Share The Truth With Grace
Are Christians really
"intolerant?" That charge is often made in
today's society, but there's a
vast difference between "intolerance"
and simply taking a stand for the
truth as one understands it.
Others are free to disagree when
we assert that Jesus Christ is
the only way to the Father.
However, they can't deny that this is,
in fact, the central message of the Christian faith.
And we as
believers are compelled by Jesus
Himself to share the "good news."
But that doesn't mean that
Christians are out to impose our beliefs
on others. Our job as disciples
is to simply bear witness to the truth
in word and deed. Only God's
Spirit can convince another person to
receive that message.
That said, we can't forget that
human beings are created in the
image of God (Genesis 1:27) and
are thus deserving of respect.
We must always keep in mind the
"Golden Rule"—"treat others the
same way you want them to treat
you" (Luke 6:31). As Paul
instructs us, "Let your
speech always be gracious, seasoned with
salt, so that you may know how
you ought to answer each person"
(Colossians 4:6). Loving others
involves graciously sharing the truth
as we understand it, and prayerfully letting God take it
from there.
|
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Share the Truth with Grace
November 7 I received the following from FOCUS ON THE FAMILY. It is stated perfectly. It is what I have tried multiple times to convey - and whomever wrote this stated it perfectly!
Monday, September 29, 2014
Crisis Request for Prayer because of horrors of Isis/Isil Northern Iraq
Note from Lola:
An email was sent out to Seventh Day Adventist Prayer Warriors on September 23. My cousin who received it, sent it on to me to expand the prayer partnering:
"We lost the city of Queragosh. It fell to ISIS and they are beheading children systematically. This is the city we have been smuggling food to. ISIS has pushed back Kurdish Forces, and is within 10 minutes of where our CRI team is working. Thousands more fled into the city of Erbil last night. The UN evacuated its staff in Erbil. Our team is unmoved and will stay. Prayer cover needed!!!."
Please pray sincerely for the deliverance of people of northern Iraq from the terrible advancement of ISIS and its extreme Islamic goals for mass conversion or death for Christians in this area."
Note added by the original recipient:
May I plead with you not to ignore this email? Do not forward it before you have prayed through it. Then send it to as many people as possible.
May I plead with you not to ignore this email? Do not forward it before you have prayed through it. Then send it to as many people as possible.
Send it to friends and Christians you know. Send it to your prayer group. Send it to your pastors. Any one you can think of. We need to stand in the gap for our fellow Christians.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
The Feast of Trumpets/ Rosh Hashanah Year 5775
A couple of years ago I wrote about the Feasts commanded by G-d, and used the information I found online as fact. That worked OK for the first 4 feasts. Their obvious fulfillment in Yeshua/Jesus are absolutely on track. But - I have learned that my earlier writing about the 5th Feast is likely in error, which would mean my source of information was inaccurate. I am not ready to declare that with absolute certainty - - but I am leaning that direction.
Last Spring I asked God if there really is a 'rapture' of the saints separate from His Second Coming, which is when He will return to earth, and very specifically to Jerusalem.*
God's response was immediate. He told me, "Study the Feasts." I started reviewing them from the beginning - - and found that the first 4 were in perfect alignment with the earlier research I had done, and that Jesus fulfilled them perfectly - - and on the exact day they occurred in the year of His crucifixion and resurrection. But then I got to the 5th Feast and had such strong caution about what I had previously accepted as fact, that I got stuck.
I've chuckled a bit at God's telling me to study the Feasts.... I am not a scholar - - but I do love Bible study, and I love discovering nuggets of truth and uncovering tidbits I hadn't previously paid attention to.
I have browsed throughout the summer - - but felt overwhelmed by tackling something so beyond me - - until I realized that I don't have to enter the challenge with an expectation that I will come out the other end with any final answers. I was just told to study them - - not provide answers. And so, study I will.
My nugget for the day is the trumpet. I had assumed that since 'shofar' is often translated 'trumpet' that the final trumpet blast would actually be the blowing of the shofar - - but I found something 'new to me' today that lends credence to the trumpet blast announcing Jesus' return actually being a trumpet.
In Numbers 10, Moses was instructed to make 2 silver trumpets, which were to be blown at the time of their feasts and gatherings to summon the people. I was a trumpet player, so that caught my attention. I don't care if the trumpet he blows is a silver trumpet or a shofar - - but it piqued my interest. I had never noticed that specific detail before.
The other thing about today is that it is the last day of the Jewish Civil Year 5774. At sundown tonight begins Year 5775. Tishri 1 is the beginning of the Calendar's Civil Year for the Jewish people, and is the celebration honoring the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, which marks the beginning of measured time. (It is the 7th month of their religious calendar, but the measurement of time is based on the Civil calendar.)
Tishri 1 is the Feast of Trumpets /aka/ Rosh Hashanah. I firmly believe that in the year Jesus returns He will come at the Feast of Trumpets. The Bible says we will not know the day or hour - - and that is true, because we won't know which year His return will be - - but we will know the season! With all that is prophesied about the end of time - - wars and rumors of wars, disasters in diverse places, knowledge increasing, men calling good evil and evil good, being lovers of pleasure instead of lovers of God, the love of many waxing cold...it sure feels like the season.
Even so, Come, Lord Jesus.
May the trumpet blast this year be a reminder of His soon return. The Feast of Trumpets marks the beginning of 10 high holy days - - days of introspection and repentance - - and will end with The Day of Atonement on Tishri 10.
As the Jewish faithful shout each year as part of this celebration, "Next year in Jerusalem!"
The trumpet shall sound! The dead shall be raised! Raised in the twinkling of an eye.
(As part of their New Year's tradition, Jews around the world will eat apples dipped in honey to welcome 5775.)
*When He returns, Jesus will enter the Golden Gate in the Eastern Wall of Temple Mount, a gate that has been sealed shut since 1517 when the Turks conquered Jerusalem. Their reason for sealing it shut: they heard that the Messiah would return through it and they sealed it to prevent that from happening. They also made a cemetery just outside it for added security, as they believed no devout Jewish rabbi would go through the cemetery, for fear of being defiled.... Don't you wonder at man's goofy reasoning?
In the first few verses of Ezekiel 44 you can read the prophecy that the gate would be closed and not opened again until the 'prince' - - the Messiah - - comes.
Last Spring I asked God if there really is a 'rapture' of the saints separate from His Second Coming, which is when He will return to earth, and very specifically to Jerusalem.*
God's response was immediate. He told me, "Study the Feasts." I started reviewing them from the beginning - - and found that the first 4 were in perfect alignment with the earlier research I had done, and that Jesus fulfilled them perfectly - - and on the exact day they occurred in the year of His crucifixion and resurrection. But then I got to the 5th Feast and had such strong caution about what I had previously accepted as fact, that I got stuck.
I've chuckled a bit at God's telling me to study the Feasts.... I am not a scholar - - but I do love Bible study, and I love discovering nuggets of truth and uncovering tidbits I hadn't previously paid attention to.
I have browsed throughout the summer - - but felt overwhelmed by tackling something so beyond me - - until I realized that I don't have to enter the challenge with an expectation that I will come out the other end with any final answers. I was just told to study them - - not provide answers. And so, study I will.
My nugget for the day is the trumpet. I had assumed that since 'shofar' is often translated 'trumpet' that the final trumpet blast would actually be the blowing of the shofar - - but I found something 'new to me' today that lends credence to the trumpet blast announcing Jesus' return actually being a trumpet.
In Numbers 10, Moses was instructed to make 2 silver trumpets, which were to be blown at the time of their feasts and gatherings to summon the people. I was a trumpet player, so that caught my attention. I don't care if the trumpet he blows is a silver trumpet or a shofar - - but it piqued my interest. I had never noticed that specific detail before.
The other thing about today is that it is the last day of the Jewish Civil Year 5774. At sundown tonight begins Year 5775. Tishri 1 is the beginning of the Calendar's Civil Year for the Jewish people, and is the celebration honoring the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, which marks the beginning of measured time. (It is the 7th month of their religious calendar, but the measurement of time is based on the Civil calendar.)
Tishri 1 is the Feast of Trumpets /aka/ Rosh Hashanah. I firmly believe that in the year Jesus returns He will come at the Feast of Trumpets. The Bible says we will not know the day or hour - - and that is true, because we won't know which year His return will be - - but we will know the season! With all that is prophesied about the end of time - - wars and rumors of wars, disasters in diverse places, knowledge increasing, men calling good evil and evil good, being lovers of pleasure instead of lovers of God, the love of many waxing cold...it sure feels like the season.
Even so, Come, Lord Jesus.
May the trumpet blast this year be a reminder of His soon return. The Feast of Trumpets marks the beginning of 10 high holy days - - days of introspection and repentance - - and will end with The Day of Atonement on Tishri 10.
As the Jewish faithful shout each year as part of this celebration, "Next year in Jerusalem!"
The trumpet shall sound! The dead shall be raised! Raised in the twinkling of an eye.
(As part of their New Year's tradition, Jews around the world will eat apples dipped in honey to welcome 5775.)
*When He returns, Jesus will enter the Golden Gate in the Eastern Wall of Temple Mount, a gate that has been sealed shut since 1517 when the Turks conquered Jerusalem. Their reason for sealing it shut: they heard that the Messiah would return through it and they sealed it to prevent that from happening. They also made a cemetery just outside it for added security, as they believed no devout Jewish rabbi would go through the cemetery, for fear of being defiled.... Don't you wonder at man's goofy reasoning?
In the first few verses of Ezekiel 44 you can read the prophecy that the gate would be closed and not opened again until the 'prince' - - the Messiah - - comes.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Daniel 4
I love the story recorded in Daniel 4. After seeing God's protection of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (recorded in Chapter 3), it would have seemed that King Nebuchadnezzar would have been thoroughly convinced of who the One True God is - - but nope, he had to have Chapter 4! It is such a dramatic story. Daniel is more than a little uneasy about telling Neb the interpretation of Neb's dream. I can certainly understand why! He'd seen the results of Neb's temper and power in the past, and Neb was a man one didn't want to cross!
I love that God loved Neb enough to warn him of what He was about to do, agonize that Neb ignored God's warning, and thrill to the conclusion. The story in between could be a movie. It is graphically written and I am visual, so the drama plays out easily in my imagination. And at the end of it all, after Neb has come back to his senses, he worships the One and Only God.
And so it is for us. God loves us enough to lead us to a place of complete reliance on Him where we learn that He alone is worthy of our praise. He deserves our praise and worship no matter what our circumstances.
Praise you, Lord, for you are worthy of all wealth and power and wisdom and strength, all honor and glory and praise.
****
The Lord of Heaven and earth came down to earth as a man - fully God and fully human - to become the final sacrifice ever needed so we could be restored to Him in the perfect relationship that existed before Sin entered the garden of Eden. A thought occurred to me a couple of days ago that had never previously entered my mind. As fully God in human form, when He looked up at the stars He had created He knew their names. An amazing reality! I cannot even conceive what an incredible sacrifice it was for God to become man to save us. "He humbled Himself and carried the cross"....the words to the song have even more meaning to me this morning. "Love so amazing!"
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (John 3:16-17)
The opportunity for salvation is there for all humanity - but it is up to us to reach out and accept the gift.
He who has the Son has life, but he who does not have the Son, does not have life.
The Bible has made the way very clear.
I love that God loved Neb enough to warn him of what He was about to do, agonize that Neb ignored God's warning, and thrill to the conclusion. The story in between could be a movie. It is graphically written and I am visual, so the drama plays out easily in my imagination. And at the end of it all, after Neb has come back to his senses, he worships the One and Only God.
And so it is for us. God loves us enough to lead us to a place of complete reliance on Him where we learn that He alone is worthy of our praise. He deserves our praise and worship no matter what our circumstances.
Praise you, Lord, for you are worthy of all wealth and power and wisdom and strength, all honor and glory and praise.
****
The Lord of Heaven and earth came down to earth as a man - fully God and fully human - to become the final sacrifice ever needed so we could be restored to Him in the perfect relationship that existed before Sin entered the garden of Eden. A thought occurred to me a couple of days ago that had never previously entered my mind. As fully God in human form, when He looked up at the stars He had created He knew their names. An amazing reality! I cannot even conceive what an incredible sacrifice it was for God to become man to save us. "He humbled Himself and carried the cross"....the words to the song have even more meaning to me this morning. "Love so amazing!"
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (John 3:16-17)
The opportunity for salvation is there for all humanity - but it is up to us to reach out and accept the gift.
He who has the Son has life, but he who does not have the Son, does not have life.
The Bible has made the way very clear.
Saturday, August 23, 2014
DANIEL 3
I am re-reading the book of Daniel. Today was Daniel 3, the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and the fiery furnace. What leaped out most saliently to me today in reading the story again was that their assertion to King Neb was that their God would deliver them from his hands. They didn't proclaim they'd be saved from the fire - but they'd be saved from Nebuchadnezzar. That salvation could have just as easily come through their death. The fire was so hot that the men who threw them in were killed - but the 3 faithful Hebrew children were spared. One like a 'son of the gods' - Neb's description - walked with them in the flames. The cords that bound them fell off, but they were not touched by the flame. They didn't even smell like smoke.
What an amazing reminder that God has our back. It is true that He doesn't perform conspicuous miracles every time we ask. If He did, no one would ever die - and it is appointed to man (because of the sin of Adam and Eve) that we will one day die. The only exceptions to that 'rule' are those who are alive at Jesus' return. Then those who are dead in Christ will rise first, and those who are alive and yet remain will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the sky - to be forever with the Lord. (The only other recorded exception is Enoch, who was translated without dying, and his death may come later as one of the two witnesses in the Book of Revelation.)
There is a ton I do not understand - and that God has not cleared up for me - but His Word provides enough history and clarity for me to trust the future to Him. Like the 3 men who were faced with a fiery furnace death, we too know a God who is able to deliver. I love that they were spared death as a testimony to those who witnessed the event - and I love the 180 degree turn around the King made in His view and his proclamation of which God would be honored! I know God frequently works through circumstances - - but I love it when there is no other way to explain what just happened except that He showed up in power.
Thank you, Lord, for the history of your amazing intervention. When I walk through 'the fire' You are with me. Thank you for Your love and care.
What an amazing reminder that God has our back. It is true that He doesn't perform conspicuous miracles every time we ask. If He did, no one would ever die - and it is appointed to man (because of the sin of Adam and Eve) that we will one day die. The only exceptions to that 'rule' are those who are alive at Jesus' return. Then those who are dead in Christ will rise first, and those who are alive and yet remain will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the sky - to be forever with the Lord. (The only other recorded exception is Enoch, who was translated without dying, and his death may come later as one of the two witnesses in the Book of Revelation.)
There is a ton I do not understand - and that God has not cleared up for me - but His Word provides enough history and clarity for me to trust the future to Him. Like the 3 men who were faced with a fiery furnace death, we too know a God who is able to deliver. I love that they were spared death as a testimony to those who witnessed the event - and I love the 180 degree turn around the King made in His view and his proclamation of which God would be honored! I know God frequently works through circumstances - - but I love it when there is no other way to explain what just happened except that He showed up in power.
Thank you, Lord, for the history of your amazing intervention. When I walk through 'the fire' You are with me. Thank you for Your love and care.
Friday, August 22, 2014
DEATH STINGS
We lost a friend last night, and I have spent today remembering shared joys. She was a delight to be with - a good conversationalist - and she had even more opinions than I do!
She loved her family deeply, lived life to the full, and was a woman of character. She had several wonderful collections that I enjoyed looking at with her, and she had a warm and generous heart. She was direct and stated her views openly.
And she loved humor. A couple of years ago at Christmas she sent me a story I will share that is representative of her enjoyment of humor.
She loved her family deeply, lived life to the full, and was a woman of character. She had several wonderful collections that I enjoyed looking at with her, and she had a warm and generous heart. She was direct and stated her views openly.
And she loved humor. A couple of years ago at Christmas she sent me a story I will share that is representative of her enjoyment of humor.
A man in Florida calls his son in New England the day
before Christmas and says, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to
tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; forty-five years of misery is enough."
"What are you talking about?" the son screams.
“We can't stand the sight of each other any longer," the
father says.
"We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about
this, so you call your sister in New Hampshire and tell her."
Frantic, the son calls his sister who explodes on the phone,
"Like heck they're getting divorced," she shouts. "I'll
take care of this."
She calls Florida immediately and screams at her father,
"You are NOT getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get
there. I'm calling my
brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then,
don't do a thing. DO YOU HEAR ME?" and hangs up.
The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife.
"Okay," he says,
"The children are coming for Christmas and paying their
own way."
Laughter is good like a medicine.
My favorite story about her goes back to when she got pregnant with her last child, and at dinner at their house she told me, "I don't know how this happened." And I quickly replied, "You're a nurse." I was pretty sure she could figure it out. Of course that wasn't how she meant what she said - but it was what she stated - and we had a good laugh.
The thing about traveling down memory lane is that the joys are bathed in current tears, but JOY comes in the morning. That's the Lord's promise, and I know from experience it is true. But right now I agonize for her family - and for us. We share the loss.
Rest in peace, Ann. It was a joy to have you in our lives. I wouldn't ask you to suffer longer, even though I feel cheated by not getting to see you to say our last goodbye on this earth in person.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
ROBIN WILLIAMS
"Carpe diem. Seize the day. Make your life extraordinary."
I know they were memorized words from a script - but they were words Robin Williams spoke in the film DEAD POETS SOCIETY.
I went to bed feeling deep, deep sadness for the choice that Robin made to end his life. He who brought so much joy to others through comedic relief didn't find joy in his own life, and ended it by his own hand. A sad, tragic loss.
I agonize for his family and others who loved him on a personal level. I know what it feels like to be the child of suicide: the if only's, the what if's, the maybe's...and when someone so dearly loved internationally chooses this way out of personal depression the model creates a risk for others to take the same self-absorbed way out. (And suicide is self-absorbed. None of us truly live just to ourselves. We are interconnected. Our lives matter to someone - - even perhaps to many someone's.)
I hate suicide! Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Even long term depression is temporary in light of eternity.
The only answer for life's deepest struggles is Jesus. I know that a lot of people will be tempted to end their own pain with Robin's choice as their permission. Don't do it. Get help. Eternity weighs in the balance.
What happened is tragic. My prayer is that God will redeem this horrible situation for good in others' lives - - that people who are in depression and in need of help will seek the only One who can meet life's deepest sorrows. Truly, the Light of the World is Jesus.
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16.
God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life, but he who does not have the Son does not have life. I John 5:11-12
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by me. John 14:6
Salvation is found in no one else. For there is no other name...by whom we must be saved Acts 4:12
Cast all your cares on Him, for He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
Find a Bible believing church. Find a Christian counselor. Get help. God truly cares - and Jesus is the answer to all of life's dilemmas! Seize the day. Make your life extraordinary with God's help. We can't do it alone!
(My mother committed suicide when I was 7 1/2 years old. I speak from experience. It is a horrible ending to grapple with for those left behind. I am sharing this hoping someone who reads it will choose life - - not just living longer, but true life - - by asking Jesus into your life and circumstances; reading your Bible, praying, finding the fellowship of Christian believers in a Bible-believing church so you dan grow Spiritually. I believe someone is meant to read this - - that God will use it for good in your life.)
Saturday, August 2, 2014
Brigitte Gabriel - Used As a Human Shield As a Child
http://video.foxnews.com/v/3705593274001/woman-used-as-human-shield-reacts-to-hamas-strategy/#sp=show-clips
To see this very important clip, just highlight the link above and paste into your browser. I apologize for the ad you have to endure at the beginning, but what I wrote about Hamas and using children as human shields is corroborated by a woman who was used in that capacity as a child.
To see this very important clip, just highlight the link above and paste into your browser. I apologize for the ad you have to endure at the beginning, but what I wrote about Hamas and using children as human shields is corroborated by a woman who was used in that capacity as a child.
Friday, August 1, 2014
AFTER JESUS' RESURRECTION
With the interruption to my writing because of taking care of my daughter following her surgery, Good Friday has come and gone, Resurrection morning has come and gone, and at this point Jesus is on earth making appearances to confirm His resurrection to His followers prior to His ascension into heaven.
He lived.
He died
He was resurrected and lived again.
He ascended to the Father.
He is awaiting the predestined time God has appointed for Him to return - - and He will!
God has kept the details cloaked in just enough mystery that we have to have total reliance on Him. All we need to know is that He said it, so He will do it - - and it could be very, very soon. However, many believe His coming will be in 2 stages.
Oh what a glorious day that will be! Glorious, that is, for those who are prepared to meet Him.
For everyone else, not so much.
Many Christians look forward to what has been dubbed 'The Rapture', though that is not a term used in the Bible. There is widespread belief that we will be caught up in the air to be forever together with the Lord - - but that is not the true Second Coming, and it is His Second Coming, when He returns to Jerusalem and enters the Eastern Gate, that will precipitate the final judgment.
As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. Right up to the moment of His coming, people will be 'doing what they do' with no regard for Him. The love of most will have waxed cold. People will be lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. The condition of the world looks right now like the world it is predicted to be at the close of the age. And that is how long He promises to be with us: to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:20b)
I don't want to be here after His Spirit is withdrawn. The Tribulation - - particularly the last 3 1/2 years will be awful. People will come to the Lord at that point, at an enormous cost, but it is still better to suffer for that relatively short period than to face eternity without God. It is a sobering reality to ponder.
(I actually wrote this a few months ago - - but just found it in my drafts after posting my most recently written perspective on Hamas and Israel....so am going to publish it now as well...better late than never.)
He lived.
He died
He was resurrected and lived again.
He ascended to the Father.
He is awaiting the predestined time God has appointed for Him to return - - and He will!
God has kept the details cloaked in just enough mystery that we have to have total reliance on Him. All we need to know is that He said it, so He will do it - - and it could be very, very soon. However, many believe His coming will be in 2 stages.
Oh what a glorious day that will be! Glorious, that is, for those who are prepared to meet Him.
For everyone else, not so much.
Many Christians look forward to what has been dubbed 'The Rapture', though that is not a term used in the Bible. There is widespread belief that we will be caught up in the air to be forever together with the Lord - - but that is not the true Second Coming, and it is His Second Coming, when He returns to Jerusalem and enters the Eastern Gate, that will precipitate the final judgment.
As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man. Right up to the moment of His coming, people will be 'doing what they do' with no regard for Him. The love of most will have waxed cold. People will be lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. The condition of the world looks right now like the world it is predicted to be at the close of the age. And that is how long He promises to be with us: to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:20b)
I don't want to be here after His Spirit is withdrawn. The Tribulation - - particularly the last 3 1/2 years will be awful. People will come to the Lord at that point, at an enormous cost, but it is still better to suffer for that relatively short period than to face eternity without God. It is a sobering reality to ponder.
(I actually wrote this a few months ago - - but just found it in my drafts after posting my most recently written perspective on Hamas and Israel....so am going to publish it now as well...better late than never.)
ISRAEL & HAMAS AND THE PRESENT CONFLICT
It has been far too long since I have written on my blog. Very few people read it - which makes it easier to ignore doing it - but I need it as a place to share what's on my mind - - and today it is ISRAEL and the current conflict with Hamas. I am compelled to write!
What people in the West don't understand is how very differently people like those in Hamas think. This errant thinking does not apply to all Palestinians - - but for people in Hamas, the death of their children is a cause for celebration. I know that sounds startling - - but it is true - - and that is why it is so hard for Westerners to understand the complexity of what is happening in this conflict.
Israel's policy and practice is compassion and caring. They warn civilians when they are going to bomb an area - - but Hamas sends the children into the fray, hoping they will be killed so they can gain international sympathy for their cause. I heard one of Israel's ambassadors state it well, when he quoted someone else who said, "They will never stop until they love their children more than they hate us." His comment stunned the correspondent interviewing him - - but it is true. In the past they have conspicuously used their children as human shields. They raise their children to believe that they will have a special place in heaven if they become suicide bombers. They lie to their children, and they lie to themselves.
I believe that the simple poem penned by Israel's President, Shimon Peres, in 2006 says volumes:
What people in the West don't understand is how very differently people like those in Hamas think. This errant thinking does not apply to all Palestinians - - but for people in Hamas, the death of their children is a cause for celebration. I know that sounds startling - - but it is true - - and that is why it is so hard for Westerners to understand the complexity of what is happening in this conflict.
Israel's policy and practice is compassion and caring. They warn civilians when they are going to bomb an area - - but Hamas sends the children into the fray, hoping they will be killed so they can gain international sympathy for their cause. I heard one of Israel's ambassadors state it well, when he quoted someone else who said, "They will never stop until they love their children more than they hate us." His comment stunned the correspondent interviewing him - - but it is true. In the past they have conspicuously used their children as human shields. They raise their children to believe that they will have a special place in heaven if they become suicide bombers. They lie to their children, and they lie to themselves.
I believe that the simple poem penned by Israel's President, Shimon Peres, in 2006 says volumes:
Ray of Hope
Copyright 2006 by
Shimon Peres, President of Israel
Music by Liel (born
in Israel)
Sung by Andrea
Bocelli and Liel on utube
Oh my Lord, it’s time to pray
When the new sun shines let’s make hay
So save my land from desert’s stay
Call the ocean’s salt to melt away
(Call the oceans, salt to melt away) echo in musical version
And bless streams with love’s sway
Provide my foe and friend a bloodless day
Invite boys and girls for peace to pray
Then send a ray of hope for a new way
(Then send a ray of hope for a new way) echo in musical version
The line that prays, "Provide my foe and friend a bloodless day" is profound - - and exemplifies the heart of the Israelis purest passion.
Israel's doctors provide medical care for Palestinian children out of the goodness of their hearts. That should show their good intent toward the children. And - they warn civilians when there is going to be a bombing. But - - when the mortar fire comes out of schools and mosques, and places that should be 'safe' for the civilians, Israel has no choice but to launch a counter-attack. The tunnels under the walls are there for terrorist motives - - to smuggle in weapons and sneak out through to do harm.
The American politicians who get involved are vulnerable to being swayed by the manipulation Hamas' so craftily performs. It would be easy for that to be the case if you didn't know the underlying truth. I will never forget when 9/11 happened - - the images on TV of people jubilantly dancing in the streets in Palestine because of the attacks on U S soil with the twin towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington D C. I was shocked. Even when someone is evil I do not celebrate their pain.
And, I cannot imagine a people that celebrates the death of their own children as a good thing for their 'cause'. Unthinkable!
The Bible warns that in the end of time men will call good evil and evil good. We are there! Can Jesus' Second Coming be far away?
Monday, April 14, 2014
LENT 2014 - COUNTDOWN TO RESURRECTION - 6 more days!
6 more days!
In Jesus' world in +-33 A D, Monday was a quiet day. But it was the day after the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. That entry both corroborated and created expectations. I imagine His followers were living with a false sense of anticipation of their view of what His soon-to-be-finalized Kingdom would be. I don't want to live with misconceptions. I want to understand what God is doing and align with Him in His plan. I only want HOPE that is founded in His Truth.
In Jesus' world in +-33 A D, Monday was a quiet day. But it was the day after the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. That entry both corroborated and created expectations. I imagine His followers were living with a false sense of anticipation of their view of what His soon-to-be-finalized Kingdom would be. I don't want to live with misconceptions. I want to understand what God is doing and align with Him in His plan. I only want HOPE that is founded in His Truth.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
LENT 2014 - DAY 40 - aka COUNTDOWN TO RESURRECTION!
Seven. Seven more days!
Today marked the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The throng of people who were there that day were excited for the Messiah to become the conquering King and bring an end to Roman domination.
This very Messiah that they welcomed as their soon-to-be-crowned King had told them clearly that He must suffer and die, but they didn't want to hear that. His kingdom was far different than the one they had planned for him.
He knew how fickle their feelings were, and how miniscule their conviction was. But he accepted their praise. Cloaks laid out on the road as the 'red carpet' for his path. Palm branches waved in glorious exultation that the long-awaited Messiah had come. The epitome of people's praise.
Hosanna. Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the LORD.
Today marked the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. The throng of people who were there that day were excited for the Messiah to become the conquering King and bring an end to Roman domination.
This very Messiah that they welcomed as their soon-to-be-crowned King had told them clearly that He must suffer and die, but they didn't want to hear that. His kingdom was far different than the one they had planned for him.
He knew how fickle their feelings were, and how miniscule their conviction was. But he accepted their praise. Cloaks laid out on the road as the 'red carpet' for his path. Palm branches waved in glorious exultation that the long-awaited Messiah had come. The epitome of people's praise.
Hosanna. Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the LORD.
Saturday, April 12, 2014
LENT 2014 - DAYS 37, 38, 39
I knew there would be some challenges in writing during this period of time - but thought I'd still be able to do it consistently. I was wrong.
Being gone and still having adequate computer accessibility is a problem I hadn't thought through well.
Life is full to the brim for very special people in my life. Some of it is wonderful. Some heart-rending. But through it all, God promises to be there if we let Him. He keeps His promises. It is a daily walk - - and sometimes that becomes minute by minute. One foot in front of the other. Keeping up with keeping on. Seeing through His eyes not our own. I want to encourage those who are going through tough experiences that He is in their corner. He loves them. He cares. His heart hurts with them as they hurt.
There are some things in life that we are just not going to understand - - but we know He loves us. Thank you, Lord!
Being gone and still having adequate computer accessibility is a problem I hadn't thought through well.
Life is full to the brim for very special people in my life. Some of it is wonderful. Some heart-rending. But through it all, God promises to be there if we let Him. He keeps His promises. It is a daily walk - - and sometimes that becomes minute by minute. One foot in front of the other. Keeping up with keeping on. Seeing through His eyes not our own. I want to encourage those who are going through tough experiences that He is in their corner. He loves them. He cares. His heart hurts with them as they hurt.
There are some things in life that we are just not going to understand - - but we know He loves us. Thank you, Lord!
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
LENT 2014 - DAY 36
The original Biblical texts didn't have chapters and verses. In reading our Bibles with those included we sometimes miss the connecting points. Hebrews makes that very apparent. The beginning of Hebrews 2, which I mentioned yesterday, is a clear continuation of Chapter 1. The remainder of Chapter 2 is filled with amazing content as well.
What is man that you are mindful of him? Really! What have we ever done to deserve God's favor?
We were born into a sinful world - for by one man sin came into the world - and that is the world we are born into. God hates sin - hates the violation, and hates the separation from Him that sin creates.
We rail at God about what is fair, and what we deserve - but what we deserve is eternal death because of Sin.
We are captive in bodies that decay. We have a sense of 'what is fair' in terms of protection from accidents, defects and illnesses - but all of those things came into the world because of Sin. They were not God's will. Not then. Not now.
When things go well we find it easy to praise Him - but when things do not go according to the script as we would like it written, our default can too easily be to blame God, or if not to blame Him, to wonder what we've done to deserve such treatment (which is actually the same thing!)
God never promised us a cushy life just for believing in Him. But - He promised to be with us through all of it, and He redeems the bad in the lives of those who faithfully follow Him. How does He do that? By using everything we go through for His glory.
Out of illness and challenge, He refines us, purifies us, and centers our focus on what truly matters eternally.
Out of heartache and sorrow, He draws us to a place of needing Him so desperately that nothing else matters.
In death He brings us into His presence. What we deserve is eternal death - eternal separation from Him - and what He gives us is the opportunity to cling to Him no matter what our circumstances, and reflect faithfulness in the face of challenge. And at the end of whatever life brings, to be with Him.
He may choose to heal - and if He does, it is for His glory. But if He does not heal, He says that the death of His saints is beautiful in His sight.
It seems that some people's lives are far easier than others. It would seem more fair if those who are absolute champions of the Faith in their exemplary walk of faithfulness to the Lord throughout the breadth of their lives had a sugar-coated life on earth and at the end of a long and fruitful life just fell softly asleep some night to find they awakened in Jesus' arms. I could write the script I think is fair!
But - God is not fair. He is just.
The sun shines on the evil and unjust just as beautifully as it shines on those who are good, kind and faithful followers. That's not fair.
But, if God were fair, I'd deserve death - eternal death away from Him. I don't want God to be 'fair' - I want His mercy.
I grapple with what I see as inequity - but know God redeems our bad situations for His glory. It has happened over and over in my life. God has redeemed - or is in the process of redeeming even now - every rotten thing that has ever happened to me. He does that by allowing me to help others - to tell them that their rotten circumstance was never God's will, but just part of living in a fallen world - and that He will be with them through every moment of their pain, holding them, loving them, giving them hope. His promises are not hollow platitudes.
He is Life! He restores broken hearts and broken lives - the greatest of all healings! And He is still in the miracle-working business when it comes to touching frail bodies - but it's still important to keep that part in perspective. About 2 months before Jesus' death on the cross, he brought his friend Lazarus back to life - but Lazarus still had to face death eventually. None of us get out of this life alive. But we can get out of it alive in Him. That's the ultimate goal. That's what matters.
I don't mean to be morose - but in grappling with issues friends are going through right now, I am revisiting what I believe about God's fairness, and I have concluded that fairness and justice are not synonymous.
God is Love. God is Good. God is Just. God is not fair. And thank God He isn't!
In what seems to be unfair, God redeems the situations for His Good, His Best. In death He brings life - and very often in the challenge and difficulty faced by His saints, because they still faithfully follow even though the path is rocky and the earthly prognoses and outcome is not the one they'd prefer, God redeems their pain with heavenly fruit.
One of my friends recommitted her life to the Lord following her brother's death. Her brother's best friend gave his life to the Lord at the funeral. My own pastor's mother gave her life to the Lord at her sister's memorial service. Out of ashes, beauty.
The bottom line is, we will all die. Will we do it victoriously, knowing we fall into His arms as our light here fades?
Will we choose to be faithful followers no matter what our circumstances?
In 2000, following an oophorectomy which created a personal crisis, I read the book of Job and the book of Revelation back to back during the initial phase of my recuperation when things were most bleak. It was reading Job in that context that I truly understood what I needed to learn from reading it:
GOD DESERVES OUR PRAISE AND WORSHIP NO MATTER WHAT OUR CIRCUMSTANCES.
We are constantly affected by the result of Sin in the world - illness, accidents, inequities of all sorts - but when we know the Redeemer - who suffered for those very same sins, whose body was laced with stripes for our healing, we gain a different perspective. If we suffer with Him we shall also reign with Him. The end of the story is He Wins!!!!! which means We Win when we are His!!!!!!
In our deepest despair - He offers us Hope and grants us the courage to live in His Hope!
As long as there is life, there is hope - and I will pray for the healing I so desperately want God to perform - but I am also praying for lives to be touched who might not be touched any other way than through the path my friend must go on.....
Lord, redeem!
What is man that you are mindful of him? Really! What have we ever done to deserve God's favor?
We were born into a sinful world - for by one man sin came into the world - and that is the world we are born into. God hates sin - hates the violation, and hates the separation from Him that sin creates.
We rail at God about what is fair, and what we deserve - but what we deserve is eternal death because of Sin.
We are captive in bodies that decay. We have a sense of 'what is fair' in terms of protection from accidents, defects and illnesses - but all of those things came into the world because of Sin. They were not God's will. Not then. Not now.
When things go well we find it easy to praise Him - but when things do not go according to the script as we would like it written, our default can too easily be to blame God, or if not to blame Him, to wonder what we've done to deserve such treatment (which is actually the same thing!)
God never promised us a cushy life just for believing in Him. But - He promised to be with us through all of it, and He redeems the bad in the lives of those who faithfully follow Him. How does He do that? By using everything we go through for His glory.
Out of illness and challenge, He refines us, purifies us, and centers our focus on what truly matters eternally.
Out of heartache and sorrow, He draws us to a place of needing Him so desperately that nothing else matters.
In death He brings us into His presence. What we deserve is eternal death - eternal separation from Him - and what He gives us is the opportunity to cling to Him no matter what our circumstances, and reflect faithfulness in the face of challenge. And at the end of whatever life brings, to be with Him.
He may choose to heal - and if He does, it is for His glory. But if He does not heal, He says that the death of His saints is beautiful in His sight.
It seems that some people's lives are far easier than others. It would seem more fair if those who are absolute champions of the Faith in their exemplary walk of faithfulness to the Lord throughout the breadth of their lives had a sugar-coated life on earth and at the end of a long and fruitful life just fell softly asleep some night to find they awakened in Jesus' arms. I could write the script I think is fair!
But - God is not fair. He is just.
The sun shines on the evil and unjust just as beautifully as it shines on those who are good, kind and faithful followers. That's not fair.
But, if God were fair, I'd deserve death - eternal death away from Him. I don't want God to be 'fair' - I want His mercy.
I grapple with what I see as inequity - but know God redeems our bad situations for His glory. It has happened over and over in my life. God has redeemed - or is in the process of redeeming even now - every rotten thing that has ever happened to me. He does that by allowing me to help others - to tell them that their rotten circumstance was never God's will, but just part of living in a fallen world - and that He will be with them through every moment of their pain, holding them, loving them, giving them hope. His promises are not hollow platitudes.
He is Life! He restores broken hearts and broken lives - the greatest of all healings! And He is still in the miracle-working business when it comes to touching frail bodies - but it's still important to keep that part in perspective. About 2 months before Jesus' death on the cross, he brought his friend Lazarus back to life - but Lazarus still had to face death eventually. None of us get out of this life alive. But we can get out of it alive in Him. That's the ultimate goal. That's what matters.
I don't mean to be morose - but in grappling with issues friends are going through right now, I am revisiting what I believe about God's fairness, and I have concluded that fairness and justice are not synonymous.
God is Love. God is Good. God is Just. God is not fair. And thank God He isn't!
In what seems to be unfair, God redeems the situations for His Good, His Best. In death He brings life - and very often in the challenge and difficulty faced by His saints, because they still faithfully follow even though the path is rocky and the earthly prognoses and outcome is not the one they'd prefer, God redeems their pain with heavenly fruit.
One of my friends recommitted her life to the Lord following her brother's death. Her brother's best friend gave his life to the Lord at the funeral. My own pastor's mother gave her life to the Lord at her sister's memorial service. Out of ashes, beauty.
The bottom line is, we will all die. Will we do it victoriously, knowing we fall into His arms as our light here fades?
Will we choose to be faithful followers no matter what our circumstances?
In 2000, following an oophorectomy which created a personal crisis, I read the book of Job and the book of Revelation back to back during the initial phase of my recuperation when things were most bleak. It was reading Job in that context that I truly understood what I needed to learn from reading it:
GOD DESERVES OUR PRAISE AND WORSHIP NO MATTER WHAT OUR CIRCUMSTANCES.
We are constantly affected by the result of Sin in the world - illness, accidents, inequities of all sorts - but when we know the Redeemer - who suffered for those very same sins, whose body was laced with stripes for our healing, we gain a different perspective. If we suffer with Him we shall also reign with Him. The end of the story is He Wins!!!!! which means We Win when we are His!!!!!!
In our deepest despair - He offers us Hope and grants us the courage to live in His Hope!
As long as there is life, there is hope - and I will pray for the healing I so desperately want God to perform - but I am also praying for lives to be touched who might not be touched any other way than through the path my friend must go on.....
Lord, redeem!
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
LENT 2014 - DAY 35
The writer of Hebrews begins his letter by clearly establishing Jesus' supremacy over prophets and angels - reiterating God's own words placing his Son in the role of creator of the universe and king over all of the earth, and stating that 'in these last days' God has spoken through His Son.
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. When we 'truly hear' these words, allow them to sink deep within, there is no doubt that Jesus is One with God. That makes the first verses of Hebrews 2 even more compelling.
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
Another basic of Christianity is that it is a daily walk. Just as the Hebrew children of long ago gathered their daily manna in the desert, so we have to have daily spiritual food to be sustained. It is so easy to 'skip a day' when things get busy - but when we do that we are removing the rudder from our boat, and soon we are off course, drifting without direction.
Being a Christian requires being intentional.
There may be seasons when we don't sense God's direction - and in those moments we just have to stay the course - read His Word, pray, be faithful in what He has already called us to, and trust His timing. When Jesus returned to heaven He promised us a Comforter - the Holy Spirit - to lead us into all truth. He will if we are willing!
God yearns for a relationship with us. That's beyond my comprehension. I need Him desperately - but that He yearns to have fellowship with me blows me away. Yet He tells us that clearly:
Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in to him, and eat with him and he with me. Revelation 3:20
Lord, let's do lunch!
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. When we 'truly hear' these words, allow them to sink deep within, there is no doubt that Jesus is One with God. That makes the first verses of Hebrews 2 even more compelling.
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
Another basic of Christianity is that it is a daily walk. Just as the Hebrew children of long ago gathered their daily manna in the desert, so we have to have daily spiritual food to be sustained. It is so easy to 'skip a day' when things get busy - but when we do that we are removing the rudder from our boat, and soon we are off course, drifting without direction.
Being a Christian requires being intentional.
There may be seasons when we don't sense God's direction - and in those moments we just have to stay the course - read His Word, pray, be faithful in what He has already called us to, and trust His timing. When Jesus returned to heaven He promised us a Comforter - the Holy Spirit - to lead us into all truth. He will if we are willing!
God yearns for a relationship with us. That's beyond my comprehension. I need Him desperately - but that He yearns to have fellowship with me blows me away. Yet He tells us that clearly:
Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in to him, and eat with him and he with me. Revelation 3:20
Lord, let's do lunch!
Monday, April 7, 2014
LENT 2014 - DAY 34
The most basic of Bible Basics is:
There is no other Name under heaven by which we must be saved - - or can be saved.
My dearly loved impetuous Peter proclaimed just that when he was hauled before the authorities to be interrogated because a man was healed!
Acts 4:8-12 records Peter's declaration:
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (ESV)
There is no 'salad bar' of salvation options! God limited Himself to only One option for saving us - and that One Way is through Yeshua ha Mashiach - Jesus the Messiah. He makes that very clear in His Written Word - which reveals the Truth of the Living Word, Jesus Christ.
One of the songs in my children's musical, A Letter from G.O.D. says:
God so loved the world that He gave His only Son
To be our sacrifice, offering life to everyone
If we believe in Him, place our life in Jesus' hands
We'll live eternally - that's the heavenly Father's plan!
It is soooooooo simple - and some people try so hard to complicate it!
Jesus loves you! (& me!)
There is no other Name under heaven by which we must be saved - - or can be saved.
My dearly loved impetuous Peter proclaimed just that when he was hauled before the authorities to be interrogated because a man was healed!
Acts 4:8-12 records Peter's declaration:
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (ESV)
There is no 'salad bar' of salvation options! God limited Himself to only One option for saving us - and that One Way is through Yeshua ha Mashiach - Jesus the Messiah. He makes that very clear in His Written Word - which reveals the Truth of the Living Word, Jesus Christ.
One of the songs in my children's musical, A Letter from G.O.D. says:
God so loved the world that He gave His only Son
To be our sacrifice, offering life to everyone
If we believe in Him, place our life in Jesus' hands
We'll live eternally - that's the heavenly Father's plan!
It is soooooooo simple - and some people try so hard to complicate it!
Jesus loves you! (& me!)
Sunday, April 6, 2014
LENT 2014 - DAY 33
WHEN YOU COUNT THE DAYS LEADING UP TO LENT YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO LEAVE OUT THE SUNDAYS. THAT'S WHAT MAKES THE NUMBERS COME OUT RIGHT. I forgot to do that. 40 days is 40 consecutive days to me....
So - for those who truly honor Lent as a tradition, Sundays are their oasis in the desert. If they are fasting from something, they don't have to deny themselves on Sundays. It makes the discipline more manageable because it breaks it down to 6 days of "doing or not doing" with a built-in day to regroup.
In a very different sense, that's what Sunday worship does for us. I'm grateful for that!
We are admonished, "Don't forsake assembling yourselves together as the manner of some is...even so much the more as you see the day approaching." (Hebrews 10:25)
One of the basics of Christian faith is that we cannot truly 'be' Christians alone. We need to be the living body of Christ - interacting, learning, growing.
So - for those who truly honor Lent as a tradition, Sundays are their oasis in the desert. If they are fasting from something, they don't have to deny themselves on Sundays. It makes the discipline more manageable because it breaks it down to 6 days of "doing or not doing" with a built-in day to regroup.
In a very different sense, that's what Sunday worship does for us. I'm grateful for that!
We are admonished, "Don't forsake assembling yourselves together as the manner of some is...even so much the more as you see the day approaching." (Hebrews 10:25)
One of the basics of Christian faith is that we cannot truly 'be' Christians alone. We need to be the living body of Christ - interacting, learning, growing.
LENT 2014 - DAY 32 (written 4/6 for 4/5)
Making up for Saturday....
I put off writing in the morning, and somehow forgot I hadn't....
When I awoke at 5 a m I remembered I had forgotten....
Friday evening I went to see Olympia Choral Society perform the music from Les Mis. They did an excellent job. They had performances Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights - and their last one is this afternoon.
Their performance represented hundreds of collective hours of work - being intentional and disciplined to reach their goal.
As Christ followers, we have to be intentional and disciplined as well. I am sorry I missed following through with my intended discipline yesterday - but even that is instructive.
Keep on keeping on! Occupy until I come. That's our challenge from the Lord!
I put off writing in the morning, and somehow forgot I hadn't....
When I awoke at 5 a m I remembered I had forgotten....
Friday evening I went to see Olympia Choral Society perform the music from Les Mis. They did an excellent job. They had performances Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights - and their last one is this afternoon.
Their performance represented hundreds of collective hours of work - being intentional and disciplined to reach their goal.
As Christ followers, we have to be intentional and disciplined as well. I am sorry I missed following through with my intended discipline yesterday - but even that is instructive.
Keep on keeping on! Occupy until I come. That's our challenge from the Lord!
Friday, April 4, 2014
LENT 2014 - DAY 31
Another Bible Basic:
We are instructed to bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)
What is his law based on?
John 13:34
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
1 John 4:21
And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Love as I have loved you. That's a tall order! It isn't 'if they're nice to you' or 'if they deserve it' or 'if they earn it'. There are no qualifiers.
Freely you have received, freely give.
It's a challenge that will take us a lifetime to pursue and try to perfect - but it's the attempting to achieve the goal that ultimately fulfills the prescribed law.
We are instructed to bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)
What is his law based on?
John 13:34
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
1 John 4:21
And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Love as I have loved you. That's a tall order! It isn't 'if they're nice to you' or 'if they deserve it' or 'if they earn it'. There are no qualifiers.
Freely you have received, freely give.
It's a challenge that will take us a lifetime to pursue and try to perfect - but it's the attempting to achieve the goal that ultimately fulfills the prescribed law.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
LENT 2014 - DAY 30
This year's journey through Lent toward the much anticipated Resurrection of Jesus on Easter morning has not been nearly as much of a spiritual journey as other years. But it has been a discipline with some enlightening moments.
I let life influence my feelings far too much. I know I am instructed to walk by faith and not by feeling - and that is the discipline part of writing daily, even on days that it would be easier to just skip it. Today is one of those days.
April 3, 1953 is the date that my birth mother chose to put a gun to her head and end her life. It is a day that is seared into my brain - just as 9/11 and 4/19 are. For others in the past D-Day was on their memorial radar, for the same reason as these dates are on mine. They are shocking and they rock our world in a terribly painful way.
While my day is tinged with sorrow, and I want to talk to each of my brothers, I do not want this day to become a memorial for my children. I don't want it to be a legacy of sadness.
I want them to know that their grandmother made a mistake - that she chose to give up on life in her despair instead of finding a solution that embraced living - but I don't need to point that out to them today.
Revisiting that sorrow fits so perfectly into the sorrow of the days to come for Yeshua in our remembered journey to the cross. Fortunately we have a different horizon in mind which was finalized with His resurrection on Sunday morning.
Thank you for the cross, Lord, and thank you for rising again to new life, offering us the promise of eternal life with you. Help us maintain a proper perspective of the trouble that the world dishes out.
Postscript on suicide:
It is the saddest of all deaths because it says 'no' to possibilities. We all have rotten days when life is a four-letter word. But what a terrible time to give up! As long as there is life, there is hope, and I choose to live in that hope - and in the One who brings eternal Hope!
I let life influence my feelings far too much. I know I am instructed to walk by faith and not by feeling - and that is the discipline part of writing daily, even on days that it would be easier to just skip it. Today is one of those days.
April 3, 1953 is the date that my birth mother chose to put a gun to her head and end her life. It is a day that is seared into my brain - just as 9/11 and 4/19 are. For others in the past D-Day was on their memorial radar, for the same reason as these dates are on mine. They are shocking and they rock our world in a terribly painful way.
While my day is tinged with sorrow, and I want to talk to each of my brothers, I do not want this day to become a memorial for my children. I don't want it to be a legacy of sadness.
I want them to know that their grandmother made a mistake - that she chose to give up on life in her despair instead of finding a solution that embraced living - but I don't need to point that out to them today.
Revisiting that sorrow fits so perfectly into the sorrow of the days to come for Yeshua in our remembered journey to the cross. Fortunately we have a different horizon in mind which was finalized with His resurrection on Sunday morning.
Thank you for the cross, Lord, and thank you for rising again to new life, offering us the promise of eternal life with you. Help us maintain a proper perspective of the trouble that the world dishes out.
Postscript on suicide:
It is the saddest of all deaths because it says 'no' to possibilities. We all have rotten days when life is a four-letter word. But what a terrible time to give up! As long as there is life, there is hope, and I choose to live in that hope - and in the One who brings eternal Hope!
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
LENT 2014 - DAY 29 - God's Word as our Plumb Line
God's Word is our plumb line. If we look at other standards, they may look straight, but they can be tipped just a little bit, and with even that small error, can lead us off track when followed out to their end. Off is off whether by a portion of a degree or many degrees when you get out from the base far enough for the difference to be apparent.
When we dare to decide that God's Word has 'changed' and that we know better than He does we effectively lose plumb and get 'off' line. That's what has happened with Christians who have convinced themselves that any number of politically correct views are now the correct Christian view. It's sad.
When God says something is sin, and we hold to that standard, we allow people the opportunity to experience conviction from the Holy Spirit. We are not to condemn them - that's God's job. We are to love them; but loving the person does not mean embracing their sin. In fact, truly loving someone means helping hold them accountable.
Let's take a simple sin as an example. Lying. Lying is a sin. A parent of a young child who does not teach that value, and punish it as being wrong, will not have a child who is honest - and ultimately that will affect every relationship the child has. The truth is not movable. What is true for one person is true for another when it comes to the basic value surrounding being honest. If a child is never corrected and their lying makes them untrustworthy, they become identified as a LIAR.
There is a huge difference between being a LIAR, one who never tells the truth, vs. being an honest person who occasionally tweaks the truth (aka lies). The LIAR feels no guilt in their lying. The honest person feels immediate chastening.
God hates LYING. He will punish that sin right along with all the seemingly more egregious sins. He says that all liars will have their place in hell. He has given us more than one list in His Word of SINS and being a liar is on the list.
Sin - all sin - separates us from others and from God. That's the problem with sin. It builds barriers and creates brokenness.
If we call sin 'an acceptable alternative' instead of sin, the person is deceived and remains broken.... It also results in calling evil good and good evil....
On the other hand, the Bible also provides lists of what we are to be like if we are following Jesus' plan for our lives and seeking to be like Him. One of those lists is the fruits of the Spirit. They will be more and more evident in our lives as we grow more and more into modeling Jesus' character instead of the character influenced by sin:
Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. We aren't likely to be perfect in all of them all at the same time this side of eternity, but they are the fruits that grow in our lives just because of having Jesus inside us and they are a good barometer for checking to see if we are growing in Him!
When we dare to decide that God's Word has 'changed' and that we know better than He does we effectively lose plumb and get 'off' line. That's what has happened with Christians who have convinced themselves that any number of politically correct views are now the correct Christian view. It's sad.
When God says something is sin, and we hold to that standard, we allow people the opportunity to experience conviction from the Holy Spirit. We are not to condemn them - that's God's job. We are to love them; but loving the person does not mean embracing their sin. In fact, truly loving someone means helping hold them accountable.
Let's take a simple sin as an example. Lying. Lying is a sin. A parent of a young child who does not teach that value, and punish it as being wrong, will not have a child who is honest - and ultimately that will affect every relationship the child has. The truth is not movable. What is true for one person is true for another when it comes to the basic value surrounding being honest. If a child is never corrected and their lying makes them untrustworthy, they become identified as a LIAR.
There is a huge difference between being a LIAR, one who never tells the truth, vs. being an honest person who occasionally tweaks the truth (aka lies). The LIAR feels no guilt in their lying. The honest person feels immediate chastening.
God hates LYING. He will punish that sin right along with all the seemingly more egregious sins. He says that all liars will have their place in hell. He has given us more than one list in His Word of SINS and being a liar is on the list.
Sin - all sin - separates us from others and from God. That's the problem with sin. It builds barriers and creates brokenness.
If we call sin 'an acceptable alternative' instead of sin, the person is deceived and remains broken.... It also results in calling evil good and good evil....
On the other hand, the Bible also provides lists of what we are to be like if we are following Jesus' plan for our lives and seeking to be like Him. One of those lists is the fruits of the Spirit. They will be more and more evident in our lives as we grow more and more into modeling Jesus' character instead of the character influenced by sin:
Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. We aren't likely to be perfect in all of them all at the same time this side of eternity, but they are the fruits that grow in our lives just because of having Jesus inside us and they are a good barometer for checking to see if we are growing in Him!
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
LENT 2014 - DAY 28 - April Fools
The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." Psalm 14:1
I first came to know the Lord when I was 8 1/2 years old. I responded to an altar call in a little white Assembly of God church in Wilder, Idaho, and asked Jesus to come live in my heart as my Savior and be the Lord of my life.
But - there came a time when I was angry at God for letting me make the wrong choice - and I abandoned him and my faith. I decided God didn't exist. Happily, he led me back to a point of needing him so desperately that I begged for his help - and he was there! I didn't earn his love, I didn't deserve it - but I know his incredible grace because of his taking me back with open arms. From forgiven to follower to fool to forgiven to faithful follower. It's been quite a journey.
We who know God worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. His Spirit. His Truth. We walk not by sight or by feelings but by faith. We believe what we cannot see, and know it is the only reality that truly exists. What seems foolish to others is the greatest wisdom of all....
And a little child shall lead them....
I first came to know the Lord when I was 8 1/2 years old. I responded to an altar call in a little white Assembly of God church in Wilder, Idaho, and asked Jesus to come live in my heart as my Savior and be the Lord of my life.
But - there came a time when I was angry at God for letting me make the wrong choice - and I abandoned him and my faith. I decided God didn't exist. Happily, he led me back to a point of needing him so desperately that I begged for his help - and he was there! I didn't earn his love, I didn't deserve it - but I know his incredible grace because of his taking me back with open arms. From forgiven to follower to fool to forgiven to faithful follower. It's been quite a journey.
We who know God worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. His Spirit. His Truth. We walk not by sight or by feelings but by faith. We believe what we cannot see, and know it is the only reality that truly exists. What seems foolish to others is the greatest wisdom of all....
And a little child shall lead them....
Monday, March 31, 2014
LENT 2014 - DAY 27
People were attracted to Jesus because of his miracles. Turning multiple gallons of water into wine . Feeding thousands from just 5 loaves and 2 fish. Healing the sick. Raising the dead. They saw his miracles but most still didn't believe he was who he said he was. And, when his teaching became too difficult for them to understand, they walked away. To Jesus' subsequent inquiry to the Twelve asking if they wanted to leave him also, Peter replied, "To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
Peter got it right. Even though he would later deny he knew Jesus in the midst of his fear and confusion, he had it right very early on. Faith demands trust when we don't understand. It demands that we walk by faith not by feeling. Feelings aren't reliable - but God is!
We must walk by faith, not by sight - and certainly not by feeling.
Reference: John 5 & 6
Peter got it right. Even though he would later deny he knew Jesus in the midst of his fear and confusion, he had it right very early on. Faith demands trust when we don't understand. It demands that we walk by faith not by feeling. Feelings aren't reliable - but God is!
We must walk by faith, not by sight - and certainly not by feeling.
Reference: John 5 & 6
Sunday, March 30, 2014
LENT 2014 - DAY 26 - Blood Moons
My curiosity was tweaked yesterday by some information I saw on 'blood' moons and the prophecy that before that great and terrible day of the Lord prophesied in Joel about the moon turning to blood could be an eclipse identified as a blood moon....and that there are 4 of them predicted on seemingly significant dates for 2014 and 2015. My bubble burst when I found out today that they are not going to be visible from Israel.... It just seems that if they are significant to Israel, they should be visible from Jerusalem! But - it was a fun mental exercise, at least alerting me to the prophecy of Joel again, and an added encouragement for digging deeper.
Prophecy fascinates me. Past prophecies led Daniel to know when it was time for God to fulfill prophecy in his day. The same was true for Nehemiah.
We have seen some amazing prophecies fulfilled in our era: Israel becoming a nation again in 1948, after 2000 years of being scattered (as was predicted) with stories of miracles that helped them survive the ensuing war protesting their statehood.
Then there was the 6-day war of 1967 in which they recaptured Jerusalem so that Israel and Jerusalem were finally reunited.
There are a lot more prophecies related to Israel and to the end of time. There will be lots of false predictions to try to confuse the truth - - but the Holy Spirit will lead us in discerning what is true.
The good thing is: we should be looking forward to the unfolding of God's plan!
In the beginning....God.
At the end of time....God.
However he does what He is going to do, I just want to be aligned with His Word....but I can't see how it could be long before the final prophecies occur. The stage is set.
Prophecy fascinates me. Past prophecies led Daniel to know when it was time for God to fulfill prophecy in his day. The same was true for Nehemiah.
We have seen some amazing prophecies fulfilled in our era: Israel becoming a nation again in 1948, after 2000 years of being scattered (as was predicted) with stories of miracles that helped them survive the ensuing war protesting their statehood.
Then there was the 6-day war of 1967 in which they recaptured Jerusalem so that Israel and Jerusalem were finally reunited.
There are a lot more prophecies related to Israel and to the end of time. There will be lots of false predictions to try to confuse the truth - - but the Holy Spirit will lead us in discerning what is true.
The good thing is: we should be looking forward to the unfolding of God's plan!
In the beginning....God.
At the end of time....God.
However he does what He is going to do, I just want to be aligned with His Word....but I can't see how it could be long before the final prophecies occur. The stage is set.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
LENT 2014 - DAY 25: 6-day creation/ vs. evolution
I believe God created the world in 6 days. I watched Ken Ham and Bill Nye in their recent Creation/ Evolution debate, but nothing that was said made me falter in my belief. It actually is not a problem for me if people believe it took eons to create the world, and that the 'days' in Genesis could be ages of time instead of literal days. Even though I accept the account as written what matters to me is that God did it. In the beginning God.... All that matters to me is that He did it - and that He created man from the dust of the earth, making the timespan of man to date approximately 5775 years.
I thought both men did a good job of representing what they each believe, and I could understand the logic of Bill Nye's views, since he does not believe in God...but I know God can do anything - even get the appropriate animals to the right continents or create new ones at that point if needed.
One of the concerns expressed was that teaching Creation from the Bible will keep bright young people from becoming scientists. I disagree. Innovation, creativity and imagination are all consistent with living out Christian faith. If we are created in God's image and likeness, why wouldn't we create? He does! There are lots of Christian scientists!
I'm grateful I was inspired to go back to the basics for this time of spiritual reflection and renewal leading to the commemoration of the death and resurrection of Jesus (Yeshua). It is a solid foundation. When dark days come - - and they will - - I can still hold fast to that foundation. Bible basics are good to review!
If you haven't seen the debate, you can watch it online.
I thought both men did a good job of representing what they each believe, and I could understand the logic of Bill Nye's views, since he does not believe in God...but I know God can do anything - even get the appropriate animals to the right continents or create new ones at that point if needed.
One of the concerns expressed was that teaching Creation from the Bible will keep bright young people from becoming scientists. I disagree. Innovation, creativity and imagination are all consistent with living out Christian faith. If we are created in God's image and likeness, why wouldn't we create? He does! There are lots of Christian scientists!
I'm grateful I was inspired to go back to the basics for this time of spiritual reflection and renewal leading to the commemoration of the death and resurrection of Jesus (Yeshua). It is a solid foundation. When dark days come - - and they will - - I can still hold fast to that foundation. Bible basics are good to review!
If you haven't seen the debate, you can watch it online.
Friday, March 28, 2014
LENT 2014 - DAY 24
I INTENSELY DISLIKE CONFLICT.
That being said, I seem to get into more than my share of it. Part of that stems from standing up for what I know to be Truth. At one point in my life I had to decide whether to seek man's approval or God's and I chose the latter. People's approval is often erratic and illogical. I will not stand before man as my eternal judge, but I will stand before God. His opinion matters. It has eternal consequences!
What a tight wire we live on! Seeking to be gentle, while standing up for what the Bible clearly teaches. I frequently don't like the 'hills' that are chosen for me to engage on - - but if not now, when; if not me, whom?
Lord, grant me grace and wisdom....
That being said, I seem to get into more than my share of it. Part of that stems from standing up for what I know to be Truth. At one point in my life I had to decide whether to seek man's approval or God's and I chose the latter. People's approval is often erratic and illogical. I will not stand before man as my eternal judge, but I will stand before God. His opinion matters. It has eternal consequences!
What a tight wire we live on! Seeking to be gentle, while standing up for what the Bible clearly teaches. I frequently don't like the 'hills' that are chosen for me to engage on - - but if not now, when; if not me, whom?
Lord, grant me grace and wisdom....
Thursday, March 27, 2014
LENT 2014 - DAY 23
Today has provided lots of opportunity for reflection and observation. While waiting for my grandson to get out of school I read several pages in a book I recently started, intending to read it when I was just sitting and waiting. It triggered a thought trail today I have never considered. Why did Cain become the person he was?
He obviously was miffed that God didn't accept his sacrifice, as He had accepted Abel's. And God gave him a pep talk about that....and that's all we have recorded - - but it got me wondering. Did he feel it was 'unfair' that God booted them out of the garden of Eden? Did he grow up with a chip on his shoulder and a sense of entitlement? What had Adam and Eve told him? Except for his parent's erroneous mistake he could have been royalty instead of a laborer. He had to deal with weeds. And he definitely had an attitude problem. He murdered Abel prior to capital punishment being instituted, so was banned from God's presence instead. That would be worse. To have known God and then be banished....
I am so grateful that God came to restore a right relationship with Him, through the blood of His one and only Son, the perfect Lamb.
Thank you for giving Your life, so I could be in relationship with You. I'm amazed by You....
He obviously was miffed that God didn't accept his sacrifice, as He had accepted Abel's. And God gave him a pep talk about that....and that's all we have recorded - - but it got me wondering. Did he feel it was 'unfair' that God booted them out of the garden of Eden? Did he grow up with a chip on his shoulder and a sense of entitlement? What had Adam and Eve told him? Except for his parent's erroneous mistake he could have been royalty instead of a laborer. He had to deal with weeds. And he definitely had an attitude problem. He murdered Abel prior to capital punishment being instituted, so was banned from God's presence instead. That would be worse. To have known God and then be banished....
I am so grateful that God came to restore a right relationship with Him, through the blood of His one and only Son, the perfect Lamb.
Thank you for giving Your life, so I could be in relationship with You. I'm amazed by You....
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
LENT 2014 - DAY 22
Oso. In Spanish it means bear. It is also translated as predator. This past Saturday (March 22, 2014) a heavily forested mountain across the river from a close-knit neighborhood in the small town of Oso became that predator and created one of the largest landslides Washington State has ever experienced. Tons and tons of dirt, rocks and trees buried Oso and most of its residents and visitors. The shock waves of the event continue as news coverage reveals the devastation to families of loved ones whose lives were snuffed out in that tragic awful moment. As the death toll rises individuals are being identified, their stories told. It is heartbreaking.
One of the tragedies is that there was plenty of advance warning that this type of event could occur - and those who should have read the report either didn't read it or ignored it. Multiple prior slides gave geologists the information needed to state definitively that a massive slide was a likelihood - not 'if' but 'when' was the issue. And when happened.
The only light in this dark, dark tunnel are a few wonderful stories of rescues that occurred - but they are far too few!
The Bible has forewarnings for us!
There is another tragedy to be averted. We have warnings of the end of time, clear warnings - and yet many ignore those as well. All the evidence is there:
As it was in the days of Noah.... It will be the same at the end of time. As horrible as what happened in Oso is, it could draw people to God, if they recognize that the warnings about that event went unheeded....and there is a much larger event coming we have been alerted to, but many are ignoring.
My deepest sympathy to those who have lost loved ones. As impossible as it sounds, God is there in the midst of the pain and sorrow, hurting with you; and throughout our wonderful state and country, you are in our prayers.
We grieve with those who grieve, mourn with those who mourn, and share your joy in the stories that have surfaced offering a few rays of hope in an otherwise very dark disaster.
One of the tragedies is that there was plenty of advance warning that this type of event could occur - and those who should have read the report either didn't read it or ignored it. Multiple prior slides gave geologists the information needed to state definitively that a massive slide was a likelihood - not 'if' but 'when' was the issue. And when happened.
The only light in this dark, dark tunnel are a few wonderful stories of rescues that occurred - but they are far too few!
The Bible has forewarnings for us!
There is another tragedy to be averted. We have warnings of the end of time, clear warnings - and yet many ignore those as well. All the evidence is there:
As it was in the days of Noah.... It will be the same at the end of time. As horrible as what happened in Oso is, it could draw people to God, if they recognize that the warnings about that event went unheeded....and there is a much larger event coming we have been alerted to, but many are ignoring.
My deepest sympathy to those who have lost loved ones. As impossible as it sounds, God is there in the midst of the pain and sorrow, hurting with you; and throughout our wonderful state and country, you are in our prayers.
We grieve with those who grieve, mourn with those who mourn, and share your joy in the stories that have surfaced offering a few rays of hope in an otherwise very dark disaster.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
LENT 2014 - DAY 21
I love the story of the Samaritan woman who came to the well at noon to draw water to avoid the other women in their earlier morning visit to the well. Jewish men didn't speak to Samaritan women. In fact they didn't even customarily speak to Samaritan men - certainly not civilly. Yet there Jesus was, sitting at the well, waiting for her to come.
And what did he do? He put himself in need of her, asking her for a drink of water as his segue to offering her living water. I love the account of the story as related in John 4.
When the disciples got back from their trek into town they urged Jesus to eat something. His response was most peculiar - "I have food to eat that you do not know about" and then he clarified that even further when he said, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work."
His response to his disciples should be our mantra as well. We will not find joy or fulfillment unless we are doing the will of him who saved us.... We are saved from something but we are also saved to something. From death to life!
And what did he do? He put himself in need of her, asking her for a drink of water as his segue to offering her living water. I love the account of the story as related in John 4.
When the disciples got back from their trek into town they urged Jesus to eat something. His response was most peculiar - "I have food to eat that you do not know about" and then he clarified that even further when he said, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work."
His response to his disciples should be our mantra as well. We will not find joy or fulfillment unless we are doing the will of him who saved us.... We are saved from something but we are also saved to something. From death to life!
Monday, March 24, 2014
LENT 2014 - DAY 20 - Beyond Belief
Belief is foundational. Belief is personal. Belief is essential.
A few years ago I overheard a young woman at church say, "I'm not sure that I believe what I believe." An interesting statement that I translated as, 'I know what my church teaches. I know what my parents believe, but I'm having doubts.'
She knew what her parents believed, and she had been raised in church, but belief is not passed on genetically, like brown eyes or cowlicks. Belief is born within the individual through hearing and faith.
Once we place our faith in Jesus Christ, we are 'born again' - born not of the flesh, but of the Spirit - but even so, there will be moments when doubts or discouragement crowd in. And in those moments, the solution is to immerse ourselves in God's Word, rehearing the myriad stories of the Bible which affirm the amazing testimonies of God's interaction with man; reviewing the prophecies foretelling the coming of the Messiah, and the evidence that Jesus is precisely who He claimed to be; reminding ourselves of people whose lives have been amazingly changed because of their encounters with Jesus. Faith comes by hearing!
Faith also has to be acted upon. Faith means going beyond belief and living in obedience to God in response to the Holy Spirit's leading. That's what Jesus' younger brother James tells us in James 2:14-20:
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Our response to God's love is to love God and love others. Love is an action verb. We become "see a need, fill a need" people. We aren't all called to the same tasks, and the works we do don't save us, but they do reflect Jesus' love to and for others. We find the fulfillment of our faith in doing good, and we are admonished not to grow weary in that pursuit.
Galatians 6:9
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
2 Thessalonians 3:13
As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.
Basic Christianity involves doing good - even to/for those who are hateful and unkind to us. We may not always feel the warm-fuzzy love of warm affection toward everyone, but our actions have to portray the faith we profess. Jesus made that clear in the Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 5:43-48
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
It clearly means doing the right thing even when someone doesn't deserve it - which is just another reminder of the grace we receive from a loving God who has not punished us with what we actually deserve....
Sin deserves punishment. We have all sinned. But He came and took the blame, bore our sin, forgave us for what our sin caused Him to go through, and now He intercedes for us.... What an amazing, wonderful God!
A few years ago I overheard a young woman at church say, "I'm not sure that I believe what I believe." An interesting statement that I translated as, 'I know what my church teaches. I know what my parents believe, but I'm having doubts.'
She knew what her parents believed, and she had been raised in church, but belief is not passed on genetically, like brown eyes or cowlicks. Belief is born within the individual through hearing and faith.
Once we place our faith in Jesus Christ, we are 'born again' - born not of the flesh, but of the Spirit - but even so, there will be moments when doubts or discouragement crowd in. And in those moments, the solution is to immerse ourselves in God's Word, rehearing the myriad stories of the Bible which affirm the amazing testimonies of God's interaction with man; reviewing the prophecies foretelling the coming of the Messiah, and the evidence that Jesus is precisely who He claimed to be; reminding ourselves of people whose lives have been amazingly changed because of their encounters with Jesus. Faith comes by hearing!
Faith also has to be acted upon. Faith means going beyond belief and living in obedience to God in response to the Holy Spirit's leading. That's what Jesus' younger brother James tells us in James 2:14-20:
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Our response to God's love is to love God and love others. Love is an action verb. We become "see a need, fill a need" people. We aren't all called to the same tasks, and the works we do don't save us, but they do reflect Jesus' love to and for others. We find the fulfillment of our faith in doing good, and we are admonished not to grow weary in that pursuit.
Galatians 6:9
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
2 Thessalonians 3:13
As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.
Basic Christianity involves doing good - even to/for those who are hateful and unkind to us. We may not always feel the warm-fuzzy love of warm affection toward everyone, but our actions have to portray the faith we profess. Jesus made that clear in the Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 5:43-48
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
It clearly means doing the right thing even when someone doesn't deserve it - which is just another reminder of the grace we receive from a loving God who has not punished us with what we actually deserve....
Sin deserves punishment. We have all sinned. But He came and took the blame, bore our sin, forgave us for what our sin caused Him to go through, and now He intercedes for us.... What an amazing, wonderful God!
Sunday, March 23, 2014
LENT 2014 - DAY 19
We are almost at the half way mark for Lent 2014.
My blog this year seems like Christianity 101. That would be a fair assessment in going back to the basics, but I needed to do that. Yeshua ha Mashiach (Ioseos Christos, Jesus the Messiah) is obviously the foundation of Christian faith. When his name was translated to English the Greek parallel was commonly used, making him Jesus Christ. He is the cornerstone, the solid Rock, the One on whom our faith is built. He is Truth.
We begin there in getting back to basics. It is the foundation of belief, and belief requires faith - but even that is a gift from God. Sometimes we say with the man in the story in Mark 9, "Lord I believe. Help my unbelief." We aren't super-heros. We occasionally falter in our faith, but Faith is what keeps us hanging on, and both in God's Word and through the testimonies of His faithful followers we see faith lived out, and faith fulfilled.
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Romans 10:17.
Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that rewards those who diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6.
My blog this year seems like Christianity 101. That would be a fair assessment in going back to the basics, but I needed to do that. Yeshua ha Mashiach (Ioseos Christos, Jesus the Messiah) is obviously the foundation of Christian faith. When his name was translated to English the Greek parallel was commonly used, making him Jesus Christ. He is the cornerstone, the solid Rock, the One on whom our faith is built. He is Truth.
We begin there in getting back to basics. It is the foundation of belief, and belief requires faith - but even that is a gift from God. Sometimes we say with the man in the story in Mark 9, "Lord I believe. Help my unbelief." We aren't super-heros. We occasionally falter in our faith, but Faith is what keeps us hanging on, and both in God's Word and through the testimonies of His faithful followers we see faith lived out, and faith fulfilled.
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Romans 10:17.
Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that rewards those who diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6.
Saturday, March 22, 2014
LENT 2014: DAY 18 - Further Clarification on Mark Verses
I like being informed. I like having accurate facts and information from which to draw my conclusions. With that in mind I need to clarify a bit more about my statement yesterday about Mark 16. The only part I excerpted and focused on as inaccurate information to base faith and doctrine on was the part that has no corroboration in other Gospel writers accounts; but to be completely clear about what was not originally in the old texts of Mark's gospel, I need to point out that Mark 16: 9 -20 is all missing....
You can use your Search engine - I used Google - and find all of the verses that were not in the original texts of the New Testament. Most were conspicuously borrowed from other texts and inserted, and are consistent with what all of the Bible teaches, so they are not the ones that concern me.
What does concern me is the one fragment I mentioned yesterday because it is an inconsistency that has been a game changer for some people - and it is in error. But, to be absolutely transparent, we need to explore all of what was added.
There is a disclaimer at the beginning of these verses in my ESV translation, and in another translation these verses are only listed as a footnote and are not in the main body of the text at all, but in the King James Version there was no disclaimer, and that's a significant part of the problem.
Mark 16: 9 - 20 ESV:
[Now when he rose on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.
After these things he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.
Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."
So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.]
There is absolutely nothing in this that causes concern for me except the verses I pointed out yesterday. It appears that it was not until about 600 A D that the other verses were added. I don't know when for sure, obviously, but of all the other snippets of verses that were borrowed from other texts and added over the years it is only the part about snakes and poison that are questionable. And my point still remains: I wouldn't base my doctrine on them.
As for all of the rest of the New Testament, there is nothing else that creates any conflict. Because verse 18 always did bother me, it is actually a relief that it wasn't originally there. My research indicates that the King James was translated from later texts, and once earlier texts were found and available for comparison, it was discovered that those verses were not there, and of the verses added, only this one raises red flags. It appears to be a very early manipulation of the text - and that is why many translations either leave it out completely or acknowledge it only with a disclaimer or footnote.
The good news is that it is the only thing in error that I have found. It is amazing how purely God's Word has been maintained through thousands of years. And, it still speaks to us today. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. We cannot grow spiritually without being fed, and our spiritual food is God's written Word.
Just like the little song in the musical I wrote states, "Ya got ta read da Word if you want to grow!"
That's the most basic of all basics in a Christian's basic training. You have to read the manual! Then after we read it we need to study it, to compare various writers and see how what we read fits with the whole of the Bible. Letting the Bible translate the Bible is our best resource...and if something doesn't make sense, as it doesn't in this case, we shouldn't base theology or action on it. God does heal. God does protect. But he does not command us to pick up snakes or drink poison to prove it.
You can use your Search engine - I used Google - and find all of the verses that were not in the original texts of the New Testament. Most were conspicuously borrowed from other texts and inserted, and are consistent with what all of the Bible teaches, so they are not the ones that concern me.
What does concern me is the one fragment I mentioned yesterday because it is an inconsistency that has been a game changer for some people - and it is in error. But, to be absolutely transparent, we need to explore all of what was added.
There is a disclaimer at the beginning of these verses in my ESV translation, and in another translation these verses are only listed as a footnote and are not in the main body of the text at all, but in the King James Version there was no disclaimer, and that's a significant part of the problem.
Mark 16: 9 - 20 ESV:
[Now when he rose on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.
After these things he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.
Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."
So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.]
There is absolutely nothing in this that causes concern for me except the verses I pointed out yesterday. It appears that it was not until about 600 A D that the other verses were added. I don't know when for sure, obviously, but of all the other snippets of verses that were borrowed from other texts and added over the years it is only the part about snakes and poison that are questionable. And my point still remains: I wouldn't base my doctrine on them.
As for all of the rest of the New Testament, there is nothing else that creates any conflict. Because verse 18 always did bother me, it is actually a relief that it wasn't originally there. My research indicates that the King James was translated from later texts, and once earlier texts were found and available for comparison, it was discovered that those verses were not there, and of the verses added, only this one raises red flags. It appears to be a very early manipulation of the text - and that is why many translations either leave it out completely or acknowledge it only with a disclaimer or footnote.
The good news is that it is the only thing in error that I have found. It is amazing how purely God's Word has been maintained through thousands of years. And, it still speaks to us today. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. We cannot grow spiritually without being fed, and our spiritual food is God's written Word.
Just like the little song in the musical I wrote states, "Ya got ta read da Word if you want to grow!"
That's the most basic of all basics in a Christian's basic training. You have to read the manual! Then after we read it we need to study it, to compare various writers and see how what we read fits with the whole of the Bible. Letting the Bible translate the Bible is our best resource...and if something doesn't make sense, as it doesn't in this case, we shouldn't base theology or action on it. God does heal. God does protect. But he does not command us to pick up snakes or drink poison to prove it.
Friday, March 21, 2014
LENT 2014 - DAY 17: How to identify what is counterfeit
I was once told that when it comes to telling real bills from counterfeit bills the way to know the difference is to study the authentic. When you know the real bills thoroughly, the nuances in the counterfeit stand out in sharp contrast. The look, the feel, the watermarks, the numbering....it all means something to the trained eye.
The same concept is true with knowing God's Truth. When you study the authentic (God's written Word, the Bible) the counterfeit (everything else written as a guide specific to a certain religion) is exposed as falling short of the real.
Those who want to find the errors of the Bible by studying it often become followers. Certainly anyone who is on a quest for Truth will!
I don't have to know everything about every religion to be conversant with arguing a point. I don't have to argue at all. All I have to do is point the questioner to Jesus and His written Word. God is up to the challenge!
If someone tells me there is 'another testament' I can point them to Jesus statement saying, "It is finished." If someone says someone else is the way to God, I can point them to Jesus own words, when He said, "No man comes to the Father except through me." I don't have to know the false to know the true.
That being said, there are a few things in our present day Bibles that weren't there in the first hand-printed copies, and I find that quite frustrating - - but if we let the Bible interpret the Bible, the questionable is minor enough to disregard. The message of the Truth is reiterated over and over in varying ways. When I find something that is only mentioned once, I question it. We should!
I'll give you an example.
Mark 16:18 is not in the original texts. It appears someone elaborated on the text and it got passed down through subsequent generations that way.
It says, "they will pick up snakes with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison it will not hurt them at all."
That statement is not repeated by any of the other Gospel writers, nor is it repeated in the Epistles. I would not want to base my theology on that text, nor trust it to mean I should go pick up deadly snakes and play with them or drink poison as part of worship to prove God's protection.
The same concept is true with knowing God's Truth. When you study the authentic (God's written Word, the Bible) the counterfeit (everything else written as a guide specific to a certain religion) is exposed as falling short of the real.
Those who want to find the errors of the Bible by studying it often become followers. Certainly anyone who is on a quest for Truth will!
I don't have to know everything about every religion to be conversant with arguing a point. I don't have to argue at all. All I have to do is point the questioner to Jesus and His written Word. God is up to the challenge!
If someone tells me there is 'another testament' I can point them to Jesus statement saying, "It is finished." If someone says someone else is the way to God, I can point them to Jesus own words, when He said, "No man comes to the Father except through me." I don't have to know the false to know the true.
That being said, there are a few things in our present day Bibles that weren't there in the first hand-printed copies, and I find that quite frustrating - - but if we let the Bible interpret the Bible, the questionable is minor enough to disregard. The message of the Truth is reiterated over and over in varying ways. When I find something that is only mentioned once, I question it. We should!
I'll give you an example.
Mark 16:18 is not in the original texts. It appears someone elaborated on the text and it got passed down through subsequent generations that way.
It says, "they will pick up snakes with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison it will not hurt them at all."
That statement is not repeated by any of the other Gospel writers, nor is it repeated in the Epistles. I would not want to base my theology on that text, nor trust it to mean I should go pick up deadly snakes and play with them or drink poison as part of worship to prove God's protection.
Reliable translations are careful to point out that this section was an addition not found in any original texts. Other parts of the 'added verses' are true, and are corroborated in other places in the Bible - - but not that one specific statement. Certainly Pau was bitten by a viper and didn't die. I have no doubt of God's protection when various people have been subjected to danger and should have perished. But - we are not to tempt God's good favor, and we don't check our brains at the door. If something doesn't seem right, 'suss it out, as they say in New Zealand.
God's Word is faithful and true and He stands up to being viewed as though through a microscope.
The reason I know that verse is counterfeit is because I know God's heart as revealed in God's Word, and that promise is not corroborated anywhere else. That is not to say it cannot happen. My God is a miracle worker!
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Our faith must be placed in Him, not in the dramatic. Just saying, it wouldn't be the foundation for my assessing Truth!
By the way, Happy Spring! Spring bounces back and forth between March 20 and March 21 depending on the year, and this year Spring started yesterday! Welcome Spring. Welcome occasional warmth and sunny days. Welcome flowers. Thank you, Lord, for all of it!
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