2023-03-10
Good Morning Dear Ones,
I happen to be teaching a Bible study which is designed to look in-depth at the Scriptures and began at GN 1: 1 and has been taking each book in the order that it appears. God has seen fit to give me students who are sticking with this fascinating study and have so far gotten to the book of Psalms. Our plan is to continue and not to stop until we have finished the book of Revelation at REV 22: 21. This is mentioned because God has gradually been revealing more and more detail as the Scriptures unfold. If we look back on human history, what God reveals in the beginning has with little detail. But as we are working our way through the Scriptures, what looked like a view through cloudy glass, is becoming gradually clearer, as God thinks we are ready for it--shown in greater definition, until like looking through a mirror. [1COR 13: 11-13]. JN 13: 34-35, [Christ’s words], “A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you much love one another. By this everyone will know you are My disciples if you love one another.” He is showing us how to show others His love.
DT 29: 29 began it all, showing us that God’s plan would be gradually unpacked over time. Why mention this? It is because we need to be patient and listen for the concepts God is teaching us in the Scriptures [2 TIM 3: 16-17], something He does in His own perfect way and time. By the time the apostle, Paul, wrote PHIL 4: 7, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus,” His plan of salvation was finally getting pretty clear. God didn’t send Christ to earth to make His great atoning sacrifice until He thought the time was right. That was excellent and praiseworthy. Our omniscient and Triune God knows exactly what He is doing, and keeps the goal of bringing as many people as possible to where they can be saved.
God doesn’t want us to be miserable, but He does want us to gain the strength morally and in other ways to avoid temptations the evil one puts in our paths. So, His system works in that we learn the faith and strength necessary by working our way through these challenges with His help. JN 14: 25-27 [Christ’s words], “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all the things and will remind you of everything I’ve said to you. Peace, I leave you, My peace I give you. I do not give you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” Only Christ can give us this kind of direction, because it is only His to give.
LK 2: 41-52 shows us how peace looked in Christ’s life and time on earth. Every Passover, his earthly parents took Him to the temple in Jerusalem. At the age of 12, the boy Jesus, was with his teachers listening and asking questions on the stoa [covered walkway] of the temple. When His folks thought He was with them as they left for home, they realized he wasn’t. It took them three days to find Jesus back in Jerusalem in the temple stoa. The teachers were amazed at the Boy’s intelligent questions and understanding of the discussion taking place. Mary exclaimed, “Why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been looking for you!” Jesus looked up at them asking, “Didn’t you know I had to be in My Father’s house?” Then, Jesus went to Nazareth with His earthly folks obeying them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart and Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, gaining in favor with God and man.”
We can ask: Why did Christ reveal His knowledge of God at Passover? We can find the answer in 1 COR 5: 6-8. “Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you an be a new unleavened batch of dough –as you really are. For Christ, our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us keep the Festival with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” As we can see from this passage, it was no accident that Christ showed His knowledge of the Father at Passover. Yeast is being used here as a symbol of evil. If one thinks about what Jewish boys are normally doing at the age of 12, the answer would be preparing for their Bar Mitzveh, the rite of passage from spiritual childhood to adulthood in the faith. And here was Jesus, engaging in a conversation with learned adults and holding his own!
PRAYER: O Lord, even the teachers of the law in the Jerusalem temple were aware of the significance of what they were seeing with this precocious lad of 12. We who read and study the Scriptures often don’t know until we find ourselves unable to deny faith in Him. Faith in Jesus is a gift, You give us, a gift which teaches us how to take that rocky path that leads from the narrow gate to eternal life [MT 7: 13-14]. We must express our praise and thanks for this information His atoning sacrifice made for us. We surely don’t deserve it, but You are giving us Your most excellent grace. Guide us along the way; remind us our trials must be put in realistic perspective [1 COR 10: 13]; always be present with us, so that we might serve You with distinction. We ask these things in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I’m commanded by the Holy Spirit to begin with the significance of the story found in LK 2: 41-52. Once that is discussed, we need to go on to the story of some of Christ’s miracles performed, and how they impact the lives of others and our own lives. I’ve been told by a mentor that, “Nothing, no jot and tittle of what is in the Bible, is there without significance to us.” That was the exact way this was put to me. Naturally, I asked: What about those long lists of genealogy, punctuation, and words like, “selah?” My mentor laughed and said everything is included in what he had told me. Now, all these many years later, I have come to see this for myself. God didn’t waste anything when He was inspiring the prophets, the kings, the author of the epistles, and, of course, our very Lord Jesus Himself. Some of the early names were used to denote parts of the world map; people like King David and others wrote the psalms that not only express God’s concepts and His will but gave us beautiful songs/poetry used in worship. The Jewish culture gets passed along, as well as mankind’s history; God’s moral code is presented, stories of remarkable courage, like David and Goliath, and covenant theology are taught. Yes, there is something good for everyone in the Scriptures. At the every end, all the prophecies that came before it are consummated in the book of Revelation. So, much that God has given us in His “Love Letter” to mankind helps us to live a righteous and faithfully obedient life if it is followed. Is it no wonder that the Bible is and remains the best-selling of all books? Think about how incredibly blest all who believe in our Lord are! Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be To You Always,
Lynn, JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2023. All Rights Reserved.
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