October 23, 2007 5:50 AM
Sam wrote:
Prov 23:23a...."Buy the truth and do not sell it...". Not quite sure here. Sounds like selfishness to me at first glance. How do you 'buy' truth? Really, you buy it spiritually by opening your heart and mind to the Word of God. Now, that may be by reading or by hearing others preach it. You 'buy' truth by giving of your time, not your wealth. Okay, so now once you get it, why not sell it? Well, duh! It is not really yours to 'sell' anyway...it is God's. You are commanded to GIVE IT AWAY, not sell it. This is one verse where I struggle with highly paid preachers in churches. Sure, it is okay for a minister to receive some retribution for his 'works' in an organization, however, the earnings should not be extravagant...surely not more than the lowest paid member of the flock makes....which is probably VERY low in almost every church. No, a preacher, a minister, YOU, should GIVE AWAY the truth, and not expect anything in return except the joy to see God at work in the ones to whom you have given it. SO, buy truth by giving of one's time and heart, and giving away truth instead of monetarily profitting from such. Make sense? Just my opinion.
Zechariah 7. Again, an interesting chapter, but without a lot of imagery. Sounds like fasting was done for wrong reasons (selfish instead of Godliness) and God was not pleased. So, instead of fasting, He said to administer true justice by showing compassion and mercy to each other. I never thought of that as 'justice', but the I can now see that. We are being fair to each other when we console the downtrodden, the poor, the ones in pain and suffering. It would NOT be fair (justice) to chastise someone who is down on his luck, but rather to lift him up with words of encouragement. We all need that now and then, don't we. I was encouraged by Rich's comments yesterday, and would like to start a monthly book club. I think this could be VERY encouraging to us as we go through our struggles. What say you? Verse 13 in this chapter sums it all up (the fear of God, that is): "When I called, they did not listen: so when they called, I would not listen.", says God. Scary, huh? Let's continue in our walk and answer God's callings to us, otherwise our prayers will continue to go unanswered. Reply to this
October 23, 2007 7:39 AM
rik wrote:
p23-17 it is easy to start to envy people in the world, you see the things they have and think man I want that or why cant i have a life like his? stay away from this form of thinking, it will only bring you down. second you only see there material possessions. you dont see the abuse that might be going on behind closed doors. how many times have i heard of a wealthy pirson trying to take his/her own life. we have something that has more value then all the money in the world. the TRUTH (refer to sams comments for more info) Reply to this
October 23, 2007 1:03 PM
rik wrote:
5"Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years, was it actually for Me that you fasted?
when we do our 'work' for the Lord is it really for God or for ourselves? this is a question we must ask ourselves and only ourself can give a truthful answer. if we are placing our self worth on weather we have the courage to invite people to church or to study the bible, having ups and downs, highs and lows, our works may be more for ourself then for God. If we are doing the work for God the response from those being invited should have little effect on our emotional state. God will open there eyes when He is ready, so do not take there answer personal. your state of mind should come from staying connected with God, (prayer and reading) not on the 'works' you do. Reply to this
Prov 23:23a...."Buy the truth and do not sell it...". Not quite sure here. Sounds like selfishness to me at first glance. How do you 'buy' truth? Really, you buy it spiritually by opening your heart and mind to the Word of God. Now, that may be by reading or by hearing others preach it. You 'buy' truth by giving of your time, not your wealth. Okay, so now once you get it, why not sell it? Well, duh! It is not really yours to 'sell' anyway...it is God's. You are commanded to GIVE IT AWAY, not sell it. This is one verse where I struggle with highly paid preachers in churches. Sure, it is okay for a minister to receive some retribution for his 'works' in an organization, however, the earnings should not be extravagant...surely not more than the lowest paid member of the flock makes....which is probably VERY low in almost every church. No, a preacher, a minister, YOU, should GIVE AWAY the truth, and not expect anything in return except the joy to see God at work in the ones to whom you have given it. SO, buy truth by giving of one's time and heart, and giving away truth instead of monetarily profitting from such. Make sense? Just my opinion.
Zechariah 7. Again, an interesting chapter, but without a lot of imagery. Sounds like fasting was done for wrong reasons (selfish instead of Godliness) and God was not pleased. So, instead of fasting, He said to administer true justice by showing compassion and mercy to each other. I never thought of that as 'justice', but the I can now see that. We are being fair to each other when we console the downtrodden, the poor, the ones in pain and suffering. It would NOT be fair (justice) to chastise someone who is down on his luck, but rather to lift him up with words of encouragement. We all need that now and then, don't we. I was encouraged by Rich's comments yesterday, and would like to start a monthly book club. I think this could be VERY encouraging to us as we go through our struggles. What say you? Verse 13 in this chapter sums it all up (the fear of God, that is): "When I called, they did not listen: so when they called, I would not listen.", says God. Scary, huh? Let's continue in our walk and answer God's callings to us, otherwise our prayers will continue to go unanswered.
Reply to this
p23-17
it is easy to start to envy people in the world, you see the things they have and think man I want that or why cant i have a life like his? stay away from this form of thinking, it will only bring you down. second you only see there material possessions. you dont see the abuse that might be going on behind closed doors. how many times have i heard of a wealthy pirson trying to take his/her own life. we have something that has more value then all the money in the world. the TRUTH (refer to sams comments for more info)
Reply to this
5"Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years, was it actually for Me that you fasted?
when we do our 'work' for the Lord is it really for God or for ourselves? this is a question we must ask ourselves and only ourself can give a truthful answer. if we are placing our self worth on weather we have the courage to invite people to church or to study the bible, having ups and downs, highs and lows, our works may be more for ourself then for God. If we are doing the work for God the response from those being invited should have little effect on our emotional state. God will open there eyes when He is ready, so do not take there answer personal. your state of mind should come from staying connected with God, (prayer and reading) not on the 'works' you do.
Reply to this