Archive for September 2017

PERILS OF PAUL

September 30, 2017

photo credit: maxinepowerr <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/67777553@N02/37208212582″></a&gt; via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a&gt; <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/”>(license)</a&gt;

 

And I think I’ve had problems…

“Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I.  Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.  From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;  in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;  in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness— besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches.  Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?

 If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity.  The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.  In Damascus the governor, under Aretas the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to arrest me; but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands (2 Corinthians 11:22-33 NKJV).”

 

 

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GOD SHUT THE DOOR

September 22, 2017

photo credit: donbuciak <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/24014236@N07/8437345702″>Noah’s Ark Baby Shower</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a&gt; <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/”>(license)</a&gt;

 

Ever had cabin fever?

Just imagine what it would have been like inside Noah’s ark.

“Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth.

So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth,  two by two they went into the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.  And it came to pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth.  In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.

On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark—  they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort.  And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life.  So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in (Genesis 7:6-16 NKJV).”

God shut the door. He saved Noah and his family from the coming flood.

The flood came… then the waters subsided.

God told them to come out of the ark. He made a promise…

“Then the Lord said in His heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.

‘While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
Cold and heat,
Winter and summer,
And day and night
Shall not cease. (Genesis 8:21b-22 NKJV).”

  

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Catastrophic Loss

September 9, 2017

 

 

 

 

 

photo credit: prairiemomof2 <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/32326251@N00/6496631031″>Tornado. Washington, Kansas</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a&gt; <a href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/”>(license)</a&gt;

 

“One day the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord asked Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’

‘From roaming through the earth,’ Satan answered Him, ‘and walking around on it.’

‘Then the Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered My servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil.’

Satan answered the Lord, ‘Does Job fear God for nothing?  Haven’t You placed a hedge around him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out Your hand and strike everything he owns, and he will surely curse You to Your face.’

‘Very well,’ the Lord told Satan, ‘everything he owns is in your power. However, you must not lay a hand on Job himself.’ So Satan left the Lord’s presence.

One day when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,  a messenger came to Job and reported: ‘While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys grazing nearby,  the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!’

He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported: ‘A lightning storm struck from heaven. It burned up the sheep and the servants and devoured them, and I alone have escaped to tell you!’

 That messenger was still speaking when yet another came and reported: ‘The Chaldeans formed three bands, made a raid on the camels, and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!’

He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported: ‘Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house. Suddenly a powerful wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people so that they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you!’

Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, saying:

Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will leave this life.
The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.
Praise the name of Yahweh.

Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything (Job 1:1-22 HCSB).”

 

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