Malachi 1
:9 - ...will he regard your persons? ~ Red and yellow black and white, we are precious in His sight!
:11 - from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles~ a couple responses here: We used to sing a song every year at the Dawson McAllister student conferences with these words. It was always my favorite because you got to hold the hand of the person next to you and lift them up in a certain place in the song. Secondly, it's interesting that when someone who is not a believer feels like swearing, they don't say "Buddha buddha!" or "Krishna krishna!" or "Ala ala!" But they say, "Jesus Christ!" Even the most devout of atheists do this. Ask me how I know. And guess what? I am ok with that because I know that one day EVERY KNEE shall bow, right? And in the mean time, they STILL can't get away from that name! Okay, the preacher returns to reading.
Malachi 2
Speaking commandments to the priests. They're in trouble from chapter 1 for not perfect sacrifices.
:10 - Have we not all one father: hath not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?~ May Peace Prevail!
:17 - Let me not weary God with too many words! Or words out of His vision!
Malachi 3
:1 - The Lord is the messenger. Wow. That is how it reads here in the KJV. Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.I am ready for him to do this again! Well, I might have to quote most of this chapter! Very famous and quotable!
:2-3 - But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap; And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi... ~ I remember as a youth being taught that the silver refiners would sit and wait for the exact moment to take the silver out of the fire. Very precise. Exact. Quick.
:8 - Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts. And all nations shall call you blesed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts. ~Well here's a preachers' soapbox if I ever saw one. And it is very prophetic of our First Fruits Revivals we have been having all year long - meeting the first Saturday of every month. And in October, we will be having 3 services in 2 days...see my website for details (http://www.valeriesorensenministries.com/) There is an old preacher that was famous for preaching this scripture all the time. I never heard him personally, just heard of him. Fatie Atkinson, I believe. The only site I found his name was on http://vinylrehab2.home.mindspring.com/gospel_record_albums.html?keepThis=true&TB_iframe=true which must have converted his message from a record to mp3. Wow, yea, that's old time alright!
Malachi 4
Well, bless Malachi's heart. He helped give the OT a happy ending!
:2 - But unto you that fear my name whall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.~ I hope my stall is not one at the rodeo.
:6 - Hearts of fathers to children and children to fathers - I believe this is needed once again.
Matthew 1
Hallelujah! Jesus is coming!
:6 - God uses 2nd marriages - Interesting that it says "...of her that had been the wife of..." as a part of Jesus' official lineage (begat) passage in the #1 best seller in the world and Holiest book of all time!
:17 - 14+14+14 = 42. I wonder why the lineage starts from Abraham, not Adam? Or Noah?
:21 - Does Jesus' name denotation have to do with saving people from their sins? Yep, blueletterbible.org says it literally means Jehovah is salvation. http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G2424&t=KJV
Matthew 2
:3 - Jerusalem was troubled with Herod at Jesus' birth. Upset from the beginning. Sometimes you just have to be born for people to hate you.
:7 - How wise really were these wisemen to not even know that Herod was lying? They could follow stars, but not read people.
:13 - Another Joseph dreams.
:19 - Another Joseph is sent to Egypt.
Matthew 3
:8 - fruits meet for repentance - as far as I can tell, this means that the fruit must merit or result in repentance. http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G514&t=KJV
I bet those Pharisees and Saduccees had NEVER been talked to that way before! What a shock to their ego!
:11 - How did John the Baptist know that Jesus would baptize with fire and the Holy Ghost? It's a prophet thing, I know. But still, he was the only one to prophecy that, and we know it's the truth!
Matthew 4
:2 - Always amazed at the word afterward in this verse. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
:3 - The devil waited until the very end of the fast when Jesus was weakest to tempt him. You know, when he finally got hungry.
:16 - That phrase reappears the shadow of death. Famously thought of in the 23rd Psalm, and gloriously solved in this verse by the Great Light of Jesus!
:17 - Jesus preaches (1st recorded mention) "Kingdom of heaven is at hand" is his first message!
:23 - Gospel of the kingdom first mentioned.
:25 - Decapolis?
1) a track of land so called from the ten cities that were in it
a) according to Pliny, these cities were: Damascus, Opoton, Philadelphia, Raphana, Scythopolis, Gadara, Hippondion, Pella, Galasa, and Canatha (Gill)
a) according to Pliny, these cities were: Damascus, Opoton, Philadelphia, Raphana, Scythopolis, Gadara, Hippondion, Pella, Galasa, and Canatha (Gill)
Matthew 5
:10 - Persecution earns you the kingdom of heaven.
:16 -
:19 - Teaching God's commandmentsearns greatness in the kingdom of heaven
:25 - Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. ~Not often quoted, but quite useful.
:44-45 - But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.~ I enjoy quoting what I don't hear quoted often. Title of this exerpt: "How to build your prayer life - make more enemies." Haha!
:46 - publicans -
1) a renter or farmer of taxes
a) among the Romans, usually a man of equestrian rank
2) a tax gatherer, collector of taxes or tolls, one employed by a publican or farmer general in the collection of taxes. The tax collectors were as a class, detested not only by the Jews, but by other nations also, both on account of their employment and of the harshness, greed, and deception, with which they did their job. http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G5057&t=KJV
1) a renter or farmer of taxes
a) among the Romans, usually a man of equestrian rank
2) a tax gatherer, collector of taxes or tolls, one employed by a publican or farmer general in the collection of taxes. The tax collectors were as a class, detested not only by the Jews, but by other nations also, both on account of their employment and of the harshness, greed, and deception, with which they did their job. http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G5057&t=KJV
Matthew 6
:15 - the importance of forgivenes
:21 - For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
:22 - single =
1) simple, single
2) whole
3) good fulfilling its office, sound
a) of the eyehttp://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G573&t=KJV
I have noticed that people who seem to have simple lives seem to be happier (unless extremely poor and sick).
:28 - raiment = garment http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G1742&t=KJV
Matthew 7
:6 - Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. ~Why you don't have to feel bad for not telling everybody everything.
:9-10 - Famously misquoted. bread-stone, and fish-serpent becomes anything that comes to peoples' mind! I have mixed it before with the one about the child asking for an egg. Here's the scripture: Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
:28 - astonished at his doctrine - Yea, I really can't imagine this fully--but I imagine it was some kind of paradigm shift!
Opening up the one - on - one nature/aspect of Jesus' ministry
:18 - I would love to receive this commandment!
:28 - Gergesenes = "a stranger drawing near" ?
1) also called Gadarenes, is assumed to have been located on the eastern shore of Lake Gennesaret
http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G1086&t=KJV
:34 - Why would they ask Jesus to leave after that? Fear? Inability to change their views of those 2 that had been possessed?
Matthew 9
:1 - his own city?
:8 - No one had to tell the multitudes who to give the glory to.
:10 - Maybe "the house" was actually a restaurant. Or maybe "meat house," is the same as the local "Steak House"
:14-17 - New cloth-old garment along with old wine-new wineskins parables told in relation to disciples of John asking about fasting.
:20 - the hem of his garment song
:30-31 - How can you not tell that? The people will notice they're not blind anymore! I have to think that maybe Jesus was following some kind of cultural tradition of humility, such as saying "You shouldn't have..." when someone gives you a present, but you don't really mean it. However, I believe Jesus meant everything he said. So maybe he was trying to slow the spread of his name, thereby slowing the time before the cross.
Matthew 10
:7 - Jesus tells the disciples to preach the same message he first preached "The kingdom of heaven is at hand."
:11 - Inquire who in the city is worthy = 1) weighing, having weight, having the weight of another thing of like value, worth as much
2) befitting, congruous, corresponding to a thing
3) of one who has merited anything worthy
a) both in a good and a bad sense
http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G514&t=KJV
:19 - 20 - I keep this in mind constantly.
:22 - ENDURE! ENDURE! ENDURE!
Matthew 11
:3 - Funny how some things haven't changed. When someone asks an either/or question, it is their way of making sure you answer one or the other...but Jesus still didn't answer it their way.
:6 - And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me. ~Amen!
:12 - And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
~Just considering why Jesus said from the days of John the Baptist until now...because Jesus and John the Baptist lived and ministered in the same time.
:18 - 19 - No matter what, someone at some point will think you have a devil.
:20 - Even mighty works don't always bring repentance.
:24 - Sodom has not experiencd its day of judgment, even after all destruction they went through.
:28 - 30 - Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
~Words to live by!
Matthew 12
:36 - idle word = 1) free from labour, at leisure
2) lazy, shunning the labour which one ought to perform http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G692&t=KJV
:37 - Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.~The result of being a wicked generation. Deliverance that doesn't last.
:50 - True family.
Matthew 13
Multitudes come - parables are told.
:11 - Gift of the mysteries.
:15 - gross heart
This is the chapter full of Kingdom of Heaven parables. The newest one to me is
:52 - Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. ~ I have never heard anyone preach on this scripture, but I find it fascinating. Maybe my next blog will be ScribeWhichIsInstructedUntotheKingdomofHeaven...kinda long. Anyway, I aspire to be one of these scribes Jesus speaks of.
:58 - This is often spoken about regarding ministry and family. What I never realized is that JEsus did minister and teach in his own cities and countries. For some reason I always misinterpreted this passage to mean "get as far away as you can so your ministry can succeed." However, it doesn't appear to be necessary. You can teach there, like Jesus did, but may have few miracle works along with the teaching, as Jesus experienced. If it's one or the other, I'd rather be instructed of the Lord than experience only miraculous works. They fall away without the proper instruction on how to keep the blessing.
