fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383 
|
Post by fearnot on Feb 19, 2021 10:34:59 GMT -5
My words are in this color
and
Bible quotes are in this color
Yesterday I looked a bit at the 12 spies,
and how 10 of them turned out fearful,
and that actually,
all the people of Israel, were fearful.
So off the 12 go to scout out the land.
17 When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan,
he said to them,
“Go up there into the Negev;
then go up into the hill country.
18 See what the land is like,
and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak,
whether they are few or many.
19 And how is the land in which they live, is it good or bad?
And how are the cities in which they live,
are the people in open camps or in fortifications?
20 And how is the land, is it productive or unproductive?
Are there trees in it or not?
And show yourselves courageous
and get some of the fruit of the land.”
Numbers 13:18-20
And this
25 At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land.
Numbers 13:25
During that time, they for one thing,
discovered God's word was true
( as it always is)
concerning it being the best and fruitful land:
23 Then they came to the Valley of Eshcol,
and from there they cut off a branch with a single cluster of grapes;
and they carried it on a pole between two men,
with some of the pomegranates and the figs.
Numbers 13::25
That was some cluster of grapes,
it was so big, it took two men to carry it,
to keep it from getting bruised from the ground!
In fact, the spies even say it is so:
27 So they reported to him and said,
“We came into the land where you sent us,
and it certainly does flow with milk and honey,
and this is its fruit.
Numbers 13:27
But then, here comes the fear...
not exactly the courage Moses asked of them!
The 10 spies, go on to give the rest of the report,
concerning the other things Moses asked them to check on.
There is zero trust in God!
They are looking ONLY at the circumstances...
(These are the very same people who saw,
God do so many miracles for them)!
This is where their report go bad,
and is filled with fear!!
28 Nevertheless,
the people who live in the land are strong,
and the cities are fortified and very large.
And indeed, we saw the descendants of Anak there!
Numbers 13:28
They go on to say:
31 But the men who had gone up with him said,
“We are not able to go up against the people,
because they are too strong for us.”
32 So they brought a bad report of the land
which they had spied out to the sons of Israel, saying,
“The land through which we have gone to spy out is a land that devours its inhabitants;
and all the people whom we saw in it are people of great stature.
33 We also saw the Nephilim there
(the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim);
and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight,
and so we were in their sight.”
Numbers 13:31-33
Okay, giants are scary,
and the Israelites may have been a lot shorter in stature....
but the Nephilim were as grasshoppers to God.
Still two of the 12 spies, trusted God.
In fact, Caleb said this:
30 Then Caleb quieted the people
before Moses and said,
“We should by all means go up
and take possession of it,
for we will certainly prevail over it.”
Numbers 13:30
I sort of think of, Caleb's attitude
(well, trusting God for sure)
as being:
The bigger they are,
the harder they fall!
However, the ten fearful prevailed.
Fear and sin always spreads and grows.
Likewise in this case,
the result of the 10 spies fear filled report,
had this effect on the people:
1 Then all the congregation raised their voices and cried out,
and the people wept that night.
2 And all the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron;
and the entire congregation said to them,
“If only we had died in the land of Egypt!
Or even if we had died in this wilderness!
3 So why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword?
Our wives and our little ones will become plunder!
Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”
4 So they said to one another,
“Let’s appoint a leader and return to Egypt!”
Numbers 14:1-4
It's interesting that they spied for 40 days,
and
they ended up wandering in the desert for
40 years!
Also, they did die in the wilderness,
all of them,
except Caleb and Joshua
and the people's children.
Done for Today
|
|
fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
|
Post by fearnot on Feb 20, 2021 12:32:17 GMT -5
My words are in this color
and Bible scripture will be in this color today
Looking at how fear is sin,
and becomes even increasing sin,
I thought I would look at the great leader,
of the Jewish people:
Moses.
Moses was a Jew,
but due to evil circumstances,
ended up,
being raised as a royal, in the Egyptian palace.
But then.....
one day:
11 Now it came about in those days,
when Moses had grown up,
that he went out to his fellow Hebrews
and looked at their hard labors;
and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew,
one of his fellow Hebrews.
12 So he looked this way and that,
and when he saw that there was no one around,
he struck and killed the Egyptian,
and hid his body in the sand.
Exodus 2:11,12
If, Moses was not afraid before...
verse 12, indicates he knew,
what he was about to do was wrong.....
because he looked this way and that,
hoping no one would see.
In any case,
now, as a murderer,
he becomes truly fearful!
And his trying to hid the evidence,
did not work.
13 Now he went out the next day,
and behold, two Hebrews were fighting with each other;
and he said to the offender,
“Why are you striking your companion?”
14 But he said, “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?
Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”
Then Moses was afraid and said,
“Surely the matter has become known!”
Exodus 2:13,14
and this:
15 When Pharaoh heard about this matter,
he tried to kill Moses.
But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh
and settled in the land of Midian,
and he sat down by a well.
Exodus 2:15
Moses had misused his power
and murdered and then, meddled,
Thus lost all respect,
and nearly lost his life.
However, this is not the only time,
Moses was fearful!
Moses spends 40 years living in the desert of Midian,
tending sheep....
a good long leadership lesson,
in dealing with silly and foolish animals.
Humans often display those tendencies also.
While there in Midian,
God was working on Moses,
in other areas of his life:
Another time Moses feared,
both good fear, and bad fear,
was at the burning bush,
where God gives Moses his calling and commission.
Just because God had delayed Mosses calling,
did not mean, it was not to be.
In this case, he studied leadership,
by being a shepherd.
Now one might think, when you reach 80,
and have done strenuous work, all your life,
( I don't think being a sheep herder,
is much of a sit down cushy office job)?
That it's time for a nice retirement!
But Moses is about to find out,
that God has a different plan for him,
and Moses isn't going to exactly jump for joy,
in order to do it!
Here is how it started:
1 Now Moses was pasturing the flock of his father-in-law Jethro,
the priest of Midian;
and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness
and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
2 Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him
in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush;
and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire,
yet the bush was not being consumed.
Exodus 3:1,2
It was not that the bush was burning,
I imagine in a hot desert, that could happen.
Rather, it was not consumed....
Now there is an interesting alert!
More tomorrow
Done for Today.
|
|
fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
|
Post by fearnot on Feb 21, 2021 11:15:18 GMT -5
My words are in this color
and Bible scripture will be in this color today
Today I will look at Moses and another fear.
We left him yesterday, looking at a burning bush,
that was not consumed.
A bush burning in a hot desert,
was not what was 'unusual',
It was that,
it was not being 'consumed'.
3 So Moses said,
“I must turn aside and see this marvelous sight,
why the bush is not burning up!”
Exodus 3:3
Well, God has Moses's attention now,
and so....
4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look,
God called to him from the midst of the bush and said,
“Moses, Moses!”
And he said, “Here I am.” Exdous 3:4
Then we see a proper and 'good 'fear''from Moses
respect and awe of the Holy God:
5 Then He said, “Do not come near here;
remove your sandals from your feet,
for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
6 And He said, “I am the God of your father—
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Exodus 3:5,6
The ground is called Holy, because, the HOLY GOD is there.
Now, God is going to call Moses for a great work!
7 And the Lord said,
“I have certainly seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt,
and have heard their outcry because of their taskmasters,
for I am aware of their sufferings.
Exodus 3:7
God wants Moses to rescue the Israelites from Egypt...
10 And now come,
and I will send you to Pharaoh,
so that you may bring My people,
the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”
Exodus 3:10
Now we see the 'not good' fear
( but rather, bad fears) from Moses,
as he offers excuses why he cannot perform,
the commission God has for Moses to do.
Here is excuse number one,
it is an excuse any 'fearing' Christian,
might trot out.
It even has a 'humble' ring to it!
11 But Moses said to God,
“Who am I,
that I should go to Pharaoh,
and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?”
Exodus 3:11
We are told that Moses was actually 'humble':
3 (Now the man Moses was very humble,
more than any person who was on the face of the earth.)
Numbers 12:3
But I am thinking, this may have more to do with fear.
I wonder, if the fact, he killed a man,
and Pharaoh, had wanted him dead,
may have crossed his mind?
I guess Moses needed more of Paul's mind on the matter:
9 And He has said to me,
“My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is perfected in weakness.
” Most gladly, therefore,
I will rather boast about my weaknesses,
so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
10 Therefore I delight in weaknesses,
in insults,
in distresses,
in persecutions,
in difficulties,
in behalf of Christ;
for when I am weak,
then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:9,10
Because, this is about God,
and not so much about Moses.
However, Moses is not out of excuses,
next, Moses implies,
he really does not have all the answers....
for example:
Then Moses said to God,
“Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel,
and I will say to them,
‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’
Now they may say to me,
‘What is His name?’
What shall I say to them?”
Exodus 3:13
I am of the opinion, many Christians
often feel this way, about witnessing
Afraid, they will blow it,
because they do not have all the answers.
So like Moses, we say:
"I can't"
and God answers:
Not a problem because:
I AM.
4 And God said to Moses,
“I AM WHO I AM”;
and He said,
“This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel:
I AM
has sent me to you.’”
Exodus 3:4
And so, that excuse was shot down!
But 'fear not',
Moses has another excuse!
Nevertheless, this one, seems quite possible to me.
Look at all the hostile responses,
and name calling Christians are accused of ,
and endure in today's world:
concerning our,
what nonbelievers call our:
'fairy tale',
pie in the sky god ,
beliefs etc etc etc.
Not to mention,
we are called:
ignorant, dull witted, not intelligent, morons, neanderthals etc.
Then Moses said,
“What if they will not believe me
or listen to what I say?
For they may say,
‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’”
Exodus 4:1
Today is church,
so I will pick up on this where I have left off,
tomorrow .
Done for Today
|
|
|
|
Post by Cindy on Feb 22, 2021 12:46:46 GMT -5
Bad Cindy! LOLOL Not going to help? :'(
I loved the way you put it:
"God already did the reconnaissance"!
My words are in this color
and
Bible quotes are in this color
Yesterday I looked a bit at the 12 spies,
and how 10 of them turned out fearful,
and that actually,
all the people of Israel, were fearful.
So off the 12 go to scout out the land.
17 When Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan,
he said to them,
“Go up there into the Negev;
then go up into the hill country.
18 See what the land is like,
and whether the people who live in it are strong or weak,
whether they are few or many.
19 And how is the land in which they live, is it good or bad?
And how are the cities in which they live,
are the people in open camps or in fortifications?
20 And how is the land, is it productive or unproductive?
Are there trees in it or not?
And show yourselves courageous
and get some of the fruit of the land.”
Numbers 13:18-20
And this
25 At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land.
Numbers 13:25
During that time, they for one thing,
discovered God's word was true
( as it always is)
concerning it being the best and fruitful land:
23 Then they came to the Valley of Eshcol,
and from there they cut off a branch with a single cluster of grapes;
and they carried it on a pole between two men,
with some of the pomegranates and the figs.
Numbers 13::25
That was some cluster of grapes,
it was so big, it took two men to carry it,
to keep it from getting bruised from the ground!
In fact, the spies even say it is so:
27 So they reported to him and said,
“We came into the land where you sent us,
and it certainly does flow with milk and honey,
and this is its fruit.
Numbers 13:27
But then, here comes the fear...
not exactly the courage Moses asked of them!
The 10 spies, go on to give the rest of the report,
concerning the other things Moses asked them to check on.
There is zero trust in God!
They are looking ONLY at the circumstances...
(These are the very same people who saw,
God do so many miracles for them)!
This is where their report go bad,
and is filled with fear!!
28 Nevertheless,
the people who live in the land are strong,
and the cities are fortified and very large.
And indeed, we saw the descendants of Anak there!
Numbers 13:28
They go on to say:
31 But the men who had gone up with him said,
“We are not able to go up against the people,
because they are too strong for us.”
32 So they brought a bad report of the land
which they had spied out to the sons of Israel, saying,
“The land through which we have gone to spy out is a land that devours its inhabitants;
and all the people whom we saw in it are people of great stature.
33 We also saw the Nephilim there
(the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim);
and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight,
and so we were in their sight.”
Numbers 13:31-33
Okay, giants are scary,
and the Israelites may have been a lot shorter in stature....
but the Nephilim were as grasshoppers to God.
Still two of the 12 spies, trusted God.
In fact, Caleb said this:
30 Then Caleb quieted the people
before Moses and said,
“We should by all means go up
and take possession of it,
for we will certainly prevail over it.”
Numbers 13:30
I sort of think of, Caleb's attitude
(well, trusting God for sure)
as being:
The bigger they are,
the harder they fall!
However, the ten fearful prevailed.
Fear and sin always spreads and grows.
Likewise in this case,
the result of the 10 spies fear filled report,
had this effect on the people:
1 Then all the congregation raised their voices and cried out,
and the people wept that night.
2 And all the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron;
and the entire congregation said to them,
“If only we had died in the land of Egypt!
Or even if we had died in this wilderness!
3 So why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword?
Our wives and our little ones will become plunder!
Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?”
4 So they said to one another,
“Let’s appoint a leader and return to Egypt!”
Numbers 14:1-4
It's interesting that they spied for 40 days,
and
they ended up wandering in the desert for
40 years!
Also, they did die in the wilderness,
all of them,
except Caleb and Joshua
and the people's children.
Done for Today
My words are in this color
and Bible scripture will be in this color today
Looking at how fear is sin,
and becomes even increasing sin,
I thought I would look at the great leader,
of the Jewish people:
Moses.
Moses was a Jew,
but due to evil circumstances,
ended up,
being raised as a royal, in the Egyptian palace.
But then.....
one day:
11 Now it came about in those days,
when Moses had grown up,
that he went out to his fellow Hebrews
and looked at their hard labors;
and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew,
one of his fellow Hebrews.
12 So he looked this way and that,
and when he saw that there was no one around,
he struck and killed the Egyptian,
and hid his body in the sand.
Exodus 2:11,12
If, Moses was not afraid before...
verse 12, indicates he knew,
what he was about to do was wrong.....
because he looked this way and that,
hoping no one would see.
In any case,
now, as a murderer,
he becomes truly fearful!
And his trying to hid the evidence,
did not work.
13 Now he went out the next day,
and behold, two Hebrews were fighting with each other;
and he said to the offender,
“Why are you striking your companion?”
14 But he said, “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?
Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”
Then Moses was afraid and said,
“Surely the matter has become known!”
Exodus 2:13,14
and this:
15 When Pharaoh heard about this matter,
he tried to kill Moses.
But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh
and settled in the land of Midian,
and he sat down by a well.
Exodus 2:15
Moses had misused his power
and murdered and then, meddled,
Thus lost all respect,
and nearly lost his life.
However, this is not the only time,
Moses was fearful!
Moses spends 40 years living in the desert of Midian,
tending sheep....
a good long leadership lesson,
in dealing with silly and foolish animals.
Humans often display those tendencies also.
While there in Midian,
God was working on Moses,
in other areas of his life:
Another time Moses feared,
both good fear, and bad fear,
was at the burning bush,
where God gives Moses his calling and commission.
Just because God had delayed Mosses calling,
did not mean, it was not to be.
In this case, he studied leadership,
by being a shepherd.
Now one might think, when you reach 80,
and have done strenuous work, all your life,
( I don't think being a sheep herder,
is much of a sit down cushy office job)?
That it's time for a nice retirement!
But Moses is about to find out,
that God has a different plan for him,
and Moses isn't going to exactly jump for joy,
in order to do it!
Here is how it started:
1 Now Moses was pasturing the flock of his father-in-law Jethro,
the priest of Midian;
and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness
and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
2 Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him
in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush;
and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire,
yet the bush was not being consumed.
Exodus 3:1,2
It was not that the bush was burning,
I imagine in a hot desert, that could happen.
Rather, it was not consumed....
Now there is an interesting alert!
More tomorrow
Done for Today.
My words are in this color
and Bible scripture will be in this color today
Today I will look at Moses and another fear.
We left him yesterday, looking at a burning bush,
that was not consumed.
A bush burning in a hot desert,
was not what was 'unusual',
It was that,
it was not being 'consumed'.
3 So Moses said,
“I must turn aside and see this marvelous sight,
why the bush is not burning up!”
Exodus 3:3
Well, God has Moses's attention now,
and so....
4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look,
God called to him from the midst of the bush and said,
“Moses, Moses!”
And he said, “Here I am.” Exdous 3:4
Then we see a proper and 'good 'fear''from Moses
respect and awe of the Holy God:
5 Then He said, “Do not come near here;
remove your sandals from your feet,
for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
6 And He said, “I am the God of your father—
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Exodus 3:5,6
The ground is called Holy, because, the HOLY GOD is there.
Now, God is going to call Moses for a great work!
7 And the Lord said,
“I have certainly seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt,
and have heard their outcry because of their taskmasters,
for I am aware of their sufferings.
Exodus 3:7
God wants Moses to rescue the Israelites from Egypt...
10 And now come,
and I will send you to Pharaoh,
so that you may bring My people,
the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.”
Exodus 3:10
Now we see the 'not good' fear
( but rather, bad fears) from Moses,
as he offers excuses why he cannot perform,
the commission God has for Moses to do.
Here is excuse number one,
it is an excuse any 'fearing' Christian,
might trot out.
It even has a 'humble' ring to it!
11 But Moses said to God,
“Who am I,
that I should go to Pharaoh,
and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?”
Exodus 3:11
We are told that Moses was actually 'humble':
3 (Now the man Moses was very humble,
more than any person who was on the face of the earth.)
Numbers 12:3
But I am thinking, this may have more to do with fear.
I wonder, if the fact, he killed a man,
and Pharaoh, had wanted him dead,
may have crossed his mind?
I guess Moses needed more of Paul's mind on the matter:
9 And He has said to me,
“My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is perfected in weakness.
” Most gladly, therefore,
I will rather boast about my weaknesses,
so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
10 Therefore I delight in weaknesses,
in insults,
in distresses,
in persecutions,
in difficulties,
in behalf of Christ;
for when I am weak,
then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:9,10
Because, this is about God,
and not so much about Moses.
However, Moses is not out of excuses,
next, Moses implies,
he really does not have all the answers....
for example:
Then Moses said to God,
“Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel,
and I will say to them,
‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’
Now they may say to me,
‘What is His name?’
What shall I say to them?”
Exodus 3:13
I am of the opinion, many Christians
often feel this way, about witnessing
Afraid, they will blow it,
because they do not have all the answers.
So like Moses, we say:
"I can't"
and God answers:
Not a problem because:
I AM.
4 And God said to Moses,
“I AM WHO I AM”;
and He said,
“This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel:
I AM
has sent me to you.’”
Exodus 3:4
And so, that excuse was shot down!
But 'fear not',
Moses has another excuse!
Nevertheless, this one, seems quite possible to me.
Look at all the hostile responses,
and name calling Christians are accused of ,
and endure in today's world:
concerning our,
what nonbelievers call our:
'fairy tale',
pie in the sky god ,
beliefs etc etc etc.
Not to mention,
we are called:
ignorant, dull witted, not intelligent, morons, neanderthals etc.
Then Moses said,
“What if they will not believe me
or listen to what I say?
For they may say,
‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’”
Exodus 4:1
Today is church,
so I will pick up on this where I have left off,
tomorrow .
Done for Today
|
|
fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
|
Post by fearnot on Feb 22, 2021 23:13:32 GMT -5
Ha! I was looking for todays post....and did not see it!
Oh noooooo
Not again.
I saw youthat replied to 3 posts I recently made...
and then....
I checked my history......
And there was my post....
Waaaaay above your reply to the 3 posts.
Soooooo I am going to re-post it. :)
|
|
fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
|
Post by fearnot on Feb 22, 2021 23:14:02 GMT -5
My words are in this color
and Bible scripture will be in this color today
Yesterday, I began to look at the third
excuse Moses gave as to why,
he ( Moses) could not do the commission,
God wanted him to do.
Then Moses said,
“What if they will not believe me
or listen to what I say?
For they may say,
‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’”
Exodus 4:1
Moses had already experienced hostility
from his people before.
Moses had not been accepted by the Jews, in the past.
Now, Moses might imagine....
how would it go over,
when he tells them,
He was talking to a burning bush!
However.....God had told Moses,
that the elders, 'would' except him
(albeit in the future tense):
17 I will bring you up out of the oppression of Egypt
to the land of the
Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite,
to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’
18 Then they will pay attention to what you say;
and you with the elders of Israel
will come to the king of Egypt,
and you will say to him,
'The Lord, the God of the Hebrews,
has met with us.
So now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness,
so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’
Exodus 3:17,18
So this is kind of a 'natural' human fear.
I think from time to time,
we all fear, human rejection.
And so it seems God knowing this,
equips Moses:
First sign:
a staff,
that turns into a snake,
Second sign:
his hand that can turn leprous,
and back to normal.
And a third sign:
water from the Nile River,
poured on the ground will turn to blood.
Moses needed to know this:
6 For I am confident of this very thing,
that He who began a good work among you
will complete it by the day of Christ Jesus.
Philippians 1:6
Being foiled again by God,
knocking down Moses excuses....
Moses come up with a fourth excuse,
he 'thinks', (in my opinion), is a winner!
10 Then Moses said to the Lord,
“Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent,
neither recently nor in time past,
nor since You have spoken to Your servant;
for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”
Exodus 4:10
What can God possibly say to this fearful excuse?
After all, to be a good leader and commander,
you have to be able to communicate well!
Did God forget this about Moses?
Done for Today
|
|
|
|
Post by Cindy on Feb 23, 2021 12:02:14 GMT -5
Ha! I was looking for todays post....and did not see it!
Oh noooooo
Not again.
I saw youthat replied to 3 posts I recently made...
and then....
I checked my history......
And there was my post....
Waaaaay above your reply to the 3 posts.
Soooooo I am going to re-post it. :)
My words are in this color
and Bible scripture will be in this color today
Yesterday, I began to look at the third
excuse Moses gave as to why,
he ( Moses) could not do the commission,
God wanted him to do.
Then Moses said,
“What if they will not believe me
or listen to what I say?
For they may say,
‘The Lord has not appeared to you.’”
Exodus 4:1
Moses had already experienced hostility
from his people before.
Moses had not been accepted by the Jews, in the past.
Now, Moses might imagine....
how would it go over,
when he tells them,
He was talking to a burning bush!
However.....God had told Moses,
that the elders, 'would' except him
(albeit in the future tense):
17 I will bring you up out of the oppression of Egypt
to the land of the
Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite,
to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’
18 Then they will pay attention to what you say;
and you with the elders of Israel
will come to the king of Egypt,
and you will say to him,
'The Lord, the God of the Hebrews,
has met with us.
So now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness,
so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’
Exodus 3:17,18
So this is kind of a 'natural' human fear.
I think from time to time,
we all fear, human rejection.
And so it seems God knowing this,
equips Moses:
First sign:
a staff,
that turns into a snake,
Second sign:
his hand that can turn leprous,
and back to normal.
And a third sign:
water from the Nile River,
poured on the ground will turn to blood.
Moses needed to know this:
6 For I am confident of this very thing,
that He who began a good work among you
will complete it by the day of Christ Jesus.
Philippians 1:6
Being foiled again by God,
knocking down Moses excuses....
Moses come up with a fourth excuse,
he 'thinks', (in my opinion), is a winner!
10 Then Moses said to the Lord,
“Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent,
neither recently nor in time past,
nor since You have spoken to Your servant;
for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”
Exodus 4:10
What can God possibly say to this fearful excuse?
After all, to be a good leader and commander,
you have to be able to communicate well!
Did God forget this about Moses?
Done for Today
|
|
fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
|
Post by fearnot on Feb 23, 2021 12:57:14 GMT -5
My words are in this color
and Bible scripture will be in this color today
Yesterday, I left off writing,
with what 'seemed' like a perfect excuse,
for Moses,
to not be able to do the commission,
God wanted Moses to do.
Moses logic, seemed to be,
that a good and effective leader,
needed to be able to communicate and speak well.
10 Then Moses said to the Lord,
“Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent,
neither recently nor in time past,
nor since You have spoken to Your servant;
for I am slow of speech
and slow of tongue.”
Exodus 4:10
Moses claims he would be a poor spokesmen
because he was not an eloquent speaker.
Sounds like a good point to me....
Except....
Notice:
Moses is focused on himself,
what he cannot do......
He is not thinking about the God of all Creation,
and what God 'can' do!
Moses needs to have the attitude,
of our Lord Jesus while He was on earth:
30 “I can do nothing on My own.
As I hear, I judge;
and My judgment is righteous,
because I do not seek My own will
but the will of Him who sent Me.
John 5:30
Interestingly, Jeremiah used the almost,
exact, same excuse of not being a good speaker:
Then I said, “Oh, Lord God!
Behold, I do not know how to speak,
Because I am a youth.”
Jeremiah 1:6
Also, Was Moses 'fudging' a wee bit?
He was raised in the court of Pharaoh,
with most likely the best teaching available
Sooooo, whats up with the not eloquent?
And what about this:
2 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians,
and he was proficient in speaking and action.
Acts 7:22
This makes me think,
it might have been,
less about ability,
and more about fear....
and perhaps lack of confidence,
after 40 years,
in the desert,
with sheep.
Moses is worried about people again,
not listening to him,
while at the same time,
he, Moses,
is not listening to God.
While fearing the people would be unwilling,
Moses himself is unwilling.
And furthermore,
Moses most likely,
could have been fretting,
neither will Pharaoh, listen to him.
Actually, it would not be a job,
I would be looking forward to either!
But God, is not necessarily,
looking for a great orator.
God is looking for a 'truth teller'.
Someone like the apostle Paul:
10 For they say,
“His letters are weighty and strong,
but his personal presence is unimpressive
and his speech contemptible.”
2 Corinthians 10:10
I can so relate to Moses,
but here is the very sad, sinful downside...
When we say no,
and try to wiggle out of
a very uncomfortable situation...
We are not loving God
or other people!
God speaks to Moses speech difficulties
and
God gently rebukes him with this reproof::
11 But the Lord said to him,
“Who has made the human mouth?
Or who makes anyone unable to speak
or deaf,
or able to see or blind?
Is it not I, the Lord?
12 Now then go,
and I Myself will be with your mouth,
and instruct you in what you are to say.”
John 5:30
Again, the message is similar to this verse:
9 And He has said to me,
“My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is perfected in weakness.”
Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses,
so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
2 Corinthians 12:9
Note:
that God made it clear,
our bodies, are not from random mutations over billions of years.
This is not quite the end,
of this excuse
and Moses has one more
I will look at them tomorrow.
Done for today
|
|
|
|
Post by Cindy on Feb 24, 2021 10:37:18 GMT -5
My words are in this color
and Bible scripture will be in this color today
Yesterday, I left off writing,
with what 'seemed' like a perfect excuse,
for Moses,
to not be able to do the commission,
God wanted Moses to do.
Moses logic, seemed to be,
that a good and effective leader,
needed to be able to communicate and speak well.
10 Then Moses said to the Lord,
“Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent,
neither recently nor in time past,
nor since You have spoken to Your servant;
for I am slow of speech
and slow of tongue.”
Exodus 4:10
Moses claims he would be a poor spokesmen
because he was not an eloquent speaker.
Sounds like a good point to me....
Except....
Notice:
Moses is focused on himself,
what he cannot do......
He is not thinking about the God of all Creation,
and what God 'can' do!
Moses needs to have the attitude,
of our Lord Jesus while He was on earth:
30 “I can do nothing on My own.
As I hear, I judge;
and My judgment is righteous,
because I do not seek My own will
but the will of Him who sent Me.
John 5:30
Interestingly, Jeremiah used the almost,
exact, same excuse of not being a good speaker:
Then I said, “Oh, Lord God!
Behold, I do not know how to speak,
Because I am a youth.”
Jeremiah 1:6
Also, Was Moses 'fudging' a wee bit?
He was raised in the court of Pharaoh,
with most likely the best teaching available
Sooooo, whats up with the not eloquent?
And what about this:
2 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians,
and he was proficient in speaking and action.
Acts 7:22
This makes me think,
it might have been,
less about ability,
and more about fear....
and perhaps lack of confidence,
after 40 years,
in the desert,
with sheep.
Moses is worried about people again,
not listening to him,
while at the same time,
he, Moses,
is not listening to God.
While fearing the people would be unwilling,
Moses himself is unwilling.
And furthermore,
Moses most likely,
could have been fretting,
neither will Pharaoh, listen to him.
Actually, it would not be a job,
I would be looking forward to either!
But God, is not necessarily,
looking for a great orator.
God is looking for a 'truth teller'.
Someone like the apostle Paul:
10 For they say,
“His letters are weighty and strong,
but his personal presence is unimpressive
and his speech contemptible.”
2 Corinthians 10:10
I can so relate to Moses,
but here is the very sad, sinful downside...
When we say no,
and try to wiggle out of
a very uncomfortable situation...
We are not loving God
or other people!
God speaks to Moses speech difficulties
and
God gently rebukes him with this reproof::
11 But the Lord said to him,
“Who has made the human mouth?
Or who makes anyone unable to speak
or deaf,
or able to see or blind?
Is it not I, the Lord?
12 Now then go,
and I Myself will be with your mouth,
and instruct you in what you are to say.”
John 5:30
Again, the message is similar to this verse:
9 And He has said to me,
“My grace is sufficient for you,
for power is perfected in weakness.”
Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses,
so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
2 Corinthians 12:9
Note:
that God made it clear,
our bodies, are not from random mutations over billions of years.
This is not quite the end,
of this excuse
and Moses has one more
I will look at them tomorrow.
Done for today
|
|
|
|
Post by Cindy on Feb 24, 2021 10:54:02 GMT -5
Barbara, you don't have to repost your study when it's above one of my replies. I know where it is and can easily find it and reply to it ok? I just deleted 3 of your posts that you had copied. The reason I'm saying this is because I realized it makes the thread much more difficult for others to follow. You and I got way to comfortable thinking it was "just us" reading these threads and it's not. So don't worry about it when I reply between your posts.
|
|
fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
|
Post by fearnot on Feb 24, 2021 10:57:40 GMT -5
thank you Cindy. Last night was a very little sleep night....so not sure how today will go. I am very tired....so if you note any weird typos etc. be sure to ask. I will make an effort NOT to have any, but still, it's possible. LOL
|
|
fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
|
Post by fearnot on Feb 24, 2021 11:06:02 GMT -5
I did that because a few times it was so far up, that you thought I had not posted, so I was trying to avoid that.
I wonder if I maybe should not post it by say a certain time here.....
Because like if it is
( I will just pick any time...
you would know,the best time, not me)
Say if you have not replied some day by 11 my time,
it would mean, or it most likely mean,
you are not going to that day
( as it would be 2 in the afternoon (?) your time.
What do you think?
I could wait and even post at noon or two in the afternoon, my time
or even at supper time LOL
|
|
fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
|
Post by fearnot on Feb 24, 2021 11:15:38 GMT -5
My words are in this color
and Bible scripture will be in this color today
Yesterday, I was studying about the 4th excuse Moses gave to God,
as to why,
Moses felt he could not/would not
perform the commission God wanted Moses to do.
( actually god was honoring Moses)
Moses claimed he was not a good orator or communicator.
God then pointed out to Moses the obvious,
that He, God was the Creator of everything,
including Moses tongue,
so in essence,
This is not a problem Moses!
Then God says this:
12 Now then go,
and
I Myself will be with your mouth,
and instruct you in what you are to say.”
Exodus 4:12
First notice God commands Moses
to GO!
But then, God gives Him a wonderful promise
God Himself, with be with Moses mouth!!!
Not only that...
God will even give Moses the words to speak!
This reminds me of these verses:
19 But when they hand you over,
do not worry about how
or what you are to say;
for what you are to say will be given you in that hour.
20 For it is not you who are speaking,
but it is the Spirit of your Father who is speaking in you.
Matthew 10:19,20
I know what one of the lessons for me is,
when I am feeling fearful,
God seldom chooses:
the greatest,
the strongest,
folks with the highest IQ,
most beautiful,
most charming,
bold, with the most courage
etc.
He often choose those people that are broken,
and God gets the Glory,
because of what He can do with them.
It is God who will do the saving,
then
and
now
and furthermore, it is often like this:
18 For the word of the cross is foolishness
to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved
it is the power of God.
1 Corinthians 1:18
But Moses has one more plea,
To try to get out of this....
I think it is one we all have used or thought,
at one time or another:
PLEASE
Send someone,
anyone else!!!!!!
13 But he said,
“Please, Lord,
now send the message by whomever You will.”
Exodus 4:13
Notice the plaintive:
'Please'!
And yet, behind it is:
I don't WANT TO!
I don't want to obey you!
You don't understand how weak
how scared
and
how fearful I am!
But this is not good because
Moses's fear,
and disobedience,
Finally resulted in this:
Then the anger of the Lord burned against Moses,
and He said,
“Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite?
I know that he speaks fluently.
And moreover,
behold,
he is coming out to meet you;
when he sees you, he will be overjoyed.
Exodus 4:14
Making God angry is never a good thing!
Lord, do not rebuke me in Your wrath,
And do not punish me in Your burning anger.
Psalm 38:1
Still, even though God was frustrated with Moses,
He continues to strengthen his broken vessel
and even patiently and graciously,
solves this last fear for Moses.
7 having cast all your anxiety on Him,
because He cares about you.
1 Peter 5:7
Done for Today
|
|
|
|
Post by Cindy on Feb 25, 2021 10:35:09 GMT -5
thank you Cindy. Last night was a very little sleep night....so not sure how today will go. I am very tired....so if you note any weird typos etc. be sure to ask. I will make an effort NOT to have any, but still, it's possible. LOLI did that because a few times it was so far up, that you thought I had not posted, so I was trying to avoid that.
I wonder if I maybe should not post it by say a certain time here.....
Because like if it is
( I will just pick any time...
you would know,the best time, not me)
Say if you have not replied some day by 11 my time,
it would mean, or it most likely mean,
you are not going to that day
( as it would be 2 in the afternoon (?) your time.
What do you think?
I could wait and even post at noon or two in the afternoon, my time
or even at supper time LOL
My words are in this color
and Bible scripture will be in this color today
Yesterday, I was studying about the 4th excuse Moses gave to God,
as to why,
Moses felt he could not/would not
perform the commission God wanted Moses to do.
( actually god was honoring Moses)
Moses claimed he was not a good orator or communicator.
God then pointed out to Moses the obvious,
that He, God was the Creator of everything,
including Moses tongue,
so in essence,
This is not a problem Moses!
Then God says this:
12 Now then go,
and
I Myself will be with your mouth,
and instruct you in what you are to say.”
Exodus 4:12
First notice God commands Moses
to GO!
But then, God gives Him a wonderful promise
God Himself, with be with Moses mouth!!!
Not only that...
God will even give Moses the words to speak!
This reminds me of these verses:
19 But when they hand you over,
do not worry about how
or what you are to say;
for what you are to say will be given you in that hour.
20 For it is not you who are speaking,
but it is the Spirit of your Father who is speaking in you.
Matthew 10:19,20
I know what one of the lessons for me is,
when I am feeling fearful,
God seldom chooses:
the greatest,
the strongest,
folks with the highest IQ,
most beautiful,
most charming,
bold, with the most courage
etc.
He often choose those people that are broken,
and God gets the Glory,
because of what He can do with them.
It is God who will do the saving,
then
and
now
and furthermore, it is often like this:
18 For the word of the cross is foolishness
to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved
it is the power of God.
1 Corinthians 1:18
But Moses has one more plea,
To try to get out of this....
I think it is one we all have used or thought,
at one time or another:
PLEASE
Send someone,
anyone else!!!!!!
13 But he said,
“Please, Lord,
now send the message by whomever You will.”
Exodus 4:13
Notice the plaintive:
'Please'!
And yet, behind it is:
I don't WANT TO!
I don't want to obey you!
You don't understand how weak
how scared
and
how fearful I am!
But this is not good because
Moses's fear,
and disobedience,
Finally resulted in this:
Then the anger of the Lord burned against Moses,
and He said,
“Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite?
I know that he speaks fluently.
And moreover,
behold,
he is coming out to meet you;
when he sees you, he will be overjoyed.
Exodus 4:14
Making God angry is never a good thing!
Lord, do not rebuke me in Your wrath,
And do not punish me in Your burning anger.
Psalm 38:1
Still, even though God was frustrated with Moses,
He continues to strengthen his broken vessel
and even patiently and graciously,
solves this last fear for Moses.
7 having cast all your anxiety on Him,
because He cares about you.
1 Peter 5:7
Done for Today
That's one of the things I don't like about the versions that translate the original language by saying that God said He would be with Moses's mouth. That's just too weird. I prefer the ones that translate the words into the language we use today. They translate it as: “Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”” (Exodus 4:12)
Here's something interesting about Moses you might enjoy reading. This is what the Jews think about the story. Keep in mind however that they got a lot wrong. I'm not saying this is wrong, I just don't want anyone to think that just because it's what the Jewish rabbi's thought that it's automatically right. Jesus thought differently lol. This is very interesting though.
www.aish.com/tp/i/moha/48937337.html
|
|
fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
|
Post by fearnot on Feb 25, 2021 12:19:24 GMT -5
My words are in this color
and Bible scripture will be in this color today
Today, I would like to look at a wealthy young ruler,
wanting salvation,
but fears the 'cost',
and is sad,
but ultimately ends up walking away.
18 A certain ruler asked him,
“Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Luke 18:18
The rich ruler, asked this question of Jesus.
I think, there are still people,
who would love to be saved,
and have eternal life
and be forever, in Heaven, with Jesus.
But when it comes to the 'cost'
even small costs,
like: studying the Bible
(for one hour a day),
it turns out,
even that, is too big a cost.
They have other pressing priorities,
and those take supremacy.
They can't risk, losing:
home,
friends,
comfort,
entertainment,
money,
position
family
etc. etc.
This next verse just can't work in their lives
( because it is based on 'fear' of the 'cost'....
and that fear, is a sin)
23 Then he said to them all:
“Whoever wants to be my disciple
must deny themselves
and take up their cross
daily
and follow me.
Luke 9:23
Also these verses:
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus,
and turning to them he said:
26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother,
wife and children,
brothers and sisters—
yes, even their own life—
such a person cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14:25,26
Jesus asked this rich ruler a question and made a statement:
19 And Jesus said to him,
“Why do you call me good?
No one is good except God alone.
Luke 18:19
The conversation goes from:
how to be saved,
to
what is 'good'.
People call a lot of things 'good'
both material
( books, cars, movies, video games, mansions, food etc.)
also, various behaviors, emotions etc.
What will be the 'good' choice for this young rick ruler?
Is the young rich man, going to
love self ,and his great possessions,
or God?
I might be off on a strange tangent....
but to me,
even the way, this young wealthy person
asked about eternal life....
when I thought about it,
seems a little suspect.
This man asked:
"What must I do to inherit eternal life"
He did not ask:
How do I receive eternal life?
He 'seemingly' is thinking,
He can maybe, 'do' some good acts,
and thus earn eternal life.
13 For “everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord
will be saved.”
Romans 10:13
( But perhaps being a good business man,
he does not want to 'over' pay!)
I am thinking, he probably had done much to gain wealth.
And now, he also wants perhaps to add an insurance policy,
called eternal life.
And he might have thought,
there would be a 'reasonable cost'
in order, to 'inherit' eternal life:
Maybe, something like:
Helping the elderly with their groceries,
or maybe visit the sick, etc. etc.?
Something useful, benefiting of others?
But first off, one point, is:
When you
'inherit' something from someone,
You, have done nothing.
Sadly, I am seeing,
that this verse proved true for this rich ruler:
25 For it is easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle
than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
Luke 18:25
Tomorrow, I will go back to the question,
Jesus asked this ruler, about
what and who is 'good'
Why did Jesus ask this?
Why didn't Jesus instead alleviate any of the rulers fears,
and also just tell the ruler what to DO?
What is 'good'?
Reminds me of Pilate asking:
what is 'truth',
and
finding 'good' in Jesus,
but also walking away.
38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
After he had said this,
he went back outside to the Jews and told them,
“I find no guilt in him.
John 18:28
Done for today
|
|
|
|
Post by Cindy on Feb 26, 2021 9:25:27 GMT -5
My words are in this color
and Bible scripture will be in this color today
Today, I would like to look at a wealthy young ruler,
wanting salvation,
but fears the 'cost',
and is sad,
but ultimately ends up walking away.
18 A certain ruler asked him,
“Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Luke 18:18
The rich ruler, asked this question of Jesus.
I think, there are still people,
who would love to be saved,
and have eternal life
and be forever, in Heaven, with Jesus.
But when it comes to the 'cost'
even small costs,
like: studying the Bible
(for one hour a day),
it turns out,
even that, is too big a cost.
They have other pressing priorities,
and those take supremacy.
They can't risk, losing:
home,
friends,
comfort,
entertainment,
money,
position
family
etc. etc.
This next verse just can't work in their lives
( because it is based on 'fear' of the 'cost'....
and that fear, is a sin)
23 Then he said to them all:
“Whoever wants to be my disciple
must deny themselves
and take up their cross
daily
and follow me.
Luke 9:23
Also these verses:
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus,
and turning to them he said:
26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother,
wife and children,
brothers and sisters—
yes, even their own life—
such a person cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14:25,26
Jesus asked this rich ruler a question and made a statement:
19 And Jesus said to him,
“Why do you call me good?
No one is good except God alone.
Luke 18:19
The conversation goes from:
how to be saved,
to
what is 'good'.
People call a lot of things 'good'
both material
( books, cars, movies, video games, mansions, food etc.)
also, various behaviors, emotions etc.
What will be the 'good' choice for this young rick ruler?
Is the young rich man, going to
love self ,and his great possessions,
or God?
I might be off on a strange tangent....
but to me,
even the way, this young wealthy person
asked about eternal life....
when I thought about it,
seems a little suspect.
This man asked:
"What must I do to inherit eternal life"
He did not ask:
How do I receive eternal life?
He 'seemingly' is thinking,
He can maybe, 'do' some good acts,
and thus earn eternal life.
13 For “everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord
will be saved.”
Romans 10:13
( But perhaps being a good business man,
he does not want to 'over' pay!)
I am thinking, he probably had done much to gain wealth.
And now, he also wants perhaps to add an insurance policy,
called eternal life.
And he might have thought,
there would be a 'reasonable cost'
in order, to 'inherit' eternal life:
Maybe, something like:
Helping the elderly with their groceries,
or maybe visit the sick, etc. etc.?
Something useful, benefiting of others?
But first off, one point, is:
When you
'inherit' something from someone,
You, have done nothing.
Sadly, I am seeing,
that this verse proved true for this rich ruler:
25 For it is easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle
than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
Luke 18:25
Tomorrow, I will go back to the question,
Jesus asked this ruler, about
what and who is 'good'
Why did Jesus ask this?
Why didn't Jesus instead alleviate any of the rulers fears,
and also just tell the ruler what to DO?
What is 'good'?
Reminds me of Pilate asking:
what is 'truth',
and
finding 'good' in Jesus,
but also walking away.
38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
After he had said this,
he went back outside to the Jews and told them,
“I find no guilt in him.
John 18:28
Done for today
 Good! I'm glad you said you were going to talk about why Jesus asked him "who is good?" |
|
fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
|
Post by fearnot on Feb 26, 2021 13:34:12 GMT -5
Thank you sooooo much Cindy.....
I truly might have gone off on another tangent,
forgot, I had said, I wanted to look into that.....
so I am so glad you reminded me!
Thank you again, because it is a basic important point!
Even though I know, that I can never be 'good' enough to gain entrance into Heaven...
Still i once in a great while,
struggle with looking at it
( same issue,) but from the other end....
I still sometimes, grieve over a life time of depraved sins...
and fear waits to pounce,
and say:
See.....why would God want a disgusting sinner like you, in His beautiful heaven?
Thus I am orgetting the cost Jesus paid, for me
and essentiall, I am calling my Lord and Savior a liar.....
Because, I say...
well others sinned too I know....
but none so much, so badly, so grievously, so depraved as I did!!!
Thus saying,
my sins
are stronger than Jesus/God is...
(God who created the universe, life itself etc.)
So yeah, I seem to think, I am more powerful from time to time,
than God
( my sin that is)
Not too bright LOL
So yeah.....who is 'good'?
What is 'good'.
|
|
fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
|
Post by fearnot on Feb 26, 2021 14:15:12 GMT -5
My words are in this color
and Bible scripture will be in this color today
I am studying the rich young ruler again today.
And look a bit at what is 'good,
and 'who' is good.
I briefly looked at a few things, yesterday that
both secular unbelievers,
and even Christians call: 'good'.
But in these Bible verses,
the ruler calls Jesus 'good.
However, Jesus questions the young man,
and asks him,
why do you call me 'good'?
18 And a ruler asked him,
“Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 And Jesus said to him,
“Why do you call me good?
No one is good except God alone.
Luke 18:18,19
When we look at who is good,
we can look at it from two ways:
Which humans are 'good' people?
And is God 'good'...all of the time?
Or, as some people accuse God,
of not being 'good',
(because He allows so much evil in the world).
Of course, some people say,
Jesus was a 'good' man,
kind, wise, generous, helpful, did 'good' deeds etc. etc.
( but won't admit he was and IS and will always be, God.)
And many folks,
will call certain other people 'good',
for the same reasons:
good deeds, and good works.
Generally if you ask a person if 'they' are a 'good' person,
they will say yes....
because by comparison,
to a 'bad' person....
the ''good' person),
has not done 'bad' things
like:
mass murder etc. etc.
Plus, they also, do
'good' deeds.
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
there is none who does good.
Psalm 14:1
Many folks will take umbrage with that verse,
and say:
That is NOT true!
I do 'good' works and deeds, all time!
But what is 'good"
People often do 'good' works
in anticipation of being praised,
getting some kind of reward etc. etc.
Then that, is not a pure, holy deed,
but at best, is mixed with some kind of sin,
like: pride, greed etc.
Even IF,
we could somehow do 'good works'
God would then
'owe' us.....
blessing, eternal life etc.
He would be our servant.
it is almost, like this young rich ruler,
has determined, he has been so 'good'
all his life,
He has 'earned' eternal live,
but just is checking,
with Jesus,
to see if he,
missed anything?
So Jesus replies:
20 You know the commandments: ‘
Do not commit adultery,
Do not murder,
Do not steal,
Do not bear false witness,
Honor your father and mother.’”
21 And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.”
Luke 18:20,21
So this young rich ruler,
who said he had done all of the 'good' things
was not coming to God, based on God's 'goodness'...
thus coming to God as a 'child'
but rather, based on his own goodness.
15 Truly, I say to you,
whoever does not receive the kingdom of God
like a child shall not enter it.”
Mark 10:15
Back to the question,
Jesus asked,
and the statement, Jesus said.
Why do you call me 'good'
and
only God is good.
If Jesus was JUST a man,
like any other man,
this verse would apply to Him
( but of course, it does NOT, because Jesus was God):
23 for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 3:23
Jesus did NOT say;
I am not God.
He was asking the young man,
Do you really know who I am?
Because, if the young ruler called
Jesus 'good'
( like the ruler thought he was himself a 'good' man)
Then, that ,would have been a lie,
and Jesus would be a liar,
and 'bad' man.
Therefore, Jesus states what this ruler should have already known:
19 And Jesus said to him,
“Why do you call me good?
No one is good except God alone.
Luke 18:19
This is kind of like:
Connect the dots!
Recognize that you ( we all) are sinners,
and there is one HOLY God,
Jesus is God the Son:
100 percent man,
and 100 percent God
and totally 'good'.
The choice for this young ruler is
between:
self-righteous pride
and wealth,
combined with an deficient, understanding
of sin,
and especially his own sin.
or
humbling yourself before a true
'good' holy God!
Done for Today
|
|
fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
|
Post by fearnot on Feb 27, 2021 12:39:08 GMT -5
My words are in this color
and Bible scripture will be in this color today
When Jesus asked the rich young ruler about:
who is 'good'....
Jesus was NOT saying,
that He, Jesus, was NOT God.
Actually, it was quite the opposite!
He was pointing out to the young man,
that He, Jesus,
was not JUST, some "good' man.
Jesus was challenging
this young person
shallow,
superficial
definition of:
'goodness'.
And so,
this young ruler,
had to decide if ,
Jesus was 'God'
and therefore 100%...... 'good'
18 And a ruler asked him,
“Good Teacher,
what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 And Jesus said to him,
“Why do you call me good?
No one is good except God alone.
Luke 18:18
Jesus ( God the son)
Does not immediately tell this rich young man,
God loves you,
and wants you to be in Heaven,
when you die,
so pray this prayer.
NO!
instead.......
WHAT?
Jesus becomes 'legalistic'!
And talks about the law to the rich young ruler!
Why?
Well, as we shall see,
that, this young man is trying to 'work'
his way to Heaven,
by being:
'good',
following the rules,
obeying the law
etc.
This is not a 'bad' thing, in itself.....
except....
IF
you are trying to get to Heaven
by your 'goodness'........
instead of by,
the ONE who IS
GOOD!!
So this young person needs to
really look at the law,
he is trying to keep.
Thus Jesus says:
20 You know the commandments:
‘Do not commit adultery,
Do not murder,
Do not steal,
Do not bear false witness,
Honor your father and mother.’”
21 And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.”
Luke 18:20,21
Really?
Do we detect perhaps some 'pride' in that statement?
Maybe with a dash of 'arrogance'?
a speckle of 'audacity',
mixed with a touch of 'pretentiousness'
and beaten with some 'self-deception'
and 'self delusion'?
Like Paul, this young rich ruler
needs to learn,
as the Apostle Paul did:
19 For through the law
I died to the law,
so that I might live to God.
Galatians 2:19
This young person,
needs to die to 'self'.
Even so called,
'good'
responsible,
law obeying,
moral,
etc. people,
are not 'good' enough to enter
God's Holy Heaven
with a perfectly HOLY ('good') God!
( I keep thinking of Jehovah's Witnesses as an example).
I have some as next door neighbors.
We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
Isaiah 64:6
One might say,
Jesus tailored his words,
to what would 'speak',
to this man.....
who was immersed in legalism:
24 So then,
the law
was our guardian
until
Christ came,
in order that we might be justified by faith.
Galatians 3:24
Therefore, I think, Jesus,
purposely, give the rich young ruler,
a 'law',
even, he knows,
he has NOT obeyed......
and is a law, which is where,
the young man's
FEAR lives:
22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him,
“One thing you still lack.
Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven;
and come, follow me.”
23 But when he heard these things,
he became very sad,
for he was extremely rich.
Luke 18:22,23
Now we see the 'true truth',
The 'good' young man's
keeping the law.....
is exposed
to the 'light' of God.
Things and people,
are not always what they seem.
Nevertheless, Jesus gives us hope:
24 Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said,
“How difficult it is for those who have wealth
to enter the kingdom of God!
25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 Those who heard it said,
“Then who can be saved?”
27 But he said,
“What is impossible with man
is possible with God.”
Luke 18:24-27
Done for Today
|
|
fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
|
Post by fearnot on Feb 28, 2021 10:57:56 GMT -5
My words are in this color
and Bible scripture will be in this color today
Today is Sunday, so my Bible study will be shorter.
I thought I would look at what seems to be almost conflicting doctrine on fear.
However, just because at first,
two verses 'SEEM" to say opposite things,
that is never the case.
33 for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace.
As in all the churches of the saints,
1 Corinthians 14:33
I have been looking at a few men in scripture,
that fear caused them to sin.
And here are two, seemingly,
at first glance,
opposite Bible verses,
concerning
fear:
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:7
but then there is this:
18 There is no fear in love,
but perfect love drives out fear,
because fear involves punishment,
and the one who fears
is not perfected in love.
1 John 4:18
I think, the first verse, ( proverbs 1:7) is saying,
Do not become proud, and foolish,
as an life long atheist,
declaring there is NO God.
If you do so,
you will have a legitimate reasons to fear:
you will never have wisdom,
but worse,
you will spend eternity in Hell.
That fear, should set us running,
towards the second biblical verse,
towards God,
God, of grace and love,
who will banish our fear,
by His great love.
Fear is to be replaced,
and driven out,
only,
by the love of God.
I think our fear of losing material items,
is based on a lack of faith,
in God.
I am not saying that,
we will never lose material items,
or if we do...
God will immediately replace them with something better
( though, He could, and He might),
But even if God chooses NOT
to replace our loses,
If we are fearing,
then we are not believing
or trusting,
that God will in some way,
make it be for our ultimate benefit,
Like:
32 Do not be afraid, little flock,
because your Father has chosen to give you the kingdom.
Luke 12:32
When we fear in that way,
we have lost sight, that
God is always with us:
5 Make sure that your character
is free from the love of money,
being content with what you have;
for He Himself has said,
“I will never desert you,
nor will I ever abandon you,”
Hebrews 13:5
Also this verse:
Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not be afraid, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, I will also help you,
I will also uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
Isaiah 41:10
However, it seems like,
our brains are hardwired to fear.
Some fear, is to protect us from
physical harm,
but other fears,
though in a sense are real enough:
sickness,
loss of finances,
war,
fear of people,
fear of death
etc etc etc.
Nevertheless....
All fear is an opportunity,
to step out in faith,
and pray, and lean on God.
The Lord is for me; I will not fear;
What can man do to me?
Psalms 118:6
and this scripture verse:
Even though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death,
I fear no evil,
for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
Psalms 23:4
And here is another:
6 Do not be anxious about anything,
but in everything by prayer
and pleading with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known to God.
Philippians 4:6,7
Done for today
|
|
fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
|
Post by fearnot on Mar 1, 2021 11:18:33 GMT -5
My words are in this color
and Bible scripture will be in this color today
In one sense what you fear, can point to what you worship:
being poor,
or not popular,
things to do with the body,
( not beautiful, ill, pain, etc.)
death
evil, Satan, demons
etc.
I will just briefly look at a few of these fears.
So, many poor, think,
if I were rich, I would no longer fear,
I could buy whatever I need,
nay,
whatever I want!
But is that true?
10 One who loves money
will not be satisfied with money,
nor one who loves abundance with its income.
This too is futility.
Ecclesiastes 5:10
And worse yet:
10 For the love of money
is a root of all sorts of evil,
and some by longing for it
have wandered away from the faith
and pierced themselves with many griefs.
1 Timothy 6:10
But here is a wonderful help:
5 Make sure that your character is free from the love of money,
being content with what you have;
]for He Himself has said,
“I will never desert you, nor will I ever abandon you,”
Hebrews 13:5
I believe having Jesus for eternity,
and being poor in this life,
is worth it.
(Not that being poor will guarantee salvation,
because that is not true.)
Here is another verse that speaks to this issue:
31 Do not worry then, saying,
‘What are we to eat?’
or ‘What are we to drink?’
or ‘What are we to wear for clothing?’
32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things;
for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33 But seek first His kingdom
and His righteousness,
and all these things will be provided to you.
Matthew 6:31-33
Other people, fear not having friends.
Perhaps thinking, a friend would
always watch their back.
But even IF you were 'popular',
'so called' friends can betray you...
in a heart beat.
16 But you will be betrayed even by parents,
brothers and sisters,
other relatives,
and friends,
and they will put some of you to death,
Luke 21:16
One example,
in the Bible,
was the 'sort of'
strong handsome athlete
and the beauty queen,
how perfect, right...
wrong.
Delilah betrayed Samson.
6 So Delilah said to Samson,
“Please tell me where your great strength lies,
and how you can be bound to humble you.”
Judges 16:6
I will add more tomorrow
Done for today
|
|
|
|
Post by Cindy on Mar 1, 2021 11:31:24 GMT -5
Thank you sooooo much Cindy.....
I truly might have gone off on another tangent,
forgot, I had said, I wanted to look into that.....
so I am so glad you reminded me!
Thank you again, because it is a basic important point!
Even though I know, that I can never be 'good' enough to gain entrance into Heaven...
Still i once in a great while,
struggle with looking at it
( same issue,) but from the other end....
I still sometimes, grieve over a life time of depraved sins...
and fear waits to pounce,
and say:
See.....why would God want a disgusting sinner like you, in His beautiful heaven?
Thus I am orgetting the cost Jesus paid, for me
and essentiall, I am calling my Lord and Savior a liar.....
Because, I say...
well others sinned too I know....
but none so much, so badly, so grievously, so depraved as I did!!!
Thus saying,
my sins
are stronger than Jesus/God is...
(God who created the universe, life itself etc.)
So yeah, I seem to think, I am more powerful from time to time,
than God
( my sin that is)
Not too bright LOL
So yeah.....who is 'good'?
What is 'good'.
fresh-hope.com/thread/5826/chat-24-maranatha?page=10&scrollTo=32192
It's ok to know and admit that we have been filthy sinners; that we are basically evil and that the only good in us, is what God has put there. In fact, it's good to know that. That shows we are facing reality! BUT, it's equally good to realize that the very reason God chose to save such filthy sinners such as me and you, is because by justifying us and making us more and more righteous over this lifetime and then completing our salvation by removing the sin nature and making us truly 100% righteous just like Jesus is, brings Him great glory! It obviously wouldn't bring God a lot of glory to take a very righteous person and make them more righteous, would it? So He chose people like us, which brings Him a tremendous amount of glory!
Yet at the same time, we must also remember that God is removing the sin from our lives little by little as we cooperate with Him by being obedient and staying in His Word daily and applying it to our lives, and that eventually we will be 100% free of sin, without spot or blemish of it! What a glorious day that will be! MacArthur says that in this life time, we will always struggle with overcoming sin, but at the same time we will sin less and less as time goes by, but we will feel worse because we will realize just how evil we were and how evil we would stiff be without God. That's what you and I are feeling, and it's ok. But we must not ever even suggest that God hasn't been removing sin from us and transforming us into the likeness of Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18). We must give God the glory for what He's already done in us and what He will continue to do, for we know that God will complete the work of our salvation. (Philippians 1:6) That's why it's so wrong for us to put ourselves down. I know...it sounds like I'm contradicting myself, but I'm really not. When we put ourselves down, we're actually lying, because we're saying things that God says aren't true about us. It is true that we are basically evil except for the good God has put in us. (Romans 7:18; Romans 7:20; Romans 7:24–25) We recognize that, but don't dwell on it. Instead we dwell on the good He has put in us, and is continuing to change in us.... Anyway, MacArthur says it a whole lot better! 
My words are in this color
and Bible scripture will be in this color today
I am studying the rich young ruler again today.
And look a bit at what is 'good,
and 'who' is good.
I briefly looked at a few things, yesterday that
both secular unbelievers,
and even Christians call: 'good'.
But in these Bible verses,
the ruler calls Jesus 'good.
However, Jesus questions the young man,
and asks him,
why do you call me 'good'?
18 And a ruler asked him,
“Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 And Jesus said to him,
“Why do you call me good?
No one is good except God alone.
Luke 18:18,19
When we look at who is good,
we can look at it from two ways:
Which humans are 'good' people?
And is God 'good'...all of the time?
Or, as some people accuse God,
of not being 'good',
(because He allows so much evil in the world).
Of course, some people say,
Jesus was a 'good' man,
kind, wise, generous, helpful, did 'good' deeds etc. etc.
( but won't admit he was and IS and will always be, God.)
And many folks,
will call certain other people 'good',
for the same reasons:
good deeds, and good works.
Generally if you ask a person if 'they' are a 'good' person,
they will say yes....
because by comparison,
to a 'bad' person....
the ''good' person),
has not done 'bad' things
like:
mass murder etc. etc.
Plus, they also, do
'good' deeds.
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;
there is none who does good.
Psalm 14:1
Many folks will take umbrage with that verse,
and say:
That is NOT true!
I do 'good' works and deeds, all time!
But what is 'good"
People often do 'good' works
in anticipation of being praised,
getting some kind of reward etc. etc.
Then that, is not a pure, holy deed,
but at best, is mixed with some kind of sin,
like: pride, greed etc.
Even IF,
we could somehow do 'good works'
God would then
'owe' us.....
blessing, eternal life etc.
He would be our servant.
it is almost, like this young rich ruler,
has determined, he has been so 'good'
all his life,
He has 'earned' eternal live,
but just is checking,
with Jesus,
to see if he,
missed anything?
So Jesus replies:
20 You know the commandments: ‘
Do not commit adultery,
Do not murder,
Do not steal,
Do not bear false witness,
Honor your father and mother.’”
21 And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.”
Luke 18:20,21
So this young rich ruler,
who said he had done all of the 'good' things
was not coming to God, based on God's 'goodness'...
thus coming to God as a 'child'
but rather, based on his own goodness.
15 Truly, I say to you,
whoever does not receive the kingdom of God
like a child shall not enter it.”
Mark 10:15
Back to the question,
Jesus asked,
and the statement, Jesus said.
Why do you call me 'good'
and
only God is good.
If Jesus was JUST a man,
like any other man,
this verse would apply to Him
( but of course, it does NOT, because Jesus was God):
23 for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 3:23
Jesus did NOT say;
I am not God.
He was asking the young man,
Do you really know who I am?
Because, if the young ruler called
Jesus 'good'
( like the ruler thought he was himself a 'good' man)
Then, that ,would have been a lie,
and Jesus would be a liar,
and 'bad' man.
Therefore, Jesus states what this ruler should have already known:
19 And Jesus said to him,
“Why do you call me good?
No one is good except God alone.
Luke 18:19
This is kind of like:
Connect the dots!
Recognize that you ( we all) are sinners,
and there is one HOLY God,
Jesus is God the Son:
100 percent man,
and 100 percent God
and totally 'good'.
The choice for this young ruler is
between:
self-righteous pride
and wealth,
combined with an deficient, understanding
of sin,
and especially his own sin.
or
humbling yourself before a true
'good' holy God!
Done for Today
My words are in this color
and Bible scripture will be in this color today
When Jesus asked the rich young ruler about:
who is 'good'....
Jesus was NOT saying,
that He, Jesus, was NOT God.
Actually, it was quite the opposite!
He was pointing out to the young man,
that He, Jesus,
was not JUST, some "good' man.
Jesus was challenging
this young person
shallow,
superficial
definition of:
'goodness'.
And so,
this young ruler,
had to decide if ,
Jesus was 'God'
and therefore 100%...... 'good'
18 And a ruler asked him,
“Good Teacher,
what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
19 And Jesus said to him,
“Why do you call me good?
No one is good except God alone.
Luke 18:18
Jesus ( God the son)
Does not immediately tell this rich young man,
God loves you,
and wants you to be in Heaven,
when you die,
so pray this prayer.
NO!
instead.......
WHAT?
Jesus becomes 'legalistic'!
And talks about the law to the rich young ruler!
Why?
Well, as we shall see,
that, this young man is trying to 'work'
his way to Heaven,
by being:
'good',
following the rules,
obeying the law
etc.
This is not a 'bad' thing, in itself.....
except....
IF
you are trying to get to Heaven
by your 'goodness'........
instead of by,
the ONE who IS
GOOD!!
So this young person needs to
really look at the law,
he is trying to keep.
Thus Jesus says:
20 You know the commandments:
‘Do not commit adultery,
Do not murder,
Do not steal,
Do not bear false witness,
Honor your father and mother.’”
21 And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.”
Luke 18:20,21
Really?
Do we detect perhaps some 'pride' in that statement?
Maybe with a dash of 'arrogance'?
a speckle of 'audacity',
mixed with a touch of 'pretentiousness'
and beaten with some 'self-deception'
and 'self delusion'?
Like Paul, this young rich ruler
needs to learn,
as the Apostle Paul did:
19 For through the law
I died to the law,
so that I might live to God.
Galatians 2:19
This young person,
needs to die to 'self'.
Even so called,
'good'
responsible,
law obeying,
moral,
etc. people,
are not 'good' enough to enter
God's Holy Heaven
with a perfectly HOLY ('good') God!
( I keep thinking of Jehovah's Witnesses as an example).
I have some as next door neighbors.
We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
Isaiah 64:6
One might say,
Jesus tailored his words,
to what would 'speak',
to this man.....
who was immersed in legalism:
24 So then,
the law
was our guardian
until
Christ came,
in order that we might be justified by faith.
Galatians 3:24
Therefore, I think, Jesus,
purposely, give the rich young ruler,
a 'law',
even, he knows,
he has NOT obeyed......
and is a law, which is where,
the young man's
FEAR lives:
22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him,
“One thing you still lack.
Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven;
and come, follow me.”
23 But when he heard these things,
he became very sad,
for he was extremely rich.
Luke 18:22,23
Now we see the 'true truth',
The 'good' young man's
keeping the law.....
is exposed
to the 'light' of God.
Things and people,
are not always what they seem.
Nevertheless, Jesus gives us hope:
24 Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said,
“How difficult it is for those who have wealth
to enter the kingdom of God!
25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 Those who heard it said,
“Then who can be saved?”
27 But he said,
“What is impossible with man
is possible with God.”
Luke 18:24-27
Done for Today
 I loved this part: Do we detect perhaps some 'pride' in that statement?
Maybe with a dash of 'arrogance'?
a speckle of 'audacity',
mixed with a touch of 'pretentiousness'
and beaten with some 'self-deception'
and 'self delusion'?
My words are in this color
and Bible scripture will be in this color today
Today is Sunday, so my Bible study will be shorter.
I thought I would look at what seems to be almost conflicting doctrine on fear.
However, just because at first,
two verses 'SEEM" to say opposite things,
that is never the case.
33 for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace.
As in all the churches of the saints,
1 Corinthians 14:33
I have been looking at a few men in scripture,
that fear caused them to sin.
And here are two, seemingly,
at first glance,
opposite Bible verses,
concerning
fear:
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;
Fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:7
but then there is this:
18 There is no fear in love,
but perfect love drives out fear,
because fear involves punishment,
and the one who fears
is not perfected in love.
1 John 4:18
I think, the first verse, ( proverbs 1:7) is saying,
Do not become proud, and foolish,
as an life long atheist,
declaring there is NO God.
If you do so,
you will have a legitimate reasons to fear:
you will never have wisdom,
but worse,
you will spend eternity in Hell.
That fear, should set us running,
towards the second biblical verse,
towards God,
God, of grace and love,
who will banish our fear,
by His great love.
Fear is to be replaced,
and driven out,
only,
by the love of God.
I think our fear of losing material items,
is based on a lack of faith,
in God.
I am not saying that,
we will never lose material items,
or if we do...
God will immediately replace them with something better
( though, He could, and He might),
But even if God chooses NOT
to replace our loses,
If we are fearing,
then we are not believing
or trusting,
that God will in some way,
make it be for our ultimate benefit,
Like:
32 Do not be afraid, little flock,
because your Father has chosen to give you the kingdom.
Luke 12:32
When we fear in that way,
we have lost sight, that
God is always with us:
5 Make sure that your character
is free from the love of money,
being content with what you have;
for He Himself has said,
“I will never desert you,
nor will I ever abandon you,”
Hebrews 13:5
Also this verse:
Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not be afraid, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, I will also help you,
I will also uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
Isaiah 41:10
However, it seems like,
our brains are hardwired to fear.
Some fear, is to protect us from
physical harm,
but other fears,
though in a sense are real enough:
sickness,
loss of finances,
war,
fear of people,
fear of death
etc etc etc.
Nevertheless....
All fear is an opportunity,
to step out in faith,
and pray, and lean on God.
The Lord is for me; I will not fear;
What can man do to me?
Psalms 118:6
and this scripture verse:
Even though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death,
I fear no evil,
for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
Psalms 23:4
And here is another:
6 Do not be anxious about anything,
but in everything by prayer
and pleading with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known to God.
Philippians 4:6,7
Done for today
|
|
fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
|
Post by fearnot on Mar 1, 2021 11:59:23 GMT -5
As always super cool things you said:
quote Cindy:
"It obviously wouldn't bring God a lot of glory to take a very righteous person and make them more righteous, would it?
So He chose people like us, which brings Him a tremendous amount of glory!"
Again, I never thought of it quite like that.
Also:
"Like we don't really trust Him that our true life won't be over when this body dies. "
and:
"It's like we want to hang on to the $1 dollar items we have,
and refuse to believe that they will each be exchanged for priceless items in Heaven".
So today's post is about 4 posts above
( in case there really are others reading this :)
They might not know where it is.....
Of course, they will see it and your reply tomorrow,
if they cannot find it.
And in a way, that might be the best, because you comments are so so soooooo good!!!! :)
Plus, if I make a mistake, and you catch it ( you usually do :)
then they wouldn't be reading the mistake without a correction.
|
|
|
|
Post by Cindy on Mar 2, 2021 8:43:24 GMT -5
My words are in this color
and Bible scripture will be in this color today
In one sense what you fear, can point to what you worship:
being poor,
or not popular,
things to do with the body,
( not beautiful, ill, pain, etc.)
death
evil, Satan, demons
etc.
I will just briefly look at a few of these fears.
So, many poor, think,
if I were rich, I would no longer fear,
I could buy whatever I need,
nay,
whatever I want!
But is that true?
10 One who loves money
will not be satisfied with money,
nor one who loves abundance with its income.
This too is futility.
Ecclesiastes 5:10
And worse yet:
10 For the love of money
is a root of all sorts of evil,
and some by longing for it
have wandered away from the faith
and pierced themselves with many griefs.
1 Timothy 6:10
But here is a wonderful help:
5 Make sure that your character is free from the love of money,
being content with what you have;
]for He Himself has said,
“I will never desert you, nor will I ever abandon you,”
Hebrews 13:5
I believe having Jesus for eternity,
and being poor in this life,
is worth it.
(Not that being poor will guarantee salvation,
because that is not true.)
Here is another verse that speaks to this issue:
31 Do not worry then, saying,
‘What are we to eat?’
or ‘What are we to drink?’
or ‘What are we to wear for clothing?’
32 For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things;
for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33 But seek first His kingdom
and His righteousness,
and all these things will be provided to you.
Matthew 6:31-33
Other people, fear not having friends.
Perhaps thinking, a friend would
always watch their back.
But even IF you were 'popular',
'so called' friends can betray you...
in a heart beat.
16 But you will be betrayed even by parents,
brothers and sisters,
other relatives,
and friends,
and they will put some of you to death,
Luke 21:16
One example,
in the Bible,
was the 'sort of'
strong handsome athlete
and the beauty queen,
how perfect, right...
wrong.
Delilah betrayed Samson.
6 So Delilah said to Samson,
“Please tell me where your great strength lies,
and how you can be bound to humble you.”
Judges 16:6
I will add more tomorrow
Done for today
As always super cool things you said:
quote Cindy:
"It obviously wouldn't bring God a lot of glory to take a very righteous person and make them more righteous, would it?
So He chose people like us, which brings Him a tremendous amount of glory!"
Again, I never thought of it quite like that.
Also:
"Like we don't really trust Him that our true life won't be over when this body dies. "
and:
"It's like we want to hang on to the $1 dollar items we have,
and refuse to believe that they will each be exchanged for priceless items in Heaven".
So today's post is about 4 posts above
( in case there really are others reading this :)
They might not know where it is.....
Of course, they will see it and your reply tomorrow,
if they cannot find it.
And in a way, that might be the best, because you comments are so so soooooo good!!!! :)
Plus, if I make a mistake, and you catch it ( you usually do :)
then they wouldn't be reading the mistake without a correction.
|
|
fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
|
Post by fearnot on Mar 2, 2021 9:59:49 GMT -5
Morning?
What?!
You must be up, at 4????
That is not even 'morning'....
that
is the middle of the night!!! LOL
|
|
fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
|
Post by fearnot on Mar 2, 2021 11:36:59 GMT -5
My words are in this color
and
Bible quotes are in this color
When thinking about someone in the New Testament,
whom it 'seems' would have a legitimate reason to fear...
would have been the apostle Paul.
He was severely persecuted in his Christian ministry.
Here is a list of some of the types of hostility etc.
he faced:
24 From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one.
25 Three times I was beaten with rods;
once I was stoned;
three times I was shipwrecked;
a night and a day I have been in the deep;
26 in journeys often,
in perils of waters,
in perils of robbers,
in perils of my own countrymen,
in perils of the Gentiles,
in perils in the city,
in perils in the wilderness,
in perils in the sea,
in perils among false brethren;
2 Corinthians 11:24-26
Yep! That would have done me in,
just one time being whipped,
would have traumatized me forever,
and talk about being 'fearful'
I would be cringing with a a spirit of timidity,
more than I already have!!
But what did the Apostle Paul say to Timothy?
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear,
but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7
Instead, Paul
( rather God through Paul)
calls for 'courage' of our convictions.
We are not to be ashamed of the gospel.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel,
because it is the power of God
that brings salvation
to everyone who believes:
first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
Romans 1:16
I think there are Christians,
who fear being mocked for believing...
Because unbelievers, love to deem
the intelligence of believers,
as being
narrow-minded.
Neanderthals.
And the unbeliever add to the insults
words like:
bigots,
judgmental,
fanatical
Puritanical
racist
homophobic
sexist
etc. etc. etc.
This is kind of a mild persecution.
One small cost of being a Christian.
When we are born again, we give up
the idea of ever being 'popular'.
And so, nevertheless, this ought to be our attitude,
in the face of hostility,
instead of fear and cowering:
I will speak of your statutes before kings
and will not be put to shame,
Psalms 119:46
God's gifts are good gifts,
fear is not a good gift,
so God did not give us a spirit of fear.
Instead, here is an example of what
God does give:
3 His divine power has given us
everything we need for a godly life
through our knowledge of him
who called us by his own glory and goodness.
2 Peter 1:3
Note, it is not the believer that is lacking in
knowledge,
rather the unbeliever is lacking in
knowledge of God.
Plus, in addition to the knowledge of Him,
I think God also includes:
His divine power, to overcome 'fears',
and other difficulties, even to the point of,
sufferings like Paul and other martyrs,
and even death.( if He calls you to that).
Paul goes on to say to Timothy:
8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony
about our Lord
or of me his prisoner.
Rather,
join with me in suffering for the gospel,
by the power of God.
2 Timothy 1:8
Now to be 'invited' to join in suffering,
for someone weak- kneed like, me....
would send us (me) running,
to the nearest sand dune,
to poke our heads into....
in order to hide,
in fear and trembling.
Still, Paul did say:
"by the power of God".
So I know, I cannot do it
in my own power.
But....
by God's power,
If God should ever call me,
to suffer that way....
then yes.
Can this be from the super brave and courageous
king David?
Oh well, it is a wonderful example to follow when afraid:
When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
Psalms 56:3
Done for today
|
|
|
|
Post by Cindy on Mar 3, 2021 10:56:39 GMT -5
Morning?
What?!
You must be up, at 4????
That is not even 'morning'....
that
is the middle of the night!!! LOL
My words are in this color
and
Bible quotes are in this color
When thinking about someone in the New Testament,
whom it 'seems' would have a legitimate reason to fear...
would have been the apostle Paul.
He was severely persecuted in his Christian ministry.
Here is a list of some of the types of hostility etc.
he faced:
24 From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one.
25 Three times I was beaten with rods;
once I was stoned;
three times I was shipwrecked;
a night and a day I have been in the deep;
26 in journeys often,
in perils of waters,
in perils of robbers,
in perils of my own countrymen,
in perils of the Gentiles,
in perils in the city,
in perils in the wilderness,
in perils in the sea,
in perils among false brethren;
2 Corinthians 11:24-26
Yep! That would have done me in,
just one time being whipped,
would have traumatized me forever,
and talk about being 'fearful'
I would be cringing with a a spirit of timidity,
more than I already have!!
But what did the Apostle Paul say to Timothy?
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear,
but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7
Instead, Paul
( rather God through Paul)
calls for 'courage' of our convictions.
We are not to be ashamed of the gospel.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel,
because it is the power of God
that brings salvation
to everyone who believes:
first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
Romans 1:16
I think there are Christians,
who fear being mocked for believing...
Because unbelievers, love to deem
the intelligence of believers,
as being
narrow-minded.
Neanderthals.
And the unbeliever add to the insults
words like:
bigots,
judgmental,
fanatical
Puritanical
racist
homophobic
sexist
etc. etc. etc.
This is kind of a mild persecution.
One small cost of being a Christian.
When we are born again, we give up
the idea of ever being 'popular'.
And so, nevertheless, this ought to be our attitude,
in the face of hostility,
instead of fear and cowering:
I will speak of your statutes before kings
and will not be put to shame,
Psalms 119:46
God's gifts are good gifts,
fear is not a good gift,
so God did not give us a spirit of fear.
Instead, here is an example of what
God does give:
3 His divine power has given us
everything we need for a godly life
through our knowledge of him
who called us by his own glory and goodness.
2 Peter 1:3
Note, it is not the believer that is lacking in
knowledge,
rather the unbeliever is lacking in
knowledge of God.
Plus, in addition to the knowledge of Him,
I think God also includes:
His divine power, to overcome 'fears',
and other difficulties, even to the point of,
sufferings like Paul and other martyrs,
and even death.( if He calls you to that).
Paul goes on to say to Timothy:
8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony
about our Lord
or of me his prisoner.
Rather,
join with me in suffering for the gospel,
by the power of God.
2 Timothy 1:8
Now to be 'invited' to join in suffering,
for someone weak- kneed like, me....
would send us (me) running,
to the nearest sand dune,
to poke our heads into....
in order to hide,
in fear and trembling.
Still, Paul did say:
"by the power of God".
So I know, I cannot do it
in my own power.
But....
by God's power,
If God should ever call me,
to suffer that way....
then yes.
Can this be from the super brave and courageous
king David?
Oh well, it is a wonderful example to follow when afraid:
When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
Psalms 56:3
Done for today
 What you said at the start, "Yep! That would have done me in,
just one time being whipped, would have traumatized me forever, and talk about being 'fearful' I would be cringing with a a spirit of timidity, more than I already have!!" would be true of most everyone, likely including Paul before it happened. The reason Paul could say what he does is because he discovered that God gave him the ability to get through the things that happened, things we couldn't imagine having to go through once much less numerous times. Nowhere does Paul say that he wasn't afraid of the pain the beatings or whip would cause him - He certainly doesn't say he looked forward to things like that either, but he did "endure" them and persevered through them. Not because he had to, but because he wanted to persevere through them for the sake of the one he loved more then life itself - Jesus. Because he was willing to go through that pain the first time it happened, he discovered that Jesus gave him the ability to endure it even more then he ever thought he'd be able to. I'm pretty sure if we ask him when we get to heaven about this, that he would say that this was another reason what he wrote to the Corinthians was true: “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9–10) I think he would tell us that we need not worry in advance that something bad will happen to us, and we certainly shouldn't dwell on it, but if the situation should arise, we should remind ourselves that the Lord will help us bear it. I think he would also advise us to recall these things to help ourselves by remembering the truth about them: “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:17–18) and “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.” (2 Corinthians 1:3–5) And finally, “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.” (Philippians 1:27–30)
Since both of us live with a lot of pain every day, I have to remind you of something. If you were able to take your pain and put it in a bottle of water so that whoever drank that water would then feel the exact same pain as you do, how do you think someone who drank that water would feel about that pain? I believe that they would be in tears and pleading with everyone to "make it stop!" Others might ask then why you aren't saying that every day? To be honest, it wouldn't surprise me if you had said that at times, because I know for sure that I did when this pain first started. I think I said that a bunch of times during the first year. But over time your body becomes used to the pain. You realize that it's not going to go away and so you learn to live with it. That's pretty much what Paul did too. Of course those of us who are saved also have the advantage of being helped to bear the pain by the Lord and also having Him relieve our pain when it gets to where we can't deal with it anymore.
So... you know when you said, "So I know, I cannot do it in my own power. But....by God's power, If God should ever call me, to suffer that way.... then yes." I've got a surprise for you.... you were called some time ago and have been dealing with it for a very long time! I don't know if you remember it or not, but one time when talking about the pain we live with, I said that I believe that God gave us a great blessing a gift and really honored us when He chose us to live with pain. Not everyone can live with pain, but we have done so with His help and I know for a fact that He has brought a great deal of good into my life because of the pain. The first huge blessing He gave me because of it was and is that I have many hours a day that I can spend in His Word, prayer and worship, every single day! Most people have to work and therefore can't take the time I do. Because of that, He has grown my faith tremendously, and blessed me in many other ways too. Honestly if given the choice right now of being able to go back in time and live my life without pain, or continuing as I was, I would choose to keep the pain, because I'd much rather have the close relationship to the Lord that I have due to the pain, then not to have it. I really do believe that believers who live with pain have been given a great honor and gift. Sadly some refuse it and therefore miss all the blessings; but many do as we have and are forever changed!
 
|
|
fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
|
Post by fearnot on Mar 3, 2021 11:10:42 GMT -5
Great points! Thank you :)
|
|
fearnot
Living With Pain
Posts: 8,383
|
Post by fearnot on Mar 3, 2021 11:23:29 GMT -5
My words are in this color
and
Bible quotes are in this color
I think, as the end times are speeding up on us Christians,
more and more, we are apt to begin to think:
The day may soon be coming,
that if I talk about Jesus,
I may be jailed,
or even killed,
because someone got
'triggered'!
We are living in a time, when, I really do believe,
more and more, people can no longer think,
sanely, logically, or reasonably.
In fact, many are going insane...
and so
it is not unreasonable, to be a bit scared.
I don't think, the world has been this 'mad' ,
since the time
of Noah.
On the other hand, if I don't talk or write about our Lord,
I may as well be dead.
Still, some of us, Christians ,
are very timid, cowardly scaredy cats.
I think, maybe Timothy was that way to some extent:
10 When Timothy comes,
see to it that he has nothing to fear
while he is with you,
for he is carrying on the work of the Lord, just as I am.
1 Corinthians 16:10
And perhaps part of the reason, Paul writes this to Timothy,
is because Timothy was a bit fearful.
( but God is also speaking to us timid fearful Christians today):
7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid,
but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
2 Timothy 1:7
The cost ( of being a believer in Jesus)
may be super high,
and getting higher,
which is why Jesus said to count the cost, of becoming
his disciple:
27 And whoever does not carry their cross
and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower.
Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost
to see if you have enough money to complete it?
29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it,
everyone who sees it will ridicule you,
Luke 14:27-29
Another way of wording this verse, would be,
you will have to suffer,
to one degree,
or another.
Even so, God is not speaking,
just to Timothy, He is speaking to 'us'
"God gave us does not make us timid"....
2 Timothy 1:7
But there is still no question, this fear,
is a sin.
God did not give us this fear,
but instead, God gave us, His power and love:
7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid,
but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
2 Timothy 1:7
And we timid Christians, may need to camp
on this for awhile:
9 But he said to me,
“My grace is sufficient for you,
for my power
is made perfect in weakness.”
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses,
so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
2 Corinthians 12:9
Done for Today
|
|
|
|
Post by Cindy on Mar 4, 2021 9:32:06 GMT -5
My words are in this color
and
Bible quotes are in this color
I think, as the end times are speeding up on us Christians,
more and more, we are apt to begin to think:
The day may soon be coming,
that if I talk about Jesus,
I may be jailed,
or even killed,
because someone got
'triggered'!
We are living in a time, when, I really do believe,
more and more, people can no longer think,
sanely, logically, or reasonably.
In fact, many are going insane...
and so
it is not unreasonable, to be a bit scared.
I don't think, the world has been this 'mad' ,
since the time
of Noah.
On the other hand, if I don't talk or write about our Lord,
I may as well be dead.
Still, some of us, Christians ,
are very timid, cowardly scaredy cats.
I think, maybe Timothy was that way to some extent:
10 When Timothy comes,
see to it that he has nothing to fear
while he is with you,
for he is carrying on the work of the Lord, just as I am.
1 Corinthians 16:10
And perhaps part of the reason, Paul writes this to Timothy,
is because Timothy was a bit fearful.
( but God is also speaking to us timid fearful Christians today):
7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid,
but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
2 Timothy 1:7
The cost ( of being a believer in Jesus)
may be super high,
and getting higher,
which is why Jesus said to count the cost, of becoming
his disciple:
27 And whoever does not carry their cross
and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower.
Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost
to see if you have enough money to complete it?
29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it,
everyone who sees it will ridicule you,
Luke 14:27-29
Another way of wording this verse, would be,
you will have to suffer,
to one degree,
or another.
Even so, God is not speaking,
just to Timothy, He is speaking to 'us'
"God gave us does not make us timid"....
2 Timothy 1:7
But there is still no question, this fear,
is a sin.
God did not give us this fear,
but instead, God gave us, His power and love:
7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid,
but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
2 Timothy 1:7
And we timid Christians, may need to camp
on this for awhile:
9 But he said to me,
“My grace is sufficient for you,
for my power
is made perfect in weakness.”
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses,
so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
2 Corinthians 12:9
Done for Today
That doesn't mean that we automatically will though. We have to choose to do the work, and it is work at first. Our minds are full of all kinds of garbage from the world that needs to be cleaned out of them. I know Barbara has done that work as have I and we're both much better for it. Now it's mostly automatic for us as much of the garbage in our minds has been removed and God has renewed our minds. But some Christians choose not to do the work. I know one lady who knows all about it and knows exactly how to overcome fear, stress and anxiety. I taught her over 5 years ago. Back then she used to tell me how stressed she was every time she called me or came over to see me, and she still says the same thing. I used to remind her how to overcome it, but after a year of that I stopped because it was obvious she didn't really want to overcome it.
Sadly she will have to answer to the Lord for it though because we are judged on the knowledge we have as well as the knowledge that was available to us that we didn't use. You would think that if more Christians knew that they would be judged based on those things, that it would cause every one of them to grab their Bibles and study them as though their life depended on it. Because in fact, their life does depend on their Bible! |
|
Good! I'm glad you said you were going to talk about why Jesus asked him "who is good?"
!!
