The Four Letters

What We Sometimes Miss When We Read God's Word......


The Hebrew tetragrammaton (four lettered expression seen in the ancient Hebrew scriptures) -- YHWH -- is often today translated Yahweh.

Because the name (the four letters YHWH) was originally written without vowels, we do not know exactly how it was pronounced. But we know it was the most sacred, holy Name for God. And it was Israel's special Name for their God.

Most historical scriptural versions followed William Tyndale's example (1530 AD) -- and others before him for several hundred years -- and translated YHWH "Jehovah."

Today most modern English translations record it is "LORD" (all caps, to distinguish it from Adonai, "Lord" or "God") and so it is easy to recognize in our versions today which Name (Adonai or YHWH) appeared in the ancient Hebrew record.

Jewish scholars have usually pronounced the God's Name "Adonai," instead of actually pronouncing YHWH, out of respect for the sacredness of the most holy covenant name.

Great care was always taken to not say His great holy Name, nor to write it carelessly.

We are told that the ancient scribes who were copying the sacred scriptures, when they came to YHWH, put aside their writing tool, took a new one, and wrote the sacred letters, then cast it aside and took up the original pen to continue their writing.


But they would not pronounce this most sacred Name.

There is some discussion today concerning the origin and meaning of the YHWH name. It is a common designation (used 6,828 times in the Old Testament).

It most likely is related to the basic verb, present in all languages, "to be." And refers to eternality. "I am...I was...I will always be..."

So in Exodus 3:14-15 the Lord declares "I AM WHO I AM...the LORD... This is My name forever."

This has particular significance in the New Testament when Christ spoke His seven "I AM" claims:

I AM the bread of life (John 6:35)
I AM the light of the world (John 8:12)
I AM the gate (John 10:9)
I AM the good shepherd (John 10:11)
I AM the resurrection and the life (John 11:25)
I AM the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6)
I AM the true vine (John 15:1)

In expressing Himself this way He was claiming equality with Yahweh.

It was when He began using these terms of equality with God that the crowds following Him began angry.

By the name Yahweh, God identified Himself in His person relationship with His people, Israel, and it was to this name that Abram responded in acknowledging the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:8).

By this name God brought Israel out of Egypt, delivered them from bondage, and redeemed them (Exodus 6:6, 20:2).

Whereas Elohim and Adonai were designations known to other cultures, the revelation Yahweh was unique to Israel.

From there he (Abram) went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent...there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.
Genesis 12:8

Who is Jesus? C S Lewis

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really  foolish thing that people often say about Christ: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.'

That is the one thing we must not say.

A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus  said would not be a great moral teacher.

He would either be a lunatic -- on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg -- or else he would be the Devil of Hell.

You must make your choice.

Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.

You can shut Him up for a fool; you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.

But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great moral teacher.

He has not left that option open to us. He did not intend to.

                         -- From Mere Christianity, by C S Lewis

What we lose when we lose words

Here's a practical word we don't use anymore: fetch.

It means "to go and get and bring back" - that's what we mean when we ask our dog if she wants to play "Fetch."

We want her to chase the stick (or ball) and bring it back so she can chase it again!

It took us a while to get our dog to understand.

We would throw the ball and she would chase it, grab it, and then run the other direction. So we would have to chase her and retrieve the ball so we could throw it for her again.

We kept explaining the "rules" of fetch.

She seemed reluctant to play our way. And then we realized she probably just didn't want to play "fetch." She wanted to play "chase" -- as in "please chase me."

I remember mother asking me to "fetch" her an item from her sewing box or her Bible from the dining room table.

"Fetch" is a good word. There is no one-word synonym for it in the English language. We have to use a whole sentence to express the same thought - like go and get and bring to me.

What a waste! All those words to express what one word would express!

I don't know when fetch began disappearing from our language, but it is a great loss.

Another loss is the word "succour." It literally means "to run to the cry of a child," and was used to refer to "bringing help when it is needed."

The word is not used much any more, but I can remember reading it in the King James Bible -

     For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He
       is able to succour them that are tempted.  (Hebrews 2:18)
   
What a comforting thought! What relief it brings!
Because He suffered with temptation, we can count on Him to come to our aid - we, His children, cry
to Him and He helps us!

A child cannot help himself and so cries for assistance - for help in time of trouble.

That's what God wants us to do - cry out to Him!
Like David did throughout the Psalms!

My NIV translation of Hebrews 2:18 says this:

       Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted,
       He is able to help those who are being tempted.

And The Message paraphrases it this way:

        He would have already experienced it all Himself --
        all the pain, all the testing -- and would be able to
        help where help was needed.

You know, somehow, in all these new ways of expressing God's Word, and trying to help us 21st century Christians understand the ancient thoughts,
I miss the idea of "succour" - God's children - us -
crying out for His help and He comes running.

I love that thought - He is our Father and stands
ready to help us as we cry to Him -



Another thing I miss - do we often remember that Christ also "suffered" in resisting temptation? that
He experienced, not just the temptation, but also
the "suffering" and "pain" in dealing with it.



Don't we sometimes  foolishly reckon (another old word) that it was easy for Him? At least, a lot easier than it is for us?

I think it was harder, because He yearned to please His Father more ..... and the stakes were so much higher.....

Providence - Not Just a City in Rhode Island

I can't seem to stop marveling at the Providence of God...

I decided to look up other forms of the word.

providential.... as if decreed by divine providence

providence .... care, guardianship and control exercised by a deity (that's helpful).

provide....to furnish, supply, to make available

As I look around me -- listening and watching -- it seems to me there is no point at which our ideas of God come into greater conflict with modern (postmodern?) culture than with this doctrine of providence.

Think about it. Providence means God has not abandoned His creation. He actually works with His creation to direct all things according to the "immutable counsel of His Will" (phrase from the Westminster Confession). We don't use the word immutable much any more. At least I never hear it. It means never changing or varying, unchangeable.

Watching television and movies, reading newspapers and listening to those around us, it is apparent that people of the "world out there", even if they acknowledge the idea of a god, they certainly don't acknowledge that he intervenes in any way with this earth and its problems.

Most people do not really believe in prayer. Things just happen -- coincidentally, randomly, without any rhyme or reason.

The Bible is replete with pictures of how false that notion is. Think of Jonah, even in disobeying God, God still worked out His plan through His prophet. Think of Joseph, even though he was sold in slavery, unjustly accused and imprisoned, God's ultimate plan was still worked out...in spite of man's sin.

A Christian's view of history is completely different from the view of secularists/humanists.

(A humanist lifts man to great heights and diminishes God and His role. A Christian elevates God and His role and diminishes man's role).

We believe there is a flow of history toward a goal. We believe history has a purpose.

Before the Jews entered the historical picture, all other civilizations viewed their history as a circle...round and round....planting time, harvest, drought and famine, eating and sleeping, good times and bad....history was just re-cycling over and over again.

Then the Jews came along and saw history as a road, a straight path, with a goal at the end.

This was a radical suggestion.

The providence of God shows that His plan is directed to a specific conclusion. There is such a thing as real history. The flow of events is going somewhere.

The Westminster Confession (a different document than the catechism, but written about the same time) states:

God the great Creator of all things doth uphold, direct, dispose, govern all creatures, actions and things, from the greatest even to the least by His most wise and holy providence, according to His infallible knowledge and the free and immutable counsel of His own will, to the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice, goodness and mercy.

What is more, we know that the flow of history for the glorification of God is to our good also. For

We know that in everything God works for good for those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

Our greatest good is to enter into the great destiny for which we were created originally: to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ and thus to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

The providence of God does not relieve us of responsibility, of course. Sin is still
sin and it has its consequences. Evil is still evil, but God is greater than the evil. That is the point. And He is determined to complete His plans and purposes in
spite of the evil that men do.

Remember Shakespeare: The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.

The evil of slavery haunts us today. That evil has lived a long life. And the good --those courageous acts of many people who struggled to adolish slavery -- we don't even remember most of those people. We remember some -- but in reading journals and papers from our early history, there were great numbers of people trying to stop slavery.

Sometimes evil, it appears, just wins. It appears. But the whole story is not finished. The play is not over yet.

The doctrine of God's Providence does not relieve us of seeking wise solutions, or for perseverance, or for seeking to spread His Kingdom.

God works through the integrity, hard work, obedience and faithfulness of Christians. And sometimes through others who do not even recognize or acknowledge their place in God's plan.


As we recognize God's Providence our frame of mind will allow us to cease to fret in circumstances and to grow in the love and knowledge of Jesus Christ and of His Father, who has made us and who has planned and accomplished our salvation.

Remember the answer to Questions 28 in the Heidelberg Catechism?

Because of God's providence we can be patient in adversity, thankful in prosperity, and with a view to the future we can have a firm confidence in our faithful God and Father that no creature can separate us from His love, for all creatures are so completely in His hands that without Him they cannot do as much as move.

.

If our lives are in any one's hands, it is a relief to know it is in the hands of our God -- the one revealed to us in Holy Scripture -- the good and loving and holy God who is immutable! (And I'm sure glad is not in my hands!)

Great and marvelous are your deeds,
Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
King of the Ages.
Who will not fear you, O Lord,
and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.
Revelation 15:3-4

Not guilty as charged!

I remember frustrated teachers telling us we were going to play the "Quiet Game."  I wasn't good at that sport -- nor was any of the other kids. We always started with closed lips, of course, but almost immediately we erupted into gales of giggling and began poking and tickling each other -- just to shatter the silence that had been imposed upon us.

After all, we all knew it was just a cheap trick to get us to be quiet for just a few moments!

Recently I have been noticed how hard it is to find a place of quiet.
It seems like there is noise everywhere. We even have "white noise" to cover up, camouflage, or distract us from all the other more annoying noise around us!

Right now I hear the TV on in another room, the dishwasher changing cycles, the air conditioner fan burring, and tiny signal ding that there is a message on my cell phone, a neighbor taking a garbage can out to the curb, and even this computer makes a buzzing sound....all these noisy signals do remind me that life is going on as planned....that things are working and working as they are intended. That sometimes can be sort of comforting.


But then I think about the Bible and its commands (not suggestions) that we "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10) and the examples of Job and Isaiah and others who encountered the living God - they were struck silent! Wordless, as they gazed upon the majesty of God.

"In quietness and confidence shall be your strength," we are told in Isaiah 30:15.

I am thinking that if we are to truly experience God, we must experience Him in silence, not just in worship, but also just to hear His voice and to experience His glory...in silent awe.

Screwtape (head demon), in one of his letters to Wormwood (his apprentice demon)  refers to the "prayer of silence as practiced by those who are far advanced in the Enemy's service." (From C. S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters.)

Some Medieval Christian mystics also talked about the "prayer of silence," and "wordless prayers."

I'm not near there yet. Even when at prayer I am aware of all kinds of noisy distractions. I am certainly not one of those "far advanced."

But more than that, I seem to be distracted, not by outside noises,
but by voices in my own mind, accusing, angry voices that assault me when I am having time alone with God.

My psychologist friends tell me I should label them, isolate and identify what they are saying, what they represent. So that is what I am doing now.

This morning I labeled a big one: guilt. Even when I am praying I am being jarred by memories of dark things "I should not have done." Words I shouldn't have spoken. People I should have been kinder to. People with needs I ignored, or didn't notice. Commitments I should have made. Promises I didn't keep.

These thoughts and memories have voices. They clang like cymbals and invade my mind. They shatter my peace and blare out, covering God's voice and disturbing the tranquility He seeks to give me.

There's more: greed, pride, anxiety, hate, envy.....

But right now the most disturbing racket that relentlessly slams into my "quiet time" is guilt.

How can I silence that giant? How can I keep that grating screaming accusing voice away? All the time?

I need a muffler, a silencer, or even a delete key -- and I have it!

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  (1 John 1:9)

And dozens of other verses.

I've repeated the words - 1000 times? I look at the words: He is faithful...He is just...He will forgive our sins...cleanse us from all unrighteousness....

How do those who are 'advanced in the Lord's service' do it?

My new commitment: silence those noisy voices of guilt through
assaulting the Enemy with the Word of God. I must aggressively fight back - be constantly vigilant - fighting back for the honor of our mighty Commander and His faithful Word.

 Do I believe God? Or do I believe He is lying?

"Yes, Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief."

Chuck Colson's Simple Faith

Jesus was accompanied in His greatest moment of trial by two thieves, common criminals,  hanging on either side of Him. One taunted Him, "You're supposed to be God. Well, then, save us. Get us out of here." That's the prayer we all pray. Even atheists cry out to be saved when facing a frightening experience. But why should He save us?


The second thief understood what the first thief didn't. "He's innocent. We're getting what we deserve." Then, "Jesus, remember me."


To which Jesus responded, "Today you will be with Me in paradise" (Luke 23:43).


I ask inmates to put themselves in the place of the good thief and to pray just as he prayed, "Jesus, You're innocent. You're holy. I'm guilty. Remember me."  The good thief's understanding of his own sin, his repentance, and his desire to be with Jesus made it possible for him to be saved--for Jesus to remember his prayer. Repentance and the desire to be in Jesus' company are the crucial elements of any sincere conversion.


Thousands of times around the world I have seen the power of God at work in the most remarkable ways through such simple prayers, whole groups of inmates and the poor praying out loud, individuals weeping, many responding with open confessions of faith. I have seen some of the hardest, toughest, meanest looking convicts dissolve in a flood of tears. In some prisons, I have literally been mobbed afterward by weeping convicts. They get it.


...These men came to understand the central truth of the Gospel message, that the Son of God actually hung on a cross and died the most agonizing death in order to take upon Himself the sins of mankind--all of us, rich and powerful and poor and helpless. You and me.


This is why the heart of every orthodox confession of faith is the atoning death of Christ, which is the supreme outpouring of God's love for us.

This is the wellspring of grace, God's unmerited favor. His salvation.

    -- From The Faith, by Chuck Colson

Cowbirds -- Together Forever

For centuries (at least as long as we know about) cowbirds have been negligent and inept at nest-building. As they followed the herds of buffalo, and later cattle, to glean insects the giant beasts attracted and stirred up as they moved, the little cowbirds just didn't have the time for settling down and building nests!

(These birds are not the white cattle egrets we see so often in cow pastures. These are little brown-headed birds who arrive in large colonies and gorge themselves on all the seed in your back yard bird feeders.)

So these inventive little dark birds, to survive and propagate their species, developed a good plan-- they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds!

It is sort of tricky, though. The female bird (and they still do this) first locates an available nest, watches it, waiting for the other female to lay her eggs. Then when the nest is vacated for a few moments, the vigilant cowbird removes one of the eggs (by stabbing it, piercing it with her beak and then lifting it out of the nest and dropping it on the ground) and then promptly lays her egg in the vacant spot. As they say, "Timing is everything"...or is that "location is everything"?

Anyway, female cowbirds can lay 10-12 eggs each season doing this, each in another bird's nest.

The adoptive mother bird does not seem to notice and hatches the little stranger along with her other eggs and begins feeding them all together.

The most common adoptive parents are vireos and sparrows.

This time of the year we host huge flocks of these birds, hundreds of them, swarming to our feeders and gobbling up the seed as fast as we get it out to them.

We hear them coming, just moments before we see them. They descend like a cloud onto our patio.

What we hear are some annoying, grating shrieks, like the hinges on a rusty gate. I imagine some far-off heavenly windows or gates opening to let them stream out to the earth below.
Maybe like Pandora, prying open her famous box after the hinges had rusted.

With the cowbirds are usually some grackles, red-winged black birds, maybe a sparrow or two.
And sometimes a yellow-rumped warbler joins the group in our yard.

Now here is my question: If all these cowbirds are being raised in the nests of other birds, then how do they all get back together as adults and join their "group" and start the process all over again? How do they, after they reach adulthood, gather together with their own kind and start the mating process again?

I have asked this question to many experts. But no one seems to have an answer.

So it must be a "God-thing." Another of His patterns He has placed in nature to illustrate some of His great Truths. He must have wired them to leave their adoptive home and seek out some of their own "real" family.

It's really a beautiful picture of God's eternal family. He reaches down and rescues us from our sin and rebellion and places us miraculously in His heavenly family while we are still here on earth. Then one day He will gather us all together to be with Him. He's going to call us and we will rise up to meet Him. And we will be together -- one flock, no matter where we were "hatched."

He has "wired" us that way, too!

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, and with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. I Thessalonians 4:16-18

After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.
Revelation 7:9

So we will be gathered from our earthly homes into the heavenly family of God, each one of us in that particular spot intended for us from before the beginning.

Somehow the little cowbirds get back together to join the ones they belong to, the ones they belong with. And somehow we will, too.

Together Forever.

Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Our Tears - Instant Messaging - Charles Spurgeon

And the Lord said to him [Ananias], Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. -- Acts 9:11


Prayers are instantly noticed in heaven.The moment Saul began to pray, the Lord heard him.

When our hearts are broken and we bow in prayer, we are often only able to employ the language of sighs and tears; still our groaning has made all the harps of heaven thrill with music.

That tear has been caught by God and treasured in the receptacle of heaven. "Put my tears in your bottle" [Psalm 56:8] implies that they are caught as they flow.

The petitioner, whose fear prevent his words, will be well understood by the Most High. He may only look up with misty eye; but "prayer is the falling of a tear."

Tears are diamonds of heaven; sighs are part of the music of Jehovah's court and are numbered with "the sublimest strains that reach the majesty on high."

Don't think that your prayer, however weak or trembling, will be unregarded. Jacob's ladder is lofty, but our prayers shall lean upon the Angel of the covenant and so climb its starry rounds.

Our God not only hears prayer but loves to hear it. He does not forget the cry of the humble. True, He does not regard high looks and lofty words; He does not care for the pomp and pageantry of kings; He does not listen to the drums of war; He does not regard the triumph and pride of man.

But wherever there is a heart enlarged with sorrow or a lip quivering with agony or a deep groan or a penitential sigh, the heart of Jehovah is open.

He marks down in the registry of His memory; He puts our prayers, like rose leaves, between the pages of His book of remembrance, and when at last the volume is opened, there will be a precious fragrance springing from it.

 

Chuck Colson's Prayer

From the Preface of his book, Life Sentence....

As this book is published, my prayers are simply these:

1. That my own experiences--the triumphs and the failures, the questions with which I've wrestled and some answers I've learned, the challenges I see--may encourage others to grow in their faith and commitment.

2. That the renewal in our churches turns them into mighty instruments for God's transforming work in our society.

3. That many thousands of spiritually renewed people begin to visit the prisons of America, bringing light and hope into dark and despairing cells.

4. That Christians might assault all areas of human need with the compassion of Him who died on the cross for all mankind.

5. That a doubting and cynical world will be drawn to countless examples of Christians living out their faith, caring and sacrificing for one another,and will see that this does make a difference in all of life.

6. That Christians will reject shallow faith and will hunger and thirst after righteousness through the authority of Holy Scripture, the person of Jesus Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit.

I dare to dream great dreams because it is a great God we serve.

                        -- Chuck Colson

Remembering Christmas -What we see at Bethlehem!

I was a seeker
   for light in a dark world
I looked for truth
   but settled for lies
I had been blinded --
  I couldn't see
Till the Star in Bethlehem's sky opened my eyes.

There in a manger
   An innocent baby
Who could believe
   He was the One?
I can believe it
   I know it's true
He changed my life, He is the Light, He is God's Son!

We must tell the world
   What we've seen today in Bethlehem!
He's the promised King
   We bow down and worship Him
Worship Christ the King!


I have seen the Light
   Shining in the darkness
Bursting through the shadows
   Delivering the dawn
I have seen the Light
Whose Holy name is Jesus
His kingdom is forever
He reigns on Heaven's throne!

I have seen the light of Jesus
I have seen the Light of the Lord
I have seen the Light of Jesus
I have seen the Light
I have seen the Light of the Lord!

Official Lyrics by Gold City
                                       ~~~~~


One day I, too, saw the Light -- the Light of God's love....It was shining in the darkness...it was bursting through the shadows...

it delivered the dawn!

I pray for others - that they will see the Light in that manger and on that Cross....And take the next step - that leap, not into the dark, but from the dark, into the Light!

He is not a man like me.....

4000 or so years ago, a man named Job wondered about God.....

Job's dilemma:

He [God] is not a man like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court.

If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both, someone to remove God's rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more.

Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot.
                  (Job 9:32-35, The Old Testament)


Does God give us a mediator (arbitrator)  to stand with us before Him?

For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 2:5, The New Testament)

Is there someone to remove God's rod from us?

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed...(Isaiah 53:5, The Old Testament)

What Elihu told Job:

For God does speak.....to turn man from wrong doing and keep him from pride, to preserve his soul from the pit....

Yet, if there is an angel on his [man's] side as a mediator, one out of a thousand, to tell a man which is right for him, to be gracious to him and say, 'Spare him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom for him'--

Then his flesh is renewed like a child's; it is restored in the days of his youth.

He prays to God and finds favor with him, he sees God's face and shouts for joy; he is restored by God to his righteous state.

Then he comes to men and says, 'I sinned, and perverted what was right, but I did not get what I deserved. He redeemed my soul from going down to the pit and I will live to enjoy the light.'

God does all these things to a man...to turn back his soul from the pit, that the light of life may shine on them.
                   (Job 33, The Old Testament)


God says, "Spare him....I have found a ransom for him!"


How did God provide a ransom?

The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Jesus, in Matthew 20:28, The New Testament).

For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all men
(1 Timothy 2:5-6, The New Testament).

Do we get what we deserve?

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him (John 3:17, The New Testament).

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1, The New Testament).

But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ...it is by grace you have been saved....it is a gift of God (Ephesians 2:4-5, 8, The New Testament).


No, we do not get what we deserve -- because of Jesus!


 

Bring Your Empty Pitcher! - C H Spurgeon

I am the one who helps you, declares the LORD (Isaiah 41:14).

This morning let us hear the Lord Jesus speak to each one of us: "I will help you.


"It is but small thing for Me, your God, to help you. Consider what I have done already.


"What! Not help you? Why, I bought you with my blood.  What! Not help you? I have died for you, and if I have done the greater, will I not do the less? Help you! It is the least thing I will ever do for you' I have done more, and will do more.

"Before the world began I chose you. I made a covenant for you. I laid aside My glory and became a man for you; I gave up My life for you; and if I did all this I will surely help you now.


"In helping you I am giving what I bought for you already. If you had need of a thousand times as much help, I would give it to you; you require little compared with what I am ready to give. It is much for you to need, but it is nothing for Me to bestow.


"Help you? Fear not! If there were an ant at your granary asking for help,  would it ruin you to give him a handful of your wheat? and you are nothing but a tiny insect at the door of My all-sufficiency. I will help you."


O my soul, is this not enough? Do you need more strength than the omnipotence of the united Trinity? Do you want more wisdom than exists in the Father, more love than displays itself in the Son, or more power than is manifest in the influence of the Spirit?

Bring here your empty pitcher! Surely this well will fill it. Hurry, gather up your wants, and bring them here--your emptiness, your woes, your needs. Behold this river of God is full for your supply; what else can you desire? Go forth, my soul, in this your might. The Eternal God is your helper!

Amazing Miscellaneous Grace Notes

Your grace still amazes me
Your love is a mystery
Everyday I fall on my knees
Because Your grace still amazes me!

I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene,
And wonder how He could love me, a sinner, condemned, unclean!
When with the ransomed in glory, His face at least I shall see
T'will be my theme through the ages to sing of His love for me!

O how glorious, O how wonderful! to sing of His love for me!

and, of course,


Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found,
Was blind but now  I see!


This is the best way I know to start the day! So have a great one and keep singing!

Great Is His Faithfulness!

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23

God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent. Has He not said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?  Numbers 23:29

and so we sing with our whole heart, "Great is thy faithfulness, LORD, unto me!!"

Heavenly Father,
I ask You to remind me today about all of Your promises - all the things You have planned for me for my good. I shouldn't need You to remind me. You have always eagerly held them out for me to see - but today I feel left out of Your grace and afraid.

I come to You because You have laid out the welcoming mat for me to come to You whenever  need to. Or whenever I just want to.

You are so good. When others let me down, allow me to see Your face and be comforted.

You are all I need,.Amen.

What happens when the nail is lost?

I'm remembering this morning about the  boy with  5 barley loaves and 2 fish. That's all he had for lunch - and maybe dinner.
But he gave it to Jesus and after "He had given thanks" distributed to the 5000 and they were fed (John 6) with plenty of leftovers!

Jesus could have called down manna from heaven! That would have been a really effective and spiritual answer - a reminder of the Hebrews' time in the wilderness when Moses was with them - a WOW moment for sure!

But He didn't chose that route. Instead He took the child's lunch and used that.

I'm reminded that we are all important - maybe in just a small way, but what we do can be used to magnify and glorify God!

I wonder what the boy thought at the time - and how he related the miracle to his friends and family later.

I can imagine that he continued to follow Jesus. Maybe to the end....

And, just like that boy, we take what we have and place it in the hands of our Savior. We may never see the size of the crowd that Jesus feeds through our efforts. But it is enough to give what we have -- our gifts, talents, opportunities -- and He will take care of the rest!

Remember this old observation?

     For the want of a nail, the shoe was lost...
     For the want of the shoe, the horse was lost...
     For the want of the horse, the rider was lost...
     For the want of the rider, the battle was lost...
     For the want of the battle, the war was lost...
     For the want of the war, the kingdom was lost...
                        All for the want of a nail....

We can be that nail! The nail that shoes the horse, that carries the warrior into battle, where the war is won and the Kingdom is secure!

          

So How Do We Do It?

Thinking about the church I attended when a child.  Great memories. We had an intensive educational program and I am so thankful for the foundation it gave me-- the resoures to meet real life and not only survive, but to beome a victor! -- little did I know then how much my life would be enriched by the study of God's Word while still a child.


Many people can easily recite the first Question and Answer  from the famous Westminster Catechism ~~~

Question #1: What is the chief end of man?


Answer: Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.




Question #1 is the logical beginning - what am I here for?


After answering that, everything else falls into place.






Question #2:  What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him?


Again, the next obvious question -- from the catechism --  how do we accomplish our purpose?


Answer: The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him.




I remember our pastor, Bro. Burch, teaching us this part of the catechism.

He would hold up his Bible in loving hands and gently caress it and say, "This is the only rule to go by ...the only rule....the only rule God has given us to show us how to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever. Never forsake it." We learned lots of verses, too, to develop our understanding.




And I have found that as the answer to Question #1 settled the big mysterious why of my life (why am I here?), Question #2 settled the big how of my life (how am I supposed to live this life to glorify Him and enjoy Him?)


After understanding that, everything else falls into place.

Man's Mind Is Not Enough - J M Boice

Thoughts from J M Boice

The Bible says that when God created man, He created Him in His own image. This means many things, but among them is the fact that since God is a trinity, man is a trinity also.

God exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Man also became a trinity when God created him with a body, soul and spirit.

Body: The part of man that we can see.

Soul: In addition to a body, man also possesses a soul -- the part of him that gives him his identity. It is with the soul that man thinks, feels, reacts and
aspires.

Spirit: In addition to a body and soul, man also possesses a spirit or (as we should probably say for all men since the fall) he possesses the capacity for one.

It is this capacity that sets man apart from the animal world. The spirit is the part of man that has consciousness of God. Consequently, man worships, while animals do not...

It is possible to describe salvation completely in reference to these three parts of man's being.

Man sinned, and man died -- body, soul, and spirit.

So when God begins to save a man He begins to work with his body, soul, and spirit, only in reverse order.

The salvation of the spirit comes first. This is justification; by it man receives a new spirit.

The salvation of the soul is second. This is sanctification; in sanctification men receives a new soul (for God does not merely patch up the old one).

The salvation of the body comes last. This is the resurrection in which man receives a new body.

   -- From The Gospel of John, Volume 1, Chapter 31, by James Montgomery Boice

I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone...then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep My laws. They will be My people and I will be their God.  

Ezekiel 11:19-20

For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself wit the imperishable, and the moral with immorality.

1 Corinthians 15:52

Screwtape to Wormwood- Humility - Part 3 - Those Hairless Bipeds!

Screwtape continues his advice to his nephew, Wormwood, on how to keep his assigned young man from understanding true Humility and growing in his Christian walk. From The Screwtape Letters, Chapter 14.



My dear Wormwood,
(Humility - con't)

     The Enemy wants him, in the end, to be so free of any bias in his own favor, that he can rejoice in his own talents as frankly and gratefully as in his neighbor's talents--or in a sunrise, an elephant, or a waterfall.

     He wants each man, in the long run, to be able to recognize all creatures (even himself) as glorious and excellent things.  He wants to kill their animal self-love as soon as possible; but it is His long-term policy, I fear, to restore them to a new kind of self-love -- a charity and gratitude for all selves, including their own; when they have really learned to love their neighbors as themselves, they will be allowed to love themselves as they love their neighbors.

     For we must never forget what is the most repellent and inexplicable trait in our Enemy; He really loves the hairless bipeds He has created and always gives back to them with His right hand what He has taken away with His left.

Screwtape's Letters to Wormwood - Part 2

This continues Chapter 14 of The Screwtape Letters (C. S. Lewis). Uncle Screwtape, a leading elder demon, is teaching and instructing his nephew,Wormwood,  a young demon, whose assignment is to keep a certain young man from advancing in his Christian life.


My dear Wormwood,

(con't...on Humility)

     By this virtue, as by all the others, our Enemy wants to turn the man's attention away from self to Him, and to the man's neighbors.

     All the abjection and self-hatred are designed, in the long run, solely for this end;  unless they attend this end they do us little harm; and they may even do us good if they keep the man concerned with himself, and above all, if self-contempt can be made the starting point for contempt of others, thus for gloom, cynicism, and cruelty.

     You must therefore conceal from the patient the true end of Humility.

     Let him think of it not as self-forgetfulness but as a certain kind if opinion (namely, a low opinion) of his own talents and character.  Some talents, I gather, he already has. Fix in his mind the idea that humility consists in trying to believe those talents to be less valuable than he believes them to be.

     No doubt they are in fact less valuable than he believes, but that is not the point.

     The great thing is to make him value an opinion for some quality other than truth, thus introducing an element of dishonesty and make-believe into his heart of what otherwise threatens to become a virtue.

     By this method thousands of humans have been brought to think that humility means pretty women trying to believe they are ugly and clever folk trying to believe they are fools. And since what they are trying to believe may, in some cases, be manifest nonsense, they cannot succeed in believing it and we have a chance of keeping their minds endlessly revolving on themselves in an effort to achieve the impossible.

     To anticipate the Enemy's strategy, we must consider his aims.

     The Enemy wants to bring the man to a state of mind in which he could design the best cathedral in the world, and know it to be the best, and rejoice in this fact, without being any more (or less) or otherwise glad at having done it than he would be if it had been done by another.


[Note: I think the last paragraph touches me the most - no room for jealousy - just rejoicing at things done to honor the Name of our gracious God - no matter who did them!]

(con't in Part 3)

Screwtape's Advice to Wormwood - Humility - Part 1

These delightful letters are from Screwtape, an experienced devil, to his nephew, Wormwood, who is just beginning his demonic career and who has been assigned to secure the damnation of a certain young man, or at least to keep him from living a godly life after he has chosen Christ....all from the imagination and pen of C. S. Lewis.
                (The Screwtape Letters, Chapter 14)



My dear Wormwood,

     The most alarming thing in your last account of the patient is that he is making none of those confident resolutions which marked his original conversion. No more lavish promises of perpetual virtue, I gather; not even the expectation of an endowment of 'grace' for life, but only a hope for the daily and hourly pittance to meet the daily and hourly temptation! This is very bad.

     I see only one thing to do at this moment. Your patient has become humble; have you drawn his attention to the fact?

     All virtues are less formidable to us once the man is aware that he has them, but this is specially true of humility.

     Catch him at the moment when he is really poor in spirit and smuggle into his mind the gratifying reflection, 'By Jove! I'm being humble,' and almost immediately pride--pride at his own humility--will appear.

    If he awakes to the danger and tries to smother this new form of pride, make him proud of his attempt--and so on, through as many stages as you please. But don't try this too long, for fear you awake his sense of humor and proportion, in which he will merely laugh at you and go to bed.

As Jesus Has Been To Me

Just thinking about that special verse in Psalm 23 - the Shepherd Psalm - the part that says "He makes me lie down in green pastures..."

I guess He has to make us lie down, to be still, and to rest.

Just like now. We would never do it on our own. So here we are - retreating from the world. Resting.Waiting. 

When this is over I don't want to have a big party. I want to be able to  celebrate this time as a time I was able to stop my plans - my agenda - and focus on nothing but God Himself!

Remembering what "the main thing" is....and re-learning "how to make the main thing the main thing."

I want to be able to celebrate what God done in me!

Will I ever get another opportunity like this?

It's like He is giving me another chance  - a chance to cherish my friends and family, exercise patience, extend carefully thought out acts of love - joyfully to forgive - to be to others as Jesus has been to me.

A time to actually consider others.

He is giving me another chance to get it right!  But He had to stop me just where I was to teach me...to make me listen to His voice.

I will be forever grateful for this experience.

He had to do this before He could "restore my soul" as the next verses say. And I really needed that restoration!

And so I thank Him, and look forward to the future when "I will dwell in His house" -with  Him  - forever!

He Makes Me Lie Down

I'm thinking today about that special Psalm - 23rd - beloved for millions of people all over the world. Best known, I guess, as the
Shepherd Psalm.

I am thinking about the verse that says, "He makes me  to lie down in green pastures..."  

What a beautiful picture!

Just imagine a lovely lush velvety green pasture - sheep lying at peace and safety....(I would add a butterfly or two, and may be some happy bunnies... but that's not part of His story, at least not here.)

I guess sometimes He has to make us lie down - to stop - to rest - to focus on hearing His voice, away from all the distractions of our world.

Like now.

We would probably never do it on our own. We are so busy with our own plans, our daily agenda and all that "Much ado about nothing" that seems to run our lives.

So here we are - retreating from the world.

When this is over....I don't want a big party. I want to be able
to celebrate a time I was able to stop my plans and my agenda - and focus on nothing but God Himself!

Will I ever get another opportunity like this?

It's like He's giving me another chance to sort out my priorities, remember what the "main thing" is...and to reflect on how I can "make the main thing the main thing" every day.

When we get back to normal...? Do I want to get back to normal? No, I want a "new normal."

I will be forever grateful for this experience. He had to make me stop and listen before He could "restore my soul" as the further verse says. And I really needed that "restoration."

So I thank Him..and look forward to the future when "I shall dwell with Him in His house forever!"