A HOLY PEOPLE
Suggested Reading: Deuteronomy 13-14
(click scripture link to read online)
A camel is there to greet tourists at the "Sea Level" sign when you descend from the hills of Jerusalem (2,500 feet above) to Jericho (1,200 feet below). Jesus often made that 24 km journey, as did the "Good Samaritan" in Jesus' parable.
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.
Key Verse: Deuteronomy 13:3
You shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
“A camel is a horse put together by a committee,” someone jokingly said. At any rate, it may not be good for us to eat camel…it’s definitely not good for the camel! Moses was concerned with the physical health of the people as well as with their spiritual and moral health. The Elders in the Jerusalem church decided that non-Jewish believers should observe these food prohibitions: “Blood, things strangled, and meats offered to idols” (Acts 15:20). The entire Kosher system of eating is derived from the last sentence of Deuteronomy 14:21, where meat and dairy products cannot be cooked or eaten together. We can be thankful that these food laws were not required of us. Amen?
Our key verse gives a prohibition which is just as valid today as it was then. There are false teachers and fraudulent prophets everywhere. 2 Peter chapter 2 (click here) warns us of the danger, the destruction, and the description of those who would seek to turn us away from the truth of God’s Word. This is why we need to affirm the historical understanding of doctrine. For example, the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed (click here). On the internet there are often side-bar items that ought to be ignored. False prophets, cult leaders are trolling for a certain kind of fish. Let us not be suckers. These people, who are themselves deceived, will do their best to draw us into their heresies.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, keep me true to You and in solid Bible teaching. Please be with all ministry people. You promised, Lord Jesus, that, “When He, the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). Guide me Holy Spirit I pray. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
Since 1968, Norma-Jean and I have led groups in touring Israel. (God willing we’ll do it again, with the help of Ann and Ron, in Nov. 2013. Join us.) Kosher food is required by law in all Jewish hotels. I must confess, I’ve gone to an Arab hotel in east Jerusalem for breakfast in order to have some crisp bacon! In fact, it’s just after 5:00 a.m. and just talking about it makes me hungry. We’ve made it past the false Mayan prophesy of the world coming to an end yesterday. It’s obvious that I’m still here, so I’ll need to eat. Of course, as they always do with false prophecy, they are now busy spinning the prediction to save face. I’m more determined than ever to stay focused on God’s Word so as not to be deceived. My all-time favourite course in Bible College was “Doctrines of Salvation.” I took it twice, not because I failed the first time, but because I had a job for a year before college to earn some money, and during the night shift I was required to check the equipment every 15 minutes. That gave me time (with the blessing of my boss) to take some studies by correspondence. Those courses I took that way may have had a greater impact on me than the lectures on the same subjects later at college. You may want to do as I did; they now call it “distance education” via the internet. Check it out here with a link to my alma mater (One of my grandsons, Eric Mainse, now attends there as a full-time student. He’s Ron & Ann’s son).
Yours for learning sound doctrine, and sticking to it,
David
P.S. Crossroads just launched yesterday an exciting new internet outreach called Crossroads360.com. Here is a link to watch the announcement and explanation from yesterday’s 100 Huntley Street program…click here. Please help spread the word by emailing the link to your friends or posting it on your Facebook wall. Thank you!
Lots going on with Crossroads! The Crossroads 360 programming looks great! Also, I’ve never seen a funnier picture of a “committee camel!” Well done Reynold! On a more serious note, I appreciate your caution to be on the alert for false prophets and contrary teachings to Christ. They just do not “ring true.” Our daily bible readings and David’s commentary, have been very inspirational and helpful! Merry CHRISTmas everyone!
I can relate well to being led astray by false teachers. It was in the late 70’s and though I was attending a good church, a group of us heard about this visiting evangelist in another church for a week of evening teaching, and since the feedback was seemingly positive, we went to hear what it was all about. (Our pastor never gave any warning not to, by the way even though he knew we were attending these teaching sessions) Long story short, I unfortunately, was deceived for a time and the result was, it left some long standing scars on at least one of my 3 children. It was a hard lesson to learn on ‘be careful little ears what you hear.’
Congratulations on Crossroads 360. Looks wonderful! I will post a link on my FB page.
Thanks David, for always giving links to not just scripture, but other sites of interest for us to persuse.
Love the picture of the camel Ron!
Thank you David for your blog. I look forward to it each morning.
Your dedication to this is a wonderful example to all of us.
May the Lord bless you and keep you and your family and have a blessed Christmas and good health in 2013.
Unfortunately, I have been having trouble logging onto the internet. The internet connector cable from my laptop to modem is not clicking into the laptop solidly, and holding the internet connection. I have tried new cables and took the laptop in to have it looked at, but am unable to afford to have the mother board replaced. I have tried a wireless router, however, it too, requires a connector cable from the laptop to the modem. So, I put out this prayer request that God provides the solution and means to it. The first thing I want to do, every day, is log into this wonderful blog that inspires, feeds, and allows us to dialogue with one another. I will continue to read the scripture and blog, everyday, however, it is much more difficult to post messages.
Today’s scripture really hit home. Like others, I have been led astray by false prophets. It has been a long, often arduous path. The devil really works to keep us from being true Jesus worshipers, doesn’t he? That is why this blog is so important to keep us on the right track. Thank you, David Mainse and fellow bloggers! Bless each and everyone of you, today!
Is not it wonderful? And His Name is Wonderful!
False prophets are all around us, we certainly don’t have to look very far to find them. Stand steadfast to the truth, be willing to call a heresy a heresy. I think that even Christians can be swayed if they don’t know what’s in their Bible and how it should be properly interpreted. Anyone who says they have the final word should be questioned according to the truth of God’s word. It’s easy to be blown by the winds of this doctrine or that, if we aren’t Bible taught and Holy Spirit led.