The Bible Archive

We left off
seeing the thought flow of this first major theme, namely that the
grossest-sinner-and-unbeliever is in the same exact boat as the
moral-and-upright-unbeliever. This category of moralist includes, of
course, the Jew (as aforementioned). The Jew stood on the side of God
judging the sins of the people around him, clamoring at the evil found
therein.

This Jew found comfort, Paul would point out, on the fact of the Law
and the special relationship the Jew had with God (v17). The moralistic
Jew would boast in this relationship and in the knowledge of God’s will
regarding morality because the Jew received instruction from the very
Law itself.

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Tags: romans, sin
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Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14 KJV)

Anyone who has ever spent any time near or around people celebrating Christmas have heard this verse. Matthew refers to it pointing out the fulfillment of a prophecy by the Mesiah, the King of the Jews, evidenced in the child Jesus born of a virgin by the name of Mary. Matthew looked into the scriptures with the Holy Ghost guiding his hand, and he made a connection as to the fulfillment of this prophecy.

But what is so astounding about this is the fact that God chose to fulfill this prophecy.

What do I mean by this?
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Tags: christ, worship
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…no longer walk as the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind? - Eph 4:17

The time of the Judges was a time where the children of Israel were living in the Land by the rule of their own lives. They did not yet request a king, but they found themselves being judged by people who God had raised up.

This particular illustration is from the third captivity of the People of God (Judges 4 and 5). If you remember, the Children of Israel would disobey God and backslide into some form of sin and subsequently one of their enemies would come up and oppress them. Holding the People of God under captivity and oppression, these gentile nations would hold them underfoot until the day God would raise up a judge out of the People of God. These Judges would be God?s hand to lead the Children of Israel out of captivity.

Sisera, a commander and chief of King Jabin?s, army enforced this third captivity. Sisera lived in Harosheth of the Gentiles (hagoyim). It is curious that the Holy Spirit has decided to label these Canaanites as ?Gentiles? when we know that the other captivities were also by Gentiles but they were not labeled as such.
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Tags: God, provision
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I look at my son, two and a half years old, and I see awe and wonder every time he looks around. We go outside and see a plane, he beams, tilts his head all the way back and points. We go to the park and walk a winding path and he?ll spend most of his time positioning himself, adjusting then jumping up and landing with a dramatic “boom!” as if he has crossed a tremendous chasm. He’ll chatter to people in the park and even break into song if he?s in the mood, dead center of a supermarket.

It?s that complete and unadulterated innocence that really tugs at the heart strings.? Pearl Jam had a song a few years back with this lyric that stuck in my head: ?If I knew now what I knew then?. That innocence, that sense of awe and wonder, to be grasped today by my (almost) mature mind and tainted thinking?man that would be great.
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Tags: intercession, prayer
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Let us once again enter into the Temple made from the pattern of the tabernacle that was made from what was shown to Moses on Mount Sinai. Years have passed since God?s commandment on how He is to be worshiped. Years have passed since Nadab and Abihu?s sin of the strange fire, doing that which God had ?commanded not ?. Years have passed since Jeroboam?s sin of degrading what God had commanded concerning the altar to convenience by setting up worship centers in the North. If we recall, there was also a certain King Ahaz who set up two altars in the Temple, one based off of man?s pattern, offering a choice to the approach to God.

In this temple that we enter we may quickly note some things. It is not as glorious as the temple of Solomon?s day but it is also imageless. Some years have passed since Israel had polluted the land with their idolatry, eventually getting sacked by the Assyrians and subsequently the Babylonians. Some years have passed since Cyrus? mandate to rebuild the temple and here we are, sacrifices are being offered up and the priests are doing their duty. From this distance in the outer courtyard, everything is as it should be. Israel has learned his lesson and now is worshipping as he should.

Yet, as is often the case with appearances, there is something wrong that we cannot see from this distance.

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Tags: God, the Temple, worship
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Doug McHone ( Coffee Swirls)

Matthew 11:25-26 (NIV): At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.”

There are a few references to children in the gospels, always showing them to be the standard that we are judged by. Why is this? What is so special about children that we should take note of their attributes and apply them to our lives? To gain a measure of understanding, let’s take a quick look at what it means to be a child.
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Tags: christ, worship
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Everyday I am bombarded with decisions and doubts. What’s worst is that even though I don’t know what I should do, I should be thinking what God wants me to do. In any and all of my decisions I should be looking for God’s Will, but I have a problem. I don’t think that I have ever seen a shaft of celestial light illuminating the correct decision. How do I know the will of God for my life? After all, it is a great concern in Scriptures this ?knowing the will of God?.

When Jesus makes such strong statements as those who do the will of God being the ones who are actually his family (Mk 3:35 ) what are we left to think about those who do not do the will of God? We have an account of a certain prophet who knowing the will of God by direct revelation, ran the opposite direction because he didn’t want to deliver the message. The account of his tale closes with this prophet scowling in the hot sun, the smell of fish permeating his flesh and a cruel enemy unscathed and saved (Jonah 1-4).

We also have Paul telling the Roman believers that they are to offer up their bodies as living sacrifices which is their reasonable service of worship and in thus doing they must separate themselves from the world by a transformation. Concerning this transformation he points out that these believers will be testing and approving the good, acceptable and perfect will of God (Rom 12:1-2 and emphasis mine).

What will of God?
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Tags: christian life, God
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Although the person Paul is addressing has changed,
the argument is still continuing underneath the same thought flow. The
thought-flow being how God is found just, in this particular case, by
the fact that He judges. God’s righteousness, it said in chapter one
was seen in the fact that He judges all unrighteousness.

In the previous chapter, Paul showed God’s progressive judgment of men
who suppress the knowledge of God within them, ultimately reveling in
their own darkness and rejecting the light. This sink into depravity
was so bad, that ultimately these unbelievers would uphold and admire
those who did these wicked things and taught others to do the same.
Mind you, this depraved man is not so bad that he can’t do “good” as if
he’s incapable of it. This depraved man knows that he can do “good” but
won’t! This depraved man is guilty, not because of something outside of
himself but out of his own choosing.

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Tags: romans, sin
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I say the stupidest things. I realize that every time I think I?m saying the right thing and suddenly note the recipient?s reaction. Sometimes I don?t finish what I?m saying automatically assuming the person gets where I?m heading. Other times I don?t bother saying things because I feel it?s so obvious that it shouldn?t need verbal stating (how dumb).
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Tags: christ, worship
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