“Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: for as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: ‘Eat and drink,’ saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.” Proverbs 23:4-8 (KJB)
Eagle
To Know the LORD
Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed My covenant, and trespassed against My law. Israel shall cry unto Me, ‘My God, we know Thee.’ Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him. They have set up kings, but not by Me: they have made princes, and I knew it not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.” Hosea 8:1-4 (KJV)
Hosea is speaking to the people who claim to be God’s children. Those who claim to know God, “My God, we know Thee.” Yet, they do not keep His law. They do not heed His word.
The LORD counts it a vile, wicked and unruly thing for those who claim to know Him, and do not obey His law, nor keep His Word. There is judgment for those who claim to be God’s people, yet live as the people of the earth.
GOD is full of mercy and grace which is found and received only through the death, burial and bodily resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ. Hear Him. Believe Him. Be saved today.
-T.A.
Day 47 – The Wisdom of Proverbs
There is much we can learn from reading the proverbs of the Bible. I am not commenting about the verses I post today except to show them to you for your perusal, and pray you will go to the book itself, and read them. There is much wisdom to gain by reading and applying them.
My reading today was Proverbs 15 – 28. I post some of the verses I marked as I read.
From chapter 16 –
“A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.” Proverbs 16:9
Chapter 19 –
“There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.” 19:21
Chapter 20 –
“An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning; but the end thereof shall not be blessed.” 20:21
“Man’s goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?” 20:24
From 21 –
“The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will.” 21:1
“To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.” 21:3
“The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness; but of every one that is hasty only to want.” 21:5
From chapter 22 –
“The rich and poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all.” 22:2
“The eyes of the LORD preserve knowledge, and He overthroweth the words of the transgressor.” 22:12
“The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.” 22:13
Chapter 23 –
“Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.” 23:4-5
From 24 –
“Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: lest the LORD see it, and it displease Him, and He turn away His wrath from him.” 24:17-18
“These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment. He that saith unto the wicked, ‘Thou art righteous;’ him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him: but to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them.” 24:23-25
Chapter 26 –
“Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him.” 26:12
“The slothful man saith, ‘There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets.'” 26:13
“Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth. As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife. The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.” 26:20-22
Chapter 27 –
“A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.” 27:12
and the final chapter of the day 28 –
“For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof: but by a man of understanding and knowledge the state thereof shall be prolonged.” 28:2
“To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread that man will transgress.” 28:21
“When the wicked rise, men hide themselves: but when they perish, the righteous increase.” 28:28
May the wisdom of Solomon and Hezekiah lead you to a closer walk with our Creator through faith in His finished work of Calvary’s cross.
-Tim A. Blankenship
Observations From John – 032611
We begin reading through the gospel of John in today’s reading. Chapters 1 – 3.
John’s gospel is clearly showing forth the deity of Jesus Christ. The Son of God comes in the flesh; in the likeness of sinful flesh, yet without sin. It is clear from reading verses 1-5 of chapter one that the WORD is God, and God is the WORD.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” John 1:1-5 (KJV)
To remind you of the four evangelists who were inspired by God to write this “God-breathed” Scripture, Matthew appears to write of the King and His kingdom; Mark writes of His service; Luke writes of Jesus as the Son of Man – His humanity; and John shows Him as Deity – even as being the Creator of all that is – “All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.”
“As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.” Ezekiel 1:10
and the apostle John writes in the Revelation of Jesus Christ…
“And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.” Revelation 4:6-7
Of course you will notice that Ezekiel calls one animal an “Ox” while John refers to that animal as a “Calf”. These are from the Bovine created animal. The picture is still clear. Jesus came to serve us and to give His life a ransom for all who will believe in Him. Notice too that John writes of the “Flying eagle”; certainly declaring the All Present, All Knowing, All Powerful, and never changing character of GOD.
John also declares to us…
“And the WORD was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” 1:14
He is also declared by John the Baptist as being the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (1:29).
The only way to eternal life is through Jesus Christ, Son of the Living GOD. John writes…
“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” 3:36
That is the Observations from John for today.
-Tim A. Blankenship
Jesus, God-Man, Servant
The gospels have been identified as being written identifying Christ from four different perspectives. First, Matthew shows Jesus as the King of the Jews; Mark shows Him as a servant – there is no genealogy showing His heritage in birth; Luke shows him as man – in fact the God-man; and John shows Him as deity – fully God and fully man, and makes quite clear (to all who can see and understand) that He is Deity.
This picture is even seen in the book of Ezekiel 1:4-14, and verse 10 shows us the faces of the gospel. The lion would represent royalty – the King; the ox face would represent service – the Servant; the man’s face would represent the man – the God-man; and the eagle represents majesty/deity – the God who became flesh and dwelt among us. In the Revelation 4:7 the Apostle John even list them in the same order as the gospels are in.
“And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.” Revelation 4:7 (KJV)
Study of Mark 1:1-20:
VV. 1 – 8 — THE COMING OF THE ONE WHO CARES PROCLAIMED BY THE PROPHET.
The dignity of Jesus is full proclaimed by the messenger who was His fore runner preparing the way for Him – basically preparing the hearts of men to receive Him.
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ was a fulfillment of prophecy – a fulfillment of Scripture.
The ministry of John the Baptist produced, for a time, a great effect upon the Jewish nation.
John’s doctrine of Christ was clear and characterized his own preaching – John knows that the one who is coming is mightier than he. The One coming will not baptize you with water, but with fire. He will change your life; cleanse you and make you whole.
VV. 9 – 20 — THE COMMITMENT AND AUTHENTICATION OF JESUS AND HIS MINISTRY.
Jesus, being totally committed to His Father’s direction and plan for His life shows the commitment by following the ordinance of the law, and identifying Himself with mankind in baptism. The Father confirmed Him by speaking from Heaven as an authentication of who He genuinely was/is.
Jesus was then placed under temptation without sinning to show Himself without sin to man, and as proof of His power to conquer sin and death.
The nature of our Lord’s preaching is similar to John’s in that He was calling sinners to repentance, and different in that He called for obedience to the gospel. Now; just what is the gospel? It is a word which means, “Good News”.
Jesus calls two men as He is walking on the sea shore – Simon and Andrew – and calls them to follow Him, and He will make them “Fishers of men”. They would no longer be fishing for fish, but they would be “fishing” for the souls of men. According to John’s Gospel chapter 1 and verses 40 – 42 Andrew is one who brought Simon [Peter] to Christ.
“One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.”John 1:40-42 (KJV)
That is an amazing thing for a brother to do. There is no contradiction here only further clarification. When you put the four gospels together you have a full story, not complete, but the story as the writers witnessed it.
These men were called to the office of a preacher. Not everyone considers the office a great one, but Jesus was a Preacher – a Preacher of preachers – if you will. Jesus was committed to the work which He came to do. In the beginning of His ministry it was to preach, and glorify His Father;
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”Luke 4:18-19 (KJV)
-Tim A. Blankenship
The Fire and Hammer 