Category Archives: God’s Word: The Bible

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May 15, 2025

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Church & Worship, God's Plan, God's Word: The Bible, Knowing Him, Sharing Our Faith, Wisdom & Guidance

CLOSE ONLY COUNTS IN HORSESHOES

For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that every one who believes in him shall not be lost, but should have eternal life. … Any man who believes in him is not judged at all. It is the one who will not believe who stands already condemned, because he will not believe in the character of God’s only Son. [John 3:16,18 (PHILLIPS)]

clematisWe once had neighbors who left our church for what I’ll call the “church of what’s happening now.” Its members have a variety of beliefs about God and, while they acknowledge a “higher power,” they do not share a concept of it. It could be God, a sacred force, or the spirit of life and there is no right or wrong way to understand Him, Her, or It. While some may regard Jesus as a great moral and spiritual leader or prophet (and possibly even supernatural), they don’t believe He was God and reject the Trinity. Theirs is an eclectic mix of beliefs with each person having his or her own personal truth. Embracing uncertainty, some believe there may be an afterlife and/or reincarnation but, for others, this life is all there is. Although they look to the Bible for wisdom, they also find spiritual inspiration in texts like the Bhagavad Gita, Dhammapada, and Tao Te-Ching. Our neighbors were loving caring people who believed in good things like justice, compassion, peace, protecting the environment, and the dignity of the individual. Nevertheless, while some of their thinking was correct, their conclusion was very wrong.

C.S. Lewis asserts that while many non-Christian religions have good ideas and may not be entirely erroneous, they most definitely are not correct. After all, while some math answers might be closer to being correct than others, there is only one correct answer to the problem. For example, if we had to determine the volume of a cone, we’d need the correct formula:⅓ x b x h. But, before starting, we’d need to figure out b (the area of the base) with another formula: pi x r2. To do that, however, we’d have to know the value for pi. With two formulas, several multiplications and one division, there are plenty of opportunities to get the final answer wrong. If the wrong formulas are used, the answer is wrong. If both the formulas and math are correct but the wrong number for pi is used, the answer is wrong and, if everything is done correctly but the decimal is misplaced, the answer still is wrong. Although a nice math teacher may give us some credit for being partially correct, I’m not sure God works that way. Although some of the answers offered by other religions are closer to being right than others, the only correct answer to the salvation equation is Jesus Christ!

In mathematics, we’re given a set of axioms (fundamental truths) and postulates (fundamental assumptions) on which we base our figuring. In Christianity, our creeds are our axioms and postulates. But rather than basing them on Aristotle or Euclid, our fundamental truths and assumptions are based on the Word of God as revealed in Scripture. Within those uncompromisable Christian beliefs, however, we are free to make choices and even disagree. That’s why we have so many different denominations! Nevertheless, our Christian creeds are just that—Christian—and they clarify and encompass our universal beliefs so that, however we got there, we all share the one and only right answer!

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, Born of the Virgin Mary, Suffered under Pontius Pilate, Was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell; The third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; The Holy catholic Church, the Communion of Saints; The Forgiveness of sins; The Resurrection of the body, And the Life everlasting. Amen. [Apostles’ Creed]

You all belong to one body, of which there is one Spirit, just as you all experienced one calling to one hope. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, one Father of us all, who is the one over all, the one working through all and the one living in all. [Ephesians 4:4-6 (PHILLIPS)]

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May 12, 2025

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, God's Word: The Bible, Obedience, Salvation: A New You, Temptation & Sin

DIFFERING WEIGHTS

Do not have differing weights in your bag, one heavy and one light. Do not have differing dry measures in your house, a larger and a smaller. You must have a full and honest weight, a full and honest dry measure, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. For everyone who does such things and acts unfairly is detestable to the Lord your God. [Deuteronomy 25:13-16 (CSB)]

Differing weights are detestable to the Lord, and dishonest scales are unfair. [Proverbs 20:23 (CSB)]

lady justice

In 1971, archeologists near the Temple Mount discovered a 2,700-year-old stone weight bearing two parallel lines. Although those lines indicated a weight of two gerah (a little less than a gram), it weighed 3.61 grams. Researchers believe it was used to defraud customers—something first condemned by God in Deuteronomy. Its discovery tells us that, despite Deuteronomy’s words, cheating weights and fraudulent scales were used in ancient Jerusalem. Nowadays, unless we’re butchers, greengrocers, goldsmiths, or grain merchants, we probably don’t have occasion to cheat anyone by short weighting them. Nevertheless, the Hebrew Scripture’s words about dishonest weights may not be limited to cheating someone out of a few ounces of lamb or grain.

Just because we don’t put our thumb on the scale or cheat on our income taxes doesn’t necessarily mean we’re using honest weights. Consider the scales of justice, one of the oldest and most familiar symbols associated with law. Representing the fairness expected in our courts, they represent the weighing of evidence on its own merit. Lady Justice often is depicted carrying those scales. Her blindfold means that she is blind to a person’s wealth, power, gender, politics, nationality, religion, and race. She doesn’t have double weights and measures or double standards. But, just as justice does not always wear its blindfold in our legal system, it often doesn’t in our personal lives, as well.

How fair and unbiased are we when we deal with people? Do we prejudge them based on their race, accent, clothing, age, or position? Do we favor those who are more attractive, wealthier, more influential, better educated, or look like us? Does it tip the scales when someone can return a favor or do something for us? Do we give the benefit of the doubt to certain people and not to others? Are we as considerate and polite to those who serve us as we are to those we serve?

Do we hold ourselves to a different standard than that we hold for others? Using a different weight, do we readily overlook our poor behavior when we wouldn’t tolerate that same behavior in someone else? Do we love some neighbors more than others or more freely extend mercy and kindness to certain people? When we buy something do we expect full disclosure but say, “buyer beware,” when we sell it? Do we correct the check when it’s in the restaurant’s favor but leave well enough alone when it’s in ours? Do our ethics and morals change with the situation or the people present? If the answer is yes to any of these questions, we’ve been using differing weights and dishonest scales!

The prophets Amos and Micah pronounced judgment on Israel for their lack of social justice, theft, exploitation, corruption, violence, bribery, and unethical business practices. What would the prophets say about us?

You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him. [James D. Miles Allison]

My brothers and sisters, do not show favoritism as you hold on to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. For if someone comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and a poor person dressed in filthy clothes also comes in, if you look with favor on the one wearing the fine clothes and say, “Sit here in a good place,” and yet you say to the poor person, “Stand over there,” or “Sit here on the floor by my footstool,” haven’t you made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?… If, however, you show favoritism, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. [James 2:1-4,9 (CSB)]

God’s verdict is on the lips of a king; his mouth should not give an unfair judgment. Honest balances and scales are the Lord’s; all the weights in the bag are his concern. [Proverbs 16:10-11 (CSB)]

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May 8, 2025

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Bible Stories, God's Word: The Bible, Knowing Him, Sharing Our Faith, Wisdom & Guidance

WAS THERE RAIN BEFORE THE FLOOD?

…for the Lord God had not made it rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground. But mist would come up from the earth and water all the ground. Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being. [Genesis 2:5-7 (CSB)]

double rainbowEarlier this week, I compared a fictional 21st century Noah with the original ark builder. Although I was told there had been no rain on earth before the Flood, since I hadn’t read it myself, I wanted to make sure before writing it. As it turns out, there is no clear decisive answer to whether or not there was rain before Noah’s day so I didn’t mention it at all.

Those who claim it never rained before the Flood occurred cite verses from Genesis and Hebrews to support their position. Genesis 2:5-7 tells us a mist covering the land watered the ground before the advent of mankind. Since rain isn’t mentioned again until Genesis 7:4 when God tells Noah He will make it rain, they assume the mist covered the earth until that time.

On the other hand, mist watering the earth prior to Adam doesn’t necessarily mean this canopy of water continued when Adam and Eve were banished from Eden. After the fall, things on earth changed radically—pain and death were introduced, the ground was cursed, and man had to toil to have food to eat. That neither rain nor drought are mentioned doesn’t necessarily mean they didn’t exist after the fall. It’s quite possible that the physical processes of water evaporation, cloud formation, and precipitation that recycle the world’s water supply today existed at the time of Noah, but we don’t know.

In Hebrews 11:7, we are told that God warned Noah “about what was not yet seen.” While that which hadn’t yet been seen could have been rain, it also could have been the phenomenon of a global catastrophe that started with a 40-day rainstorm flooding the entire earth and destroying every living thing on the earth. The event was so extraordinary that it would be one year and ten days after the rain began that Noah, his family, and the animals emerged from the ark onto dry land.

Once the waters receded, God promised that never again would floodwaters destroy all life; He confirmed His covenant with a rainbow. The timing of this post-flood rainbow is given as additional evidence that rain was a new phenomenon on earth since a rainbow requires the existence of rain. But, when God said, “I have placed my bow in the clouds,” He never said it was the first rainbow. God merely told Noah that it would serve as a reminder of His promise never to flood the earth again.

There is no way to know for sure whether there was rain prior to the flood and a case can be made for both sides of the question. Fortunately, whether or not it rained before the flood is a moot point because it doesn’t matter. Nevertheless, two valuable lessons were learned while I tried to answer that question. The first was simply to get our Bible knowledge first-hand!

The second lesson is that we should be cautious of reading more into a few Bible verses than what is there. There is a vast difference between speculation and Gospel truth and much of what occurred from the beginning of time through the 1st century AD is not mentioned in the Bible. After all, 400 years are missing between Malachi’s words and the birth of John the Baptist! Just because something isn’t stated in Scripture doesn’t necessarily mean it didn’t exist or happen! For example, Exodus mentions only two midwives by name but that doesn’t mean they were the only midwives serving several thousand Hebrew women! While we may find portions of Scripture ambiguous about peripheral issues (like rain or midwives), the Bible is quite clear about the essentials of Christian doctrine! Where Scripture is clear, we must be inflexible about the fundamentals of our faith. Let us be wary, however, of being unbending when Scripture is unclear and the issue is minor.

On the essentials, unity. On the nonessentials, liberty. In everything, charity. [Jack Hyles]

I have placed my bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. [Genesis 9:13 (CSB)]

By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was not yet seen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family. By faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.  [Hebrews 11:7 (CSB)]

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May 1, 2025

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Church & Worship, God's Word: The Bible, Knowing Him, Today: Make it Count, Wisdom & Guidance

SWEETER THAN HONEY

Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words became a delight to me and the joy of my heart, for I bear your name, Lord God of Armies. [Jeremiah 15:16 (CSB)]

“Son of man,” he said to me, “feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll I am giving you.” So I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. [Ezekiel 3:3 (CSB)]

Back in 1919, pharmacist W.K. Buckley created a concoction to treat coughs, colds, and bronchitis called Buckley’s Original Mixture. Buckley’s elixir was tremendously effective but its flavor was horrid. Nevertheless, their nasty tasting blend of things like menthol, camphor, Canadian balsam, and pine needle oil is still being sold more than 100 years later. The mixture’s longevity is due as much to the company’s straightforward and humorous “awful taste” ad campaign as it is to its reputed efficacy. With the slogan, “It tastes awful. And it works!” Buckley’s is described by consumers as “the worst tasting, foulest smelling, yet most effective cough remedy.” Apparently, it is. Despite ads admitting, “People swear by it. And at it,” consumers continue to endure Buckley’s ghastly flavor. Never having used Buckley’s (and not about to try), this is not an endorsement!

While nowhere as unpleasant tasting as Buckley’s Mixture, many Christians tend to treat imbibing in God’s word as they might taking a dose of it or some other nasty tasting medication: hard to swallow and consumed only out of necessity! While Scripture’s writers sometimes likened God’s word to food or wrote of its taste, they never described it as “drinking turpentine and transmission fluid mixed together, with a hint of menthol and petroleum” as do some of Buckley’s customers!

While the Bible can be said to be “good for what ails you” and “just what the doctor ordered,” reading Scripture isn’t like taking a dose of Buckley’s or castor oil. God’s word never should be treated as a horrible-tasting medicine—something taken only when absolutely necessary. Peter likened God’s word to milk while Paul and the writer of Hebrews compared it to both milk and solid food (like meat). Job reported treasuring God’s words more than his daily food and Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Apostle John all wrote of eating God’s word. And, unlike those who consumed Buckley’s, there were no complaints about its foul taste. In fact, Jeremiah found God’s words a delight and the joy of his heart while Ezekiel and John said they were “sweet as honey” in their mouths. In fact, Psalms 19 and 119 refer to God’s words as even “sweeter” than honey!

When God fed the hungry Israelites in the Sinai desert, His provision included more than earthly food. Along with manna, He gave them something beautiful with which nourish their very souls—His Word! When Israel arrived in the Promised Land, the manna stopped but God’s voice didn’t; He provided mankind with a feast from Genesis through Revelation—and that feast remains with us today. As Moses told the Israelites and Jesus repeated to His followers, “Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

While God’s Word has been described as “sweet as honey” in one’s mouth, unlike cotton candy and sugary sodas, there’s more to it than a sweet taste. Rather than empty calories, God’s words were described by Charles Spurgeon as, “full of substance—they are spirit, they are life, they are to be fed upon by the spiritually hungry!” Remembering that God spoke all of creation into existence with His Word, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that God’s Word is what sustains us, as well! Fortunately, the words of Scripture are sweeter and much easier to consume than Buckley’s disagreeable mixture!

The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts. [A.W. Tozer]

 He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then he gave you manna to eat, which you and your ancestors had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. [Deuteronomy 8:3 (CSB)]

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March 17, 2025

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Church & Worship, God's Word: The Bible, Holidays & Holy Days, Joy, Thanks & Praise

FASTING ALLELUIA

Hallelujah! Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his faithful love endures forever. [Psalm 106:1 (CSB)]

Hallelujah! Give praise, servants of the Lord; praise the name of the Lord. [Psalm 113:1 (CSB)]

low bindweed“Alleluia” (or “Hallelujah”), like “Amen,” is a word familiar throughout Christendom. Meaning “Praise the Lord,” it is the transliteration of the Hebrew hallel, meaning to shine, be boastful, praise, or rejoice and Yah, an abbreviated form of the name of the Lord: YHWH (Yahweh/Jehovah). Although two distinct words, they were consistently written as one (halleluyah).  In the Old Testament, this extraordinary word occurs only in Psalms. Usually found at the beginning, halleluyah was an imperative call to praise or boast in the Lord—a call to shine a light upon Him! Whether we spell this beautiful word the Latin way as “alleluia” or the Greek way as “hallelujah,” the meaning is the same. Many modern translations simply translate it as “Praise the Lord!”

On the Sunday prior to Ash Wednesday, the pastor at our liturgical church selected “All Creatures of our God and King” for the opening hymn at worship. As we sang its many alleluias, I knew we wouldn’t be singing any more of them until Easter. When our pastor was a girl, on the Sunday before Lent, the church’s children would process into the sanctuary carrying a banner with the word “Alleluia” on it. After being folded and placed in a box under the cross, that word and banner wouldn’t reappear until Easter morning. Although we don’t physically put away or “bury” any alleluias at our church, she continues the ancient tradition by eliminating them during Lent.

As a way of highlighting the solemnity of Lent, the “putting away” or depositio (meaning burial) of the alleluia goes back to medieval times. Choir boys would process into church with crosses, candles, and holy water while carrying a casket containing an “Alleluia” banner. The coffin was then buried in the garden until it was unearthed during the Easter vigil. In Paris, a straw figure bearing an “Alleluia” of gold letters was carried out and burned in the churchyard. After the Reformation, many Protestants continued the tradition of eliminating alleluias during the somber penitential season of Lent.

One modern writer compared putting away our alleluias during Lent to putting away all our Christmas decorations in January. If we had the tree, nativities, and wreaths out all year long, they’d lose their significance. Commonplace rather than special, they’d be ignored and unappreciated. Because we put them away in January, they’re treasured when we bring them out again in Advent! Without any alleluias during Lent, we appreciate them even more on Easter morning as we praise the Lord with every “Alleluia” in “Christ the Lord is Risen Today.”

While many hymns include “alleluia” or “hallelujah,” it occurs in only four New Testament verses, all in Revelation 19, when a heavenly chorus sings “Hallelujah!” at the marriage supper of the Lamb. While Lent is a time to focus on recognizing our sin and need for salvation, fasting from alleluias for seven weeks reminds us that our story is not yet complete. The day will come when Christ returns and God’s victory is completed. When that happens, we will be part of that heavenly chorus and praise the Lord while singing “Hallelujah!”

The greatest adventure in life—knowing God—begins at the Cross of Christ and ends with a “Hallelujah!” [David Jeremiah]

Then I heard something like the voice of a vast multitude, like the sound of cascading waters, and like the rumbling of loud thunder, saying, Hallelujah, because our Lord God, the Almighty, reigns! [Revelation 19:6 (CSB)]

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March 3, 2025

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Bible Stories, Challenges & Difficulty, Faith & Hope, God's Word: The Bible, Temptation & Sin

IT IS WRITTEN

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. [John 10:10-12 (ESV)]

In a cartoon drawn by Paul Noth, an enormous political billboard overlooks a pasture inhabited by a flock of sheep. Looking up at the picture of a grinning wolf in coat and tie saying, “I am going to eat you!” one sheep tells another, “He tells it like it is.” Would that all politicians were so forthright!

While the cartoon was political commentary by Noth, the sheep and wolf reminded me of Scripture’s many analogies likening us to sheep and Satan to a predator like a wolf. Unlike that wolf, however, Satan would never be so honest as to openly announce his intention to devour us. Like many politicians, he distorts, deceives, and betrays us for his own purposes.

In Matthew 4:7-10, we read of Jesus being led into the wilderness to be humbled and tested. For forty days Jesus fasted and, during that time, Satan visited Him. Like a politician who, knowing the people’s hunger, promises a chicken in every pot, the tempter reminded Jesus that, as the Son of God, He could turn the stones under his feet into bread with just a word. Satan was tempting the hungry man to act independently of God and use His own power to ease His hunger. Jesus, however, responded by citing Deuteronomy 8 and telling Satan that God let Israel hunger so they would know that man doesn’t live by bread alone “but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Satan then took Jesus to the highest point of the Temple where, like a true politician, he offered only a half-truth. Omitting a few words and misapplying God’s promise, he quoted from Psalm 91 that the angels “will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone,” and dared Jesus to jump. The Lord again responded with words from Deuteronomy that, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” [6:6] God is to be trusted rather than tested!

Finally, Satan took Jesus to a mountain peak and promised to give Him all the nations of the world if Jesus would kneel and worship the evil one. Like many a politician, Satan was promising something that wasn’t his to give—God the Father already had promised Jesus the kingdoms of the world! Countering Satan’s offer to take a shortcut and sidestep the cross, Jesus quoted the words from Deuteronomy prohibiting idolatry.

Satan tested Jesus by offering Him ways to take the easy way by misusing His power but, every time he did, Jesus refuted the tempter’s deceitful words with Scripture. There is power in the word of God that even Satan cannot deny.

Unlike the sheep in Noth’s cartoon, our shepherd has not left His flock defenseless; He’s given us the sword of God’s Word. Perhaps, it’s time to sharpen up our blades with some Bible reading so that, when we’re tempted, we too can say “It is written…!” It was Thomas Jefferson who said, “A well informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.” Those words apply to the citizens of God’s kingdom, as well; when we know the truth, the enemy can’t bamboozle us with his lies.

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. [Psalm 119:11 (ESV)]

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