Reaching Out

It was a dream.  Not a prophetic dream, but one I recognized.  There were no crowds, but I knew beyond the scope of the dream that we were not alone.  A large number of people were moving toward a final destination, as we were.  Others followed us, reaching out to hold us back, but the name of Jesus kept them beyond arms’ length.

We came to a gated entrance, with iron work filling the opening. I reached out to one woman behind me, begging her to join us, taking her hand and moving through the gate.  She pulled away from my grip and jubilantly returned to the few standing outside, joining together with their calls for us to return.

I stepped back through the gate, asking them to call upon Jesus, to come with us.  A woman reached out for my hand.  I took hers and made a cross on the back of it. The image remained on her hand and we backed through the gate as I woke up singing:

In the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever

Till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river.

Fanny Crosby’s full lyrics are found in numerous places on the web. I wonder if her inspiration could have been Paul’s letter to the church at Galatia:

But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,  (Galatians 6:14a KJV)

It is the author of Hebrews, though, that describes the cross best for me:

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2 KJV)

I believe Christ described that joy Himself:

I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. (Luke 15:7 KJV)

Before anyone jumps to the conclusion that they fall into that ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance, remember other words from our Lord:

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:18 KJV)


Though my dream was just another dream, there is the reality of reaching out to share the cross with one not on our same path. That, I do.

Parents

Remember my recent post on the Ten Commandments?  Well, I’ve been visiting Beth Amatelli again. She’s writing about each of the commandments and I found this paragraph speaking to me, strongly:

God may not have blessed you with an abundant childhood, your parents may not have always been the role models you would have liked them to be, they may not have always been able to express their love for you in words or in deeds that we associate with love - but they are, regardless of their shortcomings, your parents. For that alone, they deserve the honor and respect God commands us to afford them.

Recognizing a few of my errors in raising children, I apologized to each of them in their early 20’s.  Now, they have doubled those ages and each has raised children of their own.  I’ve never asked if they’ve apologized.  My Beloved Husband had multiple sets of parents, birth, step and adoptive, while I had one mother, one father and thought that was quite a good fit. His birth mother let he and his brother go to their father, yet abandoned four more children by running away with a married man.  My parents stayed married to each other till death did part them. They raised my sister and I actively involved in their church. Yet my mother had difficulty expressing her love, and mentioned that to my Second Daughter as a regret late in her life.

I have known people whose children might have very good cause to doubt their parent’s love, but they are not exempt from God’s commandment.

Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. (Exodus 20:12 KJV)

Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) (Ephesians 6:2 KJV)

Jesus spoke of this commandment in Matthew 15:3-7, ending with a description that is too often found as we speak, but do not live, His commandments.

This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. (Matthew 15:8 KJV)

There is no “Honour thy father and thy mother expect when they are (insert description that fits:  drunk, high, verbally abusive, physically abuse, absent, divorced – the list continues).” 

Nope, just as a combination of DNA identifies you as their child, they are your parents and always will be.  The important thing is that we do not carry the negative emotions they generate within us.  For that, we must do the forgiving, and the honoring.  Jesus spoke to this on a broad scale:

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:14-15 KJV)

It Is Not The Same

“Even if He was alive, it wouldn’t be the same”

I love to hear this song.  To hear how Peter felt that early morning, the first day after his betrayal.  To hear that he feared, for himself and for the others who were shattered at the death of the man who had brought them hope.

How true that one line is – His being alive changes everything, nothing would be the same, ever again.  The expectation of an earthly kingdom that would destroy Rome was gone.  The gift of eternity with God was confirmed.  The soldiers would eventually come for Peter and the others, but the message would resound in the hearts of generations unimagined.

Nothing would be the same.  Yet, some things remained the same.

The same as when Eve listened to the serpent, and Adam listened to Eve, ignoring God’s word.

The same as when Abel approached God with an open heart, and fatal hatred was conceived in Cain’s.

The same as when Joseph’s brothers hated him for his dreams, selling into slavery and placing him right where he needed to be to save their families later in life.

God’s word, too, remains the same.  He sends it where it is needed, and it will not return to Him void.  It will accomplish His purpose. Can you find the verse that confirms this?

Do you think the Bible has everything that God has done in it?  I don’t. I do believe it has everything in it that God has for us to know, though. Enough for us to seek Him.  Enough for Him to be found.  Can you find the verse that confirms this?

So many look upon the stories of God’s work with men as myths, yet archaeological discoveries within the last two centuries have given confirmation to names thought to exist only in the Bible.  Did you know that?

We have a choice.  Know that He is alive and respond – or deny that news and ignore Him.  Uplifting music with beautiful words sung by a powerful voice does not make it true.  The validity of the song as well as the validity of God’s word needs to be studied.  Deeply. Can it be said that we have …

... searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. (Acts 17:11 KJV)

Your Job

Do you look upon being a Christian as work?  Sometimes we hear the phrase “a work in progress” or apply it to ourselves to explain how we’re not a completed, polished, glowing example of Christianity.  But, is it really a job?

If it is, how are we doing?  If we were to have a performance evaluation, how would it go?  First we’d have to take a look at the job description.

What must one do to become a Christian?  The keeper of a prison asked that very question, and here’s what happened:

And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. (Acts 16:30-33 KJV)

Notice, please, there was a bit of time between his question and his baptism where they spake unto him the word of the Lord. That usually happens for everyone.  It did for the Ethiopian that Philip was sent to:

The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? (Acts 8:32-36 KJV)

Some will say, “Well, that didn’t happen to Paul.  He knew right away.” Nope, seems as though they forgot two important things – Saul met Jesus, personally, and heard words directly from the Lord.  And, he spent some time studying before becoming Paul and going out to preach.

Do you get the idea that being a Christian isn’t instantaneous? The thief on the cross is the only person I know who received the promise of paradise in such a relatively short period of time.  He shows us salvation is immediate, but being a Christian takes time.  I've had the time to live my life where people can see what I do and say, and decide whether or not I'm a follower of Jesus Christ.  The thief did not.   One man, dying, was the only one in that crowd to openly request Christ to remember him in His kingdom.

Have we?  Or do we want something on this earth?  In such a limited space of time, the thief got the job description right.  It is not what we do that measures up – it is what Christ can do and our acceptance of His ability.  Do we believe He keeps His word?

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:14-15 KJV)

Let’s Talk Scheduling

Make a list of the most important things in your life.  Not just family, because I know they are important, but the things we really enjoy, too. Our hobbies, our interests, the things we spend time on, that we make time for – those are the things I want to see on your list. 

Go head, spend an hour or so thinking about it, write it out on paper, then come back here and we’ll chat a bit more.  I’ll just sit here and do some thumb twiddling.

Thumb twiddling kindly provided by GardenWife.com

My goodness, you’re back already?  Did you really put the list on paper so you can mark it up?  Good.  OK, here goes.

Beside each one of the items on your list, put an estimate of how much time you spend on that item each week.  I know – there’s one or two things that only happen once a year.  Prorate for a week’s time and put it down.  Do that for each of the other items on your list, then check to be sure that it doesn’t add up to more than a week’s worth of waking time (well, unless you included Sleep on your list – then include sleeping hours, too.)

Got it?  If you’ll admit to it, how much of your list includes time with our Lord?  Did you include church services?  Church activities? Bible reading time?  Prayer time?  Any of that on your list?

If so, good for you.  Do those hours add up to be greater than any of the others?  If not, what ever surfaces as the top item of your list may fall under:

Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:3 KJV)
Thou shalt have none other gods before me. (Deuteronomy 5:7 KJV)

For Christians it also falls under:

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (Matthew 6:21 KJV)

Were there any eye opening numbers that showed up?  If you were truthful, there might have been.  There were a couple of things I put on the list as things I liked to do – and very (in one case, very, very!) little time spent there. 

Our world is changing around us.  Lifestyles are being impacted, often without our input, without our ability to affect changes, but we can choose how to spend the majority of our time.  We can be productive, or we can be grumpy.  We can be grateful or we can be immersed in self-pity.  It’s not a half empty/full glass, it should be a cup overflowing, as David perceived it in his psalm of God’s comforting presence:

… my cup runneth over. (Psalms 23:5c KJV)

Does your study of your interests versus your available time bring changes to your schedule?  I’d love to hear about it.

Seeing the Invisible

Hebrews was written to Jews.  Chapter 11 captures the faith of Jewish heroes across ages.  I’m moved by what was written of Moses:

By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. (Hebrews 11:27 KJV)

It was Moses who requested and was given a glimpse of God.

And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. (Exodus 33:18 KJV)

God’s explanation put limitations on what could be seen and still live:

And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen. (Exodus 33:20-23 KJV)

The results of being with God could be seen by others:

And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. (Exodus 34:29-30 KJV)

Amid the list of Jewish heroes in Chapter 11, we find Rahab. 

By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. (Hebrews 11:31 KJV)

Second of only two women in the list.  A gentile whose only witness to God’s power was hearing of His people and their approach to Jericho.  Yet she is listed with Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sara, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and:

And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: (Hebrews 11:32 KJV)

All of these, and the wonderful stories of their lives and faith, still missed out on what the disciples learned:

And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: (Hebrews 11:39 KJV)

Today their witness, that huge cloud of witnesses we have before us, speaks to all of us.

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2 KJV)

Knowing in advance what was to be done to Him on this earth, but also knowing in advance what would be waiting for Him and for us in heaven, He endured.  Why would we want to do less?

Application – Ten Commandments

I have come to enjoy a blog I found recently, “I Talk, God Listens” which is the title of Beth Amatelli’s book, too.  Her recent post about the Ten Commandments struck home because I have often posted:  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:40 KJV)  While this is true, as Beth puts it so well, the Ten Commandments are not erased nor replaced.  The words below are His and hers, and show the relationship between the Commandments and Jesus’ teachings:

In Exodus 20:3 - "Have no other gods before me" -- Jesus said, in Matthew 4:10 "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve". There is the first commandment. 

In Exodus 20:4 - "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image" -- Jesus said, in Luke 16:13 "No servant can serve two masters."

In Exodus 20:7 - "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" -- Jesus said, in Matthew 5:34 "Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne" 

In Exodus 20:8 - "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy" -- Jesus said, in Mark 2:27-28 "The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore, the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath"

In Exodus 20:12 - "Honour thy father and they mother" -- Jesus said, in Matthew 10:37 "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me"

In Exodus 20:13 - "Thou shalt not kill" -- Jesus said, in Matthew 5:22 "Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement" 

In Exodus 20:14 - "Thou shalt not commit adultery" -- Jesus said, in Matthew 5:28 "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart” (and ladies, this does apply to you - just switch out the words). 

In Exodus 20:15 - "Thou shalt not steal" -- Jesus said, in Matthew 4:40 "And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also" 

In Exodus 20:16 - "Thou shalt not bear false witness" -- Jesus said, in Matthew 12:36 "Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment" 

In Exodus 20:17 - "Thou shalt not covet (thy neighbor's house, wife, servants, goods or anything that belongs to him)... -- Jesus said, in Luke 12:15 "Take heed, and beware of covetousness"

Beth intends to study this in coming days, and I intend to spend some time with her blog, studying, too.  Both of us stress to our readers to study His word in prayer, seeking to hear the words God has for His children.

What He desires from us does not change from generation to generation, as our social consciousness does.

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. (Hebrews 13:8 KJV)