Adonay ~ LORD, Master
The gifted violinist Fritz Chrysler had a Stradivarius violin that at one time belonged to an old Englishman. Chrysler offered to buy it, but the old man told him that the violin was not for sale. One day he ventured to the old man's house and asked if he could touch it. The old man invited Chrysler in. He tucked it under his chin and began to draw the bow across the strings. Great tears began to well up in the old Englishman's eyes. Chrysler saw the man's face and said, "I'm sorry, but I would so much like to buy this instrument." The old Englishman said, "It is not for sale, but it is yours. You are the master. You alone are worthy of it." When we call God Adonay, we are saying that He is the Master. He alone is worthy, nothing and no one else. He is worth all that we have and all that we are.
Related Scripture
Deuteronomy 10:17; Psalm 2:4, 8:1, 97:5, 136:3; Isaiah 1:24, 6:1; Romans 10:9
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
The Different Names Of God
Over the next days, I'll be posting the different names of God. One name a day. Taken from love worth finding website.
Abba ~ Father
Have you ever thought about God as a daddy? Galatians 4:6 says, "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Abba is the Aramaic word meaning Daddy, Father. It's a term of warm affection, intimacy, and respect for one's father. Now, to some that may sound like an irreverent way to address God, but Jesus called God, "Our Father," in Matthew 6:9 and He gave us that same right. In America, children call their fathers, Daddy. But in the Middle East, they say Abba. Jesus says that we can call the great God of the Universe, Abba Father. Daddy Father.
Related Scripture
Mark 14:36; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6
Abba ~ Father
Have you ever thought about God as a daddy? Galatians 4:6 says, "And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." Abba is the Aramaic word meaning Daddy, Father. It's a term of warm affection, intimacy, and respect for one's father. Now, to some that may sound like an irreverent way to address God, but Jesus called God, "Our Father," in Matthew 6:9 and He gave us that same right. In America, children call their fathers, Daddy. But in the Middle East, they say Abba. Jesus says that we can call the great God of the Universe, Abba Father. Daddy Father.
Related Scripture
Mark 14:36; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6
Mark 6:14-29
Re cap on the above verses abt the beheading of John the Baptist from horizonsnet.org
Background:
Herod the Great was King when Jesus was born. Herod the Great married a number of women and had a number of sons by them. Some were actually murdered by their father. Among those who were not was Herod Antipas, the Herod of this passage, and Herod Philip. They were half-brothers. Another half-brother was Aristobulus. Aristobulus had a daughter named Herodias. She married Herod Philip. They, in turn, had a daughter whose name was Salome.
On a visit to Rome, Herod Antipas met his brother Philip's wife, Herodias. She was a deceitful and ambitious woman who saw in Antipas a way to fulfill her own selfish desires. So he took her away from his brother and they came back to Palestine together. Of course, this sordid affair had already begun. You see, what you have to remember is that Herodias was Aristobulus' daughter, who was Philip's half-brother. That made Herodias Philip's niece. Philip had married his own niece. And now his other half-brother had stolen her away from him.
Lessons:
Pressure-Pushers
-Herodias
a pressure-pusher who is someone who seeks to have her own way by whatever means are necessary. Here is a manipulator. Here is someone who acts out of her own personal ambition and pride.
(Whenever Herod had brought Herodias back to Jerusalem, he had been encountered by John the Baptist. John confronted him and thundered, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." Herodias was there and she didn't like it one bit, because John had embarrassed her and perhaps because she also knew that he was preaching the truth.
The reason she could not put John to death was because Herod understood a deeper truth than did his wife. So Herodias had to keep her anger inside and wait for just the right time to make her move.)
Just as Herodias was a pressure-pusher, to a certain degree, we can become pressure-pushers as well. How do you go about trying to influence people? What methods do you use to try to get your will accomplished? Do you ever withhold affection until someone has done what you want? Do you ever use power or the fear of retaliation or rejection to keep people in line? Do you ever continue to press, push and harangue by an incessant repetition of your desire, even after you know they have heard you? Do you seek to manipulate and set people up to get your point off or straighten them out?
We all can live in situations with people like that, either as those under pressure or as those pushing pressure, or sometimes both. We can live like that in our marriages as we relate to our mate. We can live like that in our families as we relate to our children or our parents. We can even live like that in the church, seeking to manipulate and influence and control. We must beware of being a pressure-pusher.
Pressure-Pawn
-Salome
It doesn't seem that Salome had any problem with John the Baptist. She was simply a willing pawn in her mother's chess game. She was someone her mother could use. She became a ploy, skillfully executed as her mother worked out her devious schemes.
Often times, we can be used by someone else in their attempt to put pressure on another. We in the church need to be always on our guard against this. We must be careful never to do someone else's bidding as a conduit for their influence to be felt.
They know the person to whom they speak will tell the person to whom they are trying to get the message across. They want their influence to be felt, but indirectly through another. The subtle thing about this kind of pressure is that the one used, often times, does not even realize that he is being used this way. Brother so-and-so will share a "concern" or a "complaint" with someone whom he knows will carry it to the person he was trying to get the message to. The person with whom he shared it, thinking he is passing on needed information, will then carry that message. He then becomes a pawn, a pressure-pawn, in someone else's chess game. Salome was such a pawn. We must guard against this. We must guard against both using people, and being used ourselves.
Pressure-Perpetuators
Herod's friends.
(Though they said nothing, they spoke volumes. Here are what you might call pressure-perpetuators.
While all this was going on, they just sat there. When Herod made his foolish promise to Salome, no one spoke out to make him question what the implications of his foolishness would produce. When the head of John the Baptist was asked for, again no one spoke out or questioned the terrible act that was about to occur. They were silent. But in their silence, they perpetuated the pressure Herod felt; and in fact, they participated in the evil and cruel act that followed.)
Do we keep silent when we see others manipulated and pressured? Do we just sit and watch, to see how they will handle it, or what they will do? Do we, in doing so, add to the pressure they feel? Or do we speak up and give them the freedom to be the unique people God has created them to be? Do we let people know that they don't have to please us, that our friendship or love or commitment is not based on their agreeing with us? Do we let people know that they don't have to live their lives asking themselves the question, "What will they think?
LEARNING POINTS
The person we need to please is God. The question we need to have before us at all times is not "What will they think?" but "What will God think?"
~There is pressure everywhere, pressure from situations and circumstances, pressure from people, and even pressure we put on ourselves. How do we respond to it? Well, we can respond like Herod. We can be manipulated by it to the point where we are forced to make decisions contrary to what we know is right. Or we can refuse to yield to it and seek the will of God instead.
~key to withstanding the pressures which come upon us; best evidenced in the life of Jesus Christ Himself. (Jesus knew what it was to endure the pressures of people. There were many who wanted Jesus to jump through their little hoops, to perform for them, to say the right things in the right way. There were the Sadducees who wanted Him to stay out of politics. There were the Pharisees who wanted Him to respect all the traditions of their denomination. There were the Zealots who wanted Him to overthrow Rome and set up a kingdom here on earth, a Christian state, if you will.) But Jesus responded to none of these pressures. Rather, He simply sought the will of His father in heaven and did it. Instead of reacting, He acted. He never did anything because of the pressure of the people. He never worried about what people thought. He knew His mission was to do the Father's will. That was His first priority. In fact, there were no others.
~to find victory over the pressures of life, we must come to the same understanding of our life's purpose that Jesus had.
~We must understand that we are here to glorify God and to serve Him. He is a pressure-buster. In Him, we can find relief, even in the middle of the pressure cooker. People may not like it, but then, they never have. (The prophets were stoned and killed. Jesus was hung on a cross. If you are faithful to God, sometimes people will oppose you. They won't like what you are doing or the stand you are taking, or what you are saying. But after all, it has always been difficult to domesticate a true prophet.) What the world needs are not more lukewarm Christians. What the world needs, and what we need to be, are people who do not react to pressure, but who respond to God.
Background:
Herod the Great was King when Jesus was born. Herod the Great married a number of women and had a number of sons by them. Some were actually murdered by their father. Among those who were not was Herod Antipas, the Herod of this passage, and Herod Philip. They were half-brothers. Another half-brother was Aristobulus. Aristobulus had a daughter named Herodias. She married Herod Philip. They, in turn, had a daughter whose name was Salome.
On a visit to Rome, Herod Antipas met his brother Philip's wife, Herodias. She was a deceitful and ambitious woman who saw in Antipas a way to fulfill her own selfish desires. So he took her away from his brother and they came back to Palestine together. Of course, this sordid affair had already begun. You see, what you have to remember is that Herodias was Aristobulus' daughter, who was Philip's half-brother. That made Herodias Philip's niece. Philip had married his own niece. And now his other half-brother had stolen her away from him.
Lessons:
Pressure-Pushers
-Herodias
a pressure-pusher who is someone who seeks to have her own way by whatever means are necessary. Here is a manipulator. Here is someone who acts out of her own personal ambition and pride.
(Whenever Herod had brought Herodias back to Jerusalem, he had been encountered by John the Baptist. John confronted him and thundered, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." Herodias was there and she didn't like it one bit, because John had embarrassed her and perhaps because she also knew that he was preaching the truth.
The reason she could not put John to death was because Herod understood a deeper truth than did his wife. So Herodias had to keep her anger inside and wait for just the right time to make her move.)
Just as Herodias was a pressure-pusher, to a certain degree, we can become pressure-pushers as well. How do you go about trying to influence people? What methods do you use to try to get your will accomplished? Do you ever withhold affection until someone has done what you want? Do you ever use power or the fear of retaliation or rejection to keep people in line? Do you ever continue to press, push and harangue by an incessant repetition of your desire, even after you know they have heard you? Do you seek to manipulate and set people up to get your point off or straighten them out?
We all can live in situations with people like that, either as those under pressure or as those pushing pressure, or sometimes both. We can live like that in our marriages as we relate to our mate. We can live like that in our families as we relate to our children or our parents. We can even live like that in the church, seeking to manipulate and influence and control. We must beware of being a pressure-pusher.
Pressure-Pawn
-Salome
It doesn't seem that Salome had any problem with John the Baptist. She was simply a willing pawn in her mother's chess game. She was someone her mother could use. She became a ploy, skillfully executed as her mother worked out her devious schemes.
Often times, we can be used by someone else in their attempt to put pressure on another. We in the church need to be always on our guard against this. We must be careful never to do someone else's bidding as a conduit for their influence to be felt.
They know the person to whom they speak will tell the person to whom they are trying to get the message across. They want their influence to be felt, but indirectly through another. The subtle thing about this kind of pressure is that the one used, often times, does not even realize that he is being used this way. Brother so-and-so will share a "concern" or a "complaint" with someone whom he knows will carry it to the person he was trying to get the message to. The person with whom he shared it, thinking he is passing on needed information, will then carry that message. He then becomes a pawn, a pressure-pawn, in someone else's chess game. Salome was such a pawn. We must guard against this. We must guard against both using people, and being used ourselves.
Pressure-Perpetuators
Herod's friends.
(Though they said nothing, they spoke volumes. Here are what you might call pressure-perpetuators.
While all this was going on, they just sat there. When Herod made his foolish promise to Salome, no one spoke out to make him question what the implications of his foolishness would produce. When the head of John the Baptist was asked for, again no one spoke out or questioned the terrible act that was about to occur. They were silent. But in their silence, they perpetuated the pressure Herod felt; and in fact, they participated in the evil and cruel act that followed.)
Do we keep silent when we see others manipulated and pressured? Do we just sit and watch, to see how they will handle it, or what they will do? Do we, in doing so, add to the pressure they feel? Or do we speak up and give them the freedom to be the unique people God has created them to be? Do we let people know that they don't have to please us, that our friendship or love or commitment is not based on their agreeing with us? Do we let people know that they don't have to live their lives asking themselves the question, "What will they think?
LEARNING POINTS
The person we need to please is God. The question we need to have before us at all times is not "What will they think?" but "What will God think?"
~There is pressure everywhere, pressure from situations and circumstances, pressure from people, and even pressure we put on ourselves. How do we respond to it? Well, we can respond like Herod. We can be manipulated by it to the point where we are forced to make decisions contrary to what we know is right. Or we can refuse to yield to it and seek the will of God instead.
~key to withstanding the pressures which come upon us; best evidenced in the life of Jesus Christ Himself. (Jesus knew what it was to endure the pressures of people. There were many who wanted Jesus to jump through their little hoops, to perform for them, to say the right things in the right way. There were the Sadducees who wanted Him to stay out of politics. There were the Pharisees who wanted Him to respect all the traditions of their denomination. There were the Zealots who wanted Him to overthrow Rome and set up a kingdom here on earth, a Christian state, if you will.) But Jesus responded to none of these pressures. Rather, He simply sought the will of His father in heaven and did it. Instead of reacting, He acted. He never did anything because of the pressure of the people. He never worried about what people thought. He knew His mission was to do the Father's will. That was His first priority. In fact, there were no others.
~to find victory over the pressures of life, we must come to the same understanding of our life's purpose that Jesus had.
~We must understand that we are here to glorify God and to serve Him. He is a pressure-buster. In Him, we can find relief, even in the middle of the pressure cooker. People may not like it, but then, they never have. (The prophets were stoned and killed. Jesus was hung on a cross. If you are faithful to God, sometimes people will oppose you. They won't like what you are doing or the stand you are taking, or what you are saying. But after all, it has always been difficult to domesticate a true prophet.) What the world needs are not more lukewarm Christians. What the world needs, and what we need to be, are people who do not react to pressure, but who respond to God.
Friday, February 16, 2007
You Have Captured God's Heart by Max Lucado
Just look at the gifts he has given you: He has sent his angels to care for you, his Holy Spirit to dwell in you, his church to encourage you, and his word to guide you. You have privileges only a fiancée could have. Anytime you speak, he listens; make a request and he responds. He will never let you be tempted too much or stumble too far. Let a tear appear on your cheek, and he is there to wipe it. Let a love sonnet appear on your lips, and he is there to hear it. As much as you want to see him, he wants to see you more.
He is building a house for you. And with every swing of the hammer and cut of the saw, he’s dreaming of the day he carries you over the threshold. “There are many rooms in my Father’s house; I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me so that you may be where I am” (John 14:2–3).
You have been chosen by Christ. You are released from your old life in your old house, and he has claimed you as his beloved. “Then where is he?” you might ask. “Why hasn’t he come?”
There is only one answer. His bride is not ready. She is still being prepared.
Engaged people are obsessed with preparation. The right dress. The right weight. The right hair and the right tux. They want everything to be right. Why? So their fiancée will marry them? No. Just the opposite. They want to look their best because their fiancée is marrying them.
The same is true for us. We want to look our best for Christ. We want our hearts to be pure and our thoughts to be clean. We want our faces to shine with grace and our eyes to sparkle with love. We want to be prepared.
Why? In hopes that he will love us? No. Just the opposite. Because he already does.
You are spoken for. You are engaged, set apart, called out, a holy bride. Forbidden waters hold nothing for you. You have been chosen for his castle. Don’t settle for one-night stands in the arms of a stranger.
Be obsessed with your wedding date. Guard against forgetfulness. Be intolerant of memory lapses. Write yourself notes. Memorize verses. Do whatever you need to do to remember. “Aim at what is in heaven . . . Think only about the things in heaven” (Col. 3:1–2). You are engaged to royalty, and your Prince is coming to take you home.
Today's Daily Bread Devotional from rbc
For several years, our family lived in southern California while I was pastoring a church there. The community in which we lived didn’t have the resources to fully patrol the streets with police. So there was a genuine concern about the lack of safety as a result of reckless driving.
In response to the situation, city officials came up with a solution they called Officer Waxworks. These uniformed mannequins were placed in patrol cars alongside the road. Obviously these "officers" couldn’t pursue lawbreakers or write tickets, but just the appearance of "manned" patrol cars was enough to make people slow down. It was a creative way to trick people into obeying the law.
As believers in Christ, we shouldn’t have to be forced or tricked into doing what’s right. In fact, obedience can be drained of its significance if we obey only out of obligation or duty. Our desire should be to do what is pleasing to our Lord because we love Him. Jesus said, "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me" (John 14:21). We should "make it our aim . . . to be well pleasing to Him" (2 Cor. 5:9).
Let’s do what’s right out of a heart of gratitude for His grace to us. —Bill Crowder
Our motive for obedience
When trying to keep God’s ways
Is purest when we seek to please,
To love and give Him praise. —Sper
Our desire to please God is our highest motive for obeying God.
Happy CNY!
Gracia, Marcus, Zhengen, can go to adriel's house next sunday, 25feb after youth service for lunch? Raise up ur hand and say yes!
Monday, February 12, 2007
For QT
Have you been doing QT? Or caught up with sch, cca, homework, pc games, going out etc etc... Don't get entangle with your heavy schedule... keep a time table... and add in a slot for God.
Like to encourage everyone to read Psalm 40 for QT.
40:1
I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.
40:2
He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
40:3
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.
40:4
Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.
40:5
Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.
40:6
Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.
40:7
Then I said, "Here I am, I have come-- it is written about me in the scroll.
40:8
I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."
Like to encourage everyone to read Psalm 40 for QT.
40:1
I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.
40:2
He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
40:3
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord.
40:4
Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.
40:5
Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare.
40:6
Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.
40:7
Then I said, "Here I am, I have come-- it is written about me in the scroll.
40:8
I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."
2Fish or 2Fishes or 2Fishs?
Well definitely not fishs, 'cos thats gramatically wrong. Gramatically it should be fish or fishes. However 5loaves2fish is already taken, so lets just leave it as 5loaves2fishs.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
2 Sam 12:1-14
Hi guys, must apologise for my being late this morning... and also the word part was so short, 'cos after that I realise I got the passage wrong, it should be verse 1 - 14 & not 1 - 4. oh well, anyway, lets try to recap what we learned today from Nathan's parable to David:
- i think everyone said that their Mum/Teacher would be the one correcting them. now if we think carefully, is it really only Mum? I believe God can use ANYONE, to speak right into our face whenever we did something wrong, and I mean anyone like your classmate, your church friends, cousin, neighbour or even a Stranger!
- next would be our response. notice I use response and not reaction. Uncle Francis taught this concept before. Everytime when we are corrected, or scolded, criticised, etc etc. We should always seek to have a response, and not react. Why? A very gd example to explain the difference of Respond and React is when your are taking medicine. Would you want your body system to respond to medication or react to the medication? You will only get well when your body respond to the medicine, and if you get a reaction, you are worse off than before and most likely than not, you are allergic to that compound. So similarly, we should seek a positive respond whenever we encounter criticism, or when we'll being corrected. Its to help us improve and learned from our mistakes. A reaction would be like being irritated, raising your voice, denying any wrong doing, blaming others, etc etc... you know what I mean...
- Lastly, this just came to my mind. IF you know you have sinned, instead of KEEPING SECRETS, I encourage you to share it with someone, prefably an elder from church or from your family. You might get a scolding or punishment like getting grounded. But it beats keeping secrets, 'cos you are not being truthful and you are hiding the truth. You can hide it from pple, but you know you cant hide it from GOD. By sharing, that person can pray for you, and help you turn from your old ways. Just like in John 8:32 "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." FREE!... nothing beats the feeling of being FREE. No secrets, no more hiding, no more strongholds. Think abt that.
I shall leave you with Psalm 51 which David wrote after he repent.
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.
14 Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 The sacrifices of God are [c] a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
18 In your good pleasure make Zion prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then there will be righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings to delight you; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
- i think everyone said that their Mum/Teacher would be the one correcting them. now if we think carefully, is it really only Mum? I believe God can use ANYONE, to speak right into our face whenever we did something wrong, and I mean anyone like your classmate, your church friends, cousin, neighbour or even a Stranger!
- next would be our response. notice I use response and not reaction. Uncle Francis taught this concept before. Everytime when we are corrected, or scolded, criticised, etc etc. We should always seek to have a response, and not react. Why? A very gd example to explain the difference of Respond and React is when your are taking medicine. Would you want your body system to respond to medication or react to the medication? You will only get well when your body respond to the medicine, and if you get a reaction, you are worse off than before and most likely than not, you are allergic to that compound. So similarly, we should seek a positive respond whenever we encounter criticism, or when we'll being corrected. Its to help us improve and learned from our mistakes. A reaction would be like being irritated, raising your voice, denying any wrong doing, blaming others, etc etc... you know what I mean...
- Lastly, this just came to my mind. IF you know you have sinned, instead of KEEPING SECRETS, I encourage you to share it with someone, prefably an elder from church or from your family. You might get a scolding or punishment like getting grounded. But it beats keeping secrets, 'cos you are not being truthful and you are hiding the truth. You can hide it from pple, but you know you cant hide it from GOD. By sharing, that person can pray for you, and help you turn from your old ways. Just like in John 8:32 "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." FREE!... nothing beats the feeling of being FREE. No secrets, no more hiding, no more strongholds. Think abt that.
I shall leave you with Psalm 51 which David wrote after he repent.
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.
14 Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 The sacrifices of God are [c] a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
18 In your good pleasure make Zion prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then there will be righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings to delight you; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
Friday, February 9, 2007
A prelude to 2 Sam 12
ok i found this text to summarise 2 sam 11. do read it as if it was written by King David himself ok?
"...I sent Joab against the Ammonites again. (You know these people as the Jordanians.) I stayed behind in Jerusalem and one night as I was gazing out over the city I saw the most beautiful woman I could ever imagine, bathing on her rooftop. I found out that her name was Bathsheba, the wife of Urriah the Hittite, one of my soldiers. It didn't matter to me. I knew immediately that I had to have her. This wasn't just some arrogant King taking someone's wife because he could. This was a man willing to risk everything for the love of a woman he couldn't live without. I sent for her and immediately we fell into each other's arms. It was a night I'll never forget.
Shortly thereafter she sent word that she was pregnant. In a panic I summoned her husband, thinking that if he came home for a day or two it would appear that the baby was his. But he refused to take comfort in his wife's arms while his comrades were out in the battle lines. So I sent him back and arranged with his commanders to place him at the most dangerous part of the battle and then abandon him so the enemy soldiers would kill him. They did and Urriah was killed. After a suitable mourning period, Bathsheba and I were married."
"...I sent Joab against the Ammonites again. (You know these people as the Jordanians.) I stayed behind in Jerusalem and one night as I was gazing out over the city I saw the most beautiful woman I could ever imagine, bathing on her rooftop. I found out that her name was Bathsheba, the wife of Urriah the Hittite, one of my soldiers. It didn't matter to me. I knew immediately that I had to have her. This wasn't just some arrogant King taking someone's wife because he could. This was a man willing to risk everything for the love of a woman he couldn't live without. I sent for her and immediately we fell into each other's arms. It was a night I'll never forget.
Shortly thereafter she sent word that she was pregnant. In a panic I summoned her husband, thinking that if he came home for a day or two it would appear that the baby was his. But he refused to take comfort in his wife's arms while his comrades were out in the battle lines. So I sent him back and arranged with his commanders to place him at the most dangerous part of the battle and then abandon him so the enemy soldiers would kill him. They did and Urriah was killed. After a suitable mourning period, Bathsheba and I were married."
THIS SUNDAY 11/2/07
2 Samuel 12: 1 - 4
Nathan Rebukes David
1 The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, "There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
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."
************************************************************************************
In order to understand this passage, pls refer to the previous chapter, 2 Sam chapter 11. DO read it as it is too long to post it here.
Nathan Rebukes David
1 The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, "There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
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."
************************************************************************************
In order to understand this passage, pls refer to the previous chapter, 2 Sam chapter 11. DO read it as it is too long to post it here.
we have moved!
ok folks, i dunno y i can't access our old blog after i click update to a new version.
So HERE WE HAVE A NEW BLOG! WELCOME WELCOME.... need a genius to add a chatbox!
let me now try add of you in here!
So HERE WE HAVE A NEW BLOG! WELCOME WELCOME.... need a genius to add a chatbox!
let me now try add of you in here!
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