Tag Archives: scripture

The Histogram

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I know that my photographer friends will be wondering what I am going to talk about here today.  I am not all that experienced so I will not be giving any expert advice.  For you non-photographers the histotram is a little graph that tells the photographer if you too much light or not enough light and much, much more.  Some swear by the historgram and many others say to ignore it.

As I was thinking about the histogram something came to my mind.  Just like the historgram having supporters and enemies so does the Bible.  The Word of God is loved by His people and hated by those who are not God’s people.

The Bible is our Guidebook for life.  I love It!  Maybe, it is because the Bible is like a mirror and people don’t like what they see when they “look into It”.  There are many ways this line of reasoning can go.

It is safe to say that if you are just aimlessly wandering through life and you think you need an anchor in life.  The Word of God is a great place to start.  There you can learn who God is and what He did for you personally.  It is a supernatural Book.  The great thing is that God’s Word has all the answers to all of man’s questions.  What a Book.  It is the Book of all books for sure.

So, how are you doing?

Tears

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Some time ago I was watching an episode of “Andy Griffith” with our son.  Andy and Barney were sitting at a table after a class reunion talking.  Andy quotes someone that I do not know. As Andy and Barney were talking about past memories of school events and of days long gone by Andy says, “Does the tears on your pillow bespeak the pain in your heart?”  I wrote this down for further consideration.

Then I began to think about how life sometimes is made up of heartbreaking events.  Some of these events bring me to tears.  Then I began to think of the Scriptures.  Notice what David said in Psalm 56:8, “Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?”

Our God loves us so much that He bottles our tears.  I believe that there will be some use for them at a later time like the Judgement Seat of Christ.  I cannot say for sure; but, that is my idea.

Now as we think about God bottling our tears He even goes another step further.  David writes, “… are they not in thy book?”  So, God not only bottles our tears; but, then He records them in a book.  That is some mind blowing record keeping to me.  Think about that the next time your heart breaks into tiny pieces and hurt floods into your being.  When this happens think about this truth and be encouraged.

So, how are you doing?

Synchronized

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Our son received a used iphone to use as an ipod for music.  I tried to syncronize it to my wife’s laptop so I could transfer music.  After an hour or so I gave up.  I cannot get it to work.  I guess I will have to take it to someone that knows more about these things than I do.

As I was thinking about this failed procedure I began to think about the Christian life.  Then I began to think about how I can synchronize my life with my Heavenly Father.  One thing came to mind quickly.

If I want to be like Jesus I need to spend time with Him.  They say nearness is likeness.  I can start by spending time in God’s Word.  It is His love letter to His children.  Well, there you go.  Look at II Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

So, how are you doing?

Esau’s Example

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Today we go back to our work week schedules unless you are enduring severe winter storms as we are.  As of this writing they are predicting about half an inch of ice to be on the ground as you read this.

Sometimes we do not like the way things are going.  We get tired of always facing opposition.  The blues creep in.  Dissatisfaction with life gets a foothold.  Then what?  Eventually we come to the place that we just want out of it.  We want to do as the old commercial would tell us, “Calgon, take me away!”

Then the realization sets in that we have no control over some of these things.  This really causes the feeling of being trapped.  Then we start to lash out.  Our attitude becomes that of I will do the opposite of what you tell me.  We start to exhibit the attitude of Esau.  Look at Genesis 28:8-9, “And Esau seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father; Then went Esau unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebajoth, to be his wife.”

This is none other than an instance of rebellion.  We feel trapped so we rebel against whatever we feel is pressing against us.  As in our account in the Scriptures, rebellion never works.  The Bible is full of individuals that were rebellious starting with satan himself and we see where that took him.

If you “feel” the rebellion rising up inside of you I would tell you to confess and forsake it immediately.  Maybe you even need to trust Jesus Christ as your Saviour.  I would love to show you how to do just that.  Contact me and I will do what I can to help.

So, how are you doing?

Hold Fast 2

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There is an old saying in the realm of married men that goes, “You can be right or you can be happy.”  I am not going to go there today in this writing.  I am; however, going to continue the thought of “Hold Fast”.

We live in a world that has flip flopped.  The Bible warns us in the last days that men (and women) will call evil good and good evil.  We should not be surprised.  I guess if you neglect the reading of God’s Word then you might be surprised.

There are some things in life that are just wrong.  It does not matter if congress pass a law against it or for it.  Some things are wrong.  One hot topic I will mention is abortion.  I do not apologize for my stand on the subject.  Abortion is murder!  As one man said, “It may be legal; but, it is not lawful.”  This is right on point.

We have lost our moral compass in our day.  The sad reality is that we don’t even care.  I mean even in the Church we have lost our moral compass.  We have left off the Word of God and brought in some “version”.  We have substituted Christ-centered music for rock and roll.  We have changed worship to some emotional melting pot.

Churches are sadly giving up on righteousness.  This is sad!  It is gut wrenching.  The Church is the Bride of Jesus Christ.  He died for the Church.  We have let His Church become some unholy, unrighteous social club for saints and sinners alike where there is no difference.

We need to be like Job of old.  Look at Job 27:6, “My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live.”  The words “hold fast” here mean to fasten upon, to seize.  Now there is an idea, Church.  Get a firm grip on the truth of God’s Word and hold fast or fasten upon It and seize It!

So, how are you doing?

The Word of God

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Today is the LORD’s day.  It is Sunday which is the first day of the week.  Some of us will attend worship services at a local Church.  I hope you take your Bible with you.  I mean a real Bible and not some watered down paraphrase or the like.

You see, men have for centuries disagreed with God and His Word.  What they have done is to try to change the Holy Bible to fit them and soothe their savage conscience.  If you can bring God down to your level then you have no God at all.  Look at Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Let me share some interesting observations that came to my mind about God’s Holy Word.

The Word of God will:

I. Speak to us – “For the word of God is quick,”  “quick” means to live

II. Sustain us – “and powerful,”  “powerful” means active, operative

III.  Search us – “and sharper than any twoedged sword,”  “sharper” means (to cut; by a single stroke; whereas that implies repeated blows like hacking)”

IV.  Steer us – “piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow,”  The word “piercing” means to reach through, i.e. penetrate”

V.  Spanks us – “and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”  “discerner” means decisive (critical), I.e. discriminative.

As you read this today think to yourself, “What is my attitude toward the Bible?” and if it is not the attitude that pleases God then you know what to do.

So, how are you doing?

 

The Ant

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A few days ago my wife was starting her water running for her shower.  As she looked in to turn the water on she noticed an army of ants.  I cannot stand ants!  They make me want to scream.  Yet, they are God’s creation.  In my not so humble opinion, Noah should have left mosquitos and ants.I am sure they serve some purpose in His kingdom.  Thankfully they will not be in heaven.  Whew!

As I was pondering our ant problem a Scripture jumped into my mind.  Look at the wisdom of Proverbs 6:6, “Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:”  This winter has been a record breaking event as far as temperatures and snowfall.  These are not records that I am personally not interested in being broken.  I have no control over it so I must continue down the path of life that God has chosen for me to travel.

Really though, I am to go to the ant, consider her ways and be wise.  Then I thought.  When this cold weather hit the ants and other insects simply burrow deeper to avoid the cold.  So, this brings credence to the old saying, “What does not kill you will make you stronger.”  I don’t know who said it; but, it is good anyway.

So, the next time life throws some trial at you don’t bury your head in the sand like the ostrich.  Remember the ant and burrow deeper into Christ and thus become stronger and more Christ-like.

So, how are you doing?

The Recipe

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The other day I was making barbecue sauce and it dawned on me that I was fasting.  This means no sampling for taste and quality.  That is a real bummer; but, it had to be done.

I began to think about the end result.  I wondered if it would taste okay.  I wondered if it would be too thick or too thin.  Then a thought dawned on me.  If I follow the recipe then I have nothing to worry about.  This made me feel much better and I did not have to break a fast just to taste the finished product.

Then I started thinking about my Christian life.  It is the same way there too.  Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel so to speak I need to just follow God’s Word.  That has been the Recipe since it was first God-breathed.  The lightbulb came on above my head (not really).  God has given to us His recipe in His Word and we just need to follow it.

Far too many of us try to do things our own way and we get into trouble.  We need to just follow what we are told and let God be concerned with the consequences.  Look at Proverbs 22:28, “Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set. ”  The Landmark of God’s Word is there for us.  So, let’s use what He has given to us.

So, how are you doing?