July 19, 2017

Paradoxes, pride and discipleship by Gary Rose

I will tell you a secret; although those of you who know me, will already know that it is not a secret to my friends. I love to kid around. To me, life that is without humor is not much of a life.  So, being lighthearted is something I strive after (especially around good friends). Otherwise, I may become a grouch and take myself too seriously (which is usually, NOT a good thing).

Integral to these things are are two concepts, nonsense and fantasy, with a shot of perspective which puts reality into common sense. And it is perspective that is most important of all. For perspective will foster humility and that quality will help one be receptive to God.

Jesus said...


Matthew, Chapter 18 (WEB)

 1 In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” 


  2 Jesus called a little child to himself, and set him in the middle of them,  3 and said, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you turn, and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.   4  Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. 


Talk about perspective- humility is greatness. Now, that is a different take on life. Jesus emphasized its importance, so all who desire to follow HIM, must as well.

Having said all this- be sure to get the right size telescope, otherwise you will think more of yourself than you really should!

Bible Reading July 19,20 by Gary Rose

Bible Reading July 19,20 
(World English Bible)

July 19
1 Chronicles 19-21

1Ch 19:1 It happened after this, that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his place.
1Ch 19:2 David said, I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed kindness to me. So David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him.
1Ch 19:3 But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Do you think that David honors your father, in that he has sent comforters to you? Haven't his servants come to you to search, to overthrow, and to spy out the land?
1Ch 19:4 So Hanun took David's servants, and shaved them, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away.
1Ch 19:5 Then there went certain persons, and told David how the men were served. He sent to meet them; for the men were greatly ashamed. The king said, Stay at Jericho until your beards have grown, and then return.
1Ch 19:6 When the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the children of Ammon sent one thousand talents of silver to hire them chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia, and out of Arammaacah, and out of Zobah.
1Ch 19:7 So they hired them thirty-two thousand chariots, and the king of Maacah and his people, who came and encamped before Medeba. The children of Ammon gathered themselves together from their cities, and came to battle.
1Ch 19:8 When David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the army of the mighty men.
1Ch 19:9 The children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array at the gate of the city: and the kings who had come were by themselves in the field.
1Ch 19:10 Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him before and behind, he chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians.
1Ch 19:11 The rest of the people he committed into the hand of Abishai his brother; and they put themselves in array against the children of Ammon.
1Ch 19:12 He said, If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the children of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will help you.
1Ch 19:13 Be of good courage, and let us be strong for our people, and for the cities of our God: and Yahweh do that which seems him good.
1Ch 19:14 So Joab and the people who were with him drew near before the Syrians to the battle; and they fled before him.
1Ch 19:15 When the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians had fled, they likewise fled before Abishai his brother, and entered into the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.
1Ch 19:16 When the Syrians saw that they were defeated by Israel, they sent messengers, and drew forth the Syrians who were beyond the River, with Shophach the captain of the army of Hadadezer at their head.
1Ch 19:17 It was told David; and he gathered all Israel together, and passed over the Jordan, and came on them, and set the battle in array against them. So when David had put the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him.
1Ch 19:18 The Syrians fled before Israel; and David killed of the Syrians the men of seven thousand chariots, and forty thousand footmen, and killed Shophach the captain of the army.
1Ch 19:19 When the servants of Hadadezer saw that they were defeated by Israel, they made peace with David, and served him: neither would the Syrians help the children of Ammon any more.

1Ch 20:1 It happened, at the time of the return of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that Joab led forth the army, and wasted the country of the children of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. Joab struck Rabbah, and overthrew it.
1Ch 20:2 David took the crown of their king from off his head, and found it to weigh a talent of gold, and there were precious stones in it; and it was set on David's head: and he brought forth the spoil of the city, exceeding much.
1Ch 20:3 He brought forth the people who were therein, and cut themwith saws, and with iron picks, and with axes. David did so to all the cities of the children of Ammon. David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
1Ch 20:4 It happened after this, that there arose war at Gezer with the Philistines: then Sibbecai the Hushathite killed Sippai, of the sons of the giant; and they were subdued.
1Ch 20:5 There was again war with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.
1Ch 20:6 There was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were twenty-four, six on each hand, and six on each foot; and he also was born to the giant.
1Ch 20:7 When he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea David's brother killed him.
1Ch 20:8 These were born to the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.

1Ch 21:1 Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel.
1Ch 21:2 David said to Joab and to the princes of the people, Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan; and bring me word, that I may know the sum of them.
1Ch 21:3 Joab said, Yahweh make his people a hundred times as many as they are: but, my lord the king, aren't they all my lord's servants? Why does my lord require this thing? Why will he be a cause of guilt to Israel?
1Ch 21:4 Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab. Therefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem.
1Ch 21:5 Joab gave up the sum of the numbering of the people to David. All those of Israel were one million one hundred thousand men who drew sword: and in Judah were four hundred seventy thousand men who drew sword.
1Ch 21:6 But he didn't count Levi and Benjamin among them; for the king's word was abominable to Joab.
1Ch 21:7 God was displeased with this thing; therefore he struck Israel.
1Ch 21:8 David said to God, I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing: but now, put away, I beg you, the iniquity of your servant; for I have done very foolishly.
1Ch 21:9 Yahweh spoke to Gad, David's seer, saying,
1Ch 21:10 Go and speak to David, saying, Thus says Yahweh, I offer you three things: choose one of them, that I may do it to you.
1Ch 21:11 So Gad came to David, and said to him, Thus says Yahweh, Take your choice:
1Ch 21:12 either three years of famine; or three months to be consumed before your foes, while the sword of your enemies overtakes you; or else three days the sword of Yahweh, even pestilence in the land, and the angel of Yahweh destroying throughout all the borders of Israel. Now therefore consider what answer I shall return to him who sent me.
1Ch 21:13 David said to Gad, I am in distress. Let me fall, I pray, into the hand of Yahweh; for very great are his mercies: and let me not fall into the hand of man.
1Ch 21:14 So Yahweh sent a pestilence on Israel; and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.
1Ch 21:15 God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was about to destroy, Yahweh saw, and he relented of the disaster, and said to the destroying angel, It is enough; now stay your hand. The angel of Yahweh was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
1Ch 21:16 David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of Yahweh standing between earth and the sky, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces.
1Ch 21:17 David said to God, Isn't it I who commanded the people to be numbered? It is even I who have sinned and done very wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O Yahweh my God, be against me, and against my father's house; but not against your people, that they should be plagued.
1Ch 21:18 Then the angel of Yahweh commanded Gad to tell David, that David should go up, and raise an altar to Yahweh in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
1Ch 21:19 David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spoke in the name of Yahweh.
1Ch 21:20 Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat.
1Ch 21:21 As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshing floor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground.
1Ch 21:22 Then David said to Ornan, Give me the place of this threshing floor, that I may build thereon an altar to Yahweh: for the full price you shall give it to me, that the plague may be stopped from afflicting the people.
1Ch 21:23 Ornan said to David, Take it for yourself, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: behold, I give you the oxen for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meal offering; I give it all.
1Ch 21:24 King David said to Ornan, No; but I will most certainly buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is yours for Yahweh, nor offer a burnt offering without cost.
1Ch 21:25 So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight.
1Ch 21:26 David built there an altar to Yahweh, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on Yahweh; and he answered him from the sky by fire on the altar of burnt offering.
1Ch 21:27 Yahweh commanded the angel; and he put up his sword again into its sheath.
1Ch 21:28 At that time, when David saw that Yahweh had answered him in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there.
1Ch 21:29 For the tabernacle of Yahweh, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering, were at that time in the high place at Gibeon.
1Ch 21:30 But David couldn't go before it to inquire of God; for he was afraid because of the sword of the angel of Yahweh.


July 20
1 Chronicles 22-23

1Ch 22:1 Then David said, This is the house of Yahweh God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.
1Ch 22:2 David commanded to gather together the foreigners who were in the land of Israel; and he set masons to cut worked stones to build the house of God.
1Ch 22:3 David prepared iron in abundance for the nails for the doors of the gates, and for the couplings; and brass in abundance without weight;
1Ch 22:4 and cedar trees without number: for the Sidonians and they of Tyre brought cedar trees in abundance to David.
1Ch 22:5 David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be built for Yahweh must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will therefore make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death.
1Ch 22:6 Then he called for Solomon his son, and commanded him to build a house for Yahweh, the God of Israel.
1Ch 22:7 David said to Solomon his son, As for me, it was in my heart to build a house to the name of Yahweh my God.
1Ch 22:8 But the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, You have shed blood abundantly, and have made great wars: you shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight.
1Ch 22:9 Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies all around; for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness to Israel in his days:
1Ch 22:10 he shall build a house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.
1Ch 22:11 Now, my son, Yahweh be with you; and prosper you, and build the house of Yahweh your God, as he has spoken concerning you.
1Ch 22:12 May Yahweh give you discretion and understanding, and put you in charge of Israel; that so you may keep the law of Yahweh your God.
1Ch 22:13 Then you shall prosper, if you observe to do the statutes and the ordinances which Yahweh gave Moses concerning Israel. Be strong, and of good courage. Don't be afraid, neither be dismayed.
1Ch 22:14 Now, behold, in my affliction I have prepared for the house of Yahweh one hundred thousand talents of gold, and one million talents of silver, and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and you may add to them.
1Ch 22:15 There are also workmen with you in abundance, cutters and workers of stone and timber, and all kinds of men who are skillful in every kind of work:
1Ch 22:16 of the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is no number. Arise and be doing, and Yahweh be with you.
1Ch 22:17 David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying,
1Ch 22:18 Isn't Yahweh your God with you? Hasn't he given you rest on every side? for he has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my hand; and the land is subdued before Yahweh, and before his people.
1Ch 22:19 Now set your heart and your soul to seek after Yahweh your God; arise therefore, and build the sanctuary of Yahweh God, to bring the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of Yahweh.

1Ch 23:1 Now David was old and full of days; and he made Solomon his son king over Israel.
1Ch 23:2 He gathered together all the princes of Israel, with the priests and the Levites.
1Ch 23:3 The Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand.
1Ch 23:4 Of these, twenty-four thousand were to oversee the work of the house of Yahweh; and six thousand were officers and judges;
1Ch 23:5 and four thousand were doorkeepers; and four thousand praised Yahweh with the instruments which I made, said David, for giving praise.
1Ch 23:6 David divided them into divisions according to the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
1Ch 23:7 Of the Gershonites: Ladan and Shimei.
1Ch 23:8 The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, and Zetham, and Joel, three.
1Ch 23:9 The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, and Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers' houses of Ladan.
1Ch 23:10 The sons of Shimei: Jahath, Zina, and Jeush, and Beriah. These four were the sons of Shimei.
1Ch 23:11 Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second: but Jeush and Beriah didn't have many sons; therefore they became a fathers' house in one reckoning.
1Ch 23:12 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel, four.
1Ch 23:13 The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was separated, that he should sanctify the most holy things, he and his sons, forever, to burn incense before Yahweh, to minister to him, and to bless in his name, forever.
1Ch 23:14 But as for Moses the man of God, his sons were named among the tribe of Levi.
1Ch 23:15 The sons of Moses: Gershom and Eliezer.
1Ch 23:16 The sons of Gershom: Shebuel the chief.
1Ch 23:17 The sons of Eliezer were: Rehabiah the chief; and Eliezer had no other sons; but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.
1Ch 23:18 The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the chief.
1Ch 23:19 The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.
1Ch 23:20 The sons of Uzziel: Micah the chief, and Isshiah the second.
1Ch 23:21 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. The sons of Mahli: Eleazar and Kish.
1Ch 23:22 Eleazar died, and had no sons, but daughters only: and their brothers the sons of Kish took them to wife.
1Ch 23:23 The sons of Mushi: Mahli, and Eder, and Jeremoth, three.
1Ch 23:24 These were the sons of Levi after their fathers' houses, even the heads of the fathers' houses of those who were counted individually, in the number of names by their polls, who did the work for the service of the house of Yahweh, from twenty years old and upward.
1Ch 23:25 For David said, Yahweh, the God of Israel, has given rest to his people; and he dwells in Jerusalem forever:
1Ch 23:26 and also the Levites shall no more have need to carry the tabernacle and all its vessels for its service.
1Ch 23:27 For by the last words of David the sons of Levi were numbered, from twenty years old and upward.
1Ch 23:28 For their office was to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of Yahweh, in the courts, and in the chambers, and in the purifying of all holy things, even the work of the service of the house of God;
1Ch 23:29 for the show bread also, and for the fine flour for a meal offering, whether of unleavened wafers, or of that which is baked in the pan, or of that which is soaked, and for all manner of measure and size;
1Ch 23:30 and to stand every morning to thank and praise Yahweh, and likewise in the evening;
1Ch 23:31 and to offer all burnt offerings to Yahweh, on the Sabbaths, on the new moons, and on the set feasts, in number according to the ordinance concerning them, continually before Yahweh;
1Ch 23:32 and that they should keep the duty of the Tent of Meeting, and the duty of the holy place, and the duty of the sons of Aaron their brothers, for the service of the house of Yahweh.


Jul. 18, 19
Acts 12

Act 12:1 Now about that time, Herod the king stretched out his hands to oppress some of the assembly.
Act 12:2 He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword.
Act 12:3 When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This was during the days of unleavened bread.
Act 12:4 When he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover.
Act 12:5 Peter therefore was kept in the prison, but constant prayer was made by the assembly to God for him.
Act 12:6 The same night when Herod was about to bring him out, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains. Guards in front of the door kept the prison.
Act 12:7 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side, and woke him up, saying, "Stand up quickly!" His chains fell off from his hands.
Act 12:8 The angel said to him, "Get dressed and put on your sandals." He did so. He said to him, "Put on your cloak, and follow me."
Act 12:9 And he went out and followed him. He didn't know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he saw a vision.
Act 12:10 When they were past the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened to them by itself. They went out, and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.
Act 12:11 When Peter had come to himself, he said, "Now I truly know that the Lord has sent out his angel and delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from everything the Jewish people were expecting."
Act 12:12 Thinking about that, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.
Act 12:13 When Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a maid named Rhoda came to answer.
Act 12:14 When she recognized Peter's voice, she didn't open the gate for joy, but ran in, and reported that Peter was standing in front of the gate.
Act 12:15 They said to her, "You are crazy!" But she insisted that it was so. They said, "It is his angel."
Act 12:16 But Peter continued knocking. When they had opened, they saw him, and were amazed.
Act 12:17 But he, beckoning to them with his hand to be silent, declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. He said, "Tell these things to James, and to the brothers." Then he departed, and went to another place.
Act 12:18 Now as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers about what had become of Peter.
Act 12:19 When Herod had sought for him, and didn't find him, he examined the guards, and commanded that they should be put to death. He went down from Judea to Caesarea, and stayed there.
Act 12:20 Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. They came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus, the king's personal aide, their friend, they asked for peace, because their country depended on the king's country for food.
Act 12:21 On an appointed day, Herod dressed himself in royal clothing, sat on the throne, and gave a speech to them.
Act 12:22 The people shouted, "The voice of a god, and not of a man!"
Act 12:23 Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he didn't give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.
Act 12:24 But the word of God grew and multiplied.
Act 12:25 Barnabas and Saul returned to Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their service, also taking with them John whose surname was Mark.

Jul. 20, 21
Acts 13

Act 13:1 Now in the assembly that was at Antioch there were some prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen the foster brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
Act 13:2 As they served the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, "Separate Barnabas and Saul for me, for the work to which I have called them."
Act 13:3 Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
Act 13:4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia. From there they sailed to Cyprus.
Act 13:5 When they were at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. They had also John as their attendant.
Act 13:6 When they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar Jesus,
Act 13:7 who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of understanding. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul, and sought to hear the word of God.
Act 13:8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn aside the proconsul from the faith.
Act 13:9 But Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fastened his eyes on him,
Act 13:10 and said, "Full of all deceit and all cunning, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
Act 13:11 Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is on you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a season!" Immediately a mist and darkness fell on him. He went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
Act 13:12 Then the proconsul, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
Act 13:13 Now Paul and his company set sail from Paphos, and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John departed from them and returned to Jerusalem.
Act 13:14 But they, passing on from Perga, came to Antioch of Pisidia. They went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat down.
Act 13:15 After the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, "Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, speak."
Act 13:16 Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, "Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen.
Act 13:17 The God of this people chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they stayed as aliens in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm, he led them out of it.
Act 13:18 For a period of about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness.
Act 13:19 When he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land for an inheritance, for about four hundred fifty years.
Act 13:20 After these things he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.
Act 13:21 Afterward they asked for a king, and God gave to them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.
Act 13:22 When he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, to whom he also testified, 'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all my will.'
Act 13:23 From this man's seed, God has brought salvation to Israel according to his promise,
Act 13:24 before his coming, when John had first preached the baptism of repentance to Israel.
Act 13:25 As John was fulfilling his course, he said, 'What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. But behold, one comes after me the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.'
Act 13:26 Brothers, children of the stock of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, the word of this salvation is sent out to you.
Act 13:27 For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they didn't know him, nor the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him.
Act 13:28 Though they found no cause for death, they still asked Pilate to have him killed.
Act 13:29 When they had fulfilled all things that were written about him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a tomb.
Act 13:30 But God raised him from the dead,
Act 13:31 and he was seen for many days by those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses to the people.
Act 13:32 We bring you good news of the promise made to the fathers,
Act 13:33 that God has fulfilled the same to us, their children, in that he raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second psalm, 'You are my Son. Today I have become your father.'
Act 13:34 "Concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he has spoken thus: 'I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.'
Act 13:35 Therefore he says also in another psalm, 'You will not allow your Holy One to see decay.'
Act 13:36 For David, after he had in his own generation served the counsel of God, fell asleep, and was laid with his fathers, and saw decay.
Act 13:37 But he whom God raised up saw no decay.
Act 13:38 Be it known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man is proclaimed to you remission of sins,
Act 13:39 and by him everyone who believes is justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.
Act 13:40 Beware therefore, lest that come on you which is spoken in the prophets:
Act 13:41 'Behold, you scoffers, and wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which you will in no way believe, if one declares it to you.' "
Act 13:42 So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.
Act 13:43 Now when the synagogue broke up, many of the Jews and of the devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas; who, speaking to them, urged them to continue in the grace of God.
Act 13:44 The next Sabbath almost the whole city was gathered together to hear the word of God.
Act 13:45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with jealousy, and contradicted the things which were spoken by Paul, and blasphemed.
Act 13:46 Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, and said, "It was necessary that God's word should be spoken to you first. Since indeed you thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.
Act 13:47 For so has the Lord commanded us, saying, 'I have set you as a light for the Gentiles, that you should bring salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth.' "
Act 13:48 As the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of God. As many as were appointed to eternal life believed.
Act 13:49 The Lord's word was spread abroad throughout all the region.
Act 13:50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, and stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and threw them out of their borders.
Act 13:51 But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came to Iconium.
Act 13:52 The disciples were filled with joy with the Holy Spirit.

Why do we love Jesus? by Roy Davison

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davison/Roy/Allen/1940/064-Jesusloved.html

Why do we love Jesus?
“Love is of God” (1 John 4:7).
Why do we love anyone? Love is not easy to explain. Basically, we love someone because of who he is. And, there are various levels of love.
For example, we love our unborn child because he is a little person and because he is our child. After the child is born our love deepens and we love him for who he is.
Why is Jesus the best-loved person in human history? Why did people love Him when He walked on earth? Why do millions love Him now, two thousand years later?
Why do we love Jesus? And how strong is our love? Some have an intense love for Jesus, whereas the love of others is rather weak.
To have a strong love for someone you must know him. In 1958, the love song was popular: “To know him is to love him.” Some of the lyrics were: “To know, know, know him is to love, love, love him, and I do, and I do, and I do.”
This certainly applies to Jesus, more than to any other person who has ever lived. Someone who knows Him, loves Him. It is difficult not to love Jesus. Our love for Jesus grows as we get to know Him better through the Scriptures. We learn who He is: what He is like, what He taught, and what He has done for us. Another line in that song is: “Just to see that smile, makes my life worthwhile.”
To prepare for this lesson I examined what the Bible says about people’s love for Jesus, and I asked some fellow Christians why they love Jesus. So many reasons exist for loving Jesus that only a few can be discussed in this lesson. 

Love for Jesus was not based on physical attraction.
Isaiah wrote of the Messiah: “He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2 ESV). Yet Isaiah also wrote: “Your eyes will see the King in His beauty” (Isaiah 33:17). And in Psalm 45:2 we read about the Messiah: “You are fairer than the sons of men.”
We love Jesus because of His spiritual beauty. He has the most loveable spirit of anyone who ever lived, the Spirit of God! (John 1:32).

We love Jesus because He first loved us.
One brother wrote: “Of course, ‘Why do I love Jesus?’ is answered in my head by the old children’s song: ‘Oh, how I love Jesus, because He first loved me.’ Our love for Him can never match His love for us. Yet, my love for Him is great because I know He sacrificed Himself for me, for us. These expressions are commonplace, but true.”
Indeed, “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). “For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14, 15).

We love Jesus because He forgives our sins.
Jesus made it clear to mankind that God is willing to forgive the sins of the contrite: “And He went to the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head; and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, ‘This man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.’ And Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Simon, I have something to say to you.’ So he said, ‘Teacher, say it.’ ‘There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both. Tell Me, therefore, which of them will love him more?’ Simon answered and said, ‘I suppose the one whom he forgave more.’ And He said to him, ‘You have rightly judged.’ Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.’ Then He said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ Then He said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you. Go in peace’” (Luke 7:35-50).
Sin is a debt no one can pay, whether the debt be large or small. This woman had great remorse for her sins, and she believed that Jesus could rescue her from her terrible state. Imagine how her broken heart was filled with joy when Jesus said, “Your sins are forgiven” and “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.” Her love for Jesus was great because the burden of sin He lifted from her shoulders was great.
She obviously knew something about Jesus. Whether she had met Him, heard Him teach, or only heard about Him, we do not know. But her faith was strong enough that she dared to approach Him in tears, and her love was so strong that she dared to kiss His feet. The invitation of Jesus had touched her heart, whether she had heard these actual words or not: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28, 29).
In reply to my question, several said that they love Jesus because He accepts them and forgives them.
One brother wrote: “Perhaps I most love Him because He is willing to, and has, forgiven my sins, my continuing shortcomings and failures and mistakes, and even those things I cannot seem to keep myself from doing.”
Another brother wrote: “As for me personally, I suspect it boils down to my complete trust in his complete acceptance of me. He knows the real me and that real me does not threaten our relationship. I recognize a great sense of, even physical, peace in my relationship with Jesus, that is not always there in my other relationships! Pretty vague, I know! But in short, it is the peace I get from my relationship with Jesus that keeps me coming back for more.”
Another wrote: “Why do I love Jesus? I love Jesus because He secured my eternal salvation. I deserve to die, but He died for me and paid the price so I do not have to die.”

We love Jesus because He gives us eternal life.
“The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son” (1 John 5:11). “And this is the promise that He has promised us - eternal life” (1 John 2:25). Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life” (John 10:27, 28).
When we commune with the body and blood of Christ at the Lord’s table, we have His promise: “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:54).
One brother explained that he loves Jesus because in Him his dear wife, who recently passed away, will live forever: “I love God because he knows how we humans fear Death because it claims to bring to an end all the lovely and honorable dreams we dream; because it claims to obliterate all the lovely people we know, righteous people, compassionate and kind and unselfish, and because it claims that our trust in God through Jesus Christ is profound nonsense. God has mocked all these claims by Death by raising this one man, Jesus Christ, from the dead to die no more. He enables us to dismiss the voice of all the cemeteries of the world. In and through and because of Jesus there’s a day coming when all who are embraced by the saving work of the Lord Jesus will gather and live forever in eternal joy and peace and love of righteousness.”

God’s children love Jesus.
“Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God’” (John 8:42). John explains: “Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him” (1 John 5:1). They who love the Father also love the Son and all of God’s children.

They who love the truth, love Jesus.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Since Jesus is the truth, He is loved by lovers of truth. “Love ... rejoices in the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6). Jesus said: “Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” (John 18:37). People perish because they do “not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (2 Thessalonians 2:10).
Some comments received were: “Jesus was loved because of His honesty” and “because ‘He spoke not’ as the various religious factions. He spoke with authority, but with love, and not hypocritically.”

How much did Peter love Jesus? 
How would you respond if Jesus said your full name and asked you, as He asked Peter: “Do you love me?” (John 21:15).
This is one of the most touching scenes in the New Testament. Peter had boasted, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble” and “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” (Matthew 26:33, 35). As it turned out, Peter was the only one who denied Jesus! And he did so three times! But when “the Lord turned and looked at Peter” he was struck with remorse and “went out and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:61, 62).
Some days later, after the resurrection, by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus prepared breakfast for Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James, John and two other disciples. “So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?’” (John 21:15).
In His question, Jesus uses the Greek word á¼€Î³Î±Ï€Î¬Ï‰ that refers to the highest form of altruistic love. Peter replies, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” Jesus accepts his reply and says to him, “Feed My lambs.” But Peter did not use the same word for love that Jesus used in His question. Peter used the word Ï†Î¹Î»Î­Ï‰ that expresses affection. Both words mean “to love” but to clarify the difference, it is as though Jesus asks, “Do you love me?” and Peter replies, “You know that I have affection for you.”
Thus, Jesus asks Peter again, using á¼€Î³Î±Ï€Î¬Ï‰, and Peter replies again using Ï†Î¹Î»Î­Ï‰. Jesus accepts his answer and says, “Tend My sheep.”
Then, the third time, Jesus asks, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” but this time Jesus uses the word Ï†Î¹Î»Î­Ï‰ that has the force of asking: “Peter, do you have affection for me?” “Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ And he said to Him, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed My sheep’” (John 21:15-17). Peter still uses Ï†Î¹Î»Î­Ï‰ rather than á¼€Î³Î±Ï€Î¬Ï‰. Peter is no longer boasting, or claiming that he loves Jesus more than others. He understates his love, with the assurance that Jesus knows how very much he loves Him.
Earlier, Peter had said that he was willing to die for Jesus. Now Jesus predicts that he will do just that, and He tells Peter, “Follow Me.” (John 21:18, 19).

How much do we love Jesus?
Jesus is worthy of our highest love. He was a tremendous man. He spoke the truth without compromise. Through His actions and words He revealed the Father. His love for us was so great that He was willing to take upon Himself the death penalty that we deserve, so our sins might be forgiven. He died for us. Are we willing to live for Him? Until our last breath, let us live for Jesus because He, until His last breath on the cross, gave His life for us. Amen.
Roy Davison
The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982, Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers unless indicated otherwise.
Permission for reference use has been granted.

Published in The Old Paths Archive
http://www.oldpaths.com

Who Killed Goliath? by Joe Deweese, Ph.D.

http://apologeticspress.org/AllegedDiscrepancies.aspx?article=752&b=1%20Chronicles

Who Killed Goliath?

by Joe Deweese, Ph.D.

“And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob; and Elhanan the son of Jaareoregim the Beth-lehemite slew Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam” (2 Samuel 21:19).
“And there was again war with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam” (1 Chronicles 20:5).
The record of David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17) clearly speaks of the defeat of the giant of Gath by the shepherd boy. This story is used to emphasize faith and faithfulness to the young from their earliest ages. However, some have alleged a discrepancy between the account in 1 Samuel and two other passages (2 Samuel 21:19 and 1 Chronicles 20:5). According to 2 Samuel 21:19, it appears that Elhanan killed Goliah; yet 1 Chronicles 20:5 states that Elhanan killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath. The question, then, is who did Elhanan kill?
First, we must recognize who Elhanan was not. According to 1 Chronicles 20:5, Elhanan was the son of Jair. This was not the same man as Elhanan the Bethlehemite, son of Dodo (2 Samuel 23:24; Keil and Delitzsch, 1996, 2:681). Furthermore, it appears that Jair and Jaareoregim actually are the same person (Barnes, 1998, 2:120). Barnes, as well as the editors of The Pulpit Commentary, noted that the difficulty may have begun when oregim, the Hebrew word translated “weaver” in this passage, ended up being placed on the wrong line by a copyist—something that has been known to happen in several instances (see Spence and Exell, 1978, 4:514). Therefore, Jair, combined with oregim, became Jaare-oregim in order to make it fit with proper Hebrew grammar (Spence and Exell, 4:514).
Second, the phrase “Lahmi the brother of” is absent in 2 Samuel 21:19. The King James Version inserts the phrase “the brother of” between “Bethlehemite” and “ Goliath.” Furthermore, in the Hebrew, eth Lachmi (a combination of “Lahmi” and the term “brother”) appears to have been changed into beith hallachmi (Beth- lehemite). With this simple correction, the two texts would be in clear agreement (Clarke, n.d., p. 369). In other words, “the brother of” and the name “Lahmi” likely were combined by a copyist to form what is translated in English as “Beth-lehemite” in 2 Samuel 21:19. This, however, caused the difficulty when the passage was paralleled with 1 Chronicles 20:5.
In his Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, Gleason Archer used the same scenario mentioned above to explain this difficulty, and then summed up the situation by noting: “In other words, the 2 Samuel 21 passage is a perfectly traceable corruption of the original wording, which fortunately has been correctly preserved in 1 Chronicles 20:5” (1982, p. 179). A fair, in-depth examination of the alleged difficulty shows that there actually is no contradiction at all, but simply a copyist’s mistake.
REFERENCES
Archer, Gleason L. (1982), Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan).
Barnes, Albert (1998 reprint), Barnes’ Notes: Exodus to Esther (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker).
Clarke, Adam (no date), Commentary and Critical Notes on the Old Testament: Joshua to Esther (New York, NY: Abingdon).
Keil, C.F., and F. Delitzsch (1996), Commentary on the Old Testament: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson).
Spence, H.D.M., and Joseph S. Exell, Eds. (1978), The Pulpit Commentary: Ruth, I & II Samuel (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans).