11/28/12

Is It Really Time For Tea?




Is It Really Time For Tea?

by 

Terry Sturtevant


I wanted a cup of tea the other day, so I put the kettle on the burner of our electric stove top to start the boil. A few minutes later I came back to check because our kettle is glass and does not whistle when it boils. There I found the kettle sitting and I could see the water had not even started to roll. Hmm, I wondered, what's wrong here?

I began to investigate. I lightly touched the pot and it was cold. I checked to see that I had turned on the burner control knob. Indeed, it was set to high. Must be a faulty burner I thought. I switched it off and back on when it struck me. Indeed a burner was on. However, I had placed the kettle on the wrong burner at the front of the stove top. The burner I turned on was at the rear. I hadn't even noticed the warmth or it's soft red glow at the rear of the stove top.

After making the adjustments of kettle to burner, I had to wait just a few moments and the water began a slow rolling boil. It made me think of the Good Book telling us to be “slow to anger.” I thought a bit more and wondered if is there a way to make water boil instantly?

Certainly our anger can rise instantly. When it does there is the potential for all types of evil, terrible words or actions and meanness that can take hold of the mind and body and may result in outcomes that one would be sorry for the remainder of his life.

An Internet search revealed there is a company that makes a unit for dispensing instant boiling water. From the web page it says: No more waiting for water to boil. Zip Hydroboil gives boiling filtered water instantly, for tea, coffee and cooking.” That would be a handy device to have for making tea, a machine with a quick temper!

If you have been one of those type of people who are quick to boil, then you know it can be difficult it can be to follow The Bible's words, “Be slow to anger.”

I have found for myself the best thing to do is walk away before I regret the words that my mind has prepared for my mouth to utter. I turn and leave in silence. It may take me a long time to return to “room temperature.” I am much better at this than I once was.

So I poured a cup of Green tea. It's full of anti oxidants you know. So good for you. I pondered my past, present and future as I sipped the tea. It occurred to me that there are times in life when it's best not to be on the burner at all. Try to plan the staging of events so that you avoid influences you know will make you flash to a boil. If it happens, walk away. Or, should you feel the heat slowly rising, prepare for yourself an escape. Don't be in a hurry to always be right. Why is it necessary to always win an argument?

Turn off the fire and take a long slow walk. Maybe have a cup of tea when you come home.
----
T.S.


After reading Terry's comments, I thought to add a little to his Biblical reference (for emphasis)


James, Chapter 1
  19 So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger;  20 for the anger of man doesn’t produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore, putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls 22 But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror;  24 for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 

Gary
 

Bible Reading, Nov. 28


Nov. 28
Ezekiel 5-8

Eze 5:1 You, son of man, take a sharp sword; You shall take it as a barber's razor to you, and shall cause it to pass on your head and on your beard: then take balances to weigh, and divide the hair.
Eze 5:2 A third part you shall burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled; and you shall take a third part, and strike with the sword around it; and a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them.
Eze 5:3 You shall take of it a few in number, and bind them in your skirts.
Eze 5:4 Of these again you shall take, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; from it shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel.
Eze 5:5 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the nations, and countries are around her.
Eze 5:6 She has rebelled against my ordinances in doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries that are around her; for they have rejected my ordinances, and as for my statutes, they have not walked in them.
Eze 5:7 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you are turbulent more than the nations that are around you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my ordinances, neither have done after the ordinances of the nations that are around you;
Eze 5:8 therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I, even I, am against you; and I will execute judgments in the midst of you in the sight of the nations.
Eze 5:9 I will do in you that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all your abominations.
Eze 5:10 Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of you, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on you; and the whole remnant of you will I scatter to all the winds.
Eze 5:11 Therefore, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things, and with all your abominations, therefore will I also diminish you; neither shall my eye spare, and I also will have no pity.
Eze 5:12 A third part of you shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of you; and a third part shall fall by the sword around you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds, and will draw out a sword after them.
Eze 5:13 Thus shall my anger be accomplished, and I will cause my wrath toward them to rest, and I shall be comforted; and they shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken in my zeal, when I have accomplished my wrath on them.
Eze 5:14 Moreover I will make you a desolation and a reproach among the nations that are around you, in the sight of all that pass by.
Eze 5:15 So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment, to the nations that are around you, when I shall execute judgments on you in anger and in wrath, and in wrathful rebukes; (I, Yahweh, have spoken it;)
Eze 5:16 when I shall send on them the evil arrows of famine, that are for destruction, which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine on you, and will break your staff of bread;
Eze 5:17 and I will send on you famine and evil animals, and they shall bereave you; and pestilence and blood shall pass through you; and I will bring the sword on you: I, Yahweh, have spoken it.
 

Eze 6:1 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Eze 6:2 Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy to them,
Eze 6:3 and say, You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh: Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places.
Eze 6:4 Your altars shall become desolate, and your incense altars shall be broken; and I will cast down your slain men before your idols.
Eze 6:5 I will lay the dead bodies of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones around your altars.
Eze 6:6 In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be abolished.
Eze 6:7 The slain shall fall in the midst of you, and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
Eze 6:8 Yet will I leave a remnant, in that you shall have some that escape the sword among the nations, when you shall be scattered through the countries.
Eze 6:9 Those of you that escape shall remember me among the nations where they shall be carried captive, how that I have been broken with their lewd heart, which has departed from me, and with their eyes, which play the prostitute after their idols: and they shall loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.
Eze 6:10 They shall know that I am Yahweh: I have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them.
Eze 6:11 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Smite with your hand, and stamp with your foot, and say, Alas! because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel; for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.
Eze 6:12 He who is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he who is near shall fall by the sword; and he who remains and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish my wrath on them.
Eze 6:13 You shall know that I am Yahweh, when their slain men shall be among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the places where they offered pleasant aroma to all their idols.
Eze 6:14 I will stretch out my hand on them, and make the land desolate and waste, from the wilderness toward Diblah, throughout all their habitations: and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
 

Eze 7:1 Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
Eze 7:2 You, son of man, thus says the Lord Yahweh to the land of Israel, An end: the end is come on the four corners of the land.
Eze 7:3 Now is the end on you, and I will send my anger on you, and will judge you according to your ways; and I will bring on you all your abominations.
Eze 7:4 My eye shall not spare you, neither will I have pity; but I will bring your ways on you, and your abominations shall be in the midst of you: and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
Eze 7:5 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: An evil, an only evil; behold, it comes.
Eze 7:6 An end is come, the end is come; it awakes against you; behold, it comes.
Eze 7:7 Your doom is come to you, inhabitant of the land: the time is come, the day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting, on the mountains.
Eze 7:8 Now will I shortly pour out my wrath on you, and accomplish my anger against you, and will judge you according to your ways; and I will bring on you all your abominations.
Eze 7:9 My eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will bring on you according to your ways; and your abominations shall be in the midst of you; and you shall know that I, Yahweh, do strike.
Eze 7:10 Behold, the day, behold, it comes: your doom is gone forth; the rod has blossomed, pride has budded.
Eze 7:11 Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness; none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of their wealth: neither shall there be eminency among them.
Eze 7:12 The time is come, the day draws near: don't let the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for wrath is on all its multitude.
Eze 7:13 For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they be yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude of it, none shall return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life.
Eze 7:14 They have blown the trumpet, and have made all ready; but none goes to the battle; for my wrath is on all its multitude.
Eze 7:15 The sword is outside, and the pestilence and the famine within: he who is in the field shall die with the sword: and he who is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.
Eze 7:16 But those of those who escape shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, every one in his iniquity.
Eze 7:17 All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.
Eze 7:18 They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be on all faces, and baldness on all their heads.
Eze 7:19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be as an unclean thing; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of Yahweh: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels; because it has been the stumbling block of their iniquity.
Eze 7:20 As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty; but they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things therein: therefore have I made it to them as an unclean thing.
Eze 7:21 I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall profane it.
Eze 7:22 My face will I turn also from them, and they shall profane my secret place; and robbers shall enter into it, and profane it.
Eze 7:23 Make the chain; for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.
Eze 7:24 Therefore I will bring the worst of the nations, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pride of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be profaned.
Eze 7:25 Destruction comes; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none.
Eze 7:26 Mischief shall come on mischief, and rumor shall be on rumor; and they shall seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders.
Eze 7:27 The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do to them after their way, and according to their own judgments will I judge them; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
 

Eze 8:1 It happened in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord Yahweh fell there on me.
Eze 8:2 Then I saw, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of fire; from the appearance of his waist and downward, fire; and from his waist and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as it were glowing metal.
Eze 8:3 He put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and the sky, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner court that looks toward the north; where there was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy.
Eze 8:4 Behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the appearance that I saw in the plain.
Eze 8:5 Then said he to me, Son of man, lift up your eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up my eyes the way toward the north, and see, northward of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.
Eze 8:6 He said to me, Son of man, see you what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel do commit here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but you shall again see yet other great abominations.
Eze 8:7 He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall.
Eze 8:8 Then said he to me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had dug in the wall, behold, a door.
Eze 8:9 He said to me, Go in, and see the wicked abominations that they do here.
Eze 8:10 So I went in and saw; and see, every form of creeping things, and abominable animals, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed around on the wall.
Eze 8:11 There stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel; and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, every man with his censer in his hand; and the odor of the cloud of incense went up.
Eze 8:12 Then said he to me, Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his chambers of imagery? for they say, Yahweh doesn't see us; Yahweh has forsaken the land.
Eze 8:13 He said also to me, You shall again see yet other great abominations which they do.
Eze 8:14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of Yahweh's house which was toward the north; and see, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz.
Eze 8:15 Then said he to me, Have you seen this, son of man? you shall again see yet greater abominations than these.
Eze 8:16 He brought me into the inner court of Yahweh's house; and see, at the door of the temple of Yahweh, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs toward the temple of Yahweh, and their faces toward the east; and they were worshipping the sun toward the east.
Eze 8:17 Then he said to me, Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have turned again to provoke me to anger: and behold, they put the branch to their nose.
Eze 8:18 Therefore will I also deal in wrath; my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.


Nov. 28
James 1

Jas 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the Dispersion: Greetings.
Jas 1:2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations,
Jas 1:3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
Jas 1:4 Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Jas 1:5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach; and it will be given to him.
Jas 1:6 But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed.
Jas 1:7 For let that man not think that he will receive anything from the Lord.
Jas 1:8 He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Jas 1:9 But let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his high position;
Jas 1:10 and the rich, in that he is made humble, because like the flower in the grass, he will pass away.
Jas 1:11 For the sun arises with the scorching wind, and withers the grass, and the flower in it falls, and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in his pursuits.
Jas 1:12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him.
Jas 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God," for God can't be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one.
Jas 1:14 But each one is tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed.
Jas 1:15 Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, brings forth death.
Jas 1:16 Don't be deceived, my beloved brothers.
Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow.
Jas 1:18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.
Jas 1:19 So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger;
Jas 1:20 for the anger of man doesn't produce the righteousness of God.
Jas 1:21 Therefore, putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
Jas 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves.
Jas 1:23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror;
Jas 1:24 for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
Jas 1:25 But he who looks into the perfect law of freedom, and continues, not being a hearer who forgets, but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does.
Jas 1:26 If anyone among you thinks himself to be religious while he doesn't bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this man's religion is worthless.
Jas 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Ruth: Let me Glean, Mark Copeland

                           "THE BOOK OF RUTH"

             Ruth's Lowly Service:  "Let Me Glean" (2:1-23)

INTRODUCTION

1. In our previous study, we saw how Ruth came to be the daughter-in-law
   to Naomi...
   a. The journey to Moab of Elimelech, Naomi, and their two sons
   b. The death of Elimelech, and marriages of the sons to Naomi and
      Orpah
   c. The deaths of the sons, and Naomi's return to Judah accompanied by
      Ruth

2. We noticed the "noble choice" that was made by Ruth...
   a. To leave her home and religion of Moab
   b. To adopt Naomi's home and God as her own - cf. Ru 1:16-17

3. Noteworthy throughout this story is the filial devotion Ruth has
   toward her mother-in-law...
   a. We saw it in her "noble choice"
   b. We will see it again in her "lowly service"

[The chapter begins where the previous one ended:  at the time of the
barley harvest.  In such a setting we read how...]

I. RUTH GLEANS IN THE FIELDS OF BOAZ

   A. RUTH  REQUESTS TO GLEAN IN THE FIELDS...
      1. We are introduced to Boaz - Ru 2:1
         a. A relative of Naomi's husband, Elimelech
         b. A man of great wealth
      2. Ruth gains permission from Naomi to let her glean - Ru 2:2
         a. Hoping to find favor (kindness) from a landowner
            1) The Law forbid owners from reaping the corners and
               gathering the gleanings of the harvest - cf. Lev 19:9-10
            2) In this way God provided for strangers, the fatherless,
               and widows - Deut 24:19-22
         b. Perhaps not all land owners respected this law
            1) Especially toward "strangers"
            2) We are reminded eight times in this book that Ruth was a
               "Moabitess"
      3. Ruth "happened" to come upon the field belonging to Boaz - Ru
         2:3
         a. Gleaning after the reapers, as the Law allowed
         b. She "happened" to come to the field belonging to Boaz
            1) The word suggests it was by "chance", which may how it
               first appeared
            2) The overall context of the book reveals it was by
               "providence"

   B. BOAZ INQUIRES ABOUT THE WOMAN IN THE FIELDS...
      1. We see the respect between Boaz and his workers - Ru 2:4
         a. He entreats the Lord's presence upon them
         b. They bid the Lord's blessing upon him
      2. Boaz asks his foreman about the strange woman - Ru 2:5-7
         a. Who relates her Moabite background, and her relation to
            Naomi
         b. Who recounts her request to glean, and her diligent labor

[With Boaz now aware of Ruth's identity, we next learn how...]

II. BOAZ EXTENDS KINDNESS TO RUTH

   A. HIS INITIAL KINDNESS...
      1. Boaz encourages her to glean in his field alone - Ru 2:8-9
         a. To stay by his young women
         b. To know that his young men have been commanded not to touch
            her
         c. To drink when thirsty the water drawn by the young men
      2. Ruth inquires why he is so kind to her, a foreigner - Ru
         2:10-12
         a. Boaz has heard of her devotion to Naomi, and her "noble
            choice"
         b. Boaz prays the Lord will bless her in return for seeking His
            refuge
      3. Ruth is comforted by his kindness - Ru 2:13
         a. She hopes to continue to find favor in his sight
         b. For his kindness toward one who is not one of his
            maidservants

   B. HIS EXTENDED KINDNESS...
      1. Shown to her at the noon mealtime - Ru 2:14
         a. Inviting her to eat with the rest of the workers
         b. Passing roasted grain over for her to eat
      2. Shown by the instructions given to his young men - Ru 2:15-16
         a. To let her glean even among the sheaves without reproach
         b. To purposely let stalks fall from the bundles for her to
            glean
      3. Allowing her to reap an ephah (about 30-50 pounds) of barley
         - Ru 2:17
         a. A rather large amount for someone to glean from scraps!
         b. But then she had a lot of help from the "clumsy" workers!

[At the end of the day, Ruth returns back to the city where...]

III. NAOMI RESPONDS WITH GREAT JOY

   A. RUTH SHARES HER PRODUCE WITH NAOMI...
      1. Ruth shows her mother-in-law what she gleaned - Ru 2:18
      2. Ruth gives Naomi her excess grain - Ru 2:18

   B. NAOMI REJOICES OVER GOD'S KINDNESS...
      1. In response to Naomi's questions, Ruth tells her about Boaz
         - Ru 2:19
      2. Naomi blesses the Lord - Ru 2:20
         a. For His kindness to the living and the dead
         b. For Boaz is a close relative (who would have a duty to
            preserve the name of a dead relative)
         c. Note the contrast to her earlier feelings - cf. Ru 1:13,20,
            21

   C. NAOMI COUNSELS RUTH TO CONTINUE...
      1. Ruth tells of Boaz' instructions to continue gleaning among his
         workers - Ru 2:21
      2. Naomi encourages her to stay with the women laborers in Boaz'
         field - Ru 2:22
      3. Which Ruth does until the end of the harvest, while living with
         Naomi - Ru 2:23

CONCLUSION

1. In this chapter we have seen two noteworthy examples of righteous
   character...
   a. Ruth's humility and willingness to minister to the needs of her
      mother-in-law
   b. Boaz' kindness and sense of propriety in his treatment of the
      foreign woman in his field

2. We also saw Naomi's faith in God's care reassured...
   a. Even though she believed her earlier loss was due to God's
      discipline
   b. She was convinced that God had not forsaken His kindness to the
      living and dead

In this story of "Ruth's Lowly Service," we also see another truth
displayed, that God gives grace to the humble:

   "Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to [your] elders.
   Yes, all of [you] be submissive to one another, and be clothed
   with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the
   humble."  Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,
   that He may exalt you in due time,  casting all your care upon Him,
   for He cares for you." (1Pe 5:5-7)

Are we willing to render lowly service to those around us, humbling
ourselves before God?