One needs something to believe in,
something for which one can have whole-hearted enthusiasm.
One needs to feel that one’s life has meaning,
that one is needed in this world.
– Hannah Szenes
Monthly Archives: December 2011
Tebow stumbles, but still encouraged
Tim Tebow lost his second game as Denver Bronco’s quarterback, against the New England Patriots yesterday 41-23, but the Patriots had help with two turnovers and a muffed punt. Don’t count Tebow out yet. This home-schooled son of Baptist missionaries is still likely to make the playoffs and who knows how far he can carry the Broncos with his belief, especially after encouragement from Patriots coach Bill Belichick. Read more in The Patriot way tops Tebow-mania as New England defeats Denver story at USA Today.
Jesus Begins to Preach (Matthew 4: 12-17)
Bible Summary:
Jesus hears that John the Baptist is imprisoned so he flees from Nazareth to Capernaum, near Lake Galilee. This location matches what prophet Isaiah foretold and is the land of the people who live in darkness that will see a great light, the Gentiles. Jesus begins to preach his message, “Turn away from your sins, because the Kingdom of heaven is near.”
My Thoughts:
Prophecies: Jesus matching so many prophecies (born in Bethlehem, flees to Egypt so they can say he came out of Egypt, lives in Nazareth, moves to Galilee) sure seems too convenient, like Matthew “fit” Jesus into the criteria of the Messiah.
The Message: Jesus begins preaching in Galilee, telling people to turn away from their sinful behavior in his campaign to teach people to be kind to each other and do right.
People do not like to be told they are wrong and especially when they are doing wrong, even though in their hearts they know it is true. Take a look today, inside at the thoughts that come up and outside at the things that are done or said. Be the witness to your own behavior and decide if you have room for improvement. I know I have areas where I continue to struggle, so keep the faith and with God’s help we can beat them together. Peace.
God agrees to go with the people of Israel (Exodus 33)
Bible Summary:
God tells Moses to take the people of Israel from Mount Sinai to the land He promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He says he will drive out all the other people from this fertile land, but He cannot join them since they are so stubborn. The people mourn that God is not happy with them and stop wearing jewelry at His request.
Moses sets up the Tent of His presences outside of each new camp. Whenever he goes to the Tent, a pillar of cloud joins him and the people bow down when they see the cloud.
God changes His mind since He is pleased with Moses and now agrees to go with the people of Israel, plus to give them victory.
My Thoughts:
History of the victor: God agrees to drive all the other people (Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites) out of the fertile land for the people of Israel. Every victor believes God was on their side for the win and sanctioned the contest against the loser. I wonder what God had against those other people.
Environment at Risk Pictures
These two Editor’s Choice pictures at Reuters are worth more than a thousand words:
- Trash along Lagos beach. Lagos is the largest city in Nigeria, the eighth most populous country in the world.
- Red polluted water in China. The Jianhe River in Luoyang in Henan province of China is bright red from chemical waste. I wonder if this is what the Nile looked like in Moses’ time.
We in the United States should not think we are any better with our trash mountains outside of each large city and a history of our own chemical river issues as seen in this Cuyahoga River Burning in Cleveland.
Remedy against temptation
The realization of God’s presence
is the one sovereign remedy
against temptation.
– François Fénelon
Random kindness: paying off layaways
Kindness can be hard to administer as a woman discovered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She learned about the “Pay It Forward” idea from her middle-school-aged daughter and decided to pay off layaway bills for three people at Kmart, but the store would not let her – initially. The assistant manager thought it was unfair to those who were not chosen. The store’s manager later invited the woman back and she was very happy to help a few families make sure they had toys for the kids for Christmas. Read the full Area woman practices random act of kindness by paying off layaways story at The Patriot News.
This reminds me of a time when I paid for the last few items, food essentials, for a woman in front of me at the store. The cashier smiled and said, “Bless you,” but the person behind me in line asked, “What about me?”
These random acts of kindness are so rare that many people involved do not know how to respond. There are no rules – nor should there be. My motto is to just keep doing it and they will catch on eventually.
Temptations of Christ (Matthew 4: 1-11)
Bible Summary:
Jesus goes to the desert for forty days and nights without food. The Devil comes along and tempts him three times to prove he is the Son of God.
- First, since Jesus is hungry, the Devil challenges him to make bread out of stones. Jesus says people cannot live on bread alone, but also need the word of God.
- Then, the Devil takes Jesus to the top of the highest temple in Jerusalem and tells him to jump so the angels will catch him. Jesus tells him not to put God to the test.
- Last, the Devil takes Jesus to the highest mountain and offers him all the kingdoms of the world if he will just worship the Devil. Jesus commands Satan to go away since we are to worship God and serve only Him.
My Thoughts:
Three Temptations of Life: I believe these temptations of christ are like the food, fame, and riches of today.
- Food: Bread, signifying food in general, is not enough to sustain life. We also need to nourish our souls with spiritual and social interactions. Food cares for our body, but worship and relationships care for our mental health.
- Fame and Foolishness: I have a couple interpretations of the Devil tempting Jesus to jump off the temple. First is fame, which is a great temptation of today. Many famous people have reached the peak of their careers only to plummet because they are not grounded spiritually. In other words, they do not have angels to catch them so when they test God they fail.
- Another interpretation is foolishness, or showing off to gain the approval of others. Many teens fit this profile, thinking they are invincible and doing foolish things that put their lives and others’ at risk. But, sometimes the angels are not there to catch them either. Case in point is an 18-year-old who fell 60 feet to his death at Old Man’s Cave in Logan, Ohio last weekend because he was playing around off the path (Man falls to his death at Old Man’s Cave story at the Circleville Herald). Please stay on the path and be safe.
- Riches: The devil offers Jesus all the riches of the world if he will worship him. People that worship money discover at the end of their lives that it really was not worth it. Many forsake family and friends for their riches, but ultimately learn that we all come into this world with nothing and leave this world the same way.
Confidence
Confidence is that feeling
by which the mind embarks
in great and honourable courses
with a sure hope and trust in itself.
– Cicero
Israelites defy God, worship gold calf (Exodus 32)
Bible Summary:
Moses is gone forty days and nights up Mount Sinai, so the people of Israel give up on him and ask Aaron to make a god to lead them. Aaron asks for all their gold earrings, melts them down, and molds them into a calf. He then builds an altar to the gold calf and announces a festival for the next day.
God tells Moses the people of Israel have rejected Him, so He is going to destroy them and make a great nation from his descendants. Moses pleads for their lives and God changes His mind.
Moses returns down the mountain with the stone commandments. He is furious to find people worshiping the gold calf, so he smashes the tablets. He grinds the gold calf into powder and makes the people drink it. Then, he calls everyone over to God’s side of the gate to the camp, but only the Levites join him, so Moses tells them to kill the rest, even if they are brother, friend or neighbor. They obey and slaughter 3,000 people that day.
The next day Moses tells the people they have committed a terrible sin. He heads back up the mountain and asks God for forgiveness for their sins. God tells Moses to lead the people to the place he promised with the help of a guiding angel. He then sends disease on the people for their sin.
My Thoughts:
Jealous and vengeful God: This jealous and vengeful God is in stark contrast to the loving God we learn about in the New Testament. How can they be one in the same? How could God think about wiping out millions of people just because they worship a golden calf? This sure sounds like men used the name of God to threaten people into doing their bidding. They are looking for the same obedience as the King of Egypt.
Jealousy: Jealousy can make people angry enough to lash out against others, like this story of God. Jealousy comes from a sense of insecurity and a lack of confidence. A wife may fear her husband will find someone better. A man may fear a colleague getting promoted over him.
Challenge your jealousy with the confidence that God made you beautiful the way you are and gave you abilities to do amazing things. You just need to believe!