OOPs! God Wants Us To Think Outside The Box.

And again I say…OOPs!  For this week’s blog title, I have used an antithesis form of speech. Why?  Because I thought the title above would infuse the curiosity of my readers more than the title: “God Uses Opposites To Express Himself On How To Obtain Righteousness”.

Now I ask you…did it work?  Are you still with me?  Have I piqued your interest enough for you to read this blog all the way through?

Well, if nothing else, you’ve learned the definition of a new word…Antithesis!  That word refers to the juxtaposition (two things with contracting views) of opposing or contrasting ideas.  And we all know that the Bible is full of opposites expressed not only by God in the creation story in Genesis, but also by Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul, and many other New Testament writers.

Below I have listed a few examples found in Genesis Chapter One that depict an antithesis form of speech or writing:

• Light and darkness
• Day and night
• Earth and Sky
• Morning and evening
• Land and sea
• Sun and Moon
• Male and female

Now let’s apply scripture to the proverb that God disposes but man proposes. 

• “Many are the plans in a human heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21
• “To human beings belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue.”  Proverbs 16:1
• “The Lord works out everything to its proper end—even the wicked for a day of disaster.”  Proverbs 16:4
• “In their hearts human beings plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.”  Proverbs 16:9

If you wanted to compose a sentence to share that will better explain the antitheses, you could say that even when man gives his very best to a project, in the end, it is up to fate whether man’s efforts will work out or not.  Thus, Man proposes, but God disposes (brings things to fruition or extinction).

So do not be discouraged when you read opposites in the bible.  Rather, get wisdom and in all thy getting, get an understanding about God’s word.  Study to show yourself approved and allow the Holy Spirit to show you how to rightly divide the word of truth.

The moral of the story:

Recently, I was invited to teach on several scriptures from the Book of Hebrews.  The assignment called for me to first read a short story found in Our Daily Bread magazine and use it as the basis for my scripture teaching.  Because the magazine story did not fully blend in with the overall theme of Hebrews, I had to pray hard for the Holy Spirit to help me connect the dots. This is the message the Holy Spirit communed with me:  Do not reduce holy mysteries to slogans and catchy stories, my sister.  In trying to be relevant, you are only being cute and in violation or misuse of what is regarded as sacred.  Having a knack for generating ‘amens’ from your audience won’t get you anywhere with the Master.  In fact, you will reap what you sow.   You can imagine, I stuck with the overall theme of Hebrews…the Old Covenant vs the New Covenant.  I was careful not to propose anything in my teaching that the Lord would dispose.

My prayer for you:

Dear Heavenly Father, we give You all the glory, honor, and praise for loving us so much that You sent down the Holy Spirit to teach and instruct us in the way of righteousness.  For you used juxtaposition terminology to instruct us in how to recognize what is life-generating and what leads to death-infused conduct.  Basically, we must embrace faith, exhibit love and practice endurance as we live out our lives and administer hope to our fellowman.  It is our prayer that You will continue to shower us with Your wisdom so that we might become more like You.  We ask that all of these various teaching methods be a blessing to others…in the mighty Name of Jesus we ask it all.  Amen.

Scripture Lesson:  “Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity and honor.” Proverbs 21:21

As you can see by the title of my blog post, I have confessed to the world that my God and I often have in depth conversations that are embellished by The Holy Spirit. This cherished relationship has gone on for decades…and I have loved and sought after it every awaking moment. The Guiding Light of His Presence has never failed me yet.

So, for this week’s blog, I decided to let my readers in on a very deep conversation I was blessed to engage in with the Holy Spirit around 5:00 a.m. on Thursday morning back on December 2, 2004. I was around 65 years old at the time and serving as a Deaconess and a member of the Board of Christian Education at a Baptist Church I belonged to at that time. Since my encounters with the Lord were coming so frequently, I always kept a pen and a pad of paper at my bedside along with my Bible.

Please allow me to share with you my entry into the ethereal…

I found myself in an extremely delicate and light and weightless place that seemed too perfect for this world.

Around 5:00 a.m. on Thursday morning, December 2, 2004, I was gently awakened, and for a moment, I just laid there.  My mind began to recall the stirring testimonies of the night before at our Wednesday night prayer meeting.  Passages from Ezekiel and Jeremiah were read during the closing and I began to reflect on them as I lay awake.

Out of no where I 'felt' a voice say, "My child, you have to become your title...Board of Christian Education."  At first, I was confused and had no idea why my mind spoke to me in that fashion.  Suddenly, my subconscious was at work and reminded me that ever since the last Board of Christian Education meeting in November, I had been asking the Lord to speak to me concerning the question put to the members by the president.  For the next fifteen days I had received nothing!  Then, finally, on that distilled morning (and in God's time), He decided to answer.

"Is that You, My Lord?" I said with excitement.  At that time, I immediately grabbed my Bible and turned to the book of Ezekiel.  As I re-read Chapter 2, the Lord spoke again...

"Ezekiel's life was a living parable or object lesson for the people.  And, Daughter of Education, I see you as I see Ezekiel.  A representative of Who is to come.  For I call Ezekiel, Ben Adam, which is when translated, Son of Man.

"Now, Daughter of Education, get up, wake up, get a pen and write.  I am sending you to the children of your church, a rebellious congregation, who has rebelled against Me.  They and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this day."

So when I heard Him, I grabbed  pen and a piece of paper and I began to write.  But then I said, "Oh, Lord, how have we rebelled against you?"  I did not hear or 'feel' anybody speak, but my spirit nudged me and caused me to have a fixation on the expression, 'eat the word!'

Then God said, "The Word I have for the Board of Christian Education is one of encouragement.  Persons on the Board are to see themselves as a Jeremiah and as an Ezekiel.  Both of these men's messages to My people were proclamations.  Their preaching was laced with future event happenings.  Both of these men's messages were warnings to the people, telling them to get ready for things to come.

"So, when their prophecies did not happen in the time frame that suited the people, they began to shut their ears and mock Ezekiel and Jeremiah and call them a bunch of names and hoped they would stumble in everything they did.

"Because My appointed and ordained priests were also human, their feelings were hurt and their personage was wounded.  Instead of getting angry at the people, they got angry with Me.  Jeremiah said, 'I will not make mention of HIM!'  Board of Christian Education, BEWARE!!!

"Listen My Child, you are to become Ben Christian Education.  For like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, your words will be a stumbling block and a proverb to My people.  The captors are coming and My people will be swallowed up, but My Word will ring true."

And so ended my conversation with God using Scripture. And I was returned to the solitude of my bedroom. But as I look over my life, I have been in a lot of situations where my prayerful remarks on biblical subjects have been a stumbling block for my comrades. However, sometimes the Holy Spirit has allowed me to witness that God was glorified in their lives. Yes, my feelings were often hurt, but I reminded myself of the precious words of John the Baptist…He must increase, I must decrease.

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for hearing the prayers of the righteous and bringing comfort and relief where needed. We also thank you for the promise that You are a refuge and a shelter for us; a help in times of trouble. Please make it possible for us to be calm in the midst of trouble and to acknowledge that You are God and God alone. Amen.

Scripture Lesson: “Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the the heart of the sea. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” Psalm 46:2, 11

Click http://www.tgifmasterminds.com every Friday for a new post from the Master’s servant manager…ME! 

Dear Blogger Readers:

As you know, your assignment for Part 2 of this week’s blog was to find at least 30 Bible Book Titles hidden within the text content of God’s Word Is Truth – Part 1!

Well…did you find them all? If so…give yourself an “A” grade. If you also counted “Ruth” in the street sign; “Truth or Consequences” as number 31…then, give yourself an “A+”!

If your score was below 25…then, shame on you!

All in all, though, I hope you had fun.

Please let me hear form you by sending me a comment.

The answers (Bible Book titles) are highlighted below.

Therefore, since I am on a self-imposed sabbatical, I am challenging you guys to educate yourselves for the next two weeks by reading the following blog post and finding 30 titles of books of the Bible hidden in the following paragraphs. Give yourself an A+ if you can find all 30 of them. Resume taking your memory enhancing vitamin pills if you miss more than 3. Start now.

This is a mos t   re  mark  able puzzle.  It was found by a gentleman in an airplane seat pocket, on a flight from Los Angeles to Honolu  lu, ke  eping him occupied for hours.  He enjoyed it so much; he passed it on to some friends.  One friend from Illinois worked on this while fishing from his john  -boat.  Another friend studied it while playing his ban  jo.  El  aine Taylor, a columnist friend, was so intrigued by it, she mentioned it in her weekly newspaper column.

Another friend   judges   the job of solving this puzzle so involving, that s  he brews   a cup of tea to help her nerv   es.  Ther  e will be some names that are really easy to spot.  That's a f  act.  S  ome people, however, will soon find themselves in a jam, es pecially since the book names are not necessarily capitalized.  T  ruth  fully, f  rom ans  wers we get, we are forced to             admi  t it us  ually takes a minister or a scholar to see some of the   m at the w  orst.  Research has shown that something in our genes is   responsible for the difficulty we have in seeing the books in these paragraphs.  During a recent fundraising event, which featured this puzzle, the Alpha Delta   Phi lemon  ade booth set a new sales record.

The local paper, The Chronicle, surveyed over 200 patrons who reported that this puzzle was one of the most difficult they had ever seen.  As Daniel Huma   na hum   bly puts it, "The books are all right here in plain view hidden from sight."  T  hose a   ble to find all of them will hear great lamentations from those who have to be shown.  One revelation that may help is that books like Timothy and Samuel may occur without their numbers.  Also, keep in mind, that punctuation and spaces in the middle may not be nor  mal.  A chi   pper attitude will help you to com  pete r  eally well against those who claim to know the answers.  Remember, there is no need for a mad exodus; there really are 30 books of the Bible lur  king s   omewhere in these paragraphs waiting to be found.  The End!


 

You have one week to resolve this Bible Quiz by finding 30 Names of Bible Books hidden therein. May the Heavenly Forces be with all of you.

Click http://www.tgifmasterminds.com every Friday for a new post from the Master’s servant manager…ME!