Category Archives: Religion

Repost: The Claims of Christ

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I first posted this on October 5, 2006, and for some reason it has been on my heart to post it again. Perhaps someone reading needs the truth of these verses.

Some years back I read that someone said that Jesus Christ never claimed to be God. I was astounded that anyone would say or think that. Sure, He never stood on a mountaintop and said, “I am God” in those exact words. But He did proclaim His Deity. The next time I read through the New Testament, I put a “C” (for “claim”) next to every verse I found where Christ claimed something about Himself. Here’s what I found:

1) When the devil tempted Him to throw Himself off the pinacle of the temple if He was the Son of God, Jesus answered, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” I think He was referring not only to the situation of doing something foolish and expecting God to intervene, but I think He was also referring to Himself as God who should not be tempted. (Matthew 4:5-7)

2) He claimed the authority and the ability to forgive sins.

Matthew 9:6: But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. (In Mark 2:5-11 and Luke 5:18-25, those listening to that claim acknowledged that only God can forgive sins, but they did not accept that Jesus was God: they thought He was blaspheming. His subsequent healing of the man was to give them something they could see that demonstrated Who He was.)

3) He claimed to be greater than the temple.

Matthew 12:6: But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.

4) He claimed to be greater than Jonah.

Matthew 12:41: The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

5) He claimed to be greater than Solomon.

Matthew 12:42: The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

6) He confirmed that Peter’s proclamation of Him as the Christ, the Son of God, was revealed to Peter by the Father.

Matthew 16:15: He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

7) He claimed to be the Lord of the Sabbath (in response to the Pharisees fussing about his activities on the Sabbath).

Mark 2:29: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

8 ) He proclaimed His purpose in coming was to give Himself as a ransom.

Mark 10:45: For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

9) He claimed to be the Christ.*

Mark 14: 61 But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?

62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

63 Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses?

10) He claimed to be the One whom Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms foretold and the One in whose name repentance and remission of sins should be preached.

Luke 24: 44-47: And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

11) He claimed to be in heaven even while He was speaking to someone on earth, indicating omnipresence.

John 3:13: And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

12) He claimed that whoever believed in Him would not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:14-16: And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up. That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

(Also John 6:47; 10:28-29)

13) He claimed to give “living water.”

John 4:10, 13-14: Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water….Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

John 7:37-39: In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

14) He claimed to be the Messiah.*

John 4: 25-26: The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

15) He claimed to be the Son of God many times over: here are two examples:

John 5: 17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

(The reaction He got indicates they understood what He meant in claiming to be the Son of God.)

John 9: 35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?

36 He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?

37 And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.

38 And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.

(See also John 10:36)

16) He claimed that whoever heard His word and believed on Him that sent Him would not come into condemnation, but would pass from death unto life.

John 5:24: Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

17) He claimed that the Scriptures testified of Him.

John 5:39: Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

18 ) He claimed to be the bread of life.

John 6:35: And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

John 6:48: I am that bread of life.

John 6:51: I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

19) He claimed He would raise up those who believe on Him at the last day.

John 6:39-40: And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

20) He claimed to be the light of the world.

John 8:12: Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

(Also John 9:5)

21) He claimed to be from above and not of this world.

John 8:23: And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.

22) He claimed that if whoever does not believe in Him would die in their sins.

John 8: 24: I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.

23) He claimed to be not only before Abraham but to be the “I am” who spoke to Moses (Exodus 3:13-14):

John 8:58: Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

(The reaction to this statement shows they knew exactly what He meant [though they did not accept it] and to me this statement is one of the strongest proofs of Christ’s deity.)

24) He claimed to be the door of the sheep.

John 10: 7-9: Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

25) He claimed He came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly.

John 10:10: The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

26) He claimed He is the good shepherd.

John 10: 11, 14: I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

27) He claimed to be one with the Father.

John 10:30: I and my Father are one.

28 ) He foretold His betrayal so that when it happened they would know who He was.

John 13:18-19: I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me. Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.

29) He claimed to be the true vine without Whom we can do nothing.

John 15: 1, 5-6: I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

30) He claimed that we have peace in Him and that He had overcome the world.

John 16: 33: These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

31) He claimed that eternal life is knowing the Father and Himself.

John 17:3: And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

*For an explanation of what is meant by the terms “Messiah” or “Christ,” please go here and put the term “Messiah” in the search box. (I couldn’t get the direct link to the definition to work.)

Well, I think that adds up, don’t you? If I have overlooked any, please let me know in your comments. Some of these make more sense and have greater meaning in context. There are other things that attest to Christ’s Deity: the fulfillment of prophecy (something I did at the same time as this study was to also put a “P” in the margin beside every verse in the gospels and the first few chapters of Acts which spoke of some prophecy being fulfilled), His works, the testimony of others, the testimony of the Father (”This is my beloved Son in Whom I am well-pleased.” )

I hope and pray that any of you who have not recognized Him as Lord and Saviour would believe on Him even today, and I hope that the faith of believers will be strengthened by these truths.

(I am submitting this to Thursday Thirteen for the day though there are more than thirteen claims.)

With all our feebleness

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Two glad services are ours,
Both the Master loves to bless.
First we serve with all our powers —
Then with all our feebleness.

Nothing else the soul uplifts
Save to serve Him night and day,
Serve Him when He gives His gifts —
Serve Him when He takes away.

C. A. Fox

With my mother-in-law’s moving here plus my husband and I both reaching the half-century mark, I have been thinking a lot about aging and the decline of our strength and abilities. And though originally this post was just going to be about aging, I realized many of the principles also apply to those who are affected by illness or injury.

I discovered the above poem in Amy Carmichael of Dohnavur by Frank. L. Houghton preceding the last section of the book which told about Amy’s final years. After spending most of her adult life as a missionary in India, she suffered a fall which rendered her an invalid for twenty years. She remained in India. It is remarkable that these days most mission boards would send an invalid missionary home, yet Amy continued to have a ministry there.

In the early days after my TM diagnosis, though I wasn’t a complete invalid, in my “down” times I would think of the word “invalid,” meaning someone who is ill to the point of not being able to function, and change the accent to the second syllable to mean something that is not longer valid, or in other words, useless. Invalids can feel invalid. But they are not. God has a purpose for every person on the planet.

Our culture tends to glorify youth and vigor. But “God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty” (I Corinthians 1:27) and to showcase His strength (II Corinthians 12:8-10).

Elisabeth Elliot wrote in A Lamp For My Feet:

But my limitations, placing me in a different category from… anyone else’s, become, in the sovereignty of God, gifts. For it is with the equipment that I have been given that I am to glorify God. It is this job, not that one, that He gave me.

For some, the limitations are not intellectual but physical. The same truth applies. Within the context of their suffering, with whatever strength they have, be it ever so small, they are to glorify God. The apostle Paul actually claimed that he “gloried” in infirmities, because it was there that the power of Christ was made known to him.

If we regard each limitation which we are conscious of today as a gift–that is, as one of the terms of our particular service to the Master–we won’t complain or pity or excuse ourselves. We will rather offer up those gifts as a sacrifice, with thanksgiving.

I used to think, “Lord, I could serve you so much better without these problems.” But it’s as if He were saying, “No, this is what I am using to shape your service for Me.” As life changes, either through illness or aging, we need not lament what we can’t do any more. We can seek God’s will for what to do now.

As I wrote earlier, sometimes God’s purpose for our decline is that other people might learn and grow by ministering to us. This is hard to accept, because we don’t want to trouble them, we don’t want to be an inconvenience, we don’t want to need that kind of help. But graciously accepting that kind of help can be an example and a blessing to others.

My mother-in-law and I were discussing some of the…indignities of aging and wondering why the Lord allowed people to have to go through those kinds of things. Of course, our bodies are affected by the effects of the Fall of man and the entrance of sin in the world, one of those effects being decline and death. But years ago I heard one preacher say that our bodies fall apart as we age to make us willing to let loose of them. We have such a strong instinct of self-preservation, of wanting to live to see our children grow up, then our grandchildren, etc. But God can use the gradual decline of our bodies and their functions in order to wean us away from this world, to remind us that this body is just a temporary tabernacle, and to set our minds on getting ready for heaven.

Titus 2:3-5 tells us that older women are to teach the younger a multitude of things. I don’t think this always has to be in a classroom setting. It can be, in our culture, but at the time it was written there probably were not such things as seminars and retreats for women. But by their example and specific opportunities to say a word or give a testimony or share something learned along the way of life, older women can both teach and model those characteristics mentioned in Titus.

Psalm 71:16-18 says, “I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only. O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.”

That’s our ultimate purpose: to show forth His strength and His power.

Psalm 78:2-8:

2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:

3 Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.

4 We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.

5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:

6 That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:

7 That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:

8 And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.

One of the best messages I have ever heard

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Last night I got to bed way too late, for various reasons, and as I turned on the radio after getting in bed I heard one of the best messages I have ever heard by Dan Olinger. I found it online here. It basically has to do with dealing with doubts. I appreciate not only what he said but how he said it.

I like that he says “God is able to handle our questions.” He doesn’t always answer them the way we’d like. But He’s not intimidated by them.

I also like the understanding that it is good to make the faith one has grown up hearing one’s own. I know as my own children have asked questions as they’ve gotten older it can be scary, yet I think it is a necessary process for them to think through and accept the Word of God and the truths of Christianity for themselves. I think, sadly, that there are too many people who grew up with a kind of positive peer pressure who go along with the flow but who haven’t internalized what they’ve heard all their lives.

I’m not saying you have to question in order to believe. But I think most people do to some extent at some times.

Sometimes when those kinds of thoughts come, I’ve prayed that the Lord would lead me to the answer if there is one and to acceptance it if there is not one I would understand. After a while you develop enough knowledge of and experience with the Lord that you can trust Him with all those things you don’t understand without it shaking up your faith, but it’s amazing how often, after I’ve prayed that way, He will lead me to a sermon of book or chance remark that exactly answers what I had a question about.

I hope you’ll give that sermon a listen. I plan to listen to it again soon.

Tone makes a difference

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Recently I came across something written by a woman for women for the purpose of helping women, the content of which was excellent, but the tone was quite harsh.

I don’t know about other people, but a harsh tone tends to put me off and make the message hard to receive even when I know it is good. What does tend to draw me in is a coming-alongside, desiring-to-help attitude.

I don’t mean that we should be namby-pamby, cowardly, and spineless, or sacrifice truth under the guise of “love.” I know some of the prophets in Scripture could seem pretty harsh in their denunciations. But some of the tenderest expressions of God’s love and care are also found in those messages from the prophets. “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jeremiah 31:3) and “Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 31:20) are just a couple.

I know in my own life, before salvation, realizing that I deserved hell all made me see my need. And though perhaps it was the fear of hell that drove me to seek deliverance, it was the grace and love of God that drew me to Him. Since then, holding up the standard of God’s Word and the realization that I have missed the mark and that I need to get something right with Him convicts me, but the knowledge that “we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities” and the invitation to therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 15:16) draws me.

One of my children in particular who seemed most to “need,” by his actions, scolding and reprimand, would just close up and withdraw when I “let him have it” verbally. It not only didn’t change his behavior, it put a wall between us. I had to learn to balance dealing with the issue and showing love, care and concern. Other times a harsh scolding produces a defensive reaction.

I also had to learn that exasperation (which can often lead to that kind of harsh attitude) is often a fleshly response: I’m irritated that this is still going on, that I have to deal with it again, that the child doesn’t “know better” and hasn’t “gotten” it by now. How unlike God, whose mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). How unlike the “wisdom that is from above” which “is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17).

We need to be careful, too, in any kind of mentoring situation that we don’t approach it with an eye-rolling, exasperated, “Young people these days!” kind of attitude. That is sure to turn others off to any good we might want to do them. And we need to remember the purpose: when we have to deal with an issue, whether with a child, an employee, a committee member, or the general public in a book, blog, or talk, the purpose for dealing with the issue is not just to “get it off our chests.” That’s one sure way to come across as “scolding.” The purpose is to get them to see the importance of the issue and to change, not for our personal satisfaction, but for the stake of the truth we’re presenting.

Once I was listening to a sermon on the radio from a local pastor. I knew of him, I had read his books, I agreed with what he was preaching…yet at the end of it, something bothered me, and I couldn’t figure out what at first. Then I realized his main message, hammered over and over, was, “You need to get right.” Nothing wrong with that message: we do. But my own pastor at the time, whose ministry I was under for over fourteen years, would have said, “We need to get right” and then “There’s hope: here’s how to get right.” Though my pastor was one of the godliest men I have ever known, he, like Daniel (Daniel 9:1-19) and Ezra (Ezra 9), though they had not participated in Israel’s sin, yet they took their place with Israel and confessed the sins of the nation as though they were their own. I think that attitude of a fellow sinner helping sinners will help our message come across more compassionately.

We’ve all been under different kinds of authority figure in our lives and know what is it to have an infraction dealt with in such a way that we’re left hurt, deflated, discouraged, or angry, or, on the other hand, inspired to want to do right and to make restoration.

Of course, we’re responsible for the truth we hear no matter what tone or form it comes in. When we stand before God to give account of our lives, the excuse that we didn’t like how so-and-so delivered the message won’t hold up as a reason for not obeying it. If we are on the receiving end of a message with a harsh or scolding attitude, we still need to hear and apply and respond to the truth in the way the Lord would have for us to. But when we are sharing truth in any venue, let us remember to “Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man” (Colossians 4:5). The salt — the truth — is needed, but don’t forget the wisdom and the grace.

Oprah’s beliefs

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I came across this video recently on a friend’s Facebook page that shows clips of different things Oprah has said about her beliefs.

I haven’t read the book mentioned at the end, and I am not sharing this clip to promote it: I am sharing it because is shows Oprah saying things I had only heard second-hand about her beliefs.

I just wanted to comment on a few of the things said.

1. It bothered Oprah when she heard a preacher say that God is a jealous God. I am not sure why that bothered her. I guess jealousy has negative connotations, but unless it is taken to harmful extremes, it is a perfectly natural trait. What husband or wife wouldn’t be jealous of their spouse to a certain degree? God has even more reason to be jealous: if we’re drawn away from Him to false doctrine, we’re drawn into darkness.

2. Oprah emphasizes determining truth by feeling rather than by believing. That’s dangerous on two grounds. One is that “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25 and say, “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” We can’t trust our feelings. They fluctuate and can be affected by many things. The other danger with this thought is that “without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Hebrews 11:6). God does want us to believe, not just feel, and not to just believe anything about Him, but to believe what He has revealed.

Peter had one of the most profound experiences of anyone: he saw the Lord glorified, talking with Moses and Elijah. Yet he says in II Peter 1:

16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.

19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

He is saying there that Scripture is more sure than any experience, even one like he had.

3. She says there are many paths to God, but Jesus said, ” am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). I Timothy 2:5: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

4. It is interesting that one of her favorite quotes from the book she mentions has to do with humans making God in our own image, but that is the very thing she is doing (as is Eckhart Tolle, the author of the book she promotes and follows) when she goes by what she thinks and feels more than what the revealed Word of God says about Him.

5. God is more than a “force” or a “consciousness.” He is a Being; He has personality.

6. Oprah said she was searching for “something more than doctrine.” It is true that we need to have a relationship with Him rather than just a list of beliefs: but our relationship with Him needs to be based on those beliefs or else we are worshiping Him falsely. Doctrine is vitally important.

In light of these things it really disturbs me when Christian women quote her, especially when they quote her as some kind of spiritual authority. She may be a nice person, have a winning personally, and do a lot of good and charitable deeds, and those are all good things as far as they go, but they don’t get a person to heaven and they don’t qualify anyone as a spiritual authority. Personally I wouldn’t quote her even on anything “neutral” without some qualifier lest someone think I was giving tacit approval to what she says in general.

Some will be miffed at the thought of saying what might seem to be unkind toward her. I am not at all meaning to be unkind, but I want to warn people that that she is advocating is a false gospel.

II John 1:9-11: “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.”

OK, I’ve had about enough

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No, make that more than enough.

Enough what, you ask?

Enough of hearing the phrase, “Oh my God.” You hear it everywhere, but especially all over TV. The other day I heard the “oh my” in a high voice with God’s name in a low, guttural, drawn-out voice. On blogs and Internet forums it has been reduced to OMG. And then there are those who say “Jesus Christ” or shorten it to “Jeez.”

Why does this bother me?

Because I worship God and regard His name as high and holy.

He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name. Psalm 111:9.

Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake. Psalm 115:1.

Praise the LORD; for the LORD is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant. Psalm 135:3.

Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven. Psalm 148:143

The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe. Proverbs 18:10.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6.

But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. John 20:31.

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Romans 10:13.

And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. I John 3:23.

He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. I John 5:12-13.

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11.

That’s only a small smattering of what the Bible says about the name of God. One of the ten commandments is “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain” (Exodus 20:7).

What does it mean to take God’s Name in vain? Well, according to Dictionary.com “in vain” means:

a. without effect or avail; to no purpose: to apologize in vain.
b. in an improper or irreverent manner: to take God’s name in vain.

Using God’s name as a lower purpose for which it was intended is using it in vain. That certainly includes using it as an expression of surprise or disgust or anger or silliness or as just a filler in the blank spaces of conversation.

By the way, I believe this also applies to euphemisms of God’s name: gosh, golly, gee and the like. If you look up the definitions, all of these have their origins as an alteration of God or Jesus. But even though people might quibble about that, I think we can agree that using His actual name as an interjection is using it in vain.

Yes, I know this is not a Christian nation and not everyone believes in that name. But it seems that there could at least be a modicum of respect for it. I would never say, “Oh my Allah” or “Oh my Buddha” even though I do not believe in the Islamic religion or Buddhism. Think of the outcry there would be if people started doing that! Why should not the Christian God have at least that much regard?

Shepherd of Love

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Jesus and the Lamb by Katherine Brown

Shepherd of love, You knew I had lost my way:
Shepherd of love, You cared that I’d gone astray.
You sought and found me, placed around me
Strong arms that carried me home;
No foe can harm me or alarm me,
Never again will I roam!
Shepherd of love, Savior and Lord and guide,
Shepherd of love, Forever I’ll stay by Your side.

Shepherd of love, Contentment at last is mine;
Deep in my heart, There’s peace and a joy divine.
The future’s brighter, burdens lighter,
My cup runs over each day;
Your grace supplied me, now provides me,
All that I need for the way.
Shepherd of love, Savior and Lord and guide,
Shepherd of love, Forever I’ll stay by your side.

(I don’t know the author and couldn’t find it online. Does anyone else know?)

Morning prayer

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All praise to Thee, who safe hast kept,
And hast refreshed me while I slept.
Grant, Lord, when I from death shall wake,
I may of endless light partake.

Direct, control, suggest, this day,
All I design, or do, or say;
That all my powers, with all their might,
In Thy sole glory may unite.

From “Awake My Soul and With the Sun” by Thomas Ken

A joyful end

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Many are the afflictions of the righteous. Thus are they made like Jesus their covenant head. Scripture does not flatter us like the story books with the idea that goodness will secure us from trouble; on the contrary, we are again and again warned to expect tribulation while we are in this body. But – blessed “but,” how it takes the sting out of the previous sentence! – But the Lord delivers him out of them all. Through troops of ills Jehovah will lead his redeemed scatheless and triumphant. There is an end to the believer’s affliction, and a joyful end too. — C. H. Spurgeon

Sobering

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I’m reading through the OT book of Zechariah during my Bible reading, and these verses from chapter 7 really convicted me this morning. I underlined the parts that particularly jumped out at me.

4 Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying,

5 Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?

6 And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

8 And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying,

9 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:

10 And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.

11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

12 Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.

13 Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts…

It’s so very easy to “refuse to hearken” in little everyday things — but every detour off the right path begins with a single step. I am so thankful God forgives and restores. I hope and pray to be more sensitive to His Spirit in my daily life.