River Depths 9

My house threw up. My boys are finishing my bathroom and installing a sink in my laundry room this weekend. Everything is an absolute mess. I’ve been living in this unfinished house for five years, and I’ve accumulated a few things. Life as usual can’t go on right now. I can’t find my kitchen table, and much of the seating in my house is unavailable. Cooking is hard. Meals are makeshift. Our normal family meals are wherever we can find a place to sit. I’m missing our mealtime discussions, and my “no eating outside of the kitchen” rule has been suspended, resulting in having to chase down dishes from all over. It’s a bit overwhelming, but it’s only temporary. In the end, it will be worth it. The Bible compares your life to a house. It will be unfinished until the day God calls you home. Is your life a mess? Do you feel like you can’t get anything done? Is communication with those you love breaking down? Are you working your tail off cleaning up other people’s messes? Consider that p...

  [Job 1:6-12 KJV] 6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. 7 And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. 8 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that [there is] none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? 9 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? 10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. 11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. 12 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath [is] in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the ...

  I love Biblical rabbit trails, don’t you? The other day, I was translating names in Luke 3 and came across the name Tiberius. Since I don’t know much about the individual Roman Caesars, I decided to look him up. This led to an in-depth investigation of the origins of the name, and ultimately to the land of Israel and the region of Galilee, where we surprisingly find a version of this name. The Sea of Tiberias is also called the Sea of Galilee, and the Sea of Gennesaret (GK) or Chinnereth (Hebrew).  Both Galilee and the Chinnereth are ancient names used in the Old Testament from the time of Joshua on, as well as in the New Testament.  John identifies the Sea of Tiberias in John 6:1 After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is [the sea] of Tiberias. Tiberias means “from the river god”. The River Tiber is the river that flows through Rome. It is named after Tiberinus, the god of Rome. The name Tiber means “water”. Galilee means circuit district or a...

  In John's gospel, a woman who had been caught in adultery was brought to Jesus. He challenged those who had brought her to throw the first stone if they were without sin. All backed away. Then John 8 says this: 10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? 11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. You see that? Jesus didn’t condemn the woman to death, but He did recognize the sin. We are to imitate Jesus. Jesus did not tell the woman that it was ok to keep on committing adultery because everyone sins. To do so would encourage her to continue in behavior that would destroy both her and her family. That is not love. [Mat 7:1 KJV] 1 Judge not, that ye be not judged. This verse is often used to bully people into declaring acts of sin, especially sexual sin, as not sin. But that’s not what the Bible says. God does want ...

  I grew up in this mansion, not because my parents were rich, but because they chose to become foster parents and the state of Iowa kept asking them to take more and more kids. In 1969, there was a huge energy crisis that made large houses very undesirable, so my parents were able to buy this gigantic southern-style mansion for less than the price of a typical home. Do you have recurring dreams? I do. One that comes around time and time again is one where I am living in my parent’s house, but I am trying hard to be responsible and get a job so I can be self-sufficiant. I have landed the job, but circumstances prevent me from showing up for it every time. I had one of these last night and I’ve been praying about it all day. I realized that whenever I have these dreams, I am under some sort of financial pressure. Right now, my van needs work, and I need to go see my brother. He is very sick and lives 15 hours away. My life is full of responsibilities that don’t allow me to go to...

  Now, before you label me a heretic, hear me out. It just hit me that Jesus didn’t have the strength to go to the cross. He was so physically weak from the beating He took that He was unable to carry His cross from Jerusalem to Golgotha. He could have just laid down and died right there, but He needed to get to that cross, so they grabbed a seemingly inconsequential bystander, Simon.   [Mat 27:32 KJV] 32 And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross. But was he really? I looked up the meanings of the names Simon and Cyrene. Simon means “heard,” and Cyrene means “supremacy of the bridle.” A bridle is how one controls a powerful animal. Jesus had taken on the bridle of buying our redemption from sin, but His fleshly body was too weak to do the job. The Father “heard.” The mission Jesus was on was the supreme mission of all time. So, God sent in a man to help, a man with a message in his name. The first-century Jews w...