God's Love Notes

Have you ever been given a love note by anyone?

Last summer before actually getting ready to move to another state, I started looking through some things that had I had inherited after my father had passed away. There had been boxes of items and because we were paying to have everything moved to another state, I was trying to sort through items that I did not want to take.

In dad's things there were love letters, photos and other things that I had never seen before. I got through some of it, but then stopped going through his stuff to concentrate on the move itself.

Now, here we are just a few months on the other side of the move and because we are retired and have time, I decided to go through those boxes again that had held my parents precious memories.

And so much has come and is still coming to light about their young lives which I never knew.

I knew dad had written love notes to my mom during WW2 when he served overseas. But I did not know that mom had kept her own scrap book of letters and other pieces of her own during that time.

Her scrap book now is of course, old and getting very crumbly. But what we could make out of its contents lasted through their marriage. Oh they had their times all through it.. Their lives had not been easy. But the love they had from their early years, had stood its time.

Did you know that God has likewise sent us His own love note? They come to us through the Bible, God's Word.  And there are many.

Unlike my parents notes from a tumultuous time in the world during their youthful years,, God's word  has survived through the ages has never crumbled. It has survived all the evil of this world and will continue to do so until Jesus comes back.

Starting tomorrow, I thought we would take a look at some of the love notes in the Bible that God sent to us so that we too can survive that evil until such a time that Jesus returns. I hope you will join me.

May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace as you trust in him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 

Have a great day in the Lord, Friends. May His praises continually be in your mouth. Psalm 34:1

Imperfect People but Perfect for the Job/Peter

Who would have thought that Jesus would forgive a man that had denied that he even knew Him  at the time when Jesus most needed him?

  After all, Peter had loved Jesus. He had been a fisherman by trade the day Jesus, the Son of God walked into his life. "Come follow me,"  Christ had said to him and his brother Andrew "and I will make you fishers of men." Mathew 4:18-22.

And Peter had. He left his net and followed Jesus throughout His ministry. And so what happened that morning that Jesus was to be arrested for his abominable crime of claiming that he was God's Son? Why would he deny the man he followed and loved?

Jesus had known he was going to do what he did. He had told him that he would . Peter denied that he would ever do that. And in fact, he had told Jesus that would go to prison and his death for His cause. Luke 22:33. But Jesus had went on to tell Peter that before the rooster crowed that morning, he would deny him, not once, not twice. But three times.

What happened that Peter would do that to Jesus after he was so sure that he wouldn't?

Maybe there were reasons. Maybe he hadn't resigned himself to the fact that this was it. Jesus was going to die. He was going to have to let them.kill him. Maybe there was nothing he could do.

Who really knows what was in his mind that morning. But he had done the unthinkable. And now he was very sorry. The Roman Soldiers had already come and taken Jesus away. What could he do? Try to rally the trues to break Jesus free? Offer himself as a replacement for his friend?

But he couldn't do anything. Whatever might have been in Peter's mind that morning was not in God's plan. And obviously, what had happened, was.

That didn't make Peter feel very good at all. He had denied his Lord. His friend. All he could do at that point, was weep bitterly. Luke 22:62

He had failed him.

Did Jesus forgive Peter?

How could he have not? His own teachings were about forgiveness at times. And what's more, Jesus had already told Peter in Mathew 16:17-19 that because of his faith, Jesus would build the church on him.And that the gates of hell would not prevail against it.

Peter, the unworthy. In his own right a human that sinned just like all of God's people. And yet forgiven by the One that loved him. Destined to become the rock on which the church began and no matter who tried to come against it, even the gates of hell could not tear it down.

What would we have done in Peter's place? I would love think, that we would have stood right there with Jesus, facing an angry mob ready to take matters into their own hands, and not do what Peter had done. How grand a thought. But would have we?

It still could happen in such a way if this country does not get its act together and go back to what it used to be when God was at the center of so many homes.

Even now we could hide away our faith and not tell anyone for fear of what friends, family or anyone else might think of us.

However, we would always hope that we would not deny Christ and when we do, there is room for forgiveness. For He turns no one away, that is truly sorry for their sin. Just as Peter made some poor decisions in his day, so we do. But there is always room at the Cross of Jesus Christ.

Thanks for coming by today again Friends. I truly hope you enjoy your day and God bless!

Imperfect People but Perfect for the Job/Miriam

But then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing. Exodus 15:20

Who was Miriam in the bible? What did God give her to do? And she was one out of so many others that was perfect-right?

Miriam had two brothers. We know them as Aaron (her older brother) and Moses. (her baby brother) You will remember the story of Moses when his mother made him a basket and hid him in the bulrushes on the Nile River, to hide him from Pharaoh who wanted all baby boys to be thrown into the river.

Indeed, God had other plans for Moses. Miriam was instrumental in saving his life and their mother got to help care for him.

Miriam, along with Moses and Aaron were the ones that led God's people from Egypt's slavery to the Promise Land. But it twas Miriam that led the women into worshiping God with their tambourines and dancing, after the Egyptian army were thrown into the Red Sea.

God had used her in his service. But here again we have a non-perfect woman, doing His work and like all others that God called and is still calling today, she too had some rough edges that needed to be smoothed off and sins to be forgiven.

She and Aaron began to complain. (Really, who does that?)  And she began to criticize and question why God had chosen Moses as their leader. Numbers 12:1-2.

As we can imagine, this did not make God happy at all. Aaron did repent of his sin. But God struck Miriam with leprosy Moses prayed for his sister and after she had been quarantined for a week, God healed her.. Numbers 12:13.Why didn't Aaron suffer like Miriam had? Was it because he was quick to ask forgiveness and she wasn't? Did she need to learn a harder lesson? We don't know, but how about you and I.....

...do we bridle our tongue? It is sometimes a hard thing to do. And yet, we are called to do it. And the wonderful thing about God is that even though there are consequences to our sin, when we truly repents, he does forgive us. He knows we are not perfect but we are perfect for whatever it is he wants us to do even during those times that we don't feel we are even qualified.

Thanks for coming by today Friends. I pray you are having a wonderful week so far. God bless you and yours.

Imperfect People but Perfect for the Job/Solomon

He had been the son of King David and Bathsheba. He had written parts of the Old Testament, including Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes and Proverbs. And he pursued God.

While he was king, God allowed him to ask Him for anything that he would like to have. And what was it that King Solomon asked him for? Wisdom. That he what he wanted from God. Why wisdom instead of riches that he could have asked for?

He knew he would need wisdom with which to rule God's people. And so God gave it to him. However, God didn't stop there. He gave him much more. He also gave him wealth and peace on all sides. 1 Kings 10:23, 4:20-25.

The whole world listened to King Solomon's wisdom because it came from God, and they brought him many gifts. 1 Kings 10:24, And he completed many things while he was king. Among them was his many songs and proverbs, but also his building projects. 1 Kings 7:1-12, 9:15-23 and most importantly was the completion of the Jewish temple in 1 Kings 6 and 1 Chronicles 22.

King Solomon. A man after God's heart. A perfect man with whom God gave to him not only wisdom, but all of the material wealth that he could handle.

What? Perfect? Not on your life. He was still human. And so what was his downfall?

He had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Many were foreign women and God had told him that he must not intermarry with them. Why? Because they would turn his heart to other gods.

But surely this man of God would not let this happen. Right? Perhaps he didn't think so. But yes, they did. As he grew old, his heart did turn to other gods and was no longer devoted as fully to the true God. He built alters for many of the gods that his wives sacrificed to.

This made God angry and He raised up adversaries against King Solomon who caused him problems for the rest of his days as king.

Yes, King Solomon had been human. He had at some point taken another way that led him away from God. But God in his mercy still loved him. He was allowed to rule over Israel all the days of his life. He had been an imperfect man, who had still been called by God to be perfect for the job.

Sometimes, just like you and I are imperfect people, yet called to be perfect for the jobs that God calls us to. Always remembering that we may make mistakes. We may even have to pay the consequences for them as King Solomon did. But that even so, God loves us still.

Thanks once again coming by today, Friends. May your Lord's Day be blessed with all of God's good things!

Imperfect People but Perfect for the Job/Adam

"Lord, I am too weak to do your will." "I am not good enough." "I have sinned and so I know you could never use me in your service." "I am not talented enough." I am not...fill in the blank."

We are not perfect people. Just as the saints of old that God proclaimed as his own, were sinners. Sometimes we are weak,  down on ourselves, and sometimes even down right scared to do the will of God.

God does not call us to get perfect or even worthy to do his bidding. There is no such things in us on this side of heaven. Only through God are we made perfect, and worthy. If we were those things in ourselves, we would be able to take the credit for what we do for God. And God, being the jealous God that he is, wants all of our worship and praise to go to him. Not to ourselves.

So who in the bible do we find that had been weak or thought they were unable to do what God asked them to do?

In the past I have done different posts about some of them, but for the next few days, I think it is a good thing to remind us that we are not alone in how we feel about ourselves sometimes, and just  look again at some of those that were human yes, and had their problems, but still  God loved, despite their downfalls.

Today, we start with Adam:

We know him as the first human that God created, of course. He did not come from woman as every other human has, since his wife Eve was herself created.  He came from the "dust of the ground" and "God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life." Genesis 2:15

But God had some jobs for Adam to do. He gave him the responsibility for caring the garden that he had created. (Genesis 2:15) And Adam probably enjoyed it. Everything God had created was good and so it stands to reason Adam didn't have to do any hard work to keep it that way. Not until he sinned, anyway.

God went on to give Adam the care and naming of all of the animals that He had also created. (2:19-20)

The next job that we see God giving Adam, was of being a father, where in Genesis 5:4, it tells us that he had sons and daughters.

Three main jobs, that we know of. And no doubt because everything God created was good, the things that Adam did on a daily basis, were probably not all that hard.

But then Adam did something that he probably had wished he hadn't done.

He rebelled again God.

And we know how the story goes. His wife Eve was tempted by the snake (devil) to eat an apple out of a tree that God had said not to eat from. (The tree of good and evil: Genesis 2:17)

Some of the men of our day wants to blame the fact that sin came into the world through Eve, because she was the first one to eat of said fruit. But not so, says Romans 5:12.

It was due to his sin that sin did indeed come into the world, God cursed the ground and death enters the world as Adam and Eve begin to die spiritually and physically from that moment on.

Adam's life after that had become as hard labor as he toiled in his garden now. He had been a weak man, perhaps unable to resist Eve's encouragement to eat that fruit.

But the fact is, he was called by God to do a job that no one had ever done or has done since. To become human totally from God and dust, the first human to exist. To have the first chance of God to either obey Him or not. To do so many of the "firsts" that were to come. Seemingly not an overwhelming task at living maybe at first, but becoming that after the fruit incident,  But, Adam and Eve were not lost to their sin. The first recorded shedding of blood came about when God made garments of skins for them to cover themselves with (Genesis 3:21) from an animal that he killed. Because as Hebrews 9:22 says, "Without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission of sin."  And as we see into the history of the Old Testament, God's people of the day, used animals for their own sin and God accepted them until Jesus came to be born and take over that job as their Savior and ours, because God wanted a perfect scarf ice, and animals were no longer needed.

God had first given Adam some important jobs to do. He failed at some. But God still made a way for him to do what needed to be done.

And more importantly, God covered his sin himself.

Yes, Adam had messed  up good. He had ruined the good life for everyone to come. How ashamed he must have been of himself.

But that didn't mean God had given up on us. It just made for a change of plans.

edeSo, while we think we aren't good enough, or God can't use us, think of Adam who was God's first human creation. How indeed he messed up. But how God himself provided them with a blood sacrifice for their sin. God still loved them. He still provided them. He still had work for them to do

And it is the same with you and me. Even when we miss up or think we n't good enough, It is because God is good enough.  And he still has a job for us to do. Not only that, but better yet, he provided that perfect sin Sacrifice for you and me!

Thanks for coming by today friends. God bless. Until next time....

Skin Color? Does It Really Matter?

Was Jesus black or white? And does it really matter?

Yes, it does matter to some.

 Because we want the truth to be known and not just some theory. At least as much of the truth as we can know on this side of heaven.

And so then, what is the truth, was he black or white?

He  probably wasn't either. He probably had light to dark brown skin. Because he was a Jew. He even called himself a Jew in John 4:22 as he was speaking to the Gentiles.

You worship what you do not know, we (Jews) worship for the salvation of the Jews.

Jesus descended from the tribe of Judah who were Jewish. (David, Abraham etc)  His mother Mary too was a direct decedent of King David. 

But getting right down to it, should we be so concerned with his skin color? Because there are those that would use that to argue about with others. 

Or should we be more concerned with the eternal and leading others to Christ?

The thing is, God has given us what he wants us to know. If we are always arguing about something that he has not shown us yet, should we just not admit there are things that we may never know until we get to heaven, and go about the real business of God by preaching and teaching his gospel?

The information I read up on in doing this post, gave me a different outlook about it, because I began with asking if his skin color does really matter and as you see above, my answer was because I wanted the truth. But now I  have changed my feelings about it, because it is true, God has given us what we are to know and it is more important that we are concerned about salvation then his skin color. The truth is going to endure. His skin color is going to endure no matter the color. And that is not for me to worry about. There is too much more about him that we need to be proclaiming that is eternal and not just physical.  

If you would like to read more about this topic, please go to Was Jesus black? | GotQuestions.org

or: https://www.gotquestions.org/was-Jesus-white.html  or: Was Jesus a Jew? | GotQuestions.org

Thanks for coming by today Friends. Until next time, God bless your day!

What Color Was Jesus? And Does It Really Matter

The truth of the matter is, I never really thought about it before. Until around Christmas time, that is. And I wanted to do a post about it then, but just was not able to get to it. And so, the questions in my mind came up again. What did Jesus look like? Was he black or white or brown? And does it really matter what he looked like. 

We have seen many over the years of what he might have looked like. But does the bible say anything about him, and if so where?  Consider Isaiah 53:2b

"He had no beauty that would attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that would should draw us to him.

With the due respect of those painters that create him as being very beautiful, well many of them just don't have it right, even though they can't paint someone truly as they are, if they have never even seen a picture of him and can only guess. 

That scripture proves to us that he was an ordinary, common human being while he was here walking the earth. There was nothing special about him and those that knew him as Jesus and accepted him as God's Son, did so without being drawn by his physic appearance. 

Really, why would anyone want to claim as their Savior, someone with ordinary looks? After all, the Jews had been looking for someone that would be wearing a crown at least.

Why are we drawn to people that are beautiful at times? Because we might be drawn to them for the wrong reasons, maybe? God didn't want people to be drawn to him for any other reason then that they wanted to accept and serve him as his Son. 

His appearance did change however. But not to one of beauty but of one of sheer horror. Isaiah 52:14 also describes him prior to his crucifixion.

"His appearance was so disfigured beyond of that of any man and his from marred beyond human likeness."

Mathew and John describes his appearance as he was beaten that day in Mathew 26:67. 27:30 and John 19:23. His looks were far beyond anything that we could ever imagine when those Roman Soldiers got done with him. 

And so what did he look like humanly and before that beating began. Next time we will go into that as well as why it might be important to know the truth of what he looked like. 

Thanks for coming Friends. God bless your day!