Impossible? by Gary Rose

This picture was simply entitled “impossible”; and, of course the label is a misnomer. At first glance it appears that the cubes are not connected, but if you look closely you can see that there are in fact places where a little “Gorilla glue” could make this shape possible.

Since the period of the “enlightenment” human beings have focused on reason and that is a good thing – up to a point. When we begin to pridefully think that only those things which we can scientifically “prove” are correct, then we are in for a shock. Consider just one chapter of the Bible; the first one…

Genesis 1 ( World English Bible )

Gen 1:1, In the beginning God* created the heavens and the earth.

Gen 1:2, Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep. God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.

Gen 1:3, God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Gen 1:4, God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness.

Gen 1:5, God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” There was evening and there was morning, one day.

Gen 1:6, God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”

Gen 1:7, God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.

Gen 1:8, God called the expanse “sky.” There was evening and there was morning, a second day.

Gen 1:9, God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear;” and it was so.

Gen 1:10, God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas.” God saw that it was good.

Gen 1:11, God said, “Let the earth put forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with its seed in it, on the earth;” and it was so.

Gen 1:12, The earth brought forth grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with its seed in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.

Gen 1:13, There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

Gen 1:14, God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years;

Gen 1:15, and let them be for lights in the expanse of sky to give light on the earth;” and it was so.

Gen 1:16, God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars.

Gen 1:17, God set them in the expanse of sky to give light to the earth,

Gen 1:18, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good.

Gen 1:19, There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

Gen 1:20, God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of sky.”

Gen 1:21, God created the large sea creatures, and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good.

Gen 1:22, God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”

Gen 1:23, There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

Gen 1:24, God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind;” and it was so.

Gen 1:25, God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good.

Gen 1:26, God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Gen 1:27, God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.

Gen 1:28, God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Gen 1:29, God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food.

Gen 1:30, To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so.

Gen 1:31, God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

Look around you; where did everything come from? Current scientific conjecture (alias,“The Big Bang Theory”) says the universe just exploded; everything came from nothing. Now, that makes perfect sense – NOT! Scientists treat this theory as if it were fact, but in reality; it is NOT! The scientific method is: experimental design, execution of that design, acquisition of data, analysis of the experiment and then logical conclusions based on repeating your efforts multiple times. So, unless one can travel back in time, what ideas you have, well, they are simply yours, NOT science.

People today have placed themselves in the place of God, when they decide that “Science” is the standard. Literally, this is arrogance “personified”.

Think about this for a moment: Human beings are born, grow old and die; God does not, for HE is eternal. How can a finite being have the audacity to even measure the possibilities of an infinite one?

And this college course is called…

HUMILITY 101

Bible Reading June 10, 11 by Gary Rose

Bible Reading June 10, 11

World  English  Bible

June 10

1 Samuel 13, 14

1Sa 13:1 Saul was forty years old when he began to reign; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,

1Sa 13:2 Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel, of which two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the Mount of Bethel, and one thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent.

1Sa 13:3 Jonathan struck the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba: and the Philistines heard of it. Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear.

1Sa 13:4 All Israel heard say that Saul had struck the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel was had in abomination with the Philistines. The people were gathered together after Saul to Gilgal.

1Sa 13:5 The Philistines assembled themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude: and they came up, and encamped in Michmash, eastward of Beth Aven.

1Sa 13:6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were distressed), then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in coverts, and in pits.

1Sa 13:7 Now some of the Hebrews had gone over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead; but as for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

1Sa 13:8 He stayed seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel didn't come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.

1Sa 13:9 Saul said, Bring here the burnt offering to me, and the peace offerings. He offered the burnt offering.

1Sa 13:10 It came to pass that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him.

1Sa 13:11 Samuel said, What have you done? Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you didn't come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines assembled themselves together at Michmash;

1Sa 13:12 therefore said I, Now will the Philistines come down on me to Gilgal, and I haven't entreated the favor of Yahweh: I forced myself therefore, and offered the burnt offering.

1Sa 13:13 Samuel said to Saul, You have done foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of Yahweh your God, which he commanded you: for now would Yahweh have established your kingdom on Israel forever.

1Sa 13:14 But now your kingdom shall not continue: Yahweh has sought him a man after his own heart, and Yahweh has appointed him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept that which Yahweh commanded you.

1Sa 13:15 Samuel arose, and got him up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men.

1Sa 13:16 Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people who were present with them, abode in Geba of Benjamin: but the Philistines encamped in Michmash.

1Sa 13:17 The spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies: one company turned to the way that leads to Ophrah, to the land of Shual;

1Sa 13:18 and another company turned the way to Beth Horon; and another company turned the way of the border that looks down on the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.

1Sa 13:19 Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel; for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears:

1Sa 13:20 but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his plowshare, mattock, axe, and sickle;

1Sa 13:21 yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the plowshares, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to set the goads.

1Sa 13:22 So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan: but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found.

1Sa 13:23 The garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.

1Sa 14:1 Now it fell on a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison, that is on yonder side. But he didn't tell his father.

1Sa 14:2 Saul abode in the uttermost part of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and the people who were with him were about six hundred men;

1Sa 14:3 and Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of Yahweh in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. The people didn't know that Jonathan was gone.

1Sa 14:4 Between the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistines' garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side, and a rocky crag on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.

1Sa 14:5 The one crag rose up on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.

1Sa 14:6 Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, Come, and let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that Yahweh will work for us; for there is no restraint to Yahweh to save by many or by few.

1Sa 14:7 His armor bearer said to him, Do all that is in your heart: turn and, behold, I am with you according to your heart.

1Sa 14:8 Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over to the men, and we will disclose ourselves to them.

1Sa 14:9 If they say thus to us, Wait until we come to you; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up to them.

1Sa 14:10 But if they say thus, Come up to us; then we will go up; for Yahweh has delivered them into our hand: and this shall be the sign to us.

1Sa 14:11 Both of them disclosed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves.

1Sa 14:12 The men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armor bearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will show you a thing. Jonathan said to his armor bearer, Come up after me; for Yahweh has delivered them into the hand of Israel.

1Sa 14:13 Jonathan climbed up on his hands and on his feet, and his armor bearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armor bearer killed them after him.

1Sa 14:14 That first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armor bearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were half a furrow's length in an acre of land.

1Sa 14:15 There was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people; the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled; and the earth quaked: so there was an exceeding great trembling.

1Sa 14:16 The watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and behold, the multitude melted away, and they went here and there.

1Sa 14:17 Then said Saul to the people who were with him, Number now, and see who is gone from us. When they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armor bearer were not there.

1Sa 14:18 Saul said to Ahijah, Bring here the ark of God. For the ark of God was there at that time with the children of Israel.

1Sa 14:19 It happened, while Saul talked to the priest, that the tumult that was in the camp of the Philistines went on and increased: and Saul said to the priest, Withdraw your hand.

1Sa 14:20 Saul and all the people who were with him were gathered together, and came to the battle: and behold, every man's sword was against his fellow,and there was a very great confusion.

1Sa 14:21 Now the Hebrews who were with the Philistines as before, and who went up with them into the camp, from the country all around, even they alsoturned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan.

1Sa 14:22 Likewise all the men of Israel who had hid themselves in the hill country of Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard after them in the battle.

1Sa 14:23 So Yahweh saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over by Beth Aven.

1Sa 14:24 The men of Israel were distressed that day; for Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man who eats any food until it be evening, and I be avenged on my enemies. So none of the people tasted food.

1Sa 14:25 All the people came into the forest; and there was honey on the ground.

1Sa 14:26 When the people were come to the forest, behold, the honey dropped: but no man put his hand to his mouth; for the people feared the oath.

1Sa 14:27 But Jonathan didn't hear when his father commanded the people with the oath: therefore he put forth the end of the rod who was in his hand, and dipped it in the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened.

1Sa 14:28 Then answered one of the people, and said, Your father directly commanded the people with an oath, saying, Cursed be the man who eats food this day. The people were faint.

1Sa 14:29 Then said Jonathan, My father has troubled the land. Please look how my eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey.

1Sa 14:30 How much more, if haply the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found? for now has there been no great slaughter among the Philistines.

1Sa 14:31 They struck of the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. The people were very faint;

1Sa 14:32 and the people flew on the spoil, and took sheep, and cattle, and calves, and killed them on the ground; and the people ate them with the blood.

1Sa 14:33 Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against Yahweh, in that they eat with the blood. He said, you have dealt treacherously: roll a great stone to me this day.

1Sa 14:34 Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the people, and tell them, Bring me here every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and kill them here, and eat; and don't sin against Yahweh in eating with the blood. All the people brought every man his ox with him that night, and killed them there.

1Sa 14:35 Saul built an altar to Yahweh: the same was the first altar that he built to Yahweh.

1Sa 14:36 Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and take spoil among them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. They said, Do whatever seems good to you. Then said the priest, Let us draw near here to God.

1Sa 14:37 Saul asked counsel of God, Shall I go down after the Philistines? will you deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he didn't answer him that day.

1Sa 14:38 Saul said, Draw near here, all you chiefs of the people; and know and see in which this sin has been this day.

1Sa 14:39 For, as Yahweh lives, who saves Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among all the people who answered him.

1Sa 14:40 Then said he to all Israel, You be on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side. The people said to Saul, Do what seems good to you.

1Sa 14:41 Therefore Saul said to Yahweh, the God of Israel, Show the right. Jonathan and Saul were taken by lot; but the people escaped.

1Sa 14:42 Saul said, Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son. Jonathan was taken.

1Sa 14:43 Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what you have done. Jonathan told him, and said, I did certainly taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in my hand; and behold, I must die.

1Sa 14:44 Saul said, God do so and more also; for you shall surely die, Jonathan.

1Sa 14:45 The people said to Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it: as Yahweh lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he has worked with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, that he didn't die.

1Sa 14:46 Then Saul went up from following the Philistines; and the Philistines went to their own place.

1Sa 14:47 Now when Saul had taken the kingdom over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines: and wherever he turned himself, he put them to the worse.

1Sa 14:48 He did valiantly, and struck the Amalekites, and delivered Israel out of the hands of those who despoiled them.

1Sa 14:49 Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Ishvi, and Malchishua; and the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn Merab, and the name of the younger Michal:

1Sa 14:50 and the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the captain of his army was Abner the son of Ner, Saul's uncle.

1Sa 14:51 Kish was the father of Saul; and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.

1Sa 14:52 There was sore war against the Philistines all the days of Saul: and when Saul saw any mighty man, or any valiant man, he took him to him.

June 11

1 Samuel 15, 16

1Sa 15:1 Samuel said to Saul, Yahweh sent me to anoint you to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore listen you to the voice of the words of Yahweh.

1Sa 15:2 Thus says Yahweh of Armies, I have marked that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up out of Egypt.

1Sa 15:3 Now go and strike Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and don't spare them; but kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.

1Sa 15:4 Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.

1Sa 15:5 Saul came to the city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.

1Sa 15:6 Saul said to the Kenites, Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.

1Sa 15:7 Saul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, that is before Egypt.

1Sa 15:8 He took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

1Sa 15:9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the cattle, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and wouldn't utterly destroy them: but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.

1Sa 15:10 Then came the word of Yahweh to Samuel, saying,

1Sa 15:11 It grieves me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he is turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments. Samuel was angry; and he cried to Yahweh all night.

1Sa 15:12 Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set him up a monument, and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal.

1Sa 15:13 Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, Blessed are you by Yahweh: I have performed the commandment of Yahweh.

1Sa 15:14 Samuel said, What means then this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the cattle which I hear?

1Sa 15:15 Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the cattle, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.

1Sa 15:16 Then Samuel said to Saul, Stay, and I will tell you what Yahweh has said to me this night. He said to him, Say on.

1Sa 15:17 Samuel said, "Though you were little in your own sight, weren't you made the head of the tribes of Israel? Yahweh anointed you king over Israel;

1Sa 15:18 and Yahweh sent you on a journey, and said, 'Go, and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.'

1Sa 15:19 Why then didn't you obey the voice of Yahweh, but flew on the spoil, and did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh?"

1Sa 15:20 Saul said to Samuel, Yes, I have obeyed the voice of Yahweh, and have gone the way which Yahweh sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

1Sa 15:21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and cattle, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God in Gilgal.

1Sa 15:22 Samuel said, Has Yahweh as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Yahweh? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.

1Sa 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected the word of Yahweh, he has also rejected you from being king.

1Sa 15:24 Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of Yahweh, and your words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.

1Sa 15:25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship Yahweh.

1Sa 15:26 Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of Yahweh, and Yahweh has rejected you from being king over Israel.

1Sa 15:27 As Samuel turned about to go away, Saul laid hold on the skirt of his robe, and it tore.

1Sa 15:28 Samuel said to him, Yahweh has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you.

1Sa 15:29 Also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent.

1Sa 15:30 Then he said, I have sinned: yet honor me now, Please, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship Yahweh your God.

1Sa 15:31 So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshiped Yahweh.

1Sa 15:32 Then said Samuel, Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.

1Sa 15:33 Samuel said, As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women. Samuel cut Agag in pieces before Yahweh in Gilgal.

1Sa 15:34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.

1Sa 15:35 Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death; for Samuel mourned for Saul: and Yahweh grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel.

1Sa 16:1 Yahweh said to Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from being king over Israel? fill your horn with oil, and go: I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite; for I have provided me a king among his sons.

1Sa 16:2 Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. Yahweh said, Take a heifer with you, and say, I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh.

1Sa 16:3 Call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do: and you shall anoint to me him whom I name to you.

1Sa 16:4 Samuel did that which Yahweh spoke, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, Do you come peaceably?

1Sa 16:5 He said, Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. He sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.

1Sa 16:6 It happened, when they had come, that he looked at Eliab, and said, Surely Yahweh's anointed is before him.

1Sa 16:7 But Yahweh said to Samuel, "Don't look on his face, or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him: for Yahweh sees not as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart."

1Sa 16:8 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, Neither has Yahweh chosen this.

1Sa 16:9 Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. He said, Neither has Yahweh chosen this.

1Sa 16:10 Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. Samuel said to Jesse, Yahweh has not chosen these.

1Sa 16:11 Samuel said to Jesse, Are here all your children? He said, There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is keeping the sheep. Samuel said to Jesse, Send and get him; for we will not sit down until he come here.

1Sa 16:12 He sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful face, and goodly to look on. Yahweh said, Arise, anoint him; for this is he.

1Sa 16:13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brothers: and the Spirit of Yahweh came mightily on David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

1Sa 16:14 Now the Spirit of Yahweh departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from Yahweh troubled him.

1Sa 16:15 Saul's servants said to him, See now, an evil spirit from God troubles you.

1Sa 16:16 Let our lord now command your servants who are before you, to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp: and it shall happen, when the evil spirit from God is on you, that he shall play with his hand, and you shall be well.

1Sa 16:17 Saul said to his servants, Provide me now a man who can play well, and bring him to me.

1Sa 16:18 Then answered one of the young men, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, and a mighty man of valor, and a man of war, and prudent in speech, and a comely person; and Yahweh is with him.

1Sa 16:19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.

1Sa 16:20 Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son to Saul.

1Sa 16:21 David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armor bearer.

1Sa 16:22 Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Please let David stand before me; for he has found favor in my sight.

1Sa 16:23 It happened, when the evil spirit from God was on Saul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

 Jun.  10

John 13

Joh 13:1 Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his time had come that he would depart from this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

Joh 13:2 During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him,

Joh 13:3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he came forth from God, and was going to God,

Joh 13:4 arose from supper, and laid aside his outer garments. He took a towel, and wrapped a towel around his waist.

Joh 13:5 Then he poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

Joh 13:6 Then he came to Simon Peter. He said to him, "Lord, do you wash my feet?"

Joh 13:7 Jesus answered him, "You don't know what I am doing now, but you will understand later."

Joh 13:8 Peter said to him, "You will never wash my feet!" Jesus answered him, "If I don't wash you, you have no part with me."

Joh 13:9 Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!"

Joh 13:10 Jesus said to him, "Someone who has bathed only needs to have his feet washed, but is completely clean. You are clean, but not all of you."

Joh 13:11 For he knew him who would betray him, therefore he said, "You are not all clean."

Joh 13:12 So when he had washed their feet, put his outer garment back on, and sat down again, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you?

Joh 13:13 You call me, 'Teacher' and 'Lord.' You say so correctly, for so I am.

Joh 13:14 If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.

Joh 13:15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

Joh 13:16 Most certainly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his lord, neither one who is sent greater than he who sent him.

Joh 13:17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

Joh 13:18 I don't speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen. But that the Scripture may be fulfilled, 'He who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me.'

Joh 13:19 From now on, I tell you before it happens, that when it happens, you may believe that I am he.

Joh 13:20 Most certainly I tell you, he who receives whomever I send, receives me; and he who receives me, receives him who sent me."

Joh 13:21 When Jesus had said this, he was troubled in spirit, and testified, "Most certainly I tell you that one of you will betray me."

Joh 13:22 The disciples looked at one another, perplexed about whom he spoke.

Joh 13:23 One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was at the table, leaning against Jesus' breast.

Joh 13:24 Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, and said to him, "Tell us who it is of whom he speaks."

Joh 13:25 He, leaning back, as he was, on Jesus' breast, asked him, "Lord, who is it?"

Joh 13:26 Jesus therefore answered, "It is he to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it." So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.

Joh 13:27 After the piece of bread, then Satan entered into him. Then Jesus said to him, "What you do, do quickly."

Joh 13:28 Now no man at the table knew why he said this to him.

Joh 13:29 For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus said to him, "Buy what things we need for the feast," or that he should give something to the poor.

Joh 13:30 Therefore, having received that morsel, he went out immediately. It was night.

Joh 13:31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.

Joh 13:32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him immediately.

Joh 13:33 Little children, I will be with you a little while longer. You will seek me, and as I said to the Jews, 'Where I am going, you can't come,' so now I tell you.

Joh 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, just like I have loved you; that you also love one another.

Joh 13:35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Joh 13:36 Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus answered, "Where I am going, you can't follow now, but you will follow afterwards."

Joh 13:37 Peter said to him, "Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you."

Joh 13:38 Jesus answered him, "Will you lay down your life for me? Most certainly I tell you, the rooster won't crow until you have denied me three times.

Jun. 11

John 14

Joh 14:1 "Don't let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me.

Joh 14:2 In my Father's house are many homes. If it weren't so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you.

Joh 14:3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also.

Joh 14:4 Where I go, you know, and you know the way."

Joh 14:5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going. How can we know the way?"

Joh 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.

Joh 14:7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on, you know him, and have seen him."

Joh 14:8 Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us."

Joh 14:9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, 'Show us the Father?'

Joh 14:10 Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I tell you, I speak not from myself; but the Father who lives in me does his works.

Joh 14:11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me; or else believe me for the very works' sake.

Joh 14:12 Most certainly I tell you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and he will do greater works than these, because I am going to my Father.

Joh 14:13 Whatever you will ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Joh 14:14 If you will ask anything in my name, I will do it.

Joh 14:15 If you love me, keep my commandments.

Joh 14:16 I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, that he may be with you forever,-

Joh 14:17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world can't receive; for it doesn't see him, neither knows him. You know him, for he lives with you, and will be in you.

Joh 14:18 I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you.

Joh 14:19 Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more; but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also.

Joh 14:20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

Joh 14:21 One who has my commandments, and keeps them, that person is one who loves me. One who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will reveal myself to him."

Joh 14:22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, "Lord, what has happened that you are about to reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?"

Joh 14:23 Jesus answered him, "If a man loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our home with him.

Joh 14:24 He who doesn't love me doesn't keep my words. The word which you hear isn't mine, but the Father's who sent me.

Joh 14:25 I have said these things to you, while still living with you.

Joh 14:26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you.

Joh 14:27 Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, give I to you. Don't let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful.

Joh 14:28 You heard how I told you, 'I go away, and I come to you.' If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I said 'I am going to my Father;' for the Father is greater than I.

Joh 14:29 Now I have told you before it happens so that, when it happens, you may believe.

Joh 14:30 I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world comes, and he has nothing in me.

Joh 14:31 But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father commanded me, even so I do. Arise, let us go from here.

Let us be faithful stewards of the mysteries of God by Roy Davison

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davison/Roy/Allen/1940/stewards.html

Let us be faithful stewards of the mysteries of God

Paul wrote: “Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:1, 2).

What is a steward?

A steward is someone who has been entrusted with the possessions or affairs of someone else with the understanding that he is to care for them and manage them responsibly.

A steward must be trustworthy.

Every position of responsibility involves stewardship.

How would you feel if someone gave you a briefcase containing diamonds worth thousands of dollars, and asked you to walk through the streets of a large city and deliver them to another address?

Brother Gus Amssoms went to be with the Lord many years ago. When he retired, after working for 45 years as a laborer in Antwerp, he had not missed a single day of work because of illness. He was a trustworthy man.

Antwerp, Belgium is the diamond-cutting capital of the world. About 2000 gem-related offices are located in a one-square-mile area near the central train station.

After Gus retired, he was given a part-time job as a diamond courier. If you had been a tourist in Antwerp, you might have seen an elderly workman with a gentle smile walking through the narrow streets of Antwerp carrying an old, worn-out briefcase. You would have never dreamed that his briefcase contained diamonds worth thousands of dollars. He did not have a gun or a bulletproof vest or an armored vehicle. He had something that the diamond merchants considered much safer and more secure. He had a gentle, innocent appearance and he was a completely dependable man. 

As Christians, we must be faithful stewards of something much more valuable than a briefcase full of diamonds: the mysteries of God. 

What are the mysteries of God?

The mysteries of God are truths known only by revelation: “According to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith” (Romans 16:25, 26).

The wonders and intricacies of life, prove the existence of a Creator. But only through the Bible can we know who this Creator is and what our relationship with Him can be through His Son Jesus Christ.

A steward is answerable to his master.

Preachers and elders must remember that they, as stewards, are answerable to God not to man. Paul wrote: “But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness - God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others” (1 Thessalonians 2:4-6).

Unfaithful stewards will be punished by God.

The Lord was angry with the unfaithful prophets under the old covenant: “‘I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, “I have dreamed, I have dreamed!” How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart, who try to make My people forget My name by their dreams which everyone tells his neighbor, as their fathers forgot My name for Baal. The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; and he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat?’ says the Lord. ‘Is not My word like a fire?’ says the Lord, ‘And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,’ says the Lord, ‘who steal My words every one from his neighbor. Behold, I am against the prophets,’ says the Lord, ‘who use their tongues and say, “He says.” Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,’ says the Lord, ‘and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all,’ says the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:25-32).

In our time as well, many falsely claim to be prophets, leading people astray by the lies they speak in the name of the Lord.

As stewards, we must speak God’s word faithfully.

All Christians must be good stewards of the grace of God. “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do so as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen” (1 Peter 4:10, 11).

This great responsibility rests doubly on elders, teachers and preachers because of their leadership position.

“A bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God” (Titus 1:7). An elder must hold “fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict” (Titus 1:9).

Peter wrote: “The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:1-3). Elders are stewards of God, His flock has been entrusted to their care.

Paul was entrusted with the gospel because God considered him faithful: “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting meinto the ministry” (1 Timothy 1:12).

Paul mentions the faithfulness of several men with whom he worked. He calls Epaphras “our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf” (Colossians 1:7). He refers to Tychicus as “a beloved brother, faithful minister, and fellow servant in the Lord” and to Onesimus as “a faithful and beloved brother” (Colossians 4:7-9). Peter refers to Silvanus as “our faithful brother” (1 Peter 5:12). Let us follow their example, and be faithful servants of Christ.

This solemn command, given by Paul to Timothy, echoes through the ages: “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Timothy 4:1-5).

The message must be faithfully passed on to following generations of teachers.

As faithful stewards of the mysteries of God we must pass the message on. Paul told Timothy: “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:1, 2).

What have we learned?

1. As stewards, we have been entrusted with the mysteries of God, the good news of salvation by grace through the sacrifice of Christ.
2. We are answerable to God and must speak His word faithfully, striving to please God rather than men.
3. God will punish unfaithful stewards.
4. We must faithfully pass on the mysteries of God to the next generation of faithful stewards.

“Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes” (Luke 12:42, 43). 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