Musing – How might God react to America’s misbehaviors?

 Hebraic Musing – How might God react to America’s misbehaviors?

Reading through the accounts of the nation of Israel in the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah I ran across too many repetitive responses from God like this one.  “Through your own fault you will lose the inheritance I gave you. I will enslave you to your enemies in a land you do not know, for you have kindled my anger, and it will burn forever.” Jeremiah 17:4a NIV   I wonder if that might apply to America?

These words caught my attention because we tend to think of God Almighty, and especially Jesus, as loving.  We tend to forget that chastisement is an act of love, but not always recognized as such.

This was Jeremiah’s explanation of how and why the LORD felt He had to deal with His beloved Jerusalem. “People from many nations will pass by this city and will ask one another, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?'  And the answer will be: ‘Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God and have worshiped and served other gods.'” Jeremiah 22:8-9 NIV   Wow!  Doesn’t that sound like it would apply to America today?!?!  And if so, what might be ahead for us?

Revelation 18:1-3 describes an angel giving Babylon a final warning as they were about to get what they deserve.  Then verses 4-5 warn us, God’s chosen.  “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.”   Does this mean Time’s up?  And/or, Christians, hold fast to your faith?  Or do not take the “Mark”?

What is the “Mark”?  What are we saying when we take it?  How might we take it?  “A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.  And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.”  Revelation 14:9-11

I repeat –  What is the “Mark”?  What are we saying when we take it?  How might we take it?

In how many ways might we find ourselves “Worshipping the beast”?  What is the “Beast”?

What should we to be doing?  Scripture answers in vs. 12 “This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.”  Are we prepared, ready to endure?

And here is the reward!   “I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” Revelation 20:4  

Final thought!  If you don’t want to believe the above message, or you want to ignore it, then these words above are like Jeremiah’s warning.  “Be assured, however, that if you put me to death, you will bring the guilt of innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and on those who live in it, for in truth the LORD has sent me to you to speak all these words in your hearing.” Jeremiah 26:15

Points to ponder

What is the “Mark of the Beast”?

If God does not punish America, will He owe Sodom & Gomorrah an apology?

Will God judge differently the Nation, the Church, or us individually?

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                   October 15, 2024
Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”   Weekly “Hebraic Musings”

Musing - How can we help Young Children to know God?

 Hebraic Musing - How can we help Young Children to know God?

My salvation testimony started at age 6 when I started first grade in a Catholic School; I proficiencied kindergarten!  (>:     The first lesson in the Blue Baltimore Catechism* consisted of three questions and answers; and these are the Q & A’a still locked into my memory to this day.
 - Q. Who made me?               A. God made me.
 - Q. Who is God?                  A. God is a supreme being, creator of all things.
 - Q. Why did God make me? A. God created me to worship and praise him forever.

I never forgot those questions and the answers.  They were instrumental in drawing me to Jesus 33 years later! 

Why can’t this simple teaching be taught to children as soon as they can comprehend?

And the most relevant Biblical reference is the account of Jesus Blessing Little Children! “Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 19:13-14 NKJV   This was just after Jesus had said “… it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” In vs. 18:14

And in Luke 18:16-17 Jesus told the adults, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.  Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”   Did Jesus just say to us that we need to have “child-like” faith?!?!

Since we’re talking about children getting to know God, and then Jesus, what does the Bible say about the salvation of souls of children below the age of accountability?  And for that matter, the salvation/souls of persons in a foreign land who do not hear the name of “Jesus”?

What did God say to the people when Joshua was to lead them into their Promised Land?  “Moreover your little ones and your children, who you say will be victims, who today have no knowledge of good and evil, they shall go in there; to them I will give it, and they shall possess it.” Deuteronomy 1:39   God recognized they “have no knowledge of good and evil”.    Hmm…yet they shall inherit the “Promised Land”!

Remember when King David was mourning the sickness of his child?  What did he say when he found out the child died?  “While the child was alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, ‘Who can tell whether the LORD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?  But now he is dead; why should I fast?  Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.’” 2 Samuel 12:23 NKJV

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4 NKJV

And one more verse to consider.  “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,” Romans 1:20 NKJV   Can Almighty God be recognized in creation?

Points to ponder

At what age might children start thinking about the three Q & A’s above?

Might sharing these three Q & A’s open the minds of young children?

At what age or situation did you start thinking about God?

♫  Jesus loves the little children, All the children of the world. Red, and yellow, black, and white,
            They are precious in His sight.  Jesus loves the little children of the world. ♫

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                   October 8, 2024
Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”   Weekly “Hebraic Musings”

* Baltimore Catechism - Lesson One --- THE END OF MAN

1. Q. Who made the world?
           A. God made the world.

2. Q. Who is God?
            A. God is the Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things.

3. Q. What is man?
            A. Man is a creature composed of body and soul and made to the image and likeness of God.

6. Q. Why did God make you?
            A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him for ever in heaven.

9. Q. What must we do to save our souls?
            A. To save our souls, we must worship God by faith, hope, and charity; that is, we must believe in Him, hope in Him, and love Him with all our heart.

10. Q. How shall we know the things which we are to believe?
            A. We shall know the things which we are to believe from the Catholic Church, through which God speaks to us.

11. Q. Where shall we find the chief truths which the Church teaches?
            A. We shall find the chief truths which the Church teaches in the Apostles' Creed.

12. Q. Say the Apostles' Creed.

I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
   born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried;
he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
   from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints,
   the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting.
Amen.

Musing – Have you shared your Testimony? Here’s mine.

 Hebraic Musing – Have you shared your Testimony?  Here’s mine.

My name is Joe Brusherd.  I’m a retired CPA, Int’l consultant and been a CFO for a variety of  companies.

Some 80+ years ago I grew up in Cicero, Illinois, as the oldest of eight children.  After college, my career started as a CPA.  My wife and I raised six children which has since multiplied to a family tree of 49!

For the first 37 years of my life I had a limited understanding of God; never tried to figure out God’s purpose for my life despite these Three Questions and Answers from my first grade catechism class that stuck with me:

Q. – Who made me?                          A. – God made me.
Q. – Who is God?                              A. – God is the Supreme Being    who created all things.
Q. – Why did God make me?           A. – God made me to worship Him; and to praise Him forever.

During those years my selfish ways, my anger, my unclean thoughts plagued me; and in desperation I agreed to go on a Marriage Encounter weekend to enrich our marriage, which desperately needed enrichment.  After that experience in 1976, I became a curious seeker of the God I had known as a child.  I enjoyed the fellowship with other couples.  One couple I especially admired and respected, Bill and Mary Blessing, had something I wanted, and they frequently referenced their “Cursillo” experience. 

On a Thursday in August 1977, friends of Bill Blessing drove me the 80 miles for a three day “Cursillo” retreat.  As I got out of the car I asked, “Aren’t you coming in?”  They answered, “No, we were just giving you a ride” and they drove off.  That act of sacrificial love was just the beginning.

On the second day a priest, Father Tony Tascheta, spoke and his message, presentation and style was awesome. I kept thinking that he missed his calling; he should have been a VP of Sales!  I was in a daze, so we went to the Chapel.  As we walked into the Chapel, I saw Father Tony Tascheta on his knees praying and thanking Jesus for all the words Jesus had given to him to speak to “the men out there.”    

My knees gave out and I found myself kneeling, crying crocodile tears into a puddle on the terrazzo floor and crying almost out loud “Jesus Christ, you are real.  I need to learn more about you.”  

At that moment I knew I would never be the same.  The peace in my inner being was unimaginable.  I no longer had feelings of desperation that resulted from knowing I was a sinner and, most of all, that I had been trying to hide by sinful ways from God, my Creator.

At the closing ceremony we entered big hall; I saw Bill and Mary Blessing in the audience.  They had cut their vacation short to be there for me.  I fell apart.  As part of the closing ceremony, we each had to stand up as the Holy Spirit led and tell what the weekend meant to us.  Eventually I went to the podium, froze, fell apart and finally blurted out “I talked to Jesus!”  That’s all I could say.  It was not much of a speech, but it meant volumes to me.  I was never so choked up in my life.

Very late Sunday night the Blessings gave me a ride home and I immediately woke up my wife and said, “Peggy, guess what happened to me on the weekend?”    She said, “What?”     I told her, “I talked to Jesus!”   And she said, “Does that mean you are ‘Born Again’?”    I answered, “I don’t know what you call it.  All I know is that I talked to Jesus. …  And I want you and all the kids to experience what I experienced.”   She smiled as she replied, “Too late Joe.  We already have.  We’ve all been praying for you.  (…for 10 years.”)

That was in August 1977.   I was 39 years old.  I know how blind a man, a husband and a sinner can be.  I found out why Jesus told Nicodemus “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”    That’s how Jesus came into my life.

And since my family was already “Saved”, it’s now my job to save the rest of the world as evangelist/teacher.

Points to ponder

What’s your Testimony?  I’d really like to read it!  (Yosef1@cox.net)

Do you have it in written form, ready to tailer to the situation?

“Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.” Matt.10:32

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                   October 1, 2024
Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith” 
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”    Weekly “Hebraic Musings”