Job's Gold

Job - by Leon Bonnat (1880)

If you are Christian, Jew, Muslim, or a well-read non-religious person, you’ve heard of Job – and the first three see him as an example to generations who followed him, including our own and those coming after us. Perhaps best of all when he cries out:

Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat! (Job 23:3 KJV)

At this point in his book, he has lost everything he owned, his ten children have been killed, his body is broken out in boils, his wife is berating him, and his three friends are demanding he confess to the horrible sin that has brought all of this on him. He cries out that he wants to go to God’s throne to confirm his innocence.

The first part of the book tells us that Satan is the source of all the evil that has befallen, and God allowed it. Since all the Bible is about God, how does that compute with:

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 KJV)

It computes very well when we understand that we are not reading “all things are good to them that love God,” but understand that “all things work together for good to them that love God.” Even the horror of losing his children did work together with the whole story to be good.

When all is for His glory, and we remain faithful before Him, we shall come forth as Job knew he would:

But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot hath held his steps, his way have I kept, and not declined. Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. (Job 23:10-12 KJV)

I wonder if Peter had Job in mind when he wrote:

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: (1 Peter 1:7 KJV)


Do we feel as certain – should we stand before God – that we would come forth as gold, our feet having held steady in His steps, that we have kept His way and His commandments? Have we esteemed God’s word?

Job prayed for his children – do we? (Let me answer only for myself – yes. I pray for my children, their children, and their children’s children. I cannot answer for their errors, but I can and do pray that they hear God’s word with open hearts to seek Him and His leadership. I am blessed by their fruit of His spirit and their hearts open to His word. I pray here that you are able to see that in yourself, too.) And that faithfulness paid off for Job just as it will for us, even if we see it only in heaven:

So the LORD blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses. He had also seven sons and three daughters. (Job 42:12-13 KJV)

What an end to the story – his holdings doubled – except for his children. You think? Think again. Job was given twenty children. Since we’ve read the remaining books, we believe there is a heaven and a heavenly reunion where Job’s twenty children rejoiced with their parents that all things faithfully did work together for good, through all the bad, to rejoice together with God.

You might want to note that Job even sacrificed and prayed for his friends who had not believed him, even though they believed God. In the end we see absolute proof that bad things can happen to good people who love God. And, we were told who caused those bad things. He does still work evil in our world today, all designed to turn people against God.

We read of those who are faithful, and their (and my) why:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5 KJV)

Authority

And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. (Matthew 7:28-29 KJV)

What is this “authority”?

For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. (Matthew 8:9 KJV)

The centurion knew his authority, and responded to being under authority. He also knew Jesus had the authority and the ability to heal, so he requested Jesus heal his servant.

Once, a large group of religious leaders asked by what authority Jesus acted:

And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet. And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. (Matthew 21:23-27 KJV)

Nope – he didn’t give them a clear answer. They were not seeking truth, but to entrap Jesus, who fully understood why the question. So, He turned the question to them. Which ever answer they gave Him, the true authority would be evident. They were not seeking God, and Paul had not written:

That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: (Acts 17:27 KJV)

God stood in front of those men, in an unexpected human form, not far from them at all – and they did not believe. Jesus gave a comparison:

Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee. (Matthew 11:21-24 KJV)

Why do I quote the Bible? I wrote the reason in “What I Believe” in my blog:

I believe the Bible is Holy, the divinely inspired and preserved Word of God, the final authority for all faith and life. I place this belief first, not because it is the most important, but because it explains and provides answers for so much of the following. Without the Bible, there is not a foundation for believing ...

Remove the Bible and we would not have the scriptures that were written across ages, studied for centuries, cursed as error, and accepted on faith. Remove the Bible and we wouldn’t have Genesis 1:1 nor John 1:1 telling us God created and that Jesus was God. No, there are not two or three gods that we believe – as Israel proclaimed and still proclaims - the Lord our God is one and the same. It is His authority, none of ours.

What if His authority is questioned? Well, it was, wasn’t it? In the very books that speak of Him across the time of man, His authority has been questioned. And, the Bible has been questioned, revised, reinterpreted, as well as reviled. Several years back wrote a blog quoting a Canadian pastor who determined in her own way that the church needed to get rid of the Bible if it was to grow. That is taught as error in the very Bible she wished to toss.

A recent web article summarized an essay, How to Subtly Abandon Your Bible’s Authority. The headings are:

On the danger of appealing to selective evidence
On the avoidance of embarrassing passages and issues
On misappropriating Scripture to legitimize an unorthodox position
On the failure of too little reading, especially of older works
On losing awe before the Word of God

Check yourself against the full explanations of these headings. The easiest for us to fall into (from my own experience!) are the last two. I need to read more, and by not reading I show my lack of respect and awe for God’s words to His people. Where do you stand?

Tell It To Jesus

Nope, I didn’t mix up the titles. Our pianist played a medley two Sunday morning's ago that used both of these wonderful pieces. You can find more information on “Tell It To Jesus” and “I Must Tell Jesus” by clicking on the titles. There are many times these bring tears when we realize Jesus is the only one we can tell some things.

The Bible tells us He is at the right hand of God’s throne, which is awesome when we are told:

Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
(Hebrews 4:14-16 KJV)


We can tell Him our dreams and our sorrows, even though He knows them. When it comes to our sorrows, we are told:

Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book? (Psalms 56:8 KJV)

He sees our tears, and He saves them – as they are written in His book. He knows where we’ve been, where He wants us to go, and even where we actually will go. He also knows the consequences that may even create those tears when we wander from His strait way and narrow path:

Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (Matthew 7:13-14 KJV)

If someone knew the way, shouldn’t they share with you? It’s a rather simple path – get to know God, learn of Him, follow what He has given us for instructions. We read Isaiah’s writings because he sought God:

With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. (Isaiah 26:9 KJV)


Christ ask that we learn, and accept:

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30 KJV)

What are we supposed to do once we’ve learned of Him? What is this yoke? The Pulpit Commentary on these verses help us understand:

"Take my yoke upon you." Christ's yoke, of which he speaks here, is the yoke of Sonship, his relation to God, and the responsibilities, duties, and burdens which it involved. And his point is that he did not want to bear that yoke alone. It was a yoke meant for two. It could only be borne aright when disciples and he bore the yoke together. Illustration may be taken from the yoke fitted to the shoulders of the two oxen that drew the Eastern plough. That yoke was only easy for each ox as they both cheerfully bore it together. So with the yoke of Sonship. It did not lie easy on Christ's shoulder unless his disciples bore it with him. It never could lie easy on their shoulder unless he bore it with them. It is true that rest comes for man in the spirit of sonship; but it is also true that it does not come to man in a lonely sonship—only in a sonship fully shared with Christ.

We become sons of God, according to several passages in the New Testament. This is one of my favorites as it is explained:

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (Romans 8:14-17 KJV)

How can we neglect what God has offered?

How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will? (Hebrews 2:3-4 KJV)

What To Do In Place Of Sin

Let’s think of sinfulness as a black dot on what would be a clean, white block. I’ve given some examples above – you can pick your own visualization of what sin looks like at this point in your life. Let me assure you, we all sin. Even Christians will add a blot during the day, hopefully confess it to our Lord and have it covered as promised when we feel remorse and change our actions.

That’s the only thing that removes the sin from our lives – but doesn’t remove the consequences.  Remember that, please. I can forgive the woman whose negligence took the life of a loved one, but I cannot remove the consequences of that event. God forgives us, taking our sins away from His presence, but the consequences remain in our lives.

Consequences are often painful, but there is greater pain – and truly greater consequences – for rejecting God’s provision of forgiveness and His assistance in ceasing sinfulness in our lives.

Think you haven’t sinned?

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23 KJV)

He knew we would, so there were plans:

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. (Romans 5:8-10 KJV)

But what is sin, why is it important, and how do we live without it?

I ran across a blog entry recently that addressed several questions I’ve faced and I’ve heard from others, written by Brad Hambrick about accountability partners. If that’s a new phrase to you:

An accountability partner is a person who coaches another person in terms of helping the other person keep a commitment. The term is a neologism and has gained relatively wide use since the 1990s. The term is often used by Christians where the accountability partner helps a person adhere to a moral commitment

Becoming a follower of Christ is definitely a moral commitment. There are suggestions across the Bible how to be close to God and know His will in our lives. One is to keep us from continuing in sin – which is living outside of God’s will. But – when those sins are gone, what do we do to replace them? That’s a question addressed in Hambrick’s blog:

We sin because sin is fun. We enjoy sin; at least for a little while. The more we deprive ourselves of legitimate pleasures, the more we will be susceptible to the temptation of illegitimate pleasures. A friend who spurs you to avoid illegitimate pleasures (e.g., sin) should, just as passionately, call you to pursue legitimate pleasures – in balance with your life responsibilities.

What are “legitimate pleasures”? Depends on the individual. One of mine is Christian fellowship with people who enjoy playing the Texas domino game 42. Definitely a pleasure! Another is gathering to hear (and sing) gospel music. No murder, mayhem, lost loves, crying in a bar found there. Some are sad, true, but all hold promise. In two weeks we’ll be listening to a concert by The Rochester Family. Show up at First Baptist Church, Cottondale, Texas, Saturday, March 23rd at 6:00 pm and share that fellowship (and BBQ sandwiches after the singing.) Then come back and hear them again Sunday morning,

I also like museums, volunteering, traveling (including cruises – ask me about those – I’ll be happy to share!) there are many pleasures in life that do not break the two Commandments Jesus defined:

Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:35-40 KJV)

Remove the sinfulness and keep them from growing back by comparing pleasures against these two commandments.  Keep them, and learn what it takes to love God and your neighbor. The Bible provides awesome lessons for achieving a walk with Him.

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? (Micah 6:8 KJV)

Rewriting Quotes

I recently read this post on Facebook:

A.W. Tower once said, “If a hundred pianos were merely tuned to each other, their pitch would not be very accurate. But if they were all tuned to one tuning fork, they would automatically be tuned to each other. Similarly, unity in the church isn’t the result of running around adjusting to everyone else. Rather, the key to unity is becoming more like Jesus Christ.”

It is a beautiful thought, and very valid – if we are to be unified in the body of Christ, we need to focus on Him. We need to learn of Him and be aware as we learn what is and is not accurate. Such as this lovely quote. Being the skeptic I am, it didn’t look quite right. Can you see off hand where it began to go wrong?

So, I spent some time googling and discovered this quote:

Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers met together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become 'unity' conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.
A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God: The Human Thirst for the Divine

Quoting someone should be very important. That’s a good reason for including the scriptures I reference in the blog, along with the version. As I’ve stated before, my personal preference is the King James Version. I’m used to it. It is understandable in spite of words not regularly used in English today. Modern versions have been marketed as better translations, more easily read. Frankly, I find it odd that would be necessary. This is a book where we find:

let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay (James 5:12b)

Yes, that is a partial verse taken out of context. Go ahead and look it up in context if you think it doesn’t fit. However, I believe that God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33) and good old King James has been used for centuries to help people know God. Still works pretty good, too.

Yesterday I quoted Jesus:

For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? (John 5:46-47 KJV)

There are other writers who wrote to be believed:

These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. (1 John 5:13 KJV)

I am not called to be as Tover, teaching people how to live as Christians. I am called to get people to read their Bibles, to get people to know God, to understand He is interested in their lives, to join in with praying they find Him close when they seek Him:

But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. (Deuteronomy 4:29 KJV) 

And it’s repeated:

I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. (Proverbs 8:17 KJV) 
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13 KJV) 

That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: (Acts 17:27 KJV)


Are you ready to look for Him? Are you ready for the unity offered through Jesus? Or do you ignore Him because of the many people who ignore Him, too?

When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:) Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea further; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it. (Ecclesiastes 8:16-17 KJV)

Harmony? Not In Everything

Christ Feeding The Multitude

Eye witness accounts differ. Although Matthew and John were Disciples, and with Mark and Luke they all four were with Jesus in a wide variety of places, not all of them wrote exactly the same words, times, or incidents. There are many who searched the gospels for the same incidents to create what is called a Harmony of the Gospels. Reasons for their existence vary – from the above article:

Harmonies are constructed for a variety of purposes: to provide a straightforward devotional text for parishioners, to create a readable and accessible piece of literature for the general public, to establish a scholarly chronology of events in the life of Jesus as depicted in the canonical gospels, or to better understand how the accounts relate to each other.

One of the incidents that appears in each of the Gospels is the feeding of the 5,000, which was Pastor’s sermon Sunday morning.

And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. (John 6:2 KJV)

These people did not follow Jesus for what they heard, what He said or what His friends said – “they saw his miracles . . .”, especially those that were done “. . . on them that were diseased.” Wouldn’t that be enough for any one of us to want to be close to a healer? I drive 50 miles each way monthly for a specific procedure that I’ve seen renew my husband’s health in his fight against Myasthenia Gravis. Yes – if I saw such healing, I’d stay close.

Think of another thing – it’s about 20 miles to our closest full service grocery store. We can buy bread and processed items at six miles, but no fresh produce. To get a head of lettuce, it’s at least 30+ miles round trip. What do you think it might have been in the hills around the Sea of Galilee? And, there were at least 5,000 people in this multitude when Jesus said:

When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? (John 6:5 KJV)

Philip responded just about the same way I would if someone told me we needed to feed a family of thirty on an hour’s notice. We do that at holidays, but that takes planning. At least Philip could do sums in his head:

Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. (John 6:7 KJV)

Andrew, whom I know as being one who brought people to Jesus, saw a possibility but understood the impracticability of his own suggestion:

One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? (John 6:8-9 KJV)

Go back to Jesus’ original question – which He asked while knowing the answer. He didn’t ask how much money it would take, which was Philip’s focus. He didn’t ask what would be bought. He didn’t ask anything except: Where? None of those around Him responded to what He asked, just to the problem that had no answer.

Christ knew – and knows now – the answer to questions He asks, and that we ask. What miracle did He do with what was offered? What was available was put in His hands:

And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. (John 6:11 KJV)

The miracle was through Jesus’ handling the problem. One person gave all they had to Him. He took what was available and shared it with thousands. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote down what happened what they saw – the same way men wrote what they heard and saw of God’s work in their own time. Jesus spoke of that in the last verse of John’s 5th chapter:

For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? (John 5:46-47 KJV)

He spoke of it again after His resurrection:

Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. (John 20:29 KJV)

I haven’t seen, yet I believe and have been blessed. I doubt that you’ve seen Him, though you may have seen the results of His works. Do you believe? Are you blessed? Ready to give all to receive what He has to offer? The answer may be different than mine.

Revival At Sea

Isn't that a gorgeous capture of . . . sunrise or sunset? I don’t know because I didn’t take the picture, Second Daughter did and I find it a perfect reminder of our cruise, Revival at Sea. That’s a tour put together by a pastor and his wife for pastors, staff, families, and extended families each January. 2019 was our first trip with them (as extended family of a church staff employee.)

I had every intention of taking notes of the trip each and every day – but that didn’t work. Too busy having a good time, fellowshipping with like-minded Christians and enjoying being catered too by the Carnival Cruise crew. They did a good job.

I did take notes during our at-sea worship services in the Jazz Bar. I know – but at that time it was filled with people ready to hear preachers. January 6 was a sea worthy topic – don’t be a castaway.

The Bible has a couple of castaway stories – the whole book of Jonah is about a man who declined to do what God asked of him, at least the first time around. After spending three days in the whale, he changed his mind and made the trip to Nineveh, only to get angry when the people listened to him and changed their ways. There is a point there that is applicable to our lives.  Go ahead - read the book.

Paul ended up shipwrecked while doing what was required of him. Luke writes of this in Acts 27 – note here the “we”:

But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon. And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. (Acts 27:14-15 KJV)

At least the ship made it to a shore after a couple of weeks, though it broke up afterwards:

And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves. (Acts 27:41 KJV)

But that’s not the castaway concept Paul meant when he wrote:

But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. (1 Corinthians 9:27 KJV)

The word translated “castaway” here is Greek, Strong’s G96 ἀδόκιμος (adokimos pronounced ad-ok'-ee-mos) which comes from Strong’s G1 (as a negative particle) and G1384; unapproved, that is, rejected; by implication worthless (literally or morally): - castaway, rejected, reprobate.
Speaking of one God has to cast away at the end of time because they have rejected Him. Their lives have been spent worthlessly. Best shown in the definitions of “reprobate”:

rep·ro·bate
noun - an unprincipled person (often used humorously or affectionately). Synonyms: rogue, rascal, scoundrel, good-for-nothing, villain, wretch, unprincipled person, rake, profligate, degenerate, debauchee, libertine;
adjective - unprincipled (often used as a humorous or affectionate reproach). Synonyms: unprincipled, roguish, bad, wicked, rakish, shameless, immoral, profligate, degenerate, dissipated, debauched, depraved, corrupt;

How such a person or action could be deemed humorous or affectionate is beyond me. Good-for-nothing, unprincipled, degenerate – nothing humorous about that. And, nothing showing a love for God, either. Something to be cast away.

It was in such a manner that God loves the world He created that He saw to it there was always a way for the created to see Him and return that love. Why? I like Peter’s explanation:

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9 KJV)

Why then does hell exist and is inhabited? Definitely not God’s will – but a place where God’s will is cast away by those who end up being cast away themselves.

Don’t be a castaway. Please.

Ripples

By Biel Morro bielmb -   Gallery at the Wayback Machine (archived on 23 June 2017)

You can find a lot of pretty pictures of ripples on the web. This one came from WikiMedia.org after searching “ripples.” I liked it because it isn’t ripples from a single drop into still water, but because it shows the interaction from multiple ripples.

Let me back up a moment. Our Sunday School class opens with a request for Praise. The members speak of something that happened this past week that gave them reason to praise God. Then we have announcements, followed by Prayer requests, then offering our prayers.

This past Sunday, one of our members had a praise. Her son-in-law met a man at a conference on the east coast who had been brought to the Lord by our Pastor, in our small Cottondale church, close to 20 years ago. What a small world! At that same conference, a lady mentioned that she knew of Cottondale, too, from a blog she follows written by Grammy Blick. Definitely a small world.

This blog does not have a large following. I do not “advertise” it, nor do I monetize it. The reason it started (in another media – in fact it has been on three different websites, two which no longer exist) was to share Bible study hints for girls in our Junior High Sunday School Class. I thoroughly enjoyed Bible study and just continued to post.

As steady readers know – how often I publish has slowed to almost once a month. I could explain, but most of the explanations entail excuses, along with a few exceptionally good reasons. That’s life, isn’t it. And, I’m in good company:

For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. (Romans 7:18-19 KJV)

Did you notice that ripple? Words written almost two thousand years ago ripples across those centuries for me to read – and I not only understand them but I can relate to them in my own life. That is what is so beautiful about Bible reading. It relates to our own lives.

Recently a large denomination voted on a divisive issue. People are faced with divisive issues in religious and secular life. What surprised me was the people on the “losing” side – the one with the least positive votes – were not willing to accept the vote. One media article referred to the denomination’s equivalent to Robert’s Rules of Order as not being followed. No media article quoted the Bible, as though it was not relevant to a Christian's actions.

That didn’t surprise me, really, for so many have moved away from God’s word at the source for decisions and are demanding man’s traditions. The Bible addressed that centuries ago:

He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. (Mark 7:6-9 KJV)

Paul wrote of this, too:

As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: (Colossians 2:6-10 KJV)

How can we know if we are following Christ’s doctrines or man’s? Jesus gave us the answer, and while there are multiple references to His doctrine across the Gospels, I like this for now:

And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. (John 7:15-18 KJV)

There’s another ripple across time from God's word and applicable to our lives – and I hope it touches your life, too, encouraging Bible reading as well as prayer, seeking God's will – eternally.