Sun, Apr 20th - 11:33PM

We are saved by the righteousness of one...

 ¹ "Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem,
       look around and consider,
       search through her squares.
       If you can find but one person
       who deals honestly and seeks the truth,
       I will forgive this city.

Jeremiah 5:1 (NIV)

 ³⁴"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

Luke 13:34 (NIV)

A couple that might seem strange to put together -- until you do!

In Truth,

Mel

Comment (8)

Sat, Apr 12th - 3:11PM

 ³³ "When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you, and when they turn back to you and confess your name, praying and making supplication to you in this temple, ³⁴ then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to their fathers.

 ³⁵ "When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and confess your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, ³⁶ then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance.

 ³⁷ "When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, ³⁸ and when a prayer or plea is made by any of your people Israel—each one aware of the afflictions of his own heart, and spreading out his hands toward this temple- ³⁹ then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with each man according to all he does, since you know his heart (for you alone know the hearts of all men), ⁴⁰ so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our fathers.

 ⁴¹ "As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name- ⁴² for men will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when he comes and prays toward this temple, ⁴³ then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.

1 Kings 8:33-43 (NIV)

 ⁹ The heart is deceitful above all things
       and beyond cure.
       Who can understand it?

 ¹⁰ "I the LORD search the heart
       and examine the mind,
       to reward a man according to his conduct,
       according to what his deeds deserve."

Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NIV)

 ¹⁴Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. ¹⁵Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.' "

 ¹⁷After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. ¹⁸"Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'? ¹⁹For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean.")

 ²⁰He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' ²¹For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, ²²greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. ²³All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.' "

Mark 7:14-23 (NIV)

Ok, so the first passage did not have to be so big.  But I think there is stuff that might lead you down other paths of inquiry.  It is only a part from the middle of Solomon's Prayer of Dedication for the Temple.  You can make yourself a veritable list of ideas to check out from just but some of the things he says here.

My point is simple:  You and I cannot judge the heart.  Our glimpse is what people do.  That is not perfect.  Yet there is something to be said about what you do, and God does judge these things, in view of how He see your heart that these things flow out of.  Our responsibility is to help people, often times based only upon what we can see.  Only God's Holy Spirit can take us beyond that and allow us maybe to see the heart of the matter.  Those times will be times where you will be of powerful help.  Understand and give Glory to God!

In Truth,

Mel

Thu, Apr 10th - 9:55PM

Speed Reading...

²⁶If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

Luke 9:26 (NIV)

 ⁴¹"O unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here."

Luke 9:41 (NIV)

 ⁵⁸Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

Luke 9:58 (NIV)

²⁰However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

Luke 10:20 (NIV)

 ⁴¹"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴²but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Luke 10:41-42 (NIV)

³⁵See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.

Luke 11:35 (NIV)

 ⁴²"Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.

Luke 11:42 (NIV)

 ⁸"I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God.

Luke 12:8 (NIV)

Just the reading I've been doing lately.  You can go through this pretty quickly.  Something from it will come back to you later...

Can you hear the annoyance in 9:41?  Just curious...

In Christ,

Mel

Fri, Apr 4th - 8:45AM

Just a translation check, if you will...

 ⁴⁷ “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.”

Luke 7:47 (NLT)

I find this interpretation different from the other translations.  Those of you so inclined, seach this out in your favorite version.  Then those of you who can further do this, search out the meaning in the original text.  Those who cannot seach out meaning in the greek, even with tools, I suggest you open the eyes of your heart and Hear what Christ says in the mini example (maybe even a short parable, if you will) he gives to Simon the Pharisee right before this.  Does your translation follow Christ's words here?  Does it make sense what this translation says instead?  Hmmm...

In Christ,

Mel