Passage to Higher Ground

20140318
Can you imagine what difference would be made if a new groom spent one year off, “simply to be at home making his wife happy”?

Deuteronomy 24:5
The Message (MSG)
5 When a man takes a new wife, he is not to go out with the army or be given any business or work duties. He gets one year off simply to be at home making his wife happy.

Psalm 119:105
The Message (MSG)
105-112 By your words I can see where I’m going;
they throw a beam of light on my dark path.

Practicing God’s Word pays tremendous dividends,
especially with my good wife and even with my grown children.
I need to get better at that practice.

3 John 1:4
The Message (MSG)
Nothing could make me happier than getting reports that my children continue diligently in the way of Truth!

Psalm 90:16-17
The Message (MSG)
Let your servants see what you’re best at—
the ways you rule and bless your children.
And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us,
confirming the work that we do.
Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do!

Proverbs 18:1,22
The Message (MSG)
Words Kill, Words Give Life

18 Loners who care only for themselves
spit on the common good.
22 Find a good spouse, you find a good life—
and even more: the favor of God!

The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

(Scriptures were copied and pasted through BibleGateway.com)

20140211
The Israelites were told not to make covenants with the Canaanites. They were not even to let the Canaanites continue dwelling in their land. They were to drive them out and/or annihilate many of them, even including children, and keep absolutely none of the spoil for themselves in some instances (cf. Joshua 5-17-20). This was to keep them from worshiping “their gods.” Who were “their gods”? Any thing or any being that was given precedence over the one true and living God qualified as one of “their gods”, and aptly describes my sins against God also.

Praise God for His offer and covenant of mercy and grace through Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior. Praise God for the Holy Spirit, Who indwells me as a believer and gives me the strength to put God first, even though I often fail. Hallelujah! Amen!

Amplified Bible (AMP)
32 You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods.
33 They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.
Psalm 51:1-3

The Message (MSG)
A David Psalm, After He Was Confronted by Nathan About the Affair with Bathsheba

51 1-3 Generous in love—God, give grace!
Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record.
Scrub away my guilt,
soak out my sins in your laundry.
I know how bad I’ve been;
my sins are staring me down.

Proverbs 7:7-8
Amplified Bible (AMP)
7 And among the simple (empty-headed and emptyhearted) ones, I perceived among the youths a young man void of good sense,
8 Sauntering through the street near the [loose woman’s] corner; and he went the way to her house.

(Scriptures were copied and posted through BibleGateway.com.)

20140210
God will pardon and forgive those who ask for His grace and mercy. He often lets us suffer the consequences of our sin. It is the “wonderful grace of Jesus” that sets us free from death, the eternal separation from God, the ultimate consequence of not trusting Him for forgiveness and salvation. Indeed, it is the

“Wonderful grace of Jesus, reaching the most defiled,
By its transforming power, making him God’s dear child.
Purchasing peace and pardon, setting my spirit free
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.”

Look it up! Read it! Sing it! Share it! Wonderful grace of Jesus! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Exodus 32:32-34
The Message (MSG)
31-32 Moses went back to God and said, “This is terrible. This people has sinned—it’s an enormous sin! They made gods of gold for themselves. And now, if you will only forgive their sin. . . . But if not, erase me out of the book you’ve written.”

33-34 God said to Moses, “I’ll only erase from my book those who sin against me. For right now, you go and lead the people to where I told you. Look, my Angel is going ahead of you. On the day, though, when I settle accounts, their sins will certainly be part of the settlement.”Exodus 32:32-34

2 Corinthians 5:14-15
Amplified Bible (AMP)
14 For the love of Christ controls and urges and impels us, because we are of the opinion and conviction that [if] One died for all, then all died;
15 And He died for all, so that all those who live might live no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was raised again for their sake.

Psalm 50:14-15
Amplified Bible (AMP)
14 Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the Most High,
15 And call on Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall honor and glorify Me.
Psalm 50:23
Amplified Bible (AMP)
23 He who brings an offering of praise and thanksgiving honors and glorifies Me; and he who orders his way aright [who prepares the way that I may show him], to him I will demonstrate the salvation of God.

Proverbs 10:29
Amplified Bible (AMP)
29 The way of the Lord is strength and a stronghold to the upright, but it is destruction to the workers of iniquity.

(Scriptures were copied and posted through BibleGateway.com.)

20140209

What more could I say? God is the God of the Israelites, whether or not they trust Him or not.
He is my God and He is your God, whether or not we trust Him. Our trust is shown by our obedience from love. As the words of the old hymn, “only trust Him…He will save you.”

Exodus 29:45-46
The Message (MSG)
42-46 “This is to be your regular, daily Whole-Burnt-Offering before God, generation after generation, sacrificed at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. That’s where I’ll meet you; that’s where I’ll speak with you; that’s where I’ll meet the Israelites, at the place made holy by my Glory. I’ll make the Tent of Meeting and the Altar holy. I’ll make Aaron and his sons holy in order to serve me as priests. I’ll move in and live with the Israelites. I’ll be their God. They’ll realize that I am their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt so that I could live with them. I am God, your God.”Exodus 29:45-46

Psalm 41:3
The Message (MSG)
A David Psalm

41 1-3 Dignify those who are down on their luck;
you’ll feel good—that’s what God does.
God looks after us all,
makes us robust with life—
Lucky to be in the land,
we’re free from enemy worries.
Whenever we’re sick and in bed,
God becomes our nurse,
nurses us back to health.Psalm 43:3-4

Proverbs 9:9-10
Amplified Bible (AMP)
9 Give instruction to a wise man and he will be yet wiser; teach a righteous man (one upright and in right standing with God) and he will increase in learning.
10 The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is the beginning (the chief and choice part) of Wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight and understanding.Proverbs 9:9-10 (cf. Proverbs 8:13)

(Scriptures were copied and pasted through BibleGateway.com.)

20140208
The arc of the covenant was small. It carried the stone tablets with God’s commandments and Aaron’s rod which had grown and blossomed. To me, the items represent God’s covenant of unlimited mercy for all who will trust Him. Mercy, love, the fear of God, and wisdom or skilled living are some of the fruits of God’s infinite mercy in our lives.

Exodus 25:17
The Message (MSG)
10 “First let them make a Chest using acacia wood: make it three and three-quarters feet long and two and one-quarter feet wide and deep…..17 “Now make a lid of pure gold for the Chest, an Atonement-Cover, three and three-quarters feet long and two and one-quarter feet wide.
Psalm 36:5
The Message (MSG)
5-6 God’s love is meteoric,
his loyalty astronomic,
His purpose titanic,
his verdicts oceanic.
Yet in his largeness
nothing gets lost;
Not a man, not a mouse,
slips through the cracks.
Proverbs 8:13
The Message (MSG)
12-13 “I am Lady Wisdom, and I live next to Sanity;
Knowledge and Discretion live just down the street.
The Fear-of-GOD means hating Evil,
whose ways I hate with a passion—
pride and arrogance and crooked talk.
Proverbs 9:10
The Message (MSG)
Skilled living gets its start in the Fear-of-GOD,
insight into life from knowing a Holy God.

(Scriptures were copied and posted from BibleGateway.com.)

20140206
If I AM, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is not the only living, all-powerful, all-knowing, completely just and all-loving God, then I could see a relationship of allegiance, obedience, worship and love of another God as reasonable. God, I AM, is the only true God, but He desires a relationship from love, not law. God, the Father, sent His only Son to make reconciliation possible with Him through the working of the Holy Spirit. He deserves all of my love, worship, obedience, and allegiance–and He has given us the Holy Spirit to make that possible. We have an awesome God who loves and forgives us in spite of our willful failing and sin because of Jesus. Hallelujah!

Exodus 20:3
The Message (MSG)
3 No other gods, only me.

Psalm 30:11-12
The Message (MSG)
11-12 You did it: you changed wild lament
into whirling dance;
You ripped off my black mourning band
and decked me with wildflowers.
I’m about to burst with song;
I can’t keep quiet about you.
God, my God,
I can’t thank you enough.

Proverbs 6:16-19
The Message (MSG)
Seven Things God Hates

16-19 Here are six things God hates,
and one more that he loathes with a passion:
eyes that are arrogant,
a tongue that lies,
hands that murder the innocent,
a heart that hatches evil plots,
feet that race down a wicked track,
a mouth that lies under oath,
a troublemaker in the family.

(Scriptures were copied and pasted from BibleGateway.com.)

20140120

How Long?

How long am I willing to trust God for answers to my prayers? How long am I willing to keep praying for answers?

Sarah was at least 90 years old and Abraham at least 100 years old before God gave them Isaac, the promised heir whose name means laughter, as God named him before conception.

THE Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for her as He had promised. For Sarah became pregnant and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time God had told him. Abraham named his son whom Sarah bore to him Isaac [laughter]. (Genesis 21:1-3 AMP)

By this we come to know (perceive, recognize, and understand) that we abide (live and remain) in Him and He in us: because He has given (imparted) to us of His [Holy] Spirit. (1 John 4:13 AMP)

Light is sown for the [uncompromisingly] righteous and strewn along their pathway, and joy for the upright in heart [the irrepressible joy which comes from consciousness of His favor and protection]. (Psalm 97:11 AM

Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart, I am pure from my sin”? (Proverbs 20:9 NASB)

Prophecy? Miracle Tax Payment

When they came to Capernaum, those who collected the two-drachma tax came to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the two-drachma tax? ” However, so that we do not offend them, go to the sea and throw in a hook, and take the first fish that comes up; and when you open its mouth, you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for you and Me.” (Matthew 17:24, 27 NASB)

(Scriptures were copied and posted through the YouVersion app.)

20140203
God delivered the Israelites from the land of Egypt. His Word never fails. Trust Him always. He always does what He promises.

2 Timothy 2:13
The Message (MSG)
“If we give up on him, he does not give up—
for there’s no way he can be false to himself.

Exodus 12:29
Amplified Bible (AMP)
29 At midnight the Lord slew every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock.

Psalm 14:4-6
Amplified Bible (AMP)
4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread and who do not call on the Lord?
5 There they shall be in great fear [literally—dreading a dread], for God is with the generation of the [uncompromisingly] righteous (those upright and in right standing with Him).
6 You [evildoers] would put to shame and confound the plans of the poor and patient, but the Lord is his safe refuge.

Proverbs 3:13
Amplified Bible (AMP)
13 Happy (blessed, fortunate, enviable) is the man who finds skillful and godly Wisdom, and the man who gets understanding [drawing it forth from God’s Word and life’s experiences],
(Scriptures were copied and posted through BibleGateway.com)

20140203
Pharaoh told God tomorrow and God said yes. Our God is so great that He told an enemy of Israel to determine when the plague of the frogs would end—so Pharaoh would “know that there is no one like the Lord our God.”

Exodus 8:9-11
Amplified Bible (AMP)
9 Moses said to Pharaoh, Glory over me in this: dictate when I shall pray [to the Lord] for you, your servants, and your people, that the frogs may be destroyed from you and your houses and remain only in the river.
10 And [Pharaoh] said, Tomorrow. [Moses] said, Let it be as you say, that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God.
11 And the frogs shall depart from you and your houses and from your servants and your people; they shall remain in the river only.

Psalm 10:17-18
Amplified Bible (AMP)
17 O Lord, You have heard the desire and the longing of the humble and oppressed; You will prepare and strengthen and direct their hearts, You will cause Your ear to hear,
18 To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man, who is of the earth, may not terrify them any more.

Proverbs 2:4-5
Amplified Bible (AMP)
4 If you seek [Wisdom] as for silver and search for skillful and godly Wisdom as for hidden treasures,
5 Then you will understand the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of [our omniscient] God.

(Scriptures were copied and posted through BibleGateway.com)