Look at the birds of the air….Consider the lilies of the field…[Matthew 6:26, 28]
“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin”— they simply are! Think of the sea, the air, the sun, the stars, and the moon— all of these simply are as well— yet what a ministry and service they render on our behalf! So often we impair God’s designed influence, which He desires to exhibit through us, because of our own conscious efforts to be consistent and useful. Jesus said there is only one way to develop and grow spiritually, and that is through focusing and concentrating on God. In essence, Jesus was saying, “Do not worry about being of use to others; simply believe on Me.” In other words, pay attention to the Source, and out of you “will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). We cannot discover the source of our natural life through common sense and reasoning, and Jesus is teaching here that growth in our spiritual life comes not from focusing directly on it, but from concentrating on our Father in heaven. Our heavenly Father knows our circumstances, and if we will stay focused on Him, instead of our circumstances, we will grow spiritually— just as “the lilies of the field.”
The people who influence us the most are not those who detain us with their continual talk, but those who live their lives like the stars in the sky and “the lilies of the field”— simply and unaffectedly. Those are the lives that mold and shape us.
If you want to be of use to God, maintain the proper relationship with Jesus Christ by staying focused on Him, and He will make use of you every minute you live— yet you will be unaware, on the conscious level of your life, that you are being used of Him.Matthew 6:26 Look at the birds flying about! They neither plant nor harvest, nor do they gather food into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they are?
28 “And why be anxious about clothing? Think about the fields of wild irises, and how they grow. They neither work nor spin thread,
Bible in One Year:
1 Chronicles 4:1 The descendants of Y’hudah: Peretz, Hetzron, Karmi, Hur and Shoval. 2 Re’ayah the son of Shoval fathered Yachat; Yachat fathered Achumai and Lahad. These are the families of the Tzor‘ati. 3 These are [the sons] of the father of ‘Eitam: Yizre‘el, Yishma and Yidbash; their sister’s name was Hatzlelponi. 4 P’nu’el fathered Geder, and ‘Ezer fathered Hushah. These are the sons of Hur the firstborn of Efratah, the father of Beit-Lechem.
5 Ashur the father of T’koa had two wives, Hel’ah and Na‘arah. 6 Na‘arah bore him Achuzam, Hefer, Teimni and Achashtari; these were the sons of Na‘arah. 7 The sons of Hel’ah were Tzeret, Tzochar and Etnan. 8 Kotz fathered ‘Anuv, Tzovevah and the families of Acharchel the son of Harum. 9 Ya‘betz was honored more than his brothers; his mother called him Ya‘betz, she explained, “because I bore him in pain [a].” 10 Ya‘betz called on the God of Isra’el: “Please bless me by enlarging my territory. May your hand be with me! Keep me from harm, so that it will not cause me pain [b].” God granted his request.
11 K’luv the brother of Shuchah fathered M’chir, who fathered Eshton. 12 Eshton fathered Beit-Rafa, Paseach and T’chinah the father of ‘Ir-Nachash. These are the men of Rekhah.
13 The sons of K’naz: ‘Otni’el and S’rayah. The son of ‘Otni’el: Hatat. 14 M‘onotai fathered ‘Ofrah, and S’rayah fathered Yo’av the father of Gei-Harashim; for they were craftsmen [c].
15 The sons of Kalev the son of Y’funeh: ‘Iru, Elah and Na‘am. The son of Elah: K’naz. 16 The sons of Yehallel’el: Zif, Zifah, Tirya and Asar’el. 17-18 The sons of ‘Ezrah: Yeter, Mered, ‘Efer and Yalon. These are the sons of Bityah the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered took as his wife: she conceived Miryam, Shamai and Yishbach the father of Esht’moa; while his Jewish wife bore Yered the father of G’dor, Hever the father of Sokho and Y’kuti’el the father of Zanoach.
19 The sons of the wife of Hodiyah the sister of Nacham were the father of Ke‘ilah the Garmi and Esht’moa the Ma‘akhati. 20 The sons of Shimon: Amnon, Rinah, Ben-Hanan and Tilon. The sons of Yish‘i: Zochet and Ben-Zochet.
21 The sons of Shelah the son of Y’hudah: ‘Er the father of Lekha, La‘adah the father of Mareshah and the clans of fine-linen-workers at Beit-Ashbea, 22 Yokim, the men of Kozeva, Saraf the ruler in Mo’av, and Yashuvi-Lechem (the records are ancient). 23 These were potters and inhabitants of N’ta‘im and G’derah; they lived there, occupied with the king’s work.
24 The sons of Shim‘on: N’mu’el, Yamin, Yariv, Zerach and Sha’ul. 25 His son was Shalum, his son was Mivsam, and his son was Mishma. 26 The descendants of Mishma: his son Hamu’el, his son Zakur, his son Shim‘i. 27 Shim‘i had sixteen sons and six daughters, but his brothers did not have many children, so their clans did not increase like those of Y’hudah. 28 They lived at Be’er-Sheva, Moladah, Hatzar-Shu‘al, 29 Bilhah, ‘Etzem, Tolad, 30 B’tu’el, Hormah, Ziklag, 31 Beit-Markavot, Hatzar-Susim, Beit-Bir’i and Sha‘arayim. These were their cities until the reign of David. 32 Their villages were ‘Eitam, ‘Ayin, Rimmon, Tokhen and ‘Ashan, five cities, 33 along with all the villages surrounding these cities, as far as Ba‘al. These are the places where they lived, and they have their official genealogy. 34 Meshovav, Yamlekh, Yoshah the son of Amatzyah, 35 Yo’el, Yehu the son of Yoshivyah the son of S’rayah the son of ‘Asi’el, 36 Elyo‘einai, Ya‘akovah, Y’shochayah, ‘Asayah, ‘Adi’el, Y’simi’el, B’nayah, 37 Ziza the son of Shif‘i the son of Alon the son of Y’da‘yah the son of Shimri the son of Sh’ma‘yah — 38 these mentioned by name were princes in their clans, and their fathers’ houses increased greatly. 39 Seeking pasture for their flocks they went to the entrance of Geder, as far as the east side of the valley. 40 They found rich, good pastures; and the land was spacious, quiet and peaceful. Those who had lived there previously belonged to Ham. 41 Those whose names are written above came during the time of Hizkiyahu king of Y’hudah; they attacked their tents and the Me‘unim who were found there, destroyed them completely, and have lived there in place of them to this day; because there was pasture there for their flocks. 42 Some 500 of them who were descendants of Shim‘on went to Mount Se‘ir under the leadership of P’latyah, Ne‘aryah, Refayah and Uzi’el the sons of Yish‘i. 43 They attacked the remnant of ‘Amalek who had escaped and have lived there to this day.
5:1 The sons of Re’uven the firstborn of Isra’el — he was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Yosef the son of Isra’el, though not in such a way as for him to be regarded in the genealogy as the firstborn. 2 For Y’hudah became greater than his brothers, inasmuch as the ruler came from him; nevertheless, the birthright went to Yosef. 3 So these are the sons of Re’uven the firstborn of Isra’el: Hanokh, Pallu, Hetzron and Karmi.
4 The descendants of Yo’el: his son Sh’ma‘yah, his son Gog, his son Shim‘i, 5 his son Mikhah, his son Re‘ayah, his son Ba‘al, 6 and his son Be’erah. Tilgat-Piln’eser king of Ashur carried him away captive; he was leader of the Re’uveni. 7 His brothers, by their clans, as listed in their genealogical records were: Ye‘i’el the leader, Z’kharyah 8 and Bela the son of ‘Azaz the son of Sh’ma the son of Yo’el. He lived in ‘Aro‘er, with territory extending to N’vo and Ba‘al-M‘on; 9 while to the east he occupied territory that extended to the beginning of the desert as one comes from the Euphrates River; because their cattle multiplied in the land of Gil‘ad. 10 In the time of Sha’ul they went to war with the Hagri’im; after defeating them they occupied their tents throughout all the territory east of Gil‘ad.
11 The descendants of Gad lived across from them, in the territory from Bashan to Salkhah: 12 Yo’el was the leader, Shafam second, then Yanai and Shafat in Bashan. 13 The houses of their fathers’ brothers were: Mikha’el, Meshulam, Sheva, Yorai, Ya‘kan, Zia and ‘Ever — seven altogether. 14 These are the sons of Avichayil the son of Huri the son of Yaroach the son of Gil‘ad the son of Mikha’el the son of Yeshishai the son of Yachdo the son of Buz; 15 Achi the son of ‘Avdi’el the son of Guni was leader of their fathers’ house. 16 They lived in Gil‘ad, in Bashan, in its towns and in all the pasture lands of the plain as far as their borders. 17 All these were listed in genealogies during the times of Yotam king of Y’hudah and Yarov‘am king of Isra’el.
18 The descendants of Re’uven, the Gadi and the half-tribe of M’nasheh included 44,760 brave men who were available for warfare, able to take up shield and sword, shoot with the bow, or make use of other war skills. 19 These made war with the Hagri’im, Y’tur, Nafish and Nodav. 20 They received help against them, so that the Hagri’im and all who were allied with them suffered defeat at their hands; because they cried out to God while they were fighting, and he did as they requested, because they put their trust in him. 21 From their livestock they carried off 50,000 camels, 250,000 sheep and 2,000 donkeys; they also took captive 100,000 persons. 22 Many were slaughtered, because the war was of God, and they lived in their territory until the captivity.
23 The descendants of the half-tribe of M’nasheh lived and increased in the territory from Bashan to Ba‘al-Hermon, S’nir and Mount Hermon. 24 The leaders of their fathers’ houses were: ‘Efer, Yish‘i, Eli’el, ‘Azri’el, Yirmeyah, Hodavyah and Yachdi’el, strong, brave, famous men, leaders of their fathers’ houses. 25 But they broke faith with the God of their ancestors and prostituted themselves to the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed ahead of them. 26 So the God of Isra’el stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Ashur and the spirit of Tilgat-Piln’eser king of Ashur; and he carried them away as captives — the Re’uveni, the Gadi and the half-tribe of M’nasheh — and brought them to Halach, Havor, Hara and to the Gozan River, where they are to this day.
27 (6:1) The sons of Levi: Gershon, K’hat and M’rari. 28 (6:2) The sons of K’hat: ‘Amram, Yitz’har, Hevron and ‘Uzi’el. 29 (6:3) The children of ‘Amram: Aharon, Moshe and Miryam. The sons of Aharon: Nadav, Avihu, El‘azar and Itamar. 30 (6:4) El‘azar fathered Pinchas, Pinchas fathered Avishua, 31 (6:5) Avishua fathered Buki, Buki fathered ‘Uzi, 32 (6:6) ‘Uzi fathered Z’rachyah, Z’rachyah fathered M’rayot, 33 (6:7) M’rayot fathered Amaryah, Amaryah fathered Achituv, 34 (6:8) Achituv fathered Tzadok, Tzadok fathered Achima‘atz, 35 (6:9) Achima‘atz fathered ‘Azaryah, ‘Azaryah fathered Yochanan, 36 (6:10) and Yochanan fathered ‘Azaryah. He functioned as cohen in the house that Shlomo built in Yerushalayim. 37 (6:11) ‘Azaryah fathered Amaryah, Amaryah fathered Achituv, 38 (6:12) Achituv fathered Tzadok, Tzadok fathered Shalum, 39 (6:13) Shalum fathered Hilkiyah, Hilkiyah fathered ‘Azaryah, 40 (6:14) ‘Azaryah fathered S’rayah, S’rayah fathered Y’hotzadak, 41 (6:15) and Y’hotzadak went into captivity when Adonai carried Y’hudah and Yerushalayim away at the hands of N’vukhadnetzar.
6:1 (16) The sons of Levi: Gershom, K’hat and M’rari. 2 (17) These are the names of the sons of Gershom: Livni and Shim‘i. 3 (18) The sons of K’hat: ‘Amram, Yitz’har, Hevron and ‘Uzi’el. 4 (19) The sons of M’rari: Machli and Mushi.
These are the families of the L’vi’im according to father’s clans: 5 (20) [The descendants] of Gershom: his son Livni, his son Yachat, his son Zimah, 6 (21) his son Yo’ach, his son ‘Iddo, his son Zerach, his son Ye’atrai.
7 (22) The descendants of K’hat: his son ‘Amminadav, his son Korach, his son Asir, 8 (23) his son Elkanah, his son Evyasaf, his son Asir, 9 (24) his son Tachat, his son Uri’el, his son ‘Uziyah and his son Sha’ul. 10 (25) The sons of Elkanah: ‘Amasai and Achimot. 11 (26) As for Elkanah, the sons of Elkanah: his son Tzofai, his son Nachat, 12 (27) his son Eli’av, his son Yerocham and his son Elkanah. 13 (28) The sons of Sh’mu’el: Vashni the firstborn, then Aviyah.
14 (29) The descendants of M’rari: Machli, his son Livni, his son Shim‘i, his son ‘Uzah, 15 (30) his son Shim‘a, his son Hagiyah and his son ‘Asayah. 16 (31) David appointed them to be in charge of the service of song in the house of Adonai after the ark had found a permanent resting place. 17 (32) They served as singers before the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, until Shlomo had built the house of Adonai in Yerushalayim; and they carried out their tasks in a prescribed order.
18 (33) Those who carried out these tasks and their descendants were — starting with descendants of the K’hati — Heman the singer, the son of Yo’el the son of Sh’mu’el, 19 (34) the son of Elkanah, the son of Yerocham, the son of Eli’el, the son of Toach, 20 (35) the son of Tzuf, the son of Elkanah, the son of Machat, the son of ‘Amasai, 21 (36) the son of Elkanah, the son of Yo’el, the son of ‘Azaryah, the son of Tz’fanyah, 22 (37) the son of Tachat, the son of Asir, the son of Evyasaf, the son of Korach, 23 (38) the son of Yitz’har, the son of K’hat, the son of Levi, the son of Isra’el.
24 (39) His brother Asaf, who stood on his right, was Asaf the son of Berekhyah, the son of Shim‘a, 25 (40) the son of Mikha’el, the son of Ba‘aseyah, the son of Malkiyah, 26 (41) the son of Etni, the son of Zerach the son of ‘Adayah, 27 (42) the son of Eitan, the son of Zimah, the son of Shim‘i, 28 (43) the son of Yachat, the son of Gershom, the son of Levi.
29 (44) On the left were their kinsmen the descendants of M’rari: Eitan the son of Kishi, the son of ‘Avdi, the son of Malukh, 30 (45) the son of Hashavyah, the son of Amatzyah, the son of Hilkiyah, 31 (46) the son of Amtzi, the son of Bani, the son of Shemer, 32 (47) the son of Machli, the son of Mushi, the son of M’rari, the son of Levi.
33 (48) Their kinsmen the L’vi’im were put in charge of all the service of the tabernacle of the house of God.
34 (49) But Aharon and his sons were the ones who offered on the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense for all the service of the Especially Holy Place and to make atonement for Isra’el, in keeping with all that Moshe the servant of God had ordered to be done. 35 (50) These are the descendants of Aharon: his son El‘azar, his son Pinchas, his son Avishua, 36 (51) his son Buki, his son ‘Uzi, his son Z’rachyah, 37 (52) his son M’rayot, his son Amaryah, his son Achituv, 38 (53) his son Tzadok and his son Achima‘atz.
39 (54) These were the settlements of the descendants of Aharon according to the territories assigned them: to the descendants of Aharon, of the clans of the K’hati — for the first lot fell to them — 40 (55) they gave Hevron in the land of Y’hudah with the open land surrounding it, 41 (56) but the fields and the dependent villages of the city they gave to Kalev the son of Y’funeh. 42 (57) To the descendants of Aharon they gave the city of refuge Hevron, also Livnah with its surrounding open land, Yatir, Esht’moa with its surrounding open land, 43 (58) Hilen with its surrounding open land, D’vir with its surrounding open land, 44 (59) ‘Ashan with its surrounding open land, Beit-Shemesh with its surrounding open land; 45 (60) and out of the tribe of Binyamin: Geva with its surrounding open land, ‘Alemet with its surrounding open land and ‘Anatot with its surrounding open land. All the cities for all their clans amounted to thirteen cities.
46 (61) The rest of the descendants of K’hat were assigned by lot, clan by clan, ten cities from the half-tribe of M’nasheh. 47 (62) The descendants of Gershom were assigned, clan by clan, thirteen cities from the tribes of Yissakhar, Asher, Naftali and M’nasheh in Bashan. 48 (63) To the descendants of M’rari were assigned by lot, clan by clan, twelve cities from the tribes of Re’uven, Gad and Z’vulun. 49 (64) So the people of Isra’el gave the L’vi’im these cities with the surrounding open land. 50 (65) From the tribes of the descendants of Y’hudah, Shim‘on and Binyamin they assigned these cities mentioned by name.
51 (66) Some of the clans of the descendants of K’hat were given cities in territory from the tribe of Efrayim. 52 (67) They gave them the city of refuge Sh’khem in the hills of Efrayim with the surrounding open land, also Gezer with the surrounding open land, 53 (68) Yokme‘am with the surrounding open land, Beit-Horon with the surrounding open land, 54 (69) Ayalon with the surrounding open land, and Gat-Rimmon with the surrounding open land; 55 (70) and out of the half-tribe of M’nasheh: ‘Aner with the surrounding open land and Bil‘am with the surrounding open land, for the rest of the clans of the descendants of K’hat.
56 (71) The descendants of Gershom were given, from the clans of the half-tribe of M’nasheh: Golan in Bashan with the surrounding open land and ‘Ashtarot with the surrounding open land; 57 (72) and from the tribe of Yissakhar: Kedesh with the surrounding open land, Davrat with the surrounding open land, 58 (73) Ramot with the surrounding open land and ‘Anem with the surrounding open land; 59 (74) and from the tribe of Asher: Mashal with the surrounding open land, ‘Avdon with the surrounding open land, 60 (75) Hukok with the surrounding open land and Rechov with the surrounding open land; 61 (76) and from the tribe of Naftali: Kedesh in the Galil with the surrounding open land, Hamon with the surrounding open land and Kiryatayim with the surrounding open land.
62 (77) To the rest [of the L’vi’im], the descendants of M’rari, were given, from the tribe of Z’vulun: Rimmono with the surrounding open land and Tavor with the surrounding open land; 63 (78) and beyond the Yarden at Yericho, on the east side of the Yarden, they were given, from the tribe of Re’uven: Betzer in the desert with the surrounding open land, Yahatz with the surrounding open land, 64 (79) K’demot with the surrounding open land and Mefa‘at with the surrounding open land; 65 (80) and from the tribe of Gad: Ramot in Gil‘ad with the surrounding open land, Machanayim with the surrounding open land, 66 (81) Heshbon with the surrounding open land and Ya‘zer with the surrounding open land.[Footnotes:
1 Chronicles 4:9 Hebrew: ‘otzev
1 Chronicles 4:10 Hebrew: ‘atzbi
1 Chronicles 4:14 Hebrew: harashim]
John 6:1 Some time later, Yeshua went over to the far side of Lake Kinneret (that is, Lake Tiberias), 2 and a large crowd followed him, because they had seen the miracles he had performed on the sick. 3 Yeshua went up into the hills and sat down there with his talmidim. 4 Now the Judean festival of Pesach was coming up; 5 so when Yeshua looked up and saw that a large crowd was approaching, he said to Philip, “Where will we be able to buy bread, so that these people can eat?” 6 (Now Yeshua said this to test Philip, for Yeshua himself knew what he was about to do.) 7 Philip answered, “Half a year’s wages wouldn’t buy enough bread for them — each one would get only a bite!” 8 One of the talmidim, Andrew the brother of Shim‘on Kefa, said to him, 9 “There’s a young fellow here who has five loaves of barley bread and two fish. But how far will they go among so many?”
10 Yeshua said, “Have the people sit down.” There was a lot of grass there, so they sat down. The number of men was about five thousand. 11 Then Yeshua took the loaves of bread, and, after making a b’rakhah, gave to all who were sitting there, and likewise with the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 After they had eaten their fill, he told his talmidim, “Gather the leftover pieces, so that nothing gets wasted.” 13 They gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.
14 When the people saw the miracle he had performed, they said, “This has to be ‘the prophet’ who is supposed to come into the world.” 15 Yeshua knew that they were on the point of coming and seizing him, in order to make him king; so he went back to the hills again. This time he went by himself.
16 When evening came, his talmidim went down to the lake, 17 got into a boat and set out across the lake toward K’far-Nachum. By now it was dark, Yeshua had not yet joined them, 18 and the sea was getting rough, because a strong wind was blowing. 19 They had rowed three or four miles when they saw Yeshua approaching the boat, walking on the lake! They were terrified; 20 but he said to them, “Stop being afraid, it is I.” 21 Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and instantly the boat reached the land they were heading for.
____________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment