“1 Peter 5:8 ESV / Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” A story I heard from Dutch Sheets. A man was hungry so in his house he found a tin of dates. He picked one up and held it near the candle light, saw a worm and threw it away. He picked up another date, saw a worm by candle light as he was about to eat, and threw it away. Fearing he would go hungry, he blew out the candle and ate the rest of the dates. The message is – be watchful and remember you must take action in prayer and deed, when you sense trouble afoot through the Holy Spirit. One example – in the 1960s when prayer and the Bible were kicked out of schools, “who knew?” We should have seen it and stopped it then.
He is a Shield to Those Who Put Their Trust in Him
Prov 30:5 (KJV) Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Psalm 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Psalm 18:30 As for God, His way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: He is a buckler to all those that trust in Him. —Trust — “Trusting is believing”! Believing in God! — Prov 3-5 (ESV) Trust in the Lord with all your heart, & do not lean on your own understanding.— A Buckler is “A shield surrounding the person”, that is what He does for us, surrounds us as a shield! Now that is good news. Love Mel
Don’t Forget the Festivals of the Lord!
From Bill— The Jewish or Hebrew festivals of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles are very important to believers & to our faith journey, yet they are virtually ignored by all denominations. This is because we have been taught that all Old Testament teaching is bondage & is no longer applicable for today. This is a lie. Passover is to be enjoyed as the day when Christ freed us from the bondage of sin & the penalty of death, just as it was to celebrate the freedom of the Hebrews from Egypt. Pentecost is to be celebrated as the giving of the guidance to the Christian of the Holy Spirit Who brings Gods word to remembrance, just as He gave the law to the Hebrews after they escaped Egypt to show them how to live. The Day of Atonement should be celebrated by Christians as the the joy of knowing that our heavenly High Priest (Jesus) continuously makes intercession for us as we grow & learn, just as the earthly high priest cleansed the temple once yearly. Tabernacles is when we celebrate the fact that we will soon live & tabernacle with our Lord, as they tabernacled with Him in the desert. We must not go into bondage, but we must realize that the Bible as a whole tells the whole picture & is a shadow picture of what is to come. Love Mel
Choose Life – It’s Up to Us
Deut 11:26 (KJV)Behold, I set before you this day a blessing & a curse; Deut 30:19 I call heaven & earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life & death, blessing & cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou & thy seed may live. —God gave us the ability to choose. These choices of ours can fall into two categories, blessings or curses. Oh, Don’t forget our choices have consequences, both good & bad. —Acts 2:40 (ESV)With many other words He bore witness & continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation”. Luke 21:36 (KJV)Watch ye therefore, & pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, & to stand before the Son of man. — Watch & Pray! Love Mel
Wake Up – The Old and New Testaments Work Together
From Bill —Reading an excellent book called “Wake Up” by Arno Lamm. It goes deeply into God’s three main festivals & how they provide a picture of Christ. In reading about Pentecost we see that God’s first Pentecost was 50 days after the Exodus & the second was 50 days after the resurrection. The first was provided after the Israelites obtained their freedom from Pharoah & it provided the law at Mt. Sinai to give their new freedom some boundaries. And the Midrash, a Jewish Bible commentary, says the law was given in 70 languages so all could hear it!! The second Pentecost was provided to both Jew & Gentile believers who found great new freedom in Christ. The Holy Spirit was provided to … get this … bring scripture (which they already had in the OT) to their minds. The Holy Spirit is our internal guide Who quickens the word of God to us. We are responsible to know the word of God & the moral law given in the OT as well as the Law of Christ. Great book. You can’t make this stuff up. He was, He is & He will be! Love Mel
