Jan week 4 - Trivial to the Vital

TOT Narratives-
- No matter how trivial our lives may become, they serve one purpose. Discover the purpose and you discover the contentment to life.
- One act may seem trivial, but in God's context, it is vital!
- Some circumstances are designed by God for us to go thru.
- Midwives obeyed God, thus saving Moses from being killed as a young baby.
- Every deed will be exposed.
- all of mans sins are described in 10 commandments

 - position and possession


NT Narratives
- "For what profit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his own soul."
- Forgiving 77 times puzzles me to this day. Is this simply a description how one ought to forgive? Or a real quantification?
- Forgiveness is infinite.
- God's ways may seem puzzling because His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.
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24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life[e] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Manis going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.

Jan week 3 Reflections - Look ahead!

OT Narratives

• Jacob wresting with God!
• Jacobs name became ISRAEL!
• Esaus name became EDOM!
• Israel loved Joseph the most, since he was born of old age.
• Give now not delay!
• Josephs Dreams
• Wait for Gods timing!
• RUN AWAY from temptations!
• Joseph and Potiphars wife encounter

• Don't be vindictive! Joseph cared for his brothers, forgave them. He wept.
• Justice belongs to the Lord. Forgive. Forget. He is just!
• Even if it seems dire, look at ones circumstance and think God has a better plan. Even if its painful, do the right thing. 

Jacob Wrestles with God

22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone,and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

27 The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered.28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,[a] because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”29 Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there. 30 So Jacob called the place Peniel,[b] saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.” 31 The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel,[c] and he was limping because of his hip. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.

A psalm of David.

1 Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent?  Who may live on your holy mountain? 2 The one whose walk is blameless,     who does what is righteous,   who speaks the truth from their heart; 3 whose tongue utters no slander,  who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; 4 who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath even when it hurts,  and does not change their mind; 5 who lends money to the poor without interest;  who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken.

Proverbs 3:27Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,     when it is in your power to act. 28 Do not say to your neighbor,    “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”—    when you already have it with you.

Proverbs 4:11-13

11 I instruct you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths.
12 When you walk, your steps will not be hampered;  when you run, you will not stumble.13 Hold on to instruction, do not let it go;     guard it well, for it is your life.

NT Narratives

• Rest for the weary!
• Lawful to do good on SABBATH!
• A kingdom divided by itself cannot survive!
• Tendency for people to be more sinful after they become christian????
• Kinship is defined by commonality with Jesus belief, not bloodlines!
• Parable of the sower - be the fertile ground!!
• GOOD SEEDS sown but WEEDs were sown together as well
• Let them grow together, and judgment day will judge result!
• PARABLE OF THE WOODS appears to be the RAPTURE AGE!!
• 
  

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 

43 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

The Parable of the Weeds Explained

36 Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.”

37 He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

40 “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear.

Jan week 2 Reflections - Gods Promise Fulfilled!

OT Narratives

• To have good looks can have blessing and curse!
• 2nd time that Sarah was the subject of the King’s desire! She really is that desirable and beautiful!!!
• Isaacs wife was to be from Abrahams relatives! preserve bloodlines!
• Isaac to bore twins Jacob and Esau, under hostility toward each other!
• Esau is the elder, skillful hunter, loved by Isaac.
• Jacob is the younger, holding his brothers heels, homeboy, but loved by Rebeccah.
• Wisdom will keep you away from bad vices, women and poor habits - all included!
• Been said time and time again - run away from vice!
• Obedience to the Lord can really make one blessed and wealthy in all aspects!
• Esau sold his birthright for some selfish lentil stew!
• But Jacob (with his mothers tricks) stole blessing from Esau!
• Isaac tells Jacob NOT to marry CANAANITE woman!
• Jacobs Ladder
• Jacobs Well
• Jacob marry's Leah and Rachel!
• What goes around comes around!
• Even in despair, GOD is just!
• God showed up in Laban's dream not to harm Jacob!
• When GOD promised something, count on it!
• Jacob obeyed and remembered Gods Promises!
• A wrong foot can end in the right direction!
• LABAN Tricked Jacob and gave Leah instead of RACHEL!!!!!
• LABAN tricked Jacob twice, second time on giving Jacobs spotted sheeps and goats.

On virtue of hardwork!

¹² Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold,because the Lord blessed him. ¹³ The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. ¹⁴ He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. ¹⁵ So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.
Jacob and Esau Description
²⁷ The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was content to stay at home among the tents. ²⁸ Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman, from the wayward woman with her seductive words, ¹⁷ who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God.[a]  Surely her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead. ¹⁹ None who go to her return  or attain the paths of life.

Wisdom Bestows Well-Being

3 My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart,
² for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity.

NT Narratives

• Hardwork has been emphasized!
• Faith is done, not seen, not heard.
• Cost of following Jesus  - turning back away from brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers
• New wine to old wine skins!
• Workers are few,
• Jesus came to bring sword, not peace.
• Right context is peace to those who are sufferring.
• Sword to those who dont know the truth.
• Sword means animosity?

34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn

“‘a man against his father,
    a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36     a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’[b]

The Wise and Foolish Builders
²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its oundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”²⁸ When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, ²⁹ because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

The Faith of the Centurion

⁵ When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. ⁶ “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” ⁷ Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?” ⁸ The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him,“Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. ¹¹ I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.¹² But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”¹³ Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.

The Cost of Following Jesus

¹⁸ When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. ¹⁹ Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” ²⁰ Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Manhas no place to lay his head.” ²¹ Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” ²² But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

New Wine into Old wineskins!

¹⁶ “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. ¹⁷ Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

The Workers Are Few

³⁵ Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Jan week 1 Reflections

Placeholder for my weekly thoughts in this 2016 Bible Reading Journey

Week 1 Reflection questions

OT Narratives

• Why does God make even animals accountable?
• Why is Noah so angry at Ham seeing the nakedness of his father?
• Why is solomon almost so desperate in people to seek wisdom?
• What if our language was only one?
• Sermon on the mount – description of contrasts! Poor in material rich in eternal. Meek in heart, they will be made great!
• Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness!
• Sin reaching its full measure??? What does this mean ?
• Abraham pleading to God is like a boy pleading to his dad!
• Is there significance to why Lot and his daughters slept with him? Other than procreation?
• ³⁶ So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. ³⁷ The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab[j]; he is the father of the Moabites of today. ³⁸ The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi[k]; he is the father of the Ammonites[l] of today.

NT REFLECTION

⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
OUCH!! Proverbs resonate with disastrous consequences for NOT heeding the Lord!

Proverbs 1:24-28

24 But since you refuse to listen when I call and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand, ²⁵ since you disregard all my advice and do not accept my rebuke,
²⁶ I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you; I will mock when calamity overtakes you
²⁷ when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you.

²⁸ “Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me,

Oaths

³³ “Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ ³⁴ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.³⁶ And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. ³⁷ All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.[c]

Ask, Seek, Knock

⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

On Fasting

Thoughts today : BBC radio report on fasting

I was listening to BBC radio this Am. They ran an interesting story about the practice of fasting.
In the final section of the story, the reporter (having tried it herself) concluded “without the purpose embedded in fasting”, it would just be a task which most would find rather difficult to go thru.
Ive had the privilege of practicing this even before I became a christian, but not as much as I would have wanted.
I vividly remember the “feeling ” when we joined the “upward bound” camp designed to instill fellowship, submission and group thinking early on in my working career.
After not eating for 1 day, I felt light, strong, clear headed and literally better than the day before. This despite undergoing punishing overnight exercises, blind fold and everything.
To my amazement, I am already practicing fasting in its truest sense. Denying oneself and focusing on the task ahead.
The mind is the 1st that benefits from this practice.
I therefore concluded this is one area of my christian life where one could grow immensely with the right focus ( on God) and motivation ( not twisting the arm of God)..

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Jan 2015 !

Jan 5 : sunday service

“Be confident of the future for God is with you. ”
Very timely message!
Matthew 1:23 NIV
[23] “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
Caveat: promise available to those who follow Christ.

What makes us human?

What makes us human? This is a thousand year old question that has both baffled all experts in many fields of society.
With my having a baby recently, this question has come to baffle and excite me as well.
And to be I would somehow narrow down the experience into at least 4 dimensions – physical, emotional, mental and spiritual realms.
Physical – our bodies.
Emotional – our hearts.
Mental – our brains.
Spiritual = the glue that ties it all up.
In the end, it is a question of how did we take care of these 4 areas of our lives. Did we feed our bodies so it will last our lifetime? Did we nurture of brains so that we have become better people over time? Did we handle our emotions so that we feel empathy towards others? And lastly, did we cultivate our spiritual beings so that when our physical existence is over, then we can look forward to the next life after.

2016

So, what do I plan to achieve this year?

1. Read the bible in one year schedule
2. Travel with the family to a place never before explored.
3. Move to the next level in my company.

God willing, one goal for each area of my life is a solid start to a blessed year.