Sound teaching, hard passages, prophecy, and errors to avoid.
When others do write their story and they come across your name, what note will they add to it? What note will your children, spouse, and domestic workers add to your name if they were to come across it? Would it be a note of bitterness, joy, gratefulness, or warning people to never fall for people like you? What note will your closest relatives and friends add to your name?
Nice to the dead? How? Are the dead able to experience how nice we are to them? How can one be nice even to the dead? Is it consistent with other biblical teachings about the dead?
Are there people you really loved and you were close to and they died? Be kind and nice to their families. Show kindness to the living and the dead. The promises we made during funeral and burial should be kept as a kindness to the living left behind and memory of the dead we once loved. Be nice to the living and the dead!
When the judge died, people forgot the ways of the LORD and went back to sinful ways. When the judge died, people persisted in sin. When the judge died and because of sin, suffering and oppression by enemies became the order of the day in Israel. Everything changed for the worst when the judge died… The worst happens to everyone when the need for God dies. When the passion to serve God dies. When the prayer time dies. When the church attendance dies. When returning tithes and offerings die. When the conscious that governs a person from mistreating others die.
The identity of the Angel of the LORD in the Old Testament has been intriguing for many Bible students. The reference that it is an Angel of the LORD causes some to quickly conclude that it is just any other angel. But a closer study of all incidences involving the Angel of the LORD starts revealing that we are not dealing with any ordinary angel.
To believe in God, the Bible, His church, etc., is of no value if you cannot put it into practice. Such faith is still inferior to the faith that demons and evil spirits have. Faith without practice makes you worse than evil spirits… If faithfulness to the true God, true teachings and the true church will mean that you betray some people, so be it. You cant quit alcohol unless you betray fellow drunkards and quit. You cant quit sexual immorality unless you betray your comrades in sin. You cant adopt new austerity and investment measures unless you betray your financial commitments that were addictive and wasting monies. Be strong enough to betray and make good moves.
Genesis 2:5 seems to give a contradicting account of creation. It seems to suggest that after God created the world, vegetation took time to sprout. Yet Genesis 1:11-12 tells us that at God’s word vegetation appeared instantly. From Genesis 2:15 we get the clarity that your best job or career or field of study or choice of business, is not the one with quick employment or high income, but one that gives you the pleasure of service provision. If you do not enjoy your field of study, you are in a field that God did not design for you.
The Sabbath is a priority, but not when emergencies occur. When an emergency occurs, the Sabbath is no longer a priority. Emergencies like sheep falling into a pit. Sheep don’t fall into pits as per calendar or announcements or plans, it is accidental and emergency. Critical national exams are not emergencies or accidents. Duties at work are not accidents. Making money is not an accident. Attending social events is not an accident. Only emergencies have a priority over the Sabbath. The Sabbath remains a priority unless an emergency occurs. Defend the Sabbath when there is no emergency calling on you to defend life. Make defense a priority!
Apostle John salutes the church in our text today and he punctuates his greetings and message with the word truth. He refers to the church as children he loves in the truth. Then he says, the greetings come from him and all those who know the truth. Then he says the truth which lives in us will never abandon us but will be with us forever. The keyword in his salutation and message is the word truth. Are you as concerned for the truth?
Have you ever heard the lie that God doesn’t care about Religion because He cares only about the heart and/or spirituality? Have you ever heard the ignorant notion that Religion is of human origin? Have you ever heard the misinformed declaring that true believers should have nothing to do with Religion? Yet the Bible tells us today that there is a religion that God loves and approves of. God loves this particular Religion!