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Proverbs 18:21 Words have meaning. Our words are powerful to bring about good or to cause evil. Too often we use our words in useless banter and aimless talk which accomplish nothing of any real importance. People who are under the influence of the devil use their words as defense mechanisms to keep Jesus and His gospel away from themselves. If you’ve tried to talk with someone about Jesus and His gift of life, you may have heard words like these: •“I’m beyond help.” •“Leave me alone. I’m okay.” •“You’re nothing but a Jesus freak.” •“I don’t want to be someone’s project.” •“I hate your kind.” •“Don’t want to talk about it.” •“You’re a Bible-thumping idiot.” •“You think you’re better than me.” •“That’s all a bunch of hog wash.” •“Not now. Come back in ten years.” •“Been there. Done that.” •“You’re all a bunch of hypocrites.” •“Isn’t God dead?” •“Are there still people who believe all that stuff?” Of course, many of these responses are complete with numerous expletives and profanities. The servant of Christ must be able to see through these “smoke screens” of words to a heart and soul which is hurting and in dire need of Jesus’ saving and transforming power. We must have the love for God and the Lord Jesus to talk of His grace to all people. We must have the love, patience, and faith to bring them face to face with Jesus and His saving and transforming gospel. We must be able to endure their negative and hateful words in order to bring them the words of life.

Acts 13:9 Most of us know him as the apostle Paul, but he was using the name Saul when we first encounter him in scripture as a zealous Pharisee who was persecuting the church (Acts 9:1-2). It’s obvious that he didn’t believe that Jesus was the Christ. But Jesus appeared to Saul while he was traveling to Damascus to wreak more havoc on the disciples, and he became a believer in the Lord, was baptized, and accepted the commission which Jesus gave to him - to preach the gospel to the Gentiles (non-Jews). Some people have suggested, and you may have heard it taught that Saul’s name was changed to Paul as a result of his conversion. Is this true? What do we know? Here’s what we know as a fact: “But Saul, who was also known as Paul...” (Acts 13:9). That’s it! Do we know how it came about that he had these two names? No. But here are some possibilities. First: Jesus may have given him the name Paul after his conversion. Some have said this. Jesus gave the name “Cephas” (Peter) to Simon (John 1:42). But there is nothing in scripture to support that Jesus did a similar thing with Saul. Second: Saul may have had both names from birth. Saul is very much a Hebrew name, and Paul is more Greek/Roman. Saul was born a Roman citizen (Acts 22:28), so it would be no surprise that he always had these two names. This presents two possibilities: 1) He chose to use the name Paul after his conversion to disassociate himself from his former life when he was known as Saul the one who persecuted the church. 2) He chose to use his Greek/Roman name when he began his mission among the Gentiles to be more readily heard and accepted among them. Whatever the case was (and it may have been something else entirely), we don’t know what caused Saul to start using the name Paul. We only know that he did. ><> Jeff

Proverbs 10:8, 12:15, 13:16 Some of the things I see people doing I don’t understand. Believe me, I’m not implying that I have the answers to everything nor that life is a “one size fits all” proposition. But I think you, too, have observed some things which people do and have thought like me: “I don’t get it!” For instance, I don’t get it when people weave in and out of traffic at high speeds. The risks involved with such driving tactics far outweigh any gains. I don’t get it when people tailgate. I am looking for the bumper sticker which says: Please Respect My Right to Drive the Speed Limit. And in how many accounts of fatal accidents do we read/hear: “The victim was not wearing a seat belt.” “I don’t get it.” Here’s one I have observed more than once: While the bank is open, someone is pulled up to the ATM to get cash when a fee is almost always charged for such transactions. “I don’t get it!” I don’t understand the Christian who feels left out from the rest of the congregation but never participates in any of the fellowship or ministries. I don’t understand the Christian who doesn’t feel close to God, but whose Bible lays closed all week and whose lips never speak a prayer. I don’t get it when people claim to be Christian, but whose lives look and sound no different from their worldly neighbors. Solomon wrote much about “fools” by which he meant those who did not heed God’s wisdom and instruction. He said that their way was right in their own eyes, and that no one could teach them anything. On the other hand, the wise person was always open to instruction and actually applied wisdom and knowledge to what they did in life. He also said that for failing to receive instruction the fool would “be ruined.” Made up minds - closed ears - tradition bound - “I’ll do it my way” - “We’ve always done it this way” - rushing through life in a rut - ignoring God’s plain teachings... “I don’t get it.” Do you get it?

Hebrews 11:8-19 Faith is a marvelously rich affair, filled with meaning and power. So many want to reduce it to a mere drizzle of belief and Sunday morning ritual, but faith is a torrent, a storm of believing, trusting and going forward in the face of great odds, hardship and personal sacrifice. Faith is a way of living which listens to and obeys the voice of God. If we were to interview some of those we read of in the Bible who walked by faith, we would get a clearer picture of the meaning of the word. What would Abraham say if we suggested to him that faith was the holding to certain beliefs which caused you to think you had gotten everything right and guaranteed you a place in eternity? Why he’d light off his camel so quickly you’d never guess he was over a hundred years old! Would he not remind us that the Lord called him to leave his home in Ur and go to a place he’d never seen?! Would he not recall that he moved his tent “a hundred times” as he moved about the land of Canaan with no real place to call home? Would he not point out that he and Sarah waited twenty-five years for God to come through on his promise with the birth of a son - and that came about when Sarah was beyond the age of having children? And then he’d bring up that most trying of events when the Lord God told him to take a three days’ journey to a certain place and there sacrifice his son Isaac whom the Lord had blessed them with! What would Abraham tell us about the struggle in his own heart as he made that trip? How would he describe the faith that moved him to “offer up” his only son, the son of promise? What would Abraham say about the faith that had empowered him to do all these things and more and yet left him at the end of his life with only a promise from the Lord and no actual realization of what that promise was? What would Abraham tell you about faith, his faith? You and I really need to listen to the voice of Abraham when it comes to faith (Romans 15:4).

2 Timothy 2:22 Occasionally that old man of the flesh rears his ugly head and tries to turn our hearts back to the ways of the world again. Paul urged Timothy to run from youthful lusts and “pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” A pure heart is one with undivided loyalty for Christ Jesus. When our heart is divided, the desires for the world can crowd out our love for God, and even the Christian can begin to see things the way the world does. We’ve all experienced some of the following from time to time (Some of these have been adapted from the internet): Isn’t it strange how $20.00 seems like such a large amount when you give it to the Lord, but such a small amount when you go shopping? Isn’t it strange how we can find more “reasons” to miss Sunday worship than we can find reasons to assemble around His table? Isn’t it strange that you can’t find a word to say about spiritual things when talking with a friend, but you have no trouble talking about the weather, sports, recipes, shopping, etc.? Isn’t it strange how laborious it can be to read one chapter in the Bible, but how easy it is to read 100 pages of a novel? Isn’t it strange how we believe just about everything on TV, in magazines, newspapers and on the internet, but we question what is in the Holy Scriptures? Isn’t it strange how everyone says they want eternal life, but few search the Scriptures to find out what is needed for them to have it? Isn’t it strange?

Matthew 13:10-17 Well, with a title like this your curiosity was probably aroused. Others, however, did not bother to read this article since they were not familiar with the word and didn’t care to learn. Such is the basis, I believe, for Jesus’ use of parables in His teaching (see our text). God is not handing us salvation on a silver platter. Some effort, even considerable effort, on the part of each person is necessary to obtain the redemption which is in Christ. We cannot bring about or merit our own salvation, but we have a part in securing our own salvation and even that of others (1 Timothy 1:15; 4:16). So, what is an antinomy? Per Webster: antinomy - 1) the opposition of one law, regulation, etc. to another 2) a contradiction or inconsistency between two apparently reasonable principles or laws, or between conclusions drawn from them. Paradox would be a fair synonym. The Bible is filled with paradoxes, antinomies and hard sayings. Here’s a sampling: •Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave - Matthew 20:26-27 •He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal - John 12:25 •He who is forgiven little, loves little - Luke 7:47 •For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away - Matthew 25:29 •...when I am weak, then I am strong - 2 Corinthians 12:10 There are many more. The question: Do we avoid such sayings because of their difficulty, or do we dig into them to discover the gems of truth which God wants us to know? In fact, if we do not understand some of these and follow them, we will miss the kingdom of heaven! So, it’s up to you and me. My preference is to keep digging. What will you do? Hmmm?

Genesis 7:8-9 Most of us were taught the story of Noah and the ark in Bible school, and one of the things we remember about that was that the animals went into the ark “two by two.” This, of course, reflected the need for the male and female to procreate following the flood. If we reflect upon scripture and God’s created order, we find groups of two everywhere, some complementary and some in contrast: •Male and female •Husband and wife •Light and darkness •Day and night •Left and right •Broad way and narrow way •Good and evil •Right and wrong •Body and soul •Flesh and spirit •Truth and falsehood •Righteous and wicked •Life and death •Sheep and goats •Heat and cold •Yes and no •Saved and lost •Clean and unclean •Wise and foolish •Strong and weak •Free and enslaved Such pairs represent God’s wisdom in His creation, but also reflect the severe reality of good and evil which is present in the world. So, keep your eye open for “twos.” They are everywhere.

Amos 4:6-13 One often hears the expression: “You can’t out-give God.” This is certainly a true statement. He is generous beyond degree and lavishes gifts on all people, especially those who belong to Christ. Such generosity finds its root in His love. Many of God’s gifts are easily seen: rain, snow, sunshine, plants, animals, food, rainbows, sunsets and sunrises, cool breezes, family, marriage, children, friends, a job, etc. Beyond things such as these we have the incomparable gift of the Holy Scriptures in which truth and wisdom are found and which tell us of the grand epic which God is working out on the earth. The gift of the Holy Spirit is well beyond our comprehension. And, of course, Jesus the Christ of God stands remarkably at the center of it all. We praise God for His priceless gifts. On the other hand, there are the “gifts” of God which are not so easily discerned. In fact, sometimes we do not see them as gifts at all but as nothing but trouble. Let’s consider our scripture. Israel had become a wayward nation: moral depravity, oppression of the poor, injustices all around, false and hollow worship. She was far removed from what the Lord wanted her to be. So He sent some “gifts” designed to bring her to repentance and back to Him. There was the gift of famine (v 6). If Israel had an empty stomach would she return to God to be filled? He sent the gift of drought (vv 7-8). If Israel became truly thirsty, would she look to the Lord to give her drink? There were the gifts of blight, mildew and caterpillars (v 9) upon their gardens and orchards. Would Israel realize that it was their God who kept such things away? There was plague, war and destruction (vv 10-11), but even these gifts from the Lord were not seen by Israel as good things to cause them to return to the Lord their God. So remember the diverseness of the gifts of God. If we begin to wander from His ways, straying away from Him, and set up idols in our hearts, God will send “gifts” designed to bring us back to Him. Let us see such gifts truly as the gifts which they are.

1 Peter 1:22-23 Love is at the heart of Christianity. The scriptures teach us that “God is love,” and we are taught throughout the Bible to become like Him and demonstrate that love to those around us. Yet, for many reasons we often fail to do this. We are sinners, of course, and still fail at our calling. But another reason we fail is that our understanding of love is tarnished, the word having been twisted with corrupt connotations by the world. Many have tried to define love, but even the Bible yields no definition but provides some characteristics (1 Corinthians 13:1-8) and many examples of love. We attempt to provide no definition here, but recently on a television program (Can anything good come out of TV?), I heard something which is helping me better understand what real love is. It was on a “Hallmark” movie (Hmmm?), and a bride was expressing her personal words to her husband to be. She said, “You make me a better person.” And I thought to myself: “That’s exactly what love does.” When we love someone, we want them to be a better person, and we will do things to help them become a better person. So, what would helping someone else become a better person look like? ... •Praising them for a job well done •Helping them discover and use their talents •Comforting them in times of grief •Praying for them •Helping them overcome their weaknesses •Setting an example for them of Christ-like living •Assisting them to grow in Christ •Treating them with respect and honor •Forgiving them and asking them for forgiveness •Showing them every kindness •Being patient with them •Treating them as a person made in the image of God These are some of my thoughts on this. What do you say?

Hebrews 13:5-6 Just about every one of us has thought of winning the lottery. You know - the BIG ONE! Hundreds of millions of dollars. Many people dream of winning it. A lot of people try to win the lottery. As a Christian, we even speculate about how much good we could do with that kind of money. We could support all kinds of charities - good causes. We could help some people whom we know are struggling to pay off some bills. We would even give a large percentage to the Lord - you know, maybe 50%. (Is that before or after taxes?) Well, maybe 25%. Hmmm? We have read articles and heard stories about people who have won the lottery and their lives were ruined. In a few years, many had spent it all or were even broke. For various reasons, that huge sum of money didn’t produce a good outcome. We, of course, would be able to handle it. We would be different. We wouldn’t let the money get hold of us. Right? Let’s ask this question: Would winning the lottery be your downfall? Be careful how you answer. We need to carefully reflect on how many warnings God gives in His word about trusting in money and about greed and covetousness. Paul writes to the Ephesian church (5:3) that greed is not even to be named among them as being improper for saints. He writes to Timothy (1:6:10) about the love of money being the root of all sorts of evils. Probably the most dangerous of those evils is that people begin to trust in it instead of in God. Usually when there are admonitions about the dangers of money, there are also exhortations to be content with what we have and to trust God to take care of our needs. Our Hebrews scripture is one of those. Consider: If we are engaged in trying to win the lottery or have begun to seriously fantasize about winning it, we have probably already grown discontent with what we have and are no longer trusting God to take care of us. What do you think?

Luke 10:25-37 When Jesus was questioned by a lawyer about what he should do to inherit eternal life, Jesus asked him what was written in the law about it. His answer was correct in that he cited the commands about loving God with all of one’s being and loving one’s neighbor as yourself. Then the lawyer revealed his misunderstanding by asking who was his neighbor. Jesus then related the story of the good Samaritan and told him to “Go and do likewise.” Prior to this, I have often thought that this lawyer was trying to trap Jesus by asking “And who is my neighbor?” I’m not so sure about that now. I believe he was stuck in the trap of mere law-keeping which we would expect from a “lawyer” rather than understanding the spirit of the law. Paul warns (2 Corinthians 3:6) that “the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” So how would this work? In this case, the lawyer would probably be thinking that his neighbor would be someone who owned an adjacent plot of ground or lived in a house on either side of him. Perhaps he would expand his definition of “neighbor” to anyone in his family or clan, or maybe even a close friend. This is what living by the letter of the law looks like. First, there is an effort to establish boundaries in minimums or maximums (depending on what’s being considered). Then, there is an effort to live by those minimums or maximums. In this way, the individual can justify themselves by keeping within whatever boundaries they have established.

The world can “beat us up” quite badly at times. A person can start out in the morning with enthusiasm, energy and confident expectations but by the end of the day they can be crushed, worn out and thoroughly disappointed. Life can do that to us. If you hold down a job, all sorts of things can happen in the work place. Maybe you have a “run in” with your boss or even a co-worker. The workload kept piling up. You didn’t get that raise. Maybe it was just a long, grueling day. Then the work schedule came out, and you’re on it for Saturday - again. Things begin to well up inside: tension, frustration, anxiety. What do you do? If you’re on the “home front,” similar things can happen. The kids were just royally rotten. You think one of them is getting sick. You burned the lasagna. Is the oven going bad? The credit card bill came, and it’s a lot more than you thought. The car is making an odd “whirring” sound. The lawn mover won’t start. Things begin to well up inside: tension, frustration, anxiety. What do you do? Well, the one thing that you don’t want to do is to unload everything on your spouse as soon as you see him/her at the end of the day. Do not let these things define your daily reunion! That should be a time of smiles, hugs, kisses and rejoicing. You are back together once again. This is about two things: maintaining perspective and having self-control (Proverbs 25:28). Focus on the blessings which God has given you and your family. You are loved and have someone who loves you. Life is good. God is good. You are one of His children, and He has promised to be with you in all of life. One mental exercise which you may want to learn is to put all of the day’s troubles in a “box” and put it somewhere before you see your spouse. Leave it on the porch, on a shelf, in a cabinet, etc. Then when you have enjoyed some time together, and you are settled down, you can open the box together along with God. Give it a try.