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nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thy oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always. And if the way is too long for thee, Then shalt thou turn into money, and bind up the money in thy hand, and shalt go to the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: And thou shalt bestow that money for whatever thy soul desireth, And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow,  Read less

Waiting is a natural part of life. Every human will wait for at least two things: all must wait to be born and all must wait to die. It is so with the natural world as well. Plants wait for their seeds to sprout, take root, and then grow. Waiting is a part of every living things experience. But we humans often view waiting as a problem. What I have come to understand while preparing this message is --- waiting is not the big deal we make it out to be. Instead it is the emotions or feelings the process of waiting evokes in us. That idea will be much clearer as we examine these Biblical examples of waiting. Genesis 18 - We find three angels coming to deliver the news of Issacs birth and the great nation Abraham and Sara will produce. And he said , I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. 11Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.12Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying , After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also ? Like many of us when we have been in the same condition for many years and news of change and fulfillment is on the way, we laugh it away in dis  Read less

To be like an ant, is wisdom to the Lazy Proverbs 6:6 6 Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:7 Which having no guide, overseer , or ruler , 8 Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. 9 How long wilt thou sleep , O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? 10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep : 11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth , and thy want as an armed man. The ways of the ant: Self motivated: does not need a supervisor, couch, someone to tell him to do what he is supposed to do. Plans & prepares for the seasons Gathers plenty from the harvest Does not sleep long Is not idle Works with a team will defend to the death to protect the offspring Is strong Is fit Will travel long distance to provide Will fight invasions no matter the threat Will find a way Is organized Is steadfast/consistant, stays with it until the job is done Is Focused  Read less

Gen 42:23 When Joseph first meet his brothers, he used an interpreter to communicate with him. We can assume that the Egyptians and Canaanites did not speak the same language; therefore, did not understand each other.  Read less

Having been assured that his prayer was heard in heaven, David can make himself vulnerable without fear. He lies down to sleep, a perfect invitation for his enemies to attack. But even while he is unconscious, God, who neither slumbers nor sleeps, is keeping David safe from all harm. When he awakes in the morning, he is quick to give the credit to God. It is not David's strategy or the skill of the watchman that saw David through the night. It was the Lord's good pleasure to afford David another day. In fact, his confidence soars to another level entirely. After complaining about the increasing number of his enemies (vs. 1), he declares that he has no fear of 10,000 such foes. Even with those odds against him, he knows that not a hair on his head can be touched without God allowing it. He's faced these odds before (Goliath, King Saul) and seen the salvation of the Lord. No reason not to believe that God will rescue him once more. So now the prayer changes. Whereas before he wondered aloud why his persecutors were steadily increasing, now he issues a call to act. Not a command for an army to rise up and defend their king, but for God to reveal his almighty power. If salvation belongs to the Lord; in other words, if God alone is the one who can save, then now is the time to do so. Confidence has been restored and trust has been placed in the right source. All that is left is for David and his loyalists to experience the blessing of victory, a victory achieved by God and ultimately for God. And lest we run the risk of allowing history to repeat itself somewhere down the line by forgetting what we witness here today, David ends the song with a Selah, another opportunity to let the lessons sink in and become part of the fabric of our being. You remember (and make sure your children remember) what we have learned of God through this trial.  Read less

"Take possesion" the Lord said. He didnt hadnt it to them but they had to go get it (trusting that the Lord would enable them). They were not to be afraid or be discouraged for even though the oposition was great, the Lord who was with them was even greater. But they did not trust him. They were overcome with fear and doubt and decided to not move forward. All they had to do was trust in the Lord, believe in him and through faith, move to the land and see how the Lord would crush their enemies for them (in his strength, not theirs). They forgot about the past, what the lord hard done for them and how the Lord has showed his mighty hand before their enemies.They did not advanced because of fear, which also meant that they did not trust in the lord fully but instead grumbled "at least in Egypt we had water and food". See how the Lord warned them that the path they were taking was not his and he would not be with them. He CLEARLY spoke to them and made sure they understood that he did not want them to do that,  Read less

Verses 7-13 The waters of Jordan shall be cut off. This must be done in such a way as never was done, but in the dividing of the Red sea. That miracle is here repeated; God has the same power to finish the salvation of his people, as to begin it; the WORD of the Lord was as truly with Joshua as with Moses. God's appearances for his people ought to encourage faith and hope. God's work is perfect, he will keep his people. Jordan's flood cannot keep out Israel, Canaan's force cannot turn them out again. Verses 14-17 Jordan overflowed all its banks. This magnified the power of God, and his kindness to Israel. Although those who oppose the salvation of God's people have all advantages, yet God can and will conquer. This passage over Jordan, as an entrance to Canaan, after their long, weary wanderings in the wilderness, shadowed out the believer's passage through death to heaven, after he has finished his wanderings in this sinful world. Jesus, typified by the ark, hath gone before, and he crossed the river when it most flooded the country around. Let us treasure up experiences of His faithful and tender care, that they may help our faith and hope in the last conflict. Matthew Henry commentary concise  Read less

Exodus 16 is the first place the sabbath is mentioned . . even before the ten commandments were given. It seems to me that the issue is not which day . . . day 6 or day 7. Calendars were different back then. The issue to me is what implications should the sabbath have for us as present day Christians. God got very angry with Israel in the book of Ezekiel because they were desecrating His sabbath. Exodus says very clearly that the sabbath is "unto the Lord" and it's a holy day. So what does this mean for us? I don't believe it matters to God if we worship on a Saturday or a Sunday. I think He is more concerned about our heart's attitude concerning the sabbath. However, this issue of 6/7 seems to be important to God. In Exodus 23 He uses the same numbers to restrict sowing your land. For 6 years you can sow and harvest. But the seventh year is rest for the land. In Exodus 31:14, God again commands Israel to observe the sabbath. The Sabbath was a sign to them of their relationship to God. It is holy. So holy that anyone who does not observe was to be put to death. That's serious!  Read less

David had many enemies during his life: Goliath The Philistines King Saul Achish, the king of Gath Doeg the Edomite Nabal The Geshurites The Girzites The Amalekites Ishbosheth and Abner The Jebusites The Moabites The Syrians The Ammonites Shimei Sheba But none of these cut him to the heart like the treason and rebellion of his own son, Absalom. It is on the occasion of David's escape from the sword of Absalom that he writes this psalm. (2 Samuel 15-18)  Read less

As God tells Ezekiel about the judgment to come, He reveals that this "sword" will cut down the righteous and the wicked. The 'sword' that is talked about here is the army of Babylon which will come and take the people of Israel into captivity. The army will not distinguish between the wicked and the righteous. All will be taken. Verse 13 says, "testing will surely come". No one is promised a life without trials. So, we learn that there is no magic bubble that is surrounding you simply because you are God's child. Sometimes God chooses to protect His children, and sometimes He allows them to suffer through the calamity along with the wicked. Who are we to determine what's best for us? Do YOU know what God is trying to do? Can YOU read the mind of God? We pray for the Lord to purify and refine us like gold or silver. Sure, we like the outcome . . . gold and silver is precious. But what heat does it take to purify it?! Almost 2,000 degrees! Are we willing to go through the fire . . . the heat . . .to become what God intends us to be? Are we willing to be taken captive? Suffer along with the wicked? Are we willing to humble ourselves and give up our need to be right all the time? There is no doubt that some things are unfair. BUT I believe that the true mark of spiritual growth is how the children of God handle that unfairness. I'm sure that Daniel didn't want to go into captivity, but nevertheless, he was taken captive. Instead of crying and moaning about how unfair it was, he continued to follow the Lord and serve Him even in a foreign land as a captive. The Old Testament is filled with stories of prophets still serving the Lord even in captivity. How willing am I to still allow the Lord to use me even when I am being treated unfairly? Lord, forgive me for my pride . . . for always feeling like I need to defend myself. Sometimes, you allow things to happen to test me or develop something in me that might be missing. Help me to trust You and Your process. Instead of questioning everything, help me to submit to You.  Read less