August 21, 2023
We began observing the Days of Awe at twilight last night. These Days of Awe last for 40 days and commemorate Moses re-ascending the mountain as […]
August 22, 2023
Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
Genesis 4:2b-5
Do you see the difference between Cain and Abel? Abel easily gave exactly what God wanted because he did not worship possessions but rather God, but Cain gave up what he (Cain) wanted to give up and kept back what he thought would be good for his pocketbook...
August 23, 2023
Obedience is tested only when we confront something we do not want to do. In I Samuel 15 it tells of God ordering King Saul to totally annihilate an enemy. Through Samuel, God told Saul: “Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.” I Samuel 15:3...
August 24, 2023
It is the heart we should examine. The person devoted to cleaning up what is outside their own heart is not doing what Christ did. Christ loved and obeyed the Father and taught others to do the same...
August 25, 2023
Mark 12:29-31 is the summary of all the laws that God has given us in life, and all the words of every Preacher who has ever been sent down on Earth, every Prophet, are all summed up in the following:
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these." ...
August 26, 2023
In the book of Hebrews, the Apostle Paul refers to the story of Jacob and Esau, and he interprets this story that has been so misunderstood:
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. See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears. Hebrews 12:14-17
Esau is referred to as “godless.” He sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son for a single meal, and yet Jacob fought, planned, yearned for the birthright and the blessings