Casting Pearls- Wanna promise?

Do you know who you can trust to make the rough places smooth and keep all the promises He makes, Who always tells the truth? There are over a thousand promises in the Bible and all of them are true. Any of God’s promises are in his word and God never lies. If God promises something, you can take it to the bank, it is guaranteed.  God made a promise that Abram would have a son by Sarai his wife, and even though they had both gotten to old to have children, God gave them a son (Isaac), though by the time they had Isaac Abram had another son by Sarai’s handmaiden Hagar because of Sarai’s disbelief of God being able to overcome their physical shortcomings. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai’s name to Sara because of their unbelief. 

This is some of the promises God makes in the Bible. For those who wish to know God answers their prayers; Isaiah 58:9 ‘Then shalt thou call and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am.’ Or in Jeremiah 33:3 ‘Call unto Me and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.’

Matthew 7:7-8 says ‘ Ask and it shall be given to you; seek , and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. So anything we ask, believing we will receive it, it will be ours. God wants us to have the confidence that He will always be with us, whatever we may have to face, we should have the confidence that God knows our situation, in fact he knew we were going to be in it, and will listen to our prayers and move on them in His time. 

Many of us think we should have God move to resolve our problems on our timeline. God only moves quickly on things that are out of His will for us. If the situation is within God’s will or God’s plan can still be made to work with our decision to do something, then God will move on it after we learn from it.

Speaking of confidence, we are promised to have confidence in our Savior Jesus, in 1John 5:14-15 the Bible states; ‘This is the confidence that we have in Him, that,if we ask anything according to His will. He heareth us: and if we know that He heareth us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.’ Also in the vein of confidence is the verse in Ezekiel 28:26 that states; ‘And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plat vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the Lord their God.’ Also in 1 John 3:21-22 it says; ‘Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.’

These are only a few of the many promises in God’s Word. God has never lied or broken a promise, so I encourage you and everyone to read the Bible every day so you can too read and claim the promises in His Word.

Casting Pearls- Do we talk to much?

There is ample warning in the Bible for those who talk all the time, to keep your mouth shut. A wise person does not talk a lot, they let others show how they fail to understand. The Bible states in Proverbs 10:19- In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin; but he that restraineth his lips is wise. 

In the New Testament it is the same. 1 Peter 3:10 states;For  he that love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile.Or in James 1:19 the Bible says; Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, and slow to speak, and slow to wrath. 

There are many verses in Proverbs devoted to this topic because the tongue is the only muscle not connected to a bone, that can do such damage. In Proverbs 17:27-28 it states; He that hath knowledge spareth his words, and a man of understanding is of excellent spirit, Even a fool =, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise, and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed of man. So we are told to hold our peace and even if we are not that smart, we will at least appear to be.

In other books we are told not to speak to much too. in Ecclesiastes 5:3 it says; For a dream cometh through the multitude of business, and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words. Back in the New Testament we are exhorted to ‘But shun profane and vain babblings; for they will increase unto more ungodlyness.’ In 2 Timothy 2:16. Then in 1 Timothy 1:6, it states; ‘From which some haveing swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling. 

Jesus Himself said in Matthew 12:36-37, ‘But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgement. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.’ So, even Jesus Himself warns us not to speak too much. Listen and be quiet while you do.  There is ample warning in the Bible for those who talk all the time, to keep your mouth shut. A wise person does not talk a lot, they let others show how they fail to understand. The Bible states in Proverbs 10:19- In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin; but he that restraineth his lips is wise. 

In the New Testament it is the same. 1 Peter 3:10 states;For  he that love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile.Or in James 1:19 the Bible says; Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, and slow to speak, and slow to wrath. 

There are many verses in Proverbs devoted to this topic because the tongue is the only muscle not connected to a bone, that can do such damage. In Proverbs 17:27-28 it states; He that hath knowledge spareth his words, and a man of understanding is of excellent spirit, Even a fool =, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise, and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed of man. So we are told to hold our peace and even if we are not that smart, we will at least appear to be.

In other books we are told not to speak to much too. in Ecclesiastes 5:3 it says; For a dream cometh through the multitude of business, and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words. Back in the New Testament we are exhorted to ‘But shun profane and vain babblings; for they will increase unto more ungodlyness.’ In 2 Timothy 2:16. Then in 1 Timothy 1:6, it states; ‘From which some haveing swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling. 

Jesus Himself said in Matthew 12:36-37, ‘But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgement. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.’ So, even Jesus Himself warns us not to speak too much. Listen and be quiet while you do.

Casting Pearls-Do you know the Ten Commandments?

Many people know what the Ten Commandments are but how many really know more than one or two of the actual commandments or can even quote correctly one of them. The answer is, not many, if you have not studied them or studied the Bible, you probably don’t know what they are. This article will discuss each of them, where they can be found, and what God was attempting to tell us in each of them.

The first of the Ten Commandments is found in Exodus 20:3, and states, ‘ Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.’ (KJV) This was especially for the Jewish people since they had just come out of Egypt, where they had gods for almost everything, where they worshipped the god of earth, god of water, god of air, god of fertility, et-cetera, et-cetera. They even fell back into that when waiting for Moses to return with these commandments. The Israelites made a calf and covered it with gold, as they had in Egypt, and worshipped it, as they had when in Egypt. By their own actions, and our actions now, we show that we need too be told ‘have no other gods’. You might say , “ I don’t have a golden calf I pray too”, but we put our job, our children, our spouse, our life, as more important than God. Anything we allow to be more important to us than God is something that is now our god in our life. 

The second commandment of God is ‘Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image’(KJV). This, as previously described with the golden calf was in part for the Israelites. You might say how does that relate to me, I don’t have a golden calf? Well, do you think money is more important than God? Do you think your car is more important than God? Do you think any of your things are more important than God? If God wanted you too give up anything you have for His use, would you gladly give it? Anything you would not give up for God is a graven image, wither it was engraved by you or someone else for you, it is a graven image.

The third commandment is ‘Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them’(KJV). Again this was in part for the Israelites due to the golden calf, but anything that we find more important than God and work to make it better for us then we bow down to it. Maybe we bow down to wash the car, or maybe we bow down to do our jobs, or maybe we metaphorically bow down to our boss, or maybe we bow down to someone we love, or something we love, or something we worship. 

The fourth commandment is ‘Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God’s name in vain’(KJV). the Bible says that the Lord will not find one who does this guiltless. You might say I don’t cuss and take the Lord’s name in vain, and maybe you don’t, but do you ever say “Oh my G**” or “Good G**” without thinking? You are guilty of using the Lord’s name in vain. 

The next one is the Fifth commandment, ‘Remember the sabbath day and keep it Holy; six days shall thou labor and do thy work; but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God’(KJV). Technically the sabbath day in Bible days before Christ was Saturday, but Jesus was raised from the tomb on the First day of the week and the disciples began to gather together to commemorate that day on Sunday, so we carry on that belief today. We keep our Sundays as the Sabbath day spoken of in this commandment. 

The Sixth Commandment is ‘thou shalt not kill’(KJV). Killing is looked upon as sin by God, but some people might argue that God calls for the Israelite people to kill the people in various places throughout the Old Testament. God had His hands tied by us and our sin nature. Adam brought death into the world with his sin and the killing goes on through history due to the continued sin of man. 

The Seventh Commandment is the one we have a lot of problem with today ‘Thou shalt not commit Adultery’(KJV). The reasoning behind this was the Lord wanted to have people to make a promise to each other and to Him to do this so as to make a difference between us and the animals we had dominion over. God also wanted to keep the marriage Holy because it was to be a shadow or type of Christ and His Church.

The Eighth Commandment is ‘Thou shalt not steal’(KJV). Theft of things is not really important to a true Christian as these are just things, but these things are God’s things and we are only given them for a short time to care for them until He returns, so we are upset at theft since it is like unto stealing from God.

The Ninth Commandment is ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. This is regularly broken by us as we try to get others to take the blame for our shortcomings. The truth is that no one here on earth can take our place for what we have done or said. We are guilty and even if man doesn’t know God does.

Finally we have the Tenth Commandment, ‘Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s’(KJV). This is the one we have the biggest problem with. Every time we see something that someone else has whither it be a car, or money, or celebrity, or even voice or ability of someone else and want it for ourself then we have coveted. I must admit even I have broken this one. 

All of these are too easy to break in one way or another. we are tempted by this fallen world to do things all the time that will cause us to break these. Luckily for us Jesus came to give Himself as a sacrifice for our sins, past and present and future, so that we can be justified and sanctified before the Lord. All we need do is accept it and begin to profess Jesus to men. Colossians 2:13-14 says ‘And you,  being dead in your sin and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross.’(KJV)

Jesus took all our sins and made it as though we never sinned. Jesus made the Ten Commandments no longer condemning to us. He made us free from the burden of our sin and the Holy Spirit which now inhabits us should help us to attempt to keep those commandments, summed up in two commandments by Jesus for us ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul and love your neighbor as yourself.The first part covers the first five

commandments and the second part covers the last five. Jesus didn’t do away with the law, He only made man able to understand it and get closer to living by it.

Casting Pearls-Are YOU the follower that Jesus Loved?

The Apostle John often referred to himself as ‘the apostle (or Disciple) that Jesus loved’ . Why do you think he did so? If I was to go out to eat lunch with John Hagee and Billy Graham, I would refer to it as John Hagee, Billy Graham and the man that Jesus loved went out to eat lunch. So it was not really strange for John to refer to himself in that way. The real meaning behind that phrase is much deeper for us.

Love is what God wants us to show others and what He wants to show us as His love is unfathomable. When a High Priest presented the blood of the sacrifice for their sin to God in the Holy of Holies, God did not judge the people based on their sin or their sacrifice, He judged the High Priest who represented them. The good news for us is that we are being represented by the most perfect and Holiest High Priest it is possible to be represented by; the Lord Jesus Christ. It is His blood and His sacrifice that God judges for us.

This, by no means, is an excuse for us to sin. Jesus has already paid for everything we have done or are going to do, but this is not so that we could go on living our sinful lives, It is so we could have a second chance, a new start to get it closer to right. When we got ‘saved’ we were indwelled by the Holy Spirit that influences us to do what is right in all circumstances. We have to train ourselves to listen to the Holy Spirit and not the world around us, as it says in Romans 12:2, ‘be not conformed to the world; but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.’ 

Paul tried to explain this to the believers in Galatians 2:17-21 that they were not found to be acceptable before God due to their works in the flesh. You can’t pray, read the Bible, feed enough poor people, or heal enough sick people to make yourself acceptable to God. You have to be DEAD to the flesh and alive in Christ Resurrected with Him and letting the Holy Spirit live inside you. We are dead to being judged under the law, we are made acceptable to God by Jesus.

The Bible, God’s Word, says that Jesus is the only way to Heaven. We have to accept his forgiveness to get that forgiveness. In Luke 15:3-10, Jesus told His followers and those who listened, the parable of the lost sheep, Saying that if there was a shepherd who had a hundred sheep and just One wandered away, would the shepherd not leave the ninety nine alone to go look for the one, and having found it would he not put it on his shoulders and carry it back? The shepherd would then call all his friends together to have a big party to celebrate the one being found and returning to the group. Did the shepherd not go look for it, find it, carry it back, have a party for it’s return? What did the sheep do to get itself back to the flock? All it really did was agree to return. It did not run away from the shepherd when he came up to it. He consented to be picked up and carried back. We are the sheep and Jesus is the Good Shepherd who brings us back, all we have to do is accept that He will take us back to being able to have the relationship we want with God. The Holy Spirit indwelling  us leads us to do the good works and profess Jesus to the world.

Casting Pearls- Do you listen to your conscience?

Though it may seem as though Jesus has given us a free will to go ahead and sin, the Holy Spirit inside you when you are saved should prevent you from sinning. Some call it the prick of conscience, but the conscience can also be a bad thing. 

Conscience can lead someone to feel something about something that is God’s will to happen. If someone you know gets sick with a terminal disease, your conscience may make you feel bad for that person. God could be using that person , and their sickness to reach another. Let me give you an example; 

A pastor told me that there was a very faithful member of his Church that suddenly got sick with a terminal cancer. She asked that the pastor would come visit her at the hospital. This was relayed to him by someone who went to see her on Sunday. They had taken her a tape of his sermon to listen too. The hospital she was in was a Catholic hospital and did not normally have protestant faith literature in it for the patients. The pastor came to visit the woman in her shared hospital room on Monday morning. The woman said she listened to the sermon and wanted to have him meet the Churches newest convert, and introduced him to the woman in the other bed. The Lord had used the woman’s sickness to let her be a witness to the woman in the room with her. Later that day, the woman was tested and her cancer was suddenly gone! She was no longer dying!

We must be careful not to stop God from fulfilling His plan in whatever manner He sees fit. We can allow our feelings to get in the way of God’s will.  The most important thing we can do is to be in God's will. If we want to move mountains, we must make our wants for us the same as God's wants for us. When we are in God's Will, He can move anything out of our way.

Casting Pearls- Are we crossing into the Promised Land?

In Joshua 3:2-5, the people of Israel were about to cross over the river Jordan into the Promised Land. This was the land promised some time before to Abraham as his descendants. This land had been promised to them some years before and they had just spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness ( desert ) before arriving there. All the people who had come out of Egypt with them had died off except Joshua and Caleb. 

Moses himself was not allowed by God to enter the Promised Land. He had sinned against God and his punishment for it was not being allowed to go into the promised land with the rest of Israel. Joshua had replaced Moses as the Leader of Israel as they entered the Promised Land. In verse 2 Joshua had led the people of Israel to the edge of the Jordan River (which at the time was at almost flood stage) and they had camped there three days. The leaders of each tribe of Israel went throughout the people saying to follow the Ark of the Covenant, being carried by the Priests, and they would see where to go, the Bible narrates in verse 3. 

This is another shadow, or type, of how we should follow our God and know which way He would have us go. God wants us to keep our eyes on Him and His Word so we will know the correct way to go. It is only by following behind Him like a sheep does with a shepherd that we can find the way He would have us go. It is only by reading God’s Word that we can hear from God and know the direction He would have us go.

Later in verse 4 we read about the warnings they received from their tribes leaders. They were warned to stay behind the Ark of the Covenant at least two thousand cubits, that they might know the way they should turn and go before they get there, because they had never gone that way before. Though God wants us to follow Him, He wants us to follow with enough room between Him and us that we might know the direction in which He wishes us to turn, before we get there.God also wanted them to be far enough back that they could clearly see Him clear the obstacles out of their way and give God the glory for it .

As God’s children we need His Word and the leaders He provides for us to clearly see the way He would have us go. In the next chapter the Lord shows the people and us that Joshua is His chosen Leader of Israel to replace Moses. He stops the flooding river from flowing and lets all Israel pass across on dry land. There are times in life that we wonder if God is going to work in our case. If God wants us to go there, he will make a way. All we need do is, as the Israelites, Stay back and watch until God opens the door for us.

The key to being the kind of Christian Jesus wants is to be willing to praise God even as we sit and wait for Him to open the door. God works at two speeds. Slowly and suddenly. God slowly opens the door in Hid time not in ours, so it appears that God is not working in our case. Everything seems to go so slowly, then suddenly the door opens. We wait and wait for something to happen, then suddenly it does. So God works at two speeds. 

Casting Pearls- Are you of the order of Melchisedec?

Let’s look at the way God told Moses to dress Aaron and his sons, as High priests and regular priests of the Israeli people and why. In Exodus 28:1-42 God told Moses in detail how Aaron to dress and Aaron’s sons. First, in Chapter 28, Moses is directed by God to dress Aaron both to be beautiful to the people and to God, but also to represent to the people the glory of God. Aaron is to have been consecrated into God’s service, he is to represent God’s forgiveness of sins to the people. To do such he must be of great position, cleanliness and honor among the people, and among his friends. They are all to deal gently with the people, and those who are ignorant and going astray. Moses is instructed to make a breast-piece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban, and a sash.

These pieces of Aaron’s outfit as the high priest each had a meaning to the people presenting the sacrifices. They also had a meaning to us today. Let’s go down the list first a breast-piece, decorated with twelve precious stones representing the twelve tribes of Israel, each of the stones have one of the tribes names engraved in it. The breast-piece represent to the people that the tribes of Israel are close to the heart of God, and that Aaron is the representative of the people to the Lord. 

The breast-piece is also to show authority over the tribes to make decisions. It is to be made of Gold and Blue, and purple and scarlet yarn and of finely twisted linen. It is to be square, a span long and a span wide. The stones are in four rows of three, the first row of ruby, topaz, and beryl, the second row of turquoise, sapphire, and emerald, the third of Jacinth, Agate, and Amethyst, the forth row of Chrysolite, Onyx,and Jasper. Under the breast-piece were the Urim and Thummim, used to help make decisions in very trying times.

These bright and shiny stones represented the tribes of Israel in the same way that we as Christians are supposed to represent Jesus like when you shine a light on a precious stone it gives off the light in the same color, in as many different directions as it has faces. A diamond in a Jewelers shop is shown on a black background under lights that show straight down on it so it shows off the brightness and reflectivity of it to it’s maximum extent. If the Jeweler does not want to show it to you on a black background it probably has some obvious flaws, or is to small to matter, in my case.

Then the priests are to wear Ephods, made of Gold,Blue,and Purple and Scarlet yarn as well as finely twisted linen, the work of skilled craftsmen. It is to have two shoulder pieces of Onyx, polished and engraved with six of the twelve tribes to go on each shoulder.They as the stones on the breast-piece are to be in gold filigree settings. The sons of Israel are to be in the order of their birth on the stones, Aaron wore the Ephod to represent the tribes of Israel before the Lord, and to show the Lord carries the tribes on His shoulders. 

The robe is to be under the ephod to be of entirely blue cloth with pomegranates all around hem of the robe in blue, purple and scarlet yarn with gold bells in-between them,The robe is also to have a hemmed neckline so as to keep from being torn. The sound of Aaron’s tinkling bells were proof that he had not died in the presence of God from sin, and at some point the other priests even tied a rope to the High Priest’s ankle and trailed it outside the Holy of Holies so that if the tinkling of the bells stop, they could pull on the rope to see if he had died. 

The head is to be covered with a turban like hat with a Gold plate on it that says HOLINESS TO THE LORD and is to be worn by the High Priest at all times to make the children of Israel acceptable to the Lord. The tunic and the turban are to be made of fine linen and the sash is to be the work of an embroiderer. The sons of Aaron are also to have tunics, sashes, and headbands so that they might also have dignity and honor in their positions. 

All of them are to have undergarments made of linen, from their waist to their thighs, and are to wear them whenever they are in the Holy place, so they can represent without sin.  

The whole thing is summed up in 28:29 where the High priest that represents the people to god, is to ‘bear the names of the children of Israel before God’ and God looks upon the priest as a holy representative of the people. Thank goodness we have a High Priest in Jesus who can without sin, represent us to God so that we are acceptable in His sight.

All this was done so that Aaron could be the clean representative of the children of Israel before God. The children of Israel were not judged, but Aaron was judged in their place, cleaned of his sin by the blood of the sacrifices. 

We have a High Priest that is stated as in Hebrews 4:15 ‘He cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities; but was in all ways tempted as we are, yet without sin’ He represents us. God sees his cleanliness not our sin. He covers me from my sin, He is the perfect representative who is fully acceptable to God, so that despite my sin, I can go in to Heaven.

Casting Pearls- Are you following or leading?

In Joshua 3:2-5, the people of Israel were about to cross over the river Jordan into the Promised Land. This was the land promised some time before to Abraham as his descendants. This land had been promised to them some years before and they had just spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness ( desert ) before arriving there. All the people who had come out of Egypt with them had died off except Joshua and Caleb. 

Moses himself was not allowed by God to enter the Promised Land. He had sinned against God and his punishment for it was not being allowed to go into the promised land with the rest of Israel. Joshua had replaced Moses as the Leader of Israel as they entered the Promised Land. In verse 2 Joshua had led the people of Israel to the edge of the Jordan River (which at the time was at almost flood stage) and they had camped there three days. The leaders of each tribe of Israel went throughout the people saying to follow the Ark of the Covenant, being carried by the Priests, and they would see where to go, the Bible narrates in verse 3. 

This is another shadow, or type, of how we should follow our God and know which way He would have us go. God wants us to keep our eyes on Him and His Word so we will know the correct way to go. It is only by following behind Him like a sheep does with a shepherd that we can find the way He would have us go. It is only by reading God’s Word that we can hear from God and know the direction He would have us go.

Later in verse 4 we read about the warnings they received from their tribes leaders. They were warned to stay behind the Ark of the Covenant at least two thousand cubits, that they might know the way they should turn and go before they get there, because they had never gone that way before. Though God wants us to follow Him, He wants us to follow with enough room between Him and us that we might know the direction in which He wishes us to turn, before we get there.God also wanted them to be far enough back that they could clearly see Him clear the obstacles out of their way and give God the glory for it .

As God’s children we need His Word and the leaders He provides for us to clearly see the way He would have us go. In the next chapter the Lord shows the people and us that Joshua is His chosen Leader of Israel to replace Moses. He stops the flooding river from flowing and lets all Israel pass across on dry land. There are times in life that we wonder if God is going to work in our case. If God wants us to go there, he will make a way. All we need do is, as the Israelites, Stay back and watch until God opens the door for us.

The key to being the kind of Christian Jesus wants is to be willing to praise God even as we sit and wait for Him to open the door. God works at two speeds. Slowly and suddenly. God slowly opens the door in Hid time not in ours, so it appears that God is not working in our case. Everything seems to go so slowly, then suddenly the door opens. We wait and wait for something to happen, then suddenly it does. So God works at two speeds.