“But thou art holy, O thou that inhabits the praises of Israel.” – Psalm 22: 3
I finished praying, and this scripture says, “When Solomon made an end of praying, fire came down from heaven” — not just Elijah, who called down fire from heaven — “and consumed the burnt offering” (the fruit of our lips; the sacrifice of our hearts). Then the glory of YAH filled the house (us).
The priests could not enter the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house. When Yahweh indwells us, His glory is seen in us (2 Chronicles 7:2). Then people can see it, just as the children of Israel saw how the fire came down (like the Day of Pentecost), and they bowed their faces to the ground upon the pavement and WORSHIPPED, PRAISING GOD, saying that the Lord is good and His MERCY endures forever (2 Chronicles 7:3).
True worship is offering our bodies as a willing sacrifice, but praise is where God inhabits. He uses the fruit of our lips, thanksgiving, and our hearts — from where we obey God. That is how the glory of God fills us: people, the church, the children of Israel — similar to the Day of Pentecost. Worship comes where praise ends (2 Chronicles 7:3).
The orchestrator of praise was King David, and his son Solomon used it to build the first house for the Lord. Solomon hallowed the middle of the court that was before the house of the Lord. The inner court is likened to where the Spirit of the Lord dwells, while the middle court is likened to where the soul dwells. This court segment is where Jeremiah was moved so he could get bread from the house of Jonathan, where he would have died if he had stayed there.
Thus, the sacrifice of praise, giving, and self (dying to self bodily) is all delivered to the house of God for His glory. The Levites, who had no inheritance and worked in tandem with the priests, had instruments of music of Yahweh. King David was both a priest and a king, like Christ. He understood praise, and he understood worship, which is why the ecclesia exists. So praise precedes worship.
King David understood that mercy and gladness with thanksgiving opened the door of his house. Thus, he says, “Praise Yah, because His mercy endures forever.” The priests and Levites understood worship because it demands consecration, bodily sacrifice, and holiness.
When you go to a hospital and a patient shout at you, yelling their fears and complaints, you don’t hear anything, and most likely you did not listen to what they said, because for listening to happen, you have to hear, assimilate, and then listen to reason. Hence, we have a popular Jewish phrase: Shema O Israel (listen, hear, and obey).
Luke 8 talks about a type of hearing of the Word of God, the Word of God being the seed.
It says some hear the Word of God, and the devil (as the fowl of the air) devours the word before it reaches the heart. It talks about the Word of God as a seed falling on rocks, that is, falling away in the time of temptation. No wonder it is written, “Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil,” and “There is no temptation that has overtaken man that God won’t make a way for you to escape.” It sees the Word of God fall on thorns, i.e. the cares, riches, and pleasures of this life choke the Word of God out of the heart. So the battleground is the heart. Jesus finally says this person receives the Word of God on good ground, i.e. he honestly receives the word, keeps the word in his heart, and with patience bears FRUIT.
The interesting thing for me is this verse, Luke 8:18: “Take heed how you hear.” Why? Whoever hath the Word of God, to him it is given, and if you don’t have the Word of God in your heart, even that which you seem to hear will be taken away.
So, to hear God is to have Him honestly in your heart, holding on to Him with patience. Indeed, there is nothing hidden that won’t be revealed.
“I work as an accountant now (I became many things for the sake of Christ), and one of the hardest things to do is to keep an audit of my own life, not others — mine. And reconciliation of accounts is hell, thank God he didn’t care to count all our sins against us, because as I attempt to reconcile everything in our account as see why God reconciled us in Christ Jesus, it’s a lot easier to group things. But then God is God.
I bumped into the story of King Saul at the end of last month, and I wondered why this story. How, on his first assignment, half-obedience cost him everything with God. At the time, I couldn’t understand it.
But I stepped into someone’s life yesterday, and I would rather show mercy to his failure. That’s when I realized that I had kept a minute amount of money meant for God and gave it to my mom instead.
Then I opened to Acts 5 and read how Ananias chose to keep part of the money meant for the church — half-obedience, just like Saul. And it was as though God was saying, “If you don’t release My money, I won’t release yours.”
As minute as the sum was, God kept reminding me that it was to be used for His church, yet I was holding it back.
“We ought to obey God rather than men.” — Acts 5:29
I forgot that my obligations to God are more important than my obligations to man, even my parents, especially at the start of the month. And King Saul did exactly the same thing — he listened to the voice of men rather than the voice of God.
Many times, we are so careful to avoid sin, not knowing that sin is still present within us. If someone says, “I’m not charging you for something,” but uses the fact that they are not charging as a way to guilt-trip others into giving, it is still sin.
Cutting the long story short, we are all unworthy, and that is why mercy exists. When we recognize the truth about ourselves, grace helps us change.
That’s why when someone said I should condemn a preacher yesterday, I refused. I condemn the sin and expose the sin, not the person.
“And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.” — Acts 5:38–39
Many kings started well. For example, Josiah did what was right in the sight of God, yet many before and after him turned away from the Father’s will. Preachers too may start well and later turn away. Ultimately, only God can judge.
What we can do is reprove sin without condemning the sinner.
The Bible says if your brother offends you, tell him privately first (Matthew 18:15). However, we should expose evil deeds being done in the church — not destroy the sinner, but address the deeds being done.”
Isaiah 54:5 says, “For your Maker is your husband—the LORD Almighty is His name—the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.”
The Lord God hears me when I call. He backs me up, He heals me, and He redeemed me with His blood. I am already in love — can you not see it?
As Solomon would say, “He is altogether lovely” and the fairest to my soul. (Song of Solomon 5:10–16) He calms my storms, so I ask: what do you mean you feel sorry for Christian single women? Didn’t you already know we are married to Jesus?
I sit here preaching, trying to convert souls. Why? Because of what Isaiah 54:1 says:
“Sing, barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD.
The child born to a Christian woman is not just a physical child, but also one born in the Spirit — a converted soul, born again, as Jesus would say. (John 3:3–6) Born of a new spirit.
So if you cannot love a God you cannot see, how can you truly love another?
1 John 4:20 says: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.”
That is why the commandment says to love God first before loving your neighbour. (Matthew 22:37–39) How can I love you with my fickle kind of love if I do not first love a God I cannot see?
It is from Him that love flows. It is from Him that love learns patience, mercy, sacrifice, and truth. Without God, love becomes unstable because human emotions change like the wind. But the love of God teaches us how to love people rightly.
So no, I am not empty because I am unmarried. I am already loved. I am already known. I am already chosen. I am already in love with Jesus. See the defense around me, the rock of ages, the chariots of fire, the army of soldiers. 2 Kings 6:17-20 ” Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”
Psalm 18:1, January (1): 18
Even if you leave, he will send me another helper. As I end with this: Song of Solomon 2:7 “Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.” Song of Solomon 3:5 “Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.” Song of Solomon 8:4 “Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.”
Today, we will be looking at the Kingdom of Heaven, readiness and wisdom, which is synonymous with oil, sleep, and slumber in Matthew 25.
Every time I read Matthew 25, I am convicted, especially if I haven’t done the work of God and have been pursuing my personal things.
In the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus likens it to the parable of the ten virgins. He likens it to readiness and wisdom. Readiness means that there is oil of gladness for the things God has given to us. Wisdom is in terms of not sleeping and slumbering, to observe, to watch, and pray because of the times we are living in.
When we get to where the Savior comes, He will not say, “Verily, verily, I say unto you , I know you not.” This was Matthew 25:12. We know not the day nor the hour that the Son of Man cometh.
The Kingdom of Heaven is likened to a group of people also. It has two faces. It talks about readiness, wisdom, which is likened to oil of gladness, and sleep and slumber, which has to do with readiness and wisdom. It means that if your oil finishes, you have to get another oil.
May God help us. When I read these verses, I reflect like I am not doing enough, like I’m not the best of myself.
The Kingdom of Heaven is also likened to talent, given according to abilities. Talent, in my opinion, is something that you develop. Natural abilities are things God gives to you that come naturally.
In the book of Daniel, the Bible says that Daniel was given the ability to learn tongues. He could speak languages and he excelled in all kinds of science. He wasn’t just given a talent; he had an ability.
Here, we see that what God calls a good and faithful servant is one that He would give something, an ability or talent, and they would be able to use it for something. He doesn’t want us as Christians to be wicked and slothful, trying to reap where we didn’t sow.
We go to money exchangers. Even if it is just a piece of talent, we trade it out, not to be an unprofitable servant in the Kingdom of heaven notice not of God.
Sometimes I really feel like an unprofitable servant of the Kingdom of God. Every time I read these verses, I feel like God is telling me, “Look, you’re not putting as much for Me as you are putting for your work.”
One of the things that we have to be predominantly prepared for, at least for me, is that I always like this scripture that says, “Cast out the beam from your own eye, then you can preach to others, lest you yourself be guilty of the same sin.”
As we prepare for these last days, we know that when the last days come, we have to be watchful, set apart, to do what God wills. We prepare ourselves to do what God has commanded us to do.
One of the things He has said that we should do in the time that we wait is to feed the hungry. This could be someone that is literally hungry, physically hungry, for food.
The people that are thirsty, give them drink. Strangers, open your heart to them wisely. And clothe them with righteousness. Those that are sick and in prison, you come to them.
Many of us are in prison in our minds. Some of us are in prison physically. Some of us are sick in our minds. Some of us are sick physically.
There is not much good in speaking outwardly if you don’t do it inwardly. Real change comes from the heart.
When I read Matthew 25, I can see a lot of flaws in my own life. It is a very difficult passage to preach because it convicts me first that I’m not doing enough.
Like, I always feel like, “Okay, let me now come out and do something for God.” Maybe this is the conviction in the right direction. It’s only God that can convict the human spirit to see the wrong from the right, and the right from the wrong.
And I pray that whatever talent and ability we have, we use it to serve God. And that there is a readiness to know that He is at the door. He is at hand. So let my trade my talent to the exchangers….
One thing with oil is that it is useful for lots of things.
If you think about oil, the first place we saw oil was in the time Elijah went to the woman who had nothing. (1 Kings 17:8–16)
Elijah was sent to a widow in Zarephath during a time of famine.
He asked the woman what she had, and she said she just had a handful of flour and a little oil in a jar. (1 Kings 17:12)
He told her to bring vessels, more vessels, and God multiplied the oil, so it did not run out until the famine ended. (1 Kings 17:14–16)
Elisha also had a similar encounter with the widow whose husband left them in debt. (2 Kings 4:1–7)
He instructed her to gather empty vessels, and as she poured, the oil kept flowing until every vessel was filled. (2 Kings 4:3–6)
Both Elijah and Elisha had miracles connected to oil, showing provision, multiplication, and divine supply.
If you look at the book of Proverbs, wisdom is often associated with oil and preparation, especially in the call to seek wisdom diligently. (Proverbs 1–4 themes of wisdom as preparation and light)
The idea of oil also connects symbolically with readiness and spiritual preparedness.
In the Song of Solomon, there is imagery of beauty, fragrance, and anointing oils, showing intimacy and value. (Song of Solomon 1:3; 4:10)
Typically, oil was used for beauty, fragrance, and care of the body, including hair and skin in ancient times.
We also see the anointing of oil in the woman with the alabaster box. (Luke 7:36–38; Matthew 26:6–13)
She poured expensive oil (perfume) on Jesus, which was seen as preparation for His burial. (Mark 14:8)
Oil in the Old Testament was also used for anointing priests, kings, and sacred objects. (Exodus 30:25–30)
When you put the general picture of what oil is together, it was used for anointing, healing, honour, preparation, and worship.
I am saying the body of Christ because literally it means the church. (1 Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 1:22–23)
If it is used to anoint His body for burial, it is called perfume or ointment, but it still represents preparation and honor.
You kind of understand that it is supposed to be an anointing.
Some people say it is an anointing, some people say it is a perfume.
You kind of understand that the body of Christ is supposed to have oil.
The body of Christ is the church.
So it is no wonder that Jesus would say in this parable that He is looking for oil. (Matthew 25:1–13)
(that’s when he steps in, when the task ahead seems bigger than you)
To Save Your Life Is to Lose It The statement, “Whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life will keep it,” was made by Jesus in the New Testament, specifically in Gospel of Matthew 16:25.
This teaching is also found in Book of Jeremiah 38, where King Zedekiah of Judah was seeking a word from God. In Jeremiah 37:3, it is stated that Zedekiah was looking for help from Pharaoh’s army to save his nation from the Babylonians. He refused to surrender his nation to the Babylonians, even after receiving a prophecy from Jeremiah that he would lose the city.
This led to Jeremiah being separated from the land of Benjamin. Jeremiah was accused of deserting to the Babylonians, beaten, and imprisoned. Yet, even in prison, the word of God did not change.
King Zedekiah, though he knew God, secretly asked Jeremiah for any new word from the Lord, hoping the prophecy against Judah would change. However, Jeremiah informed Zedekiah that he would still be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon.
Jeremiah then questioned how he had offended the king or his servants. He stated that he was the king’s servant and asked why he had been put in prison. He also asked what offense he had committed, or what the people of Judah had done to warrant such treatment, resulting in his imprisonment.
After this, Jeremiah was moved from the house of Jonathan to the court of God, where he was given a loaf of bread daily, symbolizing a “bread of life” or salvation. This is illustrated in Jeremiah chapter 38, where Jeremiah’s relocation to the court of God signifies a transition from death to life.
Jeremiah was willing to die, yet he still spoke what God had commanded. He gave up his life so that he could speak the word of God, and God sustained him. Even when the Babylonians besieged Jerusalem, Jeremiah remained in custody, yet he was preserved.
The narrative in Jeremiah 38 highlights that positioning matters. Moving from the house of Jonathan to the court of God signifies a place of sustenance and life.
This also connects to the idea that Jesus is the Bread of Life, and Bethlehem, meaning “house of bread,” is where grace is found in the body of Jesus.
Jeremiah was eventually moved from the house of Jonathan the secretary, where he had been confined, to the court of the guard. There he was given a loaf of bread daily for as long as bread remained in the city. Though surrounded by judgment and famine, God sustained him. This detail carries deep spiritual significance. While the nation was collapsing, God preserved the prophet who remained faithful to His word. Jeremiah was willing to lose his comfort, reputation, freedom, and even his life in obedience to God. In return, God sustained him in the middle of the siege.
The contrast between Zedekiah and Jeremiah is striking. Zedekiah clung to self-preservation and lost everything. Jeremiah surrendered himself completely to God and was preserved. This mirrors the teaching of Jesus centuries later. The person who desperately tries to save their life apart from God ultimately loses it, but the one who yields fully to God finds true life. There is also a beautiful symbolic connection in Jeremiah receiving bread daily during his confinement. In the New Testament, Jesus declares Himself to be the Bread of Life. Even the name Bethlehem means “house of bread,” pointing believers toward the sustaining life found in Christ. Jeremiah’s journey from imprisonment to preservation reminds us that positioning matters. Safety is not always found in resistance, human strategy, or control. Sometimes life is found in surrender to the will of God, even when that surrender appears costly. The prophet was willing to die in order to remain faithful to God’s word, and because of that, God sustained him through the darkest days of Jerusalem’s fall. In the end, the principle remains the same: Whoever seeks to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for God’s sake will find it.
if he is how is he choosing who he heals and does not heal (the house of bread, eat of the bread of salvation, I have burned my share of bridges, I have learned to tuck my tail as Jeremiah and run.)
Recently, I haven’t been feeling well. Even now, I’m still not perfectly fine, but God has been so merciful. I opened the book of Zephaniah, and I could see that God has been with me, even though this sickness. You know, I’ve had some of my strongest moments before, but lately God has been dealing with me about being an unprofitable servant. So, I’ve just been praying, “God, have mercy on me.”
Then I opened the book of Mark, chapter one. I think it stood out to me more because, while I was sick, I kept seeing advice on what to do to get better. So, when I read Mark, it struck me differently. It was the first time I really thought about it this way—that Mark seemed to write with a kind of medical precision, almost like a physician. And it made me see that Jesus is the Great Physician—there’s really no better way to describe Him.
Mark begins with the words, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight His paths” (Mark 1:3). He talks about the remission of sins, and it made me think about how, even in medicine, doctors check the condition of a person before treatment—like examining blood levels and overall balance. In the same way, remission of sin points to something deeper: a spiritual check, a need for repentance, a restoring of balance within a person.
Then he speaks about baptism—how Jesus was baptized, the heavens opened, and the Spirit descended upon Him. After that, He was led into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan, and afterward, angels ministered to Him.
When you think about it, what do doctors do? They administer treatments, provide care, and guide recovery. The sequence in Mark 1 almost reads like a process—a pattern of diagnosis, cleansing, treatment, and restoration.
As we move further, in Mark 1:24, Jesus encounters a man with an unclean spirit. Throughout the chapter, there’s this recurring theme of what is clean and unclean. The man recognizes Jesus, and Jesus commands the spirit to be silent and come out of him—and it does.
It reminds me of how, in a hospital, there’s always an emphasis on cleanliness. You’re asked if your hands are clean, if things are sterile. But baptism shows us something deeper—it’s not just outward cleansing, but an inward transformation. It represents death, burial, and resurrection with Christ. So, the cleansing is both external and internal—what doctors do outwardly reflect what God does spiritually within us.
We also see Jesus’ healing Simon’s mother-in-law, who had a fever. After He healed her, she rose and began to minister to them. That stands out to me. When people are healed physically, they often thank the doctor—and rightly so—but here, her response was service. Healing led to ministry.
Jesus continues—casting out demons, healing all kinds of sicknesses. Then in verse 41, He meets a man with leprosy. The man says, “If You are willing, you can make me clean.” And Jesus responds, “I am willing; be clean.” Immediately, he is made whole.
This brings everything together—cleanness is not just about the outside. A person may be physically unclean, like the leper, but there is also a deeper need: the cleansing of the heart and spirit. When we talk about baptism, about the washing of water and the Word, it points to this total cleansing—inside and out.
That’s really what repentance is: the cleansing of the heart. And sometimes, it takes going through something like sickness to truly see this.
But in all of it, one thing is clear: Jesus Christ is our Great Physician. And there’s something about the Gospel of Mark that reveals this so powerfully.
I read this verse the same night I read this as well, Matthew 10:24 THEY called the master of the house BEELZEBUB, how much more shall those of his household. For it is the father that speaks in you (Matthew 10:20).
curled by Bob, Debby Gass with Ruth Gass Halliday
Paul writes one of the saddest verses in scripture: ‘Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world. ‘The runner has stumbled. The light has gone out of the life of a believer. Why? 1) Did he resent his minority status as a Christian 2) It’s been said that there wasn’t just one, but two Martin Luther’s in church history. And both received the same revelation of justification by faith as the way to salvation. But the first wrote it down and hid it in a monastery wall because he feared the authorities. The second nailed it to the door of Wittenberg All Saints Church and started the REFORMATION. Christ promised that our message would be a powerful one not always a popular one. ‘Do not fear, little flock …’Luke 12:32. Wear your minority status as a badge of honor! 2) Was he cut down by the doctrinal sword? We have the message people need to hear, but don’t always want to listen to. Even us as Christians don’t want to hear it. ‘Therefore, many of his disciples, when they heard this, said, ‘This is a hard saying, who can understand it’?…. From that time many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more (John 6:60, 66 nkjv). You say, ‘But if we’re too strict with people we will lose them, ‘ if we’re legalistic, we will, but if we’re scriptural, we will build men and women of God, who shine like lights in a dark world. Jesus said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32). Sometimes, before the truth sets people free, it puts them through the wringer! But we must preach it nonetheless!
‘Demas….loved this… world’
Again, we ask what happened to Demas? 1) Was he troubled by Paul’s diminishing prestige? When Paul came to town, church growth exploded – and so did riots. In one town the new converts brought out Pornographic books and artefacts of witchcraft and burned them in the town square. That didn’t win Paul any points with the publishers and manufacturers! He had the social status of a leper in a health colony. Who said the Christian life was supposed to be easy? Not Jesus: ‘If the world hates you, you know it hated me before it hated you’. If you are of the world the world will love its own. Yet because we are not of the world, but he chooses us out of this world, therefore the world hates you (John 15:18-19). Attack is a sign of respect; it means you haven’t been conquered. Indeed, the level of the attack that comes against you is an indicator of the level of God’s blessing that awaits you and beyond it. 2) Did he resent Paull’s growing ostracism by professing Christians? A man asked his friend, ‘How’s the world the world treating you? He replied, ‘the world treats me just fine, it’s the saints who give me a hard time! Sometimes, the church supported Paul financially, other times he had to make tents to support himself. So how did he respond? …I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls, though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved (2 Corinthians 12:15). The burning desire in Paul’s life was …. to be well pleasing to Christ. (2 Corinthians 5: 9). Is that your desire too
Mr. James Haliday excerpt from Quiet Time Companion. To him who knows the good to do and does not do it, it is sin” (James 4:17).
It goes about talking about how we tend to focus on sins of commission, the wrongs we do, rather than sins of omission, the good we fail to do.
But in Christ’s Bible, when someone was condemned, it was not over his sin of omission. A man was to put out of a wedding because he had no wedding garment. That was Matthew 22:12. And five virgins were executed from the wedding party because they had no oil in their lamps (Matthew 25:3-11). And a servant who buried his talent in the ground instead of using it for profit was condemned. That rich man failed to care for his neighbor was condemned for it (Luke 16:19-24). And a barren fig tree that failed to produce fruit was cursed and died (Mark 11:20-24).
You say, “But I’m interested in a deeper spiritual life.” Well, a deeper spiritual life is one spent doing good for others. And the basis on which you’ll be judged and rewarded is based on what you do for others. “And the king will say, ‘I was hungry and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty and you didn’t give me to drink. I was a stranger and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison and you didn’t visit me.’ Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick in prison?'” And he will answer, “I tell you the truth. When you refuse to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you’re refusing to help me” (Matthew 25:41-45).
So then, when you have the chance to do good, do it. This is just my opinion about the idea of doing good. Of course, Jesus was on earth and he did good, and it was the will of God that he came to do the will of the Father.
WHAT ARE YOU HEARING TODAY: 1 Kings 18:1
“The word of the Lord came to Elijah saying, ‘I will send rain on earth.’ Three years earlier, God told Elijah to announce that there was a severe drought coming. As a result, it was all people talked about. And the God told him to announce that rain was coming, and they should prepare for it.”
“Understand this, unless you learn to tune your ear to hear what God is saying, you will be ready for what life throws at you. God can tell you when to save, when to sow, when to buy, when to sell, when to come to the table, and when to work. In your ears, he will hear the word. When you’re saying, ‘This is the way,’ walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21).
I specifically love this passage, you know, because there are rough times that are coming on the face of the earth. And you know, we’re going to have people that will be agitated, people that will be fearful. And I think that one of the things that people can be reminded of is that we can, like, tune in our ears to hear from God, what he has to say about a specific situation. So, when we’re doubting, when we’re worried, or in stress. And I think this is why I really love the word of God, because you can always hear from God. And the voice of God is calm, is assuring. Even if you want, he’s gentle and assuring.
And he says that, “But Satan can also speak to you and tell you things like, ‘You’re going bankrupt, you’re going to die, you’ll never succeed. Nobody loves you.’ And you’ll never hear that from God. Despite what you’re hearing around you or within you, you must believe God’s faithfulness and trust him to fight for you.”
“Knowing he would soon be crucified, Jesus prayed, ‘Father, glorify your name.’ And a voice from heaven came saying, ‘I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.’ Therefore the people stood by and heard it and said that it had thundered. That’s John 12:28-29.”
The genealogy of Jesus. Matthew 1:1–17 Abraham → David → Solomon → Joseph → Jesus. (My point is Mary wasn’t pregnant with the seed of David, Joseph was the adoptive father, Mary’s genealogy came from Abraham directly).
Job 35:7–8 “If you are righteous, what do you give to Him? Or what does He receive from your hand? Your wickedness affects a man like yourself, and your righteousness a son of man.”
Job 22:2–3 (spoken by Eliphaz)
“Can a man be profitable to God? … Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous?”
Luke 17:7–10
“Does he thank the servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not.” (v.9, KJV)
The presenter attempted to convince me that all our righteousness is nothing but rags before God.
I responded that yes, it is nothing but rags before God.
I grew and threw away childish things. I was not proud of some of the things I did as a child. I definitely know that there is none that is righteous. I don’t think those things appeal to me now that I am older. I’ve had to go through stages of refinement from my madness, to understand that I was not okay.
Tamar Is Not Desperate
I looked at this guy, and he wrote that Tamar was a woman that was desperate.
I really do not like when you describe Tamar as a woman that was desperate.
Tamar had an agreement with Judah. He couldn’t keep to his agreement. He wanted to play smart, and she outsmarted him.
Some women know that men prefer prostitutes. Tamar did what most women would do: she dressed as a prostitute. Men prefer cheap sets.
She got pregnant for Judah because he promised to give one of his sons to her. He went out of the bargain trying to play smart, because his sons were not ones that wanted to be responsible.
I don’t think she was desperate. It was an agreement. They were trying to slide her. The way they painted her was that Tamar was desperate and it’s good to be desperate.
Sin in a generation reproduces itself.
Zachariah, Doubt, and Generational Patterns
The holiest of the holy person, Zechariah, was going to the temple to pray.
When the angel of God came and told Zechariah that he was going to have a baby, and that he should be John the Baptist, who would preach repentance—Zechariah doubted.
Because he doubted, he could have a son, ie John the Baptist, John the Baptist, who saw Jesus Christ baptized, still had confusion. He was asking, “Is this the Messiah?”
There’s a tendency that sin replicates from one generation to another.
The Genealogy of Jesus and Misinterpretation
This man was trying to convince me that doing sin was okay.
Jesus’ mother was a virgin. Jesus used someone that was holy to come out.
Let’s say the genealogy of Jesus came from the male side. They will talk about the male side and who they married. It was from Joseph’s lineage that King David’s lineage came from.
But Joseph’s seed was not used. Mary was fertilized by God.
Mary traced her own back to Abraham. Joseph traced his to David.
The promise had to come because Joseph was the adoptive father.
Bathsheba and the Danger of Justifying Sin
When they talked about the genealogy of Jesus, they mentioned women like Bathsheba.
Typically, David slept with Bathsheba. And people try to justify it by saying God still allowed Bathsheba.
What Bathsheba did was terrible. She was married. A married woman was called, and she couldn’t say no?
If you were the man married to her, and another man set you up to kill you just to take your wife, would you say what she did was good?
What she did was very bad. God said it was very bad.
God did not only deal with David—He allowed consequences. The child conceived died because it came through adultery. Not only did King David lose the son he loved the most – Absalom, David wanted to die in his stead as a result of killing Uriah to placate David for the loss he gave him SOLOMON.
That is not something to justify.
Willful Sin vs Ignorant Sin
When they say, “I was conceived in sin,” it does not mean willful sinning.
Willful sinning is different.
The Bible says if I know what sin is and I do it, there is no justification.
A child can be pardoned because they don’t know. But when you know, and you still do it, that is different.
David, Consequences, and Loss
This man tried to justify David’s sin.
But David lost his child.
He also lost Absalom, the child he loved.
God told David: you killed Uriah, and I will take something you love.
David knew why Absalom died. That’s why he blamed himself.
Then Solomon came later.
Generational Sin
From Rahab to David to Solomon, you see patterns.
David had many wives. Solomon had many wives.
Sin replicates.
You may not know it, but when people tell you sin is okay, know that there are consequences.
Personal Responsibility and Free Will
The book of Ezekiel 18 explains that each person bears their own sin.
Everybody has a choice.
You cannot say someone is holy by themselves. God makes a person holy.
Righteousness is not owned—it is given.
Righteousness and Its Reality
People think doing right brings reward on earth.
But Jesus Christ said:
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness.”
Even Abraham was counted righteous because he believed, not because of works.
Any person that you see that is living a life that they are worthy of God, it’s only God that made that person holy.
A lot of people think that if you are doing what is right, you will get something good. God used the Babylonians, not the righteous people.
There’s one thing to do sin, there’s another thing to try to justify sin.
Book of Leviticus 20:8
“I am the LORD which sanctify you.” (its God that makes us holy)
Also:
Leviticus 21:8
“For I the LORD, which sanctify you, am holy.”
He used Cyrus, the king.
You can’t say that King Cyrus was righteous.
But he used him.
These were people that didn’t even have a righteous background, and he used them.
It’s very possible that God can refine someone.
But that’s because he chose to refine the person.
We always keep forgetting that it’s the Lord, my God, that makes the holy. God makes people holy.
It’s not because any race is good, or any person is good, or any slate is good.
Righteousness is something that people are, rather than something that is imparted to us through Christ Jesus to enable us do what is right.
It’s not something that we own.
If I wear a coat to cover myself because I am cold, that coat might not be mine.
I am just wearing it over my body because I want to be warm.
That doesn’t mean that it’s mine.
In essence, if you want to marry who you want to marry, marry the person, but do not attempt to justify it.
If you want to sin, sin. But believe God out of it, right?
Because God’s ways are perfect.
He does not endorse sin.
Humans that do evil and then try to say that God allowed it because God is merciful.
You hear the Bible say, often say something like, “You see a righteous man perishing in his righteousness.”
Solomon will say, “Don’t be overly righteous, you don’t want to die before your time.”
Anybody that chooses to live a righteous life lives a lonely life.
Righteousness in terms of how we see it.
When Jesus came, Jesus will say, “Blessed are those that are persecuted for righteousness.”
Every time that God ascribes righteousness to a person, he will tell them that their reward is in heaven.
When Abraham was accounted to him for righteousness, did he have any great works? No.
Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him.
He didn’t have any physical thing he could see. He just believed God.
That’s why some people say that there’s no reward for righteousness.
Because on Earth here, there’s possibly no reward for it.
