Unit 11

Sounds sort of like the woman in the parable who lost one of her coins, searched all over till she found it, and celebrated when she did. So yes, I think it's normal. Can they send the Bible back to you?

Thank you! In my time I've heard the word "interpret" quite a bit, claims that most people can't read the Bible correctly and need a leader of some kind to clarify & explain it to us. This has always made me suspicious, because this is usually said by someone up in the pulpit who's never even met me. How does he know I can't understand it? Also because, we know our Creator wishes for all to be reconciled to him, so I wonder why he would make his book so cryptic & complicated that only a select few can properly understand it? (And how convenient for those few...)

Ah, there's the rub. As Yowm pointed out, How do you know the one man at the top isnt making mistakes or straying from holy writ?

A couple of cross-references might be in order--these are from the NKJV: But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. (Luke 21:34) Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; (2 Peter 3:14)

I wasn't going to get the vaccine, but I changed my mind when the V.A. offered it to us vets for free. This is the Pfizer two-shot. A doctor who'd gotten it told me he got only a slightly sore arm afterwards, and that was it as far as side effects. It turned out the same way with me. Barely even felt the needle both times. I got the slight soreness, and after the second shot (when you most expect side effects) I got a slight, short-lived nausea and chills that weren't bad enough to keep me away from my job that day. That was a month ago, and since then I've been fine. Hope this helps...

The 23rd is my favorite as well. Other helpful ones are 62 (my soul waits for God alone), 146 (God is trustworthy, man not so much), Psalm 25 and 6 for when I'm down. And sometimes, when I've crashed and burned, 51.

This is fascinating. I've wondered at times why our Creator didn't make everything in his book "crystal clear." Could this be the reason? It seems to ring true. And, in fact, last year I was listening to a tape of a call-in radio show. It concerned the "KJV-only" community, some of whom I once encountered. The radio hosts mentioned an author who was known to promote this view. Well. The author called in and had a civil discussion with the hosts...for about a minute. Then he WENT OFF. Shouting! Screaming! On and on, nonstop! Wouldn't let the hosts get another word in. I mean he was unglued, and it happened all at once. It wasn't like the hosts had insulted him or anything. Sheesh, I thought, why so furious? Going back to when I first heard of this issue, I was in the Navy and asked a Chaplain about it. He knew all about it. After reassuring me about the newer versions he said, "All this does is turn one Christian against another, and who wins? Satan."

Great to hear!

There are people who refuse to get their act together. They staunchly believe it's together already, more together than yours in fact, and no one's going to tell them any different. Try to do so, and they'll argue and argue and make excuses and more excuses. They'll also deflect, accusing you of this or that. I've been related to such people. The Pharisees come to mind again, who would never believe for a moment that they did anything wrong in crucifying Christ. They chose to be that way, and their Creator respected their free will--but choices bring consequences, if not now, then at a certain point in the future decided upon by God. Our part is to let it go.

Folks are just naturally factious. The Corinthian church was an example of this, that it was happening even in the apostles' lifetime. Sad but true.

How easy it would be for me, if everyone who's wronged me asked for forgiveness afterwards. To those who have, forgiveness comes naturally, almost automatically in fact. But for the ones like you mention above, it's difficult--not so much to forgive, but to make it stick. The old grudges flare up again, unbidden, and I find myself having to forgive over and over again. But some things help. One thing Christ teaches in that passage, is that whatever people owe us (and everyone owes someone something), we owe our Creator a whole lot more. And he's willing to pardon us for it. Is it not only fair for us in turn to pardon these others, who owe us much less? We also have examples: Paul wishing for his fellow Israelites' salvation even after they had persecuted and even stoned him; Stephen asking for God to forgive the mob that was stoning him to death; and Christ, after he'd gone through most of his sufferings, asking his Father to forgive those men, for they knew not what they did. One thing that strikes me about all four Gospels, is that there's no more mention of the Pharisees after Christ rises again. None. He seemed to have forgotten all about them, the ones who committed such atrocities against him and even stood there gloating while he hung dying. And they got clean away with it, no justice. Yet Christ didn't seem concerned about it at all. I think one reason is because Christ knew there would be justice, at a future time decided upon by God--the Great White Throne judgment. That reminds me of "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." No one is getting away with anything. Offenders either repent and ask for forgiveness, or they are judged, but one way or the other, it will be atoned for. And we all know, of course, what came of Christ's crucifixion, the purpose for it. They meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. And he causes all things to work together for good for his people. Leaving it to our Creator, and knowing every offense will have its just recompense, helps me to forget them and live my life unencumbered. Forgiveness isn't so much for the offender's sake as it is for ours. On the other hand, forgiveness doesn't obligate us to put up with troublemakers. They don't get to use forgiveness as an excuse to keep having their destructive way with us. There are Biblical guidelines for dealing with those, too. Hope this helps...

It's been my life experience, that whatever I get an urge to do while angry--whatever it is--always turns out to have been a bad idea afterwards, and I regretted it.

It seems to be taken for granted that for the believer, a leader is an absolute necessity. Without a leader/pastor/minister to oversee our walk, we would immediately go wrong, get wrong ideas, and fall out of God's will. One Christian rock song I listened to in the 80's, even insinuated that we're not even saved if we're not under a human leader. What if a believer studied the Bible and meditated on it, and only the Bible, by himself, unsupervised?

By the way, this brings up a question: Why are so many Christians so over-talkative? The Navy Chaplain who led me to God had a statesman's eloquence. He loved to talk, explain and expound on matters. He was a jolly and affable man, but you could hardly get a word in edgewise with him. I thought, well, that's just the Chaplain. But as I went on through life, I met another such talkative person, and another, and another after that--everywhere I went, there they were. People who would go on, and on, and on while I waited--and when they paused and I started to reply, cut me off or talked over me, going on and on still more. I've known so many now that it's become a pet peeve. Maybe I should point out a character in Pilgrim's Progress named "Talkative." He's not one of the good guys.

Maybe President Lincoln was thinking of that when he said, It's better to be silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt. I'll definitely keep it in mind the next time someone says I'm too quiet.