Itching Ears

When you have an itch, what do want to make it go away? You want to scratch it.  When you have itching ears, what do you want to make it go away? You want to hear what will feel good. (2 Timothy 4:3)

Balak and Balaam (Numbers 22-24) had itching ears. Balak itched to hear that Israel would be cursed.  He thought Balaam could do that. Balaam itched to receive riches for what he said, Neither had any itching to hear God's opinion.

People with itching ears want to hear that God is love.  They won't get their ears scratched by hearing that we are accountable to God because He made us. Some ministries scratch their listeners ears by talking about planting a seed donation to their organization, which will multiply and make them rich. They don't mention that people should expect persecution.

The cure for itching ears is to read the Bible, weigh what you want to it, and accept all the Bible says, not just what you like.

This is an example of Bible word studies that I do.

Jezebel Word Study

Introduction: Jezebel was the daughter of the king of Zidonians. She served and worshipped Baal. (1 Kings 16:31)

Spiritually:

            1) Had Ahab build a building for Baal worship (1 Kings 16:32)

            2) Plans to give Ahab Naboth’s vineyard (1 Kings 21:7)

                        --Uses Ahab’s name (1 Kings 21:8)

                        --Hires liars (1 Kings 21:10)

                        --Manipulated elders (1 Kings 21:8-ll) Did she threaten elders?

                        --Uses God’s type of punishment (stoning) when convenient. (1 Kings 21:13)

                        --Didn’t care about rights of Naboth’s children (1 Kings 21:15)

                                    Even killed his sons (2 Kings 9:26)

            3) Not impressed with Elijah’s fire contest

                        --Threatened Elijah’s life (1 Kings 19:2)

                                    a. Revengeful

                                    b. Her punishment out of her own mouth

            4) Jezebel, not Ahab, cut off the prophets of the Lord (1Kings 18:4)

What was Jezebel like at home?

            1) Two messengers to an army both defected to the army (2 Kings 9:18-20)

            2) 2 or 3 eunuchs threw her out the window (2 Kings 9:30-33)

            3) She stirred up people. (1 Kings 21:25)

            A study of the word “wicked” may give you more ideas of what she is like.

What was God’s response?

            1) God saved 100 of His prophets saved alive.

            2)  Her punishment out of her own mouth (1 Kings 19:2)

                        --God’s punishment (1 Kings 21:23)

                        --Fulfilled in (2 Kings 9:35-37)

New Testament

            Revelation 2:20 speaks of prophetess and compares her to Jezebel.

                        1) Teaches her religion and bad doctrine.

                                    --Commit spiritual fornication with other gods.

                                    --Eat sacrificed idol food.

                                                a. Intimate with other gods.

                                                b. Attribute to Satan what God has provided.

                                                c. She gives them what they want if they obey her.

                        2) Seduce servants—probably to follow her example.

                        3) Jezebel is not the problem.  The church condoning her is the problem.

God's Math

God’s Math

God is greater than the sum of the angles of a triangle

God hid codes in places I would never think to look.

God is more constant than a logarithmic “e” and pi.

God forgives me more than seventy times seven.

God cares about the number of hairs on my head.

God plans to take me home for infinity.

From Glory to Glory

Little by little, I am learning to trust.

Little by little, I am learning to remove lying from my ways.

Inch by inch, I am growing in Your grace.

Inch by inch, I am growing in Your knowledge.

Measure by measure, I am meting out more praise to You.

Measure by measure, I am meting out more compassion.

Counterfeit Jesuses

I watched the movie "Fire Down Below" with Steven Segal and I liked it.  I asked God why I liked it. God showed me 17 ways in which the hero of the story was a counterfeit Jesus.

Ps 44:6 says not to trust in bow nor in sword. Comic book heroes have their equipment.  Thor has his hammer. Spiderman has his silk. And one them has a shield. They all have supernatural powers like Jesus.

The heroes' attitude is all wrong. Sure, they seem humble, but they are not humble enough to ask God for help.  They are dependent on luck rather than God's timing. They reason things out rather than have faith in God.

I didn't realize that Satan works that subtely. We don't even know we are being fooled, so we can't reason it out. We need the Bible to judge stories and characters accurately.  We are told to try the spirits (I John 4:1, KJV).

I can watch the movie now, but it doesn't have the hold or power on me that it did.  I don't even want to watch it.  We need to make sure our children believe in Jesus, not superheroes.

Stretching My Faith

My daughter went to Australia alone for ten days.  I was worried about it, but I didn't tell her because I didn't want to pass on my fears. So, since she has a new camera, I asked her to send a picture a day on an email.  She agreed.

I got good pictures from her until four days before she was due back in the US.  I didn't get any pictures.  For a couple of those last four days, I just thought she let it slide.

But then fears set in.  What if she was in a car accident? What if she was in the path of a terrorist? What if she were lost or kidnapped?

I had prayed for safety before she even went, and I know God doesn't waste prayers.  That didn't seem like enough.  I was having a hard time believing God would give her safety.

I tried to find Bible verses for comfort. I thought of Psalms 37 because it talks about getting your hearts desire, but the one that spoke to me was 37:7 that says "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him." Mark 6:52 came to mind.  It explains why the disciples didn't have faith because "they considered not the miracle of the loaves." I needed to remind myself of prayers God had answered for me.

I talked to a friend of my mine that had similar problems with fear.  She said Satan uses fears of our imagination to use against us. She talks to herself to put those fears down.  I had to believe God would answer it just because I asked.

The end of the story was that my daughter emailed me shortly after she got back to the US. There had been areas with poor internet service.  She was fine and safe.  Nothing I feared had come true.

It must have been a time of testing to stretch my faith.

Mercy and Truth

The combination of mercy and truth is powerful (Proverbs 16:6, KJV).  Together, it purges iniquity.  If a criminal admits that he robbed, that he hurt his victim and that he is in the wrong, that is the truth part.  The mercy part comes from the victim.  The victim can acknowledge that the criminal is admitting to the truth of what happened.  It is then that mercy from the victim can shine through and healing can begin on both sides.  Both can set aside the incident and live together in peace. This is a good formula for parents to teach their children.

Mercy and truth can also preserve you (Psalms 61:7, KJV). As mentioned above, it can bring healing in an argument.  But it doesn't happen automatically.  God has to prepare mercy and truth in those that are involved.  If God can change a king's heart like a river, He can answer prayers for peace.

A person who shows truth and mercy will get a good reputation (Proverbs 20:28, KJV). It will be returned to him because he does good things.  It can also preserve a king and establish his throne because he is devising good things by considering mercy and truth.

Fish Net and New Wine

Before the resurrection (Luke 5:4-5, KJV)
     at Jesus' call of the disciples
         -- they had fished all night and didn't catch anything
         --Jesus said to let down the net
         --caught so many fish, the net broke

After the resurrection (John 21:6-8)
         --fished all night and didn't catch anything
         --Jesus said to cast the net on the right side
         --caught many big fish, but the net didn't break

These stories remind me of the parable of the new wine in old bottles (Matthew 9:16-17).
The new wine answers to the Holy Spirit working in the men that are being fished for, but the net, just like the old covenant, just isn't sufficient to save men.  After the resurrection, the disciples are able to save fish (men) because the net (new covenant) doesn't break.

Each time, they obeyed Jesus even though it looked like a waste of time.  Jesus is able to use Christians to be fishers of men if they obey Him.

Believing in Your Ability

  

Matthew 25:14-30 is the parable of the servants and the talents that the employer gave them.  The one that got 5 talents and the one that got 2 talents doubled their money for the employer. The person that only got one talent dug a hole and buried his talent until the employer got back.

I always had a hard time understanding why the man with the one talent hid the talent because the ruler was a hard man.

Apparently the one talent man didn't want the responsibility.  He may have assumed the ruler wouldn't be satisfied no matter what he did?  Why was he afraid?

He may have been like me and assumed that that way he would get out of suffering.  God trains and tests us, just like the men with the talents.  My problem is worrying about what the test is that God will give me, whether he will give me the worst possible situations:  losing a home, a car accident that makes me a paraplegic, or losing a child.  This attitude is wrong.  It shows a lack of trust.  Just as the man with one talent wasn't trusting his ruler's belief in his own ability, so I have a problem believing in my ability and God's mercy.

I need to remember that God will not let us be tempted beyond our ability.  Jesus was tempted in every way we were, so He knows what we are going through. He is the one to come to find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4: 15-16)