Seeds For Thinking

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: Jesus said, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor (Paraclete) to be with you forever - The Spirit of Truth.”
John 14:16, NIV

The Book of Job begins with a depiction of a heavenly gathering of angels before the Lord, and Satan “also came with them” (Job 1:6). I note that the literal translation of the Hebrew word used here for Satan means “accuser.”
I quickly slide off into a daydream; I envision a heavenly court, not unlike a Perry Mason script, where the Prosecuting Attorney is Satan, “The Accuser.” God is on the High Bench, of course, and the Defense is in good hands, being the Paraclete, the Counselor of John 14:16,
I am not an observer from a back corner of the courtroom, however. I find myself in the witness chair, front and center, the subject of this trial, the Defendant!
The Prosecution begins by opening a large ledger, and my heart shrinks within me. Satan maintains not only a very sharp pencil, but has kept a scrupulous and thorough accounting. I think of the words of the Prophet Isaiah, when he saw a vision of the Lord, high and exulted: “Woe to me,” Isaiah cried, “I am ruined, for I am a man of unclean lips.” (Isaiah 6:5).
Satan begins. They are all listed there, sins of omission, as well as sins of commission. The gross as well as the petty, laid out for all to see. Am I to be like the wicked of the First Psalm, as “chaff that the wind blows away?” Satan is skilled, and cunning. He has well earned the title of “The Accuser.”
As a glowering “Accuser” completes the presentation of his case, he closes his ledger with a sharp “Thunk” of finality.
In despair, I realize that I can do nothing but throw myself upon the mercy of the court. I am reminded that the prosecution is only half of a trial, however. The Defense, the “One who Walks Alongside,” begins. He, too, opens a ledger. All in the court, including Satan, strains to see what is written there. It is a list of names; the Counselor runs his finger swiftly down the page, stopping at a name, and looking up at the bench, proclaims, “I present to the Court, that the defendant's name is written here, in the Book of Life.” Heads nod. Satan scowls, and rises to object.
“Your Honor, it is apparent the defense is ignoring the facts.”
The objection is denied. The Counselor asks that the defendant step down for the moment, and asks to present evidence that all of Satan’s accusations are null and void, because they have been purged from the Heavenly record. Again Satan rises. “I object, Your Honor. My records are complete, and factual. Surely the defendant must be found guilty. Justice must prevail.” Again, the objection is denied.
The Counselor calls another witness. “Please tell the court”, he asks, “ why the defendant should not be found guilty in this case.”
“Because I have already paid whatever penalty is due to this defendant,” states the witness. “How can that be?” sputters Satan. “Can sin be forgiven?”
“Yes,” Jesus replies. “Though sins be as scarlet, they shall become as white as wool, and the one who believes in Me shall not perish, but have everlasting life. While he was yet a sinner, I died for him.” Stretching forth His hands, He holds them up for all to see.
Thomas, one of the Apostles, sitting to one side, nods, and smiles.
I can but only acknowledge, “My Lord, and My God.”
Well, it is only a dream, isn’t it?

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

* Storing Up Water
* Scripture: Jesus told the woman of Samaria, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." John 4:13-14, NKJV

Wells are nice - if you have one. Water is precious, and essential to life. Many ingenious ways have been devised to obtain it; many a battle has been fought to retain it.
Wells figure prominently in the scriptural record, including accounts in the book of Genesis that relate how the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, dug wells to water their flocks and families. Jacob's Well, at which Jesus encountered the Samaritan woman, had served for nearly two-thousand years.
It takes a lot of work to dig a well, a shaft in the ground that reaches down to the level of a vein of water. Then, some form of raising the water to the surface is needed. Some wells were made large enough that a circular staircase actually allowed people to walk down to the level of the water
A long rope with a bucket attached is often used, sometimes with a pulley or winch device to more easily raise and lower the weight of a full bucket of water. I have seen the rope and bucket attached to a long lever, called a sweep, to counterbalance the weight.
A pump is a much more convenient form of bringing up the water, whether hand powered or by a motor or engine, IF you have a source of power.
Springs are also mentioned often in the Bible, including ones the Israelites found during their wanderings in the wilderness. A fertile area, watered by the spring, is called an oasis, a name used today by a manufacturer of drinking fountains.
Do you think of Rome when you hear the word fountain? The Romans were masters of building aqueducts that brought water over long distances to emerge in strategically placed fountains.
Many of the farmhouses in the area where I grew up had a different source of water. This water came, not from the ground, but from the sky. Rain! Rain collected in a container - small, in a barrel, or larger, in a cistern - had the advantage of being free from minerals - rain-water soft, to be exact. We had both a well and a cistern, the best of both worlds.
Wells, springs, fountains and cisterns are all rightly the center of life. They all share one trait, however. They are not portable. Potable, yes (meaning suitable for cooking and drinking) but you can't slap wheels under one and take off with it on a journey.
So, enters the water bag, perhaps draped over the saddle or back of a donkey or camel. Ships at sea carried water in barrels or casks, as did the "ships of the plains," the wagons headed west during the pioneer movement in the USA. And the water jar, often pictured on some woman's head.
Such is the scene as Jesus sits by Jacob's well, having nothing to draw water from its depths. After hearing about the "living water" Jesus offered, though, the Samaritan woman left her water pot to hasten into the city to share the news with her friends and neighbors.
Can you imagine going to all that trouble to obtain water, and then not using it? A flowing spring, a full cistern or the best pump and distribution system can only bring it to you. All of my examples above have left out the most important thing of all: water supplied or saved is of no value unless you drink of it!
God's living water is readily available, just as Jesus said, but you have to drink of it. You can not store it up, you can not hoard it. You have to consume it to become a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.
Better yet, you can then become an 'aqueduct' or water pot, carrying living water, feeding fountains in others.
Best of all, your source will never go dry!
October 29, 2006

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com

Scripture: So they asked Him, saying, “Teacher, but when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place? (Luke 21:7, NKJV)

The pushmi-pullyu (pronounced "push-me-pull-you") is an gazelle-unicorn cross which has two heads (one of each) at opposite ends of its body. This strange animal was created by Hugh Lofting in his book, “The Story of Doctor Dolittle.” When it tries to move, both heads try to go in opposite directions.
Many times we are not unlike that mythical animal. We ponder what was, what is, and what will be. Past, present, and future. Over the ages, people have looked to many sources for insight into what will be, and when it will happen. “Fortune Tellers” employ many methods, including palm readings, tea leaves, cards, crystal balls, ouija boards, astrology, or even roosters pecking at grain. For an appropriate fee, they will “Tell All.”
The Romans god Janus was the god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings and endings. He is most often depicted as having two faces or heads, facing in opposite directions. His namesake, the month of January, begins our new year. Janus was frequently used to symbolize change and transitions such as the progression of past to future, of one condition to another, of one vision to another. He could see into the past with one face and into the future with the other. Janus was worshipped at the beginnings of the harvest and planting times, as well as marriages, births and other beginnings.
Nostradamus was a practicing physician, astronomer and astrologer who lived in the mid 16th century who turned his hand to prophecy later in life. He wrote messages from the past to the future in the form of short poems. You will likely be hearing and seeing his name quite often in the next couple of years. The most recent revelation combines Nostradamus’ predictions with the end-date of the Mayan calendar. This has led many to believe that cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on December 21 or December 23, 2012. The accuracy of Nostradamus’s predictions seems to rely more on hindsight than foresight.
Though we often perhaps equate the Biblical prophets with foretelling the future, I have heard that we should think more in terms of the traditional prophets “Forth-telling” the Word of God. Many of their prophecies were specific to crises in the history of Israel-Judah.
The books of Daniel and Revelation contain Apocalyptic visions that reveal God's justice as taking place in the future. “Apocalypse” literally means “lifting of the veil” or “revelation.”
In John's apocalypse, the Book of Revelation, he refers to the "unveiling" or "revelation" of Jesus Christ as Messiah. During his imprisonment by the Romans on the Island of Patmos, John described the visions he experienced, writing the Book of Revelation. Chapter 20 contains several references to a thousand year reign of Christ/Messiah upon this earth (The Millennium.)
The disclosure of future events was made through a dream for the prophet Daniel. After a long period of fasting, Daniel is standing by a river when a heavenly being appears to him, and the revelation follows. (Daniel 10:2ff) Daniel asks, “My lord, what shall be the end of these things?” And he said, Go your way, Daniel, for the words are to remain secret and sealed until the time of the end.” (Daniel 12:8b-9, NRSV)
Of particular note, I think, is the prophecy of resurrections, from Daniel 12:2-4. “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” (NRSV)

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: Jesus told His disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” (Matthew 28:19a, NKJV)

The image of former President Theodore Roosevelt looks back at me from the one million dollar bill lying above my computer keyboard. The bill looks authentic, though I have never seen a real one. It is not counterfeit; there is a note (albeit in small print) that it is not legal tender. There is one clue as to the bill’s intended purpose on the front. The serial number reads JN316DOUBELVE. Ponder that for a moment.
The information on the back fully explains the reason why I received this facsimile of a million dollar bill: It asks a million dollar question, “Are you good enough to go to heaven.” Yes, it is a tract, one way of spreading the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
A tract is a short treatise in pamphlet form, typically on a religious subject. I suppose the cards that I hand out with a Seeds For Thinking article printed on it qualifies as a tract. In fact, one of my articles, that I entitled “The Trial”, follows the same theme as that on the reverse of this one million dollar bill - you are guilty (of sin) as charged, but someone else has paid the fine in full. That someone is Jesus, The Christ.
Look again at that serial number - JN316DOUBELVE. It stands for that well-known Bible verse, John 3:16 - Do You Believe?
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
Yes, as Isaiah stated, long ago, but still true, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)
Because we have strayed into the worldly paths of sin, in the present life, we are unworthy of heaven. No amount of money can buy salvation - not even millions of dollars in authentic bills, backed by vaults full of gold.
Now, as I read The Book, there are two sides of eternity, which might be phrased as “Smoking and non-smoking.” John 3:16 offers the promise of eternal life, meaning an endless future, for ever and ever, in the presence of God and Jesus, commonly called “Heaven.” That is eternal or everlasting life - non-smoking, if you will.
But what of those who do not enter heaven. Do they just vaporize into nothingness?
According to the book of Revelation, there will be a “Second Death” as the future of unrepentant and unsaved souls cast into the lake of fire. Smoking! (Revelation 20:14-15)
However, God intends that the (people of) the world should be saved to eternal life, not eternal death. That is why Jesus came, was crucified, and rose from that grave, as a sacrifice for all of the sin of the world. That is what Jesus did for you; it means that if you repent of your sins (admit, confess, and give them up to Jesus,) you shall not perish into that eternity of death, but have eternal (everlasting) life.
Repent, turn from sin, and put your trust in Jesus Christ, who died for us.
August 2, 2009