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May 18, 2021

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Bible Stories, Faith & Hope, Miracles

THE IMPOSSIBLE

He replied, “What is impossible for people is possible with God.” [Luke 18:27 (NLT)]

Several years ago, we took our daughter and grand-daughter to a magic show. On the way home, we explored various scenarios to figure out how the $50 bill, signed by my husband, that we’d witnessed going up in flames, ended up in the middle of an uncut orange, that was in a paper bag, inside a locked box, inside another locked box, that was way across the stage. While we tried to find an explanation for the trick, my grand piped up, “Stop trying to figure it out. It was magic!”

While it was an entertaining show, we adults knew it wasn’t real magic—just carefully orchestrated and well-executed sleight of hand. But, not wanting to disillusion the little one, we waited until she was out of ear-shot before trying to find an explanation for what we saw. There is something about us that wants to make sense of that which makes no sense, which probably explains the popularity of the CW’s Penn & Teller: Fool Us in which magicians perform tricks and the hosts try to figure out how they’re done. To determine whether they’ve been fooled and yet avoid exposing the trick’s secrets to the audience, the duo use cryptic language when speaking to the magician to describe the methods they suspect he used. On rare occasions, Penn and Teller are perplexed and the guest receives a trophy. Yet, even when that happens, the audience knows it’s just an illusion rather than anything supernatural.

Magicians are in the business of fooling people but God is not. We can try to figure out a magician’s magic trick but we’ll never find an explanation for God’s miracles. It was not sleight of hand that turned water into wine, stilled a storm, healed lepers, fed a multitude, filled the net with fish, or blinded Paul. It was no illusion that held back the Red Sea, multiplied one widow’s food and another’s oil, caused the sun and moon to stand still, provided manna from heaven, or kept three men from burning in a fiery furnace. Nevertheless, it’s only human to wonder how God covered Egypt with darkness while light fell on the Israelites, caused Jericho’s walls to fall, made water to pour from a rock, turned Aaron’s rod into a serpent, or made a sundial go backwards ten steps. Much in the Bible simply makes no sense in a world ruled by the laws of physics, biology, astronomy, chemistry or any other science.

While magic is merely an illusion, God’s miracles—even though they defy human logic and reasoning—are not! Being the creator of the universe, God has His own set of rules that can be changed at will. One of the greatest minds of our generation was physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking. An avowed atheist, he believed the universe is governed by the laws of science and said, “Religion believes in miracles, but these are not compatible with science.” That, however, is the point—a miracle defies human understanding because it transcends the laws we know of nature. If Hawking, Penn and Teller, or anyone else could explain or reproduce it, then it wouldn’t be a miracle.

While God doesn’t want unthinking believers, in the end, we must come to him out of faith, not logic. We come without understanding how a virgin gave birth to a God/man—without witnessing the Holy Spirit descend like a dove from heaven, watching Jesus walk on water, observing Lazarus emerge from his tomb, or viewing Jesus’ resurrected body ascend into heaven. Nevertheless, we believe! “There’s no way he can do that!” is only true when we are speaking of men; with God, all things are possible.

 Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature. [Augustine]

For we live by believing and not by seeing. [2 Corinthians 5:7 (NLT)]

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May 17, 2021

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Bible Stories, Church & Worship, Fruit of the Spirit, God's Promises, Holidays & Holy Days

SHAVUOT

At the Festival of Harvest, when you present the first of your new grain to the Lord, you must call an official day for holy assembly, and you may do no ordinary work on that day. [Numbers 28:26 (NLT)]

fruitAt sunset yesterday, the Jewish feast of Shavuot began. Originally known as Festival of Harvest or First Fruits, Shavuot is the second of the three pilgrimage festivals given to the Israelites. The first was that of Unleavened Bread (Passover) and the third was the Final Harvest or Ingathering (Sukkot or Tabernacles). Originally, all three festivals were tied to the harvest with Passover at the beginning of the barley harvest, Shavuot seven weeks later at the start of the wheat harvest, and Sukkot at the last harvest of the season. For a nation who’d left Canaan because of famine, spent four hundred years in a foreign land (much of it as slaves) and then another forty years as nomads, the promise of becoming a people with land of their own, who could plant and harvest for themselves, must have been almost inconceivable.

Two distinct rituals were observed on Shavuot. In gratitude for the harvest, two loaves of bread baked from the new crop of wheat, a bull, seven lambs, two rams, and a goat were offered. In the second ritual, the choicest of the harvest’s first fruits were presented to the priests as these words from Deuteronomy were said: “With this gift I acknowledge to the Lord your God that I have entered the land he swore to our ancestors he would give us.” [26:3] Continuing with verses 5 through 10, the worshiper then acknowledged God’s faithfulness in bringing the people out of Egypt and in keeping His promise to the patriarchs to bring His people to a land “flowing with milk and honey.” Because it fell a full seven weeks (50 days) after the Passover, this festival became known as the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot).

Ten days after Christ’s ascension, during Shavuot, a group of believers gathered together in Jerusalem. A powerful wind roared and flashes of fire appeared and “everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit.” Because of the uproar, a crowd gathered and Peter preached the gospel to them. That day, 3,000 people believed and were baptized; these new believers were the first fruits of the gospel harvest. Because it occurs fifty days after Easter, Christians call this day Pentecost, from the Greek meaning “fiftieth.” Because of the difference between the Jewish and Gregorian calendars, however, 2021’s Shavuot began last night but Pentecost will not occur until Sunday, the 23rd.

Because rabbinic tradition held that the Law was given on Mt. Sinai exactly seven weeks from the beginning of the Exodus, the day’s emphasis gradually moved from the first fruits of the harvest to the Torah. By the 2nd century, with the Temple destroyed, what began as a harvest festival commemorated the giving of the law at Mt. Sinai.

Today, Shavuot celebrates Israel’s bond because of the Torah and Pentecost celebrates Christians’ bond because of the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, when looking at the origin of this ancient Jewish festival and its acknowledgement that God fulfilled His promise to bring His people into the Promised Land, I think of the many Messianic promises of the Old Testament. Rather than freeing us from slavery in Egypt, God faithfully fulfilled His promise and freed us from slavery to sin. Rather than physically bringing us into Canaan, He brought the Kingdom of God to us. Granted, the story is not over and the Kingdom is not fully realized, but we are in the land He promised and the best is yet to come! Let us be thankful and praise God for all He’s given us!

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land of flowing streams and pools of water, with fountains and springs that gush out in the valleys and hills. It is a land of wheat and barley; of grapevines, fig trees, and pomegranates; of olive oil and honey. It is a land where food is plentiful and nothing is lacking. It is a land where iron is as common as stone, and copper is abundant in the hills. When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. [Deuteronomy 8:7-10 (NLT)]

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May 14, 2021

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Attitudes & Behavior, God's Word: The Bible, Holy Spirit, Knowing Him

WHAT PRONOUN?

God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.  Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.” [Exodus 3:14 (NLT)]

“I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.” [Revelation 1:8 (NLT)]

As Christianity Today aptly points out, “Changing gender norms, new social media platforms, and deepening class divisions have led to a renewed conflict over language.” As a writer, I have more than enough opportunities to intentionally or unintentionally offend with my words and, as a reader, you have plenty of opportunities to criticize my choice of words. As a Christian, I want to speak with love and in such a way that doesn’t isolate any race, gender, religion, sexuality or ethnic background so I try to use inclusive language and avoid words that might be thought of as exclusionary of any group. Nevertheless, I’m not always successful. While I understand using “police officer” instead of “policeman,” other words are more problematic and not so easily changed.

Moreover, eventually we need a pronoun and most pronouns are gender specific. In 2012, the Swedes started using hen, a gender neutral pronoun that can replace the gender specific hon (she) and han (he). We don’t have that option in English. Our pronouns take the gender of the noun they replace and substituting every “his” and “her” with “his or her” or “his/her” is cumbersome at best. Using “they,” “them” or “their” for a singular person when gender is unknown can be misleading and goes against rules of grammar I learned as a girl!

When referring to Jesus, it’s easy to know the correct pronoun because Scripture makes it clear—the Savior presented Himself on earth as a man. With God and the Holy Spirit, it’s not so clear cut. Regardless of who is referring to God or if it’s written in Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek, male pronouns are used for God in Scripture. Since God chose to reveal Himself to us as a man when He clothed Himself in flesh and Jesus made about 160 references to God as father (not parent), does that make God male? What about the Holy Spirit? Although the Greek word for spirit (pneuma) was gender neutral, the Holy Spirit is referred to as masculine throughout the New Testament. Is the Spirit male, as well?

God is God: the great I AM—the Alpha and Omega—the beginning and the end! Although God is a person—with intellect, emotion, motivation, insight and a will—a person who can communicate, create, and have relationships—God is spirit. Without flesh, bones, and the limitations of a physical body, God has no gender—neither male nor female. Like God, the Holy Spirit is both a person and a spirit and, as such, is genderless, as well. Without a gender, there are no perfect pronouns for either God or the Holy Spirit. The Lord is not an “it” nor is the Holy Spirit a “they.”

Although some women writers refer to God as “she,” lacking a better solution and, in deference to Scripture’s original writers, I will continue to refer to God and the Holy Spirit as “He.” I understand that being referred to by the right pronoun can be pivotal to a person’s identity, but I doubt it is crucial for God. Something tells me that God is far more interested in having us talk about Him (or Her) and pray to Him (or Her) than what pronouns we use when doing it.

For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” [John 4:24 (NLT)]

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May 13, 2021

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, Church & Worship, God's Word: The Bible, Love & Works, Obedience

SABBATH CONFLICTS

What can we bring to the Lord? Should we bring him burnt offerings? … No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. [Micah 6:6a,8 (NLT)]

In the Holy Place of the Tabernacle, there was a table on which the showbread was placed. Consisting of twelve loaves of unleavened bread stacked in two columns, it remained on the table for a week. When new loaves replaced it, the showbread was removed and eaten by the priests in the sanctuary. Because it was holy, no one other than a priest could eat it. Nevertheless, when David and his hungry men arrived in the town of Nob where the Tabernacle was located, Ahimelech the priest gave them the previous week’s showbread once he was assured the men were ceremonially clean. Having no other food for the famished men, the priest understood that feeding them was more essential than compliance with the ceremonial law. He knew the laws of compassion, mercy and love took precedence over ritual.

A thousand years later, Jesus and his disciples were walking through a grain field on the Sabbath when the hungry men picked some heads of grain and ate them. The Pharisees charged them with breaking the law, but not because they were picking grain in someone else’s field. It was perfectly permissible to do what they’d done any other day of the week but they’d done it on the Sabbath! Although harvesting grain was one of the thirty-nine categories of forbidden work on this day of rest, it’s not as if they were reaping sheaves of grain! Actually, the hungry men were doing no more work than someone feeding himself at a table. Moreover, Jewish tradition prohibited fasting on the Sabbath.

That subtle difference, however, was lost on the Pharisees who couldn’t see beyond the technicalities of the law. After Jesus reminded them of the story of David and the sacred loaves, He pointed out that they clearly didn’t understand God’s words in Micah about preferring mercy to sacrifices and that compassion was as important as the Law. Declaring Himself Lord over the Sabbath, Jesus then claimed authority over how the Sabbath was to be observed. To the Pharisees, however, His words were heresy.

Soon after, the Pharisees continued to exhibit their lack of mercy when they condemned Jesus for healing a man on the Sabbath. Jesus exposed their inconsistency by asking if they could save an animal on the Sabbath and then pointing out that a man was more valuable than a sheep. The laws of the Sabbath were never meant to release people from the need for mercy, whether to feed the hungry or relieve the misery of the afflicted.

Jesus regularly came into conflict with the Pharisees regarding the Sabbath but His issue wasn’t with the Sabbath; it was with the Pharisees. God didn’t create the Sabbath before making man! After creating humanity, God knew people would need a rest from the burden of work so He created the Sabbath for them. “The Sabbath,” Jesus explained, “was made to meet the needs of the people, and not the people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.”

While this sacred day of rest and worship should have been viewed as a gift from God, by Jesus’ day, it had been complicated with an extensive list of restrictions (along with a variety of devious ways to skirt them). The Pharisees, however, had built their lives around rules and regulations and when Jesus questioned their authority, they called a meeting to plot His death. They didn’t understand that our God is a God of love not ritual, a God of people not regulations, a God who asks us to do is what is right, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him.

And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law.” [Mark 12:33 (NLT)]

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May 12, 2021

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, Church & Worship, Knowing Him, Love & Works, Salvation: A New You

WHAT DOES GOD WANT?

Listen to the Lord, you leaders of Sodom. Listen to the law of our God, people of Gomorrah. “What makes you think I want all your sacrifices?” says the Lord. “I am sick of your burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened cattle. I get no pleasure from the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.” [Isaiah 1:10-11 (NLT)]

Although Hosea and Micah told Israel that God rejected their insincere sacrifices, when Isaiah addressed the people of Judah as the wicked Gentile cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, the vehemence of God’s words was unmistakable. The prophets’ words did not mean that God was rejecting the sacrificial system but that He found their offerings and sacrifices meaningless because of the people’s depravity, hypocrisy, and superficial worship.

Sacrifices and offerings of incense, grain and animals were an essential part of the Israelites’ rituals at the time. They were made as a way of praising God, showing dedication to Him, in thanksgiving for His many gifts, as a way of asking forgiveness, and as atonement for sins. Most of Leviticus is dedicated to the conduct of sacrifices and Numbers includes additional requirements concerning offerings. Yet, some 600 years after being given those regulations, the prophets told the people that God did not want their sacrifices and burnt offerings because, without faith in and love for Him, their offerings were meaningless.

Since we no longer make burnt sacrifices at our altars, what do those prophets’ words mean to us? To me, it means that it is not enough to simply go to church, sing in the choir, usher, recite Bible verses, teach Sunday school, bring treats, participate in a small group, or be diligent about our financial offerings to the church. God wants more!

As a girl, in confirmation class, I learned that the sacraments were “an outward and visible sign of an inner and spiritual grace.” The prophets’ words tell us that, no matter what the “outward and visible sign” may be, without an “inner and spiritual grace” it is meaningless. Even being dunked in a baptismal tank or regularly taking Communion are nothing more than empty rituals if our hearts and souls are not committed to God. Just as God wanted changed lives rather than bulls, lambs, and goats from the Israelites, He wants more from us than simply going through the motions of being a Christian.

God doesn’t want us just to know His word; He wants us to live it. He doesn’t want us just to know about Him, He wants us to know Him. He doesn’t want us going through the motions; He wants us! Rather than lip service; He wants our hearts. He must be an essential part of our lives. God wants us to serve Him not just with our bodies, but with our hearts and souls.  The prophets told the Israelites what God wanted; we should listen to them!

I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings. [Hosea 6:6 (NLT)]

Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows. [Isaiah 1:16-17 (NLT)]

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May 11, 2021

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Attitudes & Behavior, Challenges & Difficulty, Holy Spirit, Obedience, Temptation & Sin, Wisdom & Guidance

REBOOTING

But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation. [1 Thessalonians 5:8 (NLT)]

After a security update, I was prompted to restart my computer. Although I didn’t want to stop writing for a reboot, malicious software—whether a virus, spyware, rootkit, ransom ware, Trojan horse, or whatever the latest threat is—can range from being merely troublesome to incredibly destructive, so I willingly stopped my work.

While waiting for the installation process to finish and my computer to restart, it occurred to me how much I’d like a similar program installed in my life. The damage done by cybercriminals and malware is nothing when compared to the devastation Satan can wreak on our lives. Instead of protecting us from attacks on our devices, an anti-sin program would have a firewall to protect us from external threats to our spiritual well-being. Once installed, it would warn us about potential trouble spots and regularly scan our thoughts to keep any sinful ones from sneaking in.

Mercifully, God has already provided an excellent anti-sin program and firewall in the armor of God. Like any computer program, however, it requires a reboot—the life changing one of accepting Jesus. And, like our computers, without regular updating, it becomes vulnerable to the latest threats. Our anti-sin program requires an on-going relationship with God and, if we’re not connected to His Holy Spirit, there’s no chance of defeating the enemy.

But, just as a computer’s anti-virus program can’t defend against the bad judgment of its user, neither can our anti-sin program. It’s not God’s fault when we sin—we have only ourselves to blame for our poor choices. Both computers and people are fallible and there will be times we get bugs in our software or, worse, simply crash. Since I’m technically challenged, when I run into computer problems, I call my tech savvy son-in-law (whose first advice usually is to reboot)! When it’s a spiritual problem, if we ask the Holy Spirit to show us what isn’t working properly and how to fix it, we can be sure He will. He’ll offer excellent tech support involving things like confession, repentance, prayer, Scripture, study, fellowship, and service.

To make it perform more efficiently, my computer regularly cleans out unnecessary files and then asks me to complete the process with a restart. Just as those useless files on my computer need to be eliminated to make room for new data, there’s a fair amount of rubbish in our minds—things like guilt, shame, anxiety, anger, and resentment—that should be discarded to make room for the good news of the gospel. Don’t be surprised if a reboot is required!

A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. [Ephesians 6:10-12 (NLT)]

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