Musing – What does Almighty God want to show us?

 Hebraic Musing – What does Almighty God want to show us?

In the “Lord’s Prayer” we glibly say “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  Do we really want “Our Father” to lead us?  Do we really want Him to lay out our lives before us?  If He did, we’d probably rebel because we want to “do it my way”!  That is why our Loving Father God has to lead His children step-by-step. 

The phrase “show you” appears almost 30 times in the Bible.  It starts with God talking to Abram in Genesis 12; and finally in Revelation 21:9 – “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

There is a progressive revelation in the way Our Father “shows us” the Way.  He is continually checking our faith.  When we are obedient to the guidance He has given us, then He can and will lead us into the next step.

Unfortunately, we often ignore His leading because of vagueness or our own sinful desires.  Maybe this is why we are called to have “blind faith” since we do not understand or appreciate Our Father’s plans for us.  ♫ Trust and obey, for there's no other way, To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey … ♫

Our Father started His plan to lead His people by speaking to Abram (even before He changed Abram’s name to Abraham). “Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.  I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Genesis 12:1-3 NIV

Thus, Our Father’s plan for us began; BUT we independent thinkers want to know as much about the future as possible, so we stop and ask questions like: 

• What is the destination?
• Where will we live?
• What do you want me to do?
• What will be required of me? 
• How long will it be until this happens? 
• How long do we have to stay there?

This reminds me of a song.  ♫ Why worry, when you can pray?  Trust Jesus, He’ll be your stay.  Don’t be a doubting Thomas, trust wholly in His promise.  Why worry, worry, worry, worry, When you can pray? ♫

Are we willing to be led each day to follow Our Father’s leading the way Abram did, no matter how vague it is?

Maybe our daily prayer needs to be “let me serve you Lord and be a blessing to someone today.”  Are we willing to be led each day to do Our Father’s will instead of our own?  Can we trust Him even though most of His instructions will be vague, but progressive?

Looking back in our own lives, how many steps in our personal Christian growth came about as a result of obedience to His progressive guidance? 

If we want to know what we are to do next, maybe we should sing Matthew 7:7-8 NIV.  
♫ “Ask and it will be given to you; Seek and you will find; Knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who Asks receives; the one who Seeks finds; and to the one who Knocks, the door will be opened.”

Points to ponder

How many more growth steps does “Our Father” have for us?   Have you asked Him?

What does Our Father want me to do next?

BTW – Notice the acronym in the song – A S K

Missourians have an advantage; they are already in the “Show Me” state!

“… put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Matthew 4:24

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                   November 28, 2023

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage”     Weekly “Hebraic Musings”    

Note – Inspired and excerpted from Johanna Hocker’s commentary “I will Show you”, October 24, 2023

Musing – How many ways are there to say Thank You on Thursday?

 Hebraic Musing – How many ways are there to say Thank You on Thursday?

Our family’s custom is to pray before the meal; for the Thanksgiving Day meal we ask everyone to share what it is they are thankful for.  Warning – This can take a while!

Here’s some scriptural hints from the NKJV:

·      1 Thessalonians 5:18 “in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Or ♫ In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus, concerning you.♫

·      Psalm 95:1-3  “Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. For the LORD is the great God, And the great King above all gods.”

·      Psalm 136 “Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.  Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! For His mercy endures forever. Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords! …….”

·      Colossians 3:17  “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

·      Ephesians 5:20  “giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,”

And if you have difficulty remembering things to be thankful for, sing these two songs:

·      ♫ When upon life's billows you are tempest tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done. ♫

·      ♫ Look what the Lord has done.  Look what the Lord has done. He healed my body, He touched my mind.
    He saved me it was just in time.  I'm gonna praise His name. Each day He's just the same.
     Come on and praise Him.   Look what the Lord has done. ♫

However, if you want to acknowledge the biggest blessing of all, sing this:

·      ♫ Thank you Lord, for saving my soul, Thank you Lord, for making me whole;
       Thank you Lord, for giving to me  Thy great salvation so rich and free.♫

Points to Ponder

Do you appreciate it when people thank you?   How might Father God feel?

If you want something to be thankful for, just take a deep breath
and say “Thank you Lord for giving me life”

♫ Give thanks with a grateful heart, Give thanks to the Holy One.
    Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son.    And now let the weak say, "I am strong". 
      Let the poor say, "I am rich   Because of what the Lord has done for us".  Give thanks! ♫

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                             November 21, 2023

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
             “Biblical Marriage”               Weekly “Hebraic Musings”

Musing – How Does One Respond to a Wedding Invitation?

 Hebraic Musing – How Does One Respond to a Wedding Invitation?

Jesus’ parable (red letters) in Matthew 22:2-14 describes the importance of weddings.  It begins with the King’s preparations and how He deals with guests who refuse to come.  Here’s Jesus’ own words vs by vs in NKJV.

Matt. 22:2  “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son,”   God is preparing a wedding feast for His Son, Jesus.  God’s “marriage to His people Israel was well-known from Psalm 45:15-16.   “With gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought; They shall enter the King's palace.16 Instead of Your fathers shall be Your sons, Whom You shall make princes in all the earth.  Jesus is claiming to be this King’s Son.  The sacrament of marriage is a foreshadowing of God’s plan for each of us.

Matt. 22:3  “and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.”    When invitations are extended, they did not include the exact time.  Yehovah’s servants could refer to angels, or it could refer to evangelists, Christians like us who obey Jesus’ command to go into all the world!?!?    But invited guests refused, unheard of in Bible times!  These would be the people in Jesus’ day who loved His miracles, but not all were willing to surrender.  Familiar today?

Matt. 22:4   “Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.”’   Is the killing of an animal symbolic of Jesus being the Lamb sacrificed for us?

Matt. 22:5  “But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.”  These unbelievers are not interested.  Do we still have those who ignore Jesus’ invitation, or even ignore Our Creator God?   It is impossible to have a marriage or a relationship with God without surrender.

Matt. 22:6  “And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.”  
This refers to the Pharisees of Jesus’ day.  Or could it also refer to persecutors today, like Hamas?

Matt. 22:7  “But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.”  Could this refer to hell?  Could the “City on fire” be Jerusalem in 70AD?

Matt. 22:8-9  “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. ‘Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’”   Are we His servants?  Is everyone in the world invited?  Are we expected to go into all the world and preach the gospel?

Matt. 22:10  “So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.”  This sounds like “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Matt..16:15   Who is Jesus telling to go?   And to do what?

Matt. 22:11-12  “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. “So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.”  Is Jesus reflecting on an OT prophesy in Zephaniah 1:7-8?  “For the day of the LORD is at hand, For the LORD has prepared a sacrifice; He has invited His guests. And it shall be, In the day of the LORD's sacrifice, That I will punish the princes and the king's children, And all such as are clothed with foreign apparel.”   We can also learn from Esther who prepared to meet the king with a full year of beauty treatments.  How could anyone refuse to be properly attired to meet the King of Kings?

Matt. 22:13  “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and  cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”     This is an obvious reference to hell.

Matt. 22:14  “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Points to Ponder

What are we servants called to do about our “unsaved” family, friends and neighbors?

What are we servants called to do about the “unsaved” in our churches?

Does my “Biblical Marriage” book* become even more meaningful?

♫  Go, tell it on the mountain, Over the hills and everywhere. Go, tell it … That Jesus Christ is born. ♫

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                             November 14, 2023

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage”     Weekly “Hebraic Musings”    

Notes – Excerpted from & inspired by Johanna Hocker’s “You are invited”  November 8, 2023
*  My “Biblical Marriage” book is available from Amazon.  Search “Biblical Marriage Yosef”.

Musing – What does the Bible say about how we are to treat “Others”?

 

Hebraic Musing – What does the Bible say about how we are to treat “Others”?

The Bible tells us at least 10 times to “love your neighbor.”  To emphasize that point, the Bible also has well over these 27 New Testament passages (in NIV) that tell us specifically how we are to treat “one another”.

1.      Be at peace with each other. Mark 9:50

2. Wash one another’s feet. John 13:14
3. Love one another. John 13:34
4. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Romans 12:10
5. Honor one another above yourselves. Romans 12:10
6. Accept one another, then, just as Messiah accepted you. Romans 15:7
7. Instruct one another. Romans 15:14
8. Greet one another with a holy kiss. Romans 16:16
9. When you come together to eat, wait for each other. 1 Corinthians 11:33
10. If you kept biting and devouring each other, you will be destroyed by each other. Galatians 5:15
11. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. Galatians 5:26
12. Carry each other’s burdens. Galatians 6:2
13. Be patient, bearing with or another in love. Ephesians 4:2
14. Be kind and compassionate to one another. Ephesians 4:32
15. Forgiving each other. Ephesians 4:32
16. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Ephesians 5:19
17. Submit to one another out of reverence for Messiah. Ephesians 5:21
18. In humility, consider others better than yourself. Philippines 2:3
19. Do not lie to each other. Colossians 3:9
20. Spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Hebrews 10:24
21. Encourage one another. Hebrews 10:25
22. Do not slander one another. Hebrews 10:25
23. Don’t grumble against each other. James 5:9
24. Confess your sins to each other. James 5:16
25. Pray for each other. James 5:16
26. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 1 Peter 4:9
27. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others. 1 Peter 4:10

When preaching about “Others” at my church in California, I mentioned that “There are 7 billion ‘others’.”  My pastor immediately corrected me and said “No, Joe.  There are 7 billion minus one.”

Points to Ponder

Who is your neighbor, Biblically?

How often do we meet someone hurting?  What do they need?
How many kinds of hurts might the “other” person be suffering?

Do all the above “do’s” and “do not’s” come naturally? 
(I “double dog dare” you to score yourself!)

Jesus commanded us to “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” John 13:34

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                             November 7, 2023

Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage”     Weekly “Hebraic Musings”    

Note – Inspired by Johanna Hocker’s “What does the Bible have to say about how we treat others?” 10/18/23