Mercy on the Needy. The 10 Commandments. What Signals Are We Sending? Sound Barrier. Cuban Missile Crisis.

 

For “Scripture Sunday”:

Mercy on the Needy

Proverbs 14:31 He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker, but he who honors Him has mercy on the needy.

“The great Creator God cares deeply about the poor and the humble. While most people find it easy to ignore the poor, God considers those who oppress the poor as if they had reproached Him.

On the other hand, those who honor God and act as He would act will show mercy and kindness to the needy.

Jesus Christ explained this powerfully in His parable of the sheep and the goats. He commended the righteous for taking care of Him when He was in need.

They were confused and asked, “‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me’” (Matthew 25:37-40).    On the other hand, those who did not help those in need “will go away into everlasting punishment” (verse 46).    For more about giving vs. getting, see “Eighth Commandment: You Shall Not Steal.””

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The 10 Commandments and God’s Way of Life

Our Creator God knows what is good for us and what is bad for us. What does the Bible tell us God wants us to do?

“God knows what is good and bad for us, and He has recorded this information in the Bible to save us from the heartache and suffering that the wrong choices—what the Bible calls sins—bring.

But humanity as a whole has chosen to try to discover right and wrong by trial and error. Even worse, most people choose to experiment for themselves, not even learning from the mistakes of others!

Jesus Christ summarized the right way in two great commandments: Love for God and love for others (Matthew 22:37-40). This basic approach is further defined by the great law God thundered from Mount Sinai—the 10 Commandments. The rest of the Bible further magnifies the holy, just and good law of God. It reveals a way of life that produces great benefits in this life and that is a prerequisite to entering eternal life (Matthew 19:17).

How can we know how to love God except He tells us? How can we avoid the pitfalls of human relationships unless we accept the wisdom revealed in God’s law?

See more about how God wants us to live—for our own benefit—in this section on “The 10 Commandments and God’s Way of Life.”  Articles in this section explore God’s laws and examine the continuity of God’s law between the Old and New Testaments.”           At: http://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/10-commandments/

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What Signals Are We Sending?

“God can tune into our words and even our thoughts. What does He hear when He tunes into us? Is it pleasant to Him, or does He feel like turning the dial?

Ever find yourself stuck in the car, whether on a trip or just on your way to work, looking for something on the radio to listen to? You scan through the dial, hoping to find a channel that has good reception, with a clean, clear sound and a song or story with a good message.

Many stations, though, are not sending out a message that is appropriate to listen to. So we move on to the next station, hoping to find something worth our time—something that will be pleasing to our ears and beneficial to our well-being.

What signals are we putting out?

Imagine yourself as one of those radio stations. If God was scanning through the dial, what would He hear coming over the airwaves of our hearts? Would He be pleased with what He hears? Would He smile and say, “That’s a sweet sound. I think I’ll turn it up!” Or would He rush to change the dial, to find something a little less offensive to His ears?

One key to sending a signal that will be pleasing to God is for us to stay tuned to His wavelength. We need to stay close to Him, learn more about what is important to Him and grow in faith in Him.

We are faced with many challenges in this life; and as we all know, we do not always pass the many tests that we are faced with. In 1 Kings 19:2-3 we see Elijah, the prophet of God, fleeing from a single woman, Jezebel, after slaying over 400 prophets of Baal. She was a powerful, vicious, evil queen; but Elijah’s response showed a lack of faith. He failed that test. Yet God gave him another chance. Elijah rose again after being strengthened by an angel of God and continued on and grew in faith and obedience.

How do we stay tuned in?

What will we do with the trials that come our way? How will we respond, and what will we do to rectify things when we fail to respond correctly? While going through trials, how can we bring a more pleasing sound to God?

Well, for one thing, we can learn a lot from the persistent widow in Luke 18. She was willing to go continually before an unrighteous judge until he finally granted her petition. She apparently, through great determination and due diligence, won her case.

Jesus used this example to teach us endurance and faith (without implying that God needs to be worn down in order to win our case). By knowing that we will be avenged, that our troubles will not last forever, we can find peace. God has promised it to us! But we must believe. Christ said, “And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:7-8).

That is up to you and me. Satan is doing his very best to convince us that there is no hope, and he seeks to cloud the airwaves with distortions. He wants to keep us discouraged.

How we respond to the many trials in this life—the amount of confidence we will put in His hands versus trusting in our own abilities to fix our own problems—will ultimately decide whether He will find faith when He comes! How much confidence we will put in Him, rather than ourselves, will determine the success we will have. It will determine whether He will find us doing His work, with passion, with zeal and confidence, with determination and love for one another!

Please don’t touch that dial!

The way to true success in our relationship with God is the same as it’s always been. It lies in our putting our confidence more and more in Him. To get through our trials, we need growing faith that He loves us, that He cares for us and that He is working out His plan.

Continual growth in these areas will make us better transmitters. It will give us a better signal because we will have more peace of mind. This will send a clearer message to our Great God that we are serious and that nothing will stand in our way!

Let us give Him good reason when He tunes us in to want to stay there, so that we can tell Him with a smile: “Don’t go away, Father, we’ll be right back for more of Your favorites. Please don’t touch that dial!””

From: http://cogwa.org/young-adult-blog/entry/what-signals-are-we-sending 

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The sermon program on WGN this morning:

The Spirit of Liberty

“The Minutemen of old responded swiftly to defend liberty. In our age of spiritual crisis are you responding to God's call?”

Video and Transcript at: http://www.ucg.org/beyond-today-program/christian-living/spirit-liberty

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On This Day:

Yeager breaks sound barrier, Oct 14, 1947:

“U.S. Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager becomes the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound.

Yeager, born in Myra, West Virginia, in 1923, was a combat fighter during World War II and flew 64 missions over Europe. He shot down 13 German planes and was himself shot down over France, but he escaped capture with the assistance of the French Underground. After the war, he was among several volunteers chosen to test-fly the experimental X-1 rocket plane, built by the Bell Aircraft Company to explore the possibility of supersonic flight.

For years, many aviators believed that man was not meant to fly faster than the speed of sound, theorizing that transonic drag rise would tear any aircraft apart. All that changed on October 14, 1947, when Yeager flew the X-1 over Rogers Dry Lake in Southern California. The X-1 was lifted to an altitude of 25,000 feet by a B-29 aircraft and then released through the bomb bay, rocketing to 40,000 feet and exceeding 662 miles per hour (the sound barrier at that altitude). The rocket plane, nicknamed "Glamorous Glennis," was designed with thin, unswept wings and a streamlined fuselage modeled after a .50-caliber bullet.

Because of the secrecy of the project, Bell and Yeager's achievement was not announced until June 1948. Yeager continued to serve as a test pilot, and in 1953 he flew 1,650 miles per hour in an X-1A rocket plane. He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1975 with the rank of brigadier general.”

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The Cuban Missile Crisis begins, Oct 14, 1962:

“The Cuban Missile Crisis begins on October 14, 1962, bringing the United States and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear conflict. Photographs taken by a high-altitude U-2 spy plane offered incontrovertible evidence that Soviet-made medium-range missiles in Cuba—capable of carrying nuclear warheads—were now stationed 90 miles off the American coastline.

Tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union over Cuba had been steadily increasing since the failed April 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, in which Cuban refugees, armed and trained by the United States, landed in Cuba and attempted to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro. Though the invasion did not succeed, Castro was convinced that the United States would try again, and set out to get more military assistance from the Soviet Union. During the next year, the number of Soviet advisors in Cuba rose to more than 20,000.

Rumors began that Russia was also moving missiles and strategic bombers onto the island. Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev may have decided to so dramatically up the stakes in the Cold War for several reasons. He may have believed that the United States was indeed going to invade Cuba and provided the weapons as a deterrent. Facing criticism at home from more hard-line members of the Soviet communist hierarchy, he may have thought a tough stand might win him support.

Khrushchev also had always resented that U.S. nuclear missiles were stationed near the Soviet Union (in Turkey, for example), and putting missiles in Cuba might have been his way of redressing the imbalance. Two days after the pictures were taken, after being developed and analyzed by intelligence officers, they were presented to President Kennedy. During the next two weeks, the United States and the Soviet Union would come as close to nuclear war as they ever had, and a fearful world awaited the outcome.”

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Yesterday:

Misty and I went to get Jay as he wanted to go to the 11.00am service at the Conroe church.  Misty and I had a good walk-about while we waited for him.  That is the church where we have to cut across country along the wiggle-waggle narrow roads to get there.  As we don’t get there early enough to attend Bible study, it always seems like such a long way to go for such a short time.   Whereas at the Willis church I arrive by 12.30pm, so I am there for Bible Study, the 1.45pm service, and the fellowship in the dining room as they have a potluck every Sabbath.  Makes you feel like you have really gained something spiritually.  Jay once again said that he was going to try to stop drinking and turn his life around, so as long as he wants to go to church, I will take him.

The little kitten is still gaining weight very slowly, and I had to buy another can of KMR yesterday.