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(Psalm 19:14)
Hard to believe another year is drawing to a close and in a few days I'll be initialing all my checks because I wrote "01" instead of "02" in the date. It's been, needless to say, an eventful year, one we'll probably all remember for the rest of our lives. The question is, what are we going to bring with us to the new year? What will this year hold for us? Will it be better? Worse?
The answer to these questions depends to a large extent on
us. While God is most certainly sovereign and in control of our lives, we
determine much of our own environment, our outlook on life and to a great degree
influence whether we succeed or fail in whatever endeavors we undertake.
Today's popular verse from psalmist David holds a clue. What we say and
what we think either pleases God or it doesn't. When God is pleased with our
words and thoughts (as well as our actions, of course), life runs much more
smoothly.
Today I want to concentrate on the word meditation in this insightful psalm of revelation. If you are at all like me, when you hear this word, you tend to envision bean sprout and tofu-filled new agers sitting cross-legged on the floor, chanting "Ommmmm" while struggling to empty their minds and achieve inner peace through true nothingness or some such inanity. At least we tend to associate the act of meditation with Eastern religions and not Christianity. As such, we don't meditate. Or so we think.
In reality, while we may not do it in the lotus position, or as an act of religious devotion, we meditate constantly. The word meditate simply means to reflect upon, to ponder, to dwell on mentally, to think about. What we choose to meditate on affects us tremendously. For example, if you enter this new year still full of anxiety due to the events of 9-11, if you fill your mind with worry and fear over what could possibly happen next, your outlook on life will be miserable and will affect all you do. If, on the other hand, you dwell on thoughts of safety and peace, things that are yours in Christ, you will approach the future optimistically and this "good thinking" will influence your actions and will be an influence over those around you.
Paul, in his
letter to the church at Philippi, told us to stop filling our minds with worry
and to instead thrive on the peace of God (Philippians 4:6-7) and gave us a
detailed list of subjects fit for Christian meditation, urging us to dwell on
these things instead. He said, Finally, brethren, whatever things are true,
whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure,
whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any
virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy -- meditate on these things (Philippians
4:8).
That covers a lot of ground. We shouldn't run out of profitable things to
meditate on. So instead of filling your mind with rumor, fear, worry and
speculation, focus on what's true, like God and His word for starters. Instead
of base, atrocious and despicable things, dwell on what's noble, virtuous,
majestic. Instead of filling your head with unrighteousness (envy, worry,
hatred, prejudice, vengeance, etc.), think thoughts that are righteous or just
(forgiveness, mercy, understanding, generosity, love, etc.). Focus your mind on
the pure and beautiful, the lovely things God has given us instead of
concentrating on the evil and the ugliness in this world. Think about those
things that are of good report (gracious, pleasant, encouraging) instead of
negativity. Look for the good, think about it and keep your mind full of the
promises of God, not the fears, lies, hatred and ignorance of man. If we all
make an effort to live this way, 2002 can be the best year yet.
This is not to say that nothing bad can happen if we do this, nor is it to imply
that we should live like Christian ostriches with our heads stuck in the sand,
oblivious to the wrongs, evils and suffering in this world. But if bad things do
happen, we will be in a better frame of mind to deal with them. And when we see
wrongs that must be righted, we act, we don't just dwell on what's wrong.
We approach the problem with a mind that is tuned to the wisdom of God, full of
His truth, the nobility of our calling, the righteousness we have in Christ, the
pureness of God's word, the beauty of His presence and the faith that his
encouraging words has instilled in us.
You will choose to a large degree just what kind of year you will actually have.
No, you can't control everything, but you can definitely control your reaction
to whatever you face and be prepared to face it. Meditating on the things
of God can only help. We know that whatever a man thinks in his heart is who he
is. Who are you?
The Bottom Line
(or get to the point, Kona!)
Good thinking.
(Luke 2:11)
Normally for Christmas I write a message based on either the gospel of Luke or Matthew. If you want to read one of those messages written over the past few years, please go to the back issues at the very bottom of this page. This year I thought I'd do something different and share a story that gives an interesting perspective on Christmas. It was sent in by friends and readers Mike and Stephanie Vendrell. I had never read this short story and have no idea who the author might be, but it is a great way to explain the heart of Christmas. Hope you enjoy it and have the most wonderful Christmas ever!
Why Christmas?
There was once a man who didn't believe in God, and he didn't hesitate to let others know how he felt about religion and religious holidays,
like Christmas. His wife, however, did believe, and she raised their children to also have faith in God and Jesus, despite his disparaging
comments.
One snowy Christmas Eve, his wife was taking their children to a Christmas Eve service in the farm community in which they lived. She
asked him to come, but he refused.
"That story is nonsense!" he said. "Why would God lower Himself to come to Earth as a man? That's ridiculous!" So she and the children left, and
he stayed home.
A while later, the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a blizzard. As the man looked out the window, all he saw was a blinding
snowstorm. He sat down to relax before the fire for the evening. Then he heard a loud thump. Something had hit the window. Then another
thump. He looked out, but couldn't see more than a few feet. When the snow let up a little, he ventured outside to see what could have been
beating on his window. In the field near his house he saw a flock of wild geese. Apparently they had been flying south for the winter when
they got caught in the snowstorm and couldn't go on. They were lost and stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter. They just flapped their
wings and flew around the field in low circles, blindly and aimlessly. A couple of them had flown into his window, it seemed.
The man felt sorry for the geese and wanted to help them. The barn would be a great place for them to stay, he thought. It's warm and safe;
surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm. So he walked over to the barn and opened the doors wide, then watched and waited,
hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside. But the geese just fluttered around aimlessly and didn't seem to notice the barn or realize
what it could mean for them. The man tried to get their attention, but that just seemed to scare them and they moved further away.
He went into the house and came with some bread, broke it up, and made a breadcrumb trail leading to the barn. They still didn't catch on.
Now he was getting frustrated. He got behind them and tried to shoo them toward the barn, but they only got more scared and scattered in
every direction except toward the barn. Nothing he did could get them to go into the barn where they would be warm and safe.
"Why don't they follow me?!" he exclaimed. "Can't they see this is the
only place where they can survive the storm?" He thought for a moment and realized that they just wouldn't follow a
human. "If only I were a goose, then I could save them," he said out loud.
Then he had an idea. He went into barn, got one of his own geese, and carried it in his arms as he circled around behind the flock of wild
geese. He then released it. His goose flew through the flock and straight into the barn--and one by one the other geese followed it to
safety.
He stood silently for a moment as the words he had spoken a few minutes earlier replayed in his mind: "If only I were a goose, then I could save
them!" Then he thought about what he had said to his wife earlier. "Why would
God want to be like us? That's ridiculous!"
Suddenly it all made sense. That is what God had done. We were like the geese--blind, lost, perishing. God had His Son become like us so He could
show us the way and save us. That was the meaning of Christmas, he realized.
As the winds and blinding snow died down, his soul became quiet and pondered this wonderful thought. Suddenly
he understood what Christmas was all about, why Christ had come.
Years of doubt and disbelief vanished like the passing storm. He fell to his knees in the snow, and prayed his first prayer: "Thank
You, God, for coming in human form to get me out of the storm!"
--Author unknown
The Bottom Line
(or get to the point, Kona!)
For us, Christmas is about Jesus. For Jesus, it's about us.
(Luke 1:38)
Mary was a remarkable woman. Actually, at the time she uttered this perfect prayer, she was only a girl, a girl who had just taken on an incredible responsibility and honor: to give birth to and raise the Son of God. It's this statement of faith, however, that truly defines Mary: Let it be to me according to your word. Remember, she has just been asked to believe the impossible, that she would be impregnated by the Holy Spirit and bear the Son of God, the Savior of not only her own people, but the whole world for ages to come. She had no idea as to how this could possibly be achieved, but she accepted the words of the angel Gabriel and willed herself to believe them. She could have just as easily refused and disbelieved.
But she didn't, and a few days later she went to visit Elizabeth, who was herself pregnant with John, who would later become John the Baptist and herald the ministry of Christ. As Mary entered the room, the baby in Elizabeth's womb leapt for joy, causing Elizabeth to prophesy concerning her cousin, "Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord" (Luke 1:45).
And that's really the point of this pre-Christmas message. We know that everything the Lord told Mary through Gabriel, Elizabeth, and later Simeon, came to pass. Why? Because she believed. But there's another reason as well and it is due to the very first thing Mary said in response to Gabriel's news: Behold, the maidservant of the Lord! This is the other trait that sets Mary apart, her obedience. She let God know she was there to be used, to serve, whatever His command might be and however impossible to understand.
For God to fulfill all He would do in our lives, we must have faith. We have to believe His word. But that belief must be coupled with obedience, the willingness to follow His instructions and do as He tells us. Mary embodied both these assets and as a result saw God's promises completed. How many of us will fail to see everything God has planned for us come to pass because while we believe Him, we aren't willing to do what He's telling us to do?
That this obedient faith was a part of Mary's makeup was evident throughout her life. Many times she was forced to dip deep into this well during the course of Jesus' early life. He was not your average child, and she realized this early on. She would not be able to hold on to Him for very long. He belonged not to her, but the world. I suspect she also knew what His fate would eventually be and this must have been a constant source of sorrow to her, but she stood by Him all the way to the Cross, at some risk to herself. Even after her Son's death, she remained obedient to His instructions, joining with the rest of the disciples and her other now believing children to await the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room.
Mary does not seem to have sought notoriety or prestige. There is no evidence she was treated any differently than Jesus' other followers. Even Jesus Himself reminded her that all those who followed Him were His family and of equal significance and honor (Mark 3:33-35). But He did show her at the end that she was very special to Him (I think she always knew this) when on the Cross He said, seeing her standing there with the young disciple John, "Woman, behold your son!" and to John, "Behold your mother!" thereby guaranteeing that Mary would be taken care of, and at the same time, easing both her own and John's unimaginable sadness.
We can learn a lot from Mary. She was as human as we are. She had no divinity. She had faults and weaknesses just like the rest of us. What distinguishes her is that she was chosen to perform a task and she did it faithfully and obediently. There were times when it was nerve-racking, frustrating and emotionally draining to be the mother of God. We can't imagine what she went through. There were also certainly moments of pure joy that we can only try to imagine. But as Christmas approaches, it would be wise for us to adopt Mary's attitude, for a Son is not just being born to her, but to us as well (Isaiah 9:6). We can do no better than make her instructions to the servants at the wedding in Cana, the site of the first miracle she saw this young man she raised perform, our creed: Whatever He says to you, do it (John 2:5).
(2 John 7)
The Apostle John is sometimes called the Apostle of Love due to his constant teaching on the theme. A member of Jesus inner circle, he gave us a very different insight into the Lord in his Gospel. But John was very determined to get one point across, no matter how much he used the word "love", and that is that if a person does not have Christ, he does not have God. Unloving? No, just true, as hard as that is for some folks to accept.
Today's verse, from John's short second letter, makes a very serious charge and employs two words, deceiver and antichrist, that are about as strong as any he could have chosen. The word deceiver, conjures up images of Satan, the original deceiver. A deceiver is a liar, a trickster. Satan is called by Christ the 'father of lies'. A deceiver is his offspring. In this particular instance John is referring to the false teachers that were preying on the infant church. The word antichrist, not to be confused with The Antichrist, here implies a heretic, someone who has deviated from the church's teachings and doctrine and is attempting to lead true believers astray.
Notice that John gives us a way to identify these people. He says they do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. In other words, they will not acknowledge that Christ is God incarnate. We can even take this 'coming in the flesh' a step further and include those who consider Jesus Christ nothing more than a myth or fable and deny that He ever lived at all. At this point, you might be suddenly aware that this description would cover quite a lot of people. You are right. It does.
John goes on in verse 9 to explain the matter more fully, and to give us a reason to be wary of such people: Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. This is something John stresses over and over again in his Gospel and here reiterates for the church: If you do not believe in Jesus Christ, you do not have God. Not politically correct, for sure, but nonetheless true.
So how does he propose we deal with these people? Verse 10: If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house or greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds. Now the notes in my Bible, which I believe to be correct here, state that John is not forbidding common courtesy, something we should extend to all people, regardless of their beliefs, but we should not do anything that encourages their work. Further notes state that we should not fellowship with those who teach error.
There is a big difference between being respectful of other people's religions or beliefs and giving those beliefs credence by putting them on a par with Christianity. Of the major monotheistic religions, Judaism, Islam, Sikhism and Christianity, only Christianity acknowledges Christ as 'coming in the flesh'. The others consign Him to the role of 'prophet' or deny Him altogether. And while they all claim to have the same Father God, I have to wonder, if they don't have Christ, how do they have God when scripture after scripture tells us this is simply not possible?
This of course does not mean that God does not love all these people. As we saw last week, God can love whomever he chooses to love, even the pagans of Nineveh. Obviously He loves the Jews as He established His first covenant with them and through this covenant brought us Christ. But we have a new covenant, a better covenant (Hebrews 8:6) that supercedes the old one. They are incomparable. I think it is wrong to consider the two faiths interchangeable or equal. The difference is Christ. That is the difference between life and death. If not, He wasted His time by coming here and dying for us. It is distinctly antichrist to assert that Judaism is the equivalent of Christianity. To say that Islam, because it acknowledges Mary and Jesus as great people worthy of respect, while denying Christ's deity, should be on a par with Christianity, is antichrist. I want my advice, my teaching, my counseling, my world view, my politics to come from a Christian perspective. I want the wisdom of God, not man, in all those things.
To me, the deceivers and antichrists that are the most dangerous are the most innocuous ones. We can look at a Jim Jones, a David Koresh or a Marshall Applewhite and see a deceiver. It's obvious to anyone with a good Bible knowledge or even a healthy dose of common sense that these people were going against the teachings and doctrine of Christ. The vitriolic and racist White Supremacist leaders also are easily spotted as corrupt and heretic and teaching contrary to the doctrine of Christ. But it's the subtle ones that are harder for the average person to spot.
I've said before that I regard Oprah Winfrey as one of the most harmful people around (though I believe it's through pure ignorance, not malice). She has brought more new age crackpots and teachers of anti-Christian heresy into the American mainstream than anyone else. These people, who would otherwise remain fairly obscure, gain credence through her vigorous promotion of their work to her enormous and devoted audience. Yet the gullible public, even those raised in some form of Christianity, rarely see anything alarming about these people. This is due to the fact that almost every psychic, spiritualist, mystic or teacher of eastern philosophy that appears on her show acknowledges their strong belief in God, usually giving Him/Her credit for their power or enlightenment. But you will never hear one of these people refer to Jesus Christ as the Son of God. You will never hear one of them say that without Christ, there is no God. All of them would fail John's test, were they to take it.
We need to love, to love all, but we need to watch for deceivers and antichrists. We need to be aware that there is an agenda, ongoing from the time John wrote his gospel, to undermine the church and dispense with Jesus Christ once and for all. This Christmas you will see it in simple things like the outlawing of Nativity scenes and crosses, the use of the terms Holiday Tree, Seasons Greetings and XMas. You will see an effort made to give Hanukah and Kwanzaa equal billing with the day of the Savior of the world's birth. It's up to you to remember the difference.
(Jonah 4:1)
Most people, no matter how knowledgeable of the Bible, are familiar with the story of Jonah, at least the part about him being swallowed by a whale. Whether it was actually a whale or some large fish, we don't really know, but the fact is Jonah ended up in the belly of this big animal because he refused to do what God had commanded him to do, namely, preach to the Ninevites. So instead of going to Nineveh, Jonah booked passage on a ship to Tarshish, figuring God wouldn't find him there.
Jonah is proof that God makes some odd choices now and then. As we can already see, he certainly wasn't chosen for his enormous intellect. And Jonah is so outrageously rebellious that he prefers several times in this short account to die rather than to do the will of God. His reason for this rebellion? He hates the Ninevites with all his being, and the thought that God would be the least concerned about these enemies of his people is beyond his limited comprehension.
Of course as soon as he is at sea, Jonah realizes that he hasn't eluded God at all. A terrific storm blows up and it is quickly discovered that the cause of this storm is none other than Jonah himself. His solution to this emergency? That he be thrown into the sea. Now the sailors really don't want to do this, but eventually they give in and toss him overboard. Jonah probably could have said, "Just take me back so I can go to Nineveh," and everything would have been fine, but no, he preferred death to allowing God to save his enemies. Hence the fish.
Being swallowed by a fish would be enough to change most folks' minds, but it took three days inside this one's belly to bring Jonah around. Eventually he saw it God's way and the fish ralphed him out on the shore, where he set out at once for Nineveh. The Ninevites probably smelled him coming.
On entering the city, Jonah was easily able to convince the Ninevites that they had best turn from their evil ways, his bedraggled appearance being a likely factor in their prompt response. A fast was declared and every single inhabitant put on sackcloth and ashes, even the king. God saw their genuine repentance and spared them the disaster that would have surely destroyed them.
Jonah was really ticked. Just who did God think He was saving these pagans, these enemies of Israel? Jonah was so furious he just wanted to die (again) and asked God to facilitate this wish. But God asked Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry?" Jonah didn't answer. Of course it was right. He hated these peoples' guts. So he went outside the city and made himself a little lean to where he could watch the city be (hopefully) destroyed.
But school was still in session for Jonah. As the reluctant prophet sat sullenly waiting for the destruction of Nineveh, God made a plant sprout miraculously up from the hot ground and shade Jonah's angry head. It was the first good thing that had happened in some time, he thought. He was thankful. But when the sun came up the next morning, God sent a little worm to destroy the miracle plant. Then a hot, dry east wind came and the sun beating down on Jonah's unshaded head made him feel faint. Miserable, Jonah decided he wanted to die (again).
Now God asks Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?" to which Jonah, showing even less sense than usual responds, "It is right for me to be angry about the plant, even to death!" There he goes again. But God, showing His amazing patience explains things to the sulking prophet, "You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left -- and much livestock?"
There is no further response from Jonah, God getting the last word. But we can assume Jonah got the point, as he is the most likely author of this little book. He saw that his values, as well as his theology, were out of order. That he would value the life of an insignificant plant over thousands of people doomed by their own ignorance, just because they were outside the covenant, showed him to be as much in need of repentance as the Ninevites. And he finally understood that even though these were enemies, as well as heathens, they were nonetheless creations of a God who loved them enough to send them a prophet, even a Hebrew prophet, to save them from annihilation; a God so loving His mercy extended even to their cows and sheep.
We know nothing more of Jonah, but I feel sure that he learned the lesson God was trying to teach him: First, obey God's instructions. It saves time. And second, that all people matter and that we cannot assume that our enemies are God's enemies; that God's love is for the whole world and that no one drawing near to Him in repentance is ever turned away. We don't know if Jonah continued to preach his message in other lands. We don't know if he ever did see Tarshish, on the coast of Spain. But I suspect he never did recover his taste for seafood.
(Matthew 11:13-14)
Today we present another installment in the ongoing series Know Your Bible or What You Don't Know Can Kill You. As usual we will be debunking new age nonsense supposedly backed up by Scripture, namely, the myth of reincarnation, the central pillar of new age doctrine.
New agers love to claim that the Bible supports this fantasy, and their chief proof text for this is found in Malachi, where the prophet states, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord (Malachi 4:5). Now since Elijah had already departed this world when these lines were written, it sounds like it makes their case.
This fallacy is (seemingly) further supported by the New Testament and the very words of Christ that opened today's article wherein Jesus refers to John the Baptist as Elijah, the one who is to come and prepare His way. To the uninitiated, or those who simply want this lie to be true and read no further, this sure sounds like John is Elijah reincarnated. Jesus said so. But did He really?
If we continue on through the Gospel of Matthew, again we hear Christ again make reference to this phenomenon, and supposedly acknowledge the "truth" of reincarnation: And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands." Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist (Matthew 17:10-13). Amazing. Again Christ seems to be saying that John the Baptist was the reincarnation of Elijah. And this is why it is critical you know your Bible, because taken out of context like this is certainly sounds like scriptural support for this myth.
The problem for believers in this fable, however, lies back at the beginning of the chapter last quoted. As Matthew 17 unfolds, Jesus leads His star pupils, Peter, James and John, up onto a mountain for what is known as the Transfiguration. Jesus' face begins to glow like the sun and His robes become blindingly white. As the disciples watch, Moses and who else but Elijah appear and have a conversation with the Son of God. This is where Peter, apparently at a loss for what to say or do, proposes that he and the others build three tabernacles, one for Jesus, one for Moses and one for Elijah. This ridiculous but well-meant suggestion is cut short by Almighty God, who loudly announces His relationship to Jesus in no uncertain terms.
Do you now see the major problem with the theory that John the Baptist was the reincarnation of Elijah? Exactly. Elijah still exists! He's still Elijah, not John the Baptist. It is a bit much to suppose that he was reincarnated as John, then following John's death, went back to being Elijah. That would be unreincarnation, which my spell checker tells me by the red underline is a word that doesn't exist. If John were really in fact the reincarnation of Elijah, he should have appeared on the mount of Transfiguration, not Elijah. But he didn't.
So what does all this mean? What is Jesus saying when he declares that John is Elijah? Simply that John has figuratively fulfilled the role of an Elijah, a forerunner, a herald. It would be like referring to a great general as a Napoleon or a adept politician as a Jefferson. Doing so does not imply reincarnation, but kinship of purpose and action. Jesus, for the hundredth time, is speaking figuratively. It's actually not too difficult to distinguish between His symbolic speech and His factual speech. Hopefully you do not really believe that the kingdom of heaven is a literal mustard seed, that false prophets will actually be wearing sheep costumes or that we should leave the bodies of our dead lying on the ground on the assumption that other dead people will see to their burial.
Jesus never for a moment implied that reincarnation was a reality. In fact, there are dozens of verses that would conclusively deny this theory. We have neither time nor space here to list them. And we all know what He meant by "born again" so let's not even consider that one. But I hope that you can see the importance of knowing what the Bible really says. It will be a tremendous help to you if you run into someone dressed as a sheep.
(Proverbs 16:24)
The Book of Proverbs, written for the most part by Solomon, with Agur and King Lemuel chipping in, is basically an instruction for gaining wisdom. Though his own God-given wisdom eventually failed him, or rather he himself deserted it, Solomon penned some of the most remarkably concise and insightful lines in all of Scripture.
A good many of these two-sentence gems deal with speech, with simple words, and the power for blessing or destruction contained within them. This thought has for the most part become foreign to us and we see these admonitions as simple sayings, good to know, but of very little actual practicality. We have all grown up being told endlessly that "words can never hurt us." I can think of few things less true or any assurance less false, though obviously the people (usually our parents) who gave us this guarantee were well-intentioned. Still, this training has seriously affected our respect for the power of the spoken word, be it from our own mouth or someone else's.
This is sort of alarming considering that the Bible is from beginning to end a constant reminder that the power of the spoken word is not to be underestimated. From the first "Then God said..." to the final "He who testifies to these things says...." we are shown that God's words, as well as our own, carry tremendous power. This is demonstrated in almost every event in the old Testament. It reached its zenith in the ministry of Jesus, wherein He continually brought about change with His words, and became world-changing when He declared, "It is finished." This was carried on by His followers, who obeying His instructions, spoke words of faith as the means of accomplishing His will and as a matter of survival in the face of imminent danger.
Our verse for today seems innocuous enough, but it contains some profound information. On the surface, Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones, sounds like advice simply to say kind things, to avoid harsh words, and one will create an atmosphere of general niceness. But look at the verse that precedes it: The heart of the wise teaches his mouth, and adds learning to his lips. This sounds a lot like something Jesus said to the Pharisees, "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:34b). This becomes even weightier when we read on, for Jesus closes this debate with, "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned" (Matthew 12:36-37).
Suddenly we can see that this simple adage is far more important than it appears at first glance. Obviously Christ attaches considerable importance to our words. Our own words carry enough weight to justify us or condemn us before the throne of God. Couple that with Jesus' frequent teaching that we address situations by speaking directly to them, this verse from proverbs suddenly becomes not just a way of improving personal relationships, but a prescription for healing for ourselves and others.
When we look at verse 23 about the heart of the wise, we know that this wisdom is God's wisdom, clearly the primary focus of Proverbs. It is His Word that teaches our hearts. When that wisdom in our hearts influences our speech, we speak the very wisdom of God with our lips. When those pleasant words, God's promises, His truth, are spoken in faith, they bring sweetness to the soul, calmness and peace to our mind, will and emotions. But they go beyond this mere soothing of the soul and bring health to the bones, which in anyone's translation means healing.
We can see now that what this little verse from Proverbs is telling us is that we can release the power of God into our lives by speaking the wisdom His Word has put in our hearts. Of course this can only happen if the wisdom is already there. Don't underestimate the effect even a few minutes a day in the Word can have on your heart. It can do wonders for it. And never underestimate the power of the words you speak. They can go right through to your bones.
(Leviticus 19:33)
I have to admit that a good part of Leviticus makes absolutely no sense to me. For instance, there are admonitions against wearing a garment of mixed linen and wool, shaving the sides of the head and letting one breed of cattle mix with another. There are also penalties that seem (a bit) on the harsh side, like stoning to death children who curse their parents. It would also have been an unpleasant time to get caught engaging in adultery. I'm sure this was all God-inspired, but I am nonetheless glad we are not governed by these laws anymore, or at least that we believe in forgiveness, reconciliation and redemption and we have come up with less severe punishments.
But there is a lot of good, sound advice to found in this book as well. Much of it has to do with honesty, fairness and justice. There are some things that just don't change, and the proper treatment of other people is one of them. Today's verse deals with strangers: And if a stranger dwells in your land, you shall not mistreat him. This same commandment appears in Exodus 22:21 and again in Deuteronomy 24:17, where it defines it a bit more, You shall not pervert justice due the stranger or the fatherless, nor take a widow's garment as a pledge.
Most of us can understand this. We are to treat strangers, foreigners, etc., with kindness. This is Christianity 101. But Moses goes on to define it a bit more, and in fact, intensify the command, in the next verse of Leviticus: The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you; and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
Ouch. This sounds like we are not only supposed to be civil to strangers, but we are required to think of them as equals, and to (gasp) love them! Not just tolerate them, but love them like family. That phrase born among you translates as native. In other words, there is to be no distinction in treatment of any kind between the foreigner or the true native. This was especially difficult for the Israelites to swallow as they placed, and still do place, a great emphasis on bloodlines and genealogy. Now they were being told to accept those born outside their nation and tribes as brothers, kinsmen and peers.
There is also an added zinger at the end here. That part about Egypt is a reminder to the Israelites to not forget that they had been abused as foreigners in a strange land. They had been treated as outsiders, worked as slave labor, were deemed unworthy of basic human rights, been rejected and, as such, should never be guilty of the same prejudicial and ungodly behavior. They are never to forget what this rejection and mistreatment felt like. To mistreat strangers in their land would be to behave like the very oppressors they had been delivered from. And God makes another strong point, here and elsewhere: they were delivered by Him. They did not deliver themselves. As such He has the perfect right to make this demand of them. Actually, since He's God He can make whatever demands He wants regardless.
Now obviously this was (and is) a difficult thing for the Israelites to understand. As God's chosen people, they were being told to treat strangers, foreigners, aliens of different race and background, as if they were equals and blood relatives! That sort of takes the fun out of being chosen. But God is clear on this. All humanity is family. We are to treat others as if they were just that: family. Failure to do so is outright disobedience. By the way, Leviticus is just chock full of the various and wonderful ways God deals with disobedience.
Right now as we are engaged in a world wide purge of terrorism, it would be wise to remember that strangers in our land are still loved by God, whether we approve or not, and are still to be treated as family by us. They are equals. That also means that if they break the law, they are entitled to the same swift, sure penalties and punishment with no thought given to their place of origin or ethnicity. That's tough love. That's fair. That's equality. We might also do well to look through the filter of Leviticus 19:33-34 at hotbeds of terrorism throughout our world and see if, just maybe, this commandment of treating strangers as equals were obeyed there might be a little less reason for it.
(Luke 17:21b)
Today we have another segment in that randomly continuing series, Know your Bible or What You Don't Know Can Kill You. This verse from the lips of Jesus is a prime example, endlessly quoted by new agers, famous talk show divas, actresses, rock stars, cult leaders and other generally ignorant people, or maybe I should say, other people generally ignorant of the Bible and what it says.
Before we launch into a brief explanation, let's put the verse back in context. Here's the whole passage:
Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you."
As we know, the Pharisees never asked Jesus questions because they were interested in hearing the truth; their only goal was to trip Him up and get Him to say something they could hang Him for. Jesus of course was well aware of this and was never particularly pleasant to them, either. His answers are always shrewd, however, commonly addressing what they are thinking as opposed to what they are actually saying. When He says that the kingdom does not come with observation, or "you won't see it coming," He is referring to the spiritually blind in general and the Pharisees in particular. He is also telling them that this will not a be a physical kingdom, one that will overpower their Roman rulers and reestablish Jewish control of the region. It is a spiritual kingdom.
But it is a kingdom. He acknowledges that and uses the terms kingdom of God and kingdom of heaven throughout His three year ministry. If it is a kingdom, by definition it must have a king. He is that King.
Now here's the part that all the above mentioned list of misquoters, misrepresenters and misunderstanders frequently misuse: The kingdom of God is within you. What is Jesus saying to these unbelieving, murderous, God-hating, blasphemous Pharisees? That the kingdom of God is within them? Not likely. He refers to this lovely bunch in other places as sons of the devil, brood of vipers, blind guides, thieves, murderers, etc. He is not implying that they contain even a smidgen of the kingdom of God. In fact, in other places He makes it quite obvious that they will be spending eternity far from anything resembling the kingdom of God.
This is the point the whole verse hinges on. To understand it, we must realize that the word within actually translates in your midst. Eureka! Now we see that Jesus is actually saying, "The kingdom of God is in your midst. I'm it, it's in Me, standing right in front of you knuckleheads,'' or something to that effect. Put this way, those new age notions such as The Divine Spark That Resides in All of Us and We Are All God evaporate. This verse can't be used to prop up that sort of unbiblical blather. It simply doesn't mean that.
Of course a good understanding of the Word of God would clue one into this in the first place. The Bible is clear that we are all born in sin, and that without allowing Christ to reign in us, we are not in His kingdom, nor will His kingdom ever be in us. There is no Biblical passage that says everybody is basically good and that if we all just try to live good lives we will all get there eventually. I know that's a nice thought, it's PC and lot's of famous people spout that kind of thing, but it is simply not true.
If there remains any doubt that the kingdom of God is not something naturally resident in all of us, we have more of the words of Jesus as proof, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). But here's a good thought to close with. As bad, and as hopelessly evil, as all those Pharisees were, one of the greatest passages in the New Testament (John 3:1-21), of which this last verse is a part, was spoken to a man named Nicodemus, a leading Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin. Nicodemus was touched by Christ's ministry. He knew that the amazing things Jesus was doing could only be done by the power of God. Later in John 7:50-51, Nicodemus would defend Jesus in front of other members of his elite group. And still later, in John 19:38-42, Nicodemus would help Joseph of Arimathea retrieve the body of Christ, bringing with him a hundred pounds of expensive embalming spices. It was he, who with Joseph, wrapped the Lord's body for burial (in effect, dressing Him for His coronation) and laid Him in the new tomb, the "rich man's" grave. I can't be sure, but I think Nicodemus got it. And I believe that three days later he definitely understood the meaning of "born again."
.HAVE FAITH IN GOD!
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