4 49s (and why they are awesome)

Did you know that there are only 4 books in the bible that have 49 or more chapter in them? They are Psalms (150), Isaiah (66), Jeremiah (52), and Genesis (50). And poor Ezekiel has 48, leaving out of the wonderful lists because of one chapter. I don't know why I chose 49, but I did.

No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him--the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough--that he should live on forever and not see decay. For all can see that wise men die; the foolish and the senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others. Their tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwellings for endless generations, though they had named lands after themselves. But man, despite his riches, does not endure; he is like the beasts that perish. This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings. Selah Like sheep they are destined for the grave, and death will feed on them. The upright will rule over them in the morning; their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions. But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself. Selah. Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases; for he will take nothing with him when he dies, his splendor will not descend with him. Though while he lived he counted himself blessed--and men praise you when you prosper-- he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light [of life]. A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

Psalm 49:7-20

Man cannot endure. We must be given a new body by Christ to live on forever and not decay. This is why salvation is not unimportant because “the ransom for a life is too costly, no payments is ever enough that he should live on forever and not see decay.”

Who is the chosen one I [God] will appoint for this? Who is like me and who can challenge me? And what shepherd can stand against me?

Jeremiah 49:19b

“Simeon and Levi are Brothers-their swords are weapons of violence. Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased. Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel!

Genesis 49:5-7a

In all this chapter, Simeon and Levi get the worst of their father's blessing, though for them...it's more of a curse. It just goes to show you that anger (when it gets out of hand) can be a curse to your parents. Jacob even said that he tried to avoid them (let me not join their assembly).

See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.

Isaiah 49:16

The word engrave means to cut or trace and the palm is a tender place since it the innermost part of the hand. The picture actually is holding something so tightly in your hand that it finally makes its mark there. And that is how much God cares about us.

Photo credit:
http://dougrobinson.wordpress.com/2010/02/05/isaiah-4916/

Sources
http://dougrobinson.wordpress.com/2010/02/05/isaiah-4916/
http://www.devotional-reflections-from-the-bible.com/Psalm49.html

Is it ok to lie?

I think this is an interesting topic. Of course I could state the obvious "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor." (Exodus 20:16) or "Do not lie." (Leviticus 19:11) or "Do not lie to each other" (Colossians 3:9) But I think there's more to it.

Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. "Look," he said to his people, "the Israelites have become much too numerous for us. Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country." So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites
Exodus 1:8-12

The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah "When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live." The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, "Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?" The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive." So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
Exodus 1:15-21

In this example of, God blessing the Hebrew midwives for lying.

After this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to take his life. But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near, Jesus' brothers said to him, "You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world." For even his own brothers did not believe in him.
Therefore Jesus told them, "The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come."
Having said this, he stayed in Galilee. However, after his brothers had left for the Feast, he went also, not publicly, but in secret.
John 7:1-10

In this example, Jesus lies. And Jesus is perfect...right?

Then Zedekiah said to Jeremiah, "Do not let anyone know about this conversation, or you may die. If the officials hear that I talked with you, and they come to you and say, 'Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you; do not hide it from us or we will kill you,' then tell them, 'I was pleading with the king not to send me back to Jonathan's house to die there.'"
All the officials did come to Jeremiah and question him, and he told them everything the king had ordered him to say. So they said no more to him, for no one had heard his conversation with the king.
Jeremiah 38:24-27

Jeremiah, God's prophet, lies.

But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, the men left. I don't know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them." (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.)
Joshua 2:4-6

In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?
James 2:25

Rahab is honored for her lying. 

But then there is this:

...all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
Revelation 21:8

Does that mean Jesus has a place in hell? And the midwives that God blessed?
In the case of the midwives, it was lie or kill babies.
In the case of Rahab, it was lie or let the spies be killed.
In the case of Jeremiah, it was lie or maybe be killed.
In the case of Jesus it was lie or be...truthful

Jesus doesn't even have a life on the line. He could go like this:

I'm gonna go to the feast, but in secret. Just don't say anything."
Having said this, he stayed in Galilee. However, after his brothers had left for the Feast, he went also, not publicly, but in secret.

 I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come.

I looked into things, and according to the footnotes in my bible, "Some early manuscripts do not have yet."
And removing the 'yet' makes it so that Jesus could be talking about how it's not time for his death yet. But,, at the same time, removing the yet means that Jesus says 'I'm not going.' instead of 'I'm not going right now.'

I think the lying is more of your motive. When Rahab was faced with lie or let the spies be killed, she chose lie. And that was a noble choice.
When the midwives were faced with lie or let the male babies be killed, they chose lie. And that was a noble choice.
The times when God blesses sin is when it's sin V.S. sin and the choice is the more honorable sin. So I don't want what you take away from this post to be lying is ok. Because most of the time, it isn't.
-Ruth

Forgiveness: MY thoughts

Forgiveness is an interesting topic, and it is the one I have chosen today. I spend several hours debating with my family over what I though forgiveness was. And I'm going to tell you MY interpretation of what the bible says about forgiveness.
I have been told to forgive as God forgave me...So how does God forgive, anyway?

declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."

Jeremiah 31:34b 

Forgiving isn't being able to have amnesia, but rather when you forgive someone, your saying that you will not dwell on their sin or bring it up. God doesn't hold our sins against us after we've been forgiven.

as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Psalms 103:12

God removes sin from us, it completely takes it away. But I haven't yet got to the part that I had an argument about, I'm stilling getting there. I just need to make sure everyone understands that. Let me ask you this: 

When does God forgive us? When we ask for it.

So does that mean we forgive other WHEN THEY ASK FOR IT?

So am I saying you can be angry and bitter until forgiveness is asked? NO WAY!

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Ephesians 4:31-32

You get ride of bitterness, anger, and rage BEFORE you forgive. These two verses say we should...

1. get ride of sin
2. be compassionate
3. forgive

In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry

Ephesians 4:26

So you CAN be angry (Jesus was) but you must not sin and you must no dwell on why you are angry. So, now, here's back to what God does.

God, the perfect one, does not forgive until we confess, or ask for forgiveness

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9

So when WE ask, he WILL forgive. BUT he doesn't forgive us UNTIL we ask. Were suppose to forgive like God, right? So that means that we shouldn't forgive UNTIL the person who wronged us asks for forgiveness...RIGHT?

One thing my mom said was that we we are not God (I agree) and we shouln't forgive like him (I disagree, Note Luke 17:3-4)

"If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him."
Luke 17:3-4

Jesus says "If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him." 
Jesus, the perfect son of God, says that IF HE SAYS 'I REPENT' YOU SHOULD FORGIVE

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.'
Mathew 18:15-16

If you forgive someone before they repent, you cannot rebuke him or her. This is why Jesus says not to have unconditional forgiveness.
My family brought these two verses to my attention:

While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep.
Acts 7:59-60

Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
Luke 23:24

Was Jesus sinning? Was Stephen sinning? No, and no.
Neither Jesus or Stephen said "I forgive them" they said "God, forgive them." I MY OPINION these two where saying, God, do not hold this against them. (Stephen was saying that, but that's what I THINK Jesus was saying as well). Jesus did not sin, but he was ready to forgive the men who killed him, as was Stephen and, had they asked for forgiveness, I think Jesus would have also said "Father, I forgive them."

Here's a summary of all this:

1. Forgive like God forgives
2. When you forgive, you are saying that you will not bring up the offenders sins anymore
3. God forgives us when we repent
4. We should forgive others when they repent
5. If someone sins, you should talk to them alone and show them how they have sinned

Anything I said that was not clearly stated in a bible verse is MY OPINION I tried to make it clear what was my thought and what is God's word.

-Ruth

God Cares: Design and Creativity

The is a picture of the Horseshoe Falls, better know as the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. This is a God designed structure that has one sole purpose: to glorify God.

I went to Niagara Falls (Which is one reason there wasn't a lot of posts last week) and it got me to thinking this: Why did God make Niagara Falls?

Why did God make that swirl of colors? Why didn't God make earth like the moon...plain...empty. Then I came to one conclusion:

GOD LOVES US

There are so many things God created that are beautiful, but they don't have to be there.

While God was punishing one generation with the flood, he was blessing another with natural structures, and with a pretty home to call ours.

God punished man, and yet he was still thinking of us. He wanted to bless us and make things that scream his name. 

Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights above. Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts. Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars. Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created. He set them in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away. Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars,wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and maidens, old men and children. Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens. He has raised up for his people a horn, the praise of all his saints, of Israel, the people close to his heart. Praise the LORD.

Psalm 148

Let them praise the Lord! "you highest heavens and you waters above the skies" This makes me think of a waterfall, the water above the sky.

Standing beside Niagara Falls made me feel small. Watching water tumble over it's edge left me feel weak. But God is bigger than anything he created. I can't even image how I'd feel before God when I felt so small compared to his creation.

At Nigera, I went on a boat that went right below Niagara Falls. Look at the water. Niagara Falls is amazing, but the thought that God put into it is even more incredible. God thinks about us. And Niagara Falls is one of the smallest examples of it.

This crazily insane waterfall that has thousands of gallons of water going over its edge. God made a masterpiece the day he he spoke and the earth came to be, and he added some extra stokes with the flood.

The Bible says that the stars proclaim the glory of God...well the stars are not the only thing that tell of God's majesty.

He who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar--the LORD Almighty is his name.

Jeremiah 31:35

Photo Credit:

Niagara Falls Pictures: Me!

Moon: http://lightsinthedark.wordpress.com/2009/07/19/a-leap-for-mankind/

Earth: http://joyfulpapist.wordpress.com/2010/11/29/god-created-the-heavens-and-the-earth/

Clouds

The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen.  He loads the clouds with moisture; he scatters his lightning through them.  At his direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth to do whatever he commands them.  He brings the clouds to punish men, or to water his earth and show his love. 

Job 37:10-12

The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

Psalm 135:6-7

God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.

Jeremiah 10:12

The LORD reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice. Clouds and thick darkness surround him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

Psalms 97:1-2

Love V.S. Wrath episode 5

Danny: I'm glad to be well again. I'm back people! And now I hand the microphone to Ruth Ackiv, our host of this wonderful show.

Ruth: Thank you Danny. I'm glad your back.

Danny: I'm glad to be back too.

Ruth: I'd like to tell you why I'm doing this show. I heard I sermon about the wrath of God, and the preacher said that most people only talk about God's love, while God also has Wrath.

Danny: Good to hear from you, Ruth. And Sandra has also got some stuff you should hear.

Sandra: Hey Y'all. We've got two all-new guests joining us today and though David said he was done with our talk show, his son Solomon is here with us today.

Solomon: Hi everybody! I have worked really hard to memorize the... reference that the verse I wrote is in. I'm told it's in Proverbs 8:1, but if it's not, blame Sandra and not me.

Sandra: Well that's very nice of you.

Solomon: Really, cause...

Sandra: It's called being sarcastic.

Solomon: Ok...Well, what my verse says is this:  I love all who love me. Those who search will surely find me.

Sandra: Nicely done.

Solomon: And next is Jeremiah.

Jeremiah: I am ashamed now that I realize I should have memorized my verse's...

Solomon: Reference.

Jeremiah: Yeah. Well, I'll need Sandra to say it for me.

Sandra: It's Jeremiah 7:20

Jeremiah: And this is what I put there: Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: My anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, on man and beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground, and it will burn and not be quenched.

Ruth: Thank you to are all-new guests who have come to this show.

Danny: Bye-bye for now!

Photo credit: http://stelizabethcc.blogspot.com/2012/10/you-do-not-know-what-you-are-asking.html

Blessed...Part 5: other old testament blessings

So who is blessed? Are you? throughout these parts, learn if you are blessed. so enjoy part 5, other old testament blessings. 

May those who bless you be blessed and those who curse you be cursed!
Numbers 24:9

The LORD has blessed his people. (and who are his people? Jews.)
2chronicles 31:10

Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
Job 15:17

Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!
Isaiah 30:18

Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.
Isaiah 56:2

blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.
Jeremiah 17:7 

Be sure to read all the parts, because this is the final one, all your blessings have been written out and if you aren't blessed yet, do something about it. it isn't easy to be blessed, but it's worth it. Everything on earth will perish, but you blessings will be your reward for ever and ever!