Hard Times and Heaven Too!

Life is a very funny thing, when you think about it.  At times it can be immensely pleasurable, and at times it can be terribly disconcerting.  That second point is what Job is lamenting about in Job 7.  "Doesn't man have hard service on earth?  When I lie down I think, 'How long before I get up?'  The night drags on, and I toss till dawn.  Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath; my eyes will never see happiness again.  As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to the grave does not return."  We only have this one life to live, Job says, and it isn't always fun.

Avril and I are about to head out on vacation for a couple of weeks, so I thought I would offer up one last post before we leave.  We've been looking forward to this vacation for about eight months now, because we have five friends from England visiting with us.  They arrrived yesterday afternoon, and we're thorughly enjoying the renewing of our friendship after almost twenty months apart.  These next two weeks should be filled with many of life's pleasurable times.  And we're going to take this opportunity and enjoy the time we have together to the fullest.

All of this makes heaven something tremendous to look forward to.  Heaven will be that place where all the things that are wonderful about life will be, and where none of the things that are difficult about life will ever be.  It will never drag on ... we'll never long for it to be over ... and our relationship with the Lord and with each other will be able to be enjoyed to the fullest forever.  Just like Avril and I couldn't wait for our friends to arrive from England so we could enjoy our vacation together ... so I can't wait for heaven either.  For once we're there we'll be able to truly understand why God created us, and what life was truly meant to be all about.

Ray

The Mind of Christ

Ray - what does Paul mean when he says we have the mind of Christ?

1 Corinthians 2:14 says, "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." Non-Christians have no capacity within themselves to understand the things of God. That's why you often hear non-believers talking about God as if they know better how things should be than the Creator Himself. But as the first part of 1 Cor 2:16 says, "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" Non-Christians would do themselves a great favor if they would just shut up and listen to God, rather than think that they know what's best for themselves and the rest of the world. "But we have the mind of Christ." Because we know Jesus, and because we have the Holy Spirit of God in our lives, we know better than to think that we can instruct God. Instead, we know that, like Christ, we are to submit our lives into our Heavenly Father's hands. And in so doing, rather than think we can instruct God, we desire to learn from Him instead. Through Jesus we have access to the wisdom and knowledge of God and His will and His ways.

Don't forget that on the left there is a link to quite a few Bible Commentaries. I'm not saying don't ask, I'm just saying don't forget all the wisdom that is already available to all of us right here online.

Haggai the Prophet

Hi Ray,
Thank you for your teaching on Sunday. I love the ancient history, and I appreciated how you wove the book of Haggai into the events of Ezra's time. We learn from Ezra Chapter 5 that Haggai and Zechariah ministered during the time of Darius I and Zerubbabel, governor of Judah. My Bible's timeline further explains that Malachi prophesied during the reign of Artaxerxes, sometime between 440-430, shortly after Ezra and Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem. So, as I am reading the recommended Scriptures this week, I am also reading Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi to get a deeper understanding of the times. I'll read them again when they come up on our calendar, but my brain works better if I read them now with Nehemiah and Esther. Call me crazy, but as I said, I love the history!

Debbie

Real Sorrow!

In Ezra 10, it says that Ezra wept bitterly because so many of the Israelites who had returned to Israel from Babylon had intermarried with non-Israelites.  He wept because he knew it was a violation of God's law.  And because he knew that their offspring might not be nearly as fervent in their devotion to the Lord, since their parents' devotion was probably diluted.

 

And in Nehemiah 5, Nehemiah gets very angry at the Israelite nobles and officials who had been exacting usury from their own countrymen and women.  He was angry because he knew it was a violation of God's law.  And because he knew that if the Israelites took advantage of one another, then it would dilute their ability to withstand to attacks of the non-believers around them.

 

Why are we so less concerned today when we hear of fellow Christians who are violating God's law.  We truly want to see God use us to make a real significant difference in the world around us, don't we?  Then shouldn't we strive more and more (not less) to make sure that the lives we live are not diluted by our lack of obediance to God's word?

My Prayer for You

Hi Ray,
Since the day I learned about Avril's dad, I have prayed for you all. May the words that you teach on tomorrow give you peace and joy.
Deb

"Keep praying, but be thankful that God's answers are wiser than your prayers!" (William Culbertson)

He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else. (Benjamin Franklin)

God Truly Is On Our Side!

It's Saturday evening and I'm sitting in my office trying to put together my sermon for tomorrow morning.  I just returned earlier today from saying good-bye to my father-in-law, Alden Smith.  He was a wonderful Christian man and someone that I am truly going to miss for the rest of my earthly life.  However, as I sit here putting together the outline for my sermon, I cannot think of a better passage that I would want to preach from tomorrow (Sunday, June 29) than the one I picked out a few weeks ago.

 

The passage I'll be preaching from is Romans 8:28-39.  I know that normally, if it sounds too good to be true, it's probably because it is!  But this is one time where the old adage is wrong!  Because if God is for us, then He truly can and does work all things together for good.  The last passage from the Bible that I read to Alden before he died was this very passage.  As he was preparing to leave this world to go to Jesus, I just wanted to remind him that no one, and no thing, no where, no how, and in no way, in all time or all eternity, could ever separate him from the love of God that is only found in Jesus.  Alden bet his eternal destiny on that almost unbelievable fact, and so can the rest of us!

Family Knots!

I've always found Jesus' words in Matthew 10:35 where Jesus says, "I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, etc ..." to be somewhat enigmatic.  With the importance that the Scriptures place on family relationships, it's hard to understand these kind of words from Jesus.  But then in today's reading in 2 Chronicles 15:16 it says, "King Asa also deposed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother, becuase she had made a repulsive Asherah pole."  As the King of Judah, Asa wanted to be a good king so that the Lord would be able to then bless Asa's reign and bless Judah as well.  But his grandmother was working against his program, and undoubtedly making it much more difficult for him to do all that he wanted to do for God.

 

At first I titled this post "Family Ties," but then I decided to name it "Family Knots" instead.  Because often times our ties to our relatives become more like knots that become impossible to untangle, rather than ties that bind us together.  We all need to look more closely at our lives and ask ourselves what kind of influence are we being within our families.  Does the reality of what's going on in all the different aspects of our lives make it easier, or more difficult, for God to do the work He wants to do within our extended families.

The Glory of the Lord

In today's reading it says (2 Chron 5:13-14) "... Then the temple of the LORD was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the temple of God."

I know I'll probably have to wait until heaven for it to happen, but it sure would be nice to experience for a few moments in this life of what it's like to be unable to function because of being overwhelmed by the glory of being in the presence of God.

Ray

Names and Faces

Thanks, Nancy, for the suggestion.  I had a thought this morning as I was reading more names.....someday when we all get to heaven we are going to have eternity to meet every one of these people face to face, enjoy each others company, and worship God together.  We will even know more about our own genealogy!  Peace, Carol

P.S.  I also look forward to meeting the wives, mothers, and grandmothers behind these mighty men!  Just imagine what went on behind the scenes......who cared for all these men!

Genealogies... Painless

Nancy, Thank you! What a fantastic idea!

Love, Lisa

Geneologies the Painless Way

If anyone is a bit behind, as I was, here is a tip for Chronicles, or anywhere else that you encounter a lot of names. If you go to the home page of Biblegateway (you can get there by clicking any of the passages listed by date to the left of this blog) and look for the audio symbols, you can have these passages read aloud to you. And read by someone who knows how to pronounce each name! I found it strangely beautiful to hear all the names read aloud and much easier than attempting to pronounce them myself. -- Nancy

Repenting of Sin

Just to backtrack a little, I noticed a correlation between 2 Kings 23:4-16 and Acts 19:17-20.

In 2 Kings the king destroys all the idols in the temple, all the high places, and all the Ashera poles.

His repentance is so complete that he grinds them to a powder and discards the ashes in a valley and on common graves.

In Acts some new Christians who were into sorcerey, divination, and the occult gather their scrolls and burn them.

Scripture records that the worth of the scrolls was 50,000 drachmas.  In my bible a footnote states that a drachma was a day's wage.

At minimum wage in Connecticut that would be over 3 million dollars!!!!!  That's repentance!!!!   roni mace

Genealogies

It’s funny that you mention, Pastor Ray, that you have just noticed something this time while reading through the bible. I’ve tried to keep track of the genealogy and thought, “boy, I’ll have to read through the bible every year to get a grasp on this.”

I’ve also been pondering the question, if we could track our own genealogy back that far, where would our family tree lead us? When we read about God passing judgment on a family for generations, or giving a blessing to generations…. Where does that fit into our own lives? Do it even fit in? Has Jesus erased all of that?

Love, Lisa

More Geneologies Considered

This isn't directly about geneologies per se, but about the fact that we've been reading lists of names that have been recorded in the Bible at least until the end of time.  I say that because Jesus Himself says that "until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or tittle" of the word shall pass away until it is all fulfilled.  Sometimes I think how awesome an idea that is ... that these names have been recorded there for all time ... the good, the bad, and the ugly.  And then I think that there is another book of names that has been written.

 

It is called the Lambs Book of Life and it contains all the names of everyone who will ever come to faith in Christ as their Savior.  Revelations 13:8 and 17:8 says that it is a book that has been written since the foundation of the world.  Don't ask me exactly how all that works, just meditate on it and let the reality of that sink in.  We tend (and I absolutely include myself in that "we") to get caught up in so many different things.  How does the bulletin look, what music to pick, what instruments to use, what passage to preach, what clothes to wear, and on and on and on ... and then Jesus says don't rejoice (or worry) about this or that, but "...rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven."

Geneologies Considered

Apart from an historical record of who is related to whom, I'm not sure that there is any one particular thing that God wants us to understand from the geneologies. But we do need to believe that the Holy Spirit can use all scripture to bring about change in our lives; and maybe that in itself, is a value to be found in the geneologies. If once upon a time a person thought they were of no value, and now that same person wonders if maybe, just maybe, they might be of value ... that is a change in one's attitude towards scripture that God would consider worthwhile.

 

Now having said that, I found myself surprised last week when reading 1 Chronicles 2:13-17. In all my years of reading the Bible, etc., I don't think I had ever quite noticed the relationship between David & Joab and David & Amasa, whom Joab murdered. Joab was the commander of Israel's armies, and he was also David's nephew, being the son of David's sister, Zeruiah. But Amasa was also David's nephew, being the son of David's sister, Abigail.

 

If both Joab and Amasa were David's nephews, then neither was a closer relative of David's ... their relative rank within the family structure was more or less the same. So why did David let Joab get away with murdering Amasa? Why didn't he deal with Joab's treachery long before he died? Why did he leave it to Solomon to have to deal with it? I don't have an answer yet, but I didn't notice the connection except by reading through the geneologies in 1 Chronicles.

 

Ray

Geneaologies

Aside from the prayer of Jabez and some other notations

what does God want us to understand from the geneologies?

The Prayer of Jabez

As some of you may have already discovered, the Peoples' Choice Sermon Poll for June has closed.  And since there was a three-way tie, I have chosen to exercise my discretionary powers, so I will be preaching from 1 Chronicles 4:9-10 ...

 

"Jabez was more honorable than his brothers.  His mother had named him Jabez, saying, 'I gave birth to him in pain.'  Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, 'Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory!  Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.'  And God granted his request."

 

This obscure little prayer gained much attention about ten years ago due to a best-selling little book by the same title written by Bruce Wilkinson, the Founder of Walk Thru the Bible Ministries.  However, Wilkinson only renewed interest in it for the modern world.  In fact, it was originally brought to people's attention by none other than Charles H. Spurgeon.  If you would like to read his original sermon, go to the following online link (http://www.peacemakers.net/unity/chsprayerofjabez.htm).

 

If you have never read Wilkinson's book, I highly recommend it.  For once you understand what it is really saying, you will understand why God included this little part of scripture in His eternal word.  And it is the kind of prayer that if is offered in sincerity, even by a little child, it can change one's life forever.

Up, Up and Away!

The story of Elijah's chariot ride up into heaven reminds me of a wonderful Biblical truth that we don't often talk about.  It's a truth that was one of the foremost topics of discussion 30+ years ago when I first came to know the Lord, but you rarely hear about today.  I'm not saying nobody ever talks about it, rather I'm just saying that "the church" doesn't talk about it as much as it once did.  And in case you haven't guessed yet, I'm talking about the Rapture.

 

The first hint of the concept in the Bible was actually found in the Thru the Bible reading for January 2nd.  In Genesis 5:24 where it says, "Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away."  This is in stark contrast to everyone else mentioned in Genesis 5 because all the rest of them "died."  Enoch evidently didn't die.  Instead something else happened to him ... presumably, "God took him" alive up into heaven.

 

Elijah's story represents the second hint of the concept in the Bible.  2 Kings 2:11 says, "... Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind."  Here we have a little bit more information.  With Enoch we were just told "God took him," but here it gives us the details of how God took Elijah up into heaven.  We don't have to presume that God took Elijah up alive, we have it stated as a matter of fact.

 

In our Thru the Bible reading for September 16th, will be one of the two primary passages in the New Testament which speaks to the idea of the Rapture.  In 1 Thessalonians 4:17 is says, "... we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together ... in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  And so we will be with the Lord forever."

 

There yet remains one more time when God will bring people up into heaven alive.  And that is when Jesus returns to bring the Church, His Bride, to be with Him in heaven forever; and it will happen "... in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye ..." (1 Cor 15:52).  What if it were today?

You're right!

You're right, Roni.  We live just far enough away from Hartford and the violence that is part of daily life there, that we feel safe here.  Most of us have been blessed to not experience it personally on a daily basis.  We hear about it on the news or in the paper and think, "Oh, no, not again; not another shooting....."  Without it hitting someone we love, it's very easy to turn it off.  We are so insulated from so much of the turmoil in the world--and especially lately with the cyclones and earthquakes and fires and floods, etc.  We read the Old Testament, and it's easy to think that the violence happened then, but it is still happening.  I like to read of the times when the kings went to make peace with the neighboring kings, and hope that our future president will try to work for peace and not think of "obliterating" countries. 

 

I'm glad you're among us and safe now, Roni, and I pray for the peace of Christ to surround you and blot out those memories.  Blessings, Ruth

Trivia

There were quite a few people who came to the Thru-the-Bible Ice Cream Social the other night.  It was a really nice evening of sharing.  However, I don't think it's right that those of you who stayed home missed out on Ray's Trivia Quiz.  So here are just a few to see how your reading is coming along:

1.  What kind of man was Boaz before he married Ruth?

2.  Which servant of God was the most flagrant lawbreaker in the Bible?

3.  Did you know it's a sin for a woman to make coffee?

Should I make you wait for the answers?  No, you need to be able to measure your reading retention....

1.  Ruthless

2.  Moses.  He broke all 10 commandments at once.

3.  Yes, it's in the Bible.  It says, "He-brews."  Oh, but you haven't read that yet!

Blessings, Ruth

violence in the old testament

i find it interesting that someone would say we are not living in a violent society.

i grew up in hartford, ct and went to hartford public high (class of 1976) (now everyone knows i'm 50 this year) and got beat up on a regular basis by a girls gang that for some reason didn't like me.  my daughter's father beat me while i was married to him. (he died of lukemia 5 years ago so i'm in no danger if anyone is a worrier.) there are shootings and stabbings in the inner city on a regular basis.  violence is everywhere and if you don't see it that maybe because you haven't experienced it personally.  the world is a violent place because man is fallen without Christ and most people don't know Jesus like we do and lack the Holy Spirit's guidance.  veronica mace "roni" 

Too Much Violence

A number of people have commented to me that they sometimes have difficulty with the level of violence in the Old Testament, so I thought that it might be good if I respond to those concerns with a couple of comments.  Keep in mind, though, that I'm not trying to justify the violence, rather I am simply trying to put it in context.

 

We live in an age and society where we desire to live under the rule of law.  We know evil exists, and as a society we seek to keep evil in its place by setting up structures (i.e. laws, police, courts, etc.) that enable us to do that as effectively as possible.  We look back on the "Hatfield-McCoy" fued in West Virginia a hundred years ago as being something strange.  Why?  Because such things should not exist in the United States of America.  That's not the way we want our society to operate.

 

What we need to realize is that back in Old Testament times the world was a much different place.  Just like it is a much different place from the U.S. in many places around the world even today.  Back then, society's way of keeping evil in check was a form of "Hatfield-McCoy" type of fued.  But rather than it being in the form of family fueds, it was in the form of a "blood avenger."  When someone was wronged, it was the responsibility, sanctioned by society, for the nearest "blood relative" to make sure that "eye for an eye" justice was served on the offender.  It wasn't a perfect system, any more than our own system in the U.S. today is a perfect system.  But it did serve the need back then, just as ours does now, of trying to keep evil at bay.

 

I realize that the above doesn't perfectly answer every concern about violence in the Old Testament; but perhaps it helps to put some of the issues in context.

 

Ray

John 6

Praying Scriptures is very powerful; I also would say keeping a prayer journal is great. When you start praying for the people in your life as Carol suggested, it will be very encouraging to go back and see how the Lord has answered those prayers.

Lisa

OT Biggest Loser

Well, so far in the reading I think Saul, what a bone head! After Saul completely disobeys God, then tries to deny it to Samuel, David spares his life in the cave, reveals himself and lets him know that, so Saul agrees with him, he promises to stop pursuing him, then next thing you know, the Ziphites go to Saul and egg him on, so off he goes after David again. Then when David reveals himself again, they have the SAME conversation… Loser

Here’s a new question, who’s the Best Friend thus far in the OT? My thoughts, Jonathan, 1Sam Ch23 v 15-18, Jonathan goes out to where David is hiding in the Desert of Ziph, it says Jonathan went to David “to help him find strength in the Lord” Man, I need more friends like that!

Lisa

Prayer & Childlike Faith

Remember how when your kids were little they would often say something like, "Mommy (or Daddy), you said that if I ____________, you would ____________."  Maybe we need to use that same kind of childlike approach with our Heavenly Father.

 

I think Carol may be right on regarding how we ought to pray.  When we're praying for somebody's salvation, maybe all we need to pray is: "Father, draw____________to Jesus, that ____________ may be saved, and raised up at the last day."

 

Ray