DISCIPLINE#2 OF 12 - THE WORD OF GOD

 THE BMIC BLAST: DECEMBER 2024

LIFE LESSONS FROM MOSES AT THE ROCK

The words "self-control" or "self-discipline" are mentioned many times throughout the Bible....and for good reason. They are actually put there for our own benefit, as we see from this very important lesson from the Life of Moses. This account, which occurred during the Exodus and is mentioned more than once in the rest of the Bible, speaks to a human emotion which, if we are not careful, can literally destroy us.

In Numbers Chapter 20, in the Torah (first five books of the Bible), we see almost two million Israelites in major distress in the barren desert. There was no food or water for miles and miles.  They are almost to the end of the forty years of wandering in the desert for not just disobedience against God, but complete rebellion. A trip that took between 2-6 weeks from Egypt to Canaan became 40 long years for a reason. 

The millions of Israelites had not only had it with the incredible God Who had fed them from the heavens with manna, brought water once before from a rock, parted the Red Sea and more, but they had it with Moses as well. Moses was at the end of his wits and went into the Tabernacle to meet with God, face to Face as he always did. They were wrong, of course, but that never stops those who lack Faith, when it is needed the most. A worried and stressed out Moses did what He always did in these times - he ran to seek the Lord.

Here are the instructions which God gave Moses, when the latter desperately sought His help: 
"Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink." (Numbers 20:8)

Here is what Moses actually said and did, as he returned to the multitudes: 
"...and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, “Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?”  Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank. (Numbers 20:10-11)

Here are the results of Moses' words and actions: 
"But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” "(Numbers 20:12)

Here are the facts as culled from these four verses above:
Number 1: Moses (and Aaron) were so overwhelmed by the giant of a problem they faced, that seeking an audience with God was the only answer. 

Number 2: God had the answer to the dilemma, as He always does, and gave Moses extremely clear instructions on how to get water to his people below.

Number 3: Moses was so filled with rage, while it is very understandable on a certain level, that he let his anger and temper overrule his usual sense of obedience to God and he acted irrationally. 

Number 4: By the aforementioned irrational act and momentary lack of righteous judgment, the Lord shortened Moses' physical life and did not allow him to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land.

What can we learn from this? There are some huge life lessons.

Lesson 1: There is nothing wrong with becoming very upset at a situation which seems virtually impossible to overcome.  It is one thing for we, flawed humans as we are, to find ourselves in difficult temporary fixes (financially, health-wise or otherwise). It is a whole other thing to thought to be responsible for everyone else.

How does one face these insurmountable odds which Moses faced, in order to look after the literal physical survival of two million plus people? He did the right thing- he ran to the Lord. We too, must go to God. We must NOT only go to the Lord in prayer and supplication as Moses did, but we go HUMBLY and flat on our faces! By doing this, we are acknowledging our complete inability to do anything except recognize the hopelessness of our own weaknesses.

LESSON 2: When we approach the Lord, in all humility in our utter helplessness, and we surrender all to Him, He will answer. When the Lord responds with specifics, it is to our benefit to take note of EVERYTHING He said to do - not just in the letter of His command, but in the spirit of it.

Sometimes the Lord will respond directly to us, that He is in control and has our massive problems in His capable Hands. Sometimes He will respond by sending help via others. Sometimes He will deal directly with the giants in our lives, Himself. Our part in this relationship, is to be constantly looking for His divine Hand in our lives, with the expectant Faith that He can and sometimes, will do, exceedingly above and beyond what He said He would/could do.

LESSON 3: Remember it is NOT about us. The fatal mistake which Moses made was equating Himself with God. Look at his statement again, just before he STRUCK the rock, instead of SPEAKING to it as the Lord instructed. Moses said "“Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” Who is this "we" of which Moses spoke? He was not speaking of he (Moses) and God.  Moses stood in front of the multitude of people and made it look as if he and Aaron were the ones who were supplying the much needed water! He completely ignored what God told him to say and temporarily forgot Who sent him, Who he represented and Who gave the water, to begin with.

Moses enjoyed an access with the Lord, which only the disciples and the Apostle Paul could boast of, as we read in the New Testament. Therefore, he, most of all,  would be held more accountable than those to whom he spoke. The Bible mentions that to whom much is given, much is expected (Luke 12:48).  Then James 3:1 tells us "let not many of you (us) become teachers (pastors, leaders etc.)...knowing that we will incur a stricter judgment".

We Christians, of all people, should be very careful that we do not allow our close relationship with God, through Christ, to allow us to let our guard down and sin. We will be held to account! Attributing words which God did not say as being from Him (as in "God told me to.....fill in the blanks") is just completely ignoring His direct command and to make it look as if we have the power to some miraculous event.  When we do this, we not just dishonor the Father, but usurp His Glory, and thus commit a form of idolatry, by bringing attention to ourselves as the "source of some divine power". This serious error is deadly, as Moses discovered.  Let us all learn from to not do likewise. Let us exercise more self-control and discipline ourselves to be aware, at all times, of our surroundings and especially, of God's expectations of us, His people.

NEW LIFE: A MONTH OF VERSES: JANUARY 29, 2017

VERSE: "Our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction" (2 Peter 3:15b-16).

EQUATION: Teachings of the New Testament from Apostle Paul = Authentic Scriptures from God.

ACTION: For the first time in the Bible, the great Apostle Peter, tells us as plain as day, that the letters from the brilliant Apostle Paul are not only full of truth but are as much Scriptures as the Words of the Torah (first five books of the Bible) or the Prophets. Jesus Himself revealed them to His servant Paul when He trained him for three years in the Arabian desert. The required action for those who have not yet done so, is to start with reading the Book of Romans, this year and then read all the way through the Book of James - very slowly, very methodically, while praying for the Holy Spirit to make the embedded truths here, easy to comprehend. Scripture immersion is required, at in this current age.

PRAYER: Our Heavenly Father and great God of Heaven Who has revealed Himself to sinful mankind, first through Moses and the Prophets and in these last days, through Your great Son the Savior Jesus, we praise Thee, worship Thee and bless Your Holy Name for giving us the Word of Truth - the Bible. Through this, Father, we cannot be deceived by those on earth who twist Your words to suit their own personal ends and misrepresent You, misleading others and making them just as much a candidate for destruction as they are. Father, give us, through Your revealed word- the Rhema of God and the Powerful Spirit of the Living God, the discernment to immediately recognize false teaching and error so that we may alert the unsuspecting and teach those who need to know You better. Grant us the courage to stand for revealed Truth so that we may proclaim it righteously, with humility and love, but with uncompromising accuracy, so that we may stand before You, holy and blameless, in the Presence of the Angels and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, to whom all praise is due, in His Name, the Name above ALL the other names, we ask all these things, amen and amen.

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THE DECK WAS STACKED - 6 ILLEGAL TRIALS IN 6 HOURS

Everything done in western courtrooms had its origins in the Bible.  The system of Justice practiced in most civilized countries of the West for almost 2000 years, came from the Book of Deuteronomy and the Ten Commandments from Exodus 20. From the swearing on the Bible to the calling of witnesses- all were given by God for our current Judeo/Christian paradigm.

Still when the religious authorities, who were persecuting Jesus for allegedly violating the same Law (Torah) that HE gave, brought Him up on the night before they killed Him, they violated every single letter of the Law they claimed to uphold! In less than 24 hours, there were, therefore, six (6) illegal trials conducting against the Messiah by evil men, bent on temporarily getting rid of the Man Who had threatened their corrupt lifestyle.

The deck was stacked against Jesus. Although He went willingly to the Cross to pay the penalty of sin for us, was nonetheless, railroad through a corrupt system. There were six illegal trials under both Jewish and Roman law:

RELIGIOUS TRIALS (BEFORE TEMPLE PRIESTS):
Illegal Religious Trial #1: TRIALS WERE ILLEGAL (AT NIGHT/NO CHARGES): Jesus was arrested at night after being betrayed by Judas and immediately taken to trial in front of a man who had no legal right to question anybody, far less some arrested by the official Temple Guard. Annas was the former high priest with no legal standing AND he was also questioning a man, under this illegal authority, who was not charged with anything.

Illegal Religious Trial #2: FALSE WITNESSES: The second trial, less than two hours after the first corrupt one in front of Annas, was before the real Jewish High Priest - Caiaphas, who was appointed by his father-in-law Annas. It is against ANY law to have false witnesses (Commandment #9). We know from John 8:6 that the religious authorities were looking for something they could use against Jesus to bring a charge against Him. Still the Gospels showed that many of their pharisee priests lied openly about Jesus' teaching even though He did so openly in the Temple for three years.

Illegal Religious Trial #3: PASSOVER: Apart from the fact that the "trials" were conducted at 2 am (night) with no charges and false witnesses, it was against the Law of the Hebrews to conduct a trial on a Feast Day! To wit, it was Passover, the most sacred of days on the Jewish Calendar and which God had instituted into perpetuity for them.  But powerful men, full of hate and acting irrationally, cared nothing about breaking the same Law they claimed to be standing up for.

SECULAR (ROMAN) TRIALS BEFORE PILATE:
Illegal Roman Trial #1:  CHARGES CHANGED: When the Temple priests brought Jesus to Pilate the first time, they had by that time "cooked the books" and changed the charge from "Blasphemy" against God to "treason" because they knew Pilate would not prosecute a religious charge which he knew or cared nothing about.
Illegal Roman Trial #2: FALSE IMPRISONMENT: Pilate violated supposedly civilized European (Roman) law when he kept Jesus under arrest, knowing he was innocent. Jesus did not absolve him of that sin, in fact He told Pilate that those who handed Him over to Pilate had the greater sin. This too will be closed one day, on Judgment Day before the Great White Throne of Judgment when death and hades will be cast into hell forever.
Illegal Roman Trial #3: KANGAROO COURT JUSTICE: This final one was the kicker. Pilate knowingly let an innocent Man be killed. He could wash his hands with all the water in all the oceans, the Blood stains will never come off as the stain was on his soul. He did the bidding of evil "religious" men to save his own temporary powerful status and lost his soul. There was no proof of anything, no evidence presented and still, Pilate allowed Jesus to be sent to the Cross to die. The thing is - He knew the Truth and put it in writing at the top of the Cross for all History to note "Jesus, King of the Jews". What Pilate meant for mocking, God used for the facts of the matter.

VERDICT OF ALL SIX ILLEGAL TRIALS: GUILTY 
Even the verdict was illegal (apart from Pilate's) for the following reasons:
- The Law said the Sanhedrin council should have been polled (like a real jury). This did not happen.
- The Law said that Jesus was supposed to have a defense counsel. None was allowed.
- The Law said there should have been 24 hours before any verdict and sentence and that if the sentence was execution, there was to be a period of waiting of three (3) days before execution, so that the Sanhedrin- the Jewish religious "supreme court" could pray and fast to see if they made the right decision! NONE OF THIS WAS DONE!

Jesus was rushed through this ENTIRE six trial process in less than six hours and was executed by the priests and Pilate in less than 12 hours. But He turned those three (3) days of waiting upside down on its head. He rose from the Dead on the Third Day and has been turning this world upside down for almost 2000 years now!!! As for these illegal trials, all of this will be addressed in God's Courtroom on Judgment Day when the Chief Judge of the Universe will be the same Jesus Whom they did all this to, on that fateful day for Mankind, on Passover, 33 AD.

THANKS BE TO GOD FOR HIS INDESCRIBABLE GIFT.

GOSPEL REFERENCES FOR THE SIX ILLEGAL TRIALS OF CHRIST:

"Judge"	Matthew	Mark	Luke	John
1.     Annas	Matt 26:57-58	Mark 14:53-54	Luke 22:54-55	John 18:12-23
2. Caiaphas	Matt 26:59-75	Mark 14:55-65	Luke 22:56-65	John 18:24
3. Sanhedrin	Matt 27:1	Mark 15:1	Luke 22:66-71
4.     Pilate	Matt 27:2-14	Mark 15:2-5	Luke 23:1-6	John 18:28-38
5.     Herod			Luke 23:7-12
6.     Pilate	Matt 27:15-26	Mark 15:6-15	Luke 23:13-25	John 18:39/19:16

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NEW!!! PRAYERS OF THE BIBLE SERIES: THE BOOK OF JOB, Prayer #1

The Bible is more than just an amazing historical record of God's redemption plan for all mankind, for all time. It is a living breathing document, occupied by the Spirit of God for the man or woman of God's instruction. It is also a book of Prayer as well as the Book of Life! 

The Bible is also full of the most amazing prayers ever prayed and prayers which should illustrate to us: both how we should pray; when we should pray and sometimes how we should not pray!

Prayer was not just for the saints mentioned in God's Word or for when there is a tragedy or a health emergency but it is the only methodology, given by God, by which we stay connected to the Creator and...to tell you the truth, it is the only way to live an authentic Christian life. To that end, I chose the very first Scriptures ever written (chronologically) - the Book of Job and to briefly look at some of the prayerful offerings of that great man.  Moses wrote the Torah, the Book of Beginnings (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) around 1500 BC but Job was alive before the time of Abraham (2000 BC) and was closer to creation than anyone else mentioned in detailed. In fact, God Himself, through the Power of His Spirit, revealed more details in the Book of Job. The trials and thoughts of Job are of great significance to Christians today because many of us would either go through similar circumstances and still get it wrong about God. Therefore, it is worthwhile to examine the way he prayed what Scripture reveals in relation to it, knowing that Scripture explains inspired- Scripture.

So, here is Prayer #1, gleaned from The Book of Job:
"Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, and said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly." (Job 1:20-22)

There are some really important observations here:
1. Job's ripping off his mantle shows his rank in his society at the time, which was very high and of tremendous wealth and importance. Still, he threw off his earthly rank, shaved his head and humbled himself. Since this was before the Law of the Lord, (over 500 years before it was given to Moses), Job was not violating the Torah but simply showing his inner knowledge of his Creator who gave that high position in society to begin with.  For us, the lesson is to never forget that we are who we are, and where we are because of Whose we are! It is all about God and nothing else. He owns everything, made everything and controls everything and nothing moves without Him.

2. After humbling himself, by the act described in point #1, Job went face down before the Lord and worshiped Him! The lesson for us is this - when we cry out to God in times of huge trouble, do not be surprised if the answer back from Abba is "Seek My Face"! He said so Himself in Psalm 27:7-8 "Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me. My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek. In times of personal trauma and trouble - worship your way out of crisis. I have found this to be true.

3. Acknowledge Him. Job realized from when cometh both his help and his trials...and praised God for both "the Lord gave and the Lord taketh away....". Can we bless God and glorify Him in times of sickness, financial disaster and other catastrophes? This is the test!

4. Do not blaspheme God in your trials. Job never sinned in that sense. It is absolutely human to question God and ask "why me"....or "God, how could You let this happen to me (us...or such and such a person)! Who has not done that? However, please be careful even in your questioning of God as it can go over the line as Job did in the long discourses in the middle of the Book of Job. How God answered Job was amazing and a study for another time. The lesson here is question the Lord respectfully and accept His explanation, which most likely will be "wait or My Grace is sufficient for thee"!

HAS THE CHURCH FAILED CHRIST? PART 2 - LIGHTHOUSE OR UNDER A BUSHEL?

 BRAND NEW PEW SURVEY - 

NUMBER OF CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA PLUMMET TO 70% 

NON-BELIEVERS ZOOM UP TO ALMOST 23%

"and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,  corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth". (Romans 2:18-20)

Reading this passage of Scripture in context (above), leads one to the obvious self-examination type of question: "are we, as the Body of Christ", all those things. Do we, in order of what is written here from Romans 2:

-  Know His Will

-  Approve things that are essential
- Remain confident in our solid knowledge of God's statutes

- Consider ourselves a guide

- Consider ourselves a light to those who are in darkness

- Consider ourselves a "corrector of the foolish"

- Consider ourselves a "teacher of the immature"

- Understand the Law fully (AND The fulfillment of that Law- Jesus Christ) in order to proclaim Truth?

Continuing on from Part 1, we see ample evidence that the modern church thinks that "Discipleship" has more to do with the naval travel and not what the Risen Christ gave as the main command in the Great Commission. Just released(this week) surveys from the Pew Research Center reveal stunning truths. While the population of the United States is inching past 320 million in 2015, the percentage of Christians in the United States has plummeted from 78.4%  in 2007 to 70.6% in 2015! To make it even worse, Americans who have NO FAITH and thus, believe in nothing has skyrocketed to 22.8% of the population!

So how in the world could this be, in the Land of "Freedom of Religion" which gave us the Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th Century? How could the land which produced Jonathan Edwards; D.L. Moody; Mordecai Ham; Billy Sunday; Billy Graham; Franklin Graham and Francis Schaefer fail so horribly? 

We have the best seminaries, four bibles in every home and a Bible app on every phone. We have the richest mega-churches with the highest paid celebrity preachers. 

We have prosperity proponents with dozens of books in the Christian books store with their faces on every cover of every book. 

We have best light shows on Sunday morning with rock star "worship singers" and screaming vatos jamming $4000 Gibsons and Taylors at their rock concerts. 

We have pastors streaming himself live to 5 or 6 other "campuses" with the "message" on the jumbo TV screen while streaming in High Def around the world.

The smaller churches should not be left out either. We have the average church in America actually in the 65-85 person range, despite the more publicized mega-churches. Still these smaller churches are producing a sifted generation, most of whom are twice as much as future citizen of hell, as they are. While the larger churches stand out for obvious reason, many smaller and medium sized houses of worship major in hiding the Light of Christ under bushels, in violation of this verse. The words of Christ also exhorts us to "let your (our) light so shine before men that they will see your good works and glorify". Well something happened to this little light of yours and mine! 

Instead of being a Lighthouse to warn of the Judgment which is to come, the flickering little lights with little or no oil (the Holy Spirit), stay inside four walls on Sunday and live like the pagan brights of the culture the next 6 1/2 days.

Instead of "considering ourselves the corrector of the unwise and foolish" by teaching others about the Master and His Word, we, ourselves, have become the foolish.

Instead of being "the teacher of the immature", we play games with the Gospel and act irreverently in the House of the Lord. How can we teach immature Christians when we ourselves have no knowledge of the Attributes and Statutes of God, but can recite the batting average of the Chicago Cubs first baseman or how many passes Tom Brady threw in the Super Bowl?

Instead of attempting to understand the Laws of God and WHY He gave them (as a road map to keep us out of danger and trouble), we violate them to see how much we can get away with.

Is it any wonder then, as we violate almost everything which was written in these verses above - Romans 2: 18-20,  that less and less people want to be like us? The thing is, the goal is not to attempt to get people ACT, look, think, feel like us as fellow human beings. The goals for the lost and the world to see the Transformation which God has done in our lives through Christ, and want to emulate HIM, not us.  From the just revealed concrete evidence and statistics, we have failed our Father, Who art in Heaven.