Spiritual

Not My Job

by ladypbwiggins

1 Corinthians 5:12-13 (ESV)
12  For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?
13  God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

It seems we do the opposite. We spend so much time condemning people who don’t believe what we believe. We spend so little time calling out the wrong done by those inside the church. We excuse or justify. I guess we are afraid our mess will be exposed.

Well, I have just set you free from what is not your job. God will judge those on the outside of our beliefs if they are to be judged at all. We should focus on “in the house.”

If we do this we will become a light on a hill, instead of the oppressors of God’s greatest creation, mankind.

My Prayer for USA Christians

by ladypbwiggins

During my study of Daniel, I took special note of his prayer for Israel in Chapter 9. It struck me as quite appropriate for the Christians in the USA at this time in history. Here is my adaptation. Here is my prayer. If you pray and if you love this country, I ask you to join me in praying this prayer for it.

To the Catholic and Protestant Church and those who claim to follow Y’shua’s teachings.

O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who keep His commandment, we have sinned and committed iniquity (crookedness) we have done wickedly ( are wrong and caused to be wrong) and rebelled, even by departing from your precepts (commands) and judgments (sentences). Neither have we heeded your servants who are rightly teaching your Word, who earnestly spoke in your name.

O Lord, righteousness belongs to you but shame of face to us. We have been unfaithful to you.

To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we rebelled against Him. We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord or God, to walk in His ways which He set before us. Yes all the church has transgressed. We have not made our prayer before the Lord our God that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth.

O Lord according to all your righteousness, I pray, let your anger and your fury be turned away from us who claim to be yours. Now God hear my prayer. Cause your face to shine on me, on us because our hearts are desolate.

O my God, please hear, please see us. I am not worthy to be heard or seen but Father you are merciful.

Please Forgive Us Your Children.

Please Forgive Us who are Called by Your Name.

Looking in Daniel’s Mirror

by ladypbwiggins

Every new year many churches participate in some version of Daniel’s fast. This year my church was no different but my fast was. I lead a plant-based dietary lifestyle so I had to sacrifice or do something different. I chose to fast from social media and devote that time to studying the man, Daniel. I thought there would be a long lists of lessons about his character but he was so consistent in his behavior that it is a short but powerful list.

Daniel reminded me what my God favors.

  1. Prayer
  2. Unwavering Commitment to God even into death
  3. Unquestioned loyalty to God and friends
  4. Humility
  5. Continual Prayer
  6. Confidence in God
  7. Care and concern for others
  8. PRAYER

God responded with favor, wisdom and power.

I, now, stand facing this mirror.

The Long Way ‘Round

by ladypbwiggins

Sometimes I find myself questioning God about Carl’s healing. I know without a doubt that he answered my prayer that fateful night quickly and clearly. He confirmed it every step of the way in the hospitals and rehab through nurses, speech therapists and Carl’s progress. Yet, here we are almost 4 years later and there are still areas that are not completely healed. The brain trauma due to a lack of oxygen caused by the several episodes of ventricular tachycardia still affects his memory sometimes. He says it’s like being in a fog and when it clears he remembers. I guess I didn’t think it would take this long. I asked God why was it taking so long? Was I doing something to slow down the progress?

One day while reading Exodus, I believe I received my answer. In Exodus 13:17,18 God says He led the people along the path of the Red Sea rather than the short route through the Wilderness of Sin because the wilderness took them through the land of the Philistines. The Philistines were large in size and proficient in war.

So it happened, when Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was nearer; for God said, “The people might change their minds when they see war [that is, that there will be war], and return to Egypt.” But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea; the sons of Israel went up in battle array (orderly ranks, marching formation) out of the land of Egypt.

EXODUS 13:17‭-‬18 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/exo.13.17-18.AMP

It jumped off the page. He didn’t choose the shortest route. They were not ready for what they might encounter. Think about it. They had not needed to war for 430 years. Egypt handled that. He took them the long way so that they could learn.

  • Learn Him and His ways;
  • Learn how to strategize;
  • Learn how to fight;
  • Learn to be His nation

More questions. What had I not learned? I realized maybe it wasn’t about me. Maybe there was more for Carl to learn; maybe for us to learn together. Hmmm…

Thank you Lord for “the long way ’round.”

Disappointment? Protection!

by ladypbwiggins

I found an apartment complex that had all th amenities Carl and I needed and wanted. It had special rent consideration for senior citizens and to top it off it was 8 minutes from my daughter’s home. When we went to check out the Vizcaya apartments, we discovered our income exceeded the upper limit allowed to get the discount but not enough to afford to live there. Disappointed, we continued the search. With the assistance of our daughter’s real estate agent we found another one about 15 to 20 minutes from our daughter, The Marquis. This apartment is a little smaller but provides a comfortable living space including good neighbors. 

It is now several months later.  Hurricane Harvey just visited Houston and it’s suburbs. This was our first time actually living in hurricane force winds and rains. The windows shook, rain drops sounded like rocks thrown against the windows and tornado warnings were ongoing and we were on the mild side. With all that the water never rose more than ankle deep in the parking lot and drained fast. 

Harvey deposited so much water that Vizcaya flooded up to the 3rd floor. Had we gotten that apartment we would have lost everything. Do you think it was coincidental that we couldn’t get an apartment there? I think not. God saw our future and protected us. Just a reminder that what was viewed as a

disappointment was actually the hand of God protecting us. 

I just can’t see My Leftovers

by ladypbwiggins

It is so easy to fall back into bad habits and worry. I have a mountainous list of things to do in a short period of time. “I just can’t see how” it will all get done. There is a financial component that “I just can’t see how” I will get it paid on time. The problem here is not how it will get done or the cost. The problem is “I just can’t see.” My answer to my real problem popped up in my bible study this morning.

Mark 8:18-21. My paraphrase

Y’shua (Jesus) said to his disciples, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.” They thought he was talking about bread. They forgot to get some for the trip. Y’shua knowing this asked them, when he fed the 4000 and the 5000 what happened? He reminded them that not only did he supply the need but there was an abundance of leftovers. The unspoken questions, I believe, are why would I be warning you about the Pharisees’ bread. Even more so, why are you worrying about not bringing any. Don’t you yet know, I will supply the need?

That was the message to me. With all that I have done for you, especially in the last year and half, all the miracles you have experienced, all the needs met, why are you worried about all you have to get done and how much it will cost? Don’t you yet understand WHO your supplier is? I have supplied your need and you have had an abundance of leftovers. 

Do YOU need to be reminded of your leftovers? Are you worrying about things you know full well Y’shua has the authority to handle? STOP.

We have an abundance of leftovers.

The Tradition of Men

by ladypbwiggins

Have we laid aside the commandments of God for the traditions of men? This was Y’shua’s main complaint against the Pharisees.  Do we care more about what our particular denomination says rather than what God says? Even the non-denominational churches have traditions. Do we care more about our evangelical conservative view than the views of God? What are we teaching the world about the God we say we serve? Have we become like the Pharisees of old? Are we the Pharisees of the present? What would God say about us? I challenge you to examine yourselves to determine if you have laid aside God’s commandments or maybe are selective in the one’s you obey for the traditions of men.

Mark 6

6  He answered and said to them,

“Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:

‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.

7  And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’

8  “For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men–the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”

9  He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.”

Just something to think about.

The bold is mine.

The Kingdom is At Hand?

by ladypbwiggins

For a long time  some terms used in the Bible puzzled me. This is one of them. From a Christian perspective I knew or thought it was referring to the presence of Jesus the Christ but John the Baptist was not a Christian. Christ wasn’t even a Christian. They were both of Hebrew birth, Jews. They both went to synagogue, read  or heard the scrolls read, learned the Torah and the Prophets. So what did this term mean to them? I have read some theologians thoughts that they were referring to Daniel’s prophecy regarding the kingdom that was eternal that would destroy all human kingdoms. I can imagine in light of Roman oppression this would be, certainly be something the Jewish nation would be looking forward to.

I did  a word study, of course, and this is my understanding of the phrase. The reign or rules of God is here. You would think that would not be necessary to say to a group of people whose very national existence is based on the rules of God. Apparently something was missing. Just like many of us today, we know the rules of our beliefs but we do not apply the rules in our daily lives. We pick and choose what we want to obey and then get mad at God when we don’t get what we want or things don’t work out as we planned. So it seems, Y’shua came to teach how to truly live the rules so that God rules. If this were not so, would John have preached, Repent or Reform? Would Yshua have said Repent or Reform? Some things needed to change.

This declaration simply states for me that God is in charge and if we claim to be His, then His rules need to be lived daily. Yshua the Living Word of God showed the difference between what the Pharisees and Priest taught and lived and what God intended.

So change your way of thinking (Repent) for the rule of God is here.

Here, right now.

Live accordingly.

Did God Condone Slavery?

by ladypbwiggins
Context determines the understanding of so everything. The other day I was told the Bible condoned slavery. Several scriptures were cited on which this understanding was based. At that moment I knew it didn’t but I couldn’t speak to those specific scriptures. I also knew that those scriptures were used to justify slavery in the name of Christianity in this country. I told her to consider until I could better discuss this that “I believe everything in the Bible is true but not everything is God’s truth.” I meant I believed it was a true accounting but not reflective of God’s principles, intent, or standards.

God’s principles are the truths “that serve as the foundation for His system of belief or behavior or for His chain of reasoning.”

So I went back to those scriptures to read ithem in context.  Then I went to an Orthodox  Jewish website to get the Judaic perspective. Sometimes we lay our Western perspective on the statements made or things done by other cultures. This usually leads to a misunderstanding and fallacious arguments. This is the site if you would like to read it for yourself. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/slavery.html

How is the word slave defined? The word slave is translated from the word Hebrew eved and that means worker or servant.

Leviticus addressed several categories of slavery. The one that pertains to non-Hebrew servants are called aliens. So what is the status of non-Hebrew slaves (servants). (If you go to this website there are a few Biblical reference that you may be unfamiliar with. These books carry different names in the English Bible but the content is unchanged.)

  1. Member of the household and share in the household benefits.
  2. Property of master forever unless the person is redeemed or freedom is bought
  3. Must adhere to Mosaic law
  4. May purchase property of their own
  5. May inherit the master’s estate
  6. Can purchase own self’s freedom
  7. Killing of a slave is punishable in the same way killing a freeman would be punished even if the master kills him.
  8. Master may not rule ruthlessly over slaves
  9. Master shall not mistreat them; shall not wound them 
  10. The workload should never exceed physical strength
  11. A fugitive slave must not be returned to his master
  12. No one can be kidnapped and sold into slavery. That’s a capital offense.

There were consequences to the master who violated these rules.

As you read this list I hope you see that the practice of slavery as we know it and as we observe it in other cultures was not the intent of God. He specifically set forth guidelines that with the exception of being owned for whatever reason, the person was not to be mistreated and is cared for by the master as other family members are treated. One of the Hebrew theologians even said that slavery was not God’s plan because we were created in His image and He would not desire to enslave His ultimate creation. My paraphrase.

As you might expect, there were periods where even the Hebrews wanted to behave like the other nations but that was eventually stopped and slavery became basically extinct in that culture.

So the question is why was slavery even allowed?

God knew Israel would eventually forget that they had been slaves and treated terribly at the hands of the Egyptians. Therefore, He gave them rules that would remind them of that experience. I believe God basically said, “If you are going to participate in this, this is the responsibility you have for caring for this person.”

So I can say emphatically, “No,  God does not condone slavery.”

This is a man made construct born out of the evil hearts of mankind.

 

 

 

 

You Talking About Me?

by ladypbwiggins

It is believed Malachi prophesied after the exiled Israelites had returned home and the wall  and the Temple had been rebuilt. Sacrifices had been resumed. They seemed secure but were still under Persian dominance. The people had become disillusioned because some of the prophecies of wealth and independence had not been fulfilled. The prevailing thought was “God did not love them so why serve Him?” The priests who were responsible for the spiritual well-being of the people were now corrupt. They did not teach the people the laws of God. They did not insist that the people obey the laws of God. The sacrifices to God had become less than their best and had become just something to do to say we observed the ritual, but did nothing to reverence God. Why sacrifice if what you are sacrificing is defective or of poor quality?. And they stopped tithing.

As I read about these conditions, I felt Malachi could have been talking directly to us. Many of us are disillusioned and don’t believe God loves us. We don’t see His promises being fulfilled in our lives or so we think. Church is just something to do to check off the box.Oh and what beautiful buildings they are.  Many of us who say we believe don’t really reverence God. We don’t give Him our best. We give Him inferior sacrifices and complain about tithing. We, too, have corrupt priests, preachers, pastors. They don’t teach God’s laws or guide us to righteousness. They teach “getting all you can and give it to me.”

Here is the LORD of Host’s answer through Malachi to Israel and to Us.

I do love you. You are still here. I haven’t destroyed you.

To the priests, et al. I am not pleased with you. You bring me defective offerings and I will not accept them.

Paraphrase: You despised my name among the nations. You profaned the offering.You gave to me less than your best and I won’t accept it.

I am a great King.

My name (my position, authority and character) will be reverenced.