Scriptures Related to the Parable of the Two Hostesses

Why God gives people money: "Now He Who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness; you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God" (2 Corinthians 9:10-11)

Our standard for giving: "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich" (2 Corinthians 8:9).

What happens to those who refuse to help the poor: "He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor, will also cry himself and not be answered" (Proverbs 21:13). See also Proverbs 23:11 below.

Laziness isn't the only reason for poverty, and only One is allowed to judge the poor: "Do not move the ancient boundary or go into the fields of the fatherless, for their Redeemer is strong; He will plead their case against you" (Proverbs 23:10-11). It seems the reason they are poor doesn't come under consideration.

Israel had laws for allowing the poor to glean. See Leviticus 19:9-10 and the Book of Ruth. Would there be any modern day equivalents of this practice?

How God sees those who won't help poor brothers or sisters: "But whoever has this world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how can the love of God abide in Him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth" (1 John 3:17-18). "What use is it, my brethren , if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "go in peace, be warmed and filled,' and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use it that? Even so, faith, if it has no works, is dead by itself" (James 2:14-17). Saying you'll pray for them without giving anything to them, is the same.

For family: "But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially those of his own household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever" (1 Timothy 5:8).

Instructions for those who have money: Remember Who has given you the power to make wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18). "Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, Who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy, to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed" (1 Timothy 6:17-19).

Empty ritual: Isaiah 58:3-12 New King James Version (NKJV) 3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’ “In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, And exploit all your laborers. 4 Indeed you fast for strife and debate, And to strike with the fist of wickedness. You will not fast as you do this day, To make your voice heard on high. 5 Is it a fast that I have chosen, A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, And to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, And an acceptable day to the Lord? 6 “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh? 8 Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, 10 If you extend your soul to the hungry And satisfy the afflicted soul, Then your light shall dawn in the darkness, And your darkness shall be as the noonday. 11 The Lord will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. 12 Those from among you Shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.

Ready to Fight the Good Fight

Oswald Chambers, in his classic, My Utmost for His Highest, in his December 4 entry, wrote on the necessity of war. He is not referring here to taking up arms. He says that things outside of you physically (germs, for example)and spiritually will do you in if you don't fight. He goes on to define morality as fighting these things that will do you in. We usually define morality as sexual.

He defined immorality as failure to fight and overcome the evil that wants to take over your life. This can be any bad habit, wrong relationships, or possibly even wrongs in society. In Scripture, we have to fight for the Truth, because the devil is obviously against everything about Jesus. We have to fight the good fight of faith, because the world in general is against Jesus and Christians. We have to fight the subtle encroachments on our thinking that are all around us, especially in the media, but also in every area of life.

The best place for any of us to start is to fight anything that would come between us and a strong relationship with Jesus. If we fight the evil in society, but neglect fighting the evil in our own personal human nature or let evil take over our households, we have lost a great battle.

We have to fight it all, and we should fight in company with other brothers and sisters in Christ. We have strength and grace from Jesus to be victorious. Praise His Name! Are you ready to fight?

Ready

After some feedback on my last blog, I thought I ought to clarify some of my remarks. Gary Kah does not set dates. He simply reports dates that have already been set by the one world government and new agers. None of these dates is the Lord's actual return, since none of us knows that.

It is not my intent to use Gary Kah to promote my own ideas. I was just saying that I have been influenced by him, and was recommending his ministry. He has not, to my knowledge, explicitly stated that he thinks we are in the tribulation, or speculated as to who the restrainer in 1 Thessalonians 4 might be. None of what he says is mere speculation. He does meticulous research, and provides well-documented information about behind-the-scenes happenings related to the end times.

The dates are real dates, set by real people in this real world in which we live. The people in the Biblical record were real people of their time. The Lord still uses real people in the real situations, times and places in which they live. These people have real names, which we could find out if we wanted to do the research, just as God provided real names of real people in the Bible. The Bible is not divorced from real life as people live it.

This is easy to forget, since the times in which the Bible was written are ancient. The fulfilled Biblical prophecies involved real people. Prophecies yet to be fulfilled will likewise involve real people in our time. They won't be special heavenly beings created for that purpose, though angels will have a role, as stated in the book of Revelation.

This is very important to remember, since strange people will be appearing on the scenes, doing strange things to try to lead us astray. Some of them will even do miracles to deceive us, so be ready. Be forewarned. Many of the miracles will not be from God.

Learn to interpret today's events in light of Scripture. Ask the Lord to help you. Keep the armor on. Pray as if your life depends on it, because it does.

Ready for the Tribulation?

I mentioned earlier that I believe we are in the Tribulation. I believe it because Of study I've been doing for several years. The main passage people use to "prove" the pre-tribulation rapture, 1 Thessalonians 4, does not mention the church, so the context does not support it. The restraining one in that passage could just as well be a political figure, or a prayer warrior. In fact, I believe it was a political figure, but I'm not going to put my speculations out on the internet. I'm not the only one who believes this view.

I don't believe the pre-tribulation rapture is supported by the context of all of Scripture. Jesus suffered for us, not so that we would escape suffering, but to leave us an example that we should follow in His steps (1 Peter 2:18-21). Not only that, the church in every generation has suffered somewhere on the earth. Why should we Americans think we'll escape before it comes around to us? The Tribulation is not suffering for our sins. It is Satan's warfare against the saints. Read the book of Revelation.

I first heard Gary Kah speak in the mid-90's. He has done meticulous research about the things that are going on behind the scenes to set up the kingdom of antichrist. You can do a search on him online and find out. His work is well-documented, making it easy to check up on him. For a long time, he included timetables on the various globalist meetings.

There is way to much for me to post here. But 12/22/12 is the date they have set to launch the one world government. The Bible puts this event in the middle of the tribulation. This is not setting the time of Jesus' return, just the official launch of the one-world government, with the one-world religion not far behind. 12/21/12 we can expect some cataclysmic events in the heavenlies. If you go to hscaudio.org, you can download Mr. Kah's message of 4/26/12 for free. It documents some of the things I've been telling you. He also has a quarterly newsletter, which is well worth subscribing to.

Are you ready for the Tribulation?

Be Ready to Share Christ, Using Your Skills

Since I have recently subscribed to Ratio Cristi and Christian Apologetics Alliance, I wish to share my message today by using my God-given talents. If anyone knows how to center text on blogspot, please let me know. I couldn't find a way. I also had it formatted in verses, and saved it, but the system did not retain it.

The Sovereign Father's Purpose Copyright 2009 Kathryn M. Lee

The Sovereign Father's purpose upholds me in the strife, Supplying perseverance when I despair of life. That He would use my anguish to feed some hungry soul, And turn it into blessing, supports and makes me whole.

"O, why do people suffer?" So many souls have cried. Remember God's own suffering: gaze at the Crucified. Take up your cross and follow; tread where His feet have trod. The road that leads to Heaven is paved with Jesus' blood.

When Jesus' servant suffers, then Christ is lifted high, And men are drawn unto Him, although that servant die. This temporal affliction works glory for His own. The sight of things eternal sustains the weary son:

A better resurrection, the Father on His throne, The choirs of angels singing, and seeing Christ, the Son, When sin is fully vanquished, and death no more shall be, And we will reign with Jesus, and live eternally.

Permission is NOT granted to reproduce or use this copyrighted material in any way. If you are interested in this, please let me know, and I will also give you the tune.

Be Ready to Endure

Last Sunday, our pastor was on vacation, and my prayer partner's husband (an ordained minister) preached on Matthew 10:22. "You will be hated by all because of my Name, but it is the one who endures to the end who will be saved." I was intrigued by one comment he made. He said the word endures in this context is an aorist participle. I am not a Greek scholar. I had two years of Greek in seminary, but that doesn't make me an expert. The aorist denotes completed action. And it seemed odd to me that a word like endures could denote completed action. A friend of mine said, "It's kind of like trying to stand up and sit down at the same time." If the facebook page breaks here, please keep on reading.

So I did a word study on endure (endurance) hupomeno (hupomone); end (telos) and saved (sozo). Each of them have a variety of meanings, which I won't go into for lack of time. Another verse that the Lord impressed on me is James 1:4. "But let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." That word "perfect" is the Greek word telos in both instances. The phrase "have its perfect work could be translated "achieve the desired results" or "reach its goal." Of course, it's God's goal and the results He desires that are being referred to.

We can see that when we endure we are headed somewhere that God wants us to go. It's not endurance for endurance sake. So we are to stay under (hupomeno) the trial until we reach where God wants us to go. This could happen during trials throughout life, or at the End, when we will be saved (which could also mean delivered, protected, healed, preserved, rescured, or be made whole).

Now I'll do something unconventional. In order to understand how endures could be completed action, I took the noun "end" and made it a verb, for this interpretation of Matthew 10:22b: "The one who has finished enduring shall be saved." And there is your completed action and participle.

Thus, you could have a number of trials in life, and endure to the end of each one of them, achieve the results God wants, and be "saved" out of each one (I could give examples from my own life). In this way you have practiced enduring to the end, which equips you to better endure that final trial and be saved in a final sense.

This is not works salvation, because Jesus has already endured to the end, and we rely on what He has already done, through His grace which He gives us.

Now you Greek scholars, have at it. But I have to get some lunch and go to work.

Be Ready. Arm Yourself (1 Peter 4:1)

1 Peter 3:13-18. Being ready to give an account for the hope that is in you is in the context of suffering (yours). 3:16 Good conscience while being slandered results in your enemies being put to shame. Romans 8:17 The is no glorification without suffering. John 12:24 Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Jesus was speaking of Himself, but it also applies to you and me. A servant is not above his or her master (Matthew 10:24). Jesus suffered outside the camp. Hebrews 13:10-14 God with Him outside the camp. I think most Christians would give Jesus everthing except their respectability. Outside the camp signifies respectability is on the altar, too.

Get rid of baggage. Focus on the Everlasting City (Hebrews 11:13-16, 2 Corinthians 4:17-18). Romans 5:3-4 Allow suffering to build character. Deal with doubts. Think through your theological suppostions and their practical application thoroughly. Be sure you connect with the Person of Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 13:5 Don't take evil into consideration when making decisions; i.e. do God's will regardless of circumstances. When you believed in Jesus, you became part of a Body that includes persecuted Christians. Acept that persecution might come your way.

If you think the above is disjointed, it is. I had written them down, and have put them here straight from two pages of notes. Many of these ideas come from Triumphant Church, compiled by The Voice of the Martyrs.