DURABILITY

DURABILITY

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

  Over coffee and cornflakes this morning I read of researchers discovering that loneliness in the elderly adversely effects health and thereby quality of life and longevity. You, I, and most people I know would gladly have told this to the experts for free.

  Sitting quietly alone sipping the last of the cup’s Columbian, I thought to utilize GotQuestions.org to read a bit on the topic and check out Bible references given before I cranked up for another active day. (Cleaned and neatened south half of garage yesterday without tossing 50% to the north side.)

Question: "Is there anything I can do to guarantee myself a long life?"

Answer: “‘Honor your father and mother’—which is the first commandment with a promise—‘that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth’” (Ephesians 6:3–4). In this passage, the apostle Paul is quoting from the Ten Commandments, Exodus 20:12 specifically: “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.” This represents the only instance of God connecting long life as a reward for something we do. Is this promise of long life for honoring your parents true? And, if so, why is honoring your parents so highly valued to God that He rewards it with long life?
  First, yes, the promise is true, but not in a universal sense. There are people who honored their parents but died young. And there are people who did not honor their parents but lived a long life. Therefore, it is a principle that is generally true. If you honor your parents, God will, generally speaking, reward you with a long life. However, this promise does not override other decisions we make that impact how long we live. For example, if a man honors his parents, but then decides to commit suicide, the act of suicide “negates” the reward of long life. The same can be said of those who engage in reckless and dangerous activities. God’s reward of long life for honoring parents does not miraculously make you immune from serious injury or death.
  Again, the reward of long life for honoring your parents is a general principle, not a universal truth. God considers the way a child treats his/her parents so important that He usually rewards those who honor their parents with long life. Solomon urged children to respect their parents (Proverbs 1:8; 13:1; 30:17). Jeremiah declared that those who honor their parents are blessed (Jeremiah 35:18–19). Disobedience to parents is a trait of those who rebel against God (Romans 1:30; 2 Timothy 3:2). This brings us to the second point. Why is honoring your parents so highly valued to God that He rewards it with long life?
  There are at least two reasons for the value God places on honoring your parents. 1) God entrusts parents with the responsibility to raise their children in a godly manner. The task of parenting is not easy. It is painful, stressful, expensive, and often unappreciated. For a child to not recognize, and be grateful for, the sacrifices parents make on his/her behalf is an affront to the position of authority and value God has given to parents. It is similar to how we are to respond to the government (Romans 13:1–7). If God has placed us under authority, to rebel against that authority is to rebel against God Himself.
  2) God desires us to honor our parents because our relationship with our earthly parents is an illustration of our relationship with our Heavenly Father. For example, Hebrews 12:5–11 compares the discipline a child receives from parents to the discipline believers in Christ receive from God. Just as our parents are our biological progenitors, God is our Creator. We are children of God and children of our parents. To dishonor our parents is to distort the picture of what our relationship with our Heavenly Father is to be.
  Do you want to live a long life? Honor your parents. Why? Because God placed you under their authority and guidance, and because your attitude toward your parents is illustrative of your attitude toward God. While this reward is not universal—and while it does not override every other decision you make—it is still generally true. If you want to live a long life, honor those who gave you life in the first place.

Recommended Resources: Bible Answers for Almost all Your Questions by Elmer Towns and Logos Bible Software.

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Related Topics:
How does fearing God add length to a person’s life (Proverbs 10:27)?
Is there an age limit to how long we can live?
Why did the people in Genesis live such long lives?
What does it mean to honor my father and mother?Who was the oldest man in the Bible?

HERO'S SUBSTANCE

HERO’S SUBSTANCE

Monday, May 16, 2016

Matthew [MKJV] 16:20-27 Then He warned His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ. From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him, saying, God be gracious to You, Lord! This shall never be to You. But He turned and said to Peter, Go, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you do not savor the things that are of God, but those that are of men. Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life shall lose it, and whoever desires to lose his life for My sake shall find it. For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He shall reward each one according to his works.

  What, if anything, does the above passage from Christ’s teaching have to do with the substance of heroes?

EBB4

HEROES TO BEGIN WITH

HEROES TO BEGIN WITH

Sunday, May 15, 2016

  In my opinion everyone should, after God the Father, Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, have heroes to look up to and emulate. This second essential list should be made up of Bible heroes and so as to learn from understand their character. Here are several of mine:

·         Job; maintained his integrity before God though suffering numerous calamities perpetrated by Satan and allowed by God. (Job 2:9; 13:15; 27:5-7; 31:1-40)

·         Noah; “ … being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household.” (Gen.6; Heb.11:7)

·         Rahab; a scarlet woman that understood where loyalty should be placed. (Josh.2:1-15)

·         David; boy with a righteous cause that as king self-inflicted grievously but never forgot exactly who his King is. (1Sam.17:24-51; 2Sam.12:1-14; Ps.51)

·         Abram/Abraham; a man that fully understood that it’s not where he lived that mattered but how he lived. (Too many passages to list here. Look up “Abraham”.)

·         Nehemiah; a testament of submission, courage and dedication of how to serve a king and yet fully serve the King. (Neh. Chapters 1 & 2 and more.)

·         Daniel, Meshach, Shadrach, & Abednego; men credibly serving a king while serving the King, when pressured to abandon Him they chose loyalty to the King knowing he may die. (the Book of Daniel)

·         Esther; she remaining a faithful woman of God maintaining devotion and submission to her king husband. At risk of her own physical security exercised courage that saved the Jews of Persia from genocide. (The Book of Esther)

·         John the Baptist; a man of prominence in God’s plan, but with great humility in concession when his position was done. (Jn.1:26-27; 3:22-36)

·         Peter; an irascible man that strove mightily for and accomplished temperance. (Search “peter” in all 4 gospels.)

·         Saul/Paul; a man exemplifying losing the world and gaining the utmost.

·         Thomas; a man demanding proof that when received the first of the disciples to declare Christ’s extraordinary divinity, calling him “my Lord and my God!”, and for the rest of his life vigorously acted accordingly.

·         John; “beloved” and penning his book he remarkably wrote John 1:1 & 3:16 epitomizing the Word written and Living.

·         Stephen; a godly man that understood and acted out where his true citizenship is. (Acts 6:5-15; 7:54-60)

  There are many more heroes, male and female, recorded in scripture, some of which you admire.  Please share your choices with me and I will publish in the coming week.

EBB4

HEROES ARE A MIRROR

HEROES ARE A MIRROR

Friday, May 13, 2016

“All my heroes are cowboys.”

Psalm [ESV] 97:1-7 The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around. His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory. All worshipers of images are put to shame, who make their boast in worthless idols; worship him, all you gods!

  By now we’ve all listed our heroes mentally, on a screen, or listed on paper and now it’s time to exercise with added weight in the interest of strengthening.

  When the psalmist addressed the problem of idol worship he was addressing wooden, clay, stone, metal ones. It would be easy for us to think that because we have no such idol in our possession or life that the psalmist’s exhortation does not pertain to us. But the truth is the underlying precept is not at all dated. The truth is constant. Image worship is just as optional (The free-will thing again.) now . . . and tomorrow.

  So just what do our heroes reveal about us?

·         We look at them for direction, assurance, hope and meaning in life.

·         In varying degrees we want to be like them.

·         They may be our convenience whereas God’s Holy Spirit external or internal is often inconvenient, at times very unconventional and in opposition to the world’s expectations. This latter may include family, mentors, and friends.

·         As much as we deem possible we mirror the images of our heroes.

  Now, let’s again inconveniently review our list of heroes.

EBB4

HEROES

HEROES

Thursday, May 12, 2016

  Awoke thinking again about the importance of candid healthy self-examination and how without the practice their can be no true God-pleasing maturation. My past friend’s “There be indicators!” once more accompanying the thought and out of the blue I ponder “hero, heroes”.

  Curious, I use e-Sword to check mentions in Scripture translations and versions. Oddly, the following verses in particular fasten my attention:

1Samuel [CEV] 17:4-8 The Philistine army had a hero named Goliath who was from the town of Gath and was over nine feet tall. He wore a bronze helmet and had bronze armor to protect his chest and legs. The chest armor alone weighed about one hundred twenty-five pounds. He carried a bronze sword strapped on his back, and his spear was so big that the iron spearhead alone weighed more than fifteen pounds. A soldier always walked in front of Goliath to carry his shield. Goliath went out and shouted to the army of Israel: Why are you lining up for battle? I'm the best soldier in our army, and all of you are in Saul's army. Choose your best soldier to come out and fight me!

Psalm [GW] 52:1 Why do you brag about the evil you've done, you hero? The mercy of God lasts

       all day long!

   I decide to this day ponder the topic with this question: What do my heroes indicate about me, especially having to do with affect to my relationship with Jehovah God the Father, Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and all others?

  Will you join me in the exercise?

EBB4 

BLAMESHIFTING DISCOUNTS STRENGTHENING

BLAMESHIFTING DISCOUNTS STRENGTHENING     James 1:20-27

  Blame shifting is employment of not taking responsibility for our individual exercise of free will. It is a “Through no fault of mine.” artificial life. This includes blaming God for problems while not examining self. (Praying for God to solve problems or fix family, organization, church et al may be an indication of lack of examining self first and most of all.)

  This is but yet another lesson emphasized by Grandmother McGee that fell on my cute little ego-centric deaf ears surrounded by blond curls. I can still hear her sternly asking “If Jim stuck his head in a furnace, would you?!” . . . which at the time I considered a stupid question from an old person that didn’t understand life as clearly as I did.

  Beginning with Grandmother’s words, through the years since ears opened and much hair gone with remainder silver around ears that, though physically deaf hear much better, I’ve added additional beneficial thoughts and questions:

·         When reading or hearing God’s Word think of personal application about my responsibilities.

·         Ask God’s Holy Spirit to fluorescently alert me when it is I that am part, most of, or all of a problem. This must include when absolutely-right smug attitude impairs hearing!

·         Especially listen for thoughts or verbalizing “See now what you’ve made me do!” (One of my favorite questions in jail was “Do you think anyone here is capable of making me angry?” while standing before the meanest most brutish looking man in class. Another question was “Is anyone, including God, capable of making me love you?”)

·         Does/did blame shifting accomplish or circumvent worthy goals?

·         When in silent or verbal blame shifting mode, am I teachable?

·         Emulating the first blame shifter (Gen.3:12), is my simplistic knee-jerk reaction to always blame God or someone else?

·         Consider what blame shifting has cost the first two shifters.

·         What has blame shifting cost me in my life?

·         What has my blame shifting cost others?

·         If I think God is at fault and I blame Him does it relieve me of my faulty contributions to this world?

·         Am I learning from wise experienced elders, or am I skating away from personal maturation?

·         If my life is typified by blaming God and/or others . . . am I edifying or otherwise?

·         Is my blame shifting better reasoned as Avoidance & Manipulation?

·         And last on my list, but absolutely the most important, Jesus was contrarian; He ultimately took all the blame that we might truly live now and forever. (1Pet.2:24) 

  Now, lest the above review make for a gloomy day, remember whose day it is (Ps.118:24); family ours (Jn.1:12); and His loving forgiveness (1John 1:9).

EBB4

PIVOTAL POINT

PIVOTAL POINT               

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Romans [MKJV] 12:1-3 I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in order to prove by you what is that good and pleasing and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given to me, to every one who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. But set your mind to be right-minded, even as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.

1Corinthians 2:5 … your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

  As once upon a time did ancient Egypt, we now very much like to think our USA is at the center.  

  Jehovah God said “I AM THAT I AM”. (Ex.3:14)

  Anybody that knows me knows I have no real interest in the sports scene unless someone I actually personally know is participating, and they do know I like to read a variety of topics for a number of reasons: to make me think outside of myself and provincial borders, ongoing education, perspective, problem solving, and for fun. I suspect it’s genetic as once I learned to read I never stopped, plus when “Go to your room!” was a punishment, it was for brother Jim but not at all for me.

  The fun part especially includes well-written fact-filled historical novels about geographical locales and populations. Leon Marcus Uris and James Albert Michener being two of my favorite well-researched writers.

  Presently I’m reading a series by Joel C. Rosenberg. I’m now midway thru THE LAST DAYS. The opening paragraphs in chapter 36 definitely educated, made me think, and wonder when the final solution will come.

  “NO OTHER PART of the world cast the same spell.

  The more Bennett stared at the headlines on his computer, and the more he thought about the past weeks, the more it seemed the world was hypnotized by the Middle East – obsessed with its oil, intoxicated by its mysteries, seduced by its tales of the supernatural. And so was he.

  Even at the peak of the bipolar world – the East-West cold-war clash between free people and the Evil Empire – the Middle East was the main event. The central battleground. The 48’ war. The Suez Crisis of 56’. The Six Days’ War of 67’. The war of attrition. The Yom Kippur War of 73’. The Arab oil embargo. The explosion of OPEC and petrodollars. The civil war in Lebanon in 75’. The Israeli invasion of 82’. The atheists armed the Muslims. The Christians armed the Jews. Thousands died. Millions more were maimed and orphaned. There were other skirmishes, other hot zones. But again and again the world’s attention was drawn back to the Middle East, as it as being drawn now. Why?

  ……….

  Without question, the region comprised the most fought-over real estate in the history of mankind. And it wasn’t just over oil. That might partially explain recent times, but not the long arc of history. The Romans hadn’t conquered the region for oil. Nor had the Ottomans. The Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians, and Persians slaughtered each other control of NAMESTAN (Author’s acronym for region.) for thousands of years before anyone knew of the black gold buried under its sands.”

  Our juvenile USA is not the center geographically, historically, or spiritually.

EBB4