The Water and The Word

This morning's reading of "The Biblical Basis for Modern Science" by Henry Morris gave me this:


Excerpt:

"Liquid water becomes water vapor, at a rate and to an extent dependent upon  the temperature, degree of saturation of the adjacent air, etc., and is carried upward by turbulence and diffusion in the  gaseous atmosphere.....It is remarkable that tremendous quantities of water can be lifted, against the force of gravity, hundreds and thousands of feet into the air and there suspended until it has been moved inland where it is needed..."
        The Biblical Basis for Modern Science, 1984;  Henry Morris; page 271

"For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I send it" -- Isaiah 55: 10-11


A careless (as opposed to careful) reader of the Bible might say "Aha! a contradiction with what we now know from science!!! We know that water does return to the upper atmosphere and here the Bible says it does not!"

Not so fast! The Bible is making a specific  point here about the fact that the water does some amazing things while it is brought to the earth! The Bible states elsewhere:

He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; He maketh lightnings for rain; He bringeth the wind out of His treasuries -- Psalm 135:7 KJV

This is something only relatively recently confirmed by modern science in the last couple of hundred years.

What a wonderful God we serve, and what an amazing creation He has formed, and sustains for us by the power of grace toward us.

Morning and Evening Readings...

My morning and evening bible readings (I've been reading the Bible in the mornings and at bedtime since beginning of the year) have been a blessing. I'm in the book of 1 Kings right now, and notice things I haven't noticed before. The Bible is such an amazing and miraculous book! I am so humbled by all of the wisdom and paradoxes that are laid out for us to ponder and pray about. Until this reading I thought that the widow who gave Elijah the bread (her last) got bread and oil for the rest of her life. On this reading I see that the reason she was out of bread was because of the severe drought, and Elijah told her that the flour and oil would replenish itself UNTIL it rained again:



1Ki 17:14  For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. 

https://wonderingpreacher.wordpress.com/2013/06/09/elijah-and-the-widow-of-zarephath-a-prayer/

Voddie Baucham

I've heard others say "You have got to hear Voddie Baucham...he's an excellent preacher", and filed that away with "things and people I need to check out"...and then one day, a few days ago, I listened to Voddie, and I'm going to find me a whole lot of his sermons and go on a Voddie binge. I hope you will take about an hour to have your socks blessed right off:

God's Outlaw

Last weekend my husband and I watched a video I purchased at our nearby Christian bookstore entitled: "God's Outlaw; The Story of William Tyndale"

As the story unfolds it brings up the Roman Catholic argument that it is dangerous for the laity to read the Bible because they lack the education to be able to do so, and that it takes men who are well trained to be able to explain what is needful for us to know from God's word. It was the means by which the RCC kept control of it's members. In William Tyndale's time the English speaking people had to hear the scriptures read in Latin, and it was a crime punishable by death to even pray in English.

Acknowlegement of Sin

From Joseph Alleine's "A Sure Guide to Heaven":

"When He (the Lord) works convictions. O do not stifle them, but join in with Him, and beg the Lord to give you saving conversion. 'Quench not the Spirit.' Do not reject Him, do not resist Him.Beware of stifling convictions with evil company or worldly business."

How often to we stifle His convictions of our sinful inner thoughts? How often do we excuse ourselves with "Oh well, everyone thinks these things" or "At least I'm not as bad as  (fill in the blank)." No, we should always take these straight to the throne room, and realize our terrible sinfulness in gratitude of a forgiving God. Let us not go to the pharmacist, or psychologist, or well-meaning friends for comfort, who will only condone the selfish and evil promptings, or medicate them away with things that hinder the Lord's process of cleansing us from all unrighteousness. Let us hold fast to Jesus instead, knowing that it is His goodness, not our own, which means anything, and everything. When we feel conviction, let us not shrink away from the fact that we are full of darkness in need of the light that wants to enter in to remove that darkness to fill us full of His light. Instead let us embrace that fact that we are nothing without His goodness enlightening our dark habitation.

When we feel the weight of our unrighteousness, let us not try means of elevating ourselves into a righteous mindset, but let us remember that "none are righteous, no not one" except Jesus. When we want to "think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think" let us remember that "God alone is good and every man (and woman) is a liar" which of course includes myself, and no one wants to deceive me more about my own goodness than I myself do. Jesus is the only cure. Whenever we feel the weight of guilt and unrighteousness, it is the righteousness of God that will sustain us, as we admit our guilt and thank Him for His love and mercy.

God Feeds the Ravens...

I love the way Pastor Dykstra preaches. He speaks honestly, and exposes that what God does is so different from how we would do it. He points out that the Bible says that God feeds the ravens, but doesn't do it in a way that we feed our pets. He makes the food available, and the ravens have to expend some energy to get it. God's love also requires something from each of us.

Listen to the whole sermon here:

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=923121784410

Yes He is merciful and kind, and yes He is HOLY (a very important part of God that many would rather forget about).

This sermon talks about worrying, the sin of worrying. We all do it, so don't flatter yourself thinking that you don't, lol. We all do it, me too, guilty. Thank the Lord, He provides these councils to help us not to hurt us. When we worry, we hurt ourselves. Everything He tells us about sin reveals that we abuse ourselves with our sin in one way or another. He shows us our sins not to be angry at us or because He hates us. He hates sin. He hates sin because sin destroys us. When He spanks us, it isn't because He is a hateful and angry God. Why is that our first reaction? Because we have a convoluted perception of who God is, and that He does what He does not because He loves punishing us, but because He loves us and wants to prevent us from heading for even greater harm.

 He requires something from us. Perfection? No.

 Trust.

 Trust gets rid of worry. Trust even in the most difficult of times. Trust even when everyone hates us or want to kill us. God still provides us through anything we will go through in this life, and in ways that we often don't give Him credit for because He provides for us indirectly. Trust that even though standing for what is right will get us hated, even by the most "loving" people....and God will see us through.

Soul Sleep

I just finished listening to this very good sermon about what Jesus says about death, heaven, and hell. It's only about an hour long. Many will sit through two or three hours for a movie which will add up to that much time wasted on nothing. This sermon might change your life. Pastor Lawson mentions the argument for "soul sleep" and the view that this is "just symbolic". He gives the truth that whenever something is symbolic in the Bible, the truth is much more (vivid, real, terrifying, or stupendous) than what it is symbolized by, so the fire of hell and it's torments much more than can be described or symbolized. Listen to this excellent sermon here:

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=11113205271

We are saved by grace, but it is still good to be reminded what we are saved from. ;-)

Charles Spurgeon

image link

This past week I've been listening to many of Phil Johnson's sermons, and my absolute favorites (thus far anyway) are his talks about Charles Spurgeon. I would have loved to have met Pastor Spurgeon and attended his meetings! What a sweet man Spurgeon was... his enemies broke his heart which is why he died so young, at only 58 years (!) of age. I'm posting the links, mostly for myself to be able to enjoy them again and again, but also for anyone else to hear about God's greatest preacher (in my opinion, and in the opinion of many others too). I thought all of the sermons on this site were accompanied with transcripts, but unfortunately there aren't any for the ones listed below...however, the second one, "The Conversion of Charles Spurgeon", does has a transcript link to click onto which provides the photos which Pastor Johnson showed in a slide presentation while giving this sermon so it adds to being able to follow along and have the full experience of the teaching.

Charles Spurgeon: His Childhood and Youth

The Conversion of Charles Spurgeon

Spurgeon the Warrior

And this link has more sermons about Charles Spurgeon which I have yet to look forward to listening to.

A Thorn in the Flesh

   Phil Johnson   talks here about how God's power and strength is perfected in our weakness. I love this site because you can listen to the sermon (by clicking link at the top of the page) and follow along in the written transcript.

The mention of the thorn in the flesh is from 2 Corinthians 12:7. This sermon covers 2 Corinthians 12: 1-12.

Excerpt:

"Now: If you're paying attention and following my outline, you might want to stop me right there. Because we're on point 2 of a three-point outline, and we're supposed to be talking about the second of three gracious gifts God gave to Paul. First was paradise. That makes sense. The second, we said, was pain. And this thorn, whatever it was, is the source of Paul's pain. So was Paul's pain a provocation from Satan, or was it a gracious gift from God?
     What's the correct answer to that question?
     Both.
     Satan meant it for evil; God meant it for good. And here is a little secret: that is true of every vexing problem the powers of darkness ever cause for you."

...

Pastor Johnson goes into the exact meaning of the word "thorn", as well as the hints in that passage that seem to say that the thorn in his flesh involved persons, false teachers (whom he calls "super apostles" ESV or eminent apostles in NASB, which he says Paul here uses in a sarcastic way to underline their abuse to the people with false teachings) which Paul brings up in chapter 11 of 2 Corinthians, and then directs it back to them in verse 11 of chapter 12.

Pastor Johnson does say that whatever the thorn is, whether it is persons, or a physical affliction, or whatever it is, because Paul describes it as a "messenger of Satan" he is saying this is some kind of spiritual attack.... and that the Lord won't remove it because...well, I'll let him tell you as it is given in the text. It is a blessing that Jesus shares with us a little of the suffering that He had to suffer. We only get a small taste of it. He bore the full effect of the suffering, the onslaught of Satan, on our behalf. How often I gripe about the little bit of suffering I have compared with what He suffered completely and unjustly on my behalf. "Oh what a foretaste of heaven divine."

Romans 9

 Kent Clark

"God didn't choose you because you were different because Romans chapter 3 says you were no different" - Pastor Kent Clark.

I love this sermon...and listening to it again last night it made it a little more clear, that there is nothing I do that makes me right with God, nothing. It's what He does. He draws me to Himself, and He changes me from the inside out. He transforms me into something new, and it is completely His doing, not me. To God be all the glory. :)

 Excerpt:

"....and out of nowhere when you least expected it GOTCHA!  And I know what some of you are thinking...some of you are thinking 'That is the MOST unsophisticated church service I've been to in my life.' You can go to hell sophisticated. I'm not trying to get us sophisticated here. I'm telling you that  there's a  big God, who knows the heart, and He didn't send His Son down here for you to be religious. He came down here to die for somebody. And He's dead serious about Who gets the glory. You're not going to praise the church....You're not going to praise the preacher....You're not going to praise your baptism....if you get to heaven, you are going to praise HIM."

 http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=31512735540

Praying for Lucy Part 2

After being in a coma for 5 days, she came out of the coma last Monday (they thought it might be meningitis with fevers topping 104 F!), and here she is today!

AWESOME! 

THANK YOU JESUS!

Praying for Lucy

Lucy

Please pray for beautiful precious Lucy, who has been fighting a rare form of brain cancer, medulloblastoma, since February 2011.

This is the first post after the diagnosis in 2/11:

http://erikandkatekrull.blogspot.com/2011/02/in-blink-of-eye.html

What is strange is that the term "blink of an eye" (actually twinkle of the eye, but both forms really) has been on my mind lately, in it's Dutch form: Ogenblik...I've been having the nudge to post on that term, which in Dutch means THIS moment, at least that is how my mom always used that term, to refer to the present moment in time: "op het ogenblik" (at the present moment).

This is where Lucy is today, "op het ogenblik":

http://erikandkatekrull.blogspot.com/

This term is also used in the Bible when the Apostle Paul tells us about the moment we will see Jesus:

 1Co 15:51  Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
1Co 15:52  in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
1Co 15:53  For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54  When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."

in Dutch:

51 Ziet, ik zeg u een verborgenheid: wij zullen wel niet allen ontslapen, maar wij zullen allen veranderd worden;

52 In een punt des tijds, in een ogenblik, met de laatste bazuin; want de bazuin zal slaan, en de doden zullen onverderfelijk opgewekt worden, en wij zullen veranderd worden.

53 Want dit verderfelijke moet onverderfelijkheid aandoen, en dit sterfelijke moet onsterfelijkheid aandoen.

54 En wanneer dit verderfelijke zal onverderfelijkheid aangedaan hebben, en dit sterfelijke zal onsterfelijkheid aangedaan hebben, alsdan zal het woord geschieden, dat geschreven is: De dood is verslonden tot overwinning.

55 Dood, waar is uw prikkel? Hel, waar is uw overwinning?

The Ethical Will of Eleazar of Mayence Part 1

Image Link

I had mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I would post about Eleazar's ethical will. Then I went "on vacation" to be with family, during which time someone said and did some things that offended me very deeply regarding an aunt who passed during this vacation, and a very intimate piece of my mom's personal property which this person extracted for herself, so it is interesting how the timing of this post is so appropriate to something I'm dealing with in real life right at this point in time. It is forcing me to remember that this world and all of the things in it are not really mine, they are on loan from the Lord. The personal slights against me and my family from anyone outside of our family circle, are temporary as well, and I am to pray for my enemies. Much easier said than done.

A couple of years ago, I bid on and won the purchase of a box of books which included several treasures, one of which was the "Bar Mitzvah Treasury" edited by Azriel Eisenberg. The book contains several short essays and was compiled for the goal of preparing a young man with the wisdom gleaned from several sources and from a time span which reaches across the ages. This particular essay, "Eleazar of Mayence Leaves a Will" concerns the second will (the first will dealing with tangible property and money) that people used to leave for generations to follow theirs. The introduction to this piece of literature states:

There was a time when people prepared two wills, to be read after their death. One was a distribution of money and property. The other was a testament on living as a man and as a Jew. Eleazar of Mayence, an ordinary Jew, wrote his "ethical will" about six hundred years ago, embodying ideas far ahead of the medieval thinking of the "dark ages". How well do you think it applies today?

There are several bits of excellent advice in this short submission. In this post I'll touch on one that I have trouble with, and would do well to follow this sage advice. I find myself often exclaiming "Oh my God!" or ""Geez" (short for Jesus), and feel a twinge of guilt each time, but pass it off as "It is good to say the name of God", while another part of me wonders if I'm taking the name of the Lord in vain...This is what Eleazar had to say on this topic:


Be on your guard concerning vows, and cautious as to promises. The breach of one's undertakings leads to many lapses. Do not get into the habit of exclaiming "God!" but speak always of the "Creator, Blessed be He"; and in all that you propose to do, today or tomorrow, add the proviso, "If the Lord wills, I shall do this thing." Thus remember God's part in your life.

Mat 5:33  Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
Mat 5:34  But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
Mat 5:35  Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
Mat 5:36  Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
Mat 5:37  But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

Conversations With Jesus Part 3

Recently there has been a bit of a disagreement on DebbieLynne's blog about the topic of whether Jesus actually communicates with His saints in ways other than (through divine intervention of His Holy Spirit)  through hearing His voice from the pages of His book, the Bible, and then only during the time while one is reading.

To give a bit of personal background, I have never been in the "Charismatic movement", and what little I have seen and heard from them directed me away from their forms of worship and teaching. I did come from a very legalistic upbringing, then married a Mormon and was involved in that cult for a few years, and then out of that frying pan into the fires of the New Age Movement, out of which the Lord Jesus by His mercy saved me.

DebbieLynne maintains (as many people do) that Jesus does not talk to people in any other way except through His book only during the moments we are actually reading, and to say that He speaks to us in our spirit at other times, is not only inaccurate (or downright false) but very dangerous and misleading, and causes one to only depend on oneself and one's own feelings, etc.

I admit (and also admitted to DebbieLynne) that there are many persons with false agendas who write books to make money that have come up with all kinds of schemes to manipulate God into speaking to us in any way possible, and they are often those who are influenced by pagan types of mysticism and false worship. However, one must be careful when trying to avoid the false, to not thereby go to the opposite extreme and call anything that might have a faint resemblance to the false also false (thereby "throwing out the baby with the bathwater", as the saying goes).

There always is that danger of when trying to avoid something that we know is wrong, of then going to the opposite end of that spectrum in order to avoid making the same mistake. If, however, by doing so, one then blocks out the Holy Spirit's promptings, or even worse, call His promptings "satanic deceptions", we have a problem.

Mar 3:22  And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.
Mar 3:23  And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?
Mar 3:24  And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
Mar 3:25  And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
Mar 3:26  And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.
Mar 3:27  No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.
Mar 3:28  Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:
Mar 3:29  But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:
Mar 3:30  Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.

Yes, I have seen the above verses used by charismatic "healers" to hide behind, but truly God will judge them, and we have no need to be fearful because of them, and then avoid the above counsel because it will then make us like them. The above counsel IS in the Bible, and Jesus did have it there for a reason. There is a warning there about attributing what is given by God  to the devil. Let us instead be discerning, and thankful to God, for His goodness, and His mercy, and His Holy Spirit who leads us and teaches us. He is not limited in how He chooses to interact with us, His sheep, who hear His voice, and are called by His name. He doesn't require us to do any "quiet listening rituals" or whatever, to hear Him.

Joh 10:25  Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me.
Joh 10:26  But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
Joh 10:27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 10:28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Joh 10:29  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. 

Joh 14:24  He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.
Joh 14:25  These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
Joh 14:26  But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.



I'll try not to make this a "hobbyhorse issue" of mine. ;)

Conversations With Jesus Part 2

The past couple of months....well, actually, the past couple of years, have been difficult and challenging for me. It seems to have intensified for me in the recent weeks, and true, I may be bringing alot of this onto myself still a sinner, saved by God's mercy and grace.

Yesterdays post included many scripture passages which spoke about the topic of prayer, and although I bolded some of the words, I didn't add any of my own thoughts to it, mainly because my thoughts have been especially difficult to communicate lately. There's more that I can say about that but I'll say it with this:

Jer 20:9  Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.
Jer 20:10  For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him. 



I fully feel these words.



So last night I was thinking about a couple of people in my life with whom things came to an ugly head, and the headache that was pounding ever more painful in my head (have had a headache since Friday morning, today it's much better, thank the Lord!) also brought to my mind someone dear to me who is suffering from brain cancer and the pain she must be going through. Then there was a darkness so thick that it was darker than the room, like a light had turned off inside my head, a darkness you can feel, oppressive and thick. As it encompassed me the thought: "be prepared to die". I was a little frightened at first, and then remembered the verse that I was studying in an article yesterday:

 1Th 5:4  But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
1Th 5:5  Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

Even though I sensed darkness all around me, I know I am not "of darkness", it can surround me but not overtake me. Then it passed.

This morning, I wanted to do something, to continue conversations with two persons that are primary sources of difficulty right now...persons that have made it known to me that they want nothing to do with me...and I still want to "fix" the situations myself. Sigh. And I had determined that I would attempt to continue to try....and the thought: SHE DOESN'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU stopped me....(both situations involve women and this counsel would apply to each one) and I stopped to think...and remembered to pray for my "enemies"...

and

Mat 5:2  And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
Mat 5:3  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:4  Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Mat 5:5  Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Mat 5:6  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Mat 5:7  Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Mat 5:8  Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Mat 5:9  Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Mat 5:10  Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:11  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Mat 5:12  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

I'm not saying that I didn't deserve rebuking, I probably failed the "speak the truth IN LOVE" admonition, miserably...so I kept trying to clarify with "what I meant was.."...and although true, of course it didn't work, sigh, but only made each one respectively, angrier. Yeah. However, there it is....so pray....trying to sit on my hands to prevent my doing what I want to do, which doing would only pick at the wound. They have kicked me out of their town, so to speak:

Mat 10:14  And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.


Not to kick sand in their face, but to shake it off, so I don't continue to carry my hurt, my disappointment, my anger, or any other ugly things that can be clinging to me that would effect my walk, to shake it off, and then move on....let it GO....ok, definitely need the Lord's help with that one, lol. I can be like a pit bull when it comes to letting things go. Sheesh.


So I'm praying for "my enemies" that the Lord will reveal Himself to them in their hurting, and that they may come to fully know the true grace and mercy that flows from His throne, that they may

be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding (Col 1:9)

and that
the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in [them] (2 Thes 1:12)

......and leave those requests with Him, to be fulfilled as He sees fit, in HIS time and HIS way, not mine. :)

 

God's Book

 Link to image

I had once heard somewhere (I really can't remember where anymore.... so I apologize that I cannot give the source) that our lives are like books that we are writing for others to read (just like the Bible records the lives of people in other times and the things that God did for them and through them). I am writing my own book with how I live each day, each day is a journal entry into the book of my life that is written into the sands of time (think of the sandy beach in the footprints poem... and the sands moving down through an hourglass) each day is leaving it's imprint in the story of my life.
....As such, am I happy with my book so far? Is it one that I want others to read?

The Bible has many references to lives lived many years ago, and tells the whole story. It tells of both the good and the bad  that had happened, and also tells how the Lord intervened in the lives which are on display in it's pages. We can see the highs and the lows of what the flesh can do and how it all falls short, because in the end Jesus needed to die to redeem all that was so hopelessly lost. Even King David who was a man after God's own heart, made some very tragic decisions that caused him sorrow and shame, but the Lord used him as a key person in Jesus' family tree.

When I think of all of the pages of MY book, there are pages I would like to tear out and never let anyone see because I would be horrified to show off my shame. But when I picture it from God's perspective, seeing it as revealing His love and compassion of HOW MUCH God is able to forgive, it tells a different story. It tells a story of reclamation and of the incredible success in spite of impossible odds against it.

This brings to my mind:

 Luk 7:36  And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat.
Luk 7:37  And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
Luk 7:38  And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
Luk 7:39  Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.
Luk 7:40  And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.
Luk 7:41  There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.
Luk 7:42  And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?
Luk 7:43  Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.
Luk 7:44  And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
Luk 7:45  Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.
Luk 7:46  My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.
Luk 7:47  Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
Luk 7:48  And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.

The passage above doesn't say what the pharisee's sins were, but I imagine that he had terrible sins just like anyone else...but let's just say he didn't, that he lived an almost perfect life...and didn't need God's forgiveness (or so he thought)...his self-justification blocked the love Jesus wanted to bestow upon him, and not only that, Jesus said "to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little" ...

Wow.

You mean to tell me if I live a scrupulous life and have very little that I need forgiveness for, that actually works against me??? What?

Let's look at another one:

Luk 18:9  And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
Luk 18:10  Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
Luk 18:11  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
Luk 18:12  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
Luk 18:13  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
Luk 18:14  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Is your life one that you would be embarrassed to have published? Then how much more wonderful it would be read your book with the addition of the  love bestowed through Jesus. Then we see all these things in the proper context of forgiveness, and the love that it grows in us (His recipients) as a result of that wonderful forgiveness that reached so deep that all those many horrible things are now turned into the beautiful gold of all that love which gets returned to Him in our answers to His generosity.

Love Is...

 Image Link

(this is an interesting link, btw)

4 Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth [1] not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil....


Tomorrow being "Valentine's Day" I was musing about the Love (Agape or Charity) chapter.
Love is the opposite (according to 1st Corinthians 13) of the self-love that our flesh desires. Love looks out for others to the setting aside of our own wishes. It is the kind of caring that parents have for their children, who would themselves go without food when there is scarcity so their children will have food to eat. It is the kind of caring that Jesus had for us by setting His own life aside on the cross, so that we might be saved.


The world tries to tell us (wrongly) that in order to love others we must first love ourselves. That is NOT what the Bible says at all. That we are to love others as ourselves is not putting ourselves first. We naturally desire to put ourselves first, so loving myself does not require any training prior to caring for others (to be honest here, I am very naturally inclined to be self-serving and concerned that others are getting a bigger portion than myself, and say this to my dismay and shame) . I was pondering this very thing today while musing about what has been bothering me about the sequence of events at my place of employment over the past couple of years...(yes, I am STILL thinking about THAT, sheesh) and the fact is, I have told a few people that I felt I could trust about my hurt and my anger, and gossiped about things that I should have kept to myself between me and the Lord. Sigh.


I continually see how I do not measure up to God's standard of LOVE, the kind of love He has for us. I am truly amazed that He loves me that much, and am humbled and shamed about my own selfishness and vaunting of myself before others.

Image Link

Spiritual Garments

Gen 3:6  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Gen 3:7  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
Gen 3:8  And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
Gen 3:9  And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
Gen 3:10  And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 



There is so much packed in the book of Genesis...even in these few short verses, there's alot going on. One question that had me puzzled in my young Christian days was "If God knows everything, why didn't He know where Adam and Eve were hiding?" and surely the answer must be that HE DID KNOW where they were, but He wanted them to tell Him. He wanted them to "get real" with Him, to tell Him honestly where things went wrong, not because He didn't know, but because He wanted to draw it out of them, so THEY would know. That is an incredible insight, one that would help teachers to be better teachers, and evangelists to be better evangelists.



Pro 20:5  Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.


Another thing that is a main feature of this passage is nakedness and covering. Adam and Eve lost something that covered their nakedness after they ate the forbidden fruit. Was it something physical that could be seen tangibly? Was it a spiritual covering that was part of their spiritual senses? I tend to think it was the latter...they tried to make up for it by sewing leaves together, "and made themselves aprons". I tend to think these were grass skirts similar to the type the Polynesian people still make and wear, but that is a small and inconsequential detail, perhaps. God didn't accept their self constructed covering, and provided them with coverings that He chose for them. They were animal skins, so, it obviously  had to involve the death of some other creature(s). I think on the animal rights people who get their panties in a bunch about people wearing fur coats, and mink coats are unnecessary, perhaps, but it is still a reminder of the original animal coverings and the death of God's creatures, and yes, when we really think about this, it is offensive.

When I was a new baby Christian, I came across this scripture passage, and it bothered me:

Mat 22:11  And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
Mat 22:12  And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Mat 22:13  Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen.


I thought: "What is this wedding garment, and how do I get one?"

I forgot about it, until a few weeks later, I was listening to a pastor on a radio program. It was a few days before Thanksgiving, and his sermon was on the topic of giving thanks. This pastor said:

"When we come to Jesus and ask His forgiveness, He takes off our dirty garments like our mommies used to after a day of playing and getting dirty. Remember when you were little, and your mom would take off your dirty shirt? You would raise your hands, and she would pull off your dirty shirt. Then after you got your bath and were all nice and clean, you would raise your hands and she'd put on your nice and clean pajamas. So it is when we raise our hands in thanksgiving, and Jesus gives us our nice and clean garments washed in His blood."

 Psa 100:4  Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.


We enter into His gates because of Him, not because of any garments we can fashion for our own smug selves. We enter through Him, He is the door...if we try to sneak in some other way that involves our own righteousness, we are without the garment of His design, His sacrifice, His gift.

image link

Daily Bread

A few days ago I awoke with the thought of BREAD.  We had just gotten back from a marvelous vacation to visit with Ken's sister in the Bahamas. While we were there, she had spoiled  us with some delicious breads at a new grocery store they recently opened. Give me some good bread and butter, and I am a happy camper! :)

So as that thought of bread popped into my consciousness, it brought to mind my "daily bread". I haven't been consistent (far from it) in Bible reading, and although this thought was not in a blaming, nagging, accusatory tone, I still felt a slight twinge of conviction. It made me think on how good it is to eat a good, wholesome bread, and how we need good food to stay alive..... EVERY DAY,  if we want to be healthy anyway... and it brought to mind the manna of the OT, and the complaining of the Israelites to eat heavenly food every day (I cannot conceive of that...but the Bible is heavenly manna, and I admit that I am slack to get my daily portion).

God generously supplies us with our daily manna...are we like the early Israelites loving our Egyptian (fleshly) foods more than the heavenly? I guess it's like the writer of Ecclesiastes said: "there's nothing new under the sun". Thank the Lord for His mercy and graciousness. :)

Faith vs Fear

Simple and concise, and accurate. Those are the three components of these charts  (link removed at NehemiahMinistries website owner's request) which compare a life lived in faith, and one that is lived in fear. The "SELF CYCLE" always results in fear. The "LIFE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT" results in faith. Seeing that so simply and elegantly put makes my heart sing and rejoice in the truth of it!

That is the component (fear)  which bothers me so much from those who try to impose their methods of worship onto others. Where is it coming from? Is it coming from a place that longs for loving fellowship? Well, on some level, I do believe that they do desire loving fellowship. Are their methods  coming from a place that imposes subtle threats, and stirs up fear in others, fear that God will punish those who don't follow the prescribed rituals for obedience? That is how it is perceived by me anyway...

Jesus said what He did to us because He loves us. He did not come to condemn the world (John 3:16-17), but to stir us to follow Him, and not a church organization or a system of doctrines and rituals. Jesus desires a relationship with us that is based on truth, an honest one, where we admit our failures, and accept His mercy and life-giving intervention working in us and through us. It is His light that needs to shine through us, not our fear-based efforts to try to placate an angry God

Hebrews 4:15-16  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.   Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.