11-15-2025         Do You Know Who I Am?

(DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM  (2011)

                 

This song/poem is about a person from childhood to old age and his/her relationship with God.  It was inspired by the lullaby ‘Hush, Little Baby’, which is thought to have been written in the Southern United States. The lyrics are from the point of view of a parent trying to appease an upset child by promising to give them a gift.   Its origin is not clear but Cecil Sharp, Endicott, Franklin County, Virginia, collected and notated a version in 1918.  Varying versions surfaced between 1929 into the 1940’s.  The song has been performed and recorded by many artists including Joan Baez, Burl Ives, Regina Spektor, Nina Simone, The Weavers and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Additionally, the song has been adapted into pop songs such as Maurice King's "Hambone", Inez and Charlie Foxx's "Mockingbird" and Bo Diddley's eponymous song "Bo Diddley", as well as Bobby McFerrin and Yo-Yo Ma's "Hush Little Baby" and Eminem's "Mockingbird".  Aretha Franklin, Carly Simon, James Taylor, Etta James, Taj Mahal and Dusty Springfield have each recorded "Mockingbird", which is an R&B variant of the song.  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hush,_Little_Baby).

 Consider this song/poem as Father talking to us.  ‘Do You Know Who I Am’

 Refrain  (The refrain is intended to be sung after each verse)

 I look in your face

And I wonder, my child

Do you know who I am

Have you any idea who I am?

 

Hush little baby, don’t you cry

You daddy is near, I’m standin’ by

I’ll clothe you, I’ll feed you

I’ll hold you always near

I’ll help you, I’ll guide you

So don’t you ever fear

 Refrain

 How quickly you grow, you’re growing strong

I know it’s soon, it won’t be long

I’ll fix your hurts and comfort you

Soon you’ll spread your wings and learn to fly

But remember the things that I do

I’ll always be there, by your side

 Refrain

 Now you are grown and living your life

Facing happiness, joy, trouble and strife

Decisions are tough, confusing at times

But ask me please, you’re still my child

I’ll guide you, direct you, the pleasure is mine

I’m here to help, all the while

Refrain

The breeze caresses a weathered face

Times and trials survived by grace

As we walk in the twilight sun

Memories sweet and hand in hand

Reflect on the things, the things we’ve done

I ask you now, do you know who I am

(Refrain )

I look in your face

And I wonder, my child

Do you know who I am

Have you any idea who I am?

 

Now compare this poem with chapter fifteen (v11-32) in the gospel of Luke.  Do we see any similarities? 

In the prodigal son, the Father give his youngest son his inheritance and allows him to go out into the world on his own, knowing what the lad might face.  The son experiences life outside of his father’s realm, he eventually realizes that doing things ‘his way’ weren’t such a good idea after all. He decides to ask his father to receive him back into the family.  He returns home and apologies for what he did and is received with love and restoration. 

Luke 15:11-32

King James Version

¹¹ And he said, a certain man had two sons:

¹² And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.

¹³ And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.

¹⁴ And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.

¹⁵ And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

¹⁶ And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.

¹⁷ And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

¹⁸ I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,

¹⁹ And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.

²⁰ And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

²¹ And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

²² But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:

²³ And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:

²⁴ For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

²⁵ Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing.

²⁶ And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.

²⁷ And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.

²⁸ And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.

²⁹ And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:

³⁰ But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.

³¹ And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.

³² It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

Father says that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Deut. 31:8).  Paul also says that Jesus said that He will never leave nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5).  When the Father and Son are in agreement, how can we possibly go wrong?  The bible says that a thing is established by two witness (Deut. 19:15, 2 Corinth. 13:1).  Enough said?  Job said “I have heard about You by the hearing of the ear” (Job 42:5 …)  God considered Job a perfect and upright man (Job 1:18-19, Job 2:3), but after Job and God had a ‘little chat’ (Job 38:1-41:34), Job said “but now I have seen you with my on eye” (… Job 42:5).  In other words, Job came to understand and know who God really is.

Do we think that Job thanked God for his troubles or was he thankful for God bringing him through all those troubles?  And when God blessed Job (Job 42:12-17), how grateful do we think Job must have been?  When situations come upon us, do we thank God for seeing us through those tough times?  How grateful are we when the smoke finally clears and we receive the blessings Father has for us?

How many of us go through life knowing ‘about’ God but never take the time to ask Father to lead us through the scriptures and/or really sit down and talk with Him as a friend?  Do we just say “Here it is …Thanx for t his, thanx for that, and then see ya later”?  When we talk with our close friends, do we truly listen to what they say?  Or do we interact with encouraging words?  Or vice versa?  Does Father deserve any less?  Moms and dads, when we explain something to our children, are we proud of ourselves because we set them straight’?  Or do we even really care that they understand what was said so they can grow from the experience?  Our heavenly Father does care and He works with us so we can grow (Col. 1:9-10), 2 Peter 1:4).

Communication is a two-way street.  We talk they listen and when they talk we listen.  Again, does the Almighty God deserve any less?  Along with other things, Webster’s defines communication as an exchange of information.  So do we talk “at” people or “with” people?  Do we talk ‘at’ God or do we talk ‘with’ God?

Father does talk with us through His written Word, but His desire is to speak with us “face to face”.  Or should I say heart to heart?  That is, we shouldn’t treat Him as an “it” but as “who”.  We are made in the image of God (Gen. 1:26).  God is love (1John 4:8) and He expects us to live in His image.  We can hear and see.  Father hears and sees and understands.  He is a compassionate God and when we approach Him with a true and humble heart, He takes us by the hand (Spiritually), helping us as we go.  

Even today, do we yet understand who Father truly is?  Father has feelings just as you and I.  My God!  He has created feelings!  Do we thank Him for all that He has done for us?  Are we grateful that He has loved us so much to care about us?  Even by taking our sins and placing them upon Himself on the cross!  It is difficult for a man to give his life for his brother or friend, but Jesus took our sins even when we weren’t acknowledging Him! (John 15:13, Rom. 5:8).  Are we following His example?  Do we thank Father for all He has done for us?  Do we show our gratitude for who He is?  Are we truly living in His image?

Thank you Father for all that You have done for me and help me to show my gratitude by living in Your love.

Amen 

11-1-2025           What Jesus has done for us

             

A man had just completed a gospel concert before a moderate crowd.  Several staff were around the stage front and an invitation to receive Jesus was offered.  The man, spent from his presentation, went to the side of the stage and sat on a chair which was waiting for him to use if he needed it.  A crowd started gathering around the workers but a young boy came over to where the man was sitting “I want to receive Jesus.”  The man said “son, are you sure for what you are asking?”  The boy replied “I want to receive Jesus!”  “What’s your name, son?”  “Johnny.” “Johnny, may I ask you a couple of questions?” “Sure.” 

Do you know the first four words of the bible?  “Something about God.”  Yes, ‘in the beginning’ God.  That means that before anything happened, before the heavens and the earth were created – God existed (Gen. 1:1).  The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters (a liquid, but more than just H2O) (Gen.1:2).  The Spirit of God is also His breath, just like you and me (blow out). Then God began speaking (Gen 1:3-31).  “When I am speaking, do I express myself in words?”  Johnny responded “Yes.” So God spoke words, just like us and creation started lining up just as God directed.  Do you believe this Johnny?  “Yes.”   

Now, the first six words of the Gospel of John begin “In the beginning was the Word”.  We know that God spoke words, right?  “Yes sir.”  John tells us that the Word was with God AND that the Word was God (John 1:1).  So, just like you and me, Johnny, God has breath, He can speak Words and He has essence, He exists.   If Israel were to ask, God told Moses to tell them ‘I AM’ sent him.  I AM means ‘I exist’.  God has three parts just like you and me.  We have a body, we can breathe and we can speak.  However, the bible tells us that God is Spirit (John 4:24) so His body is a little different from ours, He always was and will always be. He’ll never grow old and die (Alpha and Omega (Rev. 1:11).  John also tells us that the Word of God is he light of the world and the light is Jesus who has come into this world so we can become God’s children (John 1:8-11).   That’s us, Johnny!  “Wow!”

Now, God wants us to know that He knows what we go through, each and every day.  So, He came into this world through Jesus.  No earthly father, yet bon of a virgin (Mary – Isa. 7:14, Matt. 1:20-23).  God spoke everything into existence, so it was no problem to speak life into Mary and bring Jesus into this world.  So Jesus lived as one of us for thirty years, showing us that we can live for God, pleasing Him in what we say and do.  Then, for the last three and a half years of His life on earth, Jesus explained to us how we too can live in God’s will (read the gospels, read the whole bible). 

Do you believe that what Jesus did, He did for you and me?  What did He do?  He allowed Himself to be arrested (Matt. 26:47-56), brought to trial before the Jews (Matt. 26:57-75) and then to the Romans, where He was beaten with a whip and taunted (Matt. 27:1-31).  After all this, Jesus was physically weakened so the Romans forced a man named Simon to carry Jesus’ cross (Matt. 27:32).  Now, just as Simon carried Jesus’ burden before the people, the cross to Golgotha, God allows us to carry the burden of Jesus before the people as we share God’s Word and love with those whom we encounter.

We know everybody sins (Rom. 3:23), so Jesus shed His blood and died on the cross so we could be cleansed of our sin (1 John 1:7). 

Finally, on the cross, when Jesus died. Yet, at the moment Jesus drew in and exhaled His last breath, the veil in the temple was torn in half, top to bottom, the earth shook and rocks were broken (Matt. 33-51).  The importance of the veil was that only the high priest could enter into the presence of God (in the Old Testament) that is into the Holy of Holies (Lev. 16:1-34, Heb. 9:1-10), But Jesus opened that doorway to all who would believe on Him (Heb.. 9:11-28) that we would have direct access to the Father, Himself, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

We have to believe that as Jesus died on the cross, He also rose from the grave (John 20:1-16) because Jesus says that He’ll come back for us one day we know can be with Him forever (John 14:3).

Do you believe this, Johnny?  “Yes!”   Then profess these things which you believe.  Then confess Jesus with your mouth that He is now your lord and Savior and thank Him for cleansing you from your sins (Rom. 10:9-10). 

Jesus also tells us that if we love Him, we need to keep His commandments (John 14:15) and His commandments (John 14:15) are actually one but in two parts – love God above all else and our neighbor as much as we love ourselves (Mark 12:28-31).  We love God because He first loved us then we love our neighbor as ourselves UP and OUT. 

“Okay!”  Johnny knelt asked Jesus into his life. 

Now the man was not a pastor so he added: Okay, now go tell your pastor what you have done and receive water baptism, as the cleansing with water is an outward expression of the cleansing which Jesus has just has done in your heart.  Oh, and Johnny, don’t forget to talk with God (pray Phil. 4:6) every day and ask Father to help you read your bible everyday so he Holy Ghost can lead you into truth and understanding (John 14:16-18, 2 Tim. 2:7).

May the Lord bless you richly!

Amen

 

 10-18-2025 Ezekiel 37 Dead Bones & Today

How does Ezekiel chapter 37, the valley of the dry bones, apply to today?

The hand of the Lord was upon me and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord.  He set me down in a valley which was filled with dry bones.  He caused me to pass around and in them, the valley was open and the bones were very dry (v1-2).  Then He asked me 

  
And I said, Lord God, You know (v3).

Then He said to me to prophesy to these bones and say “Oh dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord.  Thus says the Lord God to you bones, I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live.  I will lay sinews upon you, lay muscle upon you and cover you with skin and I will put breath in you and you shall live.

I prophesied as commanded and here was a noise and a shaking and bones came together, bone on bone 

(v4-7).

     

And I beheld the sinews and muscle came upon them and a skin from above covered them, but there was no breath in them (v8).

        

Then he said to me prophesy to the wind, son of man, “Thus says the Lord God, come from the four winds and breathe upon these slain that they might live” (v9).

So I prophesied as He commanded and breath came into them and they stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army (v10).

Then the Lord said “son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel and they say our bones are dried, our hope is lost and we are cut off for out parts (v11).

Therefore, prophesy to them and say “Behold, my people, the Lord God I will open your graves and cause you t come up out of you graves and bring you into the land of Israel and you will know that I am the Lord when I have opened your graves and brought you out of them (v 12-13).

I will put my Spirit in you and you shall live and I shall place you in you own land.  When this happens, you will know that I am the Lord because I have spoken it and performed it.  says the Lord (v14).

This was Father’s promise to Israel.  BUT, how does this imspact us today?

The world, and too much of today’s church ARE in the valley of dry bones. I lookk at a posting called “quora”.  It is a place where people and ask questions, express opinions and even post jokes, all on various topics. Through the posts, I’ve sen how lthe world views the bible and Jesus Chlrist.  I’ve seen suppoortive, positive information as well as degrding, ‘anti’ information.  Some negative, worldopinion, tidbits call the “the bible a ‘fairy tale, evenl a lpack of lies which never happened or ‘Jesus is a myth, He never really lived”.  I’ve also seen where scientists are discovering facts that ‘do’ support the bible. But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him (Heb. 11:6).  Father tells us that if we don’t listen to Him when He talks to us, He won’t listen to us when we cry out to Him (Zech. 7:13).  But, thank God, when the righteous cry out, God always hears us (Psalm 34:17).  But, bear in mind that even when a ‘sinner’ cries out, when his heart is truly seeking the Lord, God will honor that prayer (Psalm34:18).  After all, he who confesses Jesus and believes with all his heart, shall be saved Rom. 10:9).

 

So, in Ezekiel, Father has raised all those dry bones and gave them life and what do they do.  They complain, they don’t have what they want, they have no direction in life so they are divided.  Yet God promised them that He will fill them with His Spirit.  Keep in mind that there is the ‘spirit of life’ which enables all creatures to take a breath.  There is God’s Spirit, a part of the ‘Trinity’, that is to say the active part of God who puts His words into action through His breath (read Genesis chapter one).This is the same Spirit that entered Jesus which enabled Him to do all the works which He did, suffer the cross, be buried, then raise from the dead and return to the Father.  This same Spirit will work within us as long as we allow Him and don’t quench Him (1 Thess. 5:19).  Jesus tells the disciples to ‘receive the Holy Ghost (John 20:22) and strengthens that promise on the day of His ascension (Acts 1:8) and on that da, promises us ‘explosive power to do the things to which Father has called us.  In the upper room, the disciples did receive the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:1-16).  This same Holy Ghost is available to us, even today.

But note in our passage, Israel became complacent as God was good to them, even to the point where they forgot all about Him so Father no longer walked with them (Jer. 9:13).  He let them “do their thing’.

According to Webster, religion is basically being committed practicing a personal or institutionally set of practices or beliefs (Webster’s 7^th Collegiate edition 1966).  That means if we practice a personal belief or one that is established by a church or an organization constitutes, we practice a religion.

Faith is allegiance to a duty or a person. Belief or trust (Webster’s).  The Hebrew word for faith is emuwnah (H530) and is basically is stability and truth.  The Greek is pistis (G4102) means assurance, faith, belief or truthfulness.  Either or both indicate a strong commitment.

A fine line separates these two definitions, but the substance of the difference is what’s in our heart.   Do we ‘just do’ or do we serve with all our heart?  In short, in the Old Testament, the Jews observed the Law, all the holidays and rituals and sacrifices.  They attained salvation by being obedient in these works.  In the Old Testament, God’s Spirit did not come upon just anybody but on those whom God designated for a task.  Also prophets such as Isaiah (Isa. 6:1-9), Jerimiah (Jer. 1:-4-5) or Ezekiel (1:3, 2:1-3 ).  Consider some of the judges -Othniel (Judges 3:9-10), Gideon (Judges 6:34), or Samson (Judges 14:6) as examples.  Jesus upbraided Israel as to whether they truly believed the ordinances or not.  Jesus called them hypocrites for their heart was not into what they were doing (Matt. 23:1-32).  Remember that David was a man after God’s own heart so Samuel anointed David to become king (1 Sam. 16:11-13), David becomes king (2 Sam 5:3) and God explains that David was a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22).  

Faith is obtaining salvation first, then doing the works. Israel did the works to get ‘saved’, but today, we should be doing the works because we’re saved! Jesus tells us that if we love Him, we should keep His Commandments (John 14:15) and His Commandments are to love (Matt. 22:36-40, Mark 12:28-31)!  Because as the passages say “all the law and t the prophets are dependent on love.

Compare today’s church wit the 7 churches of Rev. chptrs 2 & 3: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergmos, Thyatria, Sardis, Philadephia and Laodicea.Father praised each chuch for the good that had been doing, but then came the ‘however’.  The howevers included: some have left their first love (Father/Son), fearful and not showing that they understood lthat God loved them.  Some held to the doctrine of Balaam, sacrificd to idols and commintted forniacation listened to Jezebel, guilty of impefect works (not afrom the heart) or were luke-warm (not tlruly committed to Jesus, but not denlyingd Him).  Yet, on the other side God will protect the faitful and prepare us to be worthy to stand before God and be  welcomed on that last day.  We will hear “Well done, good and faitful servant.  … welcome into the joyy of the Lord” (Matt. 25:23).

I’ve lbeen discovering and seeing how the Old Testament refelcts conditions of today’s world.  If we read the OT, we can learn a lot about how Father interacts with His children. As we we learn our rrelationship with Him, we cn become better equjipped to deal with the situations lthat come our way.

Good or bad, which of lthese qualities do w see abiding in today’s Chlristian churches?  In the lives in those around us?  where do we stand?

We are justified through the blood ofd Christ (Rom. 5:9), so we are redeemed from our sins through that blood (Eph. 1:7) and our robes are mde white through the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:14)

To sstay clean from sin, we need to to be transformed by the renewing our minds (praying & reading scripture) daily so we know what is good, acceptable and perfect before our Lord (Rom. 12:2).  In a race, all run to win, but only one actually crosses the finish line first (1 Corint. 9:24), and Jesus is the first to cross that finish line as He was raised from the dead (1 Corinth. 15:20-22).  Understand all who cross the finish line are winners.  We have emainned fdaithful to our Lord.  We So, when we do mess up (sin)  we have an advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1).   Jesus intercedes on our behalf (Rom. 8:27).  So, as we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive us from those sins, cleansing us from all unrighteousness 1 John 1:9).  And whatsoever we do we do from our heart (Col. 3:23-24) shows  that those actions are heartfelt which means honest and true.

Again I ask, where do we stand in our relationship with the Lord?

 

Amen

 

 

10-4-2025        Zechariah  Chapter 1

         

Israel had been in bondage for some time when God comes to Zechariah “Let’s start rebuilding my temple, my body”.

King Darius was a king who ruled between 522BC thru 486 BC which included Macedonia in the west to the Indus in the east, and from the Black Sea in the north to northeastern Africa in the south. 

On the eighth day of second year of King Darius’ reign, the Lord came to Zechariah, the grandson of the prophet Idda.  The Word of the Lord tells Zechariah that He is displeased with Israel.  They have not listened to the former prophets who warned their ancestors to turn from their evil ways and their evil doings and turn back unto God, the Lord of Hosts.  Have your ancestors lived forever?  Didn’t the words and statutes which My prophets proclaimed mean anything to your ancestors?  They even declared that God has dealt with them according to their works and deeds (1-6).

On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, the Word of the Lord came to Zechariah again “At night, I saw a man riding a red horse among the myrtle trees and it was twilight.  There were red, speckled and white horses”.  Zechariah asked “Oh, my Lord, what are these?”  And the angel said “I will show you.”  The man among the myrtle trees said “We had walked to and fro through the earth and behold, the earth sits still and is at rest” (7-11).

Then the angel of the Lord said “”Oh, Lord of hosts, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah upon which you have shown your indignation these past seventy years?”    (12)

Then the Lord answered the angel with good and comforting words (13).   

Then the angel talked with me and said “Tell the people ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts; I have la great jealousy for Jerusalem and Zion.  I am sorely displeased with the heathen who are at ease (comfortable in their ways) and who had helped my children increase their affliction.  Therefore says the lord of hosts, I have returned to Jerusalem with mercies.  My house shall be built in it and the Lord of hosts shall stretch a line (measuring) upon Jerusalem.  And yet says the Lord of hosts, through prosperity, my cities shall b be spread abroad and the Lord shall comfort Zion and yet choose Jerusalem.” (14-17)

I (Zechariah) lifted my eyes up and saw four horns and I asked the angel, who talked with me, what are these?  And the Angel responded “These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem (18-19)

And the Lord showed me four carpenters, then I asked “what are these to do?”  And He said “These are the horns which scattered Judah so that no man could lift his head up.  But these (carpenters) who are come to frighten them and cast out the horns of the Gentiles which lifted up their horn to scatter Judah’ (20-21).   (the carpenters have come to repair the damage)

So, what do we care about what happened with Israel over 2000 years ago?

This passage implies that Israel is the “apple of God’s eye’.  But because of Gentile influence, Israel strayed from God’s laws and statutes.  Through His prophets, Father tried to get Israel back on the right track so He ‘reprimanded’ them (Israel). 

After He brought them out of Egypt and Israel strayed and God put them under subjection to other powers. 

However, consider that after God brought Israel out of Egypt (the Exodus), God allowed Israel to live among the Gentiles which yet remained in the land which God had promised them.  Gradually, Israel adopted the ways of those amongst whom they lived and forgot the ways of the Lord.  But, when Israel cried out God raised up judges to deliver them (Book of Judges).  Over time, God raised up twelve judges to deliver His people from oppression, a period which ended when finally, at the people’s request, God gave them a king, Saul (1Sam.chptr 10).

The people strayed from Father’s Word and statutes.  Father is love (1 John 4:8) and not a tyrant so He gives us a choice to follow Him or not.  Father told Israel that He has called heaven and earth to testify that on this day, He gave them a choice: life or death, blessings or cursings (Deut. 30:19).  Or if it seems evil to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, Joshua chose the Lord) … (Josh. 24:15).  Or Trust the Lord with all your heart and don’t lean unto your own understanding.  Acknowledge God in all your ways and He will direct your path (Prov. 3:5-6).  Temptation is common to man but God is faithful that He will not try us without providing an escape so we can bear it.  Beloved, flee idolatry, that is worshipping anything other than our heavenly Father (1 Corinth. 10:13-14).  Father tells us to rejoice in our temptations for this grows our faith.  When faith is perfected, we find ourselves wanting (needing) nothing.  Don’t revile people but freely give and ask God for wisdom and He will freely give it to us.  Don’t let our faith waver like the wind driven sea.  A double minded man is unstable in his ways and won’t receive anything from the Lord (James1:1-8). 

What kind of choices do we make today?  What about today’s churches?

Zechariah was commissioned by God to start gathering the materials and rebuild His church building, His temple.  We are God’s living temple (1 Corinth. 3:16).  Are we in a construction or even a reconstruction period in our lives?  Is Father foremost in our hearts and minds?  Our dads and moms gave us instruction and direction when we were young.  An heir does not differ from a servant when he is a child even though He inherits all things for he is yet under tutors land governors until Father’s appointed time. Are we still bound by the elements of the world (Gal. 4:1-2)?  In other words, we are still children until Father says otherwise.  Do we remember or teen years when we thought we knew everything?  But truly we knew nothing (in perspective).

 Father works in us and through us via the Holy Ghost.  Jesus tells us that the Holy Ghost will be in us (John 14:16-17).  Jesus tells us to receive the Holy Ghost (John 20:21-22).  Jesus received the Holy Ghost when John baptized Him in water, the Spirit of God came upon Jesus in the form of a dove (Matt. 3:13-17).  The apostles and about 108 disciples received the Holy Ghost in the upper room (Acts 1:15, 2:1-4).  Paul encountered twelve men on the road to Ephesus (who had been baptized by John) and the twelve received the Holy Ghost after their encounter with Paul (Acts 19:1-7).  Philip preached in Samaria and many received Jesus but it wasn’t until Peter and John came up from Jerusalem that they receive the Holy Ghost (Acts 8:5-17)  And how can we forget Cornelius and his household who received the Holy Ghost even while Peter was preaching, that is before water baptism (Acts 10:34-48).  Consider the thief on the cross beside Jesus who received neither water baptism nor baptism in the Holy Ghost, but he had received  Jesus in his heart so Jesus told him that “this day, you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43).

Paul tells us not to quench the Spirit (1 Thess. 5:19), that is prohibit the Holy Ghost from doing His job.  For the Holy Ghost will lead us into all truth (John 15:13), help say what needs to be said (Matt. 10:19-20), help us commune with the Lord (1 Corinth. 3:16) and confirms our salvation within our own hearts (Rom. 8:16) and even more.

Father gives us what we need to get the job done.  After all He will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5).  All we have to do is ask and follow His diection.

As Joshua said “This day me and my house, will serve he Lord (Josh. 24:15).  Zechariah was on his way in starting to construct the temple of God.  As we have Jesus into our lives, we ARE the living temple of our Lord (2 Corinth. 6:16).

Are we allowing the Holy Ghost to construct or perhaps reconstruct our temple?  How have our choices been?

 

Amen

 9-20-2025  Ten Commandments

  

The scribes challenged Jesus as to what is the first commandment and Jesus responded: Listen, the Lord our God is one Lord and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and the second is like it – you shall love your neighbor as yourself.  There are no other commandments other than these because all the law and the prophets are based on these (Matt. 22:35-40, Mark 12:28-31). 

EXODUS

Chapter 20

“I am the Lord God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage.

1          You shall have no other Gods before me.

2          You shall make no graven image for yourself, nothing in the likeness of heaven or the earth beneath or that is in the water or under the earth.  You shall neither bow yourselves down to them nor serve them, for I the Lord God, am a jealous God and I visit the iniquities of the fathers unto their children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.  But I show mercy to the thousands who love me and keep My commandments.

3          You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God in vain (a lie or being destructive), for he who takes the Lord’s name in vain shall be held accountable.  

4          Remember the Sabbath Day and to keep it holy (set apart). You shall do all of your work in six days . But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God and you shall do no work on it, neither your sons nor daughters, manservants nor maidservants, not even you cattle nor any stranger in your city . For the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea and all that is in them in six days, then He rested the seventh day.  Therefore the Lord blessed and hallowed the Sabbath day. (a time of rest to celebrate the Lord).

5          Honor your father and your mother so your days may be long upon the land which the Lord has given you.

6          You shall not kill.

7          You shall not commit adultery.

8          You shall not steal.

9          You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10        You shall not covet your neighbor’s house nor his wife, nor manservant nor maidservant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Okay, so why did God give Moses the 10 commandments?  Read the scriptures. All that the prophet said and did were at our Father’s direction.  They spoke what God told them to speak (Gen. 7:1-5, Moses).  And the prophets did what God told them to do, as exampled when Elijah went to Ahab’s prophets with a challenge to see who served the true God, Baal or Jehovah (the great I AM [Exod. 3:13-14]) (1 Kings 18:25-39).

So let’s take a quick look at the 10 Commandments to see how God fulfilled the description of love.

The first four commandments have to do specifically with our relationship with Father.  God created the heavens and he earth and all that’s in them (Gen. 1-31).  So He is the creative force behind all existence.    We shouldn’t make any graven images, statues or pictures and say this represents our God and then bow down and worship these ‘things’ as if they were God.  God is Spirit and all who worship Him should do so in Spirit, with all our heart and mind and truth (John 4:24).   As necessary, we do come before Father first to cleanse our heart so we can commune with Him with a clean heart.    

Remember that Father honors our requests so we need to be careful for what we ask (Psalm 5:15).  A piece of fruit is better than a candy bar. We need nutrition for our body and spirit.  Just because we get a sudden urge, Father is NOT our manservant to jump every time we bark. He does honor sincere and meaningful requests, especially when we are aligned with His will (1 John 5:14-15).  But also remember Jesus asks us to love our enemies (Matt. 5:44-45) and leave vengeance to God (Rom. 12:19).  So surely, we should never ask Father to send His damnation upon someone. The world wonders about the condition of the world.  One of the world’s favorite expressions is G–D D—n it.  I wonder why there are so many problems?  The world lives in its own mess.  Why should we ask God to make it any worse?  God is love (1 John 4:8) so let’s use His holy name in love – at all times.

And, of course Father asks us to remember the Sabbath.  After creating all that is, Father rested on the seventh day.  Even though He tells us man should work six days in the week, the seventh is a time for rest and commune with the Lord, a time to cease from our own works and rest in God’s works (Heb.4:9-11).  Amen? 

In honoring our parents we find ourselves in a transition period from moving from God to those around us.   Our heavenly Father has shown us love so can now we share that love with those whom we encounter.

When we love someone, we most assuredly won’t kill them.  As I have committed myself to my wife, I will not commit myself to another by committing adultery.  And, by the way, this includes ‘spiritual adultery’, which is worshiping something other than God.  How long can I enter into God’s house, then go into the house of Satan oar even bring Satan into God’s house.   We cannot love two masters.  We will love one and hate the other (Matt. 6:24).  Love means I won’t steal from others nor tell lies against them.  When I consider my neighbor my equal, no better or any worse, I should care enough not to desire anything that is his. That is to say I can desire something like what he has, but not that item  which is in his possession.

We mentioned a couple of examples of hearing God and doing something for Him as an act of love.  We’ve seen examples of how we can show our love for our Father which includes loving our neighbor as ourselves.

Jesus tells us that we can pray “My Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed is your name.  Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give me his day, my daily bread and forgive me my debts (sins) as I forgive my debtors (those who sin against me).  Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil.  For Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever.  Amen”.  This simple a prayer but is our ticket for daily living, it meets our daily need. In the same thinking, the Ten Commandments give us a simple definition of God’s love and how to live in it.

I’ve heard many say that the Ten Commandments don’t apply anymore but aren’t they a basic description of how we can show our love for the Lord and others?  Just how do we love if we don’t keep the 10 commandments?

Amen

 

9-6-2025    What has God Done for Us

 

 This is a paraphrased and personalized rendering of Psalm 107, that is reviewing things Father has done for Israel and us or as if He and were talking with each other.

 

Psalm 107

 

I will give thanks to the Lord for His mercy endures forever.  He has redeemed my soul form the hand of my enemy.  He has brought me out from my sinful nature.  (v 1-3)

 

In the past, I wandered in a spiritual wilderness, doing what I felt like doing but found that I had no place for rest.  I was spiritually hungry and my soul was faint.  Then I cried to the lord in my troubles and He delivered my out of my distress.  (v 4-6)

 

He led me by the right way so I could find a place to settle in.  (v 7)

 

Oh, let me praise the Lord for His goodness and for the wonderful works He has done in my life.  He satisfied my empty soul and filled my hunger with His goodness.  (v 8-9)

 

For once I was in darkness, even in the shadow of death bound by those things that weighed heavily on me because I had rebelled against God’s Word and disregarded His council. In those days, I labored heavily for there was no one to help me. (v 10-12)

 

But when I cried unto the Lord in the midst of my trouble, He saved me out my distress.  He brought me out of the darkness and even the shadow of death and He broke off those things which had me bound.

 

Oh let me praise the Lord for His goodness and for the wonderful works He has done unto me.

For He has broken those brass gates and iron bars in two, which held me captive. (v 15-16)

 

I was a fool because of my transgressions because my sins brought on my affliction. For then I hated the food which brought me near the gates of death.  (v 17-18)

 

Then I cried unto the Lord in my trouble and He saved me out of my distress.  He sent his WORD and healed me and delivered me from my destruction.  (v 19-20)

 

Oh, let me praise the Lord for His goodness and for the wonderful works He has done in my life. 

Let me offer my heartfelt thanksgiving and let me rejoice while declaring the works He h done for me. (v 21-22)

 

Father guides and directs success in life.  He can bring me up or He can bring me down.  I can be facing problems that seem so overbearing, but the Lord can bring calm to my soul, my heart and my mind.  He brings me into a haven of peace.  (V 23-30)

Oh let me praise the Lord for His goodness and for the wonderful works He has done unto me.

I will praise Him where people gather as well as in the assembly of the elders. (v31-32)

 

When I get off track my rivers (problems) become a wilderness and my springs of life dry up.  When I wander from His ways, my fruit dries up, my fields are dead because wickedness has settled in. (v 33-34) 

 

But as I am faithful, He turns my wilderness into standing water and my dry ground into a wellspring of life.  He fills my hungry soul that I may live.  The works I put my hands to flourish (v 35-37)

 

He blesses me in the things I do and they are multiplied greatly.  Through whatever I have encountered, my problems have diminished. (v 38-39)

 

My Lord causes those (or that) which stand against me to wander in the wilderness, unable to find their way.  (v 40)

 

Yet because I am poor (in my spirit or humble) He sets me above that which comes against me and my family flourishes. (v 41)

 

The righteous shall see how God blesses me and rejoice and those who would speak ill of me will hold their tongues. (v 42)

 

Those who are wise and observe the goodness of God shall come to understand His lovingkindness.

 

How many of us truly understand how good Father has been to us?  How many of us take time to count the blessings Father has given us this day? How many of us have taken time to take note how many times has given us direction over the past week?  How many of us realize how many situations Father has delivered us from over the past month?

We usually look for the ‘big’ things that God does for us and we give Him praise for those things.    Things like being saved from a potentially fatal crash, being healed from a debilitating or deadly illness, blessing us with a pay raise, on the job which we weren’t expecting?  How many times have we looked into the closet and asked “which outfit should I wear?”  Many of us have been programmed to believe that Father only does the ‘spectacular’ things and we seldom considers that He actually cares about the ‘little’ things in our lives or the decisions we make.  Father is interested all our things in our life, not just the ‘headline grabbers or those things which just don’t seem important to us to us to bother Him with.

We have ‘testimony time’ at our church.  We’ve all expressed our gratitude for Father helping us make ‘minor decisions’.  Yes, sometimes minor decisions can become important moves in our life may impact other things down the road.  Those little things could lead into bigger things.  We seldom know the full details of the decisions we make until the ‘whole picture’ finally unfolds.  I used to chuckle at a lady from several years ago, the first thing out of her mouth was “I thank God for giving me another day!’  I’m not chuckling anymore.  I know what she meant. 

Father want us to share our lives with Him, no matter how significant or insignificant something may seem to be. 

Father knows our heart and our mind.  In speaking to the Pharisees, Jesus told them that He knew their heart and it wasn’t good (Luke16:15).  Father knows everything about us, He can even know the thoughts and intents of our heart (Heb. 4:12).  So Father knows us but how can we know Him?  We have the mind of Christ (1 Corinth. 2:16)!  With Jesus Christ in us, through the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, we have a direct communication with our Lord (John 14:16-17). Jesus tells His disciples (and us) that what He says has come from the Father (John 14:29).  The Holy Ghost will lead us into all truth and show us things we need to know (John 16:13-15).  The BIG question is are we listening?

Reread this again and pick up your bible and read psalm 107.  Ask Father to open your eyes and heart see what you might discover about being thankful and giving Him the praise He deserves for all that He does for us.

Amen