Continuity

 

Sometimes a later version does sounds so appropriate:

What a shame—yes, how stupid!—to decide before knowing the facts! (Proverbs 18:13 TLB)

Still, in my preferred King James version, the meaning is the same – but to a certain antiquity of the problem which continues unbroken and consistent existence through human history:

He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. (Proverbs 18:13 KJV)

That, my friends, is continuity:

the unbroken and consistent existence or operation of something over a period of time.

In electrical property terms, continuity defines the connection necessary for electricity to flow. A ‘multimeter' allows us to see whether or not the unseen electrical current does flow through a connection. I have a circuit tester that detects whether or not voltage is present. Without that presence, there is no continuity.

There’s continuity across the Bible. It would take a lot of pages to cover the width of biblical writings that continue across thousands of  years. Both the Old and New Testaments define a monotheistic religion, though God is seen from different viewpoints, He remained the same from Genesis through Revelation.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: (Deuteronomy 6:4 KJV)

The Office of Rabbi Sacks was among the references for Shema:

“Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our G-d, the Lord is one.” These words are the supreme testimony of Jewish faith. Each word is worthy of careful study, but it is the first – the verb Shema – that deserves special attention.

Shema is much more than a single word, nor does it simply mean a prayer. As with any movement from one language to another, the word “shema” doesn’t simply mean “Hear,” as explained in Strong’s definition of the Hebrew word:

H8085
שָׁמַע
shâma‛
shaw-mah'
A primitive root; to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively to tell, etc.): -    X attentively, call (gather) together, X carefully, X certainly, consent, consider, be content, declare, X diligently, discern, give ear, (cause to, let, make to) hear (-ken, tell), X indeed, listen, make (a) noise, (be) obedient, obey, perceive, (make a) proclaim (-ation), publish, regard, report, shew (forth), (make a) sound, X surely, tell, understand, whosoever [heareth], witness.

(See that part of hearing intelligently, which includes attention and obedience?)

Moses saw only a glimpse of God as He left Moses, as told to us as Exodus 23 closes. No other instance in the Bible mentions anyone seeing God. In the New Testament there were years where Jesus, as a physical representation of God’s love, interacted. After being seen by assembled followers (Acts 1:3-4) over forty days, there was no doubt among them as they met at Pentecost that God spoke to them without being seen.

Not until the Sunday that John heard that great voice (Revelation 1:10) do we begin to see the throne of God (Revelation 4:2-3) and He who sat upon it.

That is only one example of biblical continuity – from Genesis where God was capable of creating a universe, to Revelation where He was capable of showing how it was to end. Between the two events, we are blessed:

Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. (Revelation 1:3 KJV)

From Genesis to Revelation we are exhorted to read, hear, keep, and share what God has for us. while we acknowledge God not only exists, but we also acknowledge He is to be obeyed. He asks nothing more than that we love Him and the people He created.

Sounds simple – until we realize:  1) we do not love plus we have been and/or are one of the unlovable people that He loves;  2) we must change through obedience to be lovable, and share God’s love to people we still deem unlovable (the book of James is the best one to work through that conundrum);  plus 3) we must have the Holy Spirit through the John 3:16 belief in Jesus Christ.

After that, we have continuity with God – the connection to a consistent existence through God’s timing, which is eternal.

Salvation and Discipleship

 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Today it would be odd to find a photo of a preacher smoking. I think this pastor was not only a part of a society that accepted smoking, but one under a good deal of stress. As Nazi’s rose to power in Germany, he was formulating his book The Cost of Discipleship.

A quoted part of that book reminds me that it is just as valid today as it ever was. I’ve heard “easy salvation” described similarly to his “cheap grace”:

cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

Salvation is not the same as getting someone to say a prayer that they accept Jesus as their savior. Luke described what Paul gave as an answer to the question:

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. (Acts 16:30-31 KJV)

Simply saying a prayer does not constitute salvation through Jesus. When Paul met Christ on the Road to Damascus, he was given different instructions. Obviously, Paul believed it was Jesus who spoke, and even called Him Lord:

And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. (Acts 9:6 KJV)

Even devils believe:

Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. (James 2:19 KJV)

Believing on, trusting in, giving our lives to God, accepting His gift, all of that changes our lives:

costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus, it comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. It is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: "My yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Salvation requires that we build a relation with God, that we accept that He does have a plan, that we are a part of that plan, we need to do our part, and His plan was laid out by the Apostles in letters to churches in that first century. The New Testament is full of examples and instructions for us.

Perhaps that is what scares us – we are required to give our lives as a sacrifice:

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12:1-2 KJV)

It’s frightening, isn’t it? to live according to the two laws Jesus said were the basis for all the Law and prophets, the two laws He and others kept, the two laws use more than any other scripture:

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 22:36-40 KJV)

According to the Bible, and mankind’s experience, forgiveness does require repentance. Baptism does require church discipline just to understand why baptism is a sign of obedience, not the physical washing away of sinfulness. Communion does require confession as we should never approach God with sin we consider unimportant.

Grace requires the cross. Jesus Christ died because it was part of God’s plan. He knew that when He prayed for the cup to pass, and accepted it when the cup was necessary. We must have a heart that expresses our remorse, that shows how affected we are by guilt:

For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. (Psalms 51:16-17 KJV)

Give guilt to God, accept discipleship, grow into a mature Christian, then provide discipleship to new ones. God bless those who preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things.

Hope and Patience

 

Does being patient make you thing of being a patient? I’ve been a patient a couple of times where patience wasn’t needed – a coma will do that to us. It helps us, too, to understand hope and patience and how they work together when we love God.

A large number of people mock Christians because we have faith in something we’ve heard from others but have never seen ourselves. Our Lord has said a blessing for us for just that reason:

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)

Paul also tells us that our hope gives us peace with God:

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:  (Romans 5:1 KJV)

It may have been Paul who defined what faith is:

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1 KJV)

All of that is pretty easy for a Christian to accept – but there are verses around them that contain as much truth as these selected. For example, let’s return to Roman’s 5:

By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. (Romans 5:2-5 KJV)

Not many people expect to become a Christian only to “glory in tribulations.” Nor do they expect those tribulations to provide patience, experience, and hope. Remember, faith is the substance of things hoped for, so Paul is telling his readers that tribulation will bring hope. Do you really believe that? Have you had a tribulation that brought hope? Built your faith?

When we do, it shows how our patience is in proportion to our belief that God is in absolute control. That hope, along with peace, during our worst times, shows how we have surrendered our lives to God.

I do not believe God causes tribulation for us – but I do believe He allows it to happen to us in this world because we live in an imperfect sinful world. This natural world provides destructive storms, earthquakes, natural disasters in the same way mankind provides liars, thieves, and murderers. God did create this world, but long before He did that there were angels that followed a rebellious leader:

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. (1 Peter 5:8-9 KJV)

In the Bible we have a large number of examples of people who fell for the tempting mirror-images of God’s caring for them. Best examples are the temptations Satan offered Christ told by Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, and Luke 4:1-13.

Temptations offer us what we want. Turning them down to do what is right gives us experience. We gain patience through experience, don’t we? We know that waiting a while is so much better for us rather than yielding to temptation.

We also need to remember that there is life beyond temptation:

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (1 Corinthians 10:13 KJV)

Patience is listed in some great company:

But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. (1 Timothy 6:11 KJV)

In your patience possess ye your souls. (Luke 21:19 KJV)

Look up patience in your Bible – my King James Version has 33 verses in the New Testament with the word patient in it. Seems to be it’s a pretty good thing to enjoy – and a strong part of our faith. How does it seem to you?

Trying Not To Be Harsh

 

Apostle Paul - Rembrandt

We've been studying II Corinthians in our Sunday School this year and reached chapter 13 this past Sunday. I was struck by Paul's closing to the church in this chapter. A question was asked in class about verse 7:

Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates. (2 Corinthians 13:7 KJV)

This has to be studied in context, as with all verses - even those we use as stand-alone. Paul writes of reprobates in the two previous verses:

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? (2 Corinthians 13:5 KJV)

We are to do as Paul did - examine our own lives to know if we do have Jesus in ourselves. Paul had written this second letter to a church who had reprobates. He felt he had to explain that sinfulness was being lived by members and accepted by a congregation. The application applies to us, too, so we need to know what being a reprobate means - according to Strong's:

ἀδόκιμος

adokimos

ad-ok'-ee-mos

From G1 (as a negative particle) and G1384; unapproved, that is, rejected; by implication worthless (literally or morally): - castaway, rejected, reprobate.

When we believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and trust that what He promised in John 3:16, God provides a Comforter for us that is ours forever:

If ye love me, keep my commandments. 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. (John 14:15-17 KJV)

Comforter is mentioned in Ecclesiastes 4:1 and Lamentations 1:9, 16. The references concern a lack of a comforter, but John provides the explanation of who the Comforter is as well as what the Comforter does for us:

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (John 14:26 KJV)

When we examine ourselves, we need to know what Jesus taught so that is part of our "remembrance." Remembering that the first and most important commandment is to love God and our neighbors (Matthew 22:35-40)

When we are living as though those two commandments do not exist, when people cannot see Jesus in our lives, they wonder if we ever did understand what He taught. We would be seen as reprobates, as castaways, unapproved, worthless - and strongest of all - rejected. Obviously, Paul was not a reprobate:

But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates. (2 Corinthians 13:6 KJV)

That background brings me to verse 7 again. Paul was asking the congregation at Corinth to do no evil, not to show that Paul was not a reprobate, but that they should do what is honest whether Paul was or not. The Corinthian had the good news that Christ came from God to share God's good news, die on the cross, defeat death by His resurrection, and tell us that it was for all to hear and accept. 

Paul preached that same gospel everywhere he went. We read it over and over again in the New Testament. Paul told Agrippa what Jesus sent him to teach - and you should be hearing this same message from pulpits today:

To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. (Acts 26:18 KJV)

It shouldn't matter if the person sitting next to you in church is a reprobate, seems to be a reprobate, or has been deemed by others to be a reprobate. Jesus' message was personal, individual, open to each one of us. Paul told the church at Corinth, and your own pastor should be speaking the same message that includes the first two works of verse 5:  Examine yourselves. Not someone else, but each of us examine ourselves and pray for the Comforter to bring to our remembrance what we need to do.

Measurable Evidence

 

"What gets measured gets attention.” The first time I read that phrase it was on a six-inch ruler at a Kiewit job site. Each of our immediate family worked for Kiewit at one time or another - even I had a temporary position. I wanted to use that quote with another, from BigThink.com:

But extrapolating beyond the limits of your measurable evidence is a dangerous, albeit tempting, game to play.

My next thought was to find the source for the Kiewit quote - which brought me to a page about Lord William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, who actually said:

When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely, in your thoughts, advanced to the stage of science, whatever the matter may be.

Measuring is a valid business process.  It is an asset to be able to measure. Measuring evidence is a key phrase, I used it myself when testing software. But what happens when something is immeasurable?

From Job 38:4, God gives Job a mass of unanswerable questions, beginning with:

Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. (Job 38:4 KJV)

The next verses, then chapters, show us how immeasurable God is. The answer Job gives is what I also believe:

Then Job answered the LORD, and said, I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. (Job 42:1-2 KJV)

We see our God as omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent, as well as being eternal. He cares for His creation (check out John 3:16!) and provides:

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19 KJV)

God also takes care of those who follow His instructions:

But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: (2 Corinthians 9:6-8 KJV)

Christians cannot measure God. As the Big Think quote said, we should not extrapolate when explaining what we believe He is. The Bible describes God and His dealings with mankind. Our belief in Him comes only from His word and how He works in our lives. We love Him based on faith, which comes from:

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17 KJV)

Christians also know what happens without faith:

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6 KJV)

Faith is mentioned twice in the Old Testament – Deuteronomy 32:20 and Habakkuk 2:4. Worth reading, then read Hebrews 11 and see how faith plus work can show measurable evidence of our faith in God. Or Esther, where God’s name isn’t mentioned, nor is praying to Him, yet through Esther’s faith He provided “enlargement and deliverance”for the Jewish people.

Although God is immeasurable, is there visible evidence of our faith in Him? James felt very strongly about that:

Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? (James 2:17-20 KJV)

This blog exists to continue what John 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 KJV)

Mountains and Valleys

 

I looked for a graphic that would show a valley, not just a mountain, because life brings us valleys as well as mountain top experiences. For a Christian, a mountain top experience doesn’t have to be anywhere near a mountain. I’ve had, and seen others have, such experiences on an ocean cruise with only the sea from a 360 degree horizon.

For a Christian, a mountain top experience is a closeness to God, Word@Work defines it as:

This expression has originated from the Bible because of the dealings God had with His people on various “mountain-tops”. So the phrase has come to mean a moment of transcendence – or epiphany; and in particular an experience of significant revelation given by God.

Monday night last week, at our Ladies Meeting, our speaker was Tina Pugh, our pastor’s wife. She presented a number of biblical mountain top experiences. As another attendee put it: “For mountain top experiences you must plan and use considerable resources and have faith. God makes it worth the effort when it is to His glory.”

The opposite experiences are termed “valleys,” where we experience a significant distance from God. King David was described as being a man after God’s own heart when the kingdom was taken away from Saul:

And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee. (1 Samuel 13:13-14 KJV)

Saul’s indictment was specific – he had not kept God’s commandment to Saul, thus Saul lost the kingdom. David would make errors that kept him from building the Temple – that was left to his son Solomon. David also knew about the valleys that come to us, the opposite of “mountain top experiences.’ Those times when we are certain we are alone. Trust God, we are not alone.

When Elijah felt alone he said:

and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. (1 Kings 19:14b KJV)

God responded:

Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
(1 Kings 19:18 KJV)

David, when confronting his own sinfulness wrote:

Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. (Psalms 51:2-4 KJV)

He also wrote about God keeping us through the valleys, whether they are of the world’s making – as Elijah, or of our own – as David:

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. (Psalms 23:4 KJV)

Yes, God is with us in the valleys of our lives – when we listen to Him. Today we “see” Him as the Holy Spirit, the Comforter sent to His followers.

It is possible that many of our own valleys remain because we do not see God leading us back to those mountain top experiences. He does it through the Comforter Jesus prayed for:

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.
(John 14:16-17 KJV)

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
(John 14:26 KJV)

The Comforter’s presence with us in the valley allows us the strength to continue towards those lifting mountain tops where we do remember our place in God’s plan. If we’ve forgotten that God has a plan for us, the Comforter will “bring all things to your remembrance.” Easiest way for us to know what Jesus said is to read the Bible, isn’t it?

Maintenance Required

 I was watching my grandson work on his pickup this morning. He needs it to pull his equipment trailer for his welding business. Without that truck, he is unable to fulfill his commitment to his employer or his clients.

This is true of so many things in our lives. Every day living is filled with maintenance items. Some are as simple as putting fuel in our vehicles in order for us to bring food into our house so that we provide sustenance for our bodies. Yes – we need to do maintenance on our bodies daily. There will be times we need help in maintaining our bodies, so we call upon doctors. Seems as though I’ve called on them too often since October 2019, but each time they’ve done well in aiding in maintaining my body.

My Beloved Husband and I have maintained our marriage – celebrating sixty years of marriage since May of 1961, Oh, yes, we had to work at that! Marriage definitely takes maintenance on the part of both husband and wife. It does takes both working on that because at any given time, one of us wasn’t doing our part. When one spouse is working alone, the marriage will fail. Many do.

Children take maintenance, too. Lots of it. Somehow, our society thinks that babies can take care of themselves once they are born. They are not only viable, but no longer need mothers, fathers, families, or sustenance. That having a woman provide maintenance alone during pregnancy is a point of contention to the point of removing the child from any needs, denying them life. For mothers accepting the responsibilities of children, maintenance is necessary for years. The return on loving, caring maintenance is continued love and care for parents. That is a beautiful circle of life.

Too often, poor maintenance on our bodies, marriage, and children can be compared with poor maintenance on our souls. Neglecting maintenance on our souls, as seen by Christians, is death. Thomas Aquinas wrote:  “Three things are necessary for the salvation of man: to know what he ought to believe; to know what he ought to desire, and to know what he ought to do.” That reminds me of a very good definition of what is necessary to become a Christian:

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.  (Romans 10:13-18 KJV)

Do you believe that last sentence? It wasn’t a full truth in Paul’s day, though he spent his life taking that gospel to a large portion of the Roman world. Today, is there a place that has not had an opportunity to hear that which Paul preached to Agrippa:

Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come: That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles. (Acts 26:22-23 KJV)

Look for yourself what is necessary for maintaining a soul. The results are eternally important:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 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 3:16-18 KJV)