BROTHERS: KNOW WISDOM AS CHRIST AND UNDERSTANDING AS THE HOLY SPIRIT.
DOES NOT WISDOM CALL OUT? DOES NOT UNDERSTANDING RAISE HER VOICE? On the heights along the way, where the paths meet, she (WISDOM) takes her stand; beside the gates leading into the city, at the entrances, she cries aloud: "To YOU O MEN, I call out; I raise my voice to all MANKIND. YOU who are SIMPLE, gain PRUDENCE; YOU who are FOOLISH, gain UNDERSTANDING. Listen, for I have WORTHY things to say; I open my LIPS to SPEAK what is RIGHT. My mouth SPEAKS what is TRUE, for my LIPS DETEST WICKEDNESS. All the WORDS of my mouth are JUST; none of them is CROOKED OR PERVERSE. To the DISCERNING all of them are RIGHT; they are FAULTLESS to those who have KNOWLEDGE. CHOOSE MY INSTRUCTION instead of SILVER, KNOWLEDGE rather than choice GOLD, for WISDOM IS MORE PRECIOUS THAN RUBIES, and nothing YOU DESIRE can compare with her. I, WISDOM, dwell together with PRUDENCE; I POSSESS KNOWLEDGE and DISCRETION. To FEAR THE LORD is to HATE EVIL; I HATE PRIDE and ARROGANCE, EVIL BEHAVIOR and PERVERSE SPEECH. COUNSEL and SOUND JUDGEMENT are mine; I have UNDERSTANDING and POWER. By ME KINGS REIN and RULERS MAKE LAWS THAT ARE JUST; BY ME PRINCES GOVERN, and ALL NOBLES WHO RULE THE EARTH. I LOVE THOSE WHO LOVE ME, and THOSE WHO SEEK ME FIND ME. WITH ME ARE RICHES and HONOR, ENDURING WEALTH and PROSPERITY. MY FRUIT (GAL.22-23) IS BETTER THAN FINE GOLD; WHAT I YEILD SURPASSES CHOICE SILVER. I WALK IN THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, ALONG THE PATHS OF JUSTICE, BESTOWING WEALTH ON THOSE WHO LOVE ME and MAKING THEIR TREASURIES FULL.
The LORD BROUGHT ME FORTH AS THE FIRST OF HIS WORKS, BEFORE HIS DEEDS OF OLD; I was APPOINTED FROM ETERNITY, FROM THE BEGINNING, BEFORE THE WORLD BEGAN. WHEN THERE WERE NO OCEANS, I WAS GIVEN BIRTH, WHEN THERE WERE NO SPRINGS ABOUNDING WITH WATER; BEFORE THE MOUNTAINS WERE SETTLED IN PLACE, BEFORE THE HILLS, I WAS GIVEN BIRTH, BEFORE GOD MADE THE EARTH OR ITS FIELDS OR ANY OF THE DUST OF THE WORLD. I WAS THERE WHEN GOD SET THE HEAVENS IN PLACE, WHEN GOD MARKED OUT THE HORIZON ON THE FACE OF THE DEEP, WHEN GOD ESTABLISHED THE CLOUDS ABOVE and FIXED SECURELY THE FOUTAINS OF THE DEEP, WHEN GOD GAVE THE SEA ITS BOUNDARY SO THE WATERS WOULD NOT OVERSTEP GOD'S COMMAND, and WHEN GOD MARKED OUT THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH. THEN I WAS THE CRAFTSMAN AT GOD SIDE, REJOICING ALWAYS IN GODS PRESENCE, REJOICING IN GODS WHOLE WORLD and DELIGHTING IN MANKIND.
"NOW THEN, MY SONS, LISTEN TO ME: BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO KEEP MY WAYS. LISTEN TO MY INSTRUCTION and BE WISE, DO NOT IGNORE IT. BLESSED IS THE MAN WHO LISTENS TO ME, WATCHING DAILY AT MY DOORS, (WORDS) WAITING AT MY DOORWAY. (GRACE) FOR WHOEVER FINDS ME FINDS LIFE and RECIEVES FAVOR FROM THE LORD. BUT WHOEVER FAILS TO FIND ME HARMS HIMSELF; ALLWHO HATE ME LOVE DEATH."
INVITATIONS OF WISDOM AND FOLLY:
WISDOM has built her house; she has hewn out its SEVEN PILLARS. (2PET.5-7) She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table. She has sent out her maids, and she calls from the highest point of the city. "LET ALL WHO ARE SIMPLE COME IN HERE!" she says to those who LACK JUDGMENT. "Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed. Leave your SIMPLE WAYS and YOU will LIVE; WALK IN THE WAY OF UNDERSTANDING. WHOEVER CORRECTS A MOCKER INVITES INSULT; WHOEVER REBUKES A WICKED MAN INCURS ABUSE. DO NOT REBUKE A MOCKER OR HE WILL HATE YOU; REBUKE A WISE MAN and HE WILL LOVE YOU. INSTRUCT A WISE MAN and HE WILL BE WISER STILL; TEACH A RIGHTEOUS MAN and HE WILL ADD TO HIS LEARNING. "THE FEAR OF THE LORD IS THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM, and KNOWLEDGE OF THE HOLY ONE IS UNDERSTANDING. FOR THROUGH ME YOUR DAYS WILL BE MANY, and YEARS WILL BE ADDED TO YOUR LIFE. IF YOU ARE WISE, YOUR WISDOM WILL REWARD YOU; IF YOU ARE A MOCKER, YOU ALONE WILL SUFFER."
The WOMAN FOLLY is loud; she is UNDISCIPLINED and WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE. She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the HIGHEST POINT OF THE CITY, CALLING OUT to those who pass by; who go STRAIGHT on their way. "LET ALL WHO ARE SIMPLE COME IN HERE!" she says to those who LACK JUDGEMENT. "STOLEN WATER IS SWEET; FOOD EATEN IN SECRET IS DELICIOUS!" BUT LITTLE DO THEY KNOW THAT THE DEAD ARE THERE, THAT HER GUESTS ARE IN THE DEPTHS OF THE GRAVE. AMEN!
Thursday, December 5, 2013
PSALMS 51:10-13 KING DAVID'S PRAYER OF REPENTENCE TO GOD
CREATE IN ME A PURE HEART, O GOD, and RENEW A STEADFAST SPIRIT WITHIN ME.
DO NOT CAST ME FROM YOUR PRESENCE OR TAKE YOUR HOLY SPIRIT FROM ME.
RESTORE TO ME THE JOY OF YOUR SALVATION and GRANT ME A WILLING SPIRIT, TO SUSTAIN ME.
THEN I WILL TEACH TRANSGRESSORS YOUR WAYS, and SINNERS WILL TURN BACK TO YOU. AMEN!
DO NOT CAST ME FROM YOUR PRESENCE OR TAKE YOUR HOLY SPIRIT FROM ME.
RESTORE TO ME THE JOY OF YOUR SALVATION and GRANT ME A WILLING SPIRIT, TO SUSTAIN ME.
THEN I WILL TEACH TRANSGRESSORS YOUR WAYS, and SINNERS WILL TURN BACK TO YOU. AMEN!
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
2 PETER 1:20-21 PROPHECY COMES FROM GOD NOT MEN
ABOVE ALL, YOU must UNDERSTAND that NO PROPHECY OF SCRIPTURE came about by the PROPHET'S OWN INTERPRETATION. For PROPHECY NEVER HAD ITS ORIGIN IN THE WILL OF MAN, BUT MEN SPOKE FROM GOD AS THEY WERE CARRIED ALONG BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN!
1 PETER 5:6-11 I HUMBLE MY SELF BEFORE GOD
Humble yourselves, therefore, under GOD'S MIGHTY HAND, that GOD may lift YOU up in DUE TIME. Cast all your ANXIETY on GOD because GOD CARES FOR YOU.
Be INNER SELF - CONTROLLED and ALERT. Your ENEMY THE DEVIL PROWLS around like a ROARING LION looking for someone to DEVOUR. RESIST THE DEVIL, STANDING FIRM IN THE FAITH, because YOU know that your BROTHERS throughout the WORLD are undergoing the same KIND of SUFFERINGS.
And the GOD OF ALL GRACE, WHO CALLED YOU TO GODS ETERNAL GLORY IN CHRIST, after YOU have SUFFERED a little while, will HIMSELF RESTORE YOU and make YOU STRONG IN CHRIST, FIRM IN CHRIST, and STEADFAST IN CHRIST. AMEN!
Be INNER SELF - CONTROLLED and ALERT. Your ENEMY THE DEVIL PROWLS around like a ROARING LION looking for someone to DEVOUR. RESIST THE DEVIL, STANDING FIRM IN THE FAITH, because YOU know that your BROTHERS throughout the WORLD are undergoing the same KIND of SUFFERINGS.
And the GOD OF ALL GRACE, WHO CALLED YOU TO GODS ETERNAL GLORY IN CHRIST, after YOU have SUFFERED a little while, will HIMSELF RESTORE YOU and make YOU STRONG IN CHRIST, FIRM IN CHRIST, and STEADFAST IN CHRIST. AMEN!
1PETER 3:1-7 WIVES AND HUSBANDS
Wives, in the same way be SUBMISSIVE to your HUSBANDS so that, if any of them do not BELIEVE the WORD, they may be won over without WORDS by the BEHAVIOR of their WIVES, when they see the PURITY and REVERANCE of your LIVES. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your INNER SELF, the unfading beauty of a GENTLE and QUIET SPIRIT, which is of GREAT WORTH IN GOD'S SIGHT. For this is the way the HOLY WOMEN of the past who put their HOPE IN GOD used to make themselves BEAUTIFUL. They were submissive to their own HUSBAND, like Sarah, who OBEYED Abraham and called him her master. YOU are her daughters if YOU do what is RIGHT and do not give way to FEAR.
HUSBANDS, in the same way be CONSIDERATE as YOU live with your WIVES, and TREAT them with RESPECT as the WEAKER partner and as HEIRS with YOU of the GRACIOUS GIFT OF LIFE, so that NOTHING will HINDER your PRAYERS. AMEN!
HUSBANDS, in the same way be CONSIDERATE as YOU live with your WIVES, and TREAT them with RESPECT as the WEAKER partner and as HEIRS with YOU of the GRACIOUS GIFT OF LIFE, so that NOTHING will HINDER your PRAYERS. AMEN!
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
1PETER 1:3-2:3 PRAISE TO GOD FOR A LIVING HOPE THAT I MAY BE HOLY IN CHRIST
PRAISE BE TO THE GOD and FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST! In GOD'S GREAT MERCY GOD HAS GIVEN US NEW BIRTH INTO A LIVING HOPE THROUGH THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST FROM THE DEAD, and INTO AN INHERITANCE THAT CAN NEVER PERISH SPOIL OR FADE - KEPT IN HEAVEN FOR YOU, WHO THROUGH FAITH ARE SHIELDED BY GOD'S POWER UNTIL THE COMING OF THE SALVATION THAT IS READY TO BE REVEALED IN THE LAST TIME. IN THIS YOU GREATLY REJOICE, THOUGH NOW FOR A LITTLE WHILE YOU MAY HAVE HAD TO SUFFER GRIEF IN ALL KINDS OF TRIALS.
These have come so that your FAITH - of GREATER WORTH THAN GOLD, which PERISHES even through REFINED by FIRE - may be proved GENUINE and may result in PRAISE, GLORY and HONOR when JESUS CHRIST is REVEALED.
Though YOU have not seen CHRIST, YOU LOVE CHRIST; and even through YOU do not see CHRIST now, YOU BELIEVE IN CHRIST and are filled with an INEXPRESSIBLE and GLORIOUS JOY, for you are RECEIVING the goal of your FAITH, the SALVATION of your SOULS.
Concerning this SALVATION, the PROPHETS, who SPOKE of the GRACE that was to come to YOU, SEARCHED INTENTLY and with the GREATEST CARE, trying to find out the TIME and CIRCUMSTANCES to which the SPIRIT OF CHRIST in them was pointing when HE PREDICTED THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST and the GLORIES that would follow. It was REVEALED to the PROPHETS that they were not SERVING THEMSELVES but YOU, when they SPOKE of the things that have now been told YOU by those who have PREACHED the GOSPEL to YOU by the HOLY SPIRIT SENT FROM HEAVEN. Even ANGLES long to look into these things.
BE HOLY
THEREFORE, PREPARE YOUR MINDS FOR ACTION; BE INNER SELF CONTROL; set your HOPE fully on the GRACE to be given YOU when JESUS CHRIST is REVEALED. As OBEDIENT CHILDREN, do not CONFORM to the EVIL DESIRES YOU had when YOU LIVED in IGNORANCE. But just as GOD who CALLED YOU is HOLY, so be HOLY in ALL YOU DO; for it is WRITTEN:" BE HOLY, BECAUSE I AM HOLY."
Since YOU call on a FATHER who JUDGES EACH MAN'S WORK IMPARTIALLY, LIVE YOUR LIVES AS STRANGERS HERE IN REVERENT FEAR. For YOU know that it was not with PERISHABLE things such as SILVER or GOLD that YOU were REDEEMED from the EMPTY WAY OF LIFE handed down to YOU from your FOREFATHERS, but with PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST, A LAMB WITHOUT BLEMISH OR DEFECT. CHRIST WAS CHOSEN BEFORE THE CREATION OF THE WORLD, but WAS REVEALED IN THESE LAST TIMES FOR YOUR SAKE. Through CHRIST YOU BELIEVE IN GOD, WHO RAISED CHRIST FROM THE DEAD and GLORIFIED CHRIST, and SO YOUR FAITH and HOPE ARE IN GOD.
Now that YOU have PURIFIED yourselves by OBEYING the TRUTH so that YOU have SINCERE LOVE FOR YOUR BROTHERS, LOVE ONE ANOTHER DEEPLY, FROM A PURE HEART. For YOU have been BORN AGAIN, NOT OF PERISHABLE SEED, BUT OF IMPERISHABLE, THROUGH THE LIVING and ENDURING WORD OF GOD. For, "ALL MEN ARE LIKE GRASS, and ALL THEIR GLORY IS LIKE THE FLOWERS OF THE FIELD; THE GRASS WITHERS and THE FLOWERS FALL, BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD STANDS FOREVER." And this is the WORD that was PREACHED to YOU.
THERFORE, rid yourselves of all MALICE and ALL DECEIT, HYPOCRISY, ENVEY, and SLANDER of every kind. LIKE NEWBORN BABIES, CRAVE PURE SPIRITUAL MILK, SO THAT BY IT YOU MAY GROW UP IN YOUR SALVATION, NOW THAT YOU HAVE TASTED THAT THE LORD IS GOOD. AMEN!
These have come so that your FAITH - of GREATER WORTH THAN GOLD, which PERISHES even through REFINED by FIRE - may be proved GENUINE and may result in PRAISE, GLORY and HONOR when JESUS CHRIST is REVEALED.
Though YOU have not seen CHRIST, YOU LOVE CHRIST; and even through YOU do not see CHRIST now, YOU BELIEVE IN CHRIST and are filled with an INEXPRESSIBLE and GLORIOUS JOY, for you are RECEIVING the goal of your FAITH, the SALVATION of your SOULS.
Concerning this SALVATION, the PROPHETS, who SPOKE of the GRACE that was to come to YOU, SEARCHED INTENTLY and with the GREATEST CARE, trying to find out the TIME and CIRCUMSTANCES to which the SPIRIT OF CHRIST in them was pointing when HE PREDICTED THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST and the GLORIES that would follow. It was REVEALED to the PROPHETS that they were not SERVING THEMSELVES but YOU, when they SPOKE of the things that have now been told YOU by those who have PREACHED the GOSPEL to YOU by the HOLY SPIRIT SENT FROM HEAVEN. Even ANGLES long to look into these things.
BE HOLY
THEREFORE, PREPARE YOUR MINDS FOR ACTION; BE INNER SELF CONTROL; set your HOPE fully on the GRACE to be given YOU when JESUS CHRIST is REVEALED. As OBEDIENT CHILDREN, do not CONFORM to the EVIL DESIRES YOU had when YOU LIVED in IGNORANCE. But just as GOD who CALLED YOU is HOLY, so be HOLY in ALL YOU DO; for it is WRITTEN:" BE HOLY, BECAUSE I AM HOLY."
Since YOU call on a FATHER who JUDGES EACH MAN'S WORK IMPARTIALLY, LIVE YOUR LIVES AS STRANGERS HERE IN REVERENT FEAR. For YOU know that it was not with PERISHABLE things such as SILVER or GOLD that YOU were REDEEMED from the EMPTY WAY OF LIFE handed down to YOU from your FOREFATHERS, but with PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST, A LAMB WITHOUT BLEMISH OR DEFECT. CHRIST WAS CHOSEN BEFORE THE CREATION OF THE WORLD, but WAS REVEALED IN THESE LAST TIMES FOR YOUR SAKE. Through CHRIST YOU BELIEVE IN GOD, WHO RAISED CHRIST FROM THE DEAD and GLORIFIED CHRIST, and SO YOUR FAITH and HOPE ARE IN GOD.
Now that YOU have PURIFIED yourselves by OBEYING the TRUTH so that YOU have SINCERE LOVE FOR YOUR BROTHERS, LOVE ONE ANOTHER DEEPLY, FROM A PURE HEART. For YOU have been BORN AGAIN, NOT OF PERISHABLE SEED, BUT OF IMPERISHABLE, THROUGH THE LIVING and ENDURING WORD OF GOD. For, "ALL MEN ARE LIKE GRASS, and ALL THEIR GLORY IS LIKE THE FLOWERS OF THE FIELD; THE GRASS WITHERS and THE FLOWERS FALL, BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD STANDS FOREVER." And this is the WORD that was PREACHED to YOU.
THERFORE, rid yourselves of all MALICE and ALL DECEIT, HYPOCRISY, ENVEY, and SLANDER of every kind. LIKE NEWBORN BABIES, CRAVE PURE SPIRITUAL MILK, SO THAT BY IT YOU MAY GROW UP IN YOUR SALVATION, NOW THAT YOU HAVE TASTED THAT THE LORD IS GOOD. AMEN!
Monday, December 2, 2013
JAMES 1:12-27 MAY I CONTINUE TO PERSEVERE THAT I BE A DOER OF THE WORD
BLESSED IS THE MAN WHO PERSEVERS UNDER TRIAL, because when HE has STOOD THE TEST, HE WILL RECEIVE THE CROWN OF LIFE THAT GOD HAS PROMISED TO THOSE WHO LOVE HIM. When TEMPTED, no one should say, "GOD is TEMPTING ME." For GOD CANNOT be TEMPTED BY EVIL, nor does GOD TEMPT anyone; but each one is TEMPTED when, BY HIS OWN EVIL DESIRE, HE IS DRAGED AWAY AND ENTICED. Then, after DESIRE has CONCEIVED, it gives BIRTH TO SIN; and SIN, when it is FULL-GROWN, gives BIRTH TO DEATH.
Don't be DECEIVED, MY DEAR BROTHERS. Every GOOD AND PERFECT GIFT IS FROM ABOVE, COMING DOWN FROM THE FATHER OF THE HEAVENLY LIGHTS, WHO DOES NOT CHANGE LIKE SHIFTING SHADOWS. GOD CHOSE TO GIVE US BIRTH THROUGH THE WORD OF TRUTH, THAT WE MIGHT BE A KIND OF FIRSTFRUITS OF ALL GOD CREATED.
LISTENING AND DOING
MY DEAR BROTHERS, TAKE NOTE OF THIS: EVERYONE SHOULD BE QUICK TO LISTEN, SLOW TO SPEAK, and SLOW TO BECOME ANGRY, FOR MAN'S ANGER DOES NOT BRING ABOUT THE RIGHTEOUS LIFE THAT GOD DESIRES. THEREFORE, GET RID OF ALL MORAL FILTH and THE EVIL THAT IS SO PREVALENT and HUMBLY ACCEPT THE WORD PLANTED IN YOU, WHICH CAN SAVE YOU.
DO NOT MERELY LISTEN TO THE WORD, and SO DECEIVE YOURSELVES. DO WHAT IT SAYS. ANYONE WHO LISTENS TO THE WORD BUT DOES NOT DO WHAT IT SAYS IS LIKE A MAN WHO LOOKS AT HIS FACE IN A MIRROR and AFTER LOOKING AT HIMSELF, GOES AWAY and IMMEDIATELY FORGETS WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE. BUT THE MAN WHO LOOKS INTENTLY INTO THE PERFECT LAW THAT GIVES FREEDOM, and CONTINUES TO DO THIS, NOT FORGETTING WHAT HE HAS HEARD, BUT DOING IT - HE WILL BE BLESSED IN WHAT HE DOES.
IF ANYONE CONSIDERS HIMSELF RELIGIOUS and YET DOES NOT KEEP A TIGHT REIN ON HIS TONGUE, HE DECEIVES HIMSELF and HIS RELIGION IS WORTHLESS. RELIGION THAT GOD OUR FATHER ACCEPTS AS PURE and FAULTLESS IS THIS; TO LOOK AFTER ORPHANS and WIDOWS IN THEIR DISTRESS and TO KEEP ONESELF FROM BEING POLLUTED BY THE WORLD.
Don't be DECEIVED, MY DEAR BROTHERS. Every GOOD AND PERFECT GIFT IS FROM ABOVE, COMING DOWN FROM THE FATHER OF THE HEAVENLY LIGHTS, WHO DOES NOT CHANGE LIKE SHIFTING SHADOWS. GOD CHOSE TO GIVE US BIRTH THROUGH THE WORD OF TRUTH, THAT WE MIGHT BE A KIND OF FIRSTFRUITS OF ALL GOD CREATED.
LISTENING AND DOING
MY DEAR BROTHERS, TAKE NOTE OF THIS: EVERYONE SHOULD BE QUICK TO LISTEN, SLOW TO SPEAK, and SLOW TO BECOME ANGRY, FOR MAN'S ANGER DOES NOT BRING ABOUT THE RIGHTEOUS LIFE THAT GOD DESIRES. THEREFORE, GET RID OF ALL MORAL FILTH and THE EVIL THAT IS SO PREVALENT and HUMBLY ACCEPT THE WORD PLANTED IN YOU, WHICH CAN SAVE YOU.
DO NOT MERELY LISTEN TO THE WORD, and SO DECEIVE YOURSELVES. DO WHAT IT SAYS. ANYONE WHO LISTENS TO THE WORD BUT DOES NOT DO WHAT IT SAYS IS LIKE A MAN WHO LOOKS AT HIS FACE IN A MIRROR and AFTER LOOKING AT HIMSELF, GOES AWAY and IMMEDIATELY FORGETS WHAT HE LOOKS LIKE. BUT THE MAN WHO LOOKS INTENTLY INTO THE PERFECT LAW THAT GIVES FREEDOM, and CONTINUES TO DO THIS, NOT FORGETTING WHAT HE HAS HEARD, BUT DOING IT - HE WILL BE BLESSED IN WHAT HE DOES.
IF ANYONE CONSIDERS HIMSELF RELIGIOUS and YET DOES NOT KEEP A TIGHT REIN ON HIS TONGUE, HE DECEIVES HIMSELF and HIS RELIGION IS WORTHLESS. RELIGION THAT GOD OUR FATHER ACCEPTS AS PURE and FAULTLESS IS THIS; TO LOOK AFTER ORPHANS and WIDOWS IN THEIR DISTRESS and TO KEEP ONESELF FROM BEING POLLUTED BY THE WORLD.
HEBREWS 10:29-31 IF WE DELIBERATELY KEEP SINNING WE MAKE GOD OUR ENEMY
How much more SEVERELY do YOU think a MAN DESERVES to be PUNISHED who has TRAMPLED the SON OF GOD UNDERFOOT, who has TREATED as a UNHOLY THING the BLOOD of the COVENANT that SANCTIFIED HIM, and who has INSULTED the SPIRIT OF GRACE? For WE know GOD who said, "IT IS MINE TO AVENGE; I WILL REPAY," and again, "THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE." IT IS A DREADFUL THING TO FALL INTO THE HANDS OF THE LIVING GOD.
HEBREWS 1:1-3 THE SON IS THE RADIANCE OF GOD'S GLORY
In the past GOD SPOKE to our forefathers through the PROPHETS at many times and in VARIOUS ways, but in these LAST DAYS GOD has spoken to us by HIS SON, whom GOD appointed HEIR of all things, and through whom GOD made the UNIVERSE. The SON is the RADIANCE of GOD'S GLORY and the EXACT REPRESENTATION of GODS BEING, SUSTAINING ALL THINGS BY GODS POWERFUL WORD. After CHRIST had PROVIDED PURIFICATION FOR SINS, CHRIST sat down at the RIGHT HAND of the MAJESTY IN HEAVEN. AMEN!
Sunday, December 1, 2013
2TIMOTHY 1:8-2:26 BE FAITHFUL, A WORKMAN APPROVED BY GOD
So do not be ASHAMED to TESTIFY about OUR LORD, or ASHAMED of ME HIS PRISONER. But join with ME in suffering for the GOSPEL, by the POWER OF GOD, WHO HAS SAVED US and CALLED US to a HOLY LIFE - not because of anything WE have done but because of GOD'S OWN PURPOSE and GRACE. This GRACE was given US IN CHRIST JESUS BEFORE the BEGINNING of TIME, but it has now been REVEALED through the APPEARING of OUR SAVIOR, CHRIST JESUS, WHO HAS DESTROYED DEATH and has brought LIFE and IMMORTALITY to LIGHT through the GOSPEL. And of this GOSPEL I was APPOINTED a HERALD and an APOSTLE and a TEACHER. That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ASHAMED, because I KNOW whom I have BELIEVED, and am CONVINCED that GOD is able to guard what I have ENTRUSTED to HIM for that DAY.
What YOU heard from ME, keep as the PATTERN OF SOUND TEACHING, with FAITH and LOVE in CHRIST JESUS.
Guard the GOOD DEPOSIT that was ENTRUSTED to YOU - guard it with the help of the HOLY SPIRIT WHO LIVES IN US.
YOU know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted ME, including Phygelus and Hermongenes. May the LORD show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed ME and was not ASHAMED of my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for ME until he found ME. May the LORD grant that he will find mercy from the LORD on that DAY! YOU know very well in how many ways he helped ME in Ephesus.
YOU then, my SON, BE STRONG IN THE GRACE THAT IS IN CHRIST JESUS. And the things YOU have heard ME say in the presence of many WITNESSES ENTRUST to RELIABLE MEN who will also be QUALIFIED to TEACH OTHERS. ENDURE HARDSHIP with US like a GOOD SOLDIER of CHRIST JESUS. No one SERVING as a SOLDIER gets INVOLVED in CIVILIAN AFFAIRS - HE wants to PLEASE HIS COMMANDING OFFICER. (GOD) SIMILARLY, if anyone COMPETES as a ATHLETE, HE does not RECEIEVE the VICTOR'S CROWN unless HE COMPETES ACCORDING to the RULES. The HARDWORKING FARMER should be the FIRST to RECIEVE A SHARE of the CROPS. REFLECT on what I am saying, for the LORD will give YOU INSIGHT into all this.
REMEMBER JESUS CHRIST, RAISED FROM THE DEAD, DESCENDED FROM DAVID. This is MY GOSPEL, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But GOD'S WORD is not chained. THEREFORE I ENDURE everything for the sake of the ELECT, that they too may OBTAIN the SALVATION that is in CHRIST JESUS, with ETERNAL GLORY. Here is a TRUSTWORTHY SAYING: If WE DIED WITH HIM (CHRIST), WE WILL ALSO LIVE HIM (CHRIST); IF WE ENDURE, WE WILL ALSO REIGN WITH HIM (CHRIST). IF WE DISOWN HIM (CHRIST), HE (CHRIST) WILL ALSO DISOWN US; IF WE ARE FAITHLESS, HE (CHRIST) WILL REMAIN FAITHFUL, FOR HE (CHRIST) CANNOT DISOWN HIMSELF.
A WORKMAN APPROVED BY GOD
Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before GOD against QUARRELING ABOUT WORDS; it is of no VALUE, and only RUINS those who LISTEN. Do your best to PRESENT YOURSELF TO GOD AS ONE APPROVED, A WORKMAN who does not need to be ASHAMED and who CORRECTLY HANDLES THE WORD OF TRUTH. AVOID GODLESS CHATTER, because those who INDULGE in it will become more and more UNGODLY. Their TEACHING will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have WANDERED away from the TRUTH. They say that the RESURRECTION has already taken place, and they DESTROY the FAITH of some. NEVERTHELESS, GOD'S SOLID FOUNDATION STANDS FIRM, SEALED WITH THIS INSCRIPTION: "THE LORD KNOWS THOSE WHO ARE HIS," and, "EVERYONE WHO CONFESSES THE NAME OF THE LORD MUST TURN AWAY FROM WICKEDNESS."
In a large house there are articles not only of GOLD and SILVER, but also of WOOD and CLAY; some are for NOBLE PURPOSE and some for IGNOBLE. If a MAN CLEANSES HIMSELF from the latter, HE will be an INSTRUMENT for NOBLE PURPOSES, MADE HOLY, USEFUL TO THE MASTER and PREPARED to do any GOOD WORK.
Flee the EVIL DESIRES of youth, and PURSE RIGHTEOUSNESS, FAITH, LOVE and PEACE, along with those who call on the LORD out of a PURE HEART. Don't have anything to do with FOOLISH and STUPID ARGUMENTS, because YOU know they produce QUARRELS. And the LORD'S SERVANT (ME) must not QUARREL; instead, HE must be KIND to everyone, ABLE TO TEACH, NOT RESENTFUL. Those who OPPOSE him HE must GENTLY INSTRUCT, in the HOPE that GOD will grant them REPENTANCE leading them to a KNOWLEDGE of the TRUTH, and that they will come to their senses and ESCAPE from the TRAP of the DEVIL, who has TAKEN them CAPTIVE to do his will. AMEN!
What YOU heard from ME, keep as the PATTERN OF SOUND TEACHING, with FAITH and LOVE in CHRIST JESUS.
Guard the GOOD DEPOSIT that was ENTRUSTED to YOU - guard it with the help of the HOLY SPIRIT WHO LIVES IN US.
YOU know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted ME, including Phygelus and Hermongenes. May the LORD show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed ME and was not ASHAMED of my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for ME until he found ME. May the LORD grant that he will find mercy from the LORD on that DAY! YOU know very well in how many ways he helped ME in Ephesus.
YOU then, my SON, BE STRONG IN THE GRACE THAT IS IN CHRIST JESUS. And the things YOU have heard ME say in the presence of many WITNESSES ENTRUST to RELIABLE MEN who will also be QUALIFIED to TEACH OTHERS. ENDURE HARDSHIP with US like a GOOD SOLDIER of CHRIST JESUS. No one SERVING as a SOLDIER gets INVOLVED in CIVILIAN AFFAIRS - HE wants to PLEASE HIS COMMANDING OFFICER. (GOD) SIMILARLY, if anyone COMPETES as a ATHLETE, HE does not RECEIEVE the VICTOR'S CROWN unless HE COMPETES ACCORDING to the RULES. The HARDWORKING FARMER should be the FIRST to RECIEVE A SHARE of the CROPS. REFLECT on what I am saying, for the LORD will give YOU INSIGHT into all this.
REMEMBER JESUS CHRIST, RAISED FROM THE DEAD, DESCENDED FROM DAVID. This is MY GOSPEL, for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But GOD'S WORD is not chained. THEREFORE I ENDURE everything for the sake of the ELECT, that they too may OBTAIN the SALVATION that is in CHRIST JESUS, with ETERNAL GLORY. Here is a TRUSTWORTHY SAYING: If WE DIED WITH HIM (CHRIST), WE WILL ALSO LIVE HIM (CHRIST); IF WE ENDURE, WE WILL ALSO REIGN WITH HIM (CHRIST). IF WE DISOWN HIM (CHRIST), HE (CHRIST) WILL ALSO DISOWN US; IF WE ARE FAITHLESS, HE (CHRIST) WILL REMAIN FAITHFUL, FOR HE (CHRIST) CANNOT DISOWN HIMSELF.
A WORKMAN APPROVED BY GOD
Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before GOD against QUARRELING ABOUT WORDS; it is of no VALUE, and only RUINS those who LISTEN. Do your best to PRESENT YOURSELF TO GOD AS ONE APPROVED, A WORKMAN who does not need to be ASHAMED and who CORRECTLY HANDLES THE WORD OF TRUTH. AVOID GODLESS CHATTER, because those who INDULGE in it will become more and more UNGODLY. Their TEACHING will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have WANDERED away from the TRUTH. They say that the RESURRECTION has already taken place, and they DESTROY the FAITH of some. NEVERTHELESS, GOD'S SOLID FOUNDATION STANDS FIRM, SEALED WITH THIS INSCRIPTION: "THE LORD KNOWS THOSE WHO ARE HIS," and, "EVERYONE WHO CONFESSES THE NAME OF THE LORD MUST TURN AWAY FROM WICKEDNESS."
In a large house there are articles not only of GOLD and SILVER, but also of WOOD and CLAY; some are for NOBLE PURPOSE and some for IGNOBLE. If a MAN CLEANSES HIMSELF from the latter, HE will be an INSTRUMENT for NOBLE PURPOSES, MADE HOLY, USEFUL TO THE MASTER and PREPARED to do any GOOD WORK.
Flee the EVIL DESIRES of youth, and PURSE RIGHTEOUSNESS, FAITH, LOVE and PEACE, along with those who call on the LORD out of a PURE HEART. Don't have anything to do with FOOLISH and STUPID ARGUMENTS, because YOU know they produce QUARRELS. And the LORD'S SERVANT (ME) must not QUARREL; instead, HE must be KIND to everyone, ABLE TO TEACH, NOT RESENTFUL. Those who OPPOSE him HE must GENTLY INSTRUCT, in the HOPE that GOD will grant them REPENTANCE leading them to a KNOWLEDGE of the TRUTH, and that they will come to their senses and ESCAPE from the TRAP of the DEVIL, who has TAKEN them CAPTIVE to do his will. AMEN!
1TIMOTHY 1:18-2:15 PAUL'S INSTRUCTIONS ON WORSHIP
Timothy, my son, I (PAUL) give YOU this INSTRUCTION in keeping with the prophecies once made about YOU, so that by following them YOU may FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT, HOLDING ON TO FAITH and a GOOD CONSCIENCE. Some have REJECTED THESE and so have SHIPWRECKED their FAITH. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to SATAN to be TAUGHT not to BLASPHEME.
INSTRUCTIONS ON WORSHIP
I (PAUL) URGE, THEN, FIRST OF ALL, THAT REQUEST, PRAYERS, INTERCESSION and THANKSGIVING BE MADE FOR EVERYONE - FOR KINGS and ALL THOSE IN AUTHORITY, that WE may live PEACEFUL and QUIET lives in all GODLINESS and HOLINESS. THIS IS GOOD, and PLEASES GOD OUR SAVIOR, WHO WANTS ALL MEN TO BE SAVED and TO COME TO A KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH. For there is ONE GOD and ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD and MEN, the MAN CHRIST JESUS, WHO GAVE HIMSELF AS A RASOM FOR ALL MEN - the TESTIMONY given in its proper time. And for this PURPOSE I WAS APPOINTED a HERALD and an APOSTLE - I AM TELLING THE TRUTH, I AM NOT LYING - and a TEACHER OF THE TRUE FAITH TO THE GENTLIES. (NON JEWS)
I WANT MEN EVERYWHERE TO LIFT UP HOLY HANDS IN PRAYER, WITHOUT ANGER OR DISPUTING.
I also want women to DRESS MODESTLY, with DECENCY and PROPRIETY, not with BRAIDED HAIR or GOLD or PEARLS or EXPENSIVE CLOTHES, but with GOOD DEEDS, APPROPRIATE FOR WOMEN WHO PROFESS TO WORSHIP GOD.
A WOMAN should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not PERMIT a WOMAN to teach or to have AUTHORITY OVER A MAN; SHE must be SILENT. For ADAM was formed first, then EVE. And ADAM was not the one DECEIVED; it was the WOMAN who was DECEIVED and became a sinner. But WOMEN will be SAVED through childbearing - if they continue in FAITH, LOVE and HOLINESS with PROPRIETY. AMEN!
INSTRUCTIONS ON WORSHIP
I (PAUL) URGE, THEN, FIRST OF ALL, THAT REQUEST, PRAYERS, INTERCESSION and THANKSGIVING BE MADE FOR EVERYONE - FOR KINGS and ALL THOSE IN AUTHORITY, that WE may live PEACEFUL and QUIET lives in all GODLINESS and HOLINESS. THIS IS GOOD, and PLEASES GOD OUR SAVIOR, WHO WANTS ALL MEN TO BE SAVED and TO COME TO A KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH. For there is ONE GOD and ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD and MEN, the MAN CHRIST JESUS, WHO GAVE HIMSELF AS A RASOM FOR ALL MEN - the TESTIMONY given in its proper time. And for this PURPOSE I WAS APPOINTED a HERALD and an APOSTLE - I AM TELLING THE TRUTH, I AM NOT LYING - and a TEACHER OF THE TRUE FAITH TO THE GENTLIES. (NON JEWS)
I WANT MEN EVERYWHERE TO LIFT UP HOLY HANDS IN PRAYER, WITHOUT ANGER OR DISPUTING.
I also want women to DRESS MODESTLY, with DECENCY and PROPRIETY, not with BRAIDED HAIR or GOLD or PEARLS or EXPENSIVE CLOTHES, but with GOOD DEEDS, APPROPRIATE FOR WOMEN WHO PROFESS TO WORSHIP GOD.
A WOMAN should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not PERMIT a WOMAN to teach or to have AUTHORITY OVER A MAN; SHE must be SILENT. For ADAM was formed first, then EVE. And ADAM was not the one DECEIVED; it was the WOMAN who was DECEIVED and became a sinner. But WOMEN will be SAVED through childbearing - if they continue in FAITH, LOVE and HOLINESS with PROPRIETY. AMEN!
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