Posted in theology

Finding Peace Amidst Chaos: A Spiritual Journey

Posted on by elizabethprata

by Elizabeth Prata

I made that collage above shortly after I was saved. I was reading Philippians, which famously says,

And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7).

I liked to think that I could be calmly drinking tea, when the world around me becomes chaotic.

I think we all like to think that.

I’ll get real here. There were predicted some severe storms to come last weekend. Not just one or two weather guys, but most weather guys were saying it was a once in a lifetime event, deaths will occur, and all that. They were serious this time. We do get tornadoes and severe thunderstorms. But usually the energy in the storms dissipates to below severe levels once they pass through Mississippi, Alabama and western Georgia and get to us here in East Georgia.

I thought, well, maybe not this time. The weather guys all were strongly recommending citizens take all due precautions. I began to get nervous. Tornadoes freak me out. I prepared in all the ways the emergency organizations and the weather people said to. I got more and more nervous as Saturday dragged on. I kept saying ‘God’s got this and then I’d take it back and get nervous again. In my opinion anxiety shows distrust in God’s goodness, omniscience, and wisdom in all circumstances- even uncomfortable, dire, or life-threatening ones. I was troubled by my lack of equanimity. I was all, ‘Lord, I trust you! Help my untrust!’

So I finally put my hands together and had a long talk with Jesus in a focused, worshipful prayer. And then I became peaceful.

As to the verse, what does it really mean? You know that it makes sense on the surface but it also makes sense when you read it and meditate more deeply, and then it has an even deeper meaning if you go even deeper with it. That is how the scriptures are alive, helpful with meaning no matter how many times you read it. According to Strong’s, in the Greek all the words mean exactly what you think they’d mean. I thought Barnes’ Notes had the best commentary on the verse.

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible–

And the peace of God – The peace which God gives. The peace here particularly referred to is that which is felt when we have no anxious care about the supply of our needs, and when we go confidently and commit everything into the hands of God. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee;” Isaiah 26:3; see the notes at John 14:27.

Which passeth all understanding – That is, which surpasses all that people had conceived or imagined. The expression is one that denotes that the peace imparted is of the highest possible kind. The apostle Paul frequently used terms which had somewhat of a hyperbolical cast (see the notes on Ephesians 3:19; compare John 21:25), and the language here is that which one would use who designed to speak of that which was of the highest order. The Christian, committing his way to God, and feeling that he will order all things aright, has a peace which is nowhere else known. Nothing else will furnish it but religion. No confidence that a man can have in his own powers; no reliance which he can repose on his own plans or on the promises or fidelity of his fellow-men, and no calculations which he can make on the course of events, can impart such peace to the soul as simple confidence in God.

Shall keep your hearts and minds – That is, shall keep them from anxiety and agitation. The idea is, that by thus making our requests known to God, and going to him in view of all our trials and wants, the mind would be preserved from distressing anxiety. The way to find peace, and to have the heart kept from trouble, is thus to go and spread out all before the Lord. –end Barnes’ Notes

It is OK that we may get nervous, anxious, scared. We’re human. God knows this. But when we feel those things we have a holy Priest who hears our prayers and stands ready to impart this peace to us.

1. The peace we are promised is given,
2. The peace we are given is not simply offered, it is imparted to our body/mind/heart,
3. The peace we are given which is imparted soothes us to our very soul,
4. We do not understand how this occurs (passed all understanding) but it does. It simply does.

Just saying ‘God’s got this’ is head knowledge that is uttered in my own strength. It wasn’t enough to calm me before the storms came. But focused prayer and appealing to the Great Intercessor delivered a peace that shouldn’t be, but it is. It prompted Paul to sing in jail, Stephen to appeal on behalf of the stone throwers even as the stones rained down, for isolated Apostle John to worship on the rock of Patmos.

Picture this peace as a holy, heavenly blanket swaddling us, Christ’s babes, enveloping us to soothe the wrinkled heart, the troubled mind the restless soul.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7).

Posted in theology

The Mysteries of Ancient Architecture: What We Can Learn

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The dome was built between 1420 and 1436 to a plan by Filippo Brunelleschi, and is still the largest masonry vault in the world.

There are curious mysteries in the world that have had me intrigued for years. In my travels I’ve seen fabuous architecture like the Roman Colosseum and Aqueducts. Paving stones still in use on the old Appian Way. Cathedrals like Notre Dame in France and Milan’s Duomo. Brunelleschi’s Dome in Florence which features an ingenious double dome that allows it to be so cavernous and not collapse. Those are all genius wonders, but minor compared to the hugely magnificent yet mysterious items we, to this day, cannot figure out how they were built.

Milan’s cathedral

Thus, even MORE intriguing are the The Easter Island statues, Stonehenge, Nazco Lines, the Sphinx, Gobekli Tepe, and the PYRAMIDS of course!

I wrote about Gobekli Tepe in 2011, the pictures are amazing.

AI said of Gobekli Tepe, “Göbekli Tepe is special because it’s the oldest known monumental, megalithic structure, dating back to the 10th-9th millennium BCE, predating both agriculture and settled civilization, and is believed to have been a religious center for hunter-gatherers.”

Some people have proposed that it was at or near the Garden of Eden, or somehow associated with it.

Something one of the cited articles said about this amazing series of structures, was that “Bewilderingly, the people at Göbekli Tepe got steadily worse at temple building. The earliest rings are the biggest and most sophisticated, technically and artistically.“

Atheists and skeptics dismiss the Bible as having been written ‘by a bunch of illiterate, ignorant shepherds.’ It is a common rejoinder. They look at the past and all they see are unskilled populations and ignorant societies, and believe we are at the pinnacle of sophistication. We aren’t. We are actually dumber now. As one example, our concrete piers fail in salt water very quickly. Roman piers only get stronger and are still in use 2000 years later.

This thought about the intelligence and sophistication of past civilizations is picked up by Answers in Genesis author Dr. Jack Hughes. @DrJackHughes wrote on Twitter/X the other day the following interesting essay.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_pyramids

Dr. Hughes: “Having a thought about the pyramids. Because of the advanced technology apparent in the pyramids, I have wondered if they are pre-flood structures as some claim. The Bible, contrary to common evolutionary myth, teaches that mankind used to be smarter, not dumber. We haven’t evolved, we have devolved because of the curse. This is why some of the oldest structures evidence the most advanced construction techniques e.g., Malta temples, Göbekli Tepe, Stonehenge, Newgrange, Baalbek, etc. Man’s lifespan before the flood was nearly 1,000 years (see Gen. 5). The human genome was not as decayed by sin and the curse then as it is today. People weren’t poisoned by bad food and the contaminates like we are today. People surely used most of their brain capacity.”

“Imagine having a photographic memory and living for 900 years! When you look at the early, pre-flood account in the Word of God you discover that mankind, before the flood, though exceedingly wicked (see Gen. 6:5), were innovators, figured out music, metallurgy, farming, building, etc. So, what if the pyramids were built pre-flood as huge obelisks (for whatever purpose), the flood came, encased them in mud, which over time has turned to sedimentary rock?”

“There are reasons to think the pyramids were at one time submerged in water at the flood. Yet, one of the arguments against the pyramids being pre-flood is that “they are built on sedimentary rock.” Well, it appears they may be built on bedrock, 680 meters (2,231 ft) below the surface. Either shafts were dug deep into the post-flood sedimentary rock, or very tall structures were built, that were later encased in mud at the flood and turned into stone.”

“When I consider the latter, and the weight of the pyramids, it seems unlikely that a structure 2,231 tall could be built to support its weight, even if it was made out of granite blocks. Yet another idea is that the pyramids were built into the pre-flood bedrock, and were obelisk type structures, partly built into the ground and built above the ground, and the flood covered most of the part of what sticks above ground in mud, that turned to sedimentary rock after the flood. Crazy discoveries are happening around the world and some, like Göbekli Tepe, are purposefully being covered up (e.g., tomb of Gilgamesh). What are governments afraid we might discover? Could it be evidence that confirms the Bible is true and that evolution is a lie? I think so. Fascinating stuff.”

Justin Peters concurred that this was his thought as well:

Justin Peters: “I agree completely. Humans thousands of years ago were far more intelligent than are we. I once saw a documentary on the Sphinx and it made a compelling case that it shows distinct signs of water erosion.“

When Dr. Hughes says Gobekli Tepe is being covered up, he is not kidding. It literally is being covered up. The Istanbul Chronicle reports, “Since 2016, all excavation work at Göbeklitepe, a site of extreme historical significance, has reportedly been stopped. Instead, a roof has been constructed over the site, and areas that needed to be excavated have been covered with trees.” They are also building roads over it.

Whether or not we discover the truth about these things in heaven, it is still an interesting notion that the secular world sees, and deep-down knows, that, as the Westminster Shorter Catechism says, the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. We are made to worship.

Posted in Uncategorized

The Power of Prayer: Connecting Earth and Heaven

Posted on by elizabethprata

This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (1 John 5:14)

Andrew Bonar: “I have been endeavoring to keep up prayer…every hour of the day, stopping my occupation, whatever it is, to pray a little. I seek to keep my soul within the shadow of the throne of grace and Him that sits thereon.”

Isn’t that descriptive, keeping one’s soul in the shadow of the One who sits on the throne. Prayer does that for us. Spurgeon said,

Prayer meetings are the throbbing machinery of the church

Prayer straddles our lives both on earth and in heaven. I need to do better in my life, and I can’t imagine a Christian who doesn’t think they can do better at prayer either.

Spurgeon’s reference to machinery got me thinking of another of Spurgeon’s sermons, one called God’s Providence. (#3114). Spurgeon likened the cherubim’s acts near the throne and the wheels within wheels as described by Ezekiel as machinery of Providence. He described, hypothetically of course, the wheels going up and down and left and right in tandem as the machinery of Providence carrying out God’s will and decrees. It’s an interesting thought, and Spurgeon is vivid about his descriptions. Here are a few-

So in God’s Providence, there is an axle which never moves. Christian, here is a sweet thought for thee! Thy state is ever changing; sometimes thou art exalted, and sometimes depressed; yet there is an unmoving point in thy state. What is that axle? What is the pivot upon which all the machinery revolves? It is the axle of God’s everlasting love toward his covenant people. he exterior of the wheel is changing, but the center stands forever fixed. Other things may move; but God’s love never moves: it is the axle of the wheel; and this is another reason why Providence should be compared to a wheel.

My firm belief is, that angels are sent forth somehow or other to bring about the great purposes of God. The great wheel of Providence is turned by an angel.

That you will see by the text: “Behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces.” The wheel had “four faces.” I think that means one face to the north, another to the south, another to the east, and another to the west. There is a face to every quarter. Providence is universal, looking to every quarter of the globe.

And so on. Neat, huh?

In further imagining this ‘throbbing machinery’ of prayer, I created some scripture pictures of my interpretation of prayer machinery of heaven. I enjoy imagining how God works and thinking about what things look like in heaven, given the glimpses we have been given in scripture. My favorite doctrine is Providence. Combining that with the imagined ‘machinery’ of prayer is intriguing. This is one of the ways I mull over scripture and doctrinal concepts.

Please enjoy.

Further Reading

Let’s pray for the persecuted and the missionaries around the world. Read this story, I hope it moves you-

Banner of Truth Magazine: He Gave His Life So Another Might Live

The Spurgeon Center- Just as near to heaven, the death of Annie Dunn

The Master’s Academy International (TMAI) Prayer Guide

Voice of the Martyrs: Pray Today App (free)
Voice of the Martyrs: Global Prayer Guide (free)

Posted in encouragement, Uncategorized

The Connection Between Incense and Prayer

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The LORD told Jeremiah to tell the people that their sacrifices of incense were not going to be received, because of their sin. He was going to send judgment instead. There is a connection between incense and prayer, I’ll explore today.

First, let’s look at the Temple and the altar of incense, called the golden altar. (Exodus 39:38).

for the altar of incense made of refined gold, and its weight; also his plan for the golden chariot of the cherubim that spread their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the LORD. (1 Chronicles 28:18–19).

The Lexham Bible Dictionary explains that pure incense was manufactured from equal parts of the following substances:

•      stacte—oil of myrrh
•      onycha—an extract from a Red Sea mollusk
•      galbanum—thought to come from the gum of an umbelliferous plant
•      frankincense

This mixture was seasoned with salt (Exodus 30:34–38). The LORD raised up perfumers whose job it was to produce the incense. (Exodus 30:34-38). One of the responsibilities of the priest was to keep incense burning on the altar daily. (2 Chronicles 13:11). Not to burn it was disobedience. (2 Chronicles 29:7-8).

There’s much more to the actual incense ingredients, blending, burning, and spiritual uses, but for now, let’s turn to the main idea for today- the connection between incense and prayers.

Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. (Zechariah, in Luke 1:8-11)

John Owen in his commentary on Hebrews makes a distinction between the two times incense is used in the temple.

Whereas, therefore, there was a twofold use of the altar of incense; the one of the ordinary priests, to burn incense in the sanctuary every day; and the other of the high priest, to take incense from it when he entered into the most holy place, to fill it with a cloud of its smoke; the apostle intending a comparison peculiarly between the Lord Christ and the high priest only in this place, and not the other priests in the daily. discharge of their office

Incense both accompanies and symbolizes prayer. ( Psalm 141:2; Revelation 5:8; Revelation 8:3-4). The burning of incense as a sweet smelling offering before the Lord, indicated the worshiper’s duty to present prayers or offerings that were pleasing to God (1 Samuel 2:28).

When the New Covenant came, the new way of praying came. (Matthew 6:9). No longer needing a priest to intercede, no longer needing incense to symbolize types and shadows, we now have the Spirit in us to intercede, and the resurrected Jesus next to the right hand of the Father to intercede. We can ourselves go boldly before the throne of grace.

John Owen in his commentary on Hebrews lays out four ways incense is like prayer.

1.) In that it was beaten and pounded before it was used. So doth acceptable prayer proceed from “a broken and contrite heart,” Isaiah 51:17.

(2.) It was of no use until fire was put under it, and that taken from the altar. Nor is that prayer of any virtue or efficacy which is not kindled by the fire from above, the Holy Spirit of God; which we have from our altar, Christ Jesus.

(3.) It naturally ascended upwards towards heaven, as all offerings in the Hebrew are called “ascensions,” risings up. And this is the design of prayer, to ascend unto the throne of God: “I will direct unto thee, and will look up;” that is, pray, Psalms 5:3.

(4.) It yielded a sweet savor: which was one end of it in temple services, wherein there was so much burning of flesh and blood. So doth prayer yield a sweet savor unto God; a savor of rest, wherein he is well pleased.

Owen further observes:

We are always to reckon that the efficacy and prevalency of all our prayers depends on the incense which is in the hand of our merciful high priest. — It is offered with the prayers of the saints, Revelation 8:4. In themselves our prayers are weak and imperfect; it is hard to conceive how they should find acceptance with God. But the invaluable incense of the intercession of Christ gives them acceptance and prevalency.

What an inexpressible privilege it is to pray. The curtain is parted, we may boldly approach the throne of God. He not only hears our prayer, he Himself intercedes for us when we utter groanings too weak to understand. (Romans 8:26).

Do not neglect prayer, a sweet smell of our sacrifice of praise to our Lord who hears.

smoke2

Posted in theology

Unveiling the Truth: Understanding Purposeful Disingenuousness

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Beth Moore’s “aw shucks, li’l ole me, I’m here to serve you” demeanor is a lie. It’s actually purposeful disingenuousness. I remember that time she said she spent the weekend at “a beach house” but it was really her own $900,000 waterfront mansion. She couldn’t just say “my beach house” but instead she purposely crafted a statement that gave the opposite impression.

Today, she said her 2 million square feet of forested land is “some acres.” The post leaves one with the impression that they are lucky homeowners to be able to cling to a few trees on their lot, when the truth is her property is actually the largest land tract in the entire area, 2 million square feet equaling 45 forested acres with a spring running through it. This is a well-established pattern with Moore, and in fact, most false teachers. A contrived version that either exaggerates what is not there or hides what is there. It’s non-transparency.

I have no doubt that she loves it. That’s fine. But taking time to parse her words in order to give the reader an impression that is not true is less than holy.

Merriam Webster dictionary defines purposeful disingenuousness as “giving a false appearance of simple frankness: calculating“. And that is false teacher Beth Moore to a T.

Ladies, remember what Paul said about being transparent. He didn’t use the word transparent, but he described transparency in 2 Corinthians 1:12-14, saying “For our proud confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you. 13 For we write nothing else to you than what you read and understand, and I hope you will understand until the end; 14 just as you also partially did understand us, that we are your reason to be proud as you also are ours, on the day of our Lord Jesus..“

Paul was saying he had been plain, open, clear, has a pure conscience, and does not rely on fleshly wisdom (which is actually no wisdom at all).

Transparency, or openness, or allowing ourselves to be vulnerable, is what makes us human. It’s what allows for human connection. Our bonds will be strong if we are real with one another.

Like Beth Moore, if we continually carefully craft an outer persona that does not match the inner woman, all she are left with is lies and a rotten core; and for us, an eventual feeling of betrayal when the truth is finally uncovered. And it always comes out. People can tell when we are being humbly honest and when we are equivocating. When we are vulnerable in real ways, and when we are serving up poop on a plate.

AN oft-cited verse when discussing transparency in our relationships is from 1 John 1:7, but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Walking in the light is walking in truth, sincerity, honesty… Barnes’ Notes makes this insight on the 1 John 1:7 verse,

We have fellowship one with another – As we all partake of his feelings and views, we shall resemble each other. Loving the same God, embracing the same views of religion, and living for the same ends, we shall of course have much that is common to us all, and thus shall have fellowship with each other.

How can we be resembling one another in our pursuit of Jesus’ likeness when we conceal our selves by presenting a dishonest persona to our fellows?

The false teacher HAS TO hide themselves because they are false. They have constructed a careful but artificial persona.

While true Christians live a natural life full of honesty and bonded meaning with one another:

False teachers have to present a parsed, curated, artificial version of themselves both in word and deed. But especially words. As a discerner, we need to hear the words but have an ear to understanding when their words do not match their behavior or lifestyle. Carefully crafted but artificial humility and hiding the truth, will do no one any good. A false teacher may survive her concealment for a while, but discerning folks will see the truth behind the words. And if not, anyway- in the end “nothing is concealed that will not become evident, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.” (Luke 8:17)

Posted in theology

Advancing the Kingdom: Our True Calling

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

We’re human beings. We’re living on this planet, in a city or town, in a neighborhood. We have jobs, many of us, where we engage daily with corporate politics, personalities, infrastructure. We have hobbies and groups and clubs. We are involved.

Sometimes we get so busy and so involved, we become unwisely invested in the systems around us. It’s good to be involved, but not to the point that we become so embedded that we forget about the kingdom.

We are on this earth to advance the kingdom. We are supposed to be ambassadors for Christ. We’re supposed to reflect His likeness through our holy living, our kindness, our faith, our witness.

If we become SO involved in world systems we incorrectly focus on that and shunt to the side our real job, which is involvement in church and in spiritual practices.

Here is what my pastor had to say about the advancement of the kingdom in a recent sermon:

Well finally, it should go without saying but it needs saying. That the Kingdom of God advances only by His Gospel. The Kingdom of God advances only by the Gospel. That truth should be so obvious, but it is so frequently cast aside. The Kingdom of God is not advanced by any other means.

It does not advance by political power. Or by turning nations into theocracies. Or by winning elections. It does not advance by military might. Or coercion. Or a legal mandate. It does not advance by entertainment. Or by acquiescing biblical truth in order to find common ground with sinners. He does not advance by having more children, or by educational practices, or by withdrawing from society.

When Jesus said, My kingdom is not of this world, He meant just that. We cannot and must not use the world’s means to advance His kingdom. Many false teachers have come who exploit believers and pervert the mission of the church for selfish gain. Throughout the history of Christianity, wherever and whenever people have hijacked the church in order to advance their conception of the Kingdom of God by means of the world’s methods, it has not only failed, but it has soiled the name of Christ, produced an abundance of false converts, and wrecked the [local] church.

Where is the Christian nation today? Where are its holy leaders and humble people? It’s nowhere to be found because the kingdom of God will not be established as a government on this earth until the King returns. Jesus is the King, not us. It’s His kingdom, not ours. Therefore God’s people must use only God’s methods to spread God’s message in order to advance God’s kingdom while we wait for our King. And so let’s wait for our King. –end

When 12 year old Jesus stayed behind at the temple and his parents could not find Him, His reply to his mother as to why He had treated His parents that way, was,

And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49). NASB

Or as the NKJV says more familiarly, “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?“

We must prioritize our charge on earth that we have been given. Not that we neglect the daily things we must do. I mean, dishes must be done, salaries must be earned, children must be tended to… but the priority of our lives is Jesus, and being about our Father’s business. We advance the kingdom in only that way.

Posted in theology

The Danger of Drifting: A Faith Shipwreck Warning

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

“Man without Christ is a shipwreck upon the rocks, rocked by every wave of temptation, with no anchor, with no hope. Death looms before him as a door to judgment, for the wages of sin is death,” says Dustin Benge in his Hearts Aflame episode of Puritan devotionals.

In the episode above, we meet Scottish late Puritan Thomas Boston. In Boston’s well-regarded classic, Human Nature in its Fourfold State, Benge explains that “Thomas Boston vividly portrays the fallen condition of humanity—alienated from God, enslaved to sin, and without hope apart from Christ. The depth of human ruin is sobering, yet it magnifies the glory of divine grace.”

Do you recognize the depth of your natural misery without Christ’s redemption?

The episode talked about man without Christ,

“Man without Christ is like a ship wrecked upon the rocks, tossed by every wave of temptation, with no anchor, no hope.”

This maritime metaphor is real to me. I have sailed about 15,000 nautical miles living in a sailboat upon the waters from Maine to Florida and across to the Bahamas and back, twice. I’ve sailed from Tampa Florida to the Dry Tortugas, and zoomed from Naples, Florida to Rhode Island in a 21 foot powerboat. I’ve crossed the Gulf Stream in calm, at night, and in a storm. Gone through the washing machine that is Hell’s Gate in New York City. I’ve been in the Storm of the Century 1993. I’ve been in Hurricane Bob. I know lighthouses, rocks, shoals, and shipwrecks (Charley’s Crab was lost in the storm of ’93, and another friend lost his boat in a different storm in the Caribbean). We came close to shipwreck ourselves, twice.

Shipwreck is a very bad thing.

Worse would be making a shipwreck of the faith.

Russian painter Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900) made a career out of painting maritime scenes, including shipwrecks. Like this one:

“A sinking ship” by Ivan Aivazovsky

Without Christ, we can do nothing. Oh, I know the skeptic will say, ‘Doody-head, of course we do things! We live and breathe and work and have kids and play baseball and drive cars and all the things!” Correct. But the pagan without Christ can do nothing that pleases Him. Without Christ we cannot bear fruit for the kingdom, worship Him rightly, live for holiness, reflect His image, or do anything at all.

Paul advised Timothy to ‘fight the good fight’, keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. (1 Timothy 1:19).

Jude wrote that the ungodly pretenders are unreasoning animals and warned that they “are the ones who are hidden reefs in your love feasts…“(Jude 1:12a). Do you know what hidden reefs do? Wreck your ship.

“The Ninth Wave” by Ivan Aivazovsky

Hebrews 2:1 says For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. Do you know what happens when you don’t pay attention? Your mooring becomes loose and you drift away from the dock or the mothership, and untethered, you soon lose sight of land. Shipwreck.

“The Wrath of the Seas” Ivan Aivazosky

‘Drifting’ is the thing to be afraid of. Just as some boat, not made fast to the bank, certainly glides down stream so quietly and with so little friction that her passengers do not know that they are moving until they come up on deck, and see new fields around them, so the ‘things which we have heard,’ and to which we ought to be moored or anchored, we shall drift, drift, drift away from, and, in nine cases out of ten, shall not feel that we are moving, till we are roused by hearing the noise of the whirlpools and the falls close ahead of us; and look round and see a strange country. McLaren’s Expositions.

Now, if you are truly saved, you can never lose your salvation. Judas had the rejection inside of him all the while, he just pretended to be a disciple of Christ. He followed with his feet, but his heart could do nothing.

Matthew Henry says of 1 Timothy 1:19’s shipwreck,

As for those who had made shipwreck of the faith, he specifies two, Hymeneus and Alexander, who had made a profession of the Christian religion, but had quitted that profession; and Paul had delivered them to Satan. Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 2352).

Warren Wiersbe said, “Paul changed the illustration from army to navy (1 Tim. 1:19). He warned Timothy that the only way to succeed was to hold fast to “faith and a good conscience.” It is not enough to proclaim the faith with our lips; we must practice the faith in our daily lives“. Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 213). Victor Books.

A good conscience is key to the verse. Shipwreck comes when one ignores the conscience, suppresses what is good, and eventually sears it so that he or she drifts, winds up on the rocks, and wrecks their faith.

As is said in the Hearts Aflame article, The depth of human ruin is sobering, yet it magnifies the glory of divine grace.” The wondrous mystery is that Jesus relieves us of our sin burden, erases it from the record books when we repent. Those who recognize the depth of our natural misery are deeply grateful for having this burden and misery removed. The Lord’s divine grace shines so brightly that the Christian never looks away but only grows in love and attachment to Him, and as a result, we are “keeping a pure conscience.”

Further Rescources

John MacArthur: The Vanishing Conscience (book)

The Conscience, by Richard Greenham (essay)

The Puritan Conscience by J. I. Packer (essay)

Posted in theology

Curate your soul

Posted on by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I have always been a museum-goer. My parents did a good job of introducing me to cultural things and museums were one of those cultural things. A museum is where I first heard the word “curate” or “curator”.

According to AI, “A curator’s role involves overseeing and managing collections, including historical items, artwork, and other artifacts, ensuring their preservation, proper presentation, and accessibility for exhibits and displays within institutions like museums, libraries, and historical sites.“

The curator selects the art pieces and decides which goes where in order to make a cohesive experience for the viewer in the museum, or gallery, wherever the pieces are that have been curated.

And that setting is where the word “curate” remained for most of my adult life.

Until the internet. Until the internet really got going with social media exploding everywhere.

Now I hear the word curate all the time. According to AI again, in terms of social media,

“In the context of social media, “curate” means selecting and sharing valuable, relevant content created by others to engage your audience and build your brand’s reputation as a credible source of information.”

Everyone is a curator. People curate their Facebook wall. They curate their Twitter stream. They curate their Instagram photos. They curate their TikToks. Everybody is a curator.

I got to thinking… do we curate our souls?

The world’s most precious commodity is the soul. Everybody has one. Someone somewhere might not have a social media to curate, but everyone has a soul.

“The sinful body is the sepulchre in which it is entombed, until Christ
giveth it life.” ~The Greatness of the Soul, John Bunyan.

The New Testament is FULL of wise advice, admonitions, and exhortations on how to curate this precious item, this invisible, ephemeral, but real and actual thing. A soul dwells inside all who are unborn and who are born. It emerges wrapped in flesh and lurks in the heart to do only evil against God.

Upon Adam’s sampling the fruit, Boston wrote, “Death also seized his soul; he lost his original righteousness, and the favor of God; witness the pangs of conscience which made him hide himself from God. And he became liable to eternal death…“

But God’s mercy is such that He did not leave us in that hopeless state. He sent His own Son to live the perfectly holy life that we could not ever live. He was killed for this, dying on the cross, and buried. But He rose again on the third day and ascended into heaven, to sit at the right hand of the Father. His feet are upon the footstool of all enemies, including death.

“Turn your eyes, O prisoners of hope, towards the Lord Jesus Christ; and embrace him, as he offers himself in the gospel. “There is no salvation in any other,” Acts 4:12.” Thomas Boston, “Human Nature in its Fourfold State“.

If you have been redeemed, dear reader, how do you curate your soul? The very soul wrested from death’s grip at bloody expense? Have you committed your interests to the Glorious Savior?

Boston again, “Be frequently reflecting upon your conduct, and considering what course of life you wish to be found in, when death arrests you; and act accordingly. When you do the duties of your station in life, or are employed in acts of worship, think with yourselves, that, it may be, this is the last opportunity; and therefore do it as if you were never to do more of that kind. When you lie down at night, compose your spirits, as if you were not to awake until the heavens be no more. And when you awake in the morning, consider that new day as your last; and live accordingly.”

Further Resources

Human Nature in its Fourfold State by Thomas Boston at Monergism, read online for free

The Greatness of the Soul, John Bunyan at Chapel Library, download for free