Most of us don't think we're sheep, or that we need to be led. We're wrong. He has many things to teach us.

Mark 6:32-34

And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.

Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.

Andy Gray

When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.

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"Give her something to eat." Think about that! God, fully human, wants to make sure this child is fed. Alive and well, she needs sustenance.

Mark 5:35-43

While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?”

But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.”

And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James.

They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly.

And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.”

And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was.

Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” 

And immediately the girl got up and began walking for she was twelve years of age, and they were immediately overcome with amazement.

And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Bible Gateway link

Simple, kind, generous integrity. These things are written on our hearts. I've found life goes better when I try to follow instructions.

Leviticus 19:9-11

“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest.

The Gleaners 1901 Leon Augustin Lhermitte

And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.

“You shall not steal; you shall not deal falsely; you shall not lie to one another.

Bible Gateway link

God knows human nature. He created us. He's straightforward. We are the ones who create controversy.

Leviticus 18:20-23

And you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor's wife and so make yourself unclean with her.

You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.

And you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is perversion.

Bible Gateway link

All that good soil has been tilled for me and yet I find myself on the path, the rocky ground, or in the thorns!

Mark 4:14-20

The sower sows the word.

And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them.

And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 

And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.

Steven Philippi

And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word,

but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.

But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”

Bible Gateway link

What are the chains that bind you? Addiction, resentment, lust, money, worry, gluttony? I have to pray every day to be free from the slavery of things that really don't matter.

Mark 3:27

Photo: Marq Laube

But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.

Bible Gateway link 

Do you know hard-hearted people who are "right" at their own expense? The more I read the bible, the more my heart softens.

Mark 3:1-5

Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand.

And they watched Jesus, to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him.

And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.”

And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent.

And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.

Bible Gateway link

God made us perfectly, yet He asks us to remember who is the creation and who is the creator. Being humble is the fight of our lives but the reward is great.

Psalm 25:8-15

Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.

He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.

All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. 

For your name's sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.

Who is the man who fears the Lord? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.

His soul shall abide in well-being, and his offspring shall inherit the land.

The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.

My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net.

Bible Gateway link

Among the most important benefits of sobriety: distinguishing between holy and unholy!

Leviticus
Chapter 10: 9-11

"Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations,  
that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean,
and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them by the hand of Moses."

Bible Gateway link

As a professional scoffer I had to learn an open mind and heart lead to clarity. My burden has been lightened. Thank you God.

Proverbs 9:10-12

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Rodney Bell
photos

For by me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life.  

If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it.

Bible Gateway link

There is a difference between cherishing His creation and turning that into yet another false idol. Just a thought for radical environmentalists. Do we really not trust God to care for the earth?

Psalm 24:1-5

The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,

for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.

He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

Bible Gateway link

We are all so hungry! Can it be so simple?

Psalm 22:26-28  Bible Gateway link

The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever!

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. 

For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations.

I wish I had a cloud by day and a fire at night to show me exactly what to do. Thank God we have the bible!

Exodus 40:34-39 (ESV)

Bible Gateway link

The Glory of the LORD


Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out.
But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up.
For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.

Light, from a beautiful lamp stand, or inspiration, intuition, or just showing the way through darkness. He uses us as lights in the world.Don't hide yours under a bushel basket.

Exodus 37:17-24 (ESV)

He also made the lampstand of pure gold. He made the lampstand of hammered work. Its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers were of one piece with it.

And there were six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it;
three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on one branch, and three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on the other branch—so for the six branches going out of the lampstand.
And on the lampstand itself were four cups made like almond blossoms, with their calyxes and flowers,
and a calyx of one piece with it under each pair of the six branches going out of it.
Their calyxes and their branches were of one piece with it. The whole of it was a single piece of hammered work of pure gold.
And he made its seven lamps and its tongs and its trays of pure gold.
He made it and all its utensils out of a talent of pure gold.

Bible Gateway link

The Lord has "called by name" and given them exactly the things He needs them to have. He knows your name and your gifts are His. Use them!

Exodus 35:30-35  Bible Gateway Link

Then Moses said to the people of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;

and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship,               

to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze,

in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft.

And he has inspired him to teach, both him and Oholiab the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan.

He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer.

Be honest, most of us are stiff-necked people. Yet God still gives us the opportunity to go to a better place. That's mercy.

Exodus 33:1-6 Bible Gateway link

The Lord said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it.’I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.”

The Schrodinger's Dragon
photos

When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments.For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.’”Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.

Is your seductress work, or worry or busy-ness, money, security? What keeps you from intimacy with God?

Proverbs 7:6-27

For at the window of my house I have looked out through my lattice, 

and I have seen among the simple, I have perceived among the youths, a young man lacking sense,

passing along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house

in the twilight, in the evening, at the time of night and darkness.

And behold, the woman meets him, dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.

She is loud and wayward; her feet do not stay at home;

now in the street, now in the market, and at every corner she lies in wait.

She seizes him and kisses him, and with bold face she says to him,

“I had to offer sacrifices, and today I have paid my vows;

so now I have come out to meet you, to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.

I have spread my couch with coverings, colored linens from Egyptian linen;

I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

Come, let us take our fill of love till morning; let us delight ourselves with love.

For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey;

he took a bag of money with him; at full moon he will come home.”

With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him.

All at once he follows her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as a stag is caught fast

till an arrow pierces its liver; as a bird rushes into a snare; he does not know that it will cost him his life.

And now, O sons, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth.

Let not your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths,

for many a victim has she laid low, and all her slain are a mighty throng.

Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death.

Bible Gateway link

The king of kings said "...let the scriptures be fulfilled." Mark 14:49b

Psalm 20:4-9

May he grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans!

May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the Lord fulfill all your petitions!

Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; he will answer him from his holy heaven with the saving might of his right hand.

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.

O Lord, save the king! May he answer us when we call.

Bible Gateway

To have God at your side, what precious thing would you give willingly from your heart?

Exodus 25: 1-8 Bible Gateway link

New King James Version (NKJV) 

Offerings for the Sanctuary

1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering. From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering. 

3 And this is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze; 4 blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair; 5 ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood; 6 oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense; 7 onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate. 8 And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. 

I heard someone on TV say the US justice system has nothing to do with God. Oh?

Exodus 23:1-9

Bible Gateway Link (NIV 1984)

“Do not spread false reports. Do not help a wicked man by being a malicious witness.
“Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd,
and do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.
“If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to take it back to him.

If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help him with it. 

“Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.
Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty.
“Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.
“Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus23:1-9&version=NIV1984

I have a friend who thinks this commandment is the basis of our capitalism. Don't covet! Go out and earn your own.

Exodus 20:17 

"You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's."

Horizon Online link

Things the LORD hates. We can stop doing these, right?

Horizon Online link Proverbs

 Chapter 6

16

These six things the LORD hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: 

17

A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood, 

18

A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil, 

19

A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.

Management tips 101: Moses actually heard God's voice, but he needed help from other godly men. Don't we all?

Exodus 18:13-27  Bible Gateway link

The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening.
When Moses' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?”
And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God;
when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.”
Moses' father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good.
You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone.
Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God,
and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do.
Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.
And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.
If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.”
So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said.
Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.
And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves.
Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went away to his own country.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus18:13-27&version=ESV

It's so easy to be grateful right after the miracle!

Exodous 15:1-13   Bible Gateway link

The Song of Moses

15 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying,

“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
    the horse and his rider^[a] he has thrown into the sea.
² The Lord is my strength and my song,
    and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
    my father's God, and I will exalt him.
³ The Lord is a man of war;
    the Lord is his name.

⁴ “Pharaoh's chariots and his host he cast into the sea,
    and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
⁵ The floods covered them;
    they went down into the depths like a stone.
⁶ Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power,
    your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.
⁷ In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries;
    you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.
⁸ At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up;
    the floods stood up in a heap;
    the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
⁹ The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake,
    I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.
    I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’
¹⁰ You blew with your wind; the sea covered them;
    they sank like lead in the mighty waters.

¹¹ “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
    Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
    awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
¹² You stretched out your right hand;
    the earth swallowed them.

¹³ “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed;
    you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.

I don't really like misery, but at least it's comfortable!

Exodus 14:12-16 (KJV)

Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.

And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.

The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:

But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus14:12-16&version=KJV