Jeremiah 18:9-10

GOD has given us everything and it is His right to take it away.The world is in His hands and under His control. 

 Pray for His guidance and protection 

in these end days!

A nation to whom God has promised His blessing may forfeit its preferred status through disobedience. In such a case, God would relent of the good He had promised and bring calamity upon the rebellious people. NKJ Bible.

.

Jeremiah 18:9–10 (NKJV)

⁹ And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, ¹⁰ if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.

Jeremiah 18:9-10

9 Sometimes I announce that I shall build up and plant a certain nation or kingdom,

10 but should that nation do what displeases me and refuse to listen to my voice, I then change my mind about the good which I was intending to confer on it. Catholic Bible.

and there were two...

There were two anointed spiritual leaders appointed by the Christ to guide and direct His Body, the Church and they were sent to the Jews and to the Gentiles.

Peter to the papacy and the Roman Catholic Church.

Paul to the Protestants.

Both were preaching that faith alone pleases the Father but that faith is proved outwardly by our good works.

God wanted that no one perish but that all of His creation had an equal choice for eternal life with Him through the salvation He gives in Jesus the Christ.

Mark 1:17 (NKJV)

¹⁷ Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

The Ministries of Peter and Paul Compared and Contrasted
	Peter	Paul
Formerly known as:	Simon	Saul
First encounter with Christ	Introduced by Andrew at Bethany (John 1:41)	A supernatural vision on the road to Damascus (9:1–6)
Occupation	Fisherman (Luke 5:1–11)	Tentmaker (18:3)
Formal religious training	A disciple of Christ (4:13; Mark 1:16, 17)	A disciple of Gamaliel (22:3); a Pharisee (23:5, 6; Phil. 3:5)
Role	Missionary to the Jews	Missionary to the Gentiles
Strength	Bold preacher and spokesman; leader of the early church	Intelligent defender of the faith and tireless church planter
Ministry experiences	Usually paired with John	Paired with Barnabas (13:1–15:39), then Silas (15:40–17:14), then a number of others
	Preached the great sermon at Pentecost when three thousand believed	Preached everywhere he went, including the famous address on Mars’ Hill (17:16–33)
	Healed others (3:1–10; 5:15)	Healed others (14:8–10; 19:12)
	Raised Dorcas from the dead (9:36–42)	Raised Eutychus from the dead (20:7–12)
	Jailed frequently (4:3; 5:18; 12:3)	Jailed frequently (16:23, 24; 21:27–36)
	Gave impassioned sermons to religious authorities (4:5–12; 5:29–32)	Spoke boldly to religious rulers and leaders (22:30–23:6; 26:1–29)
	Experienced a vision in which he was commanded to take the gospel to Cornelius (ch. 10)	Experienced a vision in which he was commanded to take the gospel to Europe (16:6–10)
Writings	1 and 2 Peter	Romans; 1 and 2 Corinthians; Galatians; Ephesians; Philippians; Colossians; 1 and 2 Thessalonians; 1 and 2 Timothy; Titus; Philemon
Death	Church tradition says he was crucified upside down.	Church tradition says he was beheaded

Psalm 103:1-5

No greater love exists than the Holy One who gave His life in place of ours. Jesus bore our sins and suffered our death because of the great agape love of God for His creation.God so loved the world that He wanted every person to be able to choose eternal life… through the salvation He provided in Jesus Christ. 

He loves us so!!

Twenty years ago I was given a vision of the shield that had protected me all  my life. I was allowed to hear the ping of the arrows shot at me three times by the ruler of this world. I am so very, very thankful for the undeserved, loving protection that is God.

chesed | ˈKHesəd |

noun Judaism

the attribute of grace, benevolence, or compassion, especially (in Kabbalism) as one of the sephiroth.

ORIGIN

Hebrew ḥeseḏ ‘grace, lovingkindness’.

The psalmist opens with the command to bless (or praise) Yahweh, and then lists the many good things that Yahweh does for His people. For more than half of the psalm, he focuses on these benefits and Yahweh’s loving nature. The psalmist emphasizes God’s love, rather than His justice or retribution. God’s chesed is central to His character. Faithlife Bible,

To bless the Lord is to remember that He is the source of all our blessings. The psalmist blesses the Lord with his entire being. God is for the helpless and the oppressed. He is not unfair, for He is the One who will restore justice to the earth.

NKJ Bible.

Psalm 103:1–5 (NKJV)

¹ Bless the Lord, O my soul;

And all that is within me, bless His holy name!

² Bless the Lord, O my soul,

And forget not all His benefits:

³ Who forgives all your iniquities,

Who heals all your diseases,

⁴ Who redeems your life from destruction,

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,

⁵ Who satisfies your mouth with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Psalm 5:12 (NKJV)

¹² For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;

With favor You will surround him as with a shield.

Psalm 25:10 (NKJV)

¹⁰ All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth,

To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.

Ezekiel 34:20-24

God  judges those who claim Him as their Lord and Savior. He sees the heart of man and convicts him of his sins which produces change. We, as believers, are precept by precept, changed into the moral character of the Christ. It will be completed in God’s Kingdom. Until then it is our duty to study and listen to that still, small voice inside us to be approved. God loves us with an agape love but He is holy and  will not allow us to stay in sin. 

His ultimate will is that no man perish. 

We must do our part to see that as many as He places in our path hear of His goodness, mercy and salvation He offers in Jesus Christ to all of His creation.

The role of shepherd will be returned to the Davidic Messiah, who will care for God’s sheep properly. Jesus fulfills that role. Faithlife Bible.

The change from the pronoun I to he in this verse indicates that God would continue operating as the Chief Shepherd through this chosen future ruler from the Davidic line. He is the Messiah—God’s only Son and His servant. NKJ Bible.

Ezekiel 34:20–24 (NKJV)

²⁰ ‘Therefore thus says the Lord God to them: “Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat and the lean sheep. ²¹ Because you have pushed with side and shoulder, butted all the weak ones with your horns, and scattered them abroad, ²² therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. ²³ I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them—My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. ²⁴ And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.

1 Peter 2:1.2.3.

In a period of time where truth is so distorted it is hard not to fall into the hypocrisy that has become America and the Western Churches. Pray for discernment. Through it all let my heart remain soft and open to You and Your grace and not hardened by the world as it is now.

Our hope is in You Lord. Our only hope is You!

Peter’s point here does not concern new believers, but all believers as they mature in Christ. Peter urges believers to desire and depend on Christ as a newborn needs and thirsts for milk. By drinking this milk, which Peter describes literally as “unadulterated” or “pure” (adolos), Christians learn to follow Christ’s example and put away their former sins such as malice and deceit and to encourage Christians to set aside the immoral behavior of their former lives and instead to place their hope in God. Faithlife Bible.

The purpose of studying God’s truth is not only to learn more, but to become mature in the faith. NKJ Bible.

1 Peter 2:1–3 (NKJV)

2 Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, ² as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, ³ if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

Psalm 34:8 (NKJV)

⁸ Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;

Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!

Mark 10:15 (NKJV)

¹⁵ Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”

Acts 16:25-34

God’s ways are far above our understanding.

Just Believe!

The events surrounding the arrest of Paul and Silas, the way they responded to suffering, and the mighty acts of God brought the jailer to his knees. He finally knew he needed God’s salvation. But how could he be reconciled to God? Paul and Silas’s answer was simple—just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. No other work was needed. The jailer and his family placed their trust in God and immediately expressed that faith by being baptized.

Acts 16:25–34 (NKJV)

²⁵ But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶ Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. ²⁷ And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. ²⁸ But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.”

²⁹ Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹ So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” ³² Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. ³³ And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. ³⁴ Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.

John 3:16 (NKJV)

¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Hosea

March 21st, 2018

This sounds so like the times America is living in now.

Israel repeatedly breaks God's covenant law. (Hosea 8:1) They crown kings who should have never been crowned. (Hosea 8:4) They build idols that should never be worshipped. (Hosea 8:4-6) They make alliances with foreign nations, in direct opposition to God's decrees. (Hosea 8:9-10) They even appear to go through their religious rituals, but with their hearts in all the wrong places. (Hosea 8:11-13)

Ripe for destruction, indeed.  

I love this quote from Hubbard that reads, "God's judgment needs a reason; his compassion does not." This compassion is evidence of God's steadfast covenant commitment, even when His people have broken covenant. 

Hosea details the sins of Israel to show her the darkness of her ways. He is preparing her to understand the unexplainable grace of a God who will call her back to Him. He wants her to know the fullness of all that God will have to forgive. Yes, her sin has made her ripe for destruction. But this only makes it more astounding that the God of restoration loves her still. 

First Five.

Mark 3:13

We are called according to His purpose not ours. It has nothing to do with our righteousness and everything to do with His.

John 6:66 indicates that even after the Twelve were appointed, He still had a large and continual following. Luke 10:1 notes that later Jesus sent out an additional 70 disciples.

NKJ Bible.

Mark 3:13 (NKJV)

¹³ And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 

Luke 6:13 (NKJV)

¹³ And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles: 

1 Corinthian 5:9-13

 Immorality Must Be Judged!

GOD  expects us to forgive any person who ask. The moral dilemma comes when a believer who is in sin refuses to acknowledge it as sin and continues in it. We must call good, good and sin, sin. the FATHER calls us to be holy as He is holy. It is a thin line that is drawn in being a Pharisee or a faithful follower…may the HOLY SPIRIT give us the wisdom to know the difference.

 Intention is everything!

Paul is not referring to the sexually immoral people of the world (his mission field), but to those who call themselves Christians and participate in sexual immorality. He views such people as dangerous to the overall health of the congregation since they may entice others to follow them in sin. Paul intends for the immoral believer to be expelled so that he may repent and then be restored back to the community. Faithlife Bible.

Paul here corrects a misunderstanding arising out of his previous letter. He had commanded the Corinthians to withdraw themselves from sexually immoral people. In this letter, Paul explains that he was not speaking of the pagan culture around them. If they withdrew totally they would be unable to function in the world. Instead, he was talking about the immorality in their midst. They should judge the sin among themselves, while still reaching out to the lost in Corinth. NKJ Bible.

1 Corinthians 5:9–13 (NKJV)

⁹ I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. ¹⁰ Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. ¹¹ But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner—not even to eat with such a person.

¹² For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? ¹³ But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.”

Deuteronomy 17:12 (NKJV)

¹² Now the man who acts presumptuously and will not heed the priest who stands to minister there before the Lord your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall put away the evil from Israel.

Nahum 2:8-10

I am full of dread for America. I feel that we are going down a deep hole and we are calling evil…good and good…evil. Help us HOLY SPIRIT to overcome with the sword of Your Spirit in the truth of JESUS CHRIST

 We are full of hypocrisy. 

Money has become our god and the measure that we view success. We have forgotten Your command to love GOD above all and to care for our neighbor and his well being as much as we do our own.

The nation that had made so much of taking captives would be made a captive by others. Halt! Halt!: No one would listen to their shouts of panic. NKJ Bible.

Nahum 2:8–10 (NKJV)

⁸ Though Nineveh of old was like a pool of water,

Now they flee away.

“Halt! Halt!” they cry;

But no one turns back.

⁹ Take spoil of silver!

Take spoil of gold!

There is no end of treasure,

Or wealth of every desirable prize.

¹⁰ She is empty, desolate, and waste!

The heart melts, and the knees shake;

Much pain is in every side,

And all their faces are drained of color.

Ezekiel 7:19 (NKJV)

¹⁹ ‘They will throw their silver into the streets,

And their gold will be like refuse;

Their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them

In the day of the wrath of the Lord;

They will not satisfy their souls,

Nor fill their stomachs,

Because it became their stumbling block of iniquity.

Zephaniah 1:18 (NKJV)

¹⁸ Neither their silver nor their gold

Shall be able to deliver them

In the day of the Lord’s wrath;

But the whole land shall be devoured

By the fire of His jealousy,

For He will make speedy riddance

Of all those who dwell in the land.