13 Tishrei 5994 / 28 September 2023
Day 271 Readings
Torah: Vezot Hab'rachah, 5th Portion Devarim (Deuteronomy) 33:22-26
24 And of Asher he said:
“Asher is most blessed of sons;Let him be favored by his brothers,And let him dip his foot in oil.25 Your sandals shall be iron and bronze;As your days, so shall your strength be.
26 “There is no one like the God of Jeshurun,Who rides the heavens to help you,And in His excellency on the clouds.
Bible Study Together
Joshua 14:6-15:19
Caleb Inherits Hebron
6 Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him: “You know the word which the Lord said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea. 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart. 8 Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the [a]heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the Lord my God. 9 So Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children’s forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.’ 10 And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel [b]wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old. 11 As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in. 12 Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said.”
13 And Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. 14 Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel. 15 And the name of Hebron formerly was Kirjath Arba (Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim). Then the land had rest from war.
Joshua 15
16 And Caleb said, “He who [f]attacks Kirjath Sepher and takes it, to him I will give Achsah my daughter as wife.” 17 So Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it; and he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife. 18 Now it was so, when she came to him, that she persuaded him to ask her father for a field. So she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?” 19 She answered, “Give me a blessing; since you have given me land in the South, give me also springs of water.” So he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.
Luke 9:37-45
A Boy Is Healed
37 Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him. 38 Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, “Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child. 39 And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him. 40 So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”
41 Then Jesus answered and said, “O [a]faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and [b]bear with you? Bring your son here.” 42 And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.
Jesus Again Predicts His Death
43 And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.
365 Daily Kingdom Living
Who Is Our Enemy?
When people oppose us or take advantage of us or treat us badly, we so often look at them as our enemies. And sometimes we spend so much of our time and energy in fighting back or at least in defending ourselves. But we need to realise an important Biblical truth. Our real enemies are not those who oppose us or take advantage of us. Our real enemy is Satan and his army of demons. We need to live in the truth that our real warfare is not against our fellow men who might oppose us but we are actually in a spiritual battle and our enemy is the forces of darkness - spiritual forces. And when we realise this, our method of fighting will also change as the warfare now takes on a spiritual dimension and we realise the foolishness of fighting the wrong enemy.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, Thank you for showing us that our warfare is against the spiritual forces of darkness and not against flesh and blood. Let us therefore not fight with the wrong enemy, those opposing us or taking advantage of us, but let us wage war against the spiritual forces trying to pull us down in our walk with you. Give us the discernment to see things with a spiritual perspective that is directed by the Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Scripture
Isaiah 54
New King James Version
A Perpetual Covenant of Peace
54 “Sing, O barren,You who have not borne!Break forth into singing, and cry aloud,You who have not labored with child!For more are the children of the desolateThan the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.2 “Enlarge the place of your tent,And let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings;Do not spare;Lengthen your cords,And strengthen your stakes.3 For you shall expand to the right and to the left,And your descendants will inherit the nations,And make the desolate cities inhabited.
4 “Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed;Neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame;For you will forget the shame of your youth,And will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore.5 For your Maker is your husband,The Lord of hosts is His name;And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel;He is called the God of the whole earth.6 For the Lord has called youLike a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit,Like a youthful wife when you were refused,”Says your God.7 “For a mere moment I have forsaken you,But with great mercies I will gather you.8 With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment;But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,”Says the Lord, your Redeemer.
9 “For this is like the waters of Noah to Me;For as I have swornThat the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth,So have I swornThat I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.10 For the mountains shall departAnd the hills be removed,But My kindness shall not depart from you,Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,”Says the Lord, who has mercy on you.
11 “O you afflicted one,Tossed with tempest, and not comforted,Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems,And lay your foundations with sapphires.12 I will make your pinnacles of rubies,Your gates of crystal,And all your walls of precious stones.13 All your children shall be taught by the Lord,And great shall be the peace of your children.14 In righteousness you shall be established;You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear;And from terror, for it shall not come near you.15 Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me.Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.
16 “Behold, I have created the blacksmithWho blows the coals in the fire,Who brings forth an [a]instrument for his work;And I have created the [b]spoiler to destroy.17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper,And every tongue which rises against you in judgmentYou shall condemn.This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,And their righteousness is from Me,”Says the Lord.
Isaiah 55
6 Seek the Lord while He may be found,Call upon Him while He is near.7 Let the [d]wicked forsake his way,And the unrighteous man his thoughts;Let him return to the Lord,And He will have mercy on him;And to our God,For He will abundantly pardon.
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,So are My ways higher than your ways,And My thoughts than your thoughts.
10 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,And do not return there,But water the earth,And make it bring forth and bud,That it may give seed to the sowerAnd bread to the eater,11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;It shall not return to Me [e]void,But it shall accomplish what I please,And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
12 “For you shall go out with joy,And be led out with peace;The mountains and the hillsShall break forth into singing before you,And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree,And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;And it shall be to the Lord for a name,For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
Isaiah 56
1 Thus says the Lord:
“Keep justice, and do righteousness,For My salvation is about to come,And My righteousness to be revealed.2 Blessed is the man who does this,And the son of man who lays hold on it;Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,And keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
3 Do not let the son of the foreignerWho has joined himself to the LordSpeak, saying,“The Lord has utterly separated me from His people”;Nor let the eunuch say,“Here I am, a dry tree.”4 For thus says the Lord:“To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths,And choose what pleases Me,And hold fast My covenant,5 Even to them I will give in My houseAnd within My walls a place and a nameBetter than that of sons and daughters;I will give [f]them an everlasting nameThat shall not be cut off.
6 “Also the sons of the foreignerWho join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him,And to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants—Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,And holds fast My covenant—7 Even them I will bring to My holy mountain,And make them joyful in My house of prayer.Their burnt offerings and their sacrificesWill be accepted on My altar;For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.”8 The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says,“Yet I will gather to himOthers besides those who are gathered to him.”
Isaiah 57
15 For thus says the High and Lofty OneWho inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:“I dwell in the high and holy place,With him who has a contrite and humble spirit,To revive the spirit of the humble,And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.16 For I will not contend forever,Nor will I always be angry;For the spirit would fail before Me,And the souls which I have made.17 For the iniquity of his covetousnessI was angry and struck him;I hid and was angry,And he went on [n]backsliding in the way of his heart.18 I have seen his ways, and will heal him;I will also lead him,And restore comforts to himAnd to his mourners.
19 “I create the fruit of the lips:Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near,”Says the Lord,“And I will heal him.”
Ephesians 6
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: 3 “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”
4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.
The Whole Armor of God
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the [b]wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of [c]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Psalm 70
New King James Version
Prayer for Relief from Adversaries
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. To bring to remembrance.
1 Make haste, O God, to deliver me!Make haste to help me, O Lord!
2 Let them be ashamed and confoundedWho seek my life;Let them be [a]turned back and confusedWho desire my hurt.
3 Let them be turned back because of their shame,Who say, [b]“Aha, aha!”
4 Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;And let those who love Your salvation say continually,“Let God be magnified!”
5 But I am poor and needy;Make haste to me, O God!You are my help and my deliverer;O Lord, do not delay.
Proverbs 24:8
8 He who plots to do evil Will be called a [a]schemer.
Dear AVI
Baruk Ata Adonai Melek Ha Olam! O GOD Almighty toda so much for YOUR WORDS of comfort to me and they are not just WORDS but WORDS that are backed up by reality. Toda for My crown, It is the most splendid and amazing but LORD, YOU have to put it on me... Crown me with YOUR lovingkindness and mercy.
Ba HaShem YESHUA HaMashiach Amen!