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Saturday, 02 January 2010

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    Thought For The Week 29

    Mat 3:1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,

    John the baptizer, who's name means  "Jehovah is a gracious giver," was preaching in the wilderness of Judea. I wondered why he started preaching in a wilderness, and specifically, the wilderness of Judea. Knowing that God is specific for a reason, I looked this up.

    Wilderness:
    1) solitary, lonely, desolate, uninhabited
    a) used of places
    1) a desert, wilderness
    2) deserted places, lonely regions
    3) an uncultivated region fit for pasturage
    b) used of persons
    1) deserted by others
    2) deprived of the aid and protection of others, especially of friends, acquaintances, kindred
    3) bereft
    a) of a flock deserted by the shepherd
    b) of a woman neglected by her husband, from whom the husband withholds himself

    Judaea means "he shall be praised."

    So Jehovah is a gracious giver, came making a public proclamation to the solitary, lonely and desolate; to the bereft: that he shall be praised.

    Mat 3:2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

    Repent/Repentance in the Greek is metanoeo; which means lit., "to perceive afterwards" (meta, "after," implying "change," noeo, "to perceive;" nous, "the mind, the seat of moral reflection"), in contrast to pronoeo, "to perceive beforehand," hence signifies "to change one's mind or purpose," always, in the NT, involving a change for the better, an amendment, and always, except in Luk 17:3, 4, of "repentance" from sin.

    Mat 3:3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

    The King James version lists the name as Esaias, but when I looked it up, I found that Isaiah means "Jehovah's help."

    Mat 3:4 And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.

    Again, knowing that God gives specifics for a reason, I wondered about this verse, and the reason God wanted us to know this information. This is what I found:

    Camel:
    from a Hebrew word signifying "a bearer, carrier," is used in proverbs to indicate

    (a) "something almost or altogether impossible," Mat 19:24, and parallel passages,

    (b) "the acts of a person who is careful not to sin in trivial details, but pays no heed to more important matters," Mat 23:24.

    Hair:
    denotes the "hair," whether of beast, as of the camel's "hair" which formed the raiment of John the Baptist, Mat 3:4; Mar 1:6; or of man. Regarding the latter

    (a) it is used to signify the minutest detail, as that which illustrates the exceeding care and protection bestowed by God upon His children, Mat 10:30; Luk 12:7; 21:18; Act 27:34;
    There was a lot of information about locusts; what they do, their devastating effect; how they move without direction. However, out of all the meanings for the word locust, the one that applies here is ‘arbeh from the root rabhah, "to increase."

    "Wild honey" (Mat 3:4) may have been the vegetable honey distilled from trees, but rather was honey stored by bees in rocks or in trees (Deu 32:13; Psa 81:16; 1Sa 14:25-29).
    Canaan was a "land flowing with milk and honey" (Exd 3:8). Milk and honey were among the chief dainties in the earlier ages, as they are now among the Bedawin; and butter and honey are also mentioned among articles of food (Isa 7:15). The ancients used honey instead of sugar (Psa 119:103; Pro 24:13); but when taken in great quantities it caused nausea, a fact referred to in Pro 25:16, 17 to inculcate moderation in pleasures. Honey and milk also are put for sweet discourse (Sgs 4:11).

    Mat 3:5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan,
    Mat 3:6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

    Then went out to him "set ye double peace," and all "he shall be praised," and all the region round about "the descender," and were baptized of him in "the descender," confessing their sins.

    Funny thing about the Jordan; it was despised by Naaman, who thought the rivers Amana ("support") and Pharpar ("swift") would be the key to his healing. However, there seems to be a pattern to this idea of descending or the descender, in that even Christ descended and then rose again; and once one does this and rises again, they come up clean.

Tuesday, 22 December 2009

  • Thought For The Week 28 pt 2


    So these guys, these Magi, show up at the house to see the child. They didn't show up at a manger. The only ones who apparently made it to the manger right after his birth were the shepherds.

    I formerly thought that they all had converged in the same place at the same time, but coming from 3 different locations and time via travelling distance. This is how it has been depicted, but this is not what Matthew is indicating here.

    According to the way this is written, the Magi did not get there until about one year after he was born. This is why Herod went after baby boys 2 years old and younger.

    Now, from past studies, I have found that the word "Egypt" means 'land of copts,' or 'land of the dead.' Thus I found that the idea of Jesus having to escape as a babe into the land of the dead and interesting one, being that basically, His presence there proverbially, was one of bringing life or light to the dead.

    However, when I looked up Egypt this time, I found the meaning to be "double straits." Unsure of what that meant, I looked up the word 'strait' in dictionary.com, and found that it means a position of difficulty, distress, or need.

    Coming back to the word Egypt, it means "double" straits. This means they were in a doubly dire situation. Yet God told them to escape or flee there.

    This made me think that sometimes when people believe they are going through hardship, and questioning within themselves as to "Where is God?" they need to recognize that sometimes the dire situation they find themselves in, is an escape from a worse situation.

    Sometimes they need to just wait on God without whining, to adjust the circumstance and situation and restore them, because it could be much worse than it is.

    Someone told me the other day that none of us should ever think we have it hard, no matter what is going on, because none of us ever had to deal with what He went through for us. THAT was hard. We can't even begin, in our minor troubles or issues, to compete with that, so NONE of us have it hard.

    Mat 2:15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

    Aside from all I said above, this was done for the fulfillment of prophesy as well, a double purpose. I dare say a triple one, because I see an example to us in the fact that 'Out of Egypt have I called my son,'
    or out of double straits; out of the land of the dead; out of trouble, I called my son. I see an example to us; an assurance even in this, of God's saving grace and of our salvation.

    Mat 2:22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:     
    Mat 2:23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

    When Joseph heard that Archelaus, whose name means "prince of the people," was reigning in the place of "heroic," which was Herod, his father, he was afraid to go there. Rightfully so, considering the lineage, and the intent of these people. Also considering the fact that he was a "prince of the people," not "prince of the Lord."

    Being warned in a dream, Joseph takes the family to a place that offers some protection. He takes them to Galilee, which means "Circuit." When I looked up this word I found several meanings, but the one that struck me as applicable here is this one: the line going around or bounding any area or object; the distance about an area or object.

    He took this special child and his mother to a place that was encircled with protection. Nazareth means "the guarded one," so the purpose of this place was to ensure Jesus' safety as he grew up; until such time as He was ready to step into His ministry.

    It's also interesting to note that this double barrier of protection is because as a Nazarene or Nazarite, He is "one separated," and this is why He had to come from that particular place.

    In all of this, I see a parallel for us. Jesus was in the land of the dead/copts or was in double straits; a very dire situation. As a people lost without a savior; so were we. He was brought out from this dire situation or the land of the dead, and brought into a guarded situation within a circuit of protection as "one separated." So were we. Merry Christmas.


Sunday, 13 December 2009

  • Thought For The Week 28 pt 1

    I was doing my devotions in Matthew 2 when a few things started popping out at me. Naturally, I had to investigate them, and just as naturally, you all had to get the opportunity to read about it.

    Mat 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

    Bethlehem is a village about six miles (10 km) south of Jerusalem. It means "house of bread." I found this fact interesting in light of this:

    Luk 22:19  And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake [it], and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.

    Even his birth place foretold of his body being broken for us.

    Judaea means "he shall be praised."

    So he was born in the house of bread; 'to be broken,' and 'he shall be praised.'

    Despite the fact that Jesus is also called Emmanuel, he was not named that because it means God with us; which is more of a characterization of who he was. The word Emmanuel is a description of Christ.

    This happened during the time of king "heroic," which is the meaning of Herod. I found a lot of information on Herod and his battles and how he alienated the Jews by his cruelty. However, there is another interesting thing I also discovered about Herod.

    My pastor recently was talking about the differences between Jacob and his twin Esau, and the fact that because of these differences, Esau fell outside the blessings of God. In the course of recognizing his regret, Esau blamed Jacob and wanted to kill him.


    Esau's lineage birthed the Amelekites, the Horites, and the Edomites. The Edomites were wiped out, but I find it interesting that Esau's lineage all carried the same murderous desire towards Jacob's lineage all the way through the old testament, and subsequently, into the new testament as well. There were many exchanges and battles that Jacob's descendants had with Esau's descendants.

    What does this have to do with Matthew 2:1? In looking at king Herod, I discovered that he is also from Esau's lineage, and here in this chapter of Matthew, he is attempting to get information so as to destroy Jesus, who is of the lineage of Jacob. Talk about an example of attitude transfer; this is it.

    I recently read something about the star that the wise men followed. It was in the Good News newspaper we get here. The information indicated that at that time period, two stars came together to create this one unbelievably bright and large star. Allegedly, this is historically recorded that this astronomical event happened.

    The other thing I noted was this:

    Mat 2:11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

    Now remember that Jesus was born in a manger. But this says that the wise men, who were not kings, but astrologers, came to a house. Here are the definitions for wise men:

    1) a magus
    a) the name given by the Babylonians (Chaldeans), Medes, Persians, and others, to the wise men, teachers, priests, physicians, astrologers, seers, interpreters of dreams, augers, soothsayers, sorcerers etc.
    b) the oriental wise men (astrologers) who, having discovered by the rising of a remarkable star that the Messiah had just been born, came to Jerusalem to worship him
    c) a false prophet and sorcerer

    These guys were astrologers. They had been studying the stars and knew of the foretold coming of Christ. How do we know this?

    Mat 2:2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

    They knew because they specifically identified this particular star as His star. This indicates that they had been studying or watching the stars for quite some time, looking for His star, because they knew the prophesy of His coming.

Wednesday, 09 December 2009

  • Thought For The Week 27

    This thought for the week is an excerpt taken from a section of my upcoming book, "In His Image." Btw, to anyone who's been following me here for a while now; do you recall a post about me seeing something in the trees? I was actually seeing people...types of people in the spirit. I was seeing limbs as body parts and so forth, but look now how God is showing me more about the trees.

    Gen 1:12  And the earth brought forth grass, [and] herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed [was] in itself, after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good.
    Gen 1:13  And the evening and the morning were the third day.

    There's a pattern here. It's hidden in the fruit trees. Let me help you. There are 3 types of fruit mentioned in scripture. I'm not talking about kinds of fruit, but types of fruit.

    1) fruit
    a) fruit, produce (of the ground)
    b) fruit, offspring, children, progeny (of the womb)
    c) fruit (of actions) (fig.)

    However, the commonality between these 3 types is shown in the actual verse. These were "tree yielding fruit" first, "whose seed was in itself," second, "after his kind" third.

    Now, I'm hoping that by this time, you have recognized the presence of the number 3, which is the number of God. For those that have been following me for a while, you should have picked up the 3 symmetry immediately, because I've brought it up before. Here we have 3 types of fruit, and within the organization of this "fruit system," we have 3 descriptions that tell us a lot about the concept of "fruit."

    At first, I thought it strange that this is "tree yielding fruit," as opposed to "fruit yielding trees," which is how we most likely would view this or say this in this day and age. But fruit cannot yield itself. It has to come from a tree. The tree has the action in bearing the fruit.

    Jhn 15:4  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

    Why is this relevant? Remember that there are 3 types of fruit, yet all 3 of them have the same pattern of action. All 3 types have the same job, but they work that job in different arenas or environments.

    Jhn 15:5  I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

    Christ calls himself a vine, because, as the vine imparts to its branches sap and productiveness, so Christ infuses into his followers his own divine strength and life. This is the basis for this pattern of 3 in the fruit.

    If I were to attempt to sum up what the 3 types do, I'd have to say they are illustrative, demonstrative and actualized. Let me explain.

    Illustrative:
    a) fruit, produce (of the ground)
    Demonstrative:
    b) fruit, offspring, children, progeny (of the womb)
    Actualized:
    c) fruit (of actions) (fig.)

    The fruit system as created in Genesis, set the standard, which is why it is illustrative. Evidence of how this "fruit system" works was implanted in us in two ways.

    First, we are His offspring, the work of His hands. Second, we also follow the pattern of the fruit. In this way, we are "tree yielding fruit," because we birth offspring.

    Third, this "fruit system" is actualized in our actions which can have, and most of the time do have, a long term reproductive effect on "life" in general. Every thought we have has potential action that could be dangerous or prosperous for us. This actualization is activated by our given ability of choice.

    That choice is the "fruit" of our spirits, which is why abiding in the vine, "Christ," is so important, because then our choices will be better directed by His Spirit instead of ours.

    Psa 1:1  Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
    Psa 1:2  But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
    Psa 1:3  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

    Now, let me bring you back again to the commonality between these 3 types as shown in the actual verse. These were "tree yielding fruit" first, "whose seed was in itself," second, "after his kind" third.

    Let's go back for just a minute, to that idea of actualization (fruit). The second part of this 3 part description, is "whose seed was in itself." In other words, this fruit, whether good or bad, destructive or productive, has the potential to spread because it has it's seed within itself. "It's seed," is the important issue here, because this fruit is not carrying the seeds of "ideals," but that of intentions. Very important.

    Just like in a court of law, people get convicted for their actions when their intentions are proven by those actions. Our intentions birth our thoughts, because remember, the battleground is our minds.

    If the Spirit is not in control of a certain area of our hearts, then the intent of our heart in that area can birth thoughts that are not beneficial. Subsequent action based on those thoughts not only have seed to birth more non-beneficial actions in our surroundings, but also prove what our thoughts were.

    Here we see the "fruit system" in action with repercussive (my word) seed, meaning there are repercussions of whatever the intent was in that reproducing seed. That seed is reproducing "after his kind," which is the third description of this "fruit yielding system."

    In other words, whatever the intentions behind that fruit were initially, once that tree bears that fruit and its ripe, it's too late to stop the seeds. They have already been produced in the fruit after the fruit's kind, or after the intentions behind that fruit.

    The only way that seed does not then reproduce, is if the fruit is cut from the tree, and the seed never make it to fertile ground, but once the fruit is cut away, who knows where it will go.

    It will certainly move or be moved away from the tree and outside its sphere of influence. Once that happens, it's "out of our hands, and is basically like a snowball on a mountaintop cliff heading down. You just never know who will gain access to that fruit and the potential action of the seed it bears inside it.

    Again, this is the pattern hidden within the design of God's fruit system, illustrated in Genesis 1, actualized in our actions, and finally, demonstrated in man. To see the entire picture clearly, we need some details that were written into the second chapter of Genesis...


Sunday, 06 December 2009

  • Praise Report #1

    Two months ago, I took my car to my mechanic to get the brakes done because I was hearing some pretty loud squeaking sounds. When my mechanic checked the brakes, the only ones that appeared to need changing was the front brakes, and even those still had padding on the brake pads. He was saying that I really didn't need to change them yet, but I told him I didn't like the shushing squeak.

    He looked at the back brakes, but didn't see any problem with those, so we did nothing with them.He did tell me that I'd probably have to change the rotors, but since I didn't have the money for it then, he said there was no rush on it, since we changed the brake pads. After he changed the front brake pads, I left. They were fine at first,  but then I began to hear that shushing sound again. So I called him and mentioned that it still sounded to me as if the brakes were grinding on the rotors, to which he said, "Impossible. I know we changed the brakes. The brakes are good. Don't worry about it."

    A month or so passed, and I was still hearing this shushing grinding sound. Finally, two weeks ago, I just got a feeling, you know? I just became concerned that something was really wrong, because the sound had gotten a lot louder, and it really sounded like grinding...hard grinding. So I passed by the mechanic's shop and spoke to him, telling him that I just had a bad feeling about the rotors, and that I really felt like they needed to be changed, but I had no money.

    My mechanic told me not to worry, because my rotors weren't that bad, and the brakes were new. He said that I could wait until the brakes wore out, and then change it all at once, so I didn't need to worry about coming up with the money right away. I said, "Ok," and left. That was two weeks ago.

    Last Wednsday, I was leaving my house, and as I drove slowly up my street; I was approaching the stop sign on the corner, and hit the brakes. Now I had been driving around quite a bit for that day already with no problems, but when I hit the brakes then, the pedal went all the way to the floor, and the car didn't appear to be slowing down. I freaked out and quickly began to pump the brakes, and it slowed and stopped. It was especially frightening because this vehicle, a Mercury Grand Marquis, is considerably larger and heavier than any of the cars I've had previously, and the thought of being unable to stop in such a large vehicle really scared me.

    After taking a deep breath, I slowly turned the corner to go to the next stop sign in my neighborhood. As I approached that sign, the same thing happened again when I hit the brakes. Needless to say, I was pretty nervous by this time, so I immediately called my mechanic, who told me to drive the car to him.

    He had one of his guys check the brakes, and he confirmed that the front end was just fine. He started to check the back end, and as he put his hand under the driver's side rear tire, all this fluid came out all over his hand. "The calipers are shot," he told me. Then he pulled off the tires and the rotors and looked at everything. He showed my mechanic, who told me that I could not drive the car in this condition. It was too dangerous.

    "Well, I've got to go and get my son from school," I said. Then he told me that not only were the calipers shot, but the rotor on my driver's side was paper thin, and could break at any sudden stop or hard press on the brakes. On top of that, he showed me the rotors. The one on the driver's side had a groove ground into it, that was an inch thick. The passenger side rotor, which was a lot thicker, had two grooves ground into it of the same dimensions.

    The reason they never saw this on the rotors previously, is because the inside brake pads were where this was happening, so it was not visible on the outside when they took off the tires originally to look at the brake pads two months ago. They would have had to dissemble the entire rotor from the car in order to have seen this damage.

    So there I was sitting in the mechanic's office, and we were both trying to figure out what to do. I told him that any time I come and say I feel concerned about something more than once, is a good sign that there is something serious going on, because I get warnings from above. The mechanic wanted to help me and take care of this problem, but he said he was not in a position to do so, having just paid his mortgage, and rent for the shop and so forth. I had no money to do the repairs, so we sat there thinking and trying to find a solution.

    "What about your mother?" he asked me.

    "I can't go to her. She's just barely making ends meet herself."

    "What about your brother?"

    "My brother is married with 2 autistic children and a new baby. I can't trouble him. He has his family and his own issues to deal with."

    So there we sat. Both of us sighed a deep sigh, and then I got up and told him there was nothing I could do. He told me that I could not drive the car, and I said I would have to park it, but that today, I had to get my son first, because he had no bus pass, nor any money to catch a bus.

    They put everything back together, and he told me to drive very slowly, keeping a big distance between me and other cars, and to brake from a big distance away. I managed to go to my church to ask if I could speak to someone in Benevolence, but they told me that I would need to come back to service tonight, because Benevolence was only open after service.

    I picked up my son, and went to church. As I was sitting there, listening to Pastor Jerry, I got another feeling that came over me. This time it was a feeling of assurance. It was done. God took care of it, and I just knew it was done. I began to question whether or not I really needed to go to Benevolence after all, except maybe for a grocery gift card, but I was instructed to go and tell them everything...the entire need; so I went.

    I spent a long time with the two counselors, not (as I told them) because I was worried about whether or not they would help me, but because so much other information (non-related) was being shared, testimonies and the like, that we just had a really great conversation. Finally they prayed with me and I left.

    I was totally confident that it was already a done deal, so even when I couldn't reach my friend at work for a ride, I wasn't worried. Another good friend called and said he'd pick me up and take me to work, but he couldn't pick me up. It was cool, because my work friend took me home.

    But 15 minutes after I got to work, I got a phone call. It was my brother. He said that he had called my mechanic to help another person and connect them with him. When he finished his business about this person he was helping, my mechanic asked him for a "really big favor." He then told my brother about the damage to the rear braking system of my car, and that he could not sleep all night, because he was so worried about me driving it in that condition. He asked my brother if he could help me out, and said that he would even take a cut on the labor he would charge if my brother would just get the parts for me, so he could fix my car.

    My brother agreed, and told me to take my car to the mechanic to be repaired, and then tell the mechanic to call him when it was fixed. He said, "I'll take care of this. It'll be your Christmas present."

    Can you believe this? Now, I'm not at all surprized that it got taken care of. And I've got a great brother, so I'm not at all surprised that he stood by me. That's not the astounding thing. The WOW factor here is in the route God went through to get it taken care of. I never told my family that I was in this situation. In fact, I only told the church Benevolence and a few friends of mine at church. God moved on my mechanic's heart and sent my brother to him. Amazing. It was a $400 repair job, and all I did was ask God, and go to Benevolence as instructed. Yet, outside of prayer, they had nothing to do with the solution He brought. God is so amazing!

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