Have you ever noticed a connection between the fruit of the Spirit (Galations 5:22-24) and the beatitudes (Matthew 5:2-11)? There are nine beatitudes and nine specific fruits. I had not noticed a conjunction between them either until recently. We were discussing the life that God rewards and the study led us to some things that are not rewarded. Jesus moves from the blessings of following Him, (chapter 5) to the non-rewards for faking it in Chapter 6. Matthew 6:1 gives the overview.
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
In fact, He says that any reward we get from public practice of piety is all that will be awarded.
Our consideration here is not that, however. But we want to turn back to the blessings in chapter 5. We will take them one at a time and compare them with the individual fruits of the Spirit. (Yes I know that they are all one fruit, but we will take each one at a time, like a bunch of grapes.)
As Julie Andrews says, “Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.”
Number one.
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
A poor person knows that he cannot meet the requirements to live in the most expensive house in town, unless a rich uncle buys it for him and pays the upkeep. A “poor in spirit” person similarly recognizes his inability to meet the requirements to live in heaven. His debt of sin disqualifies him for any opportunity or ability to get there. But, better than a rich uncle, God, Himself, paid the price, erasing the certificate of debt. That person is now has free and complete access to heaven forever. (That is me, and you if you have accepted Him.)
The first fruit is love. And how could we not love the God who has removed our debt of sin and reserved us a home in heaven? Our family literally had a rich uncle, and he was extremely generous. Now he, and his twin brother were kind and gentle men, in and of themselves, but when they held a family reunion, most of us, me included, made it a point to be there. We were not money-grubbers, by any means. But every one of us was anxious to show our appreciation and even love for these two men. When God has His homecoming, I plan to be there, too.
The Second beatitude is
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Joy is the second fruit. How can joy and mourning be related? The second beatitude looks back to the first. A person who is aware that he is unable to “afford” heaven should be filled with grief. And if they are, and recognize their need, they are on the way to the comfort of knowing forgiveness. And that leads directly to joy. Joy inexpressible is what Peter said as if he read my mind. 1 Peter 1:8
...and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory....
A poor person loves the Lord and it fills him with joy. Me too. And I trust that is true for you.
Third beatitude:
5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.
And how do poor, but promised a kingdom, mourners treat other people? We have been comforted and can pass that along. Providing comfort is what a mother does for a distraught child. She is gentle. And what does Paul say? Check 2 Corinthians 1:3, 4.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
Beatitude 2 promises comfort and Paul tells us the source and the purpose of that comfort. We are comforted and in turn can comfort others. Be gentle, Number three. Gentleness is a later fruit, but we may find another application.
The third fruit is peace. Have you ever seen a gentle person who was not peaceful? When others’ needs and even desires are foremost in the attention and focus of anyone, it is hard to “pick a fight” with them. They are at peace with themselves and can be with others. And how can we be more “at peace” than knowing that our sins are gone and that one’s inheritance includes the earth. (And as a side note, that inheritance is not this crumbling old world, but the one Jesus will establish during His 1000 year reign on the earth. Glory.)
Beatitude number four is:
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
The hunger and thirsting for righteousness led to recognizing our poor condition and our mourning because of it. Now we get the promise that we will be “filled.” (KJV) Completely full of righteousness spiritually and “gentle” in our interactions with those around us. This is almost too easy to see, isn’t it. It just flows together.
Patience, the fourth fruit, just flows from gentle, righteous interactions. It meshes together like the gears on a Swiss watch. (Are there any such things anymore?)
Beatitude five:
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy”
When our patience is “tried” and offended, the first three gifts and beatitudes make it possible to react in mercy. It is not necessarily easy, but it is possible. And Kindness, number five fruit, fits here as well as with number 2. Jesus said that if we forgive men their trespasses, ours will be forgiven as well. And we can forgive because our trespasses have been forgiven in the first place. Just a nice little circle there. Merciful people are kind. Go on.
Beatitude six says:
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
And this purity of heart is not self generated. Had it been first, we would all be disqualified. Back in Deuteronomy 5, I just read the story abut the Children of Israel asking Moses not to let them hear God’s voice again. (Deuteronomy 5:25) They said that they were afraid that if they continued to hear God’s voice that they would die.
I have heard that it was the hardness of their hearts that caused them not to want to listen to God. But as I read it again, it occurred to me, in light of this study specifically, that they recognized how impossible it was to keep even these ten, and hearing any more from God would condemn them irredeemably. So they recognized that they were not pure in heart and were acknowledging it and beginning to take steps to avoid further condemnation. Just a thought.
Going back to the thought, of being pure in heart, we see that this beatitude comes after the first five have cleared the path. The sixth fruit is goodness. Pure hearted people are good. How can a pure heart treat anyone else but “good?”
B. Seven.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Notice the connection between six and seven. The “pure in heart” see God, and peacemakers are God’s children. And who can see their father more than children? We can “see God,” because we are his children. Being pure in heart helps to bring peace, not only to our acquaintances, but to the whole world. Good connection.
With the previous six blessings, how can we be anything but peace makers. A revolver back in the old west was called a Peacemaker, because if people did not respect it and calm down, it would literally calm them down, permanently. This is not that kind of peace. This is real peace, the kind that we can have with God. (Romans 5:1) And this peace in our hearts leads us to want to share that with others. We “make peace” between everyone and God. And when we are at peace with God, being at peace with others is a natural consequence. It is “unavoidable.”
Our fruit list included peace at number three. Number seven is faithful. We are peacemakers in that we are faithful to what we say and in how we interact with others. And more importantly, we are faithful to share the good news that everyone can have peace with God. This may be stretching it a little, but it certainly fits.
And of course we can find the result of faith: (Romans 5:1 again)
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ....
Galatians 2:16; 3:11, 24 repeat this. How did I get on faith? Oh yes, teaching “faith” brings peace to all who respond. So the best peace maker, is the one who brings people to faith. And, by making them children of God.
Beatitude number eight: v. 10
“Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
And how better to respond to criticism or worse, persecution, than with kindness. In practical terms, nothing drives a bully more crazy than to treat him with kindness. They expect hostility or even retaliation and when they do not elicit that, they cannot handle the resulting emotion. But our goal is not to just infuriate them, but to show them Jesus.
How did Jesus react to those who were crucifying Him? He responded evenly, and in the end, prayed forgiveness for them. Notice the result on the centurion. (Matthew 27:54; Mark 15:39) He certainly did not intend to meet God, face to face, when he got up that morning. The kindness of God led him to salvation. (Romans 2:4) How better to achieve the peace of God in peoples’ hearts than show them God’s kindness.
Beatitude nine. It almost duplicates number eight. V. 11, 12
“Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Persecution, again is the theme, but this time is it more verbal attack. But again instead of responding “in kind,” we exercise self control, the final fruit in the cluster. Not only does it lead people to believe the message we are preaching, but it is a verification that we are on track.
I am not implying that false cults are exempt from criticism and abuse. But true faith seems to elicit a lot more verbal and physical persecution than the false ones do. But that is not the point. Notice that Jesus said following the “truth path” puts us in the company of the prophets. But more important, going back to our initial thought, this produces rewards. “Great reward” is the term He used.
Looking for ways to live a life God rewards? Follow the beatitudes and let the fruit of the spirit flow out of your life. And Paul summarized it for us in Galatians 5.
...against such things there is no law.
Not that people will accept it without objection, but that they cannot effectively “get under your skin.” What a promise. I want to be fruitful, blessed, and assured of a home in heaven.
That is the promise He offers. Have you accepted your new home? Do it today.
Monday, March 25, 2019
Saturday, March 23, 2019
This Is Just Nuts
Every once in a while the Lord reminds us that little things matter to Him as much as they do to us. We can all recite the story of the lost lamb and the prodigal son. But at times we overlook the little things that He does for us. I had a personal reminder of that yesterday.
While in Indianapolis to help our daughter and her kids, I happened upon a sale of pecans at a local Kroger store. Pecans are good in a multitude of products, so getting four or five pounds at a 50% discount was pretty sweet. (No pun intended.) We got them home and promptly lost, oops, misplaced them. So when it came time to make a nice coffee cake with pecans, we were out of luck. And of course, party mix, that salty concoction of Chex and nuts, was also out of the picture. Until we found the nuts, that is.
Hurrah! Let the cooking and concocting commence. But we had to wait a few days, because the party mix has to “cook” for over four hours. The pecans were “put away” until needed. When the cook got ready to make a big batch of the salty treat, she went looking for the pecans. They were nowhere to be found. We searched the pantry, the laundry shelves, a spare bedroom closet, every cupboard, and no pecans were uncovered. Alternative, go to the store and buy a batch at full price.
“In the course of human events,” the garbage and recyclables accumulate and are periodically taken to the recycling center. Things get very interesting here. I have separate bins for cardboard, plastic, paper, and slicks. Normally, I prefer to drive between the dumpsters for trash and cardboard. Then I can dump both garbage and cardboard in one stop. This time, the line for that aisle was populated, and the garbage only line was open. In I went and the garbage was tossed into the proper place.
These are compressing dumpsters for those who have never visited. When the open mouth of the compacter is filled, a hydraulic cylinder compresses the accumulation into the waiting bin. This is an important part of the continuing story.
Then I swung around to the opposite side of the cardboard bin to deposit my accumulated stash of discarded boxes. The cardboard hopper was empty, meaning that it had just been compressed. It was easy to look into the bin and see anything deposited there. I emptied my bin into the evacuated hopper and turned to notice that the “plastics” dumpster had a notice that it was full. So I took my little bin of milk cartons, (crushed, of course), and other miscellaneous plastic to the attendant who was picking something out of the cardboard bin.
“Do I just dump my plastics in the garbage hopper?” I asked.
She didn’t answer that, but turned to scold me. “Don’t dump garbage into the cardboard bin.”
“I didn’t,” I replied.
“Then what is this?” she queried. And her gripper pulled out a Kroger bag of, you guessed it, packages of pecans. I watched in amazement as she retrieved two or three additional packages that had fallen out of the sack, and...just for good measure, two bags of mini Reeses Cups. Dark chocolate, mini Reeses cups. You know, the kind that you press into peanut butter cookie dough and make wonderful treats. (One hundred carbs or so, apiece, but the doctor said we could splurge on occasion.) ((I do.))
Explanation: The “wandering” pecans had been stashed on a ledge by the back door in the garage. The ledge overlooks the cardboard bin. The bag of pecans and the bags of Reeses had been inadvertently swept from the ledge and had fallen into the cardboard bin. They had subsequently been covered and hidden by additional cereal boxes and the like.
Now the story gets interesting. Had I made the normal stop, between bins, I would have driven off to the plastic recycler and never been aware of the “dumped pecans.” But I had to circle around to the cardboard recycler. And this is the first time I had seen this lady, or anyone, picking foreign objects out of the recycling dumpster. Two coincidences or three.
There always have been at least two plastic recycling receptacles, so when one is full, we just dump in the other. There was only one, and it was full, causing me to turn to the nice lady for my “scolding.” And for the retrieval of our nuts.
Did God orchestrate that intricate set of events just to save us a few dollars? I can confidently affirm that He is interested and involved in the most minute of matters. He is running the entire universe, and has time to teach me a lesson on lost things. “God is good. All the time. All the time, God is good.”
By extension, is He interested in a friend of mine who has lost his way? I can confidently affirm that He is interested in the most minute of matters. From nuts to wandering wonderers, He is there, and He is involved.
This is just nuts.
While in Indianapolis to help our daughter and her kids, I happened upon a sale of pecans at a local Kroger store. Pecans are good in a multitude of products, so getting four or five pounds at a 50% discount was pretty sweet. (No pun intended.) We got them home and promptly lost, oops, misplaced them. So when it came time to make a nice coffee cake with pecans, we were out of luck. And of course, party mix, that salty concoction of Chex and nuts, was also out of the picture. Until we found the nuts, that is.
Hurrah! Let the cooking and concocting commence. But we had to wait a few days, because the party mix has to “cook” for over four hours. The pecans were “put away” until needed. When the cook got ready to make a big batch of the salty treat, she went looking for the pecans. They were nowhere to be found. We searched the pantry, the laundry shelves, a spare bedroom closet, every cupboard, and no pecans were uncovered. Alternative, go to the store and buy a batch at full price.
“In the course of human events,” the garbage and recyclables accumulate and are periodically taken to the recycling center. Things get very interesting here. I have separate bins for cardboard, plastic, paper, and slicks. Normally, I prefer to drive between the dumpsters for trash and cardboard. Then I can dump both garbage and cardboard in one stop. This time, the line for that aisle was populated, and the garbage only line was open. In I went and the garbage was tossed into the proper place.
These are compressing dumpsters for those who have never visited. When the open mouth of the compacter is filled, a hydraulic cylinder compresses the accumulation into the waiting bin. This is an important part of the continuing story.
Then I swung around to the opposite side of the cardboard bin to deposit my accumulated stash of discarded boxes. The cardboard hopper was empty, meaning that it had just been compressed. It was easy to look into the bin and see anything deposited there. I emptied my bin into the evacuated hopper and turned to notice that the “plastics” dumpster had a notice that it was full. So I took my little bin of milk cartons, (crushed, of course), and other miscellaneous plastic to the attendant who was picking something out of the cardboard bin.
“Do I just dump my plastics in the garbage hopper?” I asked.
She didn’t answer that, but turned to scold me. “Don’t dump garbage into the cardboard bin.”
“I didn’t,” I replied.
“Then what is this?” she queried. And her gripper pulled out a Kroger bag of, you guessed it, packages of pecans. I watched in amazement as she retrieved two or three additional packages that had fallen out of the sack, and...just for good measure, two bags of mini Reeses Cups. Dark chocolate, mini Reeses cups. You know, the kind that you press into peanut butter cookie dough and make wonderful treats. (One hundred carbs or so, apiece, but the doctor said we could splurge on occasion.) ((I do.))
Explanation: The “wandering” pecans had been stashed on a ledge by the back door in the garage. The ledge overlooks the cardboard bin. The bag of pecans and the bags of Reeses had been inadvertently swept from the ledge and had fallen into the cardboard bin. They had subsequently been covered and hidden by additional cereal boxes and the like.
Now the story gets interesting. Had I made the normal stop, between bins, I would have driven off to the plastic recycler and never been aware of the “dumped pecans.” But I had to circle around to the cardboard recycler. And this is the first time I had seen this lady, or anyone, picking foreign objects out of the recycling dumpster. Two coincidences or three.
There always have been at least two plastic recycling receptacles, so when one is full, we just dump in the other. There was only one, and it was full, causing me to turn to the nice lady for my “scolding.” And for the retrieval of our nuts.
Did God orchestrate that intricate set of events just to save us a few dollars? I can confidently affirm that He is interested and involved in the most minute of matters. He is running the entire universe, and has time to teach me a lesson on lost things. “God is good. All the time. All the time, God is good.”
By extension, is He interested in a friend of mine who has lost his way? I can confidently affirm that He is interested in the most minute of matters. From nuts to wandering wonderers, He is there, and He is involved.
This is just nuts.
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Vernal Equinox
Bet you thought (or hoped) that I forgot about vernal equinox. Well, I didn’t write about St. Patrick’s Day. I didn’t even go get a green shake. (Too many carbs) But, equinox time calls for some spectacular things. And this particular VE has so many things that I can hardly keep from bursting. (Two smileys and four citations.) Instead of trying to explain them all, I will let my teacher elucidate on the wonders of the “super worm, equinox moon.” Buckle you seat belts, this is gonna get good.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2019/03/19/your-viewing-guide-to-wednesdays-super-worm-equinox-moon-2019s-third-last-and-best-supermoon/#5f6664fa1c20
He did not further pontificate on the difference in the moon’s orbit. He noted it is 25,000 miles nearer earth at the perigee than at the apogee. (The definitions are in the article.) :>) Actually it is 31,200 miles different, in distinction to the article referenced.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_distance_(astronomy)
(This also shows a perspective of the difference in apparent sizes of the moon at the different distances.)
Since gravity is directly proportional to the distance, when the moon is closer, its gravitational attraction is greater. And, as you probably know, the moon’s gravity causes the tides, so a closer moon would mean higher tides. And as if the Creator wanted to challenge our minute minds, He also inserted a little “surprise” into the equation. The moon’s tidal initiation also contributes to its acceleration and thus recession from the earth. The tides make the moon speed up. And, going faster, just as a car going around a corner, the faster either goes, the “wider” it takes the corner.
In simple terms, the moon is moving away from the earth because it is speeding up. It orbit is getting larger. And how does it “speed up?” The tides that the moon causes also produce an acceleration. What a spectacular creation! The full explanation is in my third citation of the day. Put your thinking cap on for this one. :>) (Second smiley of the day)
https://answersingenesis.org/astronomy/moon/lunar-recession/
Our friend David exclaimed: Psalm 19:1
The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands
Glory. (I didn’t know where this was going when I started on VE, but I’m glad I went there. I hope you are too.)
Actually five links. Just got this one from someone else thinking VE.
https://mail.yahoo.com/d/folders/1/messages/160507?.rand=8mjfaapnk1jkk
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2019/03/19/your-viewing-guide-to-wednesdays-super-worm-equinox-moon-2019s-third-last-and-best-supermoon/#5f6664fa1c20
He did not further pontificate on the difference in the moon’s orbit. He noted it is 25,000 miles nearer earth at the perigee than at the apogee. (The definitions are in the article.) :>) Actually it is 31,200 miles different, in distinction to the article referenced.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_distance_(astronomy)
(This also shows a perspective of the difference in apparent sizes of the moon at the different distances.)
Since gravity is directly proportional to the distance, when the moon is closer, its gravitational attraction is greater. And, as you probably know, the moon’s gravity causes the tides, so a closer moon would mean higher tides. And as if the Creator wanted to challenge our minute minds, He also inserted a little “surprise” into the equation. The moon’s tidal initiation also contributes to its acceleration and thus recession from the earth. The tides make the moon speed up. And, going faster, just as a car going around a corner, the faster either goes, the “wider” it takes the corner.
In simple terms, the moon is moving away from the earth because it is speeding up. It orbit is getting larger. And how does it “speed up?” The tides that the moon causes also produce an acceleration. What a spectacular creation! The full explanation is in my third citation of the day. Put your thinking cap on for this one. :>) (Second smiley of the day)
https://answersingenesis.org/astronomy/moon/lunar-recession/
Our friend David exclaimed: Psalm 19:1
The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands
Glory. (I didn’t know where this was going when I started on VE, but I’m glad I went there. I hope you are too.)
Actually five links. Just got this one from someone else thinking VE.
https://mail.yahoo.com/d/folders/1/messages/160507?.rand=8mjfaapnk1jkk
Friday, March 8, 2019
Lost Things
This week I accidentally left a gift card on the counter at Kroger. Imagine my chagrin when I realized that it was gone, and I mean GONE. What a bummer.
Then I read the story about a guy in New Jersey who bought a lottery ticket and left it behind. (Link below) We both returned to the counter, but his outcome was a "little" different than mine. A good Samaritan had found his tickets and returned them to the cashier. My card has not yet been recovered.
Oh, did I mention that his ticket was a $273 million dollar winner? He was one fortunate “forgetter.” My loss was a "little" less, but still rankling. I am still holding out hope that a good Sam will come through for me.
Aren’t you glad that we do not have to worry about the Lord forgetting us? Isaiah 49:16 reminds us that the Lord has not and will not forget us.
“Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
Read that again, “...on the palms of His hands.” In full disclosure, the promise is directly to Israel in response to the question of whether God will ever abandon them. Negative. But for Christians, for whom Jesus died, that promise is even more sure. The “marks” on His hands are from the nails that held Him to the cross. Can we ever conceive of an instance when He would not remember us? The answer, in Paul’s favorite negative, is “M`e genoito!” “May it never be!” Absolutely, positively, never, no never in a million, a billion, a trillion years. Or more. Did I say, “No?”
What a comfort that is for us when we feel like a gift card or lottery ticket lying, forgotten, on a counter somewhere. No good Samaritan is needed. He put us there deliberately and has a purpose for it. And He will not only “be back” for us, He is always there.
That oughta get a “Glory!” It did. Glory!
You are not alone. You are not forgotten. Rest in the peace and comfort of that fact. Amen.
Epilog
Three days later I returned to the Kroger store to inquire about the gift card. I have to admit it seemed futile, but why not? The first customer service agent to greet me looked in every drawer in the counter. “Nope, nothing here.”
Then a familiar face emerged from the back room. Guess who? It was the lady who tried to help me the other night and found nothing on the counter. She recognized me. “Oh yes,” she answered the query of the first lady,” it is in the office.” And with that she disappeared bcak into the back room, and a minute later emerged with...TA DA! The card and even the accompanying paper work. It seems that it had fallen behind the cash register and the elevated counter where customers place their articles and, incidentally, sign the receipts that they had received the refund.
I had not suffered a brain lock, or as some kindly call it, “a senior moment.” I had wracked my brain and memory to recall what had happened to it. No wonder I could not retrieve the memory. Somehow, it had slipped between the equipment and the counter while I was signing the receipt. Well, maybe a little slippage occurred in that I did not immediately realize that I did not have it, nor had I put it in my pocket or billfold.
“Hallelujah! Thank you.” What a great person. Honestly, anyone could have taken the card and cashed it. There was no identification marks on it. But, like our lottery friend, a true good Samaritan had recovered it and held it for its rightful owner. She even had the foresight to “put it away” to prevent any temptation on the part of others who might use the desk. Not that Kroger employees are less than honest. For all they knew, it was for $5 and not worth the trouble. But to avoid temptation is never a bad practice.
Thank you, honest Kroger person. May blessings be on you and your house.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/good-news/i-was-a-bum-in-high-school-maybe-now-ill-be-a-beach-bum-unemployed-handyman-53-wins-dollar273m-mega-millions-jackpot-after-accidentally-leaving-his-lucky-ticket-at-the-store/ar-BBUugHc?OCID=ansmsnnews11
Then I read the story about a guy in New Jersey who bought a lottery ticket and left it behind. (Link below) We both returned to the counter, but his outcome was a "little" different than mine. A good Samaritan had found his tickets and returned them to the cashier. My card has not yet been recovered.
Oh, did I mention that his ticket was a $273 million dollar winner? He was one fortunate “forgetter.” My loss was a "little" less, but still rankling. I am still holding out hope that a good Sam will come through for me.
Aren’t you glad that we do not have to worry about the Lord forgetting us? Isaiah 49:16 reminds us that the Lord has not and will not forget us.
“Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
Read that again, “...on the palms of His hands.” In full disclosure, the promise is directly to Israel in response to the question of whether God will ever abandon them. Negative. But for Christians, for whom Jesus died, that promise is even more sure. The “marks” on His hands are from the nails that held Him to the cross. Can we ever conceive of an instance when He would not remember us? The answer, in Paul’s favorite negative, is “M`e genoito!” “May it never be!” Absolutely, positively, never, no never in a million, a billion, a trillion years. Or more. Did I say, “No?”
What a comfort that is for us when we feel like a gift card or lottery ticket lying, forgotten, on a counter somewhere. No good Samaritan is needed. He put us there deliberately and has a purpose for it. And He will not only “be back” for us, He is always there.
That oughta get a “Glory!” It did. Glory!
You are not alone. You are not forgotten. Rest in the peace and comfort of that fact. Amen.
Epilog
Three days later I returned to the Kroger store to inquire about the gift card. I have to admit it seemed futile, but why not? The first customer service agent to greet me looked in every drawer in the counter. “Nope, nothing here.”
Then a familiar face emerged from the back room. Guess who? It was the lady who tried to help me the other night and found nothing on the counter. She recognized me. “Oh yes,” she answered the query of the first lady,” it is in the office.” And with that she disappeared bcak into the back room, and a minute later emerged with...TA DA! The card and even the accompanying paper work. It seems that it had fallen behind the cash register and the elevated counter where customers place their articles and, incidentally, sign the receipts that they had received the refund.
I had not suffered a brain lock, or as some kindly call it, “a senior moment.” I had wracked my brain and memory to recall what had happened to it. No wonder I could not retrieve the memory. Somehow, it had slipped between the equipment and the counter while I was signing the receipt. Well, maybe a little slippage occurred in that I did not immediately realize that I did not have it, nor had I put it in my pocket or billfold.
“Hallelujah! Thank you.” What a great person. Honestly, anyone could have taken the card and cashed it. There was no identification marks on it. But, like our lottery friend, a true good Samaritan had recovered it and held it for its rightful owner. She even had the foresight to “put it away” to prevent any temptation on the part of others who might use the desk. Not that Kroger employees are less than honest. For all they knew, it was for $5 and not worth the trouble. But to avoid temptation is never a bad practice.
Thank you, honest Kroger person. May blessings be on you and your house.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/good-news/i-was-a-bum-in-high-school-maybe-now-ill-be-a-beach-bum-unemployed-handyman-53-wins-dollar273m-mega-millions-jackpot-after-accidentally-leaving-his-lucky-ticket-at-the-store/ar-BBUugHc?OCID=ansmsnnews11
Sunday, March 3, 2019
Ruminations on Scriptures
With thanks and acknowledgments to Michael Rydelnyk and others.
Will there be sacrifices in the Millennium? The answer is a quick, “Yes.” We can find that in Ezekiel. (Ezekiel 40) Why would there be sacrifices in the Millennium? There are two main reasons, according to Dr. Rydelnyk. First, they will be a memorial to remind the denizens of the Millennium of Jesus’ sacrifice for them. As we celebrate communion to remind us of His death now, until He comes, so the temple sacrifices will commemorate that same thing in the 1000 years of His reign.
Second, death will be very rare in the Millennium, as few people will die. It says a rebellious person may live as long as 100 years before being punished. (That is to allow the sinner adequate time to repent. Isaiah 65:20) Since death will be so rare, the sacrifices will be literal and graphic illustrations of what Jesus’ death involved and meant.
But Dr. Rydelnyk explained a third reason. According to Dr. Charles Ryrie, Adam and Eve had “raw animal innocence.” It was pure, but it was untested, much like that of small children. They instinctively obey their parents because it has never occurred to them that they can, let alone do, otherwise. Adam and Eve were like children and animals in that no alternative had appeared, nor occurred to them.
The role of the tempter in the Garden was not to “trick them into sinning, but to test or prove their innocence and obedience. We are not given an insight into heaven, but as we saw with Job and his testing, it is possible that Satan approached God and challenged Him to prove that the creatures in the Garden really loved Him and would obey Him, as Satan did with Job.
We know that they failed the test initially, but then turned and repented and were redeemed by the death of Christ on the cross. (Job did the same thing.) In the same way, we now are saved and come to love and obey the Lord after repenting. Untested love, is unproven love. (I did not find that on Google, but I am sure that someone far wiser than I already thought of it.)
Just as God did not want automatons to blindly and mechanically worship Him, neither did He want a love that had only one known option, even if there were other, though unknown, options. He gave His all for us, and this is our chance to return our unlimited and unending love. In essence, we are proving Satan wrong again. Glory.
Following God. Next thought.
(A lot of these thoughts came from Pastors Rick and Dave at I-91 Church in Indianapolis.)
This hurts deeply. At the dedication of our grandson, the pastor cited some statistics, that, though not unexpected, are still quite stunning. Roughly 70% of teenagers leave the church when they finish high school and go to college. Questions as to why and how this is occurring have been raised for years. (Aside note, I did not find any statistics on the same question in earlier years, such as 1950 to 1980.)
Why does it happen? The first analysis reminds us that kids spend more time with their parents in a car in one week, than they spend in Sunday school and similar training in a month. A study from the seminary also found that most church youth programs tend to focus on providing entertainment and pizza rather than building up young people in their faith. As a result, teens are ill-equipped to face the challenges they will encounter upon leaving home.
The point that the pastor made was that parents potentially exert a much greater influence on their kids and the ultimate decisions that they make than the church does. And the failure can be laid at the feet of the same people. Sadly, they, and we, are not doing a good job of introducing them to the Lord. This is stunning and frightening. He suggested that many kids leave home without seeing God influence the lives of those in their homes. What a responsibility we have as parents and what a disastrous result if it is shirked, ignored, or transferred. It doesn’t take a village to raise a child. It takes a home and parents--resident parents.
Jesus and Children
An additional thought comes from the dedication of babies. We are often reminded in the Gospels that Jesus loves children. Sometimes we look at this affection with condescension as we, proper, sophisticated, and advanced specimens of the human race also known as adults, smile condescendingly at Jesus, essentially wasting His time with the “lesser valued” children. Jesus made it clear that they were of great value to Him. But a second idea occurred to me.
This affection is to demonstrate and illustrate to us as “adults” that we appear as little children to Him. He is so far above us in any and all categories, that an observing angel might well wonder why Jesus “wastes” His time on us “worthless children.” He came and died for each and every one. No one was omitted or given a smaller portion of His love and grace. And in terms of our comparative “value,” it is like a student who received a 2% on a test boasting about his elevated position compared to the guy who got 1%.
Jesus paid it all for everybody. What a Savior. And I have nothing to brag about nor be proud of. Paul explained it to us. If we boast, we should and can only boast in the Lord. Let’s go deeper. There is no “favored” class with the LORD. In fact Galatians 3:28 spells it out for us.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
1 Corinthians 12:13 reaffirms it.
If we examine Jesus’ life we will see that He did not limit His attention and affection to just children or His disciples. He touched, healed, and had compassion on lame, handicapped; on the outcasts like prostitutes and tax collectors; on “foreigners,” like Samaritans; on skeptics, like Sadducees; on criminals, like the thief on the cross; and even hypocrites, like Pharisees. No one was outside the purview or reach of His love and compassion. And as His followers, we can, no, must, show the same lack of discrimination. As Jesus’ followers, we show love, His love to everyone. We speak, we serve, and we share. That just about covers it.
Savor or aroma of Life
The Old Testament uses a strange term associated with sacrifices. It is called a “pleasing aroma” to the Lord sixteen times in Leviticus alone. (Some references listed below.)What would be “pleasing” about the smell of burning a bird or animal? The reason for burning is the key. A sacrifice is offered in obedience to the Lord’s command. In practical terms, it does not do much, if anything. But theologically, it is a response to the Lord’s picture of Jesus being offered as the sacrificial satisfaction for our sins. In fact, the Father announced two times that Jesus was “well pleasing” to Him. The first was at Jesus’ baptism and the second at the transfiguration.
When Jesus became the vicarious substitute sacrifice for every person who has ever lived, He fulfilled the demands of the Law found in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. As such, Jesus was pleasing, a pleasing aroma, to God the Father. But a second mention of “savor” occurs in 2 Corinthians 2:14.
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. 15 For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; 16 to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? 17 For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.
“Aroma of life” and “aroma of death” seem like strange comments. Try this on for size in your understanding. When the priests offered the sacrifices, particularly inside the temple, the “smoke” or other smells would surround them and “stick to” their clothes. Ever been around a camp fire? So when the people approached the priest, they were able to detect definite and distinctive evidence that their sacrifice had indeed been sacrificed. This was the aroma of death.
God does not simply give a negative proof of His acceptance and approval, that of death. A second aspect of the Tabernacle and later Temple worship was also outlined in the law. The priests burned and “waved” a fragrance incense as a portion of the sacrificial ceremony. That aroma would likewise cling to their vestments and be transmitted to the supplicants. And the worshipers could detect that as they neared the priest. That was the aroma of life.
Paul cited that in the Corinthians passage. To those who had not accepted the sacrifice for sins, the odor of death, the pungent and unpleasant stench of death, decaying and burning bodies, was literally all that they had or have to anticipate. But for the penitent believer, the incense was and is an odor to life. They were assured that God had accepted their offering and received them. We have the same confidence in the spoken and written Word. A passage as simple and well known as John 3:16 says, “...that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Life!
Paul demonstrated how sweet that could be for the believer and how foul a stench that would be to the unbelievers. That Paul was quite a smart guy, wasn’t he?
Passages of “Pleasing Aroma.”
Genesis 8:21
Leviticus 1:9, 19; 2:2; 23:18
Ezekiel 6:13
Exodus 25 and 30
Ephesians 5:2
Our final vignette is from Greg Laurie. (A little smorgasbord of leaders today.) It considers prayer.
Imagine that we are in a row boat, nearing the dock, but constantly drifting away. We throw a rope, connect to the anchorage, and begin to pull closer to the shore. Prayer is like that. We “fasten” on to God. We do not pull God into our plans. It is like the boat drawing near to the dock. When we pull “hard,” the boat is getting closer to the dock, but the dock is not moving. Prayer does not move God, it moves us closer to Him.
Even Jesus, when praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, illustrated this. “Not My will, but Thine be done.” (Matthew 26:39) He was moving into the path that God had arranged. The Father did not move, Jesus did. He expressed His desire, not to suffer, but admitted and agreed that there was no other way. Jesus’ “way” was then overlapped with the Father’s. Our prayers follow the identical trajectory. When we follow the path that He has revealed, we are making the most progress and entering the safest location.
Lord, teach us from Your Book and servants today.
Will there be sacrifices in the Millennium? The answer is a quick, “Yes.” We can find that in Ezekiel. (Ezekiel 40) Why would there be sacrifices in the Millennium? There are two main reasons, according to Dr. Rydelnyk. First, they will be a memorial to remind the denizens of the Millennium of Jesus’ sacrifice for them. As we celebrate communion to remind us of His death now, until He comes, so the temple sacrifices will commemorate that same thing in the 1000 years of His reign.
Second, death will be very rare in the Millennium, as few people will die. It says a rebellious person may live as long as 100 years before being punished. (That is to allow the sinner adequate time to repent. Isaiah 65:20) Since death will be so rare, the sacrifices will be literal and graphic illustrations of what Jesus’ death involved and meant.
But Dr. Rydelnyk explained a third reason. According to Dr. Charles Ryrie, Adam and Eve had “raw animal innocence.” It was pure, but it was untested, much like that of small children. They instinctively obey their parents because it has never occurred to them that they can, let alone do, otherwise. Adam and Eve were like children and animals in that no alternative had appeared, nor occurred to them.
The role of the tempter in the Garden was not to “trick them into sinning, but to test or prove their innocence and obedience. We are not given an insight into heaven, but as we saw with Job and his testing, it is possible that Satan approached God and challenged Him to prove that the creatures in the Garden really loved Him and would obey Him, as Satan did with Job.
We know that they failed the test initially, but then turned and repented and were redeemed by the death of Christ on the cross. (Job did the same thing.) In the same way, we now are saved and come to love and obey the Lord after repenting. Untested love, is unproven love. (I did not find that on Google, but I am sure that someone far wiser than I already thought of it.)
Just as God did not want automatons to blindly and mechanically worship Him, neither did He want a love that had only one known option, even if there were other, though unknown, options. He gave His all for us, and this is our chance to return our unlimited and unending love. In essence, we are proving Satan wrong again. Glory.
Following God. Next thought.
(A lot of these thoughts came from Pastors Rick and Dave at I-91 Church in Indianapolis.)
This hurts deeply. At the dedication of our grandson, the pastor cited some statistics, that, though not unexpected, are still quite stunning. Roughly 70% of teenagers leave the church when they finish high school and go to college. Questions as to why and how this is occurring have been raised for years. (Aside note, I did not find any statistics on the same question in earlier years, such as 1950 to 1980.)
Why does it happen? The first analysis reminds us that kids spend more time with their parents in a car in one week, than they spend in Sunday school and similar training in a month. A study from the seminary also found that most church youth programs tend to focus on providing entertainment and pizza rather than building up young people in their faith. As a result, teens are ill-equipped to face the challenges they will encounter upon leaving home.
The point that the pastor made was that parents potentially exert a much greater influence on their kids and the ultimate decisions that they make than the church does. And the failure can be laid at the feet of the same people. Sadly, they, and we, are not doing a good job of introducing them to the Lord. This is stunning and frightening. He suggested that many kids leave home without seeing God influence the lives of those in their homes. What a responsibility we have as parents and what a disastrous result if it is shirked, ignored, or transferred. It doesn’t take a village to raise a child. It takes a home and parents--resident parents.
Jesus and Children
An additional thought comes from the dedication of babies. We are often reminded in the Gospels that Jesus loves children. Sometimes we look at this affection with condescension as we, proper, sophisticated, and advanced specimens of the human race also known as adults, smile condescendingly at Jesus, essentially wasting His time with the “lesser valued” children. Jesus made it clear that they were of great value to Him. But a second idea occurred to me.
This affection is to demonstrate and illustrate to us as “adults” that we appear as little children to Him. He is so far above us in any and all categories, that an observing angel might well wonder why Jesus “wastes” His time on us “worthless children.” He came and died for each and every one. No one was omitted or given a smaller portion of His love and grace. And in terms of our comparative “value,” it is like a student who received a 2% on a test boasting about his elevated position compared to the guy who got 1%.
Jesus paid it all for everybody. What a Savior. And I have nothing to brag about nor be proud of. Paul explained it to us. If we boast, we should and can only boast in the Lord. Let’s go deeper. There is no “favored” class with the LORD. In fact Galatians 3:28 spells it out for us.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
1 Corinthians 12:13 reaffirms it.
If we examine Jesus’ life we will see that He did not limit His attention and affection to just children or His disciples. He touched, healed, and had compassion on lame, handicapped; on the outcasts like prostitutes and tax collectors; on “foreigners,” like Samaritans; on skeptics, like Sadducees; on criminals, like the thief on the cross; and even hypocrites, like Pharisees. No one was outside the purview or reach of His love and compassion. And as His followers, we can, no, must, show the same lack of discrimination. As Jesus’ followers, we show love, His love to everyone. We speak, we serve, and we share. That just about covers it.
Savor or aroma of Life
The Old Testament uses a strange term associated with sacrifices. It is called a “pleasing aroma” to the Lord sixteen times in Leviticus alone. (Some references listed below.)What would be “pleasing” about the smell of burning a bird or animal? The reason for burning is the key. A sacrifice is offered in obedience to the Lord’s command. In practical terms, it does not do much, if anything. But theologically, it is a response to the Lord’s picture of Jesus being offered as the sacrificial satisfaction for our sins. In fact, the Father announced two times that Jesus was “well pleasing” to Him. The first was at Jesus’ baptism and the second at the transfiguration.
When Jesus became the vicarious substitute sacrifice for every person who has ever lived, He fulfilled the demands of the Law found in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. As such, Jesus was pleasing, a pleasing aroma, to God the Father. But a second mention of “savor” occurs in 2 Corinthians 2:14.
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. 15 For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; 16 to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? 17 For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God.
“Aroma of life” and “aroma of death” seem like strange comments. Try this on for size in your understanding. When the priests offered the sacrifices, particularly inside the temple, the “smoke” or other smells would surround them and “stick to” their clothes. Ever been around a camp fire? So when the people approached the priest, they were able to detect definite and distinctive evidence that their sacrifice had indeed been sacrificed. This was the aroma of death.
God does not simply give a negative proof of His acceptance and approval, that of death. A second aspect of the Tabernacle and later Temple worship was also outlined in the law. The priests burned and “waved” a fragrance incense as a portion of the sacrificial ceremony. That aroma would likewise cling to their vestments and be transmitted to the supplicants. And the worshipers could detect that as they neared the priest. That was the aroma of life.
Paul cited that in the Corinthians passage. To those who had not accepted the sacrifice for sins, the odor of death, the pungent and unpleasant stench of death, decaying and burning bodies, was literally all that they had or have to anticipate. But for the penitent believer, the incense was and is an odor to life. They were assured that God had accepted their offering and received them. We have the same confidence in the spoken and written Word. A passage as simple and well known as John 3:16 says, “...that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Life!
Paul demonstrated how sweet that could be for the believer and how foul a stench that would be to the unbelievers. That Paul was quite a smart guy, wasn’t he?
Passages of “Pleasing Aroma.”
Genesis 8:21
Leviticus 1:9, 19; 2:2; 23:18
Ezekiel 6:13
Exodus 25 and 30
Ephesians 5:2
Our final vignette is from Greg Laurie. (A little smorgasbord of leaders today.) It considers prayer.
Imagine that we are in a row boat, nearing the dock, but constantly drifting away. We throw a rope, connect to the anchorage, and begin to pull closer to the shore. Prayer is like that. We “fasten” on to God. We do not pull God into our plans. It is like the boat drawing near to the dock. When we pull “hard,” the boat is getting closer to the dock, but the dock is not moving. Prayer does not move God, it moves us closer to Him.
Even Jesus, when praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, illustrated this. “Not My will, but Thine be done.” (Matthew 26:39) He was moving into the path that God had arranged. The Father did not move, Jesus did. He expressed His desire, not to suffer, but admitted and agreed that there was no other way. Jesus’ “way” was then overlapped with the Father’s. Our prayers follow the identical trajectory. When we follow the path that He has revealed, we are making the most progress and entering the safest location.
Lord, teach us from Your Book and servants today.
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