Call on the Name of the Lord -- Jared Anderson

Here are the lyrics to the song.

Call on the name of the Lord
Call on the name of the Lord
Call on the name of the Lord
And be saved and be saved

Come to the water and be purified
Though your sin be a scarlet
He will wash it white as snow

Call on the name of the Lord
Call on the name of the Lord
Call on the name of the Lord
And be saved and be saved

All those who seek Him surely find
All those who know Him
Drink from the well of everlasting life

Call on the name of the Lord
Call on the name of the Lord
Call on the name of the Lord
And be saved and be saved

Yes, everything this song speaks about it true.  Call on the Lord and he will save you.  You will be purified and will have eternal life.

Romans 10:13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

 John 6:47 “I assure you: Anyone who believes has eternal life.

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

To me, this is one of those feel good, all inclusive songs, that say anyone can come to Christ and it will be easy.  Just say his name and you are saved. What this song fails to mention is (as was written in a previous post)

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven.

2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, having this inscription: The Lord knows those who are His, and Everyone who names the name of the Lord must turn away from unrighteousness.

Yes, calling on the name of the Lord will save you, but you must also do the will of God and turn away from unrighteousness and sin.  I know that no person will ever completely turn away from sin in this life, but it is what we are striving to do in our sanctification.  No, your works will not save you.  If you are saved, then you will want to do the good works, which are the will of God.

The song  fails to mention that we must be in the Father's will and turn from those scarlet sins and remain white as snow, as best we can.  It is not easy to be a Christian.  Simply saying, "Lord, Lord" and doing nothing to further the kingdom of our Lord is not going to get you into heaven.  You must give up sin.  You must endure persecution. (Granted I have never felt true persecution like our sister and brothers in other countries, but if it were to happen here, we would have to endure).

Overall, while this song is not unbiblical, it does seems to portray an easy Christianity where all you have to do is "call on the name of the Lord" to be able to experience the richness and joy of being a child of God.  To me, the song is shallow and does not go deep into scripture.  For someone who, as Hebrew says, still needs milk, this song would work well, but if you are now eating solid food, you need songs which have a bit of meat to them.

Call on the Name of the Lord

In our service one day, we heard a story from a group of people who had witnessed, what they called, a spiritual moment.  I was not there.  I did not experience it, but something was not quite right with the story.  In the story, a man came into a church service and attempted to strangle a woman.  The pastor, who was a woman, came to stop the man.  She told the congregation to "call on the name of Jesus" while she was trying to defuse the situation.  According to the group, what happened was the congregation literally repeated "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus" over and over.  Eventually the man stopped choking the woman and left.  The group felt that just by saying Jesus over and over was the reason the man eventually left and the woman was out of harms way.  

I have a hard time accepting this.  Just saying Jesus over and over has very little value or meaning.  Now, if it were a situation where someone was so scared or distraught that all they could utter was Jesus, then I know that their prayer will be interceded for and be heard, but it seems, from the way the story was told, that no one, but perhaps the woman being hurt, was in such an emotional state where they could not actually pray. 

Here is an illustration on how it would seem if you only said Jesus over and over. 

Person:  Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!
Jesus:  Yes, I am here.
Person:  Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!
Jesus:  I'm here.
Person:  Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!
Jesus:  Yes?

How should we expect an answer to our prayers if all we say is Jesus.  Yes, the Lord knows our thoughts and our prayers even before we say them, but it is through our prayers that the Lord chooses to work.  Simply saying Jesus is not a prayer.  It is just a name.  The name, Jesus, was a very common name in ancient Israel.  It was not a name unique to Christ.  Just saying Jesus could mean you are talking to almost anyone.

The group brought out this verse to back up their story:

Philippians 2:10 at the name of Jesus every knee will bow.

While I agree this is true, I do feel that it was taken out of context, they did not even use the whole verse.  For one thing, the man did not 'bow' or humble himself in front of this congregation.  He just left, probably still hot and mad.  The full section of this scripture is:

Philippians 2:5 Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus,
6 who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God
as something to be used for His own advantage.
7 Instead He emptied Himself
by assuming the form of a slave,
taking on the likeness of men.
And when He had come as a man
in His external form,
8 He humbled Himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death—
even to death on a cross.
9 For this reason God highly exalted Him
and gave Him the name
that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee will bow—
of those who are in heaven and on earth
and under the earth—
11 and every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

We know that not every knee has bowed to Christ, but they will.  When he returns.  This section of scripture is showing us how we should be humble and obedient like Christ.  It was for this reason that God exalted Christ so that every knee would bow and every tongue confess in Him.  All this for the Father's glory. 

Notice, that Jesus was given a name that is above every name.  His name is holy and special.  Not just the name Jesus, but who Jesus is.  Like I said earlier, Jesus was a common name in His time, so many people had that name, but none of the others were the Christ.  In Israel, many times, the name of a person reflected who he was or what he did.  So, by making Jesus Christ's name unique and above other names, speaks about his character and actions, not about what his actual name was.

Another disappointing thing about this particular service was the closing song.  We sang "Call on the name of the Lord."  Not the whole song, just the chorus.  Just "call on the name of the Lord and be saved."

Yes, the Bible does say this:

Romans 10:13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

However, the Bible also says:

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven.

2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, having this inscription: The Lord knows those who are His, and Everyone who names the name of the Lord must turn away from unrighteousness.

Yes, calling on the name of the Lord will save you, but you must also do the will of God and turn away from unrighteousness and sin.  I know that no person will ever completely turn away from sin in this life, but it is what we are striving to do in our sanctification.  No, your works will not save you.  If you are saved, then you will want to do the good works, which are the will of God. 

Exodus 21 -- The Laws

Exodus 21:1 “These are the laws you are to set before them:
2 “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. 3 If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.
5 “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ 6 then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.
7 “If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do. 8 If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her. 9 If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. 10 If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. 11 If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money.
12 “Anyone who strikes a person with a fatal blow is to be put to death. 13 However, if it is not done intentionally, but God lets it happen, they are to flee to a place I will designate. 14 But if anyone schemes and kills someone deliberately, that person is to be taken from my altar and put to death.
15 “Anyone who attacks their father or mother is to be put to death.
16 “Anyone who kidnaps someone is to be put to death, whether the victim has been sold or is still in the kidnapper’s possession.
17 “Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.
18 “If people quarrel and one person hits another with a stone or with their fist and the victim does not die but is confined to bed, 19 the one who struck the blow will not be held liable if the other can get up and walk around outside with a staff; however, the guilty party must pay the injured person for any loss of time and see that the victim is completely healed.
20 “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, 21 but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.
22 “If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. 23 But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
26 “An owner who hits a male or female slave in the eye and destroys it must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye.27 And an owner who knocks out the tooth of a male or female slave must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth.
28 “If a bull gores a man or woman to death, the bull is to be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible. 29 If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull is to be stoned and its owner also is to be put to death.30 However, if payment is demanded, the owner may redeem his life by the payment of whatever is demanded. 31 This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter. 32 If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull is to be stoned to death.
33 “If anyone uncovers a pit or digs one and fails to cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34 the one who opened the pit must pay the owner for the loss and take the dead animal in exchange.
35 “If anyone’s bull injures someone else’s bull and it dies, the two parties are to sell the live one and divide both the money and the dead animal equally. 36 However, if it was known that the bull had the habit of goring, yet the owner did not keep it penned up, the owner must pay, animal for animal, and take the dead animal in exchange.

I am not sure what to do with the law passages.  It is they way the Israelites were supposed to live their lives. They were to obey all of the laws set forth by God, with no exception.  Breaking these laws meant disobeying God.  We, today, do not live under these laws.  We have Christ, the fulfillment of the law.  As Christ said, we are to:

Matthew 22:37“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

All of the laws will be obeyed if we truly love God and our fellow man the way we should.

Exodus 20:14 -- Adultery

Exodus 20:14 Do not commit adultery.

This is very cut and dry.  Do not commit adultery.  Do not forsake your spouse by being with someone else, whether in thought or deed.

Leviticus 20:10 If a man commits adultery with a married woman—if he commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.

Again, breaking this commandment leads to death.  The ones who committed the acts must die.

Proverbs 6:27 Can a man embrace fire
and his clothes not be burned?
28 Can a man walk on burning coals
without scorching his feet?
29 So it is with the one who sleeps with
another man’s wife;
no one who touches her will go unpunished.

This is what Solomon had to say about adultery.  Sleeping with another man's wife is like embracing fire and getting burned.  It is dangerous.  You will get punished.  Proverbs goes on to say:

Proverbs 6:32 The one who commits adultery lacks sense;
whoever does so destroys himself.
33 He will get a beating and dishonor,
and his disgrace will never be removed.

You have no sense and you will be disgraced.  You destroy yourself when you commit adultery.

Matthew 5:28 But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Matthew is saying here that just looking at a women with the desire to sleep with her is just the same as actually committing the act itself.  You have had her in your mind, so how is that different than actually do it?  God knows your heart and your intentions when you think them.  Many people praise the fact that they did not commit some particular sin, but fail to mention that they thought about wanting to do it all day long.  Like our pastor said concerning adultery in one of his sermons: "A man came home and told his wife, 'you would be proud of me today, honey.  I did not commit adultery, but man I really wanted to!'"

Matthew 5:32 But I tell you, everyone who divorces his wife, except in a case of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

and

Matthew 19:9 And I tell you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

Here is states that if a divorced person remarries, then they are committing adultery.  I wonder how many Christians read this today?  There are many people who claimed to be Christian when they divorced and then later remarried, for reasons that were not considered sexual immorality.  Do those Christians know they are committing adultery?

Adultery is rampant in our culture.  A lot of times it is swept under the rug, or whispered about behind ones back instead of confronted and dealt with.  Divorce is out of control, especially within the church.  If we truly loved God and our fellow man like the Bible says we ought, then I think the divorce rate among Christians would drop drastically.  We, as a society, had a hard time understanding sacrificial love, that is necessary to keep a long term relationship going.  You can't be in a healthy marriage if all you worry about is yourself and how you can be happy.  There must be concern for the other person involved.  You must love them so much that you are willing to sacrifice some of your wants and desires to make them happy or feel loved or satisfied.  Marriage is not a one way street.

The Bible also talks of adultery in a much deeper sense when referring to Israel's relationship with God.

Jeremiah 3:6 In the days of King Josiah the Lord asked me, “Have you seen what unfaithful Israel has done? She has ascended every high hill and gone under every green tree to prostitute herself there. 7 I thought: After she has done all these things, she will return to Me. But she didn’t return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 I observed that it was because unfaithful Israel had committed adultery that I had sent her away and had given her a certificate of divorce. Nevertheless, her treacherous sister Judah was not afraid but also went and prostituted herself. 9 Indifferent to her prostitution, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. 10 Yet in spite of all this, her treacherous sister Judah didn’t return to Me with all her heart—only in pretense.”

Both Israel and Judah have given themselves to foreign gods and worshiped them.  They have made their idols out of stone and wood and worshiped them instead of the on true God.  They have betrayed God and followed after other gods.  As we know from the New Testament, Christ is our groom and us, as the church is his bride.  We must remember the bride of Christ is both Christ and the chosen Jews.  For any of us to follow after other gods or idols is like us committing adultery against God.

Exodus 20:12 -- Honor Your Father and Mother

Exodus 20:12 Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Honor your father and your mother.  Do not disrespect them.  Hold them high in your mind.  Obey the commands they give you, so long as they do not go against the words of God.

Matthew 15:3 He answered them, “And why do you break God’s commandment because of your tradition? 4 For God said:
Honor your father and your mother; and,
The one who speaks evil of father or mother
must be put to death.

Those who break this commandment are to be put to death.  I see a theme here.  If you are and idolater, you will be put to death.  If you take the Lord's name in vain, you will be put to death.  If you break the Sabbath, you should be put to death.  God is very serious about His people obeying His commandments.

Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents as you would the Lord, because this is right. 2 Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise, 3 so that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land.

We should obey our parents simply because it is right and it is what they Lord commands of us.  The promise of God to us if we keep this commandment is that we may live long and prosper (Ha!) in the land the Lord has given us.

Exodus 20:8-11 -- Rest on the Sabbath

Exodus 20:8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: 9 You are to labor six days and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the foreigner who is within your gates. 11 For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.

This commandment is telling us to rest on the Sabbath day.  We have 6 days in which to do our work and the seventh day should be made holy and set aside for rest.  The Lord set this example when he created the earth in 6 days and rested on the seventh day.

We know for the Jew, the Sabbath rest was taken very seriously.  Anyone who worked on the Sabbath was punished.  Christ, himself worked on the Sabbath in healing those from illnesses.

Luke 13:10 As He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, 11 a woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit for over 18 years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, He called out to her, “Woman, you are free of your disability.” 13 Then He laid His hands on her, and instantly she was restored and began to glorify God.
14 But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, responded by telling the crowd, “There are six days when work should be done; therefore come on those days and be healed and not on the Sabbath day.”
15 But the Lord answered him and said, “Hypocrites! Doesn’t each one of you untie his ox or donkey from the feeding trough on the Sabbath and lead it to water? 16 Satan has bound this woman, a daughter of Abraham, for 18 years—shouldn’t she be untied from this bondage on the Sabbath day?”
17 When He had said these things, all His adversaries were humiliated, but the whole crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things He was doing.

Here, the leaders of the synagogue, accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath.  He responded that the what he did was not a breaking of the Sabbath but a releasing from the bonds of Satan for this woman.

Matthew 12:9 Moving on from there, He entered their synagogue. 10 There He saw a man who had a paralyzed hand. And in order to accuse Him they asked Him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
11 But He said to them, “What man among you, if he had a sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, wouldn’t take hold of it and lift it out? 12 A man is worth far more than a sheep, so it is lawful to do what is good on the Sabbath.”

Here is another passage telling of how Jesus healed on the Sabbath.  Again the leaders of the synagogue were trying to trap Jesus so they could get rid of him.  Jesus put them in their place again and said it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.

John 5:9 Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.
Now that day was the Sabbath, 10 so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath! It’s illegal for you to pick up your mat.”
11 He replied, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

Jesus again healed on the Sabbath.  The man who was healed did work on the Sabbath and was attacked by the other Jews for doing so.  He replied he did what Jesus had instructed him to do, with out question.  Jesus did not care it was the Sabbath and one should not pick up a mat.  Jesus was concerned more for the glory of His and His Father's name than for being legalistic about the Sabbath.

It seems for the Jews, the Sabbath rules were being followed so very strictly, they failed to see the true reason for the Sabbath.  A day for the Lord.  They may have visited the synagogue, said a prayer, rested the whole day, but failed to recognize the reason for why they had a Sabbath rest.  This is no different than the countless number of "Christians" who go  to church on Sunday, go through the right motions, then go about their daily lives without even realizing the significance of why they should be at church or singing praises to God in the first place.  It is what they have always known.  It is what their parents taught them, but there is no real conviction.  Just a habit they go through each week.  I pray that all professing Christians could understand the significance of the Sabbath and why we celebrate the Lord and rest from our toils.

I have written on the Sabbath Rest once before.  You can read that post here: A Sabbath Rest.

Exodus 20:1-17 -- The Ten Commandments

Exodus 20:1 Then God spoke all these words:
2 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.
3 Do not have other gods besides Me.
4 Do not make an idol for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. 5 You must not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the fathers’ sin, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commands.
7 Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God, because the Lord will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses His name.
8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: 9 You are to labor six days and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the foreigner who is within your gates. 11 For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.
12 Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
13 Do not murder.
14 Do not commit adultery.
15 Do not steal.
16 Do not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17 Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

These are the ten commandments given to Moses by God while he was up on the mountain.  Every Jew was to follow these laws, all of these laws, with no exception.  Over the next few posts, I will explore the commandments on by one, but for this post, we will focus on the law and what that means for us today.

We today, are not held under these laws.  We are not under the law of the Old Testament.  We are under Christ.

Matthew 22:34 When the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they came together.35 And one of them, an expert in the law, asked a question to test Him: 36 “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?”
37 He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and most important command. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

Christ commands us to love God with all that we are and to love our neighbors as ourselves.  If we do these things, we will follow the commands from the 10 commandments.  If we love God with all we are, we will keep him first in our lives and not create idols to take his place.  We will observe His holy days and keep them holy.  We will not misuse the name of God if we love him with all we are.  If we love our neighbor, we will not steal from him, commit adultery with the spouse we coveted against the spouse we may have, we will not lie to or about our neighbor, we will not kill him in our thoughts or deeds.  We will keep the commandments.

Our hope and salvation is not placed on keeping the law.  If it were, we would all be damned to hell.  There is no person alive today, or ever, apart from Christ who ever kept the law perfectly.

Romans 4:14 If those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made empty and the promise is canceled.15 For the law produces wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.
16 This is why the promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace, to guarantee it to all the descendants—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of Abraham’s faith. He is the father of us all.

Galatians 2:15 We who are Jews by birth and not “Gentile sinners” 16 know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. And we have believed in Christ Jesus so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified. 17 But if we ourselves are also found to be “sinners” while seeking to be justified by Christ, is Christ then a promoter of sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild the system I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker. 19 For through the law I have died to the law, so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ 20 and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

Galatians 5:1 Christ has liberated us to be free. Stand firm then and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery. 2 Take note! I, Paul, tell you that if you get yourselves circumcised, Christ will not benefit you at all. 3 Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to keep the entire law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law are alienated from Christ; you have fallen from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love.

Scripture is clear in so many more places than this that the law is not what saves us, Christ is.  In the last set of scriptures, Paul says that if you argue that one part of the law must be kept, then you must keep it all.  By doing this, you are alienated from Christ.  Christ came and freed us from the law.

James goes on to say:

James 2:10 For whoever keeps the entire law, yet fails in one point, is guilty of breaking it all. 11 For He who said, Do not commit adultery, also said, Do not murder. So if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you are a lawbreaker.

If we even break one part of the law, we are guilty of breaking them all.  God made all of the laws, from the simple to the difficult, from the not so bad to the really bad (in human eyes of course).  Killing is just as bad as adultery, which is just as bad as lying.

Our law under Christ is to love God with all we are and to love our neighbors as ourselves.  If we do these two things, we can obey all that God would want from us.  Christ came to crush the law.  He came to offer salvation apart from following the law.  Christ's salvation is a gift from God to us.  We receive this gift so we can live as Christ, outside the Old Testament laws and in a life that is rich and overflowing with Christ's love.

Exodus 15:22-15:27 -- The First Grumbling in the Wilderness

Exodus 15:22 Then Moses led Israel on from the Red Sea, and they went out to the Wilderness of Shur. They journeyed for three days in the wilderness without finding water. 23 They came to Marah, but they could not drink the water at Marah because it was bitter—that is why it was named Marah. 24 The people grumbled to Moses, “What are we going to drink?” 25 So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he threw it into the water, the water became drinkable
He made a statute and ordinance for them at Marah and He tested them there. 26 He said, “If you will carefully obey the Lord your God, do what is right in His eyes, pay attention to His commands, and keep all His statutes, I will not inflict any illnesses on you that I inflicted on the Egyptians. For I am Yahweh who heals you.”
27 Then they came to Elim, where there were 12 springs of water and 70 date palms, and they camped there by the waters.

Their journey just begun and they are already grumbling about the things they need.  They grumbled to Moses  about the water being bitter and undrinkable.  Moses appealed to God and God told him what to do to make the water drinkable.   God promises that if the people obey his laws and statutes, he would not inflict them with the diseases that were put on the Egyptians.  He then led the Israelites to a place with many springs and date trees.  They had food and water while they were there.

God provided for the needs of the Israelites.  He told Moses how to make the water at Marah drinkable and then lead them to where they had plenty of water.  The Lord will always provide what we need.  Not what we think we need, but what we actually need.

Matthew 6:25 “This is why I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? 27 Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! 30 If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t He do much more for you—you of little faith? 31 So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. 34 Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

God tells us not to worry about our needs.  He will provide them for us.  Just as God provided for His people in their wandering, he too will provide for us.  The Israelites grumbled and worried about the water they had to drink.  Why would God lead them out of oppression just for them to die in the dessert?  They asked that question many times in the 40 years they wandered.  Did they ever stop to think that God would provide all they needed to make it to the promised land?  If he had not, then God's promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would not have been fulfilled, then our God would not be worthy to worship because if he cannot keep a promise, then we cannot trust that anything he says would be true.  Since our Lord did keep his promise to Israel, we know he will keep these promises for us as well.

Exodus 10:21-29 -- Darkness Descends

Exodus 10:21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, and there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be felt.”

I wonder what it means, "a darkness that can be felt."

Exodus 10:22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness throughout the land of Egypt for three days. 23 One person could not see another, and for three days they did not move from where they were. Yet all the Israelites had light where they lived.
24 Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, worship Yahweh. Even your families may go with you; only your flocks and herds must stay behind.”

Again, Pharaoh trying to compromise.  Now you can go where ever, take your families, but your animals must stay.  Again a ploy at trying to be certain that the Israelites would return after worship.

Exodus 10:25 Moses responded, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings to prepare for Yahweh our God. 26 Even our livestock must go with us; not a hoof will be left behind because we will take some of them to worship Yahweh our God. We will not know what we will use to worship Yahweh until we get there.”
27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was unwilling to let them go. 28 Pharaoh said to him, “Leave me! Make sure you never see my face again, for on the day you see my face, you will die.”
29 “As you have said,” Moses replied, “I will never see your face again.”

Now Pharaoh has condemned Moses if he ever sees him again.  

We see some very interesting parallels in this story and with that of Christ's death.  Here in Exodus, darkness descends on the land for 3 days, it was so bad the people could not see.  We know that following this darkness, the first born of the Egyptians would all die.

Matthew 27:45 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over the whole land.

Here in Matthew, we see that darkness covered all the land for 3 hours.  Here is a repetition of three.  For the Egyptians, it was 3 days, for Israel it was 3 hours.  Each darkness was followed by death, For Egypt, the death of all their first borns. For Israel, it was the death of their Messiah, the first born of God.  One died in judgment of God the other in sacrifice.

This passage also shows us some Biblical truths.  Notice the passage says "So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness throughout the land of Egypt for three days. One person could not see another, and for three days they did not move from where they were. Yet all the Israelites had light where they lived."

Even in the beginning, before there was sin in the world, God separated what was good from what was evil.

Genesis 1:4 God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.

Just like in Genesis, God separated those who were evil from those who were righteous.  The Egyptians were covered in total darkness because their hearts were hard and they would not let the Israelites go with all they had to worship their God.  Likewise, the Israelites were seen as righteous and their land was filled with light.

In the end, God will continue to separate the light from the dark.  We are given this warning from Him:

Luke 11:33 “No one lights a lamp and puts it in the cellar or under a basket, but on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see its light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of the body. When your eye is good, your whole body is also full of light. But when it is bad, your body is also full of darkness. 35 Take care then, that the light in you is not darkness. 36 If, therefore, your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be entirely illuminated, as when a lamp shines its light on you.”

We are not only to be filled with light and not darkness, but we are to let the light shine for all to see.  We are not to hide our faith, but share it.  In the end, if we are filled with light, we will be with our heavenly father for all eternity.  If we are filled with darkness, we will be separated from Him for all eternity.

John 12:35 Jesus answered, “The light will be with you only a little longer. Walk while you have the light so that darkness doesn’t overtake you. The one who walks in darkness doesn’t know where he’s going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light so that you may become sons of light.” Jesus said this, then went away and hid from them.

Jesus is our light.  We must be filled with Him.  We must radiate Him.  We must show Him to all the world so the world can too shine His light.  

The King James Version

I get so fed up with people who say that the King James Version is the only true version of the Bible.  They claim it is the only version worthy to read and study from because it is the most true to what scripture actually says.  They claim that the other, newer versions all contain errors and the wording used does not accurately portray what scripture is actually trying to say.

If you want to use the only version that is guaranteed to be 100% accurate and error free, then you have to read the actual manuscripts written by the authors themselves in their original language.  You will have no ambiguity of the translations then.  No question of what the word should or should not be.  What is that?  Oh, you do not know how to read Greek and Hebrew?  I'm so sorry, guess you are out of luck.  But wait!  God, yes our God, has given men the ability to translate scripture between languages!  God uses men who have studies the old languages and scriptures to translate them into other languages so the everyday person can understand.

I know you will agree with that, even if you do believe King James is the only true Bible.  What about people who do not know English?  Do they not have a true and accurate Bible to read?  Why can't other translations be acceptable, even other English translations?  Are you saying God cannot preserve his Word through out the generations?  Isn't God capable of that?  Doesn't scripture say nothing is impossible for our God, no matter what version you read?

Matthew 19:26

26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (HCSB)

26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. (KJV)

26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (NIV)

26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (ESV)

I feel that the way you can choose a good translation is to first see how it was written.  If someone used accepted Greek and Hebrew manuscripts for translations and accurately translates them into another language, then I think they are fine for us to use to study his word.  Yes, some ambiguity will slip in as translations are made, but the overall ideas, truths and promises are still accurately conveyed.  There are always words in one language that do not exist or some idioms in one language we just do not understand, but they do not hinder our understanding of scripture as a whole.  Knowing what was used to translate the Bible and how the translator went about doing it can help you find the right Bible for you.  If you believe the King James is the best version for you, by all means, use that version.  If you feel the NIV or the ESV or the HCSB is the best translation, use those.  Just beware of how they are translated.  If a passage in the NIV or ESV or HCSB or KJV or any other version have a meaning that seems different across the versions, that is when you pull out Greek and Hebrew dictionaries and try to determine which is most accurate. (Or research it using the internet or books)  Perhaps the reason for the differences is that there is a word in the native languages that scholars do not know exactly what they mean.  They are using the context of the passages (HA, see context is still important!) to determine the best meaning for the unknown term.  Each translator will think of something slightly different based on his understanding of the passage.  Does that mean the passage is in error?  Well, not exactly.  Perhaps the word means all those things.  We just may not know.  Does that mean the translator was not inspired because God did not give him the meaning of every single word?  NO!  There are some things that remain mysteries in the Bible because God wants them to remain mysteries.  He reveals HIS mysteries in HIS time.

Colossians 1:25 I have become its servant, according to God’s administration that was given to me for you, to make God’s message fully known,26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints. 27 God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

What really gets me, is that one person I have met through the internet claims King James to be the only true word of God in the English language, but then goes on to site several places where translations were incorrect.  If some of it is incorrect, then it isn't perfect, now is it!

I know I mentioned in the previous post that I believe the Word of God is 100% true and contains no errors.  By errors, I do not mean punctuation or spelling or changing between words that have the same meaning.  What I mean is that nothing that was supposed to be there was left out and nothing that wasn't supposed to be there was put in.  There is no error in the meaning of what a passage is trying to convey, no matter which rightly translated Bible you pick up.

I do believe that there are some Versions that should not be called Bibles because they are not.  Take "The Message" version.  It is not a Bible.  It was not written to be a Bible.  It was written as a study guide as one reads through the Bible and should not be taken as the Word of God.  Can God use what is in "The Message" to help reach the lost for Him?  Yes.  But it should not be promoted as a Bible when the author, himself, wrote it as something different.

All in all, be careful on the translation you use, but do not be so stingy as to look down on someone else for not using "THE" version of scripture.  There are many good translations, not just one.  My husband says that the ideas of scripture is more important than the exact words used.  One translation may say it slightly different, but the meaning is completely the same.  Saying God can do all things is exactly the same as saying nothing is impossible for God.  There words used may be different, but the idea/meaning is the same.

Why reading scripture in context is important!

It is my opinion that scripture must be read in context. You find the meaning in scripture by reading other scripture. This post is sparked by another blog I was directed to (by that blog's author) in which the author of that blog states that reading scripture in context is wrong and scripture is meant to be read out of context. The exact quote from the site is: " you must read the Bible HIS way Isa 28:9-10, 2 Tim 2:15 (OUT of context). The whole world is deceived Rev 12:9 because they read the Bible Satan's way (IN context)."

Lets look at the verses sited:

Isaiah 28:9 Who is he trying to teach?
Who is he trying to instruct?
Infants just weaned from milk?
Babies removed from the breast?
10 For he says: “Law after law, law after law,
line after line, line after line,
a little here, a little there.” 

2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.

Revelations 12:9 So the great dragon was thrown out—the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world. He was thrown to earth, and his angels with him.

Using these scriptures, she tries to claim that each line should be taken by itself on its own.  In doing this, you can make scripture mean ANYTHING you want.  (The verse in Isaiah is actually talking about drunk priest, if you read the verses before it.  The priest were teaching people simple things: law after law, line after line, a little here, a little there: but Isaiah was saying the priest needed to teach the deeper things of God.  The people were grown adults and need more than the milk of scripture, they needed more than the pureed and mashed up food, they needed real bread).  Lets look at this verse from Luke: (Better yet, lets look at it in the KJV, since that is the only "real" version of scripture according to the other poster -- There will be a post on that later).

Luke 4:7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

What a wonderful promise scripture gives us if we read this OUT of context.  If you will worship me, all shall be yours.  This is wonderful, all we have to do is worship God and we shall get everything.  WRONG.  This is one verse where contexts matters!  Did you know the devil said this?  He said this when tempting Jesus.  Go read the rest of Luke 4.  Get the context and you won't like this verse anymore!

Yes, 2 Timothy 2:15, states you should correctly teach the word of truth.  But how do we do that?  We look at scripture, ALL of scripture, as a whole.  Not just one part.

Genesis 40:8 Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God?"

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

2 Peter 1:20 First of all, you should know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation, 21 because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

Interpretations from scripture come from GOD and only GOD.  HE is the one who wrote it and HE is the only one who can tell us what it means.

In order to fully grasp what the Bible is trying to say, you must read the passages in context, in context with the verses around it, in context of it's book, and in context of the Bible as a whole.  Another belief I hold to is that the Bible is true and does not contain any contradictions or mistakes.  If you allow the Bible to have mistakes or contains things that are not true, then you cannot believe any of scripture.  Who are you to judge the book of God?  If one thing is false, then all of it is false because we have no way of knowing what is true and what is not.  We cannot pick and choose what WE (man) think is true and what is not.  As we see above, it is God's word.

By taking scriptures out of context, you open up for contradictions.  The Bible cannot contradict itself if every single part of it is true.  If you read a verse and think, but what a minute, it contradicts this other verse over there, then you are interpreting those scriptures incorrectly, in my opinion.  They are both true, so you must look at other scripture to see the full meaning.

Matthew 12:25 Knowing their thoughts, He told them: “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?

Here, Jesus says division in a kingdom, home or city (and this can be extended to ANYTHING, even scripture) cannot stand.  If you divide scripture and only take a small part for living, it will not benefit you the way knowing and believing all of scripture, as a whole will.  You need all of scripture to live a Godly life.  You need all of scripture, together, to rightly know God and his plans for salvation.  You cannot understand one concept in the Bible by reading one line.  God's salvation plan is more than John 3:16.  If  you divide the Bible into small parts and twist them to mean what you want, you are spreading a false gospel.  If what you believe is not backed up by ALL of scripture, then what you believe is wrong.

Yes, the whole Earth is deceived by Satan.  That is why we cannot reply on any Earthly interpretation of the Bible.  We must rely on the Bible to interpret the Bible.  If we do not understand one part of scripture, we must look at other scripture to help us understand.  The only way to stop a false prophet is to show them the truth of scripture.  The scripture is the only truth we have.  We cannot rely on our own understanding.  We must rely on God.

1 Corinthians 2:1 When I came to you, brothers, announcing the testimony of God to you, I did not come with brilliance of speech or wisdom. 2 For I didn’t think it was a good idea to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 My speech and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom but with a powerful demonstration by the Spirit, 5 so that your faith might not be based on men’s wisdom but on God’s power.
6 However, we do speak a wisdom among the mature, but not a wisdom of this age, or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 On the contrary, we speak God’s hidden wisdom in a mystery, a wisdom God predestined before the ages for our glory. 8 None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But as it is written:
What eye did not see and ear did not hear,
and what never entered the human mind—
God prepared this for those who love Him.
10 Now God has revealed these things to us by the Spirit, for the Spirit searches everything,even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man that is in him? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who comes from God, so that we may understand what has been freely given to us by God.13 We also speak these things, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people.

"Now God has revealed these things to us by the Spirit." Hence, scriptures.  God revealed the scripture to the original writers.  God reveals the interpretations to us through the spirit.  We must read the word God gave us through the prophets and apostles and rely on his spirit for guidance.  God did not give us a bunch of little verses and say "do with this as you please," he gave us a whole book and said "read and obey."  All of it.  Not just part.  Not what makes me feel good.  Not what I like, but ALL of it.      

Reading the Bible IN context helps us grasp a full understanding of scripture.  Pulling verses out of context could get you sucked up in one of the Devil's lies.  (Luke 4:7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine." (KJV) -- Remember, this is a promise of the Devil, not God).  Context is important.

Do all good people go to heaven?

The simple answer, NO.  There is a lot in the Bible that supports this answer.   This post is in response to what the Pope said a few days ago.

This is what the Pope said:

"The Lord created us in His image and likeness, and we are the image of the Lord, and He does good and all of us have this commandment at heart: do good and do not do evil. All of us. ‘But, Father, this is not Catholic! He cannot do good.’ Yes, he can... "The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone!".. We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there.”

Yes, we are created in the image and likeness of God.  God reveals this from the beginning when he told the angels "let us make man in our image."  We may have the commandment to do good and not evil, but that does not mean we do it.  We will never choose good because it is good.  There is always a selfish reasons, unless Christ is in it, we cannot do good.  Not pure good in the eyes of God.  We can do good in the eyes of man, but God's definition of good is different from ours.  God's definition of good is that which is perfect and complete.  When God created, he called his creation very good.  When it was created, it was perfect and complete.  When God calls something good, it means it is perfect.  There is no sinful desire or motive what so ever.  When we say something is good, we mean it is pleasing or beneficial to us somehow.  Someones actions may be good, but their motives behind those actions may not.

Romans 3:12 All have turned away;
all alike have become useless.
There is no one who does what is good,
not even one.

The Bible is clear, no one is good.  Not even one.  Not one single person, apart from Christ was ever good.

Responding to the leader of the Roman Catholic church's homily, Father James Martin, S.J. wrote in an email to The Huffington Post:
"Pope Francis is saying, more clearly than ever before, that Christ offered himself as a sacrifice for everyone. That's always been a Christian belief. You can find St. Paul saying in the First Letter to Timothy that Jesus gave himself as a "ransom for all." But rarely do you hear it said by Catholics so forcefully, and with such evident joy. And in this era of religious controversies, it's a timely reminder that God cannot be confined to our narrow categories."

My response to this:

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 24 They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed. 26 God presented Him to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be righteous and declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus.

We are justified by His grace.  Jesus will declare righteous the one who has faith in Him.  Only those who have faith will be justified.  This verse is clear!  The atheist has no faith in God.  He is sinning by denying the one true God.  He is not justified through faith in Christ.  Yes, Christ's blood is enough for all, but not all are allowed to partake.  Only those who receive the grace of God and have faith in Christ will receive the redemptive blood of Christ.

1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2 for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
5 For there is one God
and one mediator between God and humanity,
Christ Jesus, Himself human,
6 who gave Himself—a ransom for all,
a testimony at the proper time.
7 For this I was appointed a herald, an apostle (I am telling the truth; I am not lying), and a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

I do agree with the statement that Christ's blood can redeem all people.  His blood was enough, but again, scripture is very clear.  Only those who believe in Christ will be redeemed. There is one God.  One mediator between God and man.  That is Christ.  Only Christ.  Only through Christ can we get to God.  Apart from Christ we cannot get to God.

"But do good: we will meet one another there."  There is so much wrong with this statement and it is really, probably, what is most controversial about what he said.  Even more so than saying a good atheist can get into heaven.  A good atheist is still a sinner because he still denies God and sin cannot be in the presence of God.  He abhors sin.  However, this notion that any good person can get to heaven or even be part of the earthly church is ridiculous.

James 1:25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but one who does good works—this person will be blessed in what he does.

You might say, but wait a minute.  James here says we must do good works to be blessed.  Look closer.  Look intently in to the perfect law of freedom.  That is Christ.  Look at his laws and preserve them!  Out of this will flow good works.  A true believer and follower of Christ will not only hear the words of God and believe, but they will also preform good works out of their love for the Father.

Galatians 2:15 We who are Jews by birth and not “Gentile sinners” 16 know that no one is justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. And we have believed in Christ Jesus so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified. 17 But if we ourselves are also found to be “sinners” while seeking to be justified by Christ, is Christ then a promoter of sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild the system I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker. 19 For through the law I have died to the law, so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ 20 and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.

Well, looky here.  Good works do not save.  Doing good will not get you into heaven.  Obeying the law will not get you into heaven.  Only a faith and love in Christ will do!  If we say that someone can do good and get into heaven, then Christ's death was meaningless.  We would not need to send anyone to tell of Christ.  Christ would not mean a thing.  All we would have to do is say "Just do good and God will let you in."  Never mind the fact that you spit in his face daily and deny or even hate the very existence of God.  If  you do what is good in MAN'S eyes then you can get there, no problem.  The Bible preaches something totally different!  Man's opinion does not matter.  What matters is God's opinion.  If God sees you as you are, then you are wretched and wicked.  It does not matter what "good" in man's sight that you do.  It is still evil in the site of God.

"The heart is more deceitful than anything else" (Jeremiah 17:9) and "how can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart" (Matthew 12:34). "A good man produces good out of the good storeroom of his heart. An evil man produces evil out of the evil storeroom, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart" (Luke 6:45).  Our hearts are deceitful.  Out of our hearts flows what is our inherent nature.  This is always evil, unless Christ has redeemed us.  We cannot save ourselves by doing good.  Our hearts will not allow it.

Ezekiel 11:19 And I will give them one heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone from their bodies and give them a heart of flesh, 20 so they may follow My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for those whose hearts pursue their desire for detestable things and practices, I will bring their actions down on their own heads.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

When we are born, we have a heart of stone.  It will remain a heart of stone until God turns it into a heart of flesh.  From this passage, man does nothing except in response to what God does.  We will follow his statutes, keep his ordinances and practice them ONLY because GOD has changed our hearts.  He changes our hearts so we can obey him.  Otherwise, we would remain wicked and evil.

Our own good works will not get us into heaven.  God makes it clear that we must follow Christ and believe and have faith in him in order to receive blessings through good works which will flow out of the new desires of our heart that are given to us by God when he turns our heart of stone into a heart of flesh.  We can do nothing on our own but wickedness.  Christ can save us.  But only Christ.  He is our hope.  He is our future. His death mattered because we can do nothing to improve our own wicked condition.  His death provided a way for us to be with God.  All people can be redeemed through his blood, but you must believe and have faith.  A faith that only comes from God and only bestowed by his grace and his mercy towards us.

Source:

The quotes were taking from the article:  Pope Francis Says Atheists Who Do Good Are Redeemed, Not Just Catholics

Genesis 40 -- Joseph Interprets Dreams

Genesis 40:1 After this, the Egyptian king’s cupbearer and baker offended their master, the king of Egypt. 2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,3 and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard in the prison where Joseph was confined. 4 The captain of the guard assigned Joseph to them, and he became their personal attendant. And they were in custody for some time.
5 The Egyptian king’s cupbearer and baker, who were confined in the prison, each had a dream. Both had a dream on the same night, and each dream had its own meaning. 6 When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they looked distraught. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?”
8 “We had dreams,” they said to him, “but there is no one to interpret them.”
Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”

God is the creator of dreams and the interpreter.  God used Joseph to interpret the dreams of the who officials. 

Genesis 40:9 So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph: “In my dream there was a vine in front of me. 10 On the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms came out and its clusters ripened into grapes. 11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”
12 “This is its interpretation,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days. 13 In just three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand the way you used to when you were his cupbearer. 14 But when all goes well for you, remember that I was with you. Please show kindness to me by mentioning me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this prison. 15 For I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing that they should put me in the dungeon.”

It is true.  Joseph had not done anything wrong.  A lie had put him in prison.

Genesis 40:16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was positive, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream. Three baskets of white bread were on my head. 17 In the top basket were all sorts of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”
18 “This is its interpretation,” Joseph replied. “The three baskets are three days. 19 In just three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from off you—and hang you on a tree. Then the birds will eat the flesh from your body.”
20 On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he gave a feast for all his servants. He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. 21 Pharaoh restored the chief cupbearer to his position as cupbearer, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand. 22 But Pharaoh hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had explained to them. 23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.

I am sure it crossed his mind that what Joseph said came true, but for whatever reason he did not mention him to Pharaoh.

Dreams are just one way God can speak to and through his people.  

Matthew 2:21 So he (Joseph) got up, took the child and His mother, and entered the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee. 23 Then he went and settled in a town called Nazareth to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets, that He will be called a Nazarene.

Acts 2:16 this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 And it will be in the last days, says God,
that I will pour out My Spirit on all humanity;
then your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.
18 I will even pour out My Spirit
on My male and female slaves in those days,
and they will prophesy.
19 I will display wonders in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below:
blood and fire and a cloud of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the great and remarkable Day of the Lord comes.
21 Then everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Genesis 33 -- Jacob meets Esau

Genesis 33:1 Now Jacob looked up and saw Esau coming toward him with 400 men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female slaves. 2 He put the female slaves and their children first, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph last. 3 He himself went on ahead and bowed to the ground seven times until he approached his brother.

So Jacob redivided his family when he saw Esau.  I wonder if he was thinking if Esau attacks, the slaves and their children will be attacked first so his wives and other children could escape.  Rachel, his beloved, and her son being last, giving them the greatest chance to get away if they were to be attacked.

Genesis 33:4 But Esau ran to meet him, hugged him, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. Then they wept. 5 When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he asked, “Who are these with you?”
He answered, “The children God has graciously given your servant.” 6 Then the female slaves and their children approached him and bowed down. 7 Leah and her children also approached and bowed down, and then Joseph and Rachel approached and bowed down.
8 So Esau said, “What do you mean by this whole procession I met?”
“To find favor with you, my lord,” he answered.
9 “I have enough, my brother,” Esau replied. “Keep what you have.”
10 But Jacob said, “No, please! If I have found favor with you, take this gift from my hand. For indeed, I have seen your face, and it is like seeing God’s face, since you have accepted me. 11 Please take my present that was brought to you, because God has been gracious to me and I have everything I need.” So Jacob urged him until he accepted.

Esau did not want to take the gifts from his brother.  He told Jacob to keep them.  Jacob insisted and Esau finally agreed.  In giving his gift, Jacob acknowledged that God was the one who blessed him with his possessions, and he gave to Esau abundantly from what was given to him by God.

1 Chronicles 29:14 But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? For everything comes from You, and we have given You only what comes from Your own hand.

Here, David also acknowledges that all we have is from God.  The people were able to give abundantly to the Lord because the Lord first gave abundantly to them.  Why should we hoard what was given to us by the Lord?  Should we keep it to ourselves?  No!  God gives to us so we can give to others.

Matthew 25:40 “And the King will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’

Here Jesus is saying that when you give out of your abundance that He has given to you, whether it be to cloth, feed, or help in any way, then you did that deed for Him.   So, God gives to us what we have.  We are to use what we have to do good works for Him by caring for our brothers and sisters in Christ as well as those who are no in Christ who need our help.

Genesis 33:12 Then Esau said, “Let’s move on, and I’ll go ahead of you.”
13 Jacob replied, “My lord knows that the children are weak, and I have nursing sheep and cattle. If they are driven hard for one day, the whole herd will die. 14 Let my lord go ahead of his servant. I will continue on slowly, at a pace suited to the livestock and the children, until I come to my lord at Seir.”
15 Esau said, “Let me leave some of my people with you.”
But he replied, “Why do that? Please indulge me, my lord.”

Esau wanted Jacob and his family to come with him back to his home.  Jacob asked to rest and he would come later.  I do not think he ever went to where Esau lived.  He went a different direction.

16 That day Esau started on his way back to Seir, 17 but Jacob went on to Succoth. He built a house for himself and stalls for his livestock; that is why the place was called Succoth.
18 After Jacob came from Paddan-aram, he arrived safely at Shechem in the land of Canaan and camped in front of the city. 19 He purchased a section of the field where he had pitched his tent from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for 100 qesitahs. 20 And he set up an altar there and called it “God, the God of Israel.”

Jacob found a place to settle within the land promised to him and his father, Abraham, by God.

Why should we go to church?

So, this question has been posed twice in the last week and has been nagging at me every day for the last several days.  I am going to try and answer this question in a way that shows we SHOULD be going to church and why some of the reasons and excuses that are given are invalid even when the argument is compelling.

First off, I think many people (Christian and not) have an incorrect definition of what the church is.  The church is not a building.  It is not a place we go.  It is the gathering of believers.  It does not matter if we are in a building that is called a "church" or in a park or wherever.  Wherever the body of believers are gathered in the name of Christ, where they are worshiping and fellowshipping together is the church.  Also, the church can refer to a small gathering of believers or it can refer to the church as a whole (every Christian on the planet).  For this post, I will mostly be referring to a small gathering of believers.

The people who attend church are a bunch of hypocrites.
One of the most common reasons I hear of people not wanting to attend church is that the church if full of hypocrites.  Aren't we all hypocrites one way or another.  Haven't we all said things then turned around and did something completely different?  One BIG example of that is all the people who say murder is wrong, but then say a woman should be given a free choice about having an abortion.  I heard it summed up like this "The church is a hospital for the sinner, not a museum for the saints."  The ONLY place where no one sins and is not a hypocrite is in heaven.  And we only get there by the grace of God!

Matthew 9:9 As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” So he got up and followed Him.
10 While He was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came as guests to eat with Jesus and His disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 But when He heard this, He said, “Those who are well don’t need a doctor, but the sick do. 13 Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Here, Jesus calls Matthew, a tax collection (tax collections were hated and were often greedy and money hungry and often took more than they were required to line their own pockets).  When people see Jesus associating with a sinner, they immediately question, and get this response:  For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.  If you do not sin, you do not need a savior.  Jesus did not come for you if you are already perfect.  Jesus came to make you perfect.  (Though we will not see that until heaven!)

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Every man is a sinner.  Every man who has ever lived (except Christ) has sinned.  So, is the church full of hypocrites?  Yes, absolutely.  However, the difference between a true Christian and a true hypocrite is that the Christian is trying to do something about it.  They are trying to live according to the will of God.  A true hypocrite does not.  In a true Christian, you will see changes and improvements over time, in a true hypocrite you will not.

I can have church at my own home, by myself.
Well, no, you can't.  You can worship at home, you are not a church by yourself.  The Bible is clear that you should be gathering with your fellow believers regularly.  The "church" makes this very convenient in that they have specific times where the body of believers gather so you can come together with fellow believers without having to plan it all yourself!

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, 25 not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

The purpose of coming together as a body of believers is to encourage one another, to promote love and good works.  How can you encourage your brothers and sisters while never visiting with them?  How can you promote love and good works if you are never there to help your fellow brothers and sisters in ministry? Christians need accountability.  God does not want us to do this alone.  He gave us brothers and sisters who care for us to help us on our journey and if we fail to meet with then regularly, then how are we to help them or how are they to help us when we have a time of need?

Another reason it is difficult to do church at home by ones self is that coming together with many different Christians can help you grow and mature in your understanding of scriptures.  If you are reading your Bible alone, you only have your thoughts.  By fellowshipping with other believers, you can learn more about different passages and learn of new connections and concepts.

I do not need to go to church to get to heaven.
This is the statement that really prompted all this.  While it is true, going to church does not save you, I feel that if you are a Christian, then you should WANT to go to church.  If you are a true believer, then the Lord should be your main focus in life.  You live for Him.  As Paul says in Philippians:

1:21 For me, living is Christ and dying is gain.

Where the church is gathered is where you should want to be.  If you have no desire to attend church, then I fear you may not be a Christian.  If you hate to go to church or it is too much of a hassle, then where are your priorities?  You are not focused on Christ, so what are you focused on?

I fear that many people do not know what it really means to be a Christian.  They feel that since they "said a prayer" or  believe they "are a good person" then they will get to heaven.  Well, being a Christian is more than saying a prayer and being a good person.  Having fire insurance does not mean you will not get burned!  Being a Christian is about having a personal relationship with God.  The church is God dwelling with man.  Yes, his spirit dwells with in each of us, but it is when we are all gathered together as one body of Christ that we can really see the love and power of God.  While you do not need church to get to heaven, you do need Christ.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now closing this post I want to add that this post is written to Christians.  If you are not a believer, then there is no reason for you to attend church.  Going to church does not save you or get you any brownie points with God.  Many "churches" get this wrong.  They plan services to bring in the sinners and save them, but what they should be doing is making disciples and sending them out to sinners.  God saves people where they are and brings them to the church to grow and change.

Genesis 28:10-22 -- Jacob's Dream

Genesis 28:10 Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. 11 He reached a certain place and spent the night there because the sun had set. He took one of the stones from the place, put it there at his head, and lay down in that place. 12 And he dreamed: A stairway was set on the ground with its top reaching heaven, and God’s angels were going up and down on it.13 Yahweh was standing there beside him, saying, “I am Yahweh, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your offspring the land that you are now sleeping on. 14 Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out toward the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 Look, I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go. I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is none other than the house of God. This is the gate of heaven.”
18 Early in the morning Jacob took the stone that was near his head and set it up as a marker. He poured oil on top of it 19 and named the place Bethel, though previously the city was named Luz. 20 Then Jacob made a vow: “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, if He provides me with food to eat and clothing to wear, 21 and if I return safely to my father’s house, then the Lord will be my God. 22 This stone that I have set up as a marker will be God’s house, and I will give to You a tenth of all that You give me.”

So, we know Jacob was leaving his father's home in part to flee Esau, who was angry with him for taking his blessing.  He was also traveling to his uncle's home to take a wife from among his family.

Jacob had a dream.  The Lord told Jacob of the promises he made to Abraham and Isaac that were to be fulfilled through his (Jacob's) offspring.  Jacob marked the spot where he had this dream and noted that if the Lord gave him a good journey and got him home safely, he would follow him.  He designated the place where he had the dream as God's house.

Jacob said, "if He provides me with food to eat and clothing to wear..."  Well we know that he will!

Matthew 6:25 “This is why I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? 27 Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying? 28 And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! 30 If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t He do much more for you—you of little faith? 31 So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. 34 Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

The Lord will provide all that we need.  Food.  Clothing.  Shelter. We may not have everything we want.  The Lord does not promise that we will get everything we want, just what we need.  We also should not worry about food, clothing or shelter.  The Lord will provide us with what we need.  

Genesis 25:19-34 -- Jacob and Esau

Genesis 25:19 These are the family records of Isaac son of Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac. 20 Isaac was 40 years old when he took as his wife Rebekah daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and sister of Laban the Aramean. 21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.22 But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. 23 And the Lord said to her:
Two nations are in your womb;
two people will come from you and be separated.
One people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.
24 When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb. 25 The first one came out red-looking, covered with hair like a fur coat, and they named him Esau.26 After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel with his hand. So he was named Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when they were born.

So, Rebekah and Isaac were married 20 years before the twins were born.  Rebekah probably thought she would never have children.  I'm sure Isaac reassured her of the promise that God had given his father (I'm sure Abraham had shared it with him).  The Lord also told Rebekah about the future of her children.  Two children would be born.  (Jacob and Esau)  Two nations would come from her, Jacob's family as we know, would be Israel.  Esau's family became Edom (Genesis 36).   One will be stronger than the other, Jacob's people will be stronger than Esau's.  The older will serve the younger... Hence when Jacob received their father's blessing as first born instead of Esau.

The twins were definitely not identical!  Esau was hairy.  I imagine him as big and burly with a great beard.  Jacob I imagine as smaller and skinny.

Genesis 25:27 When the boys grew up, Esau became an expert hunter, an outdoorsman, but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home. 28 Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for wild game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29 Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field exhausted. 30 He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, because I’m exhausted.” That is why he was also named Edom.
31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
32 “Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?”
33 Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to Jacob and sold his birthright to him.34 Then Jacob gave bread and lentil stew to Esau; he ate, drank, got up, and went away. So Esau despised his birthright.

So, Esau was a hunter and Jacob stayed at home.  Jacob was a Momma's boy.  She favored him above Esau, while Isaac favored Esau.  So, Jacob was cooking some stew one day when Esau came in from hunting.  He was tired and hungry.  Jacob told him he could have some stew if he sold him his birthright.  Esau responded that he was so hungry he was about to die!  How often do we exaggerate how hungry we are?  We say "I'm starving!" when we do not even know what it means to starve.  We had food just a few hours before, and just because we feel this twinge of hunger, we say we are starving.  Well, this is how I suspect Esau was.  He wasn't literally starving.  Just very hungry and tired as though he FELT like he might die.  I do not think he would have died if he had waited a little longer for food!  Well, Esau agreed to sell his birthright for stew.

Later in Genesis, Esau makes this statement:

Genesis 27:36 So he said, “Isn’t he rightly named Jacob? For he has cheated me twice now. He took my birthright, and look, now he has taken my blessing.” Then he asked, “Haven’t you saved a blessing for me?”

Um, no!  You, with full knowledge of what Jacob was asking, sold your birthright for stew!  That was your own fault!

Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness—without it no one will see the Lord. 15 Make sure that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no root of bitterness springs up, causing trouble and by it, defiling many. 16 And make sure that there isn’t any immoral or irreverent person like Esau, who sold his birthright in exchange for one meal. 17 For you know that later, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected because he didn’t find any opportunity for repentance, though he sought it with tears.

Esau is an example for us.  We should not throw away the blessings of God for earthly comfort or pleasure.  If Esau had taking the birthright and blessing, he would have inherited everything, but because one day he was hungry, he chose the physical comfort over his future blessings.  As a result, bitterness sprang up in his heart towards his brother.  We should not let bitterness come between us and our brothers and sisters in Christ.  When that happens, the church becomes divided and can no longer function as one body, was is intended by God.  If a leg is broken by bitterness, then the body can no longer walk and it will take it a long time to heal, and one still may limp for a while before there body can be fully restored, if it is possible at all!  Esau regretted selling his blessing.  The scripture says that he did not find any opportunity for repentance, though he sought it with tears.  Esau wanted badly to be approved, but not for the right reasons.  He wanted to please his earthly father (hence later when he marries a daughter of Ishmael because he learns his father does not like Canaanite women) and not his heavenly father.

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven.

We must do the will of the Father.  We cannot simply call out his name.  We cannot just say a prayer and be saved.  We must do the Father's will!  We are not saved by doing the works, but we do the works because we are saved.  

Genesis 18:1-15 -- God Visits Abraham

Genesis 18:1 Then the Lord appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre while he was sitting in the entrance of his tent during the heat of the day. 2 He looked up, and he saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed to the ground. 3 Then he said, “My lord, if I have found favor in your sight, please do not go on past your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. 5 I will bring a bit of bread so that you may strengthen yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant’s way. Later, you can continue on.”
“Yes,” they replied, “do as you have said.”
6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Knead three measures of fine flour and make bread.” 7 Meanwhile, Abraham ran to the herd and got a tender, choice calf. He gave it to a young man, who hurried to prepare it. 8 Then Abraham took curds and milk, and the calf that he had prepared, and set them before the men. He served them as they ate under the tree.

So, did the Lord appear to Abraham twice? I'm not sure.  The Lord repeats his promise to Abraham later, that he was going to have a son by Sarah.  It may be an instants like the beginning of Genesis where a general story is told then a more detailed one is told.  The first time the story was told, the focus was on circumcision and the new covenant with God and Abraham, while the second time focuses on the son Abraham would have.  I could be wrong, but it seems probable that this is what is going on here.

In this passage, three men come and visit Abraham, but we see it is the Lord who visits him.  Abraham, when seeing his visitors, bid them to say, eat and rest.  He had Sarah make bread from the best flour and chose the best calf from his herd to prepare for his guest.  Abraham served his guest and was hospitable.  Likewise, when we receive guests, whether planned or not, we too should be hospitable.  When reading these verses, I was reminded of the following verses:

Matthew 25:35 For I was hungry
and you gave Me something to eat;
I was thirsty
and you gave Me something to drink;
I was a stranger and you took Me in;
36 I was naked and you clothed Me;
I was sick and you took care of Me;
I was in prison and you visited Me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or without clothes and clothe You? 39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and visit You?’
40 “And the King will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’

Jesus commanded us to give food and drink to those who hunger and thirst, just as Abraham gave food and drink to his traveling visitors.  

Genesis 18:9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.
“There, in the tent,” he answered.
10 The Lord said, “I will certainly come back to you in about a year’s time, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him.
11 Abraham and Sarah were old and getting on in years. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. 12 So she laughed to herself: “After I have become shriveled up and my lord is old, will I have delight?”
13 But the Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Can I really have a baby when I’m old?’ 14 Is anything impossible for the Lord? At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son.”
15 Sarah denied it. “I did not laugh,” she said, because she was afraid.
But He replied, “No, you did laugh.”

Sarah was passed child bearing years, so in her mind, it was impossible for her to get pregnant.  She laughed when she heard what was going to happen.

I love the Lord's response to Sarah's laughter:  Is anything impossible for the Lord?  No, of course not!  He can do anything and everything!

When the Lord asked Sarah why she laughed, she said she did not.  She lied because she was afraid.  She should have known not to lie to the Lord.  She laughed at the impossibility when she should have rejoiced over the promise.  Do we often look at things we think are impossible and laugh only to see later it was not impossible, we just did not know how it was to happen or how to do it?