Category: Old Testament

Become One in Heart

Deuteronomy 3

18I commanded you at that time: “The Lord your God has given you this land to take possession of it. But all your able-bodied men, armed for battle, must cross over ahead of the other Israelites. 19However, your wives, your children and your livestock (I know you have much livestock) may stay in the towns I have given you, 20until the Lord gives rest to your fellow Israelites as he has to you, and they too have taken over the land that the Lord your God is giving them across the Jordan. After that, each of you may go back to the possession I have given you.”

Richard:  This could be a formular for my own life.  God has given me the inspiration to travel throughout the United States, starting in 2019 and talk about entrepreneurship (www.urbangrocery.net), and God centered teaching (www.urbanlifetraining.org).  I could stay for one or two weeks at each location, teaching family and friends.  On this foundation, I can return to the land God has given us.

2 Chronicles 25

7But a man of God came to him and said, “Your Majesty, these troops from Israel must not march with you, for the Lord is not with Israel—not with any of the people of Ephraim. 8Even if you go and fight courageously in battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to overthrow.”

9Amaziah asked the man of God, “But what about the hundred talents I paid for these Israelite troops?”

The man of God replied, “The Lord can give you much more than that.”

10So Amaziah dismissed the troops who had come to him from Ephraim and sent them home. They were furious with Judah and left for home in a great rage.

Richard:  There has to be a clear separation of good and evil.  The Family Federation and the  Sanctuary movement cannot just collude on certain projects, saying,  “We will agree on certain principles but disagree on others”. Continue reading “Become One in Heart”

Unite Into One

Exodus 1

11So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13and worked them ruthlessly. 14They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.

Richard:  Many are slaves of debt, or sex or other addictions.  There is slavery, even in the modern world.

Luke 17

26“Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

Richard:  It is good to be prepared in case of emergency with extra food and water and an emergency plan. Continue reading “Unite Into One”

Those not Following the Lord Must Admit They are Wrong and Repent

Romans 12

. 4For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with youra faith; 7if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,b do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Ezra 4

24Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Chapter 5 1Now Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. 2Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jozadak set to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, supporting them. Continue reading “Those not Following the Lord Must Admit They are Wrong and Repent”

Be True Disciples, not Fake Disciples

Ephesians 4

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Songs 5

1I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride;

I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.

I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;

I have drunk my wine and my milk. Continue reading “Be True Disciples, not Fake Disciples”

The Fervor of the 120 Disciples of Jesus

Have a very Happy Easter!

Judges 2

10After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. 11Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lordand served the Baals. 12They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the Lord’s anger 13because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. 14In his anger against Israel the Lord gave them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. 15Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.

Richard:  The next generation easily forgets the sacrifices and lessons that their parents learned.  I many ways this has happened in the United States (and elsewhere) and in the Unification movement.  How many second generation youth appreciate and value the Blessing and preparing for the Blessing of marriage, for example?

Ezekiel 44

23They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. Continue reading “The Fervor of the 120 Disciples of Jesus”