10/11/19

"THE BOOK OF PROVERBS" The Theme Of Proverbs (1:7) by Mark Copeland


"THE BOOK OF PROVERBS"

The Theme Of Proverbs (1:7)

INTRODUCTION

1. In our previous study we considered the purpose of the book of
   Proverbs...
   a. To know wisdom, perceive words of understanding - Pr 1:2
   b. To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and
      equity - Pr 1:3
   c. To give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and
      discretion - Pr 1:4
   d. To increase learning for a wise man, to give counsel to a man of
      understanding - Pr 1:5
   e. To understand proverbs and enigmas, the words of the wise and
      their riddles - Pr 1:6

2. In this study, we shall focus our attention on the theme of the
   book...
   a. Found in verse 7 (read)
   b. Stated in the form of antithetical parallelism
   c. In which the repeated terms of a poetic couplet are opposite in
      meaning
   d. Typical of thought rhyme (as opposed to word rhyme) found in
      Hebrew poetry

[We first note that it is "the fear of the LORD" which is...]

I. THE BEGINNING OF KNOWLEDGE

   A. THE FEAR OF THE LORD EXPLAINED...
      1. The term yara' (fear) is the common word for fear in the OT and
         has a basic three-fold range of  meanings - as per the NET Bible
         a. Dread, terror - Deut 1:29; Jon 1:10
         b. To stand in awe (in reference to a king) - 1Ki 3:28
         c. To revere, to respect (in regards to parents) - Lev 19:3
      2. Notice when God descended upon Sinai amid geophysical
         convulsions - cf. Exo 20:18-20
         a. Moses encouraged the Israelites to not be afraid of God
            arbitrarily striking them dead for no reason ("Do not fear!")
         b. He informed them that the Lord revealed Himself in such a
            terrifying manner to scare them from sinning ("God has come
            to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that
            you may not sin.")
      3. Thus there is also a place for such fear of the Lord in the
         life of a Christian
         a. We should fear God, not man - Mt 10:28
         b. The early church walked in the fear of the Lord - Ac 9:31
         c. We are to work out our salvation with fear and trembling
            - Php 2:12
         d. We should be fearful of apostasy, serving God with godly
            fear - He 10:26-31; 12:28-29
      -- The fear of the LORD is expressed in reverential submission to
         his will - NET Bible

   B. THE FEAR OF THE LORD ESTEEMED...
      1. From the book of Proverbs we learn concerning the fear of the Lord:
         a. It is the beginning of knowledge - Pr 1:7
         b. It will cause one to hate evil - Pr 8:13
         c. It will prolong life - Pr 10:27
         d. It provides strong confidence and is a fountain of life
            - Pr 14:26-27
         e. It prompts one to depart from evil - Pr 16:6
         f. It leads to a satisfying life, and spares one from much evil - Pr 19:23
         g. It is the way to riches, honor, and life! - Pr 22:4
      2. Thus without the fear of the Lord:
         a. We deprive ourselves of the treasures of God's wisdom and
            knowledge
         b. We will flirt with evil and be corrupted by it
         c. Our lives are likely to be shortened by our refusal to heed
            God's word (e.g., suffering sexually transmitted diseases if
            we do not heed His Word on sexual relationships)
         d. We will not come to know the love of God that gives us
            assurance and confidence of our salvation
         e. When fallen into sin, we will not be motivated to repent and
            turn to God!
         f. We will not be motivated to truly "work out our own
            salvation"
      -- The fear of the Lord should be a highly regarded and sought
         after trait to develop!

[The fear of the Lord serves as the beginning or principal part of
becoming truly wise.  Now let's notice the second half of verse 7 which
reveals...]

II. THE WAY OF FOLLY

   A. THE FOOLISH DESPISE WISDOM...
      1. The Hebrew word 'evil (fool) refers to a person characterized
         by moral folly - NET Bible
      2. It is an adjective meaning foolish in the sense of one who
         hates wisdom and walks in folly, despising wisdom and morality
         - TCWD
      3. This foolish disdain for wisdom expressed elsewhere in Proverbs
         - Pr 1:22; 17:16; 18:2
      -- For one to despise the wisdom of God (such as found in this
         book) is truly foolish!

   B. THE FOOLISH DISREGARD INSTRUCTION...
      1. Not interested in wisdom, they are unwilling to heed the
         counsel of others
      2. As expressed by the voice of wisdom herself - cf. Pr 1:25,30
      3. Lack of such counsel leads to defeat and failure - Pr 11:14; 15:22
      4. The fool listens only to his own heart - Pr 12:15
      5. But wisdom and delight can be attained through the counsel of
         others - Pr 19:20; 27:9
      -- In the book of Proverbs, the fool is characterized mostly by
         his or her unwillingness to listen to the advice of others
         (God, parents, friends, etc.)

CONCLUSION

1. Here then is the underlying theme throughout the book of Proverbs...
   a. Develop the fear of the Lord if you desire to become truly wise
   b. Discount the warnings and counsel of others, and you will be a
      fool!

2. As Christians, let us be truly wise by developing the fear of the Lord...
   a. For His knowledge has given us great and precious promises - cf.
      2Pe 1:2-4
   b. It behooves us to perfect holiness in the fear of God - cf. 2 Co7:1

Shall we be wise, or shall we be fools...?

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2016

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Has Noah's Ark Been Found? by Trevor Major, M.Sc., M.A.





Has Noah's Ark Been Found?

by Trevor Major, M.Sc., M.A.


Q.

Has Noah’s ark been found?

A.

In short, no, the ark has not been found. However, it is worth digging into this question a little deeper, because claims of discovery or sightings are so frequent.
People have reported seeing the ark many times over the last 150 years. They include Turkish soldiers, Russian pilots, Kurdish villagers, and foreign travelers. Most of the sightings and searches have focused on Greater Ararat (17,011 feet above sea level), although the biblical “mountains of Ararat” (Genesis 8:4), where the ark came to rest, probably refers to a much larger geographic area. The mountains are located in a politically troubled part of eastern Turkey, bordering Armenia and Iran. Ararat’s size and location have contributed to a variety of proposed sites, and some colorful adventures.
Most search efforts in the last few decades have attempted to pinpoint the locations given by previous “eyewitness” reports. One such report receiving much attention in the past year came from George Jammal—a Palestinian living in California. In an unsolicited letter to the Institute for Creation Research (ICR), and in a taped interview with ICR scientist John Morris, Jammal claimed to have discovered the ark in 1984. He alleged also to have a piece of wood from the ark, although Morris (1994) says he never was able to confirm this or the location of the find. Then in 1992, Sun Pictures began work on a film called The Incredible Discovery of Noah’s Ark. Although Morris had little confidence in the details of Jammal’s story, he referred Jammal to Sun, who used him extensively. During that interview, Jammal produced the mysterious timber.
The two-hour show, which aired on CBS in February 1993, switched between sensational stories about the discovery of the ark, and excellent scenes portraying evidence for a global flood. In either case, the anti-creationists were not happy. They expected CBS to make a public apology, but CBS and Sun maintained that the show was simply entertainment. What really caused a stir, however, was the revelation that Jammal literally cooked up his piece of wood, working in collusion with prominent humanist Gerald LaRue. Critics have had a field day using this incident to discredit the whole Ark show. Yet while the humanists snicker over their prank, we may ask which is worse: that Sun Pictures naively accepted someone’s claims at face value, or that people worked deliberately to lie and defraud? In any case, the film did not present a verifiable discovery of Noah’s ark, and Morris now regrets his involvement with Jammal (1994, p. 3).
Another controversial claim received wide attention in the early 1990s. Various video tapes and articles were in circulation proclaiming that the ark had been found 12-15 miles south of Greater Ararat (e.g., Yocham, 1991). Actually, this story began more than three decades ago. In 1959, a Turkish pilot had noticed a large, boat-shaped object in aerial photographs of the area, and an article in Life magazine the next year brought it to the world’s attention. Despite high expectations, a scientific expedition in 1960 showed that this was neither a boat nor the remains of Noah’s ark. However, one of the expedition’s members, René Noorbergen, published a book in 1974 claiming that this object was indeed the ark (Shea, 1988, p. 8).
The site’s most vigorous promoter is self-styled biblical archaeologist Ron Wyatt. Since his first visit in 1977, Wyatt has convinced various scientists to investigate the site. While many of these scientists believe in the Flood account, their results, plus surveys carried out by Turkish geologists, have shown convincingly that this boat-shaped object is a natural geologic formation. Various claims, such as having mapped the subsurface structure of a boat or having discovered wooden and metallic artifacts, are all false (Snelling, 1992).
No doubt more claims will come to light in the future. We must ask: Who is making these claims, and can the details be verified? Considering that the Ararat region has experienced volcanic and glacial activity, the likelihood of finding recognizable remains of an ancient wooden vessel is extremely remote. Therefore, Christians should treat ark discovery claims with a high degree of skepticism.

REFERENCES

Morris, John (1994), “Noah’s Ark: Setting the Record Straight,” Acts & Facts, pp. 2-3, January.
Shea, William (1988), “Noah’s Ark,” Archaeology and Biblical Research, 1[1]:6-14,35, Winter.
Snelling, Andrew A. (1992), “Amazing ‘Ark’ Exposé,” Creation Ex Nihilo, 14[4]:26-38, September-November.
Yocham, Virgil (1991), Noah’s Ark (Lubbock, TX: Sunset Extension School, VHS tape recorded June 1991).

God’s Wood or Man’s Plastic? by Dave Miller, Ph.D.





God’s Wood or Man’s Plastic?

by Dave Miller, Ph.D.


Evolutionists are confident in their conviction that their explanations demonstrate their independent, autonomous existence to the exclusion of God. They literally “jump through hoops” and engage in scientific “ventriloquism” in their quest to achieve legitimacy for their atheistic bent. However, when all relevant evidence eventually comes to light, it fits “hand in glove” with the presence of the God of the Bible.
Prior to the invention of modern plastics, what would the Creator have humans to do for suitable containers? Wood, stone, or clay, and eventually metal, pretty much exhausted the possibilities. Yet, government agencies, like the USDA and the FDA, generally have advocated the use of plastic for cutting boards and other surfaces that sustain food contact, on the grounds that the micropores and knife cuts in wood provide hidden havens for deadly bacterial organisms. As one Extension Specialist from the Department of Human Nutrition stated: “for cleanability and control of microorganisms, plastic is the better choice.”
However, the best research available on the subject suggests otherwise. Dr. Dean Cliver, a microbiologist with the Food Safety Laboratory and World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Food Virology at the University of California-Davis, disputes the oft’-repeated claim regarding the superiority of plastic over wood. His research findings, conducted over a period of several years, have consistently demonstrated the remarkable antibacterial properties of wood.
Dr. Cliver and his research associates have tested five life-threatening bacteria (Escherichia coliSalmonellaCampylobacter jejuniListeria monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus) on four plastic polymers and more than ten species of hardwood, including hard maple, birch, beech, black cherry, basswood, butternut, and American black walnut. Within 3 minutes of inoculating wooden boards with cultures of the food-poisoning agents, 99.9 percent of the bacteria were unrecoverable. On the other hand, none of the bacteria tested under similar conditions on plastic died. In fact, leaving microbe populations on the two surfaces overnight resulted in microbial growth on the plastic boards, while no live bacteria were recovered from wood the next morning. Interestingly, bacteria are absorbed into the wood, but evidently do not multiply, and rarely if ever come back alive. In contrast, bacteria in knife scars in plastic boards remain viable (even after a hot-water-and-soap wash) and maintain their ability to surface later and contaminate foods. Treating wood cutting boards with oils and other finishes to make them more impermeable actually retards wood’s bactericidal activity. Microbiologists remain mystified by their inability to isolate a mechanism or agent responsible for wood’s antibacterial properties.
Do these research findings bear any resemblance to Mosaic injunctions 3,500 years ago which required the destruction of pottery that had become contaminated—while wood was simply to be rinsed (Leviticus 6:28; 11:32-33; 15:12)? Dr. Cliver concluded: “I have no idea where the image of plastic’s superiority came from; but I have spent 40 years promoting food safety, and I would go with plastic if the science supported it. I don’t necessarily trust ‘nature,’ but I do trust laboratory research.” Kudos to Dr. Cliver’s honesty. What about trusting nature’s God?

REFERENCES

Cliver, Dean O. (2002), “Plastic and Wooden Cutting Boards,” Unpublished manuscript.
Cliver, Dean O. (2002), personal letter.
Penner, Karen (1994), “Plastic vs. Wood Cutting Boards,” Timely Topics, Department of Human Nutrition, K-State Research and Extension.
Raloff, Janet (1993), “Wood Wins, Plastic Trashed for Cutting Meat,” Science News, 143[6]:84-85, February 6.
Raloff, Janet (1997), “Cutting Through the Cutting Board Brouhaha,” Science News Online, Food For Thought, July 11.

God’s Soap Recipe by Kyle Butt, M.Div.



God’s Soap Recipe

by Kyle Butt, M.Div.


When Old Testament instructions are compared to the New Testament explanations for those actions, it becomes clear that many of the ancient injunctions were primarily symbolic in nature. For instance, when the Passover Lamb was eaten, none of its bones was to be broken. This symbolized the sacrifice of Christ, Whose side was pierced, yet even in death escaped the usual practice of having His legs broken (John 19:31-37).
With all the symbolism in the Old Testament, it is important that we do not overlook the Old Testament instructions that were pragmatic in value and that testify to a Master Mind behind the writing of the Law. One such directive is found in Numbers 19, where the Israelites were instructed to prepare the “water of purification” that was to be used to wash any person who had touched a dead body.
At first glance, the water of purification sounds like a hodge-podge of superstitious potion-making that included the ashes of a red heifer, hyssop, cedar wood, and scarlet wool. But this formula was the farthest thing from a symbolic potion intended to “ward off evil spirits.” On the contrary, the recipe for the water of purification stands today as a wonderful example of God’s brilliance, since the recipe is nothing less than a procedure to produce an antibacterial soap.
When we look at the ingredients individually, we begin to see the value of each. First, consider the ashes of a red heifer. As most school children know, the pioneers in this country could not go to the nearest supermarket and buy their favorite personal-hygiene products. If they needed soap or shampoo, they made it themselves. Under such situations, they concocted various recipes for soap. One of the most oft’-produced types of soap was lye soap. Practically anyone today can easily obtain a recipe for lye soap via a quick search of the Internet. The various lye-soap recipes reveal that, to obtain lye, water was poured through ashes. The water retrieved from pouring it through the ashes contained a concentration of lye. Lye, in high concentrations, is very caustic and irritating to the skin. It is, in fact, one of the main ingredients in many modern chemical mixtures used to unclog drains. In more diluted concentrations, it can be used as an excellent exfoliate and cleansing agent. Many companies today still produce lye soaps. Amazingly, through God’s inspiration, Moses instructed the Israelites to prepare a mixture that would have included lye mixed in a diluted solution.
Furthermore, consider that hyssop also was added to the “water of purification.” Hyssop contains the antiseptic thymol, the same ingredient that we find today in some brands of mouthwash (McMillen and Stern, 2000, p. 24). Hyssop oil continues to be a popular “healing oil,” and actually is quite expensive. In listing the benefits of Hyssop, one Web site noted: “Once used for purifying temples and cleansing lepers, the leaves contain an antiseptic, antiviral oil. A mold that produces penicillin grows on the leaves. An infusion is taken as a sedative expectorant for flue, bronchitis, and phlegm” (see “Hyssop”).
Two other ingredients stand out as having cleansing properties. The oil from the cedar wood in the mixture provided a minor skin irritant that would have encouraged scrubbing. And the scarlet wool (see Hebrews 9:19) added wool fibers to the concoction, making it the “ancient equivalent of Lava® soap” (McMillen and Stern, 2000, p. 25).
Thousands of years before any formal studies were done to see what type of cleaning methods were the most effective; millennia before American pioneers concocted their lye solutions; and ages before our most advanced medical students knew a thing about germ theory, God gave the Israelites an award-winning recipe for soap.

REFERENCES

McMillen, S.I. and David Stern (2000), None of These Diseases (Grand Rapids, MI: Revell), third edition.
“Hyssop” (no date), [On-line], URL: http://www.taoherbfarm.com/herbs/herbs/hyssop.htm.

A DIFFERENT GOSPEL BY STEVE FINNELL



A DIFFERENT GOSPEL BY STEVE FINNELL


Can a different gospel other than the one found in the New Testament Scriptures saved anyone?

What is the gospel? The gospel is the good news preached about the kingdom of God and salvation through Jesus Christ.

Is there an example in the New Testament of preaching a different gospel? Yes. Jewish Christians, who were Judaizers. These Jewish Christians were teaching that men had to obey the Law of Moses to be saved. (Galatians 2:1-21) Paul called the Judaizers, false brethren and said they had fallen from grace. (Galatians 5:1-4)

What happens to those who preach a different gospel. Galatians 1:6-9 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who call you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel.......9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching  to you a gospel contrary  to what you received, he is to be accursed?(NASB)

What did Paul say of those preaching a different gospel?
1. He called them false brethren.
2. He said they had fallen from grace.
3. He said they were to be accursed.

Mark 16:16 He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved....(NASB)

Would it be preaching a different gospel to say that men are saved without being immersed in water?
Jesus said those who have been baptized, (past tense), shall be saved.

John 8:24 'Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will will die in your sins."(NASB)

Would it be preaching a different gospel to proclaim that men do not have to believe that Jesus is the Son of God to be saved?

The gospel was preached on the Day of Pentecost.(Acts 2:22-41)
The apostle Peter preached Jesus as Lord and Christ. He preached the bodily resurrection of Jesus by God the Father. He told those who believed to repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins.

Would it be preaching a different gospel to say Jesus was not Lord and Christ?

Would it be preaching a different gospel to say God did not raise Jesus from the grave?

Would it be preaching a different gospel to deny that water baptism is essential for the forgiveness of sins?

Acts 4:10-12 ...the name Jesus Christ...12 And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."(NASB)

Would it be be preaching a different gospel to proclaim that there are many names under heaven by which men can  be saved; because Jesus is one of many ways to be saved.

What did the apostle Paul say about preaching a different gospel. He said they were false brethren, fallen from grace, and they were to be accursed. 

“Love the LORD your God” Joshua 23:11 by Roy Davison




“Love the LORD your God”
Joshua 23:11

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5).
This is “the first and great commandment” according to Jesus (Matthew 22:38).
We are commanded to love God. Thus, love is an action of the will, something we can choose to do or not to do.
Love is a virtue, the attitude that desires and actively promotes the benefit of another at one’s own expense. Love is the willingness to work hard, deprive one’s self and suffer, for the sake of someone else. Without love, all other virtues are worthless (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).

God is worthy of our love.

“We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
Men and women are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). Although this image has been tarnished by sin, we learn something about God’s love by observing man’s noblest attributes.
Our first knowledge of love comes through human relationships. A child is loved by his mother and father, by his grandparents, by other family members and by friends. He learns to love others.
From these relationships he also learns something about the love of God. And parents learn something about the love of God by raising a child.
But substantial knowledge about God’s love is available only because of revelation. In the Scriptures God’s love is explained, and it is demonstrated in His dealings with man.
The ultimate demonstration of God’s love was the sacrifice of His Son on the cross to redeem man: “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9, 10).
When God told His people, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” they had experienced His love many times and in many ways. He had every right to expect their love in return.
“How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings” (Psalm 36:7). “Remember, O LORD, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses, for they are from of old” (Psalm 25:6).

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart.”

Superficial religion does not please God. Most religious practices on earth are vain formalities.
This was true of Israel when God said through Isaiah: “These people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me” (Isaiah 29:13).
Jesus applied this to His time: “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me’” (Mark 7:6).

Superficial or half-hearted worship does not please God. We must love God with our whole heart: with feeling, sincerity and dedication.

“You shall love the LORD your God ... with all your soul.”

Even our heart is not enough. We must love God with our whole being. Loving God is not something we do now and then. Love for God pervades our soul, is an essential part of our being, defines who we are, and influences all that we do.
Paul enlarges on this, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1, 2).

“You shall love the LORD your God ... with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).

True love for God is based on reason. We love God “with all the understanding” (Mark 12:33).
Paul says, “I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding” (1 Corinthians 14:15).“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment” (Philippians 1:9).
Our love for God must be knowledgeable. We love God with our mind, with our whole mind.

“You shall love the LORD your God .. with all your strength.”

We must love God full force.
Although the Christians at Ephesus had persevered and had exposed false teachers, their love had grown weak: “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place - unless you repent” (Revelation 2:4, 5). Notice that love is indicated by works.
Lukewarm love is not sufficient. Jesus warned the church of the Laodiceans: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:15, 16).
Jesus said, “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12).
Our love for God must be full strength.
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment” (Mark 12:30).

God must be our first love.

Love for God supplants love for self, money, pleasure and the world: “For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, ... lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:2, 4, 5). “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).
Love for God must surpass love for family. Jesus said: “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:37).

What does it mean to love God?

Our love for God is intense adoration and affection.
We yearn for someone we love: “O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water” (Psalm 63:1).
We want to be near someone we love. God’s people were told “to hold fast to Him” (Deuteronomy 11:22) and to “cling to Him” (Deuteronomy 30:20). They who love God are attached to Him.
Although we learn love from God, His love for us is different from our love for him. His love is sovereign and unearned. Our love is dependent and submissive. He is the Father, we are the toddlers. He is the Shepherd, we are the lambs.
“Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations” (Psalm 100:1-5).
We rejoice in someone we love. “But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; let those also who love Your name be joyful in You” (Psalm 5:11).
When we love God, we want to praise and thank Him for His goodness. “Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; let such as love Your salvation say continually, ‘The LORD be magnified!’” (Psalm 40:16).

How do we show our love to God?

Although love cannot be seen, it affects everything we do. “Let all that you do be done in love” (1 Corinthians 16:14).
We want to serve someone we love. God promised to bless His people, “if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 11:13). Thus, he who loves God with heart and soul, serves God with heart and soul.
Motivated by love we gladly obey God: “Therefore you shall love the LORD your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always” (Deuteronomy 11:1).
When Joshua sent the Reubenites, Gadites, and half tribe of Manasseh back to their homes on the eastern side of the Jordan, he admonished them, “But take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul” (Joshua 22:5).
In his parting words when he was old, Joshua told the people, “Take careful heed to yourselves, that you love the LORD your God” (Joshua 23:11).
Jesus tells His followers: “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word” (John 14:23).
John explains: “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). When we love God with our whole heart, we gladly obey Him. “This is love, that we walk according to His commandments” (2 John 6).
We want to communicate with someone we love. We talk to God in prayer and listen to His word in the Scriptures. Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27).
We want to know someone we love and we want to be known by the one we love. “If anyone loves God, this one is known by Him” (1 Corinthians 8:3). “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:8).
We want to have fellowship with someone we love. Christians show their love for God by gathering around the Lord’s table “on the first day of the week” (Acts 20:7) to participate in the body and blood of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16).

What have we learned?

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment” (Mark 12:30).
God is worthy of our love. We love Him because He first loved us. From human relationships we learn something about the love of God, but substantial knowledge about God’s love is gained only through the Scriptures. Superficial or half-hearted worship does not please God. We present our bodies as living sacrifices. God must be our first love. We cannot love God if we love self, pleasure, money or the world. Our love for God must exceed our love for family.
Our love for God is intense adoration and affection. We hold fast to God and cling to Him.
We show our love to God by serving and obeying Him. We talk to God in prayer and listen to His word in the Scriptures. Christians show their love for God by participating in the body and blood of Christ at the Lord’s table each first day of the week. Our soul yearns for God. We rejoice in Him and magnify His holy name. Amen.

Roy Davison

The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982, Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers.
Permission for reference use has been granted.


Published in The Old Paths Archive
(http://www.oldpaths.com)

Little, but great! by Gary Rose


Liver loaf; really? Never heard of it, for that matter veal loaf and tongue loaf are new to me as well. The other items sound familiar, but there IS something on this page that should be familiar to all of us who were adults in the late seventies.

Give up? Well, how about that address: Ottumwa, Iowa? Sound familiar? It does to me; for it is the home of “Radar O’Reilly” from the series M.A.S.H.. Never been there and probably won’t.

As far as an out of the way place; there is one mentioned in the book of Micah…


Micah 5 ( World English Bible )
[2] But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, which are little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of you he will come out to me who is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from long-ago, from the days of everlasting.


This little place produced the most famous person in all history – JESUS. And I am quite sure that you will remember HIM. You better, he died to free you from your sins.