When did we stop wanting the best for each other?? It saddens me to see so many bashing our teachers. You know, the ones responsible for giving our children the best education they possibly can. Those doing all the complaining are mostly those that are never involved & apparently see teachers as babysitters. Guess what? If you want to pay them what child care providers make I’m sure they’d take it. They’d be raking in about $4,500 a week at least. The thing is, they are marching at the capital for school funding & support staff raises more so than for themselves. Why wouldn’t we want them to have the best tools available to teach our children? If you were told to go build a house with only a hammer, how well will you be able to do your job? Stop the hate & let’s support one another & love each other & want the best for everyone.
1 Peter 4:8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.
Revelation 3:19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.
Φιλέω/phileó is the Greek word for “love”. It means: love (of friendship), regard with affection, cherish; I kiss (Strong’s Concordance). Jesus regards believers with a warm and deep affinity. There is a sense of harmony.
Christ loves us so much He is willing to reprove and discipline.
Reprove or ἐλέγχω/elegcho can also be translated as: reprove, rebuke, discipline; expose, show to be guilty.
Discipline or παιδεύω/paideuó can mean: I discipline, educate, train; more severely: I chastise.
Jesus is willing to reveal and uncover your issues. He will find us all to be guilty. If necessary, we will be trained like a child. Heaven forbid in severe cases, Christ is willing to reprimand and censure the believer.
The theme of God’s discipline is consistent across time in Scripture. He is not being mean. Correction is for our own good. As a reminder, He loves us…
Deuteronomy 8:5 Thus you are to know in your heart that the LORD your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son.
1 Corinthians 11:32 But when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
As a result of discipline, the believer should have a response.
…be zealous…This is the Greek word ζηλόω/zéloó. This is where we get the English word “zealous”. HELPS Word Studies provides an excellent definition and example.
Imitating the sound of boiling water; to bubble over because so boiling hot; figuratively to burn with zeal (J. Thayer); to be deeply committed to something, with the implication of accompanying desire; to be earnest, to set one’s heart on, to be completely intent upon.
Christ is imploring us to boil with passion for Him and His word.
…repent…This is not a mystical, spiritual word with a deeper theological meaning. The Greek word for repent is μετανοεο/metanoeo. It means: to change one’s mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one’s past sins. -Strong’s Concordance
The idea of repent in the Hebrew is teshuvah. Prepare and turn to God. People are called to turn away from their sin, repent, and change course. It is a time of inward reflection and sincere self-assessment. The goal is a change in lifestyle away from sin to obedience in God’s word. The Hebrew month of Elul initiates a 40-day period called Teshuvah.
Ephesians 5:25-33 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
This is how a husband is to relate to his wife. Jesus Christ is the model. Look at the verbs in the passage above…
Love, love, gave, sanctify, cleanse, wash, present, be holy, love, loves, loves, nourishes, cherishes, hold fast, become one, love…
Does the Religion of Peace believe in wife beating? Does Islam allow a man to hit his wife? YES!!!
But only if she doesn’t do as he asks. The beating must stop if the woman complies with her husband’s demands. Behind verbal abuse and abandonment, beating is intended as last resort solution to coerce submission. According to testimony in the Hadith, Mohammad physically struck his favorite wife for leaving the house without his permission. It is not known how he treated his less-favored wives.
Here’s where it’s found in the Quran in case someone tries to disclaim this to you.
Quran 4:34 Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great.
Quran 38:44 “And take in your hand a green branch and beat her with it, and do not break your oath…”
Allah telling Job to beat his wife Tafsir.
Sheikh Yousef al-Qaradhawi, one of the most respected Muslim clerics in the world, once made the famous and somewhat ridiculous statement.
“It is forbidden to beat the woman, unless it is necessary.”
He went on to say that “one may beat only to safeguard Islamic behavior.”
There is no doubt that wife-beating is a matter of religious sanction.
Mohammed beat his wife and recommended wife beating to others. Allah sanctioned and gave directions on how to beat a wife.
Jesus loves, nourishes, and cherishes His wife. Christ demonstrates self-sacrifice for His bride. He wants to present her as blameless. Jesus took her place and died on her behalf. Christ keeps His wife from punishment.
Ezekiel 38:13 Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages will say to you, ‘Have you come to capture spoil? Have you assembled your company to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to capture great spoil?
Who are Sheba and Dedan? They are first mentioned in Genesis 10:7 The sons of Cush were Seba and Havilah and Sabtah and Raamah and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah wereSheba and Dedan.
The family tree starts with Noah, then his son Ham, then his son Cush, then his son Raamah and his sons Sheba and Dedan.
Historically, per Strong’s Concordance and NET Bible, Raamah settled in the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula. Sheba settled in the southern Arabian Peninsula. Dedan settled in the northern Arabian Peninsula. These areas make up what is modern day Saudi Arabia.
Dedan was an ancient capital of Saudi Arabia. It is modern day Al Ula in northwest Saudi Arabia.
April 2, 2018: The Saudi crown prince and king to be, Mohammed bin Salman, has declared Israel has a right to exist.
“I believe that each people, anywhere, has a right to live in their peaceful nation. I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land. But we have to have a peace agreement to assure the stability for everyone and to have normal relations,” Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Bin Salman also made the following incredible statements.
Photo: Times of Israel
“Our country doesn’t have a problem with Jews. Our Prophet Muhammad married a Jewish woman. Not just a friend — he married her. Our prophet, his neighbors were Jewish. You will find a lot of Jews in Saudi Arabia coming from America, coming from Europe. There are no problems between Christian and Muslims and Jews. We have problems like you would find anywhere in the world, among some people. But the normal sort of problems.”
Many believe the cooperation with Israel is about the management of Iran. Israel and Saudi Arabia see Iran as a mortal threat. Iran is supplying rebels in Yemen with missiles which are being launched into Saudi Arabia. The Crown Prince did not have kind comments for Iranian leadership. He specifically addressed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic.
According to bin Salman, the Ayatollah “makes Hitler look good.”
“Hitler didn’t do what the supreme leader is trying to do. Hitler tried to conquer Europe. This is bad. But the supreme leader is trying to conquer the world. He believes he owns the world. They are both evil guys. He is the Hitler of the Middle East. In the 1920s and 1930s, no one saw Hitler as a danger. Only a few people. Until it happened. We don’t want to see what happened in Europe happen in the Middle East. We want to stop this through political moves, economic moves, intelligence moves. We want to avoid war.” -Mohammed bin Salman
Have you come to capture spoil? Have you assembled your company to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to capture great spoil? Yes, Russia (as they see it) has economic reason to invade Israel.
Ezekiel 38:13 says Sheba and Dedan (modern day Saudi Arabia) along with Tarshish (loosely Europe) will object and protest against Russia and its surrogates.
The indicator of truly having our hopes in Jesus is this: Do we have “perfect peace” or have we lost it somewhere along the way? I can be so hard on myself at times. While in one way, I really do want to continue maturing in Christ every day. I also want to get from point A to point B in the fastest car on the Autobahn. However, God wants me to learn to be patient in the process of getting to point B. So He puts me in a “Slug Bug” or “economy car” instead, and probably laughs. Because in “the process” of getting there is where we learn to know Him, to know who we really are in Christ, and to know which path He is lighting for us to walk in. The process (if we submit to it) is also where our strength comes from. It’s a training module to teach us to have “peace in a storm”.
Isaiah 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
Philippians 4:6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Ezekiel 38:1-3 The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him and say, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.
Ezekiel 38:6 Gomer and all his hordes; Beth-Togarmah from the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes—many peoples are with you.
Magog was a son of Japheth. Genesis 10:2 The sons of Japheth wereGomer and Magog and Madai and Javan and Tubal and Meshech and Tiras. Japheth was the son of Noah. The sons of Japheth were born after the flood (Genesis 10:1).
The Bible and historians are consistent. Magog is modern day Russia. The brothers of Magog (Meshech, Gomer, and Tubal) appear to point to modern day Turkey.
Ezekiel 38:5 Persia, Ethiopia and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet…
Russia will be joined by several countries with their future invasion of Israel (Ezekiel 38-39). One of those countries is Persia. This is modern day Iran. The country was known as Persia until the name change in the 20th century.
For more detail regarding these ancient peoples and their modern-day counterparts, click on the links below.
Click on video link for geography and additional analysis.
April 2, 2018: Turkey’s President Recep Erdogan is making headlines again. He has publicly called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a terrorist.
Erdogan: “Hey Netanyahu! You are an occupier… At the same time, you are a terrorist.”
For complete comments, see the video link from Middle East Eye at Twitter.
Erdogan: "Hey Netanyahu! You are an occupier… At the same time, you are a terrorist" pic.twitter.com/C9Ae7NaRuM
These comments took place prior to a meeting between President Erdogan and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
April 3, 2018: President Vladimir Putin arrived in Turkey to meet with Erdogan. The two met to celebrate the ground breaking of the construction of a Russian nuclear plant in Turkey. The nuclear plant is being built in Akkuyu on the Mediterranean coast.
In addition to nuclear cooperation, Russia and Turkey are laying the Turkstream gas line. This is for the transport of Russian natural gas to Turkey.
Turkey has also purchased Russia’s S400 missile defense system in late 2017.
April 4, 2018: Putin and Erdogan are scheduled to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Ankara, Turkey. The talks are to focus on the situation in Syria. The future of Syria President al Assad is the topic.
As these talks are taking place in the Turkish capital, the Syrian army is advancing south towards the Golan Heights and the Israeli border. The Syrian Arab Army is deploying troops near al-Quneitra and Dara’a.
The Syrian government is following suit as they did in Ghouta east of Damascus.
These ancient brothers have fought against each other for hundreds and thousands of years as mortal enemies. Each of them have looked to control the region. Now in the 21st century they are together and united…just as Ezekiel 38 said roughly 2,500 years ago.
How close are we to the invasion of Israel from the north in the Golan Heights???
Proverbs 30:24-25 Four things on earth are small, but they are exceedingly wise: the ants are a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer…
Economic Indicators from around the world point to Tough Times Ahead. Learn how to prepare for them, especially geared toward Real Estate Investors.
Video was originally posted by Michael on March 8, 2018. He has been talking about a market correction since the summer of 2017…
I see a lot of my friends struggling with which path to take & the right choices to make. For whatever reason, we sometimes have a hard time giving it to God & choosing His path. That’s because we choose to do it our own way so often, without going to Him for guidance. Go to God in prayer always & ask for direction. He will take you where you need to be. His way is always better!
Psalm 16:11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.
I’m no different than anybody else, I can mess up on a regular basis. We all know right from wrong. Unfortunately, we can get so caught up in life that we don’t always do the right thing. Thankfully, we can stop & breathe & turn to God. He knows our hearts & has our backs. We have a forgiving & understanding Father!
Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God.
Wishing my family & friends a Happy Easter! May your day be filled with family, fun, & Jesus!