God is no Slave Driver

Prologue

God is no slave driver; but evil is. And who are the men that do evil? They are those who do not acknowledge that God exists.

The Greek Pharaoh Adds
Greater Burden to God's Children

Exodus 5:1-14

Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’”

Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.”

Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.”

But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!” Then Pharaoh said, “Look, the people of the land are now numerous, and you are stopping them from working.”

That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and overseers in charge of the people: “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota.They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ Make the work harder for the people so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies.”

Then the slave drivers and the overseers went out and said to the people, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you any more straw. Go and get your own straw wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced at all.’” So the people scattered all over Egypt to gather stubble to use for straw. The slave drivers kept pressing them, saying, “Complete the work required of you for each day, just as when you had straw.” And Pharaoh’s slave drivers beat the Israelite overseers they had appointed, demanding, “Why haven’t you met your quota of bricks yesterday or today, as before?” Continue reading ... 

Epilogue

On the other hand God - 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:18)

All those the Father gives me will come to me (Jesus), and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. (John 6:37)

N. B. All scripture taken from New International Version

The Living Sacrifice

Preface               

               Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer 

               your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true 

               and proper worship. Romans 12:1 NIV

There's no other sacrifice left for man to do - after Christ's one and only sacrifice - other than to live for God.

The Delight of Sacrifice

Whole article excerpt
From: My Utmost For His Highest
By RBC Ministries

I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls . . . —2 Corinthians 12:15

Once “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,” we deliberately begin to identify ourselves with Jesus Christ’s interests and purposes in others’ lives (Romans 5:5). And Jesus has an interest in every individual person. We have no right in Christian service to be guided by our own interests and desires. In fact, this is one of the greatest tests of our relationship with Jesus Christ. The delight of sacrifice is that I lay down my life for my Friend, Jesus (see John 15:13). I don’t throw my life away, but I willingly and deliberately lay it down for Him and His interests in other people. And I do this for no cause or purpose of my own. Paul spent his life for only one purpose— that he might win people to Jesus Christ. Paul always attracted people to his Lord, but never to himself. He said, “I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some” (1 Corinthians 9:22).

When someone thinks that to develop a holy life he must always be alone with God, he is no longer of any use to others. This is like putting himself on a pedestal and isolating himself from the rest of society. Paul was a holy person, but wherever he went Jesus Christ was always allowed to help Himself to his life. Many of us are interested only in our own goals, and Jesus cannot help Himself to our lives. But if we are totally surrendered to Him, we have no goals of our own to serve. Paul said that he knew how to be a “doormat” without resenting it, because the motivation of his life was devotion to Jesus. We tend to be devoted, not to Jesus Christ, but to the things which allow us more spiritual freedom than total surrender to Him would allow. Freedom was not Paul’s motive at all. In fact, he stated, “I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren . . .” (Romans 9:3). Had Paul lost his ability to reason? Not at all! For someone who is in love, this is not an overstatement. And Paul was in love with Jesus Christ.

To read the original article CLICK HERE

God's Vineyard is the World

The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth
Is Like a Vineyard

John 15:1-10

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you.No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit;apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

The Kingdom Workers' (First to Last)
Reward is Eternal Life

Matthew 20:1-7; 16

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

“About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

“‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’...“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” [For complete perspective read the whole parable]

Victors are not Judged

Prologue

               For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against
               your enemies to give you victory. Deuteronomy 20:4

               Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment...

               Hebrews 9:27

What are the implications of these scriptures? 

If God fights for you, he regards you with favor. You are His child. At the moment of death, eternal life is decreed for you.

On the other hand if you are like King Saul, an enemy of God, when you die, judgment is against you. For your sins were not forgiven as you passed away. [Read: Luke 23:32-43]

The Lord Guides and Leads
David Through Safety

1 Samuel 19:1-13

Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan had taken a great liking to David and warned him, “My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hiding and stay there. I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I’ll speak to him about you and will tell you what I find out.”

Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king do wrong to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly. He took his life in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The Lord won a great victory for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocent man like David by killing him for no reason?”

Saul listened to Jonathan and took this oath: “As surely as the Lord lives, David will not be put to death.”

So Jonathan called David and told him the whole conversation. He brought him to Saul, and David was with Saul as before.

Once more war broke out, and David went out and fought the Philistines. He struck them with such force that they fled before him.

But an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand. While David was playing the lyre, Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear, but David eluded him as Saul drove the spear into the wall. That night David made good his escape.

Saul sent men to David’s house to watch it and to kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, warned him, “If you don’t run for your life tonight, tomorrow you’ll be killed.” So Michal let David down through a window, and he fled and escaped. Then Michal took an idol and laid it on the bed, covering it with a garment and putting some goats’ hair at the head.

Judas Continues to Sin Until Death

John 13:18-30

“I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’

“I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”

After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.”

His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.”

Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”

Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.

So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.

N. B. All scripture taken from New International Version by BibleGateway.com

God's Love can be One's Treasure

Prologue

            Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will

            be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine...Exodus 19:5

            I will give you hidden treasures,

            riches stored in secret places,

            so that you may know that I am the Lord,

            the God of Israel, who summons you by name.

            Isaiah 45:3

            For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and 

            not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

"God is love," the Scripture says. Anyone who trust God to be what He says has a immense and awesome treasure. For God will look with delight those who love Him with their mind, soul and heart. "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4)

God Decrees Disaster for
People Who Spurn His Love

Jeremiah 16:1-13 

Then the word of the Lord came to me: “You must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place.” For this is what the Lord says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers: “They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like dung lying on the ground. They will perish by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will become food for the birds and the wild animals.”

For this is what the Lord says: “Do not enter a house where there is a funeral meal; do not go to mourn or show sympathy, because I have withdrawn my blessing, my love and my pity from this people,” declares the Lord. “Both high and low will die in this land. They will not be buried or mourned, and no one will cut themselves or shave their head for the dead. No one will offer food to comfort those who mourn for the dead—not even for a father or a mother—nor will anyone give them a drink to console them.

“And do not enter a house where there is feasting and sit down to eat and drink. For this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Before your eyes and in your days I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in this place.

“When you tell these people all this and they ask you, ‘Why has the Lord decreed such a great disaster against us? What wrong have we done? What sin have we committed against the Lord our God?’ then say to them, ‘It is because your ancestors forsook me,’ declares the Lord, ‘and followed other gods and served and worshiped them. They forsook me and did not keep my law. But you have behaved more wickedly than your ancestors. See how all of you are following the stubbornness of your evil hearts instead of obeying me. So I will throw you out of this land into a land neither you nor your ancestors have known, and there you will serve other gods day and night, for I will show you no favor.’ Continue reading ...verses 14-18

Epilogue

God Teaches People of
His Power and Might
That they Might Return

Jeremiah 16:19-21

Lord, my strength and my fortress,
my refuge in time of distress,
to you the nations will come
from the ends of the earth and say,
“Our ancestors possessed nothing but false gods,
worthless idols that did them no good.
Do people make their own gods?
Yes, but they are not gods!”

“Therefore I will teach them—
this time I will teach them
my power and might.
Then they will know
that my name is the Lord.

N. B. All scripture taken from New International Version by BibleGateway.com

Salvation Marries the Unfaithful

Prologue

               “The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.
                 He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
                 Exodus 15:2 

                 Sing to the Lord, all the earth;
                 proclaim his salvation day after day 1 Chronicles 16:23

                 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
                 When the Lord restores his people,
                 let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad! Psalm 14:7 

In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make THE PIONEER, [i.e., Jesus], OF THEIR SALVATION PERFECT THROUGH WHAT HE SUFFERED (Hebrews 2:10) ....and, once made perfect, HE BECAME THE ETERNAL SOURCE OF SALVATION FOR ALL WHO OBEY HIM (Hebrews 5:9).

Hosea (Salvation) Joins
Adulterous Israel and Judah
In Marriage For Love

Hosea 1:1-11

The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahazand Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel:

When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuouswoman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.” So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.

Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. In that day I will break Israel’s bow in the Valley of Jezreel.”

Gomer conceived again and gave birth to a daughter. Then the Lord said to Hosea, “Call her Lo-Ruhamah (which means “not loved”), for I will no longer show love to Israel, that I should at all forgive them. Yet I will show love to Judah; and I will save them—not by bow, sword or battle, or by horses and horsemen, but I, the Lord their God, will save them.”

After she had weaned Lo-Ruhamah, Gomer had another son. Then the Lord said, “Call him Lo-Ammi (which means “not my people”), for you are not my people, and I am not your God.

10 “Yet the Israelites will be like the sand on the seashore, which cannot be measured or counted. In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘children of the living God.’ The people of Judah and the people of Israel will come together; they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel.

N. B. All scripture taken from New International Version by BibleGateway.com

Everyone's Fellowship is with God

Prologue

 One can get into a good fellowship with God. He or she must will it and God will do His part.

On the other hand, one can deny God. But this doesn't mean God has nothing to do with him or her. He or she is actually fellowshipping with the evil part of Creation, which, just like the good part, is accountable to God. Many are not aware of this truth.

John Testifies to What He Actually Saw

And Hear About the Man Jesus

              That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen
              with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we
              proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and
              testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father
              and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so
              that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father
              and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:1-3 NIV

We are Better off Acknowledging
God's Rule Over Every Man

Genesis 4:2-12NIV 

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”