom.

Numbers

Numbers

Summary: The priestly order has been set up and the tabernacle has been set up. The people move when God moves and rests when God rests. The begin their travel to Canaan. During this time the take a census, Korah rebels, Balaam services are bought to curse but he blesses instead and the spies make a bad report showing lack of faith. Numbers is full of great stories and dry counts of populace. Still God there is much to learn here. This is what I took out of it this round:

Things I Noticed:

1. So it was always: the cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire by night.

2. And when you go to war in your land against the advesary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with trumpets, that you may be remembered before the Lord your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies. 

3. The Lord said to Moses, "Is the Lord's hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not." (God challenging Moses to have faith in his character.)

4. As soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. 

5. Would that all the Lord's people were prophet's that the Lord would put his Spirit on them! (The Spirit is on them his people now.)

6. Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the Earth. 

7. The descendants of Anak, were there. (The Anakim where descendants of nephalim and thus giants.) 

8. And there we saw Nephilim (sons of Anak, who come from Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves as grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.

9. Freewill offering, grain offering, drink offering, wave offering, guilt offering, sin offering.

10. Behold, the plague had already begun among the people. And he put on incense and made atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped.

11. You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.

12. Then you shall present a contribution from it to the Lord, a tithe of the tithe. 

13. The angel of the Lord standing in the road, with a drawn sword in his hand. 

14. The wilderness of Zin. 

15. They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. And they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. (This is the same Balaam whose donkey spoke to him.)

16. The cities that you give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee.

17. The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgement. 

18. The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death. 

19. Blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land or the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. 

Numbers was great but Deuteronomy is my favorite bok of the Tanakh. i have one more letter to Thessaloniki and the I will travel long to find John. He has written about a revelation he has experienced and I hunger to read it. Still he is an allusive Apostle traveling to and fro so until I find him I think I will find solace in the major prophets. Till we meet again, Read up, Post up, and Shalom.

1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians

Summary: Thessaloniki a major trade city under the governing of the great Marc Anthony. Paul stopped here on his way to Athens for a few weeks. After leaving he was a bit worried about how the small church was fairing in the large trade city. Sending Timothy to check up Paul finds out there where a
few things he needed to address. This letter was the corrective guidance. This is what I discovered:

Things I Noticed:

1. Our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in part and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. (The word comes with Conviction.)
2. So we speak not to please man, but to place God who tests our hearts.
3. For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed-God is witness. (We do not come with slick gimmicks or promises.)
4. We worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. (They asked for no money or collection plate.)
5. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.
6. The Lord is an avenger. (Take that Iron Man.)
7. God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.
8. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. (Fallen Asleep means dead.)
9. That we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.
10. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.  (End time prophecy.)
11. While people are saying, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. (What cost will that peace and security come at?)
12. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let use keep awake and be sober. (Let us not acts as if we are dead but alive and focused.)
13. Having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. (More armor something to compare to Ephesians.)
14. For God has not destined us for wrath.
15. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything: hold fast what is good. Abstain from every evil.

Taking the sights and sounds of Thessaloniki I will be here for a bit since. Number is still what I am meditating on. My birthday just passed and it was celebrated well with my wife. The next part of my Journey takes me to here so relax and enjoy with me.
Till we meet again, Read up, Post up, and Shalom.

Colossians

Colossians 

Summary: Colossae was quaint situated by a small river on the to Ephesus and south of Laodicea. The church here was not started by Paul but received letters from him none-the-less. It was in this town that some Pagan influence had found there way into the Christian practice specifically that of elemental spirits and angels. This letter goes on to encourage and defend Christ's divinity and ultimate authority. Take a look at what I found:

Things I Noticed:

1. Asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
2. Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but, now revealed to his saints.
3. Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
4. See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. (This is where I would put evolution as well as Gnosticism.)
5. Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him.
6. Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind. (All these things Paul says don't let it disqualify you with I have seen in Catholicism. So do them, some do not. Just an observation.)
7. You died to the elemental spirits of this world.
8. Set you minds on things that are above,  not on things that are on earth.
9. Put to then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassions, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience... And above all these put on love.
10. As the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. (The Lord's prayer referenced here.)
11. Wives, submit to your husband, as it is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.
12. Children obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, least they become discouraged. (This is the second time Paul warns of provocation and children. I feel both warnings are ignored when a father abandons his children.)
13. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
14. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (This seems not to be practiced these days.)

As I sit next to the River here in Colosea I am reminded of Tulsa. I spent many days and afternoons staring at the river in Oklahoma. Here I was a bit more productive reading Numbers instead. My study of it is coming quickly to a close. The next part of my Journey takes me to Thessaloniki I will give you more of the Good News when I get there. Journey on my friends. Till we meet again
, Read up, Post up, and Shalom.

Philippians

Philippians 

Summary: Philippi is an interesting city small colonial mining town unlike the previous cities I visited here the church started as a meek and small house of prayer. Wealthy from the mines it still held small being called little Rome due to the strict enforcement of the laws. The people tell stories of Paul's visit and the demon girl who was freed. They also talk about him being beaten and jailed, the earthquake followed, Paul staying and converting the jailer is also still of note to the people. I read Paul's letter to them and here is what I gleaned:

Things I Noticed:

1. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
2. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (This verse was important enough for me to tattoo it on my back in the original greek.)
3. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel.
4. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing.
6. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.
7. That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

8. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.
9. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
10. Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.
11. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
12. Do whatever Honorable, Just, Pure, Lovely, Commendable,  Excellence,  and Worthy Of Praise.
13.  I can do all things through him who strengthens me.


Still reading the book of Numbers I can say the book has gotten interesting with Balaam and Korah. It is rather arid and hot here in Philippi. Still I love praying and here it can be said is the home of the House of Prayer movement.  I am headed to Colossians next wish me luck on the road and protection from Brigands. As I journey I will continue to commit to my studies. Till then, Read up, Post up, and Shalom.

Ephesians

Ephesians

Summary: With rich and trouble history Ephesus was the second only to Rome in splendor in Paul's time. The study of magic, the huge temple of artemis, the library of celsus and a huge theatre the splendor of the city was legendary. Paul spent time imprisoned there and wrote to the Corinthians. Later from Rome he wrote this letter of encouragement to them about faith, grace, marriage and spiritual warfare. With vibrant promises and great doctrinal thoughts it is one of my favorite epistles. Here is what I saw: 

Things I Noticed:

1. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
2. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
3. I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love[f] toward all the saints
4. God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him
5. Prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience (In some translation they are called sons of lawlessness. It means those who ignore or purposefully transgress against God's law.)
6. By grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
7. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
8. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
9. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. (This statement is amazing because it shows that we have direct access to the creator of all. No need of a priest or pastor just our words.)

10. So that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
11. Strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being.
12. Being rooted and ground in love.
13. What is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. (God's love is like exploring the depths of the oceans or the infinity of the cosmos.)
14. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
15. And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. (The following verse speaks on no longer being children and should be sought out and meditated on whole with this verse.)
16. When each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
17. Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!
18. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. (Love this verse BE ANGRY Rawr! ... but sin not. A mystery but not if God shows you the truth behind it.)
19. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
20. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
21. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. (How often have I in the past been apart of a conversation filled with innuendo for filth amongst the brethren. The more one searched out the word the more accountable one feels if the Spirit is in you.)
22. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.
23. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. (Men of God HARKEN unto this verse. That means perk your ears up and pay close attention.)
24. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
25. Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
26. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
27. I could list the full armor of God but you should really read this book.

As I stare at the ports of Ephesus my mind drifts back to the book of Numbers. It is filled with such interesting interactions with God and the grumbling peopleof Israel. The book is a real eye opener to God's personality.  I am headed to Philippi next carrying another later for dear Paul to read to the brethren. As I journey I will continue to commit to my studies.
Till then, Read up, Post up, and Shalom.

Galatians

Galatians

Summary: In the highlands of Asia Minor sat the descendants of the Celts in the Roman Empire. It was in these lands Paul planted on of his first churches early on his apostolic journey. This letter to the was to address the issue of force Jewish law on gentile converts. (Refer to Acts 11-12&15.) Filled with sound reason and an understanding of faith this letter hold a stern correction but a stark reason. Take a look at what I saw:

Things I Noticed:

1. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever, Amen.

2. If I were still trying please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. 

3. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through revelation of Christ.

4. Remember the poor

5. For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself a transgressor.

6. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.

7. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. 

8. Now it is evident that no one is justified  before God by the law, for "The righteous shall live by faith."

9. With a man-made covenant, no one annuals it or adds to it once it has been ratified. (This is so not true anymore.)

10. For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. 

11. There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 

12. If you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring.

13. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

14. For through the the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly await for hope of righteousness. 

15. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by on another. (How often does the occur to the wounded or fallen amongst us)

16. Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh. 

17. Works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy,drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.

18. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

19. Brothers, if anyone is caught in spiritual transgression, you should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. (That is to say don't ostracize, ban, attack or ignore those who fall but restore.)

20. Keep watch on yourselves. Least you be tempted.

21. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Burdens, bills, hardship helping one another should come naturally.)

22. Let each one test his own work.(let the wise have God test it also.)

23. God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 

24. Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

25. But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

26. For I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. (Is Paul talking of Stigmata or the scars from his many trials have brought.)

Passing through Galatia I head by myself to Ephesus. There is a hope in my step as I know the city is filled with magic and intrigue. That men spiritual warfare and faith. As I travel on I enjoy s strong cup of tea as continue my study of numbers. I will arrive soon. Till then, Read up, Post up, and Shalom.

II Corinthians

II Corinthians

Summary: It seemed that thesis to Corinth's wealth and trade the Christians could not find steady footing in their faith. By the time Paul wrote this letter it appears he had sent others chastising them including the "letter of tears." Though in his first letter to Corinth had  addressd sex, marriage, idolatry these problems seemed to persist among the brethren of the city. Though my reading I noticed Paul was much harsher in hi discipline yet still re-affirms his love for them.  Still knowing of their persecution Paul looks to encourage as muchas correct.   

Things I Noticed:

1. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the serene of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. (Even negative emotion can be used for good.)

2. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. 

3. It is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has annointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as guarantee.

4. For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ. 

5. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 

6. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to dispair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 

7. always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life may also manifest in our bodies.

8. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are entenal. 

9. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 

10. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

11. Therefore, we are ambassador for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 

12. As servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardship, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with weapons of righteuosness for the right and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. 

13. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.

14. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness. 

15. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. 

16. As you excel in everything-in faith,in speech, in knowledge, in all earness, and in our love for you!-see that you excel in this act of grace also.

17. Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. 

18. The point is this; whoever sows sparingly will reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (Giving comes from our heart.)

19. For through we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 

20. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. (This can include bad logic, lies, false theories and bad science.)

21. What we say by letter when absent, we do when present. 

22. I preached God's gospel to you free of charge. (Yea he said no charge for truth and love.)

23. For even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to thier deeds. 

25. My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness.

26. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 
27. For children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. (It is our job to create a legacy.)

28. Perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder.

29. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.

Paul has sent us to the Celtic Gauls of Galatia. I hear there highlands are beautiful. We carry a letter for the people who took care of Paul while he was ill. Timothy sees excite but insists the we continue out study of numbers. The book is my least favorite of the Tenach but ever word of God caries wisdom that the Holy Spirit can reveal. Till then, Read up, Post up, and Shalom.

Leviticus

Leviticus

Summary: The tabernacles has been made and the Priest have been consecrated. So what is the priest job description? How shall we cover our sins? What is an abomination to God?  Leviticus fills in all of the gaps. In the desert, with an ark, tabernacle, ten commandments and the a promise of taking the promised land this is some of laws that separated the Hebrew people from those who had found ill-repute with the Lord.

Things I Noticed:

1. You shall burn no leaven nor any honey as a food offering to the Lord.
2. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.
3. You eat neither fat nor blood.
4. If anyone utters with his lips a rash oath to do evil or to do good, any sort of rash oath that people swear, and it is hidden from him, when he comes to know it , and he realizes his guilt in any of these.
5. Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out. 
6. It is tainted, and he who eats of it shall bear his iniquity
7. Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated.
8. The glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering. 
9. Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all people I will be glorified.
10. You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and clean. 
11. For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. 
12. That it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.
13. So they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they whore.
14. For the life of the flesh is in the blood.
15. For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is life.
16. You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. And you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is perversion. 
17. So keep my charge never to practice any of these abominable customs that were practice before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God. 
18. You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God is holy.
19. You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.
20. You shall love your neighbor as your self; I am the Lord
21. You shall not interpret omens or tell fortunes. 
22. You shall not make any cuts on your body for the dead or tattoo yourselves. I am the Lord. 
23. Do not turn to mediums or wizard's; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them. 
24. You shall treat the strangers who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord you God.  
25. If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. (Yes God sees it as an abomination.)
26. A man or a woman who is a medium or wizard shall surely be put to death.
27. He shall not go into a dead body (No necrophilia.) 
28. The land shall not be sold in perpetuity for the land is mine.
29. I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze.

Corinth is a nice place but I am ready to move on, but God wants me to stay for a bit longer. While I am here I decided to read Numbers. Till then I am working on patients and studying God's creation around me. Till then, Read up, Post up, and Shalom.

1st Corinthians

First Corinthians

Summary: Wealthy and a center of trade biblical Corinth could be compared to the  California. Having a large temple to the Godess of love Aphrodite, Corinth had one of the largest most expensive population of temple prostitues and worship. It is no wonder Paul first letter is addresses sex, marriage, idolatry and do much more. Though my reading I noticed a great deal but this post I left done out due to possible misinterpretation due to lack of context. Still there is more the enough to see.

Things I Noticed:

1. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

2. God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. 

3. God chose what is low and despised in the world. (What is rejected is a treasure to the King.)

4. God is the source in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. 

5. What no eye has seen, nor ear has heard, nor heart has imagined, what God  has prepared for those who love him.

6. The Spirit searches everything, even the depth of God. (To know the depths of God one must be lead by the Spirit of God.)

7. No one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the Spirit of the World, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 

8. Interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. (Those who do not have the Spirit can not understand deep truths.)

9. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you we're not yet ready for it. And even now you are not ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and be having only in a human way? (Sounds like competing churches.)

10. This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. (Yes God has mysteries and we can know and understand them.)

11. Apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men.

12. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.

13. For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. 

14. For what right do we have in judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. 

15. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the Kingdom of God. 

16. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 

17. The sexual immoral person sins against his own body.

18. You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

19. For a wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.(Something to meditate on married couples.)

20. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. (Yes have sex married couples and have it often.)

21. For it is better to marry then to be aflame with passion. 

22. Only let each person lead the life that The Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. 

23. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!

24. For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them...that by all means I might save some.

25. Every athlete exercises self control in all things... But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself be disqualified.

26. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide away of escape, that you may endure it. 

27. Imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.

28. If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any questions on the grounds of conscience. 

29. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else's conscience? (Great question of ethics involving modern politics.)

30. Woman was made from man, so man is now born from woman.

31. When we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. 

32. All were made to drink of one Spirit.

33. If one member suffers, all suffers together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. (How often is this forgotten.)

34. Earnestly desire all the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way. (That way is Love.)

35. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

36. Pursue love, and earnestly desire spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.

37. One who prophesies speaks to people for their uplifting and encouragement.

38. If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your mind?

39. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

40. I die every day!

41. Bad company corrupts good morals.

42. Stars differ stars in glory.  

43. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is a spiritual body.

44. Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.

45. If anyone has no love for The Lord let him be accursed.

I am still in Corinth starting tonfeel strong enough to get back in the rhythm of the journey. Leviticus has been a strange journey of "how to". Another letter from Paul arrived by messenger and I thought I would read it as I stay here. Time goes differently as you heal and think. Meditation on what is read, learned and absorbed is a catalyst for all sorts of things in the soul. Spend time listening to God and in meditation, more next time. Till then, Read up, Post up, and Shalom.

Exodus

Book Of Exodus

Summary: The burden of Egypt was heavy on their shoulder. Almost four hundred years of slavery and   abuse while crying out. Then it happened God moved and Moses was born. From their the book of Exodus becomes a great read: a murder happens, then a meeting between man and God, then a battle between God's representative and magicians, an ocean parting with dry land under foot, an army defeated drowned, a people going free and the plans for a tabernacle.  

Things I Noticed:

1. I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue. (Moses was both the greatest public speaker.)
2. Then the Lord said to Moses "Who had made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind. Is it not I, Lord?
3. Then you shall say to Pharaoh, "Thus says the Lord, Israel is my first born son, and I say to you, "Let my son go that he may serve me." If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your first born son.'"
4. Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.
5. The Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts.
6. The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but could not. (The scientist of their time failed but also believed in a higher power.)
7. Then the magicians said to Pharaoh "This is the finger of God."
8. So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. (No Starlight how would science explain it?)
9. I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast.
10. The people of Israel lived in Egypt 430 years.
11. Moses took the bones of Joseph with him.
12. The people of the sea went into the midst of the sea on dry ground.
13. When the dew of the land had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on on the ground. (Almost like flour? Or potato buds?)
14. Visiting the inequity of the Fathers to the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
15. And you shall not go up by steps to my altar, that your nakedness be not exposed on it.
16. Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death.
17. Whoever curses his father or his mother shall be put to death.
18. You shall not permit a sorceress to live.
19. You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.
20. Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him.
21. Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.
22. They beheld God, ate and drank
23. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution.
24. In the breastpiece of judgment you shall put Urim and the Thummin.
25. You shall make for them linen undergarments to cover their naked flesh. They shall reach from hips to the thighs. (God created underwear.)
26. I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship.
27. Let anyone who have gold take it off. So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf. (The Gold turned into a idol without a mold or coating a statue.)
28. Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. (What so awesome.)
29. You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.)
30. Every craftsman in whom The Lord has put the skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction.


I have been laid over in Corinth recouping from not being well. While here I have been I have been convinced by the brethren to read into Leviticus. Timothy been by my side talk to me of the letter Paul wrote encouraging my recovery. Life is a wondrous journey which God teaches me so much through his other children and his word. Now to go spend some time with God before more rest. Until
next time. Till then, Read up, Post up, and Shalom.

Romans

Book Of Romans

Summary: The heart beat of the Empire. The seat of government and now the Vatican. Rome a place of man stories, tragedies and the foundation for modern thought. Paul's letter address both Hellenistic and Jewish thought towards the believers of the church in this mighty city. With tones of correction and those of edification Paul's makes a clarifying arguments on faith, practice and belief. Take a look with me.

Things I Noticed:

1. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
2. The righteous shall live by faith.
3. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. (Take a look at an orange some time. Peel it and stare in wonder at the packaging that goes back to the beginning of the cosmos. Yep perfect individual slices of Orange wrapped in a skin to keep it from dirt.)
4. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. (Movie Stars and Pets and Sports Teams and Stuff.)
5. God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.
6. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.
7. We have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand.
8. Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!
9. So you must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
10. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.
11. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.
12. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
13. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
14. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words (Prayer Tongues)
15. If God is for us, who can be against us.
16. So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
17. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
18. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
19. So faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ.
20. I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! (Yep the Jewish people are still the apple of his eye.)
21. For the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable. (No one can steal the or tack them or lose them.)
22. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
23. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
24. Let love be genuine
25. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
26. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve The Lord.
27. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
28. Repay no evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
29. Beloved never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head." Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.
30. Pay to all what is owed to them; taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respected is owed, and honor to whom honor is owed.
31. Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.  (We really need to teach this one in church.)
32. As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. (This is ignored a great deal. I am just as guilty but I have made progress.)
33. If we live, to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.
35. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
36. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.


Finished delivering my first letter to Rome, I am now off to Corinth. Nothing better the delivering encouragement to the saints. Barnabas has met up with Luke and I. The discussion on our journey has moved into the tabernacle, which, is great since I am still reading Exodus. Well more next time. Till then, Read up, Post up, and Shalom.

Acts

Book Of Acts

Summary: With Jesus gone what happened to the apostles? Who replaced Judas? Why as Gentiles do we not have to follow all the Jewish traditions and laws too? The Physician Luke after penning his historical account of Jesus wrote Acts to answer these question. The book is broken in two parts. The first is following the apostles and the second is Luke's account of following Paul around. Take a look at what I saw.


Things I Noticed:

1. Two men stood in white robes
2. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to praying together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
3. they were bewildered because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. (God giving perfect translation to all ears.)
4. And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" But others mocking said, "They are filled with new wine."
5. Awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through apostles.
6. "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!" And he took him by the right hand raised him up.(Faith shown in action as Peter pulled the man up.)
7. The Author of Life
8. And his name-by faith in his name-has made this man strong whom you see
9. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are preformed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.
10. We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.
11. for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God.
12. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word.
13. Now an angel of The Lord said to Philip.
14. The Spirit of The Lord carried Phillip away. (Teleport, traveling whatever you call it God moves him incredible distances without a car.)
15. And for three days he was without sight and neither ate not drank.
16. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
17. "Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God."
18. He fell into a trance. (Yep it's in here and Peter is the one who is experiencing it.)
19. A man stood before me in bright clothes.
20. If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way.
21. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christian.

22. Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world.
23. So the disciples determined, everyone according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. (Prophecy brought charity and righteousness.)
24. They came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus.
25. Elymas the magician opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.
26. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city supposing that he was dead.
27. They had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting hey committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
28. By giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their heart by faith.
29. Should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.
30. And the arose a sharp disagreement (Yes it happens)
31. having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.
32. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night:
33. Few of the leading women.
34. (I am partial to this verse because Jason was accused) "These men who have turned the world upside down..."
35. fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.
36. For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.
37. Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the Way.
38. For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God whom I belong and whom I worship


Paul has been imprisoned so now I am hoofing it with his letters to some churches, the first one in Rome. I am now part of the ancient postal service delivering words to the saints. Luke is with me and we continue on our discussion of Exodus and how Moses is a foreshadow of the messiahship of Jesus. I have to go we are about to set up camp for the night. Till then, Read up, Post up, and Shalom.

Genesis

Book Of Genesis

Summary:  Our beginning it starts as a symphony of creation. Genesis tells the story of this song and if matched up to science the poem that is Genesis matches. There are many argument over time and evolution but putting that all aside and enjoying the mystery of creation and the meaning of the Hebrew words will delight you mind to even greater mysteries of God and his love. From Adam and Eve to Joseph this is the story of the forefathers of faith. Filled with mighty men, a flood, Pharaohs, kings, battles, injustice and reconciliation we get a raw look at men, faith, their mistakes and God mercy despite our bad decisions. Genesis is more then the beginning it is the a grand adventure.  

Things I Noticed:

1. Spirit of the God was hovering over the waters.
2. The God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness."
3. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
4. But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.
5. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will like God, knowing good and evil.
6. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.
7. The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. (Angels making babies with women)
8. And God made the wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.
9. The intention of man's heart is evil from his youth.
10. I have set my bow over the cloud, and it shall be a sign of covenant between me and you. (A rainbow is God's very own bow.)
11. Cush fathered Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord... The beginning of his kingdom was Babel.
12. Nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. (When man put his mind to it nothing is impossible. God made us Limitless.)
13. They went forth together from Ur of the hardens to go into the Land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there. (Terah Abram's father stopped early of the promise.)
14. I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. (A promise of Saul, David and Solomon. Ultimately Jesus the King of Kings.)
15. Abraham took Ishmael his son... and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskins that very day, as God had said to him.
16. Before I finished speaking in my heart. (Silent prayer)
17. Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. (After Sarah died he remarried)
18. Jacob was a quiet man.
19. Esau despised his birthright.
20. This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven.
21. Name of that place Bethel.
22. Rachel stole her father's household gods. (This was a sign of land rights and inheritance in those times)
23. "I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiple"
24.  He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it.
25. Judah is a Lion cub.
26. Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey and at evening dividing the spoils.
27. Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embaled Israel. (Israel was mummified think on that and its implications.)
28. As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.
29. Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt. (They also mummified Joseph.)

Meeting Paul and seeing Peter give great testimony to Jesus has been incredible. I have even meet a man of my name who was accused of turning the world upside down. Still the Journey of the acts of the Church continues. Luke and I have moved to also discussing Exodus and the grand miracles the God showed his people long ago. It is also the book the foreshadows Jesus triumph over the ruler of this world. Anyway there will be more on these things later. Till then, Read up, Post up, and Shalom.