July 5, 2009

The lesson learned from Matthew 5:22

Matthew 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Ra'-ca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. I love this verse and the message that it has. Sometimes, like when were having a "bad day" and we just get ticked off at every little thing, a lot of those "little things" really, we would not be angry over on a normal day. But when we do that, it's kind of like we are playing out the verse where it says, "That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment." We really are getting angry with them without a cause, just like the verse says. Also, when we get angry with some one, and we start calling them names, like "fool," or "idiot," the Bible (not me) says that we are in danger of hell fire, so obviously, it is important to God that we guard our tongues and keep our tempers. Although, when I read this verse, I did not really know what the word "Ra'-ca" meant, but I just kind of brushed over it. And since I read it, I kind of found my self playing this verse out and this verse popped into mind and now I've looked up what that word means and this is what the web page that I got into said: "Raca is of Aramaic origin and is a biblical term. It can mean "worthless, vain and empty". The word can be found only Matthew 5:22 quote "Whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council". It was used as a word signifying contempt by the Jews. At its root the word means "to spit".
When I first read this I thought it said, "At its root the word means to *split.*" But I thought it was really cool that I read it that way because basically when I am calling my siblings "worthless" or "stupid," or what ever I'm saying when I'm mad, I am causing a split in my family and it causes our relationships to get farther and farther away, and that is what Satan wants, he wants to disintegrate one of the most important things to God, the family, and I can't let him do that.

July 1, 2009

Psalm 54

One of the nights i was in Canada i sat down and prayed for the Lord to lead me to some passage that would help me through the next day.... I opened to Psalm 54... It was just what i needed!

   1Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength.

   2Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.

   3For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah.

   4Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul.

   5He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: cut them off in thy truth.

   6I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O LORD; for it is good.

   7For he hath delivered me out of all trouble: and mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies.



Rachel