Spiritual Training 12 June 2015 (Leviticus)

Posted: June 12, 2015 in leviticus
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Under Gods Command (Book of Leviticus)
Leviticus 24:13-16 A Blasphemer Stoned

13Then the LORD said to Moses:14“Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him. 15Say to the Israelites: ‘Anyone who curses their Gods will be held responsible; 16anyone who blasphemes the name of the LORD is to be put to death. The entire assembly must stone them. Whether foreigner or native-born, when they blaspheme the Name they are to be put to death.

This punishment for blasphemy (cursing God) seems extreme by modern standards. But it shows how seriously God expects us to take our relationship with him. Often we use his name in swearing, or we act as though he doesn’t exist.

Lets Bring it Home: We should be careful how we speak and act, treating God with reverence. Eventually, he will have the last word.

Proverbs 11:27 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: June 11, 2015 in Uncategorized
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 11:27 He who seeks good finds goodwill, but evil comes to him who searches for it.

What are your goals? What is your reputation? How does your life affect others? If the answer to all three questions is doing good and helping others, you will obtain the blessed favor of God and men. If the answer is to serve yourself and cause trouble for others, then certain punishment is coming from God and men.

This proverb offers blessing or trouble. Which will you choose? The key is how you treat others. If you are good to men, you will be blessed. David and Peter wrote, “For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no deviousness: Let him avoid evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil”.

If you are selfish or hurtful to others, if you are critical or negative, if you are bitter or envious, or if you sow discord or irritate others, then you are in for a painful and troubled life. It is that simple. As the saying declares, “What goes around comes around

Spiritual Training 11 June 2015 (Leviticus)

Posted: June 11, 2015 in first fruits, leviticus
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Under Gods Command (Book of Leviticus)
Leviticus 23:9-14 Offering the Firstfruits

9The LORD said to Moses, 10“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. 11He is to wave the sheaf before the LORD so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. 12On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the LORD a lamb a year olds without defect, 13together with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with olive oil—a food offering presented to the LORD, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a quarter of a hin of wine. 14You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live.

The Festival of Firstfruits required that the first crops harvested be offered to God. The Israelites could not eat the food from their harvest until they had made this offering.

Lets Bring it Home: Today God still expects us to set aside his portion first, not last. Giving leftovers to God is no way to express thanks. What do “firstfruits” represent in your life? Who gets the first portion of your paycheck when you receive it?

Proverbs 10:14 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: June 10, 2015 in Proverbs 10
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 10:14 Wise men store up knowledge, but he mouth of a fool invites ruin.

Wise men study and store knowledge before they talk. Fools talk without study, and their stores of knowledge, their minds, are empty. Here is the plain difference between a wise man and a fool – one knows what he talks about, and the other talks out of ignorance.

You have seen and heard both men. The wise man is reserved before speaking, and he is careful while speaking. He is cautious in his claims, deliberate in his declarations, and sober in his speech. The fool loves to talk. One-on-one, he can hardly stop, even for air. In a group, he dominates the conversation, as he keeps words tumbling from his mouth.

Wise men, by prudence and reluctance about talking, are safe (Pr 15:2; 16:23; 20:5). A wise man, when asked a question, will seek to study before he answers, unless he is certain of his knowledge on that subject (Pr 15:28; 24:26; 25:11; 29:11). He is committed to learning all that he can, and only then does he offer it to others (Pr 1:5; 9:9; 18:1,15).

Fools, loving the sound of their words, get in deep trouble. They over-commit in financial transactions (Pr 6:1-5); they get into disputes before knowing the facts (Pr 25:8); they whisper foolishly about others (Pr 25:9-10); they expose themselves prematurely (Pr 29:11); and these are only some of their errors. They talk too much while knowing too little. Their many words reveal they are fools, and they are soon destroyed for ignorance.

Wise men lay up knowledge; fools lay out words. Wise men study; fools talk. Wise men are concerned about truth; fools are anxious to be heard. Wise men are quick to hear and slow to speak; fools are slow to hear and quick to speak. Wise men despise fools. Wise men grow in favor with God and men; fools are despised and rejected by both.

Be a wise man with your mouth, and it will bring success. You begin by learning to speak less and listen more (Pr 17:27-28; Jas 1:19). Emphasize study over speech (Pr 15:28; 22:17-21). Make sure you grasp a situation before answering (Pr 18:13; John 7:24). You then make sure each word properly fits the occasion (Pr 15:23; 25:11). And you present each word with graciousness, using only a pinch of salt, if the hearers require it (Col 4:6).

The holy God of heaven is coming to judge men for their words (Matt 12:37). You will give an account for every idle word – those spoken without study or cause (Matt 12:36). And He hates foolish talking and jesting, the mainstay of this generation (Eph 5:3-7). Are you ready to meet this Judge? “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer” (Ps 19:14).

Spiritual Training 10 June 2015 (Leviticus)

Posted: June 10, 2015 in leviticus
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Under Gods Command (Book of Leviticus)

Leviticus 22:19-25 Unacceptable Sacrifices

19you must present a male without defect from the cattle, sheep or goats in order that it may be accepted on your behalf. 20Do not bring anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf. 21When anyone brings from the herd or flock a fellowship offering to the LORD to fulfill a special vow or as a freewill offering, it must be without defect or blemish to be acceptable. 22Do not offer to the LORD the blind, the injured or the maimed, or anything with warts or festering or running sores. Do not place any of these on the altar as a food offering presented to the LORD. 23You may, however, present as a freewill offering an ox or a sheep that is deformed or stunted, but it will not be accepted in fulfillment of a vow. 24You must not offer to the LORD an animal whose testicles are bruised, crushed, torn or cut. You must not do this in your own land, 25and you must not accept such animals from the hand of a foreigner and offer them as the food of your God.t They will not be accepted on your behalf, because they are deformed and have defects.

Animals with defects were not acceptable as sacrifices because they did not represent God’s holy nature. Furthermore, the animal had to be without blemish in order to foreshadow the perfect, sinless life of Jesus Christ. When we give our best time, talent, and treasure to God rather than what is tarnished or common, we demonstrate the true meaning of worship and testify to God’s supreme worth.

Lets Bring it Home: What kind of quality can people see in your service and giving?

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Proverbs 05:15 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: June 5, 2015 in Adultery, committing adultery, Proverbs 05
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Under Gods Command

Proverbs 5:15 – Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well.

Love your wife! Make love to her only! Make your marriage the hottest in the world! You have no right to any other woman. You should not look on another woman, think about another woman, flirt with another woman, or ever touch another woman sexually.

Go for it! Today! This is God’s plan and will for your life. He wants you to have a great sex life with your great wife. “Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love” (Pr 5:19).

The true God knows life can be empty and frustrating, so He gave you one of His greatest gifts of creation: “Enjoy life with you wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun-all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun” (Eccl 9:9).

God created love, sex, and every aspect of the woman you need – your wife. He knows you need and want sex, so He chose the woman that is your wife to practice with until you are perfectly satisfied. All other women are off limits. “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.” (Heb 13:4).

The Bible is the perfect love, marriage, and sex manual. God invented sex, so He has perfect knowledge about it. Have you read the Bible and heard it preached to maximize your marriage? If you have read and heard it preached, have you submitted to God’s sovereign, providential choice of your wife and His orders for how you should treat her?

Water, a precious blessing in the dry climate of the Middle East, is here a metaphor for sexual pleasure with a woman. Water satisfies thirst, is necessary for survival, and is very pleasing to a thirsty soul (Pr 25:25). Men drew fresh water from wells; they stored extra water in cisterns. Every man needed his own supply to protect himself and his family.

Men need the water of sexual pleasure, for God put a great desire and need in them for it (Gen 2:18; Deut 21:11; I Cor 7:2,5,9). Any exceptions confirm this well-known rule rather than modify or nullify it (Matt 19:10-12; I Tim 4:3; I Cor 9:5). Men will have sex one way or another, but God condemns all other creatures but one – your wife.

Men also crave food by God’s design, and they desire and enjoy His blessing of wine (Ps 104:14-15; Eccl 9:7), but drinking and eating without limitation or discipline are sin and folly (Pr 23:20). Men must hate and reject drunkenness or gluttony, and they should never forget that breaking God’s rules for sexual water is sin and deserves judgment.

A man’s own wife is a great gift from God, for which he should be thankful (Pr 18:22; 19:14). Consider Jacob: “And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her” (Gen 29:20). A man may drink deeply of sexual pleasure from his own wife only, not from any other woman, single or married.

No man should even consider the cisterns or wells of others, for the wife God picked for him is more than enough for his needs and happiness. To think upon the cisterns and wells of others is to sin and open the door for great folly (Pr 6:25; Job 31:1; Matt 5:28). Any woman is more than enough for any man, and God chose your wife for just you.

Are you disappointed or frustrated in your marriage? Do you agree with what has been written, but you personally are not experiencing it? Are you thirsty, and your wife seems to have run dry? Or you can see the water, but you seldom or never taste any of it? Is the water of your cistern and well now somewhat lukewarm and putrid, not appealing at all?

If the water supply at home is lacking in any way, maybe the pump needs priming. How do you prime the pump to bring forth running water? Treat your wife the way the Creator of love, sex, marriage, and women told you to treat her. It is that simple. God made her as perfect as a rose, but lack of sunshine, rain, soil, and nurture will cause her to close up.

God and Solomon order you to treat her as delicately and tenderly as a pet female deer, to be totally satisfied with her body, and to choose to greatly enjoy her lovemaking. “Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love” (Pr 5:19). God knows your wife. Try His way.

Paul told you to love your wife and to cherish and nourish her, like you do your own body (Eph 5:25-29). King Solomon wrote a love song that describes the passion and details of lovers and lovemaking. Have you read the Song of Solomon? Have you tried talking to your wife and treating her the way that this man treated his lover wife?

The strong warning intended by this proverb to limit yourself to your own wife includes use of pornography, which foolishly steals visual pleasure from another woman, causes discontentment with your woman, and hurts your woman’s confidence or desire to ever be the lover you need and want. Your wife will be as hot as you choose or help her to be.

Every Christian woman, every daughter of God, should be careful and faithful in making sure her husband drinks deeply, often, and pleasantly, lest she drive him to wells that are not his, due to bitterness or dryness in his own cistern and well (I Co 7:2-5). Let husbands and wives, with the husband leading the way in love, maximize the pleasure of marriage.

Spiritual Training for 04 June 2015 (Leviticus)

Posted: June 4, 2015 in leviticus
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Under Gods Command (Book of Leviticus)
Leviticus 20:22-23

Punishments for Sin

22“ ‘Keep all my decrees and laws and follow them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out. 23You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.

God gave many rules to his people—but not without reason. He did not withhold good from them; he only prohibited those acts that would bring them to ruin. All of us understand God’s physical laws of nature. For example, jumping off a 10-story building means death because of the law of gravity. But some of us don’t understand how God’s spiritual laws work. God forbids us to do certain things because he wants to keep us from self-destruction.

Lets Bring it Home: The next time you are drawn to a forbidden physical or emotional pleasure, remind yourself that its consequences might be suffering and separation from the God who is trying to help you.

Proverbs 04:08 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: June 4, 2015 in Proverbs 04
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UNDER GODS COMMAND

Proverbs 4:8 Esteem her, and she will exalt you; embrace her and she will honor you.

Promotion and honor are simple. The secret to success is right before you. These are not the words of a money-grubbing salesman wanting your enrollment fee for a foolish self-help program – these are the free words of God and two rich and wise kings of Israel.

Exalt and embrace wisdom, and you will be promoted and honored by God and men. Make wisdom the most important goal of your life; love wisdom with fervent appreciation and desire, and she will bring you greatness. What are you waiting for?

Solomon here repeated what David had taught him about pursuing wisdom (Pr 4:5-9). He remembered his own father teaching him, and he repeated the valuable instruction for the benefit of his son (Pr 4:3-4). Let every parent understand the importance of such training.

The highest goal for any man is to be like the Lord Jesus Christ, Who grew in favor with God and man (Luke 2:52). How did He gain such wonderful success? He increased in wisdom, which is the ability to judge and act rightly in life. Wisdom is the key by which any person can find approval of God and man. Wisdom brings promotion and honor.

There are four feminine pronouns in this proverb referring to Lady Wisdom, Solomon’s personification of wisdom, understanding, discretion, and knowledge. While he warned against the strange woman (Pr 7:5-27; 9:13-18), he also told of wonderful Lady Wisdom and her great benefits for men (Pr 1:20-33; 2:4; 3:13-18; 4:5-13; 7:1-4; 8:1-36; 9:1-5).

David, by wisdom, had a heart like God’s, so the LORD made him king over Israel, and all Israel loved him (I Sam 18:5,16,30; II Sam 7:8). Lady wisdom promoted and honored him. Citizens and enemies considered him like an angel (I Sam 29:9; II Sam 14:17). How did he get this glorious reputation? He committed himself to wisdom (Ps 101:1-8).

David exalted and embraced wisdom. Consider his great example well. What did he think of Scripture? He thought it more valuable than much fine gold and more pleasant than honey and honeycomb (Ps 19:10; 119:127). How often did he think about the Bible? Day and night (Ps 1:2)! What was his greatest treasure? The Bible (Ps 119:14,111,162)!

Where did he want to be more than anywhere else? In church (Ps 84:10)! Who were his only friends? Men fearing God and keeping God’s commandments (Ps 119:63)! How often did he pray? Three times a day (Ps 55:17)! How did he approach God? In humble self-examination (Ps 139:23-24)! Did he praise God? Seven times a day (Ps 119:164)!

How can you exalt wisdom? Make it your top priority (Pr 4:7; 16:16). Diligently pursue it like you would a hidden treasure (Pr 2:1-5; 23:23). Sacrifice anything in order to get it, even friends (Pr 13:20; 18:11). Put it into practice, no matter what others think or what it might cost (Pr 29:25; Dan 1:6). God and men will bless your effort and emphasis.

How can you embrace wisdom? Value and cherish it as a precious asset (Pr 3:15; 8:11). Love it more than anything else (Pr 4:6; 8:17,21). Despise and reject anything that is contrary to it (Pr 8:13; 14:7; Ps 119:128). Avoid anyone or anything that tempts you away from it (Pr 9:6; I Cor 15:33). God and men will bless your effort and emphasis.

Joseph was promoted and honored. Though having ten older brothers, he obeyed his father better than any of them. Sold into slavery, he served diligently and faithfully. He rejected a strange woman simply out of fear of God, though at great cost. Much more could be said, but what happened? He rose quickly to be next to Pharaoh in power.

Daniel was promoted and honored. Captured, sterilized, and taken 500 miles to Babylon, he rejected the king’s religion, no matter the cost. He told the hard truth even when contrary to kings’ desires. When a new religious law was passed, he disregarded it. What happened? He was the highest administrator in the world’s greatest empire for 70 years.

If God and men have not promoted and honored you, humble yourself and confess your neglect of wisdom. Exalt and embrace her in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Seek His Word, His church, and His saints with all your heart. Promotion and honor will come!

Spiritual Training 03 June 2015 (Leviticus)

Posted: June 3, 2015 in leviticus
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Under Gods Command (Book of Leviticus)
Leviticus 20:10-21

Punishments for Sin

10“ ‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death.
11“ ‘If a man has sexual relations with his father’s wife, he has dishonored his father.t Both the man and the woman are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
12“ ‘If a man has sexual relations with his daughter-in-law, both of them are to be put to death. What they have done is a perversion; their blood will be on their own heads.
13“ ‘If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
14“ ‘If a man marries both a woman and her mother, it is wicked. Both he and they must be burned in the fire, so that no wickedness will be among you.
15“ ‘If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he is to be put to death, and you must kill the animal.
16“ ‘If a woman approaches an animal to have sexual relations with it, kill both the woman and the animal. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.
17“ ‘If a man marries his sister, the daughter of either his father or his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They are to be publicly removed from their people. He has dishonored his sister and will be held responsible.
18“ ‘If a man has sexual relations with a woman during her monthly period, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has also uncovered it. Both of them are to be cut off from their people.
19“ ‘Do not have sexual relations with the sister of either your mother or your father, for that would dishonor a close relative; both of you would be held responsible.
20“ ‘If a man has sexual relations with his aunt, he has dishonored his uncle.
They will be held responsible; they will die childless.
21“ ‘If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is an act of impurity; he has dishonored his brother. They will be childless.

This list of commands against sexual sins includes extremely harsh punishments. Why? God had no tolerance for such acts for the following reasons: (1) they shatter the mutual commitment of married partners; (2) they destroy the sanctity of the family; (3) they twist people’s mental well-being; and (4) they spread disease. Sexual sin has always been widely available, but the glorification of sex between people who are not married to each other often hides deep tragedy and hurt behind the scenes. When society portrays sexual sins as attractive, it is easy to forget the dark side. God had good reasons for prohibiting sexual sins: He loves us and wants the very best for us.

The detestable acts listed here were very common in the pagan nations of Canaan; their religions were rampant with sex goddesses, temple prostitution, and other sins. The Canaanites’ immoral religious practices reflected a decadent culture that tended to corrupt whoever came in contact with it. By contrast, God was building a nation to make a positive influence on the world. He did not want the Israelites to adopt the Canaanites’ practices and slide into debauchery. So he prepared the people for what they would face in the Promised Land by commanding them to steer clear of sexual sins.

Lets Bring it Home: God still expects those who worship him to maintain sexual purity in their lives.

Proverbs 03:12 Wisdom for the Soul

Posted: June 3, 2015 in Proverbs 03
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Under Gods Command                                  

Proverbs 3:12 Because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in 

Adversity from God is proof of His love for you! Just as loving fathers discipline their favorite sons! The blessed God chastens every child of His to make him or her better. Having chosen them as His children before time, adopted them by the blood of Jesus at Calvary, and birthed them by His Spirit, God lovingly corrects them during their lives.

Solomon had exhorted his son not to despise the LORD’s chastening or get weary from His correction (Pr 3:11). Adversity from heaven should not discourage you, because it is proof of God’s love for you (Deut 8:5). Wise men will appreciate their loving Father and see the goal of His corrective chastening – their perfection in godliness (Heb 12:5-13).

Without chastening adversity in your life, you have no evidence you are a child of God, with an eternal inheritance in store. The Holy Scriptures declare you are a bastard, if you do not have this loving punishment in your life (Heb 12:8). For what kind of a son would a father ignore and neglect in this important aspect of parenting – an illegal pretender!

Chastening from God is temporal punishment He brings to correct you from sin and turn you back into the way of righteousness. It is very different from eternal judgment in hell for the final condemnation of your sins. Chastening is fatherly affection to perfect you as His child; it is evidence He will never send you to hell for your sins (I Cor 11:27-32).

Chastening proves love. If a bad event in your life causes you to reflect about your soul, with a desire to submit and serve God more perfectly, you should thank the Lord for this personal gesture of love toward you (Jer 31:18-20). He does not owe you this gracious correction; He could leave you floundering in confusion and sin. Do you not recognize that it brought more carefulness, prayerfulness, and sobriety to your existence?

David was thankful for adversity: he saw its profit. He said, “Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word” (Ps 119:67). “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes” (Ps 119:71). “I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me” (Ps 119:75).

Affliction, or negative events, happens to God’s children for four reasons – loving correction from God, to display His glory in their lives, to perfect their faith, and/or consequences of foolish decisions. God can accomplish one or all of these purposes in the individual events of your life. Since all the reasons are fair and good, there is no excuse to complain. There is mercy, and it nearby, for those who humble themselves and submit.

It is your duty to examine yourself (Ps 19:12-14; 26:2; 139:23-24; I Cor 11:28,31; II Cor 13:5). God will never chasten you for a sin you cannot identify by self-examination. But what efforts have you spent in sober contrition before Him (Ps 51:17; Is 57:15-16)?

It is your duty to carefully heed all preaching, for the same Spirit that brought your correction also directs your pastor’s thoughts (Eccl 12:11). And the same Spirit can use the book He wrote to provoke you to repentance from any passage you read (Ps 19:7-9).

The proper attitude toward chastening is to remember it proves God’s love for you (Deut 8:5). The proper response to chastening is exemplified by Elihu. He said, “Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more: That which I see not teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more” (Job 34:31-32).

Job could have had the trials in his life removed sooner, if he had humbled himself and cried out in repentance to his Father for mercy (Job 36:15-18). Reader, how is it with you? Are you thankful for His loving chastening in your life? Are you ready to flee to Him in the name of your high priest Jesus for the comfort and peace of loving tranquility?

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