Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem(6/23/23)[Prayer]

The Holy Scriptures | 6/23/23 | left that other site

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Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Luke 16

The Parable of the Shrewd Manager

16 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’

3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’

5 “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

6 “‘Nine hundred gallons[a] of olive oil,’ he replied.

“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’

7 “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’

“‘A thousand bushels[b] of wheat,’ he replied.

“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’

8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.

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New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

God Bless America.

ML/LTOS

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Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Our Father,
Who Art in Heaven,
How Wonderful and Magnificent is Your Most Holy Name!
For You Alone Are Worthy,
You Alone Are Holy,
You Alone Are The Most High!
Omnipotent,
Omniscient,
And Omnipresent,
You Know The End from the Beginning
and the Beginning from the End.
We Bless Your Name and Thank You,
Most Gracious and Hallowed LORD,
For Your Holy Word!

Let all that has been Concealed
Be Revealed.

Father, We Pray For The Peace Of Jerusalem,
According To Your Will and Promise.
We Pray That You Will Forgive The Sins
of Our Own Nation,
and Lead us all to Godly Repentance.
Create in Us Clean Hearts, Oh LORD,
and Renew a Right Spirit Within Us.

This we Pray Together,
As We Await Your Messiah,
Blessed Be He,
To Set Up His Kingdom,
And Make All Things Right.

God Bless America.

ML/LTOS

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Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Luke 16

The Parable of the Shrewd Manager

16 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’

3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg— 4 I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’

5 “So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

6 “‘Nine hundred gallons[a] of olive oil,’ he replied.

“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’

7 “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’

“‘A thousand bushels[b] of wheat,’ he replied.

“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’

8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God's sight.

_______________________________________________________

New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

As I looked over my credit card bill, I noticed something strange. There was the regular Interest Charge, but there was also a "Cash Advance Interest Charge" of $14.00 and change. I didn't remember getting a Cash Advance, so I began to check back on my bills, and it was on there every month for as far back as I could see. Why hadn't I noticed this before? I promptly called the Credit Card Company to correct the situation. Maybe a BIG credit was headed my way.

The woman at the Credit Card Company explained that the Cash Advance was for a Balance Transfer I had done with a promotional check I received from the Credit Card Company nearly five years earlier. It was for $500.00, and paid off a Store Credit Card that had a much higher interest rate. Over the intervening years I had made payments well in excess of the $500.00 Cash Advance, and just figured that it had been resolved YEARS ago.

"Oh no," she replied. "You NEVER make payments on the PRINCIPLE in a Cash Advance. You just pay the INTEREST every month."

I was appalled. I asked if there was any way to apply part of my payments to the Principle of the Cash Advance as well as the Current Charges, and she replied that the ONLY way to pay off the Principle on the Cash Advance was to pay the ENTIRE Account down to Zero. Since I am not in a financial position to do that, I am stuck paying the usurious, ridiculous, evil, Interest payment till I am finally financially able to close the account. I stopped using that card and am paying it down. They have lost me as a customer.

Today's Parable is one of the weirdest ones Jesus ever told. It has always puzzled me, and I don't think I am alone. Once again, we need to look at the story in its social and cultural context.

According to the Torah, Jewish people were not allowed to charge Interest when loaning money to Fellow Israelites. One possible way of circumventing this prohibition was to say on paper that the Borrower owed more than he had actually borrowed So, if he borrowed Six Bushels of Wheat, the paperwork would show that he owed Eight. This way, the Lender would get some return for his business. It served all, and while it didn't adhere to the Spirit of the Law, it fit in under the Letter of the Law. It would take a Shrewd manager to keep track of all this.

Another possibility is that the manager had been "skimming", much like the Tax Collectors were doing in Jesus's day. As long as the Romans got their correct amounts, they had no problem with the Tax Collectors charging extra and "keeping the change". This looks like what had been going on, since the manager was able to reduce the Borrowers' Principle without any repercussions from the master. In order to make friends with the Borrowers, and perhaps secure Future Employment, he was foregoing "his" portion of the bill. Indeed, some translations call him a "Dishonest" Manager. Charging more than necessary and skimming off the top would definitely qualify him as "Dishonest".

So why did the master commend the manager? In this story, the master hadn't really lost anything. He was still getting what was owed him. He knew that the manager was dishonest, that's why he was fired in the first place. But the master recognized shrewdness when he saw it. Hopefully, his next employee will be just as smart, but without that dishonest streak. Meanwhile the manager had another job waiting for him, from any one of the grateful borrowers who had had their bills reduced.

The manager was being commended, not for Cooking the Books, but for using his position to make "friends" with the world to provide for his future.

Perhaps, in the spiritual sense, this isn't as bad as it looks. Jesus tells us not to lay up treasures on earth, but to lay up treasure in heaven. Could it mean that we are to use our material possessions to reach out and help others, and therefore lay up treasure in heaven? I humbly admit that I don't know the full meaning of this parable, and I don't think that the big scholars do either. Nevertheless, here it is.

Come and Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

"He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." (Romans 4:25)

God Bless America.

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS

[DarthVader]

Amen !!! <><

Psalm 63

A Psalm of David, when he was in the Wilderness of Judah.

1 O God, you are my God, I seek you,
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands and call on your name.

5 My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,*
and my mouth praises you with joyful lips
6 when I think of you on my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
8 My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.

9 But those who seek to destroy my life
shall go down into the depths of the earth;
10 they shall be given over to the power of the sword,
they shall be prey for jackals.
11 But the king shall rejoice in God;
all who swear by him shall exult,
for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

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Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Thank You, DarthVader, For Your Prayers and Wonderful Psalm For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

"He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." (Romans 4:25)

God Bless America.

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS

[TianaHighrider]

Blessings and Prayers up.
Thank you.

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Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Thank You, TianaHighrider, For Your Prayers For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

"He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." (Romans 4:25)

God Bless America.

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS

[NEWwoman]

Amen, left that other site

Heard many interpretations on this parable as well.

So many of Jesus’ parables have surpluses of meaning. And we still talk about them and scratch our heads.

Worldly people are “wise as serpents” while God’s people can be more naive.

Joining in prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem and for our beloved Ameria.

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Indeed.

Luke contains many more Parables than the Synoptic Gospels do.

Some of them are very puzzling!

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Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Thank You, NEWwoman, For Your Prayers For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

"He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." (Romans 4:25)

God Bless America.

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS

[redryder_90]

Amen

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Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Thank You, redryder_90, For Your Prayers For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

"He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." (Romans 4:25)

God Bless America.

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS

[Hiskid]

Amen

[left that other site]

Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Thank You, Hiskid, For Your Prayers For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

"He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." (Romans 4:25)

God Bless America.

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS

[Pajamajan]

Amen.🙏

[left that other site]

Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Thank You, Pajamajan, For Your Prayers For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

"He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." (Romans 4:25)

God Bless America.

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS