What a glorious start to the day. Thank you Lord!!!

 

Wow!  What a glorious start to the day! 

Most of you don't know but I have become a serious morning person.  I get up most days around 3:00 AM.  I love the solitude of the early morning.  I love to enjoy my coffee as I read the news and then I hit the floor to stretch and exercise.  I have arthritis in my left hip and the physical therapists developed this routine that has done wonders for me.

 

Anyway I went outside this morning about 5:00 AM.  It was still dark out with the horizon just starting to show a small strip of blue as dawn started to break.  It was about 65 degrees out and still as could be. 

I grabbed a couple of beach towels and spread them out in the yard towards the top of the hillside facing east.  I then hit the ground and did my whole stretching and workout routine as I watched dawn break.  It was so cool! 

I could see most of the stars in the sky to begin with, but as the sky brightened the stars began to fade.  (yes Jed, I know the stars themselves didn't get any dimmer :).  I could hear the birds slowly waking up and starting to chirp at each other.   I just had on sweat pants and no shirt.  I could feel the slight breeze ripple across my body and I could see the leaves ripple in that breeze.

 

It was so cool to lay there doing my workout as I just glorified God and thanked Him for giving me this awesome blessing!

As I have said so may times.  God is sooo coool!!!

I just don't get this!

 

Honestly, I am at a loss for words.  How to explain this?  We are told that God is a God of justice.  Yet this seems so unjust.  Try as I might, I just don't see how God's actions here are just in any way.  Hmm.

 

Here is where this gets interesting.  You know of my belief in looking for confirmation of Biblical principals in both the Old and New Testament.  We have that situation here. I will cover what that similar situation is after you read the verses.

 

Numbers 22:18-35(NKJV)

Then Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to do less or more. 

Now therefore, please, you also stay here tonight, that I may know what more the Lord will say to me.”

And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men come to call you, rise and go with them; but only the word which I speak to you—that you shall do.” 

So Balaam rose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.

Then God’s anger was aroused because he went, and the Angel of the Lord took His stand in the way as an adversary against him. And he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. 

Now the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand, and the donkey turned aside out of the way and went into the field. So Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back onto the road. 

Then the Angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side. 

And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she pushed herself against the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall; so he struck her again. 

Then the Angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left. 

And when the donkey saw the Angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam; so Balaam’s anger was aroused, and he struck the donkey with his staff.

Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?”

And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!”

So the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?” And he said, “No.”

Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in the way with His drawn sword in His hand; and he bowed his head and fell flat on his face. 

And the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me. 

The donkey saw Me and turned aside from Me these three times. If she had not turned aside from Me, surely I would also have killed you by now, and let her live.”

And Balaam said to the Angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I did not know You stood in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displeases You, I will turn back.”

Then the Angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but only the word that I speak to you, that you shall speak.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
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Balaam has been exceptionally loyal to God from the very beginning.  Always inquiring of God before answering so that he knew he was doing what God wanted.  God tells him "if the men call in the morning go with them".  They call in the morning so Balaam goes with them just as God told him to do!  And then God gets pissed at Balaam for doing exactly what God told Him to do!  What the hell?

To top it off, God gives Balaam a bunch of shit about it and then when all is said and done God tells Balaam to "go with the men but only the words I give you shall you speak".  Again, what the hell?  That is all Balaam has done from the very beginning!!!!!

Does that seem just to you???????

Ok, so here is a similar situation from the New Testament.  There is the story of Jesus walking up to a fig tree and condemning that tree to die because it had no fruit on it……even though it wasn't the season for figs.  So an innocent fig tree was unjustly killed by God (Jesus in the flesh).

 

So this brings us to some interesting questions.  Is it a mere coincidence that we have similar stories in both the old and new T or is this God's way of calling attention to a subtle point that He wants us to understand?  Is God a God of justice or not?  Were God's actions in these two cases unjust?

 

We seem to have some contradictions. 

As Ayn Rand said "Contradictions do not exist.  If you think you have found one, check your premise.".  (yes I get the irony of quoting an atheiest. :)

Hmm.  As I said above, I have no explanation at this time.  One of the great things decades of Bible study has taught me is to trust God always!  He will provide the answer to this puzzle when I need to know it.  I can't wait to hear the answer!    

 

Can it be said any plainer?

 

Here it is in a nutshell, said by Jesus Himself!  What does it take to be saved?

 

John 11:25-26(NKJV)

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 

And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

 

Any questions?

Proofs of God in our own lives!

In today's readings I was struck by these passages.

 

John 10:22-30(NKJV)

Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 

And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. 

Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. 

But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. 

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 

And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 

My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 

I and My Father are one.”

 

People often look to Scripture for proof of their beliefs.  While I think Scripture is important, what Jesus seems to be saying here is that there are other ways that are just as valid as Scripture to furnish "proof". 

 

Jesus specifically references His "works" which most of the rest of us would call miracles.  Jesus says to look at His works as proof of who He is.  Makes sense to me!

By looking at the miracles in our own lives as proof it takes our proofs from the historical knowledge (Scripture) to eye witness knowledge (personal experience) which I think is much more powerful.   

So if you ever have doubts or are seeking additional proofs, don't forget to look at and ponder the miracles you have personally experienced in your own lives. 

And then thank God again for those miracles and for the new miracles He has planned for your future!

Can I get an AMEN?    :)

 

So that is where the sudden interest in geometry came from!!! :)

God has such a great way of making me smile and bringing moments of pure joy to my life. 

 

I just love seeing God's hand in things, after the fact.  Looking back and seeing how seemingly random and unrelated things fit together…again after the fact. Thinking to myself "oh, that's where that interest suddenly came from. Cool!".  It just makes me smile!

Here's the short version of the story.  Several weeks ago I started a class offered by Hillsdale College called "Math and Logic: from Euclid to modern geometry".  Where did this sudden interest in geometry come from?  I avoided geometry in high school because I heard the teacher was really hard so why, almost 50 years later, an interest in geometry?

 

But it gets weirder. 

 

From there it occurs to me that it would be fun to take a high school geometry class.  I go over to Khanacademy.org and start taking high school geometry.  It's fun.  I can see how it is really helpful.  I love the logic of it.

 

Which brings me back around to the class I am taking.  Geometry had been around for a couple thousand years when Euclid revolutionized it.  Before Euclid, geometry had a practical basis.  What I mean by that is that it was used in measuring and laying out foundations of buildings, etc.

 

Euclid changed that.  He turned geometry into a theoretical discipline.  And that theoretical disciple became the basis for logic.

 

So to wrap this up,  I am always looking for new ways to see things.  I love to go back and challenge already held beliefs to see if I can defend them. 

So today God said "hey, why don't you go back to the beginning and offer proofs of your deeply held beliefs?  I'll bet you could use some of that geometric logic stuff here.  (As He smiles a sly smile)! " 

So that's where the sudden interest in geometry came from!!!!

PS.  Euclid's Elements was taught for hundreds of years.  It is second only to the Bible in number of printings over the years.  You can learn more about Euclid here.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euclid

What does God say about meritocracy?

 

I try not to get political on this blog but I have to comment on this.

 

There seems to be a war on meritocracy in some circles.  That it is somehow bad to extol the virtues of excellence and striving to be the best.   They think instead that we should celebrate and hold up those who are average as the example of what we should all strive to be. 

So what does God say?  I can think of many example in the Bible such as this one in the New Testament.  

 

When Paul tells us to run the race, does he tell us to run the race to finish in the middle of the pack?  No!  Paul tells us to run the race to win!

You know my belief that whenever possible I like to find example from both the Old and New Testaments when I make a point.  So here is an example from the Old Testament.  

 

Numbers 13:1-2(NKJV)

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 

“Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.”

 

So when God told Moses to send out men to spy out the land that God was giving them, did God say send the most average people you have?  No He did not!  God said send "leaders of men"! 

 

So there you have examples from both the Old and New Testaments that indicate, at least in my opinion, that the Bible supports meritocracy!

Notice what Jesus didn't do for Simon!

Here is an interesting verse.  Jesus is warning Simon (Peter) that Satan is going to attack him (Simon Peter).  Take a look and then I will share a thought. 

 

Luke 22:31-33(NKJV)

And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 

But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”

But he said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.”

 

Notice what Jesus does for Simon.  Jesus prays for him. 

 

Notice what Jesus doesn't do for Simon.  Jesus doesn't stop Satan from attacking Simon.  One might wonder why.  After all, one of the things Jesus promises to do is protect us.  How is not stopping Satan from attacking Simon, protecting Simon?

Here are my thoughts.  Sometimes you have to let people struggle to find their hidden strengths.  Jesus knew that if Simon drew on the name of Jesus in his battle with Satan, then Simon would be OK.  However, the only real way for Simon to learn that lesson as completely as Jesus needed him to learn it, was to put Simon in a "do or die" type situation where he was truly forced to do it. 

 

Dr. Shuler wrote a book years ago called "Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?".  That is a question people have been asking since the beginning.  I believe one of the reasons  is that there are just some life lessons that we only seem to be able to learn "the hard way".   

Our parents and grand parents can warn us till they are blue in the face, but we don't listen.  We insist on learning those lessons for ourselves. 

Seems to be human nature.  Funny how Jesus already knew that!