Being a Daddy help me understand Heavenly Daddy.
I’m having a tough time putting this into proper words. I’m not an author, never tried to be. Like I said in my 1st blog entry, I always did better in Gym class then Grammar. My old pastor in Iowa once said he loved the way I wrote articles for our Youth Paper; he said the way I wrote was just like as if I was talking to you in person. I don’t know if that was a compliment or a slight suggestion for me to take a creative writing class. He once said that he admired how I showed my wife love by being willing to be late for church. I think that was his way of telling me to be on time. Anyway below is the best I could do for the moment. Maybe one day I’ll take that writing class so I can express the following better.
Sasha Grace was born on Wednesday Dec 3rd, 2008. She’s the newest Buster born into this wonderful world. She came out at 10:14am. Kesha had a pretty short labor, a little less then 4 hours but it seemed like it lasted forever. Kesha is such a Wonder Woman. The last few minutes before 1014 I felt the craziest, coolest rush that I’ve only felt one other time, that would when Saige was born. I remember Kesha bearing down and pushing with all she had. I remember how my heart felt, forget that, I remember how my whole chest felt. It was about to explode. When Sasha’s head popped out there was an extreme amount of emotions flooding all over me. I was ready to cry, laugh, shout, jump, or whatever. I remember hearing her cry for the first time. WOW. Being a parent is so awesome. There are so many “WOW” moments involved with being a parent. The birthing process has to be right up there as one of the best “WOW” moments. The Sunday following Sasha’s birth I ran Saige up to church. Our church here in Birm is about 35 minutes away so I had a lot of thinking time on my hands. On the way I was reflecting on the whole birth process and the emotions that go with it. My thoughts switched from how I felt on that magical Wednesday to how God must feel about the whole Spiritual birthing process. What does God feel in the moments right before He knows we are about to pray the salvation prayer? Is His chest ready to explode? Are there tears of excitement gushing out of His eyes? I don’t remember the exact day that I prayed the salvation prayer but I bet He has all that stuff going on, but I wonder if He remembers it with such fondness as I do with both of my daughters’ births. Sure He does. Jesus gave us a glimpse into the character of our Heavenly daddy when He told the story of the prodigal son. The whole parable is found in Luke 15:11-32. I’m not going to type all of it out here, you can go back and read that for yourselves. I just want to bring out one verse here. In this verse you see God’s parental emotions in full effect. You see His love and anticipation for us. I know this is a story about a son returning from his mistakes but I believe the reaction of a loving parent is all the same. In verse 20 there are 5 words that stick out further then any other words in all of Luke 15:11-32. Those 5 words are “He ran to His son”. I don’t remember the exact day in 79 when I was born again/spiritually born. I know I was about 5. It was at Westside Assembly of God. I remember Pastor Barnett gave the alter call but it was my dad that prayed the salvation prayer with me. I remember I raised my hand and the preacher called all those who did so to come to the front. When I started to go my dad jumped out to go with me. I remember thinking that it looked like my dad was answering the call. I knew that was not the case but I didn’t want every one else thinking that he was. Dad didn’t care; he was going up with his boy to lead him/me to Christ. My dad will always be a hero to me for what he did that day. Like I said, I don’t remember the exact day in 79. When your 5 growing up in church you answer about every alter call but that one sticks out the most to me. I do remember December 6th 1996. For about 4 years after high school I ran from the things of God. My life pretty much resembled the prodigal son. That December Sunday morning at East Coast Christian Center in Merritt Island Florida I gave my life back to Christ. I remembered the way I cried, much like a new born. Luke 15:20 tells me how my Heavenly Dad reacted on Dec 6th 1996 around 11am. “He ran…”
The last of “Taking hold of life that is truly life.”
The last of “Taking hold of life that is truly life.”
So this is what we have established over the last few entries: 1.the fact that I love this statement “Take hold of life that is truly life” & 2. We grab a hold of true life by walking in the fruit of the Spirit and fighting the good fight of faith. I like what a friend pointed out about the fruit of the spirit after the last blog entry. These are things God ordained for us to do. He referred to Eph 2:10 “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Love that script! Mediate on that for awhile………….Ok. Now that we meditated on that let’s get back to business of breaking down “Take Hold of Life that is truly life” good Ol’Greek style. Last entry we found out that the original Greek word for “Take Hold of Life that is truly life” is used in a previous script in 1st Tim 6. I’m going to revert back to the King James for a minute. I usually use NIV but all my study stuff is King James Based. Both 1 Tim 6:12 and 19 says to “Lay Hold On Eternal Life”. (King James, remember? Although “Lay Hold on Eternal Life” sounds pretty cool too.) “Lay Hold On” is the Greek word “Epilambanomai.” I’m not going to get all crazy and break it down to the root of these Greek words and where they come from. One of my favorite authors Rick Renner is good for that. I’ll just refer to my Word Study Dictionary. This phrase is used metaphorically, to lay hold of in order to obtain and possess. The next word is Eternal; that is the Greek word Aiōnios. The last word is Zōē for Life. I going to explain “Life” first and then go back to “Eternal”. The reason why is because when these 2 Greek words collide in the New Testament the meaning becomes amazing and I want to capture as much of it as possible. You can simply say Zoe is energetic life, like the life my daughter Saige is full of. She is so full of energy. I often wonder if we should have named her Zoe because how lively she is. Aiōnios for “Eternal” carries the meaning of without beginning and end, that which always has been and always will be. Now back to Zoe and Aionios colliding in both 1st Tim 6:12 & 19. Listen to how my W.S.D. describes this collision: “Whenever it is used for the life which God gives to those who believe in Christ it is to be understood as referring not only to duration, but more so to quality. That is, it is not merely a life that is eternal in duration, but is primarily something different from the natural life of man, i.e., the life of God.” WOW! We don’t have to wait till the “Sweet By & By” to get the life Christ promised. Heaven is going to be amazing but we can have Heaven here on earth. This “Eternal Life” is in front of us waiting for us to grab hold of it. This is not talking about salvation per-say but the life of salvation. The unauthorized “King JimmyB” version would put it this way. “Grab on to that amazing, energetic life of Christ, the life you’re made to live!”
Since my last blog entry I had a kid. Well I didn’t have the kid, my wife did. Sasha Grace was born Dec 3rd @ 10:14. She is beautiful, looks just like her older sister. I am a blessed man! You’ll be able to tell in the next few entries that I am one proud daddy. Until then: Stay blessed, it’s your choice.
So this is what we have established over the last few entries: 1.the fact that I love this statement “Take hold of life that is truly life” & 2. We grab a hold of true life by walking in the fruit of the Spirit and fighting the good fight of faith. I like what a friend pointed out about the fruit of the spirit after the last blog entry. These are things God ordained for us to do. He referred to Eph 2:10 “For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Love that script! Mediate on that for awhile………….Ok. Now that we meditated on that let’s get back to business of breaking down “Take Hold of Life that is truly life” good Ol’Greek style. Last entry we found out that the original Greek word for “Take Hold of Life that is truly life” is used in a previous script in 1st Tim 6. I’m going to revert back to the King James for a minute. I usually use NIV but all my study stuff is King James Based. Both 1 Tim 6:12 and 19 says to “Lay Hold On Eternal Life”. (King James, remember? Although “Lay Hold on Eternal Life” sounds pretty cool too.) “Lay Hold On” is the Greek word “Epilambanomai.” I’m not going to get all crazy and break it down to the root of these Greek words and where they come from. One of my favorite authors Rick Renner is good for that. I’ll just refer to my Word Study Dictionary. This phrase is used metaphorically, to lay hold of in order to obtain and possess. The next word is Eternal; that is the Greek word Aiōnios. The last word is Zōē for Life. I going to explain “Life” first and then go back to “Eternal”. The reason why is because when these 2 Greek words collide in the New Testament the meaning becomes amazing and I want to capture as much of it as possible. You can simply say Zoe is energetic life, like the life my daughter Saige is full of. She is so full of energy. I often wonder if we should have named her Zoe because how lively she is. Aiōnios for “Eternal” carries the meaning of without beginning and end, that which always has been and always will be. Now back to Zoe and Aionios colliding in both 1st Tim 6:12 & 19. Listen to how my W.S.D. describes this collision: “Whenever it is used for the life which God gives to those who believe in Christ it is to be understood as referring not only to duration, but more so to quality. That is, it is not merely a life that is eternal in duration, but is primarily something different from the natural life of man, i.e., the life of God.” WOW! We don’t have to wait till the “Sweet By & By” to get the life Christ promised. Heaven is going to be amazing but we can have Heaven here on earth. This “Eternal Life” is in front of us waiting for us to grab hold of it. This is not talking about salvation per-say but the life of salvation. The unauthorized “King JimmyB” version would put it this way. “Grab on to that amazing, energetic life of Christ, the life you’re made to live!”
Since my last blog entry I had a kid. Well I didn’t have the kid, my wife did. Sasha Grace was born Dec 3rd @ 10:14. She is beautiful, looks just like her older sister. I am a blessed man! You’ll be able to tell in the next few entries that I am one proud daddy. Until then: Stay blessed, it’s your choice.
More of “Taking hold of life that is truly life.”
More of “Taking hold of life that is truly life.”
I’m still loving the statement “Take hold of life that is truly life” from 1st Tim 6:19. When I first started to meditate on that phrase it seemed like such a “pie in the sky” kind of statement. After reading those 8 words my mind instantly went racing in all sorts of directions on what that could mean. One of the tracks was about what Jesus said in John 10:10 “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” I had this all mapped out in my mind exactly where I wanted to go with this entry but then I started reading all of verse 19. It seemed to take a whole different direction then where I wanted it to go. I would rather be guilty of proving the scriptures point then be guilty of using the scripture to prove my point. It drives me nuts when I hear people misusing scripts just prove their own point. That’s what the devil did while tempting Jesus, remember? So I really want to get this one right because 1: this phrase really excited me when I first read it and 2: I don’t want to play in the devil’s league. So let’s back up to what all of 19 says: “in this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of life that is truly life.” Verse 19 starts off with “In this way”, in what way? I gotta back up further. Verse 18 says: “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” So if they do good, be rich in good deeds, and be generous and willing to share then they will lay up a firm foundation for the coming age and they can do what my new favorite phrase says, but who are they? Gotta back up further! Verse 17 says “Command those WHO ARE RICH in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment”. Do you know that you can be poor and put your hope in wealth? That’s a subject for another day, let's move on. So Paul is talking about the rich that attends Timothy’s church, and really all the rich that are in the body of Christ. He’s saying to the rich to be rich in good deeds and to be generous and willing to share and if they do this then they will be laying up treasures and they can “take hold of life that is truly life.” He’s not rebuking the rich for being rich but just instructing them to be rich in good deeds. That’s getting kinda wordy. I’m gonna cut all that out and just get to the point. Paul is saying that if we do good deeds, we’re generous with what we have and share, then we’ll be laying up treasures and grabbing hold of true life. Got it, understand that. The funny thing is that Verses 17 thru 19 are part of Paul’s final charge to Tim; it’s the end of this letter. The full final charge is found in verses 11 thru 20. In Verse 12 Paul tells Tim to take hold of the eternal life; that is the same Greek phrase used in Verse 19. So really Verse 17 through 19 is echoing what Paul just told Tim to do himself. So really Paul is saying here is “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander”, sort of speak. Paul instructs Tim in verse 11 thru 12 to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Doesn’t that sound like some slices of the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:21-23? I love what the end of Galatians 5:23 says about all the slices of the F. of S. “against such things there is no law”. There is no limit on me doing good! That means I can go crazy with self control. If I truly indulge in love, joy, peace, and all the others listed in Galatians 5 and according to Gal 5 there is no limit on how much I indulge in those actions then both 1 Tim 6:12 & 19 tells me that I’m gonna be laying up treasure and grabbing the life that is truly life. Going back to what Jesus said in John 10:10, He came to give that overwhelming life. Are you catching this? This is the life I’m made to live. I’ve tried living other ways outside of Christ and I just felt hollow. Now I find that when I chase after love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control, if I’m rich in good deeds, I’m literally grabbing hold of life that is truly life. Typing all that out makes the list seem really long but it’s all really easy to do. Now I really am ready to explode with excitement. This is not some silly “pie in the sky” statement, but it’s an obtainable pie with some serious substance. I gonna float on cloud 9 with that for awhile but I can’t wait for my next entry. I want to break down “take hold of life that is truly life” good ol’Greek style, but I’ll save that for the next entry. Talk to ya & stay blessed!!
I’m still loving the statement “Take hold of life that is truly life” from 1st Tim 6:19. When I first started to meditate on that phrase it seemed like such a “pie in the sky” kind of statement. After reading those 8 words my mind instantly went racing in all sorts of directions on what that could mean. One of the tracks was about what Jesus said in John 10:10 “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” I had this all mapped out in my mind exactly where I wanted to go with this entry but then I started reading all of verse 19. It seemed to take a whole different direction then where I wanted it to go. I would rather be guilty of proving the scriptures point then be guilty of using the scripture to prove my point. It drives me nuts when I hear people misusing scripts just prove their own point. That’s what the devil did while tempting Jesus, remember? So I really want to get this one right because 1: this phrase really excited me when I first read it and 2: I don’t want to play in the devil’s league. So let’s back up to what all of 19 says: “in this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of life that is truly life.” Verse 19 starts off with “In this way”, in what way? I gotta back up further. Verse 18 says: “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” So if they do good, be rich in good deeds, and be generous and willing to share then they will lay up a firm foundation for the coming age and they can do what my new favorite phrase says, but who are they? Gotta back up further! Verse 17 says “Command those WHO ARE RICH in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment”. Do you know that you can be poor and put your hope in wealth? That’s a subject for another day, let's move on. So Paul is talking about the rich that attends Timothy’s church, and really all the rich that are in the body of Christ. He’s saying to the rich to be rich in good deeds and to be generous and willing to share and if they do this then they will be laying up treasures and they can “take hold of life that is truly life.” He’s not rebuking the rich for being rich but just instructing them to be rich in good deeds. That’s getting kinda wordy. I’m gonna cut all that out and just get to the point. Paul is saying that if we do good deeds, we’re generous with what we have and share, then we’ll be laying up treasures and grabbing hold of true life. Got it, understand that. The funny thing is that Verses 17 thru 19 are part of Paul’s final charge to Tim; it’s the end of this letter. The full final charge is found in verses 11 thru 20. In Verse 12 Paul tells Tim to take hold of the eternal life; that is the same Greek phrase used in Verse 19. So really Verse 17 through 19 is echoing what Paul just told Tim to do himself. So really Paul is saying here is “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander”, sort of speak. Paul instructs Tim in verse 11 thru 12 to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Doesn’t that sound like some slices of the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:21-23? I love what the end of Galatians 5:23 says about all the slices of the F. of S. “against such things there is no law”. There is no limit on me doing good! That means I can go crazy with self control. If I truly indulge in love, joy, peace, and all the others listed in Galatians 5 and according to Gal 5 there is no limit on how much I indulge in those actions then both 1 Tim 6:12 & 19 tells me that I’m gonna be laying up treasure and grabbing the life that is truly life. Going back to what Jesus said in John 10:10, He came to give that overwhelming life. Are you catching this? This is the life I’m made to live. I’ve tried living other ways outside of Christ and I just felt hollow. Now I find that when I chase after love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control, if I’m rich in good deeds, I’m literally grabbing hold of life that is truly life. Typing all that out makes the list seem really long but it’s all really easy to do. Now I really am ready to explode with excitement. This is not some silly “pie in the sky” statement, but it’s an obtainable pie with some serious substance. I gonna float on cloud 9 with that for awhile but I can’t wait for my next entry. I want to break down “take hold of life that is truly life” good ol’Greek style, but I’ll save that for the next entry. Talk to ya & stay blessed!!
TAKE HOLD OF LIFE THAT IS TRULY LIFE!
So I was trying to look up this one scripture. Everyone quotes it but no one references where it’s at in the Bible. I like to give the address to the script before I go off spouting it. Man, I looked and looked. I used “BlueLetterBible.org” and “BibleGateway.com”, Nothing! I even did Google and Yahoo searches for sermons about it. A lot of people have used the script I’m looking for but they never gave the address. I’m gonna have to go old school and dust off my Strong’s Concordance to find it. Once I do I’ll blog about it. But while I searched & searched I ran across 1 Tim 6:19.This is one awesome script. There is a phrase in there that just jumped out @ me; “Take hold of life that is truly life.” That bad boy right there reached out and slapped my right cheek! What a great scripture. “Take hold of life that is truly life.” My mind instantly went racing on all that this script could mean. I shared it with Kesha, she instantly went on about what is the life we grab hold of and stuff. It just a small sentence but it set our minds set ablaze with all that it could mean. The Life part of it and grabbing hold of it. Where has this scripture been hiding? Apparently is been hiding in 1st Tim all along and I just never grabbed onto it. So now I have to dig in. I said in the last blog that I like to type out scripts, helps me meditate on them. So out comes the big “Mac Daddy 4 Translation” Bible. What I already typed out above is the NIV version but to be fair it’s only part of the whole script. The whole verse 19 states “In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of life that is truly life. Ol’King James states: "Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." The Amp states: “In this way laying up for themselves [the riches that endure forever] a good foundation for the future, so that they may grasp that which is life indeed”. The Republican version, ops, I mean the New American Standard: “Storing up for themselves the treasure of good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.” And everyone’s favorite, the Message: “If they do that, they’ll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.”
So what is this script talking about. It’s in the last chapter of the book of 1st Tim. I know, I know. Paul didn’t divide his writings into chapters. What ever! It’s in the last part of his letter to ol’Timmy Boy. There are only 3 sentences following this one before the letter ends. So this is part of Paul’s final charge to Tim. The 1st part of verse 19 says “In this way they will lay up treasures for themselves….” Who are “they” and what “way”? Let’s back up to 1st Tim 6:17 “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain(boy isn’t that true with all that is going on right now), but put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” Let’s move on to verse 18: “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” Now verse 19 states “in this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may TAKE HOLD OF LIFE THAT IS TRULY LIFE." I hope you enjoy this script the way Kesha & I did. There is still so much more that I want to explore with this but I want to keep these blogs kinda short. Let that statement “Take Hold of Life that is Truly Life” sets your mind into overdrive. Talk to ya and stay blessed.
So what is this script talking about. It’s in the last chapter of the book of 1st Tim. I know, I know. Paul didn’t divide his writings into chapters. What ever! It’s in the last part of his letter to ol’Timmy Boy. There are only 3 sentences following this one before the letter ends. So this is part of Paul’s final charge to Tim. The 1st part of verse 19 says “In this way they will lay up treasures for themselves….” Who are “they” and what “way”? Let’s back up to 1st Tim 6:17 “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain(boy isn’t that true with all that is going on right now), but put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” Let’s move on to verse 18: “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” Now verse 19 states “in this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may TAKE HOLD OF LIFE THAT IS TRULY LIFE." I hope you enjoy this script the way Kesha & I did. There is still so much more that I want to explore with this but I want to keep these blogs kinda short. Let that statement “Take Hold of Life that is Truly Life” sets your mind into overdrive. Talk to ya and stay blessed.
He lives where?
He lives where?
I had to fit this in before sending my computer back to the shop. The cd/dvd/whatever doesn’t want to act right. So while I still have the warranty I’m shipping it back. I’m sticking with the worship theme. I love worship. I sing like a bird, it’s foul. HAHA, as my pastor here in Birm would say “that one is free”. I really do wish I had a great sounding voice. Kind of like my wife’s voice, just more manly. But no matter how terrible Kesha thinks I singing, I know God loves to hear me. Ps 22:3 has been bouncing around my brain for the last few weeks. It says (KJV) “But thou [art] holy, [O thou] that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” I checked that script in my big mac’daddy 4 translation Bible. Seriously, this thing is huge and it has an awesome story behind it. I’ll share that story another day. NIV states “Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.” New American Standard says “O Thou who art enthroned upon the praises of Israel.” The Amp’d up version says “But You are holy, O You Who dwell in [the holy place where] the praises of Israel [are offered].” It’s crazy typing all those out but it helps me study and meditate on Ps 22:3. I think I like the KJV the best because it’s what I grew up with. But breaking down this scripture I find, from the KJV, that “[O thou] that inhabitest” comes from just one Hebrew word “Yashab”. From what I’m finding in my word study and lexicon is that this is an active thing. It’s like He actively lives in my praise. Let me back up. He actively lives on the praise that I offer to Him. That makes me wonder what kind of place I have built for Him. Have I given a place with great furnishing? Or have I given some broken down sorry apartment on the eastside of Loser Town. Would He even want to live in my place/praise? I don’t want to be the landlord that’s embraced because I know the residency that I’m providing sucks. I want my praise to be well worth living in. Fresh carpet, new tile, not something stuck in the 70’s. Now going back to the translations I typed out before. The Amp’d version seems to be referring that God lived in the “Holy of Holies” of the temple where praise was offered. What ever, we live on this side of the cross & 1 Cor 6:19 states “your body is the temple”. I just want to give Him something that He’s comfortable in, a place that He would want to stay. I know when I praise Him my life is better. It’s the point that when I have praise & worship on my IPod in the gym, I feel stronger. Seriously! The other day I put up 740lds on the leg press & I had Saving Grace playing. I made sure I had it on the part that goes “Jesus Savior, My life belongs to you forever. Cause you have set my heart on fire, you have set me free.” My church here in Birm does such a great job with that song. I guess the only place to leave this blog entry is to challenge you, and myself, not be that sorry landlord. Give Him something great to live in. Something for Him to brag about….
I had to fit this in before sending my computer back to the shop. The cd/dvd/whatever doesn’t want to act right. So while I still have the warranty I’m shipping it back. I’m sticking with the worship theme. I love worship. I sing like a bird, it’s foul. HAHA, as my pastor here in Birm would say “that one is free”. I really do wish I had a great sounding voice. Kind of like my wife’s voice, just more manly. But no matter how terrible Kesha thinks I singing, I know God loves to hear me. Ps 22:3 has been bouncing around my brain for the last few weeks. It says (KJV) “But thou [art] holy, [O thou] that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” I checked that script in my big mac’daddy 4 translation Bible. Seriously, this thing is huge and it has an awesome story behind it. I’ll share that story another day. NIV states “Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.” New American Standard says “O Thou who art enthroned upon the praises of Israel.” The Amp’d up version says “But You are holy, O You Who dwell in [the holy place where] the praises of Israel [are offered].” It’s crazy typing all those out but it helps me study and meditate on Ps 22:3. I think I like the KJV the best because it’s what I grew up with. But breaking down this scripture I find, from the KJV, that “[O thou] that inhabitest” comes from just one Hebrew word “Yashab”. From what I’m finding in my word study and lexicon is that this is an active thing. It’s like He actively lives in my praise. Let me back up. He actively lives on the praise that I offer to Him. That makes me wonder what kind of place I have built for Him. Have I given a place with great furnishing? Or have I given some broken down sorry apartment on the eastside of Loser Town. Would He even want to live in my place/praise? I don’t want to be the landlord that’s embraced because I know the residency that I’m providing sucks. I want my praise to be well worth living in. Fresh carpet, new tile, not something stuck in the 70’s. Now going back to the translations I typed out before. The Amp’d version seems to be referring that God lived in the “Holy of Holies” of the temple where praise was offered. What ever, we live on this side of the cross & 1 Cor 6:19 states “your body is the temple”. I just want to give Him something that He’s comfortable in, a place that He would want to stay. I know when I praise Him my life is better. It’s the point that when I have praise & worship on my IPod in the gym, I feel stronger. Seriously! The other day I put up 740lds on the leg press & I had Saving Grace playing. I made sure I had it on the part that goes “Jesus Savior, My life belongs to you forever. Cause you have set my heart on fire, you have set me free.” My church here in Birm does such a great job with that song. I guess the only place to leave this blog entry is to challenge you, and myself, not be that sorry landlord. Give Him something great to live in. Something for Him to brag about….
And Love…completed…I finally get it!
And Love…completed…I finally get it!
So I left the “and Love” blog entry kind of hanging. I felt like there was more I wanted to say, and there is more. So 2 months later, back to 1st Cor 13:13 “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love”. Now the King James here uses Charity instead of Love. That’s fine because that fits in with the whole chapter, plus with chapters 12 & 14 of 1st Cor. So I almost wonder if I’m pulling 1st Cor 13:13 a little out of context by using it in describe how I want my relationship with God to be. I hate finding out that I miss used a script just to prove my point. I would rather prove the scriptures point then use the scripture to prove my point. The love that 1st Cor 13 is talking about is an unselfish love. That’s why 1st Cor 13:11 says “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.” Children are selfish; I know that sounds harsh but they mostly think of themselves. When you grow up you learn to look past yourself and look to the needs of others (hopefully). But really that is how I want to approach God, with an unselfish love. Like I said in before, in worship I want to cry "Holy, Holy, Holy" without crying “Help, Help, Help.” When we do get to heaven we will be able to sing exactly like that, I mean the “Holy” part. As far as what Revelation 4:8 tells us, “Holy, Holy, Holy” by the “4 Crazy Eyed Creatures” will be the #1 hit in Heaven. Do you remember Jesus’ greatest commandment? It’s found both in Luke 10 & Matt 22. We always want to quote the 2nd part of that commandment first. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But that follows the 1st part. “'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” that’s the Matt version. Luke throws “with all your strength” somewhere in there. Truly you can’t do the 2nd part of that command correctly with out doing the 1st part.
You know what’s crazy? In Matt 7:21 -23 Jesus said “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” I think I finally get what Jesus is saying here. See these “evildoers” had 2 out the 3 found from 1 Cor 13:13 working in their lives, but neither of those 2 was love. It takes “faith” to drive out demons and do miracles; trust me, it does. Try casting out demons without faith. They also did the prophesy thing; you have to do that thru divine inspirations. As mater of fact they drove out demons and did miracles to/for others. They thought they had hope till Christ crushed that. The one blatant thing missing from their lives was Love. They never knew Jesus. Oh how I want to know Jesus. How can I do His will if I don’t even know who He is? Lately I’ve been stocking up on worship albums off of ITunes. On one of the albums there is this song called “You Won’t Relent” by Chris Quilala & Kim Walker. Kim Walker sings this one verse only a few times, but that verse sums it up for me. It goes “I don’t want to talk about You like You’re not in the room, want to look right @ You, want to sing right to You.” I’m not looking to split to Heaven a little early; I just want Heaven here on earth. Enoch had it. He had such a relationship with God that God just whisked Ol’E up so they could hang tighter; and that was after the fall but before the cross. That truly is becoming more of the desire of my heart. That is the way I try to worship. That is the way I choose this day to live.
And Love!
So I left the “and Love” blog entry kind of hanging. I felt like there was more I wanted to say, and there is more. So 2 months later, back to 1st Cor 13:13 “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love”. Now the King James here uses Charity instead of Love. That’s fine because that fits in with the whole chapter, plus with chapters 12 & 14 of 1st Cor. So I almost wonder if I’m pulling 1st Cor 13:13 a little out of context by using it in describe how I want my relationship with God to be. I hate finding out that I miss used a script just to prove my point. I would rather prove the scriptures point then use the scripture to prove my point. The love that 1st Cor 13 is talking about is an unselfish love. That’s why 1st Cor 13:11 says “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.” Children are selfish; I know that sounds harsh but they mostly think of themselves. When you grow up you learn to look past yourself and look to the needs of others (hopefully). But really that is how I want to approach God, with an unselfish love. Like I said in before, in worship I want to cry "Holy, Holy, Holy" without crying “Help, Help, Help.” When we do get to heaven we will be able to sing exactly like that, I mean the “Holy” part. As far as what Revelation 4:8 tells us, “Holy, Holy, Holy” by the “4 Crazy Eyed Creatures” will be the #1 hit in Heaven. Do you remember Jesus’ greatest commandment? It’s found both in Luke 10 & Matt 22. We always want to quote the 2nd part of that commandment first. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But that follows the 1st part. “'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” that’s the Matt version. Luke throws “with all your strength” somewhere in there. Truly you can’t do the 2nd part of that command correctly with out doing the 1st part.
You know what’s crazy? In Matt 7:21 -23 Jesus said “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” I think I finally get what Jesus is saying here. See these “evildoers” had 2 out the 3 found from 1 Cor 13:13 working in their lives, but neither of those 2 was love. It takes “faith” to drive out demons and do miracles; trust me, it does. Try casting out demons without faith. They also did the prophesy thing; you have to do that thru divine inspirations. As mater of fact they drove out demons and did miracles to/for others. They thought they had hope till Christ crushed that. The one blatant thing missing from their lives was Love. They never knew Jesus. Oh how I want to know Jesus. How can I do His will if I don’t even know who He is? Lately I’ve been stocking up on worship albums off of ITunes. On one of the albums there is this song called “You Won’t Relent” by Chris Quilala & Kim Walker. Kim Walker sings this one verse only a few times, but that verse sums it up for me. It goes “I don’t want to talk about You like You’re not in the room, want to look right @ You, want to sing right to You.” I’m not looking to split to Heaven a little early; I just want Heaven here on earth. Enoch had it. He had such a relationship with God that God just whisked Ol’E up so they could hang tighter; and that was after the fall but before the cross. That truly is becoming more of the desire of my heart. That is the way I try to worship. That is the way I choose this day to live.
And Love!
And Love...
Saturday morn… I woke up early-early, like 4am. Wrestled for about an hour on whether to get up and watch SportsCenter or worship God for awhile. Flesh won @ 1st. for about an hour + I watched all what I already knew then started flipping through the channels aimlessly. Too many infomercials & bad preaching on that time of morning. Finally I decided to download some worship music to my iPod and take the villains for a walk. As I was walking, picking up their poop, and worshiping (not necessarily in that order) I started thinking on 1 Cor.13:13. You know that scripture, everyone loves to quote it. 1 Cor 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. It can be a simple scripture or a real deep one. I like to keep things simple. Why love? Why is love the greatest of them all? It was great that I was listening to worship while I was meditating on this script because it made me think of Heaven. When we get to heaven we’re going to be worshiping all the time. When we get to Heaven we’re gonna be surrounded by His love all the time. Faith, we won’t need faith when we get to heaven. Heb 11:1 says “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” We’re going to see everything when get to heaven. Hope, Heaven is our hope. I like how the Amplified Bible put 1 Cor. 13:13 “13And so faith, hope, love abide [faith--conviction and belief respecting man's relation to God and divine things; hope--joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation; love--true affection for God and man, growing out of God's love for and in us], these three; but the greatest of these is love.” That leaves us with one, Love. For once I want to worship like I’m in heaven, not needing faith or hope. This is what I mean. Most of the time when I worship I’m still aware of what’s going on around me. I know the needs that are tugging @ me, the healings that I or my family needs. I just want to worship in love, without need. I want to cry “Holy, Holy, Holy” without crying “Help, Help, Help”! It’s hard to do that when we don’t live in Heaven yet. If we have Christ as our savior then we have the house being built but we don’t actually live there yet.
The Coolest Miracle Ever
Sorry for the long delay. Saige and I have been busy painting. I added a pic of Saige doing her paint thing. It may be another long time before the next entry, I have to turn this computer in for repair. Enjoy the blog entry below.
The Coolest Miracle Ever?
It’s hard to call a single miracle in the Bible the coolest ever. How can you compare one miracle to another? How could any miracle listed in the scripts beat out the Red Sea split? Forget that, nothing beats out Jesus raised from the dead, but this one is pretty darn cool. I have only heard one person talk about it. That one person is Rick Renner and he did so in his daily devotional “Sparking Gems”. The “April 12” devo, page 230 if you have the hardback version.
Here is the coolest (maybe 3rd coolest) miracle ever. Well let me back up, here is the evidence of the coolest (maybe 3rd coolest) miracle ever, but don’t blink cause you might miss it. This evidence is listed in Mark 14:51-52. I say evidence because the before scripts don’t actually describe this happening so you have to kind of dig a little to figure out what happened. Mark 14:43-52 is where Judas betrays Jesus and Jesus arrested. Verses 43-50 is about Judas strutting up and laying the kiss on Jesus but 51 & 52 gives a strange twist to the story that the other 3 gospels don’t record. Here are the scripts: “51A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, 52he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.” So who’s the kid running around a garden with next to nothing on in the middle of the night. . Some say the kid is Mark cause this story is found in the book of Mark. Some say it’s Luke. Rick Renner says it’s neither. The risk of mentioning someone else’s revelation is that if it’s wrong then you’re not really wrong, it’s the person who you’re quoting that is wrong. I’m taking this one on for myself so if it’s wrong then I’m wrong, but I don’t think I am. Vrs. 51 says the kid was in a linen garment. The Greek word used for linen garment is used the only other time in the Bible to describe what Jesus was wrapped in for burial. I made sure to do my own research to verify this. The Greek word is “sindon”. It also describes a cloth worn @ night (pajamas) but again the only other time this word is used is to describe what Jesus was wrapped in. So again who is this kid now running around naked in a garden in the middle of the night? That night Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. The Garden is near a cemetery. John’s record of the betraying is where Jesus said one of the greatest statements in the Bible, “I AM”. John 4:4-6 “4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, ‘Who is it you want?’ 5 ‘Jesus of Nazareth,’ they replied. 5 ‘I am he,’ Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6When Jesus said, ‘I am he,’ they drew back and fell to the ground.” When Jesus said “I AM” so much power came out of Him that the crowd got knocked on their butts. That’s all that was recorded when He said “I AM” but that is not all that I think that happened. When Jesus said “I AM” this kid was raised from the dead. That’s why he was running around the garden with just a burial cloth on. The natural response of anyone raised from the dead, like being raised from the dead is natural, would be to find out who did it. Could you imagine being the parents of this kid? Could you imagine, after having all your dreams smashed your “dead” kid shows up on your front door full of life & naked. I hope they put cloths on him right away.
So just how much power is in Jesus’ “I Am”? Enough! Enough to knock a bunch of losers on their butts, enough to answer some parents’ hopeless prayer, and more then enough for what ever we have to face.
Stay Blessed..it’s your choice!
The Coolest Miracle Ever?
It’s hard to call a single miracle in the Bible the coolest ever. How can you compare one miracle to another? How could any miracle listed in the scripts beat out the Red Sea split? Forget that, nothing beats out Jesus raised from the dead, but this one is pretty darn cool. I have only heard one person talk about it. That one person is Rick Renner and he did so in his daily devotional “Sparking Gems”. The “April 12” devo, page 230 if you have the hardback version.
Here is the coolest (maybe 3rd coolest) miracle ever. Well let me back up, here is the evidence of the coolest (maybe 3rd coolest) miracle ever, but don’t blink cause you might miss it. This evidence is listed in Mark 14:51-52. I say evidence because the before scripts don’t actually describe this happening so you have to kind of dig a little to figure out what happened. Mark 14:43-52 is where Judas betrays Jesus and Jesus arrested. Verses 43-50 is about Judas strutting up and laying the kiss on Jesus but 51 & 52 gives a strange twist to the story that the other 3 gospels don’t record. Here are the scripts: “51A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, 52he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.” So who’s the kid running around a garden with next to nothing on in the middle of the night. . Some say the kid is Mark cause this story is found in the book of Mark. Some say it’s Luke. Rick Renner says it’s neither. The risk of mentioning someone else’s revelation is that if it’s wrong then you’re not really wrong, it’s the person who you’re quoting that is wrong. I’m taking this one on for myself so if it’s wrong then I’m wrong, but I don’t think I am. Vrs. 51 says the kid was in a linen garment. The Greek word used for linen garment is used the only other time in the Bible to describe what Jesus was wrapped in for burial. I made sure to do my own research to verify this. The Greek word is “sindon”. It also describes a cloth worn @ night (pajamas) but again the only other time this word is used is to describe what Jesus was wrapped in. So again who is this kid now running around naked in a garden in the middle of the night? That night Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. The Garden is near a cemetery. John’s record of the betraying is where Jesus said one of the greatest statements in the Bible, “I AM”. John 4:4-6 “4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, ‘Who is it you want?’ 5 ‘Jesus of Nazareth,’ they replied. 5 ‘I am he,’ Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6When Jesus said, ‘I am he,’ they drew back and fell to the ground.” When Jesus said “I AM” so much power came out of Him that the crowd got knocked on their butts. That’s all that was recorded when He said “I AM” but that is not all that I think that happened. When Jesus said “I AM” this kid was raised from the dead. That’s why he was running around the garden with just a burial cloth on. The natural response of anyone raised from the dead, like being raised from the dead is natural, would be to find out who did it. Could you imagine being the parents of this kid? Could you imagine, after having all your dreams smashed your “dead” kid shows up on your front door full of life & naked. I hope they put cloths on him right away.
So just how much power is in Jesus’ “I Am”? Enough! Enough to knock a bunch of losers on their butts, enough to answer some parents’ hopeless prayer, and more then enough for what ever we have to face.
Stay Blessed..it’s your choice!
Isaiah 55 (deeper)
All is going well in the Buster Household. Baby Buster is getting big in mommy’s belly. Kesha is such a small woman that baby girl is all going forward. I included a picture of the ultra sounds on the blog.
We had a great Bible study tonight (7/20). We covered Isaiah 55 1-8 and skimmed over 9-13. Here is the break down. I’m looking forward to next Week. We had a visitor. That makes 4 of us. Just 7996 away from what I envision this thing exploding too. I dream big! That really is a joke, I really don’t care how big or small we are, just as long as we’re chasing after God through His word and in spirit.
We covered Isaiah 55 more in depth tonight. What a great chapter! But like I explain in the notes for verse 5 & 8, it’s even better to meditate on this chapter with the perspective that we live on the other side of the cross then what Isaiah did.
Isa. 55
1 "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 2 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
Jimmy notes: This reminds me of the woman @ the well in John 4:7-14
Jesus told her in verse 10 “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water”
3 Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.
Jimmy notes: Acts 13:34 refers to this. The fact that God raised him from the dead, never to decay, is stated in these words: "I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.”
Jesus is our everlasting Covenant.
4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the peoples.
Jimmy notes: Jesus is the faithful witness. Revelations 1:5 “and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness”
5 Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor."
Jimmy notes: Since this was written on the other side of the cross it is referring to Israel. Israel had the salvation message. But now that we are on this side of the cross this is for Christians today. So in “New Testament” twist you can say “You summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you are coming to you, this is because of the LORD your God, Jesus Christ, for he has endowed you with splendor.
6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
Jimmy notes: 2nd Pet 3:9-10 “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare”
7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
Jimmy notes: Simply repent and turn to God. He will show mercy to you.
8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.
Jimmy notes: Philippians 2:5 “Let this mind be in you, which also in Christ Jesus”
I have been using the New International Version but this time I used the King James just because I think its better translated.
Remember what I said back @ the notes for verse 5, we live on this side of the cross.
Just like the difference between Isaiah 53:5 and 1 Peter 2:24
Isaiah 53:5 says “we are healed” but 1st Peter 2:24 says “we were healed”. It was taken care of @ the cross.
Back to 55:8; right now we have the mind of Christ. We can know what God is thinking. Through the new birth the Lord has given us the mind of Christ. But the choice is to let the His mind function through us.
1st Corinthians 2:16 says “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.”
The first part of 1st Cor 2:16 sounds like Isaiah 55:8, but there is a “BUT”
It says we have (right now, we’re not waiting for it to arrive, not trying to get it but already have it) the mind of Christ.
Yes I still believe @ its simplest form Isaiah 55:8 is still dealing with grace and mercy but in context with the rest of 55 it’s hard to understand His grace and mercy. But now that we live on this side of the cross we can comprehend it because we have the mind of Christ.
Read 1st Corinthians 2:7-16. Awesome stuff!!
9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Jimmy notes: That really is just reiterating what verse 8 is saying
10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
Jimmy notes: Basic science lesson.
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Jimmy notes: Just like the water does not return without doing its job, God’s word WILL DO IT’S JOB!
12 You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
Jimmy notes: Joy and Peace are part of the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22
13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the LORD's renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed."
Jimmy notes: The pine tree instead of the thorn bush or the myrtle instead of the briers.
Back to Galatians 5:22 really back it up to Gal 5:19. The acts (or fruit) of a sinful nature are listed. Those are weeds in our garden. But we produce good fruit that is listed in Gal 5:22
We had a great Bible study tonight (7/20). We covered Isaiah 55 1-8 and skimmed over 9-13. Here is the break down. I’m looking forward to next Week. We had a visitor. That makes 4 of us. Just 7996 away from what I envision this thing exploding too. I dream big! That really is a joke, I really don’t care how big or small we are, just as long as we’re chasing after God through His word and in spirit.
We covered Isaiah 55 more in depth tonight. What a great chapter! But like I explain in the notes for verse 5 & 8, it’s even better to meditate on this chapter with the perspective that we live on the other side of the cross then what Isaiah did.
Isa. 55
1 "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 2 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
Jimmy notes: This reminds me of the woman @ the well in John 4:7-14
Jesus told her in verse 10 “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water”
3 Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.
Jimmy notes: Acts 13:34 refers to this. The fact that God raised him from the dead, never to decay, is stated in these words: "I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.”
Jesus is our everlasting Covenant.
4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the peoples.
Jimmy notes: Jesus is the faithful witness. Revelations 1:5 “and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness”
5 Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor."
Jimmy notes: Since this was written on the other side of the cross it is referring to Israel. Israel had the salvation message. But now that we are on this side of the cross this is for Christians today. So in “New Testament” twist you can say “You summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you are coming to you, this is because of the LORD your God, Jesus Christ, for he has endowed you with splendor.
6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
Jimmy notes: 2nd Pet 3:9-10 “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare”
7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
Jimmy notes: Simply repent and turn to God. He will show mercy to you.
8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.
Jimmy notes: Philippians 2:5 “Let this mind be in you, which also in Christ Jesus”
I have been using the New International Version but this time I used the King James just because I think its better translated.
Remember what I said back @ the notes for verse 5, we live on this side of the cross.
Just like the difference between Isaiah 53:5 and 1 Peter 2:24
Isaiah 53:5 says “we are healed” but 1st Peter 2:24 says “we were healed”. It was taken care of @ the cross.
Back to 55:8; right now we have the mind of Christ. We can know what God is thinking. Through the new birth the Lord has given us the mind of Christ. But the choice is to let the His mind function through us.
1st Corinthians 2:16 says “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.”
The first part of 1st Cor 2:16 sounds like Isaiah 55:8, but there is a “BUT”
It says we have (right now, we’re not waiting for it to arrive, not trying to get it but already have it) the mind of Christ.
Yes I still believe @ its simplest form Isaiah 55:8 is still dealing with grace and mercy but in context with the rest of 55 it’s hard to understand His grace and mercy. But now that we live on this side of the cross we can comprehend it because we have the mind of Christ.
Read 1st Corinthians 2:7-16. Awesome stuff!!
9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Jimmy notes: That really is just reiterating what verse 8 is saying
10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
Jimmy notes: Basic science lesson.
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Jimmy notes: Just like the water does not return without doing its job, God’s word WILL DO IT’S JOB!
12 You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
Jimmy notes: Joy and Peace are part of the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22
13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the LORD's renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed."
Jimmy notes: The pine tree instead of the thorn bush or the myrtle instead of the briers.
Back to Galatians 5:22 really back it up to Gal 5:19. The acts (or fruit) of a sinful nature are listed. Those are weeds in our garden. But we produce good fruit that is listed in Gal 5:22
Welcome to my blog
Welcome to Busted Thoughts. Back in the summer of 2008 I started this blog thing. At that time we had a little Bible study at our house and I figured the blog was a good way to keep the discussion flowing. Well that little Bible study started and stopped a few times till finally we just stopped it all together, but the blog remained. Not only did the blog remain but its focus stayed on the Word of God. Busted Thoughts is really just a Bible study.
At first the blog entries covered a variety of biblical subjects. Most topics focused on what I called “Living It.” But as of late the entries have been more focused on subject studies. The subject study titled “Jesus’ Healing Touch” is a study of the healings performed by Jesus in chronological order. I was once asked why it had to be in chronological order. The reason for the chronological study is not to just focus on the healings Jesus performed but also on His life/ministry and the lives of those around him. There will be other subject studies in the future. I love subject studies of the scriptures simply because they give me a deeper understanding of the character of God.
So what about the name “Busted Thoughts”? Well, my last name is Buster. I have been very blessed with the name Buster. I’m proud of that name so I might as well use it. Also I do not claim to be a complete authority on the Word of God but rather a discoverer of the Word of God. I simply love discovering what It has and sharing what I discover. So that’s the reason for the name “Buster Thoughts.” Another very good reason for the name is because of Romans 12:2. It tells us to “be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” In other words, we need to continually bust our thoughts. Ah, that was a good one.
It is almost silly to me to say, “Join me in this Bible study called Busted Thoughts.” It has that Mr. Roger’s kind of feel to it, but I don’t really know a better way to put it. Maybe I should put up my coat and nice shoes, and put on my sweater and canvas shoes. . . Anyway, come discover with me. I welcome all input.
At first the blog entries covered a variety of biblical subjects. Most topics focused on what I called “Living It.” But as of late the entries have been more focused on subject studies. The subject study titled “Jesus’ Healing Touch” is a study of the healings performed by Jesus in chronological order. I was once asked why it had to be in chronological order. The reason for the chronological study is not to just focus on the healings Jesus performed but also on His life/ministry and the lives of those around him. There will be other subject studies in the future. I love subject studies of the scriptures simply because they give me a deeper understanding of the character of God.
So what about the name “Busted Thoughts”? Well, my last name is Buster. I have been very blessed with the name Buster. I’m proud of that name so I might as well use it. Also I do not claim to be a complete authority on the Word of God but rather a discoverer of the Word of God. I simply love discovering what It has and sharing what I discover. So that’s the reason for the name “Buster Thoughts.” Another very good reason for the name is because of Romans 12:2. It tells us to “be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” In other words, we need to continually bust our thoughts. Ah, that was a good one.
It is almost silly to me to say, “Join me in this Bible study called Busted Thoughts.” It has that Mr. Roger’s kind of feel to it, but I don’t really know a better way to put it. Maybe I should put up my coat and nice shoes, and put on my sweater and canvas shoes. . . Anyway, come discover with me. I welcome all input.
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