encouragement – Page 78

children, encouragement, immanence, praise, transendence

From the mouths of babes: I’m taught a lesson on transcendence and immanence

Posted on December 5, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

While a boy was using scissors to cut his Christmas tree project, he was being very slow but very painstaking. He wanted to be exact. And to do a good job. So while the rest of the kids had moved on to the ornaments and coloring and going fast, the boy was still plodding along.

When he got done, he held up his tree and said, “I’m a good cutter!”
I said, “Yes. You are a good cutter!”
“Jesus teaches me. He is in my head teaching me how to do it.”
“What does He say to you in your head when He teaches you?”
“He don’t say nothing. He’s magic. Like, when there was a storm, he said STOP and just like that, a rainbow! He helps me.”

Jesus is very present with this boy and in this boy. He speaks of Jesus often, but has never talked about his relationship with Jesus before.

The Graphics Fairy

“And they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” (Matthew 21:16)

“Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” (Luke 18:17)

The boy talks about Him as He actually is- a friend and a helper, as if Jesus was here and right next to him. Which He is. Adult Christians lose that.

When we paint or make a Christmas gift or a craft and put the finishing touches on it, someone may say “That looks wonderful. You did a good job!” Do we say “Jesus directed my steps and it is with His wisdom/strength/help that I made this”?

The boy praised Jesus for His very present help.
The boy testified of Jesus and worshiped Him.
The boy acknowledged his need for help in even the smallest of things.
The boy exalted the transcendent Creator Jesus by recounting His powerful miracle but at the same time praised His presence, Jesus’ immanence.

GotQuestions explains transcendence and immanence.

The Graphics Fairy

Transcendence (God exists outside of space and time) and immanence (God is present within space and time) are both attributes of God. He is both “nearby” and “far away,” according to Jeremiah 23:23.

Praise Jesus today, and often. Praise Him like this boy did, confidently, matter of factly, and certainly.

“but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:14)

encouragement, Lamb, sing

The Lamb is worthy- we sing a new song!

Posted on December 3, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

The Lamb is Worthy
…8When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. (Revelation 5:8-9)

A new song?

Public Domain

The word song in this verse, in the Greek is ōdḗ and it means just that, a song. Strong’s 5603 (ōdḗ) is defined, “in the NT of spontaneous, impromptu (unrehearsed) melodies of praise – not merely sung about (for) God but to God from a Spirit-filled heart. Spirit-inspired songs minister to God and exhort others, giving testimony about the living God to other worshipers.”

In his verse-by-verse exposition of Revelation, Oliver B. Greene says,

There is no song recorded in the book of Genesis. The Patriarchs were men of seriousness and deep thought. The first song on earth of which we have any record, is found in Exodus 15. The deliverance which had been wrought for Israel (Exodus 14) formed the theme and material for the song (Exodus 15:1-19) and the refrain (Exodus 15:21).

The old song is God’s celebrated song of creation (Job 38:7). The song here in Revelation is termed “a new song” because its theme, Redemption, when fully accomplished, will create “all things new.” In the end, all things will be new, all evil and old things as a result of sin will be put down, put away, totally destroyed.

It is the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb (Revelation 15:3). The song celebrates God’s past ways with Israel and His present grace through the Lamb slain. Grand as might have been the song of Israel when sung on the eastern bank of the Red Sea, this song in its character and the occasion when it is sung, is incomparably greater. There is no comparison between the old song of Israel and this new song of Redemption. THE REDEEMED (Jew and Gentile, bond and free, rich and poor) SING OF HIM AND TO HIM! They sing, “Thou art worthy to take the book and to open its seals.”

He is so worthy! Sing of His worthiness!
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Furhter Reading

The Spirit Filled Song, devotional by John MacArthur

culture, emotional support animal, encouragement, evangelical, homosexual, jesus, truth

Cultural issues: McChurch: church inside a McDonald’s, or is it a McDonald’s inside a church?, Evangelicals accepting gays in huge numbers (IF they’re their own kids), Pigs (almost) fly

Posted on November 30, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

PostChristianity now has its own page at Wikipedia. The definition is a little scholarly convoluted, but here it is:

Postchristianity is the belief that the loss of the Christian monopoly in political affairs, especially in the Global North where Christianity had previously flourished, will eventually lead its demise in favour of secular nationalism. It includes personal world views, ideologies, religious movements or societies that are no longer rooted in the language and assumptions of Christianity, at least explicitly, although they had previously been in an environment of ubiquitous Christianity, i.e. Christendom.

At the Christian Post, guest opinion writer Kevin Shrum wrote a few months ago,

We knew this day would arrive. The ‘slippery slope’ of morality has now become a proverbial landslide of moral morass. What seemed to be a slow decline has now exponentially accelerated. The parading and applauding of all things unbiblical and immoral has reached its zenith on the shoulders of the autonomous self, where me, myself, and I are the arbiters of all things truthful and spiritual. Gone is any reference to transcendent authority.

But fear not, dear Christian. Like an athlete out of shape in the off-season layoff, it may take awhile for American Christians to awaken from our ‘most-favored-religion-status’ we have come to assume in this great country of ours, but I believe we’re up to the task. We’re not the first Christians to live ‘behind enemy lines’ nor will we be the last.

A few weeks ago, ReligionNews posed the following question: How PostChristian are you?

In a look at “churchless” America, Barna Group found many people who label themselves “Christian” are actually more like their secular neighbors — people who claim no particular religious brand — in their beliefs and practices.

That post-Christian, churchless, the ‘Jesus is a nice guy but ultimately doesn’t affect my life’ attitude is seen in the fact that articles like these below actually exist.

Religious group wants to build McDonald’s in a church

As church attendance falls, one group believes that the lure of a burger and fries might make church more appealing. … “Christianity is unable to capture modern audiences,” Di Lucca told NBC News. “There’s a lack of innovation and lack of design thinking in Church communities.” … “It’s time for churches to engage with entrepreneurship,” writes the group on its IndieGoGo site. “By combining a church and a McDonald’s we can create a self-sustaining, community-engaged, popular church, and an unparalleled McDonald’s restaurant.”

The entrepreneurial spirit that infects churches today is thanks to Rick Warren and his “The Purpose Driven Church is listed in “100 Christian Books That Changed the 20th Century.” Forbes magazine called it “the best book on entrepreneurship, management, and leadership in print.” [Left, Actual logo for the McChurch idea]

Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God. (2 Corinthians 2:17)

And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. (2 Peter 2:3)

Unlike in corporate culture, a lack of innovation in church is a good thing. If the McMass McChurch idea succeeds, the people who attend will get what they get: a Jesus that is fast, lite, insubstantial, and ultimately bad for the heart.

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Here is another example of church folks bowing to culture.

Evangelicals with gay children challenging church

A despondent Ryan cut off from his parents and his faith, started taking drugs and in 2009, died of an overdose. “Now we realize we were so wrongly taught,” said Rob Robertson, a firefighter for more than 30 years who lives in Redmond, Washington. “It’s a horrible, horrible mistake the church has made.” The tragedy could have easily driven the Robertsons from the church. But instead of breaking with evangelicalism — as many parents in similar circumstances have done — the couple is taking a different approach, and they’re inspiring other Christians with gay children to do the same. They are staying in the church and, in protesting what they see as the demonization of their sons and daughters, presenting a new challenge to Christian leaders trying to hold off growing acceptance of same-sex relationships.

The article continues with examples of people touting active homosexuality as acceptable to God, and the article author supports their contentions with numerical examples of growth for each of their websites, Facebook pages, or published books that they sponsor/promote this stance.

It’s brilliant actually. Satan targets the youth, they succumb to perverse passions, parents who naturally love their children are faced with a dilemma, so parents declare, ‘it’s happening to me and my experience trumps scripture so scripture must be wrong.’

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Maybe this next article doesn’t have to do directly with church and faith so much, or maybe it does.

They say pigs don’t fly, but this one came close.

A pig landed on a US Airways flight out of Connecticut on Wednesday, but was taken off the plane after it became disruptive, a spokesperson told ABC News. Jonathan Skolnik, a professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a passenger on the flight, told ABC News today he thought the woman with the pig was carrying a duffel bag when she got on the plane and headed straight for the empty seat next to him. “But it turns out it wasn’t a duffel bag. We could smell it and it was a pig on a leash,” he said. “She tethered it to the arm rest next to me and started to deal with her stuff, but the pig was walking back and forth.”

photo Rob Phelps

Gothamist Newspaper wrote,

According to ABC, the incident happened on Wednesday at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut. The woman had been allowed to bring the pig, who was on a leash, with her—pigs, like dogs, monkeys and cats, can qualify as “emotional support animals,” which are allowed on flights under federal rules. Passenger Rob Phelps, who took the photo on top, told CBS Springfield the problem was that this particular piggy was squealing and defecating in the aisle, prompting flight attendants to ask them to leave, which they did without incident.

For people who truly need an Emotional Support Animal, (ESA) for example soldiers with PTSD, the Service Dog Central website states, “In order to fly with an Emotional Support Animal OR Psychiatric Service Dog in the cabin of the aircraft with you, you will need a special letter from a licensed mental health professional.” That letter must state the specific disability the traveler has, according to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual, be not more than one year old, that the animal is necessary to the well-being of the traveler, be lodged with airline authorities 48 hours in advance of travel date, and be written and signed by a licensed medical or psychiatric professional.

True ESAs who are professional and not pets, curl up at the master’s feet when not working and are trained not to cause a disturbance. Like perhaps wandering, squealing, and defecating in the aisle. If it was truly an ESA it would not cause a disturbance. If it was a pet, it should not be allowed in the cabin.

Daily Mail: Pot-bellied pigs WILL fly (along with miniature horses and monkeys): Passengers to be allowed to take exotic pets on flights for ’emotional support’

This website offers information on why the abuse level on ESAs in the cabin is growing- “Service Dogs on Airplanes to Get More Scrutiny From Department of Transportation“.

Twitter: FoxCT News reporter Angelica Spanos photo
The twitter feed indicated the pig and owner finally
made it to their intended destination, CT, for Thanksgiving.

“An emotional support animal is a companion animal (typically a dog or cat) that provides a therapeutic benefit to its owner through companionship. The animal provides emotional support and comfort to individuals with psychiatric disabilities and other mental impairments. The animal is not specifically trained to perform tasks for a person who suffers from emotional disabilities.” Source Animal Law.

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For people without Jesus, these dark and confusing times are oppressive to them and they do not even know it.

The fact is, the more post-Christian the world gets, the more the lost cling to the wrong things for emotional support. It’s a stark example of why we need to offer the solution to their sin problem and their emptiness. Jesus is the Friend who knows us, He created us. He loves us and wants the best for us. He sent His Spirit into the world to inspire the world’s greatest book full of wisdom, comfort, history, poems, and truth. Without Jesus, the lost person knows none of this.

encouragement, love, repent, salvation, sin

Big sin? Big God!

Posted on November 17, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

“I was sinking deep in sin…” goes the first line of an old song. (Love Lifted Me, 1912)

Mixed media collage, plus digital overlay. By EPrata

No matter how deep in sin a person is, no matter how low…no matter if they are in the gutter, or even one foot down the shaft of the gates of hell (like I was)

God’s arm is not too short to lift you from it!

He won’t make you wait. He won’t toy with you. If you call out to the Lord to save you and forgive your sins, He will, instantly. If you are saved but have sinned or strayed, and you call out to the Lord to forgive you, He will, instantly.

He was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ He said, ‘why did you doubt? (Matthew 14:29-31)

discernment, elijah, encouragement, eternity, moses, personal revelation, transfiguration

Talking with Jesus

Posted on November 15, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Not the ‘Mount of Transfiguration’. Source

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 3And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. (Matthew 17:1-3)

A spiritually awe-filled scene, as we mentally behold it and picture Jesus glorified and being fully God. However, today I am picturing Moses and Elijah, talking with Him.

Imagine, in the Millennium Kingdom and in Eternity, we will do the same! We will stand casually on a mountain and talk with Jesus! My mind veritably breaks apart just thinking of this. What will I say? What were Moses, Elijah and Jesus talking about? What could I possibly have to say to Jesus, except only “thank You!”

But we are His friend. We will talk with Jesus, and He will talk personally and directly to us.

The Graphics Fairy

For all of you who envy Beth Moore and her personal conversations with a different Jesus, and for all of you who covet the personal touch Sarah Young claims to have had with Jesus Calling her, I have this to say. Those women and all those like them are having the only talk with “Jesus” they will ever have, except at the Great White Throne Judgment when He says “Depart from Me, I never knew you.” Will they then wonder, were the five or ten or fifty chats they thought they’d had with ‘Jesus’ worth an eternity of missing the real Him, and never speaking to Him again?

Yet for the persevering and patient Christian who clings to Hebrews 11:1 and believes that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (and not heard), we will be talking with Him just as Moses and Elijah were.

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (John 3:2)

We will join Moses and Elijah and be talking with our wonderful Savior, Friend, Shepherd, every ‘day’ throughout all eternity.

Hallelujah.

discernment, encouragement, gossip, paul washer

Paul Washer on persecution in America, the bible is complete, salt makes a person thirsty, gossip

Posted on November 12, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Free pics

On Monday we had an 80-mile widespread internet outage here. A fiber had been cut on “some very important lines” the tech person told me. It lasted 14 hours. Otherwise known as an eternity. I’ve been playing catch-up ever since.

I love me some internet. I make no bones about it. I did enjoy the opportunity to read my new John Grisham book distraction free, but overall, I realized that I enjoy and depend on the internet for my theological studies quite a bit.

I have some commentaries, atlases, a book of biblical natural history, and several bibles as well as other books, but for overall fast access to all of the above and more, the internet cannot be beat. And what a grace-filled gift the Lord gave us when laying the path to the birth of the internet and now I can listen to so many sermons. That is what I missed the most- sermons.

Of course I enjoy using my laptop for all my entertainments, movies and tv shows and Youtube clips etc. I also play with my photos and sometimes use a photo editor to make digital collages or even photo gifts from Snapfish. I’m trying to make bookmarks out of some of my photos for stocking stuffers.

I’m not in any different of a boat than anyone else who has become dependent on technology and an online access point for work, entertainment, and communication. Perhaps I’m less stressed when it goes off because I don’t have a business that depends on active and reliable internet connections.

Anyway I am still catching up. I surely would not be a good pioneer woman. I hardly know how to do anything except light a candle when the power goes out, or read a book when the internet goes off, lol.

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free pics

I have a few different thoughts for this blog essay. Not one big point but a variety of different thoughts that I re-read in my spiritual journal. I re-read it because I wanted to use the journal for note-taking at school and I ripped out the written-in pages. I read them before I tore them out, and there were some pretty good thoughts in there. I think they’re good thoughts. You’ll have to decide for yourself whether you agree.

You know how we are called to be salt and light?

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. . (Matthew 5:13-14a).

Being salt, to me, means adding seasoning to a bland world by sharing His word and doing His works. Of course there is more to it but this is just a quick notion here tonight.

Here is the thought about salt: salt promotes thirst. Salt makes people thirsty. Jesus is the Living Water. If we are truly salt, even if what we are saying or doing in the world causes aggravation or offense (Gospel offense, not rudeness) then the recipient will become thirsty, one hopes. And in their seeking to slake the thirst, they will turn to the bible, to Jesus, to God, to the Spirit…(one hopes).

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Pr. Paul Washer of HeartCry Missionary Society

Paul Washer had a good word one year ago on truly knowing the Lord. As the synopsis states, “It was a sermon delivered to a body of students at the Master’s College, headed by Dr. John MacArthur. Brother Washer doesn’t allow these students to hide behind their school or association with Dr. MacArthur. Everyone must know the Lord for themselves, and be known of Him. Adam knew his wife and she bare him the fruit of the womb. Has Jesus so known you that you bear fruit? Included was a statement about persecution in America. His words are coming true. Here are just a few excerpts.”

“The church in America is going to suffer so terribly and you laugh now but they will come after us, they will come after our children, they will close the net around us while we are playing soccer mom and soccer dad, when we’re arguing over so many little things and mesmerized by so many trinkets. The net even now is closing around you and your children and your grandchildren and it does not cause you to fear. You will be isolated from society as has already happened, anyone who tries to run for office who actually believes the Bible will be considered a lunatic until finally we are silenced. We will be called things that we’re not and persecuted not for being followers of Christ, but for being radical fundamentalists who do not know the true way of Christ, which of course is love and tolerance. We’ll go down as the greatest bigots and haters of mankind in history.”

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Free pics

The holy Bible is perfect. It is finished! There is no more to add, nor should any be taken away. People who have allegedly been to heaven, and come back with “a message”, or who have heard God speak to them with a word and told to declare it, are wrong, deluded, and dangerous. The perfect, and complete bible says, via the Spirit:

“You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.” (Deuteronomy 4:2)

“Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.” (Proverbs 30:6)

“Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.” (Deuteronomy 12:32)

“I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.” (Revelation 22:18-19)

It is clear! The bible is finished and we are not to add new revelations to it. Besides, it is perfect. Why would a person want to add to it?

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Gossip. It does a body harm.

Free pics

For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder. (2 Corinthians 12:20)

The Greek word for gossip here is psithurismos, a word that means “a whispering, secret slandering.” Moreover, it is an “an onomatopoetic word for the sibilant murmur of a snake charmer.”

Think of that the next time you (or I) want to spread gossip about someone…our mouth making the sss of the snake as we gosssssssip.

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I am studying the glorified body. I’ll be writing on that soon. Just think of it, a body that has no aches and pains, eyes that can behold Jesus face to face without bursting apart, never getting old, a body that can transcend matter and perhaps…even fly. Won’t that be wonderful!

encouragement, truth

Jesus declared: "I am the Way because I Am the truth"

Posted on November 9, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

We know John 14:6 as one of the tremendous I AM statements Jesus made.

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:35)
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. (John 10:9)
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” (John 11:25-26)
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

alí̱theia, the Greek word for Truth

In focusing on the Way, the Truth, and the Life statement from John 14:6, we learn from Greg Matte in his book, I AM Changes Who i Am:

More than any other I AM statement, John 14:6 stops us in our tracks. Jesus claims without exception to be the Way, the Truth, and the Life. In the original language of the New Testament, this statement has more going on than in English. The countless times I read the verse, I thought it was just a 1, 2, 3 listing. However, the Greek language’s richness is shown in the cyclical statement in which the previous word is the foundation of the next.

Matte goes on to quote Pastor RC Sproul, who taught in his book “John” that

I am the Way BECAUSE I am the Truth and Life. The structure of this statement is such that Jesus was not giving a string of descriptive terms. He was not saying I am (A) the way, (B) the truth, and (C) the life. Rather, this statement is in an elliptical form, so Jesus was saying, “I am the way because I am the truth and because I am the life. I am the way to the Father because I am the true manifestation or revelation of the Father. I am the way to the Father because I alone have the power of eternal life.”

The ‘because’ makes such a difference, don’t you think? 🙂

What a balm and the solace to ponder our Savior as the first cause of everything good.

Fairest Lord Jesus

Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of all nature,
O Thou of God and man the Son:
Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor,
Thou my soul’s glory, joy, and crown.

encouragement, king saul, repentance, sin

A sin-sick mind: King Saul’s journey into darkness

Posted on November 9, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

We read many times in the bible that sin corrupts the mind. A mind without Christ will not work right, it will be blind, deluded, corrupt, twisted.

The perversion of a sin-sick mind varies from person to person. Not all people are as totally evil as they could be. But sin piling upon sin will corrupt the mind in increasingly evil ways. Here is one example: King Saul.

I wrote recently about Saul and David. Saul was king, the people’s choice and God allowed it. Yet when David had earned victories and the people sang of them, Saul became jealous. In jealousy, Saul cast a wary eye against David. What happened then? The next day an evil spirit came to Saul. (1 Samuel 18:7-10).

The point of that essay was to show how quickly sin will rise and seize the opportunity to magnify itself in a man’s heart and mind. Sin does not wait for a second invitation. Sin does not lollygag. Sin pounces at any opportunity, with all haste.

The point of this essay, in still viewing King Saul through the biblical lens, is to see how sin that’s unaddressed degrades a man’s mind.

David plays the harp for Saul, Rembrandt

Some time has gone by, and Saul is by now deeply tormented by David. He has no cause to be. David is Saul’s servant, gaining the king victories. David never gave reason or cause to Saul for any lack in his duties as servant and subject. David played the lyre to soothe Saul. David has made no move against Saul and has only supported Him. Yet Saul is jealous. Saul threw a javelin against David while David played music for Saul. David escaped the piercing. It must have been the hand of God, for Saul was large and tall, skilled in battle, and one would surmise Saul’s javelin did not miss his target in close quarters. Yet it did.

David ran. His wife, Michal, told Saul’s messengers who appeared as his house that David was in bed, sick.

And when Saul sent messengers to take David, she said, “He is sick.” Then Saul sent the messengers to see David, saying, “Bring him up to me in the bed, that I may kill him.” (1 Samuel 19:14-15).

Saul’s fear, envy, jealousy, insecurity … all negative values that show us Saul was not standing in the hand of the LORD. His negativity had grown to monstrous proportions. Monstrous, because Saul purposed to kill his servant. His servant was said to be sick, in bed, and Saul decided to kill him in bed. Saul said he will kill his servant David while David was at his most vulnerable and could not even fight back.

This is a perverted mind and a blackened heart. Of course, David was not actually sick, his wife was trying to gain her husband time for David to flee. However, Saul’s act here was a watershed.

You’ve heard the phrase, “he drifted in and out of consciousness”? Saul had been drifting in and out of God. He was in God’s hand at his anointing. Samuel the prophet tells this to Saul:

Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you. (1 Samuel 10:6-7)

Saul threatening David, by José Leonardo.

Here Saul learned the Spirit would be:

with him
equipping him
giving success to him

Initially all was well. But then Saul disobeyed and gave an unlawful sacrifice, and he lied to Samuel the Prophet about it. Events in Saul’s life and kingship lost their luster and eventually “the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him.” (1 Samuel 16:14)

Verse 23 of that same chapter shows us that the harmful/evil spirit came to Saul and at times departed from Saul, usually when David was playing the lyre. Saul drifted in and out.

In 1 Samuel 18:10 when the harmful spirit tormented Saul, this time Saul began raving. Here is the key:

Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul. … And when Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him. (1 Samuel 18:12, 15)

Saul was looking at man, and not at God.

Saul knew the reason for his troubles and the reason for David’s success. Does not Saul believe God is a mighty God and a loving God and a listening God? If Saul had humbled himself before the LORD and asked for forgiveness of his jealousies and violence against a man of GOD, does Saul believe the LORD would not have forgiven? Saul knew he was out of the LORD’S will and pleasure but Saul remained in awe of David, not in awe of God. Saul refused the antidote that was poisoning his mind and polluting his heart.

Repentance.

What a joy we have in our Savior, Jesus Christ. He shed the last blood the Father will ever need. He stands with the Father, interceding for us in our sins.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15)

Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 2:18)

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

The truly gracious gift to us from the Father is Jesus, who atoned for our sins. When we do sin after conversion, He listens and accepts and forgives. We need not fear the departure of the Spirit as the Spirit departed Saul, and we have the bible as our holy writ to guide us into all truth. It is on this foundation we stand, and looking to Him, our Savior and our Friend, when we repent.

We live in a truly gracious age! We should celebrate our opportunity to repent, be forgiven, and grow in renewing our minds with pure truth of holy scripture. Once converted and justified by grace, our minds are no longer degraded and polluted, but it is still our responsibility to read the bible so as to renew it in truth. It is our responsibility to wash ourself daily with it. It is our responsibility to pray mightily to God for forgiveness of our daily sins, and appeal to our High Priest who stands at the ready to bring our cares and sins and woes to the Father. David washed himself often in prayer to God in repentance and in heartfelt plea for forgiveness.

Saul and the witch of Endor, Gustave Dore

More than that, what a joy it is to do so! Saul did not, and ended up in 1 Samuel 28 where all people with unaddressed sin end up: at the devil’s door. In this case, the Witch of Endor’s house. In his sin-sick mind, when Saul finally sought to address his problem, it was too late. His mind was too far gone to think right.

And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets. (1 Samuel 28:6).

And so Saul went to the devil ‘to inquire’ of the devil instead of to God. Worse, Saul swore to her ‘by the LORD.’ Oh, Saul wretch of a man, swearing to the devil by the precious LORD! What has Light to do with darkness?

David did pray and repent often and seek to live in God’s will, and ended even his most tearful prayer in hope and joy and peace at pouring out his woes to God. David was called a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), not because he never sinned. Why did David’s mind not become sin-sick as Saul’s did? Because when David sinned (unlike Saul) he repented and in so doing saw God ever more clearly as the savior, protector, gracious and revered Eternal Hope.

encouragement, philosophy, scripture

God’s breath

Posted on November 2, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

At bible study the following verse was mentioned:

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, (2 Timothy 3:16)

The teacher asked what we thought about that. I got to thinking about the God-breathed part.

God-breathed…God-breathed. My mind went to Genesis 1, “Breath of life.”

And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” (Genesis 1:30)

then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. (Genesis 2:7)

Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died (Genesis 7:22)

But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. (Revelation 11:11)

EPrata photo

I got to thinking. No man dies. All men live forever either in hell or in heaven. Therefore the breath (spirit) of life that God gave them never expires completely.

The scripture is God-breathed. Jesus said His words will never pass away. (Matthew 24:35, Psalm 119:89)

The animals that have the breath of life did not pass away, God preserved them in the ark and from them we have all other animals.

My musings left me with two questions.

WHerever God chooses to place His breath, does it ever really expire?

Do angels have the breath of life in them?

The mysteries of God are a joy to ponder.

bible, encouragement, glory

"Recognizing the Glory of God’s Word" by John MacArthur

Posted on October 28, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I read the latest blog essay at John MacArthur’s site, the title is above. What a gift to the faith Dr MacArthur is! The Lord raises up good men to encourage us.

Denmark Castle

He posted about how wonderful the Word is, and how despite the plethora of bibles available and translations abounding, we set it aside. Spurgeon said, “There is dust enough on some of your Bibles to write ‘damnation’ with your fingers.”

I am guilty of this myself. I love the word and I benefit from it each and every time I open it. I am blessed, convicted, educated, encouraged, trained, awed, or a million other things. And yet there are some days I simply don’t. Paul said,

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. (Romans 7:15-20).

My only consolation is that Apostle Paul, who was personally taught by Jesus and personally saw heaven, still had a hard time sometimes doing what is right, then I feel slightly less worse. But it’s still no excuse.

Here is a wonderful picture of the bible as envisioned in three dimensions. The excerpt is from the MacArthur essay, in which MacArthur quotes Roy Zuck’s picture of the bible as a magnificent edifice. Here it is for your encouragement.

I once read an illustration that described the Bible as a magnificent palace constructed of precious stone, comprising sixty-six stately chambers. Each one of these rooms is different from the others and perfect in its individual beauty. Yet, when viewed as a whole, they form an incomparable edifice that is majestic, glorious, and sublime.

In the book of Genesis, we enter the vestibule and are immediately introduced to the records of God’s mighty works in creation. This foyer gives access to the law courts, the passage way to the picture gallery of the historical books. Here we find hung on the walls scenes of battles, heroic deeds, and portraits of valiant men of God.

Beyond the picture gallery we find the philosopher’s chamber (the book of Job), which leads us into the music room (the book of Psalms). Here we linger, thrilled by the grandest harmonies that ever fell on human ears. And then we come to the business office, in the very center of which stands the motto: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). From the business office, we pass into the research department (Ecclesiastes) before continuing into the conservatory (Song of Solomon), where the fragrant aroma of love greets us. Then, we reach the observatory where the prophets with their powerful telescopes are looking for the appearing of the Bright and Morning Star.

Crossing the courtyard at the dawning of the Son of righteousness, we come to the audience chamber of the King (the gospels), where we find four lifelike portraits of the King Himself revealing the perfections of His infinite beauty. Next, we enter the workroom of the Holy Spirit (the book of Acts) and, beyond, the correspondence room where we see Paul, Peter, James, John, and Jude busy at their tables under the personal direction of the Spirit of Truth.

And finally, we enter the throne room (Revelation) where we are enraptured by the mighty volume of adoration and praise addressed to the enthroned King. In the adjacent judgment hall, there are portrayed solemn scenes of doom and wondrous scenes of glory associated with the coming manifestation of the King of kings and Lord of lords. [1]

[1] While various versions of this description exist, it can be found in The Speaker’s Quote Book, by Roy Zuck.

I think that when we get to heaven, and the verse in Revelation 21:4 as we enter the eternal state, that says,

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

I believe are not tears of joy because Jesus would not wipe those away. I believe they are not tears mourning the loss of earthly things, either, because those will have paled in comparison. I think they are tears of shame.

Metropolitan Museum NYC Great Hall

I think as we leave behind the millennial kingdom and the last bits of sin are wiped from heaven and earth, and the devil and his beast and all unrepentant sinners have been cast to the Lake of Fire, that we will mourn our own Romans 7 acts. All the times we didn’t read the bible, or all the times we didn’t pray, or all the times we could have encouraged a brother in Jesus’ name, or all the times we didn’t go to church, we will cry over. We will be ashamed, seeing what we traded for bible reading. (Dancing with the Stars?) Or swapped for church (football?). Or substituted for prayer. (An extra half hour of sleep?)

I believe we will be ashamed of ourselves. Jesus will reassure us and wipe those tears from our face. What a good and gracious God He is.

Someday we will no longer mourn the missed opportunities we had on earth to further our relationship with Jesus, because He will be present and we will be away from the pleasure of sin, the power of sin, the presence of sin, the penalty of sin. What a day that will be.

Until then, we go on, not understanding our own actions. I could write more … but I am going to enter those majestic rooms of the bible, and read it now. Right now.