© 2008 by Deidre Campbell-Jones
April Theme: Life
Life: Romans 6:23
Death: Romans 6:23
I wrote this on Good Friday. For most that meant they got holiday during the week before Easter. You know, sometimes there’s a holiday that always falls on a weekend, and so you get a day off in the work week to commemorate it. But commemorating or celebrating Good Friday rarely means more than a chance to sleep in and perhaps catch up on some things you can’t ordinarily do during the week.
Today - Sunday is "Easter". The Easter bunny comes and brings brightly colored eggs, chocolate and jelly beans. And a lot of people, who don’t ordinarily go to church, will dress up in pretty pastel clothes and sit through an Easter program, then, have an Easter egg hunt and a wonderful dinner. Now that is the life! Truly, it is a wonderful life for anyone to live. But of course, it is not the only life we are meant to live.
One Friday morning, Jesus told two of his disciples to go to a certain place of which he would tell them. There they would find a young donkey colt – one that had never been ridden before. He told them to untie the colt and bring it to him. And if the owners asked why they were untying it – to tell them, their master had need of it.
Now on that particular Friday when he rode that donkey into town, the people all cheered for him. This was the Lord who had done so many miracles amongst them – he had brought healing, forgiveness and new life. He had fed them physically and spiritually and had raised some from the dead – both physically and spiritually as well.
The following Thursday evening at sundown was the feast of Passover Seder – Jesus had been sharing Passover with the disciples. Mind you, they were most all Jewish and they celebrated the Jewish feasts together. Well, Judas excused himself and Jesus told him, “what you must do, do quickly.” Judas went to speak with the Chief Priests and the Captains to determine how he should betray Jesus. While he was gone, Jesus took three of His disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray with Him for what He knew was about to take place. Jesus knew it was nearly time for Him to die. This is what He had been born to do. This was His only and one true test of obedience and Jesus did not want to do it. He did not go eagerly into death. He even asked our Father, His Father – Abba – take this cup from me, but nevertheless, not my will, but yours.
Death before Christ died was a very different matter than we know it today. There was a pain to death – a sting; the bible calls it, during the separation of life from the body. Death was definitely a thing to be avoided, a thing to be feared. And, this is my own personal speculation, but I also believe that before Christ’s death on the cross there was a living death of the soul that all mankind experienced everyday and with no relief from the time of the fall of man and the entering of sin in the Garden of Eden, until just after the prayers of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane when He was crucified for the sins of all mankind. It wasn’t until after Christ’s death that life became significant. That is because, Jesus did not stay dead and buried in that tomb! He went down to hell, snatched the keys of death from satan and rose up again on the third day! The enemy of life had controlled death and he thought he had won for all eternity by crucifying Christ. But what satan meant for evil, God meant for good – our eternal good.
Christ’s resurrection from death unto life, is the very reason why we too, can die to our sin and be resurrected into new life through Christ. "Easter" Sunday is for the Easter bunny, but this Sunday is Resurrection Sunday – the day we as believers celebrate the resurrected life of Christ and all that means for us.
You see before I became “born again” in 1985 and accepted Christ into my life as my Lord and Savior, I lived a flat, angst-ridden, confused, death of a life. I had no connection to life. I felt like an alien on this planet searching for something familiar, something to call my own, someone to love, someone to be and something to do. I was searching for me. I was empty inside and I tried all kinds of different things to fill it. And I searched for all kinds of different people to fill it. Inherently it seems, I knew that emptiness was supposed to be filled through a loving, intimate relationship, and I just couldn’t find the person to fill that void. I was basically dead to the world but I didn’t know it.
It wasn’t until I became “saved” that I experienced this new life and realized the difference between my old life. There was life inside me – living and breathing and experiencing the life outside me. There was life within my soul that I never knew wasn’t there in the first place. Now mind you, I know this separation from God was a death to my soul because there were times after having accepted Christ into my life that I pulled away and experienced that death again.
There was the time during my first marriage when it had gotten so bad and I was so depressed that there was no joy, no life and no Christ within me. I had backslidden in my depression because I blamed God for the state of that marriage. I pulled away from God in my anger and the void was palpable. They noticed it on my job; friends noticed it and I described it as a black hole in space sucking in my very soul into nothingness. I was a walking zombie – the living dead.
Later, when I got divorced, I experienced this soul death again, out of guilt for leaving that marriage. Christians don’t divorce, the believer is not supposed to leave and so surely I was outside of God’s will and I separated myself from Him out of guilt. Once again, I became the same un-dead, living that flat, listless, search-filled, meaningless, struggling life I had even before accepting Christ. There was one other time I died to Christ and that was after going on disability and being let go from AT&T. The depression that time was so deep – not out of anger, and not out of guilt but out of pure un-worthiness. I felt inept, incapable, unworthy and hopeless. My separation was long, ugly and daily I wished I could just be put in the ground and saved from the misery. I am sure this death-filled kind of life was a matter of everyday existence for all mankind before Christ came.
Jesus said "I have come so that you would have live, and have it more abundantly." Oh, death – where is thy sting?
You see, Christ’s death was for all of us. His death on the cross was not just for those who would one day believe. His death was so that all mankind would have life and have a death with no sting. It is the acceptance of Christ’s death and the belief in Him that gives us life. And it is through living that life with Him and in Him that we experience that life more abundantly each day that we become closer to Him.
Christ’s death is significant even for those who do not believe. Non-believers reap the rewards of Christ’s death and God’s love just the same as believers do. For God so loved the world… not just those who would believe. Christ’s death on the cross was His gift to ALL mankind. The life we choose to live after being presented with the truth of that death is what determines how abundantly we will live within God’s gift.
In the Old Testament it says that we walk between the valleys of life and death. Choose life. You see, before Christ died for us – we had no choice but to die – we were already dead. We lived in death, we died a painful death and death was eternal. The wages of sin is death. Then Jesus came and he told the Pharisees that they were white-washed sepulchers. They were the ones who were supposed to be knowledgeable about God and the laws of man. They were the High Priests but they were dead inside like a tomb that was made to look good on the outside. That is how we live as non-believers. We try to clean it all up on the outside, be kind, don’t lie, don’t steal don’t cheat, and maybe we even came close to following the 10 Commandments. Those were the laws God gave man, because they had no Life on the inside. And without Christ, we still have no life on the inside.
"I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father accept by me” For many it is a hard scripture to hear – they feel condemned, separated, excluded and left out. They rebel and deny that the only way to experience God is through Christ. But that is because they do not know that they don’t have life. Yes, the first part of Romans 6:23 says “the wages of sin is death.” But the second part says, “but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus, our Lord.”
Just this past Tuesday, the Bishop of my church reminded us that a person can have life and not be alive. A patient in the hospital that is on life-support has a heart that beats, and lungs that breath all with assistance – but there is no life in that body that is alive. God’s grace to us while we are unbelievers is His life-support system. We are alive with no live, we are walking comas, zombies of the heart searching for a way to live. Christ is the way, and that’s the truth.
Sin means “separation from God.” The sins we commit are the actions of life that keep us separated from God. When God separated a part of Himself as flesh, that flesh became sin. That flesh is Jesus and Jesus became sin for us – He knew no sin, He committed no sins – He became sin: the perfect sacrifice.
And when He made that sacrifice of death, He did it for all of us, whether we would believe in Him or not. Christ died for us while we were yet sinners - while we were still separated from Him - and He still died for us even if we remain sinners even unto our deaths.
Once I wrote a song that said, “Life is a gift, not a choice – yet many a choice has been made, to take that life away.” It was a song pertaining to the pro-choice, pro-life debate. It was written shortly after I first came to Christ and I feel, in one regard, it is inaccurate according to the truths I now know about life.
The conception of life in the physical is a gift. The life we receive through Christ’s death and resurrection is also a gift. “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, so that whosoever should believe shall not perish but would have everlasting life.” John 3:16. But accepting that gift and accepting that life is a choice. We can choose everlasting life or we can choose to stay dead in our sin.
Making that choice begins with belief. There are no list of rights and wrongs – just simple belief. Do you believe that Jesus is the only begotten son of God? Do you believe that He was born of a virgin? Do you believe that He died on the cross for the transgression of our sins? Do you believe that He was raised again on the third day so that we could have life everlasting? Do you believe in Life?
p.s. Do you want to know why Jesus is called the “only begotten son of God” if He was God? Email me and ask… I’ll tell you why.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
LIFE EXISTANCE
© 2008 by Deidre Campbell-Jones
April Theme: Life
Life: John 1:1-4
No Life: John 3:16
In this Easter month of April, I want to do something a little differently and go back to the basics for our Bible Study. The topic this month is “life” and we’ll cover discussions such as new life, the resurrected life and what Christ means when He says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” (John 14:6). These next studies will be a perfect opportunity for you to ask questions and make suggestions.
On a plane ride last weekend, coming home from Florida, I had the opportunity to strike up a conversation with a woman who was a self-reported “New Ager” and supported the Unity church. Unity churches are interdenominational – they “accept all denominations, not just Christian,” she told me. And that struck me as odd. First of all, how can all denominations worship together? You would have to strip away all the things that separate them as denominations in the first place, and only teach those few left over things that are similar. And secondly, being “Christian” is not a denomination. It is a label that professes a state of belief and the lifestyle associated with that belief. To be a “Christian” is to be a “follower of Christ.”
So if indeed you have an interdenominational church where all “religions” – not just Christianity - worship together, then you must strip away Christ from that service because that is the only thing separating Christianity from any religion. And since Christ is the only basis of Christianity, there really isn’t anything left for the true Christian to worship at a worship service – the very nature of worship is that there is an object or individual to be worshipped – and if you strip away Jesus as that source for worship – what are you actually left to worship at that service?
I would also like to interject at this particular juncture just exactly what I feel about “religion”. I suppose that Catholicism is a religion. Baptists and Methodists, Lutherans and Pentecostals all practice a religion – as do Buddhists, Muslims and Jews. Christianity in and of itself is not a religion. In fact, most people who profess a belief in a Godly being, but not in Christ Jesus as God’s only begotten son, will often say they are “spiritual” and do not practice any “religion”. I think that’s backwards. I think more “non-believers” are religious. Fans religiously follow their teams and celebrities. Doctors and Lawyers religiously practice their trade – there are so many aspects of life that we are “religious” about. But to me, God is a Spirit – He has created spiritual beings. God is in 3 persons – Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. In my understanding of God, He does not exist without Jesus and the Holy Ghost and that makes believing the very essence of “Spirituality” for me.
The crux of the matter is that you cannot have Christianity without Christ. Jesus is the key factor that causes so much derision and strife and separation between religions such as Atheism, Agnosticism, Paganism, Buddhism and many others that don’t end in “ism”.
It is the truth and subject of Jesus that starts arguments, breeds contention, frustration, starts wars and separates family and friends. And it is this subject I want to discuss a little further.
Recently, Terrance and I had the opportunity to “witness” to a non-believer who is Jewish by heritage, not by practice and professes to be “spiritual”. He believes there is a God and/or a higher power. He believes God (probably more accurately “god”) is present in all things – an ethereal creative force that is the source of all thing beings in existence. He does not rule out the possibility that a man named Jesus existed and that He historically sacrificed himself for mankind, but he sees it as the ultimate act of god-like behavior and does not actually attribute the event to anything personal regarding his own life, nor even anything connected to God or a part of God. That is because Jesus is not God to him – nor is He to most of the world. He did however, ask, “How can Jesus, a man who walked this Earth also be God?” Here’s what I had the opportunity to share with him:
When I taught the primary kids in Sunday school years and years ago, I explained the trinity and our “triune” God this way: we as human beings are beings in three parts – we have our physical body, our minds – which is our heart, our emotions our thoughts and we have our soul, which is the core or our being, personality and life-force within us. We are body, spirit and soul. The bible describes it as body (sometimes might), spirit and soul as well. Deuteronomy 6:5
God created us in His own image. Genesis 1:26a: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:” Notice God says, “let US make man in OUR image…” And so, He created us in the likeness of His three facets of self: Soul (God the Father), Body (Jesus the Son, in the flesh), and Holy Spirit (the breath and movement of life). Think of God in terms of water. The very nature of water is H2O. But water has three forms: liquid, ice (solid) and gas (steam). No matter what its form, it is still water - H2O.
Once again: John 1: 1-4 explains a multitude of things. “In the beginning was God. And the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”
In these scriptures, the word “Word” is capitalized. The word of God here is a pronoun. Verse 14 describes why the Word is a pronoun. “The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst men.” Jesus is the Word, and the Word is God’s voice. Words are a tangible substance – our words hold weight and they exist in this physical world. God spoke his word into flesh and became a man. God himself became man.
Genesis 1:1 says “in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Now remember, John 1 says in the beginning the Word was with God and the Word was God. And the Word was with God. Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God and Jesus was a part of God in the beginning. And it was through His Word [Jesus] that God created all things. Genesis 1:3 says, “And God said let there be light.” And John 1:3 says “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” That includes us who were made in His image. Remember? God said let us make man in our own image… It was through Jesus that we were created and through the Holy Spirit life was breathed into us.
This is why Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” The second half of that scripture says “no man comes to the Father except through me.” Herein lays the point of contention for so many. “Why is it that there is only one way to come to God?” Non-believers of Christ Jesus are sure that there are many ways to come to God because they inherently sense that there are many ways to experience God.
God’s presence is everywhere, and God is speaking to us at all times – He wants us to recognize Him and to hear his voice so that He can give us life! John 1:4 continues by saying, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” Further down in verse 9 it says, “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” God’s light shines upon every man that comes into this world whether they recognize Him or not. Everyone – believer or not – can bask in the same sunshine that was created by God. They smell the same flowers, hear the same birds and feel the same presence of God in all things He created. And, they feel the goodness in them and desire that goodness even without desiring to know the source of that good.
John 1:10 explains it this way, “He [Jesus] was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.” For me it is as if a person believes that steam exists but refuses to believe in ice or the liquid form of water. Our “non-Jewish” Jewish friend, said – if he was dying of thirst and his life saving water evaporated into steam, then of course he’d want to know why. But to me, his analogy holds no water. Jesus is the living water that gives us life. With out him we are dying of thirst – not just spiritually, but physically as well. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever would believe on him, should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Without Him – we perish. With Him we have life. There are no list of rights and wrongs – just simple belief. Do you believe that Jesus is the only begotten son of God? Do you believe that He was born of a virgin? Do you believe that He died on the cross for the transgression of our sins? Do you believe that He was raised again on the third day so that we could have life everlasting? Do you believe in Life?
eHomework: Compare the light in Genesis 1:3-4 to the Light in John 1:4-5
p.s. Do you want to know why Jesus is called the “only begotten son of God” if He was God? Email me and ask… I’ll tell you why.
April Theme: Life
Life: John 1:1-4
No Life: John 3:16
In this Easter month of April, I want to do something a little differently and go back to the basics for our Bible Study. The topic this month is “life” and we’ll cover discussions such as new life, the resurrected life and what Christ means when He says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” (John 14:6). These next studies will be a perfect opportunity for you to ask questions and make suggestions.
On a plane ride last weekend, coming home from Florida, I had the opportunity to strike up a conversation with a woman who was a self-reported “New Ager” and supported the Unity church. Unity churches are interdenominational – they “accept all denominations, not just Christian,” she told me. And that struck me as odd. First of all, how can all denominations worship together? You would have to strip away all the things that separate them as denominations in the first place, and only teach those few left over things that are similar. And secondly, being “Christian” is not a denomination. It is a label that professes a state of belief and the lifestyle associated with that belief. To be a “Christian” is to be a “follower of Christ.”
So if indeed you have an interdenominational church where all “religions” – not just Christianity - worship together, then you must strip away Christ from that service because that is the only thing separating Christianity from any religion. And since Christ is the only basis of Christianity, there really isn’t anything left for the true Christian to worship at a worship service – the very nature of worship is that there is an object or individual to be worshipped – and if you strip away Jesus as that source for worship – what are you actually left to worship at that service?
I would also like to interject at this particular juncture just exactly what I feel about “religion”. I suppose that Catholicism is a religion. Baptists and Methodists, Lutherans and Pentecostals all practice a religion – as do Buddhists, Muslims and Jews. Christianity in and of itself is not a religion. In fact, most people who profess a belief in a Godly being, but not in Christ Jesus as God’s only begotten son, will often say they are “spiritual” and do not practice any “religion”. I think that’s backwards. I think more “non-believers” are religious. Fans religiously follow their teams and celebrities. Doctors and Lawyers religiously practice their trade – there are so many aspects of life that we are “religious” about. But to me, God is a Spirit – He has created spiritual beings. God is in 3 persons – Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. In my understanding of God, He does not exist without Jesus and the Holy Ghost and that makes believing the very essence of “Spirituality” for me.
The crux of the matter is that you cannot have Christianity without Christ. Jesus is the key factor that causes so much derision and strife and separation between religions such as Atheism, Agnosticism, Paganism, Buddhism and many others that don’t end in “ism”.
It is the truth and subject of Jesus that starts arguments, breeds contention, frustration, starts wars and separates family and friends. And it is this subject I want to discuss a little further.
Recently, Terrance and I had the opportunity to “witness” to a non-believer who is Jewish by heritage, not by practice and professes to be “spiritual”. He believes there is a God and/or a higher power. He believes God (probably more accurately “god”) is present in all things – an ethereal creative force that is the source of all thing beings in existence. He does not rule out the possibility that a man named Jesus existed and that He historically sacrificed himself for mankind, but he sees it as the ultimate act of god-like behavior and does not actually attribute the event to anything personal regarding his own life, nor even anything connected to God or a part of God. That is because Jesus is not God to him – nor is He to most of the world. He did however, ask, “How can Jesus, a man who walked this Earth also be God?” Here’s what I had the opportunity to share with him:
When I taught the primary kids in Sunday school years and years ago, I explained the trinity and our “triune” God this way: we as human beings are beings in three parts – we have our physical body, our minds – which is our heart, our emotions our thoughts and we have our soul, which is the core or our being, personality and life-force within us. We are body, spirit and soul. The bible describes it as body (sometimes might), spirit and soul as well. Deuteronomy 6:5
God created us in His own image. Genesis 1:26a: “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:” Notice God says, “let US make man in OUR image…” And so, He created us in the likeness of His three facets of self: Soul (God the Father), Body (Jesus the Son, in the flesh), and Holy Spirit (the breath and movement of life). Think of God in terms of water. The very nature of water is H2O. But water has three forms: liquid, ice (solid) and gas (steam). No matter what its form, it is still water - H2O.
Once again: John 1: 1-4 explains a multitude of things. “In the beginning was God. And the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”
In these scriptures, the word “Word” is capitalized. The word of God here is a pronoun. Verse 14 describes why the Word is a pronoun. “The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst men.” Jesus is the Word, and the Word is God’s voice. Words are a tangible substance – our words hold weight and they exist in this physical world. God spoke his word into flesh and became a man. God himself became man.
Genesis 1:1 says “in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Now remember, John 1 says in the beginning the Word was with God and the Word was God. And the Word was with God. Jesus was with God, and Jesus was God and Jesus was a part of God in the beginning. And it was through His Word [Jesus] that God created all things. Genesis 1:3 says, “And God said let there be light.” And John 1:3 says “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” That includes us who were made in His image. Remember? God said let us make man in our own image… It was through Jesus that we were created and through the Holy Spirit life was breathed into us.
This is why Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” The second half of that scripture says “no man comes to the Father except through me.” Herein lays the point of contention for so many. “Why is it that there is only one way to come to God?” Non-believers of Christ Jesus are sure that there are many ways to come to God because they inherently sense that there are many ways to experience God.
God’s presence is everywhere, and God is speaking to us at all times – He wants us to recognize Him and to hear his voice so that He can give us life! John 1:4 continues by saying, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” Further down in verse 9 it says, “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” God’s light shines upon every man that comes into this world whether they recognize Him or not. Everyone – believer or not – can bask in the same sunshine that was created by God. They smell the same flowers, hear the same birds and feel the same presence of God in all things He created. And, they feel the goodness in them and desire that goodness even without desiring to know the source of that good.
John 1:10 explains it this way, “He [Jesus] was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.” For me it is as if a person believes that steam exists but refuses to believe in ice or the liquid form of water. Our “non-Jewish” Jewish friend, said – if he was dying of thirst and his life saving water evaporated into steam, then of course he’d want to know why. But to me, his analogy holds no water. Jesus is the living water that gives us life. With out him we are dying of thirst – not just spiritually, but physically as well. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever would believe on him, should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Without Him – we perish. With Him we have life. There are no list of rights and wrongs – just simple belief. Do you believe that Jesus is the only begotten son of God? Do you believe that He was born of a virgin? Do you believe that He died on the cross for the transgression of our sins? Do you believe that He was raised again on the third day so that we could have life everlasting? Do you believe in Life?
eHomework: Compare the light in Genesis 1:3-4 to the Light in John 1:4-5
p.s. Do you want to know why Jesus is called the “only begotten son of God” if He was God? Email me and ask… I’ll tell you why.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
LOVELY LADY LUCK
© 2008 by Deidre Campbell-Jones
March Theme: Luck
Luck: Proverbs 7:10-12; Proverbs 7:25-27
Faith: Proverbs 8:1,4,6; Proverbs 8:17-18,21
I thought of the title for this weekend’s bible study long before I knew I would be spending the weekend with two lovely ladies who would frequently expound upon “the Herman luck.” They are sisters and we are in Florida for the wedding of the younger sister. They are lots of fun, profess a belief in God and somehow were born into a family that frequently suffers from “Anything that can go wrong, will.”
Somehow the Bride’s specialized bouquet with peacock feathers was delivered to the hotel in Florida two months in advance. No one called the Bride and therefore there has been now bouquet for the actual ceremony. This has been ascribed to “The Herman Luck.” I think “Lady Luck” is alive and well.
There are many things the world will give a female reference to – ships, cars –and so on. But there are few abstract, emotional concepts of the mind that are spoken of as a female entity.
You would think that “Lady Luck” would be some odd, human manifestation and it would be the total opposite to anything God would condone. And, in fact, since ‘luck” is a concept not found in the bible, you would think there would be no reference to her in the bible at all.
However, Proverbs describes two kinds of women: one is sought after and will bring nothing but ruin; the other is to be desired, but is often ignored – she will bring riches and glory. From a non-biblical standpoint either sounds like she could be our friend the lady of luck. The first woman in Proverbs is described so literally that we are sure of whom we think God is speaking of. Proverbs 7:10-12 reads, “10: And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house: Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)”
How many of us skip over these passages about the harlot in Proverbs? Women skip over her because we know we won’t be lured into the streets by hookers. Happily married men ignore her; men, who have never had a desire to pay for desire, may give her a passing thought and young men who feel susceptible may read about her warily and hope they don’t get caught. But “Lady Luck” seems the perfect name for her. By giving her that name, we can easily see her luring unsuspecting men and women out to the brightly lit streets of Vegas and the casinos all dressed up like harlots, luring with an enticing finger all that would come inside and take their chances. But Proverbs 7:25-27 says “Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.” If we’re still talking about the casinos then we are talking in extremes and many of us still “pass by the harlot scriptures” in the scenario, because we are confident we will not go down like this. And we’re right many of us – especially those of us reading this bible study will never get caught up in gambling or prostitution at either at all (for the latter) or at any extreme (for the former).
Honestly however, this lady luck is not only working the streets of Vegas or Atlantic City. And she’s no longer a hooker or even a “call girl” – she is an escort, benignly waiting to escort you away from God’s simple truths of life. She’s walking the streets outside your job. She’s walking the streets at the grocery store, the gas station and the bank. She’s even walking the streets outside your house. And, I hate to even say it, but I’m sure she’s working outside many churches as well.
Lady Luck is a lure that looks good and enticing. She’s craftily and subtly whispering unsuspecting people away from what they know is good and right. She is anything that you hope for or depend on or pray for or get involved with that holds more weight, truth, opportunity or possibility than the promises of God. She is fools gold. She is opportunistic in stead of a good opportunity. She is good fortune without being godly. She is the here and now. She is not Mr. Right but Mr. Right Now. She’s another fish in the sea. She’s putting on a good front, a good show and she even appears to be walking the good life. Lady Luck is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Pull that away and underneath, Lady Luck is not all that lovely.
But there is one God describes and I see her as having a simple, pure beauty that is easily overlooked. She is not loud and stubborn; she is not in the streets crying out to anyone walking by. But she is crying, like the forgotten sister, always sitting in the shadows – forgotten and unappreciated. I say she is also underestimated.
Proverbs 8:1, 4 & 6 describes her this way; “Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? Unto you, O men, I [wisdom] call; and my voice is to the sons of man. Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things.” She is not down in the streets of the city, she is crying at the gates, on the outskirts and at the entrance because no one will let her in. They don’t even want to hear what she has to say – even though she promises excellence and righteousness. She is Wisdom and many of us think we know her, but we are really walking with Lady Luck instead.
The bible describes Wisdom as being better than rubies. It says those who make witty inventions know her, as do Kings and noble men. But she is crying out to all of us. She may hang with elite of the elite in society – but she’d also like to hang out with you and me – at our jobs, the gas station and the bank; the grocery stores, inside our houses and especially at our churches. You see, though she may dwell with kings and noblemen, Wisdom is no respecter of persons. Proverbs 8:17 says “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.” Wisdom is still speaking in the first person – she is speaking of herself.
If we look for Wisdom instead of seeking out that other chick – the one who is loud, flashy and bright, slick and alluring; we might indeed find all that we are hoping to find, but do not, when we are lured by lady luck. Wisdom promises so much more than what Lady Luck has to offer. In Proverbs 18-19 she says, “Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver.”
A pastor once described to me that Wisdom is God’s feminine side. And I believe that. The promises of God always exist for those who would seek Him – Matthew 6:33 “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all else will be added unto you.” Well, God’s behavior as feminine Wisdom is no different. God wants us to seek Wisdom. She says this again in Proverbs 8:21 – “[Seek me] that I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.” Well, that sounds like better odds than anything you’ll get at the casino, or through the lottery, or any chance with Lady Luck.
Besides, Wisdom promises nothing but good – but as we see with the Herman sisters, Lady Luck is catch as you can: find Lady Luck and you aren’t necessarily guaranteed to find good luck.
When the bride’s bouquet was possibly missing it was “the Herman Luck” but when it was delivered on time for the wedding the next day, from the right florist, and looking absolutely beautiful, only Goodness was thanked. Well now who is she!?
Just like luck has its bad luck and its good luck so does lady luck. And she’ll lure you with the good she offers so innocently and sweetly that you don’t realize how she drags you down. She’ll step into the picture as bad luck and intercept a bridal bouquet, then deliver it on time as good luck, so you’ll say “thank goodness” instead of “thank God.” Good luck will make a cashier hand you $10 in change instead of $1 in change and bad luck will make you put it in your pocket instead of handing it back.
But wisdom cries out to be recognized and understood. For when we act with wisdom instead of on hunches and immediate good fortune, we build for ourselves a life of wealth and riches that supercedes even just our finances but permeates every aspect of our lives – physically, spiritually and emotionally.
Lady luck may have her altar ego “bad luck” but Wisdom’s twin is Faith. Have faith that God wants the very best for you and it is by His orchestration that it comes to you – when you seek out Wisdom - instead of hoping it will fall in your lap, or you will stumble upon it, or sit next to the lovely lady luck. I say if lady luck is considered to be lovely, then her beauty is only skin deep. It pales in comparison to the depth of beauty we would find when we seek wisdom.
eHome Bible Study homework: Read Proverbs 2 – clarify both Wisdom and Miss Lady Luck in the passages.
Power, love & Peace
(2 Timothy 1:7)
~Min. Dez
March Theme: Luck
Luck: Proverbs 7:10-12; Proverbs 7:25-27
Faith: Proverbs 8:1,4,6; Proverbs 8:17-18,21
I thought of the title for this weekend’s bible study long before I knew I would be spending the weekend with two lovely ladies who would frequently expound upon “the Herman luck.” They are sisters and we are in Florida for the wedding of the younger sister. They are lots of fun, profess a belief in God and somehow were born into a family that frequently suffers from “Anything that can go wrong, will.”
Somehow the Bride’s specialized bouquet with peacock feathers was delivered to the hotel in Florida two months in advance. No one called the Bride and therefore there has been now bouquet for the actual ceremony. This has been ascribed to “The Herman Luck.” I think “Lady Luck” is alive and well.
There are many things the world will give a female reference to – ships, cars –and so on. But there are few abstract, emotional concepts of the mind that are spoken of as a female entity.
You would think that “Lady Luck” would be some odd, human manifestation and it would be the total opposite to anything God would condone. And, in fact, since ‘luck” is a concept not found in the bible, you would think there would be no reference to her in the bible at all.
However, Proverbs describes two kinds of women: one is sought after and will bring nothing but ruin; the other is to be desired, but is often ignored – she will bring riches and glory. From a non-biblical standpoint either sounds like she could be our friend the lady of luck. The first woman in Proverbs is described so literally that we are sure of whom we think God is speaking of. Proverbs 7:10-12 reads, “10: And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house: Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)”
How many of us skip over these passages about the harlot in Proverbs? Women skip over her because we know we won’t be lured into the streets by hookers. Happily married men ignore her; men, who have never had a desire to pay for desire, may give her a passing thought and young men who feel susceptible may read about her warily and hope they don’t get caught. But “Lady Luck” seems the perfect name for her. By giving her that name, we can easily see her luring unsuspecting men and women out to the brightly lit streets of Vegas and the casinos all dressed up like harlots, luring with an enticing finger all that would come inside and take their chances. But Proverbs 7:25-27 says “Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths. For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.” If we’re still talking about the casinos then we are talking in extremes and many of us still “pass by the harlot scriptures” in the scenario, because we are confident we will not go down like this. And we’re right many of us – especially those of us reading this bible study will never get caught up in gambling or prostitution at either at all (for the latter) or at any extreme (for the former).
Honestly however, this lady luck is not only working the streets of Vegas or Atlantic City. And she’s no longer a hooker or even a “call girl” – she is an escort, benignly waiting to escort you away from God’s simple truths of life. She’s walking the streets outside your job. She’s walking the streets at the grocery store, the gas station and the bank. She’s even walking the streets outside your house. And, I hate to even say it, but I’m sure she’s working outside many churches as well.
Lady Luck is a lure that looks good and enticing. She’s craftily and subtly whispering unsuspecting people away from what they know is good and right. She is anything that you hope for or depend on or pray for or get involved with that holds more weight, truth, opportunity or possibility than the promises of God. She is fools gold. She is opportunistic in stead of a good opportunity. She is good fortune without being godly. She is the here and now. She is not Mr. Right but Mr. Right Now. She’s another fish in the sea. She’s putting on a good front, a good show and she even appears to be walking the good life. Lady Luck is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Pull that away and underneath, Lady Luck is not all that lovely.
But there is one God describes and I see her as having a simple, pure beauty that is easily overlooked. She is not loud and stubborn; she is not in the streets crying out to anyone walking by. But she is crying, like the forgotten sister, always sitting in the shadows – forgotten and unappreciated. I say she is also underestimated.
Proverbs 8:1, 4 & 6 describes her this way; “Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? Unto you, O men, I [wisdom] call; and my voice is to the sons of man. Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things.” She is not down in the streets of the city, she is crying at the gates, on the outskirts and at the entrance because no one will let her in. They don’t even want to hear what she has to say – even though she promises excellence and righteousness. She is Wisdom and many of us think we know her, but we are really walking with Lady Luck instead.
The bible describes Wisdom as being better than rubies. It says those who make witty inventions know her, as do Kings and noble men. But she is crying out to all of us. She may hang with elite of the elite in society – but she’d also like to hang out with you and me – at our jobs, the gas station and the bank; the grocery stores, inside our houses and especially at our churches. You see, though she may dwell with kings and noblemen, Wisdom is no respecter of persons. Proverbs 8:17 says “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.” Wisdom is still speaking in the first person – she is speaking of herself.
If we look for Wisdom instead of seeking out that other chick – the one who is loud, flashy and bright, slick and alluring; we might indeed find all that we are hoping to find, but do not, when we are lured by lady luck. Wisdom promises so much more than what Lady Luck has to offer. In Proverbs 18-19 she says, “Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver.”
A pastor once described to me that Wisdom is God’s feminine side. And I believe that. The promises of God always exist for those who would seek Him – Matthew 6:33 “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all else will be added unto you.” Well, God’s behavior as feminine Wisdom is no different. God wants us to seek Wisdom. She says this again in Proverbs 8:21 – “[Seek me] that I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.” Well, that sounds like better odds than anything you’ll get at the casino, or through the lottery, or any chance with Lady Luck.
Besides, Wisdom promises nothing but good – but as we see with the Herman sisters, Lady Luck is catch as you can: find Lady Luck and you aren’t necessarily guaranteed to find good luck.
When the bride’s bouquet was possibly missing it was “the Herman Luck” but when it was delivered on time for the wedding the next day, from the right florist, and looking absolutely beautiful, only Goodness was thanked. Well now who is she!?
Just like luck has its bad luck and its good luck so does lady luck. And she’ll lure you with the good she offers so innocently and sweetly that you don’t realize how she drags you down. She’ll step into the picture as bad luck and intercept a bridal bouquet, then deliver it on time as good luck, so you’ll say “thank goodness” instead of “thank God.” Good luck will make a cashier hand you $10 in change instead of $1 in change and bad luck will make you put it in your pocket instead of handing it back.
But wisdom cries out to be recognized and understood. For when we act with wisdom instead of on hunches and immediate good fortune, we build for ourselves a life of wealth and riches that supercedes even just our finances but permeates every aspect of our lives – physically, spiritually and emotionally.
Lady luck may have her altar ego “bad luck” but Wisdom’s twin is Faith. Have faith that God wants the very best for you and it is by His orchestration that it comes to you – when you seek out Wisdom - instead of hoping it will fall in your lap, or you will stumble upon it, or sit next to the lovely lady luck. I say if lady luck is considered to be lovely, then her beauty is only skin deep. It pales in comparison to the depth of beauty we would find when we seek wisdom.
eHome Bible Study homework: Read Proverbs 2 – clarify both Wisdom and Miss Lady Luck in the passages.
Power, love & Peace
(2 Timothy 1:7)
~Min. Dez
Sunday, March 22, 2009
LUCK OF THE DRAW
© 2008 by Deidre Campbell-Jones
March Theme: Luck
Luck: Job 3:26
Faith: Psalms 86:7
“Why me, Lord? Why me?” Have you asked that question? Have you asked it when times seemed insurmountably bad, inexplicably difficult, and amazingly horrific? Sometimes it seems trouble just blasts you out of nowhere with such force and even devastation that you find yourself feeling like, “What the heck!? What did I do to deserve that?” Divorce, death, abandonment, abuse… “Why me?”
Sometimes it is not even something hugely tragic, but maybe just mildly difficult – but if the circumstance seems surprising and unwarranted, it is still easy to ask, “why me? What happened?” Friends up and leave you seemingly for no reason, bank accounts get hugely overdrawn and all jacked up from a minor mistake, and errors of all sorts seem so magnified or unleash a domino effect of trouble and even if you don’t say it out loud or even to yourself, the feeling inside is still, “Why is this happening to me?”
Here’s my answer – “Just lucky, I guess!” Trouble surrounds us on every side. Trials and tribulations are promised to us. John 16:33 says, “…in the world, you will have tribulation.” It is not a promise given because God is a sadistic God, zapping people with problems for his own amusement. But instead the very world itself, in fact, all of creation as well as the very nature of mankind has been affected by sin. And where there is sin, there is trouble, bottom line.
In the third chapter and 36th verse of Job, he states it this way, “I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.” It doesn’t matter what any of us do – or even to not do – trouble comes. It’s just the luck of the draw when it comes to you and how. Eventually we all get lucky and experience trouble – sometimes it’s nothing but little trouble, while others seem to be followed by nothing but big trouble – but either way, every one gets a shot at experiencing it. And even Job and his friends wondered, “Why?”
It seems to make sense to ask, “Why me” in times of trouble, right? But what about in times of great joy and excitement, thrill and blessings? Do we ever think to ask, “Why me” when good things happen? It’s still the luck of the same draw – why not you? We are no more deserving of the good things than we think we are of the bad things!
I have heard great people in society who have experienced a multitude of favor, or the most extreme blessings of life have also asked, “Why me?” I in fact have received a vision and calling for my own life that has seriously caused me to ask, “Me, Lord – are you sure?” And of course the Lord answers, “Why not you? Who else but you if this vision and call has come to you?”
You see, even though Peter says in Acts 10:34 that God is no respecter of persons, we also seem to subconsciously assume he’s not thinking of us or concerned about our daily lives, trials, tribulations, wants, desires and joys. We live in a country that values the “American Dream”. We live in a society that encourages pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. We tell our young people to keep their heads low, treat others the way you want to be treated, be fair, be honest, do good and be good. And while all of these may be good rules to live by, they come with the unspoken implication that if you do these things it’s the best way to avoid trouble. But trouble is coming no matter what and we as a people seem to spend less time (if no time at all) teaching our young people how to survive and deal with trouble when it comes. Oh yeah, and then we complain when we have to bail them out – but that’s a different bible study!
Also just as nonsensical is the fact that we push the ideals that if we work hard we’ll get the good reward, that if we do the right things, good things will happen. Be kind, don’t do drugs, stay in school, get a good job and all else will be added to you. No, it says, seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all else will be added to you. Why then would we be promised “a good life” filled with no anxiety over our needs and blessed with the desires of our hearts if God is not a respecter of persons? It’s just the luck of the draw!
You see, it all boils down to: thoughts. Our God is thinking of us and He wants us the think of Him.
When times are good; when we can’t believe the unbelievable good fortune of our lives; when we discover a purpose and find our path; or when God blesses us in good measure, pressed down and shaken under we are to know that God is ever thinking of us. Psalms 139:17 “How precious are your thoughts towards me! How great is the sum of them!” The psalmist was asking, “Why me, Lord? Why would you think so highly of me?” And the Lord gives His answer to us all in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” God has an expected end for all of us and it is of peace – not of evil! So what of all the evil in this world that will surround us at every turn? God’s answer goes on and on…
Psalms 32:7: “Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.” Psalms 37:39: “But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.” Psalms 46:1: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalms 50:15: “And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.”
When we are in trouble He wants us to think of Him and when we are blessed He wants us to know He thinks of us. He is always thinking of us – in good times and in bad. Yes, we are going to have trouble – and in some cases, our own sin, poor judgment and influence are the cause. But mostly we’re just in the right place at the right time to get the luck of that draw – that’s what we’ve very nearly been promised. And when trouble comes, Palms 86:7 has another promise for us: “In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.” God will be there to deliver us from our trouble!
His thoughts are not our thoughts – we think that trouble is our punishment, we think it’s our karma, we think it is bad luck. His thoughts are not our thoughts – when our lives are blessed with purpose, joy, good fortune and good tidings, we think of it as good luck. But His thoughts for us are of peace, not evil for the Lord has an expected end for us – it is a destiny filled with abundance, purpose, blessings and joy – if we would but call on Him, remember Him and seek Him first.
Case and point – instead of looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that’s being guarded by some lucky little leprechaun, look to the rainbow as the true covenant sign that God created it to be – God loves you and wants only His best life for you – and like I’ve said before, that’s the best luck in the world!
Power, love & peace -
~Min. Dez
March Theme: Luck
Luck: Job 3:26
Faith: Psalms 86:7
“Why me, Lord? Why me?” Have you asked that question? Have you asked it when times seemed insurmountably bad, inexplicably difficult, and amazingly horrific? Sometimes it seems trouble just blasts you out of nowhere with such force and even devastation that you find yourself feeling like, “What the heck!? What did I do to deserve that?” Divorce, death, abandonment, abuse… “Why me?”
Sometimes it is not even something hugely tragic, but maybe just mildly difficult – but if the circumstance seems surprising and unwarranted, it is still easy to ask, “why me? What happened?” Friends up and leave you seemingly for no reason, bank accounts get hugely overdrawn and all jacked up from a minor mistake, and errors of all sorts seem so magnified or unleash a domino effect of trouble and even if you don’t say it out loud or even to yourself, the feeling inside is still, “Why is this happening to me?”
Here’s my answer – “Just lucky, I guess!” Trouble surrounds us on every side. Trials and tribulations are promised to us. John 16:33 says, “…in the world, you will have tribulation.” It is not a promise given because God is a sadistic God, zapping people with problems for his own amusement. But instead the very world itself, in fact, all of creation as well as the very nature of mankind has been affected by sin. And where there is sin, there is trouble, bottom line.
In the third chapter and 36th verse of Job, he states it this way, “I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.” It doesn’t matter what any of us do – or even to not do – trouble comes. It’s just the luck of the draw when it comes to you and how. Eventually we all get lucky and experience trouble – sometimes it’s nothing but little trouble, while others seem to be followed by nothing but big trouble – but either way, every one gets a shot at experiencing it. And even Job and his friends wondered, “Why?”
It seems to make sense to ask, “Why me” in times of trouble, right? But what about in times of great joy and excitement, thrill and blessings? Do we ever think to ask, “Why me” when good things happen? It’s still the luck of the same draw – why not you? We are no more deserving of the good things than we think we are of the bad things!
I have heard great people in society who have experienced a multitude of favor, or the most extreme blessings of life have also asked, “Why me?” I in fact have received a vision and calling for my own life that has seriously caused me to ask, “Me, Lord – are you sure?” And of course the Lord answers, “Why not you? Who else but you if this vision and call has come to you?”
You see, even though Peter says in Acts 10:34 that God is no respecter of persons, we also seem to subconsciously assume he’s not thinking of us or concerned about our daily lives, trials, tribulations, wants, desires and joys. We live in a country that values the “American Dream”. We live in a society that encourages pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. We tell our young people to keep their heads low, treat others the way you want to be treated, be fair, be honest, do good and be good. And while all of these may be good rules to live by, they come with the unspoken implication that if you do these things it’s the best way to avoid trouble. But trouble is coming no matter what and we as a people seem to spend less time (if no time at all) teaching our young people how to survive and deal with trouble when it comes. Oh yeah, and then we complain when we have to bail them out – but that’s a different bible study!
Also just as nonsensical is the fact that we push the ideals that if we work hard we’ll get the good reward, that if we do the right things, good things will happen. Be kind, don’t do drugs, stay in school, get a good job and all else will be added to you. No, it says, seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all else will be added to you. Why then would we be promised “a good life” filled with no anxiety over our needs and blessed with the desires of our hearts if God is not a respecter of persons? It’s just the luck of the draw!
You see, it all boils down to: thoughts. Our God is thinking of us and He wants us the think of Him.
When times are good; when we can’t believe the unbelievable good fortune of our lives; when we discover a purpose and find our path; or when God blesses us in good measure, pressed down and shaken under we are to know that God is ever thinking of us. Psalms 139:17 “How precious are your thoughts towards me! How great is the sum of them!” The psalmist was asking, “Why me, Lord? Why would you think so highly of me?” And the Lord gives His answer to us all in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” God has an expected end for all of us and it is of peace – not of evil! So what of all the evil in this world that will surround us at every turn? God’s answer goes on and on…
Psalms 32:7: “Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.” Psalms 37:39: “But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.” Psalms 46:1: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalms 50:15: “And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.”
When we are in trouble He wants us to think of Him and when we are blessed He wants us to know He thinks of us. He is always thinking of us – in good times and in bad. Yes, we are going to have trouble – and in some cases, our own sin, poor judgment and influence are the cause. But mostly we’re just in the right place at the right time to get the luck of that draw – that’s what we’ve very nearly been promised. And when trouble comes, Palms 86:7 has another promise for us: “In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.” God will be there to deliver us from our trouble!
His thoughts are not our thoughts – we think that trouble is our punishment, we think it’s our karma, we think it is bad luck. His thoughts are not our thoughts – when our lives are blessed with purpose, joy, good fortune and good tidings, we think of it as good luck. But His thoughts for us are of peace, not evil for the Lord has an expected end for us – it is a destiny filled with abundance, purpose, blessings and joy – if we would but call on Him, remember Him and seek Him first.
Case and point – instead of looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that’s being guarded by some lucky little leprechaun, look to the rainbow as the true covenant sign that God created it to be – God loves you and wants only His best life for you – and like I’ve said before, that’s the best luck in the world!
Power, love & peace -
~Min. Dez
Sunday, March 15, 2009
LUCKY NUMBER 7
(An "interesting note" - on Friday the 13th I wrote this message for my Emailed Bible Study - this morning I see when posting it here, that it is the 13th post on GetLifeRightNow! The pulpit! Things that make you go... hmm..."
© 2008 by Deidre Campbell-Jones
March Theme: Luck
Luck: Genesis 1
Faith: John 1
I suppose if Darwin is right, we are all creatures of luck. I remember being in high-school and a new science book had been released that year. The teacher read with us from the first page, but I didn’t move from that first paragraph with the rest of the class. I still remember reading a portion over and over: "…and somehow there was a big bang, and from that bang a single cell life form emerged…"
Somehow? Even then, “somehow” did not seem scientific enough for a science book! “Somehow” didn’t explain a big bang and it certainly did not describe how a single cell life form emerged. But let’s say “somehow” is an accurate description and somehow that single cell life form evolved throughout all these years from an amoeba to a dinosaur to an ape to a Neanderthal to a human – or some such nonsense. Wow – we would indeed be the luckiest creatures in the entire universe!
And if we really were somehow created from such an amazing happenstance, then wouldn’t that nature of luck be written into our DNA? Shouldn’t just luck abound in our reality? Shouldn’t we have evolved into something more fantasmic by now? And shouldn’t we be able to tap into that nature of luck and somehow create other amazing creations from that same substance we were created from?
Perhaps it was somehow a big bang of bad luck that keeps all those scenarios from being true. Or perhaps that “bang” was the insurmountable, unfathomable, all encompassing voice of God saying through His Word “Light be!” (Genesis 1:3)
Then in Genesis 1:26, “God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:” There was no somehow - God spoke us into being through the same Being in which He spoke light into the world. We were created by the same voice and with the same breath that spoke all things into being. And that was no happy accident! The very nature of what created us is in our DNA. That very nature abounds in every aspect of our reality. And through that nature we can evolve and will evolve into something far more fantasmic than what we are today and what we are in this life. We have access to and can tap into that same nature any time we want and from it and through it we have the power to create and be creative just as we were created.
Here is the proof: (and all it takes is that you stretch your belief just a little bit past “somehow” to “was”) John 1:1-5 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” Now, doesn’t “was” sound far more definitive, decisive and absolute than the word “somehow?” Also, I submit to you this small change in the wording – “and somehow the darkness comprehended it not.” Those who are in darkness cannot comprehend the light – they instead comprehend luck.
Now before I go on, let me make sure you understand the significance of these scriptures. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – these verses are my most absolute favorite in the entire bible. In the beginning was God. There was nothing else, just God – everything that was, was God. And so, God is not in a specific place, God’s presence is the place. And in that place was the Word – capital “w” (a pronoun).
And that Word was with God, and that Word was God and all things were made by Him. Which "Him" was that? The Word God; the Word of God; God and the Word – they are one and the same. “And the same was in the beginning with God.” (John 1:2)
All things were made by Him – what Him? All things were made with the Word, spoken through the word, (or spoken through the Word) – in other words, God spoke Himself into being. And what was the first thing He spoke of Himself? Genesis 1:3 “And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.”
Let’s go back to John 1:6-10 “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.” Notice here the word “Light” is capitalized as in a “pronoun”. There is no mistaking who the true Light is – but in case you haven’t gotten it in all the other times I’ve mentioned it: John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” God spoke Himself into light through His Word, and that Word became flesh and became the Light of the world – Jesus, the Christ.
We too are called to let our lights shine as a lamp on a hill. Could that very same Light we’ve been talking about, that very same Word we’ve been reading about – could it be that light is built into the very nature of our DNA? God says it is. Genesis 26: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: - remember? The “us” God is talking to is Himself: Father, Son and Holy Ghost; God the Presence, Jesus the Light and the Spirit that moved across the face of the waters in Genesis 1:2. We are created in their image – we are created from their image and we were given life through the breath of life: the Spirit of life – that same life that moved across the face of the waters.
I just now remembered a joke I heard a few days ago… “Scientists determined they had discovered exactly how to make life out of nothing, just like God. And so to prove their new skills they went to God and challenged Him to a duel. We can make life out of nothing just like you, they said. Let’s see who can make a man better and faster. God agreed to the challenge. On your mark, get set, go, He said. And the Scientists bent down to scoop up dirt to form their man, but God stopped them. Go get your own dirt, He told the Scientists.”
The very same substance, or rather “substantial Word” that made light also made the dry ground, and the very same nature that was spoken into light was also spoken into the dry ground. And Adam was created from the dust of that dry ground and God breathed the breath of life into him – male and female God made He them.
God did not leave this stuff up to chance! In seven days God made the heavens and the earth; all the swimming things in the waters, the fowls and flying things in the air; the creeping things on the ground and Man – male and female (mankind) – and on the 7th day He rested.
Now that’s the only lucky number 7 I want to believe in! How lucky we are that God decided to make us in their image! How lucky we are that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever should believe would not perish but have everlasting life!” (John 3:16)
That “Only Begotten Son” God gave to die on the cross was God Himself, in the flesh. Oh, and aren’t we lucky He did! That “world” God loves so much is the world of mankind – the very same man He made from the dusts of the Earth and breathed life into. Oh, and aren’t we lucky that He did! And all that we have to believe in is not that somehow this all happened but that this was what happened! Oh, and aren’t we lucky that it did!
Is luck in our very nature? Only if you take that chance and believe in God our Creator and His only begotten Son. I feel lucky indeed!
Your eHome Bible Study homework: We’ve been studying Genesis 1 and John 1. Compare how 1 John 1:1-3 compare to the first verses in Genesis and John.
© 2008 by Deidre Campbell-Jones
March Theme: Luck
Luck: Genesis 1
Faith: John 1
I suppose if Darwin is right, we are all creatures of luck. I remember being in high-school and a new science book had been released that year. The teacher read with us from the first page, but I didn’t move from that first paragraph with the rest of the class. I still remember reading a portion over and over: "…and somehow there was a big bang, and from that bang a single cell life form emerged…"
Somehow? Even then, “somehow” did not seem scientific enough for a science book! “Somehow” didn’t explain a big bang and it certainly did not describe how a single cell life form emerged. But let’s say “somehow” is an accurate description and somehow that single cell life form evolved throughout all these years from an amoeba to a dinosaur to an ape to a Neanderthal to a human – or some such nonsense. Wow – we would indeed be the luckiest creatures in the entire universe!
And if we really were somehow created from such an amazing happenstance, then wouldn’t that nature of luck be written into our DNA? Shouldn’t just luck abound in our reality? Shouldn’t we have evolved into something more fantasmic by now? And shouldn’t we be able to tap into that nature of luck and somehow create other amazing creations from that same substance we were created from?
Perhaps it was somehow a big bang of bad luck that keeps all those scenarios from being true. Or perhaps that “bang” was the insurmountable, unfathomable, all encompassing voice of God saying through His Word “Light be!” (Genesis 1:3)
Then in Genesis 1:26, “God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:” There was no somehow - God spoke us into being through the same Being in which He spoke light into the world. We were created by the same voice and with the same breath that spoke all things into being. And that was no happy accident! The very nature of what created us is in our DNA. That very nature abounds in every aspect of our reality. And through that nature we can evolve and will evolve into something far more fantasmic than what we are today and what we are in this life. We have access to and can tap into that same nature any time we want and from it and through it we have the power to create and be creative just as we were created.
Here is the proof: (and all it takes is that you stretch your belief just a little bit past “somehow” to “was”) John 1:1-5 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” Now, doesn’t “was” sound far more definitive, decisive and absolute than the word “somehow?” Also, I submit to you this small change in the wording – “and somehow the darkness comprehended it not.” Those who are in darkness cannot comprehend the light – they instead comprehend luck.
Now before I go on, let me make sure you understand the significance of these scriptures. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – these verses are my most absolute favorite in the entire bible. In the beginning was God. There was nothing else, just God – everything that was, was God. And so, God is not in a specific place, God’s presence is the place. And in that place was the Word – capital “w” (a pronoun).
And that Word was with God, and that Word was God and all things were made by Him. Which "Him" was that? The Word God; the Word of God; God and the Word – they are one and the same. “And the same was in the beginning with God.” (John 1:2)
All things were made by Him – what Him? All things were made with the Word, spoken through the word, (or spoken through the Word) – in other words, God spoke Himself into being. And what was the first thing He spoke of Himself? Genesis 1:3 “And God said, Let there be light, and there was light.”
Let’s go back to John 1:6-10 “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.” Notice here the word “Light” is capitalized as in a “pronoun”. There is no mistaking who the true Light is – but in case you haven’t gotten it in all the other times I’ve mentioned it: John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” God spoke Himself into light through His Word, and that Word became flesh and became the Light of the world – Jesus, the Christ.
We too are called to let our lights shine as a lamp on a hill. Could that very same Light we’ve been talking about, that very same Word we’ve been reading about – could it be that light is built into the very nature of our DNA? God says it is. Genesis 26: And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: - remember? The “us” God is talking to is Himself: Father, Son and Holy Ghost; God the Presence, Jesus the Light and the Spirit that moved across the face of the waters in Genesis 1:2. We are created in their image – we are created from their image and we were given life through the breath of life: the Spirit of life – that same life that moved across the face of the waters.
I just now remembered a joke I heard a few days ago… “Scientists determined they had discovered exactly how to make life out of nothing, just like God. And so to prove their new skills they went to God and challenged Him to a duel. We can make life out of nothing just like you, they said. Let’s see who can make a man better and faster. God agreed to the challenge. On your mark, get set, go, He said. And the Scientists bent down to scoop up dirt to form their man, but God stopped them. Go get your own dirt, He told the Scientists.”
The very same substance, or rather “substantial Word” that made light also made the dry ground, and the very same nature that was spoken into light was also spoken into the dry ground. And Adam was created from the dust of that dry ground and God breathed the breath of life into him – male and female God made He them.
God did not leave this stuff up to chance! In seven days God made the heavens and the earth; all the swimming things in the waters, the fowls and flying things in the air; the creeping things on the ground and Man – male and female (mankind) – and on the 7th day He rested.
Now that’s the only lucky number 7 I want to believe in! How lucky we are that God decided to make us in their image! How lucky we are that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever should believe would not perish but have everlasting life!” (John 3:16)
That “Only Begotten Son” God gave to die on the cross was God Himself, in the flesh. Oh, and aren’t we lucky He did! That “world” God loves so much is the world of mankind – the very same man He made from the dusts of the Earth and breathed life into. Oh, and aren’t we lucky that He did! And all that we have to believe in is not that somehow this all happened but that this was what happened! Oh, and aren’t we lucky that it did!
Is luck in our very nature? Only if you take that chance and believe in God our Creator and His only begotten Son. I feel lucky indeed!
Your eHome Bible Study homework: We’ve been studying Genesis 1 and John 1. Compare how 1 John 1:1-3 compare to the first verses in Genesis and John.
Monday, March 9, 2009
What a Friend!
Earlier last summer, my husband and I were invited to a birthday party for friends we hadn’t seen in 3 years. The last time we’d hung out, our son was just around 6 months old and in trying to adjust to being new parents, we had completely dropped out of the whole night club scene: partying until the wee hours of the morning and all those shenanigans.
But it was so good to see the old crowd again that I found myself right back into the old conversations, the old gossip and the same old brand of questionable humor. After the party I wondered why I’d been so easily sucked back into that old behavior. After all, while they hadn’t changed – I sure had. I had begun a new journey and speaking career in my ministry – soon to start teaching at the Bible College of my new church and even about to become a minister elect, working on my ministerial license. How then could I have gone to that party, and fallen into the same old conversations? (Don’t act like I’m the only one that’s happened too! :D)
I never figured out the answer at that time, but I was presented with a suggested scripture for a teaching I did in August: Ephesians 4:22-24 “That he put off concerning the former conversation of the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” The answer as to how I could have fallen into the same old deceitful and debase conversations was there in the last portion of verse 24: … and ye “put on” the new man.
Well, I tell you, I may not have been able to follow verse 22 and put off concerning those former conversations that night, but I sure must have been following verse 24 – putting on the new man. In fact, I must have hung up my “new man” in the coat closet when I arrived at that party because you can’t take off what you haven’t put on in the first place! It’s as if I arrived at that party over-dressed and hung myself at the door so I could fit in with my old friends once more.
When I asked myself why I did that (of course) I didn’t know my answer was in Ephesians 4:20, “But ye have not so learned Christ.” In fact, I would have argued that I had indeed learned Christ. But the truth is it was as if the night of the party I’d started summer school with a pop quiz that I’d failed miserably that night. Class was suddenly in session and all summer long I had lesson after lesson and tons of homework week after week! And then just a few day s ago I had my final exam. And let me tell you, it was painful – but I can confidently say I’ve passed with flying colors! Let me present his test to you and you’ll see how easy it is to pass this test.
Who here has had a friendship that has last 30 years or more? Marriages don’t count so put your hand down if you’re talking about a spouse! Just yesterday I heard a man say that when men get married they sacrifice everything for their wives – the first sacrifice being HOPE! :D Well, the same must be true for friendships that begin in the spirit of the “old man” – before you are saved.
I have a friend, who for the past 30 years has always been like John 15:13 – “Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends.” I’m talking close. Suddenly however, she can no longer continue our friendship. So, we’re having this conversation about it and she’s talking all this old stuff that I thought was over and done with. And I know what she’s referring to, but none of it makes sense any more. I’m trying hard to understand but I just can do it. All I can think of is, “wow, this friendship is really over.” And it dawned on me the more I tried t0 salvage the friendship, the less we seemed to be able to see eye-to-eye the way we used to... or the say I thought we did.
You see, I had “put off concerning the former conversations of the ‘old me’” and now I could see why she felt she couldn’t talk to me any more and why we didn’t see eye-to-eye any more. I realize that I have been renewed in the spirit of my mind. The proof came in these new truths about me 1) I too suddenly felt like I could no longer relate to, nor want to try and relate to my once beloved friend of 30 years. My mind, no longer thinks like her mind. I am a renewed. And 2), I have a renewed sense of the Spirit dwelling within me.
I have finally put on, and kept on, the new me, which, through God, is created in righteousness and true holiness. Now had that happened, especially without me having specifically done anything to do so? Well, before this summer, and during the last 23 years of being saved, I was living like my “new man” was indeed a coat of many colors that I was taking off and putting on. Each different color was a like a different attribute or characteristic that I was trying to patchwork into the fabric of my life and my behavior according to the Christian I thought I was supposed to be – instead of the person Christ created me to be – created through righteousness and true holiness. (verse 24)
How are we righteous? Through the righteousness of Christ once Christ dwells in us. And how can we be created in true holiness, less we be created in the image of the only One who is Truly Holy? Christ Himself declared to our Father that “they [we] all may be one; as though, Farther, art in me, and I in the, that they also may be one in us:” John 17: 21, 22 and 23: “…that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me…” Christ is telling us that God lives in Him, and He lives in us so therefore – God is in us as well. Jesus also said, “I and my father are one, if you have seen me you have seen the Father.” I say, if we are created in God’s own image, then look in the mirror and see God for yourself! Look in the mirror and see your own royalty, see your own deity (little d) and your own godliness with a little “g.”
If Christ is the Son of God and He and the Father are one and the same, then we too share in that royal deity once we have been made the children of God. We are co-heirs to the Kingdom of God, brothers and sisters with Christ, adopted into the family of righteousness and told that we too are given power over this world – able to do greater works than Jesus himself. Once you have heard, and been taught and learned that truth in Jesus (Ephesians 4:21), your Spirit is truly renewed and the new man you put on doesn’t come off so easily any more!
That “new man” is Jesus Himself – the same Jesus who also calls us friend: John 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.”
Luke 21: 16 says “And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, brethren, kinsfolk and friends and some may betray you even unto death.” I am sure we have all been betrayed by a friends at one time or another – whether we’d been friend for 30 years or not. Oh, but praise God we have a friend in Jesus – the Spirit of whom lives within us – promising to never leave or forsake us! What a friend; what a friend; what a friend we have in Jesus! Halleluiah, in Jesus’ name, Amen!
But it was so good to see the old crowd again that I found myself right back into the old conversations, the old gossip and the same old brand of questionable humor. After the party I wondered why I’d been so easily sucked back into that old behavior. After all, while they hadn’t changed – I sure had. I had begun a new journey and speaking career in my ministry – soon to start teaching at the Bible College of my new church and even about to become a minister elect, working on my ministerial license. How then could I have gone to that party, and fallen into the same old conversations? (Don’t act like I’m the only one that’s happened too! :D)
I never figured out the answer at that time, but I was presented with a suggested scripture for a teaching I did in August: Ephesians 4:22-24 “That he put off concerning the former conversation of the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” The answer as to how I could have fallen into the same old deceitful and debase conversations was there in the last portion of verse 24: … and ye “put on” the new man.
Well, I tell you, I may not have been able to follow verse 22 and put off concerning those former conversations that night, but I sure must have been following verse 24 – putting on the new man. In fact, I must have hung up my “new man” in the coat closet when I arrived at that party because you can’t take off what you haven’t put on in the first place! It’s as if I arrived at that party over-dressed and hung myself at the door so I could fit in with my old friends once more.
When I asked myself why I did that (of course) I didn’t know my answer was in Ephesians 4:20, “But ye have not so learned Christ.” In fact, I would have argued that I had indeed learned Christ. But the truth is it was as if the night of the party I’d started summer school with a pop quiz that I’d failed miserably that night. Class was suddenly in session and all summer long I had lesson after lesson and tons of homework week after week! And then just a few day s ago I had my final exam. And let me tell you, it was painful – but I can confidently say I’ve passed with flying colors! Let me present his test to you and you’ll see how easy it is to pass this test.
Who here has had a friendship that has last 30 years or more? Marriages don’t count so put your hand down if you’re talking about a spouse! Just yesterday I heard a man say that when men get married they sacrifice everything for their wives – the first sacrifice being HOPE! :D Well, the same must be true for friendships that begin in the spirit of the “old man” – before you are saved.
I have a friend, who for the past 30 years has always been like John 15:13 – “Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends.” I’m talking close. Suddenly however, she can no longer continue our friendship. So, we’re having this conversation about it and she’s talking all this old stuff that I thought was over and done with. And I know what she’s referring to, but none of it makes sense any more. I’m trying hard to understand but I just can do it. All I can think of is, “wow, this friendship is really over.” And it dawned on me the more I tried t0 salvage the friendship, the less we seemed to be able to see eye-to-eye the way we used to... or the say I thought we did.
You see, I had “put off concerning the former conversations of the ‘old me’” and now I could see why she felt she couldn’t talk to me any more and why we didn’t see eye-to-eye any more. I realize that I have been renewed in the spirit of my mind. The proof came in these new truths about me 1) I too suddenly felt like I could no longer relate to, nor want to try and relate to my once beloved friend of 30 years. My mind, no longer thinks like her mind. I am a renewed. And 2), I have a renewed sense of the Spirit dwelling within me.
I have finally put on, and kept on, the new me, which, through God, is created in righteousness and true holiness. Now had that happened, especially without me having specifically done anything to do so? Well, before this summer, and during the last 23 years of being saved, I was living like my “new man” was indeed a coat of many colors that I was taking off and putting on. Each different color was a like a different attribute or characteristic that I was trying to patchwork into the fabric of my life and my behavior according to the Christian I thought I was supposed to be – instead of the person Christ created me to be – created through righteousness and true holiness. (verse 24)
How are we righteous? Through the righteousness of Christ once Christ dwells in us. And how can we be created in true holiness, less we be created in the image of the only One who is Truly Holy? Christ Himself declared to our Father that “they [we] all may be one; as though, Farther, art in me, and I in the, that they also may be one in us:” John 17: 21, 22 and 23: “…that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me…” Christ is telling us that God lives in Him, and He lives in us so therefore – God is in us as well. Jesus also said, “I and my father are one, if you have seen me you have seen the Father.” I say, if we are created in God’s own image, then look in the mirror and see God for yourself! Look in the mirror and see your own royalty, see your own deity (little d) and your own godliness with a little “g.”
If Christ is the Son of God and He and the Father are one and the same, then we too share in that royal deity once we have been made the children of God. We are co-heirs to the Kingdom of God, brothers and sisters with Christ, adopted into the family of righteousness and told that we too are given power over this world – able to do greater works than Jesus himself. Once you have heard, and been taught and learned that truth in Jesus (Ephesians 4:21), your Spirit is truly renewed and the new man you put on doesn’t come off so easily any more!
That “new man” is Jesus Himself – the same Jesus who also calls us friend: John 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.”
Luke 21: 16 says “And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, brethren, kinsfolk and friends and some may betray you even unto death.” I am sure we have all been betrayed by a friends at one time or another – whether we’d been friend for 30 years or not. Oh, but praise God we have a friend in Jesus – the Spirit of whom lives within us – promising to never leave or forsake us! What a friend; what a friend; what a friend we have in Jesus! Halleluiah, in Jesus’ name, Amen!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
GOOD, BAD OR NOT AT ALL
© 2008 by Min. Deidre Campbell-Jones
March Theme: Luck
Luck: Proverbs 16:33
Faith: Psalms 139
It’s March and thanks to “St. Paddy” we’ll be hearing a lot this month about the “luck of the Irish” and St. Patrick’s Day. The “luck of the Irish” is a very interesting concept to me, especially since another very common phrase is “Irish Catholic”. If those are the only two colloquialisms about being Irish, then in my understanding of the whole matter, the two cancel each other out.
You see, according to scripture there technically is no such thing as “luck” at all. There doesn’t seem to be any good luck or bad luck, only blessings and curses. And if luck is defined as happenstance; a surprise situation of good fortune, then we have to attribute some other truth to these occurrences because we know through God there are no coincidences at all.
Psalms 139 describes how the Lord knows us and fashioned us and leads us in all our ways. He knows our downsitting and our uprising. He encompasses our path and is acquainted with all our ways. We can take flight in the air or dwell on the seas and no matter where we are the Lord will lead us and keep us. Now none of that sounds like an accident, happenstance or luck of the draw to me.
Now don’t get me entirely wrong – the bible is not without its instances where luck was involved. For example, to “cast lots” was the way to determine the luck of the draw. Often it was just away to divvy up parts like saying “eenie, meenie, mynie-mo.” In Joshua 18:8-10 lots were cast before the Lord to determine which tribes of Israel would get what parcel of land. Even still, it doesn’t necessarily say that the Lord answered Joshua through the casting of those lots. It was just a quick and easy way to determine who got what and if you were lucky, I suppose, then you got the part you wanted.
In 1 Chronicles 24:31 the sons of Levi cast lots against their brethren, the sons of Aaron. Now I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound as if you’d come out too lucky either way the lot ended up if someone were casting against you. So, casting lots wasn’t always a positive notion – such as was the case, as was prophesied in Psalms 22:18 when they cast lots for Jesus’ garments.
And in at least one case that I know of, casting lots did not go as was planned and God had to make his own decision. In the New Testament, Peter and the other disciples had selected two other men as candidates to take Judas’ place amongst the 12 after his betrayal and death. In Acts 1:23-26 the disciples prayed and cast their lots towards Joseph Barsabas (surnamed Justus) and Matthias, whom they had selected and the lot fell toward Matthias and he was counted amongst the eleven. Personally, I would have cast my lot towards Justus, but maybe I'm just partial... The truth of the matter is the disciples selected the men, the disciples cast their lots towards Matthias and the disciples counted him amongst them. God however was not mentioned as having any part in the matter. I see it like this: Proverbs 16:33: “The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.”
The world has plenty of ways in which “things happen” that have nothing to do with God. Besides luck – a random set of circumstances in which you might get a good one at any given moment in time – there’s also fate, which is a predetermined set of circumstances that might or might not be good at any given time. There’s also destiny, which by many schools of thought, you can control and determine your own destiny, even though it too is a predetermined end result of circumstances.
Did you know that none of the words: luck, fate or destiny appear anywhere in the bible? I have even taught on biblical purpose and destiny but the concepts are almost as elusive as the words themselves. There is the theological concept of predestination, but even that is not actually listed in the bible. So what is?
Let’s go back to Psalms 139. We used those scriptures to show that nothing in our lives is an accident – God is aware of and leads us in all our ways. There is no place we can go and nothing we can do in which He is not aware of us, leading us and thinking of us. Verse 10: “Even there will His hand lead me; His right hand will hold me.” Not only is God aware of our ways, He is active in our ways. And not only that, He promises to be exactingly active in all that we do or ask.
We don’t have to leave stuff up to chance – not even as Christians. Many times we’ll say, “Well, if it’s God’s will.” Or “God knows my needs, I know He will provide.” Sure He’ll provide – He is faithful to provide – if we ask. We have to ask!
It is true that Matthew 6:8: says that God knows what we have need of even before we ask – of course He does, He is all-knowing after all! But shortly after that Matthew 7:7 says, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:” We don’t have to leave our lives up to chance – just ask! We don’t have to chock our circumstances up to luck – just ask! It’s not a matter of destiny or fate; it’s a matter of prayer and faith!
Matthew 21:22: “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” This means some things, right? This means only the serious things, right? Or this means only the things pertaining to our needs and not our wants, right? Actually, it means all things – ALL things: 100%, fully and completely all things. In fact, the scripture just before it talks about cursing fig trees and moving mountains with faith. Those are some pretty big things – maybe that’s where we get it from. Nope, the scripture simply says “all” things.
John 14:13 & 14 repeats it twice, “ask in My name and it will be done.” John 15:7 – “ask and it shall be done.” James 1:5-6: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.”
Luck, chance, fate and destiny are like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. You never know where it will go, how it will go or when it will stop – good, bad or not at.
You don’t have to wonder, hope, cross your fingers or even pray that God knows your heart, concerns and needs. Express those concerns, needs and desires of your heart to God in prayer – He wants you to!
So why should we ask even if he knows what we need before we ask? Because it builds a meaningful relationship with our Father in Heaven. Ask Him – and be specific when you ask! Don’t you think your Father in heaven knows how to give good gifts? Or don’t you think you deserve to ask for those good gifts?
We easily leave something up to luck and figure we have a 50-50% chance of it working out. At least if we ask the Lord, we’ve still got a 50-50% chance of things working out. But if we ask Him and do not doubt, ask in faith, nothing wavering – God promises a 100% chance of return. I feel pretty lucky indeed to have that kind of relationship with God the Almighty Creator – don’t you?
March Theme: Luck
Luck: Proverbs 16:33
Faith: Psalms 139
It’s March and thanks to “St. Paddy” we’ll be hearing a lot this month about the “luck of the Irish” and St. Patrick’s Day. The “luck of the Irish” is a very interesting concept to me, especially since another very common phrase is “Irish Catholic”. If those are the only two colloquialisms about being Irish, then in my understanding of the whole matter, the two cancel each other out.
You see, according to scripture there technically is no such thing as “luck” at all. There doesn’t seem to be any good luck or bad luck, only blessings and curses. And if luck is defined as happenstance; a surprise situation of good fortune, then we have to attribute some other truth to these occurrences because we know through God there are no coincidences at all.
Psalms 139 describes how the Lord knows us and fashioned us and leads us in all our ways. He knows our downsitting and our uprising. He encompasses our path and is acquainted with all our ways. We can take flight in the air or dwell on the seas and no matter where we are the Lord will lead us and keep us. Now none of that sounds like an accident, happenstance or luck of the draw to me.
Now don’t get me entirely wrong – the bible is not without its instances where luck was involved. For example, to “cast lots” was the way to determine the luck of the draw. Often it was just away to divvy up parts like saying “eenie, meenie, mynie-mo.” In Joshua 18:8-10 lots were cast before the Lord to determine which tribes of Israel would get what parcel of land. Even still, it doesn’t necessarily say that the Lord answered Joshua through the casting of those lots. It was just a quick and easy way to determine who got what and if you were lucky, I suppose, then you got the part you wanted.
In 1 Chronicles 24:31 the sons of Levi cast lots against their brethren, the sons of Aaron. Now I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound as if you’d come out too lucky either way the lot ended up if someone were casting against you. So, casting lots wasn’t always a positive notion – such as was the case, as was prophesied in Psalms 22:18 when they cast lots for Jesus’ garments.
And in at least one case that I know of, casting lots did not go as was planned and God had to make his own decision. In the New Testament, Peter and the other disciples had selected two other men as candidates to take Judas’ place amongst the 12 after his betrayal and death. In Acts 1:23-26 the disciples prayed and cast their lots towards Joseph Barsabas (surnamed Justus) and Matthias, whom they had selected and the lot fell toward Matthias and he was counted amongst the eleven. Personally, I would have cast my lot towards Justus, but maybe I'm just partial... The truth of the matter is the disciples selected the men, the disciples cast their lots towards Matthias and the disciples counted him amongst them. God however was not mentioned as having any part in the matter. I see it like this: Proverbs 16:33: “The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.”
The world has plenty of ways in which “things happen” that have nothing to do with God. Besides luck – a random set of circumstances in which you might get a good one at any given moment in time – there’s also fate, which is a predetermined set of circumstances that might or might not be good at any given time. There’s also destiny, which by many schools of thought, you can control and determine your own destiny, even though it too is a predetermined end result of circumstances.
Did you know that none of the words: luck, fate or destiny appear anywhere in the bible? I have even taught on biblical purpose and destiny but the concepts are almost as elusive as the words themselves. There is the theological concept of predestination, but even that is not actually listed in the bible. So what is?
Let’s go back to Psalms 139. We used those scriptures to show that nothing in our lives is an accident – God is aware of and leads us in all our ways. There is no place we can go and nothing we can do in which He is not aware of us, leading us and thinking of us. Verse 10: “Even there will His hand lead me; His right hand will hold me.” Not only is God aware of our ways, He is active in our ways. And not only that, He promises to be exactingly active in all that we do or ask.
We don’t have to leave stuff up to chance – not even as Christians. Many times we’ll say, “Well, if it’s God’s will.” Or “God knows my needs, I know He will provide.” Sure He’ll provide – He is faithful to provide – if we ask. We have to ask!
It is true that Matthew 6:8: says that God knows what we have need of even before we ask – of course He does, He is all-knowing after all! But shortly after that Matthew 7:7 says, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:” We don’t have to leave our lives up to chance – just ask! We don’t have to chock our circumstances up to luck – just ask! It’s not a matter of destiny or fate; it’s a matter of prayer and faith!
Matthew 21:22: “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” This means some things, right? This means only the serious things, right? Or this means only the things pertaining to our needs and not our wants, right? Actually, it means all things – ALL things: 100%, fully and completely all things. In fact, the scripture just before it talks about cursing fig trees and moving mountains with faith. Those are some pretty big things – maybe that’s where we get it from. Nope, the scripture simply says “all” things.
John 14:13 & 14 repeats it twice, “ask in My name and it will be done.” John 15:7 – “ask and it shall be done.” James 1:5-6: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.”
Luck, chance, fate and destiny are like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. You never know where it will go, how it will go or when it will stop – good, bad or not at.
You don’t have to wonder, hope, cross your fingers or even pray that God knows your heart, concerns and needs. Express those concerns, needs and desires of your heart to God in prayer – He wants you to!
So why should we ask even if he knows what we need before we ask? Because it builds a meaningful relationship with our Father in Heaven. Ask Him – and be specific when you ask! Don’t you think your Father in heaven knows how to give good gifts? Or don’t you think you deserve to ask for those good gifts?
We easily leave something up to luck and figure we have a 50-50% chance of it working out. At least if we ask the Lord, we’ve still got a 50-50% chance of things working out. But if we ask Him and do not doubt, ask in faith, nothing wavering – God promises a 100% chance of return. I feel pretty lucky indeed to have that kind of relationship with God the Almighty Creator – don’t you?
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