2nd Thessalonians

July 7^th, 2007

2nd Thessalonians

From Paul, Silas, and Timothy, to the Church in Thessalonica in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. We must always thank God for you, brothers and sisters. This is only right, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love that every one of you has for each other is increasing. So we brag about you to the other churches of God. We tell them about the way you continue to be strong and have faith even though you are being treated badly and are suffering many troubles.

This is proof that God is right in his judgment. He wants you to be counted worthy of his kingdom for which you are suffering. God will do what is right. He will give trouble to those who trouble you. And he will give rest to you who are troubled and to us also when the Lord Jesus appears with burning fire from heaven with his powerful angels. Then he will punish those who do not know God and who do not obey the Good News about our Lord Jesus Christ. Those people will be punished with a destruction that continues forever. They will be kept away from the Lord and from his great power. This will happen on the day when the Lord Jesus comes to receive glory because of his holy people. And all the people who have believed will be amazed at Jesus. You will be in that group, because you believed what we told you.

That is why we always pray for you, asking our God to help you live the kind of life he called you to live. We pray that with his power God will help you do the good things you want and perform the works that come from your faith. We pray all this so that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ will have glory in you, and you will have glory in him. That glory comes from the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Brothers and sisters, we have something to say about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and the time when we will meet together with him. Do not become easily upset in your thinking or afraid if you hear that the day of the Lord has already come. Someone may say this in a prophecy or in a message or in a letter as if it came from us.

Do not let anyone fool you in any way. That day of the Lord will not come until the turning away from God happens and the Man of Evil, who is on his way to hell, appears. He will be against and put himself above anything called God or anything that people worship. And that Man of Evil will even go into God's Temple and sit there and say that he is God. I told you when I was with you that all this would happen. Do you not remember? And now you know what is stopping that Man of Evil so he will appear at the right time. The secret power of evil is already working in the world, but there is one who is stopping that power. And he will continue to stop it until he is taken out of the way. Then that Man of Evil will appear, and the Lord Jesus will kill him with the breath that comes from his mouth and will destroy him with the glory of his coming. The Man of Evil will come by the power of Satan. He will have great power, and he will do many different false miracles, signs, and wonders. He will use every kind of evil to trick those who are lost. They will die, because they refused to love the truth. (If they loved the truth, they would be saved.) For this reason God sends them something powerful that leads them away from the truth so they will believe a lie. So all those will be judged guilty who did not believe the truth, but enjoyed doing evil.

Brothers and sisters, whom the Lord loves, God chose you from the beginning to be saved. So we must always thank God for you. You are saved by the Spirit that makes you holy and by your faith in the truth. God used the Good News that we preached to call you to be saved so you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So, brothers and sisters, stand strong and continue to believe the teachings we gave you in our speaking and in our letter.

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father encourage you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say. God loved us, and through his grace he gave us a good hope and encouragement that continues forever.

And now, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the Lord's teaching will continue to spread quickly and that people will give honor to that teaching, just as happened with you. And pray that we will be protected from stubborn and evil people, because not all people believe. But the Lord is faithful and will give you strength and will protect you from the Evil One. The Lord makes us feel sure that you are doing and will continue to do the things we told you. May the Lord lead your hearts into God's love and Christ's patience.

Brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ we command you to stay away from any believer who refuses to work and does not follow the teaching we gave you. You yourselves know that you should live as we live. We were not lazy when we were with you. And when we ate another person's food, we always paid for it. We worked very hard night and day so we would not be an expense to any of you. We had the right to ask you to help us, but we worked to take care of ourselves so we would be an example for you to follow. When we were with you, we gave you this rule: "Anyone who refuses to work should not eat." We hear that some people in your group refuse to work. They do nothing but busy themselves in other people's lives. We command those people and beg them in the Lord Jesus Christ to work quietly and earn their own food. But you, brothers and sisters, never become tired of doing good. If some people do not obey what we tell you in this letter, then take note of them. Have nothing to do with them so they will feel ashamed. But do not treat them as enemies. Warn them as fellow believers.

Now may the Lord of peace give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you. I, Paul, end this letter now in my own handwriting. All my letters have this to show they are from me. This is the way I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

Brilliant book. It really hit home for me... being lazy and not working. I highlighted the verses that made my brain tick. I might comment on it more at a later time. Johnny Out.

Grace Study – Edition #3

July 4^th to 6^th, 2007

Grace Study – Edition #3

(Notes from Edition #1)

Grace (noun):

Chên (Prounounced: khane)

• Graciousness, that is, subjectively (kindness, favor) or objectively (beauty): - favor, grace or gracious, pleasant, precious, favored or well favored.
• Favor, grace or charm; in elegance or in acceptance.

Grace (noun):

• Of form or person (Proverbs 1:9; 3:22; Psalm 45:2).
• Favor, kindness, friendship (Genesis 6:8; 18:3; 19:19; 2 Timothy 1:9).
• God's forgiving mercy (Romans 11:6; Ephesians 2:5).
• The gospel as distinguished from the law (John 1:17; Romans 6:14; 1 Peter 5:12).
• Gifts freely bestowed by God; as miracles, prophecy, tongues (Romans 15:15; 1 Corinthians 15:10; Ephesians 3:8).
• Christian virtues (2 Corinthians 8:7; 2 Peter 3:18).
• The glory hereafter to be revealed (1 Peter 1:13).

And now, Edition #3

TODAY’S NEWS!!!

Subject: ANOTHER TERRORIST

At New York's Kennedy airport today, an individual later discovered to be a public school teacher was arrested trying to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a set square, a slide rule, and a calculator.

At a morning press conference, the attorney general said he believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-gebra movement. He is being charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction. “Al-gebra is a fearsome cult," a Justice Department spokesman said. "They desire average solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in a search of absolute value. They use secret code names like 'x' and 'y' and refer to themselves as 'unknowns', but we have determined they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country. As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, 'there are 3 sides to every triangle'."

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Bush said, "If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes".

Two brothers go camping. Billy is wearing his FAVORITE shirt in the whole world!

Suddenly, Philip gets bit by a poisonous snake. Billy calls the doctor.

He tells the story and they reply back. "This is TERIBLE! Quick, wrap his bite with something like your shirt or he might die."

Philip cries out a question, "What did the doc... ouch... say?"

"Doctor says you’re going to die!"

Romans 11:1-6
I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don't you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”? And what was God's answer to him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal. So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

Grace is what saves me. Nothing else. I can't "earn" salvation, but I can't sit around and do literally nothing, either (see James on that one).

A dude gets into a taxi after a long night at the bars and halfway home decides he needs some fast food.

He taps the driver on the shoulder and suddenly the driver SCREAMS!! --swerves across the road and jumps the sidewalk stopping just short of a cement barrier.

Then driver turns around and says "Don't EVER, EVER tap me on the shoulder while I'm driving!!"

The passenger says, "GEEZ. I'm sorry; I didn't know it would scare you so much."

The driver replies, "before this I drove a HEARSE for 25 years!!”

Ephesians 2:1-10
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

This scripture simply reiterates that grace is what saves. I couldn't give enough money to the church, walk little old ladies across the street, work at a food bank enough to earn the gift God gives.

An elderly man had serious hearing problems for many years. He went to the doctor and the doctor was able to have him fitted for a set of hearing aids that allowed him to hear 100%.

The elderly man went back in a month to the doctor and the doctor diagnosed, “Your hearing is perfect! Your family must be very pleased.”

To which the elderly man said, “Oh, I haven't told them yet. I just sit and listen to their conversations. I've already changed my will three times!”

I liked putting the jokes here... if you stop to think about them, it hits home... what I like about this little study is that it shows that the grace of God is what saves me. It doesn't mention everything in the Bible, obviously... like baptism saves and faith saves. It's one piece of the puzzle. Anyway, Johnny Out.

Grace Study – Edition #2

June 21st and 22nd, 2007

Grace Study – Edition #2

(Notes from Edition #1)

Grace (noun):
Chên (Prounounced: khane)

• Graciousness, that is, subjectively (kindness, favor) or objectively (beauty): - favor, grace or gracious, pleasant, precious, favored or well favored.
• Favor, grace or charm; in elegance or in acceptance.
  

Grace (noun):

• Of form or person (Proverbs 1:9; 3:22; Ps. 45:2).
• Favor, kindness, friendship (Gen. 6:8; 18:3; 19:19; 2 Tim. 1:9).
• God's forgiving mercy (Rom. 11:6; Eph. 2:5).
• The gospel as distinguished from the law (John 1:17; Rom. 6:14; 1 Pet. 5:12).
• Gifts freely bestowed by God; as miracles, prophecy, tongues (Rom. 15:15; 1 Corinthians 15:10; Eph. 3:8).
• Christian virtues (2 Corinthians 8:7; 2 Pet. 3:18).
• The glory hereafter to be revealed (1 Pet. 1:13).
  

And now, Edition #2

So I said I would like to look at these scriptures. In a sense, I already looked over the Proverbs and Psalm scriptures. What I am going to study now is the second set of passages.

Genesis 6:5-8
The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

You know, when I read this, I generally tend to wonder if God looks at me and grieves he made me, it filled with pain when he considers me, or if he looks at me and I find favor with him. I also have thought of when God would finally look at this world now when he did at this time in the passage. It will happen again, not quite like this, but the time will come. I just don’t want to think of how despaired God was here in Genesis. I mean, I am in pain right now, but can it compare to what he felt here? Or what about how he feels now? I mean, can he be pleased with cities in general like Las Vegas, Amsterdam or Prague? If these cities aren’t the Sodom and Gomorrah of today, I just don’t know what is.

Genesis 18:1-5
The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.”

“Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.”

Now, I like this passage. The Lord found favor in Abraham. I’m not sure if it was because he was eager to serve or Abraham simply showing the due respect or what, but this heart was amazing. In the previous chapter, he was born his son, Isaac, and he hadn’t even offered him as a sacrifice yet. Abraham had a submissive heart. And that is what God looked upon him with favor. I have a son. He’s two. I can’t say that I would put him on an alter. I haven’t been asked by God to do something like that, and I know God wouldn’t do that in today’s time. God does ask things of me, different things that are laid out in the Bible. The question, I guess, is: am I eager to do those things? If someone needs something, do I jump at the request? I’m getting better at it. I know this: I have reached out to two people in two days. That may not be a whole lot, but I don’t meet a whole lot, and my “reaching out” faith is getting back to what it should. A friend of mine mentioned on Wednesday that there are not a lot of guys studying and a whole bunch of women studying. I am just trying to make a little dent in that right now.

Genesis 19:15-26
With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.”

When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”

But Lot said to them, “No, my lords, please! Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”

He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.)

By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

Lot found favor in God’s eyes. But honestly, that wasn’t the eye-popper in this passage. It was when Lot went to his sons-in-law, pledged to marry his daughters, and tried to get them to flee and they thought that he was joking. And guess what? They died. That hit me in how they did not trust a man who has favor with God. I thought, if a respected man of God came to me and told me that Dallas was going to be destroyed by something, like a massive tornado, and I look up in the sky and see that it is a clear day and the forecast says the same, would I go or would I think the guy is crazy? I guess my heart is already revealed. I already checked the forecast. And what’s kind of funny is that I could go back and change what I typed, but then that would be just wrong.

2nd Timothy 1:3-10
I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

Grace has been given to me. It has been given to my wife, Jenny. It has been given by God and CJ (that’s Christ Jesus). I also call him JC (Jesus Christ). That’s why CJ came, to bring salvation. He came to bring grace. He came to bring an example and to prove that the impossible is possible. He lived a perfect life to show me that I can. I haven’t lived a perfect life, but I can. My wonderful help-mate sends me quotes from time to time, which are always thought provoking, but I generally don’t post them anywhere in here, but this one works: No matter what a man’s past may have been, his future is spotless. That quote is by John R. Rice. And that thought is very encouraging and makes me think AND BELIEVE I can live a perfect life, at least from here on out. Johnny Out.

Grace Study – Edition #1

June 20th, 2007

Grace Study – Edition #1

I do not have an understanding of grace. If I did at one point, I’ve lost it. I’m starting to regain a new understanding. I had a small argument with my wife this evening. Maybe I am feeling a bit more stressed than I thought. The surgery is Friday. I would believe that would have a lot to do with it, but I can never really say if that is it. If God is the quarterback, I want to be his “go-to guy”. I don’t know if I am right now. I don’t feel confident about it, to say the least. I met a guy today, actually earlier this evening. I was starting to feel more like the guy wants me to be. When I got home, another guy approached me looking to squab with me over a parking space. To add insult to injury, my son was standing right there with me. I’m not sure if I want to live here anymore. Well, actually, I DON’T want to live here anymore. This neighborhood has rapidly declined since we first moved in. I just don't think it is safe. And to say the least, I want out. To further add to the whole thing, I just went and got my mail, praying a bit before I got it, and the woman who was being assaulted by her boyfriend threatened to call the cops on me. SHEESH!!! What next? I could use a little encouragement.

What is grace?

In the NIV, the word “grace” is used 124 times. It is only used 8 times in the Old Testament and 116 times in the New Testament. In the OT, four of those times, it is used in reference to wearing clothes. Another time it is used in a wedding song in Psalms. Here are the other three:

Isaiah 26:1-21 (NIV)
In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts. Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith. You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal. He humbles those who dwell on high, he lays the lofty city low; he levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust. Feet trample it down— the feet of the oppressed, the footsteps of the poor. The path of the righteous is level; O upright One, you make the way of the righteous smooth. Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness. Though grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and regard not the majesty of the LORD. O LORD, your hand is lifted high, but they do not see it. Let them see your zeal for your people and be put to shame; let the fire reserved for your enemies consume them. LORD, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us. O LORD, our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone do we honor. They are now dead, they live no more; those departed spirits do not rise. You punished them and brought them to ruin; you wiped out all memory of them. You have enlarged the nation, O LORD; you have enlarged the nation. You have gained glory for yourself; you have extended all the borders of the land. LORD, they came to you in their distress; when you disciplined them, they could barely whisper a prayer. As a woman with child and about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pain, so were we in your presence, O LORD. We were with child, we writhed in pain, but we gave birth to wind. We have not brought salvation to the earth; we have not given birth to people of the world. But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead. Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by. See, the LORD is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose the blood shed upon her; she will conceal her slain no longer.

Jonah 2:1-10 (NCV)
While Jonah was inside the fish, he prayed to the Lord his God and said, “When I was in danger, I called to the Lord, and he answered me. I was about to die, so I cried to you, and you heard my voice. You threw me into the sea, down, down into the deep sea. The water was all around me, and your powerful waves flowed over me. I said, ‘I was driven out of your presence, but I hope to see your Holy Temple again.’ The waters of the sea closed around my throat. The deep sea was all around me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. When I went down to where the mountains of the sea start to rise, I thought I was locked in this prison forever, but you saved me from the pit of death, Lord my God. When my life had almost gone, I remembered the Lord. I prayed to you, and you heard my prayers in your Holy Temple. People who worship useless idols give up their loyalty to you. But I will praise and thank you while I give sacrifices to you, and I will keep my promises to you.” Then the Lord spoke to the fish, and the fish threw up Jonah onto the dry land.

Jonah 2:8 (NIV)
“Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.”

Zechariah 12:10-14 (NIV)
“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be great, like the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, and all the rest of the clans and their wives.”

Zechariah 12:10 (NCV)
“I will pour out on David’s family and the people in Jerusalem a spirit of kindness and mercy. They will look at me, the one they have stabbed, and they will cry like someone crying over the death of an only child. They will be as sad as someone who has lost a firstborn son.”

These are the three scriptures in which grace is a noun and not a description of an item.

Grace (noun):
Chên (Prounounced: khane):

• Graciousness, that is, subjectively (kindness, favor) or objectively (beauty): favor, grace or gracious, pleasant, precious, favored or well favored.
• Favor, grace or charm; in elegance or in acceptance.

That Hebrew definition is from Zechariah. The other two, from Isaiah and Jonah, are derivatives of mercy. What I can gather is that grace and mercy go hand-in-hand. And this is an important lesson in itself. If I am going to express grace onto my wife or my son, I am also showing mercy on them. And that is good. It is important. And I have to learn this lesson. It needs to be at the core of my being. How am I to be like Christ if I do not display grace and mercy? IT CAN’T BE DONE!!! There’s no way one can stake a claim in being Christ-like if they do not express grace and mercy.

Grace (noun):

• The freely given, unmerited favor and love of God.
• The influence or spirit of God operating in humans to regenerate or strengthen them.
• A virtue or excellence of divine origin.
• Mercy; clemency; pardon.
• An allowance of time after a debt or bill has become payable granted to the debtor before suit can be brought against him or her or a penalty applied.
• A manifestation of favor, esp. by a superior.

Also on the online dictionary:

• Of form or person (Proverbs 1:9; 3:22; Psalm 45:2).
• Favor, kindness, friendship (Genesis 6:8; 18:3; 19:19; 2 Timothy 1:9).
• God's forgiving mercy (Romans 11:6; Ephesians 2:5).
• The gospel as distinguished from the law (John 1:17; Romans 6:14; 1 Peter 5:12).
• Gifts freely bestowed by God; as miracles, prophecy, tongues (Romans 15:15; 1 Corinthians 15:10; Ephesians 3:8).
• Christian virtues (2 Corinthians 8:7; 2 Peter 3:18).
• The glory hereafter to be revealed (1 Peter 1:13).

I am very curious as to what these scriptures would reveal. I’m starting to get very excited about this new little series. Johnny Out.

Friendship Study – Edition #19: Friend of Sin

June 18th, 2007

Friendship Study – Edition #19: Friend of Sin

The last time I did an edition on friendship, it was on August 18th, 2006. So, why not pick up a study in what has been a forgotten series? It’s only been 10 months (to the day, I might add).

Genesis 34:13-29
Because their sister Dinah had been defiled, Jacob's sons replied deceitfully as they spoke to Shechem and his father Hamor. They said to them, “We can't do such a thing; we can't give our sister to a man who is not circumcised. That would be a disgrace to us. We will give our consent to you on one condition only: that you become like us by circumcising all your males. Then we will give you our daughters and take your daughters for ourselves. We'll settle among you and become one people with you. But if you will not agree to be circumcised, we'll take our sister and go.”

Their proposal seemed good to Hamor and his son Shechem. The young man, who was the most honored of all his father's household, lost no time in doing what they said, because he was delighted with Jacob's daughter. So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city to speak to their fellow townsmen. “These men are friendly toward us,” they said. “Let them live in our land and trade in it; the land has plenty of room for them. We can marry their daughters and they can marry ours. But the men will consent to live with us as one people only on the condition that our males be circumcised, as they themselves are. Won't their livestock, their property and all their other animals become ours? So let us give our consent to them, and they will settle among us.”

All the men who went out of the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male in the city was circumcised.

Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male. They put Hamor and his son Shechem to the sword and took Dinah from Shechem's house and left. The sons of Jacob came upon the dead bodies and looted the city where their sister had been defiled. They seized their flocks and herds and donkeys and everything else of theirs in the city and out in the fields. They carried off all their wealth and all their women and children, taking as plunder everything in the houses.

This is just a shortened QT, but my thought on this passage is straight forward. The verse in thought is: “These men are friendly toward us.” These people had a trust toward them. Albeit, they trusted blindly, these people did trust them. And this was after the ruler’s son of those parts had violated Dinah, Jacob’s daughter (in verse two, it says: When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, the ruler of that area, saw her, he took her and violated her.) They had committed a sin against Jacob and his daughter. And despite that, they received Hamor and Shechem with kindness, at least at first. The sons retaliated. They had put up a front to be kind.

Is it good to have anger in your heart to others who trust you and let in boil inside? No, it is not good.

Matthew 18:15-17
“If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.”

Hebrews 12:14-15
Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

Ephesians 4:25-27
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

It is not allowed to have sinful anger. And these scriptures tell me that I can’t even go to even go to bed without reconciliation. And, I believe that the Matthew 18 scripture has to happen rapidly, or there will be a bitter root built. It’s not good to let anger boil inside against friends. It’s not a way to treat friends. It’s not the way to treat people I don’t know. Johnny Out.