Knowing God

Knowing God

Psalm 23

From my childhood upbringing in the Baptist church I was taught to memorize Scripture verses. In retrospect it was a very good thing to do as it taught me about God. However, the more I grow and observe various churches and people, the more I’m convinced of a more effective way of teaching, though not to imply the “old” way is or was wrong.

            Today’s contemporary church typically begins new converts on a series, for example: of finding their spiritual gift, or recruiting them into service from the get-go, once again, not necessarily wrong. Many churches will instruct a new convert to begin reading the Bible with the gospel of John, certainly not a bad idea. But, what if instead of those “other methods” we taught people to know God? I mean really know Him, then proceed to teach the other methods. You see, the more I know Him the more I’m convinced others know about Him. They may quote numerous passages about Him and at the same time never really know Him. However, what happens if the new believer fails to read or even understand what they are reading and give up? Furthermore, with the onslaughts of life constantly bombarding the poor soul, what happens if they haven’t begun to know God? Even the most seasoned saint will, from time to time, be challenged in their faith beyond measure. It is essential to know God especially in those terrifying times.

            Consider: Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied I n thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I say unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

This passage seems to imply that although a person performs divine miracles, yet they are in deep trouble if they do not know Him.

            Or consider: John 14:8-9 “Philip saith unto Him, Lord shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?”

In this passage Jesus makes it clear that one ought to know the Father, not by sight or memorization, but by spending precious time with Jesus. Remember, the disciples spent about 3 ½ years with Jesus. The point being, that instead of memorizing Scripture verses [not bad in and of itself] we need to spend time, in the Word, allowing the Word to saturate and penetrate our entire beings, heart, mind, and soul.
            Psalm 23 has been recommended as a starting point. It is recommended much as a doctor would prescribe a medication for a patient—take 1 pill orally 3 times a day for 10 days. If the patient were to take the medicine as prescribed, they should expect good results. If not they can expect adverse effects. The doctor’s goal is not to memorize the label on the bottle, but to experience positive changes in their health.                                                                Even so, if Psalm 23 were prescribed to be read 5 times per day, before breakfast, noon, 3pm, 8pm, and 5pm for 7 days, with the intent of knowing God and not memorizing the Psalm, then serious changes in their lives, both spiritual, mental, emotional and physical ought to be manifest.

Perhaps if more of God’s children really knew Him a lot of crime, divorce, and evil could be eliminated from the church, thus illuminating the light within and drawing the lost to Him instead of relying on new programs, new age music, flashing strobe lights and smoke.

Psalm 23:1-6  Please note that the shepherd does not own the sheep as the shepherd cares for the sheep of another. Jesus is the great shepherd, while his Father owns them. Psalm 23 is perhaps the most widely read, memorized and quoted, but how many know the shepherd?

1.    “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. [whose shepherd is he? Insert your name, make it personal]

2.    He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside still waters. [the shepherd always provides for the sheep with plenty. Sheep are afraid to drink from moving waters such as a river or stream, so the shepherd diverts water into a standing pool with rocks placed to form a dam.]

3.    He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. [Sheep occasionally stray and get lost or afraid, the shepherd comforts and restores the soul, sheep are led to greener pastures often through high rocky regions, they follow in line the shepherds steps. Sheep are led—cattle are driven]

4.    Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. [Life is full of dangerous valleys, for the sheep the shepherd often crosses high mountain passes to reach green pastures. He carries a rod (a club about 3 feet in length, to beat off predators) and a staff, (about 8 feet long with a crook on one end, used to hook a sheep fallen over a cliff, and lift it to safety.]

5.    Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou annointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. [The shepherd uses a tool to root up noxious weeds and burn them so the sheep might graze with confidence. The shepherd also pours oil upon the head of a wounded sheep for healing of a wound.]

6.    Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” [The shepherd provides goodness and is merciful, not brutal, to the sheep, for the life of the sheep, and the sheep is guaranteed a safe place with the shepherd forever.]

Faith Building Practice and Review

1.    The above is only a starter list of shepherd realities. Start your own research and add to these.

2.    Once again, do not do this exercise for memorization. The goal is to know God, the Shepherd.

3.    Turn to John 10:1-15 and repeat the exercise with the goal of knowing Him not memorization. Do your own research.

4.    Find other passages which relate to knowing God and repeat the exercise.

5.    Each time life throws you for a loop go back to your studies and review, reflect, and be restored.

6.    Restoration can only be accomplished through spending time with the Great Shepherd.

7.    Remember Mary and Martha. (Luke 10:38-42)

8.    Which one are you?

9.    Which one would you rather be?

10. What did Jesus say was the better to do?

11. What turbulences has life been bombarding you with of late?

12. Don’t you want to be restored, refreshed, and rejuvenated, or perhaps healed and forgiven? (James 5:14-16)

13. Even if you are a “seasoned” saint, we all need restoration and renewal with the Shepherd from time to time. Life has a way of taking the wind out of your sails, I don’t care who you are. 

Tough Decisions

Tough Decisions

Reflecting upon our recent vacation to Las Vegas two decisions we made stand out. Diane had registered us for Time Share presentations with two different companies, not with the intent of purchasing but merely capitalizing on the gifts.

          At both presentations we made it clear upfront that we had no intentions of buying, to which the representatives, although somewhat wholesomely agreed, we proceeded. The first presentation went as we had planned even as they tried with all their “professional prowness” to woo us into purchasing.

          The second presentation, the next day, also went well until the salesperson’s boss, the company VP showed up to take over. He was a rather burlish man with a suntan fresh off the beaches of Hawaii. The first thing he did was to offer the same deal at a drastically discounted price which even surprised the saleslady. The original deal was around $45,000 which he immediately dropped to $5,000. It was enough to knock your proverbial socks off! Needless to say it left both of us breathless, almost to the point of caving in.

          However, I kept asking myself, “What’s the catch? There always has to be a catch somewhere.” Diane, on the other hand had thoughts of calling our eldest son for advice, which she did, after the sales people left us alone to decide. The phone call was very brief and to the point—“NO Mom—don’t do it, they don’t tell you everything”. So we turned the offer down flat to the disgust of the VP and dismay of the saleswoman.

Lessons Learned

I had some sales training, thankfully, and realized many of the sales tactics used,

1.     Gifts, no matter how expensive or cheap, are designed to:

a.     Keep your focus on the prizes.

b.     Create a sense of owing them a sale.

2.     Captivate your emotions and isolate you from rationalization.

3.     Create a sense of “gotta have it now or I’ll lose it”.

4.     A one of a kind buy, no one else has one. That’s all there is, there ain’t no more”.

5.     Sell the sizzle not the bacon.

6.     Emotions sell, not rationalization.

All these tactics and more are used by salespersons every day. Car salesmen, realtors, insurance, mattresses, home furnishings, you name it, they are all highly trained in the fine art of separating you from your hard earned cash with your (although emotional) blessings.

We are faced with tough decisions everyday of our lives. Some suddenly catch us off guard while others are more subtle. Fortunately, Diane and I were able to briefly catch our breaths, reflect on my book Crossroads of Life (2011) which is all about making tough decisions, and make that important call, one of the principles in the book.

Knowing the book we did not have to run to the nearest bookstore to research, nor did we pluck a copy from the bottom of Diane’s purse, we knew it by heart and instinctively applied its principles. It saved us a whole lot of grief and money. Later we mused how grateful we were for not signing up for a Time Share, the book itself, and how God had kept us from a disastrous mistake.

          What crossroad are you at in your life today? Do you know how to make tough decisions using the principles of God’s word?

          By the way [to quote Columbo] we enjoyed the gifts and reckon we came out on top!

          This is not a treaty against Time Shares [maybe they are right for you, just not for us] it is a note on making rational decisions despite the circumstances life throws you.

          If you were never taught how to make those tough decisions or even if you have been, I urge you to get a copy. It can be ordered from your local bookstore and is available on Kindle.

          Crossroads of Life will make a great gift for any occasion and is perfect for teaching anyone how to make decisions.

Higher Powers

Higher Powers

“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be arte ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers  are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. (Romans 13:1-5)

Recently, CNN released a courtroom video, from Miami, Florida, in which a judge was determining sentence against a teenaged woman for a minor drug offense. As the dialog proceeded, between the judge and the defendant, it was obvious the defendant was flippant toward the judge and the judicial system. When the judge ordered her to pay $5000 fine she asked if he was serious, to which he replied it was no joke and said, Bye, Bye to which she flippantly replied, Adios, while on the way out. He then called her back and raised the fine to $10,000 for her blatant disrespect for the judicial system, to which she became even more antagonistic, while leaving and flipped the “bird” at the judge saying, F---You! To which the judge, upon hearing her response, again summoned her and asked if she in fact had flipped the finger at him and said F---You. She responded, Yes, she had and the judge added 30days in the county jail on top of the $10.000 fine.

Today passage illustrates a number of important truths about the God we serve.

1.     Our God will not be mocked.

2.     God has ordained human government to execute Hid law and protect His people. [for our good]

3.     Because human government is ordained of God, it is wise to exhibit proper respect toward it. if not we shall reap the whirlwind.

4.     God’s love is manifested in human government in that it is for our behalf and not against us (that is unless we violate its laws).

5.     The entire judicial system is ordained of God. That includes legislators, judges, lawyers, and law enforcement.

Exodus 20:1-17 records what we call the Ten Commandments, given by God, to Moses, on Mount Sinai. Most often they are perceived as rules made to take the fun out of life, which in turn depict an angry, unlovable God.

However, take a moment to reflect on the Genesis account where God gave Adam instructions pertaining to the tow trees in the midst of the Garden of Eden. Did not God also tell Adam that if he ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil that he would die? Yes He did. And yes Adam and his posterity died as the result. The point is that God gave warning, to protect Adam and his posterity, from certain death, which by the way, included sickness, disease, war, and sin of every category. Therefore, it seems to me that the Ten Commandments are simply a more detailed explanation of the same alternative given Adam. Likewise every scriptural account of laws and regulations are meant also for our good as well [they were likewise ordained of God] as the laws of contemporary human government. Something as simple as traffic signals and Stop, signs and rules of the roads, were intended for our protection and not to deprive us of our thrills.

In other words the Ten Commandments were given to protect life, health, promote prosperity and in general bless us beyond imagination. But, how many times do we shun God’s commandments and pursue life with reckless abandonment?

The same is true of the courtroom account above. The judge, God’s minister, was in fact, trying to spare the young lady future harm—but she refused—so he meted out more punishment with the same intent of changing her by getting her attention.

Kudos to that judge! My hat is off to him!

We serve a mighty God!

End of the World

End of the World

Matthew 24:3 “And as He sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world??

From Hollywood to survivalist, to doomsday fanatics, to religious zealots there exists the fantasy that when the end of the world comes, they will somehow survive, if they are properly prepared. Which, to some means, an enormous hording of food supplies, water and ammunition, to others it means a mountain bunker tucked away in a “safe” place known only to them. Some Hollywood productions, for the sake of sensationalism, outer space creatures and monsters. It’s almost as if God somehow misses or forgets their existence, thus singling them out to “recreate or repopulate the world”. How absurd can one get? Even some well meaning Christians have been misled as to what the end of the world actually means.

This, of course, raises some valid questions.

1.    Exactly how much is enough?

2.    What supplies will be needed, ammo, food etc?

3.    What, if any, natural resources will be somehow miraculously preserved?

4.    For how long will the storage be needed [see question 1]?

5.    If I am the only human left, how am I to repopulate the world?

These are questions no survivalist can answer with any accuracy.

Scripture is very clear on what will happen when the world ends, who will survive, as well as the means of their survival. Even the disciples were curious enough to ask to ask Jesus of “when the end should come”. The Old Testament was also concerned with the end of the world. The Old Testament often refers to the end of the world as the fall harvest when the growing season has past and all the fruit has been gathered or harvested, by the angels, and presented to the Father as the first fruit offering. At the tomb of Lazarus, Mary, his sister, stated that she knew that Lazarus would be raised from the dead on the last day. Which testified to the Old Testament belief in the end of the world; virtually every culture in the worlds believes the end of the world will eventually come to an end. So the question becomes not when or if the world will end, but who will survive and what will they need to survive.

Before we answer those two questions there is one more bit of information we need to know. That of what is meant by the “end of the world”? To simplify the answer I must say that it is not what the survivalists perceive.

Cutting to the chase, through the seven year tribulation period, 2 Peter 3:10-11 tells us that “the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought to be in all holy conversation and godliness.” The Amplified Bible says [material elements of the universe]. That doesn’t leave much for survival even for the “most well prepared”.

So if all the material elements of the universe are dissolved by fire what does it say for human beings surviving? What happens to the human race?

According to Matthew 25:41 and Revelation 19:20 and 20:13-15 all those whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire which burns for eternity without even the slightest hope of a drop of water to cool their tongue.

Luke 16:19-31 is the story of the rich man and the beggar Lazarus with whom one, Lazarus, was found in to bosom of Abraham, or paradise, but the rich man was tormented forever in the eternal fires of hell.

In short those who have placed their trust in the shed blood and work of Jesus Christ on Calvary’ cross will be the only survivors at the end of the world.

That, my friends, is the conclusion of the matter of survivalists’ theory of end of the world.