Romans 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. 2 Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.

3 For I say through the grace that was given me, to every man who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think reasonably, as God has apportioned to each person a measure of faith.

 

Philippians 4:8 8 Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report: if there is any virtue and if there is any praise, think about these things.

 

Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all diligence,
for out of it is the wellspring of life.

 

Matthew 12:35 The good man out of his good treasure[a] brings out good things, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings out evil things.

 

II Corinthians 5:17  Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.

Romans 6:4  We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.

I Corinthians 1:30  and of Him ye — ye are in Christ Jesus, who became to us from God wisdom, righteousness also, and sanctification, and redemption,

Isaiah 45:24  Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. (KJV)

John 15:1   “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. 2 Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.

8 “In this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples. 9 Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and remain in his love. 11 I have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full.

Additional information

Genesis 14:18 (KJV)  And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.

19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:

20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

 

Psalm 110:4  The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.  (KJV)

 

Hebrews 5:5   So also Christ didn’t glorify himself to be made a high priest, but it was he who said to him,

“You are my Son.
Today I have become your father.”

6 As he says also in another place,

“You are a priest forever,
after the order of Melchizedek.”

7 He, in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear, 8 though he was a Son, yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered. 9 Having been made perfect, he became to all of those who obey him the author of eternal salvation, 10 named by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

 

Hebrews 6:20  where as a forerunner Jesus entered for us, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

At times people ask questions about why there is suffering and there are several blog posts devoted to  that topic.  This one is another.

This one will delve into the story of King David.  King David was a great king of Israel, a mighty man who obeyed God.  But there were transgressions that caused him much suffering later in life.

Up until this point, there is no mention of suffering and fighting among siblings.  That changed after this event.

And while you can read the story in your own Bible, it will be posted here for convenience.

II Samuel 11:1  At the return of the year, at the time when kings go out, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. ² At evening, David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. From the roof, he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to look at. ³ David sent and inquired after the woman. One said, “Isn’t this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, Uriah the Hittite’s wife?”

⁴ David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in to him, and he lay with her (for she was purified from her uncleanness); and she returned to her house. ⁵ The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.”

⁶ David sent to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” Joab sent Uriah to David. ⁷ When Uriah had come to him, David asked him how Joab did, and how the people fared, and how the war prospered. ⁸ David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” Uriah departed out of the king’s house, and a gift from the king was sent after him. ⁹ But Uriah slept at the door of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and didn’t go down to his house. ¹⁰ When they had told David, saying, “Uriah didn’t go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Haven’t you come from a journey? Why didn’t you go down to your house?”

¹¹ Uriah said to David, “The ark, Israel, and Judah, are staying in tents; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open field. Shall I then go into my house to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing!”

¹² David said to Uriah, “Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day, and the next day. ¹³ When David had called him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him drunk. At evening, he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but didn’t go down to his house. ¹⁴ In the morning, David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. ¹⁵ He wrote in the letter, saying, “Send Uriah to the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck, and die.”

¹⁶ When Joab kept watch on the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew that valiant men were. ¹⁷ The men of the city went out, and fought with Joab. Some of the people fell, even of David’s servants; and Uriah the Hittite died also. ¹⁸ Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war; ¹⁹ and he commanded the messenger, saying, “When you have finished telling all the things concerning the war to the king, ²⁰ it shall be that, if the king’s wrath arise, and he asks you, ‘Why did you go so near to the city to fight? Didn’t you know that they would shoot from the wall? ²¹ Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Didn’t a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.’”

²² So the messenger went, and came and showed David all that Joab had sent him for. ²³ The messenger said to David, “The men prevailed against us, and came out to us into the field, and we were on them even to the entrance of the gate. ²⁴ The shooters shot at your servants from off the wall; and some of the king’s servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.”

²⁵ Then David said to the messenger, “Tell Joab, ‘Don’t let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Make your battle stronger against the city, and overthrow it.’ Encourage him.”

²⁶ When Uriah’s wife heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. ²⁷ When the mourning was past, David sent and took her home to his house, and she bIIecame his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased Yahweh.

II Samuel 12:1   Yahweh sent Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, “There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. ² The rich man had very many flocks and herds, ³ but the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and raised. It grew up together with him, and with his children. It ate of his own food, drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was like a daughter to him. ⁴ A traveler came to the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to prepare for the wayfaring man who had come to him, but took the poor man’s lamb, and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

⁵ David’s anger burned hot against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As Yahweh lives, the man who has done this deserves to die! ⁶ He must restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity!”

⁷ Nathan said to David, “You are the man. This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. ⁸ I gave you your master’s house, and your master’s wives into your bosom, and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that would have been too little, I would have added to you many more such things. ⁹ Why have you despised Yahweh’s word, to do that which is evil in his sight? You have struck Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. ¹⁰ Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken Uriah the Hittite’s wife to be your wife.’

¹¹ “This is what Yahweh says: ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes, and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. ¹² For you did this secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.’”

¹³ David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against Yahweh.”

Nathan said to David, “Yahweh also has put away your sin. You will not die. ¹⁴ However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to Yahweh’s enemies to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you will surely die.” ¹⁵ Nathan departed to his house.

Yahweh struck the child that Uriah’s wife bore to David, and it was very sick. ¹⁶ David therefore begged God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night on the ground. ¹⁷ The elders of his house arose beside him, to raise him up from the earth: but he would not, and he didn’t eat bread with them. ¹⁸ On the seventh day, the child died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they said, “Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he didn’t listen to our voice. How will he then harm himself, if we tell him that the child is dead?”

¹⁹ But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead; and David said to his servants, “Is the child dead?”

They said, “He is dead.”

²⁰ Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his clothing; and he came into Yahweh’s house, and worshiped. Then he came to his own house; and when he requested, they set bread before him, and he ate. ²¹ Then his servants said to him, “What is this that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child was dead, you rose up and ate bread.”

²² He said, “While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who knows whether Yahweh will not be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ ²³ But now he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

²⁴ David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her, and lay with her. She bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. Yahweh loved him; ²⁵ and he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and he named him Jedidiah, for Yahweh’s sake.

Note this phrase:  You have struck Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife,You have struck Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.

God knew that Uriah had been set up to be killed by the children of Ammon.  God said (through the prophet Nathan, God’s spokesman) to David…“You have struck Uriah”.  The point is, for all of us, God knows the true story which is why we need to walk in the fear of the Lord and obedience to his commandments.  When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, everyone tried to blame everyone else and that didn’t go well.  Each entity involved in the Fall received a unique judgment for their own individual part in the Fall.  Regardless of social media, the propaganda news, or the town gossip, God knows the true story in every circumstance and judgement follows accordingly.  David could not say to God, “I didn’t kill Uriah, the children of Ammon did.”  God knew the truth.

Proverbs 26:2  Like a fluttering sparrow,
like a darting swallow,
so the undeserved curse doesn’t come to rest.

*The word “Yahweh” is translated as “the Lord” in other translations.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.

John 10:9 I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out, and will find pasture.

John 10:25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you don’t believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, these testify about me. 26 But you don’t believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies. 26 Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, God’s Son, he who comes into the world.”

Why is Jesus different than other religions?

Jesus is the only one who ever declared that He was the way to God.

John 14:6  Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.

In contrast, other religions offer sacrifices to gods, in hopes that prayers will be heard.

Paul the Apostle acknowledged this.

Acts 17:22 Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus, and said, “You men of Athens, I perceive that you are very religious in all things. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription: ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ What therefore you worship in ignorance, I announce to you. 24 The God who made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands. 25 He isn’t served by men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself gives to all life and breath, and all things. 26 He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons, and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live, move, and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’ 29 Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold, or silver, or stone, engraved by art and design of man. 30 The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.”

Jesus was continually talking about his direct relationship to the Father.

Jesus birth was foretold by prophets.  It was announced by angels.

Luke 2:8  There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock. 9 Behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people. 11 For there is born to you today, in David’s city, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 This is the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a feeding trough.” 13 Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God, and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest,
on earth peace, good will toward men.”

Finally, in accordance with the prophetic scriptures told about him ahead of time, Jesus was crucified, died, and was buried.  On the third day he was resurrected from the dead.

Isaiah 53:1  (KJV)  Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Paul the Apostle summarizes some of these things in some following verses.  It is important to point out that Paul never met Jesus in the flesh, when Jesus lived on the earth.  Jesus appeared to Paul later  (after the resurrection of Jesus) when Paul was persecuting believers.  Paul (his name at that time was Saul, later changed to Paul) was converted, and became an apostle and missionary for Jesus.  So Paul met the resurrected Jesus, not Jesus when he was living on earth.

Acts 9:1   But Saul, still breathing threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked for letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 As he traveled, he got close to Damascus, and suddenly a light from the sky shone around him. 4 He fell on the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

5 He said, “Who are you, Lord?”

The Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.  6 But rise up and enter into the city, then you will be told what you must do.”

7 The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the sound, but seeing no one. 8 Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one. They led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.

 

I Corinthians 15:1  Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand, ² by which also you are saved, if you hold firmly the word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. ³ For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵ and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. ⁶ Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have also fallen asleep. ⁷ Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, ⁸ and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also. ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles, who is not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the assembly of God. ¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am. His grace which was given to me was not futile, but I worked more than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. ¹¹ Whether then it is I or they, so we preach, and so you believed.

¹² Now if Christ is preached, that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised. ¹⁴ If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith also is in vain. ¹⁵ Yes, we are also found false witnesses of God, because we testified about God that he raised up Christ, whom he didn’t raise up, if it is so that the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead aren’t raised, neither has Christ been raised. ¹⁷ If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹ If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.

²⁰ But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruit of those who are asleep. ²¹ For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man. ²² For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. ²³ But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s, at his coming.

 

Jesus, while on earth with his disciples, before he was crucified, prophesied that he would rise from the dead.

Mark 9:31 For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.

32 But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.

 

The resurrection of Jesus is the crown jewel of Christianity.  It is the fulfullmen of the prophecies.  It is what sets Jesus apart from all other religions and seals the fact that Jesus is who He said and says He is.

Hebrews 7:23 Many, indeed, have been made priests, because they are hindered from continuing by death. 24 But he, because he lives forever, has his priesthood unchangeable. 25 Therefore he is also able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, seeing that he lives forever to make intercession for them.

26 For such a high priest was fitting for us: holy, guiltless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; 27 who doesn’t need, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices daily, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. For he did this once for all, when he offered up himself. 28 For the law appoints men as high priests who have weakness, but the word of the oath which came after the law appoints a Son forever who has been perfected.

 

 

Revelations 13:8  All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been killed.

 

I Peter 1:8  18 knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ, 20 who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in this last age for your sake,

 

John 1:28  These things were done in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

29 The next day, he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.’ 31 I didn’t know him, but for this reason I came baptizing in water: that he would be revealed to Israel.” 32 John testified, saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending like a dove out of heaven, and it remained on him. 33 I didn’t recognize him, but he who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘On whomever you will see the Spirit descending and remaining on him is he who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

 

 

Genesis 8:22 While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night will not cease.”

Malachi 3:10  Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and test me now in this,” says Yahweh of Armies, “if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there will not be room enough for. 11 I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before its time in the field,” says Yahweh of Armies. 12 “All nations shall call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land,” says Yahweh of Armies.

Galatians 6:6   But let him who is taught in the word share all good things with him who teaches. 7 Don’t be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 9 Let’s not be weary in doing good, for we will reap in due season, if we don’t give up. 10 So then, as we have opportunity, let’s do what is good toward all men, and especially toward those who are of the household of the faith.

Ecclesiastes 11:1 Cast your bread on the waters;
for you shall find it after many days.
2 Give a portion to seven, yes, even to eight;
for you don’t know what evil will be on the earth.

Isaiah 58:1   “Cry aloud! Don’t spare!
Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Declare to my people their disobedience,
and to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek me daily,
and delight to know my ways.
As a nation that did righteousness,
and didn’t forsake the ordinance of their God,
they ask of me righteous judgments.
They delight to draw near to God.
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you don’t see?
Why have we afflicted our soul, and you don’t notice?’

“Behold, in the day of your fast you find pleasure,
and oppress all your laborers.
4 Behold, you fast for strife and contention,
and to strike with the fist of wickedness.
You don’t fast today so as to make your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the fast that I have chosen?
A day for a man to humble his soul?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under himself?
Will you call this a fast,
and an acceptable day to Yahweh?

6 “Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen:
to release the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and that you break every yoke?
7 Isn’t it to distribute your bread to the hungry,
and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house?
When you see the naked,
that you cover him;
and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then your light will break out as the morning,
and your healing will appear quickly;
then your righteousness shall go before you,
and Yahweh’s glory will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and Yahweh will answer.
You will cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’

“If you take away from among you the yoke,
finger pointing,
and speaking wickedly;
10 and if you pour out your soul to the hungry,
and satisfy the afflicted soul,
then your light will rise in darkness,
and your obscurity will be as the noonday;
11 and Yahweh will guide you continually,
satisfy your soul in dry places,
and make your bones strong.
You will be like a watered garden,
and like a spring of water
whose waters don’t fail.
12 Those who will be of you will build the old waste places.
You will raise up the foundations of many generations.
You will be called Repairer of the Breach,
Restorer of Paths with Dwellings.

13 “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath,
from doing your pleasure on my holy day;
and call the Sabbath a delight,
and the holy of Yahweh honorable;
and honor it,
not doing your own ways,
nor finding your own pleasure,
nor speaking your own words,
14 then you will delight yourself in Yahweh,
and I will make you to ride on the high places of the earth,
and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father;”
for Yahweh’s mouth has spoken it.

Psalm 41:1 Blessed is he who considers the poor.
Yahweh will deliver him in the day of evil.
2 Yahweh will preserve him, and keep him alive.
He shall be blessed on the earth,
and he will not surrender him to the will of his enemies.
3 Yahweh will sustain him on his sickbed,
and restore him from his bed of illness.
4 I said, “Yahweh, have mercy on me!
Heal me, for I have sinned against you.”

Luke 6:38   “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be given to you. For with the same measure you measure it will be measured back to you.”

Let’s start with how we are not made in the image of God.  It is not our physical appearance.

John 4:24  God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

One attribute that God gave mankind is free will.  People are not robots.  They have the ability to choose to live for God.  God wants children who freely love and serve him.

Another attribute is how mankind is to live on the earth.

Romans 1:17  For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.”

Is faith simply believing God exists?  No.

James 2:19  You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder.

Faith is actually linked to obedience.  If you believe, you will obey.

Genesis 15:1  After these things Yahweh’s word came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”

Genesis 15:6  He believed in Yahweh, who credited it to him for righteousness.

If you read the story of Abraham, you will find his belief in God was linked to acts of obedience to God.  That was also true for Moses, David, Noah, and all the faithful Biblical characters.

For example, God told Noah to build an ark.  It took 100 years to build it.  And, it had never rained on the earth so Noah did not even know what rain was.  The Bible says that before the flood there was a mist that watered the ground, not rain.

So you can see if you have faith enough to build an ark when you have never seen rain, that is linked to an act of obedience.  100 years of hard work is not a simple thought like “I believe God exists”.  It is putting the work of obedience to back up that faith.

Hebrews 11:7   By faith, Noah, being warned about things not yet seen, moved with godly fear,  prepared a ship for the saving of his house, through which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

Genesis 2:6   but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground.

Genesis 5:32  Noah was five hundred years old, then Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 6:3  Yahweh said, “My Spirit will not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; so his days will be one hundred twenty years.”  [This is when the length of life was shortened, before this, mankind lived hundreds of years.]

Genesis 6:9  This is the history of the generations of Noah: Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time. Noah walked with God. ¹⁰ Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. ¹¹ The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. ¹² God saw the earth, and saw that it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.

¹³ God said to Noah, “I will bring an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them and the earth. ¹⁴ Make a ship of gopher wood. You shall make rooms in the ship, and shall seal it inside and outside with pitch. ¹⁵ This is how you shall make it. The length of the ship shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. ¹⁶ You shall make a roof in the ship, and you shall finish it to a cubit upward. You shall set the door of the ship in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third levels. ¹⁷ I, even I, will bring the flood of waters on this earth, to destroy all flesh having the breath of life from under the sky. Everything that is in the earth will die. ¹⁸ But I will establish my covenant with you. You shall come into the ship, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁹ Of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ship, to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. ²⁰ Of the birds after their kind, of the livestock after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort will come to you, to keep them alive. ²¹ Take with you some of all food that is eaten, and gather it to yourself; and it will be for food for you, and for them.” ²² Thus Noah did. He did all that God commanded him.

Genesis 6:5  Noah did everything that Yahweh commanded him. ⁶ Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came on the earth.

If you read the New Testament, you will find that Jesus connected faith with obedience.

Matthew 12:13   Then he told the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out; and it was restored whole, just like the other.

God wants us to walk as Jesus walked.

I John 2:6  he who says he remains in him ought himself also to walk just like he walked.