110 degrees in the garden. Rather warm.
We took Deed and Josh to the
Airport this morning – they are going North to Alaska to help Viv move back down
to the lower 48 – in the midst of all this heat. She very well MIGHT melt.
After a couple of stops we
headed home and are now enjoying the air-conditioning.
So, too, are the animals.
Mark
12:31 And the second is like, namely this,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment
greater than these.
I have heard many people refer
to this verse and say that God changed.
Jesus brought a softer side to Him and God is no longer the God of the
Old Testament.
We need to take stock of what
people say about God. Just because they
think that since Jesus was sacrificed for us all that God has grown softer
towards out failings – read sins.
He hasn’t.
Malachi
3:6 For I am the Lord, I
change not;
God the Father in the New
Testament, is the same God the Father in the Old Testament.
Yes, Jesus did not advocate
violence as a means to win people over.
As much as the Jews were looking
for a David style warrior Jesus was not that kind of man.
This is MY opinion and as I
thought about the more violent side of God being portrayed in the Old Testament,
I believe part of that is because God was dealing with only the Jewish people as
His chosen people in the Old Testament.
He didn’t want them to be integrated into those people that knew not God
and worshipped idols of wood and metal.
He demanded strict obedience to
His Word and those that failed to follow Him saw retribution much quicker than
we see now.
When God sent Jesus, He sent Him
to be the sacrifice for all man- kind; not just the Jews. While those that tried to destroy the Jews
were enemies – when Jesus came while these ‘tribes’ were still enemies of God He
wants to give them the opportunity to accept His Son.
God’s anger towards those that
sin; His anger towards those that attack His People – which now includes the
Bride of Christ – US is still great and they will be punished.
However, God’s Love is
demonstrated throughout the Old Testament as it is in the New Testament. Does this verse sound familiar?
Leviticus
19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any
grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself: I am the Lord.
but thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself:
Let us not fool ourselves in
thinking that God is a much softer, kinder version now. He is the same as He has always been.
Just because we think God
doesn’t condemn the ‘heathen’ as He did in the Old Testament, doesn’t make it
true.
2 Peter 3:6-7 Whereby the world that
then was, being overflowed with water,
perished:
7 But the heavens and the
earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire
against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly
men.
And of course this verse
reaffirms it also:
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same
yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
WE can be assured that God
doesn’t change; and that is GOOD! His
standards to not move with what society thinks, it doesn’t depend on how
man-kind wants things – it never changes so we always that righteousness has
remained the same forever.
Because His Word is His Bond, we
can rest in Him with the confidence that what He has done for the Jews and what
He has done for Christians will be the same as He will do for us.
Later, Art :-)
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