Podcasts about read deuteronomy

Introduction: Matthew 6:24 – No one can serve two masters... You cannot serve God and money. Ephesians 5:5 - For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Philippians 3:19 – their god is their belly... 1 Samuel 15:23 - For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. 3 Reasons to Run from Idolatry: (1 Corinthians 10:14-22) Because of WHO YOU ARE. (1 Cor 10:16-18) Because It's DEMONIC. (1 Cor 10:19-21) Deuteronomy 32:17 – They sacrificed to demons that were not God... Psalm 106:37 – They served their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons... Ephesians 6:12 - For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Because God is JEALOUS For You. (1 Cor 10:22) Exodus 34:14 – for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God… Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANKHint: Highlight blanks above for answers! Audio Transcript 00:36Open up those Bibles to 1 Corinthians 10 and take a moment to please just pray for me to communicate God's Word clearly as I should, and I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive what it is the Lord wants to teach us today. All right? So let's just take a moment and pray. Father, we trust Your Word and Your Spirit to do a work in our hearts.01:08As only you can, Father. That's why we're here. Father, open our hearts and minds up to receive what it is that you've told us in your word. We sing, I exalt thee, but Father, I pray that we would live that, a lifestyle that exalts you. We pray in Jesus' name.01:37Amen. 1 Corinthians 10.01:42Many years ago at a church picnic, we did the pie the pastor thing.01:48Now I know we've done it more recently. We did it like with VBS.01:51This is years ago when we had a lot less kids.01:54And I couldn't remember what it was, but Mandy Maul was our children's director at the time.01:58And she reminded me, it was like those big five-gallon jugs.02:04was if the kids could fill it with change, they went to some mission or ministry, but if the kids could fill it with change, some of the kids would be able to pie me at the church picnic.02:18So when I say pie, not like an apple pie, you know, the old whipped cream, the whipped cream pies, right?02:26So it started with, can some of the kids pie you at the picnic?02:32I was like, okay.02:34Well, that turned into, can all the kids pie you? And I said, multiple times, each as hard as they can. You would be surprised how hard some of these little guys can hit you in the nose with a whipped cream pie. I had to go into like concussion protocol. So they're like, can all the kids hit you in the pie, hit you in the face with a pie as hard as they can? I was like, okay. Then somebody, not one of the kids, somebody had this brilliant idea.03:32How about we pie Pastor Jeff, but instead of whipped cream, they brought a squeeze bottle of mayonnaise. A squeeze bottle of mayonnaise. And they're like, let's pie him with a mayonnaise pie. Mayonnaise pie, excuse me. And I said, too far. That was too far. Absolutely under no circumstances.04:02But you see, they just took it too far. They just took it too far. It was all fun and games until they brought out the Hellmanns. Too far. You went too far. And it's that idea of going too far that takes us to this next section. Because you see, the Corinthians that Paul was writing to lived in a pagan culture.04:32Right? Paganism was everywhere. And some of the people in the church obviously came to Christ out of the pagan culture, and they realized, hey, I am free in Christ. And an idol? An idol is nothing. And Paul's like, you're right, an idol is nothing. Well, meat that was sacrificed to idols? I can eat that. I'm free to eat that. And Paul's like, yes, you are free to Eat that meat. Yes. But not if it offends a weaker Christian. Then you lay down your freedom. Say like, well, I'm free also to go to the pagan festivals. Go to these pagan parties. I'm free to do that. And Paul said, too far. You've taken it too far. Yes, we are free in Christ, but going to the pagan festivals, That's too far. Look at verse 14. He says, Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.05:43That word beloved, that is such a term of just deep affection.05:50Paul's like, look, I love you, church. I love you.05:56And it's because I love you, church, that I have to tell you something that's really important.06:02A lot of you are still getting involved in the paganism around you. You've got to run from that. You've got to flee. Get away from that whole scene. Idolatry. So let me ask you, are you in danger of idolatry? You. Are you in danger of idolatry?06:38We would agree that idolatry is an issue for a lot of people in the world. Right? We would agree with that. As many of you know, we are the stateside support. We have 23 churches in northern Thailand. Mountain, jungle, tribal, places that don't see white people.07:03We support 23 churches, 4 children's homes, a Bible institute. We have a thriving ministry there. And I've been to Thailand several times. And when you go to Thailand and you land in the airport, there is a sign at the airport that says there is a severe penalty.07:32for stealing the head of a Buddha statue. And I thought, well, that's random that you land. It's like, welcome to our country. By the way, we will arrest you if you steal the head of a statue. So I asked our missionary Barnabas, like, what is up with that? What's up with that sign? He said, well, people realize they can't steal the whole statue.08:00So people come and they just try to steal the head. And to them, that is so sacrilegious. That is a horrible thing. And he said they come down hard on people that do that. So we look at that and we're like, yes, idolatry. Or we go up into the mountain jungles of Thailand. When you get away from the city where there's a lot of Buddhism, But when you get to some of these tribal areas, it's not Buddhism as much as it's spiritism and animism. And they have these spirit altars in their homes where they burn things to appease the evil spirits. And when they become Christians, when they receive Christ, one of the first things they do is rip that spirit altar out and take it outside their village and burn it as their way of saying, I am done with this.08:58And we hear those stories and we see the ashes and we say, yeah, they have a problem with idolatry. But we don't think idolatry is an issue for us. But here's the thing, church. We don't have less idols. We have infinitely more.09:30I've never bowed down to a rock. I understand the Bible's definition of idolatry is much greater than just that. For example, the Bible says money can be an idol. Money and stuff. Jesus said, Matthew 6.24, you cannot serve God and money. Money and stuff can be an idol. How about covetousness? The Bible says covetousness is an idol. Ephesians 5.5, it says, that is an idolater has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.10:04Covetousness.10:05That's when instead of being thankful for what God has given to you, you wish that you had what God gave to someone else.10:14That's coveting.10:17And God says when you covet, you're an idolater.10:22The Bible says your belly can be an idol, Philippians 3.19.10:27In that passage, Paul talks about people who are ruled by their appetites. That's what drives them. Whatever they are hungry for, that's their idol. Or how about this one? Rebellion. 1 Samuel 15 talks about that. Rebellion is as the sin of divination and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.10:56You see, when God tells you to do something, and you're like, I'm not going to do that, and you're rebelling against God, God says, in my mind, that has become an idol to you, your rebellion. Ezekiel 14 talks about taking idols into your heart. You know, I was thinking about that a lot this week. Idols are kind of a funny thing. In that, You realize literally anything, literally anything on this earth can become an idol. Do you ever think about that? Anything. I mean, an object, whether it's a rock or your car or something, an object can become an idol. Another person can become an idol. Your spouse, your kids, your Whatever. Celebrity. A person can become an idol. Some activity. Some hobby. Even a good thing. Consumes you. It becomes the thing that you worship. An activity can become an idol. Or a position. Right? I've got to get this job. I'm not going to be content until I reach this level. And that becomes an idol. You realize an idea can become an idol.12:26An idea can become an idol. Like, I didn't think my life was going to turn out like this. And we sort of have this idea of, this is how I thought my life was going to be at this point. This is how I thought my kids were going to be. I thought I'd be in a much different place at this point in my life. And we sort of have this idealized utopia of how we think our lives should be. And that becomes an idol for us.12:55Literally anything can become an idol. But here's something else that's funny about idolatry. Idolatry is completely individualized. And it's completely subjective. Here's what I mean. Like, when I've been to Thailand, one of the times I went, I said to Barnabas, I said, hey, can I see one of these Buddhist temples? Because there was one right down the street from his house. And I said, would they object to like somebody like me just going in there. He goes, oh no, they're fine with that. He says, you want to see it? I'll show you. He took me down. There was nobody in there. We just walked right in. He goes, oh, they don't care. But I got to tell you, did nothing for me. It was interesting, but it did nothing for me like religiously. But you know, there are a lot of other people that go in there and that is where they worship and that is everything. You see how it's subjective.13:55The same thing means everything to one person but meant nothing to me. Or I could take one of these Thai people here to America and maybe I've turned my kids into an idol and to the Thai person, my kids mean nothing to them. So you see how idolatry is so individualized and it's so specific and subjective to us, to each of us, that there is something in your life that you are tempted to turn into an idol. Unless it has already become an idol. You're like, well, what is it? What is it for me? It's that thing in your life that's more important than Jesus. That's an idol. It's the thing that keeps you from obeying Jesus as you should. That's an idol. If I said to you, what is the thing in your life that you know if this thing wasn't in the way, you would have a closer walk. You would feel like you are nearer to God. What is that thing? That thing would be your idol. The thing that's more important than coming to worship. The thing that's more important than your personal time with the Lord. That's an idol. The thing you devote your time and money and attention over Jesus.15:25That's an idol. So I'll ask you again, are you in danger of idolatry? Because when we consider the biblical definition of idolatry, I think the answer is yes, we all are. Every single one of us are in danger of idolatry. So verse 15, he says, I speak as to sensible people. Judge for yourselves what I say. Do we have any sensible people here this morning? No? This is going to be the longest sermon you've ever heard if you're not sensible. But that's what Paul's saying.16:26in your head, listen to what I'm saying. Listen, this is something you need to think about. Something you really need to stop. And what's he saying? I got to think about that. All right? So here's what Paul's saying in this passage we're going to look at. Paul says, run from idolatry.16:55Okay, why, Paul? Paul says, because of the Lord's Supper. You're like, what? What do you mean? You've got to be sensible, sensible people. Let's talk about the Lord's Supper. Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22. Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with his disciples before Jesus' death. And Jesus, in this celebration, changed the meaning of the Passover meal from remembering the Exodus to remembering Him. It became a regular observance in the church. And here's what Paul's saying in this passage. If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, if you are a sincere, born-again believer in Jesus Christ, if you are someone, who comes and takes the Lord's Supper, then you don't want anything to do with idolatry. So let's explain what he means by that, sensible people. On your outline, three reasons to run from idolatry. Number one, because of who you are. Why should I run from idolatry? Because of who I am. You should run because of who you are.18:27Look at verse 16.18:29Because we've got to talk about this one for a couple of minutes.18:34Paul says, sensible people flee from idolatry. Why, Paul?18:38Look at verse 16. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?18:49The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?18:56The cup of blessing. What's the cup of blessing? That's the third cup in the Passover meal. That's probably when Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper. Jesus blessed it. And Paul says, when we get together and take the Lord's Supper, we bless it. What does that mean? It means that we are regarding this as a sacred thing. Right? When we have the Lord's Supper together, it's a sacred thing.19:24And we're not having the Lord's Supper today. In hindsight, we probably should have. We're going to have it in a couple weeks because he talks more about the Lord's Supper. But understand, church, when we take the Lord's Supper together, it is more than just a religious ritual. The cup and the bread are way more than just symbols.19:54What are they? He says it four times in this passage we're looking at today. The word that you've got to understand this to understand his whole point. The word is participation. Participation. He says the cup is participation in the blood of Christ. The bread is participation in the body of Christ. What does that mean?20:24And I really like the analogy, so I'm going to use it. But he compared it to if you've ever had somebody that you love very much who passed away, but you have a photograph of them. When you look at that photograph, that awakens something in you, doesn't it? A photograph isn't just a piece of paper with an image on it to you.20:54that picture of that one who you love who had passed away, when you see that person is sort of actualized in your mind, the person sort of becomes alive in your mind. You know that feeling. You see that old picture and you just feel something in your spirit. You feel your emotions. That something really stirs in you when you look at that picture.21:28The Lord's Supper is sort of like that, but it's more than that. When we take the Lord's Supper, it's not just a reminder. Like, why am I here again? Oh, yeah. Yeah, Jesus. Now, what did he do? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.21:54Yeah, he died. Right, right, right. No, no, no, no. It's much more than that. When we take the Lord's Supper, we are engulfed in who he is and what he has done. This is what Paul's saying here specifically. Sensible people, sensible. Look, you promised me you were sensible. So let's keep going here, all right? The cup is a participation in the blood of Christ.22:24What does that mean? The blood of Christ is not about the red fluid that pumped through his veins. Blood of Christ is a figure of speech regarding his death. Right? So here's the thing. When we take the Lord's Supper, we are participating in Christ's death. When we take that cup, we're identifying ourselves in the benefits of his death.22:54Jesus' death means something. And when I receive the cup, I'm participating in that. That this isn't just about a man who died for me. This is about God in the flesh who bought my salvation with his death. And I'm participating in that. This means something to me right now. That's what happens when we take communion. The bread, that's the body.23:23Paul tells us here, but it's more than just the suffering of Christ. It's that, but it's more than that. It's everything that the incarnation means. See, when we take that bread, we're reminded of the body of Christ. We're reminded the invisible God made himself visible. He became a man. God was here. God was here as Jesus, and he showed me what God is like. And ultimately, yes, He came to die as only a man can die. So when we take that bread, we're participating in Christ's life. We're identifying ourselves with His righteousness, with His example. We're saying, this is the manifestation of God. This is who He is conforming me to be like. That's what we are saying together, church, when we are taking the Lord's Supper. We are participating.24:22So the cup and the bread, they're more than symbols. All that Christ is, all that Christ means is life, his grace, his humility, his love, his death. We are participators in all of that. So the Lord's Supper isn't just about reminding ourselves of an event that happened long ago. But the Lord's Supper is, hey, this is our life right now.24:52Because of what he did, this is who I am today. But it goes deeper than that, believe it or not. Look at verse 17. He says, because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. You see, in the Lord's Supper, we are joined with Christ and we're joined with each other. See, that bread all came from the same loaf.25:22and we're all eating a piece of bread from the same loaf. We're saying that the Lord's Supper unites us in a profound way. When we take the Lord's Supper, it unites us in a profound way. Look, whatever else we may agree on. Best sports team, favorite brand of ketchup, what political, what side of the political aisle you're on, whatever else, we may disagree on. When we take the Lord's Supper as a church, do you know what we're doing together? We're uniting. We're saying, this. This is our God. This is what unites us. We have been saved through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We all identify this is our God. We are together on this. This is what we share.26:22Look at verse 18. Paul's making the same point. Flashback to Israel. He says, Consider the people of Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices? Participants in the altar? Same point. And Israel's worship, when somebody offered a sacrifice, like, well, who got that? Everybody. God, the priest, and the worshiper were all participators in the sacrifice.26:56Isn't that terribly fascinating? You're like, yes, but what's the point? I thought we were talking about idolatry. What is the point of all this? Here's the point. You ready? Sensible people, are you ready? Here's the point. When you are in a religious service, You are participating with what you are worshiping and the other worshipers.27:34So Paul's point here is this.27:36How can you come here and participate with Christ and Christ people and then turn around and go to a different religious service where we are participating with idols and idolaters. When we take the Lord's Supper, we're saying, church, we're saying, this is who I am. I'm in Christ. I identify with these people here who are also taking from this loaf. Now, I can't just turn around after participating here with these people. I can't just turn around and participate with another group entirely.28:19Does that make sense? Because if you're so a little fuzzy on it, think about it this way. It's Stanley Cup playoffs, right? Did you watch that game last night? I did, but I think it was like this the whole time. But just imagine, A person goes down to PPG Paints Arena, Pens versus Flyers. They go down and they're wearing their Sidney Crosby number 87 jersey and they're down there like, Sid! Go Sid! Greatest player in the world! Go Sid! Let's go Pens! Let's go Pens! Let's go Pens! Right? And then that same person goes, hey, when?29:18Like, when's the next game? And they're like, oh, the next game's in Philly. So that person gets in their car and drives to Philadelphia and wears a Flyers jersey. And during the game, Sid, you stink! Sid's the worst! And they're like cheering for the Flyers the whole time. What would you think of someone who did that?29:47you be like how can you thank you Justin like how can you how can you be participating with the penguins and now you're participating with the flyers how can you do that that's Paul's point right here how can you participate with the living God and then participate with an idol because when you go to church When you go to church, it's about participation. Listen, this is why many Christians miss this concept, because you look at church as an event. For some people, that's all church is, it's an event. What's on my calendar this week? Well, I got this appointment of work, I got a Oh yeah, Sunday morning, 11 o'clock, church. Yeah, it's an event on the calendar. Just one more thing on the schedule. You just see church as an event. And listen, when you see church as an event, then skipping church because I'm sleepy, that's okay. It's just an event. Or church hopping, that's okay. It's all the same.31:14This church, that church, whatever. We just hop from church to church. It's okay. Or not getting involved. You warm a seat, usually, but I'm not going to get involved. That's okay. Listen, beloved, none of those things are okay. Because church is not an event. Church is participation with Jesus and people who identify with Jesus.31:46And when you finally get to the place where you are settled in your heart and mind and say, I participate with Jesus, I participate with the people of Jesus, when you fully grasp and understand and embrace what it means to participate with Jesus, then you will be able to face the things that can become idols for you and say, no, that's not who I am.32:15You see? Maybe money and stuff has been your idol. Maybe that's the thing that's tempted you. When you realize who you are in Christ, you're a participator in Christ. You're like, oh, that's just stuff. That's not important to me. No. Jesus is who I participate with. Or maybe it's addiction. Maybe you've been battling the idol of addiction.32:43And you realize, no, my identity is with Jesus. I'm done with that addiction because I'm not participating with Jesus and with the addiction at the same time. It just doesn't work that way. And for some, it's the idol of lust and all of the ways that that idol is worshipped. That you have to get to the place in your life, like, that's not who I am. That's just not me. I'm a participator in Jesus.33:13Christ. I belong to him. Not that. I'm done with that. That's what Paul's saying here. You've got to get the participation thing. You're not attending a church event. You are a participator in the life of Christ. All right? It's a matter of identity. Run from idolatry because of who you are. Number two, write this down. Three reasons to run from idolatry. Number two, because it's demonic.33:49Look at verse 19.33:50Paul says, what do I imply then?33:53That food offered to idols is anything?33:57Or that an idol is anything?34:00Paul's like, so what am I saying?34:02Am I saying that an idol itself is anything?34:04Am I saying that?34:06No, he's not saying that.34:07He just said that in chapter 8, verse 4.34:11Like, we just answered that question.34:13Look at verse 20. He goes, no. I imply that what pagans sacrifice, they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. Listen to what Paul's saying. Listen very close. He says, I'm not saying that there is a real God in the idol, but there is a real participation still taking place. Participation with who? He says right here. With demons. Church, demons are at work in idolatry. And if a person buys into an idol, any kind of idol, here, Thailand, wherever. When a person buys into an idol, demons will be at work to keep the person hooked into worshiping that idol. That's just the way it is. The first time we were talking about Thailand earlier, the first time I went to Thailand, I was 20 years old. I was a brand new Christian. Boy, that was an eye opener.35:42Like I said, I went to places that pockets of civilization that have never seen a different race of people at all. Well, this one village that we visited, there was a man there. I've never seen a human that looked like him. His whole head looked like, it was like a flesh-colored cue ball. There was no hair, and it It was perfectly round and smooth. And there were just like tiny little like slits where they're like for the nose. There was no nose. It's just these little slits. And the same with the eyes peering behind these really tiny little slits. And he had he had a trach. And it was very strange. Like I've never seen a human that looked like this. And I asked our missionary Barnabas.36:42I said, Barnabas, that man that we saw, I said, does he have a disease or was there some genetic thing? Like, what's the matter with this man? Barnabas said, oh, he goes, this fellow, he used to look just like everybody else, all the other Thai people. He said he looked just like everybody else.37:12gave his life to Christ. He received Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. And he said, soon after he received Christ, an evil spirit in the form of a bear ripped his face off. And you might say, I don't believe that. Okay, well then you tell me what happened to this man. Because the guy on this earth that is my hero that I look up to in the faith more than anybody, That's the story that he told me. You tell me then. That this man was so into idolatry that the evil... That was a demon's way of saying, you're not leaving us. You're not aligning yourself with Christ. And he was physically attacked. There are demons behind idolatry. Deuteronomy 32.17 says they sacrificed the demons.38:12that were not God. Psalm 106, verse 37, they served their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the... You see that? It's all through the Old Testament. Demons are behind idolatry. Verse 21, he says, you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord.38:42of demons. It's the same point. You can't do both. You can't. You can't participate with Christ and participate with demons. And understand, in idolatry, there's a lot more going on than bad theology. It's demonic. And Paul says, I don't want you to participate with demons. Like, why would you mess with that? And if you're like, oh, you know, So, Pastor Jeff, I believe that if you're truly born again, if you truly have God's Spirit, you can't be possessed by a demon. You just can't. A demon can't possess a true believer. And I agree with you. I believe that. I believe that 100% that a demon cannot possess a true believer. But why would you mess with that anyways? Really? You know, demons are powerful. And demons are evil.39:43Why would you mess with that? It's like keeping a pet cobra. Like, why would you do that? Earlier we talked about the idol of addiction. We did a whole sermon series on this one time. Addiction is a worship disorder. Addiction, ultimately, at its very foundation, is idolatry. I want you to think about addiction. What is it that keeps someone so hooked on the thing they're addicted to?40:12You think it's just physical? Really? Just physical? You mean a guy is willing to lose his wife because it's just a physical addiction? You think a guy's willing to lose his family? A guy losing everything he spent his life building up. He's willing to watch it be destroyed. You think it's only physical? It's demonic. That's why Paul reminds us, Ephesians 6.12, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over the present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Paul says run from idolatry. Why? Well, it's a matter of spiritual affliction. Run from idolatry because it's demonic. One more sensible people. Number three, because God is jealous for you.41:14Why do I run from idolatry? Because God is jealous for you. Last one. Look at verse 22. He says, shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? Look, if you are in Christ, if you have believed in Jesus, his death, his resurrection, if you are in Christ, you belong to God. And if you belong to God, understand he is jealous.41:42for you.41:47Exodus 34.14 says, For you shall worship no other god, for the Lord whose name is jealous is a jealous god.41:58I thought jealousy was bad. Isn't jealousy bad?42:02Isn't jealousy a bad thing?42:07Not in this context.42:10Not when jealousy is about right to ownership. Not when jealousy is about you belong to me and something is threatening that. That is appropriate jealousy. God himself says he's jealous. Like 28 times in the Old Testament I think it was. Years ago to former ministry I had this young couple come in for marriage counseling.42:40You can kind of get a feel for where it's going when they come in and they're not sitting beside each other. They're sitting on opposite ends of the table. Like, oh, I see where this is going. And the wife came in. She looked like she was ready for a fight. And the husband just sat down, had his arms folded and his head down the whole time. And I'm like, so, what seems to be the problem? And she goes, he's jealous.43:14He's jealous because I'm always going to Ghost Riders with this guy friend of mine dancing all night and my husband's jealous oh you know what Ghost Riders is it's up in Butler I don't know if it's still there it's on like Route 8 North there's a honky tonk where they do line dancing you know the line dance where they're like You know what I'm talking about? Ghost riders. Okay, thank you, Jillian. That's not still a thing, Sharon. Did it close down? Okay. What was the thing back then? It was a big thing. Well, anyways, she goes, he's jealous that I go with my guy friend to dance.44:09She goes, he's jealous. And I said, he should be. She went through the roof. Like, what are you talking about? He should be. I said, he is your husband. You belong to him. And when something is threatening the marriage covenant like that, jealousy is appropriate. She's like, jealousy is wrong. I'm like, jealousy is not wrong. She goes, Jealousy is always wrong. I said, but you know the Bible says that God is jealous. She goes, the Bible does not say that. I'm like, here we go. And I walked her through all these verses where God says He is jealous. I'm like, see, we belong to God. He doesn't want us messing with something else. And it's the same principle in marriage. She goes, jealousy is wrong. I'm like, you're wrong.45:11Well, the counseling session did not end well, as you probably surmised. But then, like, for months after that, I would get phone calls from her. Like, I'd be in my office, and be like, Pastor Jeff, so-and-so on line one. I'm like, yeah, jealousy is always wrong. I'm like, oh, please lose my number.45:37But that's Paul's point here is, look, if you're in Christ, you belong to God, and God takes it seriously when you flirt with something else. When that ownership is threatened, God takes that very seriously. You belong to Him. Oh, by the way, we were talking about demons earlier. Demons, evil, powerful demons. Do you know the only thing worse than messing with a demon?46:10provoking God. Way worse. Infinitely worse. Provoking God. Why would you do something that you know provokes God? Why would you do that? Like, well, what will he do? Well, the Bible is full of God's reaction to idolatry. Read Deuteronomy. Read the Psalms. Read the prophets.46:38They're like, yeah, that is so Old Testament. Yeah, it is Old Testament. But this here that we're studying today is so New Testament. The Bible says it's still a bad idea to provoke God to jealousy. Are you stronger than he? No, we should just do what he says, right? So it's a matter of the fear of the Lord. Run from idolatry.47:13I just like you to bow your heads for a moment I want to ask you the question that I asked you earlier are you in danger of idolatry considering that idolatry is a heart issue considering that we can turn anything into an idol The answer is yes, we are all in danger of idolatry. And I just want to ask you today, what idol do you need to flee from? What is it today that if you were going to be completely honest, I would draw near to God if this thing wasn't in the way. What is that thing that's keeping you from drawing closer to God? What is that? The Bible says that's an idol. If you belong to Jesus, you don't need to crack a door open for a demon. You certainly don't need to provoke God.48:39Father in Heaven, we bow ourselves before You as Your church. God, we realize that idolatry is just as much a temptation for us today as it was to the people that Paul wrote to. As it was in Old Testament times. Father, You are greatly glorified when idols are torn down. We see that throughout.49:07Your Word when a king who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, that was usually accompanied by him tearing down idols. And I just pray that for this church today, Father, that You would, by Your Spirit, by Your Word, You would give us the wisdom to identify the idols, and You would give us the faith to cast them down. Whatever that needs to be, however that needs to look, Father, let today be the day that idols are destroyed.49:37in our lives. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Small Group DiscussionRead 1 Corinthians 10:14-22What was your big take-away from this passage / message?In light of 1 Cor 10:16-17: How would you explain the Lord's Supper (the “participation” concept) to a new believer?How can believers be guilty of idolatry today, in our culture?How does idolatry make a believer participate with demons (1 Cor 10:20)?What does it mean that God is jealous (1 Cor 10:22)? How exactly do you think He will respond when He's provoked to jealousy?BreakoutPray for one another.

Safely Hidden in Christ (1) (audio) David Eells, 4/12/26   Exhortation to Abide, from Abba Father  8/12/25, Sarah Jo-Jo  A servant is not greater than his Lord. (John 13 and John 15) My Word tells you not to fear, be anxious for nothing. (Deuteronomy 31, Joshua 1, Isaiah 41, Luke 12…) Fear not, for I am with you. Do not murmur in the wilderness (Phil 2, 1 Cor 10) but wait patiently for Me as you endure the perfecting of your faith. Believe in Me, and I told those who wait for Me that I will complete the good work that I began in them. I alone am Faithful and True (Revelation 19) I AM, there is no other. There is no other Saviour… so choose this day, this breath, whom you will trust and believe and follow. My Word is Truth and will never pass away. (1 Peter, Isaiah 40) Men are as grass and will pass away. Your own understanding and walking by sight is included in that which will pass away. Again, I tell you, choose whom you will trust and follow in this moment. I said murmur not, endure and trust Me, that I AM TRUTH. I do not lie. I will deliver you, so submit to My pruning as I train you in My righteousness. If you choose to fear and worry by what you see and hear in the flesh, then you are disobeying Me. I said do not fear. Do not worry. Choose this day whom you will obey and trust. Your choice is shown in fear of the Lord God Almighty, shown in your obedience to My Words, not passing My Word off as mere suggestions. I said DO NOT worry. DO NOT walk by sight but by My Spirit. And only by obeying and abiding in Me will you walk by My Spirit. If you choose your own way, how can you say that you are Mine? Harden not your heart at My Word. To whom will you go if you depart from My Truth, which is the only thing that will endure forever, My Word? Seek My Kingdom and righteousness first. Turn from your wicked ways. Embrace My ways of self-denial and Love. My servants are no greater than their Lord and His Example, Who gave His life for His friends. Love Me first…Read Deuteronomy 6, Matthew 22, Mark 12 Abide in Me, talk to Me as David did, and My Son, your Lord Jesus Christ; He went away into the secret places to abide with Me, to seek Me with all of His heart, to sup with Me… come to the secret places of the Most High and abide under the shadow of My wings…so that your flesh is denied and so that My Spirit will be in you, in order that my will is done through My servants on the earth. Apart from My Spirit abiding in you, apart from Me, you can do nothing. So seek Me, let Me prune away your lust of the flesh and to promote yourself. Let Me humble you that I may use you. Read Isaiah 66 1-2, 5-7 My Word says Jesus is your Lord, and also your Example. Hear Him, My Son in Whom I am well pleased. Hear with spiritual ears, hearts that deny self, flesh, your own understanding… walk not by sight (or hearing or the worlds carnal thinking). Every Word of God is your daily bread, Manna. I AM The Bread of Life. So walk by faith in these days, My children. I said DO NOT worry about provision… am I your Provider? Or are you your provider, as Egypt, or men? Do not murmur when your flesh suffers… Am I asleep? No, I neither slumber nor sleep, and I already know what you need before you ask. I know more about what your needs are and what your lack is more than you do (like the churches in Revelation did not see what I do), for I AM The Way, The Truth, The Life. Choose: Believe that My Ways are higher, and that every Word of Mine is Truth, despite what your friends choose. Despite the Achans in Joshua 7 who think that I don't see their unbelief… their double minded hearts… wanting to be Mine, claiming to those around them that they are Mine and yet not believing that I will give to each what I know they need… not as the world gives… not as the world commands to lust after and fleshly lust obeys, not what self wants, what walking by sight promotes. Achan didn't believe that trusting My Word was enough. He became his own provider. 1 John 2 I tell you to seek Me, and ask ME! I know what you need. Trust Me, even in your lack and sorrow. I am doing My work. Was not David young and small? Did he gain My Strength by what his eyes saw? Did he bow to the cajoles of others? In 1 Samuel 17 He trusted in Me, THE LIVING GOD…there is no other. Did David defeat the giant, the bear, and the lion, and survive Saul's persecution by his own understanding and cunning? No, look at David's heart cries toward Me in the Psalms. Who was David's strength, and in Whom did he tell his downcast soul to hope in? Matthew 16: Jesus, your Lord is the Son of The Living God. I Am the same. I am Living and active and My Word will perform that which I send it to do, and My Word is Truth that sanctifies those who desire My righteousness and reject self, and the world and embrace My entire Word as Truth, understand when My Spirit is in them, when they obey My commands to deny self, walk in love that is kind, not rude, does not promote self, thinks no evil. When sin is rejected, and you humble yourself before Me and ask ME, The Potter, to make you My vessel of honor for My glory. You come to Me and turn from wickedness, and I will form you and cleanse you. In this spiritual war, I AM your helmet, the God of your salvation. I AM TRUTH. I give you faith, and I AM your SHIELD. I AM YOUR ARMOR AS I WAS FOR DAVID. Abide in Me. Come away from all else and seek Me in the secret place. Be diligent in prayer and abide in Me…I, the Prince of Peace, will perfect My peace and love and faith in you… And I give not as the world gives. The world does not have the Living Water that is to fill you and flow out of you. Obey Me and walk by My Holy Spirit, that is shown in fruit such as LOVE… the self-denying kind that seeks others' profit above self (1 Corinthians 10) I have said that cursed are those who trust in man (Jeremiah 17) …and don't rely on Egypt… do not turn back and long for the world's ways as those in the wilderness did, as Lot's wife did, and as Job's wife became bitter because of her loss. Do not rely on your own self or lean on your own understanding. Commit your way to Me. I will lead you in My way. This is your choice. I AM the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Declare My wonderful works after My fire has refined you… walk according to My Spirit and Love. Those who are Mine will only defeat giants by My Spirit abiding in them, My Word on hearts and minds and mouths… Let new songs to Me be upon their lips, songs of praise to their God. Submit to Me… Those who do My Will are my family (Matthew 12). 2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing [or wishing] that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. 15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. 17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. 18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.   Hidden in the Secret Place J.K. - 02/14/2011 (David's notes in red) I saw David standing in front of me with blueprints held out. He was given blueprints showing a narrow tunnel guide. There seemed to be many people who could see these plans, but only a smaller number of people began shoveling the underground tunnel right away. Some people just stood around and wondered what we were doing. Others kind of helped out in their curiosity, half-heartedly digging, wondering about the underground tunnel plans. But others in the front were just digging as fast as they could and not looking back or worrying much about what was ahead or behind. (After being shown the Biblical plan of being hidden in Christ, those in front were making a way for the rest of the underground Church to abide in the “secret place of the Most High”. 1Co.2:7 but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, [even] the [wisdom] that hath been hidden, which God foreordained before the worlds unto our glory. Col.2:3 in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden. Rev.2:17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. To him that overcometh, to him will I give of the hidden manna.) The odd thing was the tunnel stopped being built underground after a short ways and then somehow we were building the tunnel up and above the ground. We were still building the tunnel, but it was invisible, and we were building it with invisible material. There were even narrow steps inside the tunnel that we built and climbed. The tunnel was never very wide; we actually had to stay on our knees while building and working our way through it. (This path that is hidden from the beast will increasingly be hidden in plain sight as they minister to the world. Constant contact with God in prayer will be needed to stay in this hidden way.) Even though the tunnel was tight and a lot of work to build, we never got tired, and we had plenty of air to breathe, but we could look down and see the people who never entered the underground tunnel. We could hear them talking and reasoning why they didn't enter the tunnel. (Those who live only in the natural cannot understand the spiritual way of faith and power. It is a secret place even to them. The breath of air represents the Spirit of God who makes this way possible since breath and Spirit are the same word in scripture.) Some said they didn't want to get dirty. Others said that it wasn't a big deal; there was nothing to be concerned about, and that we were all crazy. They said, who knew where we were going and if it was even safe to enter. Others said they would stay up to fight, and God would give them the victory in war if they fought. Everyone basically agreed with the other person's reasoning and encouraged them not to enter the underground tunnel, shaking their heads at us, who had already gone in as fools in their eyes. (Those who are natural will fight with flesh and blood instead of principalities and powers, and they will lose the battle. The tunnel is for those who are hidden in Christ's security and protection. Because they are walking in Christ they are hidden. Col 3:3  For ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4  When Christ, who is our life, shall be manifested, then shall ye also with him be manifested in glory.  1Co.2:14 Now the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged.) The group that entered the tunnel was much smaller than the group that didn't enter the tunnel, and the group that went ahead building the tunnel was even smaller. (In the Church today, those who walk in the natural are many more than those who walk in the Spirit, and the leaders from among these are even fewer.) No one complained about having to build the tunnel ahead for everyone else. They actually enjoyed the labor and became energetic by doing the work. No one talked about how much work they did or how much work others didn't do. They were just overjoyed for the most part to have had the chance to dig. David never handed out tools or told anyone what they had to do; he just pointed out the plans, and everyone somehow knew where to begin, and we somehow all had different tools to dig with. There were never any orders flying around; everyone just talked very agreeably as we worked very hard alongside one another. (The Spiritual Church doesn't have to have bit and bridle; it is in their renewed mind and heart to hear and obey God's Word and voice.) We would stop and look down and could see a war break out right under us. (Overcoming the world to see things from a heavenly perspective and have dominion over it.) Even though no one could see us, we could see them, and we watched as the people who said they didn't want to enter the tunnel got mowed down with swords by a line of angry men in red robes and oversized frowns. (Red robes represent Esau, who was red, the father of Edom, meaning, red. They were judged for hating their chosen brethren with frowns. Rev.13:10 If any man [is] for captivity, into captivity he goeth: if any man shall kill with the sword, with the sword must he be killed.) They seemed to be killing with a very personal grudge and had no mercy at the crying. (This could represent two parables: spiritual and physical. The apostate enemies in our midst who make war with their brethren, like Judas, who walked in sin, which is represented as red. Isa.1:18 ... though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. “Edom” means “red” and was the name given to Esau when he sold his birthright as a son of Abraham. Gen.25:30 And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red [pottage]. For I am faint. Therefore was his name called Edom. 31 And Jacob said, Sell me first thy birthright. The spiritual seed of Esau are Edomites who have sold their birthright as Christians by walking after the flesh and persecuting their brothers. Heb.12:15 looking carefully lest [there be] any man that falleth short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble [you], and thereby the many be defiled; 16 lest [there be] any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one mess of meat (flesh) sold his own birthright. These false Christians are enemies of the cross and are members of the beast army, by nature. The larger beast army is the second, more physical, meaning.) I discerned that even though the natural men in red robes couldn't see us, there were evil spirits in them that knew us and could see us, and would fire what looked like black arrows at us with no success and as they saw they couldn't penetrate us at all and their arrows would fall down before even touching us, which fueled their anger against those they could touch. (The lies of demons will have no effect on the people of faith. Eph.6:16 withal taking up the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil [one].) It was a lopsided victory for the army in red. Stray bullets and shrapnel came our way, but the invisibility tunnel in the air that we were viewing everything from took all the impact and never got damaged. (No accidents or collateral damage can happen to those in the Secret Place. Psa.91:7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, And ten thousand at thy right hand; [But] it shall not come nigh thee. 8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold, And see the reward of the wicked. 9 For thou, O Jehovah, art my refuge! Thou hast made the Most High thy habitation; 10 There shall no evil befall thee, Neither shall any plague come nigh thy tent. 11 For he will give his angels charge over thee, To keep thee in all thy ways. 12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.) We were not very high up, just above everyone's head, just beyond their reach, and no one was afraid of getting hurt. We were just amazed at the number of people who never entered the tunnel after seeing the plans that were made for them to escape. (Their Babylonish training destroyed them from being able to see and hear the truth.) By the end of the battle, I turned around, thinking I would see a bunch of people in the tunnel, but the tunnel opened up and became very roomy, and I stood up and walked, but I saw there were only two women and a little baby. (At the beginning this represents a remnant of the Church with the Man-child that will be all who abide in the Word and Jesus, who were in the Secret Place.) That was so odd it actually shook me awake. I remembered the dream so clearly because of being awakened from it in this way.   Hidden and Taught in Christ Sandy Shaw - 07/20/2015 (David's notes in red) Dream #1 I found myself inside of what looked like an old apartment building. (The Church is many houses built together into a temple for the Lord.) I remember in the dream of being very tired (like the building and the old order Church). As I looked out in front of me, I saw five steps. (Steps of faith to grace, which is represented by the number 5.) And just as I began to step down onto the first step, I said, “Okay, Lord. The second part”. When I did step down onto the first step, I no longer felt tired. (Partial grace received to run the race.) I proceeded up the remainder of the steps, and the first door I needed to take was on the right. (Steps of faith bring us to a higher place in God and fullness of grace to go through the door, who is Christ; i.e., they left the sheepfold, as in John 10, following Christ. The Bride comes out of the mother church but according to Song of Soloman they seek to bring their beloved there. John, seeing the disciples following Jesus, said, “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom”.) The door was old, and there was evidence of a sign on the door, but the sign was no longer there, just the shadowy outline of where the sign had once been. (Jesus gave the sign that He was and is the door, but He is no longer here in person; His spirit and Word are manifest in those who go through the door.) I opened the door and the room was very dark. (The old order mother church is very much in darkness. The Bride has not been in this place for many years.) I turned on the light, and the light itself reminded me of one of the old-fashioned types of light fixtures that they would have had years ago, that you turned on by hand. (We turn on the power and light by faith for the mother church. the old-fashioned light is the original light of those who were in mother. We must start out where they are and slowly bring them higher and out.)  1Jn.2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5 but whoso keepeth his word, in him verily hath the love of God been perfected. Hereby we know that we are in him: 6 he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked... (He who loves his brother turns on the light so they can walk in the steps of Christ.) 10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is no occasion of stumbling in him... (We are called to be weak to the weak that we may gain some as Paul said.) 24 As for you, let that abide in you which ye heard from the beginning. If that which ye heard from the beginning abide in you, ye also shall abide in the Son, and in the Father. Mat 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid.) When I turned it on, I noticed that the walls were painted navy blue, and I did not see any windows. (No windows shows their lack of discernment. Navy blue is heavenly, but in a time of darkness.) On the right side of the room was a door. I went up to the door and opened it, and discovered it was a closet with three babies inside. These babies looked to be four or five months old. (All those in the mother churches are babies. Many innocent spiritual babies will be entrusted to the Bride, such as it was with Esther and the people of God.) The babies were dressed in heavy snowsuits of a grayish color. (These babies are coming in out of the cold of persecution and tribulation to be sheltered by the Bride for instruction and to be delivered of their beastly or grayish works.) I took the babies out of the closet, and there was a braided rug of variegated brown colors in the middle of the floor, so I laid the babies down onto this rug. (These babies may be resting in a time of brown-shirt Nazism -- those traitors who turn on their own people to deliver them to the beast.) I noticed that there were boxes all over the place. It looked like someone was moving in or moving out. (Some Christians start out in moms church but soon leave to get spiritual food.) I thought in this dream that it was summertime because I was dressed in a sundress. (A time of new life and blessing to the Bride.) I thought to myself, “Why are these babies dressed in snowsuits when I'm dressed in a sundress?” (They are dressed for the winter because tribulation comes. After the light is turned on the testing comes when the Woman goes into the wilderness tribulation following the Man-child. The first 3 1/2 years of the tribulation, they are relatively protected while in training, as it was under Jesus' ministry. Just as Jesus first raised up the Bride and sent them into the harvest, so it will be with the Man-child and Bride in our day. The old order woman is part of the harvest for they have not come completely into the Kingdom. Rev.12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that there they may nourish her a thousand two hundred and threescore days... 14 And there were given to the woman the two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness unto her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.) On the kitchen table was a shiny silver box with a white cotton bow. (A free gift.) I untied the bow and opened the box and discovered three white baby t-shirts and three pairs of white shorts. I took these clothes and put them on the babies. (The immature will be clothed in the pure works for the season. The innocent are covered and are expected to learn slowly.) After dressing the babies, I began feeling the walls because I felt something wasn't right about this room, and that's when I discovered a window that had been boarded up. (It is time for them to be given spiritual discernment for the light has been turned on. Pray for the old order church to be prepared for the wilderness.) I took out the screws that were on the left side of the boards that were covering up the window. You could not see out of this window very well, as it had a lattice blocking the view from the other side. (Lattice is easier to see out of; from the inside but it is harder to see in from the outside. The old order are hiding out in suspended animation but now the light is on.) However, as I was looking through the lattice, I could see falling ash. (Could this be volcanic ash that falls after the time of the earthquakes? We are expecting revival at that time.) As I was looking at the ash, I heard a conversation going on in the hallway. This is what I heard: “Man, you see that snow? It's really snowing hard! It's really coming down”. I closed the window back up and screwed the boards back into place. (Many are still in a state of denial, not seeing the evil time for what it is.) I still could hear voices and what sounded like a commotion out in the hall. I looked over to the right side of the room, and there was a blanket lying on the floor. I reached down and picked up the blanket, and I covered the babies who were lying on the rug. (The Bride will cover those “on the right,” the sheep, when the right wing and Christianity are being persecuted, having lost all rights under dictatorship and martial law.) I then began walking toward the door, and as I was walking, I began to pray. I asked the Lord for His protection and to please make it so I didn't have to lie. The room changed from a dark navy blue color to a light bright blue color, and the door opened before I could get there. (Those whose darkness has turned to light will be under the protection of the Lord.) Just then, a Chinese man walked into the room, wearing a heavy black coat. (These martial law people are in the winter of tribulation.) He had a very heavy accent, and his English was very broken. He said to me, “What you do? What you do?” I said to him, “I have done nothing”. (Truly, the Bride has done nothing wrong, except in the eyes of the government.) Then he said back to me, “We know you don't”. Just then, a Chinese soldier walked into the room, and these two Chinese men began talking to each other. Then, the first man turned around, and he asked, “How many children did you have?” I said, “I only have one son, and he is grown with a family of his own and does not live with me”. (A time of martial law when Christians are not in favor with the Beast, but those who are holy have favor with their Father who rules over the Beast.) The soldier then turned toward the hallway, and he spoke to someone outside of the room whom I could not see. He asked the man in the hallway, “Who gave you this information?” The man in the hallway, whom I could not see, said, “Sam and Joe”. Then the soldier said, “Bring them to me”, meaning Sam and Joe. They all left at this time and slammed the door as they left. They never at any time saw the babies. (Sam and Joe are factious traitors against the Christ in us, represented by the Bride and babies. Judas led the Beast to Jesus, but then he died by his own hands. The factious who have not repented will go into captivity. They are out of favor with the Father who rules the Beast. Anyone found lying to the martial law authorities may be killed.) I sat down in an Indian-type position on the floor with the babies, and I helped them hold their bottles, which were filled with clear water. (The milk of the water of the Word.) I said to myself in this dream, “I need to ask M. L. how to feed multiple babies”. I took one of the babies in my arms, and I said, “You don't have to worry. The Lord is our refuge, and He will provide for us. He is our deliverer”. (That's how to feed them with faith.) End of dream. Dream #2 I dreamed I was on a road that looked like a four-lane highway, which is close to me in real life. The outside lanes were filled with people walking, running, and riding bikes. I was in my wheelchair going with them. (The Bride will not go into captivity on the broad road with everyone else.) I went off the road through some trees and discovered a brook-type body of water. I wanted to put my foot down into this water. I was excited, and I thought the water was going to be cold, but it wasn't; it was just refreshing. (This represents the living waters of the Word from the throne of God through Jesus in the Man-child ministry.) I stood up out of my chair, and when I did, I had both of my feet! (A healing awaited for it has come through the living waters, as it will for many. Many will walk in the Word, too.) I started walking in this water. When I got to where the water was chest high, I stopped. I stopped because I thought I was going to swim in this water, but I needed to submerge myself and swim over to the other side. (These are the deep waters of the Word to swim in, as in the Ezekiel 47 revelation, where the living waters flowed from the house of God and brought healing wherever it went.) Then I heard three toddlers, and they were speaking on the side of the road, but I could not understand what they were saying. (In parallel to the first dream where the three babies were hidden safely in Christ.) I got out of the water and walked toward the road and the babies, and no one was paying any attention to them. (Because they are hidden, even beside the broad road.) I said to them, “Shh”, and picked them up and went back into the water. I waded in the water with the babies, and on the right side of this brook was a lady, and behind her was a cave. (She brought them to a hidden place of discipleship in the wilderness, the underground Church.) She was a beautiful older lady with long white hair past her hips. She was wearing a white flowing dress made out of scarf-like material. (Those of the Bride with wisdom and maturity to teach the babies.) The bottom of the dress appeared to have points like a scarf, and the dress had long, flowing sleeves. This woman looked at me and said, “You found them! Bring them to me. Now go and get the others”. (Some of the Bride will be evangelists to bring in the wayward, and some will be wise teachers to raise up the babies.) So, I went back into the water, and I waded a little way, and I saw B. off to the right of the brook, standing on the bank, and she had 12 women with her. (The Bride bringing in the elect of God, represented by the number 12. Only the chosen will escape captivity at this time. Later, others, after suffering under the crucifixion of the Beast, will be chosen to escape captivity, too. Rev.13:10 If any man is for captivity, into captivity he goeth: if any man shall kill with the sword, with the sword must he be killed. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.) B. A. asked, “Are you ready to take us?” Rev.12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that there they may nourish her a thousand two hundred and threescore days. Then B. A. and the 12 women got into the water with me, and we walked in the water together until it was chest deep. I knew in this dream that we were headed for the cave. (Our heart must be bathed in the living waters, even before our mind is.) Why do we need to obey God's Word and be faithful servants? Several reasons: God has called us to do something very important for many Christians in these days, but first we must deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him and His Word. If we do not obey the Lord, we will miss His will for ourselves and a multitude of other people, including our children, spiritual and physical. Hos.4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I also will forget thy children. We have to believe and obey or there is no promise for our children to be saved. 1Co.7:14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the brother: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy. Pro.11:21 [Though] hand [join] in hand, the evil man shall not be unpunished; But the seed of the righteous shall be delivered. Psa.102:28 The children of thy servants shall continue, And their seed shall be established before thee. Pro.20:7 A righteous man that walketh in his integrity, Blessed are his children after him. Psa.112:2 His seed shall be mighty upon earth: The generation of the upright shall be blessed. Gen.6:18 But with you will I establish my covenant; and you shall come into the ark, you, and your sons, and your wife, and your sons' wives with you. Gen.7:1 And the LORD said to Noah, Come you and all your house into the ark; for you have I seen righteous before me in this generation. Gen.13:15 For all the land which you see, to you will I give it, and to your seed for ever. Gen.19:12 And the men said to Lot, Have you here any besides? son in law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whatever you have in the city, bring them out of this place... 15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters that are here, lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. 16 But he lingered; and the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters, Jehovah being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. Deu.4:37 And because he loved your fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought you out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt; 2Ki.8:19 Yet the LORD would not destroy Judah for David his servant's sake, as he promised him to give him always a light, and to his children. Psa.37:26 He is ever merciful, and lends; and his seed is blessed. 112:2 His seed shall be mighty on earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed. The seed, spiritual and physical, of the David/Man-child will be blessed. Psa.89:3 I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant: 4 Thy seed will I establish for ever, And build up thy throne to all generations... 29 His seed also will I make to endure for ever, And his throne as the days of heaven. 30 If his children forsake my law, And walk not in mine ordinances; 31 If they break my statutes, And keep not my commandments; 32 Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, And their iniquity with stripes. 33 But my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, Nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. See our free PDF book Saving Our Families By Faith   Man-child, Bride, Two Witnesses: Hidden in Christ Amos Scaggs - 02/13/2008 (David's notes in red) In a dream, I saw myself escorting a beautiful young woman to different places. She had been seen with me on many occasions. (I represent the first-fruits ministry. The young woman is the new Bride-to-be.) (“Amos” in Hebrew means “carried by God” and “Eagle”, which symbolizes the overcomer man-child. John the Baptist said of Jesus as the man-child who led the Bride of His day, “He that hath the bride is the Bridegroom”.) While doing so, I met my previous romance, which was over and done with many years ago. The older romance person commented on how beautiful the young woman was, but in a sarcastic manner, and went on her way, not wanting to stay around. (This is the apostate church as we know it today. She was very old and jealous and will say all kinds of harsh things about the new young bride emerging from her.) (Amos outgrew the fellowship of the apostate church years ago. She is old because the curse of 2000 years is heavy upon her.) I saw the older romance person later on, lined up in a slave labor group. She looked very old and ridiculed me for escorting the young woman around and being with her so much. She said it didn't look right, and other words were muttered. (The apostate church will go into bondage to the beast system and try to do whatever it takes to survive in the upcoming tribulation.) Next, I was also in the company of two friends who were taking me to a secret location. I hadn't really considered them close friends at first, but now they were closer to me than I thought they were. (These are the Two Witness company that will also assist in God's harvest.) (The Man-child company will raise up the Two Witness company in the first 3 !/2 years of the tribulation, as it was foreshadowed by Jesus and His corporate Two Witnesses. Then they will solo.) We found ourselves riding beside a number of railroad tracks, which were on the edge of a very large cliff, of which you couldn't see the bottom. It was terrifying to look over the edge. (These many railroad tracks represent multitudes on a traditional way that never changes paths and are in great danger of falling into the pit.) We were on the way over a hill to the secret location. (Those on the broad road are not able to go to the secret place of the Most High, which is abiding in Jesus Christ.) All of a sudden, the truck we were riding in left the tracks and took a backward turn down a hidden, narrow road leading to the secret location. I couldn't have made that turn in my truck even if I had known where it was. (You can't do this on your own accord or ability.) (This is the narrow road; the highway of holiness, the road to Zion, on which no unclean or beast can go. Isa.35:1 The wilderness (tribulation) and the dry land shall be glad; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose... 8 And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but is shall be for [the redeemed]: the wayfaring men (Hebrew meaning: Traveler on a well-traveled road; i.e., the broad road of the tracks), yea fools, shall not err [therein]. 9 No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up thereon; they shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk [there]: 10 and the ransomed of Jehovah shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. This secret place was hidden in a cliff in the mountain. There was only one way to enter the secret road that could not be seen until you arrived at its entrance. Then only the ones being escorted by the Witnesses could enter in, otherwise it could not be seen. (The Witnesses will cause many to leave the broad path to become disciples. The one narrow way to escape death is Jesus, the door, the life. Joh.14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me. Mat.7:14 For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few are they that find it. This gate to the secret way cannot be seen by the worldly church and the beast who live in the way of darkness. Pro.4:19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: They know not at what they stumble. Job 38:19 Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And as for darkness, where is the place thereof.) After arriving at the location, we busied ourselves repairing things to prepare for our own and others' transportation and living quarters. (The Man-child, Two Witnesses and Bride are companies of people who will each, in turn, prepare to preserve the rest of the Church in the coming tribulation.) There were people arriving at the location who were bringing along things that couldn't survive in this place. One was a white pig with a pink ribbon tied around its neck, trying to eat off a bare concrete floor. There were some other animals that also could not survive the environment. (The pig and ribbon represent people arriving at the secret location with unclean habits that they cherish. Those habits cannot live in God's environment. A pig is an unclean animal like the fleshly; in society, it is dressed up so it can be accepted and justified in the sight of men, but all this will die in the wilderness tribulation.)   Protection from the Beast Eve Brast, 9/7/19 (David's notes in red) I dreamed that I was in a very large house with many rooms. (Representing the church worldwide?) There were many other people in the house. Suddenly, there was an awareness of an evil danger in the house. People started to panic and say things like, “It's coming!” And “We need to find a place to hide!” They began running past me, looking for places to hide. But the places they were choosing weren't adequate enough, but it was all they could find, and they trembled in the hiding places in despair, knowing they would, more than likely, be found and killed. I wasn't afraid, but I did feel an urgency to find a place of safety from this evil. I went into one of the bedrooms and saw a queen-sized bed with a white down comforter and a blonde colored wooden headboard and footboard that looked like the slats of a crib. (Just like Queen Esther found safety and comfort in the house of the King from the “beast” Haman, so the corporate Bride and Man-child will find safety from the Beast of our day.) I crawled underneath the bed, which enlarged itself for me, and began praying. Suddenly, a bunch of children who were somehow mine ran into the room and crawled under the bed with me. There was plenty of room under the bed for all of us. (The rest in the promises of God will hide us from the Beast. Psa 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in whom I trust. 3 For he will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, And from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover thee with his pinions, And under his wings shalt thou take refuge: His truth is a shield and a buckler.) The door of the room was standing open, and I heard something roaring and coming down the hall. It stopped in the doorway of the room we were in and looked at me under the bed and let out a roar that sounded like a cross between a lion's roar (Satan is the roaring lion) and a dinosaur's roar (The T-Rex or dragon beast). It was a chimera creature. It was a blue lion, a red dragon, and a brownish-black wolf. (The wolf is the religious predator and deceivers among the children of God, like Judas, the son of perdition. As we have seen, the faction are members of the dragon body to try to devour the Man-child, and they kill many but fail to kill the Man-child and his true chuldren.) It had four legs and two arms like a centaur. The part that was the red dragon was the chest, neck, arms, and head with many sharp teeth. The part that was the blue lion was the four legs and most of the body, plus the head of the dragon, which had the lion's blue mane. The rear or rump was the brownish-black wolf, but with the lion's blue tail. (Satan uses the dragon and wolves among the sheep to attempt their destruction.) It narrowed its eyes at me with pure hatred and stomped into the room, lowering its head to look under the bed at my children and me. But the bed let down wooden railings with the same type of slats that the headboard and footboard had, all around the underneath of it, to protect us from the beast, and it knew it couldn't kill us because we were protected. So it screamed in anger and turned to go out of the room in search for the other people who were hiding in all the inadequate hiding places and had no protection. Rev.12:13-17, 13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman that brought forth the man child. 14 And there were given to the woman the two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness unto her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman water as a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream. 16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon waxed wroth with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, that keep the commandments of God, and hold the testimony of Jesus. I knew in the dream that some of the people escaped the beast, even though they were in poor hiding places, because God had mercy on them. (Pray for mercy for these people) After the danger had passed, I went into a connecting room to the one my children and I had been hiding in. It was connected by two white double doors, and it had a king-sized bed with a white down comforter on it. I heard a couple of small parrots, a male and a female, talking to each other in the double doorway between the rooms. I looked at them in the doorway, and they were pastel colors: blue, green, yellow, and pink. (The same colors as the pastel plaid shirt that my dad wears in my dreams.) (Those who “parrot” the Word of the Father will find rest.) They flew over onto the king-sized bed, and then many more pairs of animals, male and female, came through the doors and got up onto the bed. (The animals of the ark, seeking an escape from the flood of destruction, find escape in the rest. Peter saw the animals that came down from heaven as the Gentile church.) I thought, “Wow! This is like Noah's Ark!” Luk.17:26-30, 26 And as it came to pass in the days of Noah, even so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 27 They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise even as it came to pass in the days of Lot; they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 29 but in the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all: 30 after the same manner shall it be in the day that the Son of man is revealed. End.   The Ark Leads to the Safety of Holiness Suani Guzman - 11/30/2008 (David's notes in red) In a dream, I was going to be part of a Christian cheerleading team that was going to do its routine in a pool. We all had to take a shower before we got in the pool. I went to a car and got a clean change of clothes and a bottle of baby shampoo. Later, I saw the car running on its own and went and put it in park and took the keys out of the ignition. The car was parked close to a corner. When I came back, the car was gone. It had left on its own. It turned right at the corner and went down the street. I ran down there with someone else and saw that it had gone through an opening on the ground into the basement of the building. We stood there looking at it, and that's when it came to me: “The ground in the basement was made holy by God, and the Ark of the Covenant that was in the car needed to be on holy ground.” That is when I woke up. This dream is saying that the Ark of God's presence will supernaturally lead His holy people underground, as a type of the safety of the secret place of the Most High, and they will not be steered there by man. The Ark led the children of Israel, not the other way around. Rom.8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. According to type, the Ark of the Covenant went underground when God's people were in danger of invasion and captivity by the Babylonian beast army. The Apocrypha says that Jeremiah hid the Ark in a cave in Mt. Nebo before the invasion, and that its location would not be revealed until God was ready. Ron Wyatt says he found the Ark in Jeremiah's Grotto, but that God told him it was not yet time to reveal it. In the Second Temple, the Ark of the Covenant was missing from the Holy of Holies for its entire 500 years. When the Roman General, Pompey, conquered Jerusalem around 63 B.C., he entered the Holy of Holies but came out saying that he could not understand what all the interest was about since it was only an empty room. His army was able to conquer Israel because God's presence was not in their Holy of Holies. Many Rabbis believe that the Ark was hidden in a cave under the Temple Mount in the heart of Israel during the time of King Josiah because of the prophesied coming Babylonian invasion. Jesus left their temple desolate, too, because God had chosen Him and His body as the new Temple. In fulfillment of this type, the Church is definitely threatened with a prophesied invasion and captivity by the Babylonian U.S. Great Eagle and going underground is next for the Ark. It is clear from scripture that God's people are the Temple and its court, and that individuals have different positions in the Temple, according to their maturity in the Lord and closeness to the Lord. Rev.11:1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and one said, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. 2 And the court which is without the temple leave without, and measure it not; for it hath been given unto the nations: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. Notice there are those in the Temple and those who worship in the altar area, due to their sacrificial life, who will be safe. But those in the outer court will be left out of the safe place and trampled under the foot of men as a crucifixion because, as Jesus said, they have lost their saltiness. That leaves us with the Ark of the Covenant in the safe place of the Holy of Holies. Who is it that is a container as the Ark for God's presence, the Manna of the Word, the tables of testimony, and Aaron's rod that budded as a sign of authority? In Jesus' day, He was God in a vessel of a Son of David Who had these qualities inside; He was the Ark of the Covenant who led the Bride through the wilderness. In these days, the Man-child is God manifested in a vessel of the spiritual sons of David with these qualities: He will be the Ark of the Covenant that will lead the Bride through the wilderness. The Man-child is the first-fruits to manifest “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Suani's car represents the body of the Bride that will be guided by the Ark to the foundation of the building, which is holiness. The basement is the foundation of the Temple that God is about to lay again through the corporate man-child ministry. Hag.2:23 In that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith Jehovah, and will make thee as a signet; for I have chosen thee, saith Jehovah of hosts. Notice Zerubbabel, meaning “born from Babylon”, will be a signet, which is a seal of authority, such as kings have. The first-fruits Man-child company will come with the authority of God to bring God's people out of bondage to the world and through the wilderness tribulation. The foundation of the Lord's house, not made with man's hands, will be laid again after a great falling away since the time of the Apostles. Hag.2:18 Consider, I pray you, from this day and backward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth [month], since the day that the foundation of Jehovah's temple was laid, consider it. It is through the shaking of the nations in the tribulation that God's “desired” people come out of them to become the temple of peace. Hag.2:7 and I will shake all nations; and the precious things (Hebrew: desired) of all nations shall come; and I will fill this house with glory, saith Jehovah of hosts. 8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith Jehovah of hosts. 9 The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, saith Jehovah of hosts; and in this place will I give peace, saith Jehovah of hosts. In the former rain, Jesus, the Man-child, was the foundation of the former glory house. 1Co.3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. So also in the latter rain, Jesus in Zerubbabel as a type of the Man-child and Ark of the Covenant will lay the foundation of the latter, greater glory house. Zec.4:9 The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that Jehovah of hosts hath sent me unto you.” Notice this verse is saying that it is the Lord who is coming in Zerubbabel to build the house of God. It will be founded on holiness, which is separation from the World and conformity to the Word. Back to Suani: I would like to say that God has been helping me a lot to walk in holiness. Things I used to brush off are not OK anymore. Isa.35:8 And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but is shall be for [the redeemed]: the wayfaring men, yea fools, shall not err [therein]. This is a new level of holiness. I have been corrected very quickly lately. Heb.12:5-6 My son, regard not lightly the chastening of the Lord, Nor faint when thou art reproved of him; 6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, And scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened [us] as seemed good to them; but he for [our] profit, that [we] may be partakers of his holiness. Now thoughts, attitudes, words, and actions must be holy. I know this is impossible in the flesh, and I rely on the Holy Spirit continuously for help. He is interested in not only outward obedience but in inward surrender and trust. I think He is doing this to save us from judgments that are soon to come. 1Co.11:31 But if we discerned ourselves, we should not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. Delayed obedience, as well as doing anything against my conscience, are also things He has brought to my attention. Rom.14:23 But he that doubteth is condemned if he eat, because [he eateth] not of faith; and whatsoever is not of faith is sin.   God's Hand Protects the First Fruits C. P. - 6/28/21 (David's notes in red) I dreamed my husband and I, together with some others whom I did not recognize, were standing on the white deck of a boat. (This represents the remnant first fruits who are in God's Ark of safety floating above the waters of the curse.) I saw a hand come out of heaven, and I heard the words from our Father say, “My hand covers my people.” (Psa.91:1-12 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in whom I trust. 3 For he will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, And from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover thee with his pinions, And under his wings shalt thou take refuge: His truth is a shield and a buckler. 5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, Nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 6 For the pestilence that walketh in darkness, Nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, And ten thousand at thy right hand; But it shall not come nigh thee. 8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold, And see the reward of the wicked. 9 For thou, O Jehovah, art my refuge! Thou hast made the Most High thy habitation; 10 There shall no evil befall thee, Neither shall any plague come nigh thy tent. 11 For he will give his angels charge over thee, To keep thee in all thy ways. 12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.) There was a tremor, or a push or jolt from somewhere. (Representing the tribulation shakings that are coming upon the world to get the attention of God's elect.) We fell overboard into the water below. (This represents being plunged into the tribulation in order to overcome the curses of this world.) God's hand literally came into the water with us and became a glass sheet between us and a giant sea creature. It was black and white like an Orca whale and had really sharp teeth. (This black and white sea creature represents the beast in the sea of this world's people. The beast is always looking to devour God's people like the dragon of Revelation 12. The black and white means it has also been dictating to this world what is true and false, and what is right and wrong.) Rev.12:13-17 And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman that brought forth the man-child. 14 And there were given to the woman the two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness unto her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. 15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman water as a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream. (The woman here is the Church, but within this larger body is the chosen bride.) 16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 17 And the dragon waxed wroth with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, that keep the commandments of God, and hold the testimony of Jesus.) Our skin was glossy or shiny. (Representing the Bride's lampros garments, which are the righteous acts of the saints according to Rev.19.) It was like God's hand had emitted some sort of repellent onto us so the sea creature could not devour us. There was no fear or confusion, and we breathed easily underwater. (Meaning, the waters of the curse cannot hinder their breath or spirit.) We were so small compared to this sea creature; we looked like shrimp. God's hand was over us the whole time. (Isa.43:1-5 But now thus saith Jehovah that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. 2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. 3 For I am Jehovah thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour; I have given Egypt as thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in thy stead. 4 Since thou hast been precious in my sight, and honorable, and I have loved thee; therefore will I give men in thy stead, and peoples instead of thy life. 5 Fear not; for I am with thee…) I asked the Lord for a word by faith at random and received Eze.18:19 Yet say ye, Wherefore doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live. (They are not under the genetic curse of the Adamic nature passed down through their parents.) I asked Him for another Word, specifically about His hand, and received Hebrews 3:7, with my finger on Holy Spirit. (In context 7-9) 7 Wherefore, even as the Holy Spirit saith, To-day if ye shall hear his voice, 8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, Like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness (tribulation), 9 Where your fathers tried me by proving me, And saw my works forty years (the number of tribulation).

Title: House Rules: God's Kids and Their KidsMain Text: Matthew 19:13-15 (ESV) 13 Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people, 14 but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” 15 And he laid his hands on them and went away.Preaching Point: God's kids must value and welcome children, in part, because their humility and trust display the very qualities God expects from everyone who belongs to His Kingdom.Teaching Points:Parents: Make Jesus Your Kids' Number One Priority (V. 13a)Church: Seize Every Opportunity to Teach Our Kids More About Jesus (VV. 13b-15)Grasp The Childlike Nature of Saving Faith (VV. 13b-15)Application Questions:Write down one observation or application you found helpful from this week's sermon. Read Deuteronomy 6:4-9. If you are a parent with kids at home, what practical steps can you take to ensure that, as far as it depends on you, Jesus truly becomes your children's number-one priority?In what situations might you say that Jesus is your top priority, while your daily decisions and habits reveal that He is not?Read Psalm 78:1-8; 2 Timothy 3:14-15; and Proverbs 22:6. Why must we as a church seize every opportunity to teach our kids more about Jesus? What wrong attitudes could you adopt toward children that resemble the disciples in Matthew 19:13 rather than Jesus' attitude in 19:14-15? Read Matthew 18:1-4 and 1 Corinthians 3:18-19. How does thinking about the nature of children help clarify your understanding of the humility and dependence involved in saving faith?How does being part of a church filled with children help you see aspects of the gospel and saving faith that might be harder to grasp in a congregation without many kids?

In our October 26 Sunday gathering, we continue our series about what Christians believe and what the Bible is all about. This week's discussion questions are below: Why do you think God chose to work through a family (Israel) instead of simply acting unilaterally to fix the world? What stands out to you about Abraham's faith and failures? How does that shape your understanding of what it means to “trust God”? The Old Testament is full of people who fail but whom God keeps pursuing. What does this reveal about God's character? How would you summarize Israel's mission in one sentence? Read Deuteronomy 10:18–19 and Amos 5:21–24. What do these verses show about God's priorities? How did Israel's treatment of the poor, immigrant, and widow reflect (or fail to reflect) God's heart? Why do you think God tied worship and justice together so closely in the prophets' writings? In what ways can modern Christians or churches fall into the same trap as Israel—practicing religion but neglecting compassion? The prophets longed for a faithful human partner who would finally keep the covenant. How does Jesus fulfill that hope? How does understanding Israel's story change the way you read the New Testament or see Jesus' mission? What does it mean that followers of Jesus are now called to be what Israel was meant to be—“a people who show the world what God is like”?

We sit under the shade of the trees of JUSTICE and GENEROSITY.  We did not plant them. They are very well established.  Who planted them? Moses did with God's help.  How can I find out about their foundational days? Read Deuteronomy with me. At least listen for 7 minutes and then subscribe for another dose of shade for tomorrow. https://youtu.be/YcBoN0SgEg8

Get ready to sing, dance, and learn with your favorite summer host—DJ Manna! In our first episode of God's Big Story Summer Radio, DJ Manna shares three awesome songs that help us learn big truths about God. From God's greatness, to His always-there presence, to the power of the Bible—each song helps us know and love God even more. What You'll Learn:

What can we learn from the book of Deuteronomy—and why does it still matter today?Dr. Sandra Richter joins Pastor Clayton Keenon to explore covenant renewal, generational discipleship, and what it means to love God with your whole life in the fifth part of the Pentateuch. Jump into the Bible Savvy reading schedule at biblesavvy.com.

Power in Real Faith (1) (audio) David Eells 6/11/25 Here is the faith Jesus told us to use always for anything. Mar 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye received (In Greek) them, and ye shall have them. As we will see Jesus and His disciples did not use men's methods and works. When we don't believe we have received, we rely on our own works. (Isa 38:21) Now Isaiah had said, Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover. Why does it appear that God is using a physical means to bring healing here when normally Jesus and His disciples would just pronounce a healing? It's because those figs symbolize something in the Scriptures and that's why it was a “cake of figs,” or, I might say, even a “congregation” of figs. There is power in numbers. Deu 32:30 How should one chase a thousand, And two put ten thousand to flight… Mat 18:19 Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who is in heaven. You see, the figs there represent the body of Christ, or Israel, such as in Jesus' warnings about bearing fruit. (Luk 13:6) And he spake this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit thereon, and found none. 7 And he said unto the vinedresser, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why doth it also cumber the ground? The fig tree is a physical parable of a spiritual people, the people of God, and He's calling His people the “figs,” which means we have to bear fruit. That's very clear in Revelation, where it talks about a great falling away. (Rev.6:13) And the stars of the heaven fell unto the earth… The “stars of the heaven,” represent Abraham's seed in (Gen 22:15) And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, 17 that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is upon the seashore. And thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. Today we are Abraham's seed by faith, as the Bible says. (Rom 4:16) For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace; to the end that the promise may be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. And in (Rev 6:13) And the stars of the heaven fell unto the earth, as a fig tree casteth her unripe figs when she is shaken of a great wind. The unripe figs are God's people who don't bear ripe fruit, but (Joh 1:47) Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! 48 Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. Jesus identified Nathanael as an Israelite without guile, and where did He see him? Jesus saw him under the fig tree, as one who is among those who bore fruit. That's where we are. All of us who are true disciples of Christ are “under the fig tree.” Now if we go back to the previous verse in Isaiah, it says, (Isa 38:20) The Lord is [ready] to save me (They added in the word, “ready,” but it actually says, “The Lord is to save me.”): Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments All the days of our life in the house of the Lord. So there's the “cake of figs,” the people of God, and they were singing praises to God for healing Hezekiah. It wasn't the cake of figs that healed him, that was just a physical symbol who exorcised their faith for his healing. It's similar to what happened with Naaman the Syrian when he came to Elisha to be healed of leprosy. (2Ki 5:9) So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. 11 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and recover the leper. 12 Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage. 13 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing (his own works), would Est thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? 14 Then went he down, and dipped [himself] seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. Naaman was offended when Elisha told him to dip seven times in the dirty old Jordan, but it was a matter of obedience and faith. An act of faith was required because faith without corresponding action is fruitless. When his servants turned him around and Naaman obeyed, he received the healing, but a person doesn't get healed from leprosy by any kind of water, so the water and the seven times must represent something. What does the water represent? (Eph 5:26) That he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word. The water represents the Word. What does “seven” represent? It represents the “seventh day,” the “Sabbath rest.” “Seven” represents entering into the rest, which is ceasing from your own works through faith as we can read in Hebrews chapters 3 and 4. (Heb 3:18) And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that were disobedient? 19 And we see that they were not able to enter in because of unbelief. Paul goes on to talk about how the “rest” is to cease from your works. (Heb 4:3) For we who have believed do enter into that rest… (Heb 4:9) There remaineth therefore a sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For he that is entered into his rest hath himself also rested from his works, as God did from his. In other words, stop trying to save yourself; believe God has done it. So, Naaman dipped in the water seven times. The water represents the Word of God, and seven represents the rest, and he received his healing. Nobody would say the river water healed Naaman, and nobody would say the cake of figs healed Hezekiah, either. The “cake of figs” that healed him was the saints, who were praising the Lord for the healing. Praise is the language of faith. I'd like to share a testimony from a brother that fits this so well. B.A. said to us, I'm pretty partial to that story in the scriptures of Naaman, when he came to the prophet for to heal the leprosy he had. I guess it was about three years ago when I had a growth that was on my forehead, and I was reading that Scripture in a morning meditation. I had been reading it for a couple of days and studying it, and when I was in the shower, the Lord just really spoke to me very clearly. I was actually going to ask the Bible study group to pray over this growth that was on my head, and the Lord just said, “Why don't you just wash it seven times?” See, it was just like it was with Naaman. I said, “Okay, Lord.” So, I started counting, and on the seventh day, it was gone. Unbelievable! There was no trace of it. It was just a wonderful miracle. It was like, on the seventh day, “Okay, today's the day!” And sure enough, that was the end of that. Well, praise You, Father! You know, when you trust God with real faith, you're going to praise Him; you're going to give thanks to Him. I think healing is 99% giving thanks and praising the Lord for the answer, and only 1% prayer. Because it says in (Mar 11:24) Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye received (The Greek word there is in the past tense, although a lot of Bible versions translate it as “receive.”) them, and ye shall have them. How would you behave if you believe you have received? Well, you're going to be joyful and full of thanks toward God. And you're going to confess Him before men. (Rom 10:10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. What does it mean to “confess” Him before men? “Confess” in Greek means “speak the same as,” so you'll thank God and confess that He's healed you and delivered you (1Ti 6:12) …Confess the good confession in the sight of many witnesses. Now, people might look at you funny, but if you'll confess Him before men, the Bible says He'll confess you before His holy angels and His Father in heaven. What are we actually doing when we confess our healing, our deliverance, our salvation, and so on, before men? We're using “the things that are not...to bring to nought the things that are.” (1Co 1:26) For behold your calling, brethren, that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, [are called:] 27 but God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame them that are wise; and God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong; 28 and the base things of the world, and the things that are despised, did God choose, [yea] and the things that are not, that he might bring to nought the things that are: 29 that no flesh should glory before God. And how do we use “the things that are not...to bring to nought the things that are”? We do what God does. (Rom 4:17) … God, who giveth life to the dead, and calleth the things that are not, as though they were. By faith, God calls the things that “are not, as though they were.” Notice that's past tense: “as though they were.” We can see this all through Scripture, for example, before Christ's sacrifice we see in (Isa 53:5) … and with his stripes we are healed, and after His sacrifice, (1Pe 2:24) … by whose stripes ye were healed. It's not “by whose stripes you are going to get healed,” it's “were healed.” We call the things that are not, as though they were. We consider it done at the Cross, and that's the whole point. Since it was done at the Cross, God's not going to say, we have to do it ourselves, in our own works. One thing we must have is a clear conscience towards God in order to have faith. It's not that God doesn't offer His provision to you. Think about all the people who boldly came to Jesus; they were stiff-necked, hard-hearted Jews, and yet they all received their healing. But, you see, there's a big difference when a person has something on their heart that they need to get off their heart. The difference is that you can't have boldness towards God when you're in that state. The Bible says in (1Jn 3:21) Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness toward God; 22 and whatsoever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight. A clear conscience is what you need when you go to God. Why do you confess your sins? It helps you to have a clear conscience so you can exercise faith the way you should. God is faithful. Jas 5:16 Confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed… There are other places in the Bible where people have considered that maybe Jesus used physical methods, such as when He healed the man who was blind from birth. (Joh 9:6) When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and anointed his eyes with the clay, 7 and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam (which is by interpretation, Sent). He went away therefore, and washed, and came seeing. I asked the Lord about that one time and He told me, “He didn't get healed when I smeared the mud in his eye; he got healed when he washed the mud out of his eye.” Then the thought came to me that mud represents our human nature. Adam came from the dust of the earth. As long as we see according to the way of man, the way of Adam, we don't get what we received from God at the Cross. We have to wash that out of our eyes. We have to be able to see clearly and to accept what the Word says about our condition. For instance, health doesn't come through any of man's methods. Health comes from the fact that Jesus already bore our curse on the Cross. It's past tense as we see here. (Gal 3:13) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree. It comes from the fact that (1Pe. 2:24) … by whose stripes ye were healed, and not from herbs or vitamins or supplements. Some of those things are expensive and besides that, they're not available to everybody. All over the world, people eat different things. It makes no difference to God. All they have to do is believe in the Gospel of healing, and they will receive it. The Lord says in (Exo 15:26) I will put none of the diseases upon thee which I have put upon the Egyptians, for I am the Lord that healeth thee. Those Egyptians and Egypt, in type, represent the world, and the whole world is under the curse, but we are not under the curse because of what Jesus did. If we're trying to earn God's gift through our own works, then we are not being weak. When we're trying to negotiate with the curse by our own strength, then God's power is not going to be there. We need God's power, so we need to glory in our weaknesses in order to have God's power. That's what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:30, and 12:5,9. Paul said to call “the things that are not, as though they were,” and give up all your efforts to save yourself, heal yourself, deliver yourself. It is a free gift. Jesus told His disciples, (Mat 10:8) Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons: freely ye received, freely give. He sent them out to give these gifts to God's people freely, so believe the Lord and accept His free gift. Now look in (Act 19:11) And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: 12 insomuch that unto the sick were carried away from his body handkerchiefs or aprons, and the evil spirits went out. Why were they procuring handkerchiefs from Paul and touching people with them? Handkerchiefs don't heal people, do they? And why does God command us to lay hands on the sick? Is it because our hands are special? No, the laying on of hands is something that helps us to imagine the healing, just as baptism is something to help our imagination because we're doing something physical. Also, we who are filled with His Spirit have His power in us and it flows through our hands. When we get baptized, we're able to imagine that we were buried with Christ when we go down in the water, and that we're a new creature in Christ when we come up. It's an act of faith. The water doesn't do anything. It's not the cleansing of the flesh with the water, it's the faith and obedience. The same thing applies to the laying on of hands. When we lay hands on somebody for healing, we imagine that the power God has put in us is being transferred into the other person. I do that. As a matter of fact, quite often I feel something like electricity running through my arm and going into people, but you don't have to touch anybody for them to get healed; you can just speak the Word for them to be healed. It's a point of contact to release the power of faith. God uses these physical things to help you because your imagination is something that connects your mind, your tongue, and your actions. The Bible says in (Rom 10:10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation, so there's a real connection with our imagination. If you can't imagine something, you are not going to be able to believe for it. You may be saying with your mouth that you're healed, but if your mind can't even imagine it, then you're not exercising any faith. Your imagination helps you come into the Image of God. (2Co 3:18) But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. That “image” is an imagination. If you're seeing Jesus in the mirror, that's imagination. And if you're seeing Jesus in the mirror, is that Person in the mirror sick? Is He demon-possessed? Is He sinful? Absolutely not! He's delivered from all of those things, which is exactly what the Bible says about us. We're delivered from all of those things. We accept those free gifts by faith, and because our works are not involved in it, man doesn't get any credit. God alone gets the glory. God's power is there. A lot of people imagine the worst and speak the worst, and they destroy themselves by doing that. But if you use that same energy in the opposite direction, it's amazing what you can do. You know, everything that a man creates has to first be seen in his imagination before he can create it, so we need a renewed imagination, we need a renewed mind. We're told in (Rom 12:2) And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, and ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Your imagination is in your mind, so you see yourself as healed, you see yourself as delivered, and so on. It doesn't matter what you feel, because the truth is that the devil can manipulate your feelings. The devil is going to tell you that you're not healed, that you're not delivered, that you're not saved from sin. He's going to tell you all of those things, but we need to have a renewed mind where we do not accept those lies. (2Co 10:3) For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh 4 (for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds), 5 casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. If we do that, and if we receive in our mind only the thinking of the Lord and the Word of the Lord, it doesn't matter what we feel. It matters what we believe and what we accept. We need to do the warfare and cast down those vain imaginations and thoughts. Brother B.A. tells us this story. One time we got an email from somebody that we had counseled with, and the person was talking about some of the sinful nature that he was dealing with in his walk, and he started rattling off a lot of things, and then in the next email, he said them again. I had written him about trying to walk by faith and taking authority over the devil, but he sent me a second email and said, “No, these are not my present sins, these are my sins from before.” I wrote him back and said that he must not believe that these sins are forgiven if he's still talking about these sins as if they're not forgiven. Why are these sins anymore if they are as far as the east is from the west? These should be far from his mind because of what the Lord has done for him. True forgiveness with true repentance means it's over. And you can understand that it's the devil's work that would bring these things back to our remembrance, and what happens is, and it was what this young man was dealing with, he didn't believe he was forgiven, and he didn't have any faith to walk by faith. He was not able to exercise authority over the devil and was continually in bondage. So, it's the devil's work when we don't receive forgiveness, and we don't recognize how perfect the sacrifice at the Cross was. Well, we know the Bible says in (Rom 8:1) There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. The King James version adds in there, “who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit,” but that's not in any of the ancient manuscripts. If you have to walk in the Spirit in order to have God's blessings, you're in real trouble. No, you have to accept God's blessings by faith, even in your failure. You have to call “the things that are not, as though they were.” It's all by grace, it's all by “unmerited favor.” We are not good enough, and we can never be good enough to receive the blessings of God. As we've seen, we need to confess your sins so that we have a clear conscience. (1Jn 3:21) Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness toward God; (But walking according to our conscience is powerful.) 22 and whatsoever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight. But even if you do confess your sins, the devil is going to tell you that you're still guilty. Who are you going to believe? Are you going to believe the devil, or are you going to believe God? The Bible says, (1Jn 1:9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If you have confessed your sins, God has forgiven you. Accept that. When condemnation goes past the time of repentance and confession of sin, you need to know it's coming straight from the devil. He knows that if you're in condemnation, then you won't have any faith. You can't have faith and condemnation at the same time, so if you have condemnation, you're no threat to him. The devil can continue to curse you and keep you in bondage. When you confess and repent of your sins, God removes them as far as the east is from the west (Psa.103:12) and casts them into the depths of the sea (Mic.7:19), so why are you remembering them? Accept His forgiveness, go on, and walk by faith. Don't pay any attention to what you feel; the devil manipulates that. Pay attention to what the Bible says and be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Cast down the vain imaginations that are against the knowledge of God, and you will win the victory. None of those people whom Jesus healed, delivered, and gave provisions to were worthy. They weren't what you would call “born again” people, but they had the Covenant with God. They were in Covenant and that's why Jesus said that He'd only been sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Today we have a better Covenant, based on better promises (Heb.8:6), and as Jesus said in (Luk 7:28) … Among them that are born of women there is none greater than John: yet he that is but little in the kingdom of God is greater than he. Can you receive a healing just by confessing your sins and accepting by faith what God said? Of course. If we have a better Covenant, based on better promises, and He healed every one of those Jews who came to Him by faith, what's He going to do today? The Bible says, (Heb 13:8) Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and to-day, yea and forever. So He's going to do the same thing today. The problem is that so many of God's people have different doctrines today, even though the Scripture tells us in (1Jn 2:24) As for you, let that abide in you which ye heard from the beginning. If that which ye heard from the beginning abide in you, ye also shall abide in the Son, and in the Father. One of those different doctrines is that “These days, sometimes God heals, and sometimes He doesn't,” but that's completely wrong. God has already healed. It has nothing to do with what God will do and what God won't do. The Bible says, (1Pe 2:24) … by whose stripes ye were healed, so it's already done. You can stop praying for hours trying to get God to heal you, because you're not saved by works. If you're going to convince anybody, you need to convince yourself. The Word of God is true. He already healed you. That's why it's called the “rest.” (Heb 4:3) For we who have believed do enter into that rest; even as he hath said, As I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. When you believe what God says, you can rest and not worry about it anymore, because God has already taken care of it and you believe it. God says He has saved you and when you believe it, then you're not continually having to be good enough, as some religions teach. I was raised in the Catholic church, and it was all about salvation by works. In other words, you had to be good enough. Jesus administered these gifts of God to His people and He told His disciples, (Mat 10:8) Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons: freely ye received, freely give. “Freely ye received.” You can't pay for it. But, for example, if you have to go buy a bunch of expensive herbs to try and get healing, or if you have to go to an expensive doctor, that's not free. If you have to buy those expensive drugs, that's not free. Herbs, doctors, drugs…those are all things that are, they aren't things that are not. The things that are not are for the purpose in (1Co 1:29) that no flesh should glory before God. God doesn't want anybody to be able to take the credit. He's a very jealous God. We should just accept this free gift from God and be healthy. I remember a lady who used to come to our Bible study years ago, who understood everything we're talking about, and she ministered to a lot of the people who came to her business. She would tell people about healing and deliverance and all that God does, but people were rejecting her. In fact, in some cases, she lost business telling people that. So she started dealing with them on a level that they could accept and got heavily into this herbal healing business to the point where, if you could say anyone was a real guru of herbal healing, this lady became one. She did all the studying and she knew what was naturally better for this and naturally better for that. Sometimes her herbs backfired on her and made a person sick. I'm not saying that there aren't some natural things that are much better than drugs. When I came to the Lord, I had inherited from my dad and his dad, a generational curse of sinus problems and chest congestion. I'd get pneumonia and had all kinds of sinus problems. That was just normal for me. And I had taken so much penicillin that it didn't do me any good anymore. Then I switched to vitamin C and found out that it worked way better than penicillin. Then I came to the Lord one day, and I threw down my Neo-Synephrine, which I was carrying year-round to try to keep my sinuses open. My sinus linings were finally burned out from that stuff, and I threw it in the garbage when I realized that Jesus Christ already healed me at the Cross. So now my nose and sinuses haven't stopped up in fifty four years. Well, there's something that's better than vitamin C, folks. Do you want a miracle, or do you want to keep paying with your own efforts to deliver yourself? This lady was using her own efforts, her own works, because it was more acceptable to her clients and she could help them on that level. I told her, “You don't have permission, nor a commission, to save people from the curse through that method. The Great Commission is when you offer them the Gospel, and if they don't accept it, then let them stay under the curse.” Of course, she thought that was kind of harsh, but let me point something out to you. If you read Deuteronomy 28, you'll see that God instituted the curse to bring men to repentance. I said to her, “What you're really doing by all your works is trying to take the curse away from those people so they won't have to repent to get healed.” We are to offer people the Good News, and if they don't want that, then let them stay under the curse to bring them to repentance. God Almighty is the One Who sent the curse. Some churches teach that the devil sent the curse, but the devil is not sovereign. Read Deuteronomy 28, which says that God sent the curse. The devil just administers it. God is Sovereign. He said to us, (Exo 15:26) … If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his eyes, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases upon thee, which I have put upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee. God might use the devil to do what He wants to do, but He's still Sovereign. (Php 2:13) For it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure. Just as He works in you, He does the same thing with all of His creation, and He has His vessels of honor and His vessels of dishonor. (2Ti 2:20) Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some unto honor, and some unto dishonor. 21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, meet for the master's use, prepared unto every good work. So you see, God uses the devil. He works in him to will and to do of His good pleasure, too. (Deu 32:39) See now that I, even I, am he, And there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal; And there is none that can deliver out of my hand. The prosperity teachers think all the bad comes from the devil and only the good comes from God, but when you need a whipping, that's good, and it comes from God (Job 2:10). People need a whipping when they go their own way. God has to get our attention before we come to the end of this road, and the truth is that the curse gets our attention better than anything else in the world. The apostle Paul turned men over to Satan for the destruction of their flesh so that their spirit would be saved in the day of the Lord. He used the curse to save men. We're supposed to let the curse do its work, but we're also supposed to offer people the only real cure, and that's the Gospel. One caveat, if others are under our authority, like children or the elderly or even under our roof, we can give them a gift of healing. Back to this herbal guru who was offering her clients a cure that didn't have anything to do with the Gospel, or bringing people to the knowledge of repentance and faith. She wanted to help them to live comfortably under the curse so that they'd have no need for God and would eventually fall off into hell at the end of their lives. If you stop and think about it, folks, that's what you're doing if that's what you're preaching. It's another gospel, not the Gospel of the Kingdom. God has done it this way on purpose. All of our salvation is past tense because, if you believe it, you have to cease from your works and enter into the rest. (Heb 4:1) Let us fear therefore, lest haply, a promise being left of entering into his rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed we have had good tidings preached unto us, even as also they: but the word of hearing did not profit them, because it was not united by faith with them that heard. 3 For we who have believed do enter into that rest; even as he hath said, As I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. … 9 There remaineth therefore a sabbath rest (Notice that the Greek word there is sabbatismos and it means “a continual rest.” This is the only place in the Bible where sabbatismos is used.) for the people of God. 10 For he that is entered into his rest hath himself also rested from his works, as God did from his. 11 Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, that no man fall after the same example of disobedience. So you see, the “rest” is not one day of the week anymore. When you believe the promises of God, you enter into the rest. You're supposed to stay in the rest by believing all of the promises concerning all the curse and concerning all of your problems. You're supposed to abide in the rest because you believe the great promises, and that's what the Old Testament Sabbath pointed to as a shadow of the good things to come. The Bible says Jesus Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath in Matthew 12:8. If you abide in Him, then you are keeping the Sabbath, and to “abide in Christ” means you believe the promises and you are obeying Him. Since you were healed, you were “delivered out of the power of darkness,” you were saved from sin and perfected at the Cross (Heb 10:14), what can you do to bring it to pass? Nothing. If you try to bring it to pass yourself, it proves that you are an unbeliever. God's people are not receiving the blessings that were given through Jesus Christ because they are unbelievers. Repent, cease from your works, and enter into the rest. Accept the free gift of God. It's really Good News, because we don't have to do anything except believe. That's our part of the Covenant. God's part is to supply the power, the deliverance, the healings, and supply the sanctification. That's God's part. Our part is to believe. We have the easy part of this. What can you add to what Jesus did without dishonoring His sacrifice? These principles cannot be imposed by law for they only work through personal faith.

This month of supernatural provision is a month of manna being rained down from heaven. God is multiplying everything. It is a month of fruitfulness. Remember Jesus is the firstfruit who resurrected on Nisan 17 and we are the sons and daughters that come from Him. We are His multiplication. He broke the power of sin , death , and grave to release us from lack and deliver us into wholeness, fruitfulness & multiplication.This month we see a shift as the curse was broken at Jesus death, burial and resurrection , we are now in a garden that is full and complete. A place where we shift our mindset off of gain but instead to receive.In Exodus 16 the Israelites had to receive just what God gave while they were in the wilderness and He gave manna which is the bread of life ! Manna means “What is it” and it was delivered from the realms of life, it was pure, holy, tasted sweet like honey crackers, it was undefiled, and it was the fullness of Jesus. If you can be trained by God this month to subdue your flesh as he asked them to do on Shabbat you will enter a place where He will be your all.Read Exodus 16:27 -30 In this place everything, becomes easy and no struggle to gain. You live in a realm of faith where you know it's coming ! All that you need in every situation will be there. This is the identity He is trying to establish with the Israelites in the wilderness.It's like He's saying “Chill out - I've got this - stop trying to control it or manipulate it. That doesn't work in my garden. ” In His garden or heavenly places we steward in faith, this is a place where we ultimately know He has control over what belongs to Him and we're just helping Him tend it or till it. We are not really stopping anything or starting anything - we're simply in agreement with Him! We're in agreement with what He says and we obey Him from this place !Remember from 1 Samuel 5:22, ““Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,and to hearken than the fat of rams. “Read Deuteronomy 8 :3 Manna is the Word made manifest as Jesus was the Word made manifestWhen the Israelites ate manna they ate the Word. They partook of the completeness and wholeness of nothing missing or broken in Him!What is He saying to you this month ? Just do it ! I'll be there and I'll provide! Step out on faith !Read 1 Corinthians 15:20 We are the fruit of the first born Jesus and we are the evidence that His resurrection was complete!As we prepare for Feast of Shavuot or Pentecost , God is asking us to present ourselves as living sacrifices or fruit unto Him! He is multiplying and bringing order this month.Start the Month of Iyar with a copy of Dr Candice new book “365 Prophetic Revelations from Hebrew Calender”- go to www.Candice Smithyman.comhttps://amzn.to/4aQYoR0Classes START NEXT WEEK- Get signed up Now! - Join DREAM MENTORS and BECOME A CERTIFIED COACH!Do you want to be trained as good disciples or biblical life coach ? Do you need to experience transformation in your souls so you can be the best God is calling you to be. Go to www.dreammentors.orgFREE Zoom CALL with Dr Candice - It's time now to sign up for our next Ascension class and join Dr. Candice's Glory Road Community!Maximize Your Prophetic Potential monthly class is Wednesday April 30 at 10 am and 6 pm EST. Next one after that is Monday May 12 at 10 am and 6 pm EST. You can choose which one. Sign Up here —http://bit.ly/4gfRKXm

No "I" in TEAM In Exodus 17, we see two powerful moments that reveal how God's provision and victory are often tied to the people He places around us. First, at Rephidim, Israel complains about their thirst, testing God rather than trusting Him. Moses, overwhelmed by their grumbling, turns to God—who provides water from the rock at Horeb, a foreshadowing of Christ, our ultimate source of life. But right after this provision, a new challenge arises—the Amalekites attack, targeting the weak and weary at the back of Israel's camp. This battle wasn't won by one man's strength but by teamwork—Joshua fought, while Moses lifted his hands in intercession, supported by Aaron and Hur. The lesson? No one wins alone. Whether we're in a season of testing or battle, we need the right people around us—people who hold us up, fight alongside us, and remind us of God's faithfulness. So, who's holding up your arms? And whose arms are you lifting? Let's talk about it in today's conversation. Exodus 17  Discussion topics Who in your life has been like an “Aaron or Hur” to you—someone who has supported you in a tough season?  Read Deuteronomy 25:17-18. The Amalekites attacked the weak and stragglers. How does this relate to how the enemy tries to attack us today? What "battle" are you facing right now where you need people to lift you up in prayer and encouragement?  Moses built an altar and called it “The Lord is My Banner” (Exodus 17:15). What does it mean for God to be your banner in daily life? Identify one person this week who you can support in prayer, encouragement, or practical help. Reach out and be their Aaron or Hur! Check out our other audio series and video playlists that can help you find Jesus in every moment and then discover what's next

·       Philippians 4:4 – Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again, Rejoice!  ·      Dallas Willard – Joy is a pervasive sense of well-being that is infused with hope because of the goodness of God. ·      Reach.   ·      80% of churches in the US are plateaued or in decline.  ·       Matt 28: 18-20 - 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  ·      You can live under the authority of Jesus or you can live against the authority of Jesus.  ·       19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. ·      James 1:22 - Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ·      John 15:12 – My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.  ·       And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” ·      Next.  ·       Deut. 31: 7-8 - 7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. 8 The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” ·       128,000 have no meaningful connection with a church.  ·       Do not be afraid and do not be discouraged.  ·       Own.  ·       We want something for you, not something from you.  ·       Ownership costs! ·      Phil. 2:2 - 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.  ·       Love one another as I have loved you ·      You must invest to love. ·       kbuynak@adbc.org ·       Step in and give something.  ·       Step up and tithe.  ·       Step out and give according to God's blessings.  ·       Who can you reach with your story this year?  ·       Will you pray for our new pastor?  ·       What step of ownership do you need to take?  ·       Following Jesus makes your life better and makes you better at life.    LIFE GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS  Starter:  Imagine our church in five years.  What will it be like?  Discussion: 1.      Read Matthew 28:18-20 2.      In your opinion, what keeps a church from being under the authority of Jesus? 3.      In your opinion, why do so many Jesus followers struggle with sharing their story? 4.      Read Deuteronomy 31:7-8 5.      Imagine you are Joshua.  How would you feel as Moses speaks these words to you in front of all the people of Israel? 6.      Why do you think God might use one leader for one part of the mission and another leader for the next chapter? 7.      What might discourage Joshua?  How can we best encourage our new pastor? 8.      Read Philippians 2:2 9.      Why do Jesus followers find it hard to love like Jesus? 10.  In your opinion, how can we help people make the choice to own their place in the body of Christ?

Happy New Year on the Gregorian Calender. We are concluding the Festival of Dedication on January 2 or Tevet 2 . The beginning of the Gregorian calender year is coordinating exact with the Hebrew calender month of Tevet which is very rare. This is the month of purification for both the Gregorian calender and Hebrew calender. Tevet or is from Hebrew word Tov which means Good ! This is a good month to start the new year and preparing our hearts and souls for purification. We dedicated our temple and now purification through fasting, praying and giving can begin! Watch my monthly teachings on first fruit to learn more the power of fasting, praying and giving in your purification. The vital scripture for this month is Matthew 22:36 where Jesus speaks of the greatest commandment which is the 1st commandment. A scribe approaches Him and says, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. ‘“Then in book of Mark 12:28 -31 we read, “And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, ‘The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”Our temples house the fire of the Holy Spirit and God is calling us to wash our souls with the truth of resting in our temples to break the power of toiling in 2025! We are called to Receive and Rest and Give out of the overflow! This year God is going train you away from your fear, anxiety, depression and overwhelming pressure of life and catapult you in to a belief that will bring the kingdom of heaven to earth! You will start walking in the new eternal order of Melchizedek.In Deuteronomy 6:4 “The Essence of the Covenant Principles “ are stated, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”God is calling us to learn to Rest to Ascend in 2025! He wants to give us soul rest so we can carry the blessing of His provision in the earth!God cares for us and cares for the earth and we need to begin to rest in these truths as He activates His double grace in this new year! He wants you to be dependent on Him not independent of Him!Read Deuteronomy 11:12 , “It's time to rest in this revelation and pass it on! God cares for us from the beginning of the year to the end of the year and we need to remember to live out His goodness and love!NEW YEAR RESOLUTION- Join DREAM MENTORS and BECOME A CERTIFIED COACH!Do you want to be trained as good disciples or biblical life coach ? Do you need to experience transformation in your souls so you can be the best God is calling you to be. Go to www.dreammentors.orgIt's time now to sign up for our next Ascension class and join Dr. Candice's Glory Road Community!Maximize Your Prophetic Potential monthly class is Monday January 6 at 10 am and 6 pm EST. You can choose which one. Sign Up here —http://bit.ly/4gfRKXmOnly $30 each month and join Candice Live Zoom!

This week God says , “I am establishing a covenant of wealth with my people during Tabernacles! “Creative wealth abundance is to recognize God's heart for His people and His love relationship with us .It is to have a belief in His goodnessand to know He gives provision, protection and acceptance at it's fullness which means nothing missing or broken and that ALL has been redeemed and returned to us because of Jesus!For God to establish covenant wealth with us means He's taking us to a realm of faith for every need.It does not mean that tomorrow we will wake up with a million in your bank account. Although ALL things are possible when God establishes covenant wealth mindset in us.To establish covenant wealth is an attitude of prosperity. It is an attitude of knowing God's goodness always and the completion of all things in the new and living way because of Jesus' death, burial, resurrection and ascension.In order for us to experience the blessings of the promised land we must KNOW the God of The Promise.Read: Deuteronomy 8:3 Deuteronomy 8:17-18 Heb 10:16-17 There is no more need for a sacrificial offering - no more striving to meet the law or gain provision, protection and acceptance but instead completion of the atonement is finished now. So if we live out of not trying to DO to gain provision, protection and acceptance but instead to BE in Christ's righteousness then we have stepped into the eternal realm and by faith we have an now operate and that's covenant wealth abundance.In celebration and honor of the Feast of Sukkot or Tabernacles we are called to sow a holy offering unto the Lord during this feast.Read: Deuteronomy 16:16-17 Consider sowing your offering so that you can bless the Lord as He has blessed you!He says these 7 Blessings become ours during the Feast of Tabernacles from Joel 2:23-32 with financial abundance, double portion, restoration, miracles, God's divine presence, Blessings on sons and daughters, and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved or delivered.If you feel led to sow into Candice Smithyman Ministries and help us pull children out of sex trafficking through our partnerships. Click herehttps://www.candicesmithyman.com/donate-pageDo you want to be trained as good disciples or biblical life coach ? Do you need to experience transformation in your souls so you can be the best God is calling you to be. Go to www.dreammentors.orgIt's time now to sign up for our next Ascension class and join Dr. Candice's Glory Road Community!Maximize Your Prophetic Potential monthly class is Tuesday November 12 at 10 am and 6 pm EST. You can choose which one. Click here https://dream-mentors-transformational-life-coaching.teachable.com/p/maximize-your-prophetic-potential-course1/?preview=logged_outOnly $30 each month no discount code needed and join Candice Live Zoom!Get a copy of Dr Candice new book “365 Prophetic Revelations from Hebrew Calender”-https://amzn.to/4aQYoR0

This week we look at a story of suffering in 2 Kings 6:24-7:20. Read the story and consider the king's reaction. Who does he blame? Why does he do this? Read Deuteronomy 28:52-53 - what does this tell you about what Israel is experiencing? What does this story tell you about sin, its effect, and what it means to trust God?

This week we look at a story of suffering in 2 Kings 6:24-7:20. Read the story and consider the king's reaction. Who does he blame? Why does he do this? Read Deuteronomy 28:52-53 - what does this tell you about what Israel is experiencing? What does this story tell you about sin, its effect, and what it means to trust God?

Be accountable by way of the Word of God. Not only speak the Word of the LORD but LIVE it. Read Deuteronomy 18: 10-12, Leviticus 19:31, Isaiah 8: 19-20 Join us live in the Morning Glory on the We Believe God Prayer and Devotional Line Monday-Friday at 5am est dial 516-253-3558. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/tasha-mack9/support

Honoring our Father and Mother was a command given by God to the children of Israel, but it was also a promise to inherit the promised land. At the depth of this commandment is the call for strong households, strong families, which lead to strong societies. Education, nurturing, modeling, discipleship all happens first in the home. Today, we will look at ways that we can honor our father and mother while understanding how to strengthen our home.  Group Life Questions:1. What spoke to you most from the message today?2. In what ways have you been able to honor your parents in your life and what was the benefit of that honoring?3. Take a look at the first four commandments. What is the central theme of 1-4? Now take a look at 5-10. What is the central theme? Cross reference this to Mark 12:30-31.4. Read Deuteronomy 21:18-21 and cross reference this to Luke 15:18-19. What do these two sets of verses teach us about God's love for us now? How are we honoring our heavenly father?  5. End your time with prayer for one another, for our church, and for the community.  

Read Deuteronomy 6:4-9 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+6%3A4-9&version=ESV Check out our website: faithcommunityma.com/

In this episode Dr Andrew Ollerton is joined by Dr Daniel Block to look at Old Testament law and instruction. This episode's text is Deuteronomy Chapter 27 and the instruction to set up the stones on Mount Ebal, as Daniel demonstrates how even after 50 years of study the biblical text might still have surprises for us.Dr Daniel Block is Gunther Knoedler Professor Emeritus of Old Testament, Wheaton College. His scholarly work focuses on the books of Deuteronomy, Judges, Ruth, and Ezekiel. Dr Block studied for his DPhil at Liverpool University. He has written numerous scholarly articles and reference works and served as a senior translator for the New Living Translation. His books include The Gods of the Nations: Studies in Ancient Near Eastern Theology and The Gospel according to Moses: Theological and Ethical Reflections on the Book of Deuteronomy.Reading list:Covenant: The Framework of God's Plan for Redemption (Baker Academic, 2021)Daniel I. Block, "'What Do These Stones Mean?' The Riddle Of Deuteronomy 27," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 56.1 (March 2013): 17-41---This episode is a re-release from the Trusting the Bible podcast which was a collaboration between Tyndale House, Cambridge @Tyndale_House and the Bible Society @biblesociety in 2022.Edited by Tyndale House Music – Acoustic Happy Background used with a standard license from Adobe Stock.Support the Show.

-Who (outside your family) helped or poured into you in a significant way? -What resonated with you from the message this week? -Describe your first experiences being part of a church community. How did it feel? What made it feel safe? What kept you coming back? -Read Deuteronomy 6:1–12. Why and how does God want people to teach his instruction (law) to the next generations? Where does that process start according to the passage? What might be a modern day take on this? Click the “Discussion Questions” above for full study guide.

Following, 4 of 5 from January 28th, 2024 “Jesus instructs our thoughts and feelings through His Word.” Deuteronomy 6 by Michael Lockstampfor (@miklocks) DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Scripture and Questions for Study and Reflection:1. When is the first time you remember hearing about giving money to the church? What were your thoughts?2. Over the years were you taught to give to God, or did your giving depend upon what was left over by Sunday morning?3. Why do you think people become apprehensive when we talk about money in the church?4. In what ways do you become apprehensive? Why?5. Read Deuteronomy 8: 6-18. What stands out to you? Why?6. Read Malachi 3: 7b (beginning with 'Return to me) - 8, 10. What part of this stands out to you? Why?7. Prices have sky-rocketed, and have put basic needs out of reach for many. How can our church help those who need the help the most?The books referred to today were: Start This/Stop That: Do The Things that Grow Your Church, by Jim & Jennifer Cowart that also speaks to other ways to grow your church; any of Dave Ramsey's Financial Planning books or seminars; and John Wesley's sermon, ‘The Use of Money.'Prayer for the Week:O Lord, guide our hearts. Free us from our concerns. Teach us to be content in all circumstances whether we are concerned about the money we have or don't have. Help us to remember all that we have is from you, that you are our provider and sustainer, and you know our needs before we ask. In Christ's name. Amen.

Discussion Questions | Scripture Toolbox Handout What are your first memories of engaging with the Bible? Read Deuteronomy 6:4–9 and Deuteronomy 8:10–14. Why do you think it was important that the Israelites surround themselves with the scriptures? Why do you think that might still be important today? Read Matthew 7:24–28. Jesus' instruction was to put his teaching into practice. Describe a time that remembering Jesus's teaching helped you. Read Ephesians 6:10–18. Paul encourages us to remember who the real enemy is and to use the scriptures as a weapon against it. Who is that enemy and how might the armor of God help you defeat him? What are some ways you can help pass the faith and scriptures to the next generation?

RATE! SHARE! SUBSCRIBE! Email me your thoughts, comments or questions: caniberealpodcast@gmail.com Show Notes: ○ Galatians 5:22-23 ○ 1st and foremost, remember that these Fruits of the Spirit are all characteristics of God • Faithfulness ○ Faithful- steadfast in affection or allegiance; loyal; firm adherence to promises or in observance of duty ○ Trustworthy-worthy of confidence; dependable ○ To be faithful is to be reliable, steadfast and unwavering. ○ Read Deuteronomy 7:7-9 ○ Read Numbers 23:19 ○ Read Psalms 33:4-For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. ○ Read Psalms 145:13b- The LORD is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does. ○ God is eternally reliable, steadfast, and unwavering because faithfulness is one of his inherent attributes. You can trust God! He is dependable! • Jesus ○ Jesus's whole life and ministry is a picture of faithfulness. ○ In Matthew 4, Jesus is tempted in the wilderness by Satan for 40 days and 40 nights ○ Jesus preached, healed, raised the dead, calmed storms, provided food for thousands, etc.- all with the sole purpose of giving God glory. ○ Jesus suffered ridicule, betrayal and abuse at the hands of the very ones he was sent to save. ○ In Matthew 26, Jesus prayed- read Matthew 26:39b, 42b ○ In Luke 23, while dying in agony, Jesus says- read Luke 23:34 ○ Jesus is faithful! • What about us? ○ When a person walks consistently with God, in humble service to Him, they are called "faithful". ○ Read Hebrews 11:1, 6 ○ I challenge you this week to meditate on Hebrews 11, which is often called the "Hall of Faith" due to the writer of Hebrews listing several old testament individuals who put their faith in God into action. ○ I leave you with the same charge Paul leaves Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:11-16 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rachel398/message

From the title we know a man named Asaph wrote Psalm 81. From the contents we know it wrote it specifically for the nation of Israel calling them to worship during one of the feast days. But we have no idea of when he wrote this Psalm in Israel's history. Because of that it appears that the Lord wanted it to be used to prompt all the generations of Israel to remember God's greatness, His goodness and mercy, and respond with obedience to His Word and worship.   I believe that this Psalm has a powerful application for us as believers today to remember how the Lord delivered us from our slavery to sin and the world, and how He desires to bless us if we obey Him and put Him first in all areas of our life. When I read this Psalm each month, I replace the name Israel, or references to them, with my name. For instance, in verse 8, “Hear, O My Michael, and I will admonish you.! O Michael, if you would listen to me!” And in verse 13, “Oh, that Michael would listen to Me, That Michael would walk in My ways!”   The last clause of verse 5 could be translated, "We heard a voice we had not known", referring to the message God sent in verses 6-10. At some point in the festal celebration, a priest received God's message and declared it to the people. The emphasis in this Psalm is on hearing the Word of God (vv. 6, 11,13; see 95:7-11 and Heb. 3). Every seventh year at the Feast of Tabernacles, the priests read the book of Deuteronomy to the people, and perhaps this was one of those special sabbatical years. Read Deuteronomy 31:9-13 and note the emphasis on "hearing God" (Also Deut. 4:1, 6,10; 5:1; 6:3-4; 9:1). It is delightful to sing praises to God and to pray, but if we want Him to listen to us, we must listen to Him.   Frequently the Lord reminded His people of their miraculous deliverance from Egypt (v. 6), the power of God that accomplished it, and the love of God that motivated it. He also reminded them of the covenant they accepted at Sinai (v. 7a; Deut. 5:2-3). The people hearing this message were not at Sinai, but the decision of their ancestors was binding on them and their descendants. God's message also mentioned their failure to trust Him at Meribah (Ex. 17; Num. 20). At the Feast of Tabernacles, the priests poured out water in the temple to commemorate these events (John 7:37-39). The Lord emphasized that He would not tolerate His people worshiping idols (vv. 8-9; Ex. 20:1-4; Deut. 4:15-20). What could the false gods of the neighboring nations give to them? God was ready to satisfy His people! "Open your mouth wide and I will fill it" (v. 10).   In verses 11-16, we are reminded that obedience, service and worship and service go together (Matt. 4:10; Deut. 6:13), and this means we must obey what the Lord commands. But the nation did not obey God's Word, and He had to destroy all the people twenty years and older (Num. 14:26). But this attitude of spiritual "deafness" and willful disobedience persisted even after Israel entered the Promised Land, as recorded in the book of Judges. (See 78:10, 17, 32, 40, 56.) The greatest judgment God can send is to let people have their own way (see Rom. 1:24, 26, 28). Had His people obeyed Him, the Lord would have kept the promises in His covenant and blessed them with protection and provision (Deut. 28:15; Lev. 26:17-20, 27-31). When we disobey the Lord, not only do we feel the pain of His chastening, but we also miss out on the blessings He so desires to give us. The Lord gave Israel water out of the rock, but He was prepared to give them honey out of the rock (Deut. 32:13). He sent manna from heaven, but He would have given them the finest of wheat. The word "if" (vv. 8&13) is small, but it carries big consequences (Deut. 5:29; 32:29; Isa. 48:18; Matt. 23:37). The Lord has given us the ordinance of the Lord's Supper to regularly remind us of the great sacrifice that He made to save us and deliver us from our sin! May the Lord help us to hear, to listen and to obey His Word today!   God bless!

Main Point: God works through His people as they trust in Him.Questions:1. What impacted you from the message this weekend? What challenged you or encouraged you? What did you learn about God's character through the study of Moses' life?2. Read Exodus 1. How did the dynamics shift between the time of Joseph to the time of the current Pharoah in this passage? What was Pharoah's wicked plan for getting rid of the Hebrews?3. Read Exodus 2. What were the circumstances that Moses was born into? What huge risk did his mother and sister take? How can you see God's orchestration of events in this chapter?4. How did Moses respond to the mistreatment of the Hebrew by the Egyptian? Why did he flee?5. Read Exodus 3. Describe Moses' encounter with God through the burning bush. How would you have reacted if you were in Moses' place? What did God say to Moses? What was Moses' response to God?6. Read Exodus 7-11. In these chapters, God used Moses to confront Pharoah and demand that Pharoah let the Israelites go. How did Pharoah respond throughout the 10 plagues God sent?7. What was the significance of the night of Passover? What is the connection with Passover and the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross?8. Read Exodus 32. God made Covenant with the Israelites and gave them His law. He provided the law through Moses and gave him the instructions for the Tabernacle. What were the people doing while Moses was gone? How did Moses intercede with God for the Israelites? What happened when Moses came down the mountain?9. Read Numbers 21:4-8. What happened in this passage? This is one of several places where the Israelites grumbled against God and Moses. How did God respond to their grumbling in this passage?10. Read Deuteronomy 34. Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land because of his actions in Numbers 20:1-13. What happened in this chapter? How was Moses described in these verses?11. What is one thing you can do this week to put into practice what you learned in this message?

Main Point: God works through His people as they trust in Him. Questions: 1. What impacted you from the message this weekend? What challenged you or encouraged you? What did you learn about God's character through the study of Moses' life? 2. Read Exodus 1. How did the dynamics shift between the time of Joseph to the time of the current Pharoah in this passage? What was Pharoah's wicked plan for getting rid of the Hebrews? 3. Read Exodus 2. What were the circumstances that Moses was born into? What huge risk did his mother and sister take? How can you see God's orchestration of events in this chapter? 4. How did Moses respond to the mistreatment of the Hebrew by the Egyptian? Why did he flee? 5. Read Exodus 3. Describe Moses' encounter with God through the burning bush. How would you have reacted if you were in Moses' place? What did God say to Moses? What was Moses' response to God? 6. Read Exodus 7-11. In these chapters, God used Moses to confront Pharoah and demand that Pharoah let the Israelites go. How did Pharoah respond throughout the 10 plagues God sent? 7. What was the significance of the night of Passover? What is the connection with Passover and the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross? 8. Read Exodus 32. God made Covenant with the Israelites and gave them His law. He provided the law through Moses and gave him the instructions for the Tabernacle. What were the people doing while Moses was gone? How did Moses intercede with God for the Israelites? What happened when Moses came down the mountain? 9. Read Numbers 21:4-8. What happened in this passage? This is one of several places where the Israelites grumbled against God and Moses. How did God respond to their grumbling in this passage? 10. Read Deuteronomy 34. Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land because of his actions in Numbers 20:1-13. What happened in this chapter? How was Moses described in these verses? 11. What is one thing you can do this week to put into practice what you learned in this message?

Families have the most influence on the next generation—and God designed it that way to communicate His heart to future generations. Summer is often when families take vacation trips together. These trips can be a great opportunity for families to spend time together, show each other love, and model grace to the world. This series discusses both the importance of family relationships, and how parenting is a way for parents to help their children understand God's grace and love.QUESTIONS FOR THE ROAD:1. What is your Vision for your family? What does thinking backwards from that vision mean for you practically?2. How have you made your own devotion to God personal in a way that helps you model it to your children?3. Read Deuteronomy 6:7-9. How will you create and set a rhythm that is intentional for growing spiritually and relationally?

Main Point: Continue to grow to be like Jesus and help others to do the same. Questions: 1. What impacted you from the message this weekend? What challenged you or encouraged you? 2. Read Hebrews 12:14-17. What words and ideas stick out to you in these verses? Do you have any questions? What is the writer of these verses saying? 3. Read Hebrews 12:14. What does it mean to make every effort to live in peace with everyone? What keeps us from being at peace with others? What does living in peace with everyone look like in your life? (See Romans 12:17-18.) 4. If Christians are declared holy by faith in Jesus, what does it mean to make every effort to be holy? Why is a pursuit of holiness so important to our spiritual growth? (See 1 Peter 1:13-16 and Matthew 5:58.) 5. Read Hebrews 12:15. What does it meant of fall short of the grace of God? How might people miss the grace of God? How do we know we have received God's grace? 6. Read Deuteronomy 29:18. How does this help us understand the bitter root that the author of Hebrews is writing about? What is the bitter root? What does the bitter root cause? 7. Read Hebrews 12:16-17. How is Esau sexual immorality tied to his godlessness? How do his misplaced values lead to the bad decision he made? What does this situation reveal about choosing temporal comfort over eternal inheritance? 8. What parallels is the author of Hebrews making between Esau and those people in the church that might potential abandon their claim to follow Jesus? What is the warning for those who would choose not to follow Jesus? 9. What is one thing you can do this week to put into practice what

Main Point: Continue to grow to be like Jesus and help others to do the same.Questions:1. What impacted you from the message this weekend? What challenged you or encouraged you?2. Read Hebrews 12:14-17. What words and ideas stick out to you in these verses? Do you have any questions? What is the writer of these verses saying?3. Read Hebrews 12:14. What does it mean to make every effort to live in peace with everyone? What keeps us from being at peace with others? What does living in peace with everyone look like in your life? (See Romans 12:17-18.)4. If Christians are declared holy by faith in Jesus, what does it mean to make every effort to be holy? Why is a pursuit of holiness so important to our spiritual growth? (See 1 Peter 1:13-16 and Matthew 5:58.)5. Read Hebrews 12:15. What does it meant of fall short of the grace of God? How might people miss the grace of God? How do we know we have received God's grace?6. Read Deuteronomy 29:18. How does this help us understand the bitter root that the author of Hebrews is writing about? What is the bitter root? What does the bitter root cause?7. Read Hebrews 12:16-17. How is Esau sexual immorality tied to his godlessness? How do his misplaced values lead to the bad decision he made? What does this situation reveal about choosing temporal comfort over eternal inheritance?8. What parallels is the author of Hebrews making between Esau and those people in the church that might potential abandon their claim to follow Jesus? What is the warning for those who would choose not to follow Jesus?9. What is one thing you can do this week to put into practice what

We continue to see Jesus challenged in the temple. The Sadducees bring to Jesus a question regarding the resurrection, hidden inside an absurd scenario based on a marriage commandment found in Deuteronomy 25. Jesus accuses them of not understanding both the Scriptures and God's power. We need the same lessons Jesus taught the Sadducees. We need to be reminded how easy it is to misinterpret Scripture and how dangerous it is to do so, because it leads to a distorted view of God. We, too, have a watered-down view of God's transcendent power. We, too, try to compare our earthly relationships to our heavenly ones. “Think of the best, greatest possible moment that you've ever experienced . . . then multiply that joy by a million, and then you may, just may, begin to appreciate the joy that God is preparing for you in heaven.” R.C. Sproul.Jesus responds to the scribe's question with a two-part answer. The first calls for a total, entire-being, response of love and devotion toward God. The second calls for love of neighbor, which includes our enemies, those that we find difficult, those that we disagree with. Both commands create tension, because we can't possibly achieve them, in our own strength at least. We rest knowing that Jesus fulfilled them perfectly on our behalf. But there's still action required or expected. Read Deuteronomy 6:4-9. How does this add to our understanding? “Loving our neighbor as ourselves” implies that we are to love ourselves, which may seem contradictory. The same God who tells us to love ourselves tells us to deny ourselves?!  But the more we deny ourselves, the more we become who HE created us to be, and the more we rightly love ourselves and recognize that we are the object of the redeeming love of God. AND the more we “turn out” that love toward others. The scribe's posture toward Jesus is interesting. He seems to genuinely want to know the answer to his question, and he responds positively, saying “You're right, teacher,” and acknowledging that “loving God and neighbor” is much more sacrificial than the burnt offerings and sacrifices they'd been traditionally giving for so many years. But there's still something missing. It's not enough to call Jesus “right,” we must call him “Lord.” 

We continue to see Jesus challenged in the temple. The Sadducees bring to Jesus a question regarding the resurrection, hidden inside an absurd scenario based on a marriage commandment found in Deuteronomy 25. Jesus accuses them of not understanding both the Scriptures and God's power. We need the same lessons Jesus taught the Sadducees. We need to be reminded how easy it is to misinterpret Scripture and how dangerous it is to do so, because it leads to a distorted view of God. We, too, have a watered-down view of God's transcendent power. We, too, try to compare our earthly relationships to our heavenly ones. “Think of the best, greatest possible moment that you've ever experienced . . . then multiply that joy by a million, and then you may, just may, begin to appreciate the joy that God is preparing for you in heaven.” R.C. Sproul.Jesus responds to the scribe's question with a two-part answer. The first calls for a total, entire-being, response of love and devotion toward God. The second calls for love of neighbor, which includes our enemies, those that we find difficult, those that we disagree with. Both commands create tension, because we can't possibly achieve them, in our own strength at least. We rest knowing that Jesus fulfilled them perfectly on our behalf. But there's still action required or expected. Read Deuteronomy 6:4-9. How does this add to our understanding? “Loving our neighbor as ourselves” implies that we are to love ourselves, which may seem contradictory. The same God who tells us to love ourselves tells us to deny ourselves?!  But the more we deny ourselves, the more we become who HE created us to be, and the more we rightly love ourselves and recognize that we are the object of the redeeming love of God. AND the more we “turn out” that love toward others. The scribe's posture toward Jesus is interesting. He seems to genuinely want to know the answer to his question, and he responds positively, saying “You're right, teacher,” and acknowledging that “loving God and neighbor” is much more sacrificial than the burnt offerings and sacrifices they'd been traditionally giving for so many years. But there's still something missing. It's not enough to call Jesus “right,” we must call him “Lord.” 

A serendipitous meeting of an Intactivist and an adult who circumcised himself. Scott can't escape his family. Sorry... with his family from an escape room. The Israelites can't escape from Moses's continued droning about the end-user covenant agreement for worshiping Yahweh. H.W. assignment: Read Deuteronomy 28:15-End --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/libel-the-bible/support

In this episode, we look at Moses's prayer in Psalm 90. Even though we're centuries removed from the wilderness wanderings, we can affirm with the man of God that life is short and can be extremely painful. In this psalm, we learn how to talk to God about our desire to make our mark on this world and our longing to be satisfied forever. Praying Psalm 90 Before praying, read Psalm 90 in its entirety at least once. If possible, read it more than once, aloud. Ask God to open your eyes to behold wonderful things in His Word. Read verses 1-2. Tell God why you are grateful that He is our dwelling place. Thank Him for His faithfulness in your life. Confess any times recently that you have sought rest somewhere apart from Him. If you lack a desire to abide in Him alone, confess that, and ask Him to help you seek Him first. Read verses 3-6. Consider the brevity of life. Even if you usually shy away from meditating on this less-than-comfortable topic, don't move on too quickly. Think about your life as a flood, a dream, a blade of grass. How does this reality shift your perspective about your priorities and preoccupations today? Confess to God where you need to refocus or reorder your priorities. Read verses 7-12. Ask God to increase your understanding of His wrath against sin—and to fear Him more and more. Thank God for Jesus, who drank the full cup of God's wrath against sin for you. Pray with Moses: “Teach me to number my days that I may present to You a heart of wisdom.” Ask for the Spirit's guidance so you can make the most of your time today. Read verses 13-17. Pray for the Lord to come—and come quickly. Until then, pray for God to satisfy you each day with His love. Ask for His grace to equip you to do all He has called you to do today and rest, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58). Want to study the themes in this passage further? Here are a few passages and reflection questions to consider: 1. Read Deuteronomy 33:1, Deuteronomy 33:26-29, and Isaiah 57:15. What do you learn about God? What similarities do you see to Psalm 90:1-2? 2. Read Genesis 3. Consider the curse of sin. Where do you see evidence of the curse in the world? What about in your own life? 3. How does the transitoriness of your life, as described in verses 3-6, compel you to view your time? How does an awareness of the brevity of life affect your schedule today? 4. Read Luke 22:39-45. How did Jesus view the cup of God's wrath? Take a few moments to thank Jesus for offering His body as a sacrifice for sin and satisfying God's wrath to bring us near to God and make us right with Him. 5. Read 1 Corinthians 15. How does Jesus' resurrection give us hope? How does His resurrection life infuse our lives with significance and meaning? 6. Read Matthew 5:6, Matthew 6:33, and Psalm 17:15. What is the only thing that satisfies us? How can your life reflect this truth more?

Welcome to my latest series, LIES GOOD MOMS BELIEVE!  In today's episode I am joined with Natalia Drumm, an author, Bible teacher, and host of the podcast Girlfriends in the Word. Together we are tackling the lie: you are too busy to read the Bible.  Whether you are sitting in a laundry room or a board room, God is calling us to love Him with everything that we have and that works out in our day to day, mundane everyday life. There is so much to juggle, between the toys everywhere, kids' homework, maybe running them off to soccer or piano lessons, how is there any time? On top of that, there's the guilt and shame for not meeting certain expectations. The guilt, shame, condemnation we may feel in the church for not doing what we're "supposed to do" may cause us to struggle even more with carving out the time. Somer and Natalia get honest with the struggle and aim to fill you with the truth you need.  You can learn more about Natalia on her website.  And you can connect with her through  Instagram  and Facebook!  For this week's downloadable prayer, click here!    FAVORITE TAKE-AWAYS: -God's Word is power and the enemy doesn't want us to have power. -Satan is crafty, not creative.   -The enemy gives us just enough truth to discourage us but not enough truth to get us where we need to be.   Scripture to Read: Deuteronomy 6:4-9 - when you want to know what God wants from you, read this passage Romans 8:1 - There is this fine line between condemnation and conviction and the enemy would have us condemned.   Remember:  I am not responsible to multiply what God is doing. I am just responsible to show up. Open your hand and give God whatever you've got. The best way to love where you are is to stop looking where someone else is. God has assigned me this season, this period of time, because I am the girl for the job. He's given it to me. He trusts me with it. So how can I give it back to the Master? Girl - you've got what it takes to be in God's Word, you just have to start!  

Today we are reading through Deuteronomy 31-34 as we conclude Deuteronomy and see the end of Moses' life just before the Israelites enter the Promised Land. Read Deuteronomy 31-34 Important Links for the Podcast Discuss each episode on Reddit Contact Us Visit our Website On Instagram @biblebeginningtoend On Twitter: @biblebeginning1 Via email: biblebeginningtoend@gmail.com Supporting the Show Not only does your support help keep the podcast running so I can make more episodes, 10% of any profits made from this podcast via ad revenues, merchandise sales, or listener support will be donated to Asha's Refuge, a Christ-centered nonprofit that "exists to assist the most disadvantaged refugees/asylees in achieving a successful resettlement in the Memphis, TN area.". But, I want to make it clear that financial support is never required. You are supporting the show just by listening! :) Be a listener and share the show with your friends! Purchase merch from the show by clicking here. Click here to become a monthly supporter via Anchor. Click here to make a one-time or monthly contribution to the podcast via Paypal. Episode Timestamps 0:00 - Intro 0:00 - Intro 2:00 - Deuteronomy 31 10:36 - Deuteronomy 32 24:09 - Deuteronomy 33 31:01 - Deuteronomy 34 35:47 - Outro Bible Verse Copyright Statement Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/biblebeginningtoend/support

Read: Deuteronomy 10:18 ; 1 Timothy 5:1-16 Pray: That we would all hope in Christ as our ultimate eternal purpose.

Read: Deuteronomy 10:18 & 1 Timothy 5:1-16 Pray: That we would all hope in Christ as our ultimate eternal purpose.

Main Point: Meditating on the Bible transforms our thinking and gives us the opportunity to experience a deeper connection with God. Questions: 1. What impacted you from the message this weekend? What did you learn about meditation? 2. How would do you define meditation? How does the habit of mediation relate to transformation and deeper connection with God? 3. Read Psalm 1:1-4. What are the two ways of life that are being presented in these verses? What are the habits of the two different kinds of people in these verses? 4. What are the qualities of a person who meditates on God's word? What does the example of the tree planted by streams of water suggest about the results of biblical meditation? 5. Read Deuteronomy 6:4-9. Does any of this sounds familiar? (See Matthew 22:37) What does the writer say about God's commandments (e.g., God's Word)? 6. What roles does the word of God have on raising children? 7. Where does the author say we are to talk about the word of God? What is the symbolic significance of placing the God's Words on a person's hands and foreheads? On the door posts and gates? 8. What do these verses communicate about the importance and centrality of the word of God? 9. Read Romans 12:2. How does meditation on the word of God help us not to conform to the patterns of the world? How does meditation help us to renew our minds? 10. What role does Bible memorization play in meditating on Scripture? 11. What did you learn about God in these verses? What did you learn about yourself? What is God asking you to understand or to do as a result of what you have learned? 12. By God's grace what is one thing you can do to apply what you have learned this week?

Read: Deuteronomy 6:4-9 Pray: That we would be faithful to teach the Law of the Lord to our children. Sing: You'll Find Your Way – Andrew Peterson

Read: Deuteronomy 6:4-9 Pray: That we would be faithful to teach the Law of the Lord to our children. Sing: You

Today we are reading through Deuteronomy 26-30 as God confirms His covenant with the Israelites. Read Deuteronomy 26-30 Important Links for the Podcast Discuss each episode on Reddit Contact Us Visit our Website On Instagram @biblebeginningtoend On Twitter: @biblebeginning1 Via email: biblebeginningtoend@gmail.com Supporting the Show Not only does your support help keep the podcast running so I can make more episodes, 10% of any profits made from this podcast via ad revenues, merchandise sales, or listener support will be donated to Asha's Refuge, a Christ-centered nonprofit that "exists to assist the most disadvantaged refugees/asylees in achieving a successful resettlement in the Memphis, TN area.". But, I want to make it clear that financial support is never required. You are supporting the show just by listening! :) Be a listener and share the show with your friends! Purchase merch from the show by clicking here. Click here to become a monthly supporter via Anchor. Click here to make a one-time or monthly contribution to the podcast via Paypal. Episode Timestamps 0:00 - Intro 0:57 - Deuteronomy 26 7:08 - Deuteronomy 27 13:43 - Deuteronomy 28 33:26 - Deuteronomy 29 40:45 - Deuteronomy 30 45:48 - Outro --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/biblebeginningtoend/support

Read: Deuteronomy 6:4-9 Pray: That the Word of God would fill the homes of the families of First Baptist Enterprise. Sing: Dancing in the Minefields – Andrew Peterson

Today we are reading through Deuteronomy 21-25 as Moses continues reminding the Israelites of God's covenant. Read Deuteronomy 21-25 Important Links for the Podcast Discuss this episode on Reddit Contact Us Visit our Website On Instagram @biblebeginningtoend On Twitter: @biblebeginning1 Via email: biblebeginningtoend@gmail.com Supporting the Show Not only does your support help keep the podcast running so I can make more episodes, 10% of any profits made from this podcast via ad revenues, merchandise sales, or listener support will be donated to Asha's Refuge, a Christ-centered nonprofit that "exists to assist the most disadvantaged refugees/asylees in achieving a successful resettlement in the Memphis, TN area.". But, I want to make it clear that financial support is never required. You are supporting the show just by listening! :) Be a listener and share the show with your friends! Purchase merch from the show by clicking here. Click here to become a monthly supporter via Anchor. Click here to make a one-time or monthly contribution to the podcast via Paypal. Episode Timestamps 0:00 - Intro 1:11 - Deuteronomy 21 9:09 - Deuteronomy 22 20:51 - Deuteronomy 23 28:10 - Deuteronomy 24 34:33 - Deuteronomy 25 39:57- Outro --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/biblebeginningtoend/support

"I just want to pour in... I don't want to be the guy who's over on the couch. Whose mailed it in and thinks that everything's going to be great. I want to be 100 percent in the game. Are they on my calendar or are they on my prayer list? Are they people I'm spending time with? I just want to keep honing..."   dadAWESOME   We're on a mission to add LIFE to the dad life. We're passionate about helping dads live fully alive as they lead their kids to God's awesomeness.  | YouTube |  Instagram | Facebook   Chad Johnson   After twenty-eight years of joyful marriage, author Chad Johnson is still pursuing the woman of his dreams, the lovely Jenise. Chad is a successful entrepreneur and business coach to elite-level business owners. He is the founder of TheAchademy.com, co-founder of NewlywedCoaching.com, and MarriageMaximizer.com. Chad is also an entrepreneurial coach with Strategic Coach, helping clients build and strengthen their businesses. Chad and Jenise love their eleven children and five grandchildren. They enjoy traveling with their family and including them in the family business, Farmhouse Candle Shop. You can watch their adventures on their YouTube channel The Big Ski Family.   Show Notes:   We just released a free film series. A short video series "Adding Life to the Dad Life"  https://dadawesome.org/life/ 3:37 - "there's nothing like the heart of a daughter and a daddy in that bond, and I'm just excited for you." 4:07 - 11 children on a family front, the oldest is twenty seven and down to nine years old. Three of our daughters are married and grandbaby number seven is on the way.  Proverbs 10:22 - "The blessing of the LORD enriches, and He adds no sorrow to it. King James Bible The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it." 5:45 - FIVE things that God has placed in my heart and these five priorities I call them, but I call my giant five. And Jeff, remember to be talking about that to me. So many of us as men, as fathers, as business leaders or ministry leaders or whatever, we're confronted with so many competing things for our attention, for our time, for energy, for our resources, and how do we filter, how do we prioritize? 6:00 – The Giant Five Framework – top priorities 1) Faith – it's foundational 2) Marriage – must be on the same page fighting together 3) Children – Aspire to raise them to be all God created them to be. 4) Heath – being fit, healthy and active 5) Career/Work/Ministry – Using God given Unique Abilities to earn, serve, and bless others 9:55 - Chad discussing worshipping God as a Family 17:00 - Chad explains building a business as a family 20:00 - Mothers Day Gifts -  Farmhouse Candle Shop 21:17 - "I've always been a dreamer jobs, and I know I can recognize another one or a mile away. And you're that guy." 100 Dreams: Years ago I wrote down my dream list…marry the perfect woman, have a big family, grow a business, earn a ____ $ a year, travel to Austria, write a book, run an Ironman, memorize the book of James, get my pilot's license, teach the entire family to ski, coach and speak, and many more. Pulling out the list this week I removed, fly my own jet, and added, be the world's best grandpa, and live in a tree house. Next step, pick 3, put on the calendar and get going! 24:12 - "God is so good. When you become a parent, you're one for life... And I see that in the way that I get to pour into my older young people and my married kids. Now I'm on a Zoom call every week with my sons in laws and my older sons that are in their 20s." 24:46 - "I just want to pour in... I don't want to be the guy who's over on the couch. Whose mailed it in and thinks that everything's going to be great. I want to be 100 percent in the game. Are they on my calendar or are they on my prayer list? Are they people I'm spending time with? I just want to keep honing..." 25:26: How to Win a Heart: One Man's Adventure in Finding and Winning His Lifelong Love -- GET THE FREE - Simple Guidelines for Intentional Dating -- this will equip you to navigate your adventurous journey of finding and building a love that glorifies God and delights you for a lifetime. https://howtowinaheart.com/bonus-guide 27:57 - "Chad, where are you? Where are you with the Lord? OK, where are you with your knees? And if if it's not right, want it to be, it's always done me. It's dad. It's always on us. It is night where you want it to be today. If it's not fine, if it's not joyful, if it's not romantic, it's not rich, not real. If you're not close. It's on me, not her. What do I need to do to bring that closeness?" 31:54 - "My daughters are unbelievable? They are rare. They are so precious. They are so precious and so rare because they're not doing it the way the world is doing it. They're listening to what God's word says and the guys who find my daughters... He is bringing men. Godly men who are unbelievable..." 34:00 - Newlywed Coaching 36:49 - "At the end of my life, it's truly about my relationship with God and my relationship with people. That's it. And am I investing there truly like crazy all out, investing there with my time, with my energy, with my creativity, with my, with my life." 38:35 - Read Deuteronomy 28 one through 14. Read Psalm one chapter. Read what God wants to do to a man or woman or husband or wife or family whose hearts are set on him to believe in him trusting him because he wants to bless you. He really does. He wants to bless and pour out his favor. 39:38 - chad's PRAYER   We just released a free film series. A short video series "Adding Life to the Dad Life"  https://dadawesome.org/life/   Links from Chad Johnson:   Chad's Book - How to Win a Heart: One Man's Adventure in Finding and Winning His Lifelong Love NewlywedCoaching.com MarriageMaximizer.com Farmhouse Candle Shop www.StrategicCoach.com (Coaching the world's best Entrepreneurs and Business Owners as an Entrepreneurial Coach) www.TheBigSkiFamily.com (On a mission: Introduce 1 MILLION families to the joy of Skiing together) Instagram (Chad @thegiant5guy) Instagram (@thebigskifamily)   Links from dadAWESOME:   https://dadawesome.org/life/ Make a Donation to dadAWESOME Join the dadAWESOME Prayer Team https://dadawesome.org/tour/

Trusting the Bible, series 2 Reading the Old Testament: A guide to finding your way through difficult Old Testament passagesDr Andrew Ollerton meets with academics and researchers from the Tyndale House network to discuss how they approach the Old Testament and wrestle with its trickier passages. Each episode focuses in on a different text from the Old Testament, as we explore the reading processes and practices that researchers bring to their own Bible reading. In this episode Dr Andrew Ollerton is joined by Dr Daniel Block to look at Old Testament law and instruction. This episode's text is Deuteronomy Chapter 27 and the instruction to set up the stones on Mount Ebal, as Daniel demonstrates how even after 50 years of study the biblical text might still have surprises for us. Dr Daniel Block is Gunther Knoedler Professor Emeritus of Old Testament, Wheaton College. His scholarly work focuses on the books of Deuteronomy, Judges, Ruth, and Ezekiel. Dr Block studied for his DPhil at Liverpool University. He has written numerous scholarly articles and reference works and served as a senior translator for the New Living Translation. His books include The Gods of the Nations: Studies in Ancient Near Eastern Theology and The Gospel according to Moses: Theological and Ethical Reflections on the Book of Deuteronomy.Reading list: Covenant: The Framework of God's Plan for Redemption (Baker Academic, 2021) Daniel I. Block, "'What Do These Stones Mean?' The Riddle Of Deuteronomy 27," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 56.1 (March 2013): 17-41---Trusting the Bible is a collaboration between Tyndale House, Cambridge @Tyndale_House and the Bible Society @biblesociety.Visit us online: Tyndale House & Bible Society. Support the show (https://tyndalehouse.com/about/support/)

< Back to Joshua IndexTALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANSThe Two and One-half Tribes Explain the Purpose of the Altar Printed Version BACKGROUND NOTESDOCTRINAL POINT(S)It is wrong for believers not to think ahead.It is right for believers not to retaliate.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONWhat kind of message are you sending to the next generation?QUESTIONSWhat was the basic problem between the tribal divisions?How was the situation resolved?Why is Joshua 22 a good chapter to study whenever misunderstandings arise between believers, whether it be in a Christian family, a Christian ministry, or in the church?In what way were both divisions wrong?How did God safeguard a common worship of Himself by His people?ANSWERSThe two and one-half tribes built an altar, which caused great concern on the part of the other tribes, thinking that they were setting up a separate system of worship. In their eyes, this was rebellion, apostasy, idolatry.The accusing party sent a committee to investigate, and found that the motives were pure, that they had built only a memorial replica of the true altar at Shiloh to be a witness to their families for generations to come. Their interpretation was that even though they lived on the east side of the Jordan River they were part of Israel that lived on the west side. They were one nation under God.When a major misunderstanding took place between the two divisions of tribes, it nearly caused a civil war. Fortunately, an investigating committee was set up to understand the real reason for their actions. When the "offending" party was given an opportunity to explain their actions, the "accusing" party realized they had misjudged their motives. Not only was war averted, but the two divisions realized that they were one nation under God.Even though their motives were good, the east siders failed to think ahead as to how their actions might be interpreted by the west siders. The west siders were quick to judge (misjudge) the motives of their brothers.God chose a central sanctuary in the land where all His people were to come to worship. Read Deuteronomy 16:16-17.DISCUSS/CONSIDERThe east siders failed to think ahead as to what their actions might mean to their brothers, even though their motives were good. We need to avoid even the appearance of evil to others. This means thinking about a situation and prejuding our own actions in light of others.It would have been easy and "natural" for the east siders to retaliate, but they didn't. Instead, they responded, "The Lord knows! If we are in error, let the Lord Himself require an account." They were willing to be disciplined if they were wrong. What a great lesson for us! Read 1 Peter 5:6 for a proper attitude in such a situation.CHALLENGEBe careful of the message you are sending to the next generation. Think before you act. Make sure your motives are pure and your actions read rightly.When the older generation faithfully follows and worships the Lord, then the next generation will get the message. Is this the message you are sending?KEY VERSES"The Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods! He knows!" (Joshua 22:22)"If we have done wrong, may the Lord Himself require an account." (Joshua 22:23)"Let us build an altar as a witness between you and us and our generations that follow, that we will worship the Lord at His sanctuary." (Joshua 22:26-27)

< Back to Joshua IndexTALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANSThe Cities of Refuge Printed Version BACKGROUND NOTESDOCTRINAL POINT(S)Christ, the true city of refuge, provides security from wrath.Christ, the true city of refuge, is readily accessible.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONLet's be clear refuge signs for the unbeliever.QUESTIONSIn Old Testament days before the giving of the law, when a person was killed by another person, who took on the responsibility of getting revenge?Is the practice of blood-revenge still carried out today?How many cities of refuge did God provide for people who had killed unintentionally or accidentally?Were cities of refuge commanded to be set up under the law?Read Deuteronomy 19:4-5. What is this an example of?How long was a manslayer safe, and under what circumstances?ANSWERSA near relative of the slain person.Yes, by some of the Beduoin Tribes of the Middle East.Six cities of refuge.Yes. See Numbers 35.Of an accidental killing where the manslayer flees to a city of refuge.He was safe as long as he stayed in the city of refuge and until he stood trial and until the death of the high priest. If, however, he was found guilty he received the death penalty - a life for a life.DISCUSS/CONSIDERRefer to Hebrews 6:18. Here the author of Hebrews draws upon the city of refuge as an illustration of the refuge we have in Christ. Refuge from what? What does this mean to you? See also John 3:36 and Hebrews 6:18-20.Read Romans 10:13, John 3:16 and Revelation 22:17. Do you see something common in these passages? Have you drawn on the accessibility in Christ as your city of refuge?CHALLENGEJewish tradition says that all roads leading to the cities of refuge had to be kept in good repair and clearly marked. Are you a clear refuge sign that can point others to Christ? Do your friends and neighbors know they can turn to you in times of crisis?KEY VERSES"For all of the Israelites and for the stranger who dwelt among them, that whoever killed a person accidentally might flee to designated cities, and not die by the hand of the avenger" (Joshua 20:1)