Repeat? Overs? Redux?

We have done to ourselves what Islamic terrorists could not do – destroy the American economy. What comes out of this will be changed.

There will be no remake of Dinah Shore’s “See the USA in your Chevrolet” that accompanied my childhood. No discretionary funds, cheap gas – and perhaps no Chevrolet.

We have the job loss, stock market drops, cash crunch, drought – no sandstorms, yet. Suicides have been committed. Homes have been lost. Dire predictions have been given to achieve never before reached budget breaking goals. All repeats.

So, what are we to do when we cannot see past tomorrow?

Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. (Matthew 6:34)

That really doesn’t sound like good stewardship, does it? Verses don’t put food on the table nor provide shelter. Ooops, we skipped a couple of verses just above that:

Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (Matthew 6:30-31)

Maybe there’s an even better verse just above those:

Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? (Matthew 6:27)

Has worrying about any situation ever changed it? Conversations might, actions will, but thinking / worrying never has and won’t now.

Give us this day our daily bread. (Matthew 6:11)

When prayed, do we really expect God to provide bread on our table? We’re told to ask for it We are also told He owns it:

The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. (Psalms 24:1)

Let’s go back to Matthew and find out what we should be doing instead of worrying:

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33)

“All of these things”? The list is in that sixth chapter. Go for it!!

Have a Bible

I was recently reminded that we are so very lucky to have Bibles. Not just that God’s word was preserved for so many years when so much else has been lost. We need to give thanks that we live where we can purchase a Bible – or a Qur'an or a Tanakh or Buddha Dharma or the writings of any other religion.

There are so many places in our world today where that is not true. For decades it was true in Russia. It remains true to a great extent in China. Islamic theocracies confiscate Bibles. That covers a lot of territory.

“The Word FM”, KWRD 100.7 in the DFW area has a host that is very well aware of these facts. Over the past few years Scott Wilder’s show accompanied me home from work and I learned of his Bible ministry. He’ll be making this thirteenth trip. On each trip he carries Bibles to those who want them – and brings their stories home to those of us who care.

“There’s nothing in the world that God wants to do that He can’t do without me...I just don’t want Him to.” Wilder wrote this, and I believe this. Just as Mordecai told Esther, God is capable of working without us:

For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? (Esther 4:14)

I do not wish to consider working without Him.

Several speakers that I’ve listened to in the past have mentioned smuggling Bibles into a number of countries. Once Scott told of an officer in China opening his suitcase, which was packed full with Bibles, not clothes. Ready to be arrested, or at least have the Bibles confiscated, Wilder was surprised when the suitcase was closed and moved down the line. Not even a comment.

My favorite – unforgettable story is The Woman With The Gnarled Hands. And there are more. These are the stories we hear. These are the people who receive Bibles. There are more who do not than do.

Can a Bible bring someone to Christ? If you doubt that, read Luke’s story of Philip:

And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. (Acts 8:30-31)

The reader was so close to understanding, that God sent Philip to him. Simply from reading from what we know as Isaiah. I wish I knew where that man went. To whom he witnessed. What were the ripples from this conversion.

The same for Scott Wilder’s trips. I am grateful for his sharing the stories of those who received Bibles. I am grateful for his soliciting help in getting more Bibles into the hands of even more people. There’s always a need for more help.

Our own church is supporting such a project. We cannot go into details on the web. The Bible carrier has been condemned and cannot be acknowledged openly. Please pray for his ministry, too. The Holy Spirit knows the needs.

The Standard

I am so grateful that God’s message remains available for reading and study. The institutions surrounding it shift with the winds of social change:

From The Toledo Blade: “Members of the regional Presbyterian Church (USA) have voted in favor of an amendment that could, for the first time in denomination history, allow ordination of gays and lesbians.

“The proposal would strike what is known as “the fidelity and chastity clause” from the church constitution, deleting all language referring to sexual behavior for ordination candidates.”

Paul’s words remain as written in Titus, almost two thousand years ago:

If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. (Titus 1:6-9)

Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. (Titus 1:15-16)

So – let organizations vote as they willy-nilly will. What they support confirms to me that my lack of membership there is a correct choice. Instead, I remain in a congregation that supports:

This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless. Even so must their wives be grave, not slanderers, sober, faithful in all things. Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. For they that have used the office of a deacon well purchase to themselves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 3:1-13)

Everyone makes the choice. I believe the options are as open as from millennia ago:

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: (Deuteronomy 30:19)

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:15)

Holy Day

Christians will soon celebrate their most holy day. Greater than the gift of God’s son as the birth of a child. Greater than the death of God’s son on the cross at Calvary.

We will celebrate life.

Come Easter Sunday morning, we will lift our voices in praise, circling the globe with the most wonderful words, “He is risen. He is risen, indeed!”

Matthew first tells us: And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. (Matthew 28:7)

And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; (Mark 16:6a)

He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, (Luke 24:6a)

When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. (John 2:22)

This is the difference between Jesus, the Messiah, and those who claimed His title. He is risen. This is why Christians meet together to worship on the first day of the week instead of the seventh. This is why Jesus was born and why He died. This is what He prophesied: I have told you; how he spake unto you; he had said this.

This was why the Holy Spirit inspired the writers of the Bible. I love how John explains why he wrote:

But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. (John 20:31)

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)

Mark tells us that hearing was not always believing, even among those who followed Him: And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not. (Mark 16:11)

Tell someone today about Jesus. Find the words to express the faith held in His ability to show the truth of God before mankind. Enrich lives.

Heart's Desire

Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. (Romans 10:1-2)

Substitute the name of a loved one for the word Israel above and you’ll have the prayer of many. There are several on my own prayer list. Some do not fit in that last sentence, though, for they don’t have that “zeal of God.” Some do not believe He exists. Some do not care whether or not He exists. Others think He does, but that He does not care for them.

I can’t change their minds. But I can pray that God will continue to work with their hearts and place Godly examples over and over again in their path.

For the most part these are good people. Their actions are not harmful to their fellow man, in many cases their actions show love for their fellowman. They live upright lives. But they miss the commandment about loving God with all their hearts.

For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. (Romans 10:3)

Ignoring God places them where they also ignore His gift to mankind.

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. (Romans 10:4)

No longer was it necessary for men to see good works to know how God was loved. Instead, there was a way to witness:

But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; (Romans 10:8)

Faith. The substance of things hoped for (Hebrews 11:1), through which we are saved (Ephesians 2:8), which comes through the word of God (Romans 10:17). All of that is within us, between us and God. How do we show this faith?

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9-10)

Oh, there is much, much more than this. John described how much could be told”

And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. (John 21:25)

We don’t need them, though. The Bible contains all that is needed to know God and to know His will for our lives. Isn’t that awesome!

Bed

For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. (Isaiah 28:20)

I must admit that there are some verses that strike me as funny. Most have a message that applies to daily live, spiritual growth, general education, etc. I do understand that in the context of the chapter this verse refers to judgments.

Still, in my mind I still see a man trying to fit into a too short bed, cramping his body in an attempt to cover and remain warm. This morning, that could have been me. No – my bed is a good length and I can stretch out comfortable. And I buy our blankets and spread for the next larger size so there is extra cover.

This morning, however, the house was colder than comfortable. To the extent that I was wakened by the cold, wanting to curl up and pull my knees up. Except I was on my back and my middle was quite warm – our cat was curled up purring away. Her usual bed is atop the quilt rack when the quilt is pulled back and folded each night. She, too, sought warmth. Even now, she’s curled up on my feet, sound asleep, and we’re both the warmer for it. We comfort each other.

There have been other times when another verse is more descriptive:

I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears. (Psalms 6:6)

I thank God those are few and far between. More likely is:

When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. (Psalms 63:6)

Some of my best prayer time is awakening in the morning and starting the day. The very best is of an evening, just in bed, strolling through my prayer list and asking Him to be with specific people, opening their eyes to His will in their life and provide them the comfort promised by our savior.

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. (John 14:16-18)

For that, I give Him thanks.

Right

This particular article, I have two husbands: A polygamist’s diary reminds me of several Bible verses.

Israelites were told NOT to do that which was right in their own eyes: Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes. (Deuteronomy 12:8)

Yet that phase is repeated in a couple of books:

… every man did that which was right in his own eyes. (Judges 17:6b)

… every man did that which was right in his own eyes. (Judges 21:25b)

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: (Proverbs 12:15a)

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: (Proverbs 21:2b)

Just as today, people believe they know better. Who does it hurt if we do what we wish? It’s right for me; it’s right for us; who else could possibly care?

Perhaps the answer lies in other Bible verses explaining that God sees a right way, and has laid out specific commandments:

When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the LORD thy God. (Deuteronomy 13:18)

Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father. (1 Kings 11:33)

And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee: and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes; (1 Kings 14:8)

No one follows God’s commandments all the time. It is a failing we recognize yet it often separates us. We need to be so very grateful that we have examples of His forgiveness:

Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. (1 Kings 15:5)

Forgiven – but not forgotten. Not held against us in judgment – but available for examples of what not to do, and God’s forgiving grace when we acknowledge our shortcomings and return to His future for us.