The Bible

I believe in the undiminished deity of the Living Word, Jesus Christ.

I believe in the undeniable divinity of the Written Word of God, the Bible.

I believe in the verity of the Son of God.

I believe in the veracity of the Word of God.

I believe in the incomparable and invincible Son of God.

I believe in the infallible and  inerrant Word of God.

Each attests to the authenticity of the other.

Validate one and you venerate the other.

Debase one and you demean the other.

Revere one and you respect the other.

The Living Word and the Written Word each supports the other.

Together they form a bootstrap effect. Each laced with the other takes us higher, and binds us tighter.

For the believer the Bible is the credenda of what we should believe as well as the agenda for how we should behave.

It Is Show and Tell Time

Where has God been while His world is engaged in this pandemic? He is still in business. He never has to say “Oops” regarding His actions.

There is a parallel between God’s deliverance of Moses, and this hour for us. 

As with us, God had blessed and cared for them up to this point. He had promised to give them a land flowing with milk and honey. However, many past blessings were forgotten in light of one present perplexity.

Pharaoh’s army had them hemmed-up in a narrow plain with mountains on one side, an expansive marsh on the other, and the Red Sea before them. They were bivouacked right where God wanted them. This was their moment.

It was an occasion for them to show they loved the Lord, not just the things He gave them. Those were defining moments.

Moses and the people had been crying out to God. Mixed with their prayers for deliverance were cries of despair and derision. This added to their paralysis of fear.

When the Lord hears our complaints against the backdrop of blessings, He must feel like saying, “Stop your sniveling, you wimps, and trust Me. I will see you through. I have given you this occasion to demonstrate to others the vitality of your faith.”

God is in the business of management, but He is also in the business of mystery. We often have to trust Him without insisting we be given an understanding of what He is doing and why.

We all live by faith. It is our daily norm. Every time you fly on a plane or drive in the rain; every time you go on a date or get married, you do it by faith; every time you buy or sell on credit you exercise faith. You have faith. You may have been given this moment in time to show in what or in whom you have faith.

Candidly our position is little different than theirs. This is our moment to demonstrate our faith.

It is SHOW AND TELL time.

Heaping Coals of Fire on an Enemy

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Romans 12:20

In the Bible era an extremely important matter was the ability to provide fire. Such fires were often started by a single coal. 

In this narrative an enemy has a need for coal. To illustrate the way to respond to an enemy in need, that of a coal is used. The proportionate response was to give the enemy so many coals they had to be carried in a receptacle on his head. Carrying weights in such a way was common.

The story is a metaphor advocating repaying a wrong with a right. Generosity is encouraged by the instruction to give your enemy more than requested, surely more than deserved.

By abundantly giving an adversary more than needed it is equivalent to giving a person in need of a single coal so many he has to carry them on his head.

The writer of Proverbs notes the results of doing so.

“If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat;
And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;
For so you will heap coals of fire on his head,
And the LORD will reward you.”  Proverbs 25:21-22

My Cup Runs Over

The Psalmist said of our Lord, “He leads me beside still water,” and “my cup runs over” (Psalm 23:2 & 5).

The still water spoken of is not that depicted by a slow flowing fresh water stream, nor a pond.

In the Bible Land it rains only parts of three months. The rest of the time the land is barren and dry. The flocks need water. To provide it the good shepherd finds a pocket in the earth and lines it with limestone making it a cistern. He then goes out on the side of the hill and gathers stones he uses to make a large “V” with the tip leading right into the cistern. When it rains the water flows into his cistern. Water kept out of light and open air remains fresh almost indefinitely. This water was called “still water.”

As a good shepherd always has in store what the sheep need long before the sheep need it, so the Good Shepherd has in store for His sheep what they need long before they need it.

The shepherd then finds a boulder and hews it out making it a trough, a cup. He drew the water from the cistern and poured it into the cup for the sheep to drink. They crowd around taking turns. They are so crowded the shepherd can’t see his feet. He continues to pour until his feet feel wet. Then he knows his cup is running over. 

So our Good Shepherd not only has in store for His sheep what they need, but before they need it, He provides abundantly. He is the “Shepherd of the Overflowing Cup.”

The Tipping Point

History reveals every great nation has a tipping point. It was not their end, but a point from which there was no return, and the end was inevitable. For some it was imminent, for others it was more distant.

Once the tipping point is reached the end is inescapable. Let us pray America has not reached her tipping point.

Once reached the end cannot be prevented, but we can so live as to delay it.

When the prophet Isaiah wrote these words was he speaking of his day or ours?

“Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, And equity cannot enter, So truth fails, And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.” Isaiah 59:14-15

Historically such a time has been reached three times in America. Three times the people prayed earnestly, and revival spared the nation. Let us so pray that this might be the fourth time.

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” II Chronicles 7:14