Have you Checked?

by | Oct 15, 2014 | Updates

If you haven’t checked our sister site, LivingWithFaith.org, recently you will find that there is more new material there. As is the case with this site, blog posts and/or other material is uploaded at least once a week and usually more often.

Recent blog posts you might enjoy on LivingWithFaith.org include: “James the Son of Zebedee.”  “What Faith Is Not,” “The Mother’s Name,” “It’s Not about Feelings,” and “Missing Small Miracles as We Look for Large Ones.” In addition, there are also recent book reviews, quotations and articles.

Meanwhile, on this site, we have new material on the Quotations and Tactical Living pages – with lots more to come!

It’s How We End Up that Counts: Manasseh

It’s How We End Up that Counts: Manasseh

by | Oct 12, 2014 | History & the Bible

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              Third in the “Lessons from the Kings” Series

According to the biblical record, many of the rulers of ancient Judah and Israel were exceedingly bad. If we ask “How bad did they get?” the answer might well be “Manasseh.” Manasseh was certainly one of Judah’s worst rulers, yet the end of his story is a surprising and inspiring one.

Manasseh was the son of the good king Hezekiah with whom he seems to have co-ruled in the last years of his father’s life.  He became sole king around 687 BC and reigned for a total of 55 years (2 Kings 21:1; 2 Chronicles 33:1).  His reign was soon after the conquering of the northern tribes by Assyria in 720 BC, and during his time Judah itself was constantly under the shadow of possible Assyrian invasion.

Despite the good influence of his father, Manasseh annulled the religious reforms made by Hezekiah and re-instituted the worship of pagan gods and idols.  2 Kings 21 outlines the extent of his apostasy, telling us that “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.  He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal … He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them … In the two courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts” (2 Kings 21:2-5).

As if introducing pagan idols and altars into the temple of God were not bad enough, we are told: “He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced divination, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists” (2 Kings 20:6).  The Book of Kings also suggests he may have executed prophets of God and supporters of his father’s reforms, for much “innocent blood” was shed by him in Jerusalem (2 Kings 21:16 and see Jeremiah 15:4).

Yet we are given some fascinating further information in the Book of Chronicles which tells us, not surprisingly, that the anger of God was roused against Manasseh and that God caused the king to be led away in chains by the King of Assyria.  Only then did Manasseh apparently realize his folly: “In his distress he sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors.  And when he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God” (2 Chronicles 33:11-13).   After his return to Jerusalem, Manasseh cleansed the temple, did away with idols, and re-instituted the worship of God (2 Chronicles 33:14-16).  Despite his earlier evil, Manasseh turned his life around, and his story gives us a flesh and blood example of what the prophet Ezekiel tells us:

“… if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right … None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him…” (Ezekiel 18:21-23).

In these words Ezekiel paints a clear picture of how, if we turn our lives around, what matters is how we end up – a fact by which the repentant Manasseh, formerly one of Judah’s most reprehensible kings, was greatly blessed.

An Eternal Foreclosure Recovery Plan

An Eternal Foreclosure Recovery Plan

by | Oct 9, 2014 | Forgiveness, Obedience

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A great many unfortunate people have been affected by foreclosure on their homes in recent years as a result of the worldwide economic down- turn.  Millions of people have been forced out of their houses in this situation – from tiny homes to great mansions – and moving beyond foreclosure is not easy. The process of recovery can be grueling and take years.

The first recorded home foreclosure may have occurred far earlier than you suspect. That first foreclosure  was not due to failure to pay a high interest loan, however – or any kind of loan, in fact. The third chapter of Genesis describes the foreclosure in detail and shows that the first homeowners/tenants were evicted not for failure to pay, but as the price they paid for disregarding God’s clear tenancy instructions (Genesis 3:22-24). 

Heartbreaking as modern home foreclosure may be, it is nowhere near as tragic as that first foreclosure in which the human family not only lost its “perfect home,” but also its relationship with the One who was the perfect builder and loan officer combined.  Many homeowner and renter contracts are extremely complex, but according to the Garden of Eden story the first couple had a very straightforward contract which they understood fully:  “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,  but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die’” (Genesis 3:2-3).  The last few words quoted there show that foreclosure on their home was only the first – and not the worst – part of the penalty the first homeowners faced.

Fortunately for the human family, God realized that this chain of events would occur – that spiritual foreclosure was likely to happen – and as a result He set in motion a plan for recovery.  We all know the basis of the plan: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  But that is really just the first part of the plan.  Jesus himself spoke of the second step for foreclosure recovery in a new home: “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places … If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also” (John 14:2-3 HCSB). But we have to develop a new relationship with God in order to move past the old, voided, home  contract and take advantage of the new one. Put simply, God wants totally remade tenants, remade homeowners for the new home He offers to those who want an eternally secure home with no foreclosure possible.

Physical home foreclosure can be a matter of great anguish, but whether we experience it physically or not, it can illustrate an important lesson about human life. We should be lastingly thankful for the ultimate foreclosure recovery plan that God has instituted for all who return to Him to claim it.

A Mirror You Can Trust

A Mirror You Can Trust

by | Oct 5, 2014 | Growth

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When explorers Lewis and Clark conducted their historic mission through the American West, they took with them many small mirrors which they traded and gave as gifts to the native Americans they met. One native warrior later described these mirrors as “things like solid water,” and the Indians considered them quite wonderful as they gave much better reflections than looking into water could do.

Today people everywhere take mirrors for granted, but not every mirror gives an accurate reflection. Even apart from the type of distorting mirror that is used in carnivals, there is actually quite a range of reflection accuracy in normal commercial mirrors – as you can often see by comparing several together.

Nevertheless, despite imperfections they may have, we all need mirrors occasionally to check on ourselves as we go through life. Sometimes we need a spiritual mirror too, and there the level of reflection accuracy becomes much more important, of course.  But when it comes to taking a look at our own characters and spiritual condition, it’s amazing how often many people will settle for mirrors which can’t really be trusted to give an accurate reflection.  We all fall prey to this to some extent. When we ourselves  attempt to judge how we are doing spiritually, we run the risk of getting an inaccurate reflection as  Jeremiah 17:9 reminds us, because “The heart is deceitful above all things…” and it’s that human “heart” or mind that twists things so constantly that we simply can’t trust its judgment.  Even if  we turn to friends and fellow believers to get input on issues regarding our character and behavior, the “reflection” we get from them may be distorted by friendship, too.

The truth is there is only one spiritual mirror we can trust and that is the one God provides us in His word.  It’s a particularly effective “mirror” because it  works two ways.  First, the word of God doesn’t pull any punches.  We can always trust it to “tell it like it is” because its reflection goes much deeper than our surface selves: “For the word of God is… sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates … the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). That’s a non-distorting reflection  we can trust one hundred percent.  It might be discouraging at times to see a true reflection of our inner nature, but  there is another, more positive way the word of God acts as a mirror for us which does change the reflection to our advantage.  The more we look into the mirror of the word, the more we clearly see the nature of Christ himself – an image to which we are striving to conform as Paul tells us: “We … beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image …” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

So God provides a mirror that we can trust when it comes to seeing things we need to change and fix – and also provides us with a mirror that gives us a clear image to aim for as we change.  It’s really not that complicated: a reflection of what we need to avoid and one of what we need to be. The only caution is that we mustn’t forget to regularly check the mirror we are given and to act on its reflection, as the apostle James wrote: “Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do” (James 1:22-25).   That’s a mirror we can trust – all we have to do is use it regularly.

Were the First Christians Communists?

Were the First Christians Communists?

by | Oct 2, 2014 | Difficult Scriptures, Fellowship

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Scripture in Focus: Acts 4:32–35   

“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had… And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need” (Acts 4:32–35).

Many have used these verses in Acts to try to prove that the early Christians followed a form of communism, but a careful reading of what the Bible says here shows that nothing could be further from the truth. We should note immediately that this seems to have been a temporary situation while the fledgling church was becoming established and before any formal mechanisms for helping the poor within the church were in place. Many of those who had come to Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Pentecost (Acts 2) and had been converted now were staying there and had as yet no means of support. So many shared what they had at that time. But we should also remember that once this temporary situation passed, there is no evidence that the early church continued in exactly the way described here. 

Unlike communism as it is known in the modern world, the State was not in any way involved in this sharing; the Christians did not all share their property as a result of some decree or decision – rather “from time to time” people would decide to give, and only those people gave who wanted to.  There was also no requirement to share, as Peter himself clearly tells us in the story of Ananias and Sapphira: “Ananias.…why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the [sale of your] lands? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? …You did not lie to men but to God!” (Acts 5:3–4). Finally, we should notice that the early Christians’ goods were not equally divided among everyone, but were “distributed to anyone who had need” (Acts 4:35). 

This is all very different from modern era communism in which the State forcibly redistributes all wealth – theoretically sharing it equally between everyone in the society. There is also a clear difference in attitude. As has been jokingly said, though not without some truth, communism operates on a principle of “What’s yours is mine,” whereas the early Christians operated with the attitude of “What’s mine is yours.”

We should also remember that there is no room for communism in the teachings of Jesus. Although he recommended a certain rich young ruler sell all he had and give to the poor (not distribute it among Jesus and his followers), this appears to have been an individual test.  We see that Jesus had Judas look after his funds and these were used as were needed and, on occasion, some funds were given to the poor (John 13:29) rather than anything that was received being automatically equally distributed.  Communism is, in fact, diametrically opposed to a great many of the teachings of Jesus, as we can see in the parable of the “talents” (Matthew 25:24–30) and the parable of the “minas” (Luke 19:12-27) where the servants are unequally rewarded, and elsewhere.