I felt pressed by the Holy Spirit this morning to study this scripture for Matthew 6:33. What I'm finding is that we think that we have the teachings of Yeshua (Jesus), but a lot of it has been intentionally changed to keep the majority in darkness.
It is very likely that Matthew 6:33 is one of those scriptures. But, more importantly, from today, I'm beginning to think that any Bible or Bible commentary that you might find will still fall short if you do not know the original languages.
At first, I did not find anything interesting. I could not find anything in the Hebrew and Greek Lexicon. I couldn't even find the resource page I used to access all the time from Scripturetext.com; thank you Google.
But, then I visited http://www.peshitta.org/ and http://aramaicnewtestament.org/gospel/matthew_6.htm. I tried the Google translator tool since no translation was offered on the second website. The results are very interesting...
Peshitta Aramaic/English Interlinear New Testament: not therefore be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will be added these (things) and all and His righteousness of God the kingdom all these things require you.
Direct Greek Translation: and first seek ye the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things were added unto you (Oddly enough, there were no alternate translations for "were added").
Was it an error in translation, as is common with the Google translator tool, or has something been lost in translation or intentionally changed by translators? I'm having trouble deciding. Do your study Bibles ever question the translations? In your daily devotional, you should.
Because the second translation is more exciting I wanted so share it. In light of who God is, the current faith training I have been going through, I believe that the translators must have thought that they needed to correct the tense in the sentence. But, they lost the original meaning.
Don't toil. Lilies don't toil. God has taken care of everything that you need already. He cares more for you than flowers.
I want to tell my journey of viewing the Bible as the sacred words of life to viewing it as a cryptic success manual. And the questions along the way like, "Why is it so hard to follow it?"
I can remember in previous years being obsessed with the words in red, Christ's words.
Now, I am obsessed with hearing all of it. It took me a decade or so to read the KJV Version in it's entirety aloud. There was something pressing my spirit to read for the walls and unclean spirits to hear.
I had never thought it was for myself until...
Dani Johnson said: Faith comes by hearing. HEARING!
She has a way of getting things across when others can't. I imagine she was referring to her audio testimonials, and all of her DVDs and audios available. But the message stuck.
"So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." -Romans 10:17
It's not just Dani who I've been listening to this year. I started this year all torn down after leaving an unhealthy relationship. And, I decided to only to listen to Christian leaders. Now, I am an entrepreneur, and I see success all around -- through new clandestine "techniques" for getting prospects to purchase your products and services. I would follow whoever was in the headlines and making marketing history at the moment.
And then, this year this sunk in... "Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." -Psalm 1:1
Did I really believe this Bible that I claimed to live by?
The decision is now, to trust nothing and no one else.
I felt the loss of Jim Rohn last year, I was a late comer to his teachings, but I remember his testimony that he was a believer and his challenge to all believers to Study, PRACTICE, and Teach what they believe. It was remarkable for me to learn that two men that I really respected Les Brown and Henry Weinacker, also attributed some of their success to Mr. Jim Rohn.
So, I was seeking for ways to pull myself out of my emotional slump. I found Eric Thomas on YouTube. I had heard of Thank God It's Monday from two other marketers, not sure who came up with it first. Was it Scott Stratten? Was it Dave Navarro?
But, then one by one...those that attributed their success to the Bible started emerging. Dani Johnson, Les Brown, Earl Nightingale, Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar...
Now, I could never be certain of how much these people believed in the God of the Bible, but I could be certain that they believed and lived by biblical principles to succeed in life.
Zig Struck Me The Most.
He told this story of a secretary that had come to work for his company. The lady had nothing going for her. He said that she started listening to the Bible and listening to the teachings of the company. And she skyrocketed to the top of his sales force before leaving for a better job!
My mind flashed back to Dani Johnson bragging about having read the Bible six times and studying it. She was one of the many that claimed it to be the best success book ever written.
Even as the New Age Movement continues to deceive and silence the voices Christians that don't want to ruffle feathers...this truth remains:
Isaiah 55:11 (NIV) so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
So isn't that a reason to listen to it? Isn't that a reason to listen to all of it?
But he answering said, 'It hath been written, Not upon bread alone doth man live, but upon every wordcoming forth from the mouth of God.' (Matthew 4:4)
So for the purely selfish motive of wanting the best that God has in life, and for wanting to be a light and leader through my actions. I've listened to many online bibles. My next step is to buy CDs of the ESV version of the Bible to listen more. For some reason, this purchase has eluded me for about three years. In the meantime, titles like The Bible Experience (TNIV) has tempted me, and my indecision has caused me not to purchase one. But, those in poverty think of one or the either, and those that live by heaven's principles think in terms of all (multiple Bibles):
