David's Rise to Power

Jealousy must have been rapid in Davids family (his brothers that is). First Samuel anoints David with the oil instead of his older brothers, then in battle David defeats Goliath in front of his older brother and his older brother show jealousy when David asks what a person gets if he is to kill the giant. But David just ignored his older brothers nasty comments.

++SIDE NOTE++ I know how David must have felt about his brothers jealousy. I have someone in my life more so in my younger years that no matter what I said or did it was always wrong. I was always put down and chastised about everything I did no matter what it was. This was all done out of jealousy! I to this day I am still not sure why this person was so jealous! To put it plain ans simple, it sucked for me. I always wanted to have a friendship with this person, but was never able to because this jealousy always got in this persons way.++

Well, then we know the rest of the story of David. What faith this man had to go up against a giant with nothing more then a sling shot and some rocks! WOW! I want to go back for a moment to the time Samuel was selecting Jesse's' sons by their appearance. We all do it and please do not try to deny it. let me give you some examples that may apply to you. You see a guy coming towards you that has jail house tattoos all over him. Do you stop and say hi and introduce your children or do you grab your kids hands and maybe take a step or tow farther away from him? I know I did this myself and I have many tattoos myself, but you just can not help but to look at an appearance of someone and pre-judge them! How about the man who has on kinda dirty clothes, no front teeth and smells a little. Do you go over and shake his hand and introduce yourself to him as well as your kids or do you take the opportunity to teach your children about homeless people from a distance? I have a relative on my husbands side that is not prejudice, but the first thing this person will see is the color of skin of a person. Now are they against blacks or even a black president? No, but still the appearance is important enough to notice that the person there is black or Hispanic or whatever instead of the person being just a person. WHY DO WE DO THIS????? I try desperately not to do this, but we all do it. Maybe not to the bum, but to the tattooed person, maybe not to the black or Hispanic person, but to the bum etc. WHY!?

A heart for God can only be displayed in our heart of actions not in how we look. The person who was in jail but turned their life around and is on fire for God can be just as close to God as the beautiful person who looks perfect on the exterior. Hey the perfect person may have the evil heart and the bum could have the beautiful heart for God. You never know unless you give EVERY person a chance!

Then lets fast forward and look at David. What a man! He seems to me the type of guys a woman would love. He was strong, hard worker, musical (a great attribute for me since I am musician), tender, compassionate, smart, good looking etc! But you know there was one thing that really made him the most attractive to me. His confidence came from trust on God and that he was fighting for God not the other way around. We sometime tend to think that God is on our side and it really is the opposite way around.

Saul as a Successful Leader

Saul was a great leader. Every enemy he came against he won. This is exactly what Samuel told the Israelites would happen. However, like a lot of us Christians, we can tend to think we are doing right by God but in reality we are running our lives by fear of the world there by living for the world not God and not even realizing it. Saul did the same thing here and unfortunatly Samuel as well as God was very displeased with him.

I can think of many many of things I do that are of this world not for God. But on the opposite hand I can thinks of 100's of things I do for God. It is finding that happy medium and making sure that we are constantly seeking God on everything we do.

I can only repeat what Samuel said here to Saul. "Doe the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifice as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord?" Wow those words are fantastic!

Sometimes we can get caught up in ding for the Lord and if we step back for just a moment we may realize that maybe we are not obeying the Lord! Not to say what we are doing, is bad, but sometimes we can get in the routine of our mission that we tend to forget to look to the Lord for permission. Yes, our actions say allot, but sometimes we can go through the motions of looking good as a Christian but our hearts are not in obedience. Get it????

The Reign of Saul

In this 2nd year of Saul's reign, the Philistines mobilize for a major war effort. Instead of trusting God, what does Israel do? Hide! So Saul sacrifices instead of waiting for the prophet who is suppose to come. So then Samuel gets mad and Saul retreat which leave the Philistines to plunder and raid the Israelites.

Things that make you go Hmmmm. Did not Samuel explain some of this in his earlier warnings about appointing a king vs. trust in in God? Yes he sure did. And just as explained, God commandments took a back seat to fear, gluttony,and all the other 7 sins.

When times of fear come up in our lives, those are the time we have our trust in God tested. Some would say our character is tested not our trust. I think it is a little of both. Out character is what make our decision to trust or to not trust in Gods word. To obey or not to obey in Gods word. In this past month what does your character and trust say about you?

Saul Appointed King

You know Moses predicted sometime back that Israel would someday have a king. Here it is in all its glory. Samuel even warned them that having a King was not a good idea. They had a King in GOD already! They were very wrong in asking for such a thing. Once again lacking faith and obedience. When God shows Samuel that Saul is the chosen one to be King a banquet in his honor is taken place. Then Saul is given some instructions from Samuel that are private.

The Israelites question Samuel's choice in a King, but after the win against the Ammonite invaders they agree for him to be King. You can see here that God equips even the flawed individuals to serve him effectively!

God's Call to Samuel

Wow, this reads like a story from Indiana Jones movie. I can see that the makers of that movie must have read this passage and made almost the whole movie from it.

OK, so this was actually very interesting. So after Samuel grows up and Eli dies, then we have this big saga of the Ark of the Covenant getting stolen and the Ark being put next to Dagon and Dagon falling several times because of the power of God. Hey even some men died because they looked inside. I wonder if they melted like the men on the movie and huge bright light came from the ark too. LOL

It seems to me that the Philistines had more faith in God then the Israelites did. I mean, think about it. They did not have to believe that it was the Ark that was causing all the deaths and problems form each village. They could have just pushed it off to coincidence. They also realized that it was God not some religious relic that was causing this.

Sometimes I think that

Samuel Brings About Transition

OK, this is why we do not have more then one wife or one husband. Poor Hannah. Her husbands other wife is continually making fun of her barren womb. But finally after a little talk with the priest, she was granted a baby which she named Samuel. Once he grew old enough she kept her promise to God and brought him to Eli the priest to raise as a Godly man. Which he did become at this time. But for sure not by watching Eli's sons. They were wicked and awful people.

Hannah had a willingness to surrender to God. I mean really think about what she did. She gave her only son after being barren for years to the priest to raise and teach instead of herself. If only I could be like that. I know sometime I look at situation where I should be more willing to surrender to God and instead of giving him everything, I give him a partial offering. Do I really think He does not know any better? How about you. How many partial surrenders have you done in just this year? one too many? Yea, me too. When we surrender, we surrender ALL to Him!

Civil War with Benjamin

This story absolutely disgusted me. Here we have this Levite (a supposed tribe of God) who is trying to get back to his wife. He goes back, but his father in law keeps making him stay longer and longer. Finally after his father in law lets him go he goes on his journey home. he passes through an Israelite community and find someone who will take him in for the night, but a man comes a pounding and want the Levite so that they can have sex with them. What does this man do? He gives up his wife (offers his daughter too) to not only get raped and beaten but also murdered. Then he cuts up the body and send it around town, With all this it lead to a civil war.

OK, talk about making some horribly wrong choices. Not only by this Levite, but also by the Israelites.They are suppose to be living a Godly life and they are FAR from it! Gosh people, the evil must be purged and in this case with a heavy cost. As a society they/we need to take a stand against evil no matter what the cost. But the big thing to remember is the fact the as a society or a nation or a country we must stay committed to God. By staying committed together, it guards our country or society or even family from the evils one!

Micah anf the Danites

Seems to me like everyone here is doing as they want to and not according to God. Here we have Micah who steals then sets up a shrine of sorts in his home with silver idols has his son as a priest until he decides to hire a Levite to do the job, the expects God to bless him. Yea right. Then we have the tribe of Dan pass by Micah's place and to get a blessing from this priest. yet still a larger clan moves in on them and asks the Levite to go with them to be their priest. OK, OK! Does something sound wrong here? It really is ridiculous that one man would have a priest hired in his house just for him.

I realize that during this time the word of God was kind of lost. Like I said everyone was for and about himself. The problem is the someone who thinks "he knows" can sometimes be wrong. What we need to do is check out our ideas about God and His ways against what God has revealed in His scriptures!

Samson the Strong Man

You know I have heard this story and seen cartoons hundreds of times. I never knew that he was married before Delilah and I never knew his eyes were cut out. Just and FYI!

You know Samson's parents really seemed like they were Godly parents. They trusted God and believed in the promise that was told to them by God. They seem to live by God's rules!Yet here was there son who was far from Godly, dedicated person who you expect to come from such a home. This has always been a worry to me. I raise my kids in a Godly environment and try to live according to Gods words daily, but there is always that worry that they will someday walk away from God when they grow up. I guess this story shows us that even those parents that do everything right and are great parents can have children that make all the wrong choices!!!

Anyway, Samson, unfortunately, was ruled by his PHYSICAL desires. Lets look at the world outside out 4 walls. I turn the TV on and there is naked (or almost) women advertising underwear, a sexy woman on top of a car to sell it or even soda for that fact, billboards outside showing half naked people embraced in a sexual hug... shall I go on. Out physical desires are all around us daily. This is one reason i omit the TV for the most part of the day.

Look, we have to make sure we do not make the same mistake as Samson. Our bodies our Gods not ours. I am not saying we should not have any desires or enjoyment (get my drift). Wat I am saying is that when those physical enjoyments are at a cost of either our marital relationships or children or worst yet...our salvation, then we need to remember this story and know that at one point or another there will be a fall.

Samson was a strong man who thought NOTHING could ever touch him. He was wrong. Those physical desire cam crashing down on him and he lost everything including his LIFE!

The Story of Ruth

What a beautiful story of love for family and friends. there is no greater example (other then Jesus) of friendship.

This is a story that is so well known. there are a few things to point out here that i am sure most people already know. The first is the fact of how we act towards those we call friends and family. Kindness says more then words can ever say. The kindness Naomi showed toward her elderly Mother-in-Law spoke so much about the character of her. So much so that her reputation was well known. That good reputation opened up doors to a much happier life then a widow would ever expect. but here is the thing. it was not a pretend reputation. From what we can tell, how she was to stranger was how she was to her family and visa verse! Now that is a reputation I seek to have too! Consistent! Therefore God rewarded her not only because of her kindness, but also because of her loyalty to her family and for seeking God.

There are so many tragic things that can happen in life. But if we act like Ruth and Naomi, just maybe our tragedies can turn to triumphs, but only as we trust in our God. And only if we work hard at doing our best and treating those around us as God/Jesus would treat us.

Jephthal and Five Others

So Jephathah is like Abimelech in the fact that his mom was not married to his father. Therefore he was put down and sent away. Oh, but, sure as day, the people who be-littled him and sent him to live on his own want him to come back and help lead them into victory and great leadership.

the one thing I noticed about Jephthah (other then the fact I have no idea how to pronounce his name which made for a fun ready to the kids) is that he really seemed as if he had a great knowledge and faith of/in God. the sad thing about this is his vow he made to God if he was given victory! Which I find a weird vow, but then again I am from AD not BC! LOL. Now he has the possibility of loosing his daughter because of this vow.

Now the Bible never actually says she died so there is a possibility that God kept her from death. It also states she WAS a virgin, so was indicated past tense so maybe she did die. But on the other hand the fact it mentions she was a virgin has a possible connotation that she may still be alive. Needless to say I will probably do a little research on this this weekend..

The point here is that he was faithful! He had a difficult childhood and was an outcast etc. But none of that lead to ruining his adulthood. He still knew God and he was used by Him. And unlike allot of promises I have made to God over the years and have not kept (you too I am sure), Jepthah was willing and may have kept his vow/promise!

Gideon Dies

Abimelech, son of Gideon conspired with the Canaanite people of his Mom's home place, Shechem. he decided to murder his 70 other brothers and then crown himself King. What a sneaky, terrible person. But God is good and the youngest brother Jotham, escapes.

So now he tells the people that if they choose Abimelech, then the "King" will end up destroying them all. And of course as human nature draws close to sinful stuff, they choose Abimelech.

A man like Abimelech is just detestable. He only thinks of what he can get out of this world and others and not what he can bring (good) into this world. No good ever comes from these kinds of detestable hearts. Even though some may see Abimelech as ambitious, he was not a subject to God therefore his ambitions turned him to corruption.

Gideon and His Son

Gideon was so reluctant when God called him to deliver Israel from the Midianites. But eventually he goes out and fulfills his mission God sends him to do. Now imagine God asks you to go to your fathers town and destroy his idols of Baal. Boy that must have been a hard thing to do. i mean he grew up with it too you know. But just look at how obedient he really was.

Then the army he put together gets reduced to 300 by God. talk about faith in God that all will turn out OK only through faith. I guess you can see through this how an individual willing to obey God can have such a huge impact on a society of people. Now imagine 1000's of Christians who are obedient and willing to do as God tells them to do. What would this world be like?!?!

We need to be a bit more like Gideon and stand up straight and tall for God even those who were once against us will eventually follow us. Gideon was a man of honor!

Deborah and Barak

Ok, so I just realized that they last 5 days or so of my bible study notes I have not been publishing. I have beedraft saving them. Silly me. Oh well, I guess thise few of you who are reading with me and reading my notes will forgive me.

You go girl! Deborah illustrates an important truth. even in a male oriented society a woman with exceptional personal and spiritual qualities can rise to leadership. When the Hebrew society broke down, there was Deborah to pick up those pieces and mend it back together with her vigorous leadership. just remember what qualifies a leader to be a leader is not their color of their skin, their size or even their gender, but their relationship with God and whether or not they have been called to ministry by God.

I know in my own life I have fell into this gender trap. For many years when I was a new christian and I would see a women preach...Oh how that bugged me. I just thought that all preaching would have to be done by a man. I know kinda a weird statement coming from a woman. But yea, I was one of those who believed a woman's job in the church was not up on the podium preaching. Well, almost 20 years later, I realize that there are so many women of the Bible that lead. i think there is a place for everyone. A woman who speaks and teaches about the word of God? Well if Deborah can have a whole chapter entitled to her and how she lead the Hebrews, then I think a woman can certainly teach the word of God in church. Besides, in the Bible it states that the mature woman is to TEACH the younger woman! I have to admit though , the jury is still out on the woman with the title of Minister/Pastor/Reverend!

Apostasy and the Judges

The Israelites forsake God! Hmmmm, who knew this would happen! This is the nature of sin. When they did not listen to God and kill all the people, you knew they would eventually give int o their pagan ways! God even warned them of this! You are who you hang with!!!!!

Now God gives Israel Judges to help them succeed, but as soon as each judge passes away, the Israelites are quick to go back to idolatry. But as we all know (easier said then done) the choices of evil has consequences. You see God see the long term results of our choices Whether they be good or bad choices. While on the other hand we only see the here and now or the short term results of our choices. Now wouldn't it be safe to say that one of the smartest and wise choices we can make would be to read and trust in scripture? Scripture tell us what those long tern affects are going to be. All we have to do is read it! The choice is ours. When we read scripture, trust it and have faith in God it will help us to make better and more correct choices!!!

Burials and Additional Conquests

Now with Joshua gone to be with God and a new set of leaders is taking control, this change of hands can be very scary! Hmmm, sounds kind of like the USA right now!

Failure to obey Now that the Hebrews leaders are all gone they take over lands, but instead of doing as the Lord demands of them by killing the inhabitants and or not worshiping their idols and marring their people, they do just the opposite. They start rituals with their pagan gods, marry their woman etc. Now the Angel of the Lord tells them that they will no longer be delivered from these people but that they will be thorns in their sides!

Today, take a moment and look at the people in your life. Family, friends, work mates, etc. Are they idol worshipers, believers by mouth but not in heart, believers at all? Who are you surrounding yourself with? Do you surround yourself with like minded people (as God instructs us to o) or are you surrounding yourself with people who are there to only make you stumble and fall. to help you to slowly walk away from the Lord.

i am not saying you have to give up you job, all you friend, you family. What I am saying is we need to be careful who is around us. Because we are just as weak as the Hebrews and can fall into their ways if we are not careful!

Joshua's Farewell Address

Assumptions! You know the saying about ASSUME! You make as ASS out of U and ME. Unfortunately it is a thing we ALL do from time to time. Well the tribes that are on the east of the Jordan build this altar. Not as a sinful thing mind you! Well all the other tribes could have assumed that they were sinning against God and wage war against them, but no they did not do that. They went and asked and questions and resolved this without assuming and judging!

You see when we truly love God and we truly love our neighbors as ourselves we will of course have times of confrontation. But this does not give us the right to assume and certainly not condemn and judge these people. No this is the time where we show genuine concern and express it through questions.

More Division of the Promised Land

This next reading is more of a continuation of yesterdays readings. They show the people continuing to obey Gos. They establish their cities, then the refuges cities and of course provisions for the Levites.

The message here again is all about obedience. Just imagine our society today. What would it be like if we really cared for one another as we are told to by God. What if we really took care of our fellow neighbors, maybe even smiled to a stranger, picked up money someone dropped and actually gave it back to them?

I think, however, we will see in the next coming chapters a great spiritual peril! You see I think whenever we humans have victory or greatness or answered prayers it is then that we tend to let our guard down. We relax and unfortunately our commitment to the Lord dies out! But this is the time when our obedience and commitments to God should be the strongest so as to help keep us from evil!

Division of the Promised Land

Joshua now has to divide the land among the tribes. But there is a short blurb about the man named Caleb. If you remember this is the guys who was sent out with a few other to spy out a land for Moses. When they came back he was the only one who believed they could take over the land. the other spies put fear in the Israelites hearts about it.

This is a great reminder of how God really works. What I mean is sometimes we get an answer from God or maybe we don;t get an answer at all. Then we get down and we think our lives are all messed up. Boo Hoo! But see if we wait on God patiently it all works out in the end. Yes, sometimes we have to wait many, many years, but somehow, someway it all works out the way God planned for it to anyway!

general Conquest of Canaan

Deceit! The Gibeons were good! They fooled Joshua. See it goes to show you how important it really is to consult God before we make any decisions. Especially large ones.

You know Joshua took over and killed 31 kings. WOW! That's a whole heck of a lot! Event though so many nations were going to move out against Israel it was through Joshua's and Israel's obedience to God that brought about total victory!

the taking of Jericho

Joshua is told to lead his people in a silent strut around the wall for six days and on the seventh day the people are to march around the city seven times and then at the signal everyone is to shout.

OK, I mean no disrespect to God, but can you imagine the thoughts that were going through the peoples head. Now remember these people were known for dis-obedience, but guess what they did, they obeyed. They followed this strange instruction and the walls fell down. I can just see the look on their faces. Shock and victory!

Then they are told not to save anything from this city but of course they follow human inclinations and some save some stuff from the city. What happens? They loose the battle at the next city.

You know there is so much to really learn from today's readings. God is the one who give us victory over everything that afflicts us. However we are not to judge the reasonableness of God's commands. We are to obey them. We can not expect victory when we are constantly disobeying God. Right? Then why do we dis-obey on a daily basis.

I read the bible daily as you all know already, I write my notes and I re-read them here and there, I teach my kids all about God and His love and promise, I pray daily (but not a prayer warrior unfortunately) and so on. And I think to myself...Why can I not follow God 100% all the time? Why? Oh yea, because I was given free will and I am a sinner. The only thing I can do is remember that God is in ultimate control. I need to continue to pray to him to ask for forgiveness and then also prayer to help me to obey Him. And most important apply everything I am learning!

Preperations for Conquest

OK, this is my kids favorite story. We watch TBN on Saturday mornings because it has Christian cartoons on. There is this one cartoon that the kids love and one of the stories it has shown is the story of Rahab. The story is really a great story to remind us that it is what we do that demonstrates the reality of our faith. Rahab actions are actions of faith where the Canninites actions are actions of fear.

Israels strength needs strengthening and God provides a sign. yea! That is always helpful. Joshua tells them that when the priests carry the ark of God into the Jordan River, then in flood stage, it's waters will dry up. The miracle happens (once again) and the people cross over this river on dry ground. Sound familiar? The Israelites are now just around the corner from meeting face to face with the Canaanites and battle for their new home. Don't you think that all these wonders that God has done for the Israelite promotes faith in them? It should promote faith in us today!

Joshua sets up a nice little heap of stones to commemorate this opening of the water for them to cross. And then he has all the men who are not circumcised to be done so that their covenant with God can become complete. We can all prepare for spiritual warfare by making sure our relationship is right on with God. That's why we are all doing this bible study. To make sure not only that we understand his laws and to obey Him, but to know him. You obey the laws of the USA right? But if you knew the President of the USA personally wouldn't those laws be etched more in your mind and you would try just a bit harder to obey them? I know I would. It is the same with the laws of God. When we get to know Him through His word we want to obey Him that much more!

We can say that we believe in God all day long. We can go to church every Sunday and put our hands up in the air, we can sing all the praise songs we want, but if the actions the other 6 days of the week are not there, are our hearts really where they belong? If the relationship is not there, do we really obey with our hearts or with our minds?

You see there is a huge amount of difference between knowing about God and knowing our God.

Moses Blesses the tribes

I feel for Moses. He is about to take his last journey with the Israelites and go up to Mt. Nebo and take a look at this promised land he has talked about for so very long. But then God tells him that he will not see it because him and Arron sinned and that he is to die up there on this mountain. OK, anyone who agrees that that stinks raise your hand! Mine is up. After all he has done, he only gets to look at it from a distance. Ooppss, I am looking at this from a human perspective aren't I. He sinned! Period! The consequences for sin are all lined up. He knew them. OMGosh, he even wrote them (with the hand of God). So basically it is fair.

Why do I bring all that up? How many times in your life have you said those very words? It's not fair! or This Stink! Lots I am sure. But if we stop for one moment and take a look at it from an eternal perspective or at least from a biblical perspective, we can say that not one sin is any worse then the next and the consequences for sin is death. Right? Well, Moses was a great man, but he was not perfect by any means. In human terms...You know the moment Moses died and went to heaven God was right next to him with his arm around Him saying..."Great Job Dude!"

Moses was remember by the Israelites and by all Jews as a man of valor and righteousness. A man of God. I think these verses sum up the reverence with which he is still viewed with. He deserves honoring.

I guess the question is how will you be remembered at the end of life. Will you be remembered as a child of God or will that be the last thing on the list people will remember you for?

Transfer of leadership to Joshua

Here Moses comes to the end of his life and he re-iterated the last 40 years of his life to the Israelites and then he publicly announces that Joshua is his successor. Then he makes sure that the laws that have been written will be publicly read every 7 years at the Feast of the Tabernacle.

But you know what really stinks? after all that Moses has been through to keep the Israelites in a strong relationship with God, God tells him that in the future Israel will surely corrupt themselves with foreign Gods and experience disastrous judgements. So Moses is to teach this beautiful song that is more of a short re-iteration of the relationship that Israel has with God (or more of a poem) so it can be passed down to each of the generations. Then he is told to climb Mt. Nebo so he can see the land in which all these years they have been working so hard to get to.

God is always faithful to us. Faithful to discipline us when we sin, faithful to restore us when we sin, faithful to love us when we sin and faithful to help us turn back to Him when we sin. All we have to do is remember Him, love Him, obey Him, and have faith in Him!

Renewal of the Covenant

I really found some very interesting similarities to the warnings of what would happen to us as a country if we were to stop obeying the Lords commands.

He talks about how we will stop lending to others and we will become the borrower to other lands, how foreigners who come from distant lands will see the calamities that fall on our land. He also states how our vineyards and vegetation will dry up and we will have to go to other lands for our resources. Or how about how the foreigner who live among us who will rise up and become better then us. The Lord will bring a nation against us from far away, from the ends of the earth and who's language we will not understand. These people will be a fierce looking nation without respect or pity for anyone. They will devour us. They will lay siege to our cities.

Well, I guess you can read into these things anyway you want to. But sure sounds like very familiar situations to today. Our country was founded on Christian values as well as our laws were based on the laws we have been reading for the past few readings. Today, well, I do not think I need to mention what our country is based on today.You would have to be blind not to see we are no longer based on the Bible anymore. All biblical reference is slowly being taken away from us. And look at how much of what we just read in today's reading sounds very much like today in our country. I pray daily for our country to continue with biblical standards. Even for those who do not believe in God, I am sure they would not want those biblical laws taken away. We would have so much trouble!

Am I reading too much into it? Maybe, but then again, what is happening to our country could be the consequences of a countries action to not obey God?

Responsibilities under the laws

OK, did you notice that here we are rewarded for obedience and disasters and punishments for dis-obedience? Do you think it is because there are consequences to every choice we make? Yup! Do you think God wants us to know what these consequences are before we even think about making a choice to do wrong? Yup!

Choice are hard. There are so many things in this world that are so much fun but can have dire consequences. Lets take sex out of marriage. Not are there many diseases that we can catch, but the fact that when you do find a mate to marry if you have had many upon many sexual partners you either need to confess to you potential spouse or lie. Either way there are consequences for that. how about food (my devil). There are wonderful foods out there to enjoy. However not all of them are made to be healthy for our body. McDonald's for example. Yes, it is fast and easy, but how many times a week can out body be subjected to this torture and not fall in to high blood pressure or diabetes etc. Even something as small as swearing has consequences. You child will hear you day after and then go to church and use the word F.... How embarrassing would that be.

There are millions of other things we could talk about here right now. But the end of it all is if we will just try a bit harder to serve God gladly we will realize that He is 100% commit ed to us and will help us if we just try. That is why he give us all the rule plainly lined up for us.

General Welfare Laws

Here we see some moral directives. Interspersed with some of them are some more rules in regards to morals. He forbid some mixing of animals, crops, and even clothing. These are practices that are done only with Israel and no other nation. That really sets them apart and makes them even that much more special.

God is and should be our motivator to keep His laws. It is like a child who wishes to please. That child's motivation is his parents. He wants to do anything that will make Mom and Dad happy. This is how we, as adults should be with God. If we love Him as much as we say we do, we should want to do all we can to please Him. Holiness is a positive and even an active trait. How can we display it? In what we do. Don't get me wrong. I am not saying works is how we get to heaven, but the works we do, produces fruit and the fruit we produce in our personal lives will reflect the dedication we have and the love we have to our Lord and Savior! If we do not produce fruit, then I feel it really show where our hearts our.

We can see a lot of people out there preaching the word to others and inviting them to church, but when we look deep into that persons life, where is the real fruit. How are their personal lives. You know the ones behind the scenes! Those are the fruit I am speaking of. How are your fruits? Are they the same size they were 2 years ago? Have they gotten smaller? Or are they gr owning and becoming more and more mature?

Dietary Regualtions

Wow regulation in regards to what we eat. I don't see Kentucky Fried Chicken on that list. .
Wow, is all I have to say. How much of the this list of things not to eat do we all eat on a daily basis? Now I was told by someone that these dietary laws are wiped away in the New Testament with Jesus Christ. But let us think for a moment. How bad would it be to not eat some of the things that God has listed here.



Not to eat fat, or split hoofed/cud chewing animals, or bottom feeders in the ocean? Would it be that bad to take better care of ourselves. Maybe sickness would decrease if we went back to biblical eating. Basically what God was saying was to eat of the fruit and veggies and some ceremonial clean meat. I mean think about it. When Adam and Eve were first born, they ate only of plants and they were suppose to live forever. He was stating that by doing this and keeping a little willpower in our dietary plans would be like an expression of consecration to God.

I think that our walk with God is not just about reading the Bible, Praying and preaching. It is about all the choices we make. Our daily choices reflect our personal dedication to the Lord. All our choices. Now that it is easier said then done. Especially for those that are like me and have had a weight problem since a very young child. But I have just convicted myself here within this paragraph. I show my dedication to God in so many ways. My readings daily, home school, with what I teach to my children, public expression of love for God, volunteer work and so on. But here is one area I LACK in. Well, mind, get ready lets see if I can dedicate my body to God once again!

Health and Dietary Laws

So we have more rules in regards to being unclean. Regulations for leprosy, burns, boils, an itch, spots, baldness, sickness, mold semen as well as a woman's discharge.

Once again theses sicknesses are not due to willful sinning, but they are of a concern to God. And He wants us to be clean from all types of sin even if they are brought on us. Sometimes, thought, I have to think that some of the sickness that happens to us is brought on by our own unwillingness to either take care of our bodies or not being careful in the things we are doing so that we get hurt.

Like some sports as an example. Boxing. Now that is a sport that if you end up with cuts and bruises and discharges is that a willful sin? I know weird thinking. But really, think about some of the thing we do or do not do to ourselves. Does it come between God and our fellowship with Him. I think most of the time we can say yes. That's what this is all about. Making sure that no matter what is happening in our lives that our fellowship is there daily with our God.

Marriage, Divorce and Sexual Relations

Sex was as big a deal then as it is today it seems. They were doing some of the same things we do today. Well, I think we probably got a few on them that they probably would have never thought of. But never the less, sexual sins have always been a problem. He states very clearly that we are not to defile ourselves in any of the ways He has listed because this is how the nations before them became defiled! Did yo hear that? DEFILED! Where are we on the map?

If the Lord would speak out loud to us today, what do you think He would say?

Let see, we have TV commercials depicting homosexuals either kissing, having sex or just holding hands as well as sit-coms during prime time. We have bill boards with half naked women dressed in only their undies and we do not call this pornography. Or how about bikinis. That's not porn to have 100's of woman taunting men on the beach to look at them in what is basically their underwear. Even on children's shows and TV shows there is so much sexual innuendos that it is almost impossible to keep your child away from. Then there is the Internet. Do you know I get probably about 30 emails a day for some sort of sex aid and once in a while I get an explicit sexual email with pictures. And no I have NEVER been on any porn site. Not once! They buy email addresses. I could go on, but I think my point is made quite clear here.

When will it stop? Even our (so called Christian) President is all for the gay community and killing of innocent unborn children. You can go into any porn store and get a movie with a woman doing just about anything your hear desires. The horrific thing is that your heart would desire some of these disgusting and ab-normal things.

God designed sex to be between a man and a woman. Not a man and feet, or dog or man or whatever. But a woman. Yes, I know God made more then 1 opening on a human body, but that does not mean that all holes were made for sex.

My point. Well, in our society we may have the same exact problems that they had, but we are capable of taking it so many steps further because of our technology. look as God purifies us as Christians it is up to us to CHOOSE purity in our personal relationships. Even within the bonds of marriage! Does that mean sex should not be fun? No, but it should also be pleasing to God!

Personal Rights and Remedies

We continue to read the list of many more misc. regulations showing the Israelites how they should live in order to have a correct relationship with God.We see with these laws that even though at first they seem just arbitrary they are laws that directly link each persons heart with God and doing right by Him. We know and can see by these laws that God is concerned for us. Our marriages, our oxen, our firstborn, etc.

We need to remember that we need to be helpful to people.. that we should treat people with sensitivity and respect. That means even the poor and the homeless and the young deserve a certain amount of respect to. God loves them just as much as He loves the rest.