Linus on Christmas...

A Baby into this world, Why?

3 Different Stories of Christ's birth.

The Prophesy:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%209:6-7;&version=31;

What we all know:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%202;&version=31;

One most don't know:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2012:%2013-17;&version=31;


So have you ever wondered what God was thinking when he sent his Son into this world? Why in his world would God send his Son into the world full of sin? From the first sin of Man to the sin of Israel that lead to it’s destruction at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, even the sin in the world today. What was God’s plan with a Baby Boy that came into this world in the most unassuming way?

You see God is a jealous God, and his jealously makes him want to rise up in anger against that which separates us from him. That is sin. Our sinful nature is what provokes this jealous anger.

If you read through the Old Testament God’s jealously rises up against the sins of Israel to the point that he wants to beat the sin out of the world. Now think about that. He was so jealous of the sin in the world he destroyed it by flood, Sodom and Gomorra destroyed, Israel conquered by Babylon, all because they refused to listen to the prophets, and heed God’s warning.

What was a Jealous God to do to restore the relationship with the Man he created? Well he sent a little Baby, His Son to save us. II Cor 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. To be sin… That is a powerful statement. What was God thinking? He wanted to rise up and destroy sin, to beat it out of this world. So why would he make his Son be that sin for us?

See, the baby that came into this world in an unassuming way, was beaten and crucified so that the sin that was laid upon him would be destroyed. God used the life and death of this baby to restore the relationship with his people by rising up with out stretched arms on a cross.

This Christmas as we celebrate the Joy that is Christ’s birth, let us not for get the ultimate sacrifice he made for us to restore our relationship with his Father.

Ex 34:14 14 Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Jealous: Qanna' - jealous (only of God)
jealous: Qana - to envy, be jealous, be envious, be zealous
a (Piel)
to be jealous of
to be envious of
to be zealous for
to excite to jealous anger
b (Hiphil) to provoke to jealous anger, cause jealousy

THIS IS PRETTY NEAT,


Place your mouse on the E below and drag to the U.

Even though you can't see Him, GOD is there for yoU

A not so biblical view of Faith..

The past few weeks we have been studying Cults and World Religions. Each one of us has had to do a couple reports on a Cult and religion. Here is my first on not so much a cult, but a no biblical movement with in the Christian church.

Word of Faith

The Word of Faith (WF) movement emerged within Charismatic/Pentecostal Christianity in the latter 20th century.

Parkhurst Quimby (1802-1866) who laid the foundations.
- Quimby's metaphysical teachings that influenced E.W. Kenyon,
- E.W. Kenyon's teachings that in turn influenced Kenneth Hagin.
- Most prominent Word of Faith teachers today draw their inspiration from Kenneth Hagin.
- many Word-Faith preachers broadcast their services and campaigns,
- Paul and Jan Crouch own TBN.
o with an estimated net worth of approximately $600 million dollars
o Televising the Faith message (as well as many other errant messages) all over the world.

Word of Faith teachers are notorious for teaching everything from the heretical to the downright ridiculous. For example, one WF teacher (who recently renounced WF) once stated that Adam could fly, and women were originally designed to give birth from their sides. Many sincere Christians within the WF movement are unaware that their favorite teachers are teaching doctrines that flatly contradict the Word of God. One reason for this lack of discernment is that followers are told that questioning the teacher is synonymous with "touching God's anointed," or "quenching the Spirit." They are unaware that Scripture encourages us to test all teaching by the written Word of God.

The Word of Faith movement is a serious threat to the Church -- this because WF is assaulting Christianity from within the Church.

Word of Faith leaders
o Paul Crouch ,Rory Alec (GOD TV) , Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagin, John Kilpatrick "Partners in Revival") ,John Bevere , Benny Hinn ,Rodney Howard Browne (The "Holy Ghost Bartender"), Charles Capps, Fred Price, E. W. Kenyon (Word of Faith pioneer), John Avanzini, Paul E. Billheimer ("Destined For The Throne"), Joyce Meyer, Jerry Savelle, Joel Olsteen

God is Humanized
Copeland
- God is a being who stands about 6'2"-6'3", weighing somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple of hundred pounds, and has a hand span of 9" across
- "Adam was the copy, looked just like (God). If you stood Adam beside God, they looked just exactly alike. If you stood Jesus and Adam side-by-side, they would look and sound exactly alike"
Hin
- God the Father, Son and Spirit …Are all separate person
- Each is Triune in his on their own,
- There is 9 of them
He explains by saying: “God the Father, ladies and gentlemen, is a person with his own personal spirit, with his own personal soul, and his own personal spirit-body. You say, Huh, I never heard that. Well you think you're in this church to hear things you've heard for the last 50 years? You can't argue with the Word, can you? It's all in the Word”



Little God’s
Man is glorified and made divine
- passages such as John 10:31-39 and II Peter 1:4,
o Christians are "little gods." Copeland says, "Now Peter said by exceeding great and precious promises you become partakers of the divine nature. All right, are we gods? We are a class of gods!" (Christianity in Crisis, p. 116).
o Benny Hinn declares, "God came from heaven, became a man, made man into little gods, went back to heaven as a man" (Christianity in Crisis, p. 382 n. 43). Earl Paulk wrote, "Until we comprehend that we are little gods and we begin to act like little gods, we cannot manifest the kingdom of God" (Satan Unmasked, p. 97).

Jesus Christ
Cross and atonement is Distorted
- Jesus suffered and died on the cross,
- descended into hell
- three days serving a sentence in hell (where He was tortured by demons),
- then born again and released from hell on a technicality

The "force" of faith
- words to manipulate the faith-force
o create what they believe Scripture promises (health, wealth, etc.)
o God becomes a genie
Hagen in his book How to Write Your Own Ticket with God
In the opening chapter, titled "Jesus Appears to Me," Hagin claims that while he "was in the Spirit" -- just like the apostle John on the Isle of Patmos -- a white cloud enveloped him and he began to speak in tongues. "Then the Lord Jesus Himself appeared to me," says Hagin. "He stood within three feet of me." After what sounded like a casual conversation about such things as finances, ministry, and even current affairs, Jesus told Hagin to get a pencil and a piece of paper. He then instructed him to "Write down: 1,2,3,4." Jesus then allegedly told Hagin "if anybody, anywhere, will take these four steps or put these four principles into operation, he will always receive whatever he wants from Me or from God the Father." That includes whatever you want financially. The formula is simply: "Say it, Do it, Receive it, and Tell it."
Step number one is "Say it." "Positive or negative, it is up to the individual. According to what the individual says, that shall he receive."
Step number two is "Do it." "Your action defeats you or puts you over. According to your action, you receive or you are kept from receiving."
Step number three is "Receive it." We are to plug into the "powerhouse of heaven." "Faith is the plug, praise God! Just plug in."
Step number four is "Tell it so others may believe." This final step might be considered the Faith movement's outreach program.
Frederick K.C. Price: "Now this is a shocker! But God has to be given permission to work in this earth realm on behalf of man. … Yes! You are in control! So if man has control, who no longer has it? God. ... When God gave Adam dominion, that meant God no longer had dominion. So, God cannot do anything on this earth unless we let Him or give Him permission through prayer" (Prayer: Do You Know What Prayer Is. ... and How to Pray? The Word Study Bible, p. 1178)
Prosperity and Health Gospels
- God will make you wealthy if you ask.
o Robert Tilton, On a Trinity Broadcasting Network program in 1990 he said: "Being poor is a sin, when God promises prosperity. New house? New car? That's chicken feed. That's nothing compared to what God wants to do for you"
o Usually leads to asking for an offering… Give $10 get $1000, give $1000 get 100,000 …
- God not only heals our sin but heals our bodies
o Promised a life of health
o People get sick cause of lack of faith
o Sickness in the leaders lives is an attack from Satan.

http://www.gospeloutreach.net/whatwordfaith.html
http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Psychology/char/more/w-f.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_of_Faith

101%

I haven't posted this week, but I got this in an e-mail and thought I would share.

Message
To my non-math friends, you probably won't be amazed at the math patterns in the beginning, but look at the meaning of 101% below the patterns. It is a better take on the meaning that some emails I have received. I liked it.
Absolutely amazing!
Beauty of Math!
1 x 8 + 1 = 9
12 x 8 + 2 = 98
123 x 8 + 3 = 987
1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321

1 x 9 + 2 = 11
12 x 9 + 3 = 111
123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111

9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

Brilliant, isn't it?
And look at this symmetry:
1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111=12345678987654321

Now, take a look at this...
101%
From a strictly mathematical viewpoint:
What Equals 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?
Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?
We have all been in situations where someone wants you to GIVE OVER
100%.
How about ACHIEVING 101%?
What equals 100% in life?
Here's a little mathematical formula that might help answer these
Questions:
If:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.
If:
H-A-R-D-W-O-R- K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%
And:
K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%
But:
A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%
THEN, look how far the love of God will take you:
L-O-V-E-O-F-G-O-D
12+15+22+5+15+6+7+15+4 = 101%
Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that:
While Hard Work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will
Get you there, It's the Love of God that will put you over the top!
It's up to you if you share this with your friends & loved ones just
The way I did.

Answer to a question.

A follow up to a question from my Facebook...

The same Hebrew word for Divorce is used for the word separate. In Romans we can see that nothing will separate us from the love of Christ. It should be just as impossible for a marriage built on Christ's foundation to separate.

Mt 19:6 "Consequently they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."

In Mathew 5, Christ put out one exception to his command on divorce and that is adultery.

The word adultery (or Marital unfaithfulness, as Christ puts it) means the breaking or separating of a physical bond. If we are to give ourselves to our spouses in heart, mind and soul, how that physical breaking takes place can take many forms.

If our Marriage is built on Christ then we will avoid that exception whatever the form.

Elohim... The Trinity

Elohim is the first name given to God in the bible.
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
The father was there, so was the Word and the Spirit (Breath) of God.

1:2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.

John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Gen 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

This implies that we are to be in the image of God the Father the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Elohim
1.(plural)
1.rulers, judges
2.divine ones
3.angels
4.gods
2.(plural intensive - singular meaning)
1.god, goddess
2.godlike one
3.works or special possessions of God
4.the (true) God
5.God
Adonai (The one true Lord) Elohim , the Lord God, with many characteristics. El-Qana (Characteristic of God) the jealousy of God.

The 3 are this...

God our authority who judges our actions, gave us Jesus. Our example of what our actions should, who left us his Spirit our guide. So we can live under the authority, by transforming us into the example.

Divorce

1 Cor 7:10 To the married I give this command (not I, but the Lord): A wife must not separate from her husband.

Mathew 5
31 "It has been said, 'Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.' 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.

Ro 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

The same Hebrew word for Divorce is used for the word separate. In Romans we can see that nothing will separate us from the love of Christ. It should be just as impossible for a marriage built on Christ's foundation to separate.

Now it is obvious if Marriage is built on Christ's foundation, we will avoid the prevision Christ set our for divorce.

More over we just must love our spouses as Christ loved the church.

Ephesians 5:25
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her

Freedom in Christ and the trap Legalism

MV for the week.

Gal 5: 1,13

It is for freedom that Christ set you free. Stand firm, then, do not let yourself be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. You my brothers are called to be free, do not use that freedom to indulge the sinful nature, rather serve on another in love.

We are free to worship Christ and be in commune with him however we want, as long as we do not abuse the freedom and sin. Grace God’s forgiving grace is not a freedom to Sin. However we are no longer bound buy rules.

Following rules should not take the place of our personal relation ship with Christ, because doing so could distract us from our relationship with him.

Gal 3: 10- 11
10 All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."[a] 11 Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith."[b]

The Law points us to our sin but because we are justified in Christ we are free from the consequences of our sin. Our faith will lead us to righteousness, not following a set of rules (Legalism). Our change to righteousness can not be done by our own action; we have to rely on our faith in Christ.

Col 2:20-23
20 Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: 21 "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? 22 These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence

Legalism Got eve in trouble when she added to God’s command:

God Said, Gen 2: 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

Eve Said: Gen 3: 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "

God never said touch, and by adding this Eve took the focus off what God’s command and added to his word, and this lead her down the wrong path.

I find it interesting that

Satan Said:
Gen 3: 4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Even Satan knew God’s command, and that it was eating that God commanded against.

Back to class.

It is hard to believe that a year ago, I was just starting down this road. God has been good to me, and opened my heart in many ways. The break has been good but I am anxious to get going again. Most of all to put Ezekiel behind me. Yikes what a book. I think it could take years of study to fully understand every aspect of that book. But again it proves God's jealousy towards anything that separates us from him, and his wanting to destroy what separates us from him.

So...

401 Starts tomorrow. I should be posting more, as the homework will pick up. I will be able to draw more from that.

I pray God continues to bless this group of men, and opens our hearts and minds to his word.

.....

Huckabee knows his God....

Genesis

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

When will I be normal?

I have not typed about my nephew Justin on this blog. He was in a bad car accident the Sunday before Memorial day, and sustained a serious closed head brain injury.

After 4-5 weeks in Intensive care, and 6 weeks at Frazier rehab he has made it home.

One of the things he expressed that he wanted to do was to start studying the bible. My mother in law, mentioned it to my wife. I prayed about it and offered to help.

Well now Tuesday nights I will meet with Justin for 1 hour. 20-30 Minutes will be spent working with his Nintendo DS with Brain Age, and 20-30 minutes reading the bible and talking about it.

This paragraph from my testimony will frame what we talk about.

God allows and knows I will fail, but he sacrificed His Son for all of us, so that we can get back up looking for Him to help us. He also gives us the power of the Spirit to enable us to succeed in overcoming our sin nature. When we succeed He celebrates with us, and is proud of us. I am now privileged to have a relationship that allows me to walk in the Light of the Word, confident in the salvation of Jesus Christ.

I also asked him, what is the one question that I can pray about for him, and ask God to help him answer. His answer, "When will I be normal?" I know God heard the question, and I pray that as Justin and I through our study start to unravel that question for him.

God I pray that you give me the guidance to help Justin. The wisdom to teach him about you and how much you love him. Help me through my experiences show him how to build a relationship that relies completely on you. Help me be a workman that correctly handles your word of truth.

Ezekiel...

During the break from class, we have been tasked to reading Ezekiel. I must say that it is confusing, especially at 5:15 am....

From what I can gather though, God is pouring his heart out to Ezekiel, trying to convey to the Israelites what He is feeling, and how their destructive living is ruining their chance at a better life and relationship with Him.

God promises his judgment and wrath, and shows again his jealous anger. Then in 18:30 we read this:

30 "Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!

Oh how God wants us to live a righteous life, with Him as our guide.

I have also come to understand this about my faith... Which seems to be a reaccuring theme as I read and blog...

I want my God to be El Qanna... To be so Jealous of my sin that He wants to root it out of every corner of my being and destroy it. I want Him to pursue me in such a way that He will do anything, even take out His vengeance on his own Son, to have a relationship with me. COR 5:21 God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in Him we may be come the righteousness of God. I want to know that God laid down his Son for our forgiveness because He loves me so much he can not stand to have any sin in the way of a relationship with Him.

I like knowing that God will pursue that loving perfect relationship with me, and will do so in a way that points out flaws in my life I never knew I had. Then I want to turn to him and have him help me fix those flaws.

Ezekiel 18:30-32
30 "Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!

God's name to me .... Qana

Ezekiel 5 Then he said to me, "Son of man, look toward the north." So I looked, and in the entrance north of the gate of the altar I saw this idol of jealousy.

The idol jealousy here is not the jealousy of man, it is the idol that provokes God to jealousy. That makes him want to rise up and stamp out the evil caused by worshiping idols. There are so many things we set up as idols in our life that causes God to be jealous. Each one separates and takes us further from the relationship we are meant to have with the one true Lord God.

Adonai Elohim, the Lord God, with many characteristics. El-Qana the jealousy of God.
http://www.biblestudytools.net/Lexicons/Hebrew/heb.cgi?number=07067&version=nas

Exodus
5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me

I want my God to be jealous. I want him to pursue me to the ends of the earth. I want to know that he would lay his life down for me. Sacrifice everything, just to love me, because he detests the sin and idols in my life so much.

Coveting 3 - 5

3 – Coveting=Greed

M. G Blankenship again says…

Coveting kind of boils down to Greed

We even see this concept of coveting in a young child: They are happy with their toy UNTIL they see another kids toy!
When we are not happy with what we have, we begin to desire what we do not have, and look for ways to satisfy the desire our selves.

Colossians 3:5 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. ---> GREED BECOMES IDOLATRY:

Our heart was created to be satisfied by God! Coveting allows things to take the place of God in our hearts!
God says "seek ye first the kingdom" =

GREED seeks the "kingdom of things"

4 – We can lead people to covet

We should also be careful to not lead people down the road of coveting by our own actions.

Jesus Speaking of the Pharisees

Mathew 23 5-7

5 "Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries[a] wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.‘

1 Peter 3:3
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.

Instead we should be humble

Psalm 18:27
You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.

Psalm 147:6
The LORD sustains the humble but casts the wicked to the ground.

Matthew 23:12
For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

5 – The opposite of covet is to be content and love.

The opposite of coveting and the fix is contentment, to understand that what God provides to us is what he thinks we can handle and work with. The value of what we posses through God is no greater or less then anything any one else has. In 1 Timothy we learn…

1 Timothy 6:5-10

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Coveting 1 and 2

1 - Beginning of Sin

Have you ever wondered what it is like in the biggest house on the street? Ever asked what kind of TV do they have? Said to yourself, look at the nice car they Drive… I wonder how much Money they make…I would like to live his or her life. Well this is what Eve did when she looked at the fruit on the tree, She asked her self…”I wonder what God knows? I bet to know what he knows would be amazing….”

Coveting was the beginning of sin in the world

Ge 3:6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

Her imagination and feelings were completely won over be the serpant; and the fall of Eve was soon followed by that of Adam. The history of every temptation, and of every sin, is the same; the outward object of attraction, the inward commotion of mind, the increase and triumph of passionate desire; ending in the degradation, slavery, and ruin of the soul www.biblestudytools.net/Commentaries/JamiesonFaussetBrown/jfb.cgi?book=ge&chapter=3#Ge3_6

If coveting is the beginning of Sin.. Can it lead us to other sin?

2 - Coveting leads to other sin

In what ways can covetness lead us to break the other commandments?

David, the man with the heart of God, his coveting leads to… Here is a man with a heart for the Lord…And the Devil got…

2 Sam 11: 2-3 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her.

(1) Do not commit Adultery….4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. Then [a] she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, "I am pregnant."

(2) Do not give false witness…6 So David sent this word to Joab: "Send me Uriah the Hittite." And Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, "Go down to your house and wash your feet." So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master's servants and did not go down to his house.

12 Then David said to him, "Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back." So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 At David's invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master's servants; he did not go home.

(3) Do not Murder…14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In it he wrote, "Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die."

(4) Do not Steal…Nathan to David… 4 "Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him."

Coveting.... My latest lesson..

17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." (Even his rubber ducky!!)

Chamad

to desire, covet, take pleasure in, delight in

(Qal) to desire

(Niphal) to be desirable

(Piel) to delight greatly, desire greatly n f

desirableness, preciousness

The 10th commandment forbids all wrong desire of having what will gratify ourselves or lead to selfish behavior. Anything that will lead us away from God’s provision. I find it interesting that God in the first commandment establishes his provision as the one and only God, in the 10th he gives us the understanding of what leads us away from his provision.

Not all desire is bad. Desire causes: capitalism, work, eat, drink, social etiquette. Desire to be with your friends, family, and wife. Desire causes us to work hard and dream.

1 Corinthians 9:10

10Surely he says this for us, doesn't he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest.

It is the desire that leads us outside of God’s provision that is wrong.

Every culture has a proverb of sort about covetousness:
ENGLISH: Grass is always greener on the other side of the fence
AESOPE : Man killed the goose that laid the golden egg - "MUCH WANTS MORE AND LOSSES ALL"
SCOTTISH: "Covetous man never has enough until his mouth is filled with mold"
HINDU : "Mention money, even a corpse opens it mouth"
BUSINESS: "Follow the money trail"

What are some things we can covet other than material stuff and why do we Covet?

Time, Relationships, Knowledge, Power…

The effect of covetness on our lives can lead to…

M.G. Blankenship http://www.apostolic.edu/

COVETING IS NORMAL DESIRE GONE WRONG! -- THIS UNBALANCED AREA OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT IS WHAT WE CALL ORIGINAL SIN. Coveting is at the root of the carnal mind - inner principal of sin
Ephesians 2:2-3

2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.

There are 5 things I came to understand about Coveting...Which I will post in parts later.

Prayer...

If you have time, watch the following 3 sermons from my church this weekend...

Everyone has questions on prayer, and this is about the best explanation I have ever heard...

http://www.southeastchristian.org/sermons/

You may have to scroll down to see the links for the previous week.
Not sure how long they will be up....

God reaches and stretches out for us....

...and we are lazy and nonchalant in reaching out for him.