BUILDING BY LIZZIE

My wife has a blog called BUILDING BY LIZZIE. I own the domain name "Submissionisnotsilence.com" and intended to re-direct all clicks to it to the "Bulding by..." site.  But I mistakenly directed it to "submissionisnotsilence.blogspot.com"  Try the BUILDING BY LIZZIE site, it's more current. 

STORE TROUBLE IN PRISON OR DEATH ROW

John 18
At the time of his trial no one handling Jesus cared anything about the truth - they all had other purposes for dealing with him.  The Pharisees wanted him dead while Pilot just wanted this troublesome incident out of the way. 

Pilot wanted Jesus off his back.  Pilot couldn't get the Jews to handle him.  The Jews wanted him crucified but under Roman rule they had no authority for capital punishment.  They had to contrive some way to get it done by the Romans.  So, they told Pilot he was claiming to be a king.  This required a death sentence – no one could be king but Caesar.  Taking up the Jews’ line he started by trying to get Jesus to admit he was a King.  He was trying to get Him to admit some guilt, to accuse himself.  “So, you’re a king then,” said Pilot.  “You’re the one saying that,” said Jesus.  Pilot could not get Jesus to incriminate himself.  Finally he made a public statement that he found no guilt in Jesus.  This apparently riled the people enough to make for a possible riot.  Now a good Roman Governor can not have riots on his record so he released Jesus to the executioners. 

CORONA VIRUS, SHAMONA VIRUS!

We have lived a long time: have seen many things, experienced many things, and learned many things  We have had the pleasure of seeing our grown children themselves diligently raising a family.  We have had the pleasure of reading the Bible together aloud every day for all our married life, so we know what’s in there  We have benefited from the fellowship of many believers and non-believers  Both of us have been close to death’s door yet have been granted more engagement with life.  Neither of us were afraid at those times since we knew what lay on the other side, and that that place is better than this 

So, Corona Virus, Shamona Virus!  God’s plans for us on this side the door or the other are excellent plans.  And they are the best possible plans  Jer_29:11  "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end"  

Yet the young among us (meaning those less that fifty years old) may have trouble thinking this way.  I understand the anxiety of being absent from their friends and family.  What will happen to them?  It is sometimes hard to really trust that what God may do is for the best.  How can hardship be for the best?  Some questions and doubts will never be answered until we are walking with Jesus in heaven.

WHERE IS ZERO ON THE TIMELINE

John 17:6
This appears a very "Presbyterian" section because it speaks of some people in the world who are the Father’s, and some who are not.  “. . . The men which thou gavest me out of the world:  thine they are . . .”  And yet it does not say for sure there are only certain prescribed ones who will believe.  The ones who are "the father's" may as well be the father's because they exercised their will to believe.  God predestined the possibility for men to make a choice for him.  The ones who did became the “predestined”. 

God is the god of all time.  He exists in the past, present and future.  For him time is just another created thing that is controlled by him.   How else can we explain the witness of the Angel in Revelation saying, “. . . there will be time no more . . .”

I can somewhat comprehend the pre knowledge of God in this manner: I am 75 years old.  I know that at 75 that I have been in the Navy, have married, have had children, and worked for the US government.  If I was like God, and time was something I created, I would exist also at the time I was born as well as the time period we call “Now”.  Time is like a dot moving along a line.  Creatures subject to time must stay on the dot, but God stands back a distance from the line and can see the dot, the beginning and the end of the line, and eternity before and after.  So if I were like God, I could stand back from the line, while the dot was at 75 years, and see clearly the spot on the line at zero years and know that I would be in the future: be in the Navy, get married, have children, and work for the US government.  If I were like God, I could proclaim all this to the zero year spot on the line.  It would sound to the 0-year-old created me like predestination.  It actually would be a recitation from an all-knowing source, who lives outside our boundaries of time, of the things I had done as a result of the choices I made.

SMALL OR LARGE STEPS

Psalm 18:29 says,  "For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall".  (Second Samuel 22:30 says the same thing.)  Here the writer has done impossible things having been empowered by God.  Although possibly literal, I believe the actions described could be figurative.  He has accomplished a seeming impossible task as if he had just “run through a troop”.  These tasks are framed as if done in a very short time, perhaps instantaneous.  They could also have taken an extended period.  Was it be done suddenly on impulse, or was it done through many small steps over a long period of time?  Will we look back one day and see we have "run through a troop" because of our consistent, diligent steps?  The language of leap suggests one understanding, one instantaneous act, not a prolonged period.  Yet we cannot play the piano instantly.  We do not learn a new language instantly.  When we can play the piano or speak a new language we can truly say,  "I have come through a troop and have leaped over a wall".

Small. steps or large steps; walking or leaps; instants or long-term effort; we will need all these efforts during our lives.

ACCEPTING GOD’S SERVICE

In John 13:8 Jesus’ response to Peter when Peter did not want him to wash his feet was, "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me."  Jesus was saying it is not on an option about accepting God’s service to us.  We must accept his personally serving us.  Even though we know him to be God  - -  greater than any person  - -  we must allow him to serve us, even as we would one who is much lower than us.  So serving others is not an activity we should avoid. Because we are to be like him, we should do as he does.

Right after talking about serving, Jesus tells us, “The servant is not greater than his Lord”.  Why does he say this?  Is it that we might get thinking, after serving one another, how noble and giving we are?  Perhaps more noble and giving than anyone else in the whole world ever was?  Perhaps more a servant than God ever knew how to be?

Maybe it means something else.  Maybe if we are God's children we do not have to do the things the ungodly have to do.  They are servants to sin; they have to serve  - -  that's their place.  But not us, we are God's children.  There are many good works that on the surface appear to be "service works" and therefore we do not have to do them.  But we can never serve as God has served:  allowing himself to be killed by a misbehaving creation so that they could live.  We must be like him.  We are made to serve, not to be served.

HE KNOWS WHO DONE IT

Psalms 9:12 says how God . . . “maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.”  God does not forget those that have been cut down in cold blood.  Perhaps this means more than the physically murdered; perhaps it also stands for those who have been bloodied spiritually.  God will make inquisition - there will be a judgment day. 

GOD DOES’NT JUST PULL THE TIRGGER

John 12
God's shows great loving kindness in that Jesus did not just eliminate those who sought his life.  Maybe some of these very ones would later come to believe - as when Paul encountered the vision on the road to Damascus.  And perhaps he waits for some to come "come out of the closet", such as the timid in verses 42 and 43:  "Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue;  for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God."

God is very patient.  When you look at the world it's obvious it's a created place.  It's obvious that men are the highest creatures because they, as God said, have Dominion.  And it's obvious that without God men are very mean to each other.  God hasn’t pulled the trigger yet, but one day he will.

BUT HE WASN’T THERE

John 11

He was not there when Lazarus died.  When Jesus came to raise Lazarus from the dead much is made of "if you had been here Lazarus would not have died".  By both sisters, by the people, and by Jesus himself when he said for the disciples sakes he was glad he was not here there (see verse 15).  This was for the intent that they should believe.  When he raised Lazarus, it was for the people to see and believe.  He said, “. . . that they may believe that thou [the Father] hast sent me".  This is another miracle done to demonstrate that Jesus is the son of God.  Some believed and some did not.  Why did they not believe?  Because they did not accept that his power was coming from God.  In the perceiving of him they always were biased for some other way of thinking. 

Why was he not there?  To allow Lazarus to die.  If Jesus had been there, a sick man – not a dead man - would have been healed.  Some would have said "he was sick and just got well, he would have recovered even if Jesus were not there."  By rising him from the dead he demonstrated miraculous power. 

Many judged Jesus’ deeds, what he did, by what they already had in their minds.  They had preconceptions and biases.  I suppose we always judge things by the knowledge, history and experience we have in our minds.  This the Pharisees did - and did it wrong.  We know this because they came out against the son of God. 

We must be careful how we judge others.  On one hand we don't want to use wrong concepts, like the Pharisees.  On the other hand, "my sheep hear my voice , and I know them, and they follow Me"

SOME SEE AND HEAR, SOME DON’T

In John 8 Jesus heals a blind man and tells him to go the pool of Siloam and wash.  The blind man was healed and received sight, for he was one who listened for God, did what God said, and allowed his perceptions to be controlled by what God asked, not what tradition demanded.  He was healed because he listened to Jesus.  Later he was brought to the Pharisees who questioned him about the miracle.  The pharisees tossed  the blind man out of the synagogue because he would not back away from what he had just experienced and agree Jesus was a sinner.

The Pharisees were the ones who were really blind because they judged what happened through their tradition.  They saw what they wanted.  They could not recognize a miracle because it occurred in a way that broke some of their arbitrary rules.

Jesus told us the sheep know his voice.  He is the door  -  he is the way people get into the sheepfold.  We know someone is a robber if they come in by any other way than Jesus.  He said, "as the father knows me, even so I know the father".  He lays down his life for the sheep.  He, in the body of flesh, was being wrongly understood and persecuted despite the words he spoke and the miracles he performed.  He suffered the horrible anticipation of his death in every sense that any ordinary man would.  God gives us a world to live in, yet the pharisees of us walk on our own food, pee in our drinking water, and kill the innocent. 

It is God's nature to love and to reach out to his creation.  Who can say that he does not seeing we have food in our teeth and stand by the risen cross of Christ?  There is no way any man can justify himself before God.  God does not stand before us as a cruel or detached or self-serving taskmaster.  He stands as one with an open hand as one who wants a relationship, as one who wants involvement with our lives. 

KNOWING ALL THERE IS

John 8

What wonderful patience and self-control Jesus has.  Here he is, God, and here are these termite Pharisee creatures challenging the words that he says.  They said things like:  “You bear record of yourself, your record is not true.”  “Where is your father?”  "Will he kill himself because he says he’s going to the Father?”  “Are not we correct when we say you are Samaritan and have a devil?”  “Who do you make yourself?”

These are unbelievers, yet he takes the time to answer them.  This shows the nature of God - -suffering the unbelievers while waiting for those who will believe.  Also, he had yet the work on the cross to do.  He says to them “If you were blind you would not have sinned, but now you say 'we see' therefore your sin remains."

Maybe the word "seeing" used here is the way someone understands something.  This is the way the Pharisees understood all about God - this is the way they "saw" it.  If they said inwardly "we do not understand God", they would be "blind" but would have no sin.  But they said "We know all there is to know about God  - we see"  In fact, they did not know all there was, so they were in sin, and blind.  It was a continuing attitude of "I know what there is to know and need nothing more." 

But we should always be willing and open to learn to be changed by God. 

Jesus came to give true understanding of God to those who want it.  But he comes to set aside the ones who claim godliness but do not have it.  The purpose of this is judgment, the division of one from the other.  The division was wide.  How far was the blind man was separated from the Pharisees - the blind man's heart was for God, the Pharisees’ hearts were for the religious establishment, their jobs, the "church", the "right way".

AMISH INTERFERENCE

I read an article somewhere that addressed a local government’s intrusion into a dwelling in an Amish Community.  I don’t recall the specific elements of the contention, but I was concerned with the possibility of harsh government interference, possibly religious persecution, as if some group within the government did not like the Amish and wanted to use the law to punish them.  It’s easy to jump to this conclusion which likely is not the case at all.  Nevertheless, it makes us wary of how much control a government has once  you shut the doors of your house.

A good Government exists, as our constitution says, “by and for the people”.  We know some rules for all citizens are necessary such as:  thou shalt not kill, drive on right side of the road, stop at red lights, and pay taxes.  But an intrusive local, regional, or national government can be harmful to some or all of its citizens.  Two prime examples of obtrusive government systems are Nazism and Stalinist communism.

How much authority do the local and regional governments have over health issues?  How far is the local government's reach into the use and conduct of personal properties under it's jurisdiction?  How retroactive should the local laws and ordinances be as far as controlling existing properties?  Can it force change on long-existing conditions?  If there is no present harm to neighboring properties can it force changes upon the present owner?  Can it force changes before the property can change ownership?  How much responsibility does the new owner acquire for existing conditions once he takes ownership?

There are several issues to be considered.  Without a legal inspection how would government know about any existing harmful conditions?  For example:  does the property harm the health of the residents of the surrounding properties?  Can this harm be scientifically proven?  How about an existing septic system; can the system be scientifically proven to be harmful to adjoining properties?  What if the house uses a cistern; does it affect the health of household?  Does the government have the codified (written) authority to enforce health issues if the cistern can be scientifically proven to be harmful in that individual case?  What if the house is not electrified and must use a hand pump for a shallow well?  Can the government force a change in the water supply arrangement thus forcing electrification of the residence?

NOT EVERYONE GOES TO SEMINARY

From John 7
Jesus is plainly, openly, among his people doing miracles.  Yet there is confusion among them.  Some believed and some did not.  The anti-Jesus ones had these arguments:  "the Messiah is supposed to come from Bethlehem, but this guy comes from Nazareth.  This guy has never been to seminary."  We have doubts about things because we do not know all there is to know, as some of Jesus’ contemporaries did not know that Jesus was actually born in Bethlehem.  Jesus had just said "if any man will do his [God’s] will, be shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God, or whether I, speak of myself."  The one that does God's will knows that Jesus is of God. 

The Pharisees wanted the people to believe as they believed, and they used themselves as the example and rationale:  they said, "Have any of us (the Pharisees) believed on him?  We have all gone to seminary and are smart and understand what those who have not gone to seminary cannot understand.  To know if you are correct in your thinking look at what the seminary grads are thinking . . . but this people, who do not know the law (because they have not gone to seminary), are cursed."

We think we are not so smug as the Pharisees, but before we go too far along that line of reasoning let us look inward to make sure we are not ourselves being arrogant.  Do you read the Bible? so did they.  They achieved some of their knowledge from listening to others, and so have you.  Among the Pharisees were good men, like Nicodemus.  In our inward parts may lurk a little pharisee; beware.

WHY DID HE SHOW UP WEAK?

John 7
Jesus brothers were at odds with him.  They somehow didn't like Jesus hiding himself from the Jews.  Did they know they wanted to kill him?  If the brothers knew they did not seem to care for Jesus’ life. 

Verses 2 through 13 show what a turmoil was around Jesus.  Many were seeking his harm.  Why would our Lord not come in power - - rather than this way:  being hated by the rulers and despised by the very family he chose to come into?  Why not just come in lightning and power and destroy all who oppose him and whip the rest into submission?  I think it’s because, if he came that way, most would die immediately; many others would die a short while later, most would be miserable with stripes on their backs, and only a few would be somewhat content; even if walking on eggshells. 

What does God want?  His will was that all should not perish, but all should come to the knowledge of the truth.  He came not to give stripes - - but by his stripes are we healed.  This is an example of God's just love and loving kindness - - to come with meekness and an offer of eternal salvation. 

This shows the range of confusion among the people; from resentment to acceptance.  If he came back the same way in our age the same would happen again, except our Lord will not come back the same way again. 

WEALTH AND POVERTY

Some thoughts from Proverbs 15

The wealth of the rich enables them to build strong cities, which protect them, which enable them to keep, and get more wealth.  The poverty of the poor leaves them nothing to work with, or to use to defend against destruction.  This causes them to lose even more of what they might have, which makes them poorer.  This must be why God speaks so much of the strong uplifting the week and the rich feeding the poor – and we don’t have to be really strong or really rich to do this. 

"He that hides hatred with lying lips and he that speaks slander is a fool".  The Hater hates who or what he is talking about but tells others something entirely different.  The listener does not know where he really stands.  The Slanderer openly despises the one he talks about, and everyone knows it.  The similarity between the two is in the heart, where there is hatred.  They both seek to damage.  The hatred and destruction make them fools; they are not God-like. 

"The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for want of wisdom".  The lips of the righteous feed.  This must mean what comes out of his lips  - his words of wisdom.  What he says goes out (feeds) the ears of many.  They feed because they are hopeful, helpful, beneficial words others can use in their lives.  But there are some, the fools, that will neither speak nor hear wisdom. 

GOING FOR THE MIRICLES

In John 6 we read how Jesus used the miracles to show who he was, but the people viewed the miracles because of what they could get from them.  In verse 26 he tells the people they sought him, ". . . not because they saw the miracles, but because they did eat of the loves and were filled."  They wanted the things that miracles produced, they did not think of the one who produced the miracles.  Jesus wants us to seek the one who does the miracles, not the things we get from the miracles.  The people persist in this way, in verse 31 they say, "He [Moses] gave them bread from heaven to eat."  They have given credit for the mana to Moses.  Jesus corrects them right away saying that the Father gave them the mana.  Jesus says the bread that comes from heaven and gives life to the world is what is important.  They were thinking of their own physical benefits:  the bread they ate and the healing they got.

We must be glad for the maker of the miracles, not only for the benefits, the "freebies", we get from the miracles.  When the stormy waters are calmed (John 6:21) we must willingly receive Jesus into our boat being glad for the person who came to us, and not concerned so much with the walking on the water.  We should think, "I am glad you came to my boat.  I'm glad to have you here with me because I like you, you are pleasant to have around.  I like to be with you.  By the way, it was neat how you walked on the water". 

Jesus did the miracles to convince people of truth.  Some, however, saw only the benefits of the miracles to themselves, ignoring God and his part in their lives.  How crass  are we when we ignore what God does in our daily lives?  How many times do we overlook God's involvement, not to speak of being thankless?  Maybe we should keep a "God hunt" book by our bed and write in it every night. 

I PLAYED PIANO ONCE

Apparently, I was once able to play the piano.  After three years of practicing, using lead sheets with chord symbols, I became a passable accompanist.  I could fake it in almost any key for uncomplicated songs.  I had begun to pick out the melody with chords.  Many times I wondered if this is was a thing I could ever do.  Would it ever be worth the effort?  Often I did it only because I thought it might be something God wanted.  I knew I never would advance if I did not take the little steps.  I did not actually know that God wanted me to do music, but I didn’t think he wanted to keep me from doing it.  The little practice times over the three years added up to a useful capability. 

This showed me I need to press through the failure.  I need to turn my mind from a failure  onto the goal, whatever it may be.  I need to overcome, overcome, overcome.  Overcoming is not pretty and glamorous, it does not even feel virtuous or victorious at the time.  However, holding onto memories of failures or incomplete successes will drain the strength out of your overcoming effort.  What might not seem to be significant, or full of a lot of value, is further diminished by the discouragement of remembered failure.  It’s a deception to focus on the allusion of the unimportance of an overcoming task.  We want our buckets filled with a sweeping, dramatic, Hollywood style push.  We want it filled now, not tomorrow, not next week, but now.  But most of the time our buckets are filled one drop at a time.  No drops, no filling.

In the years since I have not continued to fill the bucket.  I have not laid hands on a keyboard.  I don’t remember the key signatures anymore.  I think it would take considerable effort to get back to the minimal skill I once had.  Now what am I doing?  I am remembering my failure of keeping to the little steps, and it has drained my overcoming effort.  Will I ever play the piano again?

FLY TRAP

There are some things that people write on advertisements that appear as you are perusing the web.  They are meant to grab you away from what you are doing to the marvelous idea of what they are offering.  I treat such attempts with scorn, do you?  You know them by the phrases they use such as:

 - - (blank) don’t want you to know. . .
 - - (blank) is hiding this (blank) . . .
 - - Guys are obsessed with (blank)
 - - must see (blank)
 - - (blank) can’t do without (blank) . . .
 - - what (blank) won’t tell you . . .

If you fall into this trap you find yourself in a very, very long description of the process or object that will promise to disclose what it is further on in the article.  You must read further to get to the point.  When you get there you find that, although this item is "free", it costs money; or it might require you to disclose personal information.  You have fallen into a Venus fly trap.  You should have known better.

RATTING OUT JESUS

Why did the man at the pool of Bethesda rat (tattle, blab, spill the beans) on Jesus (see John 5:15)?  Was he afraid of the Pharisees that they would punish him for carrying his bed roll?  Did the think, "Boy the Pharisees nearly burned me because I was carrying the bed; I'd better tell them where he is; if they find out I knew and didn't tell they'll make it tough for me." 

Was he loyal to the Pharisees?  Did he want to identify the man who encouraged breaking the Sabbath?  Did he think, "These guys and I are brothers.  I'll tell them because they want to know.  I’ll get myself approval points if I tell them."  

Did he tell them because Jesus spoke of him as a sinner?  (Jesus told him, "go and sin no more lest a worst thing come onto thee.")  The man might have thought, "How dare he assume I am a sinner?  This guy is saying, 'This thing happened to you because you sinned, sin no more because a worse thing will happen to you.’  I’ll fix him, I’ll go tell the Pharisees where he is.  I know they are looking for him; they’ll make his life miserable once they find him."

Knowing that Jesus is God and knows all things, why did he pick this man out for healing?  Are we ever like him?

WOMAN AT THE WELL

Jesus was sitting at a well in Samaria and asked for a drink from woman who came there.  She was surprised that a Jewish man would even speak to her.  She questioned back in an attitude that appeared to be cynical.  Why would not she be cynical?  Apparently, no man treated her well, and here was a man, and an enemy of Samaritans at that, that was asking a favor of her. 

I wonder if we ourselves question Jesus in cynicism? 

He said to the woman, "If you knew who it was that asked you for water, you would ask of him living water". 

Sometimes we wonder, as the Samaritan might have wondered, “what on earth is he talking about?” 

She said, "The well is deep  -  how is it possible for you to get water out, I do not see a bucket?  Beside this, I do not understand the principles of this ‘living water’ ". 

Do we fully understand the immense life Jesus has given to us?  How can we get something with what appears to be no effort?

She says, "Our father Jacob dug this well; we have our own established means of religion." 

Jesus says, "He that drinks this well water will thirst again, the water I give is living water will be a well springing up in him and he shall never thirst again,  Your religion will leave you thirsty, the living water I give will be in you at all times, it does not depend on religion." 

If we were there like the woman we would probably say, "yeah, right, prove it, give me the quote living water unquote."

Jesus says "bring your husband" 

At this point her whole attitude changes when she admits she has no husband (in fact she has churned through five husbands).  She is no longer cynical; she wants to get answers from Jesus.  She earnestly asks,  "Our tradition says worship this way, you say another; What about that?" 

He says, "The time is coming when there will be no politically correct place to worship.  We will worship in spirit and in truth.  The true worshippers worship the Father in spirit and in truth; Those are the kind of worshippers the father seeks.  The way to worship God is in spirit and in truth.

She said, "We know the end times are coming when all things will be put right, Christ will have returned and he will answer all our questions." 

Jesus said, "I am here now, and I am speaking to you now."

Isn’t that what we want too?  Just skip to the end of it all, let’s do this heaven thing now.  Do we really realize that Jesus is with us at this very moment?  He is with us even when things are falling in the toilet all around us?  He is with us, though disappointed, when we are acting badly?  How far, really, are we from the Samaritan woman?