Love Is The Basis (Replay)

Good morning and I hope all is well with you.  Today, I am sharing a writing that I did back in May of 2008.  Yes, I know it was nearly six years ago, but it is just as relevant now as it was back then.  With Valentines day fast approaching, I figured it would be just as good of time as any to share.  Without further adieu, here we go.

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May 13, 2008

I hope that all is well with everyone this fine Tuesday morning! You know yesterday, my wife and I celebrated our 7th Wedding Anniversary and needless to say I am still alive and my wife has not taken me out yet :-). No but seriously, it is truly a blessing to be married and the both of you share the same affection, open lines of communication and at the core, pure love for each other.

We didn't do anything different than a normal day at all. Money is tight so we cooked at home like normal. At first it was quite disappointing and frustrating because in your brain, you wanted to go all out on your anniversary. You want to roll the kids out to a relatives house, and go have a good time with your husband or wife. That's what is always assumed you do, but sometimes life doesn't always lend itself to what you want to do when you want to do it. So while for a bit I was frustrated yesterday, I had to remember the reason why we got married in the first placed. It was love for each other. It wasn't to pawn off kids and have a good time. It was to form a union in the presence of God according to His season.

Let's go to the 1st Book of the Bible and Old Testament. In Genesis 2:24-25, it says 

(24) Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. (25) And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. 

In the beginning, it was God who set the rules. A man shall marry a woman and they shall be as one. Now verse 25 is the "nugget". It said, "..they were both naked....and were not ashamed". So here Adam and Eve are and all they have is their nakedness and each other. It didn't say, they were ashamed of what they didn't have. It didn't say they wished they be without the kids one night (I know there were no kids at this point, but work with me here) or wished to head out to the best and fanciest restaurant. It didn't say, they wished to sail down the Nile River on a yacht. It said, they had each other and was not ashamed. 

In the words of my daughter, Zion, "what does that mean?" Glad you asked. Let's flip to the 1st Book of the New Testament, Matthew. In chapter 22, verses 37-40, it says:

(37) Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. (38) This is the first and great commandment. (39) And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (40) On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

We are to first place God at the head of our marriage and household. We are to love Him with every inch of our very existence. Second we are to love thy neighbour as thyself. Before your spouse was your spouse, they were your neighbour. If you couldn't love them from that standpoint then you were getting off on the wrong track any way.

You can have all the money in the world. You can have the largest house, nicest & fastest car, and all the richest friends in the world, but take them all away and what do you have left? You have God and each other. If the very existence and core of your marriage was not right from day one, then your marriage was predicated on the wrong things. At the end of the day, it's about the love you share for one another and how no one or nothing but God takes precedence over that.

Be blessed gang and have a good Tuesday!

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Antoine E. Hall

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What is the Tetragrammaton?

Modern Hebrew for YHWH

The word Tetragrammaton is a pretty big word.  If one would look at it, it looks like it would represent some geometric shape.  It also, seems as though it could be a place within the cartoon, Transformers, but it is neither of these.  Tetragrammaton is "...the Hebrew name for God revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 3), consisting of the four consonants Y H V H (or Y H W H) and regarded by Jews as too sacred to be pronounced" (from TheFreeDictionaryOnline.com). The excerpt below goes into more detail on the issue.

"Keep in mind that the Hebrew alphabet did not contain vowels. Ancient Hebrew was a consonantal alphabet. This has led to some debate about the proper pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton, with opinions including Jehovah, Yahweh, Yahveh, Yahuweh, and many other variants...the name Yahweh was recorded more than 160 times in the Scriptures preceding Exodus 3:14-15. The name Yahweh should be one of the most frequently occurring words in our English Bibles today. Yet, without exception, all of the most popular Bible versions have removed the memorial name of God from the Scriptures and have replaced it with a titular substitute. In most cases, Yahweh has been replaced with “God,” “Lord,” or “Lord God.” The words Lord and God are NOT names. They are nouns denoting one who is a ruler, and a deity. They are like the word “father.” I am a father, and at times my children may call me “father,” or “dad.” However, neither of these words are my name. They describe my position in the family, but my name is Joseph." (from Joseph Herrin's Parablesblog, "Yahweh's Book - Errors in the Bible").

I've learned this recently and I wanted to share with you too!  Proverbs 27:17 says, "Just as iron sharpens iron, a person sharpens the character of his friend." (CJB)

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Why Worry?

http://bible.com/114/MAT6.31-34.NKJV

31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Bible.com/app

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In the Beginning, There Was Living Water

Image courtesy of WikiMedia.org

1 Peter 1:20 - He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you (NKJV)

Over the past couple of days, I have had the chance to re-read Genesis 1.  As a matter of fact about a couple of months ago, I re-read Genesis 1 and I kept getting stuck on the first few verses.  I did not realize it at the time, but the Holy Spirit was trying to show me something and while I was in the right area, I was not discerning the right message.  However in talking with my wife last night, she made a comment and a light bulb went off immediately!  So, today I would like to share this with you.

As such, I would like to share the first few verses of Genesis 1.

Genesis 1:1-2  (1) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (2) The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. (NKJV)

In reading, it is easy to miss things, but I am a believer in the fact that the Word of God can show you something different even when you read the same verses.  So, right now I have highlighted the water.  In the beginning and before God even formed the earth, water existed.  Before anything was ever formed, there was water.  Wait, how is that possible right?  How can water exist without a surface for it to flow through?  Well, I will get to that in a minute.

We see that on the first day, God separated the light from the dark (see Genesis 1:3-5). However, on the second day something interesting happens.  Let's have a closer look:

Genesis 1:6-8 - (6) Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” (7) Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. (8) And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day. (NKJV)

Yes, God created Heaven, but where did it come from?  It came from the water!  Out of all my readings of scripture, I have never picked up on this before!  It was pretty cool to see, but then the Word of God goes on with the creation of Earth. 

Genesis 1:9-10 - (9) Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. (10) And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. (NKJV)

The waters under heaven was then "gathered together in one place" (or organized) and THEN, the dry land appeared in the midst of the water.  Then of course God creates the sea life, plant life, wild life, and then humans.

There is no argument that today, that one of the most important elements today is water.  According to the U.S. Geological Survey, "[a]bout 70 percent of the Earth's surface is water-covered, and the oceans hold about 96.5 percent of all Earth's water" (from "How much water is there on, in, and above the Earth?").   Entire cities were built next to sources of water in order to thrive.  We eat food from the water.  We drink water.  Factories need water as a vital part of their operations.  We need it for so many daily things in our lives that we do not realize its significance.  "The amount of water in the human body ranges from 50-75%" (from "How Much of Your Body Is Water?").  Our body tissue contains lots of water and as such we much constantly replenish our ourselves with it.  Human bodies can only go for about "8 to 10 days without water", where by comparison "[y]ou can make it 3 weeks without food" (from "How Long Can a Person Survive Without Water?")!  Lastly, I cannot go without mentioning that Christians use water for Baptisms as well!

I found this to be really interesting and I have been enjoying this revelation.  However, I told you that I would get back to existence of water before even the earth's existence.  If we go to the book of John we see Jesus in a conversation with a Samaritan woman at a well.  Jesus was exhausted from his travels, so He asked the woman to draw him some water to drink.  Being a Samaritan, the woman was a little confused because Jews did not associate with them.  So let's pick up at John 4:7.

John 4:7-14  - (7) A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” (8) For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.  (9) Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.  (10) Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”  (11) The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? (12) Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”  (13) Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, (14) but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”  (NKVJ)

And that folks is how you get there.  Jesus, was there at the foundation of the world.  He is the one who is the provider of living water and I find it amazing that all the life we see sprung out of water in the beginning. Out of Him, we get us.  I opened this blog entry with 1 Peter, but I also find it fitting and proper to close with it as well.  

1 Peter 1:20 - He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you (NKJV)

Be Blessed and have a good one folks!

Antoine E. Hall

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." - James 1:22

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1 John 2:23 -25

"Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life."

1 John 2:23 -25

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When The Arrow Is Beyond You

"There is something in all of us, that we want to be able to figure everything out - we want to be able to see.  We want a virtual road map that tells us 5 years from now you'll be here, 7 years you'll be here, 10 years you'll be here. We want it all outlined. We really don't like God just throwing an arrow over our heads in the field and saying, 'It is far beyond you. Just get up and follow - follow where the arrow is leading.  Don't question. Don't ask. Just do what God is telling you.'"   --Carter Conlon

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Jonathan McReynolds - No Gray (UNPLUGGED)

My wife, +Deidra Hall shared this song with me.  Thanks hun!  This is awesome!

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One Shepherd, Many Sheep

Image Courtesy of Commons.Wikimedia.org

For today, I want to direct your attention to shepherds and sheep. A shepherd is "[o]ne who herds, guards, and tends sheep” or “[o]ne who cares for and guides a group of people, as a minister or teacher”. The word herd is "[a] group of cattle or other domestic animals of a single kind kept together for a specific purpose" or “[a] large number of people; a crowd”.  As you can see from the definitions, a sheep is to follow the directions of his shepherd and the shepherd is to take care of the sheep making sure that they all stay safely together.

In today's time, many pastor's (or ministers) are called shepherds because they have their "flock" (who is the congregation), but the problem with this is that a lot of the times, we start to follow the man instead of gospel that the man preaches. There is but one shepherd of man and that is God. Psalm 23 starts with "(1) The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. (2) He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside the still waters..." (NKJV).  So who is our shepherd? The Lord! On his best day, a pastor is but a sheep himself following an awesome God. He just happens to be someone trying to get you to recognize that we are suppose to be following His Word.

When you have sheep following other sheep, then there is a problem. Unless that sheep is following the directions of The Shepherd, he could lead you down a path where the enemy can overtake you.  The Shepherd cares for all of the sheep. "(12) What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? (13) And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. (14)In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost." (Matthew 18:10-15).   No one man can do this no matter how charismatic he is.

I am not saying that a pastor is useless.  If they are not poisoning the congregation with their own agenda and they are preaching what the Bible says, then they are a great asset for the God's Kingdom.  The question is do you take more queues from another sheep rather than from the Good Shepherd? If your pastor acts in a manner contrary from the Word of God, are you bold enough to call them on it or do you continue to blindly follow the person behind the pulpit?  Who are you really following today?

Be blessed and have a good one!

Antoine E. Hall

"It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33

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Don't Get Caught Up

Courtesy of Commons.Wikimedia.org

2 Peter 3:10-11  (10) But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. (11) Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, (NKJV)

Interesting right? So, I decided to venture into the entire chapter of 2 Peter 3.  In it, Peter describes the Day of the Lord and what will happen when He returns. You can read the entire chapter in detail for your self and I highly recommend it, however I want to focus on the very last two verses.

2 Peter 3:17-18  (17)  You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; (18) but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (NKJV)

In essence, as a Christian, we cannot get caught up in this worldly place. Many times we have heard that this earth is not our home. We are merely passing through on our way to heaven. Well, if you are not paying attention, you can take the wrong exit and be on a path to hell. Continue to grow in the Word. Read. Pray. Talk to God. Just don't lose sight of Him. It's as simple as that folks. Nothing fancy about it. You know the consequences of getting caught up and the fruits of the reward for walking the straight and narrow.  Now that we know better. We can do better. 

Antoine E. Hall

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Filling Your Voids

Courtesy of Commons.WikiMedia.org

I wish to speak to you about voids and having them filled. It is a pretty simple concept, but I wish to share some simple examples and along with some scripture of course.

In my prayers, I ask the Lord to remove qualities or sinful natures (unlike Him) from my body and life. In their places I ask Him to fill me with gifts and qualities that will contribute to the building of HIS kingdom. That is a pretty simple prayer, right? Of course it is. However, let's look at what happens when you are filled with Godly things.

Overview of Acts 4 (NIV): Peter and John (the apostles) had been speaking, preaching, healing, and resurrecting the dead in the name of Jesus. Because of this, they were arrested and thrown into jail over night, however the greatness was already done. The people had seen and believed in what the apostles were doing and it began to spread across the area. The next morning, they were brought before the Sanhedrin. Now, because I didn't know the definition of Sanhedrin, I looked it up and felt compelled to share it with you. A Sanhedrin is "[a] group of 70 men who were a religious political body for Israel (a Jewish supreme Court) made up [of] 24 chief priests (Sadducees), 24 elders (Pharisees), 22 scribes and one high priest [-] overall (71) religious men who dictated how people were to worship God and practice Judaism" (http://www.calvarychapel.com/redbarn/terms.htm#S, retrieved Wed Nov 2, 2005).

Basically, the lawmakers asked Peter and John who and what gave them the authority to do what they were doing. Here is Peter's response:

Acts 4:8-10 (8) Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers and elders of the people! (9) If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, (10) then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. (NIV)

Noticed that Peter boldly spoke out as he was filled with the Holy Spirit. The law makers could not deny what Peter and John had done because all had saw and believed, but the Sanhedrin wanted to quiet them. They asked the two not to speak about Jesus any more and to leave,"But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God." (Acts 4:19, NIV)

After more threats, they were let go and returned back to their people. They spoke about all that the Sanhedrin had said and the people all broke out into the "Believers' Prayer" (see Acts 4:24-30). After they finished praying the Word says,

Acts 4:31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. (NIV)

Again, I would like to point out that they were filled with the Holy Spirit. See, we all have voids in our lives and if you do not fill them with something good, then something bad will fill them.

Modern Day Example: Let's look at a yard as an example. I would like to have a plush green, golf-course type lawn, but in order to do that, it must be filled with all the same type grass (tall fescue in my case) and no bare spots in my yard. If I do not fill the bare spots with seed, guess what? Weeds take over the bare spots and you have a mix of grass and weeds in your yard. (Lawn tip: A weed is anything that grows in your yard that is unwanted, so if I have Bermuda Grass and Tall Fescue Grows in patches, it can be considered a weed). Then you have to fight, buy weed killer, and remove the weeds and believe me, it is hard to undo a weed problem! The point is if I had pro-actively filled the bare spots with good grass I would not have had this fight with weeds and my lawn would be plush.

This is an example of what the devil does in our lives. We all have "bare spots", but if we do not care to fill them with Godly things, "weeds" will grow in those spaces. A good example of a bare spot (or void) is a neglected prayer life. If you do not pray, the devil will wait patiently to fill it with something unholy. 

Keep working at your Christian walk as we will always have voids to fill in our lives. Just make sure they are filled with good things. I don't know about you, but I would like the Holy Spirit to fill my voids any day!

Antoine E. Hall

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