Shalom,
I LOVE Psalm 87! Take that all you who want Jerusalem divided! Look at verse 1:
ON THE holy hills stands the city [of Jerusalem and the temple] God founded.
God HIMSELF founded the city of Jerusalem as the capital of the nation of Israel and the place of His presence under the Old Covenant! I have never read where He decided otherwise! He did warn that the nation would be scattered because of their disobedience, but He promised that He would call them back from the ends of the earth in the last days! (Isaiah 43:5-6; Jeremiah 23:3-6) And verse 2 says:
2The Lord loves the gates of Zion [through which the crowds of pilgrims enter from all nations] more than all the dwellings of Jacob (Israel).
It is the PEOPLE that God so greatly loves and dearly prizes! (John 3:16 AMP) He always has and always will! That's why He said to us to go into all the world and preach the GOOD NEWS! Let's DO IT! AMEN!
In Romans 15:1-6 we see what our attitude should be concerning other believers in Jesus of Nazareth:
1WE WHO are strong [in our convictions and of robust faith] ought to bear with the failings and the frailties and the tender scruples of the weak; and not to please ourselves.2Let each one of us make it a practice to please (make happy) his neighbor for his good and for his true welfare, to edify him [to strengthen him and build him up spiritually].
3For Christ did not please Himself [gave no thought to His own interests]; but, as it is written, The reproaches and abuses of those who reproached and abused you fell on Me.
4For whatever was thus written in former days was written for our instruction, that by [our steadfast and patient] endurance and the encouragement [drawn] from the Scriptures we might hold fast to and cherish hope.
5Now may the God Who gives the power of patient endurance (steadfastness) and Who supplies encouragement, grant you to live in such mutual harmony and such full sympathy with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus,
6That together you may [unanimously] with united hearts and one voice, praise and glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah).
Notice that we are not to be judging or condemning each other. What we ARE supposed to do is to encourage and exhort each other to keep growing up in the things of God. The Amplified is NOT good in the latter part of verse 5. We are not to have "sympathy" for each other. Sympathy means to share emotions and thoughts with another. If you are stronger in faith in any given area than a fellow believer, it will do them no good whatsoever if you simply "feel" for them and understand what they're going through. The rest of that verse says "according to Christ Jesus" or "in accord with Christ Jesus". The phrase "according to" is the Hebrew word, "kata", which means: in accordance with or after the manner of. We need to operate with each other the same way that Jesus operated with His disciples! That means when a fellow believer has a need, we speak the Truth of God's Word in love. Nothing else will truly help them. Remember that faith comes by hearing the Word of God over and over and over again! (Romans 10:17) Encourage each other to love the Word, be filled with the Spirit, walk in love and never give up! That is the best thing we can do for each other! AMEN! We'll leave Romans today with verse 13:
13May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope.
In Numbers 17 we see that the Lord wants to settle once and for all the question of who He has chosen! After all of the murmurings against Moses and Aaron, this should settle things! Look at verses 1-5:
1AND THE Lord said to Moses,2Speak to the Israelites and get from them rods or staves, one for each father's house, from all their leaders according to their father's houses, twelve rods. Write every man's name on his rod.
3And you shall write Aaron's name on the rod of Levi [his great-grandfather]. For there shall be one rod for the head of each father's house.
4You shall lay them up in the Tent of Meeting before [the ark of] the Testimony, where I meet with you.
5And the rod of the man whom I choose shall bud, and I will make to cease from Me the murmurings of the Israelites, which they murmur against you.
Moses did, they did and God did! Settled once and for all! AMEN! I love it! Make what God has said final authority in Your life in every area and you will find yourself operating in a boldness and confidence that you never knew you had! Then in Numbers 18 we see the Lord instructing how the tithes and offerings were to be handled. That is very important to the Lord! Under our New Covenant it is still important to Him! The tithes are to provide "meat" for the "house", which includes taking care of the pastor who does all the work of getting the meat for the particular "house" or church that He is responsible for. Then the offerings over and above the tithe are for the support of the preaching of the Gospel in local and world outreaches. A Scriptural storehouse is one that does all of the above! I belong to one. How about you?
Shalom in Him!
