Joshua 3-4 Crossing the Jordan

The Jordan River is at flood stage due to all of the spring rains and the melting snow running off of Mt Mt Hermon. It is bound to be a road block for the Israelites. But wait God already parted the Red Sea for their ancestors when they first left Egypt. So certainly God will do the same here.

I wonder if this is what was going through the 40,000 + Israelites who were standing before the Jordan River. Or were they doubting because their fearless leader Moses was no longer with them? In the end God prevails and goes into the river before them carried by the priests sitting on his throne; the Ark Of The Covenant. The waters stop the ground is dry and they all cross safely in one day! God placed himself in the way of danger a

nd stayed there until all were safe. Then as the last priest reached the dry banks of the Jordan river the flood waters returned to their rightful place. What an amazing sight.
In the end a stone memorial was built to be a reminder for generations to come what the Lord did in this place and that they (we) "might always fear the Lord your God".(Joshua 4:24) Through this amazing act God "exalted Joshua in the sight of all of Israel; and they revered him all the day s of his life, just like they had revered moses". (Joshua 4:14)

Sing Praises to Your King!

Family Devotions or Worship Time!

How many of you sit down with your children and spend time in Gods word? If you are like most families I am guessing that your answer is probably not very often if at all. Our family has also fallen into this category during different seasons of our life.We have attempted to set aside a devotion time in the past  and that lasted for a time but then we got lazy and pushed them aside. Life is busy we have work, school, sports and even church activities to occupy our time. We are often so tired when we get home the last thing on our mind is more thinking. We instead look for activities that require very little of our energy like watching TV or playing on the computer. Trust me I am as guilty of this as anyone.  But then I start to think about how God never takes a vacation from us, He is always ready and willing to give us comfort, help in times of need and protection from the evil around us. If He can make time for me surly I can take some time for him. 

At our children's baptism we make an oath with God to bring our children up to know the Lord. We make that oath as parents but do we keep our oath? Do we take our children to church and expect them to learn it all from their pastor and teachers or are we also teaching them at home. Do we take them to church at all?  Do they see us praying and reading or studying Gods word? Do we encourage our children to read and study Gods word? Martin Luther made some great sacrifices so that we could all have the Bible in our homes and even created the large and small catechisms as teaching tools for parents not only the pastors and Sunday school teachers. As parents we have been given an awesome responsibility in raising our children. Let us not get lazy in our faith. Let us be ever vigilant for we do not know the day or the time when our Lord may return!

The Year of the Lords Favor

Isaiah 61 & 62

In Chapter 61:1-2 Isaiah was telling the people that God has sent him to preach good news too the poor, bind up the broken hearted, proclaim freedom for the captives and release the prisoners from, darkness, to comfort those who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion. He does all of this while proclaiming the year of the Lords favor.

Did you know that Jesus applied these verses of Isaiah 61 1-2 to himself in the synagogue at Nazareth in Luke 4:16-21 and Matthew 11:5

What is the year of the Lords favor? My foot notes tell me that it corresponds to the day of salvation in Isaiah 49:8 And the "Year of my redemption" in Isaiah 63:4. In other words The lords second coming.

When I read what Isaiah was called to do and that Jesus also applied the words to himself I know that these words are for all of us. After all when Jesus issued the Great commission in Matthew 28:16-20 he was telling us to go and make disciples of all nations. Part of that is showing comfort to those who mourn and can see no hope, bind up the brokenhearted (those broken in their sin) and Release those imprisoned by their sin. How do we do this? By sharing Gods word, his promises and the Great news of Jesus's sacrifice for our sins. We need to be sharing the hope we have found in Christ Jesus with those who do not yet know. Or who have heard but do not yet understand. We can share this with them by are actions, words and deeds. Handing out tracts, sending out missionaries to far off lands and into our back yards. God did not call us to keep this great news to our selves but to proclaim it with joy in our hearts so that all will know the glory of the Lord!

The Year of the Lords Favor is coming the time to share is now!

Sing Praises to your King!

Melissa

Todays Challenge!

Have you ever wondered how many hymns you know out of your hymnal? Here is the challenge find your favorite hymnal (mine is the new LSB) and page through it with out a piano or instrument of any kind and see how many hymns you really know. If you read notes this will be easier for you than if you can not. I discovered many songs actually have the same tune as old favorites they just have different lyrics. Then let me know what you find out. I will go first I counted about 225 but keep finding ones that I missed along the way. So I expect that number to rise slightly. Now Let the excitement begin! 

Go,  Sing Praises to your King!

Melissa

Yummy Side Dish!

This is a recipe created by Ansir.

2 Slice of provalone cheese

1 freshly baked bun

1 Ripe tomato diced up

Italian Seasoning

Garlic

Bake till cheese turned a golden brown color.

Finally Enjoy!

Feeding of the 5000

We all know about the Bible truth where Jesus fed the 5000 with two fish and 5 loves of bread in Mark 6:30-44 and we even know about the other time Jesus feed 4,000 of people with 7 loves of bread and a few small fish.  But do you know about when Elisha feed 100 men? Here is the account according to 2 Kings 4:42-44. NIV

 ⁴² A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. "Give it to the people to eat," Elisha said.

 ⁴³ "How can I set this before a hundred men?" his servant asked. 
      But Elisha answered, "Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the LORD says: 'They will eat and have some left over.' " ⁴⁴ Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the LORD.

I read this account for the first time earlier this week when we were doing our family devotions. I find it amazing that so often the old testament foretells of the greatness to come. While Elisha feed only 100 there were greater things to come. Jesus being that greater thing. When He fed people it was not merely a hundred people but rather a great multitude of 4to 5000.I love to learn about the profits in the Bible because you can see how they  give the glory to God. Elisha made sure that all credit was given to the Lord in Verse 43 by saying "the Lord says"

Sing Praises to your King!

Melissa

 

Truly, Truly I say to you.

In the gospel of John, Jesus responded to questions by stating Truly, Truly I say to you. This last week I have been listening to the New Testament from an audio  Bible I received from church. It is called You've Got The Time by Faith Comes by Hearing. I started listening to it as I worked in my garden and as I did my house hold chores. I find that it is a great way to keep Gods Word on my mind and in my heart. This phrase,Truly, Truly I say to you, has stuck in my mind and I started wondering why did he repeat the word truly two times every time he said it. So I decided to start my study by comparing how the different versions of the Bible said worded it. 

I tell you the truth (NIV)

Truly Truly I say to you. (NASB & ESV) 

Verily, verily, I say unto thee,(KJV & ASV) 

Most assuredly, I say to you (NKJV)

I can guarantee this truth: (Gods Word)

After reading these different versions I think I now understand the reasoning for the repetition. He wanted to stress that He knew what he was talking about and that it was the true Word of God with out error.  I also read that In Matthew 18:15-20, we read of the importance of multiple witnesses. It creates validity and merit to what is being stated. By saying, "Truly, truly", Jesus is saying that He is His own witness and that what He says is accurate and true.

May God Bless your day

In His Service,

Melissa