14 Nov (Rom 13-14)

Romans 13

(v.1) This is a hard concept for many Christians, since we don't like what the U.S. government is doing most of the time. We need to remember that God appoints our nation's leaders for His purposes.

There is an old saying that I believe is true: "You get the leadership you deserve."

I see the USA being like the nation of Israel in the time of the kings and the book of Judges...we are ourselves (as a nation, but not individually) not following the LORD. Therefore, we are reaping what we sow. We allow abortion, we allow blatant sex on our mainstream shows on TV, we allow cursing and rude behavior with our kids, and we allow the normalization of homosexuality in our culture. Once we allow or tolerate something in society that is against God's Word, we will then see the next generation embrace it as common.

With that said, I believe that God puts certain people in power to further His plan. I feel that the USA was asleep and apathetic until the current government started blatantly abandoning the Constitution and the Bible as our founding laws.

So keep Rom 8:28 in mind, and let the LORD work this out. In the meantime, be diligent, be good citizens, and stand up for good. When given bad, respect authority and pray for our leaders.

(v.8) With the world economy in so much debt, and individually we are in debt more than ever as a nation of people, we are slaves to another. Here, Paul is reminding us that we should not be in debt (except for a home) and live to love one another.

(v.10) Jesus is love, and His love of us by dying on the cross fulfilled the Law. He lived sinless and was the perfect Passover Lamb of God for us, so loving others is fulfilling the Law of Christ.

Romans 14

(v.6) There are cults and denominations in Christianity that revere certain days over another as the Sabbath and holy. The Law had sundown Friday to sundown Saturday as the Sabbath. But that was under the Law...we who are under the New Covenant of Christ are under God's grace. We should revere EVERY DAY as holy and worthy to praise and serve God!

It is spiritually uplifting to take at least part of a day, and reserve it for deep prayer and worship to God. Spend a good deal of time in the Word, and converse with God. After all, one day a week dedicated to the LORD out of seven days is not too much to ask, is it?

(v.12) Each of us will face God...whether in judgment or in rewards. In both cases, we will have our lives tested by fire. The big difference is, if we have the blood of Christ washing our sins away, then we will only have rewards leftover. But if we rejected Christ, we will be guilty by the Law in our sins, and we will be destined to hell. We all need to make the choice for Christ individually.

(v.17) Don't let your faith be defined by what day you reserve for worship, or what foods and drinks you imbibe or not...faith is not about what we do...it's about gratitude for what God did for us!

8 Aug (Nehemiah 5-13)

Nehemiah 5

(v.14) Like Daniel, Nehemiah refused to eat of the Persian cuisine. Instead, he grew and provided for himself. Even though we have grocery stores today, it's wise for all of us to have gardens where we can eat vegetables and fruits of our own.

Nehemiah 6

(v.9) When we are feeling weak or doubtful, we need to call upon God to carry our burden. Matt 11:28

(v.12) It doesn't say why, but Nehemiah sensed that he was being lied to. We have a fail-safe way to know if we are being deceived...the Word of God! Compare it to what you're being taught (especially from here) and make sure it's true. Acts 17:11

(v.16) Often, when great things are accomplished, it was because of God. The speed and efficiency of the wall being built was a tribute to the people's faith, and God's provision.

Nehemiah 7

We often skim over the genealogies, but they are there for a reason...God put those people there to document His work and His people in history. We hear today that the Jews "stole" the land from the Arabs and Palestinians...when they weren't there until after the Jews were spread out to all the nations.

Nehemiah 8

(v.6) For Christians, it's common to bow our heads when in corporate prayer. But it's not common to raise hands during song, or to get on our knees in public. I personally am doing more of that, not to gain attention, but to show God my stature to Him...lowly. Worship should come from the heart, and if one is moved to raise hands, then that is good. However, one shouldn't make such a commotion to draw attention to himself, for that is not the reason for worship...it should be all directed to God.

(v.17) I make a point to show my kids that the Jews had forgotten to celebrate the Feasts. This was mandated by God, yet all it took was one generation to not pass this along to their children, and the Feasts were forgotten.

Nehemiah 9

(v.3) We have it so easy nowadays...we go to church for a couple of hours on Sunday, and we think we're giving God a great amount of time! Here we see that they worshiped God for 8 hours!

After repenting, confessing their sins, and hearing the Word of God, the people were really growing in the LORD. This is what we must do. We don't have to spend 8 hours on Sunday, but we should try to pray more, read His Word daily, and sing to Him numerous times during the week. After all, He gave us life, so we should spend a substantial part of our day acknowledging what God has done for us!

Nehemiah 10

(v.28) We keep seeing the phrase, everyone with knowledge and understanding...these are people who have repented and are studying the Word. When we make the effort to seek Him, He rewards us with wisdom and blessings. Acts 17:27

(v.36) The concept of the first fruits is crucial. This goes with tithing, and in the case of children, we are to consecrate the firstborn son of the family to be dedicated to the LORD. I have daughters, but all three of them are learning God's Word, and I expect them to give their lives to God. My oldest has already been baptized at the age of seven, and I expect when she is a teenager, she will do it again...to proclaim her dedication to the LORD.

Nehemiah 11

The Jews welcomed and blessed the foreigners who wished to dwell with them...this is following God's commandments.

Nehemiah 12

(v.43) I have felt such great joy when around others who love and worship God! When we get together and when we collectively worship God, we can feel God's presence there!

Nehemiah 13

(v.2) God turns curses and trials into blessings. The outcome may not appear a blessing at the time, but we're always better off, and in a better state to be used by God because of them. James 1:2

(v.19) On Sundays, after we've gone to church, my family either spends the day with other families who are believers, or we stay at home to be together. During the week, our kids and ourselves are mixed among the secular world, at school and at work, so it's important to have a day where you spend time with only believers.

Mar 28 (Psa 90, 92, 112, 115)

Songs For Right and Wrong

Psalm 90

The heading to this psalm in my NKJV reads:

"A prayer of Moses the man of God."

(v.12) Moses teaches us to make the most of our time here on earth, because we don't have another chance, and we don't know when we will die. It's impossible to evangelize and do missionary work every day of our lives, but we can be a light to the lost who are in darkness. We can show love and kindness every day. And most of all, in different ways, we can worship God every day.

(v.17) Mose rightly calls upon God to establish the work of our hands. If we are in prayer and walking with God, He will guide our steps and lead us to His purposes. Prov 3:5-6

Psalm 92

This is a wonderful song, and it's said to be sung on the Sabbath. In Israel, the first day of the week is Sunday, and the seventh is Saturday. According to creation and the Law, Jews observe the Sabbath starting Friday afternoon at dusk until Saturday afternoon. The Sabbath was ordained by God before He gave Moses the Law, so God must have had all believers starting with Adam observe the seventh day as a day of rest.

Unfortunately, the Jews have taken this and gone to the extreme, where they won't even answer the phone on the Sabbath! God rested on the seventh day, not because He was tired, but because He wanted to hallow it and make it holy. We are to remember what God did in the creation and in our lives on the Sabbath.

The Church observed the Sabbath on Sunday, since Jesus was Resurrected on Sunday. This is why we have church services on that day. However, Jesus is our rest, and He is our Sabbath, so in reality, our Sabbath is every day of the week! Luke 6:5 & Matt 11:28

Psalm 112

Psalms 112-116 are called the Hallel Psalms. Hallel in Hebrew means praise, and during Passover, the Jews would sing these songs in celebration for what God did for them. It is believed that Jesus and the disciples sang these psalms in the upper room at the Last Supper.

Psalm 115

(v.1) Give God the glory for our successes...He gave us the mind and body to perform our achievements. He created us and if we are His, He guided us, so we should praise Him when we succeed.

(v.8) Idols have been in existence for thousands of years. Those who don't have faith in God, make something to replace Him in their lives. They want something to hold or see when they worship. But if we are His, we see Him in His creation, we see Him in the love of a friend, and we see Him in His Word.

There is a saying that I believe is true:

We become like that we worship.

If we worship money and power, we may become rich and powerful, but we also become cold and proud. If we worship our cars or homes, we will become like them, where we are shiny at first, but we fade and become broken down.

But if we worship Christ, the Holy Spirit will sanctify us and mold us to be more like Christ.

Jan 31 (Exodus 31-40)

Exodus 31

God reminds the Israelites that the Sabbath is holy, and that they are required to keep it that way. I remind my kids of this as well, since it serves two points:

~ Working six days a week is taxing on the mind and body, so God is forcing those who are workaholics to rest one day so they won't kill themselves!

~ Taking a day to rest and worship the LORD is more than reasonable. Of course, as Christians, we feel every day is the Sabbath, since Jesus is our Sabbath. In Him we are in communion with the Father. How loving and reasonable our God is...to ask that we give Him one day to observe, worship and read His Word!!! In our hectic lifestyles, we often are too busy for God, but if we take the time for Him that He asks for, we find that we're better off for it.

Exodus 32

I marvel at how Aaron could stoop to this level when he was witness to so many miracles that God did for him and Moses! This should give us pause, to realize that even the most revered believers before us have slipped and failed at times.

(v.32) I stop at this verse and let my kids grasp what Moses was asking God here...he was willing to give up his own salvation forever, for the salvation for his people. That is a heart full of love and compassion...just where God wanted him!

Exodus 33

How magnificent and yet terrifying it must have been to talk directly with God! Moses was blessed, but with that blessing, came enormous responsibility. We don't always think of that when we pray to be used by God. We want access to Him, but we aren't always prepared or willing to do what He wants us to do. I know I have had many thoughts and desires for what I want to do for God, but He always has something different, and ultimately, better for me and my family.

Exodus 34 - 40

The rest of this book details how God told Moses to make the items of the Tabernacle. This is a good study to go into, since we see our own human anatomy and the spiritual world reflected in these items.

Jan 29 (Exodus 20-22)

Exodus 20

Here, God gives Moses the Law...the 10 Commandments. I go through each of them with my kids:

1. "You shall have no other gods before Me." ~ God doesn't want to be #1 on a list of 10...He wants to be #1 on a list of one! He wants us to include Him in ALL PARTS OF OUR LIVES...not just certain parts.

2. "You shall not make for yourself a carved image" ~ There is no way to make a likeness to God with human hands, so don't try it. Idols are man-made, and God wants us to focus on the Creator, not His creation. Oprah Winfrey turned away from God when she read that God is a "jealous" God. Of course, what she fails to see, is that jealous doesn't mean a jealous spouse. God wants to have fellowship with us, and to let anything get in the way hurts Him.

3. "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain" ~ Many people think this commandment is alluding to cursing or cussing. Certainly, we as believers should refrain from foul language, but I believe God is talking about something bigger. As Christians, we take on the name of our Lord...Christ. If we curse, steal, gossip, etc, then we are defiling the name of God. We believers are His ambassadors...we need to represent our King properly for His glory!

4. "Remember the Sabbath day...For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth" ~ First of all, every day is our Sabbath if we're in Christ. But it is helpful and fruitful to take a day to completely devout our time for God. We can do this by reading His Word most of the day, we can spend the day with other believers, or we can pray even more that day. We just need to do this for Him, and not for ourselves. Also, notice that God documents that He did create the universe in SIX LITERAL DAYS. Many good people can disagree on the merits of the Gap Theory, but the Hebrew used here definitely refers to six actual days...not six eras.

5. "Honor your father and your mother" ~ My kids smile every time I read this to them...they always say, "we're trying Daddy!" I stress to them that we love them, and even though we'll make mistakes, they should always show us respect.

6. "You shall not MURDER" ~ Notice that the original text doesn't say "kill" because it's not unlawful to kill in war or self defense. Murder is the act of deliberately killing someone for your own sinful reasons. There is a big difference between righteous killing and murder. If your kids ask for some examples, then refer them to Abraham, Samuel, David and Joshua...God commanded these great men of faith to kill evil.

7. "Honor your spouse" ~ You'll notice I don't say the "A" word...depending upon the age of your kids, it might be appropriate just to say that God loves marriage and hates divorce. However, if one has been divorced, they aren't condemned to hell. We all make mistakes, and if that person will include God in the next marriage, then the results would be different.

8. "You shall not steal" ~ Here God puts great importance upon private property. It's not right to take what is not yours. Some good discussions can come from this one!!!

9. "You shall not lie" ~ This is a real tough one on all of us, because at our best, we sometimes "stretch the truth" in order to avoid the pain of the whole truth. I stress to my kids that it's always best to tell the truth, since sometimes it's bad enough, rather than lie and get caught in a lie later!

10. "You shall not covet" ~ Almost all of the previous commandments can be related to this one...if we don't obsess or focus on material things and focus on God, we won't fill our minds with lust, envy or greed.

So why was the Law given? It is definitely a standard we should strive to keep, but we all know that it's impossible by our sinful nature to keep the Law our whole lives. We may do pretty well for a while, but we'll slip sometime. So what do we do?

God is holy and pure. He can't abide with sin in heaven. If we are unable to keep the Law, then we are doomed to hell and eternal separation from God. However, God provided the solution...Himself. Jesus came down from heaven to live as man and be our Kinsman Redeemer...to live a perfect life and keep the Law, and ultimately pay for our sins on the cross. We couldn't pay for our sins...it had to be washed away with innocent blood from our kin...God in the flesh...thank you Jesus!!!

Exodus 21

God shows us the Jewish tradition of master and slave. We must not equate this relationship as with the Jews in Egypt or the African slaves of America. As we saw from Abraham on down, God establishes a master of the house, and all the workers are essentially under contract to work for that master for seven years. This is why Jacob agreed to work for Laban for seven years to earn Laban's daughter Rachel.

At the end of those seven years, the servant has the option of going out on his own, or if the master has treated the servant fairly, then he can stay by choice. This ceremony is done by piercing the servant's ear to the doorpost, and is a prelude to the piercing our LORD took for our freedom from slavery to sin!!!

Exodus 22

For those of us who believe in the Constitution, and the right for private property, then this chapter is ideal. God ordains property ownership, and even tells us that it's lawful to kill an intruder in your home...that's so un-PC nowadays!

Jan 1 (Genesis 1-2)

Genesis 1

(v.1) This verse is crucial for the whole rest of the Bible...if one understands and believes this verse, then the rest of the Bible will go more smoothly. If not, then the parent has to tell their child that only parts of the Bible are accurate...that is dangerous! I recommend all parents make sure that their kids know that the Bible is proven to be written by God.

Also reference the Gospel of John 1:1, where it shows us that Jesus is God, and that He created all the universe.

Note: the Hebrew word for "God" in this verse is Elohim...this is a plural noun used in the singular tense...the Trinity is pointed out in the first verse of the Bible!

El............means "God" in the singular (one)
Ela..........means "God" in the dual (two)
Elohim...means "God" in the plural (three or more)

(v.26) This is another hint at the Holy Trinity...God (Elohim) says "Let Us make man in Our image..."

Genesis 2

(v.3) This might be fun to stress to our kids, that God wasn't "tired" but that He was finished with His work. Just as when we go to Heaven, we receive His "rest" our work on earth is finished.

(v.18) This is important to note that the "helper" for man is not a servant or slave...she is an equal with important responibilities and tasks in a marriage. Young girls need to know this, but they also need to know that God set up the marriage to have the husband be the head of the household, with the wife being a valuable partner and caretaker of the home and children.

(v.21) I need to find the link to this, but a preacher told me that he found a medical report that says the ONLY bone that grows back in the human body is the lower rib.

(v.24) God created and sanctified marriage as early as Genesis 2. The best way to procreate and raise children is with one man and one woman. Obviously, this is trickier with younger children, but we can point out that only a Mommy and Daddy become "one flesh" together...we are in accord and of one mind with God.

(v.25) Many Bible scholars believe that the original earth was much different than what we see today. It is quite possible and likely, that Adam and Eve enjoyed more dimensions than the four we have today (heighth, width, length and time). I believe that God's presence and the fact that Adam and Eve were sinless at this point, that their nakedness wasn't even noticed.