Jesus weeps again...

 

What in the world is happening with some Christians?  (In many cases, "so-called Christians".)  We have been following the actions, reactions, and rhetoric swirling around the elections in the U.S.  Many who call themselves "evangelicals" are making us scratch our heads in dismay. We are grieving.

May I ask a question?  WHAT HAPPENED?   

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What happened to: "Blessed are the peacemakers...for they will be called the sons of God."  (Matthew 5:9)?   

What happened to: "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."  (Romans 12:18)?

What happened to: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs...Get rid of bitterness, rage and anger, brawling, and slander...Be kind and compassionate to one another..."  (Ephesians 4:29:31-32)?

What happened to:  "Honor one another above yourselves."   (Romans 12:10)?

What happened to:  "How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity!"  (Psalm 133:1)?                                                                                                                                                           **************

It's also difficult for us to understand how some of the people who (we assume) love God's Word, evangelicals, not only don't seem to be paying attention to it...but also support a "leader" who ridicules them in private, while in public tries to make them think he's "on their side".  

How can this be?

What happened to: "Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight reign on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless."  (James 1:26)?

What happened to: "In everything set them an example by doing what is good."  (Titus 2:7)?

And think about this:  "Fools give full vent to their rage..."  (Proverbs 29:11)      

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To those peace-loving believers who are also shocked by the words and actions of some people who claim to be Christians, we appreciate the fact that there are those like you who maintain your Biblical integrity, and continue to do your best to walk with our Lord according to the guidelines and precepts in His Word.   Please stay strong! 

          I think an appropriate paraphrase of Luke 19:41-42 would be:

      "As He approached (America) and saw the (nation), He wept over it and said,

                                   "If you, even you, had only known on this day 

                                              what would bring you peace...."

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                                      FATHER, HAVE MERCY ON AMERICA,  

                                      SPEAK TO US...AND MAKE US LISTEN!   

                                          BE OUR CALM AFTER THE STORM!                                                                                                                              

                 

 

"Fear?"...a poem (pandemic-timely, I think!)

FEAR?  During a global pandemic that is only growing worse? ("But we're believers!")  YES...and NO.  YES, if we mean being concerned enough to take appropriate preventative measures seriously; NO, if we mean cower-in-the-corner panic. God's children are not automatically immune to the corona virus!  It's totally unrealistic to brush away any social restrictions imposed for everyone's safety, saying that God will protect his people from the disease, making it unnecessary to pay heed to the precautions..

It's also unrealistic to protest the measures by saying they go against one's "rights". I can't believe some of the reactions to these regulations I've heard and read about. ("Tyranny!"  Really???)

Potentially fatal diseases need to be "feared" and taken seriously (respected, if you will)...but because we trust our God's love, wisdom and timing,  we need not panic.  Healthy fear, not panic.  Let's face things realistically, thank God that He is our anchor - no matter what...and then, please, obey the Golden Rule and wear a mask while you social-distance!

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          Here's a poem that says pretty much what I'm trying to get across.

                                                          Fear? 

                                Fear can force out our clear thinking...
                                but it also can spare us pain.
                                Right fears protect and free us,
                                wrong ones drive us insane.

                                Lord, I need You to help find the balance
                                that I've not always understood,
                                as "fear" can have so many faces;
                                some fears are bad, some good.

                                Though I may not always discern them
                                the way that I wish I could,
                                You know what I fear...but shouldn't
                                and You know what I don't fear...but should!
                                                                                              ----Becky Rhon
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Encouraging Words from our Lord when pondering the unknowns, chaos and vulnerabilities of these times:

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you."    (I Peter 5:6-7)

                                        "Do not be anxious about anything, 
                    but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,  
                                           present your requests to God.
                                               And the peace of God, 
                                which transcends all understanding, 
                       will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."                                                                                                                                 (Philippians 4:6-7)

     

I shot my husband...

...three times.  All I can say in my defense is..."needs must"!  In this global pandemic, living in lock-down, very restricted as to where and when one can go out...it was very hard to find an acceptable alternative.

I guess you want to know what happened, right?  OK.  My husband had been having odd symptoms that prevented him from sleeping well, making him feel really rotten.  Doctors hadn't come up with anything to help. Finally, he went to an internist who prescribed a series of three injections.

Now the problem was...who could "shoot" him? In Quito at this time, due to corona virus restrictions, each car is only allowed out on the streets one day a week.  And daily curfew starts at 2:00 p.m.  which means one has only a few hours of one day to get everything done for the week.  He didn't want to wait another whole week to go to a clinic to start the treatment. (Besides, they were supposed to be administered every three days.) Family members were half-heartedly  suggested as maybe knowing how to give a shot, but...hmmm. What to do?
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So I reminded him that I actually know how to give an injection!  However, it had been many years since I'd done so, and was undoubtedly rusty.  But...I could practice with an orange first, if that was acceptable.  (It was.)  I also reminded him that, although the very first person I had given a shot to had died,  he had been in a coma, the injection was something innocuous, and the nurses who trained me knew that he didn't have long to live.  So that doesn't count against me!

So...injection #1...thankfully, as I (pretending not to be nervous) withdrew the needle and said it was done, my husband asked, "Already? I hardly felt it!"  Whew!  I passed the test!
                     
I think I know what the psalmist felt like when he wrote: "When I called, You answered me; You greatly emboldened me."  (138:3)
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I am sure that you, too, are finding ways to get things done and be creative as you go through the regulations imposed by whichever country you live in.  Some are more severe than others, but they all make our days more difficult and bothersome...if we let them!  I've found that whenever I discover another way to "make do", substitute, invent, etc., it lifts my spirit!  "I can do this!"  And so can you!

But that's not all it does. It also makes me more and more grateful to my Father,  and I can relate to these awesome declarations in His Word:

"The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble.  He cares for those who trust in Him."   (Nahum 1:7)

"But I will sing of your strength, in the morning  I will sing of your love: You are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble."  (Psalm 59:16)
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                                             Father, let this be our goal:

                        "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."                                                                                                                       (II Corinthians 12:12)

"But I DO Know!" - a poem

"We don't know." They say it almost every day, when talking about COVID-19.  So many urgent questions about the vile virus...needing to know enough about it to be able to arm ourselves with information, and feel less impotent facing it, less vulnerable.

I've wondered how many people in the world are in a mind-numbing daze as they seek the answers. Is the possibility of being a victim of a potentially lethal disease all they can think of?  Has it pushed out of their thoughts what, in the long run, are much more pressing concerns?

But it could be a matter of life and death! True.  But more imperative is the matter of  eternal life and death. When we are confident of eternal destiny, when we believes in God's promise of Life for His children, the worries about  physical life and death shift...and become secondary because we don't have to carry that burden anymore.  True!
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                                            But I DO Know

                     I don't know all Your story-lines, blueprints or plans,
                     nor how all of infinity flows through Your hands.

                     I can't grasp all Your mysteries, Your methods, Your mind,
                     or Your thoughts so impossibly higher than mine.

                    I can't always perceive that "all things work for good";
                    when in pain, it's not easy to think that they could.

                    So I don't know why at some times I bask in Your Grace,
                    while at others it seems like You've hidden Your Face;

                    and I don't know why some days bring smiles, some days grief;
                    some hold fears and delays, others grateful relief.

                    But I DO know You love me - through smooth seas or rough.
                    I know that YOU ARE...and that's more than enough!
                                                                                                             --Becky Rhon       
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"Does the devil wet the bed?"

This profound theological question came from a little boy, maybe four or five years old.  His mother told me that this was the extent of her son's curiosity regarding spiritual things. We found it amusing, but he was serious and really wanted to know!
                   
I wonder what goes through God's mind when we ask questions.  Although most of them seem sane and logical to us, and we really want to know, some of them must make Him smile!
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At 12 years old, Jesus was found in temple courts "sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions." (Luke 2:46)  Even HE wanted to figure things out!  Of course, being God incarnate, "everyone who heard Him was amazed at his understanding..." (Luke 2:47).

And just as "of course"...the same cannot be said of us, who are NOT God!  But even though our questions may seem to others to be silly, or even absurd, God will never laugh at us when our desire to know comes from the heart. We will always be lacking in wisdom, no matter how much experience we have.

We may not know how to frame our wonderings, but there's no formula that has to be followed to talk to God and ask Him for answers. Don't worry bout how to phrase your questions.  Remember, He's our Friend! He may be amused (can't you see Him grinning as He listens to some of our queries?) but never dismissive or down-putting.

"If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you."  (James 1:5)
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In Jeremiah 9:23-24, our Father puts things into proper perspective.

"This is what the LORD says: 'Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, but let the ones who boast boast about this:

"that they have the understanding to know Me, that I am the LORD, Who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight', declares the LORD."
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                                    Father, no question is out of order
                   if the answer leads us to a deeper love and life with You.
               Your patience with us is amazing and very much appreciated!
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This is incredible! I had NO idea!! (Did YOU?)

A couple of facts blindsided me recently.  Did you know there are two towns named Bethlehem in Israel?  I was born and raised and have lived around all things "Bible" for my almost- 66 years, but never caught on. We all know about the southern Bethlehem (Ephrathah) in Judea, from whence King David's family came, and in which Jesus was born. The other one is in northern Israel and is usually called Bethlehem of Galilee. That's the one with an...unfortunate "past"!

(Parenthetical note: the Galilee one is very close to Nazareth, and some scholars believe Jesus was born there.  But Scriptures disprove that.  See below for Biblical proof.)
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Bethlehem of Galilee is ancient, with its peak occurring from the 2nd to 7th centuries, and was destroyed more than once, having a rather chaotic history.  In the 1890's German Templars purchased the lands, built nice stone houses and kept the ancient name.
Fast forward to around the time of World War 2.  In this Bethlehem there was actually an organized group of active supporters of the Nazi party!  Most got kicked out, and by the time Israel became a nation (again) in 1948, the rest either left voluntarily or were expelled.  Imagine...Nazis in the Holy Land!  (Of all the nerve!)

The deserted village was resettled, and became a "Moshav" (a cooperative community of farmers) in 1948.  Today it is a popular tourist site, with age-old ruins and an ancient cemetery.
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Now let's look at another story of two entities with the same name...that also occurred in the World War 2 era.  But this one is personal, as it involved my father!

My father enlisted in the U.S. Air Force (at 17, I believe) and at one time was stationed in Germany, serving as a radio operator on the aircraft.  One day he checked the assignment lists and found that "Bruce Moore" was slated to be on a particular flight. There happened to be two men with the same name in the group, so my dad wasn't sure if he was on or not.

 Then one of his superiors found him and wanted him for something. ( I can't remember exactly what). When my father explained that his name was on the roster to fly, the other man said, "Let the other Bruce Moore go; you come with me."  (Or words to that effect.) So that's what he did.

Later they found out that that particular plane had crashed, and the dead included the other Bruce Moore.  My father also learned that HE was the one who should have been on that flight.  The other man died in his place, and my father was alive, thanks to an officer who pulled rank!

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God looks out for His people!  It doesn't matter if 200 people have the same name.  He knows exactly who each one is.  He'll never confuse us, and we will never "get lost in the shuffle", or "slip through the cracks".

As He said to Jeremiah (1:5): "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you."

The psalmist beautifully wrote:

                      "O Lord, You have searched me and known me...
                       and are intimately acquainted with all my ways...
                                 You wove me in my mother's womb. 
               I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made...
               in your Book were written all the days that were ordained for me, 
                               before even one of them came to be."    (Psalm 139)

                                          Father, You are amazing!  Thank you!
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{In Joshua 19:14-15 the northern Bethlehem is mentioned as part of Zebulun's lands...not Judah's.  Luke says that due to the census, Joseph took Mary "to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David." (2:4)  Also, Micah's prophecy about Jesus' birth is very specific, leaving no doubt: "O Bethlehem Ephrathah...you will be the birthplace of my King Who is alive from everlasting ages past." (5:2)}