jesus – Page 13

Understanding Spiritual Gifts: The Role of Discernment

Posted on May 6, 2025 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

SYNOPSIS

A reader had asked me a question, my response focuses on the significance of the spiritual gift of discernment within the church. This gift helps identify and warn against false teachers, which is crucial given the prevalence of false doctrine in the New Testament. A by-product of training one’s self in discernment is that the Christian values the word of God even more. All believers should cultivate discernment, recognizing the balance between vetting teachers and focusing on Jesus.

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theology

Sunday word of the Week: Omniscience

Posted on May 4, 2025 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The thread of Christianity depends on a unity from one generation to the next of mutual understanding of our important words. Hence the Word of the Week.

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The simple definition:

Omniscience: God’s knowing all things that are proper object of knowledge, including all future events. Definition from Biblical Doctrine, MacArthur & Mayhue, p. 935

Longer definition & explanation:

God’s omniscience is his perfect knowing of himself, all actual things outside himself, and all things that do not become reality in one eternal and simple (not having any parts but having distinctions) act (exertion of energy). One should note that this definition does not say that God knows things that are “possible”, because in God’s eternal mind and plan there are only actual things, not possible things. He does know what would have occurred if circumstances had been different, but since in his mind and plan they would never occur, they are not ‘possibilities’. Source ibid.

Omniscience is considered by most theologians as an incommunicable attribute of God, though some disagree and believe omniscience will be communicated to us in glory. (Bavinck, Shedd, Hodge, Berkhof).

God’s omniscience is a demonstration of and affirmation of His sovereignty. He knows all because He is the first cause of all. Every plan in the universe originates from God’s all-knowing mind.

While in some ways it is a fearful thing to understand that God is omniscient, in many other ways, it is comforting. He is in control. He loves His believers, even though He knows us and He knows what we think, say, and do, now and in the future. He loves us sinners anyway.

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
(Psalm 139:1-6)

omniscience

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Job’s Wife: A Call for Compassion

Posted on May 2, 2025May 9, 2025 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

SYNOPSIS

This discussion highlights the often negative portrayal of Job’s wife, emphasizing her grief after losing everything along with Job. Despite Mrs. Job urging her husband to abandon his faith, my essay calls for a compassionate understanding of her character. It warns against allowing adverse circumstances to weaken our faith, and I encourage women to provide support to their family during trials.

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theology

Evaluating the Recent G3 Conference Issue: A Case Study

Posted on May 1, 2025May 1, 2025 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

G3 Conference 2020, theme was Worship. EPrata photo

SYNOPSIS:

I talk about Christian conferences, particularly in light of the recent issue of the G3 Conference. While I appreciate the value of some events, I express concern over commercialization and issues undermining spiritual integrity. The tension between organizing a large venue conference and pure ministry remains a critical issue.

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theology

Too old? Too small? You make a difference!

Posted on April 29, 2025 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

SYNOPSIS

Many feel insignificant in their contribution to the Kingdom but can still make a powerful impact through humble service. Each person’s efforts, no matter how small or overlooked, hold value in God’s eyes. Like minor biblical figures who played crucial roles, everyone can honor God through sincere and prayerful actions.

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theology

Facing the Apocalypse: Reactions from the Bible

Posted on April 28, 2025 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

SYNOPSIS

I reflect on the disorder of my digital files while I was reorganizing them, and in so doing re-discovered a commentary I’d forgotten I had. It is by John Phillips called Exploring Genesis. Phillips recounted different reactions to apocalypse, including Jonah, Abraham, and Jesus. In this essay I urge readers to remember the impending apocalypse and to respond as Abraham and Jesus did, with prayer and tears.

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theology

How Christ’s Character Reflects in Us

Posted on April 25, 2025April 28, 2025 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

And Saul commanded his servants, “Find me someone who plays well, and bring him to me.” One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the LORD is with him.” (1 Samuel 16:17-18).

King Saul is distressed. He gets these spells of despondency and near madness due to an evil spirit plaguing him. Music quells these incidences, and in v. 16, Saul is calling for help. Saul’s servant replies that ‘he has seen’ a young man of good character. We’ll come back to ‘he has seen.’

You notice that the servant didn’t just leave it at ‘plays well’. Anyone can hire a good musician. But when you’re feeling down, who do you want nearby to comfort you, even if it is through music with not much personal interaction? You want a good man. So the servant also included David’s character qualities in this verbal resume. He said that it is seen that David is known to be valorous, strong (man of war), and discerning. That’s the Hebrew word for ‘prudent in speech’. What is meant here is “intelligent, discreet, discerning, have understanding”. When you’re King and enter into a spell of weakness, you don’t want a blabbermouth running your private business all over town. You want someone compassionate.

Finally, the servant ends with a kicker: the Lord is with David.

In the New Testament times one would likely say “He is in the Lord”, or “The Spirit is in him.”

The saints of God are recognized by their fruit. One example is Samuel, “Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the LORD and also with man.” (1 Sam 2:26; cf Luke 2:40).

Luke 6:44 reminds us that a good tree will bear good fruit. Galatians 5:22-23 reminds us that the fruit is:

“love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

Matthew 5:14 says we are to be light in the world. Light is not hidden but bright and high so all can see. We believers are to have evidence in our lives that we are one of the Lord’s. That evidence needs to be seen in our words and deeds. (James 2:14). We need to have observable evidence because sanctification means we are daily being conformed to the image of Christ. We must reflect His character in more observable ways as we grow though our life.

I am not talking about personal reputation. I am not speaking of a motivation where we cultivate the approval of man. I am not speaking of that at all.

As James M. Hamilton explained in his book Work and Our Labor for the Lord,

We live obediently and humbly “as a good testimony for unbelievers (1 Corinthians 9:12; 1 Thessalonians 4:12; 1 Timothy 5:14; 6:1; Titus 2:5,9). At many points in his letters Paul instructs Christians to live in a way that reflects concern for how non-Christians perceive Christianity and its adherents. That is to say, Christians are to work in ways that commend the faith to outsiders. Believers are to be winsome and attractive, not repulsive and obnoxious. This concern for how unbelievers perceive the faith is inextricably connected to a desire for others to know, enjoy, and glorify God in Christ. This aspect of doing good work links up with the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). Christians contribute to the task of making disciples of all nations by doing good work that gives the faith a good reputation.”

It’s the reputation of Christ that is at play here, not ours. If we are observably joyful, kind, faithful, self-controlled, good, patient, peaceful, loving, full of light, it will be obvious that it is Christ’s character in us, by the Spirit.

David’s character was observable and noted. Remember, whether you realize it or not, even if you work from home or work in a cubicle, people are watching you (us). They note your (our) character. The more we walk with Christ, the more our character will be His character.

What are people observing about you? Is Christ in you and evident? When someone wants to choose a person for a project or a team or a club, would they say you (me) are brave, prudent, skillful, with good presence, and the Lord with us? Like David? I hope and pray that people see the Lord in me, and not me in me, or at least less and less of me. Christ’s character is beautiful.

theology

The Divine Gift of Sleep

Posted on April 24, 2025 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I watch Nathan Fillion in his TV show “The Rookie”. It’s about LA’s oldest police rookie on the force, loosely based on a true story of an older man who really had switched careers mid-life and decided to become a beat cop.

In a recent episode, Fillion, playing police officer John Nolan, woke up, stretched, grimaced, and said, “Getting older means waking up every morning wondering, “Why does that hurt?”

He nailed it.

As I age, sleep becomes important proportionately to the amount it becomes elusive. I’ve always been a good sleeper, no issues with insomnia. Even now as I’m older I still sleep well, but now only for 5 1/2 to 6 hours straight. Then I wake up. It’s usually around 3am, and it takes me a while to return to slumberland. Which is irritating because on weekdays I get up at 4:30am.

Everything in our lives, saved or unsaved, is from the Lord. He either allows it or causes it. As a Christian, sleep is a graceful gift from the Lord. He gives us sleep, peace, and rest.

Now, being the Bible, those three words have various meanings. Sleep in the Bible is used sometimes as a euphemism for death, because death for us is not final, our ‘death’ is only sleep until we are resurrected. Sleep can also mean a spiritual torpor. (Romans 11:8). Sleep also means actual 40 winks sleep.

Peace can mean a restful interlude that includes sleep or not, but it also means peace as in cessation from war and enmity against God due to our sin. Rest can mean actual rest as in the 7th day God rested and we do too, or it can also mean a rest from the struggle against sin.

But for now, let’s look at actual 40 winks sleep and rest. There is natural sleep, bad sleep, and good sleep.

Sleep is a natural human function and a good gift from God. He knows our body is temporary, gets tired, and needs sleep to continue to function. So sleep itself is a gift and is neutral. The human side of Jesus got tired, and He slept.

Psalm 4:8, In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, LORD, have me dwell in safety.

Psalm 127:2, In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for bread to eat—for He gives sleep to His beloved.

Bad sleep:

Then there is a sleep our mind uses to indulge the body or escape the conscience. Jonah the runaway prophet disobeyed God and ran in the other direction he was told to go. He scurried to Joppa and boarded a boat. He went “down below into the stern of the ship, had lain down, and fallen sound asleep.” (Jonah 1:5b).

Now this is funny to me because I am a small craft mariner. I’d lived on a 37′ sailboat for two years. In Jonah’s storm, the sailors were hurling cargo overboard – so picture the bumps and scrapes of amphorae and trunks being dragged across the deck- the waves were crashing against the boat, the wind was screaming, the sailors were yelling, the sails noisily hoisted and reefed…a lot of noisy activity all around Jonah. Yet he not only slept, but the Bible said he slept soundly. The Hebrews word lists synonyms for soundly as a heavy sleep or a dead sleep.

As a mariner, I wonder HOW he could sleep deeply when all this activity and noise was going on?! We do know his journey to Joppa was full of emotion and stress. Stress and exhaustion can make one tired. Barnes’ Notes mentions this true fact, “Perhaps he had given himself up to sleep, to dull his conscience.” Sleep IS an escape.

In Jonah’s case, the LORD had not given Jonah the sweetness of refreshing sleep, instead He had given the ship a great wind and storm. (Jonah 1:4).

Also, as Ellicott’s Commentary says, “when a resolution is once irrevocably (as we think) taken, conscience ceases to disturb with its wakeful warning, and the restlessness of remorse has not yet arrived.“

So while a deep sleep is a gift from the LORD, our flesh can also give us a deep sleep, but the two are not the same. One is a heavenly gift and the other is a fleshly indulgence. Deep sleep can arise from sloth, avoidance, laziness (Proverbs 19:15), or just lain weakness of the flesh, as we see in this next example.

The Disciples slept in Gethsemane the night of our Lord’s arrest. The Lord Jesus asked Peter, John, and James to stay awake with Him. He said he was greatly distressed, grieved to the point of death and to stay and keep watch with Him. Yet their eyes were heavy and they fell asleep. Jesus returned from his little distance away three times and each time found them slumbering.

And He *came to the disciples and *found them sleeping, and He *said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? 41 Keep watching and praying, so that you do not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”. (Matthew 26:40-41).

The disciples’ flesh won in this battle.

And then Jesus was arrested and there were no more chances to be with Him! How guilty would you feel if a dear loved one asked you to stay awake and pray with him or her but you fell asleep and then they were taken away, or died?

Jesus told them that they were willing but their flesh was weak. And so it is. We forget just how child-like we are. We forget just how weak we are. We forget just how bound by our flesh we are.

Weird sleep

Several times in the Bible we see that God gave a deep sleep to someone for spiritual purposes. In Genesis 2:21 God gave Adam a deep sleep while he took a rib from the man. In Genesis 15:12 God again caused a deep sleep to come on Abram, when God was making the covenant with him. In 1 Samuel 26:12 the Lord caused a deep sleep to come over King Saul and his men while David crept in and took his water jug and spear.

He often came to the Prophets when they slept to deliver a vision.

Jeremiah 31:25-26, for I will refresh the weary soul and replenish all who are weak.” / At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been most pleasant to me.

I am glad for Jeremiah for his good sleep. For once the Lord had not given him dire visions or terror warnings in his dreams, but instead Jeremiah had received a vision that was actually pleasant. Phew.

Good Sleep

Psalm 3:5
I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the LORD sustains me.

Proverbs 3:24
When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you rest, your sleep will be sweet.

Jesus slept on the boat in the storm. The disciples were heaving water overboard as fast as it came in. The wind screamed. The sails flapped wildly. The men were yelling. So finally they woke Jesus up. What a similar but different scene with Jonah on his boat. This was an example of both Jesus’ humanity- the man Jesus was exhausted. And it is also a spiritual picture of his deep, unwavering trust in His Father. This is a sleep of trust in the good gifts of the Father.

When you lay your head down tonight, thank the Lord for making us weak and needing sleep to keep going. Thank Him for the sweetness of an unencumbered sleep. Ask Him, if you are troubled, to give you the gift of an uninterrupted night of rest.

theology

Understanding Ruth’s Character through Her Choices

Posted on April 23, 2025April 23, 2025 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Ruth And Naomi by Pieter Pieterszoon Lastman, 1624

We’ve all had to deal with bitter and negative people. Even when the nicest thing happens, these people turn it into a gloomy object of sadness, or exhibit a woe is me attitude. Such a woman was Naomi in the book of Ruth. Naomi was Ruth’s mother-in-law, which sometimes complicates matters, as every daughter-in-law knows, lol.

When famine came to the Bethlehemite family of Elimelech and Naomi and sons Mahlon and Chilion, they decided to sojourn to Moab, where conditions were better. Sadly the verses in Deuteronomy 7:3; 23:3 forbid the Israelites from associating with the idolatrous Moabites, but the family went anyway. Settling down, the sons intermarried. In due time, the sons died, as well as Naomi’s husband. Three widows fending for themselves…the outlook didn’t seem good.

So Naomi decided to return to her former hometown, now that the famine had passed. She urged the daughters-in-law to remain in Moab with their own people. Orpah did, but Ruth’s devotion to her dead husband’s mother was solid. In good conscience, could a family member let an aged woman travel alone, facing uncertainty upon her arrival, even if it was her hometown? Decades had passed. Who knew what awaited Naomi.

No, Ruth made her famous statement, ‘where you go, I will go, your people will be my people, your God will be my God’. Such loyalty and devotion Ruth had! Ruth could have cut ties at that point, rationalizing that bitter and negative Naomi should be left to her own devices. But Ruth’s character overlooked it.

While in Bethlehem, Ruth was gleaning in Boaz’s field. When the two met, Ruth-

fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” But Boaz answered her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. (Ruth 2:10-11).

Ruth was humble upon meeting Boaz. She flung herself to the ground, in deference to him as landowner of the field from which she was gleaning, and in acknowledgement of her alien status.

Throughout her life, Ruth demonstrated loyalty and humility. She displayed diligence (“She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.” Ruth 2:6b).

When speaking to Boaz, Ruth was gracious – “May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my lord,” she said. “You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant—though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.” (Ruth 2:13).

Let’s go back to Boaz’s statement, “Fully reported to me.” Ladies, what we do and who we are can’t be hidden. We saw major glimpses of Ruth’s character before she arrived in Bethlehem, and since arriving, her character shone all the more. Ruth was known as a good woman. People knew this because they were watching. Our character is noted and reported, pro or con, whether we like it or not. Nothing is ever really hidden.

The deeds of Ruth were an extension of what was already inside of her. It was the bundle of different positive qualities in her that made the reports and observations of her deeds so Godly.

When my deeds have been fully reported to friends, church members, my family, or my employers, will that report be good, or bad? Will the characteristics the Spirit desires to grow in me be evident? Is the fruit evident? I hope so. I pray so.

How about you? As your deeds are fully reported to others, what would the report say?

In the end, there is one full report that none of us will escape. On the Day of the Lord, the books will be opened, and we will account for what we said and did post-salvation. (Romans 14:10–12; 2 Corinthians 5:10). Though it is not a judgment for us believers, it’s a reward ceremony, still, we will be called to account. The full report will be there, laying before the King and before His subject, each one of us in turn. Are we mindful each day that what we do on earth reflects on His Great Name? We will discover to what extent, when we get there.

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Further Information-

Trivia: Did you know that Oprah Winfrey’s name on her birth certificate is Orpah? However when people pronounced it, it was constantly spoken as Oprah, so that is the name that stuck.

Commentaries: Challies’ recommendations on Ruth

Best Book Series: Nate Pickowitz on why Ruth is the Best Book in the Bible (one in a series of 66, also, this link is to the cached version, the live version has gone dead).

Overview of the Book of Ruth: John MacArthur’s overview and introduction

theology

The Mystery of the Trinity: Embracing God’s Fellowship

Posted on April 22, 2025 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I think most Christians probably have heard the hymn Holy, Holy, holy. The refrain is

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!

Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.

Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

Your mind is humming it right now, isn’t it? 🙂

Our finite minds can’t grasp the notion of one person in three persons. So we don’t usually delve into the mystery of the Trinity. We don’t ponder it so much. It is a doctrine that just is.

“Theologian J.I. Packer noted that the Trinity is usually considered a little-thought-about piece of “theological lumber” that no one pays much attention to. But whatever your level of understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity, one thing you can know for sure: The Triune God is unchangeably committed to including you in the wonderful fellowship of the life of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit.” (Source).

The concept of the Trinity is mentioned a lot in the New Testament. I was surprised when I started thinking about this and studied it, there are more verses that mention it than I thought.

Jesus is teaching. “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” (John 14:7).

Philip asks, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus replied, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own, but the Father, as He remains in Me, does His works.” (John 14:10).

As our pastor taught, this is a concept called mutual indwelling. He explained in his sermon,

“He said something similar in chapter 10, verse 38; know and understand that the father is in me and I am in the father. That’s the language of mutual indwelling. What Jesus had been teaching them all along was his unity with the father. He is so united with the father, the best way to express it is mutual indwelling. The father dwells in him and he is in the father. Now that doesn’t mean that Jesus and the Father are identical in personhood. After all, according to verse 12 here, He was going to the Father, which indicates a distinction between them. And so their oneness doesn’t mean they’re identical in all respects, but to see Jesus is to see the Father in essence.

It is a mystery how all three Persons of the Trinity are one but separately they are three individual people, with their own wills, purposes, tasks. But God is one. I am glad He is a mystery. I would not respect a God I could understand. He has deigned to stoop to our level of understanding in magnificent ways. He gave us His word. He gave us His Son. He gave us the Holy Spirit to indwell us. He raised up the prophets. He have us this world in order to see his wonderful works. He gave us providence, where we can see in hindsight how He takes care of us.

Mutual indwelling as a term describing the relationship among the persons of the Trinity is an easy to understand term. Theologians also use a more technical term, perichoresis or circumincession.

Perichoresis is “the mutual intersecting or “interpenetration” of the three Persons of the Godhead and may help clarify the concept of the Trinity. It is a term that expresses intimacy and reciprocity among the Persons of the Godhead. Perichoresis is the fellowship of three co-equal Persons perfectly embraced in love and harmony and expressing an intimacy that no one can humanly comprehend. The Father sends the Son (John 3:16), and the Spirit proceeds from the Father and was sent by the Son (John 15:26)—another example of perichoresis, with the result that God’s people are blessed,” says GotQuestions.

“Though one Person or another may be emphasized in a particular work, no one person does any work exclusive of the other two persons, for as the classic dictum states, “the external works of the Trinity are undivided.” ~John MacArthur, Biblical Doctrine.

Our comprehension of this doctrine will always be beyond our mind’s finite grasp. But by faith we know the unity of the Godhead is perfect, the works of the Trinity are ongoing, the Trinity’s essence is shared perfectly yet without blurring each person’s distinctions.

Hebrews 1:3 says- And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.

The God-head’s fellowship has opened up to include humans. Our fellowship with God becomes possible after we repent and by faith we are saved through grace. Then, as JI Packer says:

fellowship becomes a possibility; and it is only as the Holy Spirit enables us to speak to others, and others to us, in such a way that Christ and the Father are made known through what is said, that fellowship is made a reality. When we seek to enjoy fellowship together, we should do so in prayerful dependence on the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, whose office it is to reveal Christ to us. ~Source, God’s words : studies of key Bible themes, JI Packer