Luke 10: Jesus Sends Out His Disciples.- The Lord now chose 72 other disciples and sent them on ahead in pairs to all the Towns and Villages He planned to visit. These were His Instructions to them: "The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. Pray to the Lord Who Is In Charge of the harvest and ask Him to send out more workers for His Fields. Go now, and remember that I Am sending you out as Lambs Among Wolves. Do not take along any (spiritual) money, or a traveler's bag, or even an extra pair of (spiritual) sandals. And do not stop to greet anyone On The Road. Whenever you enter a home, Give It Your Blessing. If those who live there are worthy, The Blessing Will Stand; if they are not, The Blessing Will Return To You. When you enter a town, do not move around from home to home. Stay In One Place, eating and drinking what they provide you. Do not hesitate to Accept Hospitality, because those who work deserve their pay. If a town welcomes you, eat whatever is set before you and Heal the Sick. As you heal them say: 'The Kingdom of God Is Near You Now.' But if a town refuses to welcome you, go out into its streets and say: 'We Wipe the Dust of Your Town from Our Feet as a public announcement of your doom. And do not forget the Kingdom of God Is Near!' The Truth is, even wicked Sodom will be better off than such a Town on the Judgment Day.' "(1-12)
"What horrors await you, Kora'Zin and Beth'Saida! For if the Miracles I Did In You had been done In Wicked Tyre and Sid'On, their people would have Sat In Deep Repentance long ago, clothed in sackcloth and throwing ashes on their heads to Show their Remorse. Yes, Tyre and Sid'On will be better off on the Judgment Day than you. And you people of (spiritual) Caper'Naum, will you Be Exalted To Heaven? No, you will be brought down to the Place Of The Dead." (13-15)
Then He said to the disciples, "Anyone who Accepts your (spiritual) Message Is Also Accepting Me. And anyone who Rejects you is Rejecting Me. And anyone who rejects Me is Rejecting God Who Sent Me." When the 72 disciples returned, they joyfully reported to Him, "Lord, even demons obey us when we use Your Name!" "Yes," He told them, "I saw Satan falling from heaven as a flash of lightning! And I Have Given You Authority over all the power of the enemy, and You Can Walk Among Snakes and Scorpions and crush them. Nothing Will Injure You. But do not rejoice because Evil Spirits Obey You; Rejoice because Your Names Are Registered As Citizens Of Heaven." (16-20)
Isaiah 48: God's Stubborn People.- "Listen to Me, O family of Jacob (living in the flesh) and born into the family of Judah. Listen, you who take oaths in the Name of the Lord and call on the God of Israel. You do not follow through on any of your promises, even though you call yourself the Holy City and talk about depending on the God of Israel, whose Name Is Lord Almighty. Tima and again I warned you about what was going to happen in the future. Then suddenly I Took Action, and All My Predictions Came True. I know how stubborn and obstinate you are. Your necks are as unbending as iron. You are as hardheaded as bronze. That is why I told you ahead of time what I was going to do. That way, You could never say, 'My idols did it. My wooden image and metal god commanded it to happen.' You have heard My Predictions and seen them fulfilled, but you refuse to admit it. Now I will tell you New Things I have not mentioned before, not things from the past. So you cannot say, 'We knew that all the time!' Yes, I will tell you of things that are entirely knew, for I Know so well what Traitors You Are. You have been rebels from your earliest childhood, Rotten Through and Through. Yet for My Own Sake and for the Honor of My Name, I will hold back My Anger and Not Wipe You Out. I have refined you but not in the way silver is refined. Rather, I have refined you in the Furnace of Suffering. I will rescue you for My Sake -Yes, for My Own Sake! That way, the wicked nations will not be able to claim that their gods have conquered Me. I will not let them have My Glory.
Isiah 46: False Gods.- "The idols of Babyl'On, Bel and Nebo, are being hauled away on ox carts. But look! The beasts are staggering under the weight! Both the idols and the ones carrying them are bowed down. The gods cannot protect the people, and the people cannot protect the gods. They go off into (spiritual) captivity together. Listen to me, all you who are left in Israel. I created you and have cared for you since before you were born. I Will Be Your God throughout your lifetime -until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you, I will carry you along and save you. " (1-4)
"To whom will you compare Me? Who is My Equal? Some people pour out their silver and gold and hire a craftsman to make a god from it. Then they bow down and worship it! They carry it around on their shoulders, and when they set it down, it stays there. It cannot even move! And when someone prays to it, there is no answer. It has no power to get anyone out of trouble." (5-7)
"Do not forget this, you guilty ones. And Do Not Forget the Things I Have Done throughout history. For I Am God -I Alone! I Am God, and there is No One Else Like Me. Only I Can Tell you What Is Going To Happen even before it happens. Everything I Plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish. I will call a Swift Bird Of Prey from the East -a leader from a distant land who will come and do My bidding. I have said I would do it, and I will. Listen to Me, you stubborn, Evil people! For I Am ready to Set Things Right, not in the distance future, but right now! I Am ready to save Jerusalem and give My Glory to Israel.
Isaiah 47: Babyl'On Fall .- "Come Babyl'On, unconquered one, sit in the dust. For your Days of glory, pomp, and honor have ended. O daughter of Babyl'Onia, never again will you be the lovely princess, tender and delicate. Take heavy millstones and grind the corn. Remove your veil and strip off your robe. Expose yourself to public view. You will be naked and burdened with shame. I will take vengeance against you and will not negotiate." (1-3)
"Our Redeemer, Whose Name Is The Lord Almighty, Is The Holy One Of Israel. O daughter of Babyl'On, sit now in Darkness and silence. Never again will you be known as the Queen of Kingdoms.
For I was Angry With My Chosen People and began their punishment by letting them fall into your hands. But you, Babyl'On, showed them no mercy. You have forced even the elderly to carry heavy burdens. You thought, 'I will reign forever as Queen of the World!' You did not care at all about My People or think about the consequences of your actions. You are a Pleasure-Crazy kingdom, living at ease and feeling secure, bragging as if you were the greatest in the world! You say, 'I am self-sufficient and not accountable to anyone!I will never be a widow or lose my children!' Well, those two things will come upon you in a moment: widowhood and the loss of your children. Yes, these calamities will come upon you, despite all Your Witchcraft and Magic." (4-9)
"You feel secure in All Your Wickedness. 'No one sees me,' you said. Your so called 'Wisdom' and 'Knowledge' have caused you to turn away from Me and claim, 'I am self-sufficient and not accountable to anyone!' So disaster will overtake you suddenly, and you won't be able to charm it away. Calamity will fall upon you, and you won't be able to buy your way out. A catastrophe will arise so fast that you won't know what hit you." (10-11)
"Call out the Demon Hordes you have worshiped all these years. Ask them to help you strike Terror into the Hearts of people once again. You have more than enough advisers, astrologers, and stargazers.
Let them stand up and save you from what the future holds. But they are as useless as dried grass burning in a fire. They cannot even save themselves! You will get no help from them at all. Their hearth is not a place to sit for warmth. And all your friends, those with whom you have done business since childhood, will slip away and disappear, unable to help." (12-15)
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