Category Archives: Calendar Reading Notes from The WORD

2021, Calendar Reading Notes from The WORD, Gospel of Luke, KWT Paraphrasing, Questions

Three Score and Ten

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Luke 9. 

Are you ready?

23 Then to everyone he said, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him say ‘No’ to himself, take up his execution-stake (cross) daily and keep following me.
24 For whoever tries to save his own life will destroy it, but whoever destroys his life on my account will save it.  source 

Death. 
There are various ways to die and most of those ways will kill you, all but one.

Interested?

What was Yeshua saying in these verses? 
May I give you my KWT paraphrase? My understanding of it?

Verses 23 and 24 tell me that all people, myself included, who want to LIVE must die. We must die to doing this earthly Three Score and Ten our way; our carnal, depraved human nature way. 

If we want to live, really live here on planet earth and in eternity there is a decision that we must make now. 

let him say ‘No’ to himself, take up his execution-stake (cross) daily, and keep following me. 

If we hold on to our lives, if we refuse to surrender our day-to-day breathing in and out to The Messiah, we are going to die, not just once, but for eternity.
GOD does not lie. 
In the natural, we humans like to make our own decisions without any input from GOD.
i.e. We SAVE our lives for ourselves. 

How do we save our lives for ourselves? 
Let me be blunt.

We eat what we want. 
We drink what we want.
We copulate with who we want.
We hate who we want.
We refuse to forgive who we want. 
We take what we want even if we have not earned it.
We withhold truth and we put forth untruths.
And the list goes on  — the list is as long as there are sins to commit. 

Doing our own thing, living this earthly life as we please will, yes indeed, will destroy us.
It will destroy our body and soul in the here and now and march us right into hell when we draw our last breath. 

So what are we to do? 
How do we destroy our lives for JESUS sake? Verse 24

First, when Holy Spirit tells us we are hell-deserving sinners and we need a Saviour, we don’t argue with Him, we agree. We humbly and gratefully give thanks that He would even let us know that we need a Saviour and there is ONE ready, willing, and able to save us! From ourselves, from sin, and from hell.

Does that mean we will never do some of those things listed above and many of those not listed? 

NOPE!
But it does mean we will immensely enjoy saying NO to those things, more and more, day by day as we learn from and follow JESUS.
And one day when we see JESUS Face to face we will never have to fight sin again. 
We will be free for all eternity. 

If that appeals to you — excellent! You are on your way. 
If it doesn’t, I fear you have not yet met this JESUS who loves you enough to live and die and live forever for you.  
Holy Spirit, please favor those who are presently saving their lives for themselves, with conviction, grace, and faith to be saved from self-destruction.  Amen and amen.

We were made for this,

Please know your honest questions are welcome here, via comment or email.
2021, Calendar Reading Notes from The WORD, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of Mark, Questions

Flavor and Spice

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In my considered opinion, the world has a way of ruining the use of certain words; perhaps you have noticed that too.

I came across one of those words in my Bible today. 

Luke 11.

8 But I tell you, even if he won’t get up because the man is his friend, yet because of the man’s hutzpah he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
source

Do you see it? 
Hutzpah. 

It’s a strong word. With much flavor and spice. 

But let’s gets some history. 

Yeshua is teaching and as He often does, He is sharing a parable for those with ears to hear. (Mark 4:33-34) In this parable, He is teaching the art of persistent asking (that is we must persist in asking until we get His answer) and He uses the word hutzpah. 

Now the world has taken this word and used it to mean arrogant, obnoxious, and other such unpleasantries.  [Yes. It’s the same word some add a C, some do not]

Do you see what I mean?

Now let me share with you a different slant and the one JESUS surely meant. 

Boldness, Audacity, Insolence. Nerve. Gall OR a combination thereof weighted according to the situational need.  (from the glossary of my Complete Jewish Bible)

Now let’s see the TEXT.  Let’s see how JESUS illustrates the word.

9 “Moreover, I myself say to you: keep asking, and it will be given to you; keep seeking, and you will find; keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you.
10 For everyone who goes on asking receives; and he who goes on seeking finds; and to him who continues knocking, the door will be opened.
source

He is not saying don’t take no for an answer. 
He is saying don’t stop until you get HIS ANSWER. 

And don’t you love, I do, the first 6 words of verse 9? 
“Moreover, I myself say to you:

I Myself He said. I Myself am saying to you. How AWESOME is that? 
JESUS is saying to us: ask Father.
Ask Him with hutzpah. With full intent of asking until He gives you His Answer. 

And know this please, Father does not wait long with His answers so He can see how long we will ask; He waits so WE will see how long WE will ask.
How much hutzpah do we really have?
We do need to know! Don’t you think?

We were made for this, 

Please know your honest questions are welcome here, via comment or email.
2021, Calendar Reading Notes from The WORD, Gospel of Matthew

Dust Shaking

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 Matthew 10

14 But if the people of a house or town will not welcome you or listen to you, leave it and shake its dust from your feet! 15 Yes, I tell you, it will be more tolerable on the Day of Judgment for the people of S’dom [Sodom] and ‘Amora[Gomorrah] for that town!   emphasis added
source

In recent years I have learned it is well for me to search for an Eastern eye view of Scripture rather than trusting these Western eyes with which I was born. Scripture was not written in the West and when we read it that way, we often miss out. 

Shake the dust from your feet. 

I’ve read some Scholars think this directive sounds harsh. 
I don’t.
I think it was life and health for the disciples and a prophetic reminder/warning to those left behind (that sounds like mercy to me).

What do you think? 

Allow me to give you some reading materials that might shed some Eastern light. 

Shaking the Dust from their Feet

From Dust You Came. The Biblical Hebrew Meaning

Difficult Sayings  Shake off the Dust

We were made for this, 


Please know your honest questions are welcome here, via comment or email.