Our Lighted Path

How do we find the Lord again, when He seems so missing in our lives? When I visited a Sunday-school class recently, someone in the class reminded me to read verses, chapters, and even whole books that lead up to a scripture that you're tempted to look at the wrong way. Often, people can tell when someone is looking at a scripture the wrong way, because that someone is looking at the scripture in a way that's contrary to the Holy Spirit: a way that claims the scripture says it's good or okay to do terrible, sickening, wicked things to one another. One such verse appears all by itself as the lead verse in a Sunday-school booklet: "But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean." (Acts 10:28) That's a verse that's often misused, taken by itself. It's not a verse that should ever stand alone. Why not? What Peter is saying is that he realized he didn't have any authority, in the Spirit...

When Israel was overcome by Nebuchadnezzar's armies (who knew Israel had become far too sinful), there was no way for the remnant of Israel, who lived through that turmoil, to overcome Nebuchadnezzar. I tried to tell my aunt, last night, that a family expression comes to mind now that I've read, with more complete understanding, about Israel being captive to Nebuchadnezzar's country: "When your hand is in the lion's mouth, go easy," part of my family used to say. There was no real escape for the remnant of Israel that was allowed to keep living. Even Israel's last king, Zedekiah, had to finish living the earth-bound part of life under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, whose men killed Zedekiah's sons and then also blinded him for his sins. But Nebuchadnezzar then ordered that the prophet Jeremiah be treated kindly, and that he be allowed to live wherever he wanted to live during his final years in earth. That's not a good thing, though. When a...

This is the beginning of another series. What's prompting this is the fact that far too many souls seem consumed by the idea that events of the Old Testament justify wrongdoing today. Never mind that even Jesus tells us "woe" to cities that refuse to repent . It's true that there was widespread sodomy in Old Testament times. A simple study in Jeremiah makes that plain . But Jeremiah also makes it clear, with a little study, that Heaven does not like evil for evil. ... Babylon was a very flawed kingdom that brought Israel out of extreme bondage to sin by taking Israel captive. In captivity to Babylon, much of Israel was killed. Israel's last king, Zedekiah, was forced to see his sons killed, and Israel suffered other terrors under Babylon's rule. But, then, Jeremiah says some of Babylon's residents would suffer as if women, meaning they eventually suffered rape. Babylon had apparently punished Lebanon for the "adultery" of committing...

This post was hacked into. This was one of my online journal entries. Like everything else on this blog, it was my heartfelt, personal writing. But, at some point, someone turned it into gibberish. ... There's not even a prayer for when someone does things like this. In Old Testament times, sin grew worse and worse. It was in only a few hearts to look forward to our Savior, the promised Messiah: few who listened to those of the prophets who truly were guided by Heaven. Living during a time when even child sacrifice was a problem, there always was the promise of the coming Savior, who would be lifted up — and that made for faith that kept people living into old age, despite a scarlet way of life in that day. Even in that day, before the light of life we have in Jesus, one prophet wrote, "Learn to do right, seek justice, correct the oppressor, defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. 'Come now, let us reason together,' says the Lord. 'Though your...

His anger lasts for a little while, but then his kindness brings life. The night may be filled with tears, but in the morning we can sing for joy! Psalm 30:5 Easy-to-Read Version Weeping may endure for a night. But joy comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5 When life becomes a series of dark nights, filled with personal sufferings, news of shootings, and an awareness of a steady homegoing of the church, it can be easy to lose hope. But, if we are anchored in faith, anchored in Christ, hope can hold steady until morning comes. For many of us, morning is an answer to prayer that comes through the word God has given us. So, sometimes, there's morning joy, no matter how numb a soul may feel. This morning, I found joy in how John the Baptist said, "Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." I found joy, because I could see that word of Heaven in a whole new light. That passage leads me to a group-study idea that would ask,...

When the Bible gives the record of kings who were over Jerusalem and Judah, why do scriptures say the kings "slept with their fathers?" Wow! That's a simple thing. All that scriptures are saying is that a king died. That a king "lieth with his fathers," as the Young's Literal Translation says, only means the king died. And the record of each king's death is kind of written like a song that says the king layed down in death with those who went before him ("slept with his fathers") and was buried in honor, or was buried in dishonor. For example, read "Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David." (2 Chronicles 21:1, New King James Version) versus "Ahaz rested with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, in Jerusalem; but they did not bring him into the tombs of the kings of Israel." (2 Chronicles 28:27, NKJV) Again, in most versions of the Bible, the d...