Imagine being inspired by Jesus and awaiting his return to see if you are one of the Twelve chosen. I never realized that there was a selection process to being a disciple. I thought Jesus just went along and selected the later-to-be-apostles by saying ‘Come, follow Me.’

That he went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.

Jesus pulled an all-nighter. I wonder if he prayed for wisdom to make the right choices in selecting His Disciples.

And when day broke, he summoned his disciples; and from these he chose twelve (whom he also named apostles): Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James, the son of Alpheus, and Simon called the Zealot; Jude the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, who turned traitor.

I always liked that my parents named me Andrew which is a name of one of the Twelve Disciples. My name was the persistence of two generations as my father was named Andrew after the first born, a junior with the exact same name of his father, died as an infant. My Dad was the second Andrew of his family. My Dad waited until his third son and last of six children was born and made me a junior too, which I also am fond of being.

So then the Twelve make the cut, are selected as Disciples and immediately get the full treatment of what it is going to be like to be a Disciple with Jesus Christ as the leader.

And coming down with them…with a crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people… and the crowd were trying to touch him, for power went forth from him and healed them.

First, the Blessing Beatitudes:

Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied.

Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

 

Blessed shall you be when men hate you, and when they shut you out, and reproach you, and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

Then the Woes:

Woe to you rich! For you are now having your comfort.

Woe to you who are filled! For you shall hunger.

Woe to you who laugh now! For you shall mourn and weep.

Woe to you when all men speak well of you!

Then what I call the Merits:

What merit do you have—if you love those who love you?

What merit do you have—if you do good to those who do good to you?

What merit do you have—if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive in return?

And along the way so many Spiritual Truths that even I could not write them down fast enough in my journal as Jesus spoke them!

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.

And to him that strikes thee on the one cheek, offer the other also.

From him who takes the cloak, do not withhold the tunic.

Give to everyone who asks of thee, and from him who takes away thy goods, ask no return.

And even as you wish men to do to you, so also do you to them.

For your reward shall be great, and you shall be children of the Most High, for he is kind towards the ungrateful and evil. Be merciful even as your Father is merciful.

Do not judge, and you shall not be judged.

Do not condemn, and you shall not be condemned.

Forgive, and you shall be forgiven.

Give, and it shall be given to you.

For with what measure you measure, it shall be measured to you.

Then in due measure Jesus talks ‘the blind leading the blind’ and only if a disciple is perfect can he be anything like Jesus and warns of being a hypocrite.

Can a blind man guide a blind man? Will not both fall into a pit? No disciple is above his teacher; but when perfected, everyone will be like his teacher.

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam from thy own eye, and then thou wilt see clearly to cast out the speck from thy brother’s eye.

And then challenges the Disciples and the multitude of people by asking of them: “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not practice the things that I say?”

Right off the bat, as I am reading through these I begin to deny, rationalize and justify my lack of perfection in living up to the standards of the Beatitudes, Opposite to the Woes, and these Spiritual Principles.

Why can’t I, at times, weep and laugh now and later too? Isn’t the energy of the Universe and God’s Love unlimited? I mean this is the New Testament, isn’t it?

Not only am I full at times but rarely do I feel the pang of real hunger.

I don’t think I am like the annoying and righteous Christians that purposely go around judging people to make themselves feel superior. Or am I?

do like to love and do good things to my friends and literally protect my boundaries when enemies attack me. I do pray for my so-called enemies, as I don’t feel resentment or hatred towards anyone for any substantial period of time, but I don’t necessary love them like I do myself, God or my good neighbors, family and friends.

I do think I forgive and give and live by the Golden Rule of ‘do unto others what you would like them to do to you.’

I remember this being made very clear to me in a succinct and subtle way by my mother. Her only dating advice to me was to treat girls, at the time, women now, as you would like other guys to treat your sisters. I think I have lived up to that for the most part knowing I may have broken a few hearts and my heart was definitely broken a few times.

And my thoughts come full circle back to denying, rationalizing and justifying my thoughts, words, and behavior in relationship to Jesus’ high and perfect standards.

I would say that I feel Jesus is in my heart, that The Holy Spirit permeates my being and I have an intimate and ongoing relationship with God.

I am sensitive, not at all perfectly, to other people’s situation, feelings, and emotions. I am increasingly sensitive to the perceptions and assumptions of our secular world. Verse Two of the Serenity Prayer frees me in the words of “taking, as You (Jesus) did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it.”” Acceptance is a powerful tool in living each day one at a time.

I am a sinner and the only person I can change, with God’s blessing and power, is myself.

Here’s a big difference I have with the secular world that I cannot accept:

Evil cannot be inspired. I get upset when I hear a news report of a terrorist or some other evil person being “inspired” to do bad things. Inspired comes from God breathing in the breath of life into each one of us. God is inspiration and evil cannot and does not come from God. Only good people doing good things to help others can be inspired.

Jesus words about the good man and evil man confirm this in my opinion.

“For every tree is known by its fruit… The good man from the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and the evil man from the evil treasure brings forth that which is evil. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”

The good treasure of his heart versus from the evil treasure—evil can’t be in any heart, or any soul. Evil can’t reside where good resides just like darkness can’t be present where there is light. Evil is not ever inspiring, it comes from Satan.

And all the above was only Chapter 6 of the Gospel of Luke!

Here is the short and sweet version of Chapter 7 with the long and bitter version is below in the notes, bitter because when the truth is applied to my thoughts, words, and actions; what I see is too bitter to swallow at first, but over time Jesus sweetens it and me to myself and the world.

Jesus to the centurion: “Amen I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.”

Jesus to the dead man: “Young man, I say to thee, arise.” And he who was dead, sat up, and began to speak.

Jesus to the crowds and us: “I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

Jesus to the men of that generation (and this generation); “(You) are like children sitting in the market place… And wisdom is justified by all her children.”

Jesus to Simon the Pharisee: “Dost thou see this woman? …Her sins, many as they are, shall be forgiven her, because she has loved much. But he to whom little is forgiven, loves little.”

Let us love much and be careful that we don’t create our own wisdom amongst our peer group. Wisdom comes first from the Truth and Truth comes from the Word of God.

Is it time to choose yourself to become a Disciple of Christ? Why not be at your Beatitudes Best?

 

Peace, joy, and freedom is the Ultimate Love in life…

Day 60: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Choose Yourself to Become a Disciple of Christ; Be Your Beatitudes Best!

Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Gospel of Saint Luke Chapters 6-7.

Bible Notes:

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke

Saint Luke, a pagan by birth and a physician by profession, had never seen our Lord. An early convert, he became a companion and co-worker of Saint Paul.

In the first four verses of his Gospel he explains why he wrote it. Paul’s doctrine that salvation is for all, not for Jesus alone, is the theme of Saint Luke’s Gospel.

 

Luke Chapter 6:  The disciples pluck grain on the Sabbath; A man with a withered hand; The choice of the Twelve; The beatitudes and woes; Love of enemies; Rush judgment and forgiveness; Self-examination; False prophets; Conclusion of the Sermon.

Pharisees: Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?

Jesus” “The Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

Jesus: “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do evil? To save a life or destroy it?”

The choice of the Twelve.

That he went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when day broke, he summoned his disciples; and from these he chose twelve (whom he also named apostles): Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James, the son of Alpheus, and Simon called the Zealot; Jude the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, who turned traitor.

And coming down with them…with a crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people… and the crowd were trying to touch him, for power went forth from him and healed them.

The Beatitudes and Woes

Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied.

Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

Blessed shall you be when men hate you, and when they shut you out, and reproach you, and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

Woe to you rich! For you are now having your comfort.

Woe to you who are filled! For you shall hunger.

Woe to you who laugh now! For you shall mourn and weep.

Woe to you when all men speak well of you!

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.

And to him that strikes thee on the one cheek, offer the other also.

From him who takes the cloak, do not withhold the tunic.

Give to everyone who asks of thee, and from him who takes away thy goods, ask no return.

And even as you wish men to do to you, so also do you to them.

What merit do you have—if you love those who love you?

What merit do you have—if you do good to those who do good to you?

What merit do you have—if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive in return?

For your reward shall be great, and you shall be children of the Most High, for he is kind towards the ungrateful and evil. Be merciful even as your Father is merciful.

Do not judge, and you shall not be judged.

Do not condemn, and you shall not be condemned.

Forgive, and you shall be forgiven.

Give, and it shall be given to you.

For with what measure you measure, it shall be measured to you.

Can a blind man guide a blind man? Will not both fall into a pit? No disciple is above his teacher; but when perfected, everyone will be like his teacher.

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam from thy own eye, and then thou wilt see clearly to cast out the speck from thy brother’s eye.

“For every tree is known by its fruit… The good man from the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good; and the evil man from the evil treasure brings forth that which is evil. For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”

But why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not practice the things that I say?

Because it was founded on rock…

He built his house upon the ground without a foundation… and great was the wreck of that house.

Luke Chapter 7:  The centurion asks Jesus to cure a servant; The centurion’s faith; His servant is cured; Raising a widow’s son; The Baptist sends two disciples to Jesus; They question Jesus; Christ’s witness concerning John; The stubborn children; A sinful woman anoints Jesus’ feet; The Pharisee is shocked; Jesus’ words to the Pharisee.

Elders of the Jews to Jesus about the centurion: “He is worthy that thou shouldst do this for him, for he loves our nation and himself has built us our synagogue.”

Centurion: “Lord do not trouble thyself, for I am not worthy that thou shouldst come under my roof; this is why I did not think myself worthy to come to thee. But say the word, and my servant will be healed, For I too am a man subject to authority, and have soldiers subject to me; and I say to one ’Go’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

Jesus: “Amen I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.”

A dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow…

And the Lord seeing her, had great compassion on her, and said to her, “Do not weep.” And he went up and touched the stretcher; and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to thee, arise.” And he who was dead, sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother. But fear seized upon all, and they began to glorify God, saying, “a great prophet has risen among us,” and “God has visited his people.”

Two Disciples of John to Jesus: “John the Baptist has sent us to thee, saying, ‘Art thou he who is to come, or shall we look for another?’”

Jesus answered them: “Go and report to John what you have heard and seen: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the dead rise, the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not scandalized in me.”

Jesus to the crowds: “What did you go out to the desert to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Behold, those who wear fine clothes and live in luxury are in the houses of kings. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall make ready thy way before thee.’ I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

“To what then shall I liken the men of this generation? And what are they like? They are like children sitting in the market place, calling to one another and saying, ‘We have piped to you, and you have not danced; we have sung dirges, and you have not wept.’ For John the Baptist came neither eating nor drinking, and you say, ‘He has a devil.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold a man who is a glutton, and a wine-drinker, a friend of publicans and sinners? And wisdom is justified by all her children.”

Now one of the Pharisees asked him to dine with him; so he went into the house of the Pharisee and reclined at table. And behold, a woman in the town who was a sinner… began to bathe his feet with her tears, and wiped then with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with alabaster ointment.

Pharisee said to himself: “This man, were he a prophet, would surely know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”

Jesus to the Pharisee: “Simon, I have something to say to thee. A certain money-lender had two debtors; the one owed five hundred denarii, the other fifty. As they had no means of repaying, he forgave them both. Which of them, therefore, will love him more?

Simon the Pharisee answered: “he, I suppose, to whom he forgave more.”

Jesus: “Thou hast judged rightly.”

And turning to the woman, Jesus said to Simon: “Dost thou see this woman? I came into thy house; thou gavest me no water for my feet; but she bathed my feet with tears and has wiped them with her hair. Thou gavest me no kiss; but she, from the moment she entered, has not ceased to kiss my feet. Thou didst not anoint my head with oil; but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say to thee, her sins, many as they are, shall be forgiven her, because she has loved much. But he to whom little is forgiven, loves little.”

Jesus to the woman: “Thy sins are forgiven. Thy faith has saved thee; go in peace.”

Others at the table: “Who is this man, who even forgives sins?”

In the Book of Deuteronomy it is almost as the writer is reviewing the first four books of the Old Testament—Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, and Leviticus and reforming them into a simpler, more descriptive and organized narrative.

Hear, O Israel, the ceremonies and judgments… learn them, and fulfill them in work. He made not the covenant with our fathers, but with us, who are now present and living.

Who are you working for today?

Did God simply want a day off thinking that if we had a day off, He could take a day off?

I am not God. God is God and I may not understand His ways or His thinking.

The Ten Commandments were pretty simple and straight forward… or where they?

1. Thou shalt not adore them, and thou shalt not serve them. For I am the Lord thy God.
2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
3. Observe the day of the Sabbath, to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee. The seventh is the day of the Sabbath, that is, the rest of the Lord thy God.
4. Honor thy father and mother.
5. Thou shalt not kill.
6. Neither shalt thou commit adultery.
7. Thou shalt not steal.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not covet.
10. 10 ???

 

 

 

No. 9 is split into two commandments—Thou shalt not covet they neighbor’s wife—and—Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house—but Scripture also specifies us not covet thy neighbor’s manservant, Thou shalt not covet his maidservant, not his ox, nor his ass nor anything that is his.

Why only neighbor’s wife and house? Isn’t he wife coveting covered in No. 6—Thou shalt not commit adultery? Isn’t ‘anything that is his’ sort of an infinite statement? Could have easily been the Infinite Commandments or at least The Twelve Commandments to match the Twelve Tribes of Israel and the Twelve Disciples.

The children of Israel to Moses: approach thou rather; and hear all things that the Lord our God shall say to thee, and thou shalt speak to us, and we will hear and will do them.

Thou shalt not lie could have easily have been Commandment No. 12.

But you shall walk in the way that the Lord your God hath commanded, that you may live, and it may be well with you, and your days may be long in the land of your possession.

Longevity, as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, has its place.

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength. And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart, and thou shalt tell them to thy children, and thou shalt meditate upon them sitting in thy house, and walking on thy journey, sleeping, and rising.

Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and shalt serve him only, and thou shall swear by his name.

Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God, as thou tempest him in place of temptation. And do that which is pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord.

God was destroying other human gods and idols by selecting Israel and destroying others via them. While true and real, this people-to-people warfare can be transitioned to the one-personal-personal level and be utilized to exorcise our human character defects and shortcomings.

The macro people-nations-world scale:

When the Lord thy God… shall have destroyed many nations before thee… seven nations much more numerous than thou art, and stronger than thou, and the Lord thy God shall have delivered them to thee, thou shall utterly destroy them. Thou shalt make no league with them, nor show mercy to them. Neither shalt thou make marriages with them… for she will turn away thy son from following Me.

Because thou art a holy people to the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen thee, to be his peculiar people of all peoples that are upon the earth… the Lord hath loved you, and hath kept his oath, which he swore to your fathers: and hath brought you out with a strong hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage. And thou shalt know that the Lord thy God, he is a strong and faithful God, keeping his covenant and mercy to them that love Him, and to them that keep His commandments, unto a thousand generations…

He will love thee and multiply thee.

The micro perspective—you, me and that other gal or guy too:

And hath brought you out of a stronghand and redeemed you from the house of bondage—could easily be speaking to recovery from addiction, hurts, habits, hang-ups or any type of dysfunction today.

 

Forget about curing the world, go cure yourself first!

The Promised Land is promised!

That the things that were in thy heart might be made known, whether thou wouldst keep His commandments or no… He has afflicted thee with want… to show that not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God… that thou mayest consider in thy heart, that as a man traineth up his son, so the Lord thy God hath trained thee up. That thou shouldst keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in His ways, and fear Him… at the last He had mercy on thee, lest thou shouldst say in thy heart: My own might, and the strength of my own hand achieved all these things for me.

We are present and presumed living—what if your Personal Covenant with God, Jesus & The Holy Spirit?

Day 61: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Present & Living—Our Personal Covenant with God, Jesus & The Holy Spirit.

Read and inspired by the Old Testament, The Book of Deuteronomy Chapters 5-10

Bible Notes:

This Book is so called Deuteronomy, which means a second law, because it repeats, explains, and expands the Law given on Mount Sinai. It contains three discourses of Moses encouraging the Israelites, who will shortly enter The Promised Land, to observe the Law.

The last four chapters describe the last days and the death of Moses on Mount Nebo in the Land of Moab.

Deuteronomy Chapter 5: Covenant at Horeb; The first three commandments; the last seven commandments; The fear of the Israelites; Reward for obeying God;

Hear, O Israel, the ceremonies and judgments… learn them, and fulfill them in work.

He made not the covenant with our fathers, but with us, who are now present and living.

I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

1. Thou shalt not adore them, and thou shalt not serve them. For I am the Lord thy God.
2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
3. Observe the day of the Sabbath, to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee. The seventh is the day of the Sabbath, that is, the rest of the Lord thy God.
4. Honor thy father and mother.
5. Thou shalt not kill.
6. Neither shalt thou commit adultery.
7. Thou shalt not steal.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not covet.

10 ???

Approach thou rather; and hear all things that the Lord our God shall say to thee, and thou shalt speak to us, and we will hear and will do them.

But you shall walk in the way that the Lord your God hath commanded, that you may live, and it may be well with you, and your days may be long in the land of your possession.

Deuteronomy Chapter 6: Exhortation to love God; Warning not to forget God; Reward for pleasing the Lord; Children shall be taught to love God.

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength. And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart, and thou shalt tell them to thy children, and thou shalt meditate upon them sitting in thy house, and walking on thy journey, sleeping, and rising.

Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and shalt serve him only, and thou shall swear by his name.

Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God, as thou tempest him in place of temptation. And do that which is pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord.

Deuteronomy Chapter 7: Fellowship with pagans forbidden; God’s love for the Israelites; Rewards for obedience.

When the Lord thy God… shall have destroyed many nations before thee… seven nations much more numerous than thou art, and stronger than thou, and the Lord thy God shall have delivered them to thee, thou shall utterly destroy them. Thou shalt make no league with them, nor show mercy to them. Neither shalt thou make marriages with them… for she will turn away thy son from following Me.

Because thou art a holy people to the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen thee, to be his peculiar people of all peoples that are upon the earth… the Lord hath loved you, and hath kept his oath, which he swore to your fathers: and hath brought you out with a strong hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage. And thou shalt know that the Lord thy God, he is a strong and faithful God, keeping his covenant and mercy to them that love Him, and to them that keep His commandments, unto a thousand generations…

He will love thee and multiply thee.

No one shall be barren among you of either sex, neither of men nor cattle…

Thy eye shall not spare them, neither shalt thou serve their gods, lest they be thy ruin.

Thou will not be able to destroy them altogether: lest perhaps the beasts of the earth should increase upon them.

Neither shalt thou bring any thing of the idol into thy house, lest thou become an anathema, like it.

Anathema—a person or thing detested or loathed; a person or thing accursed or consigned to damnation or destruction; a formal ecclesiastical curse involving excommunication; any imprecation of divine punishment; a curse; execration.

Deuteronomy Chapter 8: God’s mercy recalled; Prophecy of life in the Promised Land.

That the things that were in thy heart might be made known, whether thou wouldst keep His commandments or no… He has afflicted thee with want… to show that not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God… that thou mayest consider in thy heart, that as a man traineth up his son, so the Lord thy God hath trained thee up. That thou shouldst keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in His ways, and fear Him… at the last He had mercy on thee, lest thou shouldst say in thy heart: My own might, and the strength of my own hand achieved all these things for me.

Deuteronomy Chapter 9: Moses warns the Israelites against pride; The molten calf; Other revolts against the Lord; Moses’ prayer.

Whereas these nations are destroyed for their wickedness.

I see that this people is stiffnecked.

The graves of lust you provoked the Lord

But were always rebellious from the day that I begun to know you.

Deuteronomy Chapter 10: God’s mercy in restoring the tablets; Eleazar succeeds Aaron; The tribe of Levi to minister before God; Moses’ forty days in the mount; Requirements of God; God’s great mercy.

And put the tables (of the covenant) in the ark

At that time he separated the tribe of Levi, to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to stand before Him in the ministry, and to bless in his name until this present day.

Wherefore Levi hath no part nor possession with his brethren: because the Lord himself is his possession, as the Lord they God promised him.

Behold heaven is the Lord’s thy God, and the heaven of the heaven, the earth and all things that are therein.

Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and stiffen your neck no more.

He doth… loveth the stranger, and giveth him food and rainment. And therefore love strangers, because you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.

In seventy souls thy fathers went down into Egypt, and behold now the Lord thy God hath multiplied thee as the stars of heaven.

How often we hear these days that one’s perspective, one’s positive thinking makes all the difference in the world? And it does though many times it is a manipulation of the mind to promote a product or service and a sale is made.

Some of my earliest inspiration and motivation came from reading “The Power of Positive Thinking: by Norman Vincent Peale. It helped but wasn’t enough for every challenge in my life.

Jesus spoke in parables and after one parable—the Parable of the Sower—He gave the Explanation Key to the Twelve Apostles and to us thought The Word of God.

“He who has ears to hear, let them hear!”

“To you (the Twelve Disciples) it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to the rest in parables, that ‘Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’”

How can we do not well on the examination of our life when we had the answers given to us? Jesus’ divine interpretation of the Parable of the Sower is embedded here in parenthesis.

‘The sower went out to sow his seed (The Word of God)… some seed fell by the  wayside (they who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away The Word (of God) from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved) and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air ate it up.”

‘The sower went out to sow his seed (The Word of God)… other seed fell upon the rock (they who have heard, received The Word of Joy, and these have no root, but believe for a while, and in the time of temptation fall away), and as soon as it sprung up it withered away, because it had no moisture.”

‘The sower went out to sow his seed (The Word of God)… and other seed fell among thorns (they who have heard, and as they go their way are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not ripen), and the thorns sprung up with it and choked it.”

‘The sower went out to sow his seed (The Word of God)… and other seed fell upon good ground (they who, with a right and good heart, having heard The Word, hold it fast, and bear fruit in patience}, and sprang up and yielded fruit a hundredfold.”

Unlike ‘Make a Deal,’ the TV game show, there are four choices, not three.

What do they all have in common for us, the seeds?

Their hearts, no heart, choked hearts and a right and good heart.

Is Jesus in your heart today? To love you, to lead you, to maintain your vibrant spirit so that all of life’s trials and tribulations and successes are endured in a Christian way!

The devil has come and taken away the Word of God from my heart at times in my life. There were times I did not believe or have Jesus in my heart.

Other times I believed for a while but in the time of temptation fell away. I saw the bait, but not the hook of sin. I was focused on the present and not the rest of my life.

And yes, the care and riches and pleasures of life have distracted me and even today continue to do so.

But now, at least for this moment, my heart is right and good with God, myself and others. I listen closely to The Word of God wherever and whenever it is spoken and it is always being spoken everywhere and in many different ways. I hold it fast, I remain tightly secured to The Word of God and have faith, trust and promise that it will continue to bear good fruit for the rest of my life.

I know I need to give patience her time, not my time or expectations or demands.

Borrowing ahead from James in the New Testament (James 1:2-4):

‘Esteem it all joy, my brethren, when you fall into various trials, knowing that the trying of your faith begets patience. And let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing.’

In this moment I am ‘perfect and entire, lacking nothing.’ I give patience her time to do God’s Will in my life and supply me with the power to do so, if and when God’s Will deems it so. I have jumped off the hamster wheel of always seeking more yet not taking the time to enjoy what I have and to be grateful for what God has blessed me with already in my life.

Which door do you choose?

“For there is nothing hidden that will not be made manifest; nor anything concealed that will not be known and come to light. Take heed, therefore, how you hear; for to him who has shall be given; and from him who does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away.”

Make sure Jesus is in your heart and listen for The Word of God…

See beyond what seems to be…

Day 62: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Hear The Word of God and See Beyond What Seems To Be…

Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Gospel of Saint Luke Chapter 8.

Bible Notes:

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke

Saint Luke, a pagan by birth and a physician by profession, had never seen our Lord. An early convert, he became a companion and co-worker of Saint Paul.

In the first four verses of his Gospel he explains why he wrote it. Paul’s doctrine that salvation is for all, not for Jesus alone, is the theme of Saint Luke’s Gospel.

 

Luke Chapter 8:  The ministering women; Parable of the sower; Jesus explanation; Purpose of this teaching; Jesus and His brethren; The storm on the lake; A man possessed by a devil; The devil’s name; The devil enter the swine; Jesus asked to leave Gerasa; Jairus asks Jesus to cure his daughter; The woman with a hemorrhage cured; She acknowledges her cure; Jairus’ daughter dies; Jesus raises the daughter to life.

And with Him were the Twelve, and certain women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, who is called the Magdalene, from whom seven devils had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, who used to provide for them out of their means.

“He who has ears to hear, let them hear!”

“To you (the Twelve Disciples) it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to the rest in parables, that ‘Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’”

‘The sower went out to sow his seed (The Word of God)… some seed fell by the  wayside (they who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away The Word (of God) from their hearts, that they may not believe and be saved) and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air ate it up.”

‘The sower went out to sow his seed (The Word of God)… other seed fell upon the rock (they who have heard, received The Word of Joy, and these have no root, but believe for a while, and in the time of temptation fall away), and as soon as it sprung up it withered away, because it had no moisture.”

‘The sower went out to sow his seed (The Word of God)… and other seed fell among thorns (they who have heard, and as they go their way are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not ripen), and the thorns sprung up with it and choked it.”

‘The sower went out to sow his seed (The Word of God)… and other seed fell upon good ground (they who, with a right and good heart, having heard The Word, hold it fast, and bear fruit in patience}, and sprang up and yielded fruit a hundredfold.”

Thy mother and thy brethren are standing outside, wishing to see thee. But he (Jesus) answered and said to them. “My mother and my brethren are they who hear The Word of God, and act upon it.”

“Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.”

“Where is your faith?”

But they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the sea, and they obey him?”

And the devils came out from the man (named Legion) and entered into the swine; and the herd rushed down the cliff into the lake and were drowned.

And all the people of Gerasene district besought him to depart from them; for they were seized with great fear.

Jesus to Legion: “Return to thy house, and tell all that God has done for thee.”

“Who touched me? Someone touched me, for I perceived that power had gone forth from me. Daughter, thy faith has saved thee; go in peace.”

“Do not weep; she is asleep, not dead. Girl arise!” And her spirit returned, and she rose up immediately.

Deuteronomy repeats, explains, and expands the narrative of the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Lan and the Law of Moses given on Mount Sinai. Lots of it, the majority is repeated from the early books of the Old Testament but new material and new perspectives are to be found.

It seems to me that the whole journey of the Israelites, the law or commandments, and the ensuing trials and tribulations can be viewed as a metaphor for our personal struggles in life.

With some insights into wisdom such as ‘Know this day the things that your children know not’ and ‘would persuade thee secretly, saying… consent not to him, hear his not, but though shall presently put him to death.’

But we don’t worship idols like those of Biblical Times, right? No molten calf here, right? What about idols of the modern secular world?

I surely worshipped my career over God, family, and even my own personal health and well-being. ‘Golf is my passion,’ is the same as ‘Golf is my Idol’ at times. Fame and fortune on the good worldly side isolation and gluttony on the other side. Nothing bad, nothing terrible, all choices that I am entitled to make with my hard earned Free Will. So we rationalize to ourselves.

If then you obey my commandments… that you love the Lord your God, and serve him with all your heart, and with all your soul…

Beware lest perhaps your heart be deceived, and you depart from the Lord, and serve strange gods, and adore them, and the Lord being angry shut up heaven, that the rain come not down, nor the earth yield her fruit, and you perish quickly from the excellent land, which the Lord will give you.

Lay up these my words in your heart and minds… teach your children that they meditate on them, when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest on the way, and when thou liest down and risest up.

For if you keep my commandments… the Lord will destroy all these nations before your face, and you shall them, which are greater and stronger than you. Every place that your foot shall tread upon, shall be yours…

God will destroy all my personalized modern idols is I surrender to His Will.’

You God trieth you, that it may appear whether you love him with all your heart, and with all your soul, or not. Follow the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and hear his voice: him you shall serve, and to him you shall cleave.

 

And thou shalt take away the evil out of the midst of thee…

God, please take away the evil in the midst of me and my life.

Help me to ‘remember that I also was a bondservant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God made me free…’ Let me let go of my addictions and hurts and hang-ups and habits that don’t serve You or me.

Don’t let ‘gifts blind my eyes or change my words,’ away from Your love, acceptance and compassion.

With a renewed spirit and mind, a clear and present conscience, ‘make me merry at festival time!

Day 63: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Psalm Deuteronomy: For This I Pray, Don’t Let it Happen to Me!

Read and inspired by the Old Testament, The Book of Deuteronomy Chapters 11-16

Bible Notes:

This Book is so called Deuteronomy, which means a second law, because it repeats, explains, and expands the Law given on Mount Sinai. It contains three discourses of Moses encouraging the Israelites, who will shortly enter The Promised Land, to observe the Law.

The last four chapters describe the last days and the death of Moses on Mount Nebo in the Land of Moab.

Deuteronomy Chapter 11: Demonstrations of the power of God; Description of The Promised Land; Blessings which follow obedience; Punishment for idolatry; Close adherence to God’s words required; A blessing and a curse.

Know this day the things that your children know not…

But it is a land of hills and valleys, expecting rain from heaven.

If then you obey my commandments… that you love the Lord your God, and serve him with all your heart, and with all your soul…

Beware lest perhaps your heart be deceived, and you depart from the Lord, and serve strange gods, and adore them, and the Lord being angry shut up heaven, that the rain come not down, nor the earth yield her fruit, and you perish quickly from the excellent land, which the Lord will give you.

Lay up these my words in your heart and minds… teach your children that they meditate on them, when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest on the way, and when thou liest down and risest up.

For if you keep my commandments… the Lord will destroy all these nations before your face, and you shall them, which are greater and stronger than you. Every place that your foot shall tread upon, shall be yours…

Behold I set forth in your sight this day a blessing and a curse. A blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day. A curse, if you obey not the commandments of the Lord your God, but revolt from the way which I now shoe you, and walk after strange gods which you knew not.

Deuteronomy Chapter 12: Places of idolatry to be destroyed; The place of sacrifice; Blood is forbidden for food; Tithes must be eaten in the holy place; Laws for eating flesh; Warning against idolatry.

Destroy all the places in which the nations, that you shall possess, worshiped their gods upon high mountains, and hills, and under every shady tree.

You shall not do so to the Lord your God, but you shall come to the place, which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, and to dwell in it.

You shall not do there the things we do here this day, every man that which seemeth good to himself.

That you may have rest from all enemies round about: and may dwell without any fear.

Only beware of this, that thou eat not the blood, for the blood is for the soul; and therefore thou must not eat the soul with the flesh.

Deuteronomy Chapter 13: False prophets must be slain; Relatives and friends who urge idolatry; Idolatrous cities.

You God trieth you, that it may appear whether you love him with all your heart, and with all your soul, or not. Follow the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and hear his voice: him you shall serve, and to him you shall cleave.

And thou shalt take away the evil out of the midst of thee…

Would persuade thee secretly, saying…

Consent not to him, hear his not, but though shall presently put him to death.

Deuteronomy Chapter 14: Disfiguring the body forbidden; Clean and unclean animals; Clean and unclean fowl; Nothing that dies of itself shall be eaten; Annual tithes; Charitable offerings.

You shall not cut yourself, nor make any baldness for the dead.

Eat not the things that are unclean.

Every beast that divideth the hoof in two parts, and cheweth the cud, you shall eat.

But whatsoever is dead of itself, eat not thereof Give it to the stranger… because thou art the holy people of the Lord thy God.

And the Levite… the stranger… the fatherless… and the widow shall come and shall eat and be filled.

Deuteronomy Chapter 15: Year of remission; Charity to the poor; Freedom of servants; Sanctification of firstlings.

In the seventh year thou shalt make a remission, which shall be celebrated in this order. He to whom anything is owing from his friend or neighbor or brother, cannot demand it again, because it is the year of remission to the Lord.

Of the foreigner or stranger thou mayst exact it: of thy countryman and neighbor thou shalt not have power to demand it again. And there shall be no poor nor beggar among you: that the Lord thy God may bless thee in the land which he will give thee in possession.

Remission—pardon; forgiveness, as of sins or offenses.

If one of thy brethren… come to poverty: thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor close thy hand, but shalt open it to the poor man.

Beware lest perhaps a wicked thought steal in upon thee, and thou say in thy heart: The seventh year of remission draweth nigh; and thou turn away thy eyes from thy poor brother, denying to lend him that which he asketh… neither shalt thou do any thing craftily in relieving his necessities…

When thy brother, a Hebrew Man, or Hebrew woman, is sold to thee, and hath served thee six years, in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free…

Remember that thou also was a bondservant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God made thee free, and therefore I now command thee this.

Deuteronomy Chapter 16: The Passover; Pentecost; Feast of tabernacles; Three times a year all males appear before the Lord; Judges and magistrates; Groves and images forbidden.

Thou shalt not eat with it leavened bread: seven days shalt thou eat without leaven the bread of affliction, because thou camest out of Egypt in fear: that thou mayest remember the day of thy coming out of Egypt, all the days of thy life.

And thou shalt make merry in thy festival time…

Three times a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God… in the feast of unleavened bread, in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles,

Thou shalt appoint Judges and magistrates… that they may judge the people with just judgment… thou shalt not accept person not gifts: for gifts blind the eyes of the wise, and change the words of the just.

Even back when Jesus walked the earth it wasn’t easy to know exactly who he was. Even for his Twelve Disciples!

Jesus to his disciples: “Who do the crowds say I am? But who do you say that I am?

Simon Peter answered: “The Christ of God.”

Jesus: The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and Scribes, and be put to death, and on the third day rise again.”

There is a mystery to life, isn’t there? When to strive for perfection and when to accept less than perfect in oneself and others? When to control others and the situation versus when to trust and let other go and the situation wander aimlessly to its destined outcome? When to see things in contrasting opposites with no middle ground—good and evil, Christ and the Devil—versus not making a judgment or putting a label on ourselves, others and a situation. But the results of our perspectives and decisions can be gloriously joyful or painfully dreadful or may even bring death, whether spiritual or physical.

 

 

The Doctrine of the Cross: “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For he who would save his life will lose it; but he who loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, but ruin or lose himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and that of the Father and of the holy angels. But I say to you truly, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death, till they have seen the kingdom of God.”

There is ambition and envy even within the spiritual confines of ourselves or our religious organizations.

Jesus against ambition: “Whoever receives this little child for my sake, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives him who sent me. For he who is the least among you, he is the greatest.”

John: Master, we saw a man casting out devils in thy name, and we forbade him, because he does not follow us.

Jesus replied against envy: “Do not forbid him; for who is not against you is for you.”

But it all comes down to service and to be of service to God and others we need to get outside of our Self, our Pride, and our selfish ego.

It’s not an all-or-nothing world!

Others, who are not followers of Christ can cast out devils in Christ’s name and Jesus did not have a problem with them, basically declaring we are all on the good side and let’s focus together on the bad side not differences amongst us.

Jesus was transfigured… and as he prayed, the appearance of his countenance was changed, and his raiment became a radiant white… And behold two men were talking with him. And these were Moses and Elias, who, appearing in glory, spoke of his death, which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem.

I never knew what Jesus, Moses, and Elias spoke about when Jesus was transfigured.

God speaks again in the New Testament… and there came a voice out of the cloud saying. “This is my beloved Son, hear him.”

Jesus to his disciples: “Store up these words in your minds: the Son of Man is to be betrayed into the hands of Men.”

Maybe we weren’t there to hear Jesus when he was alive walking the Earth…

Hopefully we hear his voice ring out from our hearts…

 

 

And we don’t have to be perfect. There were even Samaritans that did not take care of Jesus when needed.

A Samaritan town did not receive Jesus because his face was set for Jerusalem. James and John asked Jesus if they should bid fire come down from heaven and consume them. Jesus rebuked them saying: “You do not know of what manner of spirit you are; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy man’s lives, but to save them.” And they went to another village.

Who are we to judge the spirit within another human being?

Let’s just get to know Jesus though the Scriptures and through our life experiences, and then let’s conquer life, as we know it, with Jesus in our hearts…

Day 64: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Know Jesus, then Conquer Life with Jesus in your Heart…

Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Gospel of Saint Luke Chapter 9.

Bible Notes:

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke

Saint Luke, a pagan by birth and a physician by profession, had never seen our Lord. An early convert, he became a companion and co-worker of Saint Paul.

In the first four verses of his Gospel he explains why he wrote it. Paul’s doctrine that salvation is for all, not for Jesus alone, is the theme of Saint Luke’s Gospel.

 

Luke Chapter 9:  The mission of the Apostles; Herod wonders; The Apostles return; Jesus feed five thousand; Peter’s confession; Christ’s prophecy; The doctrine of the cross; Jesus transfigured; A possessed boy; Jesus cures him; The second prediction of the Passion; Against ambition; against envy; The unfriendly Samaritans; Sacrifice to follow Christ.

Jesus gave the Apostles power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. And he sent them forth to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.

Jesus to the Apostles: “Take nothing for your journey, neither staff, nor wallet, nor bread, nor money; neither have two tunics. And whatever house you enter, stay there, and do not leave the place. And whoever does not receive you—go forth from that town, and shake off even the dust from your feet for a witness against them.”

Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was being done by Jesus and was much perplexed… and he endeavored to see him. “John I beheaded; but who is this about whom I hear such things?”

And the Apostles on their return reported to him all that they had done… And Jesus welcomed them (crowds), and spoke to them of the kingdom of God, and those in need of cure he healed.

Jesus feeds five thousand… “You yourselves give them some food… Make them recline in groups of fifties…

Jesus to his disciples: “Who do the crowds say I am? But who do you say that I am? The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and Scribes, and be put to death, and on the third day rise again.”

Simon Peter” “The Christ of God.”

The doctrine of the cross: “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For he who would save his life will lose it; but he who loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, but ruin or lose himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and that of the Father and of the holy angels. But I say to you truly, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death, till they have seen the kingdom of God.”

Jesus transfigured… And as he prayed, the appearance of his countenance was changed, and his raiment became a radiant white… And behold two men were talking with him. And these were Moses and Elias, who, appearing in glory, spoke of his death, which he was about to fulfill in Jerusalem.

God, and there came a voice out of the cloud saying. “This is my beloved Son, hear him.”

Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and restored him to his father.

Jesus: “Store up these words in your minds: the Son of Man is to be betrayed into the hands of Men.”

Jesus against ambition: “Whoever receives this little child for my sake, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives him who sent me. For he who is the least among you, he is the greatest.”

John: Master, we saw a man casting out devils in thy name, and we forbade him, because he does not follow us.

Jesus replied against envy: “Do not forbid him; for who is not against you is for you.”

A Samaritan town did not receive Jesus because his face was set for Jerusalem. James and John asked Jesus if they should bid fire come down from heaven and consume them. Jesus rebuked them saying: “You do not know of what manner of spirit you are; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy man’s lives, but to save them.” And they went to another village.

Sacrifice to follow Jesus: “The foxes have dens, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head… Follow me… Let the dead bury their dead, but do thou go and proclaim the kingdom of God… No one, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

I needed this!

Remedial Bible Reading… Deuteronomy means ‘Second Law,’ but it is really a repeat of the previous couple of books of the Old Testament. I like repetition with a twist, more details, slightly different perspective as it helps me absorb the material more thoroughly and accurately.

First time through is a bit overwhelming but the second time through I pick up a lot more of the details, situations and perspectives of The Bible and life in those days.

God speaks to us in the Old Testament; Jesus speaks to us in the New Testament but nothing is as it seems because God, Jesus, and The Holy Spirit has worked in various ways throughout the Scriptures and continue to do so today.

Life in those days same as today?

Did priests lead armies into battle in those days?

The priest shall stand before the army, and shall speak to the people in this manner: Hear O Israel, You join battle this day against your enemies, let not your heart be dismayed, be not afraid, do not give back, fear ye them not, because the Lord your God is in the midst of you against your enemies, to deliver you from danger.

Saying God the Father, Jesus Christ His Son, and The Holy Spirit are only with us, is in our midst as we fight the enemy, and will deliver us from danger.

God is only on our side and the Devil is with them so we will win victory for sure?

Is this is Old Testament thinking?

Apply Jesus and the New Testament and address the battle within each of us first…

The enemy is sin and sin comes in all forms some known to us and others hidden in denial, justification, and rationalization in both our conscious and unconscious minds.

We are afraid at times of partial death and misery through sin and ultimately death of our body.

That’s why we deal with the secular world, the physical world including our own body, the Lord’s Temple, a gift for us, yet ascend to a spiritual being while still living on this earth.

What man is there, that hath build a new house, and hath not dedicated it? Let him go and return to the house. Lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.

Planted a vineyard and not as yet made it to be common?

Espoused a wife, and not taken her?

What man is there that is fearful, and faint hearted? Let him go, and return to his house, lest he make the hearts of his brethren to fear, as he himself is possessed with fear.

What reward of God is fear preventing you from reaping?

Rules of God’s war to use the Israelites to free them of abominations to other gods:

If at any time thou come to fight against a city, thou shall first offer it peace. If they receive it, and open the gates to thee, all the people that are therein, shall be saved, and shall serve thee paying tribute.

But if they will not make peace, and shall begin war against thee, thou shalt besiege it. And when the Lord thy God shall deliver it into thy hands, thou shalt slay all that are therein of the male sex, with the edge of the sword, excepting women and children, cattle and other things, that are in the city.

So shalt thou do to all cities that are at a great distance from thee, and are not of these cities which thou shalt receive in possession.

But of those cities that shall be given thee, thou shalt suffer none at all to live…. Lest they teach you to do all the abominations which they have done to their gods; and you should sin against the Lord your God.

The last chapter is dark, as dark as the darkest part of the Old Testament.

 

Whether one’s sin is here or there, it is all the same–face the war within and thou shalt take away the evil out of the midst of thee.

Day 65: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Face the War Within and Take Evil Out of the Midst of Thee!

Read and inspired by the Old Testament, The Book of Deuteronomy Chapters 17-22

Bible Notes:

This Book is so called Deuteronomy, which means a second law, because it repeats, explains, and expands the Law given on Mount Sinai. It contains three discourses of Moses encouraging the Israelites, who will shortly enter The Promised Land, to observe the Law.

The last four chapters describe the last days and the death of Moses on Mount Nebo in the Land of Moab.

Deuteronomy Chapter 17: Victims must be animals without blemish; Idolaters are to be slain; Settlement of controversies; Selection of a king; Duties of a king.

Wherein there is any blemish or any fault.

And they shall be stoned. By the mouth of two or three witnesses shall he die that is to be slain. Let no man be put to death, when only one beareth witness against him.

Which the Lord thy God shall choose

And thou shalt ask of them, and they shall show thee the truth of the judgment.

But he that will be proud, and refuse to obey the commandment of the priest… that man shall die, and thou shalt take away the evil from Israel. And all the people hearing it shall fear, that no one afterwards swell with pride.

Thou mayst not make a man f another nation king, that is not thy brother.

He shall not have many wives, that my allure his mind…

He shall copy out to himself the Deuteronomy of this law in a volume… and he shall have it with him, and shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, and keep his words and ceremonies, that are commanded in the law; and that his heart be not lifted up with pride over his brethren…

Deuteronomy Chapter 18: Support of priests and Levites; Abominations to be avoided; Promise of Christ; The sign of a false prophet.

The priests and Levites… for the Lord himself is their inheritance.

For the Lord thy God hath chosen him (Levites) of all thy tribes, to stand and to minister to the name of the Lord, him and his sons forever.

Neither let there be found among you that consulteth soothsayers, or observeth dreams and omens, any wizard, nor charmer, nor consulteth pythonic spirits or fortune tellers, or that seeketh the truth from the dead. For the Lord abhorreth all these things, and for these abominations he will destroy them at thy coming.

Promise of Christ—the Lord thy God will raise up to thee a prophet of thy nations and of thy brethren like unto me: him thou shalt hear, as thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the assembly was gathered together, and sadist: Let me not hear any more the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see any more of this exceedingly great fire, lest I die. And the Lord said to me: They have spoken all things well. I will raise them up a prophet out of the midst of their brethren like to thee: and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him. And he that will not hear his words, which he shall speak in my name, I will be the revenger.

Fear of the Israelites (Exodus Chapter 20:18): after Moses received the Ten Commandments up on Mount Sinai (same as Mount Horeb)

And all the people saw the voices and the flames, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mount smoking; and being terrified and struck with fear, they stood afar off, saying to Moses: Speak thou to us, lest and we will hear: let not the Lord speak to us, lest we die.

But the prophet, who being corrupted with pride, shall speak in my name things that I did not command him to say, or in the name of strange gods, shall be slain… but the prophet had forged it by the pride of his mind: and therefore thou shalt not fear him.

Deuteronomy Chapter 19: Cities of Refuge; Manslaughter; Premeditated murder; Landmarks; Witnesses; Punishment of false witness.

Thou shalt separate to three cities in the midst of the land

That innocent blood may not be shed in the midst of the land

Thou shalt not take nor remove they neighbor’s landmark…

One witness shall not rise up against any man, whatsoever the sin or wickedness be: but in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall stand.

They shall find that the false witness hath told a lie against his brother…

That others hearing may fear, and may not dare to do such things. Thou shalt not pity him, but shalt require life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Deuteronomy Chapter 20: Priest’s encouragement in battle; Exceptions from military service; Fate of vanquished cities; Fruitful trees may not be destroyed.

The priest shall stand before the army, and shall speak to the people in this manner: Hear O Israel, You join battle this day against your enemies, let not your heart be dismayed, be not afraid, do not give back, fear ye them not, because the Lord your God is in the midst of you against your enemies, to deliver you from danger.

What man is there, that hath build a new house, and hath not dedicated it? Let him go and return to the house. Lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.

Planted a vineyard and not as yet made it to be common?

Espoused a wife, and not taken her?

What man is there that is fearful, and faint hearted? Let him go, and return to his house, lest he make the hearts of his brethren to fear, as he himself is possessed with fear.

If at any time thou come to fight against a city, thou shall first offer it peace. If they receive it, and open the gates to thee, all the people that are therein, shall be saved, and shall serve thee paying tribute.

But if they will not make peace, and shall begin war against thee, thou shalt besiege it. And when the Lord thy God shall deliver it into thy hands, thou shalt slay all that are therein of the male sex, with the edge of the sword, excepting women and children, cattle and other things, that are in the city.

So shalt thou do to all cities that are at a great distance from thee, and are not of these cities which thou shalt receive in possession.

But of those cities that shall be given thee, thou shalt suffer none at all to live…. Lest they teach you to do all the abominations which they have done to their gods; and you should sin against the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy Chapter 21: Purification after a secret murder; Marriage with a captive; Birthright of firstborn to be respected; Punishment of an unruly son; Hanged man to be buried the same day.

The corpse of a man slain, and it is not known who is guilty of the murder…

And the guilt of the blood shall be taken from them, and thou shalt be free from the innocent’s blood, that was shed, when thou shalt have done what the Lord hath commanded thee.

And seest in the number of captive a beautiful woman, and lovest her, and wilt have her to wife, thou shalt bring her into thy house… and after that thou shall go into her, and shalt sleep with her, and she shall be thy wife, Bit if afterwards she please thee not thou shalt let her go free, but thou mayest not sell her for money nor oppress her by might because thou hast humbled her.

If a man have two wives, one beloved, and the other hated…

This our son is rebellious and stubborn, he slighteth hearing our admonitions, he giveth himself to reveling, and to debauchery and banquetings. The  people of the city shall stone him: and he shall die, that you may take away the evil out of the midst of you, and all Israel hearing it may be afraid.

When a man hath committed a crime for which he is to be punished for death, and being condemned to die is hanged on a gibber, his body shall not remain upon the tree, but shall be buried the same day…

Deuteronomy Chapter 22: Charity to neighbors; Neither sex may wear other’s apparel; A bird must not be taken with her young; A wall must be built around a new roof; No mingling of seed, animals, and cloth; Strings to be worn on garments; Punishment for false charges against a wife; Punishment for adultery; Punishment for rape in the city; Punishment for rape in the country; Punishment for deducing the unmarried; Incest forbidden.

A woman shall not be clothed with man’s apparel, neither shall a man use a woman’s apparel: for he that doeth these things is abominable before God.

Thou shalt not plough with an ox and an ass together. Thou shalt not wear a garment that is woven of woolen and linen together.

I took this woman to wife, and going into her, I found her not a virgin… he layeth a charge a very ill name… shall take that man, and beat him, condemning him… but if what he charged her with is true… the men of the city shall stone her to death… done a wicked thing in Israel… to play the whore in her father’s house and thou shalt take away the evil out of the midst of thee.

He alone shall die. The damsel shall suffer nothing, neither is she guilty of death… al also did the damsel suffer, She was alone in the field: she cried, and there was no man to help her.

No Man shall take his father’s wife, not remove his covering.

Jesus said to his Seventy-Two Disciples: “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I say to you, many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and they have not seen it; to hear what you hear, and they have not heard it.”

I often think of how blessed I am to be living out the dreams of my ancestors and especially those of my Mom and Dad who only wanted a better life for their children. They sacrificed and I benefited.

I think it was in the late 1700s when the Reistetter’s left Germany to settle the eastern lands of what is now Slovakia. In the little town of Lipany as a testimony of the German presence, the Reistetter surname is mentioned in the first written church records in 1802.

My ancestors endured there for another hundred years before all four of my grandparents born there came here as relatively young people. And my parents were born American as was I.

So when I hear freedom spoken and see freedom lived, though never perfectly either by opportunity or opportunist, I am blessed. I am truly blessed and need to take notice of the pause between my breaths and the space between my thoughts to let The Holy Spirit fill me completely with peace, joy, and freedom!

 

WOW, Seventy-Two Disciples???

I thought there were only Twelve Disciples?

Now after this the Lord appointed seventy-two others, and sent them forth two by two before him into every town and place where he was about to come. And he said to them: “The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few… Go. Behold, I send you forth as lambs in the midst of wolves… Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ And if a son of peace be there, your peace will rest upon him; but if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they have; for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house… and cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you…’ He who hears you, hears me; and he who rejects you, rejects me; and he who rejects me, rejects him who sent me.”

Now the seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the devils are subject to us in thy name…” but Jesus replied: “But do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; rejoice rather in this, that your names are written in heaven.”

Real disciples who Jesus directed to cure the sick and let them know about the kingdom of God.

Aren’t we all destined to be disciples and do good in our lives?

Why do we let pomp and circumstance, organizational structure, positions and assigned, yet not apparent in personal relationships, power somehow tell us we don’t have the power to cure the sick, the power to cure ourselves?

A woman named Martha welcomed Jesus into her house. And she had a sister Mary, who seated herself at the Lord’s feet, and listened to his word.

Martha was busy about much serving: “Lord is it no concern of thine that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her therefore to help me.”

But the Lord answered and said to her: “Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and troubled about many things; and yet only one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the best part, and it will not be taken away from her.”

If we are present, clear and focused on things above versus only things on this earth why don’t we chose the best parts of life that cannot be taken away from us? Why don’t we come from the inside-out in our thoughts, words and actions and disregard the influence, the subtle manipulation, the outright contempt of this secular world we live in?

So we live in a legalistic society of ‘sue or be sued?’

Not according to Jesus and this one lawyer he interacted with:

A certain lawyer: “Master, what must I do to gain eternal life?”

Jesus replied: “What is written in the Law? How dost thou read?”

Lawyer: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength, and with thy whole mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.”

Jesus: “Thou hast answered rightly; do this and thou shalt live.”

Lawyer, wishing to justify himself, said to Jesus: “And who is my neighbor?”

Jesus answered with The Good Samaritan Parable: “A certain man was going down to from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell in with robbers, who after both stripping him and beating him went their way, leaving him half-dead… a certain priest was going down the very same way, and when he saw him, he passed by… and likewise a Levite also, when he was near the place and saw him passed by… But a certain Samaritan as he journeyed came upon him, and seeing him, was moved with compassion… and he went up to him and bound up his wounds… he brought him to an inn and took care of him… And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more thou spendest, I, on my way back, will repay thee.”

Jesus to the Lawyer: “Which of these three, in thy opinion, proved himself neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?”

Lawyer: “he who took pity on him.”

Jesus: “Go and do thou also in like manner.”

Disciples are we; blessed are we, so let’s be good to ourselves and our neighbors!

Day 66: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Disciples are We; Blessed are We, so Let’s Be Good to Ourselves and Our Neighbors!

Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Gospel of Saint Luke Chapters 10.

Bible Notes:

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke

Saint Luke, a pagan by birth and a physician by profession, had never seen our Lord. An early convert, he became a companion and co-worker of Saint Paul.

In the first four verses of his Gospel he explains why he wrote it. Paul’s doctrine that salvation is for all, not for Jesus alone, is the theme of Saint Luke’s Gospel.

 

Luke Chapter 10:  Jesus appoints seventy-two disciples; Instructions for their mission; The impenitent towns; Return of the disciples; Jesus draws men gently to Himself; The great commandment; The good Samaritan; Martha and Mary.

Now after this the Lord appointed seventy-two others, and sent them forth two by two before him into every town and place where he was about to come. And he said to them: “The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few… Go. Behold, I send you forth as lambs in the midst of wolves… Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ And if a son (or typo sign?) of peace be there, your peace will rest upon him; but if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they have; for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house… and cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you…’ He who hears you, hears me; and he who rejects you, rejects me; and he who rejects me, rejects him who sent me.”

Now the seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the devils are subject to us in thy name…” but Jesus replied: “But do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; rejoice rather in this, that your names are written in heaven.”

“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I say to you, many prophets and kings have desired to see what you see, and they have not seen it; to hear what you hear, and they have not heard it.”

A certain lawyer: “Master, what must I do to gain eternal life?”

Jesus replied: “What is written in the Law? How dost thou read?”

Lawyer: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength, and with thy whole mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.”

Jesus: “Thou hast answered rightly; do this and thou shalt live.”

Lawyer, wishing to justify himself, said to Jesus: “And who is my neighbor?”

Jesus answered with The Good Samaritan Parable: “A certain man was going down to from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell in with robbers, who after both stripping him and beating him went their way, leaving him half-dead… a certain priest was going down the very same way, and when he saw him, he passed by… and likewise a Levite also, when he was near the place and saw him passed by… But a certain Samaritan as he journeyed came upon him, and seeing him, was moved with compassion… and he went up to him and bound up his wounds… he brought him to an inn and took care of him… And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more thou spendest, I, on my way back, will repay thee.”

Jesus to the Lawyer: “Which of these three, in thy opinion, proved himself neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?”

Lawyer: “he who took pity on him.”

Jesus: “Go and do thou also in like manner.”

A woman named Martha welcomed Jesus into her house. And she had a sister Mary, who seated herself at the Lord’s feet, and listened to his word.

Martha was busy about much serving: “Lord is it no concern of thine that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her therefore to help me.”

But the Lord answered and said to her: “Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and troubled about many things; and yet only one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the best part, and it will not be taken away from her.”

God in C24: “Going into thy neighbor’s vineyard, thou mayest eat as many grapes as thou pleasest: but must carry none out with thee.”

This, of course brought back memories of picking strawberries and apples as a kid and eating as many as we paid for.

Can we extrapolate grapes to strawberries and apples?

Can we extrapolate grapes to all the good things, the good sins in life?

Not, we are still in the Old Testament of God’s Laws and Wrath yet to be softened and heart filled with the life of Jesus Christ.

There shall be no whore among the daughters of Israel, nor whoremonger among the sons of Israel… because both these are an abomination to the Lord thy God.

There were some common sense advice too. Don’t poop where you will sleep!

Thou shalt have a place without the camp, to which thou mayst go for the necessities of nature… and with the earth that is dug up thou shalt cover that which thou are eased of… and let the camp be holy, and et no uncleanness appear therein, lest he go away from thee.

Some heavy hearted stuff too…

When thou hast made a vow to the Lord thy God, thou shalt not delay to pay it: because the Lord thy God will require it.

What was the last vow you made to God?

If a man take a wife, and have her, and she find not favor in his eyes, for some uncleanness: he shall write a bill of divorce, and shall give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.

This Law of Moses was repealed in the New Testament, there is no sinless way to be divorced as I am.

When a man hath lately taken a wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall any public business be enjoined him, but he shall be free at home without fault, that for one year he may rejoice with his wife.

I like this, one step above paternity leave—matrimony leave!

Thou shall not refuse the hire of the needy, and the poor, whether he be thy brother, or a stranger that dwelleth with thee in the land, and is within thy gates.

Help and needy whether you know them personally or not.

The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, not the children for the fathers, but every one shall die for his own sin.

Amen.

And if they see the offender is worthy of stripes: they shall lay him down, and shall cause him to be beaten before them. According to the measure of the sin shall the measure also of the stripes be; yet so, that they exceed not the number of forty: lest thy brother depart shamefully torn before thy eyes.

When brethren dwell together, and one of them dieth without children, the wife of the deceased shall not marry to another; but his brother shall take her, and raise up the seed for his brother…

Moses and the Priests of the race Levi said to all of Israel: Attend and hear, O Israel: This day thou art made the people of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt hear his voice, and do the commandments and justices which I command thee.

Moses: These shall stand upon mount Garizim to bless the people, when you are passed the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Juda, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. And over against them shall stand on mount Hebal to curse: Ruben, Gad, and Aser, and Zabulon, Dan and Nephtali.

This confuses me as it excludes the tribes of Ephraim & Manasses, (other half tribe, not son of Joseph).

Back in Numbers C32, land given to Gad, Ruben, and the half tribe of Manasses the son of Joseph?

Includes Gad, Ruben and half tribe of Manasses, the son of Joseph who did not cross the Jordan but inhabited the lands of Jazer and Galaad.

Confused as I am?

The Lord thy God will make thee higher than all the nations that are on the earth. And the Lord shall make thee the head and not the tail: and thou shalt be always above, and not beneath…

The Lord strike thee with the ulcer of Egypt, and the part of thy body, by which dung is cast out, with the scab and with the itch: so that thou canst not be healed

Actually I just learned that an itchy anal, reportedly the ulcer of Egypt, is a sign of colon cancer.

And thy life shall be as it were hanging before thee. Thou shalt fear night and day, neither shalt though trust thy life. In the morning thou shalt say: who will grant me evening? And at evening: Who will grant me morning? For the fearfulness of thy heart…

Day 67: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective;

Walk in God’s Ways with Jesus in Our Hearts & The Holy Spirit Within…

Read and inspired by the Old Testament, The Book of Deuteronomy Chapters 23-28

Bible Notes:

This Book is so called Deuteronomy, which means a second law, because it repeats, explains, and expands the Law given on Mount Sinai. It contains three discourses of Moses encouraging the Israelites, who will shortly enter The Promised Land, to observe the Law.

The last four chapters describe the last days and the death of Moses on Mount Nebo in the Land of Moab.

Deuteronomy Chapter 23: Who may not enter the church; Those defiled by dreams shall leave camp; Law of sanitation; Escaped servants; Prostitution forbidden; Usury forbidden; Vows; Law of vineyard and farm.

An eunuch, whose testicles are broken or cut away…

Eunuch—a castrated man, especially one formerly employed by rulers in the Middle East and Asia as a harem guard or palace official.

A mamzer, that is to say, one born of a prostitute, shall not enter the church of the Lord until the tenth generation.

If there be among you any man that is defiled in a dream by night, he shall go forth out of the camp, and shall not return, before he be washed with water in the evening: and after sunset he shall return into the camp.

Thou shalt have a place without the camp, to which thou mayst go for the necessities of nature… and with the earth that is dug up thou shalt cover that which thou are eased of… and let the camp be holy, and et no uncleanness appear therein, lest he go away from thee.

Thou shalt not deliver to his master the servant that I fled to thee… give him no trouble.

There shall be no whore among the daughters of Israel, nor whoremonger among the sons of Israel… because both these are an abomination to the Lord thy God.

Usury—the lending or practice of lending money at an exorbitant interest; Obsolete. interest paid for the use of money.

When thou hast made a vow to the Lord thy God, thou shalt not delay to pay it: because the Lord thy God will require it.

Going into thy neighbor’s vineyard, thou mayest eat as many grapes as thou pleasest: but must carry none out with thee.

Deuteronomy Chapter 24: Divorce, A husband to remain home the first year; Millstones not to be taken to pledge; Kidnaping; Leprosy; Pledges; Payment of Wages; No one to be punished for another’s sin; Justice; Charity.

If a man take a wife, and have her, and she find not favor in his eyes, for some uncleanness: he shall write a bill of divorce, and shall give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.

When a man hath lately taken a wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall any public business be enjoined him, but he shall be free at home without fault, that for one year he may rejoice with his wife.

Thou shall not refuse the hire of the needy, and the poor, whether he be thy brother, or a stranger that dwelleth with thee in the land, and is within thy gates.

The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, not the children for the fathers, but every one shall die for his own sin.

Deuteronomy Chapter 25: Stripes not to exceed forty; Ox not to be muzzled when treading corn; Raising children for a brother; The immodest woman; Weights and measures; The Amalecities to be destroyed.

And if they see the offender is worthy of stripes: they shall lay him down, and shall cause him to be beaten before them. According to the measure of the sin shall the measure also of the stripes be; yet so, that they exceed not the number of forty: lest thy brother depart shamefully torn before thy eyes.

When brethren dwell together, and one of them dieth without children, the wife of the deceased shall not marry to another; but his brother shall take her, and raise up the seed for his brother…

Shall put forth her hand, and take him by secrets, thou shalt cut off her hand, neither shalt thou be moved with any pity in her regard.

Deuteronomy Chapter 26: Rituals for offering firstfruits; Prayer to accompany tithes; God’s covenant with the people.

When thou hast made an end of tithing all thy fruits, in the third year of tithes thou shalt give it to the Levite, and to the stranger, and to the fatherless, and to the widow, that …they may eat within thy gates, and be filled. Look from thy sanctuary, and thy high habitation of heaven…

To be his peculiar people

Deuteronomy Chapter 27: Command to write the law on stones; Exhortation to obedience; The tribes to be divided on two mountains; Levites to pronounce curses for sin.

Moses and the Priests of the race Levi said to all of Israel: Attend and hear, O Israel: This day thou art made the people of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt hear his voice, and do the commandments and justices which I command thee.

Moses: These shall stand upon mount Garizim to bless the people, when you are passed the Jordan: Simeon, Levi, Juda, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. And over against them shall stand on mount Hebal to curse: Ruben, Gad, and Aser, and Zabulon, Dan and Nephtali.

Note excludes Ephraim & Manasses, (other half tribe, not son of Joseph

Numbers C32: Land given to Gad, Ruben, and the half tribe of Manasses the son of Joseph?

Includes Gad, Ruben and half tribe of Manasses, the son of Joseph who did not cross the Jordan but inhabited the lands of Jazer and Galaad.

Confusion???

Cursed 12 times… some of the Ten Commandments.

Deuteronomy Chapter 28: Blessings for obedience; Curses for disobedience; Frightful affliction of the unfaithful; Captivity and starvation threatened; Ravages of war threatened, Pestilence and slavery threatened.

The Lord thy God will make thee higher than all the nations that are on the earth.

Blessings 8 times… if thou keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways

The Lord will open his excellent treasure, the heaven

And the Lord shall make thee the head and not the tail: and thou shalt be always above, and not beneath…

But if thou wilt not hear the voice of the Lord thy God… all these curses shall overcome thee this day, and overtake thee… Cursed 5 times…

May the Lord afflict thee with miserable want… and pursue thee till thou perish… and let ashes come down from heaven upon thee, till thou be consumed…

The Lord strike thee with the ulcer of Egypt, and the part of thy body, by which dung is cast out, with the scab and with the itch: so that thou canst not be healed.

And thou shall be lost as a proverb and a byword to all people, among whom the Lord shall bring thee in.

Because thou didst not serve the Lord thy God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things…

Nor shall there be any rest for the sole of thy foot

And thy life shall be as it were hanging before thee. Thou shalt fear night and day, neither shalt though trust thy life. In the morning thou shalt say: who will grant me evening? And at evening: Who will grant me morning? For the fearfulness of thy heart…

 

I should simply rewrite these two chapters of Luke as every word seems to be rich in inspiration and guidance from God above.

Jesus: “And I say to you, ask, and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; and he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks it shall be opened.”

Positive thinking yes, but directing the questions to the right person at the right time even more important!

Jesus: “Therefore, if you, evil as you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Good Spirit to those who ask him!”

If you, evil as you are?

Yes, I am evil, as I am Andy Reistetter though I am made in the image of God. I am a child of God. Evil within me. Yes but not in totality. With Jesus in my heart I am not a mistake, I am not evil though I do make mistakes and I do evil things at times.

All this makes me anxious at times yet Jesus is the answer to all those anxieties. Remember positive thinking, yes, but direct your focus to the right person at the right time in your life is thinking positively well done!

Jesus: “And when they bring you before the synagogues and the magistrates and the authorities, do not be anxious how or wherewith you shall defend yourselves, or what you shall say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

I use this bible verse for speaking engagements. While I do prepare, I prepare on spiritual principles and trust that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit will put the right words in my mind to speak at the right time. On the contrary I must challenge my self, pride and silly ego to be silent when God has not filled my mind with thoughts and words to speak.

Jesus” “Therefore I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat; not yet for your body, what you shall put on. The life is a greater thing than the food, and the body than the clothing… But which of you by being anxious about it can add to his stature a single cubit? Therefore if you are not able to do even a very little thing, why are you anxious concerning the rest?

Anxiety never helps does it? Have one problem, be anxious, now have two problems.

Illogical, insanity but we all do it from time to time.

Habitual thinking or consider all options and choose the best one?

Sometimes the best option is to remain at peace and in serenity and say and do nothing. No amends to make later!

Jesus: “Be not afraid… sell what you have and give alms… (make) a treasure unfailing in heaven… for where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.”

Focus on the important things in life and not the things which the world hypnotizes us into believing are important.

Jesus: “… and you yourselves like men waiting for their master’s return from the wedding…Blessed are those servants whom the master, on his return, shall find watching… And if he comes in the second watch, and if in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those servants!… You also must be ready, because at an hour that you do not expect, the Son of Man is coming.”

Be ready, on a personal basis, we do not know if today will be our last or of on a worldwide basis, if this is the day the Lord will return.

Jesus: “And for you, do not seek what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; and do not exalt yourselves (for after all these things the nations of the world seek); but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be given you besides.”

First things first, evil as we are, put your relationship with God first, ask, and peace, joy, and freedom—the Ultimate Love—shall be given to you along with all the worldly things as well.

Day 68: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Evil as You are, Ask, and it Shall be Given to You

Read and inspired by the New Testament, The Gospel of Saint Luke Chapters 11-12.

Bible Notes:

The Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke

Saint Luke, a pagan by birth and a physician by profession, had never seen our Lord. An early convert, he became a companion and co-worker of Saint Paul.

In the first four verses of his Gospel he explains why he wrote it. Paul’s doctrine that salvation is for all, not for Jesus alone, is the theme of Saint Luke’s Gospel.

 

Luke Chapter 11:  The Lord’s Prayer; The efficacy of prayer; Blasphemy of the Pharisees; Jesus’ answer; The praise of Mary; The sign of Jonas; A lesson from a lamp; Jesus dines with a Pharisee; Jesus denounces the Pharisees; Denunciation of the lawyers; Opposition of the Pharisees and lawyers.

Disciples to Jesus: “Lord, teach us to pray, even as John also taught his disciples.”

Jesus: “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be they name. Thy kingdom come! Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’”

??? How did John the Baptist teach his disciples to pray??? Nothing specific.

Since John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus who prepares the way for Jesus, there are many similarities between their ministries. John taught his disciples how to pray. Jesus also taught his disciples how to pray. But there is less information on the pattern of the prayer taught by John. If Jesus taught “May your kingdom come”, then John might have taught “Prepare us for your coming kingdom”

Matthew C3: Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the desert of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of through Isaias the prophet, when he said, “The voice of one crying in the desert, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.’”

Jesus: “And I say to you, ask, and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; and he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks it shall be opened.”

Jesus: “Therefore, if you, evil as you are, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Good Spirit to those who ask him!”

Jesus: “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he roams through waterless places in search of rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house which I left.’ And when he has come to it, he finds the place swept. Then he goes and takes seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”

Certain woman to Jesus: “Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the breasts that nursed thee.”

Jesus to the certain woman: “Rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it.”

Jesus: “This generation is an evil generation: it demands a sign, and no sign shall be given it but the sign of Jonas. For even as Jonas was a sign to the Ninevites, so will also the Son of Man be to this generation… The men of Nineve will rise up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonas, and behold, a greater than Jonas is here.”

Biblehub.com: Story of Jonas (Jonah): At this time another prophet, named Jonah, was giving the word of the Lord to the Israelites. To Jonah the Lord spoke, saying: “Go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it; for its wickedness rises up before me.”

But Jonah did not wish to preach to the people of Nineveh; for they were the enemies of his land, the land of Israel. He wished Nineveh to die in its sins, and not to turn to God and live. So Jonah tried to go away from the city where God had sent him. He went down to Joppa and took a ship for Tarshish.

But the Lord saw Jonah on the ship; and the Lord sent a great storm upon the sea, so that the ship seemed as though it would go to pieces… At last, when they could do nothing else to save themselves, they threw Jonah into the sea.

And the Lord caused a great fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was alive within the fish for three days and three nights. In the fish Jonah cried to the Lord; and the Lord caused the great fish to throw up Jonah upon the dry land.

“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it what I command you.” So Jonah went to the city of Nineveh; and as he entered into it, he called out to the people:

“Within forty days shall Nineveh be destroyed.” And he walked through the city all day crying out only this: “Within forty days shall Nineveh be destroyed.”

And the people of Nineveh believed the word of the Lord as spoken by Jonah. They turned away from their sins and fasted and sought the Lord, from the greatest of them even to the least.

And God saw that the people of Nineveh were sorry for their wickedness, and he forgave them, and did not destroy their city. But this made Jonah very angry. He did not wish to have Nineveh spared, because it was the enemy of his own land; and also he feared that men would call him a false prophet when his word did not come to pass. And Jonah said to the Lord:

“O Lord, I was sure that it would be thus, that thou wouldest spare the city; and for that reason I tried to flee away; for I know that thou was a gracious God, full of pity, slow to anger, and rich in mercy. Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

And should not I have pity on Nineveh, that great city, where are more than a hundred thousand little children, and also many cattle, — all helpless and knowing nothing?”

And Jonah learned that men, and women, and little children, are all precious in the sight of the Lord, even though they know not God. End Biblehub.com: Story of Jonas (Jonah).

Jesus: “The lamp of thy body is thy eye. If thy eye be sound, thy whole body will be full of light. But if it be evil, thy body also will be full of darkness. Take care, therefore, that the light that is in thee is not in darkness. If, then, thy whole body is full of light, having no part in darkness, it will all be illuminated, as when a bright lamp illuminates thee.”

Jesus dines with denounces the Pharisee: “…but within you are full of robbery and wickedness… (you) disregard justice and the love of God… woe to you Pharisees! Because you love the front seats in synagogues and greetings in the market place. Woe to you! Because you are like hidden tombs, over which men walk unaware.”

Lawyer to Jesus: “Master, in saying these things, thou insultest us also.”

Jesus denounces the lawyers too: “Woe to you lawyers also! Because you load men with oppressive burdens and you yourselves with one of your fingers do not touch the burdens. Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, whereas your fathers killed them… Woe to you lawyers! Because you have taken away the key of knowledge, you have not entered yourselves and those who were entering you have hindered.”

Luke Chapter 12:  The leaven of the Pharisees; Whom to fear; Promise of reward and punishment; A warning against avarice; Parable of the rich man; Trust in God; The lilies in the field; Seek first the kingdom of God; Build up treasure in heaven; The watchful servants; Exhortation to vigilance; The necessity of struggle; Time for reconciliation.

Jesus to the Disciples: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. But there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known. For what you have said in darkness will be said in the light; and what you have whispered in the inner chambers will be preached on the housetops.

Jesus to my friends: “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings? And yet not one of them is forgotten before God. Yes, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Therefore do not be afraid, you are more value than many sparrows.

Jesus: “And when they bring you before the synagogues and the magistrates and the authorities, do not be anxious how or wherewith you shall defend yourselves, or what you shall say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

One out of the crowd: “Master, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

Jesus: “Man, who has appointed me a judge or arbitrator over you? Take heed ad guard yourselves from all covetousness, for a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

Rich man: “What shall I do, for I have no rooms to store my crops?… And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast many good things laid up for many years; take thy ease, eat, drink, be merry.

God to the rich man: “Thou fool, this night do they demand thy soul of thee: and the things that thou hast provided, whose will they be?”

Jesus: “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich as regards God.”

Jesus” “Therefore I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat; not yet for your body, what you shall put on. The life is a greater thing than the food, and the body than the clothing… But which of you by being anxious about it can add to his stature a single cubit? Therefore if you are not able to do even a very little thing, why are you anxious concerning the rest?

Jesus: “And for you, do not seek what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; and do not exalt yourselves (for after all these things the nations of the world seek); but your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be given you besides.”

Jesus: “Be not afraid… sell what you have and give alms… (make) a treasure unfailing in heaven… for where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.”

Jesus: “… and you yourselves like men waiting for their master’s return from the wedding…Blessed are those servants whom the master, on his return, shall find watching… And if he comes in the second watch, and if in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those servants!… You also must be ready, because at an hour that you do not expect, the Son of Man is coming.”

 

 

This Book is so called Deuteronomy, which means a second law, because it repeats, explains, and expands the Law given on Mount Sinai. It contains three discourses of Moses encouraging the Israelites, who will shortly enter The Promised Land, to observe the Law.

The last four chapters describe the last days and the death of Moses on Mount Nebo in the Land of Moab.

Second law is really the second telling of the law, i.e. remedial bible reading for idiots like me!

I pay attention the first time around but really like to pay attention to the details the second time around.

Hey Deuteronomy pretty much follows the narrative of the Book of Numbers. Not only follows it but adds some great detail too and really connected the dots, put the pieces together for me. But it skips over and does not contain Numbers C13 and C14: Twelve spies sent into Chanaan; Josue and Caleb encourage the people; The Lord decrees forty years of wandering. Pretty major sections of the exodus from Egypt and make it to the Promised Land saga!

Choose Life & Good…

Consider that I have set before thee this day life and good, and on the other hand death and evil, that thou mayst love the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways, and keep his commandments and ceremonies and judgments, and thou mayst live…

But if thy heart be turned away, so that thou wilt not hear, and being deceived with error thou adore strange gods, and serve them, I foretell thee this day that thou shalt perish, and shall remain but a short time in the land that thou shalt pass over the Jordan…

That I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose therefore life, that both thou and thy seed may live, and that thou mayst love the Lord thy God, and obey his voice, and adhere to him (for he is thy life, and the length of thy days), that thou mayst dwell in the land, for which the Lord swore to thy fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give it them.

Now when all these things shall be come upon thee, the blessing or the curse, which I have set forth before thee, and thou shalt be touched with repentance of thy heart among all the nations, into which the Lord thy God shall have scattered thee…

The Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed: that thou mayst love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, that thou mayst live. And he will turn these curses upon thy enemies, and upon them that hate and persecute thee.

Reject Death & Evil.

Jesus to Moses: Now therefore write you this canticle, and teach the children of Israel: that they may know it by heart, and sing it by mouth…

And when they have eaten, and are full and fat, they will turn away after strange gods, and will serve them: and will despise me, and make void my covenant… for I know their thoughts, and what they are about to do this day… Moses therefore wrote the canticle, and taught it to the children of Israel.

And as the Lord Promised he showed Moses the Promised Land, but did not promise for Moses to enter the Promised Land. At least not the one on the Earth.

The Lord showed him all the land… This is the land for which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: I will give it to thy seed. Thou hast seen it with thy eyes, and shalt not pass over to it.

And Moses the servant of the Lord died there, in the land of Moab, by the commandment of the Lord… and no man hath known of his sepulcher until this present day. Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, neither were his teeth moved.

And Josue the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands upon him. And the children of Israel obeyed him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses.

And there arose no more a prophet in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face…

Yet a simple choice remains and awaits us day-by-day: choose life and good over death and evil. Do it today asking Lord Jesus into your heart and turn away from your sin. It’s as easy as that!

Day 69: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Simple Choice: Life & Good versus Death & Evil.

Read and inspired by the Old Testament, The Book of Deuteronomy Chapters 29-34 (END)

Bible Notes:

This Book is so called Deuteronomy, which means a second law, because it repeats, explains, and expands the Law given on Mount Sinai. It contains three discourses of Moses encouraging the Israelites, who will shortly enter The Promised Land, to observe the Law.

The last four chapters describe the last days and the death of Moses on Mount Nebo in the Land of Moab.

Deuteronomy Chapter 29: God’s favor during the exodus; Confirmation of the covenant; Punishment for following false gods.

These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab: beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb (Ten Commandments).

He hath brought you forty years through the desert…

You have not eaten bread, nor have you drunk wine or strong drink: that you might know that I am the Lord your God.

And took their land (Hesebon & Og), and delivered it for a possession to Ruben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasses.

That he may raise up a people to himself, and he may be thy God as he hath spoken to thee, and as he swore to thy fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

But with all that are present and that are absent…

You have seen their abominations and filth, that is to say, their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which they worshipped.

Deuteronomy Chapter 30: God will be merciful to the repentant; God’s law in the hearts of the people; The choice between life and death.

Now when all these things shall be come upon thee, the blessing or the curse, which I have set forth before thee, and thou shalt be touched with repentance of thy heart among all the nations, into which the Lord thy God shall have scattered thee…

If thou be driven as far as the poles of heaven…

The Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed: that thou mayst love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, that thou mayst live. And he will turn these curses upon thy enemies, and upon them that hate and persecute thee.

And the Lord thy God will make thee abound in all the works of thy hands, in the fruit of thy womb…

For the Lord will return to rejoice over thee in all good things, as he rejoiced in thy fathers.

But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart, that thou mayst do it.

Consider that I have set before thee this day life and good, and on the other hand death and evil, that thou mayst love the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways, and keep his commandments and ceremonies and judgments, and thou mayst live…

But if thy heart be turned away, so that thou wilt not hear, and being deceived with error thou adore strange gods, and serve them, I foretell thee this day that thou shalt perish, and shall remain but a short time in the land that thou shalt pass over the Jordan…

That I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose therefore life, that both thou and thy seed may live, and that thou mayst love the Lord thy God, and obey his voice, and adhere to him (for he is thy life, and the length of thy days), that thou mayst dwell in the land, for which the Lord swore to thy fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give it them.

Deuteronomy Chapter 31: Moses announces his approaching death; Moses encourages Josue; Moses gives the written law to the Levites; Moses and Josue appear before the Lord; The Lord foretells the sins of Israel; Moses commanded to write a song; Josue appointed to lead the Israelites; The book of the law to be kept in the ark; Moses speaks to the wise man and elders.

I am this day a hundred and twenty years old, I can no longer go out and come in, especially as the Lord also hath said to me: Thou shalt not pass over this Jordan… and this Josue shall go over before thee, as the Lord hath spoken.

Do manfully and be of good heart: fear not, nor be ye dismayed at their sight: for the Lord thy God he himself is thy leader, and will not leave thee nor forsake thee.

And Moses called Josue, and said to him before all Israel: Take courage, and be valiant: for thou shalt bring this people into the land which the Lord swore he would give to their fathers, and thou shalt divide it by lot. And the Lord who is your leader, he himself will be with thee: he will not leave thee, nor forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

After seven years, in the year of remission… thou shalt read the words of this law before all Israel, in their hearing… that hearing they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and keep, and fulfil all the words of this law, that their children also, who now are ignorant, may hear, and fear the Lord their God, all the days that they live in the land whither you are going over the Jordan to possess it.

The Lord to Moses: Behold the days of thy death are nigh: call Josue, and stand ye in the tabernacle of the testimony, that I may give him a charge…and the Lord appeared there in the pillar of a cloud, which stood in the entry of the tabernacle.

There will they forsake me, and make void the covenant… I will forsake them, and will hide my face from them… all evils and afflictions that shall find them, so that they shall say in that day: In truth it is because God is not with me that these evils have found me. But I will hide, and cover my face in that day, for all the evils which they have done, because they have followed strange gods.

Now therefore write you this canticle, and teach the children of Israel: that they may know it by heart, and sing it by mouth…

And when they have eaten, and are full and fat, they will turn away after strange gods, and will serve them: and will despise me, and make void my covenant… for I know their thoughts, and what they are about to do this day… Moses therefore wrote the canticle, and taught it to the children of Israel.

The Song of Moses in this article relates to the name sometimes given to the poem which appears in Deuteronomy 32:1–43 of the Hebrew Bible, written/orated just prior to Moses’ death on Mount Nebo.

Wiki: The Song is believed by some to have been written down and placed in the Ark of the Covenant at one time, along with Aaron’s staff and the Ten Commandments.

Deuteronomy 32:1-43 contains the text of the Song.

The Song opens with an exordium (verses 1–3) in which heaven and earth are summoned to hear what the poet is to utter. In verses 4–6 the theme is defined: it is the rectitude and faithfulness of YHWH toward His corrupt and faithless people. Verses 7–14 portray the providence which conducted Israel in safety through the wilderness and gave it a rich and fertile land; verses 15–18 are devoted to Israel’s unfaithfulness and lapse into idolatry. This lapse had compelled YHWH to threaten it (verses 19–27) with national disaster and almost with national extinction. Verses 28–43 describe how YHWH has determined to speak to the Israelites through the extremity of their need, to lead them to a better mind, and to grant them victory over their foes.

In a Torah scroll the song is written with a special layout, in two parallel columns.

The four Hebrew letters יהוה‎, commonly transliterated into Latin letters as YHWH. It is one of the names of God used in the Hebrew Bible. The name may be derived from a verb that means “to be”, “to exist”, “to cause to become”, or “to come to pass”. (End Wiki).

Lord to Josue: Take courage and be valiant: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I have promised, and I will be with thee.

Therefore after Moses had wrote the words of this law in a volume, and finished it… Take this book, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God… For I know thy obstinacy, and thy most stiff neck. While I am yet living, and going in with you, you have always been rebellious against the Lord: how much more when I shall be dead?

Moses to the wise men and elders: …and will call heaven and earth to witness against them. For I know that, after my death, you will do wickedly, and will quickly turn aside from the way that I have commanded you: and evils shall come upon you in the latter times….

Deuteronomy Chapter 32: The canticle of Moses; God’s blessings; Sins of the people; God’s punishment; The foolishness of the sinful Israelites; God will show mercy to them; The Lord will destroy his enemies; Children shall be taught to obey the law; God allows Moses to see Chanaan

The canticle of Moses: Hear, O ye heavens, the things I speak, let the earth give ear to the words of my mouth… Because I will invoke the name of the Lord: give ye magnificence to our God. The works of God are perfect, and all his ways are judgments: God is faithful and without any iniquity, he is just and right… O foolish and senseless people?… Remember the days of old, think upon every generation: ask thy father, and he will declare to thee: thy elders and they will tell thee… But the Lord’s portion is his people: Jacob the lot of his inheritance… and he kept him as the apple of his eye. As the eagle enticing her young to fly, and hovering over them, he spread his wings and hath taken him and carried him on his shoulders. The Lord alone was his leader: and there was no strange god with him… The beloved grew fat, and kicked: he grew fat, and thick and gross, he forsook God who made him, and departed from God his savior… They sacrificed to the devils and not to God: to gods whom they knew not: that they were newly come up, whom their fathers worshipped not. Thou hast forsaken the God that begot thee, and hast forgotten the Lord that created thee… for it is a perverse generation, and unfaithful children… and have angered me with their vanities… and will vex them with a foolish nation… and shall burn the foundations of the mountains. I will heap evils upon them, and will spend my arrows among them… Where are they? I will make the memory of them to cease from among men… Our mighty hand, and not the Lord, hath done these things. They are a nation without counsel, and without wisdom… For our God is not as their gods… Revenge is mine, and I will repay them in due time… The Lord will judge their people, and will have mercy on his servants… Where are their gods, in whom they trusted?… Se ye that I alone am, and there is no other God besides me: I will kill and I will make to live: I will strike, and I will heal, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand… I live for ever…

So Moses came and spoke all the words of this canticle in the ears of the people, and Josue, the son of Nun… Set your hearts on all the words, which I testify to you this day: which you shall command your children to observe and to do, and to fulfil all that is written in this law, for they are not commanded you in vain but that every one should live in them, and that doing them you may continue a long time in the land whither you are going over the Jordan to possess it.

God allows Moses to see Canaan: Go up into this mountain Abarim (that is to say, of passages), unto mount Nebo… and see the land of Chanaan, which I will deliver to the children of Israel to possess, and die thou in the mountain… because you trespassed against me in the midst of the children of Israel, at the waters of contradiction in Cades in the desert of Sin; and you did not sanctify me among the children of Israel. Thou shalt see the land before thee, which I will give to the children of Israel, but thou shalt not enter it.

Deuteronomy Chapter 33: Moses blesses the tribes before his death; Moses blesses Ruben, Juda, Levi, Benjamin, the children of Joseph, Zabulon and Issachar, Gad, Dan, Nephtali, Aser; Moses blesses all of Israel.

Moses blessed the tribes before his death:

Ruben, be small in number…

Juda, his hands shall fight for him, and he shall be his helper against his enemies

Levi, thy perfection, and thy doctrine be to thy holy man… these have kept thy word, and observed thy covenant… and let not them that hate him rise…

Benjamin, the best beloved of the lord shall dwell confidently in him…

Children of Joseph, come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the Nazarite among his brethren… as the horns of a rhinoceros… these are the multitudes of Ephraim, and these are the thousands of Manasses.

Zabulon, rejoice in thy going out…

Issachar, in thy tabernacles…

Gad, blesse be in his breadth… and did the justices of the Lord, and his judgment with Israel…

Dan is a young lion, he shall flow plentifully from Basan…

Nephtali, he shall possess the sea and the south…

Aser, blessed with children…

NOTE: No blessing of Simeon who was to go to mount Garizim to bless???

Deuteronomy Chapter 34: Moses sees the Promised Land; Death of Moses; Josue succeeds Moses; Praise of Moses.

… and the Lord showed him all the land… This is the land for which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: I will give it to thy seed. Thou hast seen it with thy eyes, and shalt not pass over to it.

And Moses the servant of the Lord died there, in the land of Moab, by the commandment of the Lord… and no man hath known of his sepulcher until this present day. Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, neither were his teeth moved.

And Josue the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands upon him. And the children of Israel obeyed him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses.

And there arose no more a prophet in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face…

NOTE: Deuteronomy skips over and does not contain Numbers C13 and C14: Twelve spies sent into Chanaan; Josue and Caleb encourage the people; The Lord decrees forty years of wandering. Pretty major section!