Words Matter

The Hebrew word for justice is tzedek, which is the root of tzadik (righteous), and also tzedakah (charity).

That was in an e-mail I received, and it was thought-provoking for me. In English there is no correlation between those three words, yet the Bible ties them together so often.  To think that ‘justice’ provides both ‘righteous’ and ‘charity’.  It brings to mind so many verses, and prompted me to look to Strong’s translations in some of my favorites (available on e-Sword.net – wonderful resource!).

H6666
צדקה
tsedâqâh
tsed-aw-kaw'
From H6663; rightness (abstractly), subjectively (rectitude), objectively (justice), morally (virtue) or figuratively (prosperity): - justice, moderately, right (-eous) (act, -ly, -ness).

H6663
צדק
tsâdaq
tsaw-dak'
A primitive root; to be (causatively make) right (in a moral or forensic sense): - cleanse, clear self, (be, do) just (-ice, -ify, -ify self), (be, turn to) righteous (-ness).

However, the graphic is Greek, not Hebrew, and it comes from 1 Corinthians Chapter 13, where it defines charity, which is love.  Strong’s shows:

G26
ἀγάπη
agapē
ag-ah'-pay
From G25; love, that is, affection or benevolence; specifically (plural) a love feast: - (feast of) charity ([-ably]), dear, love.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:3 KJV)

Does that help you understand the rich young ruler? Matthew 19: 20-25 tells of one who comes to Jesus asking how to be saved.  People still do that today, looking for an answer they can live with, without giving up anything in their current lifestyle.

Jesus goes over the basics, all the things we’re taught from our childhood to do, which the young man affirms he has done.  We still do that today, justifying our lifestyles among the terms society teaches – it’s all relative, right?

Then Jesus tells him the one thing the young man cannot do – give up that which he loves more than God.  To me, that’s what 1 Corinthians 13:3 is talking about.  We can keep God’s commandments.  We can give up all of our physical things to help others.  We can be martyrs to the current cause. 

But, if we do it without love – the agape love – there is no profit to our souls.

We Americans throw the word ‘love’ out in every other sentence. Think of how many times you’ve used the word love recently. Was that use related to the definition you have of charity?  How does it relate to what Christ would have you give up for salvation?

Reminders

I ran across this photograph and was struck by how easy it was to find letters in every day objects.  Pull them together and there’s a meaningful word.  Christians are encouraged to pray, to speak to God directly.  Nothing stands between a man and his God except the man’s own lack of faith.

I like how it was put in Genesis:

then began men to call upon the name of the LORD. (Genesis 4:26 KJV)

Just the third generation, Adam, Seth, then Enos, and men began to call upon God.  Of course, Adam didn’t have to – God walked with him and talked.

And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day:

I can’t imagine what that would be like.  But it wasn’t enough for Eve and Adam to obey and keep.  Listening to the first temptation to come along, they cut themselves off from the Lord, and knew it:

and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:8 KJV)

We still try that hiding routine, afraid to come and face the Lord we sinned against.  Knowing our guilt and the punishment we deserve, we hide.  And, that’s ridiculous.

We can’t clear it from ourselves, and we understand that God is omniscient, so who do we think we are kidding?  There are constant reminders around us, just as that lovely framed saying reminds us. Short bits from the Bible find their way into our lives:

Hear the word of the Lord (peppered through 24 verses)
Seek the Lord (contained in 27 verses)
Keep my commandments (found in 13 verses)
My salvation (my favorite!)

That one’s found first in Moses’ song:

The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him. (Exodus 15:2 KJV)

These are reminders to me, just as the world He created reminds me with its beauty and the awesome power of His immutable laws.  Every once in a while a reminder literally takes our breath away and we wonder if that moment can be matched.  Some time later, it is even overshadowed by another such reminder.

Babies, to me, are such awesome moments.  The miracle of humans who will learn, love, share with loved ones, for decades of their lives. So vulnerable, and such beautiful reminders of God’s love. Totally dependent on others for years, more so than other animals. Unique DNA from their very conception.  Discardable by worldly standards, yet the example of the kingdom of God.  What a reminder!

And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when his disciples saw it, they rebuked them. But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. (Luke 18:15-16 KJV)

Sin Against

Yesterday I closed with:

Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: (1 Samuel 12:23a KJV)

It carried the thought that I shouldn’t cease to pray for those I listed, and to do so would be a sin against the Lord.  That’s very important when we think of sin.  Although we may do emotional, or even physical, harm to another, the actual sin is against God.  Against what He has laid out for us.

The first mention of this is from Joseph when Potiphar’s wife made her advances:

There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? (Genesis 39:9 KJV)

As in the first verse, Joseph recognized that he should be loyal simply because of all Potiphar had done for him, but the wickedness would be a sin against God.

God told the children of Israel in Exodus that to take other gods would be a sin against Him, too:

Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee. (Exodus 23:32-33 KJV)

In 1 Samuel 2 we find that Eli’s sons died because of sins against God:

Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the LORD'S people to transgress. If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them. (1 Samuel 2:24-25 KJV)

David knew how to keep from sinning against God (though he did not always practice what he had learned!):

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (Psalms 119:11 KJV)

It’s a book.  The words are available to almost anyone in the world.  There are more languages that carry this book than any other in the world.  Most places anyone can pick one up and read it.  There are, however, too many places where to be found with a Bible results in imprisonment. To speak to another about what is found  in there can bring a death sentence.  I have met a man under a death sentence for smuggling Bibles into the country of his birth.  We are complicit in his crime as we donate money to buy those Bibles.

Yet I also know people reading this who never pick one up to see whether what I say is in there.  I’ve always asked that readers check out what I write – is it true, or not?  Doing so makes one noble – the Bible says so:

These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. (Acts 17:11 KJV)

A Day

It started out to be a rather good day.  No big rush.  One doctor's appointment in the morning, a chicken wrap at Dairy Queen (even passed up ice cream!) for lunch, then home for a quick rest stop before going to the second doctor’s appointment.

That was the important one.  The neurologist who would tell us about the test from last Friday that checked for Myasthenia Gravis.  That was our concern.

Until we heard the sirens.

With the Possum Kingdom fire still uncontrolled only 50 miles away, the drought leaving all of our plants crunching under foot, we knew wildfires were possible.  There simply isn’t enough water.  Lake Bridgeport is fifteen feet below where it should be, but today water had to be taken from the lake for the fire.

We saw the smoke when the sirens drew us outside. Smoke was billowing, but not far enough away.  We weren’t certain which way the wind was blowing, but it didn’t matter.  There was nothing we could do. So, we left the cats, dogs, goat, cows, donkey and our home with Second Daughter, who was keeping an eye on which way the wind was blowing and Beloved Husband and I headed into Fort Worth to the neurologist. The diagnosis was confirmed. Myasthenia Gravis.

There is one more CT scan he has requested, so another trip to the hospital some time in the next two weeks, then back to him to see if the medication is working on Beloved Husband’s symptoms. 

In the neurologist’s waiting room, Second Daughter called – the fire was moving north, away from us, but people we knew were in the path. Oddly enough, in a waiting room of about fifteen people, six of us were either from the fire area or had family there.  We spent a lot of time with texting, phone calls and web searches to find out what was happening.

We were safe, but fielding a lot of calls from people checking on us, and we were making calls checking on friends.  Oddly, even when I thought our home might be at risk, I was calm.  We were doing all we could, and it could not be enough if the flames headed our way.

It was not enough for our friend Cece and her husband.  They lost their mobile home and the new home they were building.  There was no time to save anything.  We’ve offered them our loft, but there were others in the church who have opened their homes, too.

We also learned yesterday that Second Daughter has to have spinal surgery, fusing between two sets of vertebrae, with a titanium butterfly patch screwing her head on straight!  I had that same operation (same doctor) several years ago, and First Daughter (same, same) just this last February.  Genetics!!!!

We had a call from my husband's Ohio brother-in-law (I wrote of him as Obil).  I mentioned in blogs back that his wife (Osil) had survived Hodgkins only to have problems thirty years later from the radiation.  Her heart valves are failing and within a week they will replace them.  Without that replacement her time with us would be a couple of months at most, though the surgery has many risks.

Anyway, our prayer list has grown in just a day – Cece and her husband, for strength to see them through their loss and rebuilding; Second Daughter, that her surgery and recovery mirror mine and her sister’s; our sweet Osil's heart and the operation to keep her with us longer; and Beloved Husband, as we adjust through his medication and the progression of this disease.

Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: (1 Samuel 12:23a KJV)

A Thin Layer

This is a NASA handout shot from the International Space Station as Atlantis re-entered the earth’s atmosphere on her last journey.  I want to call your attention to that thin, oh so very thin, visible atmosphere.  Consider the size of the earth, based on this small view through the window.  Between the surface and the blackness of space is that thin greenish line that means the difference between life – and the lack thereof.

I haven’t found an explanation of how high that thin line is.  A definition includes:

Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as an end to Earth's atmosphere: An atmosphere does not technically end at any given height, but becomes progressively thinner with altitude.

However, it is much below that thin line that mankind exists without technical assistance.  Keep that in mind when reading the December, 2009, issue of National Geographic (amazing what’s on doctors' waiting room tables) by Timothy Ferris as he writes about the number of earth-like planets waiting to be found:

We believe that billions of such worlds must exist and that they hold the promise of expanding not only the scope of human knowledge but also the richness of the human imagination.

His belief is based on scientific papers published after years of study. Yet the sentence shows a similarity to the faith spoken of by the religious.  We “believe”, and what we believe “must” exist.  We extrapolate from what is known, what has been seen, what we have done ourselves.

The difference (to me) is, I can accept Ferris’ hypothesis that billions of other worlds exist and that living organisms may inhabit them.  Many cannot accept my own hypothesis that God created this vast universe and has interacted with mankind – a personal God.

No, I do not know why I’ve recently blogged on this premise.  I could say that God inspired it, but it could be just the simple explanation that when you notice one yellow car, you’ll see dozens within a short time afterwards.  It may just be on my mind.

I do find it fascinating to see our earth from space. It is a beautiful planet.  We don’t see the litter, the battlefields, the boundaries defined by men through which others cannot cross.  Well, except for the Great Wall of China, which can be seen from space. 

The night photographs, showing the lights we use to keep going past the close of day, show delineations unseen elsewhere.  Those show how we’ve clustered together.  Well, most of us.  You won’t find our lights in the night photos, we’re twenty miles from cities of 5,000 or less, and we have no security lights on the acreage.  We like looking at the night skies.

What does that have to do with a devotional?  I find it in the Bible.

What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him? (Job 7:17 KJV)

What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? (Psalms 8:4 KJV)

LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him! (Psalms 144:3 KJV)

Seeing there be many things that increase vanity, what is man the better? For who knoweth what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life which he spendeth as a shadow? for who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun? (Ecclesiastes 6:11-12 KJV)

What is man?  Man is what God loves.

We love him, because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19 KJV)

Friends In Deed

Hand of Friendship, Chateau Thierry, France

A couple of years ago (I think) I posted a blog on correcting errors.  I introduced it with this paragraph:

I met a dear friend through the internet when I left a short message correcting an item she had posted. She did not take well to the short, terse note and we had a long explanatory exchange that led to friendship.

Recently, because of a multitude of things going on in her life, I did not  include her in a prayer request I sent to a mutual friend.  I was wrong.

The only way to have a friend is to be a friend – Ralph Waldo Emerson.

By not including her in the prayer request, I deleted her opportunity to show her friendship.  I was wrong.

Christ spoke of friendship in more than one verse:

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13 KJV)

Jesus laid down His life.  Would seem from that that he did so for friends.  Do you think of yourself as His friend?  Jesus had more to say about the subject in the next verse:

Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. (John 15:14 KJV)

Christ also showed the greater love that God has for mankind by laying down His life for those yet to come. The billions of people alive today, and the billions who came before.  Including those who decline to be friends with Him.

Solomon agreed with Emerson:

A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24 KJV)

Another quote I ran across, but could not locate the author is:  Friends are people we choose to be family.  I agree with that.  For what ever reason we make that first contact, however the friendship grows, true friends become family that do stick together.

Never take friends for granted.  Let them know how important they are – to us, and to the Lord we serve.  His resurrection was for them, too, and it is up to us to remember that, teach that, live that.

Rather than a lifetime, these friendships may last an eternity.

Lions and Lambs and Other Things

In Christian heraldry the lamb is the symbol of the Redeemer and the lion is the symbol of the Resurrection

A search in Wikimedia Commons for lion/lamb combination came back with lots of pubs.  And, the explanation about heraldry.  A search in Google for that same image combination came back with pages of paintings, photographs, drawings, and clip art, along with references to:

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. (Isaiah 11:6 KJV)

The images of lions and lambs do not match the verse.  This one comes close:

It is so easy to misquote the Bible, taking from it what we would like to hear, or taking something that sounds biblical and accepting it as so. CNN wrote a blog about such biblical misquotes earlier this summer.

The article begins with “This too shall pass,” but that one does have a biblical base in:

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. (Matthew 24:35 KJV)

Even though the words are not exact, that verse tells us that all things shall pass – but God’s words will not.  See, we also forget “the rest of the story” even when we get the gist of the verse.

People get so tied up in correcting misquotes, or looking for conflicts, that they neglect to study for content and meaning.  We forget why we study God’s word, and where it should reside:

With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (Psalms 119:10-11 KJV)

How do we seek God?  By listening to others, or asking Him directly? Why do we seek Him?  Because others have said we should or because a part of us wants to know Him?  Why do some deride those who say they have found Him?  Jealousy, because of a personal lack or fear of Him?

Those are very personal questions and while they have no exact answers, some are afraid of even thinking of them.

Finding out what God is, and isn’t, is a very personal journey.  I doubt that there are two people on the planet that have exactly the same answer.  For those two to find each other would take a lot of people discussing Him and sharing those discussions.  Whatever their religious beliefs are, they must search their foundations, know the source of their beliefs, during any discussion.

For a Christian, that would be getting to know their Bible.  Being able to go to the source, understand where those books came from.  Who wrote them?  When were they written, and in what language?  Who did the translation and why? 

Knowing what I believe and why I believe it still comes down to faith.

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

Someone else told me first, then I sought to know for myself. Take care when that seeking is done.  There will come a time when He cannot be found.

Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: (Isaiah 55:6 KJV)