March 28, 2010; Deuteronomy 9:1-10:22, Luke 8:4-21, Psalm 69:19-36, Proverbs 12:2-3

Response to Deuteronomy 9:1-10:22

"Faithing the Giants" Deuteronomy 9:1-5

Psalm 143:2-5 "Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you. The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground; he makes me dwell in darkness like those long dead. So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed. I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done.

Until we turn away from our own righteousness, God will leave us scurrying around and dying in the wilderness.  Until we gather together in confession and call unto God in unity for Him to forgive our calumny against God and man, he will not attend to our needs.  Children of God, we must lead the way in repentance, forgiveness and love and trust that God will attend to our battles.  We must come before Him in worship and praise for all the things He has done and is yet to do.

Repentance and Forgiveness Deuteronomy 9:6-24

John 8:7 "When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." If we feel that God has abandoned us, look again, He is writing in the sand.  What He is writing is quite simple.  "Love God + Love Man!" Stop breaking the rules.

Know therefore that the Lord your God is not going to solve your problems because of your righteousness, for we have provoked God!  We are stubborn, greedy, and rebellious.  We have cast our religions into beasts of burden that serve our own needs and understandings. We have cried out to God in complaint and judgment regarding our fellowman and we have put the Lord our God to the test.  We have cast our God into a mold of wrath and judgment and told the world to be afraid, be very afraid.

Children of God, it is time to fall on our knees and confess our sins!  It is time to grant forgiveness to our fellowman and to pray for salvation and forgiveness for all mankind with an understanding that we all stand united before our Loving Father who only asked that we Love Him and Love His children; all colors, all nations, all cultures.  It is time to fast and pray and humble ourselves as members of humanity and ask them politely to join our cause.

A Second Chance Deuteronomy 10 (or 3rd or 4th...or...)

Carve out a place in your heart, your soul, your mind, and with all your strength write these words of the Lord into the core of your being.  Love God + Love Man.  If we want peace on earth, it is going to have to come from us.  God will not provide this gift to us without our intent and forethought.  Yet, he will bless our efforts.  We did not go to war before our hate built up within us.  We did not become bitter enemies until we allowed it to happen.  God did not leave us, we fashioned our own ideologies. His word has not changed.

God gave us a simple constitution.  Yet, as if 10 commandments were too difficult to understand - which they were, weren't they.  Thankfully Jesus showed up and dummied them down for us.  "Love God + Love Man."  Religions have risen and fallen as fathers have died and children have reinterpreted religious practice.  Aaron, Levites, Judaism, Christianity, Muslim, and other cultural practices throughout time.  And yet, the basic law never changed.

Genesis 1:28 "God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue (seduce) it.  Man knew only of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, meekness, and self control.  Yet, he yearned for more and degraded morality and worship.  They succombed to envy, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, and murder.  They hid from God in embarassment and eventually blamed him for their afflictions.  And yet, salvation from all our problems on earth rest in that simple code.  Love God + Love Man.

Therefore, oh man, what does the Lord require of you?  First, remove your manhood!  Remove your pride and your stubborness.  Offer a sacrifice of body soul and spirit before the Lord your God.  Humble yourselves before Him and bow before your God who never relinquished any part of heaven or earth except in your minds.  Love the Lord your creator and your God.  Serve him by seducing His creation.  Love it! Care for it!  Serve within it with faith, hope, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, meekness, and self control.  Above all, care for the widow, the orphan, and the alien within your midst.  God is a jealous God, visiting iniquity on all who would forsake His little children.  Those on whom He has the greatest compassion. 

Do you want peace on earth? Press God's buttons.  Bow before Him with praise and thanksgiving. Humble yourself before God and man.  Forgive men of their debts.  Love your enemies.  Help the widow, the orphan, and the alien.   That's got to be my platform in politics and religion.

Response to Luke 8:4-21

Cultivating Children of God Luke 8:4-21 (Matthew 12:46-13:23, Mark 3:31-4:20)

In Matthew and Mark's telling of the parable of the sower, Jesus family was the beginning of this story.  Luke shares their visit at the end.  Regardless, I feel it is important to understand the fact that his Mother and brothers are present for all the crowd to see and to know this is an integral part of Jesus teachings regarding the parable of the sower.  In addition, the sandwich of the telling of the story and the explanation of the story around the reason for parables in all three gospels is of major importance.  Again, part of the fabric of this commentary is a separation of eternal salvation from salvation from adversity on earth.  I truly believe the latter represents the majority of scripture, and that few have understood this meaning.  And yet, it is "salvation from adversity on earth" on which I will comment.

As children of God, it is our responsibility to be sowers.  Whatever we understand about the kingdom of God we naturally share with friends and neighbors.  Some will be offended by our faith and will treat it as something of an oddity fit for scorn.  Some may on occasion be inspired, yet fail to cultivate their interest through lack desire or opportunity to spend time learning more.  Others may experience frustrations with faith due to religious impurities dealing with common temptations and adversities of life.

This should not be a surprise!  Isaiah 8:9-10 described our world thus: "'You will be ever hearing, but never understanding; / you will be ever seeing, but never perceiving.' / This people's heart has become calloused; / they hardly hear with their ears, / and they have closed their eyes."

Therefore, if someone seeks to join the family of God, He promises that He can be found. He has given us His word.  By following Him, we can be nurtured within his presence daily.  By spending time hearing his words, we may know and understand the secrets of the kingdom.  But for those who refuse cultivation, even what they think they know will be taken from them. 

To be considered a child of God, He says we must not only hear His word, but put it into practice.  We must follow His law.  If we claim to Love God, we must show that love by honoring Him with our lives and loving our fellowman.  We must keep our soil tilled and ferilized in such a way that others are drawn by our fruit, and can enjoy the sweetness of our Lord.

Response to Psalm 69:19-36

A Lesson in Comparison and Contrast Psalm 69:19-36

Psalm 4:4-5 "In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. Offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord.

Ephesians 4:26-27 ""In your anger do not sin" Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

Luke 6:32-37 "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven."

Luke 23:33-37 "When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals - one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One." The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself."


  Now, compare the words of the Psalmist with the word of the Lord.  Tell me the words of Psalm 69:22-28 are not in direct contradiction with the words of Christ on the cross.  He did not die to save himself, he died to save mankind!  David's humanity is on display for all to see!  Anybody in their right mind would be a fool to take Psalm 69:22-28 and choose to pattern their life according to those verses because someone said these were the word of God!  The common bond of these two passages is the sourness of life represented by the vinegar - the afflictions we all deal with from humanity.  Our prayer must be patterned after the contrast given by Jesus as his affliction would lead directly to His death and He prayed "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."
 
God knows our shame.  Our foes are well known to Him.  He is well aware of our afflictions and pain.  He has already granted eternal salvation.  He expects nothing less than our praise and thanksgiving.  He offers His love and forgiveness through our love and forgiveness of others.  Through a heart of compassion and honor, he will release our chains.  James 1:2-4 states "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  Proverbs 12:1 claims: "Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid."
 
Response to Proverbs 12:2-3
 
If we choose to honor our fellowman through our prayers, chances are quite good we will meet with God's favor.  If we attempt to chastise or bring judgment upon our fellowman through our thoughts and prayers, we are bound to receive condemnation.  Such condemnation serves to destroy a man and keep Him separated from the Love of God, but by seeking God's love and peace through expressing that love and peace with our fellowman, the foundation of our lives, families, communities, nations, and world shall be firmly established.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FHqzbI2pqY  
 
Until Tomorrow
 
Rick