Overview of newsletters from July - December 2013
May 2013
Coming to Know God by Bill Rollins
The Bread of Affliction by Cynthia Saladin
June 2013
Coming to Know God, Part 2 by Bill Rollins
Harvest by Cynthia Saladin
July 2013
Be on Guard by Cynthia Saladin
Coming to Know God, Part 3 by Bill Rollins
August 2013
Perfect Peace by Cynthia Saladin
The Wonderful World of Word Studies, Part 1 by Diane Kleeschulte
Coming to Know God, Part 4 by Bill Rollins
September 2013
Methodical, Tedious, Boring, Seemingly Unending . . . by Cynthia
Jesus is Coming by Cynthia Saladin
Coming to Know God, Part 5 by Bill Rollins
The Snake Saga Continues by Cynthia Saladin
October 2013
Preparing for the Feast by Cynthia Saladin
Tangled Wires by Diane Kleeschulte
Coming to Know God, Part 6 by Bill Rollins
Look Up by Cynthia Saladin
Owed to a Cow by Cynthia Saladin
November 2013
Producing Fruit by Cynthia Saladin
Coming to Know God, Part 7 by Bill Rollins
Hope as an Anchor So Steadfast by Cynthia Saladin
December 2013
Old Cars by Cynthia Saladin
Coming to Know God, Part 8 by Bill Rollins
Discussing the Details: Missing From the List by Patricia Manning
What Has God Moved Your Heart to Do? by Cynthia Saladin
May 2013
Coming to Know God by Bill Rollins
The Bread of Affliction by Cynthia Saladin
June 2013
Coming to Know God, Part 2 by Bill Rollins
Harvest by Cynthia Saladin
July 2013
Be on Guard by Cynthia Saladin
Coming to Know God, Part 3 by Bill Rollins
August 2013
Perfect Peace by Cynthia Saladin
The Wonderful World of Word Studies, Part 1 by Diane Kleeschulte
Coming to Know God, Part 4 by Bill Rollins
September 2013
Methodical, Tedious, Boring, Seemingly Unending . . . by Cynthia
Jesus is Coming by Cynthia Saladin
Coming to Know God, Part 5 by Bill Rollins
The Snake Saga Continues by Cynthia Saladin
October 2013
Preparing for the Feast by Cynthia Saladin
Tangled Wires by Diane Kleeschulte
Coming to Know God, Part 6 by Bill Rollins
Look Up by Cynthia Saladin
Owed to a Cow by Cynthia Saladin
November 2013
Producing Fruit by Cynthia Saladin
Coming to Know God, Part 7 by Bill Rollins
Hope as an Anchor So Steadfast by Cynthia Saladin
December 2013
Old Cars by Cynthia Saladin
Coming to Know God, Part 8 by Bill Rollins
Discussing the Details: Missing From the List by Patricia Manning
What Has God Moved Your Heart to Do? by Cynthia Saladin
May 2013
Coming to Know God
by Bill Rollins
Who is God?
Why should we come to know Him?
Is knowing Him all that important after all?
How can anyone come to know God?
We as human beings have developed the art of religion and we seem to have the need to sustain it.
We all know in the book of Genesis, the Bible does not begin by stating “In the beginning God created a religion.” The sound of it is absurd to our ears. The Bible does state, “God created the Heavens and the Earth” and so in our coming to know Him, we first find out He is the Creator.
We human beings are very familiar with the idea of “creating.” This modern age in which we live is filled with labor-saving devices. The television, the VCR, the microwave, the camera, the telephone, the computer, etc; all are part of our endeavor to “create” a better world.
One thing must be noted about the many items we have today: whatever device we may purchase, we shall always find packed neatly inside the box a manual to teach us the proper use, operation and care of the machine. God, our Creator, has done no less for us. We have a manual of proper use, operation and care. It is called the Bible, and we would do well to stick to this very amazing manual as we come to know God.
Within this relatively short book can be found the answer to many questions we may have about who God is, who we are, and what our relationship to Him is. It is the fundamental source of all wisdom, and includes the keys to Life itself. This is not just another “book.” If you will accept it, it is the “Book of Life.”
So, to begin with, we now know two things about God. He is a creator and He has included a manual of operation with His creation.
*********************
At first blush, the topic of knowing God seems overwhelming. After all, the “instruction manual” (the Bible) we possess tells us of a God “who fills the whole universe . . . who sits enthroned above the vault of the earth . . . who stretches out the heavens like a curtain . . . who measures the nations as a speck of dust upon the scales . . . who has created the stars and leads them forth by number and calls them each by name” (Isaiah 40:12-31). Are we really up to the task? If He measures the nations as a speck of dust on the scales, how much less must we be?
Within the heart of every living thing on the face of the earth is the innate desire to know God, to find God, and to come to grips with the reality of how this whole thing began.
Biologists explore the minute details of a blood cell; physicists explore the sub-atomic particles; astronomers explore the outer reaches of the universe where millions of galaxies reside. Even artists explore their subconscious for expression of something within. Why? What drives this exploration? We human beings want to know what it is that makes us tick. We want to know the answer to the question, “Where do we come from?” The scientist may not call it a search for God; he perhaps doesn’t want to call it a search for God. But in essence, that is what it is.
As big as God is, we must understand we can come to know Him. It is this fact - that He is so awesome - that makes me all the more eager to proceed in this quest. For our Creator is not a God far off, hidden and unknowable.
“That which may be known about God is evident within us, for God has made it evident. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made so that men are without excuse” (Romans 1:19). This is a very interesting scripture. It tells us what may be known about God is found within us; it is found in the things around us; it is found in His creation. It warns us we can use no excuses in not coming to know Him.
I must stop and ask the reader a question at this point. What will you do with the knowledge you may gain by coming to know God? Perhaps you feel you already know something about God. What will you do with further knowledge of Him?
Jeremiah, Chapter 9, verse 23 says: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Eternal who shows loving kindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for in these things I delight.”
I would like to use this as our “hallmark scripture” as we venture forth from here. Keep it in mind as we come to know God!
Before we go much further, perhaps we should define the terms we have been using in the heading of this article. For instance, we could define what we mean when we use the word “god.” Oh, but you say everyone knows what is meant by the word God! Why would we need to define that?
Many people believe God is a name we use to address the Creator and Sustainer of the universe; in other words, the Deity. But this is really not correct. The term God is actually more of a title than a name. However, it is the first way in which we are introduced to the Creator. “In the beginning, God . . .” The Hebrew word used in this instance is Elohim, which is a plural form of the word El, which means mighty, strong, prominent.
It is interesting that this Hebrew word is plural, in that we understand the nature of God to be more than one person. In Genesis 1:26 it says, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness . . .’ ” The use of the pronouns “us” and “our” emphasizes the plural nature of God.
In the New Testament we find a similar concept. John 1:1 states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” We know from verse 15, this “Word” became flesh and dwelt among us, thereby showing us Jesus Christ is the Word and He is with God and He is God.
I said “God” is more of a title than a name. This is not to say it is not a name, for it does describe the qualities of the Creator. Most names in the Old testament often were indications of the qualities or character of an individual. In fact God changed the names of several individuals to reflect a change in what He had in mind for them. He changed the name of the patriarch Abram, which means “exalted father” to Abraham, which means “father of a multitude,” because God said He would make Abraham the father of a multitude of nations.
The next thing we need to see about this 3-letter word is that it is also applied to Satan and to the false gods of the nations which resided around Israel. In Deuteronomy 6:14 we read, “You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you.” Also in the New Testament we see that Paul refers to Satan as the “god of his age.” So this word definitely applies to our Father and His Son, but because it is not truly a name, but a title, it can apply to anything a person places before Them. Hence, the first commandment reads, “I am the Eternal your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me” (Deut. 5:6-7).
So perhaps we know a little more about the word God, but how about the other words in the title of this article “Coming to Know”? There are two ways we could go with this verb phrase. Everyone knows what it means to “come to know” someone or something, but oftentimes what we are really doing is “coming to know about” someone or something. Coming to know God is a lot more complicated than coming to know about Him. We may know a lot about an actor, politician or sports figure, but we do not know them. Granted, as we come to know someone we also come to know about them. And so it is with God; as we come to know Him we will learn quite a bit about Him. Sometimes it is hard to separate the two; hopefully they shall grow up together.
Remember, the only real bragging rights you have are to say you know God! So let’s go on to get to know Him!
"Someone once said that if you sat a million monkeys at a million typewriters for a million years, one of them would eventually type out all of Hamlet by chance. But when we find the text of Hamlet, we don't wonder whether it came from chance and monkeys. Why then does the atheist use that incredibly improbable explanation for the universe? Clearly, because it is his only chance of remaining an atheist. At this point we need a psychological explanation of the atheist rather than a logical explanation of the universe."
- Peter Kreeft
The Bread of Affliction
by Cynthia Saladin
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, for the former things have passed away. Revelation 21:4
What’s gone? What is “no more”? tears, death, mourning, crying, pain.
The Greek word translated death in this verse can mean natural or physical death or it can mean spiritual death. It’s application is very broad. So when I think about death being no more, two verses come to mind:
1 Corinthians 15:26: The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Revelation 20:14: Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
What else is gone? Mourning and crying. The Greek word translated crying here means an outcry, tumult or grief. We’re talking about an intense crying. There are other references to crying, but it’s a different word. The word used here is also used in Hebrews 5:7 when it’s referring to Jesus’ loud cries and tears. (Hebrews 5:7: In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.)
But this kind of sorrow and crying will be gone, over, finished. It must be important for us to know that because Isaiah tells us three times:
Isaiah 35:10, Isaiah 51:11: And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Isaiah 65:19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress.
Pain is the other thing that shall be no more. The Greek word translated pain here means “labor, pain, misery. It is labor which does not stop short of demanding the whole strength of man.” This is intense pain!
The other thing that will be gone are the tears. We can have tears for many reasons. They can be a reaction to physical or mental pain, physical or mental grief and sorrow. It’s important to remember that God doesn’t take them lightly.
Psalm 56:8 says: You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?
Whether or not this is literal, it would seem to indicate that God keeps track of the tears we shed. But the other thing to remember is that sometimes God intentionally causes our tears.
Psalm 80:5 says: You have fed them with the bread of tears and given them tears to drink in full measure.
Why would God intentionally feed His people the bread of tears?
Psalm 119:67: Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.
Psalm 119:71: It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.
Psalm 119:75 I know, O Lord, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
Affliction from God and “bread of tears” sounds very similar to “bread of affliction” - what we associate with the Days of Unleavened Bread.
Deuteronomy 16:3 says: You shall eat no leavened bread with it. Seven days you shall eat it with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction—for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste—that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt.
Why does God afflict us? To discipline us, to remind us what He’s done for us, to bring us back to Him, to teach us to obey.
But eventually, the tears will all be wiped away. Why are there tears? We cry because of pain and sorrow. Sometimes it’s because of physical pain; sometimes it’s because of the impairment of the relationship with God. But eventually we are told that the tears will be wiped away by God Himself. We find it here in Revelation 21:4, but in two other places as well.
Revelation 7:14 speaks of those who have come out of great tribulation: For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Isaiah 25:8 He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.
The reference in Isaiah 25:8 is very interesting, especially when you consider the definition of “wipe away.” The Greek word mean to erase, smear out, obliterate; figuratively, it means to pardon!
Think about this! If there is no more death, then there’s no more sin because Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death! If there’s no more sin and no more death, then God truly will have wiped away, for the last time, all of our sin debt. We will be fully, completely, for all time, pardoned.
Look at the language here: Revelation 21:3: And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. We’re speaking of a time when the battles have been fought, death has been conquered forever, Satan has been forever dealt with, and God is dwelling with us. This is huge! Remember, God cannot look on sin. God is holy and righteous. He will have no part of anything else!
So think again about Exodus 13:9: And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt. We are eating unleavened bread this week that the law of the Lord may be in our mouths. Why? Because God wants to bring us to Christ. He is working to purify for Himself a people. Titus 2:14, speaking of Jesus, says, he gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
The Days of Unleavened Bread picture Jesus putting sin out of our lives through His blood. But we also have to make that choice daily to distinguish between the holy and the common, the unclean and the clean. Remember, the unleavened bread should remind us not to hang around sin any more! Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. 2 Corinthians 7:1
If we cannot do the physical, putting leaven out of our lives for seven days and only eating the unleavened bread for seven days, how will we ever make the harder spiritual and mental and physical choices of distinguishing between the holy and the common, the clean and the unclean. How will we ever become wholly devoted to God?
Make no mistake: there is coming a day when death, mourning, crying and pain are no more. Sin will be gone. Death will be swallowed up in victory. Tears will be wiped away and all sins pardoned forever for those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
It’s important to remember that God, in His great mercy, gave us the bread of affliction, the bread of tears, to eat that we might ultimately be in His kingdom! But we can’t mix unleavened and leavened. There’s no communion between holy and common, clean and unclean. You’re either all in or you’re all out. You can’t sit in the middle.
You probably are thinking that the days of unleavened bread are over; we don’t have to think about this again for another year. The physical act of getting leaven out of your life might be over for another year, but hopefully you’ve retained the lesson of being unleavened before God.
So - have you eaten your bread of affliction yet today?
"Men do not differ much about what things they will call evils; they differ enormously about what evils they will call excusable." - G.K. Chesterton
“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.”
— C. S. Lewis
by Bill Rollins
Who is God?
Why should we come to know Him?
Is knowing Him all that important after all?
How can anyone come to know God?
We as human beings have developed the art of religion and we seem to have the need to sustain it.
We all know in the book of Genesis, the Bible does not begin by stating “In the beginning God created a religion.” The sound of it is absurd to our ears. The Bible does state, “God created the Heavens and the Earth” and so in our coming to know Him, we first find out He is the Creator.
We human beings are very familiar with the idea of “creating.” This modern age in which we live is filled with labor-saving devices. The television, the VCR, the microwave, the camera, the telephone, the computer, etc; all are part of our endeavor to “create” a better world.
One thing must be noted about the many items we have today: whatever device we may purchase, we shall always find packed neatly inside the box a manual to teach us the proper use, operation and care of the machine. God, our Creator, has done no less for us. We have a manual of proper use, operation and care. It is called the Bible, and we would do well to stick to this very amazing manual as we come to know God.
Within this relatively short book can be found the answer to many questions we may have about who God is, who we are, and what our relationship to Him is. It is the fundamental source of all wisdom, and includes the keys to Life itself. This is not just another “book.” If you will accept it, it is the “Book of Life.”
So, to begin with, we now know two things about God. He is a creator and He has included a manual of operation with His creation.
*********************
At first blush, the topic of knowing God seems overwhelming. After all, the “instruction manual” (the Bible) we possess tells us of a God “who fills the whole universe . . . who sits enthroned above the vault of the earth . . . who stretches out the heavens like a curtain . . . who measures the nations as a speck of dust upon the scales . . . who has created the stars and leads them forth by number and calls them each by name” (Isaiah 40:12-31). Are we really up to the task? If He measures the nations as a speck of dust on the scales, how much less must we be?
Within the heart of every living thing on the face of the earth is the innate desire to know God, to find God, and to come to grips with the reality of how this whole thing began.
Biologists explore the minute details of a blood cell; physicists explore the sub-atomic particles; astronomers explore the outer reaches of the universe where millions of galaxies reside. Even artists explore their subconscious for expression of something within. Why? What drives this exploration? We human beings want to know what it is that makes us tick. We want to know the answer to the question, “Where do we come from?” The scientist may not call it a search for God; he perhaps doesn’t want to call it a search for God. But in essence, that is what it is.
As big as God is, we must understand we can come to know Him. It is this fact - that He is so awesome - that makes me all the more eager to proceed in this quest. For our Creator is not a God far off, hidden and unknowable.
“That which may be known about God is evident within us, for God has made it evident. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made so that men are without excuse” (Romans 1:19). This is a very interesting scripture. It tells us what may be known about God is found within us; it is found in the things around us; it is found in His creation. It warns us we can use no excuses in not coming to know Him.
I must stop and ask the reader a question at this point. What will you do with the knowledge you may gain by coming to know God? Perhaps you feel you already know something about God. What will you do with further knowledge of Him?
Jeremiah, Chapter 9, verse 23 says: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Eternal who shows loving kindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for in these things I delight.”
I would like to use this as our “hallmark scripture” as we venture forth from here. Keep it in mind as we come to know God!
Before we go much further, perhaps we should define the terms we have been using in the heading of this article. For instance, we could define what we mean when we use the word “god.” Oh, but you say everyone knows what is meant by the word God! Why would we need to define that?
Many people believe God is a name we use to address the Creator and Sustainer of the universe; in other words, the Deity. But this is really not correct. The term God is actually more of a title than a name. However, it is the first way in which we are introduced to the Creator. “In the beginning, God . . .” The Hebrew word used in this instance is Elohim, which is a plural form of the word El, which means mighty, strong, prominent.
It is interesting that this Hebrew word is plural, in that we understand the nature of God to be more than one person. In Genesis 1:26 it says, “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness . . .’ ” The use of the pronouns “us” and “our” emphasizes the plural nature of God.
In the New Testament we find a similar concept. John 1:1 states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” We know from verse 15, this “Word” became flesh and dwelt among us, thereby showing us Jesus Christ is the Word and He is with God and He is God.
I said “God” is more of a title than a name. This is not to say it is not a name, for it does describe the qualities of the Creator. Most names in the Old testament often were indications of the qualities or character of an individual. In fact God changed the names of several individuals to reflect a change in what He had in mind for them. He changed the name of the patriarch Abram, which means “exalted father” to Abraham, which means “father of a multitude,” because God said He would make Abraham the father of a multitude of nations.
The next thing we need to see about this 3-letter word is that it is also applied to Satan and to the false gods of the nations which resided around Israel. In Deuteronomy 6:14 we read, “You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you.” Also in the New Testament we see that Paul refers to Satan as the “god of his age.” So this word definitely applies to our Father and His Son, but because it is not truly a name, but a title, it can apply to anything a person places before Them. Hence, the first commandment reads, “I am the Eternal your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me” (Deut. 5:6-7).
So perhaps we know a little more about the word God, but how about the other words in the title of this article “Coming to Know”? There are two ways we could go with this verb phrase. Everyone knows what it means to “come to know” someone or something, but oftentimes what we are really doing is “coming to know about” someone or something. Coming to know God is a lot more complicated than coming to know about Him. We may know a lot about an actor, politician or sports figure, but we do not know them. Granted, as we come to know someone we also come to know about them. And so it is with God; as we come to know Him we will learn quite a bit about Him. Sometimes it is hard to separate the two; hopefully they shall grow up together.
Remember, the only real bragging rights you have are to say you know God! So let’s go on to get to know Him!
"Someone once said that if you sat a million monkeys at a million typewriters for a million years, one of them would eventually type out all of Hamlet by chance. But when we find the text of Hamlet, we don't wonder whether it came from chance and monkeys. Why then does the atheist use that incredibly improbable explanation for the universe? Clearly, because it is his only chance of remaining an atheist. At this point we need a psychological explanation of the atheist rather than a logical explanation of the universe."
- Peter Kreeft
The Bread of Affliction
by Cynthia Saladin
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, for the former things have passed away. Revelation 21:4
What’s gone? What is “no more”? tears, death, mourning, crying, pain.
The Greek word translated death in this verse can mean natural or physical death or it can mean spiritual death. It’s application is very broad. So when I think about death being no more, two verses come to mind:
1 Corinthians 15:26: The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
Revelation 20:14: Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
What else is gone? Mourning and crying. The Greek word translated crying here means an outcry, tumult or grief. We’re talking about an intense crying. There are other references to crying, but it’s a different word. The word used here is also used in Hebrews 5:7 when it’s referring to Jesus’ loud cries and tears. (Hebrews 5:7: In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.)
But this kind of sorrow and crying will be gone, over, finished. It must be important for us to know that because Isaiah tells us three times:
Isaiah 35:10, Isaiah 51:11: And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Isaiah 65:19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress.
Pain is the other thing that shall be no more. The Greek word translated pain here means “labor, pain, misery. It is labor which does not stop short of demanding the whole strength of man.” This is intense pain!
The other thing that will be gone are the tears. We can have tears for many reasons. They can be a reaction to physical or mental pain, physical or mental grief and sorrow. It’s important to remember that God doesn’t take them lightly.
Psalm 56:8 says: You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?
Whether or not this is literal, it would seem to indicate that God keeps track of the tears we shed. But the other thing to remember is that sometimes God intentionally causes our tears.
Psalm 80:5 says: You have fed them with the bread of tears and given them tears to drink in full measure.
Why would God intentionally feed His people the bread of tears?
Psalm 119:67: Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.
Psalm 119:71: It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.
Psalm 119:75 I know, O Lord, that your rules are righteous, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
Affliction from God and “bread of tears” sounds very similar to “bread of affliction” - what we associate with the Days of Unleavened Bread.
Deuteronomy 16:3 says: You shall eat no leavened bread with it. Seven days you shall eat it with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction—for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste—that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt.
Why does God afflict us? To discipline us, to remind us what He’s done for us, to bring us back to Him, to teach us to obey.
But eventually, the tears will all be wiped away. Why are there tears? We cry because of pain and sorrow. Sometimes it’s because of physical pain; sometimes it’s because of the impairment of the relationship with God. But eventually we are told that the tears will be wiped away by God Himself. We find it here in Revelation 21:4, but in two other places as well.
Revelation 7:14 speaks of those who have come out of great tribulation: For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Isaiah 25:8 He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.
The reference in Isaiah 25:8 is very interesting, especially when you consider the definition of “wipe away.” The Greek word mean to erase, smear out, obliterate; figuratively, it means to pardon!
Think about this! If there is no more death, then there’s no more sin because Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death! If there’s no more sin and no more death, then God truly will have wiped away, for the last time, all of our sin debt. We will be fully, completely, for all time, pardoned.
Look at the language here: Revelation 21:3: And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. We’re speaking of a time when the battles have been fought, death has been conquered forever, Satan has been forever dealt with, and God is dwelling with us. This is huge! Remember, God cannot look on sin. God is holy and righteous. He will have no part of anything else!
So think again about Exodus 13:9: And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt. We are eating unleavened bread this week that the law of the Lord may be in our mouths. Why? Because God wants to bring us to Christ. He is working to purify for Himself a people. Titus 2:14, speaking of Jesus, says, he gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
The Days of Unleavened Bread picture Jesus putting sin out of our lives through His blood. But we also have to make that choice daily to distinguish between the holy and the common, the unclean and the clean. Remember, the unleavened bread should remind us not to hang around sin any more! Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. 2 Corinthians 7:1
If we cannot do the physical, putting leaven out of our lives for seven days and only eating the unleavened bread for seven days, how will we ever make the harder spiritual and mental and physical choices of distinguishing between the holy and the common, the clean and the unclean. How will we ever become wholly devoted to God?
Make no mistake: there is coming a day when death, mourning, crying and pain are no more. Sin will be gone. Death will be swallowed up in victory. Tears will be wiped away and all sins pardoned forever for those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
It’s important to remember that God, in His great mercy, gave us the bread of affliction, the bread of tears, to eat that we might ultimately be in His kingdom! But we can’t mix unleavened and leavened. There’s no communion between holy and common, clean and unclean. You’re either all in or you’re all out. You can’t sit in the middle.
You probably are thinking that the days of unleavened bread are over; we don’t have to think about this again for another year. The physical act of getting leaven out of your life might be over for another year, but hopefully you’ve retained the lesson of being unleavened before God.
So - have you eaten your bread of affliction yet today?
"Men do not differ much about what things they will call evils; they differ enormously about what evils they will call excusable." - G.K. Chesterton
“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.”
— C. S. Lewis
June 2013 newsletter
This is the second installment of Bill Rollins’ series on Coming to Know God. The first is in the May 2013 issue.
Coming to Know God
by Bill Rollins
Is God fair? Have you ever found yourself asking this question? Or perhaps overheard someone else ask it? In times of turmoil and conflict, in suffering and pain, in confusion and doubt we sometimes have the urge to question not only the fairness of God but His very existence.
In the beginning, God said He created man in His own image. We human beings have the tendency to reverse this process and try to create God in our image. We would like to have a god who thinks more like we do rather than try to conform our thoughts and our actions to show love to the God who created us. So sometimes we think He is unfair.
Let us look realistically at the fairness of God. We often hear the expression “count your many blessings,” but do we really ever consider what it is God has done for us? It doesn’t matter if you are an atheist, a Hindu, a Muslim or a bushman from the interior rain forests of Africa, God has given you everything you need. You don’t even need to believe in Him to partake of the wonders He has created.
Without our input He created this planet we call Earth. He set it in motion, spinning it around the sun at just the right speed and giving it a position just far enough from the sun, at just the right tilt, to sustain life. The weather systems and patterns (curse them as we do sometimes) were put in motion by Him to bring rain in due season. The rain He brings nourishes the flowers that attract our eyes in the spring. And not only our eyes but also the bee is attracted, and gathers the nectar he so much needs.
He provides the air we need to breathe, water to drink, and food to eat. We have the sun to warm us and trees to shade us. We have many systems within our bodies that regulate and fine tune our metabolism, our temperature, our respiration, our heart rate. The intake of oxygen is automatically increased by heavier breathing without our having to consider it. The heart rate is increased when there is a need for more oxygen-carrying blood. If we neglect the instruction manual (the Bible), tossing it aside as not relevant in this 20th century, how then can we say God is unfair when one of these systems goes awry?
Consider the sense of taste. God could have created us to take on the fuel we need for energy much the same as a car takes on fuel. But God saw fit to give us the gift of taste, then created all the taste sensations we enjoy: fresh strawberries in the spring; a ripe, juicy homegrown tomato in late summer; turkey and dressing with cranberries. The list is almost endless.
What is it we have which God has not given us? And sometimes we say God is unfair! He has given us LIFE itself. He has even given us that instruction manual we mentioned earlier - the Bible. But we have turned away from Him. We seek our own ways. We want to make God in our own image. We pay little attention to the Bible and use it (if at all) as light reading before going to bed.
In the book of Isaiah 55:6 we read, “Seek the Eternal while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Eternal, and He will have compassion on him; and to our God and He will abundantly pardon. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Is God a fair god? Job had the right idea when, after losing all his livestock, all his servants and all his children, he said, “The Eternal gave and the Eternal has taken away, blessed be the name of the Eternal” (Job 1:21).
We need to first see that all things come from God and not from man. The fairness of God is perfect; this is what we know about God.
So, I ask the question again, is God fair? The topic of the fairness of God is immense, and I will pursue the question further here. I really believe this may be one of the largest stumbling blocks in our coming to know God.
Previously I quoted from the book of Job. The quote itself is not relevant at this time, but the entire book of Job is. I have heard many say they could never worship a god who treated his creation in such a fashion as Job was treated. Do you feel this way? Perhaps I should go back and refresh our memories concerning what this book is all about. It is in the Bible, so it is the inspired work of the God we are coming to know.
Job was a wealthy man. By today’s standards he was a Warren Buffet or Bill Gates. He was, the Bible says, “the greatest of all the men of the east” in his possessions. The Bible also tells us he was blameless and upright, a man who feared God and turned away from evil. Sounds like the type of person we might like to have for a next door neighbor! Would that we might have the same things said about us, by God,
Unfortunately for Job, Satan appears before God with nothing to do. God uses Satan to teach Job the greatest lesson anyone could possibly learn. First, he allows Satan to take away all of Job’s possessions - cattle, sheep, oxen, donkeys, all his servants, and finally, all his children. This is where Job blesses the name of the Eternal and the Bible records, “in all this, Job did not sin nor did he blame God.” Satan was not satisfied with this, so he asked God that he might take away Job’s health. When he did, Job’s reaction was, “ ‘should I accept good from God and not accept adversity?’ In all this, Job did not sin with his lips” (Job 2:10).
At this point ensues a rather lengthy series of discourses between Job and three of his “friends.” These discourses are quite interesting to read but you must keep in mind what God said at the end of the book about Job’s three friends: “You have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.” But look at what has happened to Job. Wow! How could a loving and merciful God do such a thing to an individual? Especially one who was “blameless, upright and feared God.” (The meaning of “fear” when used in this context is “awesome reverence for another.”)
One reason that might be given is that God is the sovereign ruler over all His creation and He can do as He pleases. I can already hear someone saying, “See, I knew God was unfair.” But if we say such things we are trying to create a god who thinks as we do - once again, creating Him in our image. We will be found guilty of blaming God for doing something that will immeasurably help Job not only for the rest of his life but for all eternity. God is giving to Job the greatest lesson and the greatest gift.
Let us skip to the end of the story to see what happens to Job. “And the Eternal restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Eternal increased all of what Job had possessed two-fold” (Job 42:10). But do you know what else happened? Job, through all his trials, at the end, came to know God. If you want to take a step in the direction of coming to know God (not just know more about Him), you must do more than read His word - you must meditate upon what you read. I’ll leave you to do this. Then we’ll talk more on the subject of the fairness of God.
So in talking about Job, the trials he underwent and the lessons he learned, do you think the final outcome was worth all Job had to endure? If you read the entire book you learned he lost more than his land, possessions and children. He lost his friends, and his relatives treated him as a stranger (Job 19:13-19). He lost his dignity and his standing in the community (Job 30:1-10).
But the thing Job kept coming back to was the single greatest loss he felt he had to endure: the loss of God’s friendship. “Oh, that I were as in months gone by, as in the days when God watched over me; when His lamp shone over my head, and by His light I walked through darkness. I was in the prime of my days, when the friendship of God was over my tent; when the Almighty was yet with me” (Job 29:2-5). Job did not let this idea drift far from him.
The book of Job is in the Bible, not just to detail one man’s struggle with God, but as a “parable book.” We must learn a great lesson from reading it, and indeed several lessons are incorporated into the story. This is why the book of Job is so valuable.
We might learn the lesson of not acting as Job’s friends did. They accused - and did not comfort - the one who was in pain. Another lesson we considered came from the story of one individual struggling to understand his relationship with God.
A third lesson is in the very real way of coming to know God as we realize Job learned nothing from his three friends. Even when the mysterious Elihu spoke, Job did not respond. But when God finally revealed Himself to Job the lesson was understood: We come to know God. We cannot come to know Him through any other person. Others may help, and they can point us in the right direction, but they cannot put our hand into His. We must want to do this.
Job’s trials are also the story of an innocent man made to suffer. In this respect, his story dimly foreshadows the suffering of the only innocent man ever to walk the face of the earth: Jesus Christ.
Allow me to summarize the parallels between Job and our Savior:
Job was said to be blameless and upright - Jesus Christ is the only truly blameless individual.
Job’s suffering sprang from the enmity of Satan - it was Satan’s hand that led Judas to betray Jesus (John 13:27).
Job was betrayed by his friends - Jesus had even His closest disciples desert Him.
Job was spat upon and mocked - Jesus was also.
Job’s wife urged him to curse God and die, thereby not enduring the agony of his suffering - Jesus’ disciple and friend, Peter, sought to prevent Jesus from enduring the cross.
Job had to intercede in prayer and offer a sacrifice for his friends - Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice and intercedes for us every day.
Job was restored to an even greater physical life - Jesus was restored to the right hand of His Father’s throne.
Life may be full of suffering and trials for all of us. The joy of it is in being restored. There is joy in coming to know God.
We have touched on some parallels between Job and our Savior. We mentioned how Job’s life was a dim foreshadowing of the life of the “suffering servant,” Jesus Christ. This foreshadowing is found often in the Bible and is called typology. It is where one former individual or event is a “type” of a later individual or event. Through these types we can learn great lessons and may come to know God.
One thing to note: Types, like analogies, are not the reality and therefore can only take us part of the way in coming to know someone. There is an old truism that says analogies will always break down. But they are great tools and we can use them in our studies.
One of the most striking examples is found in a somewhat perplexing episode that takes place in the book of Genesis. Abraham, who “believed the Eternal” concerning the promise of an offspring, had waited until he was 100 years old to see the fulfillment of that promise. His wife Sarah bore him a son they called Isaac.
When Isaac was a young adolescent, God said to Abraham, “Take your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” Wow! We thought Job had it difficult when he lost all his children in a severe storm. Abraham was told to put to death his only son.
Many have pondered this event and decided God was quite unfair. But they are looking at it from the wrong perspective. This test Abraham was put through was the ultimate foreshadowing of our Father sending his only begotten Son into the world as a sacrifice for our sins. Abraham and Isaac are types of the Father and Jesus Christ. This episode plays out in Genesis, chapter 22, and I recommend you read it in its entirety.
One of the touching exchanges that took place between Abraham and Isaac on their journey to the mountain is when Isaac looked up at this father and said, “Father, the fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?” Isaac didn’t know the end result. Abraham looked at this son (and who cannot feel the pain inside this man?) and said, “God Himself will provide the lamb.” And of course, God did. The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world was provided by the Father.
Once God knew Abraham would give his son (“Do not lay a hand on the boy, for now I know that you fear God because you have not withheld from Me your only son”), He provided a ram, caught in a thicket, for an offering. The journey from Abraham’s camp to the mountains was three days. Figuratively speaking, Isaac was dead for three days, just as Jesus was in the grave for three days.
One final point: The place of sacrifice for Isaac, Mount Moriah, was a mount in the yet-unfounded town of Jerusalem. Our Savior gave His life just outside that town.
Abraham’s role, as a type of the Father, teaches us much in our quest to know God.
The Sunday School teacher was describing how Lot's wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt, when little Jason interrupted, "My Mummy looked back once, while she was driving," he announced triumphantly, "and she turned into a telephone pole!"
I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.
Harvest
by Cynthia Saladin
The children and I have been busily harvesting the first of the summer firstfruits: strawberries! Yum! There’s something so exciting and thrilling about seeing those first blooms. Eagerly we inspect the patch, each of us ready to pounce on the first ripe fruit and enjoy its sweetness. Oh yes, we’ve already been eating asparagus, radishes, and lettuce, but there’s something about strawberries - about the fruit - which delights us!
We’ll feel the same excitement and joy over the first ripe peas, the first blueberries, the first raspberries, the first blackberries. And then, when the first ripe tomato is brought into the house, we’ll discuss how it should be eaten. Likely, we’ll cut it into wedges and just enjoy the pure, simple pleasure of a home-grown tomato!
There’s something incredibly satisfying about harvesting, seeing the fruit of your labor, enjoying the product of a job well-done. The Designer of the human mind knows this is how our minds work, and He capitalizes on it, using the harvest analogy to help us understand His plan in our lives. Each of the Holy Day seasons centers on harvest. During the Days of Unleavened Bread is the waving of the first barley sheaf, also called the Firstfruits (Leviticus 23:9). Pentecost is also called the Feast of Harvest (Exodus 23:16) and the Feast of Weeks (Exodus 34:22), celebrated with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest. The Feast of Tabernacles is also called the Feast of Ingathering (Exodus 23:16, Exodus 34:22) when you gather in your crops from the field. Then there’s the parable of the sower and the seed in Matthew 13. We are to be good soil producing a harvest thirty, sixty and a hundred fold! Galatians 5:22 speaks of the fruit of the spirit. That is, the evidence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. James 3:18 speaks of a harvest of righteousness which is sown in peace. Then there’s Jesus’ words in Luke 10:2, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” We are to be spreading the gospel of Jesus our Messiah, making disciples of all nations, advancing boldly the coming kingdom of God.
Boldly advancing the Kingdom of God! Hmm. That sounds like a great rallying cry, an inspiring motto, a worthy life goal. But, um, to borrow a phrase from Fireproof, you can’t give what you don’t have. You can’t give away strawberries from a garden that is producing none. You can’t make disciples of anyone if you’re not a disciple yourself. You can’t advance the kingdom of God if you don’t know where the Kingdom is or how to get there. You’d better have some fruit to harvest from your own life before you decide to tell others how to harvest from theirs.
Pentecost is coming up on June 16th this year. We’re in the middle of the Feast of Weeks, also called the Feast of Harvest. What are you harvesting? Are you personally producing fruit for the kingdom? Are you taking captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ? Are you on the road to becoming perfect, allowing the Holy Spirit full rein in your choices, making the fruit of the Spirit more and more evident?
As each of us grows closer to our Lord Jesus Christ, each of us becomes filled with a passion for sharing Him with people around us. Sometimes we use words; most of the time, we exhibit Him in our actions, hoping to be a beacon, an enticing light in a darkened and ever more darkening world. There are so many people all around us who need to know God. They desperately need a relationship with the only One who can save them. There’s abundant work to be done.
Incredible. Amazing. Astounding. These are some of the adjectives I’ve heard applied to how many strawberries my children can consume. But when there’s an abundance, sometimes the desire to work in the harvest wanes. The kids are tired of picking strawberries. It’s hard work. It makes our backs and legs ache. It’s not nearly as much fun as riding a ripstik (I’ll take their word for it.) or petting the dog. In the same way, boldly advancing the kingdom of God is work. It can be exhausting, seemingly fruitless, and perhaps dangerous work. It’s not nearly as fun as some of the other items on our agenda. But just like I’ve given the children the task of picking strawberries for another couple of weeks, God has given us the task of making disciples of all nations - and the time is close for His return. There’s much work still to be done.
So I have two questions for you as we finish out the last few days of the Feast of Harvest: 1) How’s your personal harvest for God going? Are you striving to become holy and wholly devoted to Him? and 2) How goes the harvest in the fields God has given to you? Jesus said they were white for harvest (John 4:35). We have work to do.
The part of the automobile that is responsible for most accidents is the nut holding the steering wheel .
Coming to Know God
by Bill Rollins
Is God fair? Have you ever found yourself asking this question? Or perhaps overheard someone else ask it? In times of turmoil and conflict, in suffering and pain, in confusion and doubt we sometimes have the urge to question not only the fairness of God but His very existence.
In the beginning, God said He created man in His own image. We human beings have the tendency to reverse this process and try to create God in our image. We would like to have a god who thinks more like we do rather than try to conform our thoughts and our actions to show love to the God who created us. So sometimes we think He is unfair.
Let us look realistically at the fairness of God. We often hear the expression “count your many blessings,” but do we really ever consider what it is God has done for us? It doesn’t matter if you are an atheist, a Hindu, a Muslim or a bushman from the interior rain forests of Africa, God has given you everything you need. You don’t even need to believe in Him to partake of the wonders He has created.
Without our input He created this planet we call Earth. He set it in motion, spinning it around the sun at just the right speed and giving it a position just far enough from the sun, at just the right tilt, to sustain life. The weather systems and patterns (curse them as we do sometimes) were put in motion by Him to bring rain in due season. The rain He brings nourishes the flowers that attract our eyes in the spring. And not only our eyes but also the bee is attracted, and gathers the nectar he so much needs.
He provides the air we need to breathe, water to drink, and food to eat. We have the sun to warm us and trees to shade us. We have many systems within our bodies that regulate and fine tune our metabolism, our temperature, our respiration, our heart rate. The intake of oxygen is automatically increased by heavier breathing without our having to consider it. The heart rate is increased when there is a need for more oxygen-carrying blood. If we neglect the instruction manual (the Bible), tossing it aside as not relevant in this 20th century, how then can we say God is unfair when one of these systems goes awry?
Consider the sense of taste. God could have created us to take on the fuel we need for energy much the same as a car takes on fuel. But God saw fit to give us the gift of taste, then created all the taste sensations we enjoy: fresh strawberries in the spring; a ripe, juicy homegrown tomato in late summer; turkey and dressing with cranberries. The list is almost endless.
What is it we have which God has not given us? And sometimes we say God is unfair! He has given us LIFE itself. He has even given us that instruction manual we mentioned earlier - the Bible. But we have turned away from Him. We seek our own ways. We want to make God in our own image. We pay little attention to the Bible and use it (if at all) as light reading before going to bed.
In the book of Isaiah 55:6 we read, “Seek the Eternal while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Eternal, and He will have compassion on him; and to our God and He will abundantly pardon. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Is God a fair god? Job had the right idea when, after losing all his livestock, all his servants and all his children, he said, “The Eternal gave and the Eternal has taken away, blessed be the name of the Eternal” (Job 1:21).
We need to first see that all things come from God and not from man. The fairness of God is perfect; this is what we know about God.
So, I ask the question again, is God fair? The topic of the fairness of God is immense, and I will pursue the question further here. I really believe this may be one of the largest stumbling blocks in our coming to know God.
Previously I quoted from the book of Job. The quote itself is not relevant at this time, but the entire book of Job is. I have heard many say they could never worship a god who treated his creation in such a fashion as Job was treated. Do you feel this way? Perhaps I should go back and refresh our memories concerning what this book is all about. It is in the Bible, so it is the inspired work of the God we are coming to know.
Job was a wealthy man. By today’s standards he was a Warren Buffet or Bill Gates. He was, the Bible says, “the greatest of all the men of the east” in his possessions. The Bible also tells us he was blameless and upright, a man who feared God and turned away from evil. Sounds like the type of person we might like to have for a next door neighbor! Would that we might have the same things said about us, by God,
Unfortunately for Job, Satan appears before God with nothing to do. God uses Satan to teach Job the greatest lesson anyone could possibly learn. First, he allows Satan to take away all of Job’s possessions - cattle, sheep, oxen, donkeys, all his servants, and finally, all his children. This is where Job blesses the name of the Eternal and the Bible records, “in all this, Job did not sin nor did he blame God.” Satan was not satisfied with this, so he asked God that he might take away Job’s health. When he did, Job’s reaction was, “ ‘should I accept good from God and not accept adversity?’ In all this, Job did not sin with his lips” (Job 2:10).
At this point ensues a rather lengthy series of discourses between Job and three of his “friends.” These discourses are quite interesting to read but you must keep in mind what God said at the end of the book about Job’s three friends: “You have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.” But look at what has happened to Job. Wow! How could a loving and merciful God do such a thing to an individual? Especially one who was “blameless, upright and feared God.” (The meaning of “fear” when used in this context is “awesome reverence for another.”)
One reason that might be given is that God is the sovereign ruler over all His creation and He can do as He pleases. I can already hear someone saying, “See, I knew God was unfair.” But if we say such things we are trying to create a god who thinks as we do - once again, creating Him in our image. We will be found guilty of blaming God for doing something that will immeasurably help Job not only for the rest of his life but for all eternity. God is giving to Job the greatest lesson and the greatest gift.
Let us skip to the end of the story to see what happens to Job. “And the Eternal restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Eternal increased all of what Job had possessed two-fold” (Job 42:10). But do you know what else happened? Job, through all his trials, at the end, came to know God. If you want to take a step in the direction of coming to know God (not just know more about Him), you must do more than read His word - you must meditate upon what you read. I’ll leave you to do this. Then we’ll talk more on the subject of the fairness of God.
So in talking about Job, the trials he underwent and the lessons he learned, do you think the final outcome was worth all Job had to endure? If you read the entire book you learned he lost more than his land, possessions and children. He lost his friends, and his relatives treated him as a stranger (Job 19:13-19). He lost his dignity and his standing in the community (Job 30:1-10).
But the thing Job kept coming back to was the single greatest loss he felt he had to endure: the loss of God’s friendship. “Oh, that I were as in months gone by, as in the days when God watched over me; when His lamp shone over my head, and by His light I walked through darkness. I was in the prime of my days, when the friendship of God was over my tent; when the Almighty was yet with me” (Job 29:2-5). Job did not let this idea drift far from him.
The book of Job is in the Bible, not just to detail one man’s struggle with God, but as a “parable book.” We must learn a great lesson from reading it, and indeed several lessons are incorporated into the story. This is why the book of Job is so valuable.
We might learn the lesson of not acting as Job’s friends did. They accused - and did not comfort - the one who was in pain. Another lesson we considered came from the story of one individual struggling to understand his relationship with God.
A third lesson is in the very real way of coming to know God as we realize Job learned nothing from his three friends. Even when the mysterious Elihu spoke, Job did not respond. But when God finally revealed Himself to Job the lesson was understood: We come to know God. We cannot come to know Him through any other person. Others may help, and they can point us in the right direction, but they cannot put our hand into His. We must want to do this.
Job’s trials are also the story of an innocent man made to suffer. In this respect, his story dimly foreshadows the suffering of the only innocent man ever to walk the face of the earth: Jesus Christ.
Allow me to summarize the parallels between Job and our Savior:
Job was said to be blameless and upright - Jesus Christ is the only truly blameless individual.
Job’s suffering sprang from the enmity of Satan - it was Satan’s hand that led Judas to betray Jesus (John 13:27).
Job was betrayed by his friends - Jesus had even His closest disciples desert Him.
Job was spat upon and mocked - Jesus was also.
Job’s wife urged him to curse God and die, thereby not enduring the agony of his suffering - Jesus’ disciple and friend, Peter, sought to prevent Jesus from enduring the cross.
Job had to intercede in prayer and offer a sacrifice for his friends - Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice and intercedes for us every day.
Job was restored to an even greater physical life - Jesus was restored to the right hand of His Father’s throne.
Life may be full of suffering and trials for all of us. The joy of it is in being restored. There is joy in coming to know God.
We have touched on some parallels between Job and our Savior. We mentioned how Job’s life was a dim foreshadowing of the life of the “suffering servant,” Jesus Christ. This foreshadowing is found often in the Bible and is called typology. It is where one former individual or event is a “type” of a later individual or event. Through these types we can learn great lessons and may come to know God.
One thing to note: Types, like analogies, are not the reality and therefore can only take us part of the way in coming to know someone. There is an old truism that says analogies will always break down. But they are great tools and we can use them in our studies.
One of the most striking examples is found in a somewhat perplexing episode that takes place in the book of Genesis. Abraham, who “believed the Eternal” concerning the promise of an offspring, had waited until he was 100 years old to see the fulfillment of that promise. His wife Sarah bore him a son they called Isaac.
When Isaac was a young adolescent, God said to Abraham, “Take your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” Wow! We thought Job had it difficult when he lost all his children in a severe storm. Abraham was told to put to death his only son.
Many have pondered this event and decided God was quite unfair. But they are looking at it from the wrong perspective. This test Abraham was put through was the ultimate foreshadowing of our Father sending his only begotten Son into the world as a sacrifice for our sins. Abraham and Isaac are types of the Father and Jesus Christ. This episode plays out in Genesis, chapter 22, and I recommend you read it in its entirety.
One of the touching exchanges that took place between Abraham and Isaac on their journey to the mountain is when Isaac looked up at this father and said, “Father, the fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?” Isaac didn’t know the end result. Abraham looked at this son (and who cannot feel the pain inside this man?) and said, “God Himself will provide the lamb.” And of course, God did. The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world was provided by the Father.
Once God knew Abraham would give his son (“Do not lay a hand on the boy, for now I know that you fear God because you have not withheld from Me your only son”), He provided a ram, caught in a thicket, for an offering. The journey from Abraham’s camp to the mountains was three days. Figuratively speaking, Isaac was dead for three days, just as Jesus was in the grave for three days.
One final point: The place of sacrifice for Isaac, Mount Moriah, was a mount in the yet-unfounded town of Jerusalem. Our Savior gave His life just outside that town.
Abraham’s role, as a type of the Father, teaches us much in our quest to know God.
The Sunday School teacher was describing how Lot's wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt, when little Jason interrupted, "My Mummy looked back once, while she was driving," he announced triumphantly, "and she turned into a telephone pole!"
I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.
Harvest
by Cynthia Saladin
The children and I have been busily harvesting the first of the summer firstfruits: strawberries! Yum! There’s something so exciting and thrilling about seeing those first blooms. Eagerly we inspect the patch, each of us ready to pounce on the first ripe fruit and enjoy its sweetness. Oh yes, we’ve already been eating asparagus, radishes, and lettuce, but there’s something about strawberries - about the fruit - which delights us!
We’ll feel the same excitement and joy over the first ripe peas, the first blueberries, the first raspberries, the first blackberries. And then, when the first ripe tomato is brought into the house, we’ll discuss how it should be eaten. Likely, we’ll cut it into wedges and just enjoy the pure, simple pleasure of a home-grown tomato!
There’s something incredibly satisfying about harvesting, seeing the fruit of your labor, enjoying the product of a job well-done. The Designer of the human mind knows this is how our minds work, and He capitalizes on it, using the harvest analogy to help us understand His plan in our lives. Each of the Holy Day seasons centers on harvest. During the Days of Unleavened Bread is the waving of the first barley sheaf, also called the Firstfruits (Leviticus 23:9). Pentecost is also called the Feast of Harvest (Exodus 23:16) and the Feast of Weeks (Exodus 34:22), celebrated with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest. The Feast of Tabernacles is also called the Feast of Ingathering (Exodus 23:16, Exodus 34:22) when you gather in your crops from the field. Then there’s the parable of the sower and the seed in Matthew 13. We are to be good soil producing a harvest thirty, sixty and a hundred fold! Galatians 5:22 speaks of the fruit of the spirit. That is, the evidence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. James 3:18 speaks of a harvest of righteousness which is sown in peace. Then there’s Jesus’ words in Luke 10:2, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” We are to be spreading the gospel of Jesus our Messiah, making disciples of all nations, advancing boldly the coming kingdom of God.
Boldly advancing the Kingdom of God! Hmm. That sounds like a great rallying cry, an inspiring motto, a worthy life goal. But, um, to borrow a phrase from Fireproof, you can’t give what you don’t have. You can’t give away strawberries from a garden that is producing none. You can’t make disciples of anyone if you’re not a disciple yourself. You can’t advance the kingdom of God if you don’t know where the Kingdom is or how to get there. You’d better have some fruit to harvest from your own life before you decide to tell others how to harvest from theirs.
Pentecost is coming up on June 16th this year. We’re in the middle of the Feast of Weeks, also called the Feast of Harvest. What are you harvesting? Are you personally producing fruit for the kingdom? Are you taking captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ? Are you on the road to becoming perfect, allowing the Holy Spirit full rein in your choices, making the fruit of the Spirit more and more evident?
As each of us grows closer to our Lord Jesus Christ, each of us becomes filled with a passion for sharing Him with people around us. Sometimes we use words; most of the time, we exhibit Him in our actions, hoping to be a beacon, an enticing light in a darkened and ever more darkening world. There are so many people all around us who need to know God. They desperately need a relationship with the only One who can save them. There’s abundant work to be done.
Incredible. Amazing. Astounding. These are some of the adjectives I’ve heard applied to how many strawberries my children can consume. But when there’s an abundance, sometimes the desire to work in the harvest wanes. The kids are tired of picking strawberries. It’s hard work. It makes our backs and legs ache. It’s not nearly as much fun as riding a ripstik (I’ll take their word for it.) or petting the dog. In the same way, boldly advancing the kingdom of God is work. It can be exhausting, seemingly fruitless, and perhaps dangerous work. It’s not nearly as fun as some of the other items on our agenda. But just like I’ve given the children the task of picking strawberries for another couple of weeks, God has given us the task of making disciples of all nations - and the time is close for His return. There’s much work still to be done.
So I have two questions for you as we finish out the last few days of the Feast of Harvest: 1) How’s your personal harvest for God going? Are you striving to become holy and wholly devoted to Him? and 2) How goes the harvest in the fields God has given to you? Jesus said they were white for harvest (John 4:35). We have work to do.
The part of the automobile that is responsible for most accidents is the nut holding the steering wheel .
July 2013
Be On Guard
by Cynthia Saladin
I have a true phobia when it comes to snakes. I totally agree with Indiana Jones; I hate snakes. They give me the willies. But we live in rural Missouri. We have lots of snakes. Every year, early summer, we see a few around the house. Ron captures them, escorts them to the edge of the property, and I try not to think about it too much.
A week and a half ago, I was walking by the strawberry patch and saw the last few straggling ripe berries. So I worked my way through the patch, looking to see what I could find. What I was not looking for was the black rat snake coiled up on the edge of the patch in the shade of the strawberry plants. I screamed, jumped sideways, and tried to get my breath back. He’d really startled me, and I experienced the first panic attack of my life.
Since then, we have all been very watchful when we’re out in the garden or picking blueberries. I cleared all the weeds away from the blueberry plants so there is less of a good place to hide while we are picking those berries. We’ve been on guard.
One day last week, however, we were caught off guard. Ron and I had been swinging on the porch swing as the kids were playing in the pool. When Ron decided to go to work, I moved to a lawn chair closer to the pool, but still on the porch. The kids played for about an hour. Then the boys went inside to take showers. Jennifer asked if she could drip dry a little longer. I said yes and went inside. Minutes later she came inside to tell us about this huge black rat snake that was trying to get the nest of baby birds on the porch. Much to my horror, there was a huge snake on the support for the porch swing! Ron and I had been sitting under that snake - completely unawares that he was there! Ron got a long pole and eventually convinced him to come down. It was the largest black rat snake I’ve ever seen - probably about 7 feet long. (Yuck!) It slithered around the corner of the porch. Ron kept working with him until he retreated into the garbage can Ron had tipped over. Ron put the lid on and escorted him to the farthest edge of the property. (Shiver!) Good riddance!
Or not. The next morning when Jonathan walked out onto the porch at 7 a.m, he immediately came back inside to tell us the snake was back - up on the swing support trying to get to the baby birds. This time when Ron whacked him with the pole, he aggressively dropped to the porch. Oh, it was scary! I’m sure my scream didn’t help Ron’s concentration much. This time, the snake slithered off the porch and into the leaves under the porch.
Long story short, Ron killed him. He’d given the snake a chance to go somewhere else, but we can’t have a huge snake that comfortable on our porch. It’s dangerous! While black rat snakes are not poisonous, their bite can make you very sick. And they scare me.
I couldn’t help thinking about another snake in the garden, the Garden of Eden. Once Adam and Eve knew how crafty he was and how he could deceive them, they were on guard against Satan’s schemes - as mankind has been ever since to varying degrees. We expect Satan to be found in lies, murder, adultery, unkind words to others, decisions which don’t glorify God. Much like the snake in my strawberry patch, once we realize what to watch out for, we are on our guard.
But Satan doesn’t just stay in the garden. He goes where we least expect him, just like I would never have expected a 7-foot long snake to be hanging out over the swing where I was blissfully, ignorantly swinging! It’s shocking to find that he’s trying to devour us like that roaring lion Peter compares him to - much like that snake was intent on devouring those baby sparrows! So we struggle valiantly and put him out of our lives. That’s done. He’s gone. We sort of relax our guard. Oops! Just like the snake which was right back in his perch this morning, Satan will come right back, especially if he thinks we’re less vigilant in that area.
So what can we do to be on our guard against the schemes of Satan? Go back and read 1 Peter 5:6-11. I don’t think it’s any accident that Peter exhorts his readers to humble themselves, to rely on God, to stand firm in the faith, to trust God regardless of the difficulties in which they find themselves.
We live in an evil time and in an increasingly ungodly society. We must be on our guard against the schemes of our adversary, the devil. He will go to great lengths to disrupt our relationship with our Savior. He would love to set traps for our feet to make us doubt that God really cares about us and has our best interest at heart. He will seize any opportunity to devour us - especially if we’re relying on ourselves rather than God. It’s not time to let our relationship with God slide, to put off prayer time and Bible study until it’s more convenient, to relegate fellowship with God and our church family to a time when it’s less busy and we’re not so tired. We can’t give Satan an opening. We must be on guard. We must stand firm in the faith.
So, seen any snakes lately?
Sometimes the majority only means that all the fools are on the same side.
It Was No Accident
An insurance agent was talking to a farmer, trying to sell him a life insurance policy.
"Have you ever met with an accident?" asked the insurance agent.
"No," replied the farmer, "but a mule kicked me in the ribs once, and a rattlesnake bit me on the leg."
"Good grief!" exclaimed the agent. "Don't you consider those accidents?"
"Naw," said the farmer. "They done it on purpose."
Coming to Know God by Bill Rollins
It has been my desire, in this study, to build upon some of the things that have already been considered. Earlier I made a statement that it is up to us to come to know God. We must put our hand into God’s hand and walk with Him - no one can do this for us. I said others may point the way and might even teach about God. But coming to know Him, that is our duty.
After God created us, He put within us a free will. He will never force us to come to know Him. His love for us is so great that even after giving us everything we need for life and health, He still gives us a choice on whether or not we will follow Him and walk in His ways.
I’ve heard some talk lately about unconditional love. God Himself is the author of unconditional love and is the only one to truly put it into effect: to love when He is not loved in return. We humans are too short-sighted to see the benefits of using this type of love, let alone try to put it into effect in our lives. And yet God stays with us.
The Bible says if God were willing, He could “withdraw His breath from the face of the earth and all life would cease.” God’s love is with us. He has a plan to bring His creation into a relationship with Him and He will carry out His plan.
Coming to know Him is a large task. Perhaps it is larger than most people want to tackle. But like so many other things in life, those things that are worth much take much effort, and much time, and much sacrifice. Ah! Sacrifice. There is a word that will turn most people off in this latter half of the 20th century. “I want what I want but please, I don’t want to sacrifice.” I have a friend who is fond of saying, “We want just $0.10 worth of Jesus. Not enough to disturb our slumber or make us uncomfortable but just enough to make me think I’m a religious person.”
Everyone wants to have a relationship with the God of all the universe but not to the point to having to do something that might make us uncomfortable, not to the point of having to do something to show honor and praise and love to Him. An analogy that comes to mind has to do with a recent trip to the dentist. I went to have him take care of an immediate problem, namely a severe toothache. He told me he would take care of it but said he wasn’t the Red Cross and he expected to see me on a regular basis to take care of all my teeth. A dentist who cares for his patients would have it no other way.
We know God is a caring God and He will also have it no other way. We may come to Him with some problem in our life. We invite Him into our lives and ask that He help with that certain problem but He wants to take care of and be involved in every aspect of our lives. It is we who are not interested in giving all we are to Him.
Jesus made a very peculiar statement in Luke 14:33: “In that same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple.” We don't really want to give up all we have, do we? Someone once asked me if this meant he had to give up his car, house, bank account and other worldly goods. My answer was that He already owns all these things, for “all the earth and all it contains belongs to the Eternal.”
The one thing God does not own is you, unless you give to Him all of who you are. He wants your love. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, this is the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:37).
As you come to realize what it means to love God in this way, you will come to know Him and in coming to know Him you will be filled with inexpressible joy. This type of joy can be found nowhere else in the world today. As Jeremiah would say - that’s something to boast about.
“Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Eternal who shows loving kindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for in these things I delight” (Jeremiah 9:23).
A Pharisee tested Jesus with this question, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” Where do you suppose Jesus got His answer? Did He just think it up on the spot? He was actually quoting from what we know as the Old Testament. Specifically, it is found in Deuteronomy, chapter 6, verse 5.
Jesus continued in His statement to the Pharisee, “And the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” This episode is found in Matthew 22:34-40. This second commandment is also a quote from the Old Testament: Leviticus 19:18.
I find it interesting that Jesus didn’t quote the first of the ten commandments: “You shall have no other gods before Me.” He brought forth, from two unrelated areas, what He called the greatest commandments, then He said that all the Law and Prophets hang upon them!
My question is, what will you do with this information?
If I asked, “What is the primary duty of a Christian?” most people would answer along the lines of: helping our neighbor; looking after those in need; giving to the poor. Would you find yourself answering after this fashion?
Jesus said the primary duty of one who would obey God is to “love God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind.” I think we sometimes overlook this aspect of coming to know God.
Have you ever thought about love? Do you think it is an emotion? Jesus said loving God and loving your neighbor are commandments. In His quote from the Old Testament He commands us to love! Can you command yourself to become emotional? Is it something you will yourself to do? Try to command yourself to be angry, right now. You can act as if you are angry but you cannot, at your own command, become angry. Yet we are commanded to love.
Perhaps the answer is that the kind of love God requires of us is not an emotion. It is an act of will. We have the free will to love God or not to love Him. It is within our will power to bring ourselves to love Him, and to love Him first and foremost; to love Him with all our hearts, all our life (the word “soul” means life, or breath of life), and all our minds.
When I look at this scripture and contemplate its implications, I become awed. This commandment is not at all like “Do not steal, do not lie, do not commit murder.” This is in a category by itself. To utilize all my heart, all my life and all my mind in forming a loving relationship with God. Wow! We will have to take a closer look at this.
I would like to take time to consider just where we are and how far we have come in this article. From my vantage point behind the typewriter, I have no idea of how many who read this article are affected by what is written. But I do know we have touched on some areas that, if taken seriously, can begin to change lives.
We have not gotten into any doctrines, nor have we ventured into any areas that may spark controversy. We have, I believe, come to see that God is the ultimate “rule” maker, that He is sovereign. We have come to see that if we consider all He has to tell us, He is quite fair in His dealings with us. We have come to see that God requires much of us, in that we are to love Him with all our heart, mind and life.
Previously, I asked, “What are you going to do with this information?” You have had time to think about this, so I pose the same question again. This “coming to know God” stuff can be very heady if you are willing to take it seriously. This truly revolves around the understanding of why we even exist on this planet.
So many people run to and fro, trying to obtain knowledge that will perish with them. But the knowledge of God, the knowledge of the meaning of our life, the knowledge of why we were created, lies for the most part, trampled in the streets.
The knowledge of God brings repentance. Just what is repentance? Many people think the word just means to feel sorry for something they did in error. But when God uses the word it means “to change one’s mind.” In other words, because you are sorry for something, you change and do it no more.
With spring comes that time of the year when the love God has for us is truly magnified. I call this time “Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread” (because that’s what it’s called in the Bible); most people call it Easter. The reality is that God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, and if we could come to know Him and repent, not just of our sins, but of who we are, what untold, unfathomable joy would be ours.
Unfortunately, for most people, the reality of this time of year goes no further than rabbits laying eggs.
“Your mind should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who, being in the very form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very form of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:5-11).
Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand!
Note to reader: This article was originally published in Dad’s local paper about a dozen years ago.
"Education is useless without the Bible." — Noah Webster
Parting thought: "Golf is a game invented by the same people who think music comes out of a bagpipe."
August 2013
A grandfather was delivering his grandchildren to their home one day when a fire truck zoomedpast. Sitting in the front seat of the fire truck was a Dalmatian dog. The children started discussing the dog's duties. "They use him to keep crowds back," said one child. "No," said another. "He's just for good luck." A third child brought the argument to a close. "They use the dog," she said firmly, "to find the fire hydrants.."
Perfect Peace by Cynthia Saladin
What would it take for your life to be perfect? Seriously. Take a couple of minutes to think about what you think would make your life perfect.
I remember 20 some years ago having a summer where I thought, “My life would be perfect if this happened, and this, and this.” But you know what, once I had done those things, life wasn’t perfect. I was still unsatisfied. I remember thinking about it a lot that summer. One of my acquaintances told me that summer that if I wanted to be happy for a day, get drunk; if I wanted to be happy for a year, get married; if I wanted to be happy for a lifetime, grow a garden. But I don’t think that was the answer either.
Twenty-some years later, I have the marriage and the garden, and I’m content - incredibly blessed with my life. But it’s not the marriage and it’s not the garden. It’s the relationship with Jesus Christ. It’s knowing that whatever happens in this life, my life is in His capable and loving hands. It’s knowing that there are no surprises for God. It’s knowing that He’s bigger than my most fervent desire, He’s stronger than my most fearsome nightmare, and He’s wiser than my most complete pro-con balance sheet. My life is hidden in Christ, and that’s incredibly, supremely comforting.
I remember thinking about Paul’s comment in 1 Timothy 6:8: “But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that” (NIV). But I can’t take that verse out of the context of what Paul is saying. There’s something else that is essential. Back up a couple of verses. 1 Timothy 6:6 says, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” Are you reading between the lines? To have the kind of godliness Paul is talking about, you have to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Then you can have contentment.
If you were to gain the whole world and not have a relationship with Jesus our Messiah, you would never taste contentment, true contentment.
So I look at my marriage. I look at my garden. I know that both are an incredible blessing from my Heavenly Father. He has blessed me with so much more than just food and clothing. My life is about as perfect as it gets - I have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
The Wonderful World of Word Studies- Part 1
by Diane Kleeschulte
As my 6th grade class was leaving school one afternoon, our teacher, Mrs. Cowan, told us to go home and read the dictionary. She never told us it was homework but I thought it was a good idea as I loved to read and found the dictionary a fascinating book that ranked right up there with encyclopedias. Obviously this was waaay before the advent of computer technology! That night I only got as far as the first couple of pages of the letter A but I felt that I had at least made an attempt at reading a dictionary. The next day Mrs. Cowan gave us the first sections of our state test: english and reading. All of us students looked at each other and now understood why she wanted us to go home and read a dictionary.
Mrs. Cowan's request didn't help as I recall but the very idea of reading a dictionary has always continued to fascinate me. Even now, as teacher myself, I'm apt to sometimes tell the students that their homework is to go home and read a dictionary. Their look of shock never ceases to amuse me and when they ask "why?" I always answer them with "why not"?
Fast forward many decades later to the year I discovered a bible concordance. I was in the very early days of bible reading when a friend suggested that I look up a word in the concordance in the back of my bible. What was a concordance? Oh, a list of bible words and their meanings; you mean like a bible dictionary? Bible study suddenly took a wonderful turn as my helpful friend explained that a concordance was also in the form of a stand-alone book and could be found in any Christian bookstore. Needless to say, I bought a concordance as soon as possible and thus began my journey into the wonderful world of bible words and their etymology: Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, a little Latin and French. My, was I ever excited!
I hope you have access to a concordance for your bible studies and that it has clarified scripture meaning for you. The following isn't homework and, no, there isn't going to be a test either, but if you haven't used a concordance or bible dictionary lately, book or online, find a familiar scripture and go on a little word search.
[note: our church is currently studying through the Gospel of John]
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter;
to search out a matter is the glory of kings.
Proverbs 25:2
As we study through the book of John, there are incredible treasures to be mined, amazing depths to be plumbed! Reading the verses, looking up the words in a concordance and lexicon, discussing them during the study - there’s so much to learn! I like applying Proverbs 25:2 to studying the Bible: It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. It also reminds me of a plaque my piano teacher gave me one time: Life is like a piano: what you get out of it depends upon how you play it. The reality of seeking God is this: if you seek God will all your heart then you will find Him. (Jeremiah 29:13) I hope you find great treasures as we study the book of John - I hope you find Jesus Christ.
Coming to Know God
by Bill Rollins
The kind of love we must strive to show God does not spring from our emotions. God has commanded that we “love Him with all our heart, mind and life.” But, as humans with free will, we cannot be commanded to show emotions. So if this love is not somehow emotional, how do we come to find this love for God that He, and only He, deserves from us, His creation?
Let us start with the first item on this list, the heart. What does it mean to you to put your whole heart into something? When you start a project, are you a “wholehearted” person?
We use this word “heart” to mean many things. We say things like, “I had my heart broken,” or “he stole her heart.” We use the heart in images and as a symbol of romantic love. We say, “let’s get to the heart of the matter,” and we mean we want to get to the basic core of whatever we are doing or discussing. We say, “that basketball player put his whole heart into the game,” or “he played his heart out,” and of course, we mean he played as hard as he could.
The heart is quite a symbol. The physical heart in our bodies is quite a device; working for an average of 70 years, flexing and pumping some 2.3 billions times, and all without any real effort or thought from us. But of course God uses this word as a symbol of our innermost being, the driving force that motivates us. What a powerful symbol it is!
We recognize the efforts of others as they do some physical task with great exertion and we congratulate them on a wholehearted effort in sports, business or the world of social endeavors. We even pat ourselves on the back because of some task we accomplished with a wholehearted attitude. But if we would put our whole heart into loving the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, what kind of life would we have?
We would have a life of PEACE. Just what would that be worth to you? The world around us shows us more and more turmoil. We seem ever caught up in the things of this world. But the Bible teaches us that Jesus is Peace. He is the God of Peace. Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me, he will obey my teaching and My Father will love him and We will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23).
To love God wholeheartedly is the first step to having Peace. It is the beginning, the first duty, of all who would be called disciples of Jesus Christ. And this is not some gushy, sentimental or smarmy love. It is a love that encompasses a devotion that bears fruit in obedience. Now there’s a word we don’t like to hear in the 20th century - obedience. We don’t want to consider obedience to laws; we would rather use the word “suggestions.” That is a word that fits our lifestyle today, but it isn’t God’s word!
Wholehearted love? God says it starts with obedience. “If you love Me you will obey what I command” (John 14:15). “Whoever has My commands and obeys them, he is the one that loves Me” (John 14:21). “This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commandments are not burdensome” (I John 5:3).
You must love the Lord your God with all of your mind (Matthew 22:37)!! Have you ever thought of loving someone with your mind? How do you go about doing this?
We often think of the mind as the center of the intellect. This is where all thought processes take place. We perform calculations in the mind; we memorize dates and numbers in the mind. In short, the mind is the place where we store all of the information that we gather during our lives. How then do we love with our minds?
The mind of man is an unbelievably complicated device. Consider, for example, the simple activity of riding a bicycle. The coordination that takes place between the eyes that see where we are going, the hands that steer where the eyes show us to go, the legs and feet that pump the pedals with the correct rhythm and speed, the inner ear that keeps body and bicycle in an upright position and the lungs that pump air through a correctly formed mouth so as to whistle a sweet melody, are all controlled by what we call the mind. And even while all this is going on, you are thinking about what you will have for lunch, not at all paying attention to this complicated coordination process!!
Wow! Are you able to contemplate what your mind can do and thereby praise the One who created the mind? Your brain is filled with trillions of connections that operate without your having to do anything. Dr. Paul Brand, in his book In His Image, says this about the brain: “During each second of life, the brain, performs about five trillion chemical operations. When we are awake, only a few reach our level of consciousness, and those so quickly we are hardly aware of the process.” Five trillion connections every second - receiving input and sending messages that regulate every aspect of the human body. What a marvelous piece of creation we are!
What is there around you in the world that does not fill you with awe when you consider it deeply? If we are to consider loving God with all of our mind, the process starts when we consider all He has created, and then giving the honor, glory, and praise to Him. So much of what God has done for us is just taken for granted. We see a beautiful flower garden and consider the one who plants and cares for it, but do we ever “love God with our whole mind” by thanking Him for the diversity of color, scent and patterns that are His creation. We take for granted that every Spring the leaves on the trees will appear and turn the landscape into a verdant expanse of peaceful joy.
We all have a sense of awe and wonder when this happens, but as we come to know God, and I mean to truly know Him from the depths of our being, we must learn to contemplate upon the works of God. This is how we can love Him with our whole mind.
King David, who was called “a man after God’s own heart,” contemplated (meditated) upon the works of God. “I will exalt you, my God and King; I will praise your name for ever and ever, . . . Great is the Eternal and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom. One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty deeds. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty and I will meditate on your wonderful works . . . The Eternal is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made . . . you open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.”
You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul (Matthew 22:37)! Previously, we have discussed this scripture with regard to how we are to love God with all of our heart and all of our mind. And so now we shall consider the third aspect of this “command of God:” to love Him with all of our soul.
Many people think this word “soul” has some mystical, ethereal, or spiritual quality that separates it from our bodies. This is not the case. It is not some immortal part of who we are. A simple study of the word from the Bible (and remember when we started this discussion we determined the Bible would be our ultimate authority) will show that the “soul” can and will die, and the “soul” is not limited to humans; all animals have a soul.
First of all, concerning the word itself, in the Old Testament the Hebrew word for soul is “nephesh.” The word literally means “breath of life,” and of course when the breath of life has gone out of a person, then that “soul” is dead. “Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die” (Ezekiel 18:4). This scripture brings to us the most literal understanding that there is nothing immortal in the life of a man, that is his soul. For we see that a soul can die. This word “nephesh” or soul is used of the animals also: “Let the waters team with living souls (nephesh)” (Genesis 1:20). Also “And out of the ground the Eternal God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them and whatever the man called a living soul (nephesh), that was its name” (Genesis 2:19).
In the New Testament it is much the same. The Greek word for soul is “psuche” and it also means “breath of life” or living creature. It can die. “For whoever wishes to save his soul shall lose it; but whoever loses his soul for My sake and the gospel’s shall save it” (Mark 8:35). We can lose our life (our soul) for the sake of Jesus Christ. Again, this word also applies to animals: “and a third of the creatures, which were in the sea and had souls (life - psuche), died” (Revelation 8:9).
So we see that this third aspect of loving God, to love Him with all of our soul, actually means we are to love Him with all of our life. God is the author of life. The life we have in us allows us to do many things. Because we have life we can walk. We can walk on a beautiful spring morning with the sun shining on our faces. Because we have life we can smell the fresh scent of flowers and behold the array of colors that surround us. Because we have life we can work, whether in a job earning our living or in voluntary service in the community or in the garden at home harvesting vegetables to enjoy in a meal.
The life we have is a gift of God. And we can show Him our love when we enjoy that gift and give Him the glory. The key here is give all glory to God. To love God with your whole life is to appreciate each day you have, and to give the credit to God for all you are able to do.
God’s love for us is unconditional - our love for God must be “with all of our heart, all of our mind, and all of our life.” To put it simply we are commanded to love God with a great desire, with all of our thoughts, considerations and meditations, and with all of the things we do in this life.
One of the ways in which we show our love for God is by keeping His commandments. The apostle John points this out for us in his gospel account. “If you love Me you will obey what I command” (John 14:15) and again, “If anyone loves me he will obey my teaching . . . He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me” (John 14:23-24). Jesus and the Father are one and so their teaching and their commands are one.
Let us consider our love for God as we take a look at the law of God. I believe we shall also come to see just how well we know Him, for once again the apostle John in his first epistle says, “We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands” (I John 2:3).
Some people who espouse the idea that the law of God is somehow done away with might have a hard time accepting the fact that their neighbor habitually steals from them. One of the ten commandments plainly states: “you shall not steal.”
Approximately 3445 years ago, shortly after God, through Moses, led the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, Moses ascended Mount Sinai and God descended to meet him. The commandments of God were to be given to Israel. This account in the Bible is one of the most awesome passages that we can read. The God of all the universe, the Creator of all that exists, is coming to meet with a chosen servant, a mere human, and to give him the gift of a written text of law.
All the people of Israel were to be consecrated. They were to gather around the mountain but were not so much as to touch the base of the mountain. “On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Every one in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder” (Exodus 19:16-19).
Cecil B. Demile couldn’t even come close to this scene in his movie “The Ten Commandments.” Modern special effects would fall short. If it has been some time since you have read this account, I suggest you take the time to read the 19th and 20th chapters of the book of Exodus.
How did the people react? “When the people saw the thunder and the lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, ‘Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die’ ” (Exodus 20:18-19).
When we want to let someone know that something is unalterable, we usually say that it is “written in stone.” God Himself is the originator of this thought. He wrote the Law in tablets of stone: “When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God” (Exodus 31:18).
The Law of God is unalterable! It is unalterable because it is not arbitrary. God created His law based upon His own nature and the nature of His creation. If someone thinks that they can arbitrarily decide which laws to keep and not to keep, I suggest they jump off the roof of their house and halfway down, decide they are not going to be subject to the law of gravity! This is one of the laws of God.
Coming to know God is to come to see that His laws are not a burden. They are not restrictive. They were created by a loving God who wanted His creation to enjoy the life He gave them here on Earth. He knew life would be easier for all of us if we did not steal from each other, if we did not murder one another. In short, He wanted to let us know how to live in harmony with one another.
We will look into this Law of God to see what’s in it for all of us as we come to know God, but before we do, there is one important subject that needs to be addressed.
"Let us look forward to the time when we can take the flag of our country and nail it below the Cross, and there let it wave as it waved in the older times, and let us gather around it and inscribed for our motto: 'Liberty and Union, one and inseparable, now and forever,' and exclaim, Christ first, our country next!"
— Andrew Johnson
A grandfather was delivering his grandchildren to their home one day when a fire truck zoomedpast. Sitting in the front seat of the fire truck was a Dalmatian dog. The children started discussing the dog's duties. "They use him to keep crowds back," said one child. "No," said another. "He's just for good luck." A third child brought the argument to a close. "They use the dog," she said firmly, "to find the fire hydrants.."
Perfect Peace by Cynthia Saladin
What would it take for your life to be perfect? Seriously. Take a couple of minutes to think about what you think would make your life perfect.
I remember 20 some years ago having a summer where I thought, “My life would be perfect if this happened, and this, and this.” But you know what, once I had done those things, life wasn’t perfect. I was still unsatisfied. I remember thinking about it a lot that summer. One of my acquaintances told me that summer that if I wanted to be happy for a day, get drunk; if I wanted to be happy for a year, get married; if I wanted to be happy for a lifetime, grow a garden. But I don’t think that was the answer either.
Twenty-some years later, I have the marriage and the garden, and I’m content - incredibly blessed with my life. But it’s not the marriage and it’s not the garden. It’s the relationship with Jesus Christ. It’s knowing that whatever happens in this life, my life is in His capable and loving hands. It’s knowing that there are no surprises for God. It’s knowing that He’s bigger than my most fervent desire, He’s stronger than my most fearsome nightmare, and He’s wiser than my most complete pro-con balance sheet. My life is hidden in Christ, and that’s incredibly, supremely comforting.
I remember thinking about Paul’s comment in 1 Timothy 6:8: “But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that” (NIV). But I can’t take that verse out of the context of what Paul is saying. There’s something else that is essential. Back up a couple of verses. 1 Timothy 6:6 says, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” Are you reading between the lines? To have the kind of godliness Paul is talking about, you have to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Then you can have contentment.
If you were to gain the whole world and not have a relationship with Jesus our Messiah, you would never taste contentment, true contentment.
So I look at my marriage. I look at my garden. I know that both are an incredible blessing from my Heavenly Father. He has blessed me with so much more than just food and clothing. My life is about as perfect as it gets - I have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
The Wonderful World of Word Studies- Part 1
by Diane Kleeschulte
As my 6th grade class was leaving school one afternoon, our teacher, Mrs. Cowan, told us to go home and read the dictionary. She never told us it was homework but I thought it was a good idea as I loved to read and found the dictionary a fascinating book that ranked right up there with encyclopedias. Obviously this was waaay before the advent of computer technology! That night I only got as far as the first couple of pages of the letter A but I felt that I had at least made an attempt at reading a dictionary. The next day Mrs. Cowan gave us the first sections of our state test: english and reading. All of us students looked at each other and now understood why she wanted us to go home and read a dictionary.
Mrs. Cowan's request didn't help as I recall but the very idea of reading a dictionary has always continued to fascinate me. Even now, as teacher myself, I'm apt to sometimes tell the students that their homework is to go home and read a dictionary. Their look of shock never ceases to amuse me and when they ask "why?" I always answer them with "why not"?
Fast forward many decades later to the year I discovered a bible concordance. I was in the very early days of bible reading when a friend suggested that I look up a word in the concordance in the back of my bible. What was a concordance? Oh, a list of bible words and their meanings; you mean like a bible dictionary? Bible study suddenly took a wonderful turn as my helpful friend explained that a concordance was also in the form of a stand-alone book and could be found in any Christian bookstore. Needless to say, I bought a concordance as soon as possible and thus began my journey into the wonderful world of bible words and their etymology: Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, a little Latin and French. My, was I ever excited!
I hope you have access to a concordance for your bible studies and that it has clarified scripture meaning for you. The following isn't homework and, no, there isn't going to be a test either, but if you haven't used a concordance or bible dictionary lately, book or online, find a familiar scripture and go on a little word search.
[note: our church is currently studying through the Gospel of John]
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter;
to search out a matter is the glory of kings.
Proverbs 25:2
As we study through the book of John, there are incredible treasures to be mined, amazing depths to be plumbed! Reading the verses, looking up the words in a concordance and lexicon, discussing them during the study - there’s so much to learn! I like applying Proverbs 25:2 to studying the Bible: It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. It also reminds me of a plaque my piano teacher gave me one time: Life is like a piano: what you get out of it depends upon how you play it. The reality of seeking God is this: if you seek God will all your heart then you will find Him. (Jeremiah 29:13) I hope you find great treasures as we study the book of John - I hope you find Jesus Christ.
Coming to Know God
by Bill Rollins
The kind of love we must strive to show God does not spring from our emotions. God has commanded that we “love Him with all our heart, mind and life.” But, as humans with free will, we cannot be commanded to show emotions. So if this love is not somehow emotional, how do we come to find this love for God that He, and only He, deserves from us, His creation?
Let us start with the first item on this list, the heart. What does it mean to you to put your whole heart into something? When you start a project, are you a “wholehearted” person?
We use this word “heart” to mean many things. We say things like, “I had my heart broken,” or “he stole her heart.” We use the heart in images and as a symbol of romantic love. We say, “let’s get to the heart of the matter,” and we mean we want to get to the basic core of whatever we are doing or discussing. We say, “that basketball player put his whole heart into the game,” or “he played his heart out,” and of course, we mean he played as hard as he could.
The heart is quite a symbol. The physical heart in our bodies is quite a device; working for an average of 70 years, flexing and pumping some 2.3 billions times, and all without any real effort or thought from us. But of course God uses this word as a symbol of our innermost being, the driving force that motivates us. What a powerful symbol it is!
We recognize the efforts of others as they do some physical task with great exertion and we congratulate them on a wholehearted effort in sports, business or the world of social endeavors. We even pat ourselves on the back because of some task we accomplished with a wholehearted attitude. But if we would put our whole heart into loving the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, what kind of life would we have?
We would have a life of PEACE. Just what would that be worth to you? The world around us shows us more and more turmoil. We seem ever caught up in the things of this world. But the Bible teaches us that Jesus is Peace. He is the God of Peace. Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me, he will obey my teaching and My Father will love him and We will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23).
To love God wholeheartedly is the first step to having Peace. It is the beginning, the first duty, of all who would be called disciples of Jesus Christ. And this is not some gushy, sentimental or smarmy love. It is a love that encompasses a devotion that bears fruit in obedience. Now there’s a word we don’t like to hear in the 20th century - obedience. We don’t want to consider obedience to laws; we would rather use the word “suggestions.” That is a word that fits our lifestyle today, but it isn’t God’s word!
Wholehearted love? God says it starts with obedience. “If you love Me you will obey what I command” (John 14:15). “Whoever has My commands and obeys them, he is the one that loves Me” (John 14:21). “This is love for God: to obey His commands. And His commandments are not burdensome” (I John 5:3).
You must love the Lord your God with all of your mind (Matthew 22:37)!! Have you ever thought of loving someone with your mind? How do you go about doing this?
We often think of the mind as the center of the intellect. This is where all thought processes take place. We perform calculations in the mind; we memorize dates and numbers in the mind. In short, the mind is the place where we store all of the information that we gather during our lives. How then do we love with our minds?
The mind of man is an unbelievably complicated device. Consider, for example, the simple activity of riding a bicycle. The coordination that takes place between the eyes that see where we are going, the hands that steer where the eyes show us to go, the legs and feet that pump the pedals with the correct rhythm and speed, the inner ear that keeps body and bicycle in an upright position and the lungs that pump air through a correctly formed mouth so as to whistle a sweet melody, are all controlled by what we call the mind. And even while all this is going on, you are thinking about what you will have for lunch, not at all paying attention to this complicated coordination process!!
Wow! Are you able to contemplate what your mind can do and thereby praise the One who created the mind? Your brain is filled with trillions of connections that operate without your having to do anything. Dr. Paul Brand, in his book In His Image, says this about the brain: “During each second of life, the brain, performs about five trillion chemical operations. When we are awake, only a few reach our level of consciousness, and those so quickly we are hardly aware of the process.” Five trillion connections every second - receiving input and sending messages that regulate every aspect of the human body. What a marvelous piece of creation we are!
What is there around you in the world that does not fill you with awe when you consider it deeply? If we are to consider loving God with all of our mind, the process starts when we consider all He has created, and then giving the honor, glory, and praise to Him. So much of what God has done for us is just taken for granted. We see a beautiful flower garden and consider the one who plants and cares for it, but do we ever “love God with our whole mind” by thanking Him for the diversity of color, scent and patterns that are His creation. We take for granted that every Spring the leaves on the trees will appear and turn the landscape into a verdant expanse of peaceful joy.
We all have a sense of awe and wonder when this happens, but as we come to know God, and I mean to truly know Him from the depths of our being, we must learn to contemplate upon the works of God. This is how we can love Him with our whole mind.
King David, who was called “a man after God’s own heart,” contemplated (meditated) upon the works of God. “I will exalt you, my God and King; I will praise your name for ever and ever, . . . Great is the Eternal and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom. One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty deeds. They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty and I will meditate on your wonderful works . . . The Eternal is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made . . . you open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.”
You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul (Matthew 22:37)! Previously, we have discussed this scripture with regard to how we are to love God with all of our heart and all of our mind. And so now we shall consider the third aspect of this “command of God:” to love Him with all of our soul.
Many people think this word “soul” has some mystical, ethereal, or spiritual quality that separates it from our bodies. This is not the case. It is not some immortal part of who we are. A simple study of the word from the Bible (and remember when we started this discussion we determined the Bible would be our ultimate authority) will show that the “soul” can and will die, and the “soul” is not limited to humans; all animals have a soul.
First of all, concerning the word itself, in the Old Testament the Hebrew word for soul is “nephesh.” The word literally means “breath of life,” and of course when the breath of life has gone out of a person, then that “soul” is dead. “Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die” (Ezekiel 18:4). This scripture brings to us the most literal understanding that there is nothing immortal in the life of a man, that is his soul. For we see that a soul can die. This word “nephesh” or soul is used of the animals also: “Let the waters team with living souls (nephesh)” (Genesis 1:20). Also “And out of the ground the Eternal God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them and whatever the man called a living soul (nephesh), that was its name” (Genesis 2:19).
In the New Testament it is much the same. The Greek word for soul is “psuche” and it also means “breath of life” or living creature. It can die. “For whoever wishes to save his soul shall lose it; but whoever loses his soul for My sake and the gospel’s shall save it” (Mark 8:35). We can lose our life (our soul) for the sake of Jesus Christ. Again, this word also applies to animals: “and a third of the creatures, which were in the sea and had souls (life - psuche), died” (Revelation 8:9).
So we see that this third aspect of loving God, to love Him with all of our soul, actually means we are to love Him with all of our life. God is the author of life. The life we have in us allows us to do many things. Because we have life we can walk. We can walk on a beautiful spring morning with the sun shining on our faces. Because we have life we can smell the fresh scent of flowers and behold the array of colors that surround us. Because we have life we can work, whether in a job earning our living or in voluntary service in the community or in the garden at home harvesting vegetables to enjoy in a meal.
The life we have is a gift of God. And we can show Him our love when we enjoy that gift and give Him the glory. The key here is give all glory to God. To love God with your whole life is to appreciate each day you have, and to give the credit to God for all you are able to do.
God’s love for us is unconditional - our love for God must be “with all of our heart, all of our mind, and all of our life.” To put it simply we are commanded to love God with a great desire, with all of our thoughts, considerations and meditations, and with all of the things we do in this life.
One of the ways in which we show our love for God is by keeping His commandments. The apostle John points this out for us in his gospel account. “If you love Me you will obey what I command” (John 14:15) and again, “If anyone loves me he will obey my teaching . . . He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me” (John 14:23-24). Jesus and the Father are one and so their teaching and their commands are one.
Let us consider our love for God as we take a look at the law of God. I believe we shall also come to see just how well we know Him, for once again the apostle John in his first epistle says, “We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands” (I John 2:3).
Some people who espouse the idea that the law of God is somehow done away with might have a hard time accepting the fact that their neighbor habitually steals from them. One of the ten commandments plainly states: “you shall not steal.”
Approximately 3445 years ago, shortly after God, through Moses, led the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, Moses ascended Mount Sinai and God descended to meet him. The commandments of God were to be given to Israel. This account in the Bible is one of the most awesome passages that we can read. The God of all the universe, the Creator of all that exists, is coming to meet with a chosen servant, a mere human, and to give him the gift of a written text of law.
All the people of Israel were to be consecrated. They were to gather around the mountain but were not so much as to touch the base of the mountain. “On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Every one in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder” (Exodus 19:16-19).
Cecil B. Demile couldn’t even come close to this scene in his movie “The Ten Commandments.” Modern special effects would fall short. If it has been some time since you have read this account, I suggest you take the time to read the 19th and 20th chapters of the book of Exodus.
How did the people react? “When the people saw the thunder and the lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, ‘Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die’ ” (Exodus 20:18-19).
When we want to let someone know that something is unalterable, we usually say that it is “written in stone.” God Himself is the originator of this thought. He wrote the Law in tablets of stone: “When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God” (Exodus 31:18).
The Law of God is unalterable! It is unalterable because it is not arbitrary. God created His law based upon His own nature and the nature of His creation. If someone thinks that they can arbitrarily decide which laws to keep and not to keep, I suggest they jump off the roof of their house and halfway down, decide they are not going to be subject to the law of gravity! This is one of the laws of God.
Coming to know God is to come to see that His laws are not a burden. They are not restrictive. They were created by a loving God who wanted His creation to enjoy the life He gave them here on Earth. He knew life would be easier for all of us if we did not steal from each other, if we did not murder one another. In short, He wanted to let us know how to live in harmony with one another.
We will look into this Law of God to see what’s in it for all of us as we come to know God, but before we do, there is one important subject that needs to be addressed.
"Let us look forward to the time when we can take the flag of our country and nail it below the Cross, and there let it wave as it waved in the older times, and let us gather around it and inscribed for our motto: 'Liberty and Union, one and inseparable, now and forever,' and exclaim, Christ first, our country next!"
— Andrew Johnson
September 2013
Character is often determined not by when we do what we must, but by when we do what is voluntary. It is tested far more by charity, than obligation. It appears not so much in what the public sees, but shows itself clearer in what is done in private.
Methodical, Tedious, Boring, Seemingly Unending . .
by Cynthia Saladin
You get the point. But in reference to what?
Well, in this particular case, it’s broccoli. We don’t use pesticides, so when I pick broccoli, I also pick a whole peck of broccoli worms hidden within the florets. I can see your distaste and looks of revulsion now! It isn’t that you object to me ridding the broccoli of worms; you’re thinking, “What if she misses one!” O.K. If you weren’t thinking that before, you are now. It’s such a disgusting thought, isn’t it! I’m sure my children have had those thoughts and that has contributed to their second thoughts about eating broccoli lately.
So I cut two gallons of broccoli out of the garden this morning, and I spent the next five hours meticulously inspecting for tiny worms. The ones with the brown strips are the easiest to find. The light green ones are a bit more tricky. Then dark green ones elicit responses like, “Oh there’s one. I wouldn’t have guessed that was a worm.” It’s not particularly appetizing, is it?
It seems I’ve been the reluctant participant in many tedious projects - stemming strawberries, stemming gooseberries (both ends, no less), and my new least favorite, cleaning broccoli. So why do I do it? I like growing my own food. I like knowing that there are no pesticides or herbicides on the food I eat. I like the fresh taste. I like the feeling of a job well done.
And even though my back is sore, my head hurts from using glasses too strong so I can see the broccoli very distinctly, my shoulders are stiff, there’s another benefit. The meticulous examination for worms on broccoli should be analogous to the meticulous examination for sin in my life that I do periodically. Think about it for a minute: equate sin in my life with a tiny worm on a broccoli floret. Is it acceptable to leave a worm or two? Would it be okay to be less than thorough with my investigation for worms? Well then, what about sin? Is it okay to leave a sin or two in my life? They’re just small ones. They don’t take up much room. They aren’t very noticeable. Could I just give my life the once over and declare it “good enough”?
It makes you think, doesn’t it! Why am I more content to leave sin in my life than to leave a little worm on a piece of broccoli? Why is the worm more repulsive than the sin? Why don’t I detest the sin as much as God does? Could I just look superficially for the worms the way I want to look for sin?
The whole conversation becomes ridiculous when you realize that the little worm that grosses me out is probably much less noxious to my well-being than the sin I gloss over. Sin, the stuff God hates, separates me from God. It impairs my relationship with my Savior. It affects the people around me. If left unattended, the unintended consequences are huge.
So I’ve been using the tedious hours of worm-searching to do some soul-searching. And that’s not a bad thing as we come upon the fall holy day season. It never hurts to search your heart, your motives, your priorities, the bad habits you’ve let linger like a tiny worm on a broccoli floret. And once I find something, once I’m convicted of a sin, it must be dealt with just as much as I diligently pick the worm out of the broccoli. After all, what good does it do to identify a worm and not remove it?!
How goes your worm search?
"Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less." — C.S. Lewis
Jesus is Coming
by Cynthia Saladin
Mom and Dad are coming this weekend. Oh, we are so excited in the Saladin household. We haven’t seen them since Thanksgiving, so we’ve been saving up things to share with them. But, in many ways, this week is very much like any other week. I still have to water the garden. I’m still picking tomatoes, corn, green beans, etc. and processing all of it. I’m still doing laundry and washing dishes. The boys still have to mow the lawn. The children still have daily chores to do. I still have to clean the house before the Sabbath. I will still have potluck to prepare and paperwork to shuffle around on my desk. So, while we’re all eagerly anticipating Mom and Dad’s visit, the days progress much the same as always. Still, there’s an excitement, a little zip in our activities, because in the back of our minds, we keep reminding ourselves that Mom and Dad are coming.
It sparked an interesting thought in my head today: What if Jesus is coming back right away? And close on the heels of that thought was the next: What should I be doing differently if Jesus were coming back soon?
Could Jesus come back in the near future? Perhaps. There is certainly unrest in our world. The tinderbox that is the Middle East - Egypt, Syria, Iran. Or how about North Korea? Or Russia? Given Israel’s warning they will use nuclear weapons if attacked, mass destruction could happen overnight. We could very quickly reach a point where, unless God intervened, there would no flesh be saved alive (Matthew 24:22).
Nevertheless, I believe there are some prophesies which will be fulfilled before Christ’s return. So I don’t think His return is imminent.
Still, what if Jesus did return this fall? How would your daily activities change in preparation for His return? Are there some habits you really wish to eradicate before Jesus’ return? Are there some habits you’d like to establish before you meet Him face to face? Well, the reality is: we don’t know if Jesus is coming this year or next year or years down the road, but if you can think of some changes that you should make, now would be a good time to do it anyway.
And then, because God said, “Occupy until I come” (Luke 19:13, KJV), we have to get on with our daily lives. We still clean the house. We still pay the bills. We still go to the dentist and have teeth pulled. We still go to the orthodontist and have braces put in. We paint the house. We compose the garden. We cut wood for the winter. But each of our activities takes on a little zip because, in the back of our minds, we’re telling ourselves, “Jesus is coming.”
“Silence in the face of evil is in itself evil. God will not find us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak, not to act is to act.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy
Coming to Know God, Part 5
by Bill Rollins
To discuss the “law of God” and not mention the “grace of God” could lead to a misunderstanding. For indeed, the grace of God is a mighty subject. However, in this booklet, there have been several references to the graciousness of God and the unconditional love of God. We’ve talked about how He has given us everything we need for life. Nevertheless, let’s pursue the topic of grace and how it relates to law.
We humans have the uncanny ability of trying our best to never walk down the middle of the road. We find ourselves almost always heading toward one ditch or the other in terms of how we conduct our lives. On the one hand there are some people who advocate the complete adherence to the entirety of the law in order to be found right with God. They might use a scripture like Romans 2:13 to prove their point: “For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.” But the Bible clearly teaches against this idea. Later in the book of Romans, Paul tells his readers that the Jews did not obtain this “rightness with God” because they pursued it through their works (Romans 9:31-32). This is a terrible ditch to fall into!
On the other hand, there are those who put forth the argument that the law has been done away with and all we have to do is “believe.” The scripture that is often used to sustain life in this ditch is just around the corner from the one we just quoted. Romans 3:20: “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law.” If we land in either ditch and not walk down the middle of the road we shall find ourselves in trouble.
This we know: “It is by grace that you have been saved through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8). Our salvation from sin and death is a free gift of God. Remember, God’s love for us is unconditional; we can do nothing to earn it. However, the law of God - although it does not give us salvation - is as unmovable and unshakable as is God’s relationship to His children. It is how we humans can and must show our love for the One who gave us such a free gift of eternal life! “This is love for God, to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome” (I John 5:3).
In the words of Jesus Himself, “If you love me you will obey what I command.” After God gives us this gift of LIFE, he tells us that if we would show Him love we must be obedient. Even Jesus, when He began His ministry, told the crowds, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished” (Matthew 5:17-18). Heaven and earth are still here and the law is still in effect.
As I said previously, “the Law of God is unalterable! It is unalterable because it is not arbitrary. God created His law based upon His own nature and the nature of His creation.” The key word here is “arbitrary.” We must think about human nature and the way it works, and then consider why God chose the laws He did.
Let’s look at grace and justice.
Grace and justice. Both of these concepts are extremely important in our coming to know God! If someone tries to do away with either of them, they will come to know a God who is incomplete. This grace and justice of God are quite evident in both the Old and New Testaments.
In the Old Testament, in the book of Exodus, God said to Moses concerning Himself, “The Eternal, the Eternal God is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness and truth; who keeps His love for thousands, He forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished . . .” (Exodus 34:6-7). Here we find both of these aspects of our God in one statement: He is gracious and He shows justice by punishing the guilty.
It has been said that one good definition of “grace” is “the manifestation of one’s love for another.” Think about that if you will. If a mother told her children only that she loved them and never did anything to show that love, what kind of a love would it be? If spouses told their mates that they loved them and then proceeded to never show that love, their words would be very suspect!
Parents who say they love their children and then never teach the children discipline or correct them when they do wrong, have a warped sense of love. Love, and the grace that flows from it, has to encompass justice (discipline and correction) in order for the love to be real and to have meaning.
The love God has for His creation is a real love, a perfect love. His love incorporates justice and grace. I find it quite interesting that when Jesus, in the 23rd chapter of the book of Matthew, was taking the Pharisees to task over their hypocrisy, He told them that they neglected the weightier matters of the law, “justice, mercy and faithfulness.” Jesus placed justice and mercy together and called them both part of the law! Mercy is the greatest aspect of grace.
The fact that God gave His only begotten Son as a sacrifice for us, that He let Him be beaten and nailed to the cross and bleed to death for our sins, shows us our Father is a God of grace and of justice. Both of these aspects of His character are at work in this: His justice, because blood was required for sin and the penalty of our sins was death; someone had to pay that penalty for justice to be carried out. His grace was evident, because He gave His Son to pay that penalty for us and then gave to us the free gift of eternal life. What an awesome God we have! He says He is our Father and we are His children. Wow!!
The concepts of grace and justice are inseparable. They go hand in hand, and we need to understand them both if we are to come to know our God.
I have mentioned previously that we would take a look at the law of God and see what might be in it for all of us. This may seem like a strange statement, for how can we say God’s law has anything in it for us. Many people think the law of God is some sort of shackle that tries to keep them from having the types of “good times” that they would like to have. But this is far from the truth!
When God first gave His law to the children of Israel, He told them this, “I have taught you decrees and laws . . . that you may follow them . . . observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to all the nations who will hear about these decrees. They will say, ‘surely this nation is a wise and understanding people . . . what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws . . .’ ” Deuteronomy 4:5-8. It is wisdom and understanding that comes with knowing and keeping God’s righteous and holy law.
Can you even imagine where our country would be today if we would keep these laws of God? For this promise in Deuteronomy is for any nation that will keep the righteous laws of God. But our nation seem quite content to be traveling down the road to moral decay.
Can you, without the help of your Bible, recite the entire Ten Commandments? If you can’t do it, take a moment right now to grab your Bible and turn to either Exodus 20 or Deuteronomy 5 and read them in their entirety. We have here only ten laws. The brevity of them is what is so amazing. Someone once told me the United States of America, considering every municipality, passes over 5,000 laws each year.
Let’s take a look at these 10 laws. We’ll start with the first one now.
I am the Eternal your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods besides me.
We have already looked at this one to some degree when we covered the “greatest commandment,” which states we are to love the Eternal our God with all our hearts, minds, and lives. But it still deserves some comment here, in that our God (the One who created all life and sustains it) tells us we should have Him alone as our God.
It almost seems to be saying that we should have Him only as our God because He brought us out of Egypt and out of slavery. You know, I’ve never been to Egypt and I doubt there are many of you readers who have ever set foot in that country. Someone might argue this must refer to the Israelites who came out of Egypt some 3,445 years ago. But if we understand what Jesus said in Matthew 4:4 about how we are to live by every word that comes from the mouth of God, then we must realize every word in the Bible applies to our lives.
Paul, in the 6th chapter of Romans, explains this slavery best. “We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.” In the book of Galatians, chapter 5, Paul states, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
Not only has God given us everything we need in this life, but if we will accept it, He has freed us from bondage to sin. So many people today do not accept this because they consider their sins a very small thing. O, that we might examine ourselves and “purify our hearts” (James 4:8).
Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing. --Albert Einstein
The Snake Saga Continues
by Cynthia Saladin
After the exciting and exhilarating experience of finding a seven-foot black rat snake hanging out over the porch swing, we haven’t seen many snakes lately. So we have been lulled into a false sense of security. “If I don’t see any, they’re not there.” So you can imagine my consternation Friday morning. I’m out in the garden, picking corn and beans and broccoli before it gets hot. That means it’s early and I’ve not only not had breakfast, I haven’t even had a cup of tea yet. Like I said, I want to beat the heat. As I move from the corn to the bean, I’m rather distracted because I’ve already sliced open a finger badly on a corn leaf. So I’m picking beans while my brain is busily processing what else has to be done on the Preparation Day for the Sabbath. I pull back the bean bush and spy a little reddish-brown snake. I drop the bush. Isn’t that what normal, rational human beings do? But then, I lift the bush back up again because I want to check to make sure that I really did see a reddish-brown snake. Yes, indeed. It is a reddish-brown snake, but unlike most rational, normal human beings I do not take the time to note whether he has a triangular head or not because he’s curled up preparing to strike. I drop the bush again and walk calmly into the house to wake up my husband (Did I mention it’s early morning?) because there’s a snake under my bean bushes. As I walked up the steps, Jonathan meets me coming down. He says, “It was a snake, wasn’t it?” I don’t know how the neon sign appeared so quickly on my face, but he knew. I didn’t have to say anything. To make a short story short, let’s just say that I had two body guards accompanying me, armed with a hoe, a rake, and a pellet rifle, as I finished picking the beans and broccoli.
So why am I telling you this?
I think there are too many times when we have things in our lives that we don’t want to deal with. We don’t know how to deal with them. They are too painful. They are too big. There’s nothing we can really do about them. So we push them away into a corner of our mind, shove them in a closet, slam the door and pretend they don’t really exist. Or we’ll pretend that if we can’t see them, they’re not there.
When I was a kid, I wanted to sleep in the basement. I wanted my own room. It was an unfinished basement, so the whole thing was my bedroom. There was only one drawback: spiders. I was afraid of being bit by a black widow. I would turn off the light at the top of the stairs, run down to my bed, jump under the covers, pull them up over my head, and then realize I couldn’t sleep like that. So I made a rule: as long as the covers were pulled up to my chin, I was safe. The spiders were not allowed to bite my face. And I convinced myself that’s the way it was so I could stay downstairs without suffocating myself. But I never had a conversation with the spiders to tell them that rule.
Sometimes the snakes under the beans and the spiders in the basement have to be at least acknowledged. You have to admit that they are there; they are real. You’re not doing yourself any favors by poking your head into the sand. 98% of you is still visible to the threat - and your mind knows it!
So what do you do with those things? Talk with someone - a church friend, a family member. You may even need to talk to a good Christian counselor. Deal with the fears. Talk them out so they don’t get so big they’re ready to explode through that mental closet door causing unspeakable mental carnage along the way.
I can’t do anything about the snake until he shows up again. But being prepared for the potential encounter is a much safer mindset than pretending he’s moved to Australia.
"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." -Maya Angelou
Character is often determined not by when we do what we must, but by when we do what is voluntary. It is tested far more by charity, than obligation. It appears not so much in what the public sees, but shows itself clearer in what is done in private.
Methodical, Tedious, Boring, Seemingly Unending . .
by Cynthia Saladin
You get the point. But in reference to what?
Well, in this particular case, it’s broccoli. We don’t use pesticides, so when I pick broccoli, I also pick a whole peck of broccoli worms hidden within the florets. I can see your distaste and looks of revulsion now! It isn’t that you object to me ridding the broccoli of worms; you’re thinking, “What if she misses one!” O.K. If you weren’t thinking that before, you are now. It’s such a disgusting thought, isn’t it! I’m sure my children have had those thoughts and that has contributed to their second thoughts about eating broccoli lately.
So I cut two gallons of broccoli out of the garden this morning, and I spent the next five hours meticulously inspecting for tiny worms. The ones with the brown strips are the easiest to find. The light green ones are a bit more tricky. Then dark green ones elicit responses like, “Oh there’s one. I wouldn’t have guessed that was a worm.” It’s not particularly appetizing, is it?
It seems I’ve been the reluctant participant in many tedious projects - stemming strawberries, stemming gooseberries (both ends, no less), and my new least favorite, cleaning broccoli. So why do I do it? I like growing my own food. I like knowing that there are no pesticides or herbicides on the food I eat. I like the fresh taste. I like the feeling of a job well done.
And even though my back is sore, my head hurts from using glasses too strong so I can see the broccoli very distinctly, my shoulders are stiff, there’s another benefit. The meticulous examination for worms on broccoli should be analogous to the meticulous examination for sin in my life that I do periodically. Think about it for a minute: equate sin in my life with a tiny worm on a broccoli floret. Is it acceptable to leave a worm or two? Would it be okay to be less than thorough with my investigation for worms? Well then, what about sin? Is it okay to leave a sin or two in my life? They’re just small ones. They don’t take up much room. They aren’t very noticeable. Could I just give my life the once over and declare it “good enough”?
It makes you think, doesn’t it! Why am I more content to leave sin in my life than to leave a little worm on a piece of broccoli? Why is the worm more repulsive than the sin? Why don’t I detest the sin as much as God does? Could I just look superficially for the worms the way I want to look for sin?
The whole conversation becomes ridiculous when you realize that the little worm that grosses me out is probably much less noxious to my well-being than the sin I gloss over. Sin, the stuff God hates, separates me from God. It impairs my relationship with my Savior. It affects the people around me. If left unattended, the unintended consequences are huge.
So I’ve been using the tedious hours of worm-searching to do some soul-searching. And that’s not a bad thing as we come upon the fall holy day season. It never hurts to search your heart, your motives, your priorities, the bad habits you’ve let linger like a tiny worm on a broccoli floret. And once I find something, once I’m convicted of a sin, it must be dealt with just as much as I diligently pick the worm out of the broccoli. After all, what good does it do to identify a worm and not remove it?!
How goes your worm search?
"Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less." — C.S. Lewis
Jesus is Coming
by Cynthia Saladin
Mom and Dad are coming this weekend. Oh, we are so excited in the Saladin household. We haven’t seen them since Thanksgiving, so we’ve been saving up things to share with them. But, in many ways, this week is very much like any other week. I still have to water the garden. I’m still picking tomatoes, corn, green beans, etc. and processing all of it. I’m still doing laundry and washing dishes. The boys still have to mow the lawn. The children still have daily chores to do. I still have to clean the house before the Sabbath. I will still have potluck to prepare and paperwork to shuffle around on my desk. So, while we’re all eagerly anticipating Mom and Dad’s visit, the days progress much the same as always. Still, there’s an excitement, a little zip in our activities, because in the back of our minds, we keep reminding ourselves that Mom and Dad are coming.
It sparked an interesting thought in my head today: What if Jesus is coming back right away? And close on the heels of that thought was the next: What should I be doing differently if Jesus were coming back soon?
Could Jesus come back in the near future? Perhaps. There is certainly unrest in our world. The tinderbox that is the Middle East - Egypt, Syria, Iran. Or how about North Korea? Or Russia? Given Israel’s warning they will use nuclear weapons if attacked, mass destruction could happen overnight. We could very quickly reach a point where, unless God intervened, there would no flesh be saved alive (Matthew 24:22).
Nevertheless, I believe there are some prophesies which will be fulfilled before Christ’s return. So I don’t think His return is imminent.
Still, what if Jesus did return this fall? How would your daily activities change in preparation for His return? Are there some habits you really wish to eradicate before Jesus’ return? Are there some habits you’d like to establish before you meet Him face to face? Well, the reality is: we don’t know if Jesus is coming this year or next year or years down the road, but if you can think of some changes that you should make, now would be a good time to do it anyway.
And then, because God said, “Occupy until I come” (Luke 19:13, KJV), we have to get on with our daily lives. We still clean the house. We still pay the bills. We still go to the dentist and have teeth pulled. We still go to the orthodontist and have braces put in. We paint the house. We compose the garden. We cut wood for the winter. But each of our activities takes on a little zip because, in the back of our minds, we’re telling ourselves, “Jesus is coming.”
“Silence in the face of evil is in itself evil. God will not find us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak, not to act is to act.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy
Coming to Know God, Part 5
by Bill Rollins
To discuss the “law of God” and not mention the “grace of God” could lead to a misunderstanding. For indeed, the grace of God is a mighty subject. However, in this booklet, there have been several references to the graciousness of God and the unconditional love of God. We’ve talked about how He has given us everything we need for life. Nevertheless, let’s pursue the topic of grace and how it relates to law.
We humans have the uncanny ability of trying our best to never walk down the middle of the road. We find ourselves almost always heading toward one ditch or the other in terms of how we conduct our lives. On the one hand there are some people who advocate the complete adherence to the entirety of the law in order to be found right with God. They might use a scripture like Romans 2:13 to prove their point: “For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.” But the Bible clearly teaches against this idea. Later in the book of Romans, Paul tells his readers that the Jews did not obtain this “rightness with God” because they pursued it through their works (Romans 9:31-32). This is a terrible ditch to fall into!
On the other hand, there are those who put forth the argument that the law has been done away with and all we have to do is “believe.” The scripture that is often used to sustain life in this ditch is just around the corner from the one we just quoted. Romans 3:20: “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the law.” If we land in either ditch and not walk down the middle of the road we shall find ourselves in trouble.
This we know: “It is by grace that you have been saved through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8). Our salvation from sin and death is a free gift of God. Remember, God’s love for us is unconditional; we can do nothing to earn it. However, the law of God - although it does not give us salvation - is as unmovable and unshakable as is God’s relationship to His children. It is how we humans can and must show our love for the One who gave us such a free gift of eternal life! “This is love for God, to obey His commands. And His commands are not burdensome” (I John 5:3).
In the words of Jesus Himself, “If you love me you will obey what I command.” After God gives us this gift of LIFE, he tells us that if we would show Him love we must be obedient. Even Jesus, when He began His ministry, told the crowds, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished” (Matthew 5:17-18). Heaven and earth are still here and the law is still in effect.
As I said previously, “the Law of God is unalterable! It is unalterable because it is not arbitrary. God created His law based upon His own nature and the nature of His creation.” The key word here is “arbitrary.” We must think about human nature and the way it works, and then consider why God chose the laws He did.
Let’s look at grace and justice.
Grace and justice. Both of these concepts are extremely important in our coming to know God! If someone tries to do away with either of them, they will come to know a God who is incomplete. This grace and justice of God are quite evident in both the Old and New Testaments.
In the Old Testament, in the book of Exodus, God said to Moses concerning Himself, “The Eternal, the Eternal God is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness and truth; who keeps His love for thousands, He forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished . . .” (Exodus 34:6-7). Here we find both of these aspects of our God in one statement: He is gracious and He shows justice by punishing the guilty.
It has been said that one good definition of “grace” is “the manifestation of one’s love for another.” Think about that if you will. If a mother told her children only that she loved them and never did anything to show that love, what kind of a love would it be? If spouses told their mates that they loved them and then proceeded to never show that love, their words would be very suspect!
Parents who say they love their children and then never teach the children discipline or correct them when they do wrong, have a warped sense of love. Love, and the grace that flows from it, has to encompass justice (discipline and correction) in order for the love to be real and to have meaning.
The love God has for His creation is a real love, a perfect love. His love incorporates justice and grace. I find it quite interesting that when Jesus, in the 23rd chapter of the book of Matthew, was taking the Pharisees to task over their hypocrisy, He told them that they neglected the weightier matters of the law, “justice, mercy and faithfulness.” Jesus placed justice and mercy together and called them both part of the law! Mercy is the greatest aspect of grace.
The fact that God gave His only begotten Son as a sacrifice for us, that He let Him be beaten and nailed to the cross and bleed to death for our sins, shows us our Father is a God of grace and of justice. Both of these aspects of His character are at work in this: His justice, because blood was required for sin and the penalty of our sins was death; someone had to pay that penalty for justice to be carried out. His grace was evident, because He gave His Son to pay that penalty for us and then gave to us the free gift of eternal life. What an awesome God we have! He says He is our Father and we are His children. Wow!!
The concepts of grace and justice are inseparable. They go hand in hand, and we need to understand them both if we are to come to know our God.
I have mentioned previously that we would take a look at the law of God and see what might be in it for all of us. This may seem like a strange statement, for how can we say God’s law has anything in it for us. Many people think the law of God is some sort of shackle that tries to keep them from having the types of “good times” that they would like to have. But this is far from the truth!
When God first gave His law to the children of Israel, He told them this, “I have taught you decrees and laws . . . that you may follow them . . . observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to all the nations who will hear about these decrees. They will say, ‘surely this nation is a wise and understanding people . . . what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws . . .’ ” Deuteronomy 4:5-8. It is wisdom and understanding that comes with knowing and keeping God’s righteous and holy law.
Can you even imagine where our country would be today if we would keep these laws of God? For this promise in Deuteronomy is for any nation that will keep the righteous laws of God. But our nation seem quite content to be traveling down the road to moral decay.
Can you, without the help of your Bible, recite the entire Ten Commandments? If you can’t do it, take a moment right now to grab your Bible and turn to either Exodus 20 or Deuteronomy 5 and read them in their entirety. We have here only ten laws. The brevity of them is what is so amazing. Someone once told me the United States of America, considering every municipality, passes over 5,000 laws each year.
Let’s take a look at these 10 laws. We’ll start with the first one now.
I am the Eternal your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods besides me.
We have already looked at this one to some degree when we covered the “greatest commandment,” which states we are to love the Eternal our God with all our hearts, minds, and lives. But it still deserves some comment here, in that our God (the One who created all life and sustains it) tells us we should have Him alone as our God.
It almost seems to be saying that we should have Him only as our God because He brought us out of Egypt and out of slavery. You know, I’ve never been to Egypt and I doubt there are many of you readers who have ever set foot in that country. Someone might argue this must refer to the Israelites who came out of Egypt some 3,445 years ago. But if we understand what Jesus said in Matthew 4:4 about how we are to live by every word that comes from the mouth of God, then we must realize every word in the Bible applies to our lives.
Paul, in the 6th chapter of Romans, explains this slavery best. “We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.” In the book of Galatians, chapter 5, Paul states, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
Not only has God given us everything we need in this life, but if we will accept it, He has freed us from bondage to sin. So many people today do not accept this because they consider their sins a very small thing. O, that we might examine ourselves and “purify our hearts” (James 4:8).
Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing. --Albert Einstein
The Snake Saga Continues
by Cynthia Saladin
After the exciting and exhilarating experience of finding a seven-foot black rat snake hanging out over the porch swing, we haven’t seen many snakes lately. So we have been lulled into a false sense of security. “If I don’t see any, they’re not there.” So you can imagine my consternation Friday morning. I’m out in the garden, picking corn and beans and broccoli before it gets hot. That means it’s early and I’ve not only not had breakfast, I haven’t even had a cup of tea yet. Like I said, I want to beat the heat. As I move from the corn to the bean, I’m rather distracted because I’ve already sliced open a finger badly on a corn leaf. So I’m picking beans while my brain is busily processing what else has to be done on the Preparation Day for the Sabbath. I pull back the bean bush and spy a little reddish-brown snake. I drop the bush. Isn’t that what normal, rational human beings do? But then, I lift the bush back up again because I want to check to make sure that I really did see a reddish-brown snake. Yes, indeed. It is a reddish-brown snake, but unlike most rational, normal human beings I do not take the time to note whether he has a triangular head or not because he’s curled up preparing to strike. I drop the bush again and walk calmly into the house to wake up my husband (Did I mention it’s early morning?) because there’s a snake under my bean bushes. As I walked up the steps, Jonathan meets me coming down. He says, “It was a snake, wasn’t it?” I don’t know how the neon sign appeared so quickly on my face, but he knew. I didn’t have to say anything. To make a short story short, let’s just say that I had two body guards accompanying me, armed with a hoe, a rake, and a pellet rifle, as I finished picking the beans and broccoli.
So why am I telling you this?
I think there are too many times when we have things in our lives that we don’t want to deal with. We don’t know how to deal with them. They are too painful. They are too big. There’s nothing we can really do about them. So we push them away into a corner of our mind, shove them in a closet, slam the door and pretend they don’t really exist. Or we’ll pretend that if we can’t see them, they’re not there.
When I was a kid, I wanted to sleep in the basement. I wanted my own room. It was an unfinished basement, so the whole thing was my bedroom. There was only one drawback: spiders. I was afraid of being bit by a black widow. I would turn off the light at the top of the stairs, run down to my bed, jump under the covers, pull them up over my head, and then realize I couldn’t sleep like that. So I made a rule: as long as the covers were pulled up to my chin, I was safe. The spiders were not allowed to bite my face. And I convinced myself that’s the way it was so I could stay downstairs without suffocating myself. But I never had a conversation with the spiders to tell them that rule.
Sometimes the snakes under the beans and the spiders in the basement have to be at least acknowledged. You have to admit that they are there; they are real. You’re not doing yourself any favors by poking your head into the sand. 98% of you is still visible to the threat - and your mind knows it!
So what do you do with those things? Talk with someone - a church friend, a family member. You may even need to talk to a good Christian counselor. Deal with the fears. Talk them out so they don’t get so big they’re ready to explode through that mental closet door causing unspeakable mental carnage along the way.
I can’t do anything about the snake until he shows up again. But being prepared for the potential encounter is a much safer mindset than pretending he’s moved to Australia.
"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." -Maya Angelou
October 2013
"Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see." — C.S. Lewis
Preparing for the Feast
by Cynthia Saladin
I found this article as I was looking through some of my notes from a few years ago. But since it's still applicable, I thought I'd share it with you.
Ken Lee stepped into my kitchen one day and exclaimed, “It looks like your garden exploded in here!” I shot him a weary, half-hearted smile. Putting up the bounty from the garden is hard work! But now it’s winding down, although the weeds don’t look like they’re going to quit anytime soon! Yet, while the garden is slowing down, school is starting! There’s a flurry of excitement about the first day of school and what all we’re going to learn this year. Woven through my daily tasks of garden and school preparation is Feast preparation. There’s a lot to be done! The Feast of Trumpets is less than a month away! I am so overwhelmed by the myriad of things I need to do! I can’t type that sentence without thinking of Matthew 13:22 - you know, the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches making the word unfruitful.
You know, a funny thing happened in my garden this year. My tomato plants set on so many tomatoes! I was carrying ripe tomatoes into the house by the 5-gallon bucketfuls! Then about four weeks ago, the vines just died. Oh, not all of them. We’re still eating tomatoes. But I’m no longer picking huge quantities every two days. They were very fruitful, but the plants didn’t stay the course. I’ll have very few green tomatoes when the first hard freeze comes.
It makes a good object lesson, doesn’t it? I may be productive now, but am I making sure I’m connected to the Vine so that I will have the sustenance to endure to the end? Yes, there is a myriad of things to do. There will always be a myriad of things to do. But while I’m doing them - including preparing for the Feast of Tabernacles - it would behoove me to consider one of the lessons of the Feast: “This world is not my home; I’m just a-passin’ through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue . . .” I can’t become so busy that I burn out, unable to stay the course. I can’t become so distracted by the cares of this world that I am unfruitful for the kingdom. I’ve got to keep it all in perspective - especially when my kitchen looks like the garden exploded in it.
Tangled Wires
by Diane Kleeschulte
The big storage cabinet in my classroom houses a large, black trash bag that contains a mass of tangled wire. This bothered me for a long time. The colored wire was a gift from a well-meaning art teacher. I had gone to her asking for suggestions on the type of wire to purchase for wire sculptures. Before I knew what was happening, this black bag was in my hands. She smiled in satisfaction and I thanked her for her donation. As I walked away, though, I wondered how in the world I was going to untangle this horrible mass of wire. The students were going to have a terrible time trying to pull the wire apart if I didn't find a quick way to untangle it. If I let the students try to untangle it, there would be so much wasted class time! So I hefted this bag on a table, inspected the contents again and tried to untangle just a few wires, but it was hopeless. I just couldn't return the bag after the art teacher's generosity. When the time came for creating the wire sculptures, I pulled out that bag, opened it up and revealed this mess of wire to my students. I expected them to look at me in horror but can you believe it? They were thrilled! They looked at me with such pleasure and excitement that I just stared and marveled at the moment. Hands dove into the bag and they yanked apart pieces of wire, grabbed scissors and started cutting away. They thanked me many times over. What I had thought to be a miserable, tangled mess was actually a blessing in disguise for the delight it brought my students that day, and for many days afterwards. They had faith, child-like faith that something beautiful could be created from that wire. And guess what? Those sculptures were beautiful, intricate pieces of art.
Do you see the analogy of our woeful lives and that tangled mess of wire? Do you have the faith of a child? Do you believe that your life can be untangled, and that from it something beautiful can be created? If you are a Christian, you should be nodding your head. But be on guard that your child-like faith isn't lost in the busyness of your everyday life. Check daily that you aren't collecting a mess and believing it will always remain so; that it can't be untangled. Stay close to the Savior in these days of trials. Give Him that bag of messes. Let Him sculpt you into a masterpiece. Keep your child-like faith.
Coming to Know God, Part 6
by Bill Rollins
We have begun to look at the Ten Commandments and to consider, quite briefly, what some might call the introduction (I am the Eternal your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the land of slavery) and how it pertains to us.
“You shall have no other gods before Me” (Deuteromony 5:7).
Do you have any gods besides the one true God? We don’t worship Baal (I Kings 22:53), Dagon (Judges 16:23), Chemosh or Molech (I Kings 11:7). We don’t worship Artemis (Acts 19:27), Zeus or Hermes (Acts 14:12). (There are some false gods that modern day churches have gotten quite close to, but that’s a topic for another type of article sometime in the future.)
Even though we do not give the gods we worship such fanciful names as the ones above, we in 20th century America do worship gods besides the one true God, Creator of heaven and earth!
We worship the god of “greed,” the accumulation of money. (We don’t care what our leaders do as long as our economy is prosperous.) We worship the god of “lust,” the promoting of sex as a way to fulfill our greed. We worship the god of “worldliness;” because after all, aren’t we worthy of obtaining a better life style? We worship the god of “self;” don’t the commercials on TV tells us we deserve the things they want to sell us?
Perhaps the greatest fault we, in society, have is the worshiping of self! It is the god we desire most to promote, the one society tells us is worthy of praise and adoration. If you don’t think you have a problem with putting other gods before the true God, then perhaps it is time for self-examination. How often do you consider yourself better than someone else? Do you spend more time in getting “that look” just right than you do in prayer with your Father in Heaven? Do sports and other forms of entertainment ever come before your worship and Bible study? Do you spend more time with the television and the internet than you do in building a relationship with your Father and His Son, Jesus Christ? Are you one who “honors God with your lips but your heart is far from Him” (Matthew 15:8)?
Satan doesn’t care what you may substitute as a god before the true God. He’ll give you a multitude of choices. His only concern is that you have something else to worship instead of the only true God. Satan knows what the reward of God’s people is, and he would like to destroy all mankind in order to halt the process of God’s plan. But God loves the world so much He gave the life of His only begotten Son to save us. And He gave us this First Commandment to help teach us this most important step in obtaining this reward.
In the book of Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, Jesus wrote seven letters to seven churches. The words He writes are applicable to all of us today and at the end of each letter He says, “to him who overcomes, I will give . . .” If you are not familiar with the rewards, get out your Bible and read these two chapters.
God wants us to be overcomers. He has given us the Ten Commandments as a true gift, a map, if you will, to find the narrow gate that leads to life. (Matthew 7:13)
In our coming to know God, we are in the process of looking at the Ten Commandments from the view point of seeing them as a gift and not as a burden. As the apostle Paul put it, “So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good” (Romans 7:12).
The second commandment is this: “You shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Eternal your God am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.”
Whereas the first commandment dealt with the object of our worship, this commandment deals with the manner of our worship. The first says, “make sure you worship the one true God” and the second says, “now that you have the one true God, don’t worship Him with any images, whether of statues, or of pictures, or of any image in your mind.” Why? What harm can there be in having a picture of Christ in one’s room or perhaps a crucifix hanging on the wall? Remember, the wording of this commandment says that you shall not make any likeness of anything in heaven, on earth or under the water. Christ is in heaven, and we must not have a likeness of Him.
This commandment goes so far as to add an addendum, telling us that God is a jealous God and that He punishes those who transgress the commandment. He even lets us know that those who do transgress in this area can find themselves hating God! Wow! This sounds pretty severe. What is behind all of this?
First of all, images dishonor God; they obscure His glory. In the 32nd chapter of the book of Exodus we read of Aaron making a golden calf, an image of the Eternal, Almighty God who brought Israel out of Egypt. They had the correct God (Jehovah), but the image of a calf could in no way display the majesty, glory, righteousness, love, holiness and perfection of God. Can you imagine a husband or wife carrying around with them a close-up picture of only the big toe of their spouse and showing it to all who were curious of to whom they were married? That would certainly prove to be embarrassing to the spouse.
If you would like to read a breath-taking account of the Almighty God, please turn to Isaiah 40 and read the entire chapter. Then come back to verse 18, “to whom then will you compare God? Or to what likeness or image will you compare Him?”
Secondly, in our discussion of images, we must realize that they mislead man. Jesus said that, “those who worship God must worship Him in Spirit and in truth, for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers” (John 4:23). No image can convey the Spirit and Truth of God.
The Bible tells us the God we are coming to know “fills the whole universe.” In the book of Isaiah (55:8), God says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways . . . for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.” Paul puts it this way in Romans 11:33: “Oh the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Eternal?”
Better that we worship God in Spirit and Truth and not with any image we might devise.
Let’s continue our process of looking at the Ten Commandments of God as they appear in the book of Deuteronomy. We’ve covered the first two commandments, so now let’s take a look at the third commandment.
“You shall not take the name of the Eternal your God in vain, for the Eternal will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain” (Deuteronomy 5:11).
In the line of work I was in, before I moved to Elk Horn, I spent much time with mechanics. Now mechanics can have a hard time getting nuts to loosen up from the bolts upon which they are attached and sometimes when the wrench slips, . . . well the words that are used aren’t fit for the dinner table! Truth be known, they should not be used in the repair shop either. Many people might say some of what came out of their mouths was “taking the name of God in vain.”
But the word “vain” is a curious word. In this day and age, we use the word most often to mean “conceited:” “That individual was certainly a vain person, (filled with vanity).” Upon closer inspection (either in a Hebrew Lexicon or in Webster’s dictionary), we find this meaning: “worthless, empty, hollow, without force or effect.”
It is for sure the mechanic was using God’s name in an empty and hollow way, but I really believe this commandment is meant in a much deeper way.
When any individual accepts Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and considers themselves to be a “Christian,” they have effectually taken upon themselves the name of God in the form of the Son of God. When they do this, the Bible clearly tells us there is a big responsibility that goes with their taking upon them this name, “Christian.”
Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, puts it this way: “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1). In the book of Colossians, Paul says, “We pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10).
When viewed in this way, the third commandment takes on a whole new dimension. Our whole lives must be lived in such a way that God’s name, taken upon us, is not perceived as “empty, hollow or worthless.” Humility, gentleness, patience, and love must be the things others see in us - or else, we may be guilty of taking God’s name in vain!
In our endeavor to study the Ten Commandments, we come to the fourth: “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Eternal your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Eternal your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Eternal your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Eternal your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day” (Deuteronomy 5:12-15).
It might do you well to get out your Bible and take a look at this commandment. Read it for yourself. Then turn to Exodus 20:8 and read the companion statement. Many years ago I had to get out my Bible, dust it off, and read this Fourth Commandment for myself. I never knew what it actually said! I had never actually read it. Those who were teaching me about God and His word led me to believe that it said something about keeping the “Lord’s day,” and I was quite amazed to see the actual wording.
What is the Sabbath and where does it come from? The episode in Exodus 20:8 starts out this way, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy . . .” So the first thing we see is the Sabbath day is a reminder of something. If we read further in Exodus 20, we see that what we are to remember is the actual creation of God! “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Eternal blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” There is a reason for the Sabbath being the seventh day. (By the way, the word Sabbath means “to rest, to cease from labor.”) It is a memorial of the rest God took after the work of creation. The Sabbath did not just appear as an arbitrary consideration; it was deliberately created by God and immediately sanctified, that is, made holy.
The word “holy” means “to set aside for a special purpose,” and in the case of this Fourth Commandment, the special purpose is to worship God. The commandment does not say, “You shall set aside an hour or two during the week so as to worship God.” It specifically talks about an entire day.
For myself personally, when I read this commandment for what it said, I came to see it was truly a gift from God. I came to see and understand the joy in worshiping God as the Creator, the Sustainer, the Father of all that exists, and so I delighted in the fact He had given to His children one whole day, set aside for that specific purpose.
I came to see what Jesus meant when He said in Mark 2:27. “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” If Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath day, then it is His day. Shall I even say that the Sabbath is the Lord’s day! The Sabbath is not a Jewish day; it is God’s holy day.
“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on My holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going our own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the LORD and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of Jacob. The mouth of the LORD has spoken” (Isaiah 58:13).
I would be remiss at this time if I failed to mention a very important aspect of the Sabbath days of God - His Holy festival seasons. In God’s word they are referred to as Sabbath days and as Holy days.
Look Up
by Cynthia Saladin
Music is so much a part of my life! People who know me know that there is always a song running through my head. This morning I'm singing "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus."
Oh, soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see.
Some days are like that. Some weeks are like that. The world looks increasingly dark. The society around us, the government which rules over us, all devolve farther from the love of Christ and His ways. It's disheartening. It's depressing. Add to world conditions a list of things to do which never seems to get any shorter, but grows incrementally longer each day, and my eyes are stuck in the miry clay at my feet. I'm trudging through this world with my head down and my eyes focused on the darkness around me.
So what can I do? Realistically, there's not much I can do - but God can and does something wonderful. He gives me a glimpse of something better. He catches my attention with His hope.
There's light for a look at the Savior,
and life more abundant and free.
What does that light look like - the light which causes me to look at Jesus Christ? Sometimes it's my dog who throws leaves. Sometimes it's going to church when I really just feel like burrowing back under the covers and sleeping the day away, away from people, away from trouble, away from responsibilities, away from it all. And God blesses my obedience in going to church. He gives me a song to sing all week long. He gives me a verse - one which pops out at me as I participate in Bible study. He gives me a hug through my best friend who knows me and likes me anyway. He gives me a bright smile from a person who is so glad to see that I've come to worship God. God reminds me to look up at Him, not down at my feet.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full in His wonderful face.
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
in the light of His glory and grace.
Sometimes I need the reminder to keep my eyes on Jesus, to look at Him and not at my feet which are stuck in the mud. Sometimes I desperately need the experience of having the things of earth grow strangely dim. Sometimes? Well, more like every day I need this!
What about you? Where are your eyes today?
"A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart, and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words."
ODE TO A COW
When life seems one too many for you,
Go and look at a cow.
When the future’s black and the outlook blue,
Go and look at a cow.
For she does nothing but eat her food,
And sleep in the meadows entirely nood,
Refusing to fret or worry or brood
Because she doesn’t know how.
Whenever you’re feeling bothered and sore,
Go and look at a cow.
When everything else is a fearful bore,
Go and look at a cow.
Observe her gentle and placid air,
Her nonchalance and savoir faire,
Her absolute freedom from every care,
Her imperturbable brow.
So when you’re at the end of your wits,
Go and look at a cow.
Or when your nerves are frayed to bits,
And wrinkles furrow your brow;
She’ll merely moo in her gentle way,
Switching her rudder as if to say:
“Bother tomorrow! Let’s live today!
Take the advice of a cow.”
- The Old Farmer's Almanac 1936
Ode to a Cow - Comments by Cynthia Saladin
I liked this poem until the very end. God’s creatures don’t worry and fret like mankind does. I suspect it’s because they don’t have the awareness that differentiates humans from animals. But, like the animals, there is an ideology extant in our society of “eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.” That’s for those who have no hope because they do not know Jesus as their Messiah and Lord. But we do. So our attitude is to be at peace because we know who has overcome the world, and we are His!
November 2013
"By removing the Bible from schools we would be wasting so much time and money in punishing criminals and so little pains to prevent crime. Take the Bible out of our schools and there would be an explosion in crime."
— Benjamin Rush, (1745-1813), founder of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa
Producing Fruit by Cynthia Saladin
Mom brought a big box of apples from their apple trees to the Feast of Tabernacles this year. She sent the leftover apples home with us because she still has buckets and buckets in her basement. I know of one person (Diane) who is very happy with that news because she can hardly wait for an apple pie to show up at potluck one of these days! So I’ve been paring apples (Mom also had lots of pears, but none of those made it to the end of the Feast!) and putting them in the deep freeze.
As I stood at the kitchen sink working on the apples, I couldn’t help thinking of what a fruitful year it has been. We picked gallons and gallons of strawberries, quarts of blueberries and blackberries, a few raspberries, cantaloupe and watermelon, quarts of grapes, and buckets of pears, and now the persimmons are ripe. I thought about how this was the first year we got a few cherries from our new trees and how this was really the first significant picking of Concord grapes. Then I considered how we’ve added fruit to our harvest each year. The first year we moved out here, all I picked were wild blackberries and wild grapes. There’s a huge difference between making one blackberry pie and making gallons of jelly and freezing quarts of fruit! But, if that’s your goal, if producing fruit is your vision, that would be a normal progression.
So it is in our Christian walk. When we’re babes in Christ, how much fruit do we produce? After ten years, is there more fruit evident in our lives? Sometimes as we’re involved in the physical harvest of fruit, it’s a good time to evaluate what fruit there is to harvest spiritually! After years of calling ourselves disciples of the Messiah, shouldn’t there be more fruit obvious in our lives?
What if there’s not?
Think about the physical harvest. If we had just lived here, without consciously working to plant and care for fruit trees, bushes, and plants, there would not have been more fruit for us to harvest this year either. It requires vision, determination, and effort. The blueberry bushes don’t just plant, prune, water, fertilize, and mulch themselves.
In the same way, just because we call upon the name of the Lord and are baptized doesn’t mean we’re going to grow if we don’t purposefully seek God with all of our hearts. We have to attend church services so that fellowship will act as iron sharpening iron. Meeting together also acts like the fertilizer which encourages us to grow as Christians. When we take notes on the sermon, we’re reinforcing God’s word in our minds in three learning styles: visual - we see the words we write down, auditory - we hear the words spoken, and tactile - we feel the shape of the words as we write them down. That’s like mulching - keeping the moisture around the plant.
There are other ways of increasing spiritual fruit production: Bible study, prayer, fasting, meditation. I know of a couple of people who bring their Bible to church each week, but the rest of the time it stays in the trunk of their car. It’s not enough to get a dose of Bible once a week! Similarly, if the only prayers spoken are asking blessing on the meals, how much communication is there between the God of the universe and the person who states that he wants a relationship with God? Our prayers should be like the daily sacrifices - morning and evening, or even like Paul stated in 1 Thessalonians - continually. Meditation is also one of those disciplines which gets the short stick in our busy lives, in my busy life. I’m often so busy doing that I neglect to sit still and think about what I’m reading in God’s word, to contemplate what application there could be to me personally, and to truly develop a vision for where God wants me to be. Fasting falls into much the same category. I don’t enjoy fasting - so I tend to do it only on the Day of Atonement. These four disciplines are much like the watering and pruning of the fruit tree. If I’m going to grow and be directed by God in my life, I really need to purposefully fast and meditate, pray and study my Bible. My spiritual growth depends upon seeking God in these ways.
You know, this year we had so many Concord grapes that the kids and I only picked a few of the wild grapes. Each time we passed the wild grape vines I felt almost guilty that we were letting them go to waste. We weren’t really - because the wild animals and birds need to eat too. But the idea stuck in my head as a spiritual analogy. I can do all the Bible study, prayer, fasting, meditation, church attendance - but if I don’t make the practical application visible to others in my daily walk, then it just remains head knowledge. I have to make sure the learning I’m doing translates into my daily walk and becomes heart knowledge so that it’s part of who I am, so that others can see God in my life.
So I’m peeling apples this week and I’ll can some more pears next week. When I get tired of working inside, we’ll spread alpaca manure around the blueberries and grapes and in the strawberries. Then we’ll mulch the bushes and vines with wood chips. We’ll enjoy the bounty that God has provided this year, and we’ll purposefully prepare for a harvest next year. And as we thank God for it all, I also will be praising Him that He has given us the physical examples to point us to the spiritual reality: I need to purposefully prepare for a harvest in my own life as well.
"I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot...and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." -Michael Jordan (Professional Basketball Player)
Coming to Know God, Part 7
by Bill Rollins
Many people have a tendency to call the Biblical holy days, “Jewish Holy Days.” But nothing could be further from the truth. You will find all of the Holy Days listed in the book of Leviticus chapter 23. In turning there you will read, “The Eternal God said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and tell them, these are My appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the Eternal, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.”
The Holy Days in their entirety, have nothing to do with the Jews; they are God’s feast days. Each one of these days unfolds a rich tapestry of meaning in teaching us about God and especially about His Son Jesus Christ. Each of the days is a “snap shot,” if you will, picturing a separate aspect of our Savior Jesus.
In reading the Gospel accounts we see that Jesus Himself kept the Holy Days. The entire “Passion Week” is one that is tied to the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread. Paul told us that Jesus is the Passover Lamb, and He is the sinless man - the Unleavened Bread that came down from heaven. The entirety of John 7 reveals Jesus keeping the Feast of Tabernacles. In verse 37 of the chapter it says, “On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the scriptures said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ ” Paul also urged the Gentile church at Corinth to “Keep the feast” of Unleavened Bread. (I Corinthians 5:8)
Most everyone knows of the Feast of Pentecost and what happened on that day. The richness of meaning of what God did on that day is quite plain. And so it is for all of these days. The Day of Atonement is a memorial of the atoning sacrifice we have in Jesus. It is, as the Bible says, a day of denying oneself, not to gain favor with God, but as an act of acknowledging what was done for us. I usually talk about it as a day of freedom - freedom from bondage to sin in this world. It was the atoning sacrifice of Jesus that set us free from sin. In this country of ours we set aside one day a year to commemorate the freedoms we have and call it “Independence Day.” The freedom I have in Jesus Christ is even more precious to me than the freedom I have in this country.
Five days after the Day of Atonement is the Feast of Tabernacles. It is an eight-day festival that not only memorializes the wilderness wanderings of the Israelites, as they lived in temporary dwellings (The meaning of the word Tabernacle is “temporary dwelling.”), but it lets us consider the temporary nature of the life we have in these mortal, fleshly bodies. We leave the homes we live in year round and take up residence in “temporary dwellings” for eight days.
If there was one gift that I could give to all of you who have read this far, it would be for you to experience the joy, the peace, the love, and the excitement of keeping one of God’s Holy Days.
*******************************
At a time late in the ministry of Jesus, an expert in the law tested Him with a question, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your life and with all your mind. This is the greatest commandment. And the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:36).
I mention this here because, as we are making our way through the Ten Commandments, we have come to what might be called the dividing line between the two “greatest commandments.” The first four of the Ten Commandments covered our relationship with God (loving God with all our heart, life and mind), and the last six will deal with our relationship with our fellow man (love your neighbor as yourself).
The fifth Commandment is “Honor your father and your mother as the Eternal your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Eternal your God is giving you” (Deuteronomy 5:16).
It should be no surprise that the fifth Commandment, the first one to cover man’s relationship with man, has us honoring our parents. One of the things that each and every one of us, alive on this planet today, has in common is that we all have two parents! It took two human beings to fulfill the miracle of life and bring each one of us into this world. God commands us to honor them.
The apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians said this, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’ - which is the first commandment with a promise - that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Consider for a moment how parents represent, for their children, all authority figures in society. Take a look at our society and ponder the lack of respect for authority that is prevalent. Consider the inner cities of this nation, with the crime, violence and total disrespect for any authority.
It becomes quite obvious that any society where this Commandment is not obeyed begins to crumble and to fall apart at the seams. It will not go well for any society that does not honor their fathers and their mothers. But let’s not totally blame the children because many parents do not show their children they are worthy of honor. Paul goes on to say, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” How often is this done? Much could be said about how the disregard for this one Commandment leads to trouble and how the keeping of it would lead to happier, fuller lives.
God reveals Himself as our Father in heaven. He knew when He created mankind just what it would take to make a society work. He gave us laws, not to burden us, but for our own good. Oh, how we have turned away from Him! What a righteous law this commandment is!
Just look at what Paul told Timothy would happen in the last days: “But mark this, there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (Timothy 3:1-5).
***************************
The sixth Commandment is a very straight-forward one: “You shall not murder” (Deuteronomy 5:17). This directive seems simple enough and perhaps not even worth a full section of comment. But I always wonder, when I run into someone who says that the Ten Commandments are done away with, what would they do with this Commandment? No one in their right mind would consider murder to be all right in God’s sight.
In the two places where we find the Ten Commandments, (Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5) we see that this Law of God is being given to the nation of Israel. It is written by the finger of God and given to Moses on the tablets of stone. But as with all of the Ten Commandments we can find that this Law not to commit murder was in effect since creation.
First of all, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that God who created us would not want us killing each other off at our own whim. And we must admit that, God, who is a loving Creator, who gave us these laws for our own benefit, would not have waited approximately 2500 years (the time between creation and the giving of the Law) to let us know that He did not approve of murder. We have only to look at the account of Cain murdering Abel to see that God does not hold the guilty party innocent.
The Commandment, not to commit murder, is probably not one that causes great temptation for all of us reading this today. Oh, we may, at times, say something like, “I’d like to strangle that person” but in reality we are just joking. So how can we apply this to our lives? Jesus helps us out in this respect when, in His sermon on the mount, He magnified the Law. He said, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother, without cause, will be subject to judgment” (Matthew 5:21).
Ah, Jesus said we should not even be angry with our brothers. Through His spoken word we see the deeper meaning behind the Commandment. We must control our temper, for if we consider where the loss of temper, in its extreme, will take us, we find violence and then murder at the end of the road. This society we live in sees much too much of that. Violence fills the streets of most of our cities. Once again, our God, in His love for us shows us the place where this most horrible of sins, against our fellow man, really begins.
There is another aspect of this Commandment I would like to share with you. It is what I call the “positive side of the law.” Perhaps we might consider and meditate upon how we can “help the life” of someone else. The words of our Savior Jesus Christ are filled with the attitude we should have in loving each other, of feeding the hungry, helping the poor, visiting the lonely, etc. James tells us the kind of religion God approves of is “to look after the orphans and widows.” We learn through the pages of the Bible we should “bear the burdens of one another.”
Helping the life of another individual can truly be the fulfillment of this Law of God.
"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
- Theodore Roosevelt
For those who believe, no explanation is necessary.
For those who do not believe, no explanation is possible.
Hope as an Anchor So Steadfast by Cynthia Saladin
Soft as the voice of an angel,
breathing a lesson unheard;
Hope, with a gentle persuasion,
whispers her comforting word.
A comforting word. I think that’s what we all need at various times in our lives. Sometimes it’s financial stress. Other times it’s physical ailments. Maybe it’s family discord and deep division. Sometimes it’s dreary days, one after the other, monotonous and seemingly insignificant. These are the days when we need a comforting word. I think that word is hope.
Whispering hope. Whispering hope.
Oh, how pleasant thy voice!
Making my heart in its sorrow rejoice.
We need hope. But we don’t need the world’s hope - which is just wishful thinking. Worldly hope exhibits itself in phrases like, “I hope it will be sunny tomorrow,” or “I hope it doesn’t get too cold this winter.” That kind of hope is a deceptive distraction from the Biblical hope. Biblical hope is called a helmet in 1 Thessalonians 5:8. Worldly hope is like a filmy, flimsy sunbonnet; Biblical hope is solid enough to deflect arrows aimed at our head! Why is it so powerful? 1 Thessalonians 5:8 calls this helmet the hope of salvation.
We rest on the promises that God has made to us that He has gone to prepare a place for us to bring us to Himself (John 14). We believe that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). We believe God is purifying for Himself a people for His own possession (Titus 2:14). We rest secure in His promise that “neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). So we affirm that our light and momentary trials are preparing for us a glory that far outweighs them all (2 Corinthians 4:17).
Hope, as an anchor so steadfast,
rends the dark veil for the soul . . .
These promises are our firm foundation. They form the basis for our hope which is that anchor so steadfast! And yet . . . God gives us more! He gives us a seven-day festival, plus one, to physically remind us each year of the reality of this hope. We physically dwell, tabernacle, in temporary dwellings each fall, worshipping God and being renewed through fellowship, Bible study, singing hymns - all away from our normal, everyday lives and jobs. We truly “get” how temporary our lives on this earth are because the Feast of Tabernacles is just a temporary hiatus in our yearly activities. We understand that the earthly is passing away. The temporary is passing away. The reality of eternity is just around the corner.
What a compassionate God we serve! He knows how very much we need a yearly reenactment of tabernacling in this world, acting out the fact that “this world in not my home; I’m just a-passin’ through.” He knew we would need more than just head knowledge of the hope He’s set before us. He knew we would need an entire, complete week of the Feast of Tabernacles to sustain us through the darkness and troubles of this world.
So we go to the Feast of Tabernacles, proclaiming that we are exiles and strangers; we’re not at home. We equate it to God’s command that the Israelites celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles every year to remind them that God caused them to tabernacle in the wilderness for 40 years. We know that our focus today must be as much on His leading in our lives as the pillar of fire and the cloud was in theirs. He must lead us. We’re not home yet. This is not where we’re supposed to put our focus.
And as we confess that this world is not our home, that we’re seeking a better country, a homeland, we claim the promise that God is not ashamed to be called our God, that He’s preparing a city for us (Hebrews 11:13-16).
So I know, someone, somewhere, is going to ask if I believe keeping the Feast of Tabernacles is salvational. I’m always dumbfounded by those questions! God has designed a festival, a seven-day feast of worshiping Him, of getting out of our normal routine to spend with people who likewise love Him, to give us hope! And someone wants to know if we are required to accept this incredible gift! But to give an answer: no, salvation is a free gift from God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. And then, my next question back to that person would be, once you have received remission of your sins through the Lord Jesus Christ, how close do you want your relationship to be with your Savior? He’s set up an appointment to meet with you. Why wouldn’t you want to be there? Why would you want to miss the expression of incredible hope inherent in the Feast?
If, in the dusk of the twilight,
dim be the region afar,
will not the deepening darkness
brighten the glimmering star?
Then when the night is upon us,
why should the heart shrink away?
When the dark midnight is over,
wait for the breaking of day.
That’s what we’re waiting for! We’re watching for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. We’re looking for the time when our tabernacles, these temporary and earthly bodies, will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. Oh, what an incredible hope we have as a steadfast anchor for our souls!
"Neither the hair shirt nor the soft berth will do. The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."
- Frederick Buechner
"By removing the Bible from schools we would be wasting so much time and money in punishing criminals and so little pains to prevent crime. Take the Bible out of our schools and there would be an explosion in crime."
— Benjamin Rush, (1745-1813), founder of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa
Producing Fruit by Cynthia Saladin
Mom brought a big box of apples from their apple trees to the Feast of Tabernacles this year. She sent the leftover apples home with us because she still has buckets and buckets in her basement. I know of one person (Diane) who is very happy with that news because she can hardly wait for an apple pie to show up at potluck one of these days! So I’ve been paring apples (Mom also had lots of pears, but none of those made it to the end of the Feast!) and putting them in the deep freeze.
As I stood at the kitchen sink working on the apples, I couldn’t help thinking of what a fruitful year it has been. We picked gallons and gallons of strawberries, quarts of blueberries and blackberries, a few raspberries, cantaloupe and watermelon, quarts of grapes, and buckets of pears, and now the persimmons are ripe. I thought about how this was the first year we got a few cherries from our new trees and how this was really the first significant picking of Concord grapes. Then I considered how we’ve added fruit to our harvest each year. The first year we moved out here, all I picked were wild blackberries and wild grapes. There’s a huge difference between making one blackberry pie and making gallons of jelly and freezing quarts of fruit! But, if that’s your goal, if producing fruit is your vision, that would be a normal progression.
So it is in our Christian walk. When we’re babes in Christ, how much fruit do we produce? After ten years, is there more fruit evident in our lives? Sometimes as we’re involved in the physical harvest of fruit, it’s a good time to evaluate what fruit there is to harvest spiritually! After years of calling ourselves disciples of the Messiah, shouldn’t there be more fruit obvious in our lives?
What if there’s not?
Think about the physical harvest. If we had just lived here, without consciously working to plant and care for fruit trees, bushes, and plants, there would not have been more fruit for us to harvest this year either. It requires vision, determination, and effort. The blueberry bushes don’t just plant, prune, water, fertilize, and mulch themselves.
In the same way, just because we call upon the name of the Lord and are baptized doesn’t mean we’re going to grow if we don’t purposefully seek God with all of our hearts. We have to attend church services so that fellowship will act as iron sharpening iron. Meeting together also acts like the fertilizer which encourages us to grow as Christians. When we take notes on the sermon, we’re reinforcing God’s word in our minds in three learning styles: visual - we see the words we write down, auditory - we hear the words spoken, and tactile - we feel the shape of the words as we write them down. That’s like mulching - keeping the moisture around the plant.
There are other ways of increasing spiritual fruit production: Bible study, prayer, fasting, meditation. I know of a couple of people who bring their Bible to church each week, but the rest of the time it stays in the trunk of their car. It’s not enough to get a dose of Bible once a week! Similarly, if the only prayers spoken are asking blessing on the meals, how much communication is there between the God of the universe and the person who states that he wants a relationship with God? Our prayers should be like the daily sacrifices - morning and evening, or even like Paul stated in 1 Thessalonians - continually. Meditation is also one of those disciplines which gets the short stick in our busy lives, in my busy life. I’m often so busy doing that I neglect to sit still and think about what I’m reading in God’s word, to contemplate what application there could be to me personally, and to truly develop a vision for where God wants me to be. Fasting falls into much the same category. I don’t enjoy fasting - so I tend to do it only on the Day of Atonement. These four disciplines are much like the watering and pruning of the fruit tree. If I’m going to grow and be directed by God in my life, I really need to purposefully fast and meditate, pray and study my Bible. My spiritual growth depends upon seeking God in these ways.
You know, this year we had so many Concord grapes that the kids and I only picked a few of the wild grapes. Each time we passed the wild grape vines I felt almost guilty that we were letting them go to waste. We weren’t really - because the wild animals and birds need to eat too. But the idea stuck in my head as a spiritual analogy. I can do all the Bible study, prayer, fasting, meditation, church attendance - but if I don’t make the practical application visible to others in my daily walk, then it just remains head knowledge. I have to make sure the learning I’m doing translates into my daily walk and becomes heart knowledge so that it’s part of who I am, so that others can see God in my life.
So I’m peeling apples this week and I’ll can some more pears next week. When I get tired of working inside, we’ll spread alpaca manure around the blueberries and grapes and in the strawberries. Then we’ll mulch the bushes and vines with wood chips. We’ll enjoy the bounty that God has provided this year, and we’ll purposefully prepare for a harvest next year. And as we thank God for it all, I also will be praising Him that He has given us the physical examples to point us to the spiritual reality: I need to purposefully prepare for a harvest in my own life as well.
"I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot...and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." -Michael Jordan (Professional Basketball Player)
Coming to Know God, Part 7
by Bill Rollins
Many people have a tendency to call the Biblical holy days, “Jewish Holy Days.” But nothing could be further from the truth. You will find all of the Holy Days listed in the book of Leviticus chapter 23. In turning there you will read, “The Eternal God said to Moses, ‘Speak to the Israelites and tell them, these are My appointed feasts, the appointed feasts of the Eternal, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.”
The Holy Days in their entirety, have nothing to do with the Jews; they are God’s feast days. Each one of these days unfolds a rich tapestry of meaning in teaching us about God and especially about His Son Jesus Christ. Each of the days is a “snap shot,” if you will, picturing a separate aspect of our Savior Jesus.
In reading the Gospel accounts we see that Jesus Himself kept the Holy Days. The entire “Passion Week” is one that is tied to the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread. Paul told us that Jesus is the Passover Lamb, and He is the sinless man - the Unleavened Bread that came down from heaven. The entirety of John 7 reveals Jesus keeping the Feast of Tabernacles. In verse 37 of the chapter it says, “On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the scriptures said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ ” Paul also urged the Gentile church at Corinth to “Keep the feast” of Unleavened Bread. (I Corinthians 5:8)
Most everyone knows of the Feast of Pentecost and what happened on that day. The richness of meaning of what God did on that day is quite plain. And so it is for all of these days. The Day of Atonement is a memorial of the atoning sacrifice we have in Jesus. It is, as the Bible says, a day of denying oneself, not to gain favor with God, but as an act of acknowledging what was done for us. I usually talk about it as a day of freedom - freedom from bondage to sin in this world. It was the atoning sacrifice of Jesus that set us free from sin. In this country of ours we set aside one day a year to commemorate the freedoms we have and call it “Independence Day.” The freedom I have in Jesus Christ is even more precious to me than the freedom I have in this country.
Five days after the Day of Atonement is the Feast of Tabernacles. It is an eight-day festival that not only memorializes the wilderness wanderings of the Israelites, as they lived in temporary dwellings (The meaning of the word Tabernacle is “temporary dwelling.”), but it lets us consider the temporary nature of the life we have in these mortal, fleshly bodies. We leave the homes we live in year round and take up residence in “temporary dwellings” for eight days.
If there was one gift that I could give to all of you who have read this far, it would be for you to experience the joy, the peace, the love, and the excitement of keeping one of God’s Holy Days.
*******************************
At a time late in the ministry of Jesus, an expert in the law tested Him with a question, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your life and with all your mind. This is the greatest commandment. And the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:36).
I mention this here because, as we are making our way through the Ten Commandments, we have come to what might be called the dividing line between the two “greatest commandments.” The first four of the Ten Commandments covered our relationship with God (loving God with all our heart, life and mind), and the last six will deal with our relationship with our fellow man (love your neighbor as yourself).
The fifth Commandment is “Honor your father and your mother as the Eternal your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Eternal your God is giving you” (Deuteronomy 5:16).
It should be no surprise that the fifth Commandment, the first one to cover man’s relationship with man, has us honoring our parents. One of the things that each and every one of us, alive on this planet today, has in common is that we all have two parents! It took two human beings to fulfill the miracle of life and bring each one of us into this world. God commands us to honor them.
The apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians said this, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’ - which is the first commandment with a promise - that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Consider for a moment how parents represent, for their children, all authority figures in society. Take a look at our society and ponder the lack of respect for authority that is prevalent. Consider the inner cities of this nation, with the crime, violence and total disrespect for any authority.
It becomes quite obvious that any society where this Commandment is not obeyed begins to crumble and to fall apart at the seams. It will not go well for any society that does not honor their fathers and their mothers. But let’s not totally blame the children because many parents do not show their children they are worthy of honor. Paul goes on to say, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” How often is this done? Much could be said about how the disregard for this one Commandment leads to trouble and how the keeping of it would lead to happier, fuller lives.
God reveals Himself as our Father in heaven. He knew when He created mankind just what it would take to make a society work. He gave us laws, not to burden us, but for our own good. Oh, how we have turned away from Him! What a righteous law this commandment is!
Just look at what Paul told Timothy would happen in the last days: “But mark this, there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (Timothy 3:1-5).
***************************
The sixth Commandment is a very straight-forward one: “You shall not murder” (Deuteronomy 5:17). This directive seems simple enough and perhaps not even worth a full section of comment. But I always wonder, when I run into someone who says that the Ten Commandments are done away with, what would they do with this Commandment? No one in their right mind would consider murder to be all right in God’s sight.
In the two places where we find the Ten Commandments, (Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5) we see that this Law of God is being given to the nation of Israel. It is written by the finger of God and given to Moses on the tablets of stone. But as with all of the Ten Commandments we can find that this Law not to commit murder was in effect since creation.
First of all, if we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that God who created us would not want us killing each other off at our own whim. And we must admit that, God, who is a loving Creator, who gave us these laws for our own benefit, would not have waited approximately 2500 years (the time between creation and the giving of the Law) to let us know that He did not approve of murder. We have only to look at the account of Cain murdering Abel to see that God does not hold the guilty party innocent.
The Commandment, not to commit murder, is probably not one that causes great temptation for all of us reading this today. Oh, we may, at times, say something like, “I’d like to strangle that person” but in reality we are just joking. So how can we apply this to our lives? Jesus helps us out in this respect when, in His sermon on the mount, He magnified the Law. He said, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother, without cause, will be subject to judgment” (Matthew 5:21).
Ah, Jesus said we should not even be angry with our brothers. Through His spoken word we see the deeper meaning behind the Commandment. We must control our temper, for if we consider where the loss of temper, in its extreme, will take us, we find violence and then murder at the end of the road. This society we live in sees much too much of that. Violence fills the streets of most of our cities. Once again, our God, in His love for us shows us the place where this most horrible of sins, against our fellow man, really begins.
There is another aspect of this Commandment I would like to share with you. It is what I call the “positive side of the law.” Perhaps we might consider and meditate upon how we can “help the life” of someone else. The words of our Savior Jesus Christ are filled with the attitude we should have in loving each other, of feeding the hungry, helping the poor, visiting the lonely, etc. James tells us the kind of religion God approves of is “to look after the orphans and widows.” We learn through the pages of the Bible we should “bear the burdens of one another.”
Helping the life of another individual can truly be the fulfillment of this Law of God.
"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
- Theodore Roosevelt
For those who believe, no explanation is necessary.
For those who do not believe, no explanation is possible.
Hope as an Anchor So Steadfast by Cynthia Saladin
Soft as the voice of an angel,
breathing a lesson unheard;
Hope, with a gentle persuasion,
whispers her comforting word.
A comforting word. I think that’s what we all need at various times in our lives. Sometimes it’s financial stress. Other times it’s physical ailments. Maybe it’s family discord and deep division. Sometimes it’s dreary days, one after the other, monotonous and seemingly insignificant. These are the days when we need a comforting word. I think that word is hope.
Whispering hope. Whispering hope.
Oh, how pleasant thy voice!
Making my heart in its sorrow rejoice.
We need hope. But we don’t need the world’s hope - which is just wishful thinking. Worldly hope exhibits itself in phrases like, “I hope it will be sunny tomorrow,” or “I hope it doesn’t get too cold this winter.” That kind of hope is a deceptive distraction from the Biblical hope. Biblical hope is called a helmet in 1 Thessalonians 5:8. Worldly hope is like a filmy, flimsy sunbonnet; Biblical hope is solid enough to deflect arrows aimed at our head! Why is it so powerful? 1 Thessalonians 5:8 calls this helmet the hope of salvation.
We rest on the promises that God has made to us that He has gone to prepare a place for us to bring us to Himself (John 14). We believe that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). We believe God is purifying for Himself a people for His own possession (Titus 2:14). We rest secure in His promise that “neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). So we affirm that our light and momentary trials are preparing for us a glory that far outweighs them all (2 Corinthians 4:17).
Hope, as an anchor so steadfast,
rends the dark veil for the soul . . .
These promises are our firm foundation. They form the basis for our hope which is that anchor so steadfast! And yet . . . God gives us more! He gives us a seven-day festival, plus one, to physically remind us each year of the reality of this hope. We physically dwell, tabernacle, in temporary dwellings each fall, worshipping God and being renewed through fellowship, Bible study, singing hymns - all away from our normal, everyday lives and jobs. We truly “get” how temporary our lives on this earth are because the Feast of Tabernacles is just a temporary hiatus in our yearly activities. We understand that the earthly is passing away. The temporary is passing away. The reality of eternity is just around the corner.
What a compassionate God we serve! He knows how very much we need a yearly reenactment of tabernacling in this world, acting out the fact that “this world in not my home; I’m just a-passin’ through.” He knew we would need more than just head knowledge of the hope He’s set before us. He knew we would need an entire, complete week of the Feast of Tabernacles to sustain us through the darkness and troubles of this world.
So we go to the Feast of Tabernacles, proclaiming that we are exiles and strangers; we’re not at home. We equate it to God’s command that the Israelites celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles every year to remind them that God caused them to tabernacle in the wilderness for 40 years. We know that our focus today must be as much on His leading in our lives as the pillar of fire and the cloud was in theirs. He must lead us. We’re not home yet. This is not where we’re supposed to put our focus.
And as we confess that this world is not our home, that we’re seeking a better country, a homeland, we claim the promise that God is not ashamed to be called our God, that He’s preparing a city for us (Hebrews 11:13-16).
So I know, someone, somewhere, is going to ask if I believe keeping the Feast of Tabernacles is salvational. I’m always dumbfounded by those questions! God has designed a festival, a seven-day feast of worshiping Him, of getting out of our normal routine to spend with people who likewise love Him, to give us hope! And someone wants to know if we are required to accept this incredible gift! But to give an answer: no, salvation is a free gift from God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. And then, my next question back to that person would be, once you have received remission of your sins through the Lord Jesus Christ, how close do you want your relationship to be with your Savior? He’s set up an appointment to meet with you. Why wouldn’t you want to be there? Why would you want to miss the expression of incredible hope inherent in the Feast?
If, in the dusk of the twilight,
dim be the region afar,
will not the deepening darkness
brighten the glimmering star?
Then when the night is upon us,
why should the heart shrink away?
When the dark midnight is over,
wait for the breaking of day.
That’s what we’re waiting for! We’re watching for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. We’re looking for the time when our tabernacles, these temporary and earthly bodies, will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. Oh, what an incredible hope we have as a steadfast anchor for our souls!
"Neither the hair shirt nor the soft berth will do. The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."
- Frederick Buechner
December 2013
Old Cars
by Cynthia Saladin
The van died last night at Shirley’s. It showed no signs of conking out while driving up there, but after visiting for a few hours, it was not going to start. I was bummed. It was cold and dark. Ron had to bundle up the kids and come get me. What a pain.
While I was busy being bummed, I started putting it into perspective. This is called life. Things break down. Things go wrong. Sometimes God is trying to get my attention, to send a message. Sometimes it’s a blessing - I just don’t know it yet. But really, in the large scheme of things, a dead van is not a big deal.
It is an old van. It’s got a lot of miles on it. Jonathan would quote the second law of thermodynamics: everything tends towards disorder. Romans 8:22 says that the whole creation is groaning, waiting for all things to be made new. 1 Corinthians 15:42 says the physical is perishing. The van dying on me last night is not an unusual thing. In fact, it’s expected.
But, is it more than just life? Is God trying to tell me something? When Job experienced the loss of his children, his possessions, and his health, he said, “Shall we accept good and not evil from God’s hand?” (Job 2:10) Just because something bad happens doesn’t mean that I’m doing something wrong. It could be that God is growing me in some way.
Perhaps it’s nothing more than needing to recognize my feelings - of being upset - as wrong. If I trust God, if I truly believe that He has my best interest at heart, then why would I be bummed at all? Why are you downcast, O my soul? . . . Put your hope in God (Psalm 42:5). In actuality, recognizing that God is Sovereign and that I belong to Him is a really big thing. It is what enables people to function, to endure, to persevere when things do really get bad.
Then too, perhaps the van dying is truly a blessing in disguise. At least it died in a place where I was warm and safe. Perhaps God was truly taking care of me - since the van was going to die at some point anyway. And perhaps it’s bigger than that even, and I will never know this side of the kingdom. Think again about what happened to Job. Through his experienced, he ended up with a closer relationship with God. Would he have said, when it was all said and done, that what he experienced was actually a blessing? Was the improved relationship with God worth everything he suffered?
I don’t know. I don’t know if my dead van is a blessing . . . or if God has a lesson for me . . . or if it’s an object lesson of the second law of thermodynamics for Jonathan. Perhaps it’s just an old car. But my van died last night at Shirley’s.
"Worrying is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but doesn’t get you anywhere."
Coming to Know God, Part 8 by Bill Rollins
We now come to the next Commandment, the seventh: “You shall not commit adultery” (Deuteronomy 5:18). The wording on this does not pull any punches; it is quite straight-forward. This is something that you should not do!
If you will recall, so long ago when we started looking at these laws, we said the purpose in doing so was to see how the laws were for our own good and how they were a gift from God Himself - a blessing from Him to us. God wants to see His children happy, just as any father would. He knew adultery was something that would ruin the lives of those He loved. He knew, in the long run, society itself would suffer because of the uncontrolled lusts of adultery.
One of the things that sets us humans apart from the rest of the animal kingdom is our ability to consider the future. When God said He was going to create man in His image and likeness, this was one of His attributes that He gave us. We can and should consider the future consequences of what we do. But, oh, how we would much rather act like an animal of instinct, living for the present rather than using wisdom and considering the future! The pleasure of a few minutes in the present can ruin a life far into the future.
One of the many things Jesus came to do was to magnify the Law. This was prophesied about Him in Isaiah 42:21: “The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honorable.” In His sermon on the mount we hear Jesus talk a great deal about the Law. He said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill (to make full - to magnify) them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of the pen, will in any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Matthew 5:17&18). He goes on to say, “You have heard that it was said by them of old, ‘you shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.”
Has there ever been a society that floods itself with pornography such as ours does? The joy of romantic love is trampled in the streets. It’s joked about on TV and in magazines. The headlines of the magazines at the grocery store check-out line make a mockery of the institution of marriage that God created and sanctified.
But let’s, once again, consider for a moment, the positive side of this Commandment. What is it we should do? Thou shalt make thy marriage stronger. Consider the simple act of communication between husband and wife. For those of you who are married, when was the last time you sat down with your spouse and talked about the things that matter: the relationship you share, the love you have for each other? For those of you who are considering marriage, now is the time to build a strong atmosphere of communication.
God loves us and He has given us a guide to live by. What a joy it is to use it!
****************************
Commandment number 8, “You shall not steal” is the shortest of all the Commandments, but its implications are quite far reaching.
Have you ever considered what life would be like if everyone kept this one Commandment? If for some miraculous reason, everyone everywhere started to obey the Commandment not to steal, life would be drastically and dramatically changed.
First of all, we could throw away every key we owned. House keys, garage keys, car keys, business keys, keys to the storage shed and keys to the mail box would no longer be needed. Think about that for a second. It is almost scary. We are so accustomed to carrying around a set of keys in our pockets or purses that we have become somewhat attached to them. But if no one stole anything, the auto makers would only need to place a starter button in the cars and trucks we drive. Doors and trunks would open with a handle. (A closed truck lid would only be needed to keep the rain off our possessions.) This would be quite a savings considering all the anti-theft devices the manufactures have come up with to keep the vehicles from being stolen.
Never again would a house or business be broken into. Today, in the big city, people cannot enjoy their back yards without first locking the front door to the house. The news every morning has a story or two about the latest bank robbery or convenience store hold-up. All of this would never happen. Perhaps many of you know someone in a large city who has installed multiple locks on each door. Some people we know have two keyed locks and three dead bolts on both the front and back doors. Citizens are behind lock and key while criminals run free.
But God never wanted it to be this way. He knew life would be better if we respected other people’s property. And respect for property goes a lot father than just material things. Cheating on a test, on an insurance claim, or even on a tax form is stealing. Taking the paper clips, pens, paper or small tools from the place where we work is indeed stealing. (This is so prevalent in the business world that millions of dollars are spent each year replacing stolen goods from the work place.)
Repair companies, service companies, contractors and anyone else who falsifies an invoice are guilty of stealing. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to know that wherever we took a vehicle or an appliance to have it fixed, the job would be done for a fair price?
Many of these examples do not have an application in Small Town, America. In many small communities, keys are left in the ignition of many vehicles parked on Main Street. But even in the small town things are changing. For many years, the residents had the privilege of not having to worry about these things, but even in these small communities, they still carry around a pocket full of keys.
But as we did with the last one, let us look at the positive aspect of this Commandment. How can we turn it around?
“Thou shall be generous with the things you own.” Thankfully, there are many generous people around us. May God look down and smile at those who have the desire to keep this Eighth Commandment, both in its intended aspect and in its positive aspect.
Discussing the Details: Missing from the List
by Patricia Manning (written with permission, from
studies by Bill and Sally Rollins)
There are at least three places in the bible where the twelve tribes of Israel are listed, yet one tribe is missing from each list. Surprisingly, it is not always the same tribe. Levi is missing from the list in Joshua 15-19. Simeon is missing in Deuteronomy 33:7. Dan is missing from the list in Revelation 7:4-8. Secretly though, they may be there.
Levi is missing from the lists in a few places. One is found in Joshua chapters 13-19 when the land is being portioned out to the sons of Israel. Another exemption occurs when the children of Israel are numbered (Numbers 1:49). Levi is also missing from the arrangement of the camps in the wilderness. The tribes are divided into four sets of three surrounding the tabernacle; Joseph is divided into Ephraim and Manasseh to make up the numbers. Interestingly, the name Levi is Strong’s number 3878 meaning “attached”, and the reason for their absence in the lists is explicit. They were to be attached to God. Numbers 3:12 “And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel … the Levites shall be mine.” They camped around God’s tabernacle in the wilderness, closest to it and not in fighting formation. Num 1:53 “But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel: and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony.”
As a second example, Simeon appears to be missing from the list in Deuteronomy 33 when Moses blesses the sons of Israel.
(Deut. 33:6) Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.
(:7) And this is the blessing of Judah: and he said, Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people: let his hands be sufficient for him; and be thou an help to him from his enemies.
(:8) And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one…
(:12) And of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him; and the LORD shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.
(:13) And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the …
(:18) And of Zebulun he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out;
(:18) and, Issachar, in thy tents. They shall call the people unto the mountain; …
(:20) And of Gad he said, Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad: he dwelleth as a lion, and teareth the arm with the crown of the head.
(:22) And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion's whelp: …
(verse 23) And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the LORD: possess thou the west and the south.
(:24) And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil….
However, Simeon may actually be in the list, but in a concealed way. Consider the following two facts. Simeon’s name means “hear” (Hebrew 8095 – see Genesis 29:33) and we know that Simeon’s inheritance was completely encompassed by Judah’s inheritance (see Joshua 19:1). In a similar way, Simeon may be incorporated into Judah’s blessing through the word “hear”.
Revelation 7:4-8 is a list of 144,000 harvested from the earth at the end of the age, twelve thousand from each of the tribes of Israel. Dan is apparently missing from this list. Instead, both Joseph and his first-born son Manasseh are mentioned to bring the total to twelve.
Rev. 7:4-8 “And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Asher were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Naphtali were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasseh were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Zebulun were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.”
It is interesting to note that Dan means “judge” Strong’s 1835, from the Hebrew root word Strong’s 1777. This word implies the concept of a fate or destiny that is decided. In Revelation 7:4-8, the word “sealed” that appears throughout the passage is the Greek word Strong’s 4972 from 4973 which also is indicative of security or a destiny that has been decided. Therefore perhaps Dan is also included in a clandestine way.
So, Levi is missing from a few lists because they were obviously claimed or attached to God. Simeon and Dan are also each missing from a list, and yet may be included implicitly. But what can these details teach us? It’s something to think about.
What Has God Moved Your Heart to Do?
by Cynthia Saladin
“Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites - everyone whose heart God had moved - prepared to go up and build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem.” ~Ezra 1:5 (NIV)
The Oregon Trail has always fascinated me. Long wagon trains. Circling up the wagons at night, with animals inside for safety. Eggs nestled in flour barrels to keep them from breaking. Meat hung on the inside of the wagon canvas to dry even as the wagons kept moving. River crossings. Camping in the shadow of Independence Rock on the banks of the Sweetwater River. The deep ruts still visible today. Absolutely fascinating.
There’s even a computer game called the Oregon Trail. And I guess that’s when I started realizing that traveling the Oregon Trail was very risky. There was no assurance you would make it to Oregon. I don’t think I ever played the whole game to Oregon; I usually succumbed to cholera, snake bite, thirst, or something - before I could even make it out of the badlands of Wyoming. And the game only gives a glimpse of the reality. As more and more people traveled west, the Indians became more and more hostile. One was quoted as having said there couldn’t be anyone left in the East; they were all traveling on the Oregon Trail. The wagon circles at night were necessary for protection. Not many, but a few wagon trains were completely massacred by Indians. Other calamities like broken wheels, lame oxen, wagons swept away or tipped over during river crossings - all of these calamities could mean the difference between life and death. Many people did die of illness or accident or snake bite. And even If you were ill, you still had to travel. The train couldn’t stop. They were fighting time. It had to get across the Cascade Mountains before winter! It wasn’t so much the Rockies that were the problem because Jedidiah Smith had found South Pass, but once the travelers reached the mountains further west, travel by wagon was extremely precarious. The Whitmans were the first to get a wagon through, but just barely. And once they got to the Snake River, everyone knew it was only a matter of time before the canyons and cliffs would necessitate abandoning wagon travel altogether: The people had to make rafts to finish the trip into Oregon.
Once I realized the huge undertaking it was, I began thinking of the kind of people who would have made the trip. It wasn’t for weaklings. It wasn’t for someone who wouldn’t pull his own weight. How difficult it would have been for pregnant or nursing mothers or very small children! You don’t hear much about it, but sometimes entire wagon trains turned around and went back to what was familiar.
The goal was Oregon, a rich, fertile land, a chance for a new start. But there were very few people. There were few places to replace what you’d had to leave alongside the trail because you had to lighten the load or kill the oxen. It was unsettled. It was uncivilized. It would mean years of backbreaking work to become established. You would have had a few neighbors with whom you traded labor, but one of the enticements was a place where house was not built upon house, a place where a man could go and hear himself think. The net result of that is reliance upon yourself for what you have to have done.
And definite reliance on God.
I can’t imagine how the people made it to Oregon without trusting God. The perils of the trails were great! How could they persevere without faith that God was with them and would not give them more than they could bear? The Bible might be the only book most of the families took to Oregon. They treasured it. They memorized verses from it. They read aloud by the campfires at night. For many, only faith in God could have gotten them through to Oregon.
The picture of the Oregon Trail is much more familiar to most of us than Ezra and Nehemiah rebuilding Jerusalem. But there would have been distinct similarities. Dangers in travel. Dangers from those who didn’t want the walls rebuilt. Starting over. Only a handful of people. It would have been discouraging, hard work. From the time the first people returned until the temple was finally rebuilt was 20 years! Perseverance. Dedication. Faith that God was leading them. It wasn’t for weaklings. It wasn’t for someone who couldn’t pull his own weight. I had not considered it before, but there were people in Babylon who stayed there. Not everyone immediately jumped up and followed Ezra and Nehemiah back to Jerusalem!
“Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites - everyone whose heart God had moved - prepared to go up and build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem.” ~Ezra 1:5
So what about you? Has God called you to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem or to travel the Oregon Trail? Physically, no. But metaphorically? Maybe.
Do you have faith in God? Has His hand been evident in your life? Have you felt Him calling you into a deeper relationship with Himself? I would submit that if you are among the firstfruits of God’s harvest then you have been called, as a Christian in these times, to a deeper devotion and dedication than we normally consider.
God wants a Godly seed. He wants children who love and obey Him because they have taken captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. He wants people who have been purified in the fire and have stood the test of time. He wants a people wholly devoted to Him!
You’re on the Oregon Trail! You have committed your life to Christ as much as those people committed their lives to reaching Oregon. You’re going to have difficulties. It’s going to be uncomfortable. It could be downright dangerous. What are you going to do? Have you prepared for the trip? Are you going to persevere regardless of the obstacles? Are you shoring up your relationship with God by Bible study and prayer and meditation and fasting - so that you have faith to keep going?
Or are you going to look at what you’ve left and desire to return to something more comfortable? Temporal, but comfortable? Are you going to give up? Are you going to exhibit a lack of faith and turn back?
I truly am amazed at how many people traveled the Oregon Trail! Five to six months of traveling every day. Not easy! I am also amazed at the perseverance of the people rebuilding Jerusalem. Twenty years! Not easy! But God moved their hearts to go and they obeyed. God didn’t call them to easy. God didn’t call them to convenience. God called them to obedience, to faith in Him, to a deeper commitment to Him than what others were perhaps willing to make. What has God moved your heart to do? What has He called you to do? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Matthew 24:46.
"A monument only says, 'At least I got this far,' while a footprint says, 'this is where I was when I moved again.'" - William Faulkner.
Old Cars
by Cynthia Saladin
The van died last night at Shirley’s. It showed no signs of conking out while driving up there, but after visiting for a few hours, it was not going to start. I was bummed. It was cold and dark. Ron had to bundle up the kids and come get me. What a pain.
While I was busy being bummed, I started putting it into perspective. This is called life. Things break down. Things go wrong. Sometimes God is trying to get my attention, to send a message. Sometimes it’s a blessing - I just don’t know it yet. But really, in the large scheme of things, a dead van is not a big deal.
It is an old van. It’s got a lot of miles on it. Jonathan would quote the second law of thermodynamics: everything tends towards disorder. Romans 8:22 says that the whole creation is groaning, waiting for all things to be made new. 1 Corinthians 15:42 says the physical is perishing. The van dying on me last night is not an unusual thing. In fact, it’s expected.
But, is it more than just life? Is God trying to tell me something? When Job experienced the loss of his children, his possessions, and his health, he said, “Shall we accept good and not evil from God’s hand?” (Job 2:10) Just because something bad happens doesn’t mean that I’m doing something wrong. It could be that God is growing me in some way.
Perhaps it’s nothing more than needing to recognize my feelings - of being upset - as wrong. If I trust God, if I truly believe that He has my best interest at heart, then why would I be bummed at all? Why are you downcast, O my soul? . . . Put your hope in God (Psalm 42:5). In actuality, recognizing that God is Sovereign and that I belong to Him is a really big thing. It is what enables people to function, to endure, to persevere when things do really get bad.
Then too, perhaps the van dying is truly a blessing in disguise. At least it died in a place where I was warm and safe. Perhaps God was truly taking care of me - since the van was going to die at some point anyway. And perhaps it’s bigger than that even, and I will never know this side of the kingdom. Think again about what happened to Job. Through his experienced, he ended up with a closer relationship with God. Would he have said, when it was all said and done, that what he experienced was actually a blessing? Was the improved relationship with God worth everything he suffered?
I don’t know. I don’t know if my dead van is a blessing . . . or if God has a lesson for me . . . or if it’s an object lesson of the second law of thermodynamics for Jonathan. Perhaps it’s just an old car. But my van died last night at Shirley’s.
"Worrying is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but doesn’t get you anywhere."
Coming to Know God, Part 8 by Bill Rollins
We now come to the next Commandment, the seventh: “You shall not commit adultery” (Deuteronomy 5:18). The wording on this does not pull any punches; it is quite straight-forward. This is something that you should not do!
If you will recall, so long ago when we started looking at these laws, we said the purpose in doing so was to see how the laws were for our own good and how they were a gift from God Himself - a blessing from Him to us. God wants to see His children happy, just as any father would. He knew adultery was something that would ruin the lives of those He loved. He knew, in the long run, society itself would suffer because of the uncontrolled lusts of adultery.
One of the things that sets us humans apart from the rest of the animal kingdom is our ability to consider the future. When God said He was going to create man in His image and likeness, this was one of His attributes that He gave us. We can and should consider the future consequences of what we do. But, oh, how we would much rather act like an animal of instinct, living for the present rather than using wisdom and considering the future! The pleasure of a few minutes in the present can ruin a life far into the future.
One of the many things Jesus came to do was to magnify the Law. This was prophesied about Him in Isaiah 42:21: “The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honorable.” In His sermon on the mount we hear Jesus talk a great deal about the Law. He said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill (to make full - to magnify) them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of the pen, will in any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Matthew 5:17&18). He goes on to say, “You have heard that it was said by them of old, ‘you shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.”
Has there ever been a society that floods itself with pornography such as ours does? The joy of romantic love is trampled in the streets. It’s joked about on TV and in magazines. The headlines of the magazines at the grocery store check-out line make a mockery of the institution of marriage that God created and sanctified.
But let’s, once again, consider for a moment, the positive side of this Commandment. What is it we should do? Thou shalt make thy marriage stronger. Consider the simple act of communication between husband and wife. For those of you who are married, when was the last time you sat down with your spouse and talked about the things that matter: the relationship you share, the love you have for each other? For those of you who are considering marriage, now is the time to build a strong atmosphere of communication.
God loves us and He has given us a guide to live by. What a joy it is to use it!
****************************
Commandment number 8, “You shall not steal” is the shortest of all the Commandments, but its implications are quite far reaching.
Have you ever considered what life would be like if everyone kept this one Commandment? If for some miraculous reason, everyone everywhere started to obey the Commandment not to steal, life would be drastically and dramatically changed.
First of all, we could throw away every key we owned. House keys, garage keys, car keys, business keys, keys to the storage shed and keys to the mail box would no longer be needed. Think about that for a second. It is almost scary. We are so accustomed to carrying around a set of keys in our pockets or purses that we have become somewhat attached to them. But if no one stole anything, the auto makers would only need to place a starter button in the cars and trucks we drive. Doors and trunks would open with a handle. (A closed truck lid would only be needed to keep the rain off our possessions.) This would be quite a savings considering all the anti-theft devices the manufactures have come up with to keep the vehicles from being stolen.
Never again would a house or business be broken into. Today, in the big city, people cannot enjoy their back yards without first locking the front door to the house. The news every morning has a story or two about the latest bank robbery or convenience store hold-up. All of this would never happen. Perhaps many of you know someone in a large city who has installed multiple locks on each door. Some people we know have two keyed locks and three dead bolts on both the front and back doors. Citizens are behind lock and key while criminals run free.
But God never wanted it to be this way. He knew life would be better if we respected other people’s property. And respect for property goes a lot father than just material things. Cheating on a test, on an insurance claim, or even on a tax form is stealing. Taking the paper clips, pens, paper or small tools from the place where we work is indeed stealing. (This is so prevalent in the business world that millions of dollars are spent each year replacing stolen goods from the work place.)
Repair companies, service companies, contractors and anyone else who falsifies an invoice are guilty of stealing. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to know that wherever we took a vehicle or an appliance to have it fixed, the job would be done for a fair price?
Many of these examples do not have an application in Small Town, America. In many small communities, keys are left in the ignition of many vehicles parked on Main Street. But even in the small town things are changing. For many years, the residents had the privilege of not having to worry about these things, but even in these small communities, they still carry around a pocket full of keys.
But as we did with the last one, let us look at the positive aspect of this Commandment. How can we turn it around?
“Thou shall be generous with the things you own.” Thankfully, there are many generous people around us. May God look down and smile at those who have the desire to keep this Eighth Commandment, both in its intended aspect and in its positive aspect.
Discussing the Details: Missing from the List
by Patricia Manning (written with permission, from
studies by Bill and Sally Rollins)
There are at least three places in the bible where the twelve tribes of Israel are listed, yet one tribe is missing from each list. Surprisingly, it is not always the same tribe. Levi is missing from the list in Joshua 15-19. Simeon is missing in Deuteronomy 33:7. Dan is missing from the list in Revelation 7:4-8. Secretly though, they may be there.
Levi is missing from the lists in a few places. One is found in Joshua chapters 13-19 when the land is being portioned out to the sons of Israel. Another exemption occurs when the children of Israel are numbered (Numbers 1:49). Levi is also missing from the arrangement of the camps in the wilderness. The tribes are divided into four sets of three surrounding the tabernacle; Joseph is divided into Ephraim and Manasseh to make up the numbers. Interestingly, the name Levi is Strong’s number 3878 meaning “attached”, and the reason for their absence in the lists is explicit. They were to be attached to God. Numbers 3:12 “And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel … the Levites shall be mine.” They camped around God’s tabernacle in the wilderness, closest to it and not in fighting formation. Num 1:53 “But the Levites shall pitch round about the tabernacle of testimony, that there be no wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel: and the Levites shall keep the charge of the tabernacle of testimony.”
As a second example, Simeon appears to be missing from the list in Deuteronomy 33 when Moses blesses the sons of Israel.
(Deut. 33:6) Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.
(:7) And this is the blessing of Judah: and he said, Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people: let his hands be sufficient for him; and be thou an help to him from his enemies.
(:8) And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one…
(:12) And of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him; and the LORD shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.
(:13) And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the …
(:18) And of Zebulun he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out;
(:18) and, Issachar, in thy tents. They shall call the people unto the mountain; …
(:20) And of Gad he said, Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad: he dwelleth as a lion, and teareth the arm with the crown of the head.
(:22) And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion's whelp: …
(verse 23) And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the LORD: possess thou the west and the south.
(:24) And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil….
However, Simeon may actually be in the list, but in a concealed way. Consider the following two facts. Simeon’s name means “hear” (Hebrew 8095 – see Genesis 29:33) and we know that Simeon’s inheritance was completely encompassed by Judah’s inheritance (see Joshua 19:1). In a similar way, Simeon may be incorporated into Judah’s blessing through the word “hear”.
Revelation 7:4-8 is a list of 144,000 harvested from the earth at the end of the age, twelve thousand from each of the tribes of Israel. Dan is apparently missing from this list. Instead, both Joseph and his first-born son Manasseh are mentioned to bring the total to twelve.
Rev. 7:4-8 “And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Asher were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Naphtali were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasseh were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Zebulun were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.”
It is interesting to note that Dan means “judge” Strong’s 1835, from the Hebrew root word Strong’s 1777. This word implies the concept of a fate or destiny that is decided. In Revelation 7:4-8, the word “sealed” that appears throughout the passage is the Greek word Strong’s 4972 from 4973 which also is indicative of security or a destiny that has been decided. Therefore perhaps Dan is also included in a clandestine way.
So, Levi is missing from a few lists because they were obviously claimed or attached to God. Simeon and Dan are also each missing from a list, and yet may be included implicitly. But what can these details teach us? It’s something to think about.
What Has God Moved Your Heart to Do?
by Cynthia Saladin
“Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites - everyone whose heart God had moved - prepared to go up and build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem.” ~Ezra 1:5 (NIV)
The Oregon Trail has always fascinated me. Long wagon trains. Circling up the wagons at night, with animals inside for safety. Eggs nestled in flour barrels to keep them from breaking. Meat hung on the inside of the wagon canvas to dry even as the wagons kept moving. River crossings. Camping in the shadow of Independence Rock on the banks of the Sweetwater River. The deep ruts still visible today. Absolutely fascinating.
There’s even a computer game called the Oregon Trail. And I guess that’s when I started realizing that traveling the Oregon Trail was very risky. There was no assurance you would make it to Oregon. I don’t think I ever played the whole game to Oregon; I usually succumbed to cholera, snake bite, thirst, or something - before I could even make it out of the badlands of Wyoming. And the game only gives a glimpse of the reality. As more and more people traveled west, the Indians became more and more hostile. One was quoted as having said there couldn’t be anyone left in the East; they were all traveling on the Oregon Trail. The wagon circles at night were necessary for protection. Not many, but a few wagon trains were completely massacred by Indians. Other calamities like broken wheels, lame oxen, wagons swept away or tipped over during river crossings - all of these calamities could mean the difference between life and death. Many people did die of illness or accident or snake bite. And even If you were ill, you still had to travel. The train couldn’t stop. They were fighting time. It had to get across the Cascade Mountains before winter! It wasn’t so much the Rockies that were the problem because Jedidiah Smith had found South Pass, but once the travelers reached the mountains further west, travel by wagon was extremely precarious. The Whitmans were the first to get a wagon through, but just barely. And once they got to the Snake River, everyone knew it was only a matter of time before the canyons and cliffs would necessitate abandoning wagon travel altogether: The people had to make rafts to finish the trip into Oregon.
Once I realized the huge undertaking it was, I began thinking of the kind of people who would have made the trip. It wasn’t for weaklings. It wasn’t for someone who wouldn’t pull his own weight. How difficult it would have been for pregnant or nursing mothers or very small children! You don’t hear much about it, but sometimes entire wagon trains turned around and went back to what was familiar.
The goal was Oregon, a rich, fertile land, a chance for a new start. But there were very few people. There were few places to replace what you’d had to leave alongside the trail because you had to lighten the load or kill the oxen. It was unsettled. It was uncivilized. It would mean years of backbreaking work to become established. You would have had a few neighbors with whom you traded labor, but one of the enticements was a place where house was not built upon house, a place where a man could go and hear himself think. The net result of that is reliance upon yourself for what you have to have done.
And definite reliance on God.
I can’t imagine how the people made it to Oregon without trusting God. The perils of the trails were great! How could they persevere without faith that God was with them and would not give them more than they could bear? The Bible might be the only book most of the families took to Oregon. They treasured it. They memorized verses from it. They read aloud by the campfires at night. For many, only faith in God could have gotten them through to Oregon.
The picture of the Oregon Trail is much more familiar to most of us than Ezra and Nehemiah rebuilding Jerusalem. But there would have been distinct similarities. Dangers in travel. Dangers from those who didn’t want the walls rebuilt. Starting over. Only a handful of people. It would have been discouraging, hard work. From the time the first people returned until the temple was finally rebuilt was 20 years! Perseverance. Dedication. Faith that God was leading them. It wasn’t for weaklings. It wasn’t for someone who couldn’t pull his own weight. I had not considered it before, but there were people in Babylon who stayed there. Not everyone immediately jumped up and followed Ezra and Nehemiah back to Jerusalem!
“Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites - everyone whose heart God had moved - prepared to go up and build the house of the LORD in Jerusalem.” ~Ezra 1:5
So what about you? Has God called you to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem or to travel the Oregon Trail? Physically, no. But metaphorically? Maybe.
Do you have faith in God? Has His hand been evident in your life? Have you felt Him calling you into a deeper relationship with Himself? I would submit that if you are among the firstfruits of God’s harvest then you have been called, as a Christian in these times, to a deeper devotion and dedication than we normally consider.
God wants a Godly seed. He wants children who love and obey Him because they have taken captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. He wants people who have been purified in the fire and have stood the test of time. He wants a people wholly devoted to Him!
You’re on the Oregon Trail! You have committed your life to Christ as much as those people committed their lives to reaching Oregon. You’re going to have difficulties. It’s going to be uncomfortable. It could be downright dangerous. What are you going to do? Have you prepared for the trip? Are you going to persevere regardless of the obstacles? Are you shoring up your relationship with God by Bible study and prayer and meditation and fasting - so that you have faith to keep going?
Or are you going to look at what you’ve left and desire to return to something more comfortable? Temporal, but comfortable? Are you going to give up? Are you going to exhibit a lack of faith and turn back?
I truly am amazed at how many people traveled the Oregon Trail! Five to six months of traveling every day. Not easy! I am also amazed at the perseverance of the people rebuilding Jerusalem. Twenty years! Not easy! But God moved their hearts to go and they obeyed. God didn’t call them to easy. God didn’t call them to convenience. God called them to obedience, to faith in Him, to a deeper commitment to Him than what others were perhaps willing to make. What has God moved your heart to do? What has He called you to do? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Matthew 24:46.
"A monument only says, 'At least I got this far,' while a footprint says, 'this is where I was when I moved again.'" - William Faulkner.
