A few of the stepstones we find along the way in Jesus, are not easy for some to stand on
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
John 14:6
More than one of the posts I made this Easter season has to do with making rough places in the Bible more plain, making a clearer path through sometimes difficult-to-understand Bible passages.
By putting hard-to-understand stones from the Bible word in order, passages are clearer to me, with often misused verses becoming step stones to understanding the whole.
I've focused on Bible promises in order to make plain the step-stones or pathways that I've found.
But with Easter turning so terribly wrong this year, not only in Sri Lanka but also here at home, it's probably fitting that I've found a few step-stones that are not joyful.
Yes, the New Testament does include difficult steps we find along the way in life that are really like encountering bitter promises.
One bitter promise is that this world's sinful ways will NOT yield a harvest of souls for Heaven. This is one group of step-stones-to-understanding that I've found: 1 Timothy 4:1-6:21, James 3:13-15, 1:19-27, 2 Timothy 4:1-8, Matthew 8:12, 24:12, 9:13.
Another bitter promise is that the law of God's Old Testament covenant will never go away. Jesus promises us that His covenant (God's 10 commands) will cry out all the more loudly when more and more souls that love salvation in Him are taken away: Luke 19:37-40, John 1:1-5.
The Bible also promises that liberty, in Jesus, is the ability to preach, teach, and earn freely, not a licence to sin: Matthew 10:7-10, 2 Corinthians 11:7, 1 Peter 2:15-16.
And, sadly, Jesus promises that a day is coming when "no one can work" any longer for Heaven (John 9:4). What a sad and woeful promise that is.
Easter joy is so much a better choice than sin!
By putting hard-to-understand stones from the Bible word in order, passages are clearer to me, with often misused verses becoming step stones to understanding the whole.
I've focused on Bible promises in order to make plain the step-stones or pathways that I've found.
But with Easter turning so terribly wrong this year, not only in Sri Lanka but also here at home, it's probably fitting that I've found a few step-stones that are not joyful.
Yes, the New Testament does include difficult steps we find along the way in life that are really like encountering bitter promises.
One bitter promise is that this world's sinful ways will NOT yield a harvest of souls for Heaven. This is one group of step-stones-to-understanding that I've found: 1 Timothy 4:1-6:21, James 3:13-15, 1:19-27, 2 Timothy 4:1-8, Matthew 8:12, 24:12, 9:13.
Another bitter promise is that the law of God's Old Testament covenant will never go away. Jesus promises us that His covenant (God's 10 commands) will cry out all the more loudly when more and more souls that love salvation in Him are taken away: Luke 19:37-40, John 1:1-5.
The Bible also promises that liberty, in Jesus, is the ability to preach, teach, and earn freely, not a licence to sin: Matthew 10:7-10, 2 Corinthians 11:7, 1 Peter 2:15-16.
And, sadly, Jesus promises that a day is coming when "no one can work" any longer for Heaven (John 9:4). What a sad and woeful promise that is.
Easter joy is so much a better choice than sin!
Sometimes life calls for putting the broken pieces together and then moving ahead.
Why does Paul counsel Timothy that it's okay to have a small amount of wine with some meals when he is having stomach issues? I think Paul is telling Timothy, a young minister, that he was mature enough in Christ to know how to have wine as medicine, in small amounts. ... Thank Heaven we have better medicine in Christ now!
ReplyDeleteIt's true that small amounts of well-fermented red wine can help with digestive issues by producing gastric acids (https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/health/09real.html), but thank Heaven we know, today, that alcoholic beverages can irritate the bladder by upsetting the balance of good and bad bacteria in the digestive tract. So, again, there are other ways to aid digestion now. ... Thank Heaven for the gift of yogurt.
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