George Washington Said “Live as Christians” by Dave Miller, Ph.D.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=7&article=3773

George Washington Said “Live as Christians”

by	Dave Miller, Ph.D.

The American military continues to be endangered by two key threats: the influx of those who do not share the Christian worldview (i.e., Muslims), and the clamor of the “politically correct” crowd to allow open homosexuality, instigating further deterioration of moral standards. Indeed, society at large is undergoing the same dilution. In stark contrast, the Founders of America were insistent on the critical role played by Christianity in the founding of the Republic. For example, issuing General Orders from Headquarters, New York, July 9, 1776, General George Washington emphasized to the Continental Army the critical importance of living as Christians during the period of seeking national independence:

The Hon. Continental Congress having been pleased to allow a Chaplain to each Regiment, with the pay of Thirty-three Dollars and one third per month—The Colonels or commanding officers of each regiment are directed to procure Chaplains accordingly; persons of good Characters and exemplary lives—To see that all inferior officers and soldiers pay them a suitable respect and attend carefully upon religious exercises. The blessing and protection of Heaven are at all times necessary but especially so in times of public distress and danger—The General hopes and trusts, that every officer and man, will endeavour so to live, and act, as becomes a Christian Soldierdefending the dearest Rights and Liberties of his country (George Washington..., emp. added).

The one facet of paramount importance to the success of the nation and the military (i.e., commitment to God and Christianity) is the very feature of American civilization being systematically jettisoned. God help us to rise up and stop this travesty. The words directed to Israel of old are apropos:

They have acted corruptly toward him; to their shame they are no longer his children, but a warped and crooked generation. Is this the way you repay the LORD, O foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you? ...You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.... They are a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them. If only they were wise and would understand this and discern what their end will be! (Deuteronomy 32:5-6,18,28-29, NIV).

REFERENCE

George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress, 1741-1799: Series 3: Letterbooks. Varick Transcripts: Continental Army Papers. 1775-1783, Subseries G, Letterbook 1, Image 308 of 419, [On-line], URL: http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(gw050226)).

Jesus “Could Do No Mighty Work There”? by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

http://apologeticspress.org/AllegedDiscrepancies.aspx?article=5347&b=Matthew

Jesus “Could Do No Mighty Work There”?

by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

According to Mark 6:5, while Jesus was in His hometown of Nazareth, “He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them” (emp. added). Based upon this statement, some have concluded that Jesus must have lacked the power to work all manner of miracles in His hometown.¹ Allegedly, Jesus was not God and the Bible’s depiction of Him is contradictory.

Are skeptics correct? Does Mark’s statement pose a problem for Christians who believe the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God and that Jesus is divine?

A MATTER OF INABILITY OR CIRCUMSTANCE?

Have you ever made the statement, “I couldn’t do it”? Perhaps you repeatedly attempted to open up a tightly sealed jar, but “just couldn’t do it.” Maybe you tried to run a marathon, but stopped from exhaustion midway through the race. Later, you reflected on the race and told someone, “I simply couldn’t do it.” Statements made in such contexts clearly indicate that a person is physically unable to accomplish the tasks at hand.

It is also possible, however, to make the statement “I couldn’t do it” yet mean something very different. Suppose a football coach is beating a team 50-0 at halftime and certain fans are begging him to “hang a hundred on them.” But the coach responds: “I couldn’t do that.” Though it is likely within his power to score 80 or 100 points, the situation demands that he not attempt to follow through with his normal game plan. The coach chooses to adjust his strategy and win in a more gracious manner.

Consider also the wealthy grandfather who travels to visit his grandson on the boy’s 12^th birthday. Though he had planned to give his grandson $50, after seeing how disrespectful, ungrateful, and spoiled rotten the boy has become, he chooses not to give him anything. When he departs, the grandfather says to his daughter, “I simply could not give such insolent offspring anything.” Obviously, this statement does not mean that the grandfather was literally unable to give his grandson something, but that the circumstances made it so that he could not allow himself to do anything other than show up for the boy’s birthday party.

The simple fact is, when something “cannot be done” it may very well have to do with the circumstances at hand and not one’s inability to actually perform the action. In truth, not only are skeptics unable to prove that Jesus actually lacked power and ability in Nazareth, the immediate context and the parallel passages in Matthew and Luke indicate that the restraint Jesus willingly displayed was a result of the particular situation in his hometown.

Consider the many amazing miracles of Jesus that Mark reports in chapters five and six of his gospel account. In Mark 5, Jesus heals a demon-possessed man as well as a woman with a continual bleeding issue. He then raises a 12-year-old girl from the dead. In Mark 6:7-56, Jesus gives the 12 apostles power over unclean spirits, so that they “cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them” (6:7,13). Later, Jesus miraculously feeds 5,000 men (plus the women and children; Matthew 14:21), with only five loaves of bread and two fish. He then walks on water. Mark 6 concludes with these words: “Wherever He [Jesus] entered into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might just touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well.”

Mark’s account of Jesus’ limited miracles in Nazareth is immersed in an overall context of Him working all manner of miracles, including raising someone from the dead. What’s more, Jesus was actually “able” to heal a “few sick people” in Nazareth (6:5). Given all of these facts, one should, at the very least, seriously question the critics’ conclusion that Jesus was simply not powerful enough to work more miracles in His hometown. The overall context of the passage implicitly testifies to a different conclusion: that is, Jesus chose not to work more miracles in Nazareth because of the circumstances.

Even though Jesus spoke astonishing words of wisdom (Mark 6:2) like “no man ever” (John 7:46; Matthew 7:28-29), and though He performed “mighty works” (Mark 6:2), including healing some of Nazareth’s sick (6:5), overall, the town disbelieved that He was the prophesied Messiah (Luke 4:16ff.). The inhabitants not only rejected Him (despite the wonders that He had already worked), but they were so enraged by His teachings that they “thrust Him out of the city” and “led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff” (Luke 4:29). At such hard-hearted unbelief, Jesus “marveled” (Mark 6:6).

 Jesus knew that more miracles was not the answer. He had provided sufficient evidence for those of His hometown to come to the rational conclusion that He was not merely the son of Joseph and Mary; rather, He was One on Whom Isaiah prophesied “the Spirit of the Lord” would rest (Luke 4:18). Yet, they kicked Him out of the city anyway. He was the miracle-working, prophesied Messiah, yet it appears that no amount of evidence would change Nazareth’s unbelief.

In short, the circumstances of unbelief in Nazareth made it so that “He could do no mighty work there” (Mark 6:5). Perhaps no more than a few people even bothered to come to Jesus for healing. Or perhaps others came to Jesus, but they approached Him in a disingenuous, mocking manner. Whatever the case may have been, Jesus chose to work no more miracles in Nazareth than He did (before being thrown out of the city). Thus, the problem in Nazareth  was not one of powerlessness on the part of Christ, but the inhabitants’ strong unbelief (and all that went along with it).

ENDNOTES

¹ See “Jesus is a False Messiah” (2016), www.evilbible.com/do-not-ignore-the-old-testament/jesus-is-a-false-messiah. See also Steve Wells (2016), “How Much Power Did Jesus Have?” www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/power.html.

Suggested Resources

Why did God destroy the world? by Roy Davison

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davison/Roy/Allen/1940/028-sinbeforetheflood.html
Why did God destroy the world?

Or did you forget that God destroyed the world? “For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water” (2 Peter 3:5, 6).
Some willfully forget the flood to avoid thinking about the impending judgment: “But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men” (2 Peter 3:7).
Why did God wipe out mankind?
“Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the LORD said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them’” (Genesis 6:5-7).
“The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, ‘The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth’” (Genesis 6:11-13).
What do we learn from the sinners who perished in the flood?
What was the condition of society? How did people become so wicked? Were there exceptions? Was there a solution for their sins? Is our world any better? Is there a solution for our sins?

What was the condition of society?
Technologically, society was quite advanced. The longevity of man allowed him to acquire skills and pass them on for several generations. Cain built a city (Genesis 4:17); Jubal played the harp and flute (Genesis 4:21); Tubal-Cain was an instructor of craftsmen in bronze and iron (Genesis 4:22). Noah built a boat with three decks that held a large cargo (Genesis 6:14-16) and that stayed afloat for five months (Genesis 7:11, 24; 8:4).
The lifespan of the antediluvians was about 900 years, thus physiologically they were far superior to modern man. That these years were equivalent to ours is indicated by the statement: “In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened” (Genesis 7:11). The ark rested on the mountains of Ararat “in the seventh month, the seventeenth day of the month” (Genesis 8:4). This period of exactly five months is also designated as “one hundred and fifty days” (Genesis 7:24) making five months of thirty days.
In the antediluvian period there were people whose physical makeup was superior to ours. “There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown” (Genesis 6:4).
The physician, Philippe Charles Schmerling (of Austrian descent but born in Holland), who found the first human skull in 1829 at Engis, Belgium of the type that would later be called Neanderthal, believed that he had found bones of antediluvians (Recherches sur les ossemens fossiles découverts dans les cavernes de la province de Liége, 1833-1834).
This is possible since the skeletons of Neanderthal man indicate that these people were much stronger and more muscular than modern man.
Some artists like to depict Neanderthals as dumb-looking cave men, but here is a scientific reconstruction from the skull of a Neanderthal girl made by Elisabeth Daynes.

Thus, at the time of the flood, man had built up a society that was quite advanced technically, and people were far superior physically to modern man. So what was the problem? Why did God decide to destroy them? Sin was the problem.
The wickedness of man was great. Every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually and the earth was filled with violence “through them” (Genesis 6:11).

How did people become so wicked?
We know very little about antediluvian society, but certain contributing factors are mentioned.

Man’s longevity contributed to wickedness.

Solomon said: “Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil” (Ecclesiastes 8:11).
At the time of the flood, God reduced man’s lifespan from 900 to 120 years. “And the LORD said, ‘My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years’” (Genesis 6:3).
When Pharaoh asked Jacob “How old are you?” he replied: “The days of the years of my pilgrimage are one hundred and thirty years; few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage” (Genesis 47:8, 9).
When the Psalms were written, man’s lifespan had been reduced to 70 years: “The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength, they are eighty years” (Psalm 90:10).
The longevity of the antediluvians made it easier for them to forget that God would punish them for their sins.

Man did not leave vengeance to God.

When Cain killed Abel, God did not execute Cain. A curse was placed on him: the ground would not yield its fruit to him and he would be a fugitive (Genesis 4:11-14). But God commanded that Cain not be killed and warned: “whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold” (Genesis 4:15).
This was misapplied by Lamech, a fifth generation descendent of Cain, who was proud of being a man of violence: “I have killed a man for wounding me, even a young man for hurting me. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold" (Genesis 4:23, 24).
God’s warning to prevent violence was misapplied by Lamech to justify violence.
Vengeance is God’s prerogative, not man’s: “‘Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; their foot shall slip in due time; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things to come hasten upon them.' For the LORD will judge His people and have compassion on His servants” (Deuteronomy 32:35, 36). This passage is quoted in the NT in Romans 12:17, 19, 21 and in Hebrews 10:30. This truth is the basis of the command of Jesus in Matthew 5:38, 39 that if someone hits you on one cheek you must turn the other also. We must overcome evil with good.

The sons of God made bad marriage choices.

“Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose” (Genesis 6:1, 2).
Men chose wives, not on the basis of spiritual qualities, but on the basis of physical beauty.
God gave Adam one wife (Genesis 2:23-25). Cain’s violent descendent, Lamech, had two wives (Genesis 4:19). Social research in our time indicates that polygamy results in more domestic violence and an increase in the number of unmarried men, who then are more prone to violence.

Were there exceptions?
In the days of Enosh, the grandson of Adam and Eve via Seth, “men began to call on the name of the LORD” (Genesis 4:26). There were people who served God and asked Him for help. The number of people serving God decreased, however, until at the time of Noah, he and his family were the only ones who still served God.
Although there undoubtedly were others, the only two men in the prediluvian period in addition to Abel who are mentioned as being righteous, were Enoch and Noah.
Enoch, in the seventh generation after Adam, “walked with God; and he was not, for God took him” (Genesis 5:24). “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, ‘and was not found, because God had taken him’; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God” (Hebrews 11:5).
Like Abel, Enoch was a prophet: “Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him" (Jude 14, 15).
Adam and Enoch were contemporaries, since Adam did not die until Enoch was 308 years old. Those living on earth still had first-hand testimony about their creation by God.
Enoch lived in about the same period as Cain’s descendent, Lamech, who was so proud of being violent. Enoch warned sinners that God would execute judgment on them.
Noah was also righteous. He was born 126 years after the death of Adam, but his father, grandfather and three other ancestors, who were still living when Noah was 100 years old, were contemporaries of Adam.
When Noah was born, his father called him ‘Noah’ which means ‘repose, rest or consolation’, saying, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD has cursed” (Genesis 5:29).
Thus, at the time of the flood, man’s creation by God, man’s sin, and sin’s consequences were common knowledge. The wickedness of man did not result from ignorance. People knew God existed but they spoke against him. Enoch warned that God would punish them for “all their ungodly deeds” and for “all the harsh things which ungodly sinners” had spoken against Him (Jude 14, 15).
Noah was righteous in a world filled with wickedness and violence: “Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9). In Ezekiel 14:14, 20 Noah is named, along with Daniel and Job, as a righteous man. He was a man of faith: “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith” (Hebrews 11:7).

Was there a solution for their sins?
Noah condemned the world by demonstrating to them that it was possible to be different. He was saved because of his faith and godly fear. “Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (Genesis 6:8).
For a hundred years, while the ark was being built, the world had an opportunity to repent. Noah was “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). Through the Spirit, Christ had preached (no doubt through Noah) to those “who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared” (1 Peter 3:20).
God was patient. He gave them a hundred years to repent. If they had repented, they would have been saved.
Consider the example of Nineveh in the days of Jonah. God decided to destroy the city of Nineveh because of their wickedness. But they repented at the preaching of Jonah and the city was saved: “Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it” (Jonah 3:10).
But those to whom Noah preached ‘were disobedient’. They refused to repent.

Is our world any better?
Do you think God has not yet destroyed our world because it is less wicked than the world at the time of Noah? Not necessarily. “Then the LORD said in His heart, ‘I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease’” (Genesis 8:21).
Thus, “although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth” God has promised to never again destroy the world by a flood “while the earth remains”. Did you notice that “while the earth remains”?

Is there a solution for our sins?
The flood demonstrates for all time that God hates sin and will bring sinners into judgment. But it also proves for all time that God can and will save those who repent of their sins and lead faithful, god-fearing lives. God “did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly” (2 Peter 2:5).
Peter writes that “scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation’” (2 Peter 3:3, 4). He goes on to explain that these people willfully forget the flood and that God allows the world to carry on only because He “is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
As in the days of Noah, God is giving this sinful world an opportunity to repent before it is too late. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness” (2 Peter 3:10, 11).
“The Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14). Before He returned to the Father, after dying for our sins and rising from the dead, He told His followers: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:15, 16).
Just as Noah “prepared an ark for the saving of his household” (Hebrews 11:7), Christ has established His church in which people now can be saved from God’s judgment on a sinful world. As Peter proclaimed on the day of Pentecost: “Be saved from this perverse generation” (Acts 2:40). “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38).
Peter explains that just like Noah and his family were saved from the wicked world by water, we are now saved by baptism. Just as there was an ark “in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an antitype which now saves us -- baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:20, 21).
God destroyed the world because of sin, and He will do so again.
When Christ comes, will we be inside the ark or outside the ark? When He comes “in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed” (2 Thessalonians 1:8-10).
Yes, there is a solution for our sins if we repent and are baptized into the body of Christ, His church, God’s ark of salvation for our time. Amen.
Roy Davison

The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982, Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers.
Permission for reference use has been granted.

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

Bible Reading January 8, 9 by Gary Rose

Bible Reading January 8, 9

(World English Bible)

Jan. 8

Genesis 8

Gen 8:1 God remembered Noah, all the animals, and all the livestock that were with him in the ship; and God made a wind to pass over the earth. The waters subsided.

Gen 8:2 The deep's fountains and the sky's windows were also stopped, and the rain from the sky was restrained.

Gen 8:3 The waters receded from the earth continually. After the end of one hundred fifty days the waters decreased.

Gen 8:4 The ship rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on Ararat's mountains.

Gen 8:5 The waters receded continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

Gen 8:6 It happened at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ship which he had made,

Gen 8:7 and he sent forth a raven. It went back and forth, until the waters were dried up from the earth.

Gen 8:8 He sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from the surface of the ground,

Gen 8:9 but the dove found no place to rest her foot, and she returned to him into the ship; for the waters were on the surface of the whole earth. He put forth his hand, and took her, and brought her to him into the ship.

Gen 8:10 He stayed yet another seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ship.

Gen 8:11 The dove came back to him at evening, and, behold, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off. So Noah knew that the waters were abated from the earth.

Gen 8:12 He stayed yet another seven days, and sent forth the dove; and she didn't return to him any more.

Gen 8:13 It happened in the six hundred first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth. Noah removed the covering of the ship, and looked. He saw that the surface of the ground was dried.

Gen 8:14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.

Gen 8:15 God spoke to Noah, saying,

Gen 8:16 "Go out of the ship, you, and your wife, and your sons, and your sons' wives with you.

Gen 8:17 Bring forth with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh, including birds, livestock, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply on the earth."

Gen 8:18 Noah went forth, with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives with him.

Gen 8:19 Every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, whatever moves on the earth, after their families, went out of the ship.

Gen 8:20 Noah built an altar to Yahweh, and took of every clean animal, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Gen 8:21 Yahweh smelled the pleasant aroma. Yahweh said in his heart, "I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, because the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again strike everything living, as I have done.

Gen 8:22 While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."

Jan. 9

Genesis 9

Gen 9:1 God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

Gen 9:2 The fear of you and the dread of you will be on every animal of the earth, and on every bird of the sky. Everything that the ground teems with, and all the fish of the sea are delivered into your hand.

Gen 9:3 Every moving thing that lives will be food for you. As the green herb, I have given everything to you.

Gen 9:4 But flesh with its life, its blood, you shall not eat.

Gen 9:5 I will surely require your blood of your lives. At the hand of every animal I will require it. At the hand of man, even at the hand of every man's brother, I will require the life of man.

Gen 9:6 Whoever sheds man's blood, his blood will be shed by man, for God made man in his own image.

Gen 9:7 Be fruitful and multiply. Bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply in it."

Gen 9:8 God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying,

Gen 9:9 "As for me, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your offspring after you,

Gen 9:10 and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the livestock, and every animal of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ship, even every animal of the earth.

Gen 9:11 I will establish my covenant with you: all flesh will not be cut off any more by the waters of the flood, neither will there ever again be a flood to destroy the earth."

Gen 9:12 God said, "This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:

Gen 9:13 I set my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be for a sign of a covenant between me and the earth.

Gen 9:14 It will happen, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud,

Gen 9:15 and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh, and the waters will no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

Gen 9:16 The rainbow will be in the cloud. I will look at it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."

Gen 9:17 God said to Noah, "This is the token of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth."

Gen 9:18 The sons of Noah who went forth from the ship were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham is the father of Canaan.

Gen 9:19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these, the whole earth was populated.

Gen 9:20 Noah began to be a farmer, and planted a vineyard.

Gen 9:21 He drank of the wine and got drunk. He was uncovered within his tent.

Gen 9:22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.

Gen 9:23 Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it on both their shoulders, went in backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were backwards, and they didn't see their father's nakedness.

Gen 9:24 Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done to him.

Gen 9:25 He said, "Canaan is cursed. He will be servant of servants to his brothers."

Gen 9:26 He said, "Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Shem. Let Canaan be his servant.

Gen 9:27 May God enlarge Japheth. Let him dwell in the tents of Shem. Let Canaan be his servant."

Gen 9:28 Noah lived three hundred fifty years after the flood.

Gen 9:29 All the days of Noah were nine hundred fifty years, then he died.

Jan. 7,8

Matthew 4

Mat 4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Mat 4:2 When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry afterward.

Mat 4:3 The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."

Mat 4:4 But he answered, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.' "

Mat 4:5 Then the devil took him into the holy city. He set him on the pinnacle of the temple,

Mat 4:6 and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, 'He will put his angels in charge of you.' and, 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you don't dash your foot against a stone.' "

Mat 4:7 Jesus said to him, "Again, it is written, 'You shall not test the Lord, your God.' "

Mat 4:8 Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory.

Mat 4:9 He said to him, "I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me."

Mat 4:10 Then Jesus said to him, "Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.' "

Mat 4:11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and served him.

Mat 4:12 Now when Jesus heard that John was delivered up, he withdrew into Galilee.

Mat 4:13 Leaving Nazareth, he came and lived in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali,

Mat 4:14 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying,

Mat 4:15 "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, toward the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles,

Mat 4:16 the people who sat in darkness saw a great light, to those who sat in the region and shadow of death, to them light has dawned."

Mat 4:17 From that time, Jesus began to preach, and to say, "Repent! For the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."

Mat 4:18 Walking by the sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers: Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.

Mat 4:19 He said to them, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men."

Mat 4:20 They immediately left their nets and followed him.

Mat 4:21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them.

Mat 4:22 They immediately left the boat and their father, and followed him.

Mat 4:23 Jesus went about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness among the people.

Mat 4:24 The report about him went out into all Syria. They brought to him all who were sick, afflicted with various diseases and torments, possessed with demons, epileptics, and paralytics; and he healed them.

Mat 4:25 Great multitudes from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and from beyond the Jordan followed him.

Jan. 9,10

Matthew 5

Mat 5:1 Seeing the multitudes, he went up onto the mountain. When he had sat down, his disciples cJame to him.

Mat 5:2 He opened his mouth and taught them, saying,

Mat 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Mat 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Mat 5:5 Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

Mat 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.

Mat 5:7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Mat 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Mat 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.

Mat 5:10 Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Mat 5:11 "Blessed are you when people reproach you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Mat 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted? It is then good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men.

Mat 5:14 You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can't be hidden.

Mat 5:15 Neither do you light a lamp, and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house.

Mat 5:16 Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Mat 5:17 "Don't think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I didn't come to destroy, but to fulfill.

Mat 5:18 For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished.

Mat 5:19 Whoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and teach others to do so, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Mat 5:20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, there is no way you will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Mat 5:21 "You have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, 'You shall not murder;' and 'Whoever shall murder shall be in danger of the judgment.'

Mat 5:22 But I tell you, that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment; and whoever shall say to his brother, 'Raca!' shall be in danger of the council; and whoever shall say, 'You fool!' shall be in danger of the fire of Gehenna.

Mat 5:23 "If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you,

Mat 5:24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Mat 5:25 Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are with him in the way; lest perhaps the prosecutor deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be cast into prison.

Mat 5:26 Most certainly I tell you, you shall by no means get out of there, until you have paid the last penny.

Mat 5:27 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery;'

Mat 5:28 but I tell you that everyone who gazes at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Mat 5:29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish, than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna.

Mat 5:30 If your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off, and throw it away from you. For it is more profitable for you that one of your members should perish, than for your whole body to be cast into Gehenna.

Mat 5:31 "It was also said, 'Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorce,'

Mat 5:32 but I tell you that whoever puts away his wife, except for the cause of sexual immorality, makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries her when she is put away commits adultery.

Mat 5:33 "Again you have heard that it was said to them of old time, 'You shall not make false vows, but shall perform to the Lord your vows,'

Mat 5:34 but I tell you, don't swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God;

Mat 5:35 nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.

Mat 5:36 Neither shall you swear by your head, for you can't make one hair white or black.

Mat 5:37 But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes' and your 'No' be 'No.' Whatever is more than these is of the evil one.

Mat 5:38 "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.'

Mat 5:39 But I tell you, don't resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Mat 5:40 If anyone sues you to take away your coat, let him have your cloak also.

Mat 5:41 Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.

Mat 5:42 Give to him who asks you, and don't turn away him who desires to borrow from you.

Mat 5:43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.'

Mat 5:44 But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you,

Mat 5:45 that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.

Mat 5:46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Don't even the tax collectors do the same?

Mat 5:47 If you only greet your friends, what more do you do than others? Don't even the tax collectors do the same?

Mat 5:48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. 

AMAZING!!! by Gary Rose

When I saw the picture of the beach, only one word came to mind: 

AMAZING!

And I thought of how nice it would be to be walking on that beach and seeing that AMAZING sky!!! What could be better? Well, I imagined I was a certain someone else and I think after you read the following you will know who I mean...

John, Chapter 20 (World English Bible)

¹⁸ Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her.  ¹⁹ When therefore it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were locked where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the middle, and said to them, “Peace be to you.” 

  ²⁰ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad when they saw the Lord.  ²¹ Jesus therefore said to them again, “Peace be to you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.”   ²² When he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them,“Receive the Holy Spirit!   ²³  If you forgive anyone’s sins, they have been forgiven them. If you retain anyone’s sins, they have been retained.” 

  ²⁴ But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, wasn’t with them when Jesus came.  ²⁵ The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord!” 

But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” 

  ²⁶ After eight days again his disciples were inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors being locked, and stood in the middle, and said, “Peace be to you.”   ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Reach here your finger, and see my hands. Reach here your hand, and put it into my side. Don’t be unbelieving, but believing.” 

  ²⁸ Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”    (emphasis added)

If I were Thomas reflecting upon this event years later, I might sing the hymn "I stand amazed" to myself from time to time. How wonderful that would be!!! Well, I am not Thomas, but I could picture myself on that beach, AMAZED at that sky. Also, I could very easily picture myself singing that hymn to myself (which I do from time to time).

One thing more- I could imagine hearing a noise behind me and turning around and seeing Jesus- AMAZING!!!