before the LORD

[i]"If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain."[/i]

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And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him,

I am the Almighty God;

walk [b]before[/b] me,

and be thou perfect.

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And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom:

but Abraham stood yet

[b]before the Lord[/b].

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And Abraham

[b]drew near[/b],

[u]and said[/u],

Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?

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And Abraham answered [u]and said[/u], Behold now, I have taken upon me

[b]to speak[/b]

[u]unto the Lord[/u],

which am but dust and ashes:

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And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where [u][b]he stood before the Lord[/u][/b]:

"the place where he stood before the Lord"

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"And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst."

"Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout."

[b]They said therefore [u]among themselves[/u][/b]

Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be

...that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.

Now there [b]stood by the cross of Jesus[/b] his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.

And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where [u][b]he stood before the Lord[/u][/b]:

"the place where he stood before the Lord"

When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, [b]he saith[/b] unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then [b]saith he[/b] to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.

But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?

And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, [b]Behold[/b] [u]my[/u] mother and my brethren!

he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples

and said

Behold my mother and my brethren!

Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.

I am crucified with Christ - The Apostle Paul

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where [u][b]he stood before the Lord[/u][/b]:

"the place where he stood before the Lord"

"the place where he stood before the Lord"

the place

where he stood

before the Lord

I guess the point you are trying to make is about being before the Lord, especially in prayer. In drawing near to God. We need that, all of us. God bless.

Hi enid and thank you for offering the encouragement to pray. I can see where that thought can come to mind in looking at the story of Abraham in particular. I had had something different in mind though and intended to show that in qouting James the Apostle, where he writes

If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.

and this in connection with where we believers are. Maybe we and others could talk about this if they are interested?

Peace be with you all in Messiah Jesus.

The tounge is a scary subject. It is for me! In Matt 12v36 Jesus tells us that every idle word we speak we have to give account in the day of judgment. EVERY idle word. That means all. That's why I'm scared. In order to bridle our tounge, we need to bridle our thoughts, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. I guess this is why it says we deceive our own heart, and our religion is vain, empty, meaningless.

It is so easy to harden our hearts against God's correction, pretend we have a good walk with God when deep down inside we suspect something is wrong, and will not admit it.
We should speak to people in light of the judgment seat of Christ, no matter what. When you think about that, it is not so important to have the last word or to win an argument. Let us be wise with our words. God bless.

Hi enid. I appologise for not responding sooner.

We should speak to people in light of the judgment seat of Christ, no matter what.

So true. I think we can take it even closer, a little more in the 'moments' of life, by considering that, in a sense, our words are before Christ even now. This was what I had in mind in the first post.

When you think about that, it is not so important to have the last word or to win an argument.

Good point here too. And why are we really even concerned about winning anyway, you know?

A question that gets at our motives.

Your point about arguments brought to mind this passage of scripture

...Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. ...

But we are [b]earthen vessels[/b]

in a great house

with [u][i]treasure[/u][/i] [b]within[/b].

Ohh how we need grace brother, to carry such treasure.

May you have a good and godly weekend

Chris :-D