Tuesday, January 16, 2007

e-mail 1/4/7

To understand and to be understood is sometimes hard to do. People today use different terms to mean the same thing and yet can have entirely different meanings and often cause great confusion. I remember when it was all right to say that you were gay and happy. Today, no decent person would dare to use these terms together especially if they were a Christian and even more so if they were members of a Southern Baptist Church.

I like words and I like using words correctly. Often in reading the Scriptures with Bob at night, I am flipping to the concordance or to the index in the back of the Bible to find the correct pronunciation or the correct meaning of the word as used in a particular instance. Since we try to read from different translations each year or so, and make comparisons to get the full meanings of the Scriptures, we really have some fun questions and commentaries. I love it when I get to ask and Bob's answers are "I don't know" because it happens so seldom. Bible study at our house is really a fun time as well as serious and time of learning for both of us.

In spite of the different translations or different words used, there is one purpose that goes through every translation that we have read: JESUS IS LORD, HE IS LORD OF ALL CREATION, HE IS THE SAVIOR OF ALL MANKIND WHO WILL BELIEVE IN HIM.

A recent devotion by a missionary in Africa wrote of driving through a National Park and seeing all the wildlife and admiring all the different animals when there was a scream of the baboon announcing that there was something ahead. All the animals attention was fixed on something more important than the truck the missionaries were riding in. In the bushes ahead was a large male lion, the king of the jungle. All animals focused on him. The missionary was reminded that "The Lion of Judah commands and deserves the same kind of focus from us. We must stay so intently focused on the King of Kings that when distractions come, we are not moved! For when our eyes are fixed on Him, we exalt Him and others will be drawn to Him...*" I believe this with all my heart. When our hearts and eyes are fixed on Jesus we do not need junk to bring people to Jesus, He is enough. His Word speaks loudly enough to say all we need to hear.

As we finished up with the book of Revelation in December, it was awesome to read that in Heaven there is not going to be any confusion of words they are already written."WORTHY IS THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN THAT HAS TAKEN AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD, TO RECEIVE POWER AND WEALTH AND WISDOM AND STRENGTH AND HONOR AND GLORY AND PRAISE...TO HIM WHO SITS ON THE THRONE AND TO THE LAMB BE PRAISE AND HONOR AND GLORY AND POWER FOR EVER AND EVER," "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY IS THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS, AND IS, AND IS TO COME."

This is the Jesus I love! This is the Jesus I worship! This is the Jesus I look forward to bowing before! Do I ever look forward to these words? Yes I do! Do I look forward to days when people care first and foremost about the things that God cares about? Yes I do!

I'm not perfect in this life but thank God, he looks at the heart and one thing I know: God really cares that we continue to

Share His love,

Peggy

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