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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Saturday, November 10, 2018
Today's Passage : Today's Passage:Subjecta:What Do We Know? Bible Verse:Job 38:1-13,31-40 "Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, saying: "Who is this that darkens my counsel, using words without knowledge? Gird your loins like a man; for I am going to ask questions, and you are going to answer me. Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you know, who marked off its measurements? Surely you know that! Who stretched the guide string? Where were its foundations fastened, and who laid the cornerstones, while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted with joy? Who shut up the sea behind doors when it broke forth like a babe from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling, when I set its boundaries and put into place doors and bars to constrain it, when I said, 'This far you may come, but no farther, and here is where your proud waves will be stayed'? Have you commanded the morning since your birth, showing dayspring its place, that it might take hold of the edges of the earth and shake the wicked out of it? Can you hold the beautiful Pleiades in place, or cut the cord that binds Orion? Can you make the constellations appear in their season, bringing out the Great Bear with her cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you establish God's dominion over the universe? Can you shout to the clouds to cover yourself with water? Do you send lightning bolts on their way? Do these report to you, saying, 'Here we are'? Who endowed the heart with wisdom and gave understanding to the mind?" " Message:
This is less than half of God's diatribe against Job's prideful speech, in response to Job's espousing his theories of the universe. Job thinks he has things pretty well figured out, but God disagrees.
The basic idea is repeated throughout the Bible, e.g., "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding." (Proverbs 3:5) But nowhere else is it stated with such forcefulness or so directly and personally: Job 38 is a wonderful passage to keep handy and read from time to time, for we inevitably start thinking we have something all figured out, and we need an occasional wake-up call.
Job is probably the earliest written book in the Bible. God thus began his written advice to mankind with a stern warning about confidence in our understanding and opinions. If it is "Lesson # 1", most of us need to return to kindergarten.
The French poet, Andre Gide said, "Believe those who are seeking the truth. Doubt those who find it." He might well have said, trust your mind when you are seeking the truth, but become skeptical when you think you know it.
This is why salvation is a matter of faith, not a matter of knowledge. A lack of preconception and an attitude of acceptance is the only way we can find Christ. This is a major theme in 1 Corinthians: "Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise."
We cannot know God. We cannot understand Him. There are things that our brains are incapable of grasping. The Talmud puts this very nicely: "We do not see things as they are; we see things as we are."
Here is an example: Many people struggle with the concept of predestination. If God is all-knowing, then He knows (and has always known) who will be saved. But we have free will. We can choose to believe or we can choose not to believe. But, logically, these two principles are absolutely contradictory.
But it is not God, but logic, that will fail in the end. For although our minds tell us that logic is infallible, logic is not truth; it is our attempt to make sense of the world. Logic is a fallible construct of the human mind. It is a useful tool, but it is not truth.
The first words of the Sermon on the Mount are: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3) This is a little confusing, because "poor in spirit" sounds like a person without much spirit, but that is not the meaning. The phrase means that we must have the spirit of a poor person; that we must recognize that we do not really know very much. We must be spiritually hungry, we must realize our impoverishment.
Only after we empty ourselves of our opinions can truth find us. We pray, "Thy will be done."
Meditation : Prayer : May the God who made me, the God who keeps me, and the God who will be my Lord through all eternity, shine down His blessings and wisdom upon me like the sun upon a field; and may I keep Him in the forefront of my every thought and deed, throughout this day, and evermore. ...Amen |
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