Category Archives: The Bible

The Right Words

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If you want entry into the secret cave, where 40 thieves hid the treasure, you need to say the right words: “Open Sesame!”  Are there right words to say if you want to open a connection with God?  I used to think so as a kid.  The man in the robe up front would look all serious and intone, “Let us pray…”  Did that do it, kind of like a religious “Breaker 19?”  What if, instead, he said, “Lettuce spray?”  Would that work?

Amazingly, no opening of the connection is needed; it’s already open and working.  At least, it is working from God’s end:

“O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.” (Psalm 139:1-4)

How does that make you feel?  Maybe sheepish, thinking, “You mean He knows about that time I was thinking about (Here is a blank for you to fill in…)?”  Does it make you want to hide?  (I’m reminded of how babies will try to hide from their parents by putting their hands over their eyes.)  Does knowing God knows what you are thinking and doing inhibit you?  I suppose those kinds of reactions are normal, but that’s not the response God was looking for when He revealed those truths to David.  He was trying to reassure us and fill us with awe.

If you were deep sea diving, it would be mighty nice to know that someone on the surface was monitoring how you were doing.  If you were sneaking around behind enemy lines, knowing that your commanders were watching, were tracking you with drones or satellites – that would be a warm fuzzy.  Your situation here on earth is similar; God wants to reassure us with the knowledge that He is aware of who you are, what you are thinking and how you are doing.

But when we try to make sense of how that might work, we run into the limits of what our minds will handle.  David wrote:

“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.” (Psalm 139:6)

To paraphrase: David is saying, “When I try to think about how You, God, know me, it fills me with wonder and awe.  There’s no way I can fully understand it; it’s too high, too mysterious.”

Once you know that God loves you, you personally, and know that He knows how it is going with you right now, then you can open your end of the connection and communicate with Him.  You don’t even need the right words.  You don’t have to say, “Lettuce spray…”

 

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[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

The Real God

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God is vindictive and cruel in the Old Testament but loving and kind in the New Testament. That is what My friend told me.  He said, because God is so different in the two testaments, it is obvious to him that the Bible can’t be trusted.  Is he right?  See what you think.  Here is a quote from the Old:

“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;” (Psalm 103:8-13)

So, how did my friend get such a wrong idea?  The key is in the last line.  God has fatherly compassion toward those who “fear” Him.  That word does not mean those who cower in fright, but rather, those who respect or revere God so thoroughly that they are eager to respond to what he says.  If you had occasion to meet your favorite celebrity (actor, author, athlete – whatever) and he or she asked you to do something with them, how eager would you be to to say, “yes?”  Like that, only much, much more because God is much, much more.  Those who respond with awe and eagerness to God discover His love, His forgiveness, His goodness.

There was a math teacher in my high school whose reputation among the students was either, “really mean and vindictive, a nasty disciplinarian” or, “an amazing and gracious guy who would do anything to help you learn.”  Guess what?  Turns out he was the same guy.

Quotes: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

As Good as His Word

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Is God good for His promises?  Does He go back on His Word?  Consider this amazing promise, made 2700 years ago:

“On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 25:7-8)

It might seem as though this is a promise not kept by God.  But notice He says He will do it “On this mountain.”  The mountain referred to is Mount Zion in Jerusalem. the mountain on which Jesus was crucified and buried, the mountain from which He rose in victory over death.  His death and resurrection purchased life for “all people” who would believe in Christ, and it was done on that mountain.

Jesus said:

““I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5:24)

Later on, God gave John a preview of the “new heaven and earth” that is on its way.  John wrote:

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”” (Revelation 21:3-4)

The Lord has spoken.  His Word is good.

Quotes: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

No Baloney

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What’s the best line in the whole Bible?  What would you choose?  Me? It’s something Jesus told the boys on the night He got arrested:  He said,

“… if it were not so, I would have told you…” (John 14:2)

Jesus wasn’t blowing smoke.  He wasn’t saying nice things just because they were comforting.  He wasn’t going along with wishful thinking or superstition.  The things He told were absolutely so; they were accurate descriptions of reality.  “If it were not so, I would have told you.”

That’s important to me because, over the years, people have told me a lot of religious things that were not so.  They were really true.  And I don’t want to be fooled or gullible.  You hang around funeral homes and you will hear a lot of things said that may not be so.  Comforting? Yes.  Nice ideas?  Yes.  But true?  Maybe not.  “Oh, Wilma has gone to a far better place.”  Maybe that’s true; maybe not.  People who say such things don’t necessarily believe them, but they know they help those who grieve.

Jesus knew His family and friends would not only be grieving but also they would be horrified and frightened.  He knew platitudes might temporarily help, like a kiss on a cut, but what they really needed was a strong dose of truth.  Truth they could lean on.  Truth that would hold when they did.

Here’s the rest of what He said:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:1-3)

Rooms?  Many rooms?  What’d He mean by that?  There’s no good English word.  Bibles used to use the word, mansions, which really gives the wrong idea.  The Greek word refers to places in which one makes his or her home, to live there permanently.  Dwelling places.  He was saying God has many dwelling places where those who “trust Him” (verse 1, above)  will continue to live, even after death.  With Him.

And, if it were not so, He would have told us.

Lean on that.

Quotes: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Deep Yearning

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Need something to smile about?  Check this out:

The reason that makes us smile from deep inside is because we have a knowledge, deep inside, that there is a deep rightness to this kind of peace.  The Bible word for rightness is righteousness.  I take the “eous” out of that word and it feels more natural: rightness.   Yes indeedy, the way things ought to be!

Deep inside each of us there is a place where we yearn for rightness.  We yearn for that kind of peace to be spread out across the world.  That thirst is there because God put it there.  He put it there and He will eventually satisfy it.  Here are some excerpts of what He foretold through the Old Testament prophet, Isaiah, about the coming Kingdom of Jesus:

“Righteousness [rightness] will be his [The Messiah, Jesus] belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.” (Isaiah 11:5-7 with my explanations in brackets)

More remarkable than vegetarian lions and bears, people from all nations, even Israel’s former arch enemies, will come to her Messiah and unite with her in true peace!

Imagine,

“In that day the Root of Jesse [The Messiah, Jesus] will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations [other nations, not just Israel] will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious. In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea.” (Isaiah 11:10-11)

That might sound like “pie in the sky, by and by” except that Isaiah nailed his prophecies over the several hundred year period before Christ, and those about Jesus, His purpose in coming, His death and resurrection.  Isaiah is batting 1000.  When he looks into the future, to envision the Kingdom of Jesus, pay attention.  Especially as he tells of that deep knowledge, that deep yearning being fulfilled.

“They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:9)

The folks will not simply be peaceful, but thankful, too:

” In that day you will say: “I will praise you, O Lord. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.”” (Isaiah 12:1-2)

Oh, and by the way…   If you look up the word Isaiah used for “salvation” in Hebrew you will discover it is “Yeshua,” the Name of Jesus…

Quotes: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

 

Passing Through

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Admit it: there are times when you wonder if you have arrived on the wrong planet.  The world seems to have gone crazy.  We don’t belong here.  Don’t turn away from that feeling; we really don’t!  God makes it clear in His Word: we are temporarily homeless, homeless now but traveling toward our home with Him.  You see this throughout the Bible, as He calls His people “sojourners” (King James word), people on a journey.  Sojourners may be staying for awhile in a place, but know, ultimately, they are moving on.  God called Abraham to sojourn away from his family homeland.  The Israeli escaped slaves sojourned in the desert enroute to the Promised Land.  And followers of Jesus are called sojourners, too.  Our citizenship is not here on Earth but in Heaven.  Jesus prayed for His followers, saying,

“…they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.” (John 17:14b-16)

Sojourners.  That’s why Peter, writing to fellow believers, referred to them as,

“…strangers [literally sojourners] in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia,” (1 Peter 1:1b)

When we realize, as the song says, “this world is not my home; I’m just a-passin’ through,” life in this crazy world makes more sense.  It is fresher, more invigorating and filled with purpose.  Motels don’t feel like home but when you are on a journey, the temporary feel of a motel is no big deal  It’s when you get stuck living in a motel, as  several friends have been, after their homes were destroyed, that things get weird.  It’s as though life stagnates.

When we think of this world as our permanent home, life stagnates and gets weird here, too.  Our priorities become twisted.  Instead of living by love we fixate on acquiring stuff.  When we recognize that this life is but a journey, and make that journey with God, the natural stagnation of this world is cleansed and refreshed by the “living waters” of His Spirit.

Our journey is not aimless.  We are heading toward our real and permanent home.  The author of Hebrews wrote this about those who knew they were sojourners:

“If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” (Hebrews 11:15-16)

When you know life is a journey, the ups and downs are better, the craziness easier to deal with.  And the destination is better, too.  As David wrote about his journey, the one that even wound its way through the “valley of the shadow of death,”

“Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Psalm 23:6)

 

 

 

Quotes: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

 

Members Only?

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Has God passed you by?  I’ve been enjoying “American Idol” over the past few weeks, but always feel the pain of the contestants who, each week, are informed they were not chosen.  They are told, your best wasn’t good enough; go back to the hotel, get your stuff together and go back to your ordinary, humdrum life.  Ouch.  But the Bible uses that word, chosen, too.  Israel is “God’s chosen people.”  And Peter calls Christians,

To God’s elect, ….who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, …. 1 Peter 1b & 2a (excerpts)

If God chooses those who become Christians, does so by His own foreknowledge, and if you are not a Christian, does that mean God has passed you over?  Has God rejected you?  When you also realize that Jesus taught that only those who come to Him by faith are born into the Kingdom of Heaven and attain eternal life, this is no small question.  Has God left you out?   These other teachings of Jesus may sound to you as though Heaven is for “Members Only” and that it’s up to God who becomes a “member.”

 John 14:6 (NIV)
Jesus answered, “I am* the way* and the truth* and the life.* No one comes to the Father except through me.*

John 6:44 (NIV)
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him,* and I will raise him up at the last day.

But look more carefully at these other teachings of Jesus:

John 6:40 (NIV)
For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son* and believes in him shall have eternal life,* and I will raise him up at the last day.”

John 6:45 (NIV)
It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’** Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.

So which is it: “no one” or “everyone?”  Both, really.  If you haven’t decided about Jesus but are still reading this, it is likely that God is “drawing you” to Himself.  If you sense a desire to “listen to the Father” and “learn from Him” you are likely being drawn by God to come to Jesus.  His will is that everyone who believes in Jesus “shall have eternal life.”  Everyone.  If you are willing, He won’t leave you out.

So who chooses?  Is it you or is it God?  As hard as it is to wrap our minds around it, the Bible says it is God Who chooses.  But it feels as though we choose.  The best way for me to illustrate this is with this scenario:  Suppose my dog is sick and will die unless he eats a certain life-saving medicine.  I wrap the medicine in his favorite peanut butter and put it out where he will find it.  He gobbles it down.  Who chose?

Bottom line is this:  If you sense a desire to be closer to God, He will not leave you out.  He will open the way for you to come to Him through Jesus.  Follow that desire, take advantage of that open “Way,” and, mysteriously, you will have been “chosen!”

Oh Shoot

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If Iran gets a nuke, would God stand by and let them wipe Israel off the map?  He let it happen before, about 2700 years ago. God had planned to use Israel to bless other nations as a living demonstration of how much better life works when you pay attention to the real God,  But, when they turned away and began to follow the gods and customs of their neighbors (now called Iran, Iraq and Syria), He allowed those countries to literally wipe His people off the map.  Almost.  God had not given up on His original plan.  Speaking through Isaiah, He said:

” A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse [i.e. Israel]; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” (Isaiah 11:1, my explanation of “Jesse.”)

My neighbor got fed up with his apple tree.  You couldn’t eat the apples and it messed up his yard in the fall.  Here’s a picture of what used to be his apple tree:  .wpid-wp-1430490990902.jpg

It looks a bit like Israel did after they stopped  producing the kind of “fruit” God had intended.  But look very closely at the bottom, left corner of the picture.   Here’s a blow up:

wpid-wp-1430490977197.jpg

 

That’s a shoot, coming up from the stump of his apple tree.  You have to look carefully to even notice it.  To the casual observer it doesn’t look like it will amount to much.

 

You could make the same mistake when it comes to Jesus, the “Shoot” Who sprouted from the “stump” of God’s Chosen People.  You might miss Him, such a seemingly insignificant figure, compared to the might and grandeur of Rome.  But Rome has fallen and the “Shoot” is still growing.  Jesus is still blessing people of all nations who come to Him to be reconciled to God.  He is “bearing the fruit” of leading people to the real God.  Here’s more of what Isaiah wrote:

” A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord— and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.” (Isaiah 11:1-5)

Quotes: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

 

Says Who?

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After 30 years, now it’s safe to eat eggs.  The experts were wrong. Of course, the experts used to think tomatoes were poisonous, too.  Nope, it’s Lima beans that are poisonous; ask any kid.  You can’t always trust the experts.  Expert publishers rejected the novels of John Grisham (16 times!).  Expert physicists rejected the theories of Einstein.  And expert religious leaders rejected Jesus.

Of course, God saw that coming.  He created us humans and knows how we tend to think we know all the answers.  Hundreds of years before Jesus, He inspired these words:

“The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone [or cornerstone – same word]; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” (Psalm 118:22-23 – with my explanation)

Jesus quoted that line to challenge religious leaders who had rejected Him.  He is the cornerstone of the Kingdom of God, the foundation stone upon which everything else in God’s Kingdom is built.  God has done this, not “the builders.”  Not the experts.  God’s Kingdom is still growing.  Every human kingdom ultimately collapses for want of a strong “cornerstone.”

We still have experts today – leaders, judges, officials, scholars – who choose to build without regard to the “Cornerstone.”  Inevitably, what they build is not so “marvelous.”

“[But]…this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.” (Isaiah 28:16b)

Be careful who you trust.

Quotes: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

What Will Happen

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What’s going to happen next in Iran?  Who knows?  How about in Iraq, Syria or Israel?  Who knows about Yemen?  Experts and national leaders alike can only guess.  News commentators are at a loss.  And yet, there is Someone Who knows and He’s proved it.

If the current situation in the Middle East seems complicated, check out the history of that region during the last few centuries BC.  The Assyrians and Babylonians conquered the Israelis, lost to the Persians, who then were conquered by the Greeks, whose kingdom broke up and was taken over by the Romans.  And the whole, complex, seemingly chaotic series of events was revealed in advance to the prophet, Daniel. Read the 10th and 11th chapters of Daniel.  The specificity is amazing!  For example, he wrote:

““The king of the South will become strong, but one of his commanders will become even stronger than he and will rule his own kingdom with great power. After some years, they will become allies. The daughter of the king of the South will go to the king of the North to make an alliance, but she will not retain her power, and he and his power will not last. In those days she will be handed over, together with her royal escort and her father and the one who supported her. “One from her family line will arise to take her place. He will attack the forces of the king of the North and enter his fortress; he will fight against them and be victorious.” (Daniel 11:5-7)

A couple hundred years  after Daniel wrote those prophecies, they took place!  The “King of the South” was Ptolemy II Philadelphus and his daughter was named Berenice.  It all happened!  Daniel’s writings were so specifically accurate that some doubt that he could have written them in advance.  And yet, there is compelling evidence he did.  God proved He knew what would happen.

My point is this: Even in the midst of our current, global, political chaos, God is not surprised or defeated.  He knows.  He not only knows because He is in control.  He also told Daniel about events still in our future.  He said:

“… There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.” (Daniel 12:1-3)

Jesus reaffirmed the certainty of those promises.  Daniel got it right.  “Those who are wise” will draw close, through Jesus, to the One Who knows.  He knows what will happen in the Middle East.  He knows what will happen to you.

Quotes: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.