Mon, Nov 25th - 10:22PM
THOSE PEOPLE
The Life of Jephthah
By the grace of Jesus Christ
our Lord, we believe, know and understand, brethren, that the Holy Spirit is a
Person equal in divine essence with God the Father and God the Son. He was
active in creation and the inspiration of the Bible. To fulfill His
function in redemption, the Spirit attests the absolute truth of the gospel,
convicts of sin, brings about the new birth (regenerating), inducts every
believer into the Body of Christ (baptizing in the Spirit, not water), resides
in him permanently (indwelling), controls the one who yielded to Christ
(filling), produces the gifts for ministry and the Christian virtues which
conform believers to the image of Christ (sanctifying), and serves as the
guarantee of eternal life (sealing unto the day of redemption). John
3:3-6, 16:8-11, Acts 5:3-4, Rom 8:1-8, Gal 5:22-23, Eph 4:4-6, 5:18. God the
Holy Spirit is appointed to teach directly, through servant leaders, teachers
and the church entire to lead it into all truth. The Holy Spirit dwells in and
with the servant leaders, teachers, in fact all believers individually and as a
whole, to convict, convince, fully persuade and enable every believer to live the
life of Christ, being instructed in the absolute truth of the eternal
unchanging standard of scripture, and operating within the fortress of its
boundaries. Evangelism is not a denomination, although some have the gift of
evangelism, nevertheless it is the command of God to the whole church.
Brothers and sisters, Jephthah,
after the death of his father Gilead is literally thrown out of the home by his
half siblings with the approval of the elders, because they believed, wrongly,
that he was not entitled to any inheritance due to being the son of a harlot. Some
might have advised Jephthah to just suck it up, move on, forget about it, start
a life new somewhere around nice people that didn’t know of his background.
Certainly, some people do
that but I suspect it is the exception and not the rule. Our framework of who
we are, what we deserve, brothers and sisters, is instilled in us first by our
caretakers or parents, overtly, and covertly down to minute subliminal messages
given on a multitude of levels and in many ways continually over time. What we
say and do to our children over time is the school in which they will learn
what we really think of them and to what degree if any that we really care
about and love them. How they see us act is important but much more important
is how we act towards them in word and deed.
We accept these messages
in as much as they are given so early, we have no developmental capacity to
challenge them. Another thing too is that the growing child has no other
comparative frame of references to contradict those messages. Family in many
ways back then was the only source of a person’s core identity. Jdg 11:3Then
Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were
gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him.
Is it not predictable
that Jephthah would take up with a bad crowd? When he went out with these vain
men it is doubtful that they asked people nicely to voluntarily give them their
valuables, they took what they wanted. After all, hadn’t Jephthah learned that
it was fine to take from people what you wanted from them as his inheritance
had been taken rather stolen from him?
There is an understanding,
dearly beloveds, that it is highly likely for survivors of abuse to go on to
abuse others unless the destructive programming is exposed and rejected so that
the pattern is broken. When children bully and abuse others it can be a symptom
of what is going on in the home. Christians do not have to be caught up or
bound by patterns of the past. Through the power of Jesus Christ people can
learn and apply God’s word along with the help of godly counselors whether of
brothers and sisters and/ or servant leaders to overcome the pain/shame of the
past, gain insight, hindsight, and foresight for a new beginning as becoming of
the children of God. Notice brothers and sisters Jephthah’s family/tribe never apologizes,
and never asks for forgiveness. In fact, nothing is said of forgiveness between
Jephthah and his tribe at all. Many have written on the abuse and misuse of
forgiveness, holy people, feel free to study this further on your own, I love
you all.
Love
serola
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Sun, Nov 24th - 1:47AM
THOSE PEOPLE
The Life of Jephthah
Praise Jesus Christ,
brethren, who indwells us: Eph 5:30 - For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his
bones.
Moreover, it is His
sinless blood that flows through our spiritual veins unto eternal life with Him
forevermore. It is the glorious Son of God, our Saviour Jesus Christ, adored
and exalted above every name that is named in heaven and in earth that has made
us His people and by His mighty power, and eternal love He has bound us all together
in Him as one body.
As we continue to dig
into the word of God, we understand again there was no justification of Jephthah
being disowned by His family because His mother was a harlot. Many studies
describe her as a prostitute as I have in this one, but I do not believe this
is correct as I dig down further into the study because the word harlot has
different meanings in one instance it can be used to describe a prostitute, and
in another it can be used to describe a woman who is an adulteress, such as
Jephthah’s mother, rather than a wanton prostitute.
Jephthah, again was
definitely not a bastard, for he had the covenant of circumcision, because God forbade
any uncircumcised male to ever be accepted in Israel: Gen 17:14 - And
the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised,
that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.
We know from this that
Jephthah would have been taken from his birth mother at 8 days old into the
household of Gilead: Gen 17:12 - And
he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in
your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any
stranger, which is not of thy seed.
Gen 17:13 - He
that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be
circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. This,
the Abrahamic covenant
was promised hundreds of years before God established the Law of Moses and
cannot be disannulled by the Mosaic Law.
Even when God established
the Law of Moses, He forbade the people from punishing of children for the sins
of their fathers: Eze 18:20 - The
soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the
father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the
righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the
wicked shall be upon him.
God retains the sole right
to punish, reward or avenge according to His sovereign will. He alone is just
in all that He does and all that He does is always right and just. God alone retains
the right to use others as His instruments of retribution to punish people for
their sins. We see examples of this in both the old and the new testaments: Jer 27:8; 1Pe 2:14.
Some might ask how could
a child 8 days old survive being taken away from its mother? The child could
have been wet nursed, most likely it was nursed by Gilead’s wife. A woman can
lactate although she is not pregnant. One example of this is: Rth 4:16 - And
Naomi took the child, and laid it in her bosom, and became nurse unto it. 17 - And the women her neighbours
gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi; and they called his name
Obed: he is the father of Jesse, the father of David.
Many Christians are providing
loving safe homes to the children that came out of wedlock into their families.
Through hard work and faith these marriages have reconciled for the good of the
whole family. However, there are those who have made little progress in accepting
children born out of wedlock in the home, whether the marriage remains in
contact or not.
When the child is not
seen as an innocent victim too, the child will be denied the rightful love,
care, and protection it deserves, beyond just food and a roof over its head-even
that might be inadequate. Don’t make the
child wrongfully one of “those people” who ought to be ashamed of themselves
and condemned for being born out of wedlock. Don’t punish or abuse these
children physically and or mentally to pay back the cheating spouse for what
she or he has done. Perhaps there is a brother or sister who has reached the
boiling point, every time they look at such a child all they see is the person
their spouse cheated with. If there is
any brother or sister or anyone out there who feels that they are losing or
have lost control and might hurt a child, it is urgent to take the child out of
the home who is in danger of being harmed, in fact this must be done for the child’s
safety. Get help for yourself. There is no shame in getting help, but there are
terrible consequences if you do not. Keep your hands to yourself because you
cannot be trusted to safely discipline a child under these circumstances. Don’t
make the child a victim twice.
Brethren, if you suspect
child abuse and or child neglect or endangerment you can call the authorities/emergency
to report it. It can also be done anonymously.
Know this too: Luk 17:2 - It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his
neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.
Love
serola
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Fri, Nov 22nd - 11:07AM
THOSE PEOPLE
The Life of Jephthah
Brethren, we know the
biblical history of flagrant hypersexuality amongst the nation of Israel with
pagan nations. Is this a case of the pot calling the kettle black? If Jephthah being the son of a whore was such
a shameful blemish on the family’s “good name,” he was not alone for there were
plenty in the nation that blemished the eternally good name of the Father among
men.
Was Jephthah’s family justified
in denying him an inheritance because his mother was a whore? If people born of
a whore or descendant from one is justification for being disinherited, we know
the harlot Rahab is in the human blood line of Jesus Christ. We know Rahab had
a son Boaz who married Naomi the Moabitess too, yet God raised Jesus above
every name that is named and set Him on the throne at His right hand.
Brothers and sisters,
based on the biblical evidence Jephthah’s expulsion and disinheritance was not
justifiable. It is common for some to encourage people hurt and damaged by
being stigmatized to just forgive and get over it as best they can. However,
dearly beloveds, God’s word does not encourage us to minimize the hurt and pain
of our brothers and sisters: 1Co 12:26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or
one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. 27Now ye are the body of Christ,
and members in particular.
Those targeting others as
unworthy, or defective are usually active in verbalizing their disapproval
towards their victim daily or as often as they can get in touch with them. Violence
is on the table towards the victims. We see in modern times even that people
who are targeted are often assaulted or even killed. This can happen on the
micro and macro levels in the world. We should not be calloused or dismissive
regarding this issue.
The sovereignty of God to
promote or demote whom He will is His alone. Therefore, on this basis He
justifies Jephthah, but there is more.
Love
serola
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Tue, Nov 19th - 10:29PM
THOSE PEOPLE
The Life of Jephthah
Thanks, and praise be to our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ who indwells us and has left us His word so we do not have
to flounder or wonder how to please, live and serve Him. Without the indwelling
Holy Spirit no one can understand the word of God, and none can live it except
through His power. As we dig into the word, holy people, we can count on the Holy
Spirit to lead, guide and teach us. Here or there He may stop us to feed us
with some choice morsel of needed wisdom, or fix us a whole meal of
understanding that we did not expect to find.
In some places the Holy Spirit will give
us some things to chew on and stretch us in our understanding. The Holy Spirit will
lead us to all things Jesus Christ. In some places, dearly beloveds, He will
cause us to test the spirits or teachings we receive from others; in some
places He will correct or refine our own knowledge of the gospel. In some
places the Holy Spirit will stop us and encourage us to lift us up, to pray,
meditate, or medicate-find a needed comfort, calmness and or rest. In some places
He may cause us to laugh or cry, and He will no doubt discipline and bring us
to repentance when and where we need it. We never fail to find treasure from
mining God’s word. The Holy Spirit also warns.
It matters not that unbelievers claim to
know the Holy Spirit they are lying: Jhn 14:17 - Even the Spirit of truth;
whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him:
but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
The Holy Spirit always directs us to and
never away from Jesus Christ: Jhn 15:26 - But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you
from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the
Father, he shall testify of me:
The Holy Spirit will guide us into all
truth, dearly beloveds, never through the schools we attend, degrees held, positions
we hold, and never through manmade organizations, denominations, institutions,
or worldly philosophy of vain people:
Jhn 16:13 - Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide
you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall
hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
As we continue in the study it is thought
by some that Jephthah was a bastard based on his bio-mom being referred to as a
strange woman. However, strange woman here in Judges 11:2, means another or different
mother. She is not labeled as being of any specific nation. The reason for her
being rejected is clearly that she was a whore. I think this is important although later we
note that the Bible does identify some but not all strange women by nation: 1Ki 11:1 - But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the
daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and
Hittites;
Deu 23:2 A bastard shall not enter into the
congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into
the congregation of the LORD.
Gen 19:30 -38.
A bastard is anyone according to the Law as being born of incest a sexual relationship
between parents and their children as were Lot and his two daughters from which
the nation of Moab and Ammon came. Incest included with step parents, and also
siblings including half siblings etc. was forbidden, and those who did so were
cursed by God. It goes without saying that under the Law everyone was cursed
who did not obey it. Feel free to study this further on your own.
Deu 23:3 - An
Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to
their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD
for ever:
We understand that Jephthah’s bio- mom was
not of the nation of Israel, for the death penalty was a given for any woman of
Israel guilty of being a whore.
Israel, in disobedience to God did mix
with the women of Moab: Num 25:1 - And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit
whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
Neh 13:23 - In
those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and
of Moab:
King David is a descendant of Boaz who
married Ruth a Moabitess:
Rth 4:10. And
we know, dearly beloveds, not only did God sit him on the throne of Israel, but
promised him that his seed, the coming Messiah would reign on the throne of
David forever.
Even today some if not all Christians who
might be born of incest, rape, or from mothers who are or were prostitutes are
often rejected by people who know their origins, and even believe that they are
rejected by God as well.
Perhaps some might feel that the Bible is
contradicting itself here and do not see how it is justified that Jephthah is
allowed any relationship with God, or allowed by God to be a judge over Israel. Of course, saints (G40 hagios), God is not obligated to explain Himself to
anyone, however God does provide an explanation, and the Bible never contradicts itself.
Love
serola
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Mon, Nov 18th - 8:22AM
THOSE PEOPLE
The Life of Jephthah
Judges 11: 1Now
Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of
an harlot: and Gilead begat Jephthah. 2And
Gilead's wife bare him sons; and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust out
Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house; for
thou art the son of a strange woman. 3Then
Jephthah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were
gathered vain men to Jephthah, and went out with him.
Brothers and sisters, this is such a
heart- breaking story of Jephthah and the other children involved too. There are
those who counsel the abused that the first thing they must do is forgive their
perpetrators. Forgiveness is a good thing. However, biblically speaking, it is
not necessarily the first thing that injured people should do and we will look
at this more a little further on in this study.
I know there is much wisdom and counsel in
the story Jephthah’s life. There is a warning here to those who have children
and are thinking of marrying someone who is not the biological parent.
Certainly, these marriages can work out
well, but never by accident for it takes an unflinching truthful evaluation of
the good, the bad and the downright ugly to see whether or not the people
involved should proceed to marriage, if at all. The first thing for all to evaluate in these
marriages is to determine if the couple have a history or not of the ability
and willingness to set consistent sound standards and operate within healthy
boundaries or work towards these goals for the health, protection and wellbeing
of the children. When these marriages do not work out many times the children
are harmed, some even killed.
Let us hold children survivors of parental
abuse in our prayers and the adult survivors as well. Holy people, let us
minister to them our love and support with the absolute truth that they were
never to blame for what was done to them, it was never their fault for they did
nothing wrong and have nothing to be ashamed of ever. Let us aid them to receive, trust, accept and
understand their identity as the well-beloved sons and daughters of Jesus Christ
and His people. Let us fully embrace, teach, and strengthen them to live within
the healing balm of the standard and boundaries of the new covenant of Jesus
Christ. Every child is a wanted child in our King and Saviour Jesus Christ and among
His forever family.
Only Christians are able to truly love for
our King has given us the right, the privilege, the power and delight to love one
another and all men in His very person.
Jhn 6:37 - All that the Father giveth me shall
come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
There are no outcasts in God’s kingdom, saints
(G40 hagios), for it is impossible for God to lie. His love endures forever.
Rom 8:38 - For I am persuaded, that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things
to come, 39 - Nor
height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from
the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Love
serola
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Fri, Nov 15th - 7:41AM
THOSE
PEOPLE
The
Life of Jephthah
Brothers
and sisters, let us fellowship in the scriptures and continue to dig into and
mine the word of God. Praise our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who has filled
us with the Holy Spirit of Truth and love to teach, lead, guide, feed, and
build us and our understanding up in the knowledge of Him. Some among us,
dearly beloveds, feel they are still just scraping the surface of this study.
Others have already gone into the mine of this study so far ahead and so deeply
we can barely see the tops of their heads. However, where ever we are in this
study it is where the Holy Spirit would have us stop and dig up treasure that
will minister to us and for us to share with others.
Most
certainly the Holy Spirit is always putting the welfare of children on our
hearts and stirring up our compassion for them. I pray the hearts of the
ministering women, and the nurturing fathers of the church and the church body
as a whole, will be continually stirred up. Some I pray will get out of bed,
turn off the tv etc. put down their bags of Cheetos, wash their orange stained
lips and fingers and get back to church, because they are sorely needed in the body,
because they are still necessary in the church. Therefore, saints (G40 hagios),
do not any longer sin by depriving the church, of your gifts and wisdom, or
your joy in service; for you know how to strengthen and love without enabling: Heb 10: 24And let us consider one another to provoke unto
love and to good works: 25Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves
together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another:
and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Unlike
the wise servant leaders, some servant leaders are only interested in a young
church in hopes of perpetuating “their ministry”. In doing so unwisely, they are
damaging the church and hurting themselves, being disobedient and unable to
provide the nurturing and care of the many hurting in the church. These servant
leaders often complain of feeling drained, sucked dry, and needing to get away
from the church as much as possible. Let us pray they will repent and do things
the only right way-God’s way. Only Jesus Christ can build up the true church. Anyone
building up a church by manmade doctrines, schemes, plans even if men unwisely
approve, they will still fail in the sight of God. The true church has nothing
to do with its size whatsoever, brethren, and is for ALL generations.
Most
certainly, there are adult victims abused as children, who suffered abuse,
rejection, neglect, and even physical violence and broken hearts who are in
need of the healing love, care and wisdom of the whole church. We understand
that they should not be dismissed with telling them to “just get over it”, not
that some have not done so, but there are others that God requires the church
to minister to and heal by His great power.
See,
dearly beloveds, the God Man Jesus Christ knows how it feels to be unjustly
rejected, unloved and bruised: Isa 53:5 But
he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his
stripes we are healed.
We
know, brethren, those that are bruised Jesus
Christ will not allow them to break altogether: Mat 12:20 A
bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he
send forth judgment unto victory.
We
know our God Man/Saviour, High Priest, Advocate, Deliverer, Redeemer knows how it feels to be despised,
and broken hearted and He makes intercession for His people everywhere: Luk 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to
set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the
Lord.
The
gospel saves all who believe in and on Jesus Christ from sin and delivers all
from its deadly power and sting; it heals the rejected, devalued, unloved and
unwanted, cures all of our wounds in the healing balm of God’s everlasting love.
Let the broken hearted amongst us know therefore, Jesus IS STANDING BY (FOREVER
IN YOU) AND YOUR HEALING IS NIGH. The Holy Spirit is ever standing by also, we
are never alone: Rom 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not
what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession
for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the
hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession
for the saints according to the will of God.
Rom
8:34Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also
maketh intercession for us.
Rom
8:31What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can
be against us?
Love
serola
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Wed, Nov 13th - 6:40PM
THOSE PEOPLE
The Life of Jephthah
Brothers and sisters, what a way to start
a marriage. No wife ever thinks that the first child born from her husband
would be from him and another woman. Jephthah is a victim here and certainly
the wife and the other children that would later result from the marriage are
victims too. Gilead was only thinking of himself, but sin always has
consequences and can certainly harm innocent people by it too. Perhaps Gilead
thinking since he held such power and authority his son by the harlot would be
accepted by everyone, but that did not happen. The rejection of Jephthah was a round about slap in the face to Gilead by
his family and tribe.
The nation of Israel, the people, their
leaders and the priests, had tremendous problems with sexual sins and were slow
to repent of them, leading God to step in and punish them at various times as
recorded in scripture.
Human nature has not changed from the
beginning and sexual sins are just as rampant today as they were in the past,
so much so that the Bible warns Christians again and again:
1Th
4: 2For
ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. 3For
this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should
abstain from fornication: 4That every one of you should know how to possess
his vessel in sanctification and honour; 5Not
in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:
Dealing with sin in the church: 1Co 5:1-13.
1Co 5:11 But now I have written unto you not to
keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous,
or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one
no not to eat.
Eph
5:3But
fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named
among you, as becometh saints;
Col 3:5Mortify
therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness,
inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
Silence about sin in the church=agreement
which is forbidden. Ref. whoremonger: Eph 5:5; 1Co 5:1.
1Co 6:9Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit
the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor
adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11And such were some of you: but
ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
Love
serola
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Tue, Nov 12th - 11:12PM
THOSE PEOPLE
The Life of Jephthah
Stigma: According to the Webster’s New
World Dictionary, the short definition of stigma is, “a mark of disgrace or
reproach.” Kristalyn Salters-Pedneault, Ph.D. offers this definition of stigma,
“Stigma is a perceived negative attribute that causes someone to devalue or
think less of the whole person.” Given these two representations for the meaning
of stigma, anyone can see that stigma, of any kind, is a deeply negative
mindset and provides no value to society in general.
Social stigma is the disapproval of, or
discrimination against, a person based on perceivable social characteristics
that serve to distinguish them from other members of a society. Social stigmas
are commonly related to culture, gender, race, intelligence and health.
Stigmatize
definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary
Definition of 'stigmatize'. stigmatize. If
someone or something is stigmatized, they are unfairly regarded by many people
as being bad or having something to be ashamed of.
Judges 11: 1Now Jephthah the Gileadite was
a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot: and Gilead
begat Jephthah. 2And
Gilead's wife bare him sons; and his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust out
Jephthah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house; for
thou art the son of a strange woman. 3Then Jephthah fled from his
brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered vain men to
Jephthah, and went out with him.
Brothers and sisters, it would be a
mistake to think that the above passage written briskly and to the point is not
rife with important lessons even for Christians today. We can look at it from God’s
eternal holy perspective and the human perspective of the key individuals in it
as well.
It is clear that Jephthah and his accomplishments
were stained, devalued by the town, mother and siblings and not really
protected by his father, due to him being the progeny of a prostitute or
harlot. Raise your hand if you feel compassion for a child thrust into this
kind of mess (I raised mine). Although this takes place a long time ago, it is
not unheard of today.
Early on as a child Jephthah probably did
not understand why the woman of the house was not warm to him as to his
siblings. Most likely as he grew older he comprehended what it meant that his
biological mother was a harlot. There can be no doubt he endured a high degree
of name calling both in and outside of the home, which is child abuse. A real home is more than just getting food and
shelter. In every sense Jephthah is made to pay for the sins of his parents. Yet
in another sense how can you hold a child responsible for whom he is born to as
though he had a choice in the matter. But there will be one who will show him
compassion.
The father Gilead did the right thing in
not allowing his son to be raised by a harlot, but it would have been better if
he had enough self-control and respect for his wife not to have slept with a
harlot in the first place.
God warns Christians today:
1Co 6:15 - Know
ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the
members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
Sin begins in the heart as Jesus warns: Mat 5:28 - But
I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath
committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Love
serola
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Mon, Nov 11th - 7:58AM
THOSE
PEOPLE
Brothers
and sisters, it seems like we can find “those people” everywhere in the world.
You know what I mean? All the people who are not “like us”. How do “those
people” come to be? Who has the authority or right to determine who “those
people” are? Is it harmless to assign
human beings into “those people” categories?
Now,
brethren, there was this man who was financially well off, married, had children,
and a very prominent position in his town. However, he cheated on his wife with
another woman. Eventually the wife would find out. One has to wonder how she
felt. Was she angry, hurt, disappointed? Did she think this woman must be
better than her in some way or wonder what this other woman had that she didn’t?
Did she feel betrayed, inadequate as a wife and woman? Did she wonder if she
was enough or would ever be enough for her husband? Did she wonder if he had
brought home diseases to her from this other woman? Did she blame herself
thinking if she had been a better wife her husband would not have looked
elsewhere? Did she scream and flail at him with her hands shouting “how could
you do this to me?” Would she forgive him or just want to pack up herself and
kids and leave him? Did the town find out bringing shame on her and her family?
We probably have even more questions about this matter than posted here, such
as was the husband penalized in any way or ever apologized to his wife and kids
in as much as one could for such a thing?
We
just don’t have the answers for much of these questions, brothers and sisters,
but it would not be too far off the mark to think that the wife might have felt
and done some of the aforementioned things. Interestingly, the name of the wife
and the name of the prostitute is unknown.
Indeed,
brothers and sisters, the wife would find out her husband had cheated on her.
Imagine how a wife would feel knowing that her husband had cheated with a
common prostitute. That was bad enough, but he had gotten the prostitute
pregnant, and she bore a son. Worse yet the husband brings the child into the
marital home for the wife to raise.
So,
holy people, get out your pick axes, chisels, and shovels and let us get ready
to dig into the word of God as we look into the life of Jephthah.
Love
serola
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Sat, Nov 9th - 7:54AM
THE
SIN OF PRIDE
Brothers
and sisters, let none of us be haughty or puffed up as though anything we have
obtained is only through ourselves: 1Co
4:7 - For who maketh thee to
differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now
if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not
received it?
Prideful
servant leaders fearful of losing membership will not give the whole truth of
the gospel message. Instead they give syrupy platitudes that folks should just
try to do better, which replaces the admonishment against sin. They reject any
biblical verses regarding hell because they do not want to “scare” anybody into
being saved out of fear. Yet Lord Jesus Christ preached the gospel as one of
absolute love and truth: He commands the righteous: Luk 1:50 - And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation
to generation.
Fear:
to reverence, venerate, to treat with deference or reverential obedience. God commands
Christians to have a holy reverence and fear for the awesomeness of His power,
not in fear of being destroyed or not inheriting the kingdom, but as to God who
alone is worthy of holy fear: Luk 12:32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the
kingdom.
Jesus
Christ preached the absolute love and never left off the absolute truth of the
gospel. It cannot be said often enough, holy people, the gospel of Jesus Christ
is mankind’s final, complete, nonnegotiable and eternal last chance to escape
the wrath of God and eternal punishment of the wicked. Amen brethren, God is
absolute love, and God absolutely hates sin. NOW, while the door is still open,
NOW, while there is still life and time, NOW, God commands us to urge people to
believe in and on Jesus Christ, not to delay, not to wait until tomorrow,
tomorrow is not promised, after death it is too late!! Jesus preached the whole
truth of the gospel: Luk 12:5 - But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which
after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear
him.
God
is no one’s teddy bear, don’t mess with Him.
God
forbids the gospel message to be reduced to the error of sooth- saying- to tell
people to give God their life, invite God into their heart, to say a prayer, to
accept Christ, to accept the invitation of Christ, to make a decision for Christ.
None of that is the gospel message, but man-made error a false gospel that
saves no one.
The
truth is if we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts (believe trust
in, rely on Jesus Christ for our spiritual wellbeing) that Jesus is the son of
God, who died on the cross for our sins and rose again with eternal life, we
shall be saved forgiven of all of our sins, sealed with the Holy Spirit and
become Christians, children of God. We
are commanded to tell the truth about water baptism: Act
10:47 - Can any man forbid water, that these
should not be baptized, which have received the Holy
Ghost as well as we?
Water
baptism, does not save, our salvation is totally complete and finished through
faith in Jesus Christ, but water baptism is our public testimony that we have
become followers of Jesus Christ.
The devil attacks the proud because he
knows they are counting on their mere human strength to oppose him. No human
being has the strength to defeat the devil by mere human power alone.
REPENT!!!
Jas
4: 7Submit yourselves therefore to
God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw nigh to God, and he will
draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your
hearts, ye double minded. 9Be
afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your
joy to heaviness. 10Humble
yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
We
submit ourselves to God, brothers and sisters, or wind up trying to fight the
devil in our own human strength-which will not go well at all for us.
SUBMIT
YOURSELVES: subdue, put under, make subject yourselves under obedience
(obedient), make subject (to, unto), be (put) in subjection (to, under), submit
self unto.
God’s
message to the whole church is that there is absolutely no need to fight,
compete, and/or struggle to gain preeminence in the body of Christ. Let us therefore humble ourselves before our
Almighty Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and trust Him to set us in His body
according to His will for His glory and the good of His church the body of Christ.
1Pe
5:5 - Likewise, ye younger,
submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to
another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth
grace to the humble. 6Humble yourselves therefore
under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
Love
serola
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Wed, Nov 6th - 12:10AM
THE
SIN OF PRIDE
Mat 23:12And whosoever
shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be
exalted.
Abased:
to depress; figuratively, to humiliate (in condition or heart): abase, bring
low, of
one's soul bring down one's pride; to level, reduce to a plain, to bring into a humble condition, reduce to
meaner circumstances, to assign a lower rank or place to abase, to be ranked
below others who are honored or rewarded.
Exalted:
to lift up on
high, to exalt, to raise to the very summit of opulence
and prosperity, to exalt, to raise to dignity, honour and happiness.
Self-
exaltation, brothers and sister can never be trusted, never has the interests
of God before itself, most of us know it is absolutely forbidden. Dearly beloveds.
God is not mocked: Gal 6:7 - Be
not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he
also reap.
Pro 14:9 - Fools
make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.
1Sa 15:23 - For
rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity
and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also
rejected thee from being king.
Jesus
is the Head of the church. As in the past so it still is that Jesus will set
some aside from ministry, although they will not lose their salvation, they
have been found not fit to be trusted with the gospel nor His people. Some too
will be set aside because they were never Christians in the first place, never
saved although ordained by the hands of men, institutions, or organizations,
but never through the only way though believing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The
flocks of proud servant leaders suffer and are wizened, spindly, weak, having not
been fed with the word of God, but with worldly platitudes, smarmy emotional
pap, useless chit chat and secular teachings of the flesh. Their sheep having
never been fed nor armed with the gospel message get into a lot of difficulty
in the world and fall prey to false teachings of many kinds.
Brothers
and sisters, nevertheless, there are countless faithful servant leaders all over
the world building up the flock through the word of God correctly interpreted.
Their flocks are peaceful and well equipped with the gospel message. If we were
to paint a picture of these flocks it would be a painting of sweet, well fed
with the word little sheep, every one of them, even the little ones-WITH
KNIVES, BETTER SWORDS OF THE SPIRIT-and well trained in how and when to use
them.
Humility, brothers and sisters, is a do it
ourselves job. However, if we refuse or resist doing it for ourselves, then God
steps in and does it for us and it is never pretty as I mentioned earlier. Anytime
we minimize, or put anything before the gospel we will answer to God for it.
Would it be surprising that the servant leaders who exalt their bands, musicians
etc. over the gospel would one day find out the band, musicians would get
puffed up and come to believe in error that they did not even need the servant
leaders, and just start a church without them? Or even by legal means strip
them of the right to be on the church grounds or property?
The
wise will repent and turn around and do things God’s way, and be convicted,
convinced and fully persuaded that the only right way is God’s way and the God’s
way is the only right way.
Mat 6:33 - But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you.
Love
serola
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Mon, Nov 4th - 6:29PM
THE
SIN OF PRIDE
Thank
God who has revealed to us the mystery of His will by Jesus Christ, in codified
thoroughly in the scriptures so that we can know how-to walk-in holiness before
Him: Eph 1:9 - having
made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which
He purposed in Himself, This is why, brethren, we are
convicted, convinced and fully persuaded by God Himself, that pride in all of
its forms openly and secretly must be absolutely rejected.
God
(God the Father; God the Son Jesus Christ and God the Holy Spirit) alone is to
be exalted. God alone is to be glorified. Uh huh, absolutely true and God will
not ever share any of it with me, you nor anyone or anything else, for He alone
is worthy of the totality of it with every accolade that can be given in heaven
and earth along with the totality of all of our worship, praises, thank
offerings and so much more: Isa 42:8 - I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will
I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.
Isa 43:7 - Even every one that is
called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea,
I have made him.
For the Christian, brothers and sisters, the Bible
is clear that we are instructed by God to humble ourselves, which has nothing
to do in any sense in cowering or submitting to mere men in fear. Instead
regarding certain of men the Bible declares: Rom 13:7 - Render
therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to
whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. 8 - Owe no man any
thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the
law.
Nevertheless,
the Bible clearly warns and instructs us, holy people, that there are certain
of whom neither honor nor respect should be given although we love all men, we
cannot love the wicked practices of any man nor woman, but should rebuke them. The
prideful do not like the word rebuke and in error see it as being mean spirited
and offending people. But the Bible instructs us otherwise whether the congregation
or those who hold office in the body, we have to say it continually, saints (G40
hagios), no one is above church discipline: 2Ti 4:2 - Preach
the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke,
exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
Concerning
those stubbornly clinging to non-docrinal teachings:
Tit 1:13 - This
testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the
faith,
Tit 2:15 - Speak
these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.
The
church is not to be silent in the face of wickedness in the world either: Eph 5:11 - And
have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
I.Reprove:
to convict,
refute, confute
A. generally with a suggestion of shame
of the person convicted
B. by conviction to bring to the light,
to expose
II.to
find fault with, correct
. by word
i.to
reprehend severely, chide, admonish, reprove
ii.to
call to account, show one his fault, demand an explanation
A. by deed
.to
chasten, to punish
How
to be great in the sight of God:
Mat 18:4 - Whosoever
therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the
kingdom of heaven.
We
have to be like Lord Jesus Christ: Mt. 20: 25But Jesus called them unto
him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion
over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. 26But it shall not be so
among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 27And whosoever will be chief
among you, let him be your servant: 28Even as the Son of man came
not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for
many.
Love
serola
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Fri, Nov 1st - 5:56PM
THE
SIN OF PRIDE
Gal 5:26 - Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one
another, envying one another. Desirous of vain glory:
glorying without reason, conceited, vain glorious, eager for empty glory,
presumption, arrogancy.
No
Christian has to allow themselves to yield to their old adamic dead sin natures,
which provokes and incites envy in the body. Our dear brother Paul also warns: 1Co 9:27 - But
I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any
means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
Paul
is not saying he would lose his salvation, but that God would dismiss him from His
office as unworthy of it. Jesus Christ is the Head of the church and has a more
worthy replacement in the stead of any of the proud and unfaithful.
Brothers
and sisters, we know that the righteous when confronted with the truth will
repent but the wicked never will. Some are slow to receive rebuke from God, the
conviction of the Holy Spirit upon their consciences, and admonishment from
brothers and sisters. Some that are proud see this as an attack against “their
ministry”, or the devil using a believer to attack “their ministry”.
Sadly,
those who are slow to repent God will allow them to suffer the consequences of
their sin of pride, even the loss of the office of servant leader, or exclusion
from fellowship with other believers. In some cases, public exposure in the
world to warn others about them. The prideful don’t trust that the gospel is
absolute. Holy people, initially some are ignorant of this being unlearned, but
will come to learn and believe it. However, the prideful know it but do not
believe it.
Brethren,
the prideful will flip the gospel message to be all about God needing people to
receive His offer. Firstly God does not need anyone: Act 17:25 - Neither
is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth
to all life, and breath, and all things;
Secondly
the gospel is not an offer nor invitation which can be refused with no penalty;
it is God’s express command to all mankind: Act 17:30 - And
the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every
where to repent: 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the
which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath
ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that
he hath raised him from the dead.
Saints
(G40hagios) even now the prideful are preaching a false salvation that
salvation is all about getting a better life, giving God their lives, healing
emotional brokeness, overcoming addictions, getting rich, getting or having a
good family life etc.
Ultimately,
dearly beloveds, the loving disciplinary hand of God intervenes in the life of
every Christian: Heb 12: 5And ye have forgotten the
exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou
the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
6For whom the Lord loveth he
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
7If ye endure chastening, God
dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth
not? 8But if ye be without
chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
Love
serola
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