Aside

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Between My Ears

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Scientists, generally, and archeologists, specifically, as well as anti-Israeli nations, have argued for decades that the nation of Israel doesn’t deserve the land it possesses because there is no evidence that the Jews ever actually possessed this land. But the time for that conjecture has passed.

In 2015, a ten-year-old boy discovered an “unprecedented” find. He found a rare 3,000-year-old seal, from the time of King David. And now, a clay document, written by the Moabites, containing explicit references to King David has been confirmed. From a scientific perspective, the veracity of a real Jewish man, named David, who was a king in Jerusalem, has been undeniably confirmed. If we trust science, then we must trust that the land that the nation of Israel possesses has belonged to them for millennia. And, once again, the trustworthiness of the Bible has been confirmed.

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a pic full of rocks with a question mark painted on one of them

Between My Ears

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As Christians, we often speak of the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus, the Son of God. But, if asked, can we give an immediate, concise answer? A dear friend and spiritual mentor taught me to always have a one-minute, five-minute, and twenty-minute “message in my pocket.”

His thinking and I found it true, was that at a moment’s notice, I may be called upon to testify to a person, speak to an ad hoc group, or be called upon to preach a message. In those situations, I had no time to prepare.

I saw this displayed on a street in Cluj, Romania. As a small group of us were walking along a wide city sidewalk, we came upon a young Eastern Orthodox priest. He stopped us because he heard us speaking English and wanted to find out if we could understand him. To his delight, we did!

With that out of the way, we began an enjoyable conversation. At one point, he asked how our belief was different from his. My friend had the answer. Within five minutes, the young priest was energized and uplifted. But when my friend asked if he could pray for the priest, the veil of orthodoxy fell, and the priest immediately took off down the street.

It’s never our job to force the outcome from a divine appointment, but it is our job to be ready with an answer. (1 Peter 3:15) Speaking of answers, here is the Gospel of Jesus Christ:

3 The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, 4 and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.

– Romans 1:3–4 NLT

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Between My Ears

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For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.

Philippians 1:21 (New Living Translation)

God’s Word never changes, but each translation, from the original Hebrew and Greek, gives us some new insights. I don’t mean that my go-to Bible is full of errors. What I mean is that God’s Word is alive. We can read the same verse ten times, and ten times we will learn a little more. Modern translations help us glean even more from the Scriptures.

When I read today’s “Verse of the Day” on Biblegateway.com, I had one of those “oh” moments. It wasn’t that I didn’t understand what the Apostle Paul had written – “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” But reading the phrase, “dying is even better,” drove home Paul’s statement. And that the value of reading the same verses in several translations. In reference to this verse, I’ve often said that Jesus will judge us on is what we did with the time He gave us and not how long we managed to live.

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a pic full of rocks with a question mark painted on one of them

Between My Ears

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Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me.

John 12:26 NLT

Jesus spoke this text shortly before He was arrested, tried, crucified, and then resurrected. Forty days later He ascended into heaven (Acts 1:1-3 NLT). His message to us is straightforward. We must obey the spiritual law of sacrifice. Our goal is to be made useful and serve Jesus where He is working – this is our reasonable sacrifice (Romans 12:1). To follow Jesus leads us straight to the cross. To serve Jesus we must die to the ways of this world and be born again. Only then can we serve Christ Jesus in His work in this world, and someday serve Him in heaven. If we are obedient to these things then the Father will honor us. How amazing is that!

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a pic full of rocks with a question mark painted on one of them

Between My Ears

By / 2 minutes of reading / , ,

Sometimes, I come across a passage in God’s Word that compels me to stop reading and meditate on those words. I’m sure you experience the same thing. Well, today, I was reading in the Psalms when I came upon this verse:

“Precious in the sight of the Lord     
is the death of his saints.“

Psalms 116:15

I know Jesus delights in His own when we exercise faith. And I know that I will be with Jesus when I pass; however, I hadn’t given a lot of thought about our Lord’s frame of mind when we die. How liberating God is. He has all of the bases covered for our lives. So, when our appointed time comes, the time He established before creation, He sees our death, not from this world’s view, but from His view from the throne of heaven.

He sees us as athletes that have crossed the finish line and now enter our rest. So it makes perfect sense that God sees our death, our crossing of that finish line, as something precious in His sight. We teach our kids this song:

Red and yellow, black and white
They are precious in His sight.
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

How marvelous it is that this song is true for His own when we pass.

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Between My Ears

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If you have ever listened to a classic rock playlist or radio station, you have probably heard the song “We Are Family,” sung by Sly & the Family Stone. It’s a catchy toon. For believers, we are family. The old saying, you can choose your friends, but you can’t choose your family is true about the Church. “The church is a family, the “household of God” (1 Timothy 3:15)

Now you may have had bad experiences with your natural family and some in the Church. Here’s the difference. You only have your natural family for a short while. Don’t love them to get love; love them to be love to them. As for your spiritual brothers and sisters, you have them for eternity, so do as God’s Word declares: “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.” (Romans 12:10)

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Have a great day!

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Between My Ears

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Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.

Ecclesiastes 11:5 NLT

Oh how often we want to know the mysteries of God. When we are crushed, we cry out to God, “Why?” When our lives seem to be unraveling, we cry out to God, “Why?” When doors of opportunities for good deeds are shut, we cry out to God, “Why?” But God seldom tells us why. In these times, what God desires is trust. In our darkest hour, we should remember Psalms 16:8 KJV, “I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.“

When confronted with events that make no sense to you, don’t allow doubt to come into your life. Don’t be moved by circumstances. Trust in Jesus, the only one that can mediate your condition to our God whose activities cannot be understood.

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a pic full of rocks with a question mark painted on one of them

Between My Ears

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In the 1957 TV show, “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour,” there is a funny exchange of words between Lucy and the actress, Tallulah Bankhead:

Lucy Ricardo : Are you asking me to leave?
Tallulah Bankhead : ‘Throwing you out’ would be more appropriate.
Lucy Ricardo : Let me tell you something, Tallulah Bankhead, I’ve been thrown out of better places than this!
Tallulah Bankhead : You have never BEEN in better places than this!

The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour

When we experience an embarrassing or stressful circumstance, our nature tries first to justify our actions, but then our emotions kick in, which makes us relive that event over and over and over. We run scenarios in our heads to take the same set of circumstances and produce a better outcome. This state can become crippling, but that’s not God’s plan for you.

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Psalms 43:5 NIV

If you find yourself reliving an embarrassing or stressful event, give that circumstance to Jesus. Remember, it is because of God’s will that you are alive. “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13)

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The Word ‘Hebrew’

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The word “Hebrew” means to cross over. Abraham crossed over from false gods to the one and only true God. He crossed over physically by leaving his homeland and coming to the Promised Land. The Israelites were delivered by God from the Egyptians as they crossed through the Red Sea, and then crossed through the wilderness, and then through the Jordan River, finally entering the Promised Land.

Holy Land Site

All these acts are pictures of deliverance and salvation. We also cross over from spiritual death to life in Christ Jesus and, someday, we will cross over from this world to heaven.  For all of us that have received God’s salvation, through Jesus Christ, we have crossed over from death to life. We are now Hebrews, adopted into God’s chosen people. “But to all who did receive him [Jesus], who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,” (John 1:12).

a pic full of rocks with a question mark painted on one of them

Between My Ears

By / 2 minutes of reading / , ,

This morning I was reading in the book of Mark, chapter eleven. This chapter begins with the first-hand account of Jesus making His triumphant entry into Jerusalem. I had to stop and write this “note” when I came to these two verses.

As they were untying it, some bystanders demanded, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” They said what Jesus had told them to say, and they were permitted to take it.

Mark 11:5-6 NLT

This verse may be surprising to us because we no longer have a society in which everyone participates. It is impossible to impose a civil society “from the top down” – this approach is called oppression. Only when a society has a unifying “good” can they experience peace and prosperity.

Notice that some bystanders challenged the disciples when it appeared that the disciples were stealing the colt. Israel had a unifying “good.” Their “good” was God and His Scriptures. These tenets were generally taught and accepted by the Israelites. This cohesiveness empowered average Israelites to be invested in the good of their country. America needs this.

We, as Americans, need to return to our “good.” Our “good” is God – “Only God is truly good.” (Mark 10:18) We find our good documented in our “Declaration of Independence.”

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”

Declaration of Independence

Only when “these self-evident truths” are generally taught and accepted by Americans will we have sufficient cohesiveness to empower average Americans to be invested in the good of our nation.

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