We are participating in our weekly prayer time at 5pm EST. Check out the prayer request forum for some prayer topics, but feel free to lift up your own.

You may also fast. There's no obligation or guidelines to how you should do it, or if you should do it at all. Just fast as the Lord leads and speaks to your convictions.

His popular nickname is Demas, the unnamed rich man at whose gate Lazarus lay. There is endless debate whether it's a parable or some literally true story. Well, it's wholly unlike Jesus to be telling a story of this sort and it not be a parable.

The filthy rich Demas lived a life of luxury. Lazarus was a beggar covered with sores, lying at the rich man's gate every day. In those days, really rich people ate rich food and wiped their hands on pita bread. They seldom ate that bread, but it was often tossed out for beggars like Lazarus.

And dogs also had a tendency to snatch some of this. Keep in mind that Jews in the First Century AD hated dogs for much the same reason we might dislike hyenas; Palestinian dogs in those days were nothing like our cute domestic puppies. Now, some of these dogs were licking the beggar's sores out of instinct, and it was disturbing to Jews to have any contact at all with a dog.

Thus, we have a potent contrast between Demas and Lazarus. Oddly, at their deaths, their fates were reversed. Lazarus was taken to Heaven, as symbolized by the old Hebrew expression, "the bosom of Abraham". Demas went off to Hell where he suffered eternal torment. The position is fully reversed, with Demas begging for the equivalent mercy from Lazarus that Lazarus had from him in this life. Instead of a ripped portion of greasy pita, Demas just wanted some water. Wasn't that fair?

The conversation is loaded with common Hebrew imagery, not meant to be taken literally. Since they were both Jews, they shared some DNA. They were family. Unspoken is the implication that Demas didn't carry out his duty in life in easing the sorrows of Lazarus, so there can be no justice in his request in death. Perhaps Demas in his mind had fixed a great chasm between himself and Lazarus during their human existence. At any rate, there was an bridgeable gulf between them in eternity.

Naturally Demas was solicitous for his own tribe, as he saw it. He asked that Lazarus rise from the grave and go warn his brothers. Abraham reminded him that the Covenant was more than enough; didn't it provide Lazarus with his own path of redemption? No, said Demas, his brothers would require a little extra help. To this Abraham replied that if Moses wasn't enough, nothing would help them. Stop adding to the Word of God!

The matter at hand was that one cannot truly turn to God as Redeemer if his heart isn't moved. All the convincing possible for the mind was not enough. It was not a rational decision; it was a matter of conviction. This was Jesus poking at the Pharisees, represented by Demas. They made so much of their use of reason, and never seemed to understand what Moses actually said in parables that speak only to the heart.

Worldly wealth was not the mark of God's favor. If anything, the wealthy ran a very high risk of never turning to God. Meanwhile, those who suffered were quick to trust in God, because they had nothing to lose by seeking His favor in obedience. It should be clear that Demas violated the spirit of the Covenant.

It reads like very poorly written dystopian sci-fi. I was alerted to a YouTube channel that's good for a few laughs: Guardians of the Looking Glass.

It goes like this: The claim is that a group discovered some secret artifact they call the "Looking Glass" that enables them to see possible future timelines. They've posted three videos so far claiming to warn about pivotal events that must be stopped or humanity is doomed. The events they claim to foresee in these timelines are fairly detailed. Some are almost plausible. At any rate, their final endpoint is some paradisical evolution of mankind to living centuries in peace. It's full of nonsense jargon about changes in the human soul, etc.

At any rate, the first pivotal event is supposed to be 18 April, 9 days from when I post this. They claim there will be some kind of false flag nasty in Times Square that will be blamed on Russia. Things run through some sequence ending with nuclear war, and Russia and China win. I'm not recommending this crap, but if you want a good laugh, and have some time to waste, go check out their channel. The videos are slow-scrolling text only.

And it sounds a lot like the Q-anon silliness, seeking to get everyone on board by silencing any independent thought about such things. It also reminds me of Scientology with wild claims about the source of their story. For example, the Looking Glass was left by the Sumerians, but didn't originate with them.

What are your thoughts on the altar of testimony in Joshua 22? What's the allegory? This seemed wrong. Was Phinehas and those with him just opting for shalom? Should they have prayed instead of all the "it seemed good" and the " we perceive that the Lord is among us" talk? This chapter is one of those that feel like being with folks that get off track..

We are participating in our weekly prayer time at 5pm EST. Check out the prayer request forum for some prayer topics, but feel free to lift up your own.

You may also fast. There's no obligation or guidelines to how you should do it, or if you should do it at all. Just fast as the Lord leads and speaks to your convictions.

I am in the process of renewing my child nutrition managers license. Please pray that I pass the test. The test will be in May.

Recently a young woman died who edified me much. I did not know her. I read the words she wrote. Her words so fill me with joy and sorrow. They resonate for the glory set before us. I want to share nightbirde.co/blog. Go there if you would like. She only made 4 posts on that blog. 
Spoiler: God is on the bathroom floor.

Luke alone records the Parable of the Unjust Steward. Most people miss the meaning of this story. The narrative would indicate that Jesus is teaching publicly in the Temple Plaza. He tells the parable of a fellow who had been hired to manage some of the property belonging to a wealthy man. Word got back to the master that his servant was losing him money. The rich man was committed to amassing more wealth, so this was unacceptable. He called the steward in and told him to prepare his records for an audit.

Whether the accusation was true or not, the steward knew his cushy position was gone; he was too lazy for hard labor and too proud to beg. So, while he still retained legal authority over the property, he had some of debtors rewrite their contracts so they owed less, and then he proceeded to countersign them, replacing the old contracts. This was the process in those days; the debtor acknowledged a debt by writing it in his own hand. The creditor or his appointed representative would countersign the IOU. Thus, the steward was buying favor with the debtors, since he had lost favor with the creditor.

Upon discovering what the steward had done, the master noted that at least the steward had enough sense to provide for his own future. The master and the steward were both the same kind of man, with a strong focus on the things of this world. They were shrewd with material goods, keeping an eye on the long term result of how things were handled. They had a very clear understanding of what material goods were good for.

Jesus said that those who sought peace with God often made mistakes with His provision in this world. Far too many didn't have a clear vision and commitment with an eternal value system like the rich man and his steward did with their worldly value system. Too many believers didn't understand how to use the things of this world to prepare for eternity.

This life is a test. If you aren't faithful in small things, you cannot graduate to bigger jobs and higher trust. If we aren't careful with what God has provided, how can we expect to receive the rewards? If God were to audit your stewardship, would He get the impression you were faithfully committed to Him, or would He reject you as serving someone else? Either your heart is set on eternity, or you are entangled in this world.

The Pharisees were listening in on this lecture. We know that they considered worldly wealth as the true mark of divine favor. Thus, the idea of using "God's blessings" for anything other than wise financial investments was a sin in their eyes. It was all about the worldly wealth for them. They sneered at Jesus' suggestion that this world's goods were just a means to some other end.

Jesus denounced their worldliness. Their strutting might impress poor benighted souls around them, but God was not impressed. Their focus on this world was defiling idolatry. They had neither clue nor care about what God had said mattered to Him.

The national covenant mandating an earthly kingdom stood until John the Baptist began preaching of a coming Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus continued preaching that same message, proclaiming that earthly Israel would cease to exist, and the Messianic covenant would come into force. Everyone was trying to find a way to make a transition from Moses to Messiah. It was turning things upside down. We already know that the whole universe could be destroyed more easily than for any part of the Old Testament Scripture to fail. Yet, here stood men who called themselves "blessed of God" who refused to keep that imperishable Old Covenant. Jesus cited the example of their perversion of God's commandments about divorce. They were not using God's provision to shine His glory.

What would it be like for them when the New Covenant of Heaven was ushered in?

I've been thinking, so if we are new creations in Christ Jesus and all things are new and we are crucified with Christ, should we be running to God everyday saying forgive me over and over and over? Or should we thank Him we are forgiven? Or what? I hope that is understandable. In 1 John it is interesting how he says we can't sin but if we do sin.. It just got me thinking...and decided to send out a question.

Found this link on Lew Rockwell's site. It tells of two boys growing up a century ago here in Oklahoma, and their many adventures that many adults today could not handle. Before they were even teenagers, they rode horses to New York City a couple of times, drove a car back on one trip, made the same trip on a motorcycle, rode across the US in 62 days without sleeping under a roof, and so forth. The two boys lived long enough to die after I reached adulthood.

My, how times have changed.