Sunday, 4 Shevat 5984 / January 14, 2024
Day 379 Readings
Torah: Parshat Bo, 1st Portion Shemot (Exodus) 10:1-11
Exodus 10:1-11
English Standard Version
The Eighth Plague: Locusts
1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, 2 and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.”
3 So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. 4 For if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country, 5 and they shall cover the face of the land, so that no one can see the land. And they shall eat what is left to you after the hail, and they shall eat every tree of yours that grows in the field, 6 and they shall fill your houses and the houses of all your servants and of all the Egyptians, as neither your fathers nor your grandfathers have seen, from the day they came on earth to this day.’” Then he turned and went out from Pharaoh.
7 Then Pharaoh's servants said to him, “How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?” 8 So Moses and Aaron were brought back to Pharaoh. And he said to them, “Go, serve the Lord your God. But which ones are to go?” 9 Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old. We will go with our sons and daughters and with our flocks and herds, for we must hold a feast to the Lord.” 10 But he said to them, “The Lord be with you, if ever I let you and your little ones go! Look, you have some evil purpose in mind.[a] 11 No! Go, the men among you, and serve the Lord, for that is what you are asking.” And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.
Realization; THE LORD controls the Universe even the hearts of men! HE causes us to love, to hate, to dislike but HE gives us grace to forgive the unforgivable but HE also gives in our hearts to love a certain person and loathness to certain people, for the Purpose of showing signs and wonders towards People.
BIble study Together
Psalm 7
English Standard Version
In You Do I Take Refuge
A Shiggaion[a] of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.
7 O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me,2 lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.
3 O Lord my God, if I have done this, if there is wrong in my hands,4 if I have repaid my friend[b] with evil or plundered my enemy without cause,5 let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it, and let him trample my life to the ground and lay my glory in the dust. Selah
6 Arise, O Lord, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.7 Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you; over it return on high.
8 The Lord judges the peoples; judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me.9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous—you who test the minds and hearts,[c] O righteous God!10 My shield is with God, who saves the upright in heart.11 God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day.
12 If a man[d] does not repent, God[e] will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow;13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts.14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies.15 He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made.16 His mischief returns upon his own head, and on his own skull his violence descends.
17 I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.
Psalm 61
English Standard Version
Lead Me to the Rock
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. Of David.
1 Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; 2 from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, 3 for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.
4 Let me dwell in your tent forever! Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Selah 5 For you, O God, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
6 Prolong the life of the king; may his years endure to all generations! 7 May he be enthroned forever before God; appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!
8 So will I ever sing praises to your name, as I perform my vows day after day.
Psalm 144
English Standard Version
My Rock and My Fortress
Of David.
1 Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; 2 he is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer,my shield and he in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples[a] under me.
3 O Lord, what is man that you regard him, or the son of man that you think of him? 4 Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.
5 Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down! Touch the mountains so that they smoke! 6 Flash forth the lightning and scatter them; send out your arrows and rout them! 7 Stretch out your hand from on high; rescue me and deliver me from the many waters, from the hand of foreigners, 8 whose mouths speak lies and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
9 I will sing a new song to you, O God; upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you, 10 who gives victory to kings, who rescues David his servant from the cruel sword. 11 Rescue me and deliver me from the hand of foreigners,whose mouths speak lies and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
12 May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown,our daughters like corner pillars cut for the structure of a palace; 13 may our granaries be full, providing all kinds of produce;may our sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields;14 may our cattle be heavy with young, suffering no mishap or failure in bearing;[b]may there be no cry of distress in our streets! 15 Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall! Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord!
ESV Readings
Scripture
Genesis 13:2-18
English Standard Version
2 Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord. 5 And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, 6 so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, 7 and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram's livestock and the herdsmen of Lot's livestock. At that time the Canaanites and the Perizzites were dwelling in the land.
8 Then Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between you and me, and between your herdsmen and my herdsmen, for we are kinsmen.[a] 9 Is not the whole land before you? Separate yourself from me. If you take the left hand, then I will go to the right, or if you take the right hand, then I will go to the left.” 10 And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw that the Jordan Valley was well watered everywhere like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, in the direction of Zoar. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose for himself all the Jordan Valley, and Lot journeyed east. Thus they separated from each other. 12 Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled among the cities of the valley and moved his tent as far as Sodom. 13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord.
14 The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, 15 for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. 17 Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” 18 So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks[b] of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.
1 Chronicles 13
English Standard Version
The Ark Brought from Kiriath-Jearim
1 David consulted with the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with every leader. 2 And David said to all the assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you and from the Lord our God, let us send abroad to our brothers who remain in all the lands of Israel, as well as to the priests and Levites in the cities that have pasturelands, that they may be gathered to us. 3 Then let us bring again the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it[a] in the days of Saul.” 4 All the assembly agreed to do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.
Uzzah and the Ark
5 So David assembled all Israel from the Nile[b] of Egypt to Lebo-hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim. 6 And David and all Israel went up to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim that belongs to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord who sits enthroned above the cherubim. 7 And they carried the ark of God on a new cart, from the house of Abinadab, and Uzzah and Ahio[c] were driving the cart. 8 And David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their might, with song and lyres and harps and tambourines and cymbals and trumpets.
9 And when they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to take hold of the ark, for the oxen stumbled. 10 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he put out his hand to the ark, and he died there before God. 11 And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzza[d] to this day. 12 And David was afraid of God that day, and he said, “How can I bring the ark of God home to me?” 13 So David did not take the ark home into the city of David, but took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. 14 And the ark of God remained with the household of Obed-edom in his house three months. And the Lord blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that he had.
Dear AVI,
Blessed are YOU O GOD MyKING who rules the Universe and all big and small things! O GOD YOU are the HOLY One of Israel, the Alpha and Omega! Toda for enabling me to finsh a most successful OMAD fast for January with CCF congregation. O Adonai, I pray that YOU would enable me to continue the OMAD fast until YOU encounter Stephen with the RUACHFIRE of the Living GOD, baptize him in water and fire with his mother and enable me to do the fast every weekday except Weekends O GOD, help me to do it because I will not give up what YOU have entrusted to me that is to intercede for Stephen and Benita so that their families will be saved, I had dreamt of his sister, mother, brothers and sister in law last night, I was talking to them mom and dad was there too. Two successive dreams, after I woke up at 3am to read YOUR word that I missed reading yesterday. Because I feel like David, when he couldn't bring the Ark of GOD to Jerusalem Temple, I felt angry and frustrated that I had to wait for 3 months until I could learn how to bring him to YOUR temple, but it doesn't have to be waiting doing nothing but waiting in intercessory and OMAD Fast prayers until YOU encounter him in the fire of the RUACH and then he himself will ask to be baptized in water in any church that YOU will lead him too. Help me Adonai to work with YOU and to do things according to YOUR will and power and grace for YOU are able, and I am just willing to be YOUR vessel so help me KING YESHUA fulfill YOUR plans for Stephen and Benita and their family.
In the Name of YESHUA I pray Amen!
Luke 8:4-21
English Standard Version
The Parable of the Sower
4 And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. 8 And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
The Purpose of the Parables
9 And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, 10 he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ 11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. 13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. 14 And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. 15 As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.
A Lamp Under a Jar
16 “No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 17 For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. 18 Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”
Jesus' Mother and Brothers
19 Then his mother and his brothers[a] came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. 20 And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” 21 But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”
Psalm 12
English Standard Version
The Faithful Have Vanished
To the choirmaster: according to The Sheminith.[a] A Psalm of David.
1 Save, O Lord, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man. 2 Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts, 4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?”
5 “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.” 6 The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.
7 You, O Lord, will keep them; you will guard us[b] from this generation forever. 8 On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man.