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Other than Halloween, when you think gluttony, you think Thanksgiving dinner. “Oh, no, I’m not a glutton. I get tired because of all the tryptophan in the turkey.” WRONG. Tests have been done to prove that to be a myth. It’s not tryptophan, it’s mashed potatoes and sweet potato casserole and rolls and dressing and pie, etc. I simply refer to it as “another struggle I deal with daily”; but when you were raised on good, country cooking… I know, no excuse. Gluttony, or in Latin, “gula”, derived from the Latin “gluttire”, meaning ‘to gulp down or swallow’. Basically, it’s over-indulgence and over-consumption. The excessive desire for food leads to a lack of control over your consumption so that it harms the body. It’s no wonder that the gluttony animal is the pig and the color is orange (stimulates brain and encourages hunger). Ironic that we surround ourselves with orang in the fall from the pumpkins at Halloween and Thanksgiving. Thomas Aquinas suggests that gluttony can manifest in one of five ways: eating food that is too luxurious, exotic, or costly; food excessive in quality (too daintily or elaborately prepared); eating too much; eating too soon (or between meals); eating too fast. You could say it’s a form of greed because it’s not just a lack of self-control but also putting your physical desires over your spiritual well-being.

The Bible encourages moderation and self-discipline, urging believers to enjoy food as a gift from God without allowing it to become an obsession or idol. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31) It’s important not to confuse gluttony with obesity. The overeating is the problem, not your weight. There are endless reasons why a person might weight too much or too little that’s not a result of gluttony.

This is one of those topics where you can find a verse to suit your needs in the Bible (and not just in Proverbs).

Proverbs 23:20-21 – “Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat, for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags.” (Excessive eating and drinking can lead to poverty and laziness.)

Philippians 3:19 – “Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.” (To prioritize physical desires can lead you away from spiritual values.)

Proverbs 25:16 – “If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it.” (Monitor your consumption because there is danger in overindulgence.)

To help fight this addiction, we can still turn to the Bible because God often refers to Himself as a form of food and taste. “Desire the sincere spiritual milk of the Word.” (1 Peter 2:2) “I am the bread of life. Come to me and you will not hunger.” (John 6:35) The meaning here is that we should satisfy ourselves with spiritual bread, wine, and milk so that physical hunger loses its power over us. The way to fight cravings is to be pro-active. A lot of gluttony is either taught, “You have to clean your plate”, or it’s habit “Thanksgiving”, or even ordered. I loved my grandmother when she was here but she was a broken record, “Come, eat, aren’t you hungry?” Sometimes guilt brought on that second helping of noodles. It wasn’t her fault. Food is a love-language of grandmothers. Gluttony can also be a side-effect of boredom. The food’s there and I don’t have anything to do right now, and it tastes so good. The flip-side to that was my parents telling me, “If you don’t know what you want to eat, you don’t need anything.” There seems to be a lot of family wisdom in gluttony.

So how can we fight it? We fight with temperance, a cardinal virtue which means moderation and self-control concerning bodily pleasures. Understand what really matters in life and then decide if the extra french fries are worth it. Find something in your life, besides food, to get excited about to fill your time and take your mind off eating. Try fasting every now and then. Come up with punishments, extra exercise, or other consequences for giving in when you shouldn’t.

In 1 Corinthians 6:12, Paul says (regarding food and drink), “I have one master, Jesus Christ, and I don’t want any other master.” We need to take up our cross daily and fight the battle of gluttony with the word, “Yes”. Yes, I’ll read that book I’ve been meaning to, I’ll visit my friend that I haven’t seen in awhile, I’ll work in my yard, etc. Pray for help to be able to cultivate and nurture these satisfying things instead of food.

So few things in this life are cut and dried; no fine print; no alternate or deeper meaning. As Lutherans, we see this even in the 10 Commandments. Thanks to Martin Luther and “What does this mean?” we are able to look deeper into the commandments and get a larger picture. Example: You shall not murder means to not only not hurt or kill anyone but also to help and support them in every physical need.

Recently, my mind has gone to one of the ‘seven deadly sins’; pride. When I receive compliments, I wonder if the pride I feel goes over and above what is Godly? I decided it took a deeper look into the “seven” to see if there were any “but also’s” in there. Found them. Most of them include many more avenues than the name implies.

The seven deadly (cardinal) sins came from the Catholic Church. The idea originated from St. Gregory the Great (pope from 590 to 604 A.D.) in the 6th century and elaborated in the 13th century by St. Thomas Aquinas. According to Roman Catholic theology, these seven sins spur other sins and further immoral behavior. Rather than focusing only on the negative, God offers a heavenly virtue that they can be countered with. Each sin also has an animal and color representative as seen in the photo.

We start with pride. It’s not represented by the lion as many believe but the peacock (who extravagantly display their plumage) and the color purple (the color of royalty and superiority). The definition of pride is: a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.

There are four types of pride.

Pride of superiority – a belief in being better or more important than others, leading to arrogance, dismissal of others’ opinions or achievements, and a desire for power or status. They often brag about their accomplishments, possessions, or intelligence, and consistently interrupt others, by speaking over them or acting like a “know-it-all”.

Pride of timidity – rooted in insecurity and a deep-seated fear of what others think. They seek validation and rely on the opinions of others rather than God’s. They require continuous praise, admiration, and attention from others. Their fear is often rooted in a fear of inadequacy, leading to an overcompensation with boasting or arrogance.

Pride of sensitivity – characterized by an extreme over-sensitivity to the words and actions of others. They struggle with self-criticism, are easily offended, and often misinterpret others’ intentions. Constructive feedback challenges their idea of self-worth and they can be quick to take offense when they perceive an insult or slight.

Pride of complacency (vanity) – individuals have a strong desire for human respect and recognition. It manifests as arrogance and a need to constantly display their achievements, appearance, and abilities to others. It’s very difficult for them to admit they were wrong.

So is feeling pride always a bad feeling? No. Let’s go to the Bible. “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18 “...God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6b What’s so bad about it that God hates it? The pride frequently warned against in the Bible can lead to a separation from God. The difference between being proud and having pride lies in the source and direction of the feelings. Being a proud Christian involves gratitude and recognition of God’s role in one’s life while having pride often involves elevating oneself above others and disregarding God’s sovereignty. It all comes down to why you do what you do.

Paul got it right in 2 Corinthians 10:17, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” That’s always been my response when I’m complimented on my blog or one of my books, “Thanks but it was all the Holy Spirit, I’m not that smart.” Being proud with a proper attitude can align with Christian virtues like gratitude and humility. It recognizes that all good things come from God and human achievements are gifts from Him.

Fun fact: in the 11th chapter of 2 Samuel, David manages to commit every one of the “seven deadly sins”. V. 1 sloth, v. 2 lust, v. 3 envy, v. 4 greed, v. 10 wrath, v. 13 glutton, v. 27 pride. Even the best of us have “off” days.

I love parables but sometimes they hit home so well, it’s difficult to think of them as made-up stories. One particularly confusing one is the dishonest manager in Luke 16:1-9. I never would have gotten the true meaning without a lot of research.

He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

What does this mean? Well, the story reads that the master heard about some dishonesty and called in the manager about it. He was disappointed but the manager could not deny the charges because he did them. (Been there.) Because he would soon be unemployed, he thought a way to support himself; or better yet, have others support him. He has no degree so what else is he suited for? “I cannot dig”, he claims but there’s no proof of that. If the manager had kept him on as a laborer, he would definitely dig. The fact is that he’s just lazy. He’s also too ashamed to beg which was his pride speaking. Those whom God has disabled and cannot help themselves should not be ashamed to ask for help from others. That’s partly how others serve God. In this case, God didn’t disable him, he did it himself, hence the pride. Actually, he had more reason to be ashamed of cheating his master than begging for bread.

One by one, he calls in the people that owe money to his master and reduces the amount; some by one-fifth, others by half, etc. Most likely the decision was made by the amount of kindness he expected from them later. In reality, (remember it’s not) it may be that what he did benefited everyone. He got credit, his master still received some of what was due and the tenants not only got part of their debt lowered now but it would be lower in the future. Of course, there’s debate on if the master charged too much to begin with because Jews couldn’t charge interest to Jews. Regardless, Jesus is not commending or advocating dishonesty here.

In this parable, God is the master and we are the dishonest managers of what He has entrusted to us in this world. We have perverted the purpose He intended it for. We will be discharged from our stewardship (a.k.a. death), which will be an end to the opportunities we have to do good. Our discharge (again, death) is what we deserve because we have wasted the Lord’s resources and not fulfilled our duties. At our discharge (you know) we will be asked to give an account for how we have handled what has been entrusted to us, be it time, talents, or treasures.

You cannot serve God and money (or yourself). There’s no fence-sitting on this people; pick a side. It’s a difficult parable to understand because at the face of it, Jesus seems to be commending dishonesty. In fact, He is illustrating the need to commit fully to God like the manager did for himself. What is praised is not the dishonesty, but the foresight and realization of the future that prompted him to straighten himself out. We have done wrong also but if you’re reading this, there’s still time to choose God rather than riches and do the right thing so when your time comes, you can be proud of your efforts.

You are one of a kind. You are a google-whack. I recently learned of google-whacks and was surprised to find so many rules associated with them. A google-whack is a search in google using 2 legitimate, unconnected words: a. found in the dictionary, b. not proper names or numbers, c. no quote or punctuation marks, d. the result should be an actual webpage and not included in a list of something. Just for fun, I tried crumb elephant and came up with approx. 55,900 results. That’s a far cry from 1 of 1. It’s much harder than it sounds because Google’s massive database updates constantly. If you do manage to find one, as soon as you post it, it’s not one anymore because posts are listed in several places.

Fortunately, there are three google-whacks in Exodus 3.

One – burning bush. The angel of God appears to Moses in the flames of a bush that is burning but not being burned up. (Just an FYI, the closest we can get to a visual of this is Harry Potter talking to Sirius Black in the fireplace in the “Goblet of Fire”.) It was strange enough to capture Moses’ attention because its uniqueness called to him. I’m sorry but I have to stop here and say that I can’t read v. 3 without breaking out in laughter. Moses is in a field with sheep and says, out loud mind you, “I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.” Thank you Captain Obvious. Why do the sheep need to know this? Sorry, continuing… The truth is, there are many opportunities in our own lives like this. Moments given to us by God to get our attention and make us stop and wonder what He’s doing. We should stop at these times and consider seriously what the message for us is.

Two – Moses himself. Moses thought God had it all wrong. He saw himself, like we often do, as back-sliding sinners with a flawed character and a past, not to be proud of. But God saw him for the google-whack that he was even if he was blind to it himself. The point is that God equips us when He calls us. We are not chosen to crash and burn and even if we can’t see it ourselves, God’s good will is done through us. He calls us, invites us, challenges us, and empowers us to do His mission in the world. To be God’s google-whack is not about us. It’s all about God. Still today, we are confused when someone says that God “talks to them”. When we talk to God, it’s a prayer. When God talks to us, it’s an hallucination. That’s not true. God speaks to us in various ways. Sometimes it’s in something we see around us, sometimes it’s something someone tells us, and sometimes it seems like our conscious. We know it’s from God if it matches His will found in the Bible. Killing a classroom full of children ‘in his name’ would not qualify as a message from God. You have to know the difference before you act.

Three – God Himself. God gives His personal name to Moses, “I AM THAT I AM”. I am one through one of one. There is no one like me! I am the one with the power to create and causes everything to be. I am the God who will be present in ways to make possible what does not seem possible. “I AM” is the God of power, faithfulness, and eternal presence.

We are unique because of our personality that started on day 1 of our birth, our DNA (physical features and predispositions), life experiences, cultural background, relationships, personalities, values and beliefs, perception and perspective. Lots of big words but you get it. Even the doppelganger that looks exactly like you is nothing like you. God needs our uniqueness to do His work the way that we ONLY can do it. Take off your sandals, you’re on holy ground.

Righty-tighty, lefty-loosey. Spring forward, fall back. Red and black, friend of Jack. Red and yellow, kill a fellow. 30 days hath September, etc. We are always on the look-out for easier ways to remember things and eventually know them by heart. The problem is when those things come out of our mouths. Unfortunately, many times we have a double standard when it comes to what we say when we’re with close friends vs. co-workers vs. our parents, etc. The words you use automatically change depending on who you are speaking with and how. Don’t forget that our phones are used more for text and play than actual talking these days. If you were to text something to someone, you would probably use different words than if you were speaking to them directly. It just is. Personally, I find as I get older, that I have the urge to ‘shut-up’ more often. With age comes the wisdom of how stupid some of the things I say really are.

James 3 has a lot to say on the use of the tongue in speech. Depending on who we are, our words can carry much more weight and easily cause harm, even when it’s not intended. The Bible reminds us that teachers and pastors will be held much more accountable for their words than others. That doesn’t mean we won’t all be held accountable; they will just be more so. James first equates the tongue to the rudder of a ship. The tiny rudder has the power to direct the ship where it needs to go but it can also steer to disaster. Our tongues are the same way. James reminds us to, “let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no..”. More often than not, there’s no reason to keep explaining your answer, but we do. We have to make our full intentions known without doubt; we have to impress our personality on the other person; we have to be right, or revered, or respected regardless. We are all made in the image of God and He gives us each light according to His measure. There’s no reason for us to condemn or accuse others because their light is orange and ours is green. We are not to judge with our words and actions but lift each other up. When we bless God and in the next breath, curse the driver that cut us off, we have a double-mindedness that separates us from God. They are made in the image of God just like we are but we treat them with contempt because we are superior (drivers) to them….or so we believe.

The most inconvenient aspect of this for us is that the tongue cannot be trained. We can train snakes, lions, dogs, but not our own tongue. James calls it, “a restless evil filled with deadly poison”. Yikes. We are all sinners but we occasionally find amusement in pointing out or commenting on the mistakes of others even though ours are greater. True, we should be severe in judging ourselves but charitable in judging others but we’re all different, aren’t we? Some people think they can do no wrong while I usually believe I can do no right. If I were to talk to others and call them the names that I often call myself, no one would want to be around me, ever. To ever have ANY control over what we say, we first have to get right with God...and He helps us with that.

God says I’m going to put a new direction, new covenant on your heart. You’ll know me by heart. How wonderful would it be to know God so well, we didn’t have to think about it. God gives us two commandments to know Him. Love Me with all your heart, love your neighbor as yourself. There’s knowing, and there’s doing. Now we get a new covenant on our heart? Yes. He doesn’t come to us in more words but in Himself, in the flesh, through the Spirit in our baptism, not just to visit or remind, but to live. The Spirit gift is wonderful because of receiving him in our baptism, we already know and already believe. He wrote on our hearts, so we know. He gave us His Son and the resurrection and by it, forgiveness. It’s true because of the gift of His Spirit that says it is. We want to know God by heart enough to say, “we’re one of His”. Fruits of the Spirit are evidence of knowing God by heart. God knows us despite our hearts and writes Himself into us. He knows us by heart. We should try to return the favor.

Sometimes I think I share too much of myself in these blogs but I strongly believe they serve a purpose, so strap in, this is a doozy. When the church tells me “Evangelize!”, it’s like my mom telling me to go buy her some ice cream. Which flavor? Size? Brand? What if I get one she doesn’t like? If she would give me 3 or so flavors to choose from, it would be easier to do and more enjoyable for everyone. If the church would give us examples of how to evangelize, it would be easier to accept which is better for us and profits everyone. Yes, they are often out of your comfort zone and fall under the category of “which would you be less objectionable to”. (At this point, pastors are screaming “BUT GOD WILL ENABLE YOU”. Truth, but how often do we actually do things God wants, and enables, us to do?) “Enjoyable” is the best chance of having it done at all. That’s my purpose. To give you examples of what I’ve done so you can consider what works for you, be it the same as me or opposite, because I’m no expert.

Sometimes we want to just share our faith and other times, we want to spend time to get to know someone. We have a friend or relative that we see going a bad direction. To help, you can’t just tell them what to do. You have to really understand their thought process that got them where they are, and that takes time. This actually happened to me last year. Complete TRUE story except the name has been changed.

I’ve known Jared for a long time. I know he grew up in the Lutheran Church and was raised in a Christian household, but has since left the church. In an effort to better understand, I asked him to write down his thoughts or questions about Christianity and the church. I then separated his e-mail into individual questions and took several days of prayer and thinking and research to try and come up with answers that would help him understand and guide him back. I was encouraged to get his thoughts which started with, “Going to church service simply doesn’t provide any spiritual improvement in what I believe.” and ending with, “I am open to insight from you regarding these questions and would gladly reflect on them.” This is a more positive response than I ever dreamed and I wasn’t about to let it pass.

Jared: The incantations like “Bless be to God” makes me feel like I’m part of some underground cult.

Me: The Hebrew word “bless” means to “kneel”. It implies kneeling in worship to God. We praise, worship, and bless Him because He deserves it. In this way, we show our understanding that He is truly deserving of our worship as our Creator and heavenly Father.

Jared: Why do we say these things and why do the things we are doing?

Me: Back in the first century, Gentiles met for worship in each other’s houses because temples and synagogues were only for the Jews. By the second century, they added communion to their services. Paul’s sole job was to bring knowledge of God to the Gentiles. When their services started getting bigger and growing out of homes, Paul advised them that worship should be done decently and in order because God is not a God of confusion, but peace. They added the Lord’s Supper and later on, added reading from the Bible, along with prayers and songs. By the third century, they added Liturgy which is praising and responses: Lift up your hearts. We lift them to the Lord. Etc. Basically, we still worship God today as we did back in the third century. It ain’t broke, so we don’t fix it.

Jared: Why is it so different from other denominations?

Me: There are different denominations because people understand things differently. That’s why Lutherans use Scripture to interpret Scripture. A perfect example is the Lord’s Supper. Lutherans believe there is body and blood in, with, and under the bread and wine (all four present, all complete). They are there together, combined, because Jesus said, “This IS my body, this IS my blood”. The Eastern Orthodox church believes that it is body and blood but just looks like bread and wine. Catholic – the bread and wine is converted into body and blood. Baptist – bread and wine represent the body and blood. Baptism? Lutherans believe children should be baptized because it’s not up to us; it’s all the work of God. Other denominations believe the person must decide themselves to have it done.

Jared: Why are there so many religions?

Me: Different religions have existed since Bible times, even before Jesus walked the earth. Instead of remembering that God is the almighty creator of the universe, people thought they had to pray to ‘lesser’ gods for ordinary things like rain, livestock babies, good luck, etc. All through the Bible there are examples of gods like Ashtoreth (goddess of fertility and maternity), Ba’al (sun or storm god), Dagon (god of water and rain), etc. In addition to these false gods, there are religions that worship other beings because they don’t believe Jesus could have done all the things and be everything that was said of Him. They refuse to accept that He is full God and full man. They also don’t believe He came back from the dead. They think He was just a great prophet and the true god speaks through their leader, be it Muhammad for the Islams, or Zoroaster for the astrologers, or Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha), or even Joseph Smith who started the Mormons. All of these also have their own books “inspired by God” but apart from the Bible. WRONG! If you see any claims like this, its automatically a ‘false god’. These other beliefs draw people from the true God and despite how good they sound, they are nothing but a straight ticket to hell.

Jared: Why do I feel pressured into donating money? Why is money even involved?

Me: I’m not certain where you’re feeling the pressure from to give money. The TV evangelists focus on money because they tell you if you give money to them, God will give you a good life now. That money just goes in their pockets for their islands, yachts, mansions, etc. The church takes up an offering for several reasons (in no particular order):

1. The government does not say the church can have free electricity, water, costs for repairs, etc. just because it’s a church. Bills must be paid.

2. The Bible says that those who preach and teach should be paid; the laborer deserves his wages.

3. Not just the pastors and educators, but the secretaries, treasurers, custodians, all deserve pay for the jobs they do. I can’t go to the grocery store and say, “I’m not paying for these because I work for the church.”

4. The church is also commanded to spread the word of Christ – a.k.a. missionaries. Much of the money is given to support men and women in other countries to spread the news of Jesus. Other money is donated to provide scholarships, open schools, revitalize areas, etc. The LCMS donates money to Disaster Response after natural and man-made disasters.

5. God loves a cheerful giver and wants us to help each other financially not just for His purpose but to also show our faith in Him to care for those less fortunate (including us). When we give money to the church, we are saying “Thank you God, for helping me earn this, please use it for others, and I trust that you will take care of me without it.”

To be continued…

Whenever I think of the word “greed”, I picture someone in a mansion that’s wanting even more money. Greed doesn’t just have to be about wealth, it can also be about possessions or even feelings. It’s just a matter of not being happy with the gifts God has given you; so you want more of what you have or you want something you don’t have. I’ve had something bothering me for a long time now and after much prayer, I finally realized I was being greedy because something was taken from me and although I can live without it, I still wanted it back. This greed was affecting me so much that I began taking it out on the people around me. Bad Susan. Then, God put it on my sister’s heart to send me this particular picture. “The Bible doesn’t say that we have to figure it all out; just trust Him.” I saw the truth of it and felt guilty for not trusting God, so I went to the bathroom (where most people go to be left alone and do their devotions) and told God that I really did trust Him. I put my heart into focusing on that trust because I’ve seen some amazing things that He’s done for me in the past; things I really didn’t feel were worth His time. But each of us is THAT important to Him. Upon leaving the bathroom, I turned to my past sermon notes and went straight to the one about turtles. I have a particular fondness for turtles because God has used them in the past to get me to pull my head from my “you know”. In that short amount of time, I went from having nowhere to turn to chanting “Trust God, Trust God, Trust God…” in my head.

The endurance of the Desert Tortoise is an inspiration to anyone facing a desolate or depressing time of life. We know about the desert life; the dry days are blistering hot, and the nights are bitterly chilling, and it may not rain for a year. Water is everything in the desert because without it, nothing survives. The Desert Tortoise not only survives but thrives in the desert in these conditions. How? First, he gets a lot of sleep. He goes to bed in November and wakes up refreshed late in March. He shovels up a mouthful of gravel to get the minerals his body needs. It rains every other year in the Mojave Desert so from February to mid-May, it’s alive with green plants to eat. The turtle eats the flowers and stores the water from the eaten plants in his body; all of it. No potty breaks for him. He eats until his bladder is 30% of his body weight and then he reabsorbs and recycles that water in his body to sustain him until the next time. This level of inner balance allows him to live happily in a region few ever could.

Elijah learned a thing or two from him as well in 1 Kings 19. He was outnumbered by Baal-lovers and unloved by God-lovers so he booked it for the desert. Like the tortoise, the first thing he does is lie under a tree for a nap. We need to be well-rested because sleep deprivation can mess with your mind and alter your reality. Well, technically, rest wasn’t the first thing he did. The actual first thing was to complain to God, who let him vent; then Elijah sleeps. Talking to God is a great place to start because He can take our emotions and afterward, we will be able to sleep peacefully in His arms. Like the tortoise, he eats and drinks upon waking. Twice Elijah slept and twice he eats and drinks because it must sustain him the entire trip across the desert. The camel can survive days without drinking water, even longer if there are succulent plants available. The Desert Tortoise can last a year without water, but we won’t last at all without a drink at the fountain of faith.

Jesus said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37-38). Jesus is the Living Water that empowers us. This water flows because of faith. We need to drink this water, not because we might need it today, but because we will need it tomorrow or next week. The amount of our faith doesn’t matter; i.e. strong, weak, etc. What matters is that we allow the faith that God has given each of us to shape our lives. To allow this faith to govern our actions and words, in times of crisis and not, is our greatest strength.

The Desert Tortoise doesn’t store water for just today but for all the days to come. So should we, because it might mean the difference between despair and fortitude when blistering times hit. Elijah and the Tortoise prepared for endurance by getting a belly full before their trials came. That still doesn’t make it easy. Elijah hid in a cave because it was still too much, but God kicked him out because he had more things to do and he was needed. You never know who you are important to because of your endurance, strength, courage, wisdom, or even humor. Future generations need the tortoise if the species is to survive and someone may need you for a similar reason.

Counting the cost.  Before sin entered the world, we had it made and had to pay nothing but respect and honor to God.  Since sin, we’ve all decided that we deserve something for any effort we give.  We must be paid for our work and paid for things people want from us.  We live in a world of debt.  It costs money…

To be born: doctor/hospital, formula, diapers, daycare, etc.

To die: cemetery site, casket, tombstone, etc.

To live each day: lodging, car, GROCERIES, prescriptions, gas, etc.

To celebrate: Prom (dress, tux/shoes, limo, dance tickets, mani/pedi, etc.)

Wedding (don’t even get me started….I don’t have that much paper)

Dates (movie, popcorn, pizza, etc.)

It’s not the dollar cost that really matters though, is it?  There’s also the cost of denial.  Jesus describes it in Matthew 16:24-27, “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in the glory of his Father and will judge all people according to their deeds.’”

The point is that sometimes, in order to achieve great things, we have to deny ourselves other pleasures.  The best example of this is confirmation class.  From the day of their baptisms, they move on to the next big step, confirmation.  They want to veg out in front of the TV, but their parents made them go to confirmation class.  Their friends spend time at lunch talking about the latest and greatest TV show, but they missed it because they were picking up trash as a service project.  They missed a Saturday night party because they were on a retreat with the youth group.  They wear their “My-parents-made-me-do-it” badge with honor…if they’re lucky. 

Parents aren’t perfect either and sometimes they forget their duties and allow children to put sporting events and extra-curricular activities ahead of their eternal future.  This does not bode well for the children.  Those parents that do make/force/strong-arm their children into doing what’s important are equipping them much better for the next step in their faith and life. 

Confirmands don’t realize it but they are already far ahead of other young adults.  They know about saving up for something that’s eternal and not for temporary pleasures.  Some don’t see it that way because they think they “graduated” and don’t have to go to church anymore.  (True story – last Sunday at church, I saw a grasshopper on the wall in the Narthex.  I was trying to urge my husband to catch and release it outside.  Right then, Pastor Keith walked over and saw the dilemma.  He said, “I’ll just confirm him and we’ll never see him again.”)  Jesus said that being grown up means to deny yourself, take up your cross, and spend your life serving others instead of just yourself.  That is who Jesus created you to be.  What happens after confirmation makes all the difference in the world.  Those without confirmation training will see the pleasures of the world and be lost in their glory.  OHH…SHINY!!!  Those that follow Christ have no guarantee of resistance; but are more resistant to the temptations and expectations of others and work towards God’s expectations.  A life of integrity costs; and not just money.  A big THANK YOU to my parents who had us at the church door every time it opened and forced me to go on the youth retreats.  My life is so much better for them having done it.

The decision to follow Jesus is expensive and could run into years of self-denial, ridicule, abandonment, even death.  Eternal life with the Creator who treasures us, the Christ who saved us, and the Spirit who sustains us – PRICELESS.

Sometimes, just hearing about something isn’t enough to make you seriously consider it.  For example, seeing God in your life.  Because the world we live in is so sinful, it’s often difficult to see the good that God has given us while we’re here.  Let me explain a week I had not long ago to show you what I’m talking about. 

I was one of the few, the chosen, the honored….to get a jury duty summons.  After 20 minutes of getting everyone settled, they sent all of us out in the hall so they could have a private moment with the stenographer.  We were crowded in a short hallway and after a few minutes, a man on the other side of the hall noticed my t-shirt and asked about it.  It read, “I’m fine, It’s fine, Everything’s fine”.  He asked if it was my first choice to wear and I told him, “No, actually, the shirt I had on before this was Jesus telling the Avengers how He saved the world.”  The man paused a second and then replied, “Yeah, you never know how they’ll (lawyers) take that.”  I honestly didn’t care about that.  I just didn’t wear it because it was too tight.  My little secret. But I did have an opportunity to let many people know that I am a Christian and I took it.

Now, excuse me while I speak like a Pastor for a bit.  You know.  Start a story and then take a sharp left turn and come back to it later. 

I want to make a point about jury duty.  I have yet to meet someone whose eyes light up when they get the notice in the mail but it’s what’s called a “necessary evil”.  God gave judges the right to rule over people way back in the Old Testament.  Of course, there were different types.  Moses established judges in Exodus 18.  He assigned men to listen to the cases people brought against each other.  The really large matters would be forwarded to Moses, but the smaller instances could be judged by them.  Later in Judges, we find 6 major judges and 6 minor, men and women.  They were not to judge over court cases but to illustrate God’s grace and mercy for His people. The Israelites had no leadership, so they often ended up enslaved.  God then brought a judge that would free them from slavery, keep the people from idolatry, and lead them in war against their enemies.  The only problem was that as soon as the judge died, they went back to their old ways.  It was a vicious circle.  It wasn’t funny, but it wasn’t boring either.  People were being killed with cattle prods, tent spikes, the jawbone of an ass, and the first left-handed person we are told about kills a king in the bathroom.

God tries to prevent all of this in the first place by telling us in Ephesians to talk things out and settle them between ourselves; work hard so you don’t have to steal; don’t jump to conclusions right away, let the Spirit guide your thoughts.  We are all judged negatively or harshly at times but that’s the sinful world we live in.  When being asked to help judge our fellow man, it’s important to not be prejudice because of age, race, religion, nationality, etc.  It’s also important that we not make decisions from feeling sorry for the young person that had a rough childhood or the poor man that’s always discriminated against.  We cannot show partiality for what we see on the outside (James 2:1-10).  As a chosen juror, you must be very cautious in what you say during the deliberation behind closed doors.  Each of the lawyers has given their case; i.e. told you what they want you to think and pushed to the forefront the points that give them the win.  I’ve never heard anything more confusing in my life.  It’s no wonder there are so many innocent people in prison because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time.  Innocent until proven guilty is the way it works here in the U.S. but as the judge reminds the jurors, it must be guilty, beyond a reasonable doubt.  That’s a lot of grey area. 

Our past experiences make us who we are and our opinions, values, habits, and beliefs all come from what we know and were taught to believe.  But no matter how certain you are of something, our minds can be changed by others or ourselves.  Fast-talking lawyers are there to confuse us and make us doubt ourselves.  It can be scary knowing the fate of a stranger is up to you.  Maybe that’s why people don’t want jury duty; not because they have to miss work and fight the downtown traffic and sit in the courtroom for hours on end, but because they don’t feel confident enough to do an acceptable job if chosen.

PS – my entire life, I was paid $6 for jury duty, this time it was $20.

So, jury duty was Monday.  Then on Friday, I was having a full-blown pity party, table for 1.  I don’t know why but I woke up that morning in a funk and couldn’t get rid of it.  About 10 minutes before it was time to leave work for the day, an old woman came to the church and asked for gas money.  This had never happened in all the years I’d worked there.  Technically, we couldn’t help her because she didn’t meet our criteria for assistance.  I invited her in and we chatted awhile so I could get to know her and how deep the problem went.  She has cancer and asthma so she can’t be in hotel rooms where people have smoked.  She’s living out of her car, parked in Wal-Mart parking lots, and needed some money for gas so she could run her air conditioner a little over the weekend and not overheat.  I called the committee chairman and explained the situation.  She agreed that we could help her a little.  I gave her the money I had in my petty cash at work and some from my billfold.  She was so grateful, she prayed for me right there.  When she finished, I prayed for her as well.  I’ll likely never see her again.  In my eyes, it was God telling me, that’s enough pity-party time; others have it much worse than you so suck it up and get over yourself.

Speaking for myself, if I were to concentrate too much on what the world around me is really like, I’d spend my days crying and sitting in a corner, sucking my thumb.  I would love to be able to focus on the tens of thousands of young adults going to youth gatherings every year to strengthen their faith but sometimes the negative gets overwhelming and out shadows their efforts.  My best hope is to look for God in the day-to-day.  He’s here always but sometimes, we need to look with the heart instead of the eyes to see Him.  Sure, you could say that my statement of faith in the hallway was not that grand and the old woman might not have been an angel sent from God trying to snap me out of it; but I don’t really believe in coincidences.  The bad things that happen are from the evil in the world and the good “coincidences” are from God.  This is how I perceive Him talking to me; not in words but in works.  You believe what you want but that’s my faith and I’m sticking to it.

I’ve always wanted to write a blog on the Book of Life and it seems that now’s the time.  It’s mentioned several times in the Bible so we need to know all about it. 

WHO – The names of the faithful believers in Christ are written in it.  Those who have overcome the sinfulness of the world and kept their faith in Jesus Christ as their true Savior.  The Book of Life is a register if you will, a roll call of everyone who will inherit eternal life; all those who have lived to God even in the worst of times.  Today, we enroll in registers in the church but unlike those, our names can never be removed from the Book of Life.

WHAT – Our names are recorded in heaven. (Luke 10:20)  Before He created the world, God wrote the names of those who would be saved.  It didn’t happen when you were baptized or even first heard the name, Jesus; but before the world was.  We can hardly fathom that.  Before the beginning of time; before the foundations of the earth were laid; YOUR NAME was written in the Book of Life by God’s hand.  (Rev. 13:8)  I don’t know about you, but I’m impressed.  These names are among those who will be judged by God through Jesus Christ. 

WHEN – On the Last Day we will all stand before God on His throne and all of our sins will be laid bare before Him.  As it says in Romans 2:16, “on that day when, according to the Gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.”  God will judge all of us including our “hidden things”, that is, thoughts, secrets, and actions.  Don’t worry.  Anything sinful will have been forgiven because Jesus took care of that a long time ago.  We’re not held accountable anymore as long as you have true faith in not only who Jesus is, but what He did.

WHERE - This book will be held by Christ who will confess the names of all the faithful who stand there, before God and all the heavenly beings.  He does this as our Judge and Head and will lead us triumphantly to heaven and present us to the Father as children of God.  (Rev. 3:5)  “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”  (Rev. 20:15)  Not everyone gets a golden ticket.

WHY – The cause to be tried for each of us, that is, the works of men and what we have done, whether it be good or evil.  By our works, we will be justified or condemned at the trial.  All those who have rejected the Spirit (unforgivable sin) have by their own hand, erased their name from the book of life and will be cast into a lake of fire with Satan and his angels.  They will not be entitled to eternal life according to the rules laid down by the Scriptures.  Those justified by the Gospel (work of salvation of Jesus Christ) will enter into eternal life and have nothing more to fear from death, hell, or wicked men.  MIC DROP!!

These passages about the book of life show that our salvation is the result of God’s sovereignty (supreme power and authority).  God doesn’t have a pencil in one hand and eraser in the other.  God has ALWAYS known those who are His.  “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”   (Romans 8:38-39)  NOTHING can separate us from the love of God in Christ.  Note that…it doesn’t say “nothing can separate us from God”; it says, “from the love of God”.  We can separate ourselves from God because we have free will.  The “love of God” is all one direction – TO us.  God even loves those who separate themselves from Him.  That’s an important point we should never forget. 

PLOT TWIST!! All that is just one side of the coin.  We have our names.  We are in heaven.  What about Jesus?  He’s part us (human).  Mary was told to name her baby, “Jesus”, because it means ‘Savior’ and He would save us from our sins.  He’s done that already.  Been there, done that, got the scars to prove it.  It’s the Last Day so we’ll be forever in heaven and He doesn’t have to save us anymore.  A name symbolizes character so because He’ll have a new job to do, He needs a new name.  No joke. 

“He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. And I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.”  (Rev. 3:12) 

“His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.”  (Rev. 19:12) 

So in heaven, we won’t be calling Him ‘Jesus’ anymore.  I wonder what His new name will be?  If I had to guess, and this is completely uneducated, I’d say ‘Ahijah’ (uh-HI-juh).  It’s a Hebrew name that means ‘Brother of God’.  We will all be His brother as part of God’s family.  The name embodies the idea of brothers being connected through faith and spirituality, creating an unbreakable bond.  No offense to those with other names but I just can’t see it being something like Steve or Gary.  So anticlimactic.

I have several different places that I get ideas for blogs from.  This time, I decided to do something different.  I have the Bible on my ipad.  I went to the Index with all the books listed, closed my eyes, and prayed, “Heavenly Father, I need help.  I want to write about You in a way that gets people excited and makes them want to hear more.  Help me with this and show me where to go.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.”  I kept my eyes closed, scrolled three times with my finger and put my index finger down in the middle of the ipad.  Opening my eyes, I saw that my finger was on the book of Ezekiel.  “OK Spirit”, I said, “show me something.”  And He did….

Psalm 137 describes the people that were exiled in Babylon.  They would sit down by the water to have a pity party for what they lost and hang their instruments from a tree because no one felt like singing.  At this same time, Ezekiel was with them but he saw visions of God.  You remember the story of the angels that looked like aliens.  There are many examples like this in the Bible of one person focusing on God while those around them can’t figure anything out.  Martha focused on preparations but Mary saw God.  In Numbers 14:20-24, the Israelites could not enter the Promised Land for their lack of faith but Caleb could because he followed God.  Over and over you have a group of people that lose their faith or follow the evil ways of others.  Very few of them have the courage to go against the majority and keep their faith to the end.  It happened then, it’s happening now, and before the Last Day, it’s going to be worse than ever.

Ezekiel was given quite the job by God.  Israel had sunk to the level of the heathens around them and it was Ezekiel’s duty to prophesy to them and suffer for them.  God had to make Ezekiel’s head harder than theirs so he could take it.  (Must have been about German level. LOL) 

Instead of speaking in Parables like Jesus did, he acted them out.  Examples today would include placard carriers, furry animals dancing in front stores, tube men, etc.  He needed to get their attention and doing strange things in the middle of the city was the way God wanted it done.

Example 1 showed that there would be no peace and Jerusalem would be destroyed.  God gave the following directions:

1 – Take a clay brick (12” x 14” – what they used for writing at the time) and draw a picture of Jerusalem on it.  Then build a siege wall and battering rams surrounding it. 

2 – Take an iron pan and put it between him and the brick to symbolize God putting up a wall between Him and the people. 

3 – Make bread from many ingredients (because there would soon be a famine and not enough of one ingredient to make food) and cook it over cow poop.  It was common to cook food over human poop but God did not let Ezekiel defile himself that way.  He could eat 8 oz. of bread and 2/3 quart of water a day.  He had to lie on his left side for 390 days for Israel (one day for each year of their punishment), then his right side for 40 days for Judah (one day for each year in the desert).  Add them together and they make 430 which was the time that the Israelites lived in

Egypt (Exodus 12:40).  (Just a quick personal note here: I had to lie on my left side for 60 days during my first pregnancy.  You must find many different ways to move your arms and legs so you’re still on your left side even though circulation is often cut off.  Even on the couch, it was uncomfortable.  I can’t imagine it on the ground for over a year AND in the elements.)  He had to do this to bear the people’s punishment; bear it, not take it away.  He had to atone for their sin.

Example 2 Ezekiel’s hair would suffer the same fate as the people would.  Shaving off your beard was a sign of mourning and he had to use a sword instead of a razor because it represented law and destruction.  It had to be done in the open with people watching because priests didn’t shave their head.  It just wasn’t done.  He divided the hair into thirds.  One-third of the people would fall to plague and famine so they would begin to eat each other.  One-third will die by sword and the last third will run but death will follow them.  How’s that for a bedtime story?  No wonder it’s not in the Sunday School lesson rotation.  You can’t trifle with God.  Judgment will come.

Over and over in this book, Ezekiel does many strange things to explain what will happen if they refuse to turn back to God.  In Chapter 12 alone, he tells them five times, “The word of the Lord came upon me.”  In other words, “GOD IS TALKING TO YOU, PEOPLE!”  In this respect, it’s not that they can’t believe, it’s that they don’t want to.  It’s not in your mind, but in your heart. 

Ezekiel tried yet again.  He went into his house and packed a bag as if he were going on a trip.  He then dug a hole through the wall and came out in the street, dragging his bag behind him.  People noticed.  They wouldn’t today but they did then.  He’s showing them what’s happening back in Jerusalem.  He tells them, “The king, Zedekiah, tried to slip out of the city during a siege but he never saw the ground.”  He never saw it because Nebuchadnezzar had his eyes removed.  And the false prophets were saying Jerusalem was the place to be.  Humph…

I can’t go through the entire book but wanted to give examples of some of the strange things God made him do.  Can you just imagine if God talked to us today like that and gave such specific instructions?  God did not send him to foreign lands but to people he knew, that also knew God, but were going the wrong way.  It sounds pretty easy, doesn’t it?  But wait, He also sends us to people we know, that know of God, but we go the opposite direction.  God has patience abounding but it can and does wear out.  Your family cannot save you.  In this respect, we are all on our own.  Our influence can be a chance to move people to change but if their heart is stuck, our options reduce to prayer alone.  But we can’t give up.  God might lead us to do things we never thought we would do (like write books and blogs) but if it’s for His glory and getting His message out, well, obviously others have tried stranger things before.  It just might work.  Regardless, it’s like God said in Ezekiel 3:16-19, “I’m going to give you a job and if you tell them what I say, they are responsible after that.  If you don’t tell them, they still die but it’s on you for not warning them.”  It’s something to think about.

Words.  Have the last word; spread the word; man of his word; give me your word; a word to the wise; etc.  “He who is careful in what he says has much learning, and he who has a quiet spirit is a man of understanding.  Even a fool, when he keeps quiet, is thought to be wise.  When he closes his lips, he is thought of as a man of understanding.” (Proverbs 17:27-28)  Words can be important when you say the right thing and not the wrong thing; but it’s not always that easy.  English phrases are often made of confusing words that don’t make any sense.  ‘The sun comes up, the sun goes down’.  Does it really??  We know the sun stays still and the earth turns but we continue to use these phrases.  What about building a fire or making a fire?  Building and making insinuate construction, but fire just consumes and destroys.  Everything is reduced to ash.  Sometimes in life you have only seconds to act or think of a reply.  I’ve had a couple of these ‘sometimes’ happen to me and years later, I’m still kicking myself for my heart responding and not my head.  I wish I could duplicate those ‘once in a lifetime’ events so I could do it right the second time, but we can only go forward, not back.  Sometimes we get a second opportunity but there are no original re-dos. 

About 25 years ago, someone asked me what I believed.  After a quick, silent prayer to the Holy Spirit, we talked awhile about my beliefs and his.  To this day, that conversation haunts me because I don’t feel I did a very good job.  It was shortly after that when I started taking notes in church and took more Bible study classes and college classes.  I’m not a quick thinker and I didn’t want to fail a second time.  Then, a couple of weeks ago, I heard a pastor tell a story about a missionary that went to a third-world country.  At the airport, he was asked to step aside and follow a guard through many doors and down many hallways.  Once they were isolated, the guard said, “Tell me about Jesus”.  My heart kind of stopped.  I had studied.  I thought I was comfortable with my faith so far…  I still have a long way to go but I thought I was ready for this.  The person that asked me years ago knew something about God and Jesus, but this was a person that knew nothing of Jesus.  Where do you start?  I could talk for days on what I knew about Jesus but how do you condense that into a 10-15 minute conversation with someone that has no former knowledge?  That’s a completely different animal.  I would not want to mess that up and even though it ‘might’ never happen to me, because I’m not planning on visiting any third world countries, it could still happen, even here. 

This got me to seriously thinking about what I believed and how to condense it into a short conversation that would reach someone who knew nothing and make a difference in their lives.  I wrote out what I believed to be a good summary and then sent it to a pastor friend of mine.  I asked him to tell me what I did wrong and what I left out.  It reminds me of being back in high school.  Mr. Watterson asked us to make a 3-D drawing in Biology class.  I turned in my drawings 2-3 times and each time I got “Do it again”.  Frustrating!  He wouldn’t tell me what I was doing wrong or ‘teach’ me how to do it right.  I had to figure it out myself.  Mind you, this was in the days before the internet when all we had were our brains and the Collier’s Encyclopedia.  As I said, this time I wrote out what I thought was appropriate for the question, “Who is Jesus?”, but then asked for advice on how to make it better.  Pastors are not like Biology teachers thankfully, because this is life/death matters and as I said, there are no do-overs.  Pastors love to hear your opinions and then will gladly guide you in the right direction if you’re veering off.

By now you might be wondering, what did she put?  What did she say?  Nope.  I can’t give you the answer unfortunately.  You have to figure that out for yourself.  I can, however, tell you what my pastor told me.  Take this verse, “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:21) and hold onto it by your fingernails if you have to.  If you ask, the Spirit will work through you and no matter what you think you said wrong, the Spirit will work God’s will in it.  He told me that there have been many times when someone came up to him after service and told him that what he said in the sermon (here they quote him) touched their hearts.  He knows that what they heard came from the Holy Spirit because he never put those words together in his life.  The Spirit changed what he said before she heard them.  That’s what the Spirit does.

Basically, we’re all at different stages in our faith and no one can live your faith for you.  When it comes to eternity, we’re on our own and can’t get into heaven on someone else’s dime.  Someone asking you to tell them about Jesus may happen to you in this lifetime or it may not.  Even if it never happens to me, I’m planning to be ready for it.  So what will you say?

One of my favorite Star Trek personalities was Scotty, Lieutenant Commander and Chief Engineer.  It wasn’t his Scottish accent, although that didn’t hurt to listen to, it was his domineering personality.  When he spoke, people listened, and believed.  He had fun with this by time and again proving his talent as “miracle-worker”.  He got this nickname because he fixed things faster than thought possible.  In truth, he told them it would take twice the time to fix than he knew it would.  Other times, he was needed to “break” something in order to stall for time.  It was these cases when he would come out with his other famous line, “The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain.” 

This expression is being realized more and more as years go by.  The more technology we have, the easier it is for thieves to lie and steal to get our money.  Scammers are becoming more and more creative.  You get a phone call that your bank account was attacked; an e-mail that your Mastercard account was red-flagged, a text that your Paypal account has been hacked, etc.  My husband loves these because half the time, he doesn’t have accounts with the companies they mention.  There’s usually one pretty good way to tell if you’re being scammed; you have to do something.  You have to give them your personal information, you have to go and buy a gift card, you have to allow them access to your computer.  God doesn’t work that way.  His grace, mercy, forgiveness, etc. is all free and we don’t have to do anything to earn it.  Instigators come back with things like: I have to go to church, I have to help my neighbor, I have to say the right prayers, I have to…..  No, you don’t HAVE to.  If you have a relationship with God (He lives in you) then your actions are a means of response to His generosity.  There’s a difference.

People by the millions still fall for scams because scammers don’t give up.  It's not just scammers either, as time goes by it becomes harder and harder to believe anything people say.  Take movie quotes.  You think you know them pretty well because they are repeated all the time.  But are they being repeated correctly?

Forrest Gump: “Mama always said, ‘Life is like a box of chocolates.’”

Actual Quote: “Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates.”

Apollo 13:  “Houston, we have a problem.”

Actual Quote: “Ah, Houston, we’ve had a problem.”

Sometimes the verb tense matters.

Dirty Harry:  “Do ya feel lucky, punk?”

Actual Quote: “You’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya punk?”

Sometimes the act of condensing or shortening it can change the context.

So we’ve got people attacking us to scam us and phrases we can’t believe because they are misquoted.  What about the news.  That has to be accurate, right?  No.  You can’t even believe what you see on the news.  It’s occasionally biased because they need the ratings or they also ‘condense’ information which gives it a completely different meaning.  I’m sure there are hundreds of other tricks, but in this case, I refer to the latest choosing of a new Pope in the Catholic Church.  One of the first things the media focused on was telling us that Pope Leo XIV approves of homosexual marriage.  This could not be further from the truth.  What he actually said was that homosexual people have the right to be in a family; they are children of God; the family is founded on the stable union between a man and a woman; the church should be open and welcoming to everyone; “hate the sin, love the sinner”; same sex couples could be blessed in the church as individuals but not married. 

As a pastor once said, “In order to recognize a fake, experts study every detail of the original.”  Just like movie quotes are mis-quoted, so are Bible passages.  On the 8/18/23 blog, I chose 10 passages that are often misquoted and misunderstood.  I would like to add one more to this list if I could:  Matthew 7:1 “Judge not, lest ye be judged.”  It’s often taken as a warning to not judge people because we are all sinners.  It’s also often used when someone declares a sinful act to be wrong.  The problem is not the judgment but the hypocrisy.  Take this example:

Person A:  “I can do whatever I want to my body and live however I want if it feels good to me.  I have a right to be happy.”

Person B: “Your happiness is hurting others and should be stopped.”

Person A:  “Judge not, lest ye be judged.”

What people don’t realize is that by saying this, they are declaring a judgment on the person who they say is judgmental.  It’s a vicious circle.  If you read the entire passage, Matthew 7:1-6, you see that Jesus is saying we can’t assume authority over others because we would not allow them to have authority over us.  We cannot judge someone by a single act because often, our views are biased by our past.  Take the log out of your eye before you get the speck out of your brothers.  As I recently read in Pinterest, “You can’t judge someone for the choices they make when you don’t know the choices they had to choose from.”

That’s why we need to spend more time ‘studying every detail of the original’.  Not every verse can be plucked from the Bible to stand on its own and be properly understood.  Some general rules to go by when interpreting Scripture is to 1. Understand the author’s intent.  Consider what the verse meant to the person who wrote it and to whom it was written.  2. Consider the historical and cultural context.  3. Consider the literary genre (law, history, wisdom, poetry, narrative, epistles, prophecy & apocalyptic).  4. Think about the overall context.  5. Look at the surrounding verses or paragraphs.  Deep, isn’t it.  Personally, I just skip all that and go to Bible Class after church services and on Wednesday nights.  It’s much easier for me to understand if I get if first-hand from someone who has studied all of these areas and knows how to explain them correctly.

God is God.  He is unlike anything we can imagine because His nature and character are unique and the opposite of humanity.  The Biblical word for this is holiness, which means “to be set apart” or “to be distinct”.  For this reason, there were many Biblical laws concerning what made a body “clean” enough to be in God’s presence.  There were rules about not only who could go into the holy of holies in the Tabernacle but when, how, and why.  Rules for everyone else consisted of eating the right foods, not being around the wrong people, and going through the rituals needed to right things when they went wrong.  God is not only the source of our life, He IS life.  His realm right now is the supernatural and our world is terrestrial.  Despite this, and our sinful humanity, God desires to be a part of our daily life.

In Exodus 25, God designed the Tabernacle and Temple to be reminders of Eden and the perfect world He once shared with mankind.  These details are often skipped over but looking closer at it, we see that it replicates the place where heaven and earth once met in many ways.  The golden lamp stand was fashioned and decorated as a tree; an analogy to the Tree of Life in Eden.  It stood guard in front of the veil that blocked the way to the Holy of Holies, the place where the Ark of the Covenant was stationed.  The lid of the Ark was designed to function as a throne for God.  The cherubim in the Holy of Holies are also a clear connection in that they stood guard at the dwelling place of God in Eden and are also on the lid to the Ark as guards.  A further visual is found in the temple decorations of lush vegetation and animals, flowers, palm trees, lions, and pomegranates carved into the architecture. 

Today is much different when it comes to seeing a connection to God.  Our church ceilings look like the bottom of the Ark that saved Noah and his family.  We have the altar that was long-ago used for sacrifices and now holds the body and blood of Christ who was our sacrifice.  Outside the church however, the sinful world abounds.  When you think about God’s majesty, the first thing that comes to mind isn’t usually 6th Street in Austin, Montrose in Houston, Times Square in New York or even Disneyworld.  No, the majesty of God is seen in a mountain range, a vast ocean, a lush forest.  If you think about it, these are all mostly non-human places that mankind’s sinfulness is not seen in very easily.  Another place we see God’s majesty is in a newborn baby; the way that God Himself came into our world.  A child is born sinful because of their parents but is considered innocent because they have not yet learned to be sinful in their thoughts and actions.  Their parents and the sinful world will teach them that soon enough.  (I’m not saying that parents intentionally teach their children to sin.  I’m saying, we’re all born sinful into a sinful world so you can’t avoid it.)

In the times of Leviticus, the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) was held every year to remind people about holy and unholy.  It’s where we got the term ‘scapegoat’ from.  Two goats were involved.  One was sacrificed and its blood sprinkled in the sanctuary to cleanse it of human defilement for another year.  This sacrificed goat was “for the Lord”.  The other goat was sent out into the wilderness after the high priest symbolically transferred the sins of the people onto it.  That goat was “for Azazel”.  (In the Dead Sea Scrolls, Azazel was the name of a demon.) 

During the wilderness journey to the Promised Land, the Israelites had been sacrificing to demons, or goat idols, because they feared evil forces would threaten their camp and the true God that saved them from slavery wasn’t good enough to protect them.  This nonsense had to stop so the ‘goat for Azazel’ accomplished that.  It wasn’t an offering to the evil gods because it was never sacrificed.  Instead, sending it into the wilderness was a symbolic way of cleansing holy ground (the Israelite camp) from sin. 

Everything Jesus did on our behalf had supernatural overtones.  He went out into the wilderness before He began His work.  It was the place we would expect to find the forces of evil, and there He overcame Satan’s temptation.  Such began His ministry, and it ended in overcoming the Devil who has “the power of death” (Hebrews 2:14).  Remember that Jesus was crucified outside the holy city of Jerusalem.  He was unclean because our sins were on Him and Jerusalem was holy ground.

Although we are sinful humans, we are each a sacred space because living in us is the same presence that filled the Holy of Holies.  Since God dwells in us through His Spirit, each gathering of believers is holy ground.  We are children of God, fit for sacred space, not because of what we do or don’t do but because we are adopted by God in Christ.  That not only means something to us, it means something to the world.

The Bible is made of hundreds of stories.  Many we know by heart because pastors rotate the same stories every three years and Sunday School teachers are stuck on the easy ones for children to understand.  As an adult, I still love these stories but I also want to hear the ones that slip through the cracks because they can teach us also. 

29 And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him. 30 And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 31 The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 32 And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” 33 They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” 34 And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.  (Matthew 20:29-34)

These 6 verses are the story of Jesus healing two blind men by Jericho.  Jesus performed so many miracles and healings that it’s easy to gloss over some of them even though there’s something important happening with each one.  First, a quick ‘fun fact’.  Jesus and company are going from Jericho to Jerusalem.  In the parable of the Good Samaritan, the man that was attacked was going from Jerusalem to Jericho.  Not a coincidence.  Jericho was a spiritual city so the passing of priests and Levites between there and Jerusalem was an everyday occurrence.  The Jericho road was also preferred by Jews attending the Passover because by it, they could avoid passing through Samaria and all those hated Samaritans.  It also makes you wonder if the “parable” of the Good Samaritan was a parable or a true story.  In all the other parables, there are no specific names of places given like there is here.  It’s always, ‘a man had a vineyard’, ‘a woman lost a coin’, ‘a father had two sons’, etc.  (Something to think about.)

So, Jesus had a large crowd following Him.  Not surprising that some were there for free food, some for love, some out of curiosity, and others to be there when He began His reign (those were probably the disciples).  I’m sure there were very few that followed Him to be taught their responsibilities as a child of God but regardless, He did miracles in their presence as an example of how they should serve others.

When the two blind men heard that Jesus was passing by, they immediately cried out because after all, this opportunity might never come again.  When they were told to be quiet, they shouted even louder.  The more we strive for something from God, the more prized and thankfully acknowledged it will be when received.  In their prayer, they did not specifically pray for health or gold but cast themselves on His mercy alone.  Their cries revealed their desperation, their hope, and their faith. Their desperation was evident in their voices and their debilitating circumstances. Their hope was that Jesus would have mercy on them and restore their sight. And their faith was in calling Him ‘Son of David’.  In doing so, they confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord and as the Messiah, only He could save them.

Even though their need was obvious, Jesus asked them, “What do you want me to do?”.  Such a question was personal and direct.  It gave them dignity and an opportunity to express their faith in Him.  They asked for their sight and received it immediately.  After which, they followed Him to learn more of Him and become His eye-witnesses with their testimony about His power and goodness. 

There are so many lessons we can learn from just these few verses.  How often do we struggle with the notion of God not willing to help us when we seek Him or taking too long to answer our prayers?  We are microwave people; we want to ask now, and get now.  We don’t like to wait for anything.  So often we endure a less than abundant, faith-filled life because we don’t have the faith, wisdom, or courage to cry out with persistence, “Lord, have mercy.” 

These two men had the same request.  We know from Matthew 18:19 that joint prayer is pleasing to God.  “Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.”  Those who suffer the same infirmity can pray together to God for relief and by it, encourage one another’s faith.  Jesus hears the cries of the faithful.  With that faith, we can justly ask, “Open our eyes to see You for who You are… to see ourselves for who we are…to see Your kingdom…our neighbors that need us…the lost and the lonely. 

This story is amazingly similar to the story of Jesus healing at the pool on the Sabbath.  It’s listed only in John 5:1-9.  At the healing pool (Bethesda) in Jerusalem, all the blind, lame, and paralyzed would lie around it, waiting for an angel to stir the water.  The first one to enter the water after the stirring would be completely healed.  When Jesus came by, He approached the man that had been there and waiting the longest, 38 years, and asked him, “Do you want to be healed?”  The man took Jesus’ words as, “have you even tried?”  Instead of answering the question, he states simply that he has no one to help him.  He’s not angry about it, it’s just a simple fact.  You would think that some of those that were healed would have helped him but then, like now, it’s usually every man for himself.  As we should be thankful for the smallest of kindnesses, so should we be patient under the worst struggles.  Despite how resentful we may feel, our expressions and interactions with others should still be calm.

It is God’s will that we should make our hearts known to Him by prayer and supplication; not to inform Him or move Him to act, but to qualify ourselves for the mercy.  The man in the boat does not throw his line to shore to pull the shore to him but to pull himself to the shore.  Likewise, we do not bring God’s mercy to ourselves but pull ourselves to His mercy.  He is not only willing to help us, He is able to help in ways we never thought of.  He eagerly waits for us to seek Him out, tell Him our needs, and have faith in His ability to act on our best behalf with His timing.  He wants us to trust Him and He responds to that trust. 

For a change of pace, I decided to look at the Gospel lesson for the upcoming weekend.  Looking a little deeper into it now gives you a background for when you hear it in church this Sunday.

To set the scene for John 21:15-17, Jesus has risen from the dead, convinced Thomas that He’s alive, and was waiting for them to return from fishing with breakfast ready for them.  Jesus waited until everyone had eaten and were full before He started speaking.  He may have thought that what He had to say to Peter would be upsetting and didn’t want to spoil his appetite.  From Peter’s viewpoint however, the last time he saw Jesus before His death, he was denying knowledge of Jesus to others in the courtyard while Jesus watched.  They had not been alone together since Jesus rose, so you can imagine how Peter’s stomach was in knots waiting for ‘the other shoe to drop’ and have Jesus confront him with his treachery.  He had seen Jesus 2-3 times now and it still hadn’t been mentioned.  Talk about the elephant in the room.  Peter had no idea where he stood or what he was in for.

Now at last, Jesus confronts him and gets it out in the open and over with. 

"When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”  “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”  Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”  Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”  He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”  Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”  The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”  Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”  Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”

Jesus begins by not calling him Simon or Cephas or even Peter but instead, ‘Simon, son of John’ (his original name).  Jesus couldn’t call him Peter, even though He had originally given Simon that name.  Peter means ‘rock’ and through his actions, he did not have the strength of faith that his name once signified, so Jesus chose to not use it here.  Instead, Jesus chose the name that He used when He blessed Simon in Matthew 16:17; the name of his birth to remind him that he came from meager means but had received the grace of God.  He finishes with “Do you love me more than these?”  Jesus specifically adds this question because of Matthew 26:33-35, “33 Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” 34 Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” 35 Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!” And all the disciples said the same.”  Mr. ‘too big for his britches’ was bragging that his brother Andrew, best friends James and John, and all the other disciples would jump ship before he would.  Jesus had to remind him of his previous boast and ask, “Are you still of the same mind?”  The second and third time Jesus asked, He left that second part out because Peter left it out of his answer.  Peter didn’t want to compare himself to the other disciples or make himself seem superior to them anymore.  Humble pie, serving of one. 

Three times, Peter gives the same answer to Christ.  He is now ashamed of his previous rash words.  After all, we know more evil about ourselves than anyone else ever will.  Peter’s third answer comes even more insistently, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”  Peter knew for certain that Christ, who knew all things, knew the sincerity of his love.  But the third time Jesus asked, it still pinched because it was a blatant reminder of his previous denials.  Every time we remember past sins, even though they are forgiven, it still brings sadness to the heart of the truly penitent. 

Now we look at it from Jesus’ point of view.  Three times, Christ commits the care of His flock to Peter.  The church of Christ is His flock that He purchased with His blood and He is the chief shepherd of it.  In this flock, some are lambs, young and weak; others are sheep, grown to some strength and maturity.  The shepherd cares equally for all their needs.  He specifically mentions all three groups beginning with the lambs, showing a particular tenderness for them.  He then goes on to the sheep, the lost sheep of the house of Israel and the sheep not of that fold.  To feed them is to teach them the doctrine of the Gospel (spiritual food).  Lead them to green pastures (religious assemblies) and minister the ordinances to them (Sacraments).  Feed those who want it and those who are too weak to feed themselves.  This is the same directive that Christ gives pastors and leaders of the church.  However, here He specifically gives this charge to Peter.  He will not trust His flock with any but those that love Him.  Anyone that does not love Christ, will not care for the souls of men or love them as they should.  Nothing but the love of Christ keeps pastors cheerfully going through the difficulties and discouragements they meet daily in their work for Him.

The reason for this was to restore him to his apostleship.  Now that he repented and reaffirmed his faith before Jesus and his brothers, Jesus gives him this commission as proof that He was forgiven.  If Christ had not been reconciled to him, He never would have shown such confidence in him.  When He forgave Peter, He trusted him with the most valuable treasure He had on earth.  Because Peter reproached himself for it, Christ did not speak of it directly but let him know that the offence was not only forgiven but forgotten.  Peter was as dear to Christ as ever... and so are we.

Lengthy, but I believe, worth it.  I was recently asked, “In order to grow your faith, you need to read the Bible with purpose.  How do you read with purpose when you don’t understand much of what you read, and you have little time to give to study?  How do I go from being a ‘Level 1 Christian’ to someone who hears and sees God in their daily life?”

This is an AMAZING question and a bit like a can of worms in that the answer is somewhat lengthy, could be complicated, and will most certainly lead to more discussion.  I’d like to begin my answer by telling you what I told her: 1. ALWAYS begin with prayer; before church, before reading the Bible or a devotion, whatever.  Pray for the Spirit to enter your heart and give you the knowledge and direction you need.  If you do, it means you’re serious about it, you’re open to hearing what God has to say, and you recognize where it’s coming from.

2. Just start anywhere. 

A.  I understand it’s difficult to read certain chapters.  John is the first book most pastors say you should start with.  My mother-in-law read the entire Bible four times.  I didn’t understand why, because she didn’t stop to research what she was reading to understand it better.  It didn’t matter though.  God is the Word and regardless if she got the full and entire meaning or not, it was good for her faith. 

B.  Daily devotions are a great resource because they skip around in the Bible and you’re not spending hours reading who begat who or how many cubits big the temple was.  It only takes one devotion to start the ball rolling.  It may inspire you to wonder about it and want to know more.  Why is it important?  What was happening when it was said?  There are study Bibles and online aids to help you understand verses when confused.  One of the sources I go to often is BibleGateway.  The Commentaries they have are great at digging deeper into the meanings of verses.  If you don’t have time for devotions for yourself, read a Bible story to your child before bed.  You can research a little ahead of time so you can answer questions they might have or you’ll be prepared to ask them questions.  Regardless, you’ll both get something out of it.  They can never get too early of a head start.

C.  Take sermon notes.  I’ve been doing this for years.  Sometimes, a phrase or passage or connection will peak my interest and I’ll want to write down the example the pastor gives and be able to look it up later on.  Life is easier since COVID because churches now are posting their services on their website.  This allows you to attend church on Sunday, get your interest peaked, and listen to the sermon again during your lunch hour at work so you can stop it occasionally and write down notes.  (Maybe that’s just me….)

Moving on, I also told her how extremely lucky I am.  I have the names of five pastors on my phone that I can text or e-mail at any time and ask questions.  They are the best source, even if you can’t visit them personally, because they know the answers from the original Greek and Hebrew languages.  Because this question is so important, I consulted my panel and received the following.  (Please keep in mind that visiting your pastor with questions is preferable, however, when it can’t be done, this is the next best way.  In this case, there are so many clarification questions and uncertainty about exactly what is being asked and what position the person is currently in, that the responses I’m listing are considered “general advice”.) 

Pastor 1:  Things to consider: What does she see as lacking in her faith that she feels others have?  Has she considered that she might not be struggling with her “faith” as much as she might be with something else?  Sometimes it’s difficult to see the heart of the problem.  Remember that going to church and knowing Scripture is not the same as listening and hearing.  Things are often difficult to put into words but you have to ask yourself if you’re expecting to feel something different than the way you do now.  Do you have trust in God?  Conversations with someone you trust that knows you can help you define for yourself what you are really searching for.  Ask them about the hope they have and why they believe and trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Pastor 2:  When it comes to Scripture, what is your post-life desire?  John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”  Is it your hope of where to be?  If it’s with the Lord, then we have choices.  It’s like marriage, you have to choose to love that person.  You can’t make them love you.  God gives us free will to choose to love Him.  When we do that, we surrender our will to Him.  This can get confusing because some faiths “choose God” but as a Lutheran, we “surrender to Christ because He chose us”.  When we surrender ourselves to God, it becomes part of who we are.  Your degree of commitment to someone forms a bond between you and is a measurement your faith.  If you say, “I believe, but…”, there’s an absence of true commitment.  If someone repelling down a building says, “I believe…” but they don’t let go of the ledge, they are not committed to the action and show a lack of faith in their equipment.  So how do you rate your commitment?  John 1:12 “…to those who believe in His name, He gives the power (authority) to become the children of God.”  “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17).  When you make a commitment to the Word of God, you can better see where your faith is substantiated.  As you become more in the Word, by either familiarity or memorization, it feeds your hope.  Real hope is an expectation and not the same as wishing.  You hope in Jesus Christ; you wish you win the lottery. 

Pastor 3:  To strengthen your faith, you need to be in the Word as much as possible because the Word works in us.  It’s a good thing to feel that your faith is weak because when you’re weak, you cling tighter to what you can hold onto.  If you can’t swim and you fall out of the boat, you cling that much tighter to the lifebuoy or you drown.  It’s like a child in church.  They may not understand what’s going on but we are told to “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)  The repetition of going to church each Sunday morning and hearing the repetition of the service will be in their mind for the Spirit to remind them when they need it later in life.  Kids hear a lot more than we think they do.  That same principle applies to adults.  The Word is alive and will work in you even though it’s not always noticeable right away.

Granted, these are only the responses of three of the five but I was so excited and intrigued by their answers, I couldn’t wait to spread the word.  As always, these posts are not meant to tell you what to believe.  I’m telling you what I believe (“but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect”  1 Peter 3:15), and I’m showing that my beliefs come from men who have studied God’s Word in the original language and know what they’re talking about.  I pray that at least some of my blogs give you pause to think and inspiration to go and find out for yourself. 

I have a picture in my home of my grandson at less than a month old.  Next to the photo is his name, Aiden, the meaning of his name, “little fire”, and ‘Acts 2:3’.  I wanted to relate his name to something in the Bible.  In this case, the small, tongues of fire that appeared at Pentecost.  That’s what we associate most with Pentecost; tongues of fire over the apostles’ heads and then they spoke in languages they didn’t know.  But there’s so much more to it than that.  (Acts 2:1-13)

Let’s get some background first.  In Acts 1, Jesus told the disciples, before He ascended, that they should stay in Jerusalem because the Holy Spirit would come upon them.  After which, they would be His witnesses to the uttermost parts of the earth.  Jesus then ascends and His followers return to Jerusalem “with one accord in prayer and supplication”.  Remember all the fighting and bickering that went on with the disciples while they followed Jesus?  Who would take over when Jesus left?  Who would sit on His right and left hand?  All that was gone now.  ‘With one accord’ means they were of the same mind from then on.  (Wouldn’t that be nice to be a part of?)  When Jesus spoke to them and breathed on them, it corrected all the things their arguments were based on and replaced them with pure love.  They prayed together more than usual which helped them love each other more. 

Moving on to Acts 2.  People from all around traveled to Jerusalem for the temple feast called Shauvot (Feast of Weeks).  It originally took place 50 days after the seventh Sabbath and was to be a lasting ordinance, wherever they lived.  The disciples are now in Jerusalem and together in a room when they hear a sound from heaven like a rushing, mighty wind.  Mind you, a sound.  There was no breeze; only the sound of rushing wind, like the freight train sound of a tornado.  The Spirit made His presence known in two ways.  Through the ears and the eyes.  First the sound of wind and then the tongues like fire that sat on each of them, like the flame of a candle.  Just like there was no physical wind, there was no real fire.  It only looked like a fire’s flame.  This is the visible sign Jesus said they would receive.  The Spirit rested on each of them like He did the prophets of the Old Testament.  It is not to be confused with “baptism of fire” which is judgment yet to come.  In Revelation, the wrath of God is shown as fire from heaven.  If we don’t receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, we receive the baptism of fire (judgment).  It’s for all those that reject Christ.

Ezekiel’s mission was confirmed by a vision of burning coals (Acts 1:13) and Isaiah’s by a coal of fire touching his lips (Acts 6:7).  The Spirit, like fire, separates the dross (bad stuff) and kindles loving and devout affection in the soul.  Back in Luke 12:49, Jesus says, “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!”  Not literal fire but the transformation that comes on us when the Spirit enters our hearts and takes over. 

So we wonder, if the apostles had faith from the Holy Spirit already by being with Jesus, what difference did Pentecost make?  Remember Jesus’ baptism?  The Holy Spirit was already with Jesus before the baptism, but He descended and remained on Jesus to physically demonstrate His presence with Christ.  The same thing is happening here.  The apostles had the Spirit before, but now they are taken to a higher level of faithfulness and service.  How much more clearly can we see that Christ ‘reconciled the world unto Himself’, than by the proclamation of His Word to people around the world in their own language? 

So what exactly is happening here?  First, they were regenerated; man must be born again.  “…Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.” (John 3:5)  Second, they were indwelt.  The Spirit of God now lives in them.  Third, they were sealed by the Spirit into an eternal relationship with God.  Fourth, they were baptized of the Holy Spirit.  This baptism placed them in the body of believers and marked the beginning of the church.  Before this day, there was no church.  There were only gatherings and worship in the temple but no ‘church’.  Ever since that day, every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is placed into the body of Christ by the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  It’s not the building or the worship that makes it “church”.  When the Holy Spirit came down and touched mankind, it marked the beginning of the Christian community as a distinct entity.  He empowered them to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Peter gave a sermon and the response was that about 3,000 were baptized that day; a community of believers devoted to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer.  The early church was characterized by a sense of unity and communal living as described in Acts 2:44-47 and not like it is today.  It marked the transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant, where the law is written on the hearts of believers and the Spirit empowers them to live out the teachings of Christ.

When the disciples began speaking in other languages, it was likely that they could each speak more than just one other.  After all, there were people from other countries that spoke dozens and dozens of other languages.  The disciples also didn’t speak brokenly like my German-speaking grandparents spoke occasional English.  They spoke it as readily, properly, and elegantly, as if they had been speaking it all their lives; and they could understand each other as well.  Remember the Tower of Babel?  All the nations, other than Israel, were put under the dominion of lesser gods.  Pentecost was the opportunity for God to infiltrate all the nations that He had originally disinherited.  Here, God is uniting the people He had previously divided.  At the tower of Babel, they couldn’t understand one another, but now they can and that’s not the only similarity.  The tongues were described as “divided” and the crowd was said to have been “confused”.  It doesn’t mean much in English but Luke writes in Greek and these two words came from Genesis 11:7 and Deuteronomy 32:8, both of which describe the division of the languages and resulting confusion. 

It’s quite natural that the people standing around were perplexed and thought the apostles were drunk.  After all, if someone is speaking a language you don’t understand, it could be seen as mumbling which is something drunks often do.  They also were speaking aloud outside and not hiding in houses like before.  Drunks are often brave and choose to speak louder and to larger audiences.  Some people speculate that they weren’t speaking in other languages at all but were speaking Galilean; the people were just ‘hearing’ in their language.  Potato, potahto.  It doesn’t matter if the miracle occurred in the speaking or the hearing.  All that matters is that it had occurred. 

We conclude….

Plague 6 – boils and sores.  Moses finally gets his chance at bat (so to speak).  Again, Pharaoh is given no warning.  Moses takes ashes from the furnace of affliction and throws them in the air.  The ashes settle on man and beast alike in the form of boils and sores.  Side note: the furnace of affliction is found in Isaiah 48:10 and refers to the severe trials and suffering used by God to refine and test His people.  This  is similar to metals being purified in a furnace.  The previous two plagues were divided, with only the Egyptians being affected and not the Israelites.  This time, it’s personal.  Cleanliness being paramount in the Egyptian society, the plague pronounces the people “unclean”.  The magicians can’t even stand before Pharaoh now because they are unclean.  Moses and Aaron are the only ones left standing before Pharaoh with the “One True God” as their support.  (and because I mentioned the other gods, this one is Isis – Goddess of medicine and peace)

Plague 7 – hail.  To start our final group of three, we begin again by meeting Pharaoh early in the morning to make a petition to let the Israelites go.  Hail of unspeakable size with the ability to destroy, would rain down from the sky and turn to fire as it hit the ground.  God, in showing Pharaoh that “there is none like Him in the earth” allowed those who were willing to hear His Word and do as He commanded, would be saved.  This brings a division among the Egyptians.  Many are tired of the plagues and “converted” to the Lord by showing their willingness to obey.  They brought in their people and livestock under the protection of their “houses”.  Those who trusted in Pharaoh, had their servants and livestock killed because they were left out in the open.  It appears that Nut, the Egyptian Goddess of the Sky was on vacation and unable to protect them.  How about that?  It was interesting that the crops that were destroyed by hail consisted of flax and barley, which were ripening in the fields.  These two crops were mainly used for clothing and libations.  It would make their life uncomfortable, but they could still eat because the wheat survived.

Plague 8 – locust.  Again, Pharaoh gets a warning and again, refuses.  This second wave of destruction, following the hail, would completely consume whatever crops were left intact.  This definitely hit their life source.  By hitting their food supply, God showed them possible death if they didn’t have a change of heart.  Since Seth, the Egyptian god of storms and disorder, was probably napping, Pharaoh tried to bargain with Moses and agreed to only let the men leave.  We too try to bargain with God.  We agree to stop some sins but not all.  We’ll leave some sins for a time but come back to them later.  This attitude mocks God and we deceive ourselves.

Plague 9 – darkness.  Because they have continually rebelled against the light of God’s Word, darkness fell upon Egypt.  Not just darkness but darkness so thick, it could be physically felt.  No fire or candle or any illumination for three days.  Ra, the sun god, and one of the most worshipped in Egypt gave no light.  God had control over the sun as a witness that the God of Israel had ultimate power over life and death.  The psychological and religious impact would have a profound influence over the Egyptians at this point.  Darkness was a representation of death, judgment, and hopelessness.  After this display, Pharaoh again tried to bargain and let the men, women, and children go but not the animals needed for their worship and sacrifices.  After all, the animals of the Egyptians had all been killed in the plagues so they had none left. 

Plague 10 – death of firstborn.  Pharaoh, the king of Egypt was worshipped by the Egyptians because he was considered the greatest Egyptian God of all.  It was believed that he was the son of Ra himself, manifest in the flesh.  At his last appearance in front of Pharaoh, Moses told Pharaoh about the final judgment of God.  He even goes so far as to mention that God is so purposeful in what happens to Egypt and the Israelites that not even an Israelite dog will bark.  True to His word, all the first born were killed at midnight.  It wasn’t like everyone else woke up the next morning and found them dead, they got up in the night and discovered right away that they had died.  Someone in each house was dead.  I’m sure the terror they felt was magnified by the fact that they had just had three days of complete darkness and finally thought their lives would return to normal.  They had slain the Hebrew children and now their first-born, the joy and hope of their respective families were gone.  The death reached from the throne to the dungeon.  Prince and peasant stand on the same level before God’s judgments. 

Man must come up to God’s terms for He will never come down to ours.  Because I’m a ‘visual learner’, I need to see things to better understand them.  These words are all well and good, but I needed to make a picture to see the pattern in it all.  If you look on the page of my Bible Quilt Journal images, you’ll see the one I did for the plagues and the patterns are obvious.  I pray that it will inspire you to push your knowledge of God further through whatever medium you choose. 

Looking at that picture, I know what you’re thinking, “She done lost her mind”.  No, I didn’t. LOL.  The web is always pushing tests that tell you which Star Wars character you would be or which Harry Potter character or Disney princess, etc.  I decided that the Sesame Street character I am most like is the Count.  I subconsciously count things much of the time.  But more than numbers, I like to see the reasoning behind number grouping, or patterns.  There’s a lot of that in the Bible.  7 days of creation, 10 Commandments, 10 plagues, 12 days of Christmas, etc.  What I find fascinating is the relationship between each of these items.  For example, in the days of creation, God made light and dark on day 1 and the sun and moon to emit them on day 4.  Day 2 separated the sky and water and day 5 filled the sky with birds and water with fish.  Do you see what I mean?  It’s not sequential.  There’s a pattern.  I recently saw something unusual about the plagues of Egypt and it started me looking deeper.  There are patterns here I never noticed before.  I’m sure I didn’t get them all but it makes the same old Sunday School story more ‘adultified’.  Because there are 10, it’s going to take a couple of weeks to cover them.

I saw an article which spoke about how each plague was directed specifically toward one or more of the Egyptian false gods.  It’s an interesting thought, but you can’t get too focused on things like this, no matter how intriguing they sound.  First of all, because the Bible never mentions them being directed toward other gods.  Secondly, there were more than 10 false gods; each one having multiple purposes and were worshipped at different times of the year and at different locations.  God’s methods are more reasonable and sensible.  They must be examined respectfully with facts only.  They not only demonstrated God’s power to Moses, the Israelites,  Pharaoh, and the Egyptians, but would be remembered thousands of years later throughout the world. 

Plague 1 – blood.  Moses went to Pharoah first thing in the morning to ask for God’s people to be released.  Moses would get the credit, but God instructed Moses to let his big brother, Aaron,  perform the actions (at least for a while).  Aaron touched the Nile with his rod and immediately, the water changed to blood; and not just the water in the river but also any water in ponds, streams, and even buckets.  Because Pharaoh’s magicians could also turn water to blood, Pharaoh was not impressed, just inconvenienced.  The fish died, the river stank, and the people had no water for seven days; the perfect length of time to demonstrate that the Lord was superior to all of their gods.  One reason for this was not to annoy Hapi, the Egyptian god of the Nile, but to retaliate for the Hebrew baby boys that Pharaoh killed in the Nile back in Exodus 1:22.  One of Moses’ first miracles was changing water to blood.  Jesus’ first miracle was changing water to wine.  Sin turns water to blood, so our sin caused water and blood to flow from Jesus’ body.

Plague 2 – frogs.  Conveniently enough, the Egyptians had a goddess with a frog’s head, Heket.  Again, Aaron used his rod and brought up frogs from the river.  The frogs made themselves at home in every place possible, their houses, food, clothing.  Pharaoh’s magicians also created frogs but could not make them leave.  Only Moses was able to make the frogs go away.  God does not punish men for sin unless they persist in it.  Moses let Pharaoh choose the time the frogs would leave so it couldn’t be attributed to the phase of the moon or a certain time of day.  Pharaoh probably decided to choose tomorrow in hopes that the frogs would leave on their own and he would owe nothing to Moses or God.  To prove the frogs were real, the bodies were left to be piled in heaps and smell as they rotted.

Plague 3 – lice.  There’s some controversy over what this plague actually was.  The Hebrew word is Keenim which could mean gnats, lice, or fleas.  This time, Pharaoh gets no warning of the upcoming plague but again, Aaron and his staff bring lice from the dirt of the earth.  Geb was the Egyptian god of the earth but the point of this was that the dust used to create man is now used to plague him.  It’s a reminder of his mortality and the sin which leads to death.  Pharaoh’s magicians could not duplicate it so they told Pharaoh, “this is the finger of God”. 

Plague 4 – flies.  To start our next group of three, we begin again by meeting Pharaoh early in the morning to make a petition to let the Israelites go.  Aaron doesn’t play a part anymore so to stress how things will ramp-up, God’s Word is used this time instead of a staff.  This plague also begins the miracle of separation.  Up until now, the Israelites had to endure the same as the Egyptians.  (God’s judgment falls on the righteous and the wicked.)  From now on however, the Israelites will not be affected in any way.  The plagues also step up from before because they add destruction as well as discomfort to the consequences of their actions.  The Egyptians had two gods for flies, Khepri (god with the head of a fly) and Beelzebub (god of flies).  This plague brought about a new tactic by Pharaoh where he begins to bargain with God.  It only goes to show his desire to maintain power and authority over God however.  He gave permission for them to worship God but not “go very far”.  Whatever it took to get the flies to leave.

Plague 5 – death of cattle and livestock.  Again, this plague was given with advanced warning but to no avail.  Disease and pestilence, spoken by God Himself, would fall upon their livestock and cause death.  This created a huge economic disaster in the areas of food, transportation, farming, economic goods, etc. at a great loss to owners.  Even Hathor, the Egyptian goddess with a cow’s head, was no help.  Imagine that.  It wasn’t the fault of the livestock because they are just creatures that serve man.  If the man they serve is wicked, they receive the same punishment as him.  The Egyptians had many “top” gods including Pharaoh first, followed by Ra (sun god), Hapi (Nile god), and Hathor tying for second place.  Remember that after they are released into the desert with Moses, they make a golden calf the first chance they get.  They got that from the Egyptians.

We’ll finish up next week.

Superheroes, super weapons, superpowers, it’s so……super.  But why?  Why do we find these things so fascinating that they consume our world with movies, books, and action figures?  The most likely reason is that they are an escape from the ordinary, routine, mundane world we daily live in.  They’re thrilling because they display good vs. evil on a cosmic level.  Stay with me here….it’s not all about superheroes, that’s just the intro. 

The thrill doesn’t come from the colorful costumes and abilities we wish we had.  It comes from Ecclesiastes 3:11, “He has made everything beautiful in its time.  Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning.”  God put eternity in our heart because we know we are not meant to stay on this sinful earth.  When this time passes, we will be able to see everything God has done from the beginning and know that everything was done with perfect timing and for the perfect reason.  Right now, though, we long for something beyond our daily existence, something divine.  We see shadows of it all around us and that keeps us interested and wanting to know more.  We know this from Romans 1:19-20, “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”  And that’s why I look for God in the world.  The Bible says He exists in the things He’s made, including man.  There’s no excuse for us to think there is no God.  I’m tired of seeing us hurt each other.  I want to see Him, so I look for Him, and I see Him, everywhere.

So why don’t we get the same thrill from the movies as from the Bible?  We’ve seen the movies over and over again and we’ve heard the same Sunday School Bible stories over and over.  The reasons most likely go beyond special effects.  Because we live in a different time and culture, it’s hard to feel the same excitement about a grandfatherly man wearing robes in a desert as we do a superhero because it’s more ordinary and hits closer to home.  We want to see the ‘unseen world’ that we’ve read about but CGI can’t imagine.  Our imagination has misconstrued everything we thought we knew.  Angels don’t have wings or look like fat, naked babies.  Devils aren’t red with a pitchfork and spiked tails that make us sin.  We sin just fine on our own, thank you very much, and evil has more sinister things to do than possess people and make them into living sock puppets. 

We should want to see the God and the Divine Council.  You’ve heard of them many times but probably never gave it a second thought because it’s not a child’s Sunday School lesson.  God Almighty sits on a throne and is surrounded by heavenly beings or spirits known as the “council of holy ones”.  It’s not just in Revelation.  Also present, are some evil beings…there’s a reason.  And all the Lutherans said, “What does this mean?” 

Fact #1: God is the King above all kings. 

Fact #2: He is continually surrounded and served by innumerable angels and heavenly hosts, ready to go where He sends them and do what He bids them. 

Fact #3: He not only gives attention to our governments but also concerns of the poorest individuals.  Nothing is outside of His attention.

Fact #4: The devil is present to also serve God’s purpose by getting divine permission to deceive people and bring them to their destruction.  Not just any people in Ahab’s case, but those who have rejected God and delighted in wickedness. 

Fact #5: The council is often asked for their opinion, and they participate in God’s rule.  In some cases, God decrees what He wants done but gives the council freedom to decide the means.  God shares His rule with us on earth (we follow His wishes), so in the same way, He shares authority to rule with spiritual partners. 

The first time we really hear of this is in 1 Kings 22:19-23.  God decided that it was time for the wicked King Ahab to die.  After hearing several suggestions on the means to do this, the devil came forward and offered to put lies in the mouths of all of Ahab’s prophets.  God agrees, proving once again that the devil cannot do anything of his own accord; he must have God’s permission. 

Naturally, the first thing that comes to mind now is the story of Job.  In Job 1:6 and 2:1, the “sons of God” present themselves before the Lord and again, Satan is with them.  These passages highlight the council’s role in discussing and testing the faithfulness of God’s servants on earth. 

We also hear plainly of the council in Psalm 82:1, “God presides in the divine assembly; He renders judgment among the gods.”  The ‘lesser’ spiritual beings are referred to as ‘gods’ (lowercase g) or ‘sons of God’.

In Daniel 4, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon was punished by God with temporary insanity.  This sentence was handed down by “the decree of the Most High” and “the decree of watchers”.  Watchers was a term used for the Divine Council because they never slept and were ever watchful of the affairs of humanity.   

Finally, in Ephesians 3:10, Paul speaks of the wisdom of God being made known “to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.”  Again, God works with them as He works with us on earth. 

Like many things, the deeper I dig, the more interesting it gets.  Remember the Tower of Babel built in Babylon as an act of defiance against God?  It wasn’t just by the people wanting to become God, it included members of the divine council as well.  There were members of the council who didn’t want to represent God’s authority any longer, so they deceived humans into worshipping them instead.  This is yet another reason that Babylon is considered the combination of human and spiritual rebellion.  In Deuteronomy, Moses says that God didn’t just scatter the people into different nations but also the rebels of the Divine Council with them.  Note: Deuteronomy 4:19 “And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven.”  Yes, they were God’s council, but they also crossed a line.  In Ephesians 6:12, Paul writes, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” 

All of these examples separated throughout the Bible make it hard to see one picture.  What it comes down to is this: First, God’s heavenly family (council) is a template for how He relates to His earthly family (us).  Second, God doesn’t need help doing anything but He uses others to get things done.  Finally, God could just predetermine events to make everything work out the way He wants but He doesn’t.  God knows everything that will happen but not everything is predetermined. 

Everything we learn in the Bible is important because it helps us in our understanding of who God is, how we relate to Him, and what our purpose is here on earth…so we keep learning…. 

(Speech given at LWML Rally at Trinity Lutheran Church in Riesel, TX on Mar. 22, 2025)

Our theme of the day is “Ordinary Gifts, Extraordinary God”.  It sounds like something you’ve heard in church a thousand times already.  My favorite thing to hear in church is something new.  I’ve gone all my life and thought I knew all the stories by heart: Adam & Eve, Prodigal Son, David & Goliath, etc. but sometimes, a pastor will put a new twist on the same old thing and you see it in a light that you never had before.  When you hear the word gift, the first thing you think about is something that looks like this gift box.  Inside this box is God’s greatest gift to the world; an invitation.  Think about what an invitation is and stands for?  There is the inviter, the invitee, the method of communication familiar to both parties, and the event that the invitation is for.  If you were to come into my home right now, you would be an outsider because you were not invited.  Likewise, my husband doesn’t need to be invited because it’s his home as well.  The invitation makes you aware of a separation between you and someone else and links the two of you together.  Let me put a bookmark right here and come back to it in a minute.

One of the many things we were taught in Parochial School was that you cannot accept God, but you can reject Him.  The reason being, is that we are dead in sin and dead people cannot do anything, like accept God but they can reject Him.  It’s things like this that make no sense to me even after the explanation, so I keep asking different pastors until I hear an answer that makes sense to me.  I FINALLY put the pieces together and explained it to myself in a way that I understood it.  I was asked long ago by some of our Baptist brothers and sisters, when was I saved or when did I accept Jesus as my Savior?  My answer immediately was August 30, 1964.  I got blank looks.  That’s the answer to everything!  It’s the date of my baptism!  Just like the invitation!  We are separated from God by sin so we need an invitation that will link us.  That invite is Jesus!  He connects us with God.  He comes to us in our baptism.  So what does Jesus invite us to?  1 Cor. 1:30 – wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.  BOOM!  MIC DROP!

At our baptism, you could say that God gifts us with a purpose in this life but what that is, remains a puzzle that we have to figure out ourselves.  Some people were, let’s say, blessed with knowing their purpose because an angel told their parents before their birth; Jesus, John, Samson.  Others were told their purpose as youngsters; Samuel, Jeremiah, Timothy.  The disciples were told mid-life, Moses was 80 before he found out and Noah was 600.  That’s not really an option anymore, thank you Lord.

God reveals His purpose for us like He did then, in many different ways and at different times of life.  Let me give you two examples.  In my case, God knew it would take a lot of work to get me where He wanted me.  I was the most insecure, shyest child you ever saw.  To begin, get me a solid background in a parochial school. Check.  Mom, fix the shy problem.  Mom: “I’m on it.”  Check.  Send to churches with interesting pastors and Bible studies to encourage learning.  Check.  Introduce to Pastor Red who will become mentor, friend, and push her outside of her comfort zone.  Check.  Teach Bible class, attend theology classes in a college in Wisconsin, write Bible studies, publish books, start a website, write a blog, accept speaking engagements all over the state.  Check, check, check…..  and here we are.  God went through A LOT of trouble, and people, to get me here so how can I possibly say “no”?  He took a shy girl who loves paranormal romance, horror movies, and has songs on her iPod everywhere from Newsboys to Godsmack and turned her into a God-fearing speaker of His truth.

Second example.  A woman opens her home to quartets, foreign exchange students, and pastors visiting her church.  No hotel for them.  They all get a soft bed and home-cooked meals.  She brings in a niece with cancer and nurses her in her home for over a year until she passes.  NO ONE leaves her house hungry.  Most of the time their arms, or ice chest, is full of food for later as well.  In her spare time, she makes quilts for the needy, helps out at the church, bakes for her neighbors, and does it all without a thought.  I take that back.  She believes that my way of serving God is better than hers.  Ladies, don’t we all compare ourselves to others more than necessary?  Don’t do that!  God didn’t give you skills and a purpose for you, but for Him.

So what does it take to find your purpose?  First, courage.  We aren’t faced with imprisonment and beatings for our faith but we could come up against criticism, conflict, and fear of the unknown.  You’ve got to open up that safe, little shell you live in and have the courage to walk with faith in the world.  Second, willingness.  Take that first step and let God lead the direction.  Sometimes, you are urged to do something by a small voice in your head.  Be willing to follow where God leads.  Third is teachability.  The more you learn, the more you realize how much you don’t know.  Never stop learning because one day, you could hear about a need that’s your dream purpose.  Finally, you need a sense of purpose.  If you don’t look for a goal, your life becomes nothing more than a set of rules and routine you have to follow.  Our minds are a garden and our thoughts are the seeds.  You can plant flowers or you can plant weeds.

If you were a parochial school graduate like I mentioned earlier, you’ll know the importance they put on the book of Isaiah.  “Here I am, Lord, send me!”  Respect for Isaiah.  He had no idea where God wanted him to go but he was ready.  My sister has a book that’s more like the attitude of today, “Here I am, Lord, send someone else!”  Why?  We’re not stupid.  We know the Bible stories of what the people that God called had to go through.  School taught us that if we did not pray for God to use us, we were bad Christians.  What my brain heard was that if I did pray for God to use me, I’d end up building churches in Botswana with the Peace Corp or worse yet, a jungle in South America.  Very noble and rewarding for those that do it, but for me, horrifying!!  Doing God’s will can seem scary but I’m going to share a secret with you I wish someone had told me.  No one will be shipped off in the Peace Corp unless they want to be.

I read something earlier this year that went like this: “A wise man once told me that every person I see has a part of God in them.  Treat them the way you would treat God.  I began to see opportunities for things I could do for others that would make them smile.  In their face, God was smiling at me.  I felt a sense of comfort and peace that I had never known before.  Then I watched FOX news.  Now, I’m an atheist.”  Don’t be like that!  Don’t put yourself in a position to be around things that will drive you from God because when you become over-whelmed, you shut down.  When that happens, it’s very difficult to start seeing how you can make a difference again.  Think about your passions and talents.  Do you like to work with adults or children?  Do you have organizational skills?  Can you see potential in doing things a different way?  Do you have a vivid imagination?  Be flexible.  Others may see hidden talents in you that you never knew…because they were hidden….  Be open to letting God and those that know you, guide you.  Martin Luther said, “Pray like it all depends on God, then when you’re through, go work like it all depends on you.”  We’re in the final stretch, are you still with me?  (‘nodding head’ means yes, ‘shaking head’ means no.)

How to evangelize 101, by Susan’s brain.

Walk down the mall with kids and sing “Jesus Loves Me”.  I actually saw that once and I joined in singing.  It was awesome.  Now, adults.  Setting, you’re being checked out at the grocery store, the post office, the bank.  Their first comment is, “How are you today?”  You have a captive audience.  Your reply can be something as simple as, “Great, I’ve got Bible class tonight.  We’re studying…  I can’t wait!”  or “I’m bummed, we have to move and I won’t be able to attend our church anymore.  Our pastor is so wonderful.”  No matter what you say, if they ask a question pertaining to what you said, you’ve got them.  Keep the discussion going.  I have actually had 2-3 minute discussions about my faith using these very sentences; once in a bank and once in a post office.  Option 2, you’re in a restroom at the RenFest, or movie theater, or sporting arena, whatever.  You’re just sitting there in a closed stall so start singing: “He’s got the whole world, in His hands”, “Jesus loves the little children”, “This little light of mine”.  Anything you know.  If you go in with a friend, have them in a stall on the other side or down a bit and you both sing.  When you come out of the stall, no one will know it was you.  Option 3, you’re in a restaurant.  Tell the person that brings your food, “We’re going to pray before we eat, can we pray for you?”

Let us pray.  Heavenly Father, thank you for bringing us here today to share You with each other.  Help us each to see the purpose you have for our lives and show us how we can best use them to Your glory.  Be with us as we go our way and bless our efforts to further Your kingdom.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

In the movie, “Avatar”, the Na’vi people use the expression, “I see you”.  This phrase means, “I understand you, recognize you, and accept you as you are”.  It means so much more than just looking with the eyes.  There's an ad on television as well for a skin condition remedy where the users keep saying, "See me" instead of just their flaky skin.  Society today teaches us to look at the superficial: “Watch my TV show”, “Look at my TikTok video”, learn the latest and greatest dances and lingo.  Anything, but learning what’s important to me; what means something to me; and who I really am.  Do we get sucked into the superficial with God as well or do we really see who He is?  When you are regularly in church, if you are not careful, it can become a routine and just something else to be checked off the to-do list instead of really learning something new about Him.  Revelation addresses members of the church like this because they were just going through the motions.  “I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot.  I wish that you were either cold or hot.  So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:15-16). 

The ability to “see” is also an important part of the story in Luke 17:11-19 of the ten lepers.  Jesus really saw them.  Not just their presence, but He understood their predicament and empathized with their agony to the point that He helped them.  When Luke uses the word “saw” again, he refers to the single man who, observing that his illness had disappeared, turned back and praised God in a loud voice and then prostrated himself before Jesus in thankfulness.  Of course, the other nine men saw that they were healed but they failed to see that the praise belonged to God and thanks to Jesus for it.  This foreigner represents those who come into the church through conversion.  They might be picking up the faith their parents taught them, or they might be an unchurched who recently came to faith.  As converts, they are the ones going to God with their heart in true thankfulness while others of us that have been members our entire lives are just going through the motions. 

The other nine people that Jesus healed that day were not bad people.  They went off to show themselves to the priest which is exactly what Jesus told them to do.  They were being “good church members” and only look bad because of the behavior of the 10th man.  As an outsider, he was able to see that before he went to a priest, he needed to praise God for his healing and thank Jesus who made it possible.  Studies have shown that people who daily count their blessings and remind themselves of what they are grateful for, have significant improvements in physical and mental health along with sleeping better and caring for others more often.  That 10th man was the only one to count his blessings and according to Jesus, it made all the difference.  He said, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.” (v. 18-19)  Jesus acknowledged his faith that not only asked for healing, but also returned to give thanks.  It is a grateful faith – not a gimme faith – that saves us. 

Those who are truly grateful will express their gratitude in thank-offerings.  Not just folded paper but giving ourselves to God as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1; 2 Corinthians 8:5).  After all, if it doesn’t cost us anything, why should we offer it to God who gave us everything at the cost of His life? 

It’s taking over the world!!  It’s nothing new but that doesn’t make it any less damaging and disastrous.  It’s on TV, in our homes, churches and even more, the mouths of our children.  What is it?  Fault, blame, and guilt. 

Fault is an error caused by ignorance, bad judgment, or an accident. 

Guilt is felt when a specified offense or crime is committed, or an action was not done when it should have been.

Blame is being given responsibility for the mistake, regardless if you are responsible or not.  It can also be a way to devalue others because suspicion just complicates everything. 

Many adults accept fault, guilt, and blame for things they had no part of.  This often carries over from their childhood.  A child sees a parent fighting or crying or giving someone else more attention.  Their brain cannot form a reason for these actions because all they feel is that they are not being treated as they thought they should have been.  The easiest answer is that something is wrong with them.  They are bad and it’s their fault, even if they don’t know what “it” is.  This feeling never really goes away and all through various relationships, the back of the mind is constantly repeating, “I have done something wrong.  I am a bad person.” And they apologize constantly because of it.  But are you a bad person?  No.  You are a sinful person and if you deny that sin, you’ll end up with much worse problems.  There is no “undo/reset” button in life and not talking about it or suppressing our feelings is not the right way to handle it.  That guilt needs to be dealt with as quickly as possible and in the right way. 

1 John 1:8-9 – “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

To say we “have no sin” is to cover up the guilt and say we’ve done nothing wrong.  John tells us the right way to get rid of our guilty status and feelings.  First, we must stop denying sin.  How do we deny sin?  1. Self-justify our behavior.  “That’s just the way I am.”  2. Reclassify it so it’s not a sin.  “I have an addiction or disease.”  3. Focus on what others make us do.  In truth, no one can make us do anything.  We choose to curse, steal, lie, etc.  4. Admit fault without taking responsibility.  “Yes, I like to drink a lot and get crazy.  So what?”  When we deny our sin, we deceive or fool ourselves because it will come out in another way.  The signs of guilt can emerge as anger, being confrontational, or a quickness to self-defense.  John also says the truth is not in us.  Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.  To not have the truth is to deny God manifested in us in the person of Jesus who died and rose for the sins we’re committing. 

So, first was to deny sin, and second is to confess that sin.  The Greek word for confession is made from connecting the phrases, “the same”, and “to speak or say”.  It is saying what you did the same way that God says what you did.  John is saying we must be specific about what we did wrong and why we did it when asking for forgiveness.  God is faithful to forgive so when we confess, we draw closer to God.  It also reminds us where the cleansing of our sins comes from.

When you pray at night before bed, pray for forgiveness for specific sins.  If you can’t think of any sins you committed that day, think harder!  Remember, it’s not just what you did but what you didn’t do.  Ask God to show you where you messed up so you can try to avoid it in the future.   I am sometimes very frustrated with this.  My mind focuses so much on what I did wrong that I wonder if I can ever do anything right and why am I here anyway?  But that’s the wrong attitude to take.  To downplay your sins is to downplay what Christ did to forgive those sins; and if after confessing, you let your sins haunt you, it denies everything that was done on the cross for you specifically. 

In summary, don’t blame others.  “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.” (Romans 2:1) 

“Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.  Blessed is the one who always trembles before God, but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble.” (Proverbs 28:13-14)

You will be judged.  “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” (2 Corinthians 5:10)  “So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:12)  “He will render to each one according to his works.” (Romans 2:6)

Own it and take responsibility for your actions – “When anyone becomes aware that they are guilty in any of these matters, they must confess in what way they have sinned.” (Leviticus 5:5)

We are born sinful and will sin our entire lives but as many times as we confess those sins, that’s as many times as Jesus will forgive us and love us.  He has no limit to love.  “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

You anoint my head with oil…

In ancient Israel, shepherds used oil for three things: repel insects, prevent conflicts and heal wounds.  Nose flies can kill sheep so the shepherd pours oil over their heads to keep away the bugs.  During mating season, the rams get into a head butting competition for the ewes.  The shepherd pours oil over their heads to lubricate.  This way most of the head butting will glance off.  When the sheep do get hurt, oil helps heal to prevent it from leading to infection.  Just like sheep, we have wounds of disappointment.  If we’re not careful, these can lead to bitterness.  It’s most often all of the little things that wear us down and we find ourselves more irritable and more hurt.  Like the sheep, we don’t sleep, we don’t eat well and we may even butt our head against a wall.  Jesus is our Good Shepherd.  He protected the disciples from disappointment and calmed their fears.  He healed everywhere He went.  The shepherd gives his life for the sheep.  Jesus gave His life for us.  He will take care of us if we let Him.  How?  By going to Him.  Others may guide you to God or help you understand God but only God can heal.  Step one: go to the right person – go to God.  Step two: assume the position – bow before God.  In order to be anointed, the sheep must stand but lower their heads and let the shepherd do his work.  We don’t go to God with demands but requests.  We ask for what we want but pray for what is right. 

My cup runs over…

One piece of baggage we don’t usually think about picking up but shows up anyway is the deadly briefcase of envy.  You’ve seen it in the spy movies.  The neat little briefcase with the disassembled rifle in cushioned slots.  They all await the hand of the marksman.  Who is his victim?  Anyone who has more than he has.  More karats, more horsepower, more office space, more church members.  Jealousy sets her cross hairs on the one who has more.  Most of us would never kill with a rifle, but what about our tongue?  Our glare?  Our gossip?  Need a deterrent for envy?  Rejoice in the abundant cup you have.  You have to drink from your saucer because your cup overflows with blessings.  According to David, our hearts are not large enough to hold all of the blessings that God wants to give us.  The last thing we need to worry about is not having enough.  According to the Bible, these blessings are overflowing in our lives.  Abounding grace.  God is not a miser with His grace.  Your cup may be low on clout or cash but it’s overflowing with mercy.  Our mistakes are never too big for God’s grace.  Hope.  God pours hope to our world.  He shines the ray of healing on the sick and the promise of reunion is given to the bereaved.  So what if someone was born thinner, stronger or darker than you?  Why count diplomas or compare resumes?  You have a seat waiting at God’s table.  The overflowing cup was a powerful symbol in David’s time.  Hosts in the ancient East used it to send a message to the guest.  As long as the cup was full, the guest was welcome.  When the cup sat empty, it was the guests hint to leave.  Rather than want what others have, shouldn’t we wonder if they have what we do?  Drop the rifles and hold out the cups.  There’s more than enough to go around.  When the final storm comes and we are safe in our Father’s house, you won’t regret what he didn’t give.  You’ll be stunned at what He did.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…

Our sin makes us wander away from God.  When Jesus comes after us, we don’t often recognize Him.  We even doubt His presence.  But God doesn’t give up.  He keeps following us until we see Him as our Father.  Even if it takes our whole lives.  To read the verse is to open up a box of jewels.  Each word sparkles and begs to be examined.  Surely – Not maybe or possibly or even ‘I have a hunch’.  Our moods shift and our minds change but God never does.  He is a sure God.  Goodness and mercy – If the Lord is the shepherd that leads the flock then goodness and mercy are the two sheepdogs that guard the rear of the flock.  Not goodness alone because we are sinners needing mercy.  Not mercy alone because we are fragile and in need of goodness.  Goodness to supply every want and mercy to forgive every sin.  Goodness to provide and mercy to pardon.  Follow – What a surprise!  We’re accustomed to a God who remains in one place, who sits on a throne in heaven and rules.  David sees an active God.  One who follows, pursues, tracks down and chases us…All the days of my life – What do you see for your future?  God will be there EVERY DAY of it with you.  You don’t have to go farther than the third chapter of the Bible to see God coming after Adam and Eve.  Do we sense Him following us?  Through the kindness of a stranger, the majesty of a sunset, the mystery of a romance?  We don’t have to be insecure.  We can trust God with our doubts.  He gives us Himself.  Even when we choose our hovel over His house, He still follows us.

I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

During our short life on earth, we are being prepared to live in our Master’s house.  We don’t know when we’ll be going, but someday we will see our Lord’s face.  Sometimes our lives fall apart and we feel far from home.  Homesickness is one of the burdens that God doesn’t mind if we carry.  It reminds us that this is not our permanent home.  Deep down we know we are not home yet (Eccl. 3:11) so don’t act like you are.  Would you hang pictures on the wall of a Greyhound bus or load your bed on a commercial airline flight?  God’s home is our forever home.  Aging was God’s idea.  It’s one of the ways He keeps us heading homeward.  Flesh and blood cannot have a part in God’s kingdom because it deteriorates.  Our bodies are weak and begin decaying the minute we start breathing.  But that’s all part of God’s plan.  There will be a great party at our final homecoming.  At that time, only one bag will remain.  Not guilt, it was dropped at Calvary.  Not fear of death, it was left at the grave.  The only luggage left will be our longing for home.  When we arrive, those who love us will shout & applaud but when the noise quiets, Jesus will be there with your chin cupped in His hand and say “welcome home”.  With a scarred hand, He’ll wipe away every tear and you will dwell in the house of the Lord – forever.  If that’s not a warm-fuzzy, I don’t know what is.

I hope these sections of Psalm 23 give you peace in at least part of your life as they did mine.  

It’s the tenth day of Christmas and like you, I’m tired from the hustle and bustle of a house full of family.  Wouldn’t give it up for anything but it makes a body tired…with lots of leftovers.  With that in mind, I’m taking the lazy way out and just giving you some Christmas trivia.

Mistletoe, now commonly used as a holiday decoration, was believed by the Druids to be a symbol of fertility and virility.  On a slightly less arousing note, the name mistletoe comes from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘mistletan’, which translates essentially as “dung on a twig”, because the plant was commonly spread via bird droppings.

Clement C. Moore’s poem, ‘Twas the night before Christmas,  was also the origin of Santa’s eight reindeer.  The original names were, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder and Blixem.  The last two are German words for thunder and lightning.  They were later changed to Donner and Blitzen.

On December 24, 1948, the US Air Force issued a bizarre statement.  It stated that they had detected “early warning radar net to the north: one unidentified sleigh, powered by eight reindeer, at 14,000 feet, heading 180 degrees.”  The Associated Press published articles passing this “report” along to the general public.

The people of Iceland may have found a way around the problem of how Santa makes it around the world in one night.  According to them, there are 13 Santas that operate in the country.  Starting on December 12, they come down the mountain one by one to each leave a gift for the children there.  If this doesn’t sound awesome enough, the Santas also have names like Meat Hook, Door Sniffer, and Spoon Licker.

In Canada, Santa has his own zip code.  As part of a special letter-writing program to support literacy, the Canadian Post Office started answering the letters that they received each holiday season.  They ended up getting so many that they set up this special postal code: H0H 0H0.

The first artificial Christmas trees, which date back to the late 1800’s, were made in Germany out of dyed goose feathers.  Later, the creators of toilet brushes realized that their machinery could create pine-like branches that looked just like real trees, were less flammable, and could hold more decorations.

After the American occupation of Japan following WWII, the Japanese people embraced Christmas (without the religious connotations) as an occasion for gift-giving and celebration.  Due to an incredibly successful marketing campaign in the 1970’s, KFC became the best-selling restaurant for Christmas dinner throughout the entire country.  In Japan today, you have to order about two months in advance if you want your Christmas to be finger-lickin’ good.

It’s hard to believe, but the song “Jingle Bells” was first written as a Thanksgiving song.  It was performed in 1857 by James Lord Pierpont in Savannah, Georgia at a church Thanksgiving concert and was originally called “The One Horse Open Sleigh”.  The song is also an out-of-this-world historic first – it was the first song broadcast from space!  In a Christmas-themed prank by Gemini 6 astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra to Mission Control on December 16, 1965.  They used a smuggled harmonica and sleigh bells as accompaniment.

The people of Norway believe in Christmas witches, just like many other European people.  People thought that witches and other evil spirits came out on Christmas Eve and that they would try to take brooms to ride around on in the night.  So even today, Norwegians hide their brooms away on Christmas Eve to ward off the witches.  (I’ve seen Hocus Pocus.  They can also use mops and vacuum cleaners.)

Christmas is celebrated in countries around the world and faiths and cultures of every type.  They don’t all celebrate for the right reasons however so we should be cautious if celebrating with them.  Don’t let it be a missed opportunity to share your reason for the season.