Do You Wonder What to Make of the Differences Between Believers?

 

There can be quite a number of differing beliefs among Christians about various things.  Is it okay to dance?  David Danced before the Lord.  Further study indicates this was a leaping and skipping, like a happy excited kid on the playground.  He was celebrating the Ark of God.  Is it wrong to speak in tongues?  Is it wrong not to speak in tongues? 1 Corinthians 14:39 says to forbid it not.

It matters, what is right and what isn’t.

Romans 14:5 says: One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.  The Lord looketh upon the heart 1 Sam. 16:7

I believe God created all things, that God always was, He had no beginning, and will have no end.  He is all powerful and all-knowing, and omnipresent.  I believe in a triune Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Ghost.  I believe Jesus, the took the form of a man, lived a sinless life, laid down his own life in death, shedding innocent blood to atone for the sins of you and me.  I believe He rose up from the grave on the third day and is now in heaven at the right hand of the Father, and that He will come soon to remove the body of believers from this world and then a period of tribulation will occur such as the world has never seen.

God, His ways, His thoughts, are so above us, and beyond our comprehension, that even the most diligent student of Scripture will fall far short in this life, of ever understanding it all.  Just like God gives different gifts to different believers, I believe often God gives different ones a greater grasp of some small portion of His Word, while giving more of a mastery of some other portion to another.  Look at it like this: Medicine has become an enormous body of knowledge.  Specialists must devote a great deal of time to learning the specifics that relate to their area of expertise, and must continually study and train to remain on the cutting edge of advances in his specialty. That doesn’t leave him time to know everything about every specialty.  There is just too much “knowledge” for him to master.  In the same way, a medicinal chemist is not likely to be also a foremost specialist in atomic energy.

We are limited by our own capacity.  The Bible tells us that we see  and understand only “in part”.  The body of knowledge contained in Scripture alone, is so vast and enormous that one could spend a lifetime digging into it, and still be gaining new understanding in his 90′s and beyond, should he live that long.

I often use this description that I read someplace years back, which describes differing perspectives in general:  A group of blind people who have never encountered an elephant, are brought to a village where an elephant is kept.  They are assisted near the elephant, and allowed to feel the enormous animal, standing only where they have been led, not walking all the way around.   Afterwards, they are asked to describe this foreign beast.   One who had stood by the leg, described it like a large tree trunk, rough to the touch like bark.   One who had felt the ear described it like a tent flap.  One who felt the flank described it like a solid wall.

They were all perceiving only “in part”, not the whole.  Even if they had been allowed to palpate all the way around this enormous animal, being blind they could still not have fully apprehended or appreciated the elephant in the fullest sense.  Our “vision” and understanding are like that now.  And that is why you can find differences in perspective among Christians who love the Lord and study His Word diligently.   That does not mean “anything goes”.  The Bible is clear in 2 Peter 1:20 that no prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation”.  Prophecy either foretells, or forth-tells. So this principle applies to all scripture.  It doesn’t mean whatever someone decides it means.  It means what God meant when HE inspired its writing, and it is up to us, with the Holy Spirit’s help and our own diligence, to continue to study the scripture until we are “fully persuaded in our own minds”.   Every passage in scripture has at least one other passage in scripture that helps explain it.   Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.  Isaiah 34:16.  One good way to study the Bible, is to use a program like e-Sword, (free to download online) and search out every instance of a certain word, looking at it in the context of various passages.  E-sword also includes Strong’s Concordance, for the original languages.

The Bible says in Psalms 12:6 that The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. ⁷ Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

Are there poor versions and perversions of the Bible floating around out there? Surely there are,  however, I believe God knows how to (and has) preserved His Word intact, and that it will not return unto Him void (Isaiah 55:11) but will accomplish what He pleases, and prosper in the thing whereto He sent it.  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was  with God and the Word was God.  (John 1:1).  For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 1 John 5:7.  The Word is quick (living), and active (Hebrews 4:12) and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.  Do you realize what that means?  That even as you “scan the Word” the Word is scanning you! 

Do you know what is even more amazing?  If you are in the Word regularly, it is not only scanning you and detecting what is wrong, but it is also “recalibrating” you, righting that which is wrong within you, and cleaning you up, because it washes like water (Ephesians 5:25-27), and if you are believing what you are reading, then you will become a doer (James 1:22) of what you read.  If you do not become a doer, then you are deceiving yourself.  The Bible was “interactive” long before there was an app for it!

So, we can trust that though our understanding now is incomplete, some day that which is “in part” will be made perfect (complete). (1 Cor. 13:9-12)

-S.T. Lloyd

All scripture from KJV

 

 

 

 

J.D.’s Weekly Mid-East Prophecy Update for May, 19, 2013

Judge Jeanine Pirro speaks OUR mind!

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Tad Cronn’s commentary on the Obama Trio of Scandals rivals Rappaports in hilarity!

(Thank goodness for those pundits who help us laugh so we don’t have to cry!)

White House Sleight of Hand: These Scandals Don’t Exist

I thought only Jedi and wizards had these kinds of powers, but apparently the scandal-wracked White House is desperate enough to resort to mind tricks to make its troubles vanish [.....]

Read more: http://godfatherpolitics.com/10872/white-house-sleight-of-hand-these-scandals-dont-exist/#ixzz2TZahzZJU

My Little Garden~Guest post by Garrett Lloyd

Image Credit Timesrecordnews.com

Image Credit Farmatfalconridge.com

♥♥♥

My Little Garden

By Garrett Lloyd

Have you ever noticed how many agrarian references there are in the Bible.  The parable of the Sower,  wheat and tares,  the fig tree,  the mustard seed and on and on.  I am not enough of a biblical scholar to name them all but I know that sheer number of references in God’s Word to growing things tell’s me there may be some spiritual fruit to be gained from getting my hands dirty in my little back yard garden.

I grew up on a 5 acre lot of land of which my Dad dedicated about 1/4 to the garden.  His father lived a quarter-mile away and devoted even more land to the vegetable garden as well a couple of fields of hay, soybeans, sometimes a couple of acres of tobacco, and periodically harvested timber from the 88 acres of land he owned.

My Moms Dad also worked as a farm manager in his youth and retired to a little place where he grew all manner of vegetables (some fairly exotic ) as well as keeping bees.  Both grandmothers and my mom extensively canned, froze and otherwise preserved what was harvested so there was always home-grown food in the house.

While I was growing up I was often assigned chores in the garden,  I was not overly fond of these chores when I was young and usually did the bare minimum to get by and hurried back to the TV as soon as possible.  As an adult I deeply regret not taking more interest in gardening and taking full advantage of all that wisdom and experience that was available to me.

Fast forward thirty some odd years, the gardening gene in me finally matured and I began learning the art of putting non store-bought food on the family table.  In the process I have learned that all the hard work is far surpassed by the joy of watching God turn that labor and a few seeds into delicious food I can proudly place on my family’s dinner table.

I was greatly surprised when my experiences in the garden, success as well as failures often mirrored what I was reading in the Bible.  I discovered that sometimes you just can’t pull a stubborn weed without disturbing the plant your trying to grow like in the parable of the wheat and the tares.  I discovered that tilling the soil to the correct depth greatly improves the quality of your crops.  And also just simply the joy of watching God work in a tangible and practical way.   Feeding his sheep.

My garden  also raised questions I had never considered before.  The Word says of discipleship that some will sow the seed or plant the word in a non believer, some will water the seed or encourage someone who is seeking.  But the Word never makes mention of having to spread fertilizer.  I know plenty of people in various churches who seem quite adept at spreading manure but I guess that is for another post.

Anyway,  I feel there is great value in getting in touch with the land and starting your own garden.  Things like better freshness and taste than you can find in the store, knowing what if any pesticides or genetically modified nonsense you’re ingesting, or simply experiencing the joy of growing a portion of your  own food.  I doesn’t matter if it’s a small window box herb garden,  or fields of crops you can sell or give to neighbors.
Aside from the practical and pleasurable aspects of gardening,  I encourage you to view  a garden as a means of seeing God at work in a way our modern society has forgotten.  God himself planted the first garden and even though we messed up that deal,  He has given us glimpses of what awaits us in heaven as believers in Christ.  Someday I’ll live in that beautiful garden He intended for us.  In the meantime my strawberries should be ripe next week, now that I’ve discovered the plastic snakes and pinwheels trick for keeping birds and squirrels away.

Image Credit Florinella.com

The kiss of the sun for pardon

The song of the birds for mirth

One is nearer Gods heart in a garden

Than anywhere else on Earth

B y Dorothy Gurney

1858 – 1932

If Republicans in Congress knew what was good for them, they’d listen to Krauthammer

(Too bad Republicans in Congress don’t know what’s good for them)

Krauthammer To GOP: Stop Calling Everything A Watergate, “Be Quiet And Present The Facts”

Video included at link above. (Story below)

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: There are three theres and they are extremely important issues and the administration is hugely on the defensive and hasn’t really answered and it’s the same three we’ve always had. Why were the requests for security denied including the desperate ones of the Ambassador who ultimately was killed? Second, what happened on the night [of the attack]? How could America at least made an attempt of rescue? And the response by Democrats, ‘Well, it wouldn’t have arrived in time.’ How in the hell do you know in advance that it’s not going to arrive in time? How do you know it would be 7 and a half hours and not 17 and a half hours? That is is not a response.

And where was the president that night? We’ve all seen the videos and pictures in The Situation Room of Obama on the night of the Osama raid. Everybody looks at that, he was really involved in that. Show me a picture of where he was on the night of the attack in Libya. Give me a time line. Who did he talk to and what did he do?

Lastly, the talking points, which are a fiction. And compounded by the fact that the president now say, ‘I said it was a terror attack on the day after.’ That is not true. Even The Washington Post has said today, it was absolutely a falsehood. It’s a falsehood on top of falsehood. But the one advice I give to Republicans is stop calling it a huge scandal. Stop saying it’s a Watergate. Stop saying it’s Iran Contra. Let the facts speak for themselves. Have a special committee, a select committee. The facts will speak for themselves. Pile them on but don’t exaggerate, don’t run ads about Hillary. It feed the narrative for the other side that it’s only a political event. It’s not. Just be quiet and present the facts. (Special Report, May 14, 2013)

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“They used a human egg cell and parts of a human skin cell to grow a very early human embryo, then transformed cells from this ball of cells into beating heart cells and skin cells.”

http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/15/18277298-cloning-technique-produces-human-stem-cells-for-the-first-time?lite

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My thoughts:

A cloned person would have no soul.  Convenient receptacle for a demon to take up residence in.  Just sayin’.

Mark this down in your day runner, these leaps in science are going to accelerate at some point to a degree that will make heads spin.  It will be yet another major indicator of the lateness of the hour, so watch for it.  The increase in knowledge and “many running to a and fro”, many think of that  as a “sign: already in place, due to all the advances and innovations in science and travel through out the 20th century alone, but “we ain’t seen nothin’ yet”!! Science in every arena is poised for many breakthroughs.  Hydrogen energy, bio-fuels, energy storage, fake meat, cloned stem cells, the 3d printer, the warp drive, in medicine, stem cell technology is promising everything from self-repairing hearts, to re-growing cartilage, to wound-healing.  Techniques for lengthening limbs, red blood cells that are “universal”, replacement organs grown in the lab, etc, and etc.

 

BREAKING NEWS: Obama Taps Own Phone Lines

Obama is getting hit from all sides. On Benghazi, the best the President could do is speak gobbledygook:  “There’s no ‘there’ there.” Is that like Bill Clinton’s “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is”?

Read more: http://godfatherpolitics.com/10828/breaking-news-obama-taps-own-phone-lines/#ixzz2TI3yC1GD

Why Does God Test Us?

Life keeps coming at us, ready or not.  Struggles don’t cease in this life, for those who are striving to live Godly in Christ Jesus.  On Sunday morning, Mother’s Day, I was looking forward to our whole family being in church together.  For various reasons, of late, that hasn’t been happening as often as is ideal.  Sunday before I got out of bed, (or even woke up, for that matter) hubby came in and informed me that my younger son was dizzy, nauseated and vomiting.  He was developing itchy spots Saturday morning when he got up, which we thought might have been a spider bite, or something.  By Saturday night he had a few areas of hives that had puffed up.  We gave him the standard Benadryl, and the itching subsided and he went to bed, but when he woke up he was worse off in the morning.  Fearing that the reaction was intensifying, I knew we needed to go ahead and get him to an intermediate care clinic.  We could not pinpoint anything in those prior hours or days that he had eaten that was different than the norm, hadn’t changed detergents, and the only thing I could remotely think of that might be the source of a reaction, was his antibiotic, even though he had been on it for a couple of weeks already.  Allergic reactions are strange that way.  It’s not that uncommon for a sudden allergy to develop to something you’ve been exposed to before with no trouble in the past.  Well, Garrett and I still made it to A.M. worship service, but both boys stayed home, as someone needed to remain with the patient.  We “did Mothers Day” later in the afternoon.

My neighbor and dear friend-of-the-family, Barbara, said to me Sunday night: “you must always feel like you’re waiting for the next shoe to drop”.  I laughed slightly and said, “I think there is a millipede up there dropping them” (or throwing them, like the Iraqi journalist at George W. Bush).  If you’ve been with this blog a while, you’ll “get” that.  I try real hard not to let it happen, but there are times I do get to wondering whether we in this family are being chastised, or whether it is harassment from that old snake Satan.  I was having one of those days yesterday, discouraged.  Feeling a little “picked on” and like I just couldn’t deal with one more thing. When I get into that frame of mind, I usually talk out loud to the Lord if there is no one home but me.  Sometimes I just have a good cry, then go back to sleep for a while, and “start over” when I wake up.  (Lest readers unfamiliar with my history get the wrong impression, I have chronic medical conditions, and hubby right now is going through chemo).   It’s one of those periods in life that you just grit your teeth and get through.

Then, at 4 a.m. this morning, Garrett woke me up again.

“Sandee, I think I’m in arrhythmia again”.

I was not “out from under” my 2nd dose of the med I take at night for my narcolepsy, so I couldn’t even go with him to the E.R.

This morning, he had his sixth electro-cardioversion. (We are thinking of investing in our own defibrillator, lol).  We are thankful that despite the “(Un)Affordable Care Act, and all the impending upheaval that will very soon be bringing (just found out this morning my sleep-equipment supplier has been dropped from coverage) that for the time being, at least we are getting the good care we need, and by God’s grace we are making minimum payments on the substantial portion insurance doesn’t pay (which seem to be satisfying the many docs, hospitals, surgeons, ad infinitum, who have administered some form of care to one or the other member of our family, the total expense of which,for the past 5 and a half months alone, has just exceeded $200,000).   Of course every time something like, oh, a compound fracture, tumor, or misbehaving heart, crops up, the responsibilities on our shoulders get to feeling that much heavier.  We know Psalm 55:22 and Matthew 11:29 by heart. There are just times in life that the onslaught feels a little relentless.

We understand that “in this world you will have trouble (tribulation). We realize that when good things happen it is not because we deserve it, and when bad things happen it is also not necessarily true that it is because “we deserve it”.  But we are to “count it all joy” because if we persevere in our faith, we will be given the “crown of life” someday.  I understand those things.  And still, it is hard.  Can you smile while sucking the juice of a lemon?  Sour, unpleasant, bitter circumstances that take away our smile, doesn’t necessarily equate with our being “robbed of our joy”.  I know the Webster’s definition of Joy is “happiness”, but I don’t think that is accurate.  That’s the world’s definition.  I think Joy is sometimes something that is way down deep, that may not be reflected by a smiling countenance at all times.  It’s a certain knowledge that the trial will pass, (eventually), and there is something good beyond it, somewhere.  And even if the trial is followed (much more quickly than we would like) with yet another trial, (and another, and another) the same still holds true.  The good may not come in this life.  There will always be “a next thing” that replaces the present trial in this life.  But one day, this life will be over.  We who are born again under the blood of Jesus, will be with our Lord and Savior Jesus, in the presence of God and loved ones, and the angels, and all the trials will be over.

I will be honest with you.  It is not a fun and joy-filled existence, being unable to maintain a job because of both recurrent, as well as chronic health conditions.  I don’t like it.  Every time I go to a Doctor’s appointment or a hospital, I am reminded of that loss of my nursing career (and income, and freedom to spend money).  But praise God, I got to be at home with my kids more than many Mom’s (of those who want to) are able to.  I hate watching my husband go through chemo, but I am extremely thankful for a Doctor Rhamen at an intermediate care clinic who had the presence of mind to draw a CBC and finding a Hemoglobin half of what it ought to have been, sent my husband to a hospital where a tumor was discovered, and removed.  Chemo reduces the chances of a recurrence, but doesn’t eradicate it altogether.  We are thankful for the improved odds.  I miss our friend Johnny and my Dad, who went Home within a few weeks of one another last Autumn.  I will miss Johnny’s widow, Barbara, when she is no longer my neighbor as she moves to live with her son. Johnny and Barbara’s house and their friendship, have been a haven of safety and understanding and love, “through it all”.  I won’t go into the “it all” (it’s there in my sidebar “Purple Morning Glories and Gold Lady Bugs” 12 chapters worth)..  That seems like an odd title, for a tale of struggle, but the emphasis is on the little things God does to help us get through each and every one of the trials that come, and the fact that He does get us through them.

I’ve stopped wondering what might happen next, and just referring to our seeming unending series of difficulties as “just the next thing”.  When they diagnosed the cancer, I told my pastor “Well, it’s just the next thing”.  In those waiting and “not-knowing” days and hours, there was plenty of time for it occur to me that like my Mom and Barbara, I might find myself soon a widow.  But God granted me the ability to stay in the moment, and just hang on in faith.  The only way these things can defeat us is if we lay down and give up.  You won’t hear the “rebuke your troubles away” line from me.  If you believe that, give me a call, I’d like to sell you some magic beans.  “We are more than conquerors in Christ”, doesn’t mean we will not have to pass through fires and murky, turbulent waters.  It just means that when we come out on the other side, we will be that much more “refined”, and “tempered”, “perfected” (made complete).  God is making us fit for the Kingdom.

Here is commentary from http://www.gotquestions.org including scriptures on the subject of testing in the Bible.

Question: “Why does God test us?”

Answer: When we ask why God tests us, or allows us to be tested, we are admitting that testing does indeed come from Him, as clearly taught in Scripture. Although we are forbidden to test Him (Deuteronomy 6:16; Matthew 4:7), when God tests His children, He does a valuable thing. David sought God’s testing, asking Him to examine his heart and mind and see that they were true to Him (Psalm 26:2; 139:23). In both the Old and New Testaments, the words translated “test” mean to prove by trial. Therefore, when God tests His children, the purpose is to prove that our faith is real. Not that God needs to prove it to Himself since He knows all things; rather, He is proving to us that our faith is real, that we are truly His children, and that no trial or test will overcome that faith.

In His Parable of the Sower, Jesus identifies the ones who fall away as those who receive the seed of God’s Word with joy, but as soon as a time of testing comes along, they fall away. James clearly explains that the testing of our faith develops perseverance, which leads to maturity in our walk with God. Perseverance in times of trial and testing will result in our spiritual maturity, our completeness (James 1:3-4). James goes on to say that testing is a blessing, because when the testing is over and we have “stood the test,” we will “receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12). Testing and trying come from our heavenly Father who works all things together for good for those who love Him and who are called to be the children of God (Romans 8:28).

The testing or trials we undergo come in various ways. Becoming a Christian will often require us to move out of our comfort zones and into areas we have never encountered before. We’ve perhaps heard the saying ‘No pain – no gain’ when exercising our physical bodies. The same applies to exercising our faith in God. This is why James wrote ‘Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds’ (James 1:2). Testing our faith can be in small things like daily irritations; they may also be severe afflictions (Isaiah 48:10). Whatever the source of the testing from God, it is to our benefit to undergo the trials.

The account of Job is a perfect example of God allowing one of His saints to be tested by the devil. Job bore all his trials patiently and “did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing” (Job 1:22). However, the account of Job’s testing is proof that Satan’s ability to tempt us is limited by God’s sovereign control. No demon can test or afflict us with beyond what God has ordained for His perfect purpose and our benefit.

There are many examples that can be used to illustrate the positive results from our being tested. The Psalmist likens our testing to that of being refined like silver (Psalm 66:10). Elsewhere in Scripture we can read of our trials as that of gold being refined in order to remove all its impurities (1 Peter 1:7). By the testing of our faith, God causes us to grow and mature into strong disciples who truly live by faith in Him, not by what we see (2 Corinthians 5:7).

When testing and trials come our way, we should receive them with joy, because we know that it is God who allows them to strengthen our faith. When we are knocked about in the storms of life, like the tree that digs its roots ever deeper for a greater grip, we must dig our roots deeper into God’s Word so we can withstand whatever comes against us.

Most comforting of all, we know that God will never allow us to be tested beyond what we are able to handle and in all things will provide a way out of the test (1 Corinthians 10:13). This does not mean He will remove the trial from us. Why would He when He says trials are for our benefit? Rather, the “way out” is the way through. the trial, with Him ever faithful by our side, until we come out on the other side of it by His grace and power, stronger and more mature Christians.

Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/why-does-God-test-us.html#ixzz2THdk1DgH