Renew The Mind; Transform Your Life

My son, pay attention to my wisdom.
    Turn your ear to my understanding,
that you may maintain discretion,
    that your lips may preserve knowledge.
For the lips of an adulteress drip honey.
    Her mouth is smoother than oil,
but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood,
    and as sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death.
    Her steps lead straight to Sheol.
She gives no thought to the way of life.
    Her ways are crooked, and she doesn’t know it.

Now therefore, my sons, listen to me.
    Don’t depart from the words of my mouth.
Remove your way far from her.
    Don’t come near the door of her house,
lest you give your honor to others,
    and your years to the cruel one;
lest strangers feast on your wealth,
    and your labors enrich another man’s house.
You will groan at your latter end,
    when your flesh and your body are consumed,
and say, “How I have hated instruction,
    and my heart despised reproof.
I haven’t obeyed the voice of my teachers,
    nor turned my ear to those who instructed me!
I have come to the brink of utter ruin,
    among the gathered assembly.”

Drink water out of your own cistern,
    running water out of your own well.
Should your springs overflow in the streets,
    streams of water in the public squares?
Let them be for yourself alone,
    not for strangers with you.
Let your spring be blessed.
    Rejoice in the wife of your youth.
A loving doe and a graceful deer—
    let her breasts satisfy you at all times.
    Be captivated always with her love.
For why should you, my son, be captivated with an adulteress?
    Why embrace the bosom of another?
For the ways of man are before Yahweh’s eyes.
    He examines all his paths.
The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare him.
    The cords of his sin hold him firmly.
He will die for lack of instruction.
    In the greatness of his folly, he will go astray.

World English Bible (WEB)by Public Domain. The name "World English Bible" is trademarked.

My son, keep my words.
    Lay up my commandments within you.
Keep my commandments and live!
    Guard my teaching as the apple of your eye.
Bind them on your fingers.
    Write them on the tablet of your heart.
Tell wisdom, “You are my sister.”
    Call understanding your relative,
that they may keep you from the strange woman,
    from the foreigner who flatters with her words.
For at the window of my house,
    I looked out through my lattice.
I saw among the simple ones.
    I discerned among the youths a young man void of understanding,
passing through the street near her corner,
    he went the way to her house,
in the twilight, in the evening of the day,
    in the middle of the night and in the darkness.
Behold, there a woman met him with the attire of a prostitute,
    and with crafty intent.
She is loud and defiant.
    Her feet don’t stay in her house.
Now she is in the streets, now in the squares,
    and lurking at every corner.
So she caught him, and kissed him.
    With an impudent face she said to him:
“Sacrifices of peace offerings are with me.
    Today I have paid my vows.
Therefore I came out to meet you,
    to diligently seek your face,
    and I have found you.
I have spread my couch with carpets of tapestry,
    with striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt.
I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
Come, let’s take our fill of loving until the morning.
    Let’s solace ourselves with loving.
For my husband isn’t at home.
    He has gone on a long journey.
He has taken a bag of money with him.
    He will come home at the full moon.”
With persuasive words, she led him astray.
    With the flattering of her lips, she seduced him.
He followed her immediately,
    as an ox goes to the slaughter,
    as a fool stepping into a noose.
Until an arrow strikes through his liver,
    as a bird hurries to the snare,
    and doesn’t know that it will cost his life.

Now therefore, sons, listen to me.
    Pay attention to the words of my mouth.
Don’t let your heart turn to her ways.
    Don’t go astray in her paths,
for she has thrown down many wounded.
    Yes, all her slain are a mighty army.
Her house is the way to Sheol,
    going down to the rooms of death.

World English Bible (WEB)by Public Domain. The name "World English Bible" is trademarked.

"Waiting for Collection."

The Blessing of YHWH is ready for collection.

Jesus declared from the Cross, "It is finished!" or, as some translators would say, "It is accomplished!"  This caused the Roman Centurion listening to acknowledge that Jesus was surely the Son of God.  [John 19:28 and 30 plus Matthew 27:54]

The word tetelestai means, "The debt has been paid in full."


Quoting from Bible.Org
The word tetelestai was also written on business documents or receipts in New Testament times to show indicating that a bill had been paid in full. The Greek-English lexicon by Moulton and Milligan says this:

“Receipts are often introduced by the phrase [sic] tetelestai, usually written in an abbreviated manner...” (p. 630). The connection between receipts and what Christ accomplished would have been quite clear to John’s Greek-speaking readership; it would be unmistakable that Jesus Christ had died to pay for their sins.  [End quote]

Paul assures us that the notice of debt has been nailed to the Cross.

Colossians 2:14
TLV

He wiped out the handwritten record of debts with the decrees against us, which was hostile to us. He took it away by nailing it to the cross.

VOICE

eliminated the massive debt we incurred by the law that stood against us. He took it all away; He nailed it to the cross. But that’s not all.

WEB

wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us. He has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross.

In Matthew 28:18 it says...

"Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth..."
Notice that the devil had once offered Jesus this if He would only compromise.
The Authority and Power has been returned to the Author and Finisher of our Faith.

The devil has been brought to nought.  He has been stripped of his (stolen) power.  He is at zero.  The only reason Christians are not walking in victory every day is that they have collected what is ready to be collected - their blessing which is their inheritance.  If you've ever been confused over the fuss made over the final blessing of Abraham via Isaac - Genesis chs 27-29 - which Jacob got - now you have a sense.  The blessing has POWER, the power to unlock your access to your inheritance.

“Behold, the smell of my son
    is as the smell of a field which Yahweh has blessed.
God give you of the dew of the sky,
    of the fatness of the earth,
    and plenty of grain and new wine.
Let peoples serve you,
    and nations bow down to you.
Be lord over your brothers.
    Let your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be everyone who curses you.
    Blessed be everyone who blesses you.”

The blessing is waiting for your collection... don't just sit there!
Jesus is the High Priest of your Confession... listen to these recordings, then confess what you remember over your life and those you love.

Whatever gets your attention, gets you!
Whatever gets your attention gets you results!

Where is your attention?

Paul says, "...seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God."  That's where our attention must be.

By fixing our attention on the Risen Christ Jesus, we can rise above the waves.

Paul goes on to mix the language of the soldier (put to death all the bad stuff in our lives - indicative of the old creation) and the language of covenant (putting off - like taking off a garment in the coventant ceremony and putting on a new garment symbolising our new creation and identity.)  All is changed.

I love the fact that God calls us to sing!
We are to...
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord."  Input is clear: the Word of Christ; output is clear - sing!  Scripture in Song!

And the secret of happiness in any work you do is revealed too - do it ALL for Jesus.
"Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through him."

One phrase in chapter four leaps out for me:
"redeeming the time"

Psalm 14
This reminds me of the eloquent, Richard Dawkins, passionate about removing the church's influence on society.
"The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”"

Folly can wear the veneer of eloquence.

However, at times like this, such folly will cost lives.

There will many who have never given God honour nor service who will wag both finger and tongue at the God they don't respect or serve, saying, "Where is God?" or even more ridiculous, "This is God's fault."
Their time has come.

The time has come for more Truth to be revealed.

Scripture is so personal.
If you're like me, you don't yet hear the audible voice of God.
That may be a good thing.
Effectively, at that level, I am deaf.
How then, does God 'speak' to us in a way that we can hear?

He uses 'Sign Language' in these three ways:

Firstly, He writes letters to us - like Colossians.  "Every Scripture is God-breathed," Paul says to Timothy, "and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that each person who belongs to God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." [2 Timothy 3:16-17] So, at least we can read His love notes to us.  They have His SIGNature style of encouragement.

Secondly, He uses two other types of Sign Language - Natural and Supernatural.  Nature itself is a love-letter from God to His Creation.  Soon, we will reach Psalm 19 in our reading plan and there we will hear God say,

 "The heavens declare the glory of God.
    The expanse shows his handiwork.
Day after day they pour out speech,
    and night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech nor language,
    where their voice is not heard." 

Then there are Supernatural Signs and Wonders that bear witness to the God-kind-of-Life, the Life Force of the Resurrected Christ, that dwells and acts in and through believers.  This one both excites and concerns me.  It concerns me because the church (small 'c') seems convinced that the Dr holds forth more hope than our Divine Dr.  It excites me because now is the ideal time for God to manifest the message that the same sacrifice that nails the note-of-debt to the Cross, wiping it out, is the very same sacrifice that dealt with the root of all sickness and disease.  In the UK, we have a highly evolved benefit system to care for those who are temporarily or permanently unable to care for themselves - it's an invisible means of support that becomes visible when people claim what is possible.  Many don't... and for many reasons.  Some out of ignorance, some out of a twisted belief that it is inappropriate.  Well, I have to say, Bless the Lord YHWH, Oh My Soul, and forget not any of His benefits!  He heals all my diseases, He forgives all my sins, and He redeems my life from any pit of destruction.  Let the Lord confirm His Word with the Signs and Wonders that follow...

Thirdly, He does speak!  He can speak through your lips!  Paul again told Timothy to devote himself to the public reading of Scripture - that means to read it out LOUD!
Let me assure you that you don't have to wait until you're in a church meeting to do this!
When I read the Scriptures out loud, as I do for you here, I learn and I hear subtleties that are lost to me when I merely read the Word silently in my head.

Today, I feel sad and would love your encouragement.  We lost to death a cat who had adopted us.  He was such a free spirit, but he was hit by a vehicle and then put down by someone who could have made a better choice.  I must not judge, but I am sad.  Sadness is picked up so well in today's Psalm, and I read it even more from my heart than usual (and I think I always read from the heart!)

I am also very sad that I'm reaching my upload limit on Buzzsprout and currently have not had the faith to manifest the finances with which to buy more capacity.  Paul often speaks 'Grace' (undeserved favour) and 'Peace' as his opening blessings.  If you feel like expressing undeserved favour toward me - enough to help me expand this work, you can give at ko-fi/magnanimous and invest in the Kingdom of Heaven - a better banking system than the world's - which is about to crash anyway!

Psalm 91 is the "Antiviral Psalm" - specifically its references to delivering us from the deadly pestilence.  We shall not be afraid of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that wastes at noonday - even if a thousand may fall at our side, or ten thousand at our right hand - it will not come near us.  Because we have made YHWH our refuge, and the Most High our dwelling place, no evil shall happen to us, nor shall any plague come near our dwelling.  It seems that angels are the agents of protection - guarding us in all our ways.  Long life is the promise of all those who devote themselves to the Living God... and that protection, dear ones, is a decision and a word away.  The Word is near you.

Specifically, here's what God promises in Romans chapter 10:
“The word is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart;” Deuteronomy 30:14 that is, the word of faith which we preach: that if you will confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes resulting in righteousness; and with the mouth, confession is made resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed.”

Amen!

The text of Psalm 91 is set within the context of a deep relaxation.  If you listen on headphones, there is a binaural beat track that will help your brain access a deeply relaxed and receptive state whereby you may with a humble spirit receive the word [of God] which is implanted [actually rooted in your heart], which is able to save your souls. (James 1:21)

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of Yahweh, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
    my God, in whom I trust.”
For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler,
    and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with His feathers.
    Under His wings you will take refuge.
    His faithfulness is your shield and rampart.
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
    nor of the arrow that flies by day,
    nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
    nor of the destruction that wastes at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side,
    and ten thousand at your right hand;
    but it will not come near you.
You will only look with your eyes,
    and see the recompense of the wicked.
Because you have made Yahweh your refuge,
    and the Most High your dwelling place,
no evil shall happen to you,
    neither shall any plague come near your dwelling.
For he will put his angels in charge of you,
    to guard you in all your ways.
They will bear you up in their hands,
    so that you won’t dash your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and cobra.
    You will trample the young lion and the serpent underfoot.
“Because he has set his love on me, therefore I will deliver him.
    I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
He will call on Me, and I will answer him.
    I will be with him in trouble.
    I will deliver him, and honor him.
I will satisfy him with long life,
    and show him my salvation.”

World English Bible (WEB)

You can say, "Thanks!" by buying me a coffee here:
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A locus is a person, position, or place where something occurs or is situated.

Jesus is the locus of focus where miracles occur and where the answers to our prayers, our dreams, and our desires are situated.  In Him, ALL the promises of God are answered, "Yes!" and our, "Amen!" is shouted to the glory of God!  [2 Corinthians 1:20]

In these words of encouragement, we share how there are three loci of focus:

• The Sensory Knowledge of Science and Circumstance
• The Sensory Knowledge of the evidence our body provides us with - the flesh
• The Revelation Knowledge that often supersedes sensory knowledge - the evidence of our senses and the rebellious declarations of science as to what is possible and what is impossible.

Only one Locus of Focus will give us the answers we need.

Jesus.

[Image credit: Photo by Tim Marshall on Unsplash 

ps. if you're feeling magnanimous, here's an opportunity:
https://ko-fi.com/magnanimous

Times of crisis and danger and loss and suffering really help humans to shine or to show their true colours.

We need to love our neighbours - even as much as we love ourselves.  Tough call.

We ask, "Who then is my neighbour?"

The answer is surprising and shocking...

Sharing learning and the public reading of Scripture is how I spend my life.
You can say, "Thanks!" by buying me a coffee here:
http://bit.ly/ThankYouLex

Given the gravity of the current world crisis, now is the best time up our divine medicine.
Here are many of the Healing Scriptures for you to meditate upon and for faith to arise.

Meditate to Medicate!

Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
Faith comes from hearing, and healing by the Word of God too.

Sharing learning and the public reading of Scripture is how I spend my life.
You can say, "Thanks!" by buying me a coffee here:
http://bit.ly/ThankYouLex

This episode was originally published during the Feast of Purim - one of the most joyous festivals in the Jewish calendar.
The Feast celebrates the resilience of God's chosen people - how they have survived against what often has seemed like impossible odds.

For those of us who are not Jewish, it's a great day to celebrate just how far we've come, and how much we've overcome.

It is traditional to celebrate the feast by reading the whole book of Esther.  When Haman is mentioned, those listening to the public reading of Scripture are meant to shout, "Boo!" and hiss and stamp their feet.  There are even special rattles made to show derision to this foolish enemy of Israel.

I thought we'd show solidarity with our Jewish brethren by listening to the Book of Esther in its entirety.

Furthermore, there is meant to be a feast today, so have a great meal and drink plenty of wine to celebrate how good God is to you.