Is The Bible Trust Worthy?

... Recently, a string was opened on a forum that I frequent asking, "Who wrote the Bible." The forum has a history of Fundamental Christianity and when the lady that asked this question first appeared her very first post proclaimed "The Perfect Bible For Young Girls." This "perfect" Bible, it turns out, makes God to be of no gender and as you might expect a number of regulars, including the moderators, took exception to the idea.
.,. No-one, including myself, believes that God is, in the sense of humanity, male or female. However there is a promise of condemnation in Revelation 22:18,19 that applies to The Book of the Revelation that should give every human reason to pause when they teach the Bible, any verse, from any book of the Bible. I. for one, do t wish to ever teach errant ideology as theology from the scriptures.
... God has such limitless power that He spoke and the Universe lept into being. This same being, God, inspired about forty men to write the Bible and in doing so He, for our understanding, portrayed Himself as our Heavenly father, a strong, trust-worthy male image.
... Now, before the imaginations run off into the woods, there is no reason what-so-ever to expect to see God's wife when we ascend into Heaven. All of the information and evidence speaks to the exact opposite being true. In Luke 20:33 we find the story of the woman that, because of Jewish custom and tradition, had been the wife of seven brothers and when Jesus replied He cut the chase and went directly to the point and informed the folks asking that there would be no married life in Heaven. In other words, just like the angels, no sexual activity.
... Now, let's get out of this brier patch and stop chasing that rabbit. Christianity, first and foremost, requires faith. If we have the faith to believe that God created the universe and made mankind the crown jewel of that creation why in the world would we ever doubt that the Bible, inspired by God was less than accurate? The world, of course, is full of people of this opinion but this mistaken ideology has no place in the Body of Christ today, tomorrow and it had no place there in the past.
... As a Christian, a follower of the Christ, it is my purpose to speak the truth and to stand against these errant teachings. As a follower of the Christ, it is also your assignment. (Matt. 28:18,19 & 20)

Psalm 112

Psalm 112 is an important Psalm to the Christian and yet it's lesson is talked down and viewed in a bad light by the world and many of the people claiming the name of the Christ today. It will do any seeker of God and His ways, much good to meditate on the implications drawn from this Psalm, even if we cannot remember any more than the first verse. Today there are many New Testament Christians and it is forever my teaching and my thoughts there cannot be such a thing. The New Testament is absolutely the best commentary ever written on the Bible and in the four Gospels, even Jesus is found quoting from the Old Testament and in Matt. 5:18 we find that Jesus even emphasized the importance of the Law, as it was given to Moses.

Without the Law we would never have known that we were sinners in need of a Saviour and without the Law we would have no example of the righteousness needed to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Without the Law we would never have known that we were failing and must have the imputed righteousness of Jesus, the Christ. Without the Law we could never know the standard God desires for His children. The entire Bible, New and the Old Testaments were inspired to be written by Jesus. (John 1:1-5) Jesus, the God of the New Testament is the God of the Old Testament also.

Psa 112:1 Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.

The Hebrew word Hallelujah is transated Praise ye the LORD in the KJV ad the ASV. The concept of fearing the LORD is one that is largly misunderstood today. The world, certainly, and much of Christendom have never come to grasp with the 1611 use of the word that has been held onto through today and it causes a great deal of misunderstanding.

When I was a young lad I feared my stepfather in the same way that I believe we are to fear God. I did not fear his wrath and his discipline nearly as much as I feared being a disappointment to him. Like my LORD, he had loved me in a way that my birth father did not even understand and just as I fear disappointing God, my Heavenly Father, I feared bringing shame to my step-dad. In much the same way that I was in awe of this man that loved me without reason so must we learn to hold God but ever so much higher. My dad earned a chest full of medals in WWII and Korea the numbered so many that the uniform of this five foot three and one half inch tall man would not carry them all. In greater contrast, everything we can see and billions of light years beyond our vision is the creation that God has put into place for our benefit.

God, later known as Jesus, the Christ, left us with the written example of His awesomeness and how can we ever afford to just put it aside and ignore it? We are not bound to the Law for forgiveness but it is our model of Holiness and because we fear the LORD our God it is the example of the holiness we must seek to attain if we are to ever model Christ

Psa 112:2 His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.

When we look at the life of Abraham we see the truth of this verse. Many men lived during the time of Abraham and yet none of them have influenced the world in like manor. Even the Christian today proclaims Father Abraham as the father of our faith. There were many kings and there was Pharaoh, all of them thought themselves important but they have not influenced the world the way one meek man that decided to follow God has. His legacy has lasted thousands of years beyond his passing into eternity. In like manor the Godly man and the Godly woman leave a great legacy for their descendants to follow.

We can see this truth, also, in the lives of the people we know and interact with every day. We all know people that regret the mess they have caused in their children's lives. These messes are almost always because of the method employed in their rearing. These methods are most often learned traits passed down through the past generations. In the same manor we see young pastors and missionaries spring forth from the families that have learned to properly fear God. We are all shaped by the influences around us.

Psa 112:3 Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever.

Here we need to be careful that we do not step outside of the teaching of the scriptures and be found guilty of adding what is not written. Our LORD had, not even, a place to lay His head and yet there has never been a richer man on the earth. We, easily, forget that we have a dual citizenship and that the treasure and wealth of this world will burn away and mean nothing. We've been talking about spiritual matters and this verse continues in that manor. There is nothing I value more than the folks I have been used, of God, to lead to the foot of the cross, they and I will rejoice in fellowship with our LORD for all eternity. So in my salvation and the salvation of others I find my great wealth.

Add to this the fact that I have been adopted into the family of God and have been awarded an equal heritage with the Son of God and I have trouble even imagining the wealth that is mine, laid up in Heaven for me.

Psa 112:4 Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: He is gracious, and merciful, and righteous.

The word picture in the first half of this verse is one that compares with the Sun breaking the horizon. Just as the Sun illumines the pitch black landscape of East Texas into a beautiful green and multi-colored dream on the spring and summer mornings, God, upon entering our lives brings beauty to our world and our lives, such as we have never seen.

On the afternoon of my midnight salvation experience I lived in the same dull, boring, world I had always lived in. The very next morning I was still living in the same over priced, unsafe apartment that I had lived in for better than a year. And yet the same trees were greener and more alive than ever before. The birds sang the same songs they always had but now there was great joy in their songs. The day after I was saved everything had a different sound, look, feel and taste, for the first time in my life I was alive and the world was beautiful. The second half of the verse enumerates some of the things that begin to happen in us.

Psa 112:5 Well is it with the man that dealeth graciously and lendeth; He shall maintain his cause in judgment.

God's people, the people that do their best to live by the principals set forth in the scriptures, will know the peace that no man can ever understand. In my years with the LORD I have come to understand stewardship and at the same time I have learned what joy there is in filling the needs of those that will never be able to repay the debt. In Deuteronomy 15 we learn some very great lessons that are ignored by the world today. Here we are taught to deal graciously with the less fortunate.

Some years back I had sold a former police officer two tools that were worth more than a thousand dollars for $125.00. My fellow employees wanted me to file on him and to ruin his future as an officer of the law. This could have been easily accomplished because he had moved less than two hundred miles away and still in Texas. Instead of going after him I turned the debt over to God and forgave it being owed to me. While this is not always wise to deal with the people of the world in this, this is exactly how we should deal with our less fortunate brothers and sisters.

Psa 112:6 For he shall never be moved; The righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance.

The most striking example I know of this point is the man, J.C. Penney, founder of the chain of stores by the same name. It has long been reported that this gentleman grew in his business and in his faith to the point that he tithed ninety per cent of his income and lived his life on the remaining ten per cent. His faith was never destroyed and I for one can never forget such a man, prospered by God for and in his faith.

Psa 112:7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: His heart is fixed, trusting in Jehovah.

Before I was saved I worried over every news report and every rumor I encountered. Since I have learned to trust God I now watch the news and read the Jerusalem Post so that I can remain abreast of the state of the world and so that I can see what my LORD is doing about His soon return.

Psa 112:8 His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, Until he see his desire upon his adversaries.

When we are rooted in God, when we have realized that this Temporal World is not our destiny we realize the truth in the statement that God and I are the majority. Once we understand that this flesh and bone body is not all there is to us we can begin to grasp the truth that there is nothing in this world that we need to fear.

Psa 112:9 He hath dispersed, he hath given to the needy; His righteousness endureth for ever: His horn shall be exalted with honor.

When we finally learn to place God in His proper place in the scheme of our lives and we have yielded, everyone one of us, to His plan for our lives, in much the same manor as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and J.C. Penny, we will be remembered for our legacy and our place in Heaven can be considered sure by ourselves.

Psa 112:10 The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; He shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: The desire of the wicked shall perish.

Unlike the Godly man and his family, those that fail to find the proper place for God in their lives have nothing but failure and suffering to offer their families to look forward to.

What Is Sin?

... As Christians we are large on taking note of the Ten Commandments that Moses brought down from his meeting with God and the Jewish believer includes the other 603 laws given to Moses by God. As Paul points out in the epistles, the Law is our teacher and most of just gloss right over that and never meditate on it.
... The Law, in it's entirety, reveals 613 different views of that little three letter word, sin. The short answer is that sin is disobedience to God but the long and proper answer is one that teacher and the preacher do not have time to teach on a Sunday Morning nor a Sunday Evening. The problem is that we have all been taught that the scriptures are worthy to be studied and taught (2Tim. 3:16) but the assembly halls of the Christian faith have filled up with members of the world and rather than to study to show themselves approved (2Tim. 2:15), they are Pew Whales, hoping to purchase some Fire Insurance ad there-by escape the Great White Throne Judgment.
... There really is not a good short answer for the question, "What is sin?" Like a fine cut stone, there are many facets to the answer.

Will You?

The Christian of today lives in one of the two most exciting time periods of the world, up to this time. I'm sure that the time of the disciples was an exciting time, they walked with and were taught by the living God in the flesh of Jesus. After the LORD had ascended to the Father they were stalked and killed because of their teaching. Having been a soldier on the field of combat, I know the adrenalin rush of near fatal escapes and I would believe that many of them knew the rush of escape also.

As Christian followers of the LORD today we have some choices to make and I feel that we will make them very soon. If we have kept abreast of the World News we know that in the South of Sudan there are hundreds and some days thousands of Christian men murdered every day and their wives and children are sold into slavery by the Muslims of that country. Many American Muslims will cry out that they are different from these Radical Muslim Sects but there is a very open problem with that statement. The men killing these folks and making slaves are government sanctioned troops and, of course, nothing is done to stop them.

These same people hold the lying, murdering, pedophile, Muhammad up as the most excellent example of what a man should be. No, not just the troops following Osama and no, not just the ones murdering Christians and Osama's troops, every Muslim holds their Prophet to be greater than Jesus. Added to that threat are the laws being passed by the legislators that are serving our safety and good will? The Congress and the Senate have added to the law that protects us from Domestic Terrorists such as the KKK and the American Neo-Nazi Party that now makes Christians that teach that homosexuality to be sin are just as dangerous.

The wheat and the chaff will soon be separated and I feel that our LORD will appear atop that cloud at any time now. Some will say, “But, what about the great falling away?” Others will ask, “What about the final Awaking, the final Great Revival?” I suggest to you, look at Europe and the US, church buildings are being abandoned and those not abandoned are being bombed, the great falling away is all about us. And the final Great Revival, the final Awakening, There are thousands being saved in Asia and Central America... every day!

What do I suggest? Today is a great day to plan what you will answer when you are confronted about your belief. Will you deny Him and live? Or will you profess His name and gain eternal life? It is going to be a very tough choice for those that have not planed.

Are Heaven And Paradise the Same?

... John 10:7-9 In this passage and other gospel references Jesus states the case clearly that He is the gate into Heaven. Read the four Gospels carefully and it is quite clear that that nobody has ever, nor will anyone ever, entered into Heaven except they come through Jesus. In the Gospels we also find the story of Lazarus, covered with sores with no-one but the dogs that licked his wounds, to care for him. We find Lazarus in Abraham's Buxom, a.k.a. Paradise, and the rich man, not in Hell (he has not yet been judged) but in a place of torment.
... Going deeper into this matter, Jesus, in the four Gospel Accounts, makes it clear that He is not just some way or a way to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven but He makes it clear that He is the way, the only way, to enter into Heaven.
... We are left with all those Old Testament saints, Moses, Abraham, Israel/Jacob and on and on that looked forward to the coming of Messiah but had not seen Him and could not enter into the presence of God until they had. Matt. 27:52 through v:54 is seldom preached but it is an important passage and it is felt by this lay teacher that it bears on this subject.
... It has been and short of the pastors and the men on the mission field that will receive this posting, that these dead people running through the streets of the Holy City are the just released, by Jesus, Old Testament saints. It is taught, in many circles that Jesus descended into Hell for three days but the only place I have ever found that statement is in the Christian Creeds of old and I have, to this point, failed to see the idea supported by scripture.
... So, the short answer to the question, "Are Heaven and Paradise the same place," is no.

Psalm 23

When I Need Comfort

God Provides

Psa 23:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

The very first verse makes a personal connection with God in the word “my.” People today do not generally understand this verse, God has not promised us all a Mercedes nor will He see to it that we have one. David was a shepherd and understood the proper order of leadership and care. As a shepherd he had very little and yet he lacked for nothing that he needed.

Psa 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

Our Lord is with us where ever he leads and just like the shepherd of the sheep, when things get rough He never abandons us but prepares a resting place for refreshment for us. I, especially, like the illustration of the shepherd and the running water. Moving water scares sheep ad in the wilderness there is often no lake to drink from, the shepherd would place large stones in the stream and damn it up, creating a quiet pool to be refreshed from. If we will keep our attention on God, He is doing the same thing for us today. We can always escape the world for a time by turning to God in prayer and in praise.

God Comforts

Psa 23:3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

In the wilderness the refreshing green foliage is often far apart and the shepherd must be knowledgeable of the terrain and exercise wisdom in the feeding and the movement of his sheep. Allow them to feed from the land to long and sheep will eat the roots and the next crop will not grow. Move them to quickly and they will not be restored to traveling condition. In a similar fashion, if God were to leave us exposed to the world and not give us refuge we would become worn out and ineffective. When we do not go off half cocked and wait for God to direct us we will be both effective and we will glorify God with our actions. God will never lead us into any situation that will shame or dishonor Him.

Psa 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

My wife has been known to insist that I hush before the person I'm correcting hurts me and this might be good advise if it were not for the fact that I am usually speaking out against men cursing like sailors in her presence. Psa.23:4 assures me that I have nothing to fear because my LORD has His rd and His staff ready to save me. This verse does not guarantee that I will not be slain for standing up for Godly principals but I do garner from it that I am not to withdraw because I covet life here more than I love my wife and my God. When we study shepherds around the world we find that shepherds are brave people. We find instances in Africa where a young man was mauled by a lion he had stabbed in the chest with his spear and in India we find a shepherd in his eighties that is injured by a Tiger when He beat the cat with his Rod. Both were loyal shepherds and were defending their flocks.

The shepherd's rod was used to defend his herd and his staff has a multitude of purpose. As the sheep are being moved he can use his staff to tap, prod and to guide the sheep. When the shepherd looks for a piece of material to shape his staff he must find a green limb that he can bend one end of to form the hook or the catch at the top but it must also be of a tree or plant that when dried will be strong and long lasting. That catch at the top is very important to the shepherd and to the sheep. When a sheep falls into a crevice or a short distance down a cliff the shepherd will use the catch to rescue His charge. God is like the good shepherd, prodding, tapping and pulling us back to Him,

Psa 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

There are a wide range of applications for the anointing with oil from the medical uses, then and now, to the cooling and refreshing effects it has on the body of one that spends time I the arid wilderness. The idea that God would take the time from sustaining the universe and would not just sit down for a meal with us but would prepare the table for us Himself is a precious thought and a vivid illustration of the love that God has for us. That David tells us his cup is over flowing shows us just much he cherished the fellowship with God.

Psa 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Just as David was sure of his relationship to God so can each and everyone of us that have determined to remain faithful forever.

God Rules

God Rules

Psa 9:1 For the Chief Musician; set to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David. I will give thanks unto Jehovah with my whole heart; I will show forth all thy marvellous works.
To thank someone is to accomplish an action, the word is a verb. With my whole heart tells me that we are to feel earnest about this action.

Psa 9:2 I will be glad and exult in thee; I will sing praise to thy name, O thou Most High.
Miriam Webster defines exult as leaping for joy! Not just on Sunday, but on everyday, all day long we can sing praises to God remembering that Most High means just that, there is no one and no thing that can stand on God's level. What great work have you seen God do with your own eyes?

Psa 9:3 When mine enemies turn back, They stumble and perish at thy presence.
We know that we are in the presence of God and we have seen in the scriptures, Jos. 5:13_15, and that He wil not abandon us. On the other hand, as soon as or enemy loses heart, eve before he does, he is defeated.

Psa 9:4 For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; Thou sittest in the throne judging righteously.
In the first half of this verse we see that it is God that guarded over David and maintained the appropriate justice for him. In the second part we find him affirming God to be the same type of judge that He commanded all judges to be, righteous!

Psa 9:5 Thou hast rebuked the nations, thou hast destroyed the wicked; Thou hast blotted out their name for ever and ever.
Here David appears to be speaking of not just the people of Canaan although they are a very good example to use. In my studies in the past I have noted that archeology has found the Canaanites to be a people riddled with STDs. Not only were they a diseased people but hey worshipped the gods of this world and did not seek after God.

Psa 9:6 The enemy are come to an end, they are desolate for ever; And the cities which thou hast overthrown, The very remembrance of them is perished.
If it were not for them being mentioned in the Bible the world might never have even searched out any information on them.

Psa 9:7 But Jehovah sitteth as king for ever: He hath prepared his throne for judgment;
Unlike the kingdoms of this world God's kingdom will never perish. In the Kingdom of God we find the Bema Seat of Judgment and the Great White Throne.

Psa 9:8 And he will judge the world in righteousness, He will minister judgment to the peoples in uprightness.
When God is seated at the thrones we will ever worry about someone “priming the pump” to see their desires come to the fore ground. The judgment of God is even and always fair.


God Remembers

Psa 9:9 Jehovah also will be a high tower for the oppressed, A high tower in times of trouble;
I prefer to teach, standing on the ground that I know from experience and in the case of the infantrymen that I had the privilege to serve, my helicopter, dropping from the sky to pull them to safety was their high tower and they often admired us so much that we had to be very careful of it. In a similar fashion my high tower was, I, then thought, was the nuts in those gunships and fighter planes that flew hundreds of miles per hour and dropped down inside those trees to get us safely home.
In the same manor God is there for His people. I look back at the time before I decided to serve God, even though I understood He had called me, and I break out in tears remembering the times I had already given up and God stepped in a preserved me and the men on my aircraft. Unlike the fighters from the Air Force and the Navy god is always on time because He is ever vigilant ad does not need to do a preflight and then launch, He's there before the trouble begins.

Psa 9:10 And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee; For thou, Jehovah, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.
John 15:15 Jesus, our LORD ad God has called us His friend. Just as the men that jumped on the grenades to save their friends lives, Jesus hung on that cross to purchase our pardon from the sin of our lives ad there is nobody as rust worthy as he that will die for you. The only price we must pay is to seek Him and His forgivness.

Psa 9:11 Sing praises to Jehovah, who dwelleth in Zion: Declare among the people his doings.
We should go to sleep at night humming the hymns like Amazing Grace, awaken to singing ad remembering them and then proclaim to the world why it is that we are so happy.

Psa 9:12 For he that maketh inquisition for blood remembereth them; He forgetteth not the cry of the poor.
We have such a promise from God! Even when the evil man thinks he has on, he has lost. Our God will never forget the injustice folks try to perform against us. Just as we will be rewarded at the Bema Seat the oppressors will be judged all the more harshly at the Great White Throne.


God Rescues

Psa 9:13 Have mercy upon me, O Jehovah; Behold my affliction which I suffer of them that hate me, Thou that liftest me up from the gates of death;
Here, it is very possible that David was facing death. We know from studying the book of Ruth that important decisions were settled at the gate of the city and we know that he was pursued by his enemies that sought to murder the king. Still, David calls out to God to preserve him, not for his sake but for the sake of God's memory. David always remembered God's name and what it meant.

Psa 9:14 That I may show forth all thy praise. In the gates of the daughter of Zion I will rejoice in thy salvation.
From the gates of death to the gates f the daughter of Zion is a remarkable contrast.
After walking with death nipping at my heels for 30 months on the field of combat the first place I went was not home. I purchased a room in the Rice Hotel, in downtown Houston, less than ten miles from my dad's house, my home. There was a journey that needed to be made. Not acknowledging that God had been protecting me I had, early on, admitted that I was a dead man walking. I suspect that David, like myself, had a journey to make back into life. The committed Christians I knew made that journey much easier than I and other lost men did because they knew God and had only to readjust to people nt trying to kill them every day. They already, like David, knew that God was for them. David, with his enemy in persuit of him already knew the joy of his salvation, no matter the outcome.

Psa 9:15 The nations are sunk down in the pit that they made: In the net which they hid is their own foot taken.
The lost man, the man of the world cannot prevail against God's chosen God snares them in their own traps.

Psa 9:16 Jehovah hath made himself known, he hath executed judgment: The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.