Seeds For Thinking

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

Scripture: “You will guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.” (Psalm 73:24, NKJV)

Sometimes we need a little help finding our way. Imagine what it would be like to try to find a chosen destination in a location where there are no street names, no building numbers, and no maps to guide you.
The LORD led the people on the Exodus with His own GPS - God’s Positioning Service - as they traveled through the wilderness. A pillar of cloud led the way by day, and a pillar of fire gave them light by night. ( Exodus 13:21)
Navigators - navel and airborne - lacking such heavenly accommodations, long ago developed methods of using compass readings, a chronometer (clock), and sightings of the sun and stars to determine latitude and longitude, thus, their position on the earth’s surface. Surveyors used similar methods on land.
Navigational skills and knowledge require study and practice to develop accuracy. Let’s face it - we don’t want to be at the mercy of someone responsible for guiding us to a chosen port, whether sea or air, who hasn’t mastered navigation.
Naming cities and streets, assigning numbers to highways and building locations, and publishing maps and directories helps even us ordinary travelers, but it is still a chore to navigate in unfamiliar territory. Enter the new navigational technology - the Global Positioning System (GPS).
A GPS system uses signals from orbiting satellites to determine latitude and longitude anywhere on earth - and even above the earth. The latest commercial units are feature-packed marvels that can direct you to a chosen location, show a map of streets and roads, indicate the speed limit and the speed of the vehicle, and calculate the arrival time, among other data. Many have search options for finding rest stops, service stations, restaurants, and more. All in a little package about the size of a deck of playing cards!
Consider that someone had to collect and assemble all of that information. The GPS may pluck the geographic coordinates seemingly “out of the air” from those satellites, but those basic data have to be interfaced with the display screen. From satellite to screen, it seems to me that God is still playing a major role, providing the physics, science, and source of the intellect behind it all.
Another “early” GPS system was in use at the birth of Jesus - the star in the heavens that pointed the way to the manger bed of the Christ Child.
A more important form of God’s Positioning System appeared, manifesting the Divine Presence in the tabernacle, and later, in the temple (2 Chronicles 5:13). As noted by the psalmist, “You will guide me with your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.” (Psalm 73:24)
Jesus, the Christ, has set the example of the ultimate GPS. As is written in Hebrews, 12:1, “we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (New King James Version).
The satellite-based GPS unit is a very handy device to guide us while traveling, but we need God’s Positioning Service to guide us to avoid sin and reach the reward of His presence in glory.

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

Scripture: Paul wrote, “For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live . . . Romans 8:13, NIV

You have no doubt heard about cruise missiles and smart bombs that are so accurate that they can be guided literally down chimneys or through doors. Recently, I personally experienced the technology that makes such remarkable accuracy possible. No, I’ve neither shot, nor been shot at. It is called the Global Positioning System, and it is used for many purposes other than military ordinance guidance.
And, yes, it is quite accurate, enabling a GPS equipped device to provide data as to location, elevation above sea level, and speed and direction of travel. Coupled with a hand-sized map display unit, it will not only display a map that tracks your movements, but also tell you when to turn, and which lane to drive in.
My son loaned us a GPS equipped navigation system for a trip to an unfamiliar area. It was almost surreal to be tracked so explicitly, viewing the roads and intersections on the display as the signs along the road came into view. The travel speed read-out was more accurate than the speedometer on the dash. But the best part - it told us exactly when and what direction to turn to get to our destination!
Perhaps you have (or have heard about) an automobile that has the equipment built in, so that a stolen car can be tracked, or a stranded motorist located by emergency services. Locked out of your car? A call to the proper number (with your security code) will enable them to unlock your car with this astounding satellite based technology.
The ability to locate any spot on earth, and even in the space above the earth, has never been so precise, nor so readily available. GPS has become the standard location system for all sorts of travel and surveying purposes.
What a shame, then, that the Heavenly Positioning System is so little used. Yes, you have heard of it; it is called the Bible! God’s Word; Spiritual Guidance!
Any trip is so much more pleasant when you have precision guidance. There is so much beauty available in life’s journey that there is no point in wallowing in the muck and mire on life’s side-roads. Use your Bible for a “Road Map.”
Some day we will leave our global transportation system behind (our bodies), and the Soul will then depart for the destination that is programmed within. No last minute updates available once the trip is under way. Only two terminal locations are possible, and will have been determined through long years of programming (heeding or avoiding God’s life-map) the Heavenly Positioning System.
Keep in mind, also, that while YOU have been given the choice of routing in your earthly travels, when That Day comes, someone else will be in the driver’s seat.
To whom will you hand the keys, God or Satan?
August 3, 2003

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

Scripture: Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6,

I still have, and cherish, a book that I received for Christmas when I was six years old. It is titled, “We Grow Up” - and my reading ability did indeed grow up with that book. I was fascinated by the many stories about the marvels of the times.
Railroads were probably in their golden age. Steam locomotives still held sway, and the sound and sight of an engine in full cry has never been equaled for awesome majesty, in my opinion.
The U.S. Mail rode the rails in those days, and one of the stories in the book told how the mail car snatched the mail from a pouch hanging on a pole alongside the track. I was privileged to observe that magical pickup on the fly at a post office near where we lived.
The U.S. Mail was also taking flight. Early aviators were literally the “Pony Express” of the 1930’s and 40’s. While the railroad engineer was firmly guided by the tracks, the airplane could go wherever the pilot wished, but sometimes too much freedom is not a good thing. More than one pilot found guidance in the ‘trackless skies” by following a railroad track to a known location.
My book told how the aviation beacon system worked. We could see several such beams at night, shining forth their rotating beacons of light, each with a special on and off pattern that identified the location. Pilots could follow the beams from point to point, even if nothing else on the ground was visible.
Another marvel was the new radio navigation system, and I had to take their word for this one, because it was invisible to the eye, and we had no radio to pick up the signals. But the pilot ‘riding the beam’ could hear the tones in his headphones that signaled “Too far right” or “Too far left” and corrected the airplane’s direction until the tone signified “On The Beam” - the true flight path.
We had another book at home that told how to find and follow the moral and spiritual true path - the Bible. I cherish that Book, also.
We are not unlike a railroad train in our early years. We are guided firmly by our parents along a way that constrains us. Yet, even with rails, trains have signs and customs to keep all who travel that route directed safely to the proper destination.
Later, we have freedom to literally “roam the skies.” Even here, too much freedom is not always a good thing. We need guidance, something to keep us “on the beam.” Jesus is that beacon, the beam of light that keeps us from becoming lost in the darkness of sin.
October 30, 2005