"Over and Over" and Over and Over

" For the rest, my brethren, delight yourselves in the Lord and continue to rejoice that you are in Him.  To keep writing to you [over and over] of the same things is not irksome to me, and it is [a precaution] for your safety." (Philippians 3:1, Amplified Bible)

The first admonition should be at the head of every daily devotional we read, at the head of our bed, on our mirrors, refrigerators, key chains; it should start every day.  Delight yourself in Jesus Christ, "and continue to rejoice that you are in," Jesus Christ.  If one's "maturity" takes him beyond this great reality and declaration, it is a deceived maturity. 

But then our text goes on to say something which too few people take seriously.  It is perhaps the number one cause of "boredom" and church hoping, "To keep writing to you [over and over] of the same things...."  So many have the desire to have something "new," something "fresh," something which keeps nourished the excitement bone in them.  This is probably the number one reason people stop reading their Bibles, "I've read that before."  Oh, you have, have you?  Well so have millions of others, some in persecuted lands who have spent two months wages just to get a Bible, Jan Huss, who willingly went to the stake for his commitment to preaching the Scriptures, and only the Scriptures, William Tyndale, who fled to Germany from England, printed Bibles in English, then smuggled them back into England.  All this "sacrifice" and hardship just to have a copy of and proclaim that great Divine Repetition so that others may keep hearing God repeat Himself----------------- "to keep writing to you [over and over] of the same things...."

I have a friend who surrendered his life to Jesus Christ after someone gave him a New Testament, a further testimony of the power of, "the words of God."  Every month in the Psalms and every three months in the rest of the "God-Breathed" Word God keeps repeating Himself to me, "to keep writing to you [over and over] of the same things...." 

I have a "New Years resolution" for the Church.  Give ourselves to, "[over and over] of the same things," and see what happens.  There just might be something "new."

Father, in Jesus' Name, please keep repeating Yourself to me.  Thank You.  Amen.
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When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

The World System Says This to Us All the Time

"In the Lord I put my trust; how can you say to my soul, 'Flee as a bird to your mountain'?" (Psalm 11:1)

The prayer concern for today on the Open Doors prayer calendar concerns the nation of Turkmenistan.  "The secret police raided a private flat where a group of five elderly women regularly met for worship.  The police frightened them so much that they stopped their meetings."  The Turkmenistan secret police said to these women, "Flee as a bird to your mountain".  I pray it is only a temporary setback.  I pray that they will come back and stand strong in Jesus Christ.  Now some cynic may say, "Well, that's easy for you to say."  At one time perhaps, but not after the revelation of nearly 45 years ago of the condition of the suffering Church in Eastern Europe.  As the years went by, I realized more and more the day to day struggle against the forces of, "Flee as a bird to your mountain".  The people whom I met did not.  This I pray for the Church Universal.  

In today's text it came to me that since the Lord Jesus Christ is my refuge, don't talk to me about fleeing.  And you know as well as I that the world says this to Followers of Jesus constantly.  Verse three of Psalm 11 says, "If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?"  This is the attempt of what the Bible calls, "the enemies of the Cross of Christ."  They want to destroy the foundation of the Church, "the faith of Jesus," indeed, the very Kingdom of God.  If they can get you and me to, "Flee as a bird to your mountain", then they have won.  Okay, evangelicals, maybe Peter was not the, "Rock," but God does build with and upon people (Ephesians 2:19-22).  Jesus said, "Go and make disciples of all nations...."  This command is to you and me, to human beings redeemed by the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.  If the early church had surrendered to, "Flee as a bird to your mountain", there would be no Church in, "all nations."  This is what the Lord God ordained, to reach lost humanity by a redeemed-through-the-Blood-of- Jesus new humanity.  Now never, "Flee as a bird to your mountain".

Father, in Jesus' Name, You know that there have been times when I have.  May I never do that again.  Amen. 
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When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

Some Thougths From Genesis 3

"Then the serpent said to the woman, 'You will not surely die.  For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'"  (Genesis 3:4, 5)

In other words, "You won't need God any more to navigate life."  This is still the prevailing allure to atheists, agnostics, and the rest who do not surrender their lives to Jesus Christ.  They are like the man who told Colson, "I'm my own church."  What happened in the Garden is that man became his own moral compass.  He now would decide what was "right and wrong," what would be the best course of action for men and nations.  Good job, mankind; you have really shown the universe who knows best.

It is apparent from the Scriptures that man received a sort of perverted, "knowing good and evil," when he ate of the fruit.  When the Lord God came walking in the Garden, "in the cool of the day," the new moral experts ran and hid and covered themselves with fig leaves.  God said basically, "Where did that moral philosophy come from?"  If nakedness was immoral, why did God never bring up the subject before?  Verse 11 says, "Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?"  I'm just sort of spitballing here, but could it be when people prefer morality over relationship they walk in a self-serving, perverted morality?

The intention of man's creation was fellowship, not moral acrity; it was, "walking in the garden in the cool of the day," with God.  When God came "looking" for Adam and Eve, He did not say, "What have you been doing," or, "How have you been behaving?"  Rather He said, "Where are you?"  Jesus would later put it this way, "Come to Me...," not "come to my ideas and moral system."  Over the years of observing much of "children's ministries," I have noticed that adults attempt to communicate the Christian faith to children by talking of behavior, what is right and wrong, you know, "What would Jesus do?" rather than, "Where are you?"  It is a result of choosing morality over relationship; and only a relationship in Jesus Christ can enable me to the, "know good and evil," of the Tree---------- in the Garden------------ "in the cool of the day." 

Later when the Blessed Trinity said, "Behold the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil," He lamented, "And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever--------"  The dashes says a lot.  It is a sort of "perish the thought."  Again, something to consider:  Could it be that the Living Triune God saw that man's becoming like Him, "to know good and evil," without the fellowship and obedience He intended would lead to, well, what it led to.  Perhaps the clothing of man by killing an animal was a foreshadow of the only way to deal with the whole thing----------- the Blood and Cross of Jesus.

Father, in Jesus' Name, I desire to walk with You, "in the cool of the day."  Amen.
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Two new articles at:    www.jerusalemberlinwashington.blogspot.com

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

"Looking unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2

"In The Beginning God....""

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