Pretty day today, got into the low 60’s with a nice bright sun.  Didn’t get a lot done outside, but it was nice.

Last night’s dinner was good.  But Deed thought there was too much garlic.  Too much garlic.  I had didn’t notice, of course, I really enjoy garlic, can’t figure out how much is too much.... Had some leftovers today, and the food was even better than last night.  Blaze liked it both days. 

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Malachi 3:6 For I am the Lord, I change not;

Many of us got upset when we were ‘informed’ by Obama that we were no longer a Christian Nation.  It has been pointed out that over 70% our nation believes in Christ, many more believe in God.  So we are a Christian nation – take that!

But is it the God of the Bible?  Is it the Christ of the Bible?  AND further, do they believe in Christ or God – or just say they do?

In the last 50 years we have allowed the name of God, (of the Bible) His authority and power be eroded to the point that for many He is just an entity out there somewhere, but has no bearing on their lives. 

Christ is no longer the Savior and the only way to God.  He is just a name, an historic person who had good ideas and teaching like Mohamed, or Buddha or any number of ‘great’ men throughout the history.

America – and the world - has watered down the true God in such a manner that it cannot understand who He is, or what He represents.  We have allowed the Bible and His Word to be ousted from the schools; children are taught that the religion of evolution is the one true entity and God is just a myth in comparison. 

Items that represent anything that stands for God and particularly Christ are being cast out and destroyed from public places.

Where once almost every home in America owned a Bible and the vast majority of them actually read it and/or took it under their arm to church on Sunday, those numbers are dropping dramatically.

People, particularly large numbers of those that are under 30 or even 40, do not understand who God is, and those of us that are older are to blame.  We have allowed too many things to come between us and God and God has taken a very back burner – maybe even off the stove – to living.

Christ is preached, but the understanding of what His background is becomes minimalized if used at all.  I have heard too often that the Old Testament is no longer of use to the modern day Christian.  But without that understanding and reference of God as He showed Himself in the Old Testament, is there a foundation of God and Christ is the New Testament?

God is God.  Those of us who have been around for a few decades understand what that means.  However, the world is getting farther and farther away from understanding what it means.  They do not have the foundation required to understand.  Yes, many are saved, but many more are leaving the church because they feel it has no relevance.

They do not understand why God is important, how He is relevant today and why they should worship Him as God the Father and not just as Jesus.  But the young people are not the only ones who don’t understand the proper place of God.

A conversation in one of my adult Sunday School class becomes more and more relevant to me as I grow closer to God.  The question asked was who was more important, God or Jesus?  Now you have to understand most of these people were over the age of 50 – many had been Christians for most of their lives.

They had a long history of service to God in many ways, deacons, teachers, bible study leaders among other services.  Almost to the person the answer was Jesus.

C.K. Barnes, a member of the class, a retired fire and brimstone preacher, a man of God whom all of us respected, came down on us like thunder from God Himself.  GOD the FATHER is the most important, Jesus served God, not the other way around.  Jesus answered to the Father, not questioning His commands to Him.

We cannot forget who God is; how He is defined by His Words in the Old Testament and by His relationship with Israel. 

Jesus reaffirmed, over and over again that God was the Lord and He was the servant to Him.  Yes, Jesus is vital to man, He is the method and means we have to relate to God the Father, He died for us – but God the Father is the One who sent Him.

God is the God of Genesis, the Creator.  When we minimize God by trying to minimize His Word; in trying to pacify scientists or religions or the world view prevalent today, then we do a disservice to God, ourselves and those that need Him and His Son.

So what are we to do?  We cannot assume that everyone we talk to, yes, even those in the church, truly understand Who God is.

While we think the term ‘gods’ is obsolete that God means the God of the Bible, others think along different lines.  ‘Higher Power,’ ‘Brahma,’ one of the hundreds of Hindu gods are just a few.  We need to define God, we need to make sure they understand that there is but ONE TRUE GOD, the Hebrew God of the Bible.

We need to teach in such a manner that they do understand.

Have you ever been in a beginners’ class on almost anything?  The teacher starts with the basics, they do not assume that everyone in the class has the same experience.  They want to be sure that everyone understands how to begin, maybe even going into the history of the subject, before they proceed into the actual meat of the subject. 

We teach those that have a base understanding of what needs to be done, differently than those that have no such understanding.  If a man has been a hunter all his life, we do not need to go into details of proper shooting, but when a person just starts out we must go to the very basics, what a bullet is, what it is capable of doing, breath control, sight picture, safety, etc.

Even terms must often be defined.  As one President so infamously stated, “it depends on what the definition of is, is.” 

Different professions have acronyms which mean entirely different things; In Ombudsman terms C.O. means Certified Ombudsman, in Law Enforcement it means Corrections Officer; Facility means a home that cares for people as a Nursing Home or a hospital, to a Cop it means jail.

We assume people know what we are talking about all the time, but often words are misunderstood or not understood at all.  To some parts of the United States a carbonated beverage is a soda, to other parts it is pop and to many it is just ‘a coke.’  One may say it is time for supper, another it is time for dinner thinking we are saying the same thing, when we may not be.

Yes, it is important that Salvation through Jesus be preached, His teachings and His parables be subjects of Sermons and discussions in fact it is imperative – but NEVER at the expense of who sent Him, who is the One True God, God the Father.

Jesus taught that, the best example is the prayer He gave the manner in which we should pray and it starts out with “Our Father, who art in Heaven.”

Jesus used quotations from the Old Testament when talking to the Jewish people and particularly the leaders.  THEY understood what He was saying, they understood His references because they knew God’s Word.  It used to be when we talked to people, Christian or not, about God they knew immediately who He was and how our world came about – that is not always true now and we must remember who we are talking to in order to give them an understanding of their need for Christ.

Acts 26:23  That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.

What is the light?

Psalm 119:104-106 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.

¹⁰⁵ Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

¹⁰⁶ I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.

The light is the Word of God, not just the New Testament, but the Old also.  It leads us into a Holy life.  One that is pleasing to Him.

John 1:1-5  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

² The same was in the beginning with God.

³ All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

⁴ In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

⁵ And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

Christ is God’s Word in the form of a man; His light to this world, but He was before the beginning.  To understand His message fully, to understand who He is, we must understand who God is and that only comes from God’s Word.  When we ask Him for guidance His Holy Spirit is there to help lead us into righteousness, as defined in HIS Word.

When the Apostles preached to the Jews they did not have to define terms, because the Jews knew them.  But when they talked with those that did not have a Jewish background they were required to define who God is, to explain His Word and how it relates to Jesus.  To the Jews, He was the Lord, to the Greeks he was the unknown god, one of many.

Lord, may we never forget who you are.  May we respect and love you as God the Father, the Creator who sent your only Son, Jesus, to die for us.  We owe you our allegiance and our praise and our worship and our thanksgiving for you are the Lord our God who changes not.

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again