22 Av 5983 / 9 August 2023
Day 221 Readings
Torah Portion: Deuteronomy 14:1-21
1 “You are the people of Adonai your God. You are not to gash yourselves or shave the hair above your foreheads in mourning for the dead, 2 because you are a people set apart as holy for Adonai your God. Adonai your God has chosen you to be his own unique treasure out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.
19 “All winged swarming creatures are unclean for you; they are not to be eaten; 20 but all clean flying creatures you may eat.
21 “You are not to eat any animal that dies naturally; although you may let a stranger staying with you eat it, or sell it to a foreigner; because you are a holy people for Adonai your God.
“You are not to boil a young animal in its mother’s milk.
Bible Study Together:
Deuteronomy 1: 19-25
20 There I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill-country of the Emori, which Adonai our God is giving to us. 21 Look! Adonai your God has placed the land before you. Go up, take possession, as Adonai, the God of your ancestors, has told you. Don’t be afraid, don’t be dismayed.’
25 They took some of the produce of the land and brought it down to us; they also brought back word to us — ‘The land Adonai our God is giving to us is good.’
Psalm 81:1-16
7 You called in trouble and I rescued you; I answered you in the hiding place of thunder;
I put you to the test at thewaters of Meribah.Selah
8 Hear, My people, and I will admonish you; Israel, if youwould listen to Me!
9 There shall be no strange god among you; Nor shall you worship a foreign god.
10 I, the Lord, am your God, Who brought you up from the land of Egypt;
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.
11 “But My people did not listen to My voice, And Israel did not[e]obey Me.
12 So Igave[f]them over to the stubbornness of their heart, To walk by their own plans.
13 Oh that My peoplewould listen to Me, That Israel wouldwalk in My ways!
14 I would quicklysubdue their enemies Andturn My hand against their adversaries.
15 Those who hate theLordwouldpretend to obey Him, And their timeof punishmentwould be forever.
16 But I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
Romans 1
18 What is revealed is God’s anger from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people who in their wickedness keep suppressing the truth; 19 because what is known about God is plain to them, since God has made it plain to them. 20 For ever since the creation of the universe his invisible qualities — both his eternal power and his divine nature — have been clearly seen, because they can be understood from what he has made. Therefore, they have no excuse; 21 because, although they know who God is, they do not glorify him as God or thank him. On the contrary, they have become futile in their thinking; and their undiscerning hearts have become darkened.
28 In other words, since they have not considered God worth knowing, God has given them up to worthless ways of thinking; so that they do improper things. 29 They are filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and vice; stuffed with jealousy, murder, quarrelling, dishonesty and ill-will; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God; they are insolent, arrogant and boastful; they plan evil schemes; they disobey their parents; 31 they are brainless, faithless, heartless and ruthless. 32 They know well enough God’s righteous decree that people who do such things deserve to die; yet not only do they keep doing them, but they applaud others who do the same.
365 Daily Kingdom Living
Escape
Satan and this world's system litter our path with a wide variety of innocent-looking snares and traps. We're enticed by the 'bait'; we don't see the threat. Even when we can see them, as David notes in this psalm, we can still fall victim and are reminded that our safety is only found in God. Be alert today, knowing God has your best interests in mind. God is good; all the time.
Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, as I look at the things before me today, I may not be able to recognize the snares and traps ahead. 'Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil' - that's my prayer today. I confess you are my refuge; where else can I go? Help me to be strong in you today. In Jesus' precious name, Amen.
Scripture
Ezra 9
Intermarriage with Pagans
9 When these things were done, the leaders came to me, saying, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, with respect to the abominations of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. 2 For they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed is mixed with the peoples of those lands. Indeed, the hand of the leaders and rulers has been foremost in this [a]trespass.”
5 At the evening sacrifice I arose from my fasting; and having torn my garment and my robe, I fell on my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God.
15 O Lord God of Israel, You are righteous, for we are left as a remnant, as it is this day. Here we are before You, in our guilt, though no one can stand before You because of this!”
1 Corinthians 5
1 It is actually being reported that there is sexual sin among you, and it is sexual sin of a kind that is condemned even by pagans — a man is living with his stepmother!
9 In my earlier letter I wrote you not to associate with people who engage in sexual immorality. 10 I didn’t mean the sexually immoral people outside your community, or the greedy, or the thieves or the idol-worshippers — for then you would have to leave the world altogether! 11 No, what I wrote you was not to associate with anyone who is supposedly a brother but who also engages in sexual immorality, is greedy, worships idols, is abusive, gets drunk or steals. With such a person you shouldn’t even eat!
12 For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders? Isn’t it those who are part of the community that you should be judging? 13 God will judge those who are outside. Just expel the evildoer from among yourselves.
Psalms 31:1-8
1 In You, Lord, I have taken refuge;Let me never be [a]put to shame;In Your righteousness rescue me. 2 Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly;Be a rock of [b]strength for me,A [c]stronghold to save me. 3 For You are my rock and my fortress;For the sake of Your name You will lead me and guide me. 4 You will pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,For You are my strength. 5 Into Your hand I entrust my spirit;You have redeemed me, Lord, God of truth.
6 I hate those who devote themselves to worthless [e]idols,But I trust in the Lord. 7 I will rejoice and be glad in Your faithfulness,Because You have seen my misery;You have known the troubles of my soul, 8 And You have not handed me over to the enemy;You have set my feet in a large place.
Proverbs 21:1-2
1 The king’s heart in Adonai’s hand is like streams of water — he directs it wherever he pleases.
2 All a person’s ways are right in his own view, but Adonai weighs the heart.
Dear AVI,
HOLY HOLY HOLY are YOU O GOD Almighty! King of the Universe! YOU are the HOLY ONE, the Awesome ONE of Israel and of the Philippines! Great are YOU O LORD and here I AM Your Beloved child, and YOU are my ABBA who has brought me forth in the world to worship and love YOU. O LORD, forgive the Iniquity of my heart, the wrongs I have done, forgive and heal me from all that has hurt me and wounded me and broken me. Heal me O GOD and I will be healed, for YOU are the GOD who saves, who restores and makes all things new. LORD, toda for YOUR WORD, forgive O LORD all the sexual immorality of my people and heal our land, remove our inquities from us O GOD and heal us. O LORD, forgive me for eating too much junkfood for my body is YOUR Temple, help me to feed it with the best so I can do my best for YOU in all that I do. Especially now that I will be dancing for YOU in church, please heal me O GOD, please take care of me, please grace me with the gift of dance so that I can bring glory to YOU in YOUR Sanctuary through my body. Let my heart be cleansed for YOU have always been purifying it with so much pain that humbles me. Forgive O LORD, my wrong thoughts and desires, please give me thoughts and desires that are pleasing to YOU, that are conformed to YOUR will O GOD My KING, I trust YOU to make me holy and blameless until YOU return for me. O GOD, bless our practices today at church please help me do my best for YOU. Please O GOD, have mercy on me. Help me to do my best for YOU, take away all the hindrances that is making me afraid and worry. Please O GOD, let YOUR grace and favor be upon us. O LORD I am content whrere I am and where YOU are sending me I am content if only YOUR Presence is always on fire inside me, let me abide in YOUR WORD YOUR TRUTH and let my heart be quick to follow after YOU. Toda for all our workers LORD may YOU purify their hearts and motives and take away any wrong motives for YOU always look at the heart of man and weigh it. If YOU weigh mine, YOU will see that I have a weak heart, so I lay myself to YOU praying that YOU will make me strong, I depend on YOU to make me successful and Victorious. I depend on YOU to make me happy, please make me happy once again, content satisfied because of YOUR glorious presence all over me. O LORD, please save Gonen Ben Yitzak and his family, Shiek Hassan Yousef, Sabha Abu Salem and all of Mosab's siblings, I pray that YOU save Ramon Tiu, Jose and Jeanie Rose Gulfan, the Boca Family, the Hattab Family of Moayed, Nader, Fadi, Shadi, Issam and the entire family of my Grandparents household all over the world. I pray that YOU save Jeward Jay Barbero from his demons, Pauline and the members of my family who are still manipulated by the wicked one. I pray that YOU deliver us all and heal the sick - Jhunn Marie Cabungcal, heal us all O LORD, our lives are in YOUR hands. Have YOUR way and always protect my dogs and grant us good health. Toda for the good heal of my parents, my family, our workers our animals, everything around me. O GOD, take care of Mosab Hassn Yousef, I pray that he will always be devoted to YOU and YOU alone, that his Spirit will be stronger than his head. YOU said YOU will have mercy on whoever YOU want, please let YOUR mercy and YOUR grace always abound in me and all that I do. Please O GOD, do not allow me to be defeated by YOUR enemies. Yes, here I am O GOD with mouth wide open, satisfy me according to YOUR WORD, let it be unto me. Please O GOD, take full control of me always, have YOUR way, let my heart be ONE with YOURS. For YOURS is the power and the Glory and the Honor now and forever and ever! YOU alone O GOD deserve all our highest utmost love and devotion O GOD.
Ba HaShem YEHOSHUA Ha Malkizadik Ha Olam, Amen!