Our First Parents Chose Lies Over Truth, We Must Choose Truth Over Lies.

 2Jn 1:4 I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.

I've spoken about it before but it bears speaking about again. The truth is so important, without it we have nothing at all. Think about it for a moment. When the first pair of humans were created and placed in the Garden of Eden, they were given truth by love. God is love. God is truth. They were given instructions, much like we might give instructions to someone that needed them. Adam and Eve were told what to do and what not to do. The list wasn't very long.

Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Gen 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, BE fruitful, and multiply, and REPLENISH the earth, and SUBDUE it: and HAVE dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Gen 2:15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to DRESS IT and to KEEP IT.

Mankind was to take care of the garden he was placed in. In what sense were they to take care of it? There were no weeds in the garden, all was perfection. Man was in a garden with beauty beyond our imagining. He was given leave to do in the garden as he willed. Imagine for a moment that you were in a garden where you could tend to it in such a way that was pleasing and wonderful to you every day. No tools need. A simple, gentle grasp of an exquisite flower tenderly lifted out of the soil. A relocating of that perfect flower into new soil just by setting it down and watching the living roots bury themselves into the dirt. Or possibly something to that effect. You could create such wonders and do so as often as it pleased you. This garden is not at all like our gardens today. We do have gardens that are gorgeous in places all over the world (and sometimes in our own back yard) these take work, hard work and constant upkeep. The Garden of Eden wasn't one of hard work, but of unique creative beauty that our amazing gardens today only hint at. The Creator's hands brought the wonderful garden into existence and then taking the two new creatures, humans, he placed them within that garden. It was teeming with animal life, insects, reptiles, amphibians, you name it and each one was perfect, and wonderful, beautiful. Have you ever been somewhere that took your breath away because of its beauty? Again, that place is only a hint of creation's perfection. So how does one take care of a garden that is perfect in all ways? Through the wonders of perfect imagining and the ability to alter things as the will moves. Through communing with nature in way unknown to us now. In truth, the first humans were able to enjoy and live in that garden in a manner that we can only imagine, and imagine we must.

God didn't stop there. After He told Adam and Eve about their life in the garden He also told them their food would be provided from every tree in the garden….

Gen 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat.

…except one…

Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

There was a very special tree in that garden, a tree of something more than the pleasure of tasty fruit.

This special forbidden tree contained the knowledge of good and evil and the pair were told as such. The other trees in the garden were for their pleasure, but this one, this single tree was made of something that should they choose to disobey their Creator's command, would kill them, end them. This tree was very deadly.

Did Adam and Eve know what death was? They had to have been given the comprehension of the outcome of their actions or it would have been meaningless. The word death would have described nothing if it had no meaning as being what it was. When told they would surely die if they disobeyed, they were given the full comprehension of what their actions would mean. Perhaps in a vision of themselves as being lifeless and returning to dust, we don't know. But for God's words to have any sense of caution, they had to know what dying would entail.

Dying would be living without God, not them as spirit beings ascending to heaven. Dying would be their Creators and them separated from each other.

Dying would make them outcasts.

Dying would be horrific and completely undesirable.

This awful thing that would happen should they eat of that tree and willfully disobey God's command, was well known to Adam and Eve or else they've have had no reason to stay away from it.

Some say the test was in them not knowing, just in their choosing not to listen to God. Then what point was there in God telling them there would be consequences if they didn't comprehend those consequences? If I tell my very child not to touch a hot stove or it could burn them, they might look at me in complete incomprehension. If I tell them not to touch the hot stove because it would cause them a lot of hurt, they'd probably understand because what child doesn't get 'owies' when learning to walk from falling down and bumping a knee? Children learn that things can cause them pain, things can hurt them, and if they are told that hot stove can hurt them, then they'd be cautious around that stove. Comprehension has to exist if we speak to our children. Those children must have a sense of what we are telling them or it is useless for us to expect them to understand and not hurt themselves. We don't tell infants not to hurt themselves, we know they have no way of understanding, we protect them and teach them as their comprehension grows as they age and learn. We don't tell an older child or adult who doesn't have the ability to comprehend things not to hurt themselves, we continue to protect them for the rest of their lives.

God did not tell Adam and Eve they would surely die, without their comprehension of death. They were created with that full comprehension. Their Life-Giver, their Creator, the One who was Love, and revealed that Love in creation, was everything to them. They loved in return, how could they not? Separation from those who sustained their very lives, was a thought of pure terror solidifying their desire to abhor that tree and all it stood for.

The first sin was so much more than we truly realize. There have been too many depictions of poor, innocent Eve in all her purity and goodness absentmindedly wandering down the path to the forbidden tree only to be met by the evil villain, as if she hadn't a clue in the world that nothing good would come from that tree. Eve wasn't a sinner, she had no evil intent in her at all, but she had the knowledge that her Creator, her God, had given her that the tree was off limits and that was all she needed to know. She had every bit of knowledge in her that knew better than to do what she did and yet she was seduced into sin. The allure of the tempter overcame her reason, her knowledge. A seed of doubt was planted.

What happened when that fruit was eaten by the pair? They began the process of dying immediately, didn't they? The death sentence was pronounced, they were put on death row in that instant. They didn't have to wait for a trial at all. They knew everything in their entire perfect lives had changed- beginning with the robes of righteousness, the pure robes of the light of God's love disappearing from their bodies so they no longer were clothed in sinless perfection. Separation from God's righteousness, disobeying God, turning from the TRUTH of God's words and accepting SATAN'S LIES cost the pair God's perfection.

They turned away from TRUTH and accepted Satan's deceptive LIES.

Do you not comprehend the importance of being TRUTHFUL? Of accepting TRUTH? Of learning what is TRUTH?

Deception caused the FIRST HUMAN SIN and every sin after is a result of that deception. Tell me that deception isn't insidious, and something we need to guard against by knowing the truth.

Jesus lay claim to being THE TRUTH. Yet we cringe and refuse to accept His truth when it interferes with our traditions. We cringe when we hear that there might be truth that we aren't looking into, because we like the little bit of truth we have, thank you very much. We don't need any more. We grasp hold of one truth to the exclusion of all others, telling ourselves it's enough to simply love without studying Jesus' entire life as the example and following in that example. We take a bit here, a bit there and ignore those parts that clash with our lives.

TRUTH.

Adam and Eve chose lies over truth. We must choose truth over lies.

3Jn_1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children WALK IN TRUTH.

1Jn_1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and WALK in darkness, we LIE, and do NOT THE TRUTH.

1Jn_1:7 But if we WALK in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Mal 2:6 The law of TRUTH was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips…

Eph 5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and TRUTH)

Deut 32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of TRUTH and without iniquity, just and right is he.

Rev. 15:3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and TRUE are thy ways, thou King of saints.

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and TRUTH.

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me

Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of TRUTH; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you

John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and ABODE NOT IN THE TRUTH, because THERE IS NO TRUTH IN HIM. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Every lie is of the Devil. We deceive ourselves when we try to convince ourselves otherwise.

A lie caused our first parents to sin, and lies are still deceiving many. Don't pretend lies are truth. Pray not to be deceived, because the deceived will not see the truth through the lies they believe.

God help us to only ever want all Your truth and nothing less! All through Jesus Christ our Lord now and forever. Amen!

 

Prayer

Mat 6:9  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Mat 6:10  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Mat 6:11  Give us this day our daily bread.

Mat 6:12  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Mat 6:13  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

This a prayer we are all well acquainted with. I say 'all' but in truth, I don't know if you are. Those of us who are familiar with this prayer most likely can recite it by heart and we use it in our prayers all the time. Did Jesus want us to do that? Use the prayer all the time? Did Jesus want us to pray vain repetitions? We know He didn't like vain repetitions. In fact right before he gave us this manner of praying he told us this-

Mat 6:7  But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

So, why do we think if we pray this prayer that Jesus gave us, over and over and over, every day, once day, ten times a day, fifty times, that it's something that Jesus would approve of? You say because you aren't using VAIN repetitions. What exactly are vain repetitions? Stay with me here, take time and read the following…

Let's look at a dictionary to get an idea.

Vain

1. Empty; worthless; having no substance, value or importance.

2. Fruitless; ineffectual.

3. Proud of petty things, or of trifling attainments; elated with a high opinion of one's own accomplishments, or with things more showy than valuable; conceited.

4. Empty; unreal; as a vain chimers.

5. Showy; ostentatious.

6. Light; inconstant; worthless.

7. Empty; unsatisfying.

8. False; deceitful; not genuine; spurious.

9. Not effectual; having no efficacy

So there you have it in part. Now, what do you suppose Jesus meant when He told us not to use vain repetitions?

A possible answer is that when a prayer becomes something we say by rote it becomes a vain repetition. When the words we speak hold no real meaning to us, they are in vain. Just because a person knows the words by heart and can recite them upon being asked, does not mean those words hold a single ounce of importance to them. In our day to day talking we can we can babble word after word but those words can mean nothing at all. What makes our words worthy?

Let's think about it. Do we ever find ourselves telling someone… 'I need you to REALLY listen to me'? We say that because we know our listeners don't always fully listen to us and we want our words to be heard and understood. When Jesus gave us the words to say in this manner of praying, He wanted us to comprehend what we were saying. Not only that, He wanted us to say those words directly to His Father, who is Our Father. He wants the relationship to be a familiar one, a comfortable one, a real one, a relationship filled with the knowledge that we have a compassionate listener, One who really want to hear us, One who truly listens to our every word attentively. He does this when we speak in truth, from our hearts.

If the words we are saying to God have no real importance to us, why should they have any importance to God?

Do we think that Jesus gave us a magic prayer that no matter what, when those words comes out of our mouths God is instantly pleased? We've done no favors to anyone if we've taught them to recite a prayer that is in vain, holding no weight and meaning nothing beyond being sounds in the air, or in our head. Jesus didn't give us that prayer so that we could pray like those he told us spoke in vain repetitions.

You protest, thinking that God will always think those words Jesus spoke are something special, and if you just repeat them, maybe even over and over, it's fine.

People won't like to hear what I have to say about that, especially those who repeat the prayer the Lord gave us all the time. They might even think I'm crazy, and just don't understand. They could be right. You know what? I repeat those words myself, a lot, and guess what? When I do, I TRY (notice the capital letters there)I TRY to stop and contemplate the meaning of what I'm praying as I do. It's so easy to just say those words without thinking all that much about them. We speak them, doing our due diligence and get on with things. Recite the prayer and throw in a couple extra words for those we believe need, want, or have asked for prayers, and we've done good. Really? Do you think that's how God looks at it?

Teach us to pray. These words were said by those who had been praying all their lives. They knew what prayer was. They wanted something more. They didn't want a prayer they'd heard for many years and had been taught to pray from their youth on up. Why weren't those prayers sufficient to them? Why did they need Jesus to teach them to pray? It's important that we ask ourselves these questions.

Two times Jesus taught this prayer - once to His disciples after He'd finished a private prayer, and another time to a crowd of people.

Luk 11:1  And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

Luk 11:2  And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

Luk 11:3  Give us day by day our daily bread.

Luk 11:4  And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

Mat 6:9  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Mat 6:10  Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Mat 6:11  Give us this day our daily bread.

Mat 6:12  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

Mat 6:13  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Are the two prayers exact? I'll compare them for you…

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, AS IN HEAVEN SO IN EARTH.

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done IN EARTH AS IT IS IT IS IN HEAVEN

Differences. Am I being petty? No. Are the meanings the same, basically, yes. Let's continue.

And forgive us our SINS; FOR WE ALSO FORGIVE EVERY ONE THAT IS INDEBTED TO US. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

And forgive us our DEBTS, AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM AND THE POWER AND THE GLORY FOREVER AMEN.

Interesting isn't it? We understand forgive us our 'trespasses' as we forgive those who 'trespass' against us- yet trespass(es) is not in the Bible in these two verses. Forgive us our SINS is there. We are told to forgive trespasses elsewhere in other verses, but not in this prayer. Even more interesting is - forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, and forgive us our sins for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.

We ask God the Father to forgive us our sins, LIKE WE also forgive EVERY ONE that is indebted to us. We forgive everyone who owes us anything. No matter the debt we forgive because we want the Father to forgive us in the same way- whatever we've done against Him, we want that forgiven, so whatever ANYONE has done against us must be forgiven by us. The two are intertwined. We cannot ask God to forgive us if we aren't willing to forgive others to the farthest depths we are able to forgive.

The small detail in differences between the two times Jesus gave the prayer should tell us at the least that the exact wording wasn't as important as the meaning of what Jesus was telling us to pray.

He gave us the structure of praying, not a new prayer that would become a vain repetition in years to come. He gave us the things that we should have in our prayers that we pray. Recognize our heavenly Father is holy. Recognize we are living in the reality of waiting and wanting His kingdom. Recognize that no matter what, above and beyond our own will we want our Father's will to be done right here and now. We have to recognize that He supplies our daily need- salvation! Who is the bread of life? Jesus! Seeking forgiveness daily for our transgressions, recognizing there will never be a day we don't need to seek this. Knowing as stated already, we have to forgive to be forgiven. Realizing that we are supposed to recognize that there are temptations specifically waiting for us and that we don't want to be put before those temptations, we want deliverance from evil. When we pray to be delivered, we are comprehending that evil surrounds us in this world and threatens to consume us, real evil, that which would deceive us and steals us from God. These are realities, Jesus didn't teach us these words so we could be flippant about them.

Jesus also told us to pray for one another. Throughout the New Testament we read about praying for others, but where is the outline for that prayer? I'll leave that for your contemplation.

There is however, something else I want to point out.

GIVE us …

FORGIVE us ….

LEAD us…

DELIVER us…

These are the petitions we make when we recite the prayer Jesus gave to us.

If we could give ourselves our daily bread, if we could forgive ourselves for our sins, if we could lead ourselves not into temptation, if we could deliver ourselves from evil… why are we saying otherwise in this prayer?

We are asking the Father to do for us what we CAN'T do on our own! We can't! It's senseless for us to believe we can! It's horrific for us to believe we have our own power to do these things. Any boasting to the effect that we've been able to do those things for ourselves is a lie.

The prayer isn't… Father… when I can't find my own daily needs, step in. It's not, when I can't forgive myself, help me out. When I fail at not going into temptation, take over and lead me elsewhere. And, when I can't deliver myself from evil, hey, can you do it?

Our reliance upon the Father first and foremost for these things is a must!

So, where does that leave us when we walk right into temptation, and evil over takes us? Does that mean the Father isn't doing His part, because hey, we prayed this prayer, we prayed those words?

What it means is we may pray those words, speak those petitions but we are not in full surrender to God at the time we are sinning. Hence, it's a DAILY prayer, something we seek on a daily (every single day) basis. We keep praying, we keep despising our failures, we are never content with them, never excusing them! We don't jump into temptation happily, and commit evil joyously and then ask for forgiveness day after day. We hate the temptations that lures us! We hate the evil that we do even as we do it! Contradictory? No! Case in point- how many people addicted to anything, hate their addiction even as they give into it? So many. We should never stop hating our sins, never. And no, I'm not advocating a liar's hate either. Those who mouth the words I hate this, but secretly love it. If there is a secret love for any sin in our lives, we need to ask God to help us hate that sin, hate that it has power over us, hate that we are loving something evil- and we can't fall into the trap of calling evil good, and good evil, either. We are in a real battle, a real war and Satan uses any and all sin, any and all evil to lure us and trap us, wound us, and even kill our love for God. We must recognize every sin, every evil for the thing that it really is…something that has the power to separate us from God. No sin is trivial, no evil is a minor nuisance. All sin, all evil is very powerful.

Give us, forgive us, lead us, deliver us… for Thine is the …power.

Father, You have the power to give me my daily sustenance, physical as well as spiritual. You have the power to forgive me all my debts, my sins, all of them. You have the power to lead me not into temptation in all ways. You have the power to deliver me from every evil that exists. You have the power Father! Holy is Your name! All glory and honor unto You forever and ever!

Words have meanings, the words of the prayer that Jesus spoke have deep significant meaning. They were taught to those living when He ministered upon Earth, and were written down for us to know, to learn, to say. These precious words in teaching us the manner of praying, in teaching us what is to be said, do so but not for vain repetition. These words are beyond wonderful. Recognizing GOD as truly our GOD, as truly our LORD, as truly our SAVIOR, is something we must NEVER forget when we pray Jesus' prayer. Recognizing the royalty of our Father should leave us in awe. Recognizing the Father role our GOD has taken should ever remind us that we are mere children.

I'll stop here, having written these words from my heart and from the limited comprehension I've been given. All glory and honor to God! My God, My Father, Your will be done. Amen.

God: "Love Me."

 

God- Love Me. Jesus- Love Me.

Exo_20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Pro_8:17 I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.
Pro_8:21 That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.
Joh_8:42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Joh_10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
Joh_14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Joh_14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Joh 6:28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
Joh 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

Jesus spoke these words Himself- If ye love me keep my commandments.
Does that make His love conditional?
Or is it a natural result of our love for Him, keeping His commandments?
Can we say that if we aren't keeping His commandments that we don't love Him?
We can't keep His commandments and by our own works receive salvation, that's a fact. Our actions cannot save us, beyond believing in Jesus Christ's sacrifice. Salvation doesn't come by works- we are saved by grace not of works, God's word tells us so. (Ephesians 2:8,9)
Then where does the keeping of the commandments out of love come in?
Again, it's LOVE first, the GRACE first, by which we are saved that precedes our keeping the commandments, right?
We can't exclude the keeping of the commandments as if they don't matter especially when Jesus' own words tell us that IF we love Him we will keep them.
If we aren't keeping His commandments does that mean we need to examine our love for Him to check whether to see if it is genuine or not?
What prevents us from keeping his commandments after we love Him?
The standard has to be an ever seeking to live as Jesus would have us live and when we fall short of the mark, we seek forgiveness with true heart repentance.
We cannot make our seeking of forgiveness something that is perfunctory, because that is not true repentance, right?
Whenever we realize we've acted in a way contrary to loving as Christ would have us love- by keeping His commandments (summed up in two- Love God, Love Others, but detailed in the Royal Law, the Ten Commandments) - we have to repent from the heart, recognizing our failure, recognizing our constant need of forgiveness.
We run into great trouble when we are lulled by the words we speak without any attachment to our heart.
In Jesus' day he spoke of those who put on a great show of belonging to God, but they did not. This is a warning for us today too.
We have a guideline to salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord and only Him, and He, as the spokesperson for the guideline goes far beyond - For God so loved the world that He gave His uniquely begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
Our belief in our Savior goes way beyond being simple, it is to be incorporated into every aspect of our lives. It is a living faith.

John 3:16
John 14:15

These are all Jesus' word.

Jesus wouldn't tell us to keep anything if we were to stop at simply believing. It's not mere acceptance and then forgetting and going about our lives as usual. To believe in Him and not perish- is to know who we are believing in. A living Savior who left us a wealth of information on what it means to believe in Him and love Him.

We can never let ourselves forget these words--

'You believe one is God. Well you are doing! Even demons believe (that) and shudder.'
(Direct Greek Translation) James 2:19

Demons believe God exists.

The entirety of this passage- KJV version-
Jas 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
Jas 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
Jas 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Jas 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Jas 2:22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
Jas 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Jas 2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

The work is to believe, and that belief is realized in our actions, our lives. There comes a result from believing and it's not our boasting that at some point in our life we accepted Jesus as our Savior. It's being able to say that at some point in our lives we accepted Jesus as our Savior and we NOW live for Him!

Jesus Kept the Sabbath

 Jesus kept the SABBATH.

Luk 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the SABBATH DAY, and stood up for to read.

Luk 4:31 And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the SABBATH days.

Luk 6:1 And it came to pass on the second SABBATH after the first, that he went through the corn fields; and his disciples plucked the ears of corn, and did eat, rubbing them in their hands.

Luk 6:2 And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the SABBATH days?

Luk 6:3 And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not read so much as this, what David did, when himself was an hungred, and they which were with him;

Luk 6:4 How he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him; which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests alone?

Luk 6:5 And he said unto them, That the Son of man is Lord also of the SABBATH.

On the Sabbath there are exceptions for basic needs. David ate bread that the priests alone were supposed to eat, it was an exception to a rule. He didn't eat it all that time, just that one time when he desperately needed it. The disciples plucked ears of corn and rubbed them, getting the kernels out and ate them. They didn't harvest the field of corn, they merely took something easily accessible. They didn't stop and boil it in a pot of water. They ate the kernels right then and there as they walked. They didn't grind up the kernels to make a cornmeal paste to cook. They took something readily available to them and because they had to rub the corn to get the kernels, it was considered to be wrong. Because they had to pluck the corn cob from the stalk, that too was considered wrong. The plucking action, the rubbing action to the pharisees violated the Sabbath. Did either of those actions take the disciples away from being able to listen to Jesus as he talked? No. Were either of those actions considered hard labor? No. They were simple gestures. They didn't take a basket full of corn and get all the kernels off the cob to eat.

Even in the wilderness when God was renewing the Sabbath through Moses to the people before they ever reached Sinai, they were kept from laboring to go get the manna on the Sabbath. The disciples didn't purposefully go out to get the corn, it was there before them as they walked through a field. If we were supposed to just stay in our houses all day just laying down or sitting still and eating unheated leftovers, we would have been told that. Today we aren't out there walking in the desert day after day for six days straight. We don't need to sit in our tents (houses) and rest the entire day without moving around. Yes, some may work very hard six days a week and need the physical rest the Sabbath provides. When the wandering in the wilderness stopped for God's people, they gathered together on the Sabbath just as Jesus as His custom was, and also rested.

Luk 6:6 And it came to pass also on another SABBATH, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered.

Luk 6:7 And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the SABBATH day; that they might find an accusation against him.

Luk 6:8 But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth.

Luk 6:9 Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the SABBATH days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it?

We know the answer, the Pharisees didn't want to know the answer but they knew it too. Doing evil on the Sabbath was very wrong. Destroying life on the Sabbath, extremely bad. Therefore doing good for others and healing on the Sabbath is a good thing. I can't imagine God would want people to die on the Sabbath because healing was considered work, He wouldn't, and Jesus revealed this very wonderful truth.

Luk 13:10 And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the SABBATH.

Why wouldn't teaching be considered work, especially if the teachers taught other days of the week? Teaching God's word is never work, it's love, so no wonder Jesus was teaching on the Sabbath. He never got in trouble from the act of teaching or there would have been an outcry before he said more than a few words. Some become upset over the truths He was teaching, they didn't want the truths, they enjoyed their spiritual blindness.

Luk 13:14 And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the SABBATH day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the SABBATH day.

Luk 13:15 The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the SABBATH loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?

Luk 13:16 And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the SABBATH day?

The audacity to say in effect- stay in your pain, stay in your infirmity, stay in your sickness through the Sabbath because you don't deserve to be healed on the Sabbath. You must continue suffering, you probably deserved it for some sin. A very real possible thought that synagogue ruler was having as he rebuked the people. Jesus called that ruler and others that were thinking the same thing, out on what was said. He called them right to their faces, HYPOCRITES! He told them something they'd all done probably that very morning, led their animals to water to drink. No ox or ass would die by going a single day without water, so why did they believe it necessary to lead them out of their stalls to water? Jesus was telling it like it was. They cared more about their animals than they did the sick, injured, deformed, maimed. That woman there suffered 18 years! 18 years! And they wanted her to suffer longer. Imagine being bent over unable to stand up straight for 18 years and someone can heal you and others say it's wrong to do it right then and there. Crazy, and Jesus knew it.

Luk 14:1 And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the SABBATH day, that they watched him.

Luk 14:2 And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy.

Luk 14:3 And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the SABBATH day?

Luk 14:4 And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go;

Luk 14:5 And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the SABBATH day?

Once again it is recorded for all time… It is okay to help others on the Sabbath! If you'd help an animal without a second thought, then why not a fellow human being?!

Luk 23:54 And that day was the preparation, and the drew on.

Luk 23:55 And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid.

Luk 23:56 And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the SABBATH day according to the commandment.

Jesus had died. Did the women hurry back to prepare what was needed for His body for His entombment and bring them to Him? No. To prepare a dead body was not helping by reliving pain, Jesus could feel no pain. To prepare a dead body would not in any way serve to worship God. It wouldn't even have been worship for Jesus, Immanuel- God with us. Jesus wouldn't have been aware of any worship while He was in death's sleep. Ecc_9:5  For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing… Jesus wouldn't have known they were there. They rested on the Sabbath day as the commandment tells us we should. They had absolutely no instruction from Jesus to change something as monumental as the Sabbath commandment given at Sinai as part of the ten royal laws written by the finger of God Himself.

Jesus and the Sabbath, the above isn't all the verses on the subject, but enough to give us the truth of the matter. Jesus wanted people to worship God on the Sabbath and in doing so, love one another, help one another if there is need. Nitpicking apart every act in our lives trying to decide which are acceptable on the Sabbath and which aren't isn't the thing to do. The commandment that tells us to do no work, no labor because we have six days to do that, meant we are not to exert ourselves in ways that keeps us from worshiping God. We aren't to work to earn our living in ways that aren't helping others in need and we aren't to buy things from others. There is a great example of not doing those things (buying and selling) in Nehemiah 13.

Jesus came to shake off the intense strictures on the Sabbath, but He did not dismiss the Sabbath and He did not work on the Sabbath to earn money, He did not ignore the commandment, He couldn't, it was a commandment of pure love given to us by the Creator, made for us by Him. He created mankind and they were to labor keeping the Garden of Eden, they weren't idle. No, it wasn't work as we know work, but it was spending days doing things other than focusing their worship on God completely. God didn't hover over them in the Garden. God didn't live on earth, in the Garden. God visited with them on the Sabbath day, a day that later He put into a commandment after sin entered the world. A day that we must REMEMBER, the only commandment with that order. A day we are to rest and worship HIM because we were now living in a world that would focus on all things other than their loving God.

God help us all to REMEMBER the seventh day Sabbath, after six days of labor and focusing on our own selves eking out a living in a harsh, brutal world. Keep us in You, in Your love. We know it is out of pure love you gave us such a special SABBATH commandment. Your love for us fills the Sabbath commandment. You're our Creator, our Redeemer, our all in all, our everything, always! Bless and keep us in You Lord, in Your love now and forever! Amen!

Study to Be Quiet

1Th 4:11 '...study to be quiet'


We don't often hear exhortations like that do we? Study to be quiet. Looking at the Greek definition of the words 'study' and 'quiet' we could also say… strive to rest, labor to hold peace, study to refrain from being meddlesome, strive not to talk.


Being told to 'study to be quiet' tells us something doesn't it? We are noisy, restless people who don't often find being quiet very easy. Some of us are chatterboxes and we laugh as we tell others how we love to talk and talk. We make light of it because-well- that's just how we are. How easy is it for us to jump into conversations that others might be having because we have our opinion to share. For some, as soon as the thoughts form in our minds we are spouting them without taking time to think.


When we talk, are we aware of the value of our words? We all know how easy it is for just a few words to turn a happy time into an awful one. We know that truly the tongue is a fire...don't we? But we don't treat our tongues like fire do we? We don't recognize the power our words have to destroy, to hurt, to maim. Our words can do irreparable damage, and yet we seldom stop to think of them as being such a destructive force.


'Jas 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity'.


With this knowledge in mind, with this fire brand in our mouths ready to strike out and burn any and all around us we don't fully equated it with a 'world of iniquity', if we did wouldn't we make a concerted effort to not 'flame' at others, not to let the wicked, sin-filled tongue in our mouths strike out at them, leading to our own destruction. Am I being too dramatic? That's something people like to say today. You're being dramatic. As if your concern is unwarranted. Maybe it is in a lot of cases, but not this one. We can't be dramatic enough when it comes to the things we say. Just knowing how powerful our words could be should really have us making a concerted effort to THINK BEFORE WE TALK. Too often people might want a hurried answer to their question. Or they might tell you that you're being too quiet during a conversation because they want you to jump right in and have fun in the chaotic chatter that is seemingly harmless, at least it's meant to be. Every word we speak has consequences, like it or not. Whether you want to believe it or not, it's true. A simple yes or no can weigh on a person for years especially if it were in answer to a question that has adverse consequences, even deadly consequences.


Perhaps- studying to be quiet is a lesson in not being noisy to our own detriment.


Study to be quiet. Strive to be quiet. Labor to be quiet. This is telling us to WORK at being quiet that being quiet might not come quite so natural to us.


I've heard people say they follow of ten second rule, meaning that before they respond to ANYTHING even remotely controversial they'll silently count to ten while thinking about the consequences of the response they might make. That's a good rule, but maybe ten seconds isn't long enough in every situation. At other times, as a red-faced, fuming, antagonizing person stands there waiting for a response- ten seconds might seem like five minutes. Giving an instantaneous retorts is expected, you might even hear the words - 'Are you going to let them get away with saying that?', if not from others you might hear that from the little sneaky voice inside your head. How often do we respond to stuff harshly because we feel as if our pride has been wounded? We've been hurt by the fiery tongue of another so we feel justified in lashing right back to save our dignity, to preserve our honor, to uphold our selfish idea of the type of person we are and how we deserve to be treated.


Study to be quiet. When we 'think' before we speak we are taking time to contemplate the affect our words will have on the situation at hand. If we are to 'study' to be quiet, we need to truly make an effort to be quiet, don't we?


I read this--
Jas 3:8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.


Our tongues are untamed- no man can tame the tongue- at best we can 'study to be quiet', right?


We live in a loud world where our opinions, our words are shouted every which way. We have electronic media platforms to hoist ourselves up on, the soap box or our time, and shout out whatever we feel like it. All too often people will post things they end up regretting the words of their tongue recorded for all to see.


I know I'm mostly speaking my opinion even here, my tongue recorded for all to see. God's words are for us to pray over, to ponder, to study, to bring into our lives.


Take a few minutes now to read the context of the 'study to be quiet', verse 1 Thess. 4:11. Paul writing to those in Thessalonica .


1Th 4:1 Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
1Th 4:2 For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.
1Th 4:3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:
1Th 4:4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;
1Th 4:5 Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:
1Th 4:6 That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.
1Th 4:7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
1Th 4:8 He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.
1Th 4:9 But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
1Th 4:10 And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more;
1Th 4:11 And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
1Th 4:12 That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.


Study to be quiet , do your own business, work with your own hands as we commanded you… why? That ye may walk honestly towards them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.


The entreaty is to live as God would have us live, and a part of that is studying to be quiet. Labor, strive to rest, to refrain from meddling, stop talking, hold our peace. Make a real effort to do this. While we are doing so many other things that one who loves God would do, we need to remember being quiet is necessary too.


May God help us to 'study to be quiet', to be as He would have us be and not as we think we should be, or as the world tells us is acceptable to be. We need to be acceptable to God through the blood of Jesus Christ, through the righteousness of our Savior. We need to live in Him as He would have us live, not as we would naturally desire to live. We need to take up our crosses, we need to strive against sin, we need to cling to Christ and place all our hope, all our faith in Him fully.


By the grace and through the love of our Savior now and forever! Amen.
(In part taken from a study done in 2010)