122112 Mayan Calendar?

122112 - Mayan Calendar?

In light of the attention given to the date of 122112 I decided to search the Bible using this number. The first 122112 I found was the Bible book 12 chapter 21 verse 12, (2 Kings 21:12). I further continued to the next book counting in 12’s (12, 24, 36…) and landed in Jeremiah. The next book, Zephaniah, did not have 12 chapters so I used chapter 2 verse 1 and also verse 12 (122112), and that was the formula for the books with less than 12 chapters. Here is the list of scriptures followed by a compilation of the passages:

2 Kings 21:12; Jeremiah 21:12; Zephaniah 2:1; Zephaniah 2:12; Galatians 2:1; Galatians 2:12; 1 Peter 2:1; 1 Peter 2:12 (NIV 84)

Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle…. O house of David, this is what the Lord says:“‘Administer justice every morning; rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done—  burn with no one to quench it….Gather together, gather together, O shameful nation,… …… “You too, O Cushites, will be slain by my sword.”…Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also….Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group….Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind….Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

The message is clear. God is getting ready to intervene directly and aggressively in the affairs of this world, particularly, to bring justice over His people. The message in the Old Testament speaks specifically to the Jews in their land, and in the New Testament it is for all those who confess that Jesus is The Lord. The message is the same. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. Let us stop the hypocrisy and let us correct our conduct while we still have a chance, time is running out.

121212

121212 – In light of the attention given to the date of 121212 I decided to search the Bible using this number. The first 121212 I found was the Bible book 12 chapter 12 verse 12, (2 Kings 12:12). I further continued to the next book counting in 12’s (12, 24, 36…) and landed in Jeremiah. The next book, Zephaniah, did not have 12 chapters so I used chapter 1 verse 2 and also verse 12 (121212), and that was the formula for the books with less than 12 chapters. Here is the list of scriptures followed by a compilation of the passages:

 2 Kings 12:12; Jeremiah 12:12; Zephaniah 1:2; Zephaniah 1:12; Zechariah 12:12; Galatians 1:2; Galatians 1:12; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 Peter 1:12 (NKJV)

… and to masons and stonecutters, and for buying timber and hewn stone, to repair the damage of the house of the Lord, and for all that was paid out to repair the temple. … The plunderers have come On all the desolate heights in the wilderness, For the sword of the Lord shall devour From one end of the land to the other end of the land; No flesh shall have  peace…. “I will utterly consume everything From the face of the land, ”Says the Lord;  …  “And it shall come to pass at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And punish the men Who are settled in complacency, Who say in their heart, ‘The Lord will not do good, Nor will He do evil.’  And the land shall mourn, every family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; …  and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia:  For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ… elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied…. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.

Reading these verses make me think that God is calling his people to invest in restoring His temple.  In a figurative way the temple may represent our own lives which are in dire need of repair and restoration. Let's get back to that place of prayer and communion with the Spirit. I believe that God is warning the world of His imminent intervention. Was this the meaning of 121212?

Drawing closer to God - James 4:8

As I was praying this morning asking God for a fresh word for the church, I could feel His presence and my message becoming clear. I wanted to preach about praising and worshiping God, I also was thinking about Hanukkah the Festival of Lights, or maybe preaching about Christmas since it is that season again. As I was praying I realized  that 1- I was asking God to draw near me and 2- give me some word of His Spirit. I was asking God for something ( a fresh word), and also for Him to get closer to me. Of course there is nothing wrong with asking God for favors, who else are we going to ask? We could ask friends, coworkers, family to help us out in a time of need, and that’s OK too, but ultimately coming to God with our petitions is the wisest move since He holds the universe in His hands. I am a firm believer that we should ask God for anything. Yet this time, the message was instead of asking God to come to me, I needed to get closer to God. It is me that needs to get closer to God to get anything or to catch His attention. How often we ask God, "protect my children, help me at my work, help my marriage, help my finances, my relationships, give me give me give me."

Relationships are  2 way streets. We want God to get close to us to wherever we are. Instead, how about we try to get closer to God to wherever He is? Of course we are still trapped in these bodies and do not have the ability to physically enter in to the heavenly places, but in the spirit we are able to get very close to Him.

To be born again means that:

1- we are not reborn on the flesh;

2- we are born in the spirit;

3- we are new creatures;

4- we are children of God;

5- as such we have access to the Father…

The access we have gained because of the work of Jesus on Earth, means we can approach the throne of God and enter in his presence at any time. However, we must remember that God is holy and demands holiness from us. I must have preached this a million times, and will preach it a million more; we need to be in a close relationship with God.

Any relationship that is only asking and demanding from one side is not healthy. It gives the impression that one is taking advantage of the other and the one that is always giving, and giving, could one day get tired of the lopsided relationship and walk away.

Relationships require that all involved commit to the relationship, look out for the needs of the other and try the best to meet those needs. That is a relationship based on love.  Of course when we talk about our relationship with God we understand that we cannot fulfill God’s needs, because He doesn’t really need anything from us and there is nothing we can do to remotely help Him. God is not a man. However, we need to understand that God is God and out of respect to His Holiness we will live lives of holiness and righteousness and approach God to honor Him as He deserves.

He gave us a new life, why do we insist in living the old life? Why do we insist in pleasing the world? Why can’t we live for the one who loved us first and we say we love?

Hanukkah and the dreidel

Hanukkah is the 8 days Jewish celebration also known as Festival of Lights based on the dedication of the temple. Hanukkah starts in the Hebrew calendar on the 25^th of Kislev, this year the celebrations fall in Dec 8-16. The celebration starts by lighting a candle each night beginning in the evening of the 1^st night. The celebration is popular among the Jews but is not a major holiday, like Yom Kippur or Rosh Hashanah. Each day of the celebration people will give a small gift to each other, but nothing expensive. Each evening they will light a candle of the lamp using the “servant” candle. The menorah lamp has 9 candles one is the servant light and one for each of the eight days of the celebration.

The miracle of the lights is that during the period between the old and new testaments, after the Jews were allowed to return from their captivity in Babylon, the Syrians attacked and desecrated the temple by dedicating the temple to Zeus, and sacrificing pigs. Judas Maccabeus led a revolt and cleansed the temple and made new utensils altar, and rededicated the temple. The story goes on to say that all the oil had been used and there was only one bottle of sanctified oil enough for one day. The miracle was that the oil lasted for eight days enough for new oil to be pressed and brought to the temple. So the miracle is that one day's worth of lamp’s oil lasted for eight days.

The celebration of the dedication of the temple holds the miracle of the lights but also that only a few brave men defeated the invading army and were able to restore the sacred office to the temple of Jerusalem. The reflection is the same as the parting of the Red Sea, the feeding of the thousands, the miraculous catch of fish…out of the little we have, with faith, God can make a great miracle.

Dreidel is a spinning top toy game with four letters of the Hebrew alphabet, one on each side; Nun,(Nisht-nothing) Gimel (Gants-all), Hei (halb-half), Shin (Shtel Ayin-put in) this is the acronym for Nes Gadol Haya Sham (A great miracle happened there).

I would like for each and everyone of us to be able to say someday, "a great miracle happened here (in my life)".

In great part, the reason God granted these great miracles at the different times, is

1- God loves His people;

2- His people were in tuned with God;

3- there was a Moses, a Joshua, an Elijah, a Judas Maccabeus, a Peter, a _____(fill the blank with your name), that was so closed to God that was able to intercede on behalf of their people and approached God with great faith for help in a time of need.

So the next time we go to ask God to meet with us in the place of our need, let us take a look at how close or far are we from Him, take the leap of faith and draw closer to Him.