TRUST IN THE LORD

Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV) says: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

These two verses give us advice on how to live our lives in God’s will. It tells us to do something and then tells us the result of doing it.

What is the thing we are to do? We are to place ourselves completely in God’s hands, submitted to his direction. Solomon says it three ways. First, trust in the Lord with all your heart. We place our trust in God. In other words, we place our faith in him to take care us. We have no reservations. We hold nothing back. Our whole heart is given over to him. We submit ourselves to him and his will, committed to go where he sends, do what he commands and even suffer what he ordains.

We can do this because we believe that God will do what is best for us. We believe what Romans 8:28 says, that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. We trust him. We trust him to give us eternal life, so surely we can trust him to do the best for us in this life. Romans 8:32 says “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” In other words, if he was willing to sacrifice his son for us, he will surely give us all the things we need.

Second, we do not lean on our own understanding. Sometimes, God tells us to do something we think is counter intuitive, or against human logic. We read a command in the Bible, for example, and think “I cannot do that. If I do that, I will go broke, or lose all my friends, or make people think I am a fanatic.” But this verse tells us to do what God says, trusting him to make it right.

I am not saying here that we are never to think. God gave us minds to think and gives us wisdom to discern the right thing to do. But, too often our thinking is selfish and not Biblical. It is worldly rather than spiritual. That is why Romans 12:2 tells us not to conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Your mind is renewed by the Holy Spirit, especially through the study of God’s word.

A few years ago, I began trying to read the Scripture without filters. It is hard to do. But it is necessary. I tried not to read the Bible as an American, a Republican, a Texan, an affluent Westerner or any of those things. I wanted to know what the Scripture said and what God meant. It was disturbing to see that many times I had thought and even been taught a spin on the Word, usually explaining why we did not need to do it as God said to do it. Don’t spin. Give in.

Third, “in all your ways acknowledge him”. In this context, it particularly means to acknowledge that God keeps us and directs us in his will. We do not steal his glory or presume upon his grace. Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar tried to steal God’s glory. He took credit for his accomplishments, claiming power, glory and majesty for himself. (Daniel 4:28-30). The Lord struck him with madness until he acknowledged God. He said “Then I praised the Most High; I honored him who lives forever.” (Daniel 4:34) Only then did God restore him.

James warns us not to presume upon God’s grace. He wrote “Now listen, you who say ‘today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow…instead, you out to say ‘if it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.” (James 4:13-16) We prosper only as he allows in his grace. Acknowledge that. You really can say “God graciously allowed us to succeed and we are grateful” instead of “look at what I have done, I’m so great”.

If we do what God says to do, trust him with our lives, what will he do? He will make our paths straight. When you had to walk everywhere, having a straight path was a big deal. If I can walk to the next town “as the crow flies” and it is 5 miles, I am grateful I did not have to walk the long way around and walk 10 miles.

When we visited our daughter in West Virginia once, I found myself frustrated that we could not go directly where we wanted to go because the roads all went around the hills. I could see the place I wanted to go, but had to go a long way around to get there.

So, when God says he will make our paths straight, he means he will watch over us, direct us in the way we should go and make sure we get there. This is all conditioned on our placing our trust completely in him and not in ourselves.

Are you worried about where you are going to go, how you will get there or if you will get there “in one piece”? Place your trust in God, ask him to direct your paths. Then relax and walk with him in peace.

Godspeed.

GRACE IN JOHN 1

Jesus is full of grace and truth. From his fullness, Jesus gave us grace upon grace. Grace and truth came to us through Jesus. Grace is God's unmerited favor toward us. Jesus embodied the grace of the Father, sent to us for our salvation, for by grace we are saved. (Eph. 2:8-9) By his grace we are his children, loved and cared for. No wonder the angels cried out "glory to God in the highest" at the birth of Christ. They understood the magnificence of God's love and grace manifested in the birth of God's son. I pray this passage leads us today to revel in God's grace extended to us. Glory to God in the highest!

WALK WITH GOD

The book of Judges is the story of the Israelites before they had a king. It is a story of a people living in a repeating cycle. They worship idols, God brings distress upon them, they repent and call out to him for deliverance. God delivers them. They go back tot he worship of idols.

That might sound familiar to you. Many Christians live the same way. They ignore God and do their own thing. Things go bad. They repent and ask God to deliver them. He does. The go back to their self centered life.

God wants us to live in continual fellowship with him. That is why he reconciled himself to us in Christ. That is why he sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in us. "If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit". Galatians 5:25. "Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him." Colossians 2:6.

BLOOD MOONS & PREDICTIONS OF THE END

John Hagee evidently believes the so called "blood moons" that appear this year are signs of the end. Predicting the end, or predicting the return of Christ, has been an unfruitful past time for centuries. In 950 A.D., a guy named Adso wrote an essay on the coming of the Antichrist. This caused many to anticipate the end of the age to occur in 1,000. It is a nice round number after all.

When Haley's Comet appeared in 989, it, like the blood moons, set the speculation on fire. Hippolytus said the end would occur around 500. Julius Africanus also taught 500, but moved it to 800. Maybe he was an ancestor of Harold Camping. Joachim of Fiore said the end would come between 1200 and 1260. It was a good margi of error, but it did not happen. The Taborites said the end would come in 1420. That would mean no America and no Britney Spears, but alas, it did not happen.

Even Martin Luther thought then end would occur in less than 100 years, so early 1600s. The year 1666 was also a popular choice, as it joined 1,000 and 666. Even the Puritan Cotton Mather jumped into the game. He predicted 1697, then 1736. But, no. Of course, William Miller, forerunner of the Adventists, predicted march 1843, then March 1844. Still no. WWWI, then WWWII were big candidates.

Hal Lindsey, and other Dispensationalists, thought 1988 was a good year for it. Edgar Whisenant wrote 88 Reasons Why the Rapture Will Be in 1988. TABC was so freaked out by it that the pastor who may not be named had to preach a sermon on it. 1988 came and went with no end in sight. Jack Van Impe went with 2,000, helping to fuel the mania that went with Y2K. It turned out totally uneventful. And the darling of end times prediction, Harold Camping, went with 1994, then 2011. I remember a van parked outside my office saying the end was coming in May 2011. I guess they had to repaint the van. 2007 was a good year, since 1988 did not pan out. They moved from the re-establishment of Israel to the 6 day war in 1967 as the starting point, adding 40 years for "this generation". 2000 was also good because you could subtract 7 years from 2007 for the Tribulation. Ronald Weinland went with 2008.

What does God say? First, Jesus said no one knows the time. (Matthew 24:36). Is it not a bit arrogant to say Jesus did not know the time, but the Father let me figure it out? Second, God keeps some things secret, including this. Deuteronomy 29:29 says the secret things belong to God. He does not feel obligated to reveal everything to us. Third, spend your time on the job of bringing people to Christ rather than staring into heaven, or calculating the return of Christ, including wondering if the natural order of planets and stars have some meaning for the end time. We are not astrologists. (Acts 1:11)

So, enjoy the blood moons and the solar eclipse that is coming. They are awesome. They are results of the creation God set in motion. They are not mystical. They are natural. Christ will return at the right time. Be ready every day. But, seriously, quit stirring people up writing books based on nonsense.

EZEKIEL 9 THE 2ND VISION CONTINUES

In chapter 8, the Lord gave Ezekiel a vision of the temple. Everywhere Ezekiel looked, there was idolatry. The priests, the elders, and the women all worshipped idols right inside God’s temple. God called this worship an abomination. In chapter 9, God shows Ezekiel what he will do about it.

9:1-2
Summoning The Executioners

The Lord is speaking here, the one who had the appearance of a man in 8:2 and 1:26. He called out with a loud voice, just as their will be a shout when Jesus returns. (1 Thessalonians 4:16) He summoned seven men. Six were executioners with weapons of slaughter. One was a recorder, a man with a writing case. They will execute God’s judgment in this part of the vision. The beings have the appearance of men, but they act as agents of God. So, they may represent the Babylonians whom God sends to execute his judgment upon Jerusalem.

9:3
God’s Glory Begins to Depart

The glory and presence of God resided between the cherubim, on the mercy seat, in the Holiest Place in the temple. But this verse tells us the glory of God is moving out of the temple. In this verse, he has moved from his normal place to the threshold, or doorway. He is on his way out of the temple. Without the presence of the Lord, the temple is nothing but a fancy building.

9:3-4
Instructions to the Recorder

This verse shows that God would not execute any people in Jerusalem who still worshipped God. They would be the ones who sighed and groaned (or moaned and groaned) over the abominations. We have seen studying the Old Testament that God always spares the remnant that believe in him. Here, God tells the Recorder to go through the city and put a mark on the foreheads of those people. The Hebrew word for “mark” here is “taw”, the last letter of the old Hebrew alphabet. It looked like an “x” or a cross. We are not told whether he found any. In verse 11, he did return and state that he had done what the Lord told him to do.

9:5-7
Instructions To The Executioners

God told the Executioners to go into the city and kill everyone, beginning in the temple. They only ones they were not to strike were those bearing the mark. Normally, no killing would be done in the temple because it would defile it. But God is saying it is already defiled by pagan worship, so that is not an issue.

So now, we not only have the recurring theme of the Remnant, we have the theme of the mark.

God marked Cain so that no one would kill him. (Genesis 4:15) The Passover story contained a mark. Those who put blood on their door posts were saved from the angel of death. In Exodus 12, God struck all the first born of the Egyptians. In this vision, God strikes everyone that does not have the mark. In fact, the Hebrew word translated “pass through” in verse 5 is the same word used in Exodus 12:23, where the Lord said the angel would pass through and strike the firstborn. So, Israel is compared to Egypt in its wickedness and idolatry.

Revelation 7 shows an angel putting a seal on the foreheads of the servants of God to protect them from four destructive angels. John also picked up this imagery in Revelation 13. In that chapter, both those who followed the beast and those who followed Christ are said to have marks identifying them. The concept in both Ezekiel and Revelation is that God knows who worships him and protects them from his judgment and his wrath.

9:8
Ezekiel’s Plea

Ezekiel was overwhelmed at the sight of God’s judgment executed upon the temple and the people of the city. He cried out, asking if God would even destroy the remnant. That statement makes me wonder if the Recorder found any faithful in the city to mark.

A similar situation exists in a story told by Jesus in Luke 18:1-8. A persistent widow sought justice from a judge until she got it. Jesus said, in a similar way, God will give justice to his elect (those who are saved), but will Jesus find faith when he returns? A few years later, God did again send judgment on Jerusalem in the form of the Romans. The city, including the temple, was destroyed.

9:9-10
God’s Response

God responded to Ezekiel by saying the sin of Israel was great and he would not spare the wicked. As God used Israel to destroy the Canaanites because of their wickedness and idolatry, the Lord would now use the Babylonians to destroy the Israelites for theirs.

Notice that the Lord says they do evil and say the Lord does not see. Many people in our time either do not believe God exists or that he is not active in our world. yet the Bible tells us God sees everything and will call everyone to account for it. Only those whose sins have been atoned by Christ will be allowed eternal life. All others will face eternal judgment.

This vision continues through chapter 10 and into 11.

THE BLESSED DESCRIBED

Psalm 89:15-16 describes the blessed. It says:

Blessed are the people who know the festal shout,
who walk, O LORD, in the light of your face,
who exult in your name all the day
and in your righteousness are exalted.

Here are 4 things that describe those who know the Lord. First, they worship. The festal shout is given in worship. God called us to Christ because he sought worshippers. (John 4:23) Second, they walk with the Lord in constant fellowship. That is true of us especially as we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. (Romans 8) Third, they exult or rejoice in the fact that they know God (his name) all day, despite whatever trials may come. (Philippians 4:4) Fourth, their salvation comes not from their own works, but from Christ's righteousness. (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Maybe you could get in a festal shout today.

BACK TO EZEKIEL NEXT SUNDAY

Next Sunday, I will resume the Ezekiel study with chapter 9.

PARABLE OF THE WICKED SERVANTS

Jesus told a parable about wicked servants. It is recorded in Luke 20:9-19. In the story, a man planted a vineyard and rented it to tenants. He sent servants to collect some of the fruit of the vine, to which he was entitled as owner. But the tenants beat the three servants that came. He then sent his son, who would inherit the vineyard someday, but they killed him so they would have the inheritance.

The owner of the vineyard is a symbol for God. The vineyard is God's kingdom. The put these tenants there to cultivate his kingdom and produce fruit for him. The tenants are a symbol of the Jews. They did not produce fruit for God. The ran the kingdom for their benefit and as they pleased. They rebelled against God repeatedly. Way back in the time of Isaiah, centuries before Jesus' ministry, God condemned the failure of his vineyard, Israel, to produce fruit and threatened to destroy it. (Isaiah 5:1-7)

God warned them repeatedly, as the parable shows. He sent three servants. The servants stand for the prophets. They were abused, ignored, ridiculed and killed. In Matthew 23:37, Jesus said "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and sones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wins and you would not!"

God said his response to the rebellion of he Jews would be to "come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others". (Luke 20:16) Jesus is telling them he will take the kingdom away from them and give it to the church.

The audience understood that Jesus was saying he would take away the kingdom from them. They responded "surely not!". (Luke 20:17) The scribes and chief priests perceived that Jesus spoke about them, so they sought to kill him. (Luke 20:19) Ironically, their response to the prophesy of Jesus was to fulfill it. They sought to kill the Son.

As Gentile Christians, we tend to read the gospel accounts only to understand salvation. But, there is a strong word of judgment on Israel throughout, with John the Baptist, then Jesus warning that their rejection of Christ will be the final rebellion which brings judgment down on their heads.

The last recorded words of the Old Testament are in Malachi. It is a book which states God's complaints about Israel violating the covenant yet again. He called on them to repent. Otherwise, he will take their kingdom away from them. Chapter 3 speaks of the Messiah coming to Israel in judgment (3:5). His last words, the last words of the Old Testament are "…lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction".

After that word, the Lord was silent for several centuries. Then, he sent John the Baptist to prepare the way for the very Messiah who would bring judgment to Israel. He picked right up where Malachi left off. He preached "repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand". (Matthew 3:2) In other words, repent because the Messiah is coming to inaugurate his kingdom and you want to enter that kingdom, not suffer judgment for rebelling against God. When the Pharisees and Sadducees came to see him, he said "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come. Bear fruit in keeping with repentance." (Matthew 3:8) The fruit motif was a constant in reference to Israel, God's vineyard.

John knew those leaders would have the attitude Jesus addressed in his parable of the tenets. So, John continued to say:

"And do not presume to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father, for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." (Matthew 3:9-10) This is a clear word of judgment. He was saying, being an ethnic Jew, a descendant of Abraham, will not save you. You must obey God, producing fruit that shows you do so. Otherwise, "his winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire". (Matthew 3:12)

Those who repent would come into Christ's kingdom, baptized with the Holy Spirit. (11). Those who reject Christ are destroyed, both in Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and in the final judgment. (12)

RESURRECTION GLORY, RESURRECTION POWER

In Matthew 28, we see that only two women were brave enough to go to the tomb of Jesus to see if they could take care of his body. They did not know how they would get in or if the soldiers would hurt them or arrest them. They only knew the task needed to be done and they loved Jesus enough to do it at any cost. Their reward was great: they were the first to see the risen savior.

It is a good model of the Christian life. We often see a task that needs to be done. Too often we shrink back and hide from it as the disciples did. The task seems to big, we do not know how to handle it or we are afraid. And so we miss the blessing. We miss seeing God work in wonderful, unforeseen ways and in great power. We miss seeing people's lives changed.

It is also a great testimony to the character of women. So often, it is women who do the dirty work in church. They change diapers, they read to children, they prepare and serve food and clean up after, the visit the sick, they take food to the grieving. Sometimes they do not know how a task will get done, but they get together and get to work and trust the Lord to use their labors.

Don't shrink from service. Christ rose from the grave. If he can do that, he can do anything. And he wants to do it through you.

Celebrate the Risen One today. As part of the celebration, commit to follow him and allow him to use his mighty power through you to change the world for him and his glory.

Triumphal Entry of Christ into Jerusalem - Luke 19

In Luke 19:28-44, Jesus makes an open declaration that he is the Messiah. He referred to himself as Lord in verse 31. He entered Jerusalem on a donkey, fulfilling the prophesy of Zechariah 9:9. Matthew stated that clearly (21:2), but Luke, writing to a Gentile audience, did not see the need to do so. Jesus’ disciples paid homage to him by throwing their cloaks down on the rode and crying “blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”. Yet, he is the humble king on a donkey, not a chariot.
The Pharisees understood what was going on: They told Jesus to rebuke his disciples. Since they did not believe Jesus was the Messiah, they believed it inappropriate to for him to allow his disciples to proclaim it. But the worship of Christ is ultimately unstoppable.
Tomorrow we will worship Christ as KIng, risen from death, glorified, seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven, reigning in heaven until all enemies are put under his feet. Many will ignore us and him, many will deride, and man will oppose. But the worship of Christ is ultimately unstoppable.

Conversion Causes Worship - Luke 17:11

Jesus encountered ten lepers, people with terrible skin diseases. They were required to keep a good distance away from other people. They were outcasts, they were poor and they were miserable. Jesus healed them all physically, but only one was healed spiritually. He returned, praising, thanking, worshipping. He fell at the feet of Jesus in humble thankfulness. Only he saw Jesus as the Son of God and believed in him.

We, too, are all very sick until Christ heals us. We have this sinful nature we inherited.(Romans 5:12) Our symptom is not leprosy, but the sins we commit. (Rom. 3:23) Jesus healed us when we believed. Isaiah used that metaphor, saying "with his stripes we are healed". (Is. 53:5)

So, how do we respond? Are we falling at the feet of Jesus in worship, praise and thankfulness? Or are we going through the motions?

SIX FACTS ABOUT THE RESURRECTION

This is not a complete list of every fact about the resurrection of Christ that is important, but it is a list of six important facts that we should know and upon which we should meditate.

First, the resurrection of Christ is an important part of the gospel. Paul wrote:

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you-unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. (1 Corinthians 15:1-9)

Paul said the resurrection was part of the gospel he preached and it was of first importance. It is not a secondary doctrine. It is primary and essential. It is, therefore, part of what we must believe to be saved. Some people today say you can be a Christian, you can be saved, and not believe in the the bodily resurrection of Christ. That is not what the Bible says. Paul wrote, in Romans 10:9-10, “...if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart hat God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”

Second, the Bible presents the resurrection as fact, not myth or symbol. Since we believe the Bible is the inspired and inerrant word of God, we must believe that Jesus was raised from the dead.

Matthew 28 records the two women named Mary seeing the empty tomb (6) and the risen savior (9). They worshiped him. The disciples saw him and worshipped him. (17) That group would include Matthew, who wrote the book.

Mark 16 also records the two women seeing the empty tomb. (Mark 16:1-8) Mark is commonly believed to record the story as told by Peter, who saw the risen Lord first hand and spoke to these very women when they related their story.

Luke diligently researched the matter and wrote in Luke 24 that the women found the tomb empty (1-7), that Peter saw the empty tomb and grave clothes (12) and that Jesus appeared to the disciples in bodily form (36-42).

John wrote that Mary Magdalene found the tomb empty (20:1), that Peter and John saw the empty tomb and the grave clothes (3-8). Mary also saw the risen Lord (14-17). John also recorded jesus‘ appearance to the disciples in the locked room. (19)

In Acts 1, Luke recorded the appearance of Jesus to the disciples. (3) Luke also recorded Peter’s first sermon, in which he declares Christ’s resurrection. (2:24, 32) Acts 7 records Stephen’s vision of the risen Lord Jesus standing at the right hand of God while Stephen was toned to death. (7:55) In Acts 9, Luke recorded Paul’s confrontation with the risen Lord Jesus. Revelation presents Jesus as reigning in heaven.

Paul, in Romans 4:24-25 wrote “...It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.”

1 Corinthians 15 tells us Christ was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures (3) and that he appeared to more than 500 people, most of whom were still living when Paul wrote the book. (6)

Colossians 2:12 refers to Christ as the one God the Father raised from the dead. This is not an exhaustive list, but a representative list that shows that the apostles and early believers all saw the resurrection as a historical fact witnessed by many who were alive and could be questioned. The New Testament never presents the resurrection as other than fact.

Third, the resurrection proves the deity of Christ. Romans 1:4 says that Jesus was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead. In his sermon in Acts 2, Peter preached that it was not possible for death and the grave to hold the divine Son of God. (Acts 2:22-24)

Fourth, the resurrection of Jesus assures us of our justification. Paul wrote, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (I Cor. 15:17). Romans 4:25 tells us Jesus was raised for our justification. Jesus’ death on the cross paid for our sins and accomplished our justification. The resurrection shows that the Father accepted the sacrifice of Christ for our sins. Therefore, we know that our sins were imputed to Christ, who paid for them, and Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us. The resurrection did not accomplish our justification. It assures us of our justification. By resurrecting Jesus, God the father declared that he accepted Christ’s atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Fifth, the resurrection of Christ paves the way for our resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:17-22 says
“And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in our sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, b a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”

Sixth, the resurrection means we serve a Lord and Savior who is alive in heaven and interceding for us. Hebrews 7:25 says Jesus always lives to make intercession for us. Romans 8:34 says Jesus is at the right hand of God interceding for us. Your Lord did not teach then die and leave nothing but a memory. Your Lord did not go away and leave you on your own. Your Lord rose from the grave, ascended to heaven, sat down and the right hand of the Father, and intercedes for you every day in every struggle you endure.

The resurrection is true, the resurrection is important, the resurrection is gospel, it is proof of the deity of Christ, the resurrection is assurance of justification, and the resurrection means Christ intercedes for us continuously.

The resurrection is cause for joy. Meditate on it this week and rejoice that you serve a living savior.  

He is risen!

Secrets In the Bible

A friend sent me a video selling a book claiming there was a code in the Bible that told how to cure all diseases. Bookstores are lined with books claiming to reveal secrets in the Bible. 

I do not believe in secret codes and messages. I believe God revealed in scripture all we need to know. 

Deuteronomy 28:29 says "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

God does not reveal everything he knows. We could not comprehend it. Not many would claim to comprehend everything God has revealed. But he has revealed what he wants us to know. 

God does not conceal things we need to know. That would be mean. God loves his people and cares for them. 

So, spend your time comprehending the revealed word of Almighty God. Do not waste your time trying to create and discover supposedly hidden mysteries or knowledge. 

PERSONAL WORSHIP

I found Deuteronomy 26 fascinating. First, there is liturgy. The Hebrew man was to bring the first fruit offering and recite the liturgy of verses 5 through 10, acknowledging God's provision of land and food. Second, there was personal worship. Much of the Hebrew worship was representative, done by the priest. But here, the man was to offer his gift, then worship before the Lord. And he was to rejoice.

It is a good formula.

DIVINATION PART 2

Divination Part 2

Why does God forbid the us from practicing divination (telling of the future)? Because he told us everything they needed to know through his ultimate prophet, Jesus Christ, as recorded by his apostles. Jude 3 says "I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints." Revelation 22:18 says "I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book."

HUNGRY FOR THE WORD

Here is a good word from my youngest daughter.

SITTING AT THE FEET OF JESUS

I love these words of Jesus: "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary." (Luke10:42) We have so many things to worry about. But Jesus said one thing is necessary. Given the context, we can see that one thing is to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to his teaching. Our one thing is to know Jesus, love him and spend time in his presence. Everything else must "take a back seat".

DIVINATION

Why did God forbid the Israelites from practicing divination (telling the future)?

Because he told them all they needed to know by the word of his prophets.

Why does God forbid us from practicing divination? Because he has told us everything we need to know through his prophet, Jesus Christ, s recorded in the Bible.