ARE YOU FORGIVEN MUCH??? OR LITTLE?????

I am currently reading in Luke, one of my favorites. Luke records a lot of interaction between Jesus and the Pharisees. We have those among us now you know…those who think themselves “righteous” and above everyone else but their lives don’t show it to be true. It has always fascinated me that people think no one watches them! I saw this sooooo many times in prison…men would come to Bible study and/or services and act very “holy” but leave that setting and they were as blasphemous as ever. They may have thought they were kidding me, but after a number of years, I could tell who was real and who wasn’t. And of course they were not fooling any of the other men that lived with them! I’m convinced this goes on all the time, we just are not aware of it. We live behind closed doors, and believe no one knows what goes on behind those doors. But, that frequently isn’t so…even pastor’s homes are not immune. Again, in prison I cannot tell you how many men told me they came from a pastors home, but could not in their minds reconcile the difference between what Dad said and what Dad did. I truly believe many young people today are terribly confused by what they either read from God’s Word or hear in Church and the way they see their parents living. Very confusing for young minds and spirits to grapple with. Remember that Jesus said “it is better for you to be thrown in the middle of the sea with a millstone around your neck than for you to lead one of these little ones astray.” Your very life style can “lead a little one astray” and I don’t think He was speaking of only babies when He used the term, little ones. In Luke 7:36-50 we read this event: Jesus went to dinner at the home of a Pharisee. While there, a woman approached Him, knelt at His feet, washed His feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. The Pharisee was offended by this, and criticized Jesus thinking He should have known “what kind of woman” she was! Jesus knew what was in the mans mind, told him a story about two debtors, one owed his creditor a large amount of money, the other a small sum. The creditor forgave them both. Jesus asked the Pharisee which one would love the creditor the most? Simon’s answer was that he supposed, the one that was forgiven most. Jesus told him he had judged rightly. Then Jesus said to him, “ I came into your house and you gave me no water to wash my feet, you gave me no kiss of greeting nor did you anoint my head with oil. But this woman has not ceased to kiss my feet, she washed them with her tears and dried them with her hair and anointed them with fragrant oil. So, I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven her for she loved much. But, to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little. He turned to the woman and said, your sins are forgiven, go in peace, your faith has saved you.”

How many times do we not speak up to or for someone because we “don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings” or don’t want to start something, or just are afraid to speak up. Thank God Jesus never was. There are times I wonder why when people, some, friends of mine, congratulate or thank someone that is a down right ungodly person, and puffing them up don’t they realize they are offending their God? Ungodly people act in ungodly ways, sometimes even act in nice ways. But, should we make something of it and allow them to believe we condone their overall behavior? Will this help in their coming to a realization of their sinful ways or attitudes? I wonder…I am sure the Pharisee that in his heart was criticizing Jesus, did not care about the woman, he was concerned about his reputation…he had a house full of guests! Many times we do things to keep peace when we should not, and that adds to our sin. After all, there are sins of omission as well as sins of commission. Either one can be forgiven but we must be careful of our words, our actions, our friendships, who we seem to align ourselves with. All this is inherent in this section of Scripture that speaks volumes to forgiveness and quality of loving Him and how they frequently are tied together. So I ask you, how do you love Him? This is a question I ask myself frequently…and it is not a matter of “how much?” It is a matter of quality and depth and I suspect we have to know Him a long time to love Him with the quality of love this woman did. Why do I say this? She risked a lot…in that day, women did not attend these dinners, just men. And…women NEVER took down their hair except in their own bedroom, and only in the presence of their husbands. Jesus did not rebuke her, in fact He commended her, commenting on her love for Him. So I guess, we need to evaluate our own quality of love and commitment to Him from time to time. And, remember to ask His forgiveness for not doing it more often.

ARE YOU FORGIVEN MUCH??? OR LITTLE?????

I am currently reading in Luke, one of my favorites. Luke records a lot of interaction between Jesus and the Pharisees. We have those among us now you know…those who think themselves “righteous” and above everyone else but their lives don’t show it to be true. It has always fascinated me that people think no one watches them! I saw this sooooo many times in prison…men would come to Bible study and/or services and act very “holy” but leave that setting and they were as blasphemous as ever. They may have thought they were kidding me, but after a number of years, I could tell who was real and who wasn’t. And of course they were not fooling any of the other men that lived with them! I’m convinced this goes on all the time, we just are not aware of it. We live behind closed doors, and believe no one knows what goes on behind those doors. But, that frequently isn’t so…even pastor’s homes are not immune. Again, in prison I cannot tell you how many men told me they came from a pastors home, but could not in their minds reconcile the difference between what Dad said and what Dad did. I truly believe many young people today are terribly confused by what they either read from God’s Word or hear in Church and the way they see their parents living. Very confusing for young minds and spirits to grapple with. Remember that Jesus said “it is better for you to be thrown in the middle of the sea with a millstone around your neck than for you to lead one of these little ones astray.” Your very life style can “lead a little one astray” and I don’t think He was speaking of only babies when He used the term, little ones. In Luke 7:36-50 we read this event: Jesus went to dinner at the home of a Pharisee. While there, a woman approached Him, knelt at His feet, washed His feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. The Pharisee was offended by this, and criticized Jesus thinking He should have known “what kind of woman” she was! Jesus knew what was in the mans mind, told him a story about two debtors, one owed his creditor a large amount of money, the other a small sum. The creditor forgave them both. Jesus asked the Pharisee which one would love the creditor the most? Simon’s answer was that he supposed, the one that was forgiven most. Jesus told him he had judged rightly. Then Jesus said to him, “ I came into your house and you gave me no water to wash my feet, you gave me no kiss of greeting nor did you anoint my head with oil. But this woman has not ceased to kiss my feet, she washed them with her tears and dried them with her hair and anointed them with fragrant oil. So, I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven her for she loved much. But, to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little. He turned to the woman and said, your sins are forgiven, go in peace, your faith has saved you.”

How many times do we not speak up to or for someone because we “don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings” or don’t want to start something, or just are afraid to speak up. Thank God Jesus never was. There are times I wonder why when people, some, friends of mine, congratulate or thank someone that is a down right ungodly person, and puffing them up don’t they realize they are offending their God? Ungodly people act in ungodly ways, sometimes even act in nice ways. But, should we make something of it and allow them to believe we condone their overall behavior? Will this help in their coming to a realization of their sinful ways or attitudes? I wonder…I am sure the Pharisee that in his heart was criticizing Jesus, did not care about the woman, he was concerned about his reputation…he had a house full of guests! Many times we do things to keep peace when we should not, and that adds to our sin. After all, there are sins of omission as well as sins of commission. Either one can be forgiven but we must be careful of our words, our actions, our friendships, who we seem to align ourselves with. All this is inherent in this section of Scripture that speaks volumes to forgiveness and quality of loving Him and how they frequently are tied together. So I ask you, how do you love Him? This is a question I ask myself frequently…and it is not a matter of “how much?” It is a matter of quality and depth and I suspect we have to know Him a long time to love Him with the quality of love this woman did. Why do I say this? She risked a lot…in that day, women did not attend these dinners, just men. And…women NEVER took down their hair except in their own bedroom, and only in the presence of their husbands. Jesus did not rebuke her, in fact He commended her, commenting on her love for Him. So I guess, we need to evaluate our own quality of love and commitment to Him from time to time. And, remember to ask His forgiveness for not doing it more often.

GRATEFUL

This morning, I wrote on my status for FB that I was grateful for God allowing me life when He did. I’d like to elaborate a bit on that, primarily because there is so much more to say…I’ve lived nearly 3/4 of a century and it has been extremely eventful to say the least! If you read my blogs you know I love Israel and her history, have read and researched from a Biblical perspective how and why she is back in the land God gave her 4,000 years ago. So I will start with the events as I know them, that brought her home.

We have to go back to the late 19th century when what were referred to as Zionists began to write letters, get bills passed, make people aware of the plight of the Jews. They had been homeless now for nearly 2,000 years, A Roman General named Titus completely destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem, just a Jesus predicted in Matt 24, and drove all the Jews out of the area. It is referred to as the Diaspora, and has lasted until 1948. These things are all recorded in the Scripture for us, and very detailed. But you have to read it for yourself…and you will find it fascinating, that God would give us so much information. And……we can believe it or not, our choice.

When God made the earth as we know it, He apparently had a time-frame for how long He would deal with humans…I say apparently because I do not know and have not read to my knowledge, any dates for the end but He has given us many, many events to watch for so that we know when it is near. Israel once again being back in the land He gave to her thousands of years ago. Another important happening is for the city of Jerusalem to be controlled by the Jews. This happened in 1967. He said the Israeli’s would make the land bloom, grow, be prosperous and important once again..

If you pay attention and think about what I am telling you, you will understand that life and history is all about God and His people, the Jews. The rest of us are part of the story but only a small part. Jesus made that clear in John 15 in the story of the vine, and the grafting in of “another” branch…that’s us, gentiles…He graciously offered us a place in His Kingdom if we would accept His gift of eternal life by admitting our unsaved and hopeless condition without Christ, yield to Him and be His “body” here to further His Kingdom . The primary reason that happened was because of the unbelief of the Jews ending in the crucifixion of the Lord, all part of the Triune God’s plan from before the foundation of the world.

God has been working out His plan for the end time for probably a couple of hundred years…some of the events that needed to happen did happen in the time period of
WWl. Papers were signed giving legal claim to the area now Israel. The League of Nations was formed and some of the members championed the cause of the Jews. Most important I think was the British Empire was given the land we now call Palestine, plus a little more, because they were part of the Allies that conquered the Ottoman Turks. The Turks held most of the Middle East, it was divided up among the allies, Great Britain, US, and France. This “victory” put the land into the hands God wanted it in, basically non-Arab hands. Then we move on to WWll…the horrible holocaust and the influx of Jews from all over the world…truly an act of God, drawing them back to their homeland. The League of Nations was no longer a power, but the United Nations had taken it’s place. They were asked to finish what the League had started, give the Jews back their homeland and the Arabs living in the area an equal amount of land for theirs. The Arabs refused, the Jews accepted. Israel became a recognized nation on May 14, 1948, and the two groups of people are fighting on until this day. I have other blogs about Israel that you can read to get more information if you like.

The last thing I want to put down for this blog is something from Daniel, he said learning would increase rapidly, people would “run to and fro” and Jesus said in Matthew that “as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the day of the Son of man.” If you will recall, in Noah’s day, the people of the world were so corrupt, God destroyed them all but Noah and his family, eight people in all. Pretty bleak huh? I’ve live nearly 74 years, seen most of these things happen, count myself blessed to have been born in this time-period. The car, the planes and military  weapons, the atom bomb and Hiroshima, the birth of the EU, computers, cell phones…TV!!!  My grandkids cannot believe I grew up without TV and a computer! But…….we have paid a terrible price, our marriages and family life, our Christian life has turned into religiosity, most of us do not “know” God as we should, we run around and around doing nothing…you get the picture don’t you. I am still thankful for the lifetime God has given me, the love and mercy He has shown me, I trust He has made me worthy of His love. 

BE THANKFUL…

I’ve known the Lord for 35+ years now, I frequently throughout the day tell the Lord I love Him or thank Him for bringing me and my family to Himself…I have tried for years to make it part of my thinking process to be grateful. Then, there are times when I am overwhelmed with the thought, actually a reality, that I don’t know Him nearly well enough, or love Him with the kind of quality and depth I should. When I think about the time some of the “old timers” gave to Him…I don’t know how to feel! I know I do not measure up. And I also know He is the only One I can compare myself to…I guess what I am saying is, I want more. But…I do not always know how to achieve that place. I have read about how much God desires our intimacy, and I know what He means, but I’m not there…I want to be but I’m not, at least not yet.

I am a single…divorced/widowed, and live by myself. I am semi-retired, spend most of my day either reading, praying, memorizing Scripture or doing the things I need to do for Wings of Eagles. Friends stop by and visit, Christian friends so we usually end up talking about the Lord, or people we know with problems and how we can help for give them encouragement. But I continue to “feel” it’s not enough. I want to know more about him. Most of His character qualities are evident, I see them and do my best to incorporate them into my life because I really do want to be like Him. I think frequently about Heaven, probably because of my age and due to a lot of my friends are going home. I’ve re-read everything I can find about Heaven and still can’t get a good idea of what it will be like. But I know that is my home, and earth is just a stop-over.

I wonder how people manage to get along with out Him to turn to…who do they ask for advice? Who do they turn to just to talk? Who do they look to for comfort in the middle of the night when everyone else is asleep? I cannot not imagine. I have been His for so long, I cannot remember what it was like, and I don’t really want to. Most of the time I feel as though my life before Christ took me for His own, happened to someone else. And when I seriously think about the direction my life and the lives of my kids might , no would have taken…thankful is not anywhere near strong enough to explain Our lives were a mess, and they would only have gotten worse, but a loving, gracious God stepped in and brought us to Himself, all three within a year or so. Talk about the Love of God!

Well, I think that is enough ThinkingOutLoud for today…God bless you and keep you, talk to you tomorrow!

ARE YOU SHOWING GOD’S KIND OF LOVE?

Most of us have come to understand a few basics, #1 being that Christ is truth according to John 14:6…”I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father except through me.” That’s pretty clear…without a relationship with Him, truth is not discernable, we cannot know real truth. Also the fact that He says He is the way…that never sets well with persons of other faiths but I didn’t say it, Jesus, God the Son did! Narrow? Darn right it’s narrow! Jesus Himself said His way is narrow but the way of the world is wide. So, I said all that to say this, you and I can only discern truth if we have a personal relationship with Him. #2 BEING a Christian is not a matter of doing, it is a matter of BEING…He is much more interested in what you are in your spirit man than in the things you do. He even spoke a parable about workers in the field, check it out. So if being is so important, then it stands to reason that God’s quality of love is meant to be a personal possession of each one of us. Most of us will most likely take our entire lifetime to achieve it but the important thing is that we understand and are working all the time to achieve it. When the Scripture speaks of “being holy as I am holy” in my opinion, that’s what it means…God’s holy love demonstrated in and flowing out of us!

God in His Essence is Holy and He is love. That is a hard concept to get ahold of…HE IS LOVE…it is impossible for Him to do anything unloving. Now that’s something to consider, nothing He does to us, for us, on our behalf can possible be anything but pure, unmixed love because He is! Trying to get a grip on unconditional love is difficult enough but grasping that God’s essence IS love, don’t you find that a mind-blower? We all long for “love.” This generation has taken perverse love to a new level, always relating it to sex which it isn’t, sex is the fulfillment of love, given us by God to be used within marriage to cement two beings into one, who will love and respect one another. I believe this longing for love is something God put inside of us to give us the desire to search for Him. His love is a pure and burning one, seeking the best for another, and moral purity leads us to be able to know that love with our partner, and move on together to find complete fulfillment in knowing and loving a holy, pure and loving Father.Remember, He did not make us different than Himself but LIKE Himself, in His own image and likeness, the very likeness of the Son.

ARE YOU LIKE THE RICH, YOUNG RULER?????

This is probably my absolute favorite portion of Scripture. I just read it again this morning from the book of Mark. As always, I get really tickled when I read these things I have read a kazillion times before, but still get a thrill on reading it again. Even before this man spoke, Jesus knew what was going to happen…and it did. The young man wanted “salvation” but he wanted it his way, preferably with no cost to him. Not a cost in dollars but in lifestyle. Jesus questions to him were pretty much normal for this kind of conversation. But, it went farther than a brief encounter. He pressed Jesus and Jesus laid it all out for him. What I truly love about the Mark account is the phrase, “He looked at him and loved him.” Even though Jesus knew exactly what was about to take place, he played it out, giving the young man every opportunity to respond correctly…but, the young man couldn’t bring himself to give it all up. Apparently he had quite a lot, and enjoyed a rich lifestyle. He like it, it pleased him to live high, have friends in high places, go to special places…all the things rich people do today. They live “large” as the young people say. He actually lived for himself alone, never thought of the future nor a life hereafter, or doing things for others. Charles Stanley believes this young man is the same man referred to in the story of Lazarus the beggar and the rich man in Luke 16…see if you agree with Dr Stanley.

To me, This young man is very typical of most people, especially now…you know, the Judges line, “every man does that which is right in his own eyes.” This young man surely did, to his eternal detriment. The tragedy then and now is that we tend not to allow ourselves to think ahead to what happens after death…live for today seems to be the way everyone lives today, even Christians sad to say. No laying up treasure for yourself in Heaven…most do not even know what that means. Most Christians don’t even know what a tithe is, so of course they don’t give it. Many would tell us they can’t afford it, reality is, you can’t afford not to, especially today!

When I read this account, I always think of my men. I can’t tell you how many, probably thousands by now, have said to me, “Mrs Farrow, when I get out, I am going to stay clean and serve the Lord. I will never forget you or Wings of Eagles and all you have done for me. You will see me outside this fence.” And…I know that at the time, they mean it. But like the rich young man, the allure of the world and for them, making up for lost time, is very strong. Many DO stay straight and get involved in their churches, for which I am very thankful and consider my mission accomplished. But they are the minority. Why? Because it is very difficult, all of us know that…but for addicts no matter the addiction, it is even more difficult and getting work is next to impossible. Some I hear from, most I don’t. And…I have to admit, it took many years and tears for me to get use to it to the point like the Lord, “I could look on them with love, and let them go.” And, many of them I did indeed become very fond of, basically good men, misguided but good intentions. And I believe that is how the Lord felt about the young man in this account. When I first read it, I didn’t see the parallel but later I did, and let me tell you, it became very precious to me. You do not pour you life into other people and casually “let them go.” There is a price, but a price that is worth it for sure.

So if you see yourself in what I have said, no matter which character you line up with, be blessed. You are loved by the Lord and most likely by some person who ministered to you at a time when you really needed them. Did you ever say thanks?

WHERE ARE WE IN HISTORY, PART 11

If you pay attention to the news at all, you will hear things like, “the Israeli’s are occupiers” or “we (Palestinians) want them out of our land” or “we will push them into the sea” or “the Holocaust is a fraud.” Reality is that 60+ years ago they were offered the same amount of land in the same area as Israel. It was called “partitioning.” It was all part of the ending of WW11 and what had belonged to the Ottoman Empire now belonged to Great Britain. When that war ended the allies, US, Great Britain, and Russia divided overseeing the lands that were conquered, including the Middle East area. The newly formed United Nations, (the League of Nations had disbanded) offered part of what had belonged to the Ottoman Empire, to Israel and the Arabs living in that area, not yet referred to as “Palestinians.” The surrounding Arab nations convinced them that they would invade Israel promptly and push them into the sea. Then the Arabs could have it all. Unfortunately for them, the surrounding nations did invade Israel the day after they were declared a nation, can you imagine a one day old group of people beating back people that had it all!!!!!!!  They lost, Israel remained in the land, and began to make it bloom, just as the Scripture said. God was at work and still is…they are His people, He called them back to their homeland and has been protecting them all the while they have been there. In 1967, another was broke out between the Israeli’s and the surrounding nations, Israel advanced, pushing them back and regained the Holy City, Jerusalem! Look at a map…see little Israel, the size of New Jersey, and then look at how much land the Arabs own all around Israel. The Arabs that refused the partitioning, have lived in the area on Israel’s borders, in settlements, and in the intervening years, untold millions have been given to them…they were now called the Palestinians and led by Yasser Arafat, starting in the late 60’s…to enable them to re-settle and improve their lot. However, no one ever accounted for what happened to the money and they still live in the same condition as they did in the late 40’s and early 50’s. Sad, but true. Over the years, what I have related here has gotten “lost.” The true story is no long the story being told all over the world but the real story is still real. I tell this story as often as I can because I feel compelled to keep God’s truth about His people out in front of we Christians so we are not deceived. These are God’s people, God’s land, God’s Jerusalem…we must remember that!

Now, where are we in history at the present time? One can only guess, especially since the Lord Himself said, “The day and the hour no man knows but My Father only.” Matt 24:36. My personal belief is that this present generation, including me, will go to be with the Lord in the Rapture and return with him after the Tribulation, in power and glory. All of the GOOD prophecy teachers agree, this generation…Matt 24:32-36, is the one based on that Scripture. The symbol for Israel all through the Old Testament into the New is a fig tree, that portion of Scripture talks about the fig tree blooming, and when it does know that the time is near. We have seen Israel become a nation, it has indeed “blossomed,” and we are 60+ years from the date of Israel’s re-birth. They retook Jerusalem in ‘67 which I important for the Tribulation period and it indicates the time of Gentile domination over the Holy City has ended. The European Union has become very powerful and controls most of Europe. The nations that the OT speaks of as being aligned in the end times, are all descendants of Ishmael and Esau, (Edom) and are today aligned. God said to Hagar (an Egyptian and an Arab) in the desert He would make of Ishmael a great nation but they would be wild men, full of anger and hate and subservient to Isaac’s descendants. Are they not as God said?????  Matt 24 are the Lord’s own words, He speaks of severe weather changes, earthquakes, the Arab nations aligning with Russia, (Revelation). Daniel tells us learning would increase greatly in the end time.  There will be one religion. Right now some protestant churches are opening their doors and worship services to Muslims in an attempt to integrate the two, twenty-six states are participating calling the merging, Chrislam! Soooooooo……. the stage is set, the players in place, we shall soon see what will happen.