The wage of the righteous leads to life, the gain of the wicked to sin.
Proverbs 10:16

This proverb is echoed by Romans 6:23. The "wage of the righteous" is the "gift of God" and the "gain of the wicked" is the "wages of sin".

#deuteronomy 29:8-13 contains a #chiasm framed by the land inheritance that God promised to the patriarchs and centered on the "little ones" of Israel.

..V8 - Land given to the tribes
....V9 - Keep the Covenant to prosper with God
......V10 - Chiefs, elders, and officers (functional categories)
........V10 - Men of Israel
..........V11 - Your little ones
........V11 - Your wives
......V11 - Sojourners, wood cutters, and water drawers (functional categories)
....V12 - Keep the Covenant to prosper with God
..V13 - Land promised to the patriarchs

I believe the purpose of this structure (if it isn't purely coincidence) is to point out that the inheritance of the children is dependent on the faithfulness of their parents.
#nitzavim #biblepatterns

This week's #torah reading is called Nitzavim, which means "standing". Here are some apostolic passages for #biblestudy alongside this Parsha (#deuteronomy 29:10-30:20), plus links to related commentary and video: https://www.americantorah.com/....2021/03/21/parsha-ni

Good Morning! ☕️

The Trumpet by Bill Burns
Distractions will diminish your spiritual connection because you develop world focus instead of kingdom focus. Distractions cause worry rather than faith, and allow a spirit of fear to come in. Stay focused on things that have eternal value. Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Small Straws by Marsha Burns
Take a moment to reflect on how your life changed in the last season, and realize that you not only survived, you are beginning to thrive. You are in a better position to take the next step in fulfilling your destiny. You have had supernatural help in what you have accomplished. Be glad and rejoice. Psalm 77:14 You are the God who does wonders; You have declared Your strength among the peoples.

Psalm 119:142, “Your righteousness is everlasting and Your law is truth.” The Hebrew word translated as everlasting is often translated forever… But wait there’s more… This word is not only related to time, it is also thought of as the universe or everything. Our Creator’s righteousness encompasses time and space along with the spiritual and physical worlds. In other words there is no limit for our Creator.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Sabbath!

I sure did. I gorged myself on chocolate chip mint ice cream, brownies, and cookies.

Oh I also ate some real food too... ?

"Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow."

De 27

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” - Asian Proverb

I have a temptation to be less likely to do something the longer it has been since it should have been done. This is probably true of most who deal with putting things off: like with an addiction, like with alcohol: you may be able to resist it for years, but a small drink makes it far more likely to take another drink, and a larger drink, and so on, even though with each drink it becomes that much more important not to take another drink.

So with putting something off which should not be - it is easiest to resist the temptation, and do it immediately, right when it becomes necessary to do. But once it is put off a little, it is harder to do it, though it becomes more important to do it.

The difference from alcohol is that alcohol is relatively simple: you never do it: "look not upon" it, as Solomon says. However, whenever you do anything, you are putting off doing, or never doing, everything else you could be doing. You can only do one thing at a time, so only one thing gets done right away, and the rest is put off for some amount of time.

And it also isn't as simple as "do the most important things until they are done" either: there is an infinite number of things that are more important than eating, but you still need to eat, neither is it wrong to take the time to have a really good meal. There are various reasons, more specific than bare importance, that determine which things are done first or given more time.

One thing is certain - whatever you do must be done deliberately, with self-control and prudence (which once again always rules out alcohol, of course).

#sabbathposts 2023/09/02