Harmony of Spirit in Jesus

These are some resources: This link is from our Local Church's web page: http://ninevehpresbyterianchurch.org/npc_FP/M/Youth_Group/wgh/a_sign.html ___________________________ This link is the Presbyterian Church homepage which has many study guides. The extensive topics profile the active role of our extended church group in the world: http://www.pcusa.org/ ___________________________ This link is a music based daily devotional sponsored by the Presbyterian Church which over the years has been very helpful to many folks: http://www.d365.org/journeytothecross/ ___________________________ This link is a Presbyterian Church sponsored site which permits local churches to profile the active christian projects of their youth groups. Many church leaders and church members throughout the world find these projects instructional as they reflect imagination and energy applied for the glory of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. http://www.ymilive.org/ __________________________ Any reader should know they will always be welcomed at their local Presbyterian Church or for that matter the local Christian Church of their choice. Best wishes.

How you find ideas for articles, I am always lack of new ideas for articles. Some tips would be great

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Hi ... Sandy and I were studing Romans, chapters 12 -14 and noted an interesting thread associated with the harmonic in chapter 12: "good, acceptable and perfect". I believe the rest of chapter 12 deals with the definition of "good", it is the working of the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit in the local church. Essentially, it is good in God's eyes if we are good to each other and our neighbor with an emphasis on supporting the local church. Chapter 13 develops the meaning of "acceptable" - it is the response of the individual Christian to authority both spiritual authority within the church and secular authority. Sandy and I have studied these passages for many years and never quite encountered these verses linked in this perspective before. We were quite excited, especially as we encountered the definition of "perfect" in chapter 14 - to paraphrase: if we live we live in Christ Jesus, if we die we die in Christ Jesus. Peace, love and joy. Jim

There is a nice study from Isaiah ch65v24 ... Our prayer group has been following it for a few weeks now ... I thought I would stop back to thank you folks and add to Able's reference, the words of Jesus in Matthew ch6v8 when he is teaching us how to pray: "your Father knows what you need before you ask him" ... The Lord bless you.

Jim, I like your reference to Isaiah chapter 65 verse 24 ... a complimentary reference is Psalm 139 verses 1-4: " Lord, you know when I sit and rise. You perceive my thoughts from afar, my going out and lying down. You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely." Take care.

I've been following a thread of scripture which starts at Isaiah, chapter 65, verse 24: " before you call, I will answer ... while you are still speaking, I will hear "

I found this in the prayer gate: "My thanks to you, Jesus Christ, my Lord, give me a pure heart that I may see You, a humble heart that I may hear You, a heart of love that I may serve You, a heart of faith that I may abide in You." I have faith that Jesus never fails. Jan

The bible-version selection committee completed their review and choose the New International Version as the bible version for our new bibles at NPC. What a wonderful accomplishment. We feel that this is both a physical task and a spiritual action that will enrich our church members for years to come. ....... A short summary of the New International Version: ....... The New International Version (NIV) is a translation made by more than one hundred scholars working from the best available Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. It was conceived in 1965 when, after several years of study by committees from the Christian Reformed Church and the National Association of Evangelicals, a trans-denominational and international group of scholars met at Palos Heights, Illinois, and agreed on the need for a new translation in contemporary English. Their conclusion was endorsed by a large number of church leaders who met in Chicago in 1966. Responsibility for the version was delegated to a self-governing body of fifteen Biblical scholars, the Committee on Bible Translation, and in 1967, the New York Bible Society (now International Bible Society) generously undertook the financial sponsorship of the project. The translation of each book was assigned to a team of scholars, and the work was thoroughly reviewed and revised at various stages by three separate committees.The Committee submitted the developing version to stylistic consultants who made invaluable suggestions. Samples of the translation were tested for clarity and ease of reading by various groups of people. In short, perhaps no other translation has been made by a more thorough process of review and revision. The Committee held to certain goals for the NIV: that it be an Accurate, Beautiful, Clear, and Dignified translation suitable for public and private reading, teaching, preaching, memorizing, and liturgical use. The translators were united in their commitment to the authority and infallibility of the Bible as God's Word in written form. They agreed that faithful communication of the meaning of the original writers demands frequent modifications in sentence structure (resulting in a "thought-for-thought" translation) and constant regard for the contextual meanings of words. In 1973 the New Testament was published. The Committee carefully reviewed suggestions for revisions and adopted a number of them, which they incorporated into the first printing of the entire Bible in 1978. Additional changes were made in 1983. ....... our personal thanks to all the committee members ... peace, love and joy ... Jim and Sandy

Jim, a nice review on the work of a Jewish Scribe. I thought your bible class might also wish to consider their skill in making mezuzahs for Jewish homes. A Scribe prepares a small parchment, with a verse from the Torah, which is then placed in a protective decorative case and attached to the door frame of a home. A Jewish family may have just one mesusah for their main door or they might have many on door frames throughout their house. The tradition comes from a literal understanding of Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 9 - "And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates." The variety, that I've seen, in the protective decorative cases is astounding; there are big ones, small ones, ornate ones, simple ones and they can be made of plastic, wood, metal. Perhaps that's another area of craft in which Women Scribes are permitted to practice by safrut laws. I've never read any explination of why letters cannot touch in a Torah except that it is not permitted by safrut. Actually, the safrut law is specific for each letter in the Hebrew alphabet and defines specifically, for each letter, what pen stroke components of a letter may touch each other. Takes a lot of practice. Take care.

Last week, we had a nice dialog, in the Thursday night bible class, regarding the wonderful tradition of Hebrew Scribes and their efforts over thousands of years to maintain the Word of God in the Torah. This is short review from the Internet as a reference for our bible class members. In 586 B.C., Jerusalem was captured by the Babylonians. The Temple was looted and then destroyed by fire. The Jews were exiled. About 70 years later, Jewish captives returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. At that time, Ezra recovered a copy of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) and read it aloud to the whole nation. From that point in time, Jewish Scribes have preserved the Word of God by making copies of the Torah and eventually other books in the Old Testament. Their craft is highly skilled and their copies of the Torah must conform to very strict standards to preserve the Word of God consistently in each copy. Some examples of this standard: 1. They can only use clean animal skins, both to write on, and to bind manuscripts. 2. Each column of writing can have no less than forty-eight, and no more than sixty lines. 3. The ink must be black, and of a special recipe. 4. They must verbalize each word aloud while they are writing. 5. They must wipe the pen and wash their entire bodies before writing God's name. 6. The letters, words, and paragraphs must be counted. 7. A copy of the Torah becomes invalid if two letters touch each other. 8. The Torah must be stored in a sacred place (synagogues, etc). 9. As no document containing God's Word can be destroyed, they are usually stored, or buried, in a genizah - a Hebrew term meaning "hiding place." These are usually located in a synagogue or a Jewish cemetery. A Scribe's work includes the craft which copies the Torah, other Old Testament books and wedding documents. A Scribe works through various levels of skill in this craft before he can become a Sofer, that is a Scribe who copies the Torah. The steps required to become a Sofer include: Step1 Observe Jewish law. A sofer must be an observant Jew, keep Shabbat, kosher and pray every day. He must also have good character traits, especially patience. Step2 Decide what kind of safrut (writing) you want to learn. Ashkenaz, Sefard, Chabad and Am Mizrachi all have different styles of writing, although the basic laws are the same. (many scribes stick with one style.) Step3 Become an apprentice. A sofer does not take a university course on how to become a Jewish scribe, but he is an apprentice to a more experienced scribe. Step4 Develop your patience. The work of a Jewish scribe is detail oriented and requires a steady hand and patience. The training also requires patience, since it is quite long and arduous. Step5 Learn the laws of safrut. You will need to become well versed in the 4,000 laws on how to write various documents, and you will need to know how to apply them consistantly. Your life-long training requires learning as well as writing. Step6 Get a certificate. Once training is completed, obtain certification. Note: In the various internet references which I reviewed there are references to the craft of women Scribes. Safrut law requires that only male Scribes are permitted to copy the Torah so a women who chooses this very special vocation to be a Scribe can copy other books of the Old Testament and make wedding documents. I found this interesting. Peace, love and joy. Jim

I agree with Clair, our prayers are helpful. Her reference to the epistle of James reminds me of Paul's comment in Romans chapter 12, verse 12: "joyful in hope, patient in tribulation, steadfast in prayer". Jim

I believe our prayers are very helpful for the sick, the troubled, for our own troubles and for all those concerns which become special to our heart. I noted your blog preparing a bible study and thought of a nice harmonic at the beginning of the epistle of James: "your faith produces patience - that you may be: perfect, complete, lacking nothing." The Lord bless you.

Ecclesiastes, chapter 2, verse 26: "God gives: wisdom ... knowledge ... and ... joy ... to a person who is good in His sight ..."

Jeremiah, chapter 5, verse 1 // "do - justice" // "seek - truth" // "receive - pardon" // I find this harmonic interesting because: // if I am a Jewish person of Jeremiah's time period, I can study and interpret the meaning of this passage in one manner as it is before the redemptive grace which each of us now have as a Christian // as a Christian, in the current time period, I can study and interpret the meaning of this passage in another manner from the perspective of our redemption in the life, death and ressurection of Jesus Christ - then, to me anyway, the "receive - pardon" can reflect something quite different // additionally, after thinking about it - over the years I have often seen this verse also as revelation that is looking forward to the Messiah. // Any how, I found this verse interesting when I noted it the other day and thought of the thread on this blog. Have a nice day. Jim

I found two new harmonics - new to me anyway - one is in Deuteronomy chapter 7 verses 12 + 13 - " God will keep His covenant ... He will ... love you ... bless you ... multiply you ..." ... the other is in the second epistle of Timothy chapter 1 verse 7 - " God has not given us the spirit of fear, rather the spirit of power, love and a sound mind." ... I feel they are similar to one I found awhile ago: Deut. 11; 22 ... "loving - the Lord our God ... walking - in all His ways ... cleaving - to Him" ... Have a nice day. Jan

Your theme of harmonic triplets with the Is58 + Mt6 verse reminds me of grain, wine and oil. A good reference is Dt11;14 - "He will give rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain that you may gather grain, wine and oil". Our best wishes and prayers for you in our Lord Jesus.

Reading Is-ch58 - those verses (of Mat-ch6 on prayer, fasting and aid to those in need) are very focused on the tangible. Good study. Thank you for the insight and God bless you folks.

Hi, I like your comments on Isaiah chapter 58. I like your harmonics-of-3; an interesting study. I've been using Isaiah 58 in connection with our group's study on piety in Matthew chapter 6. We did not have a clear concensus for just what fasting means. This section of revelation, in Isaiah, is the key that we have found for that definition. Just thought I'd share this. I'll paste a good part of the chapter in from the New Living Bible - the word flow, in this translation, seems to help a consideration for this perspective on fasting. Peace and joy in our Lord, Jesus Christ - Molly .......................... Isaiah 58 ... Tell my people Israel of their sins! Yet they act so pious! They come to the Temple every day and seem delighted to learn all about me. They act like a righteous nation that would never abandon the laws of its God. They ask me to take action on their behalf, pretending they want to be near me. ‘We have fasted before you!’ they say. 'Why aren’t you impressed? We have been very hard on ourselves, and you don’t even notice it!’ “I will tell you why!” I respond. “It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves. Even while you fast, you keep oppressing your workers. What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me. You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like reeds bending in the wind. You dress in burlap and cover yourselves with ashes. Is this what you call fasting? Do you really think this will please the Lord? “No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help. “Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind. Then when you call, the Lord will answer. 'Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply. “Remove the heavy yoke of oppression. Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors! Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes. “Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day. Honor the Sabbath in everything you do ...

Glad to see an entry to this BLOG. I never noted that harmonic in verse 8 of Isiah chapter 58. A very nice thread of scripture. I'd suggest that extending the chapter context to verses 6 - 10 helps my understanding. ....“ I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh?" ... Then there is verse 8: "Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard." I feel our actions in verses six and seven set the spiritual principle for the harmonic in verse 8. Then in verses nine and ten we see the effective outcome: "Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’... extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday." Peace in our Lord, Jesus Christ.

I noted that our Old Testament reading, at Church today, has a nice harmonic-of-three: "your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you" Isaiah, chapter 58, verse 8 - I felt the Pastor's sermon spoke to me that we, the church, as the body of Christ, provide a special "light" to the world; maybe that's the light Jesus tells us in Matthew not to put under a bushel basket. From that light, this passage in Isaiah tells us, comes healing for us, others and that our righteousness, Jesus Christ, goes before us. I find that comforting.

I believe prayer is effective. There is a promise in the Epistle of James, chapter 5, verse 16: "The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results." We may not always see or understand the results, when we pray, but they are always wonderful.

Keep praying for the sick, I'm sure it helps!

Yo--Pastor Emrys here. I just thought I'd drop a line. How many of us are reading this blog? Make sure to leave a comment when you visit! I'm excited about this new building addition for Sunday School rooms. We've put the first payment in ($30K), so it's in the works. Not sure if we're going to have a groundbreaking ceremony. Any thoughts? We'll definitely have a dedication ceremony when it's finished. Other news: June 29th will be our "percussion service," to include drums and other instruments. I'm looking forward to it. Jim and Hayden and I are playing the prelude. It's gonna be cool. Shalom, emrys

I like Dawn's harmonic from Proverbs. How about this one from the book of Ecclesiastes,chapter 2, verse 26: "God gives that which is good: wisdom, knowledge and joy"

I like this passage from Proverbs ... Prov. chapter 3; verses 19 + 20 ... By wisdom the Lord founded the earth ... By understanding He established the heavens ... By His knowledge the waters of the deep break forth and the clouds drop down their dew. Dawn

I found another one ... Deut. 11; 22 ... loving - the Lord our God ... walking - in all His ways ... cleaving - to Him. Have a nice day. Jan

1Thes.5;16-17 ... rejoyce - always ... pray - constantly ... give thanks - in all circumstances ... Take care. Lee

Hi, just checking in to see if there are any questions, comments or suggestions regarding use of the BLOG or NPC web page. Right now we maintain both for the folks at Nineveh Presbyterian Church. Just e-mail us. Peace, love and joy in our Lord, Jesus Christ. Jim and Sandy By the way, we like the thread of revelation that you're following; how about John 14:6 where Jesus says, "I am the: way, truth and life". Best wishes.

Rom.14;17 ... the kingdom of God does not mean food or drink ... but ... in the Holy Spirit ... righteousness ... peace ... and joy.

I think I see what we're doing. There's a spot in Psalm 100 that's like this: 1. make a noise with gladness - God is good, 2. enter His gates with thanksgiving - God is love, 3. enter his court with praise - God is faithful. Sort of three separate sets of three ... what I do - make a noise, enter His gates and enter His court ... how I feel - gladness, thanksgiving and praise ... what God "is" to me - good, love and faithful. I wonder if it's my action (what I do) that creates the feeling or the feeling that creates the action? God is the same forever so my spiritual relationship with God of good, love and faithful must depend on what I do or how I feel or maybe both?

I like that YMI site too. How about the gospel of Matthew 7;7 "Ask and it will be given ... seek and you will find ... knock and it will be opened"

I forgot, I have a good verse: and those with the Lord are called, chosen and faithful. Rev.17,14 We're back again to just three spiritual attributes in this verse but I like it. I'm not sure why but I like it. Have a nice day. Jan

I like YMI-LIVE too. The videos are good. Have a nice day. Jan

John ... maybe these two verses (Deut.10;12-13)have something to do with wisdom and our faith in Jesus. This one is a harmonic of five. "What does God require: reverence for the Lord, to walk in His ways, to love Him, to serve the Lord with your heart, soul and to keep His commandments." If this does have anything to do with wisdom, I don't see why it takes folks so long to find it? I liked that YMI site, havn't tried the devotional yet. Take care. Lee

God is the source of our life in Jesus Christ, whom God made our: wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption. 1Cor.1;30 I get righteousness, sanctification and redemtion from stuff we've studied in Sunday School over the years. I don't think anyone's explained wisdom so that I understand it yet. I thought of this verse with those progressions of three that you folks have been using. This one has four. John

Sorry - forgot to write the internet address of my devotional: http://www.d365.org/todaysdevotion/?CFID=1653756&CFTOKEN=97220431

There's an internet daily devotional that I use ... it has a good Christian message and always nice music ... have a nice day ... Jan

Reverence for the Lord is God's treasure, the Lord is our stability, providing: salvation, and wisdom and knowledge. Isiah 33;5-6

There are ... varieties of gifts but the same Spirit ... varieties of service but the same Lord ... varieties of workings but the same God who inspires them. 1 Cor. 12; 4-6

I like YMI - an internet Christian community with music, video and lots to do. It's at: http://www.ymilive.org/

God has shown what is good and what He requires of me: to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with my God. Micah 6; 8