His Face Shine
We continue with Aaron’s benediction in Numbers 6:24-26: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his
face toward you and give you peace.” Last week we saw that the pronoun ‘you’ is singular personal referring to you as an individual and not you all. God is speaking to you by name, and mentions it six times.
Bless You
I believe most of us are familiar with the closing benediction (blessing) at the close of a worship service. “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26.
Worldwide Games
Every four years the world waits with anticipation to watch the world’s best athletes compete in the Olympics. It has provided clean entertainment for all ages and a time of global unity.
Knowledge and Good Sense
As we read through the book of Proverbs, we encounter words such as knowledge and good sense. How do they differ from wisdom?
God is Involved
I realize the news media is flooding the air waves and our minds with the assassination attempt. It is a big deal and I don’t want to ignore it as though it doesn’t matter. I think it also takes time to process how close the bullet came to Donals Trump’s head and how close he came to being murdered and how that would have changed the political and cultural landscape. Turning at the last milli-second saved his life. Even Trump said; “it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.”
What is Wisdom
Continuing with the topic of wisdom as portrayed in the book of Proverbs, we need to understand that true wisdom is God’s gift to us. Wisdom resides with God and He freely shares it as we seek Him and follow Him. It does not come from man’s intellect. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:18-19a, 20b Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God… “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile. What wisdom we have comes from above.
Wisdom
If you are looking for a daily bible reading, one suggestion is to read one chapter of Proverbs a day and each month you will read the entire book. This daily reading can be incorporated into any other bible reading plan you are currently using.
Does It Matter?
Why would the bible tell us what sort of things to think about? Do we need ‘thought police?” In the mid-1960s Mao Zedong saw independent thought as the enemy of his Chinese revolution. Can’t we think what we want, after all our thoughts are secret and no one needs to know.
Tell the Truth
I’ve mentioned truth in past communiques, but today I want us to see it from an individual perspective, because truth is vital for a healthy emotional and consequently physical life. Pr. 23:7 As a (man) thinks within himself, so he is. This is saying our feelings, passions and behavior are subject to and conditioned by what we think, i.e., by what we believe to be true.
A Time for War
We are all born with God given talents and gifts including musicians (1 Samuel 16:18, 23; 1 Chronicles 23:5, 25:7), Artisans (1 Kings 5:8-9), hunter (Genesis 25:27), Jeweler Exodus 35:33), Engraver (Exodus 35:35), Sage (1 King 4:29-34), Athlete (Judges 13-16), Songwriter (Exodus 2:48), Civil Ruler (Genesis 41:41-42, Acts 18:26, Nehemiah 5:14, Daniel 2:48),