The Sabbath Day

 

Deuteronomy 5:12-14(NKJV)

12 ‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 

13Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 

14but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 

Does it have to be Sunday?  Or is there a larger principal here? 

First let me say that what I am going to say is probably more opinion than Scriptural.  I think it is the concept that is important and that God probably doesn't really give a rip what day we rest on. 

Too me the principal that we need to recharge by resting from our work is what is important here.  I don't think it necessarily means rest in the sense of doing nothing.

Let me give you an example.  I'm a financial planner by profession.  Lot's of research.  Lot's of analysis.  Lot's of talking with people.  Lot's of desk work.  No physical labor. 

One of the things I do occasionally is participate in the Action Team at church.  We do house repairs and things like that for people.  It's fun to take a Friday off and spend the day doing really manual labor repairing houses.  Not very restful in the traditional sense but immensely beneficial in the sense that it gives me a break from my normal routine.   

So my suggestion is don't get hung up on the day but do remember to rest in whatever way is most refreshing and beneficial to you.

Do We Have a Duty to Resist Evil?

Deuteronomy 22:23-27(NKJV)

23“If a young woman who is a virgin is betrothed to a husband, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her, 

24then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he humbled his neighbor’s wife; so you shall put away the evil from among you.  

25“But if a man finds a betrothed young woman in the countryside, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die. 

26But you shall do nothing to the young woman; there is in the young woman no sin deserving of death, for just as when a man rises against his neighbor and kills him, even so is this matter. 

27For he found her in the countryside, and the betrothed young woman cried out, but there was no one to save her.

I'm a big believer in the 2nd Amendment to the constitution.  Therefor I carry a gun everyday.  Years ago I did a presentation at the church we used to attend about self defense and firearms.  One of the gentleman in the discussion asked my opinion of this scenario.  If he and the bad guy were both armed, did he have a duty to shoot the bad guy and stop him or could he "display the love of Christ" and simply let the bad guy shoot him without defending himself.  If the bad guy then went next door and shot this guys neighbor, did the first guy bear some responsibility for the death of the second guy?

My answer was yes although I couldn't really come up with any Scripture to back that up.   Well let's look at what this Scripture says.  In the first case the woman is stoned to death just like the guy because she didn't cry out, she didn't resist evil.  Living in the city, if she had only cried out there were others around that could have come to her rescue.

In the second example the woman lives out in the country and if she is raped whether she cries out or not doesn't matter because there is no one around to help save her.  As the verse puts it "there is in the young woman no sin deserving death".

And now I think I have a Scriptural answer to the question the man asked.  The way I see it, this verse is saying that when she was in the city and had the ability to resist evil and didn't do it, it was a sin! 

Just another great example of how cool studying God's Word is.  The presentation at church that I referenced happened around 15 years ago.  Through the diligent study of God's Word, He provided that insight to me today.  God will reveal to us what we need to know when we need to know it.

The main thing that God has revealed to us is His son Jesus Christ.  Have you accepted Jesus yet?  Why not do it today?  Just say "Dear Jesus…." !

Wow, Never Thought of it That Way

 

1 Peter 3:17(NKJV)

17For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

I never thought of it that way before.  Sometimes, even though we are saved, we have to go through some crap.  Some people have a hard time with that.  But as this Scripture seems to say.  "So what if you are suffering a bit now.  As an unsaved person you were going to suffer way more than this anyway."

Good point!

The Word of Our God Stands Forever

Isaiah 40:8(NKJV)

8    The grass withers, the flower fades,     But the word of our God stands forever.”

I like that.  Nice simple verse. 

Forever.  That's a long time.  That means we can spend our whole lifetimes studying God's Word and it is the one thing in life that is guaranteed to be constant.  Here is another guarantee in life.  Everything else will be constantly changing.  That's the nature of life!

Isn't it great to know that through our faith in Jesus, and through the Holy Spirit, we get to tap into the Power of God's unchanging Word as we take this wild ride called life?

A Blessing and a Curse

Wow, did you ever think of your salvation as a blessing and a curse?  Me neither, at least not until I noticed these verses.

Deuteronomy 11:26-28(NKJV)

26“Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: 

27the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you today; 

28and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known. 

If you listen to God and follow all of His laws, rules, and regulations, all would be well.  If not, well not so much.  But that was the Old Testament, isn't it different now?

Not really.  While things have changed from the standpoint of what it takes to please God today, the choice is still the same, blessing or curse.  If we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, then we have chosen blessing.  If we reject Jesus, then we have chosen the curse. 

And if I had to put the blessing and curse in a nutshell I believe that the blessing is a daily, lifelong, communion and fellowship with God.  The curse I believe is eternal separation from God.  

So if you want God in your life, if you want the blessings of that relationship with God, There is only one thing stopping you.  Accepting Jesus.  Have you done that yet?  Why not do it right now.  Just simply pray, "Dear Jesus……."

Is It Godly To Be Ambitious?

The Bible speaks a lot about contentment.  Being content with where we are in life and being content with what we have.  A lot of people misinterpret that in my opinion to mean that we shouldn't be ambitious and we shouldn't strive for more in our lives.  As I've written many times, the Bible is a book of balance. 

Hebrews 13:5(NKJV)

5Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” £ 

Philippians 4:11(NKJV)

11Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 

1 Timothy 6:6-8(NKJV)

6Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 

7For we brought nothing into this world, £and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 

8And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 

How do we square these verses with the following verses?

1 Corinthians 9:24(NKJV)

24Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. 

Hebrews 11:14-16(NKJV)

14For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 

15And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 

16But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

I especially like the way Hebrews puts it.  Our God is a God of excellence.  There is nothing wrong with striving for more, as long as the more that you are reaching for is in line with God's will for your life.  In other words, as long as there is a Godly guidance and purpose.  I believe that as long as we approach it from this perspective God is not ashamed of our ambition.  Does that make sense?

Draw Near To God

 

James 4:8(NKJV)

8Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 

We have a simple Word for the day.  If you want to be closer to God, notice that there is a particular order to make that happen.  Draw nearer to God and He will draw nearer to you.  Notice who goes first?  Notice who has to make the first effort? 

We have to diligently seek God to find Him.  We have to make the effort.  When God sees using making that effort He then reveals more of Himself to us. 

Are you drawing nearer to God?