So Many Things To Consider 6: The Payment
It was an audio version of Napoleon Hill's Law of Success where I first heard it: "Write down what you are going to pay . . . " Pay? I replayed it a few times. I couldn't figure out what he was talking about. Pay for what? It seemed to have come from left field somewhere. Pay with what? Time? Charitable works? Effort? After it came out that Hill was a scam artist (which in no way affects the validity of what he taught, for he was a very good one), I thought maybe he meant how much time in jail are you willing to pay if you get caught.
The question of what you are willing to pay, of what you are going to pay, is eternally valid. I became born again in light of my having robbed God of the life he had given me. Ix-nay on the iven-gay. What I realized was that he had made me to live for his purposes, not mine. Listen up, Law of Attraction advocates. Using his life for my purposes was robbery. Repenting, surrendering, and submitting "bought" me forgiveness. And a life to his purposes.
What is the price of God? I saw it today in Victor N. Alexander's translation of Genesis from the ancient Aramaic:
Genesis 26
1. And there was famine in the land, different from the first famine that happened in the Days of Abraham, and Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines at Gadar.
2. And the Lord appeared to him and told him, "Do not go down to Egypt, settle in the land that I command you.
3. "Live in this land and I will be with you and bless you, because to you and to your offspring I give all these kingdoms* (properties), and I shall uphold the oaths that I made to Abraham (swore).
4. "And I shall increase your offspring like the stars of heaven, and I shall give to your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed through your offspring.
5. "In exchange for Abraham having listened to my voice and observed my observances, commandments, covenants and Laws."
6. And so Isaac settled in Gadar.
'Abraham' means Merciful Father; i.e., God is Merciful. Abraham is the "Law" of God, his NATURE. Learning to work with the Law, i.e., taking the nature of God upon ourselves, is the payment God wants. It is how we get to Isaac, Laughter. In exchange for becoming the Merciful Father, God GIVES us the kingdoms of the world. In that we become the Father(s) of many nations.
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Speaking of payment, I refer to Vic Alexander's translations a lot. His is a solo guy's work of trying to reestablish the Ancient Aramaic Church. Imagine the lives of the believers in the actual days of the first church . . . give or take the actual speaking in Aramaic. We can't do that. Vic can. And he has translated as much as he can, the whole New Testament and a good portion of the Old. Nah, it isn't fancy, it isn't even proofread, but I believe it is as close as we can get to the idiomatic sense of what the first century church understood when they read the scriptures. Good God, I know there are problems with typos and grammar and punctuation, and questions about the text he is using and his accuracy, and I have to read between the lines a lot, but only Alexander's version reads like their heart. His translations are a bit expensive, but to me they are oh, so valuable. He doesn't pay me to plug his product, though he did give me a "thanks for keeping in touch" reply to an e-mail inquiry as to his health. I encourage people to get Alexander's translations because I too want to reestablish the Ancient Aramaic Church. Personally, I cannot believe a person really gives a rat's *** about God if they are not willing to invest in the closest thing we have to an actual first century Bible in English. Let me put it this way: God can't steer us if we are not rolling, and Alexander's translation gets me rolling. Maryah bless him for it.
I have to admit I haven't ordered the Old Testament Scriptures collection yet. I have all the paperback editions, and both paperback and hardcover New Testaments. I'll have to get the Old Testament Scriptures eventually, for I am wearing out my paperback Genesis and Exodus. Worth it? He put me in line with The Payment. What do you think that was worth?
The question of what you are willing to pay, of what you are going to pay, is eternally valid. I became born again in light of my having robbed God of the life he had given me. Ix-nay on the iven-gay. What I realized was that he had made me to live for his purposes, not mine. Listen up, Law of Attraction advocates. Using his life for my purposes was robbery. Repenting, surrendering, and submitting "bought" me forgiveness. And a life to his purposes.
What is the price of God? I saw it today in Victor N. Alexander's translation of Genesis from the ancient Aramaic:
Genesis 26
1. And there was famine in the land, different from the first famine that happened in the Days of Abraham, and Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines at Gadar.
2. And the Lord appeared to him and told him, "Do not go down to Egypt, settle in the land that I command you.
3. "Live in this land and I will be with you and bless you, because to you and to your offspring I give all these kingdoms* (properties), and I shall uphold the oaths that I made to Abraham (swore).
4. "And I shall increase your offspring like the stars of heaven, and I shall give to your offspring all these lands, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed through your offspring.
5. "In exchange for Abraham having listened to my voice and observed my observances, commandments, covenants and Laws."
6. And so Isaac settled in Gadar.
'Abraham' means Merciful Father; i.e., God is Merciful. Abraham is the "Law" of God, his NATURE. Learning to work with the Law, i.e., taking the nature of God upon ourselves, is the payment God wants. It is how we get to Isaac, Laughter. In exchange for becoming the Merciful Father, God GIVES us the kingdoms of the world. In that we become the Father(s) of many nations.
___________________________________
Speaking of payment, I refer to Vic Alexander's translations a lot. His is a solo guy's work of trying to reestablish the Ancient Aramaic Church. Imagine the lives of the believers in the actual days of the first church . . . give or take the actual speaking in Aramaic. We can't do that. Vic can. And he has translated as much as he can, the whole New Testament and a good portion of the Old. Nah, it isn't fancy, it isn't even proofread, but I believe it is as close as we can get to the idiomatic sense of what the first century church understood when they read the scriptures. Good God, I know there are problems with typos and grammar and punctuation, and questions about the text he is using and his accuracy, and I have to read between the lines a lot, but only Alexander's version reads like their heart. His translations are a bit expensive, but to me they are oh, so valuable. He doesn't pay me to plug his product, though he did give me a "thanks for keeping in touch" reply to an e-mail inquiry as to his health. I encourage people to get Alexander's translations because I too want to reestablish the Ancient Aramaic Church. Personally, I cannot believe a person really gives a rat's *** about God if they are not willing to invest in the closest thing we have to an actual first century Bible in English. Let me put it this way: God can't steer us if we are not rolling, and Alexander's translation gets me rolling. Maryah bless him for it.
I have to admit I haven't ordered the Old Testament Scriptures collection yet. I have all the paperback editions, and both paperback and hardcover New Testaments. I'll have to get the Old Testament Scriptures eventually, for I am wearing out my paperback Genesis and Exodus. Worth it? He put me in line with The Payment. What do you think that was worth?
posted by Daniel C. Branham-Steele at
12:39 AM
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