A Study on Love - Edition #25

Tuesday, January 31st, 2006

A Study on Love – Edition #25

Wow… for the first time since I started recording my consistency on having my quiet times, I finish the first month of the year without a swing and a miss. It’s a great thing… I was afraid that my wife was loosing her hearing. So I walk up to her ear and ask, "Can you hear me?" She didn't answer. I came up closer and asked again. But there was no answer. Finally, I asked her one more time really loud and she said, "For the third time yes!!!" And if you missed it, that was a joke. But the thought that streams from it… well, am I afraid that I am not being heard, or is it me that isn’t hearing?

I guess the topic today in my QT is “God is…”

Genesis 21:22-23
22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol the commander of his forces said to Abraham, "God is with you in everything you do. 23 Now swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants. Show to me and the country where you are living as an alien the same kindness I have shown to you."

Genesis 31:48-50
48 Laban said, "This heap is a witness between you and me today." That is why it was called Galeed. 49 It was also called Mizpah, because he said, "May the LORD keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other. 50 If you mistreat my daughters or if you take any wives besides my daughters, even though no one is with us, remember that God is a witness between you and me."

Numbers 23:19
19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

Deuteronomy 3:23-25
23 At that time I pleaded with the LORD: 24 "O Sovereign LORD, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do? 25 Let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan—that fine hill country and Lebanon."

Deuteronomy 4:21-31
21 The LORD was angry with me because of you, and he solemnly swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the LORD your God is giving you as your inheritance. 22 I will die in this land; I will not cross the Jordan; but you are about to cross over and take possession of that good land. 23 Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the LORD your God has forbidden. 24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

25 After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time—if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyes of the LORD your God and provoking him to anger, 26 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed. 27 The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you. 28 There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell. 29 But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him. 31 For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath.

God is with you. (1st Samuel 10:7)

God is a refuge. (Deuteronomy 33:27)

God is a tester. (Deuteronomy 13:3)

God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords. (Deuteronomy 10:17)

God is God of heaven and earth. (Joshua 2:11)

God is a rock and a refuge. (2nd Samuel 22:3)

God is greater than all other Gods. (2nd Chronicles 2:5)

God is gracious and compassionate. (2nd Chronicles 30:9)

God is on everyone who looks to him. (Ezra 8:22)

God is greater than man. (Job 33:12)

God is mighty and firm in his purpose. (Job 36:5)

God is a righteous judge. (Psalm 7:11)

God is present in the company of the righteous. (Psalm 14:5)

God is seated on his holy throne. (Psalm 47:8)

God is our help. (Psalm 54:4)

God is a God who saves. (Psalm 68:20)

God is our sun and shield. (Psalm 84:11)

God is full of compassion. (Psalm 116:5)

God is flawless. (Proverbs 30:5)

God is our salvation. (Isaiah 12:2)

God is a revealer of mysteries. (Daniel 2:47)

God is merciful and forgiving. (Daniel 9:9)

God is righteous in everything he does. (Daniel 9:14)

God is a watchman. (Hosea 9:8)

God is truthful. (John 3:33)

God is spirit. (John 4:24)

God is giving gifts of eternal life. (Romans 6:23)

God is faithful. (2nd Corinthians 1:18; 1st Corinthians 10:13)

God is among us. (1st Corinthians 14:25)

God is our witness. (1st Thessalonians 2:5)

God is just. (2nd Thessalonians 1:6)

God is the builder of everything. (Hebrews 3:4)

God is not ashamed to be called our God. (Hebrews 11:16)

God is treating us as his sons. (Hebrews 12:7)

God is light. (1st John 1:5)

God is greater than our hearts. (1st John 3:20)

God is love. (1st John 4:8, 16)

God is with men and lives with us. (Revelation 21:3)

Wow… and to think I was starting to put everything down here… but I decided to simply leave it as an abbreviation… and the abbreviation is really inspiring. I think I need to be inspired right now. With the year’s first month coming to a close (and that is just a spit more than 8% of the year gone), I would say that thus far, this year is really been a great one for me. I mean, this list of what God is… well, it just fires me up! And really, I don’t have must to say today… except that God is an awesome God and that with him, all the mysteries will be uncovered by the light my God provides. I guess it is time to open my ears and hear what God is saying. Johnny Out!

A Study on Love - Edition #24

Monday, January 30th, 2006

A Study on Love – Edition #24

What a great weekend! I opted out of going to the repentance workshop due to having planned to go to the Rangers Fan Fest. And the fan fest was amazingly fun… a heck of a lot more exciting than I ever thought it would be. Autographs, free stuff, and just a little vacation from life and responsibility and the pressures they bring. Even God rested on the seventh day… and then Sunday night I got to spend with family and we had some deep conversations and bonding that we haven’t done in the past. Now, onto a story about love…

Judges 16:1-22
1 One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her. 2 The people of Gaza were told, "Samson is here!" So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, "At dawn we'll kill him."

3 But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

4 Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. 5 The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, "See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver."

6 So Delilah said to Samson, "Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued."

7 Samson answered her, "If anyone ties me with seven fresh thongs that have not been dried, I'll become as weak as any other man." 8 Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh thongs that had not been dried, and she tied him with them. 9 With men hidden in the room, she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" But he snapped the thongs as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.

10 Then Delilah said to Samson, "You have made a fool of me; you lied to me. Come now, tell me how you can be tied."

11 He said, "If anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never been used, I'll become as weak as any other man."

12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads.

13 Delilah then said to Samson, "Until now, you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied."

He replied, "If you weave the seven braids of my head into the fabric on the loom and tighten it with the pin, I'll become as weak as any other man." So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric 14 and tightened it with the pin.
Again she called to him, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.

15 Then she said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when you won't confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven't told me the secret of your great strength." 16 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death.

17 So he told her everything. "No razor has ever been used on my head," he said, "because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man."

18 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, "Come back once more; he has told me everything." So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. 19 Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him.

20 Then she called, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" He awoke from his sleep and thought, "I'll go out as before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had left him.

21 Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding in the prison. 22 But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

Samson was put on “Johnny-on-the-spot” by his wife. The truth is she was right. To love someone is to confide in someone. And Samson was doomed because he didn’t obey God 100% and yoked himself with someone he shouldn’t have yoked himself with. If he truly loved her, he would have to trust her, even though she was constantly violating that trust. Trust is something I struggle with… the fact is I struggle with it a tremendous amount. I feel I have to do everything and oversee everything because if I don’t, it won’t be done. And that isn’t love. Love always trusts. I would get into a ton of fights in elementary school, all because my friends were being picked on by bullies. And when these fights would occur, my friends would desert me and I would face the music alone. As it is said, violence is not the answer, unless the question is “what does V-I-O-L-E-N-C-E spell?” I often wonder if Samson ever asked “How can I trust you when I test you and you fail?” it is a very valid question that was never mentioned in the bible. But if we base trust off of failures, could we trust anyone? I don’t think I could… and that is where the love comes in. God doesn’t love me because I of what I do or not do, anymore than I love my son on based on the good or bad things he does. God loves me because I am like him.

Genesis 1:26-31
26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

God made me in his own image. He made my wife in his own image. And he said it was good. In fact, he said it was VERY good. The word “very” to describe the things he made was only used in the last verse, which I found interesting. My father-in-law made for our son a cradle. He carved the wood, cut the wood, and put it all together from the ground up. And it was good. When my wife gave birth to our son, it was very good. The cradle is wonderful, mind you, but the child who sleeps in it is better. And I believe that is how God sees it. Life is a million times more precious than the computer I type this on. And I lost my thought… I guess that’s what happens when it gets lonely. Oh yes… God loves me because I am. He made me, he created my life, and he wants a relationship with me. He trusts me. So going back to a question of logic, “how can God trust me when he tests me and I fail?” That shows me just how much God loves me and trusts me… despite all the odds of my failure, how Vegas says I will fail way more than pass, God still puts himself out there. Johnny Out.

A Study on Love – Edition #23

Sunday, January 29th, 2006

A Study on Love – Edition #23

2nd Kings 21:1-18
1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother's name was Hephzibah. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, following the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. 4 He built altars in the temple of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "In Jerusalem I will put my Name." 5 In both courts of the temple of the LORD, he built altars to all the starry hosts. 6 He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger.

7 He took the carved Asherah pole he had made and put it in the temple, of which the LORD had said to David and to his son Solomon, "In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever. 8 I will not again make the feet of the Israelites wander from the land I gave their forefathers, if only they will be careful to do everything I commanded them and will keep the whole Law that my servant Moses gave them." 9 But the people did not listen. Manasseh led them astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites.

10 The LORD said through his servants the prophets: 11 "Manasseh king of Judah has committed these detestable sins. He has done more evil than the Amorites who preceded him and has led Judah into sin with his idols. 12 Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 13 I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and hand them over to their enemies. They will be looted and plundered by all their foes, 15 because they have done evil in my eyes and have provoked me to anger from the day their forefathers came out of Egypt until this day."

16 Moreover, Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end—besides the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, so that they did evil in the eyes of the LORD.

17 As for the other events of Manasseh's reign, and all he did, including the sin he committed, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 18 Manasseh rested with his fathers and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzza. And Amon his son succeeded him as king.

This and the next scripture are from service earlier today. Ed asked if I (we) could be ever as bad as Manasseh… and my thought was that I could. It would have to take some effort, but I could tally up enough sin to compare that of this guy. I thought that would not be a goal, but if it was, I could knock it down. And in this thought, it came to me… if I could venture enough effort to build up a sin list as one of Manasseh, why can’t I build up the treasures in heaven and knock down something righteous with everything I do? Manasseh built up a “naughty” list, why can’t I build up a “nice” list?

I did a little study on these Asherah poles and this is what I found. This was the name of a sensual Canaanitish goddess Astarte, the feminine of the Assyrian Ishtar. Its symbol was the stem of a tree deprived of its boughs, and rudely shaped into an image, and planted in the ground. The Hebrews baked small cakes for her festival. But the word Asherah also refers to a standing pole of some kind, pluralized as a masculine noun when it has that meaning. Among the Hebrews' Phoenician neighbors, tall standing stone pillars signified the numinous presence of a deity, and the Asherahs may have been a rustic reflection of these. Or Asherah may mean a living tree or grove of trees and therefore in some contexts mean a shrine. These uses have confused Biblical translators. Many older translations render Asherah as 'grove'. There is still disagreement among scholars as to the extent to which Asherah (or various goddesses classed as Asherahs) was/were worshipped in Israel and Judah and whether such a goddess or class of goddesses is necessarily identical to the goddess Athirat/Ashratu.

I would find it hard to place a grove of trees into a temple… not to say that it couldn’t be done, but it wouldn’t make all that much sense to do so. It would make a bit more sense to place one phallic pole into the temple and worship that instead of a whole bunch of them… but I’ve never met Manasseh, so I can’t simply ask him now to find out… not that it would make a world of difference. Whether he placed one and worshiped it or ten… he still was worshiping something else and that’s not good, not good at all.

And then this happened…

2nd Kings 23:1-30
1 Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 2 He went up to the temple of the LORD with the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the LORD. 3 The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the LORD -to follow the LORD and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, thus confirming the words of the covenant written in this book. Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.

4 The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the priests next in rank and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal and Asherah and all the starry hosts. He burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley and took the ashes to Bethel. 5 He did away with the pagan priests appointed by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the towns of Judah and on those around Jerusalem—those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations and to all the starry hosts. 6 He took the Asherah pole from the temple of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem and burned it there. He ground it to powder and scattered the dust over the graves of the common people. 7 He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes, which were in the temple of the LORD and where women did weaving for Asherah.

8 Josiah brought all the priests from the towns of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He broke down the shrines at the gates—at the entrance to the Gate of Joshua, the city governor, which is on the left of the city gate. 9 Although the priests of the high places did not serve at the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.

10 He desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech. 11 He removed from the entrance to the temple of the LORD the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the room of an official named Nathan-Melech. Josiah then burned the chariots dedicated to the sun.

12 He pulled down the altars the kings of Judah had erected on the roof near the upper room of Ahaz, and the altars Manasseh had built in the two courts of the temple of the LORD. He removed them from there, smashed them to pieces and threw the rubble into the Kidron Valley. 13 The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the people of Ammon. 14 Josiah smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles and covered the sites with human bones.

15 Even the altar at Bethel, the high place made by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin—even that altar and high place he demolished. He burned the high place and ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole also. 16 Then Josiah looked around, and when he saw the tombs that were there on the hillside, he had the bones removed from them and burned on the altar to defile it, in accordance with the word of the LORD proclaimed by the man of God who foretold these things.

17 The king asked, "What is that tombstone I see?"

The men of the city said, "It marks the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced against the altar of Bethel the very things you have done to it."

18 "Leave it alone," he said. "Don't let anyone disturb his bones." So they spared his bones and those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.

19 Just as he had done at Bethel, Josiah removed and defiled all the shrines at the high places that the kings of Israel had built in the towns of Samaria that had provoked the LORD to anger. 20 Josiah slaughtered all the priests of those high places on the altars and burned human bones on them. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

21 The king gave this order to all the people: "Celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant." 22 Not since the days of the judges who led Israel, nor throughout the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah, had any such Passover been observed. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the LORD in Jerusalem.

24 Furthermore, Josiah got rid of the mediums and spiritists, the household gods, the idols and all the other detestable things seen in Judah and Jerusalem. This he did to fulfill the requirements of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the temple of the LORD. 25 Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the LORD as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.

26 Nevertheless, the LORD did not turn away from the heat of his fierce anger, which burned against Judah because of all that Manasseh had done to provoke him to anger. 27 So the LORD said, "I will remove Judah also from my presence as I removed Israel, and I will reject Jerusalem, the city I chose, and this temple, about which I said, 'There shall my Name be.'"

28 As for the other events of Josiah's reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?

29 While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to meet him in battle, but Neco faced him and killed him at Megiddo. 30 Josiah's servants brought his body in a chariot from Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb. And the people of the land took Jehoahaz son of Josiah and anointed him and made him king in place of his father.

But, something else to consider would be the account in 2nd Chronicles 33

2nd Chronicles 33:1-20
1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, following the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. 4 He built altars in the temple of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever." 5 In both courts of the temple of the LORD, he built altars to all the starry hosts. 6 He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced sorcery, divination and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger.

7 He took the carved image he had made and put it in God's temple, of which God had said to David and to his son Solomon, "In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever. 8 I will not again make the feet of the Israelites leave the land I assigned to your forefathers, if only they will be careful to do everything I commanded them concerning all the laws, decrees and ordinances given through Moses." 9 But Manasseh led Judah and the people of Jerusalem astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites.

10 The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. 11 So the LORD brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon. 12 In his distress he sought the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 13 And when he prayed to him, the LORD was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.

14 Afterward he rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David, west of the Gihon spring in the valley, as far as the entrance of the Fish Gate and encircling the hill of Ophel; he also made it much higher. He stationed military commanders in all the fortified cities in Judah.

15 He got rid of the foreign gods and removed the image from the temple of the LORD, as well as all the altars he had built on the temple hill and in Jerusalem; and he threw them out of the city. 16 Then he restored the altar of the LORD and sacrificed fellowship offerings and thank offerings on it, and told Judah to serve the LORD, the God of Israel. 17 The people, however, continued to sacrifice at the high places, but only to the LORD their God.

18 The other events of Manasseh's reign, including his prayer to his God and the words the seers spoke to him in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, are written in the annals of the kings of Israel. 19 His prayer and how God was moved by his entreaty, as well as all his sins and unfaithfulness, and the sites where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself—all are written in the records of the seers. 20 Manasseh rested with his fathers and was buried in his palace. And Amon his son succeeded him as king.

So, here’s the deal… I don’t know if Manasseh’s mess was something he himself cleaned up, or if it was Josiah. But what I do like in all this is two things: #1 – is that Manasseh repents in the 2nd Chronicles version AND God takes him back. It’s the love Manasseh has for God… he saw the mistakes and turned to one who he knew loved him. And God proved his love by forgiving his sin. I would like to study these two versions out a little more… I see that Josiah was the grandson of Manasseh, and Manasseh’s son, Amon continued on in the sinful ways of Manasseh, and not the righteous ways. It says that Manasseh destroyed the things, but Amon worshiped the sinful idols that Manasseh made… so I am still a little fuzzy on all the details. And, to see how God truly works in all this… Manasseh is a forefather to Jesus… as is Amon, who didn’t repent: so something great from something evil. Johnny Out.

A Study on Love - Edition #22

Friday, January 27th, 2006

A Study on Love – Edition #22

Genesis 19:1-8
1 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 "My lords," he said, "please turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning."

"No," they answered, "we will spend the night in the square."

3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. 4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them."

6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof."

Judges 11:29-37
29 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah. He crossed Gilead and Manasseh, passed through Mizpah of Gilead, and from there he advanced against the Ammonites. 30 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD : "If you give the Ammonites into my hands, 31 whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD's, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering."

32 Then Jephthah went over to fight the Ammonites, and the LORD gave them into his hands. 33 He devastated twenty towns from Aroer to the vicinity of Minnith, as far as Abel Keramim. Thus Israel subdued Ammon.

34 When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. 35 When he saw her, he tore his clothes and cried, "Oh! My daughter! You have made me miserable and wretched, because I have made a vow to the LORD that I cannot break."

36 "My father," she replied, "you have given your word to the LORD. Do to me just as you promised, now that the LORD has avenged you of your enemies, the Ammonites. 37 But grant me this one request," she said. "Give me two months to roam the hills and weep with my friends, because I will never marry."

38 "You may go," he said. And he let her go for two months. She and the girls went into the hills and wept because she would never marry. 39 After the two months, she returned to her father and he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.

From this comes the Israelite custom 40 that each year the young women of Israel go out for four days to commemorate the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

Judges 19:18-24
18 He answered, "We are on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim where I live. I have been to Bethlehem in Judah and now I am going to the house of the LORD. No one has taken me into his house. 19 We have both straw and fodder for our donkeys and bread and wine for ourselves your servants—me, your maidservant, and the young man with us. We don't need anything."

20 "You are welcome at my house," the old man said. "Let me supply whatever you need. Only don't spend the night in the square." 21 So he took him into his house and fed his donkeys. After they had washed their feet, they had something to eat and drink.

22 While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, "Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him."

23 The owner of the house went outside and said to them, "No, my friends, don't be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don't do this disgraceful thing. 24 Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But to this man, don't do such a disgraceful thing."

1st Samuel 30:26 When David arrived in Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah, who were his friends, saying, "Here is a present for you from the plunder of the LORD's enemies."

Job 17:5 If a man denounces his friends for reward, the eyes of his children will fail.

Job 42:7-10
7 After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has." 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the LORD told them; and the LORD accepted Job's prayer. 10 After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before.

Proverbs 17:9 He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.

Luke 14:7-14
7 When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8 "When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9 If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10 But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

12 Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

Luke 15:1-10
1 Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."

3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

8 "Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

John 15:1-17
1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

5 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8 This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

9 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.

Proverbs 17:17 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

1st John 4:7-12
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

The love of friends, is there anything more precious? A spouse is great, a spouse is a true blessing, but sometimes a friend is just what the doctor ordered. It is written that a man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. These passages really moved my heart. First, in Genesis, Lot calls the people friends, and offered his virgin daughters in place of the angels. Next, in Judges, the girl, instead of trying to talk her father out of sacrificing her, asks to be with her friends. Next, the owner of that house offers his daughter and the concubine of his visitor in place of his visitor and calls the townspeople “friends.” David sent the elders, his friends, gifts from afar. Job says that denouncing friends is not a good thing and brings upon shame. Job also prays for his friends at the end of the book. Proverbs talks about that to promote love, forgiveness is essential, but repeating the sin slowly separates friendship. Friends need to take a low place and if the friend values your friendship, they will exalt you (according to Luke). And Luke goes on to say how they do so… they call you up when they find the lost sheep and coin. A true friend lays down their own life for you. There is no greater than that. A loves at all times. A friend loves as God loves. And this hits me… because I can be somewhat unstable with my affection and attachments. I can be erratic with my love for others. My love can be impulsive and unpredictable. In other words, my love is fickle. And that means that I don’t love consistently at all times. I can be more the brother born for adversity than a friend who loves all the time. And that would make sense as to why I don’t call my friends on a consistent basis. Is it because I don’t care? Is it because my heart is hard? I’m not at all sure what it all means… but I do know that I need to repent. God doesn’t want a fickle heart. He wants a consistent heart. And as hard as it sounds, I need to be consistently loving toward others, especially my friends. Of course, God doesn’t want consistent hatred, unless it’s toward sin. Consistent hatred toward people is never a good thing. Anyway, the challenge is there before me… and I will be working on this within my character. Johnny Out.

A Study on Love - Edition #21

Thursday, January 26th, 2006

A Study on Love – Edition #21

Some Definitions:

FINE:

• This is the word women use to end an argument when they feel they are right and you need to shut up. Never use "fine" to describe how a woman looks - this will cause you to have one of those arguments.

FIVE MINUTES:

• This is half an hour. It is equivalent to the five minutes that your football game is going to last before you take out the trash, so it's an even trade.

NOTHING:

• This means "something," and you should be on your toes. "Nothing" is usually used to describe the feeling a woman has of wanting to turn you inside out, upside down, and backwards. "Nothing" usually signifies an argument that will last "Five Minutes" and end with "Fine"

GO AHEAD (With Raised Eyebrows):

• This is a dare. One that will result in a woman getting upset over "Nothing" and will end with the word "Fine"

GO AHEAD (Normal Eyebrows):

• This means "I give up" or "do what you want because I don't care" You will get a "Raised Eyebrow Go Ahead" in just a few minutes, followed by "Nothing" and "Fine" and she will talk to you in about "Five Minutes" when she cools off.

LOUD SIGH:

• This is not actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A "Loud Sigh" means she thinks you are an idiot at that moment, and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you over "Nothing"

SOFT SIGH:

• Again, not a word, but a non-verbal statement. "Soft Sighs" mean that she is content. Your best bet is to not move or breathe, and she will stay content.

THAT'S OKAY:

• This is one of the most dangerous statements that a woman can make to a man. "That's Okay" means that she wants to think long and hard before paying you back for whatever it is that you have done. "That's Okay" is often used with the word "Fine" and in conjunction with a "Raised Eyebrow."

GO AHEAD!:

• At some point in the near future, you are going to be in some mighty big trouble.

PLEASE DO:

• This is not a statement, it is an offer. A woman is giving you the chance to come up with whatever excuse or reason you have for doing whatever it is that you have done. You have a fair chance with the truth, so be careful and you shouldn't get a "That's Okay"

THANKS:

• A woman is thanking you. Do not faint. Just say you're welcome.

THANKS A LOT:

• This is much different from "Thanks." A woman will say, "Thanks A Lot" when she is really ticked off at you. It signifies that you have offended her in some callous way, and will be followed by the "Loud Sigh." Be careful not to ask what is wrong after the "Loud Sigh," as she will only tell you "Nothing"

Well… that was just for a laugh. I’m in a seriously funny mood today. I guess it goes with a great night of sleep. Two atoms are walking down a street when the bump into each other. The first atom asks the second one if he is ok, to which he replies, “I think I lost an electron.” “Are you sure,” asks the first atom. “I’m positive.” OK… now on to some serious stuff…

Is God a God of Love or a God of destruction? I was thinking about this last night and I had some thoughts about the world’s perception on God. One that really stuck out in my mind was insurance. The “Act of God” clause that insurance has… if you house is picked up and placed anywhere other than Kansas, that’s an act of God. My car is struck by a meteor. My apartment and place of work is burned down by the Texas wildfires. A parking garage is bent by a tractor trailer which causes all the automobiles to fall on my wife and child. This is the common perception of God in our society. They are considered to be acts of God. Is God a God of destruction and death? I don’t think so. God is a God of love…

1st John 4:7-21
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

13 We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and him in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the Day of Judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

How can God be the cause of hate crimes when he is a God of love? I don’t think that God should be removed from the Dollar Bill or the Government offices, but I think he should be removed from insurance clauses.

Philemon 2:1-3
1 Philemon was complaining to his brother that his stomach hurt. 2 His brother replied, “That’s because it's empty. Maybe you should try putting something in it." 3 The next day, the Paul was over at Philemon's house for lunch. Paul mentioned that his heart hurt, to which Philemon immediately replied, "That's because it's empty. Maybe you should try putting something in it."

OK, so there is no Philemon 2… but is it funny. And it makes you think. Is my heart hurting? Then I put something in it. Consider: A photographer for a national magazine was assigned to get photos of a great forest fire. Smoke at the scene was too thick to get any good shots, so he frantically called his home office to hire a plane. "It will be waiting for you at the airport!" he was assured by his editor. As soon as he got to the small, rural airport, sure enough, a plane was warming up near the runway. He jumped in with his equipment and yelled, "Let's go! Let's go!" The pilot swung the plane into the wind and soon they were in the air. "Fly over the north side of the fire," said the photographer, "and make three or four low level passes." "Why?" asked the pilot. "Because I'm going to take pictures! I'm a photographer and photographers take pictures!" said the photographer with great exasperation. After a long pause the pilot said, "You mean you're not the instructor?"

Oh my goodness… I have to be prepared for everything. I mean, if I am going to have my heart full of love for God and for everyone, then I have to stop blaming things on God and leave it to chance. Proverbs 13:5-6 says “The righteous hate what is false, but the wicked bring shame and disgrace. Righteousness guards the man of integrity, but wickedness overthrows the sinner.”

Romans 8:28-30
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

God is not a God of hate. God is not a God of destruction. God works for the good of those who love him. And it is man who judges God. I repent and stop judging my lord. I leave with this:

Johnny Ray was overweight, so his doctor put him on a diet.
His doctor said; “I want you to eat regularly for two days, then skip a day, and repeat this procedure for two weeks. The next time I see you, you should have lost at least five pounds.”
When Johnny returned, he shocked the doctor by having dropped almost twenty pounds.
“Why, that’s amazing!” the doctor told him. “You did this just by following my instructions?”
The slimmed down Johnny nodded. “I’ll tell you, though, I though I was going to drop dead that third day.”
“From hunger, you mean.”
“No,” replied Johnny, “from skipping.”

A Study on Love - Edition #20

Wednesday, January 25th, 2006

A Study on Love – Edition #20

The bible is a huge love story. Everything within the pages of the bible reverts back to love in some fashion or another. It is either related to love (God) or the absence of love (within man). I saw some commercials last night on television about the website Match.com and how Dr. Phil can somehow miraculously fix relationships as they are forming… you want to fix a relationship, turn toward God, the both of you and whatever situation, it will work itself out (see 1st Corinthians 13 for the guidelines).

Judges 14:1-20
1 Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman. 2 When he returned, he said to his father and mother, "I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife."

3 His father and mother replied, "Isn't there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?"

But Samson said to his father, "Get her for me. She's the right one for me." 4 (His parents did not know that this was from the LORD, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.) 5 Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. 6 The Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done. 7 Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.

8 Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion's carcass. In it was a swarm of bees and some honey, 9 which he scooped out with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion's carcass.

10 Now his father went down to see the woman. And Samson made a feast there, as was customary for bridegrooms. 11 When he appeared, he was given thirty companions.

12 "Let me tell you a riddle," Samson said to them. "If you can give me the answer within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes. 13 If you can't tell me the answer, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes."

"Tell us your riddle," they said. "Let's hear it."

14 He replied, "Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet."

For three days they could not give the answer.

15 On the fourth day, they said to Samson's wife, "Coax your husband into explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father's household to death. Did you invite us here to rob us?"

16 Then Samson's wife threw herself on him, sobbing, "You hate me! You don't really love me. You've given my people a riddle, but you haven't told me the answer."

"I haven't even explained it to my father or mother," he replied, "so why should I explain it to you?" 17 She cried the whole seven days of the feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people.

18 Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him, "What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?"

Samson said to them, "If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle."

19 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon him in power. He went down to Ashkelon, struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of their belongings and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger, he went up to his father's house. 20 And Samson's wife was given to the friend who had attended him at his wedding.

1st Corinthians 13:1-13
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Samson disobeys God and marries someone of another faith. He yokes himself with someone outside his religion… she is more tied to her family than to her husband… and he loves her with all his heart. Which goes back to a thought I have had that Solomon, in all his wisdom, didn’t actually gain his wisdom until toward the end of his life. Just a thought for now, but it is something that I have been thinking of for some time. Solomon became wise when he learned from his lifetime of mistakes. Again, just a thought but hopefully I will find the answers, if they are available…

Back to Samson… this guy loved his wife… she abused his trust, but he loved her. Samson was patient with her. He was kind. He didn’t delight in her evil. He protected, trusted, and hoped. The other things from 1st Corinthians 13, I can’t say that I saw them in here… but there’s enough in there to say that he loved the woman with no name (Delilah comes along in a couple of chapters). I don’t think Samson was wrong to tell his wife the answer. It was wrong for her to betray his trust… but he trusted in her. What person should not trust in their spouse? This is a person we yoke ourselves with… a person we vow to stay with our entire life? If we don’t trust them, we don’t love them. All in all, Samson did the right thing and told the answer to the riddle to his wife. Genesis 4:7 says “that if you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” Proverbs 20:11 also says “even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right.”

But here is the best part:

Ezekiel 33:10-16
10 "Son of man, say to the house of Israel, 'This is what you are saying: "Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?"' 11 Say to them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?'

12 "Therefore, son of man, say to your countrymen, 'The righteousness of the righteous man will not save him when he disobeys, and the wickedness of the wicked man will not cause him to fall when he turns from it. The righteous man, if he sins, will not be allowed to live because of his former righteousness.' 13 If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live, but then he trusts in his righteousness and does evil, none of the righteous things he has done will be remembered; he will die for the evil he has done. 14 And if I say to the wicked man, 'You will surely die,' but he then turns away from his sin and does what is just and right- 15 if he gives back what he took in pledge for a loan, returns what he has stolen, follows the decrees that give life, and does no evil, he will surely live; he will not die. 16 None of the sins he has committed will be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he will surely live.

Doing the right thing is love… doing the right thing is telling someone you love them and then showing that love with trust.

Trust (noun):

• Custody; care.


• Something committed into the care of another.

Trust is a commitment to another person… with feelings and the heart. It’s giving action to hope. And hope does not disappoint. Johnny Out.

Romans 5:1-5
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

A Study on Love - Edition #19

Tuesday, January 24th, 2006

A Study on Love – Edition #19

Judges 5:1-31
1 On that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this song: 2 "When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves - praise the LORD! 3 "Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! I will sing to the LORD, I will sing; I will make music to the LORD, the God of Israel. 4 "O LORD, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water. 5 The mountains quaked before the LORD, the One of Sinai, before the LORD, the God of Israel. 6 "In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the roads were abandoned; travelers took to winding paths. 7 Village life in Israel ceased, ceased until I, Deborah, arose, arose a mother in Israel. 8 When they chose new gods, war came to the city gates, and not a shield or spear was seen among forty thousand in Israel. 9 My heart is with Israel's princes, with the willing volunteers among the people. Praise the LORD! 10 "You who ride on white donkeys, sitting on your saddle blankets, and you who walk along the road, consider 11 the voice of the singers at the watering places. They recite the righteous acts of the LORD, the righteous acts of his warriors in Israel. "Then the people of the LORD went down to the city gates. 12 'Wake up, wake up, Deborah! Wake up, wake up, break out in song! Arise, O Barak! Take captive your captives, O son of Abinoam.' 13 "Then the men who were left came down to the nobles; the people of the LORD came to me with the mighty. 14 Some came from Ephraim, whose roots were in Amalek; Benjamin was with the people who followed you. From Makir captains came down, from Zebulun those who bear a commander's staff. 15 The princes of Issachar were with Deborah; yes, Issachar was with Barak, rushing after him into the valley. In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart. 16 Why did you stay among the campfires to hear the whistling for the flocks? In the districts of Reuben there was much searching of heart. 17 Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan. And Dan, why did he linger by the ships? Asher remained on the coast and stayed in his coves. 18 The people of Zebulun risked their very lives; so did Naphtali on the heights of the field. 19 "Kings came, they fought; the kings of Canaan fought at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo, but they carried off no silver, no plunder. 20 From the heavens the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera. 21 The river Kishon swept them away, the age-old river, the river Kishon. March on, my soul; be strong! 22 Then thundered the horses' hoofs - galloping, galloping go his mighty steeds. 23 'Curse Meroz,' said the angel of the LORD. 'Curse its people bitterly, because they did not come to help the LORD, to help the LORD against the mighty.' 24 "Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, most blessed of tent-dwelling women. 25 He asked for water, and she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for nobles she brought him curdled milk. 26 Her hand reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workman's hammer. She struck Sisera, she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple. 27 At her feet he sank, he fell; there he lay. At her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell-dead. 28 "Through the window peered Sisera's mother; behind the lattice she cried out, 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why is the clatter of his chariots delayed?' 29 The wisest of her ladies answer her; indeed, she keeps saying to herself, 30 'Are they not finding and dividing the spoils: a girl or two for each man, colorful garments as plunder for Sisera, colorful garments embroidered, highly embroidered garments for my neck - all this as plunder?' 31 "So may all your enemies perish, O LORD! But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength." Then the land had peace forty years.

Deborah must have been an amazing woman. Her name (as defined by weddingvendors.com) means “a bee.” But being a prophetess is something amazing in itself. I sing sometimes. Actually, I sing a lot these days. I don’t think I will ever venture up in front of the church and sing… I wish that on no-one. When my mouth opens and song spits out, it isn’t really a pretty thing. But, alas, Deborah sings and the land has peace. “May they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength.” On a hot summer day, in the bask ness of the Texas sun, there is strength in air. I think in today’s times, we have strong men… but we also have strong women. How great is it to be motivated by both! Some churches condemn women leadership… I think the bible says that if the men are weak, then women should lead. Who can say who has a stronger love for God, man or woman? Deborah had a strong love for God and it motivated her to action. To love someone who is in sin is to not sit and be quiet and let them continue in their self-pity. Deborah opened her mouth and put action behind her heart. Am I so prideful to say I can not learn something from a woman? Is my ego so large that a woman cannot penetrate its thick walls? How can I say that my love for God is bigger and stronger than that of the elder’s wife? How can I say that my wisdom is more powerful and strong and that my love is deeper than that of the woman who put in the two coins? To say that I can not learn something from a woman (and if we say we didn’t, then maybe we should consider our own mother, who raised us… and the teachers in the schools who taught us that reading, writing, and math are essential to the common workplace) is to say that love is not in me. I am learning that the love of the old testament is love indeed. Johnny Out.

Midweek Homework from 1-18-06

Monday, January 23rd, 2006

Midweek Homework

Genesis 1-3
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.

11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in their entire vast array.

2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens- 5 and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground- 7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man."

24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

1 Now the serpent was craftier than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "

4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"

10 He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."

11 And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"

12 The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."

13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?"

The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

16 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."

17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."

20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.

21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." 23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Creation… it’s a wondrous thing. Being a new father, the joys of being a parent and sending part of my DNA forward with life is an amazing thing to say the least. I have painted, sculpted, and done woodwork, and it is always the same… taking something and making something else – it’s what we do. And we take great pride and joy when we do it. God took nothing and made something. And he took great joy in doing it. God is an artist. God is the best artist that ever was, is, and will be. Van Gogh has nothing on him. Michelangelo is a novice compared to God. Picasso should never have picked up a paintbrush, because the art God gives us is by far greater, by far classier, and carries with it deepness, a vast array of colors that a pallet couldn’t even conceive. When I get to heaven, God is going to show me colors that the human eye can’t even imagine… that we can’t even see and photography that can never be captured.

God says and it is… God can speak and make it so. But God also picked up the dirt and made me. I am dirt. And as dirt, I have a purpose. I give life to other things. Dirt contains nutrients that plants thrive upon. A plant with good dirt makes good fruit. The better the dirt is, the better the fruit is. Dirt, in itself, is useless, but when meshed with water and heated, it can become bricks. It can be made into clay for pottery. It can be housed for explosives. Dirt can be very useful. It can create life and it can destroy life. I need to figure out what kind of dirt I am.

The first sin: disobey. The second sin: blame-shifting (not taking responsibility for the crimes committed. These two are still going strong today. Adam blames the woman… and God doesn’t address his blame-shifting… Adam knew it was wrong. Instead God simply says you listened to her. You ate from the tree I told you not to eat from… and from there forward, Adam is punished. This brings up an idea of “who is pulling me away?” Do I trust someone more so than God? I guess Eve did the first ever “peer-pressure.” And Adam caved in. Come on, I did it, why not you? What’s wrong with you? You’re not eating of the tree! Are you some kind of loser? Eat the fruit! I have to be mindful of these things. The bible is a great thing… so much to learn.

A Study on Love - Edition #18

Monday, January 23rd, 2006

A Study on Love – Edition #18

Proverbs 11:25 A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.

Jeremiah 31:23-25
23 This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: "When I bring them back from captivity, the people in the land of Judah and in its towns will once again use these words: 'The LORD bless you, O righteous dwelling, O sacred mountain.' 24 People will live together in Judah and all its towns—farmers and those who move about with their flocks. 25 I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint."

Philemon 1:4-7
4 I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, 5 because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. 6 I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. 7 Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.

You know… I struggle. The refreshment I seek when I try to encourage others is from man. What I should be looking for is refreshment from God. And sometimes I do… but sometimes I don’t. I reflected last night that as much as I want to be like Jesus, my name will forever be Johnny Ray. I would like people to look at me and see Jesus, but never will I hear the words “Jesus” when someone looks at me. My driver’s license will forever bear my name of Johnny Ray. So when I do something, my sinful nature, the sinful nature of Johnny Ray, will always be there. When I do a good deed, a thank you is sometimes expected. When I do this or that well, I secretly want praise. And it’s wrong to want such… but that is my sinful nature. But because I love enough to do something, I somewhat expect the boomerang effect and not just throwing a stick. I want the love to come back to me that I gave. And sadly, it doesn’t happen a lot of the time.

In high school, I had friends. We called each other regularly. It was understood that we would be hanging out each and every weekend. We wanted to be with each other. The love we shared was a brotherly love. It was strong and when we didn’t hang out together, something felt wrong. It felt strange. We were unified and thought as one.

Ecclesiastes 1:12-18
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

15 What is twisted cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.

16 I thought to myself, "Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge." 17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.

18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.

Solomon is a biblical hero of mine. This guy had a million times more than Bill Gates… he had everything his heart could possibly desire. And yet, he left God. Isn’t that how it goes? God blesses and people take it and run. I have prayed to live up to my son’s name. I am many things. I am a genius. I am bi-polar. I am inflicted with tinnitus. I am a disciple of Christ. I am a chemical dependant. And a similarity I see between myself and Solomon is this: Solomon had wisdom and it came from his mistakes – he learned from them. He found that all the things he went after, women, money, and possessions, they were empty.

Ecclesiastes 5:10 whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.

I think of this scripture and I turn it around to something else: Whoever loves God never has enough God; whoever loves Christ is never satisfied with his spirituality. This is not meaningless.

Ecclesiastes 5:15 Naked a man comes from his mother's womb, and as he comes, so he departs. He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand.

Why live for something that death can take away? I can work hard for a job, I can work hard for a house, car, and all sorts of junk… but when I die, it stays here on this dirty earth… and then I come before judgment and speak of my actions and what I lived for.

Ecclesiastes 9:1-12
1 So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God's hands, but no man knows whether love or hate awaits him. 2 All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. As it is with the good man, so with the sinner; as it is with those who take oaths, so with those who are afraid to take them.

3 This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead. 4 Anyone who is among the living has hope - even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!

5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun.

7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do. 8 Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun - all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

11 I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. 12 Moreover, no man knows when his hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so men are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.

Good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people… but there is one thing I can do… I can do my best to bless everyone and refresh them. I am a creature of circumstance. I do not know the hour that will befall me. Time and chance will happen to me, my wife and son. But as a card is dealt from a deck, I too will have to play with what is given me and make the best of what I have. A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes life merry, but money is the answer for everything. Or so it seems in this world. It takes money to build a house. It takes money to buy food. It takes money to get diapers. It takes money to love others. It takes money to love God. Or does it?

A Study on Love - Edition #17

Friday, January 20th, 2006

A Study on Love – Edition #17

Seeing as how the elderly gentleman had serious hearing problems for a number of years, he went to the doctor. The doctor was able to have him fitted for a set of hearing aids that allowed the gentleman to hear 100%. The elderly gentleman went back in a month to the doctor and the doctor said, "Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased you can hear again." To which the gentleman said, "Oh, I haven't told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I've changed my will five times!"

Joshua 23:1-11
1 After a long time had passed and the LORD had given Israel rest from all their enemies around them, Joshua, by then old and well advanced in years, 2 summoned all Israel—their elders, leaders, judges and officials—and said to them: "I am old and well advanced in years. 3 You yourselves have seen everything the LORD your God has done to all these nations for your sake; it was the LORD your God who fought for you. 4 Remember how I have allotted as an inheritance for your tribes all the land of the nations that remain—the nations I conquered—between the Jordan and the Great Sea in the west. 5 The LORD your God himself will drive them out of your way. He will push them out before you, and you will take possession of their land, as the LORD your God promised you.

6 "Be very strong; be careful to obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, without turning aside to the right or to the left. 7 Do not associate with these nations that remain among you; do not invoke the names of their gods or swear by them. You must not serve them or bow down to them. 8 But you are to hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have until now.

9 "The LORD has driven out before you great and powerful nations; to this day no one has been able to withstand you. 10 One of you routs a thousand, because the LORD your God fights for you, just as he promised. 11 So be very careful to love the LORD your God.

One of the hardest things to do in regards to love is respect. As God had told him earlier, he tells the people to be very strong. And when my love is strong, I can see how God fights for me. If the devil had his way, I would constantly be bombarded with stuff. As it is, I have enough worries each and every day… and if Satan could have his way, I would have a million times more.

Careful (adj.):

• Attentive to potential danger, error, or harm; cautious.


• Conscientious.


• Exercising caution.

As the family was not careful with loving their grandfather, I need to be the opposite. I need to be careful that my heart is right and love my family, my earthly and heavenly family, and especially my Lord and God above. I need to be cautious and attentive to things. I need to be conscientious. I need to be thorough, persistent, and ever unceasing with my love. And that is a challenge, to say the least, because I can tend to be critical. I can be critical with myself and with others, and that means I am not looking at the potential danger… there are many errors with that outlook, but at least now I can make the necessary changes. Anyway… a short one for today… have a great weekend if I don’t get back online. Johnny Out.

A Study on Love - Edition #16

Thursday, January 19th, 2006

A Study on Love – Edition #16

The three things:

• Is there a fact to believe here?


• Is there a promise to trust?


• Is there a command to obey?

Today, I feel weak. I am not exactly sure why… but my energy level is low at best. And so, I thought, Jesus was strong when he was weak. How can I be more like that? I mean, he prayed for hours before going to the cross… he was beaten to a pulp and was barely recognizable when he was hung on the tree. And yet, he was physically weak… nothing much left of him, I would guess. And here I am, I don’t want to do much… I don’t think I am depressed, but I could be heading down that road. And so, I started to read the bible, looking for an encouraging scripture and I came up to Joshua, which put a spark in me…

Joshua 1:1-18
1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: 2 "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea on the west. 5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

6 "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

10 So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: 11 "Go through the camp and tell the people, 'Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own.' "

12 But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, 13 "Remember the command that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: 'The LORD your God is giving you rest and has granted you this land.' 14 Your wives, your children and your livestock may stay in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, fully armed, must cross over ahead of your brothers. You are to help your brothers 15 until the LORD gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise."

16 Then they answered Joshua, "Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17 Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses. 18 Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey your words, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!"

God encourages Joshua. He tells him four times to be strong and courageous. And a few other things I noticed throughout this scripture: “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night…” and “Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” And did it work? Did God’s encouragement pay off?

Joshua 14:10-12
10 "Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! 11 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. 12 Now give me this hill country that the LORD promised me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites were there and their cities were large and fortified, but, the LORD helping me, I will drive them out just as he said."

Oh yes… although I can’t see someone receiving encouragement from God and not being fired up. And the great thing is this: God encourages me every day. He encourages everyone, really, but do I listen to it? Do I pay attention and look for the encouragement? God loves me. And part of love is encouragement…

1st Corinthians 13:4-8a
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.

The way I see it, to love someone is to encourage someone.

Encourage (verb):

• To inspire with hope, courage, or confidence; hearten.


• To give support to; foster.


• To stimulate; spur.

God inspires me with hope. God inspires me with confidence. He supports me and spurs me on toward good deeds. And, to me, that is what love is all about. Johnny Out.

A Study on Love - Edition #15

Wednesday, January 18th, 2006

A Study on Love – Edition #15

The three things:

• Is there a fact to believe here?


• Is there a promise to trust?


• Is there a command to obey?

Deuteronomy 30:1-20
1 When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come upon you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, 2 and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. 4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back. 5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. 6 The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. 7 The LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. 8 You will again obey the LORD and follow all his commands I am giving you today. 9 Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, 10 if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Jesus said the greatest command was to love the Lord with all your heart and soul. And verse 16 here, in fact this whole chapter, really solidifies that to me. Walking with God, loving him, and keeping his commands… that’s really what it is all about. There’s close to 700 (actually 697, per the word search) scriptures in the NIV that contain the word love, and I’ve already looked at 51 thus far. It’s a great study… and one thing I noticed is a pattern. God says things over and over again. And that made me think of my son… he’s eight months old and he likes routine. But to learn discipline, I have to be not only consistent, but repetitious as well so that he can get a better grasp of not only how things work, but why. And the things in the chapter have already been said earlier in this book, as well as in earlier books. It’s a great thing. I guess I will leave it at that for now… Johnny Out.