It is nice to have a pat on the back now and then. It is a good morale booster. With the way things are in this world, we all could use a morale booster. One outlet that buys what I write has repeatedly told me to keep track of emails that provide unsolicited kudos and other things that are basically making a statement of  my worth to the readers. The problem is that I do not measure my worth by that type of yardstick. To me, where I stand with my Creator is the most important thing. The measure of where that actually happens to be is His Word.

My worth has been established in his Word. Jesus mentioned about two sparrows being sold for a farthing (small amount of money probably equivalent to a penny) in Matthew 10:29-31. He tells me that not one sparrow anywhere at any time has fallen without the Father’s direct knowledge or will. Jesus told me also to not fear because I am worth many sparrows. He told me that the very number of hairs on my head are known, even though as the years go by they are fewer in number. Therefore, it is difficult for me to do the “look at me” thing for fame or profit.

We apologize for leaving everyone stuck in the middle of a study about the book of Galatians.

The good news is that Expound is now on iTunes. That is a blessing and an opportunity that God will use exactly how he wants to use it. Since Romans 8:28 does apply to us not being able to continue right now, just pray.

First the Psalm. Make a mental note of the words/phrases, “heathen, “kings,” “rulers” “Thou art my son,” “rod of iron” and “Kiss the Son.” Notice that “Son” is capitalized. David is prophesying of Jesus the Christ, the Holy One of God.

“Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.”
Psalms 2:1-12

Now in Acts we see the people lifting up their voices with one accord after Peter and John through the name of Jesus heal the lame beggar at the temple gate called “Beautiful.” The Sadducees, who do not believe in resurrection from the dead, along with the priests and temple captain put Peter and John in prison overnight and had them give account of what was done the next day.

The religious leaders counseled to stop them from teaching in the name of Jesus. However, we know that the truth of Jesus of Nazareth being the Christ and risen from the dead could not be held back. Though the heathen, kings of the earth and rulers resist, God wins! Here we see who the “Son” in Psalm chapter two is.

“And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.”
Acts 4:24-31

Now, let us see how it all turns out.

Remember “rod of iron”?

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
Revelation 19:11-16

Remember “Kiss the Son”?

As servants of the Most High God we willingly bow to Jesus as our King. To kiss the son is making a gesture of obedience to our Lord. As Christians it is our heart’s desire to serve our King. Look at the “mind” that should be in us. See what will come. Isaiah foretold of it.

“I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.”
Isaiah 45:23

Paul shows where we should be in our mindset as servants of Christ and what is to come to all living things.

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
Philippians 2:5-12

Peter and John spoke a healing miracle to the lame man. The man was on the ground every day next to a gate of the temple that was called Beautiful. He was crippled from birth and people would carry him to the gate and put him there so he could beg money to survive. Such a contrast of a crippled man on the ground who had to rely on friends or family to carry him to the temple and back home every day so he could beg in front of a gate that was called “Beautiful.”

One source indicates the gate was big and covered in brass plates. The actual Greek word that “Beautiful” comes from in this context is “hōraios.” According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible it means, “belonging to the right hour or season (timely), that is, (by implication) flourishing (beauteous [figuratively]): – beautiful.” With what happened to the beggar, I would say it was both “timely” and “flourishing!”

Out of all the glory of this miracle that Peter plainly gives to Jesus there is one small thing that sticks out to me and that is that the lame man “held Peter and John.” He went from being powerless in one single moment in time to being powerful enough to physically hold two apostles. Also take note that the lame man was” . . .walking, and leaping, and praising God.” God was both due and did receive the glory for the work.

There is no doubt to me that our enemy derived pleasure for every moment the lame man lay on the ground begging. Then there was that moment when the power of God was demonstrated for a purpose. The formerly crippled beggar held onto Peter and John, and then the Holy Ghost held onto everyone there because of the miracle so that the Gospel message would be declared in that timely moment and so it would flourish all the more.

I pray healing into your life so that God receives glory and that the message that Jesus is the Christ and is still offering forgiveness of sins and eternal life to anyone who calls on his name flourishes more!

(I invite you to read the whole text of the healing in Acts chapters 3 and 4.)

We welcome you to call in during the show with your questions or comments about tonight’s topic.

I had to unpublish all the posts that had any medical video in it from the website that offers them until I can figure out how to fix it.

However,  I think that the honey is either killing off bad bacteria in the gut or it has something to do with one of the enzymes in the honey doing other things in the gut that causes relief from heartburn. If it does turn out that honey is killing of bacteria such as H. pylori, then it would make sense.  The Helicobacter pylori was only first identified back in 1982 and is associated with an ulcer risk.

I like honey and do not know if the jar I bought today will have any positive effect on heartburn but I do know it is absolutely delicious. This is my first time trying buckwheat honey. This jar is from Maple Valley Farms in Pittsburgh, PA. It tastes like a mix of honey and molasses and is very good.

I want to get a jar of goldenrod honey. I would like to see if I can notice any anecdotal evidence of it reducing seasonal allergies when spring comes. I would have to start eating it now for it to be of benefit. The idea behind it is that one gets gentle exposure to pollens  left behind in the honey and then builds a resistance to them when the season hits.

I do hope that we can all learn together. I learn a little bit more every single day! I have not sent out an Expound  newsletter recently, but I do invite you to sign up for the next one coming out. Thank you for your patience.

I am making a personal request to those who believe in Jesus as their Savior to pray for my voice so that I may be able to speak for long periods of time again. If it be God’s Will, I would like to teach in that way too. I have a problem with my throat that causes bad pain from speaking. Sometimes I can only speak for about five minutes or less before the pain starts.

Thank You,

Cody

I looked at the actual page source that showed the code of the page. The spot where the town would go was a script that inserted the name of an area as close to the person who was looking at the ad as the script could find. Your IP (Internet Protocol) address is easily traceable to your ISP (Internet Service Provider). When I see these ads, sometimes the results come back as far away as the main office for my ISP that is about an hour or so away from me. Sometimes it is right here in my own town.

It makes it look like there is someone right here in my own neighborhood that has had amazing results with a product or is making thousands of dollars a week doing some stupid scheme. The funny thing about this page I was shown is that it actually had a disclaimer at the bottom plainly stating that the people in the ads were not real, and the stories they were telling were not actual accounts. In this case it was shown as personal product reviews that include a first name, location and photograph.

The photos are often of pretty young women. If it is a weight loss product, it may have a handsome man with big muscles. Most often though it is a photo of a pretty young woman. What you get is a fake photo, a fake review or testimonial of a product and they try to make you think it is a real person that exists right there close to where you live. Of course, the disclaimer sets you straight. However, today was the first time I have ever seen a disclaimer.

It must work because there are a lot of those ads on the Internet.