Mind the Gap

So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. Hebrews 2:1

Daarom moeten wij al onze aandacht richten op wat we gehoord hebben, dan zullen we niet uit de koers raken. (Hebrews 2:1)

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Every single day we have to believe the truth again. This is not to earn favour with God. Nor is it because God isn't capable of saving us. Jesus' work on the cross is enough. The gift is complete. Nothing needs to be added or topped up. Yet we stray. We forget.

We jump to attention when sin calls us to action as if we are still under Sin's command. We are free, but we have developed a habit of obeying sin rather than God. We are easily deceived and we need to regularly remind our hearts of the truth. Jesus must be our focus. Jesus must captivate our hearts. 

Do you have a daily spiritual check list? When life gets difficult do you have a truth list you tell yourself?
Here are some of the items on my check list:

• God is good!
• God loves me.
• God is in control.
• Nothing happens by chance and nothing is out of God's control.
• God knows best. ( God knows better than me!)
• Jesus died for me.
• Jesus loves my enemies. 
• Jesus forgives all my sin, past present and future.
• I need to do nothing to earn God's favour.
• I am not a slave to sin; Jesus has set me free.
• Jesus rose from the dead to give me an abundant life. 
• An abundant life does not consist of things!
• Jesus will meet my needs, not leave me alone, cares for my soul and has shown me the way in his Word and will guide me through the church and the Holy Spirit speaking truth from His Word.
• To follow Jesus requires suffering and persecution.

(and more depending on what my heart must hear.)

What is your list?

Can you find some of the truths I tell my self in Hebrews Chapter 2?

Why not have a look for yourself.
http://bible.com/116/heb.2.1.nlt

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http://bible.us/r/3a.X Today I am reading day 33 of Old Testament – The Books of Moses:

a silent tsunami crashing the shore without warning.

Psalms 34:18 (NLT)

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.

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There is a heaviness. It fills the breast and presses in like a weight. It takes your breath away but sometimes slowly crushing and other times coming like a silent tsunami crashing the shore without warning. While trying to shift it you feel guilt for a thing you can not put your finger on and everything you've ever done wrong. The burden of failures not your own coupled with inadequacies long felt and denied rush in to fill the black hole that is sucking your life away.

I pray.

The weight does not shift.

Fear invades.

Cold analysis seems painful and facts unable to change the feeling.

Keep telling myself the truth.

What is physical? What is mental? What is from outside myself and what is from deep within?

I am not a slave to this feeling. I will not be defeated by it; it will not overwhelm me! Tell my chest that. Tell my laboured breathing. Tell my tense muscles and tell my weary soul, that years of trying, and happy times have not erased that past. The future looms.

The future is sure. The past is erased. You are free. Even if you don't feel free you are free. Today, Now begins anew. Newness is a promise. You know newness and freedom. You will not be robbed.

You need sleep. You need to pray. You need to reach out. In reaching out you feel help. Make a list. Point your finger. Dismiss the Accuser! The debt is paid. The burden is shared. The burden is light. There is a lightness.

Let your worries for others go. Take them to the Father. Lay them down. He can raise the dead.
I meant it for evil but he can use it for good. They mean it for evil but He can use it for good. Evil does not win!

The head hurts from the battle. The neck aches. But I surrender not to darkness but to light.

Darkness can not defeat the light.

Wait for his rescue. It will come!

Rebellion, gone

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I will cleanse them of their sins against me and forgive all their sins of rebellion. Jeremiah 33:8

We are all prone to giving up. It is so easy to be a quitter. And we have good reason to feel despair  We have offended God. In our rebellion, we have broke his every law. We have treated his kindness with disregard and we have flaunted our hard hearts and sin. We think that we will change but we fail. We put our foot in it and hurt people with our words. We lack the discipline to exercise properly or to eat sensibly. We fail to do the good we know we should. We procrastinate. We are lazy. Or we are full of pride at our hard work and accomplishments but fail to realise the full potential of the good we could do for others and satisfy only ourselves. We see our neighbor in need and pass him by. We know of the pain and suffering of so many but think only of how to better our own situation and choose to forget the hardship of others. We are easily corrupted by power, we think more of everything will solve our problems so we we strive for wealth and ease.We lust, we complain, we compare ourselves with others and feel smug.We ought to compare ourselves to God and be humbled.
And like the Israelites, when we are warned by God to repent, we  harden our hearts instead.

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions"

 Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

So it is a wonder that we could somehow get out of the rut we have dove headlong into. In fact we can not. But God sees us in this pitiful state and promises to change us. First, the muck that we have smeared all over us and only succeed in spreading further is cleaned away. We are put right. We are going to be sorted out. We are going to be lifted up. We are going to be dressed a new, gone will be the ragged clothes of rebellion and coming are the clothes of righteousness. And the stains of before are gone too. We are free of the debts and the burdens of our past behaviour. We are not going to be held responsible for our insurrection. We are unfettered by the debts of our treason and adultery.

How is this done? What must I do to be saved? It is done by God. And I can do nothing to merit it! It is a gift! It is the will of God that although we deserve punishment we get forgiveness.

Jeremiah, was getting a glimpse into the future and he was seeing Jesus. 

Listen to Jesus claim the power and right of forgiveness!

The Gospel of Mark Chapter 2

Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man

1 When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home. 2 Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door. While he was preaching God’s word to them, 3 four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat. 4 They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head. Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. 5 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”


6 But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, 7“What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!”


8 Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? 9Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’?10 So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, 11“Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”


12 And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!”

Jesus can forgive your sins!

http://bible.us/116/JER33.8.NLT

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He will remove the cloud of gloom

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Isaiah 25:3-9 NLT

Therefore, strong nations will declare your glory; ruthless nations will fear you. But you are a tower of refuge to the poor, O Lord, a tower of refuge to the needy in distress. You are a refuge from the storm and a shelter from the heat. For the oppressive acts of ruthless people are like a storm beating against a wall, or like the relentless heat of the desert. But you silence the roar of foreign nations. As the shade of a cloud cools relentless heat, so the boastful songs of ruthless people are stilled. In Jerusalem, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will spread a wonderful feast for all the people of the world. It will be a delicious banquet with clear, well-aged wine and choice meat. There he will remove the cloud of gloom, the shadow of death that hangs over the earth. He will swallow up death forever! The Sovereign Lord will wipe away all tears. He will remove forever all insults and mockery against his land and people. The Lord has spoken! In that day the people will proclaim, “This is our God! We trusted in him, and he saved us! This is the Lord, in whom we trusted. Let us rejoice in the salvation he brings!”
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It's not always going to be this way?  What way? you may ask. I mean that oppression and pain will not always be the order of the day. Someday sorrow and pain will be abolished. In that day the Lord will bring salvation!

God promises that there is coming a day when there will be plenty and no one will be hungry. Some day God is going to throw a party. He's going to invite people from everywhere. All the enemies and oppressors will be silenced. God promises a day of salvation. A day that will end all the years of tears. God will be a refuge and a sanctuary for all those who have been bullied. He'll comfort those who have been harassed. God will make a wonderful place of safety for all the poor and needy.

And there will be joy! Gloom will be banished! All shame will be removed. And death will be defeated once and for all.

Jesus will bring this day! On the cross he set this all in motion. He had victory over sin and the grave in those three horrible yet glorious days. When he burst forth from the tomb with power, he declared that the promise of God through Isaiah is a sure thing.

Through his life and ministry we see a glimpse into the new world promised by Isaiah. We see the hungry fed and the oppressed protected. We see the pain of brokenness and disease healed. We see the dead raised to life.

See Jesus is bringing the great and terrible day of the Lord, but then with joy everlasting he is bringing the forever of peace, life and salvation.

Are you ready? Are you waiting in expectation? Are you living in faith? Are you facing the troubles of today in the assurance that God wins?

Are you getting ready for God's great victory party?

Live in anticipation and you'll live in joy.

https://soundcloud.com/wkbode/consider-the-following-05

Letting your heart have a voice.

Could you let these be your prayers?

Thoughts on being poor.

How or why is blessing is often equated with wealth and ease.

People usually think it is a blessing to be rich, but the Bible warns us against wanting to be rich. Why are we to be cautious about wealth?

Job 1:1-5 NLT

There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil. He had seven sons and three daughters. He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, and 500 female donkeys. He also had many servants. He was, in fact, the richest person in that entire area. Job’s sons would take turns preparing feasts in their homes, and they would also invite their three sisters to celebrate with them. When these celebrations ended—sometimes after several days—Job would purify his children. He would get up early in the morning and offer a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said to himself, “Perhaps my children have sinned and have cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.

What problems did riches not solve for Job?

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Why is poverty is seen far too often as a curse brought on oneself.

Job 1:20-22 NLT

Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. He said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord !” In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God.

It is a shame in this world to be poor. The poor are treated with contempt and often thought of as lazy or lacking good moral character. Many people think poverty is a curse brought upon people for their own ignorance or sin.  How is that view challenged and supported by Job’s story?

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What is the relationship between health and wealth?

Job 2:4-5 NLT

Satan replied to the Lord , “Skin for skin! A man will give up everything he has to save his life. But reach out and take away his health, and he will surely curse you to your face!”

How does wealth effect health?  Why are the poor vulnerable?  What value is wealth to a very sick person? What does Satan think of the relationship of health and wealth?

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What does an admirable righteous life look like?

Job 29:12-17 NLT

For I assisted the poor in their need and the orphans who required help. I helped those without hope, and they blessed me. And I caused the widows’ hearts to sing for joy. Everything I did was honest. Righteousness covered me like a robe, and I wore justice like a turban. I served as eyes for the blind and feet for the lame. I was a father to the poor and assisted strangers who needed help. I broke the jaws of godless oppressors and plucked their victims from their teeth.

Why did Job tell us about what he did for the poor?

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What does a just life consist of?

Job 31:6, 16-25 NLT

Let God weigh me on the scales of justice, for he knows my integrity. “Have I refused to help the poor, or crushed the hopes of widows? Have I been stingy with my food and refused to share it with orphans? No, from childhood I have cared for orphans like a father, and all my life I have cared for widows. Whenever I saw the homeless without clothes and the needy with nothing to wear, did they not praise me for providing wool clothing to keep them warm? “If I raised my hand against an orphan, knowing the judges would take my side, then let my shoulder be wrenched out of place! Let my arm be torn from its socket! That would be better than facing God’s judgment. For if the majesty of God opposes me, what hope is there? “Have I put my trust in money or felt secure because of my gold? Have I gloated about my wealth and all that I own?

According to Job what should a wealthy person do with their wealth?
And what should they not do with their wealth?

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What do people think of God's opinion of the poor?

Job 34:28 NLT

They cause the poor to cry out, catching God’s attention. He hears the cries of the needy.

Job got a lot of bad advice from his friends and family. But among all this we learn a bit of what people think about God's view of the poor.  How does the view expressed here similar or different to views you encounter today?  What about among Muslims, Christians, conservatives, democrats, labour, Buddhists, Hindus?
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Psalms & Proverbs

Psalms 140:12 NLT

But I know the Lord will help those they persecute; he will give justice to the poor.

Proverbs 14:31 NLT

Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but helping the poor honors him.

19:17 - - God identifys with the poor.
22:09 - - Blessing is associated with helping the poor.
28:03 - - What are the consequences of individual oppression?
31:8-9 -  -  We are told to defend the poor.



Psalms 82:3-4 NLT

“Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. Rescue the poor and helpless; deliver them from the grasp of evil people.

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Gospels

Matthew 11:5
Luke 4:18, 11:41

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Jesus

2 Corinthians 8:9

Became poor so we could be rich.

How can we change our thinking about wealth and poverty?

In what ways can we be like Jesus concerning or attitudes of wealth and poverty?

What does it mean to be just or righteous towards the poor?

In what ways specifically van we change?
How will this change of view effect our spending, our earning, our giving, or generosity?
How proactive for the poor should we become?
Can you think of other places in the Bible that addresses the disparity between rich and poor in the Bible?  (James)

Further related thoughts :

http://williambode.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/1-timothy-66-10-nlt-yet-true-godliness.html?m=1

http://williambode.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/there-should-be-some-equality.html?m=1

http://williambode.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/why-do-you-want-to-make-it-so-hard-on.html?m=1

http://williambode.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/what-is-your-fate.html?m=1

Psalms 112:9 NLT They share freely and give generously to those in need. Their good deeds will be remembered forever. They will have influence and honor. Psalms 146:6-9 NLT He made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He keeps every promise forever. He gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry. The Lord frees the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down. The Lord loves the godly. The Lord protects the foreigners among us. He cares for the orphans and widows, but he frustrates the plans of the wicked.

Who cares about the downtrodden?

Psalms 74:21 NLT

Don’t let the downtrodden be humiliated again. Instead, let the poor and needy praise your name.

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God cares about the the poor and needy. The writer of Psalm 74 knows the heart of God. The writer knows that being downtrodden can be humiliating. To be under the foot of some one uncaring doesn't lift you up. But God does lift you up.

And we can ask God to be the rescuer of the poor and needy. We can expect God to be concerned. If we are asking for him to intervene it isn't a long shot. God is concerned about the underdog and he wants us to be too.

Are you downtrodden, poor and needy?  You can praise God!

Do you know downtrodden, poor, and needy folk? You can pray to God trusting, God to fill them with reason for praise.