Flight Paths

Twice now I have made peanut butter cookies with my younger grandson, Judah.  The first time he was quite young and the best he could do was add whatever I gave him to add.  This last time he was 8, and although he still had to stand on a stool, he was much more capable of "helping." 
            I already had the sugar in the bowl when he pulled up his stool.  I added the peanut butter to the new-fangled doodad that you use for semi-solid ingredients like shortening and peanut butter, that two part contraption where you pull the inside cylinder down, fill up the resulting measure, and then push out the peanut butter.  Judah managed to use the "plunger" quite easily, pushing out that two-cup blob of the main ingredient.  Then I took the tiny measuring glass, the one that measures two tablespoons.  I showed him how far to fill the vanilla, just "this much" under the 1 (tablespoon) mark, using my thumb and forefinger to indicate about an eighth inch.  He leaned over and very carefully filled the little glass a tiny bit then checking, then a bit more, then checking, until he got it just right, and then poured it in around the spinning beater that was busily creaming away the sugar and peanut butter.
            Then it was egg time.  I cracked the first egg just enough to get him started.  He took it and instead of gently pulling the two halves apart, he mashed with both thumbs against his fingers so hard they both flattened completely.  The egg splashed into the cookie dough.  Then he got down off his stool and, without being told to, took the shell to throw into the garbage.  I surreptitiously checked the batter for smithereens of eggshell.  Somehow, none had made it down into the bowl.  One more egg to go.  "Do you think you can crack it yourself?" I asked.  A very serious nod followed, so I handed him the egg and held my breath.  Let's just say, that boy does a number on eggs.  But once again, no shell pieces migrated to the batter, and the vast majority of the egg went into the mixer bowl, so we were okay.
            He really didn't want to handle the dough, making one-inch balls, so I did that myself, spacing them carefully on the parchment lined cookie sheet.  Then he got to work again, using a fork for the characteristic crisscross pattern of all peanut butter cookies which I had shown him how to make.  "It's a hashtag!" he cried, and was quite pleased with himself as he turned and mashed and turned and mashed two sheets worth of cookies.  Obviously it took a little longer to make cookies that day, but it was worth it.  He could hardly wait for them to cool enough to eat, and we had an experience we could share for our entire visit, every time one of us wanted a cookie.
            I think we in the church may have forgotten the patience a new convert takes.  Many of us are spoiled by having only the next generation of those "raised in the church" be baptized.  They are easy to deal with, already having been taught right from wrong at an early age, and sitting in Bible classes since before some of them could even say a word.  Of course most of them will know what to say, how to act, and how to tell true doctrine from the false.  But what about someone who is converted "off the street," so to speak?  I have heard of some churches that have a list of things they require a person to learn before they will baptize them.  Tell me, how much do you think the Philippian jailor knew before Paul baptized him "in the same hour of the night?"  If these "lists" are indeed necessary, God must have made the moon stand still.  No, Paul made sure that man knew enough to say, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."
            God expects us to be patient with the newcomers.  Look at this passage:  But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator (Col 3:8-10).  Did you catch that?  These were people who had already "put off the old self and put on the new self," in other words, Christians.  Yet they were still works in progress.  They may have been saints assembling every Sunday, but some of them were still working on anger, slander, lying, and any number of other things.  You know all those passages about being "longsuffering?"  We want to use that only when people have personality differences.  How about being longsuffering and patient as people learn to leave behind the culture of the world and become part of a brand new culture—the kingdom of God?  You don't become righteous overnight, turning it on and off like a light switch!
            So maybe those converts crack a few eggs to smithereens now and then.  After all, it takes a little finesse to crack eggs.  Instead of expecting chef-quality cooking from the get-go, how about just asking this question:  Are they still making cookies?  Are those cookies getting better and better with each try?  If they are, the finesse will come later.  Be patient, just like the Lord was, and probably still is, patient with you.
 
I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love (Eph 4:1-2).

The recipe for those cookies can be found on the recipe page on the left sidebar.
 
Dene Ward

Neither will I offer burnt offerings unto Jehovah my God which cost me nothing.

            2 Samuel 24 relates the numbering of the Israelites as commanded by David.  To make a long story short, this sin caused a pestilence sent from God as punishment.  God then told David to offer up a sin offering at a threshing floor owned by Araunah. 
            Aranauh saw the king’s entourage headed his way and went out to greet them, wondering what he could do for his king.  When David explained and asked to buy the property so he could offer the sacrifice, Araunah said, “Oh no, lord.  Everything is yours for the taking, including the oxen for the burnt offering.”
            Then David uttered those words above, “I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord which cost me nothing.”  It isn’t worship, David meant, when it isn’t mine to give.  It isn’t worship when it’s an extra I keep on the shelf for emergencies.  It isn’t worship if it isn’t something I need for myself.  Service to God should cost me something.
            I wonder what David would say were he alive today.  I bet I know some things he would not say.
            “We have a gospel meeting this week?  I’ll go if it’s convenient.”
            “The price of gas has gotten too steep to make that extra Bible study this week.”
            “That’s just too early for me to have to get up in the morning.”
            “It’s a song service tonight?  I don’t like to sing anyway.”
            “It’s on the way to my activity, so I can stop by the hospital for a quick visit, otherwise...”
            “My neighbor mentioned wanting to ask me about some problems he is having, and I wanted to watch that ball game.  Maybe tomorrow night.”
            It doesn’t have to be inconvenient to count as service; if it did, the most pious time to assemble would be 2:00 AM.  However, if convenient service is all we ever give, you wonder if it truly deserves that description, “service.”
            Did you ever offer assistance and have someone say, “Well, only if it isn’t any trouble?”  Have you said it yourself?  Don’t deny someone the right to “pay” for the offerings they give.  It is often trouble to help someone out—it’s supposed to be!  How much trouble they go to for someone else is a measure of their commitment to the Lord (Matt 25: 40).  The same standard is a measure of your commitment as well. 
            Since we do operate our assemblies on a system of expedients, it is too easy to think that everything should be convenient.  Surely God doesn’t really expect our service to Him to cost us time, money, or pleasures and recreation that are good and wholesome.  We may understand the concept of sacrificial giving on the first day of the week, but how much do we understand the concept of sacrificial giving every day of our lives?
            Because of all He has done for me, I should be willing and anxious to say, “I will not offer to the Lord that which costs me nothing.”
 
Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe: for our God is a consuming fire. Heb 12:28,29.
 
Dene Ward

It used to be that divorce was a problem rarely found in evangelical circles.  To our shame that is no longer the case.  Our society, including many professing Christians, has rejected Biblical conceptions of both love and marriage.  Love has become a mixture of both physical desire and vague sentimentality; marriage has become a provisional sexual union to be terminated when this pathetic pygmy love dissolves. 

How different is the Biblical perspective!  In God's Word, marriage and love are for the tough-minded.  Marriage is commitment, and, far from backing out when the going gets tough, marriage partners are to sort out their difficulties in the light of Scripture.  They are to hang in there, improving their relationship, working away at it precisely because they have vowed before God and man to live together and love each other…until death separates them.  Love is the determined commitment to seek the other's good, to cherish, shelter, nurture, edify, and show patience with one's partner.  And this commitment, worked out because of deep-rooted obedience to God, brings with it the emotional and sentimental aspects of love as well. 

The Sermon on the Mount, An Evangelical Exposition of Matthew 5-7, by D. A. Carson

Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of thy life of vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all thy days of vanity: for that is thy portion in life, and in thy labor wherein thou laborest under the sun (Eccl 9:9).

Until we got Chloe, we had always practiced what pet owners know as “self-feeding.”  You fill up the feed pan and a few days later, when you notice that it is finally empty, you fill it up again.  Magdi always just ate what she needed to eat and no more, like most animals do.  In spite of the fact that she was an athlete who worked off an incredible number of calories every day, she was never tempted to overeat.
            Then came Chloe.  We kept up with the “self-feeding” once she started eating adult food because we wanted to make sure she got enough.  Magdi had a tendency to claim the feed pan as hers and guard it whether she was eating or not.  But we should have realized when we stood over Chloe and looked down that she was getting plenty to eat.  Instead of a straight line from her shoulders to her hind quarters, there was a significant bulge on each side.  When we took her to the vet, the doctor strongly recommended a low calorie diet.  Self-feeding does not work with Miss Piggy dining in the doghouse.
            In just a couple of weeks of measured daily feeding she slimmed down. She was much more active, running with Magdi across the fields as they played, and tearing up the ground to greet Keith at the gate when he came home.  She even leapt into the air chasing a bee a few weeks afterward and managed to get all four feet off the ground a foot or more.  We no longer have a piglet with a cold wet black nose and a wagging tail.
            God practices a sort of spiritual self-feeding.  His word is available to us any time we want it.  He has given us elders, wise leaders who see to our more formal spiritual meals, and who take that responsibility seriously.  But we can reach into the “pantry” any time we want and snack to our hearts’ content.  In fact, the shame is that instead of looking pleasantly plump in a spiritual sense, too many of us look like we have been on a fast.  When I have labored over a meal for several hours and hardly anyone comes to the dinner table, and those few just pick at their meals, I get a little miffed.  Don’t you suppose God does, too?
            Now, more than any other time in history, and here, more than any other place in the world, we can study the Bible any time we want to.  Where is our appreciation of the providence of God?  Where is our hunger for the meat of the word?  Have we filled ourselves up with the empty calories of pop culture and the simple carbs of modern philosophy to the point that we have no room for real food? 
            Take a moment today to examine what you are taking into your spirit, what you are filling your soul with, and determine to make a change in your spiritual diet.  Jesus called himself the Bread of Life.  Aren’t we interested in that life at all?
 
Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written, He gave them bread out of Heaven to eat.  Jesus therefore said unto them, Amen and amen, I say unto you, It was not Moses who gave you bread out of Heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread out of Heaven.  For the bread of God is that which comes down out of Heaven, and gives life to the world.  They said therefore to him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.  Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of Life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes on me shall never thirst, John 6:31-35.
 
Dene Ward

This is an old book, copyright 1958.  For its era, it was probably a pioneering book.  Look at the table of contents and you will see that Mrs, Culwell does an admirable job of searching out women in the Bible, though she doesn't quite get them all.  I doubt few, if any, knew who Rizpah was back in the 1950s.  Of course I was only a toddler in the 50s, but even so, I first heard of her in the late 70s or early 80s, and no one else I knew then had heard of Rizpah.  However, despite that impressive beginning, I knew before I was halfway through it, that I could not recommend her book to others.  There are simply too many errors.
            Some are the standard errors of those who teach those same old stories over and over without reading it from the Bible as if it were brand new to them.  When I read her say of Rachel, "It was love at first sight for Jacob, and it remained love beautiful unto the end," I thought, here we go again.  Anyone who has studied that story without the blinders of what they have always heard, knows that was not the case.  See Growth of the Seed by Nathan Ward, and my own Born of a Woman study and see what I mean.  The fact that Jacob asked to be buried with Leah in the family burial cave, but left Rachel buried where she fell ought to tell us something.
            The inconsistencies are almost maddening.  The author will discuss the names Leah gave her children and how that shows her character, but totally miss the significance of, "Give me another one," coming out of Rachel's mouth when she names Joseph, and the fact that prayer for a child was her last resort.  The same woman who researches enough to find out the history of Jezebel's father will then say that Naboth would not sell his vineyard to Ahab "because he didn't care to."  What Naboth actually said was, "The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers."  It was a little more than simply, "I don't want to."  In one place she says that Ishmael was 13 when Isaac was born, yet in another she says 14 (which is correct), the same place she talks about weaning Isaac, even though she has previously said that the weaning would have been at least three years after Isaac's birth, if not more, making Ishmael no less than 17 at that point. 
            And while she may have more knowledge about these women than most, her lack of a thorough Biblical knowledge shows itself in the oddest places and in the oddest ways.  She says of Isaac and Rebekah, "Together the assembled believers of God felt the planned providence of the great I AM in arranging this marriage."  Yet in Exodus 6:3, Moses records that the patriarchs only knew God as "God Almighty."  They had not been given that special name that Moses received.   Then this same woman will, with clear and sound logic, get the events of Jephthah's daughter correct when most miss it entirely.  Yet she leaves out Leviticus 27, directions for vowing a person, which would have helped her case immensely.
            While she recognizes some of the cultural elements, she often shows a lack of understanding the details.  "One might ask why a woman as discreet and as intelligent as Abigail married such an ill-tempered miser as Nabal."  I doubt Abigail had a choice in a culture of often arranged marriages, which a historical/biographical author ought to know.
            Mrs. Culwell also engages in a little more supposition and imagination than might be called for, including lavish descriptions of décor and clothing as if she had seen the setting herself.  I have the most trouble with her assigning motives.  While it is always good to imagine how someone might have felt in a given situation, putting ourselves in her place and making the events and its pressures come alive, all such suppositions should be labeled as such clearly.  "This might have been her motivation," or "This might be what she was thinking."  And she really blows it when she says of the search for a new queen in Esther, "There has been much said about [Mordecai] who would plan a marriage of one of Abraham's daughters to a heathen king."  Plan it?  Mordecai had no say in the sweep that carried Esther as an eligible virgin to the king's palace.
            There are still things to be admired in this work, despite all these shortcomings.   The attempt was brave and time consuming.  I just wish a better result had come of it.
            This book is probably out of print, but copies are still available in used bookstores and online sources.  Yet as I said, I really cannot recommend it  It was published by DeHoff.
 
Dene Ward

Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name…
 
            Most of the people I know begin their prayers addressing God as Father.  If you think about what you pray, that word “Father” should color your whole life.  To a Jew the father was the authority figure in the home.  His word was law, and the family obeyed.
            For I have chosen [Abraham], that he may command his children and his household after him…Gen 18:19.
            He said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law, Deut 32:46.
            Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the  discipline and instruction of the Lord, Eph 6:4.
            One who manages his own household competently, having his children under control with all dignity, 1Tim 3:4.
            Yes, a father is more than an authority figure, but these passages show us that is an important part of his role.  This is what bothers me:  our culture is doing its best to remove that part of the job from the father.  How many strong fathers do you see depicted on television?  Most of them, if any, are on the classic channels or old movies.  Today’s TV father is hardly more than an incompetent buffoon.
            Understanding authority is basic to understanding submission, a hallmark of discipleship.  Even more important, understanding authority means you will be less likely to err in your relationship with God.  God meant that the father in the family be one way the children were to learn about that Ultimate Authority.  Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you, Deut 8:5.  Fathers, when you do not live up to the role God has put you in, acting as the authority figure who must be obeyed, who controls and disciplines, who raises up his children, you are responsible for any misunderstanding your child may have about what he can get away with in his relationship to God.
            When you tell him to do something and then do not punish him for disobeying you, you are telling him he can get away with disobeying God.
            When you allow her to wrap you around her finger and get whatever she wants, you are teaching her that God will let her do it her way too, even if it isn’t His way.
            When you allow them to sass you, to talk back or otherwise disrespect you, you are telling them it’s just fine to treat God that way.
            When your children get older, they will disregard plain commands in the Bible.  They will say things like, “But God wouldn’t mind if I…”  They will believe they can finagle their way out of Hell on Judgment Day because they finagled their way out of any orders you gave them, or because you were too weak to make a stand, or because you were afraid they wouldn’t love you, or any number of other excuses you might make. 
           They can blame it all on you and what you taught them about a Father’s role, and they will be right, but it won’t help either of you in the end.
          Maybe it even says a little bit about how YOU perceive your Father in Heaven.
           If you have a father who has taught you these things, be sure to say thank you this coming Sunday.
 
It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it, Heb 12:7-11.
 
Dene Ward

If you have been with me awhile, you know I have been teaching a Psalms class with lessons I compiled after a long, hard summer of study.  {You can read snippets from those lessons in the category “Psalms” on the right sidebar.}  I am still reading books about the Psalms and the last couple have brought a new idea my way that I would like to share.
            Of course, the early church, the apostolic church, as scholars often call the first century Christians, sang the Psalms.  The practice came from the Jewish heritage of the first congregations of Christians in Judea.  In fact, one of the books I read said this:  “…in the English-speaking world use of the psalms has often languished as hymns and worship songs with catchy tunes have tended to displace the psalms…This trend would have appalled the apostolic church…one may hope this modern failure to appreciate the psalms…to be a blip,” Gordon J. Wenham, The Psalms as Torah.  I find myself agreeing with Mr. Wenham.
           But here is something I had not realized:  The Psalms were often prayed by the early church and that practice lasted for centuries.  Mr. Wenham devotes a whole chapter to the affect that praying the Psalms would have on us if we did it.  Try this today.  Read the following verses from various psalms out loud.  All right, wait until you are alone if you want to, but don’t forget to do it.

I said, “I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle, so long as the wicked are in my presence,”  Ps 39:1

I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High, Ps 9:1-2.

I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the LORD, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD! Ps 116:18-19.

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. — Selah.  Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. — Selah Ps 32:5-7.

I will ponder the way that is blameless. Oh when will you come to me? I will walk with integrity of heart within my house; I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me. ​A perverse heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of evil. Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly I will destroy. Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart I will not endure. I will look with favor on the faithful in the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in the way that is blameless shall minister to me. No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house; no one who utters lies shall continue before my eyes, Ps 101:2-7.

            That should be enough for you to get the point.  Many of the psalms are written in first person.  When you pray it, you are praying for the same things the psalmist prayed for, and allowing the psalmist’s attitude to become your own.  You cannot pray these things without it affecting how you live—unless you are a hypocrite. 
          But shouldn’t we read all scripture that way?  Shouldn’t we read the epistles in such a way that we are praying to be what we are told to be, to speak as we are told to speak, to live as we are told to live?  Shouldn’t every recitation of a memory verse be a phrase we are willing to live by?  Yet how often do we quote what we have learned by rote and then continue to live as we always have, never taking to heart the words that have just left our lips?
           Maybe if you start with these few verses from the Psalms today you can train yourself to pray the prayers of the saints gone by instead of the selfish carnal prayers we usually pray—for physical blessings and physical convenience and physical health--and maybe, just maybe, we can start to be the people we talk about being every time we read our Bibles.
 
Dene Ward

Back when we used to have church get-togethers or potlucks or socials or whatever you want to call them, I noticed something that bothered me a lot.  If the gathering was at a home, usually the group split into two rooms—the living room or den, where most of the men gathered, and the kitchen, where most of the women gathered.  When you walked into the kitchen the talk was always of children, recipes, childbirth, or operations.  When you walked into the living room, you heard the Bible talk, and if you sat there long enough you sometimes got lost in the deep waters.
            Well, a woman's life centers on her home and family, you say, so that's what she talks about.  But tell me what a man's life centers around?  His job and family, yet still they were talking Bible, and not just Bible facts and stories and verses, but theology as well.  Still, I don't believe this was all the women's fault.  Somehow or other, we have all been raised to believe that theology is a man's field.  Women not only wouldn't be interested, they can't handle the depth, we were told, if not in words, then in attitudes.  "All that Bible stuff is men's business."
            Nonsense!  Lydia McGrew comes to mind immediately.  Look her up if you don't know the name.  Another thing is that everywhere I have lived, women have come to my classes—classes that are not your usual home and family women's classes.  I have given them things to learn that will leave a few men in the dust.  Some women leave my classes because of it, but the ones that stay can give the men in the church a run for their money when it comes to understanding theological concepts.  I am so proud of them all I could burst!  Just the other day we discussed paroimias in one class and imputation in the other. 
            Ladies!  God expects us to be good wives, homemakers, and mothers, yes, but he also expects us to, as good stewards, use our brains for the deeper things of his Word.  Remember all those verses that say, "Examine," "Search," "Reason," and "Learn?"  Those are not meant just for the men; they are for you, too.  And let's be honest about this--even if it should not be, it is often the women who are the spiritual leaders in the home, the ones who get the children ready to go to church, who schedule other things around the assembly rather than missing it, who help the kids with their Bible lessons, who read their own lessons while their husbands watch ball games or go fishing.  If that is the case in your home, it is more imperative than ever that you learn more than the standard prooftexts and slogans.  It is up to you to dig deeper in the Word.
            You can do the deep stuff, and it's not only interesting, it's fun!   You can be the example your children need, even if they get no other.  Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
 
The rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the temple servants, and all who have separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, their daughters, all who have knowledge and understanding, join with their brothers, their nobles, and enter into a curse and an oath to walk in God's Law that was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord and his rules and his statutes (Neh 10:28-29).
Dene Ward

Today's post is by our guest writer Lucas Ward, a continuing series on the descriptions of God.
 
Joel 2:26  “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame."
Joel declares that God has dealt wondrously with His people.  In doing so he is merely echoing his patriarch for Israel, in blessing his twelve sons, declares that the Almighty "will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that crouches beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb." (Gen. 49:25).  Our God is declared to be a God who pours forth blessings upon His people, who deals wondrously with them.  So, let's examine how God deals wondrously with us:

Isaiah 42:5  "Thus saith God Jehovah. . . he that gives breath unto the people . . ."   Our first blessing is our existence.  God created us and gave us life.  Without Him, we would not exist.

Deut. 8:18  "for it is He who gives us power to get wealth"  While we are not promised millionaire status as servants of God, all our physical blessings come from Him.  We are, in fact, warned not to rely on earthly riches, but in the same breath Paul teaches to rely on a God who "richly provides us with everything to enjoy". (1 Tim. 6:17)  While Solomonic wealth is rarely in view, God wants His people to enjoy earthly blessings so long as that doesn't interfere with their service to Him.  He even teaches us to profit (Is. 48:17).  Now that is a business professor I'd pay attention to!

Ps. 68:35  "Awesome is God from his sanctuary; the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God!"  God not only gives us life and the ability to enjoy physical blessings, He gives us the strength necessary to be successful in the world.  There are burdens in this life.  There are challenges to slog through.  Despite His blessings, things are rarely easy, but He gives us the strength to meet these things and remain blameless before Him (Ps. 18:32). 

Ecc. 2:26  "For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy . . ."  God provides not only the strength to face the world, but the wisdom to handle its challenges sensibly.  In fact, a major theme of the Bible is that God is the source of wisdom.  Job 28 declares that while man can find anything else he looks for, true wisdom is hidden with God and only comes from Him.  (The entire book of Job pivots on this declaration.)  The first nine chapters of Proverbs detail the benefits of wisdom and repeatedly declare God as its source.  James tells us that if we lack in wisdom, we merely need to ask God, who gives generously.  God pours forth His wisdom upon His people.

When counting the blessings you have received from God, when was the last time you thought of laughter?  Yet in Gen. 21:6 Sarah declares "God has made laughter for me".  She is rejoicing in her son, the son of her old age and was laughing at the absurd wonderfulness of him.  Who gave that to her?  God.  This concept is not limited to Sarah, either.  Rom. 15:13 tells us that we can be filled with joy through God.  Chapter 14 verse 17 tells us that the kingdom of God is joy.  The psalmists repeatedly declare that service to God is joy (Ps. 43:4; 47:1; 66:1; 68:3; 84:2).  Conversely, God takes note when His people are unhappy and acts to comfort them (2 Cor. 7:6). 

In Gen. 48:15 Israel declares that God has been his shepherd.  David says the same in the famous 23rd psalm.  In the Palestine region being a shepherd was much less about feeding the sheep than in leading them safely to the pastures and water sources and protecting them from attack.  The shepherd also acted as veterinarian, treating the sick and injured sheep.  This fits in perfectly with how God is portrayed:  He looks after His own (Gen. 16:13), He bears us up, carrying us when we can't go farther (Ps. 68:19), and as the Good Shepherd, He knows His sheep, laying down His life to protect them. (John 10)

And I could continue.  The ways in which God deals wondrously with His people are innumerable.  He blesses us with all spiritual blessings (Eph. 1:3), He justifies us, washing away our sins (Rom. 8:33).  He provides peace (Phil. 4:7) and hope (Rom. 5:2).  He is unquestionably the God who has dealt wondrously with His people. 
 
Isa. 41:13  "For I, Jehovah thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee."
 
Lucas Ward
 

Today is our 47th anniversary.  This one seemed appropriate.  Hope you don't mind a rerun.

Nearly forty-six years ago, shortly after Keith and I became engaged, he took me to the premier restaurant in Tampa, Bern’s.  Bern’s is the kind of restaurant where your waiter is often dressed better than you are, and you hope your actions do not give you away as someone who is totally out of his element.  We splurged away a good chunk of Keith’s weekly salary on a chateaubriand for two--$40, counting beverages, dessert, tax, and tip.  In that day, gas had just risen to 65 cents a gallon, and $35 worth of groceries fed a family of four for a week.
            Our waiter, Tony, was an older gentleman with an accent, gray hair, and Old World manners as charming as the fairy tale Prince.  At Bern’s, diners are seated in various rooms, some larger than others.  Ours was small, mostly tables for two, and the three other couples there that night were well-spaced for privacy.  Tony was assigned to us and only one other couple. 
            After taking our order, he always brought each course precisely on time as we finished the one before it.  When it came time for the steak, he asked if Keith would like to carve it.  We had been holding hands across the table and let go at that question.  Immediately, Tony protested.  “No, no, no,” he said, putting our hands back together. “Tony will carve.”
            After dinner we had coffee and once, when I put down the half empty china cup at my right elbow and looked up to talk with Keith, I turned back a moment later to a full one.  I had never heard Tony even approach the table, much less refill the cup.  When I expressed amazement, Keith told me, “He’s been standing in that back corner keeping an eye on his two tables the whole time.”  Needless to say, Tony got an excellent tip, and we still remember him fondly to this day.
            I was studying Acts 2:42 the other day and made a discovery that reminded me of Tony.  And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching, and fellowship, breaking of bread and in prayers, Acts 2:42.  Since prayer was the actual subject of my study, I concentrated on that particular item.  What did it mean, I wondered, to “continue in prayer?”
            “Continue” is the same Greek word translated “wait on” in Mark 3:9, and he spoke to his disciples that a little boat should wait on him because of the crowd, lest they should throng him.  The multitude was pressing in on Jesus, and he wanted a boat handy should he need it, as he did at another time, teaching from the water while the crowd stood on the shore. 
            What really brought Tony to mind, though, was the use of this word in Acts 10:7, And when the angel… had departed, [Cornelius] called two of his household servants and a devout soldier of those who waited on him continuously.  Like Tony, those men stood to the side just in case they were needed.  And they must have been needed fairly often, or they would not have been so alert and close by.  That is how prayer is supposed to be.
            Is that how we treat this gift?  Is it something we keep handy and use at the drop of a hat, should some problem come our way?  God meant prayer to be there for us continuously.  Not that we pray continuously, but that at any moment we may use that gift; that we talk to him through the day, recognize our dependence upon him in all things and the incredible benefits of speaking to him.  Like Tony he will be there waiting for anything we need, sometimes even before we express that need. 
            For our 30th anniversary in 2004, our children gave us a gift certificate to Bern’s, the first time we had ever been back.  It was another memorable experience, but of course, Tony is no longer there.  But unlike Tony, God is still there and always will be.  
            Keep prayer handy, and use it often.  Don’t wait for some bedtime ritual if the need should arise in the middle of the day.  God wants to help us, and he will, if we but ask.
 
Out of my distress I called upon Jehovah; Jehovah answered me and set me in a large place. Jehovah is on my side; I will not fear;  What can man do unto me?  Psa 118: 5,6.
 
Dene Ward