Bibledoorajar: No work, nada!!!!!

     The Lord's feasts were not to be celebrated in a way that intermingled with work. The whole thrust was to be on the full gifting of God and its' completeness for each. All eyes were to be fixed on Him during these times and that is why servile work was especially forbidden. Servile work is that work carried out, often with much physical exertion, in order to please another human. How can one fix their eyes on all that God has done for him if he is absorbed with being in a subservient position in an attempt to please a fellow human with his work? So, God instituted the Sabbath rest as a part of feasting. Observe the times, observe the seasons; look at the harvests, check out goodness provided by His hand. They were to honor Him with the sacrifices that spoke of redemption and salvation. Then their minds would be free to be glad about all the deeds of the Lord and they could sing for joy at all His works.
     Jesus invited the one who was weary and laden down with work to come to Him and He would give them rest. He told the Jews that the Sabbath was made for man, not the man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27). Again, Jesus was saying if men would free their minds of work at appointed times and focus on the one who was the Lord of the Sabbath, the Creator, then they would find times and seasons of refreshment. When I was in Israel I noticed the word Shalom on lots of souvenirs. I even saw one labeled for me. It said "Shalom Y'all". This old Alabamian smiled because I just took it to mean Jesus was my personal Shalom. He had completed the whole of the work for me and I could relax and accept that great season of refreshment in the Holy Land. I wanted to hold one of the gifts up and shout to every Jew in the shops "Sar Shalom", my "Prince of Peace"!
     The writer of Hebrews propels this challenge into our hearts:

          "Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest..."

Hebrews 4:11

Whew, that takes a load off!!

Perfect Sar Shalom, Bruce Moore

1939-2016

Bibledoorajar: Relationship Event(s)

     God pursued a relationship further with Israel, the church in the wilderness (Acts 7:38), much beyond the moral and civil laws that were put in place. He knew people were constituted with memory and feelings and so He instituted three appointed feast times that were to be shared in His presence.These feasts were solemn in that they were carried out in God's presence, but they were to be times to nurture great joy and gladness which culminated in praising God. Don't get this wrong, they were not times of acting stupidly, but there was even a joy that approached a type of giddiness at them.
     Jesus embodied this and saw it in the children when they approached Him with similar joy and gladness. They must have been showing a bit of giddiness, because the disciples tried to shoo them away. But Jesus said to leave them alone and let them enjoy building their memories and feelings about Him and the Father. This same event the Jews experienced literally, Jesus brought into a personal reality.  He experienced with great joy being in the presence of His Father and He had memories and feelings about what they experienced.
     The church of Christ is to experience this great joy and gladness too and to make memories in our appointed assemblies. The apostle challenged us to not forsake the assemblies as some do! And, remember, Jesus said, if two or three of us gathered in His name, there He would be also. Many of us have had some wonderfully appointed times with brothers and sisters over the years. The memories and feelings warm our hearts and embellish the realities of the Father that we have in Christ and each other. Recently, I read this entry on Facebook from a young brother:
"LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE" My friend/coworker saw this message sent to her, and she was EXTREMELY happy of it that God confirmed her answers. I love working with people I work with. They"ll all so full of God's love. Really helps me on days I can't attend church. I've seen so many good things beyond words I can't say, I just love it and I know God's real!" Now, I don't know about you, but I can feel the giddiness in his voice; I am in touch with how much he loves the Father. It's a veritable feast spread before us and it's ready for each of us to partake and be nourished. What a masterful stroke of God's creative genius when He established feasts.

Bibledoorajar: Preparing the Way

     Today in our assembly we sang "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord, He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored. He has loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword, His truth is marching on. Glory, Glory, Hallelujah, Glory, Glory, Hallelujah, Glory, Glory, Hallelujah, His truth is marching on." As we completed the song, you could hear an Amen here and then there. Your mind immediately said: "Our mighty Leader, the Word, our Jesus, is leading us on! He is able to square things by His truth and prepare our way to our Promised Land.
     God concluded the delivery of the law portion in two ways. First, He assured the people that they would have a messenger (angel) out ahead of them if they obeyed. This angel spoke completely for God the Father. He would guard them along their way and bring them all the way to the Promised Land IF they PAID ATTENTION to Him and listened to what He said. I am sure all the teachers in our reading group have told their students something similar along the way: "You will pass, If you pay attention and listen to what I teach you." They were not to rebel against this Messenger because God's Name was(is) in Him. What followed was a long I WILL list of things He would do if they listened, did not rebel, and obeyed and worshiped God. The list was liberating and a platform for complete trust. Moses reported all of this to the people and they responded in one voice: "Everything the Lord has said we will do." Moses put it in writing.
     Second, He confirmed the Covenant on the basis of the holy Commandments with the leaders. The designated men went so far with Moses up on the mountain, but then Moses required them to wait at a certain level while he and Joshua went further up. Finally, the cloud covered the mountain and the glory of the Lord settled on the mountain. The people were looking up and seeing what looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain. On the seventh day God called Moses before Him. He basked there forty days and forty nights. This Old Testament transfiguration reminds us of a greater One where three men witnessed Glory coming from Jesus. According to the Battle Hymn, it is that "glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me" and is the most glorious of all for believers. Glory, Glory, Hallelujah! Teach this!

Bibledoorajar: The Biggest Mistake of All

      On Saturday afternoon I sat in a beautiful clearing filled with grape arbors and surrounded by peach tree orchards. We were waiting for an outdoor wedding to begin and I was sitting by my eleven year old great nephew who is autistic. He loves characters of all kinds including clowns. He looked out toward those massed peach trees and said:
Clay: Aunt Beck
Me: Yes, Clay
Clay: We saw on the news where people dressed like clowns and hid in the woods and scared people. People are SO MEAN.
Me: It is sad, Clay, but some people do mean things. They have made one of your favorite things,  clowns, a happy thing, seem mean.
Clay: Yeah
Me: But you can still enjoy happy clowns, but I am sorry you will also have to watch out for people who want to be mean. You must run away from them. That is why we like to go places with family and good friends. Sad!
       And, that is exactly why God loved His people enough to help Moses further amplify the Ten Commandments. Areas addressed included personal injury, protection of property, and social responsibility. Lastly, He helped him with the law of justice and mercy. Part of the law of justice and mercy entailed the following statement:

"Have nothing to do with a false charge and

do not put an innocent or honest person

to death, for I will not acquit the guilty"

Exodus 23: 7

     Jesus preached on some of the same themes (Matthew 5 and 6) and even asked his apostles how Satan could drive out Satan? God the Father and Jesus the Son both knew a kingdom divided against itself could not stand. And yet, people divided God's kingdom. Judas betrayed Jesus for money and the religious leaders bore a false charge against Him even to the point of persuading the crowd to ask for a guilty man to be freed instead of Him. Mean, Clay. Just mean. They did not see the love behind the law. They did not see the love behind the Man. They heard the false report and gave credit to it. But thank God He took that horrible event and turned it for good. But that does not mean that justice did not prevail. God says He administers justice in His own way and time. Thanks be to God that we now have the Spirit who will muster our conscience and strengthen our resolve to not mistreat another. While Henry Wadsworth Longfellow spent 1864 translating Dante's Divine Comedy about the afterlife with friends (the Dante Club), his brother, Samuel wrote these words that lead to a perfect afterlife:

 "Holy Spirit, truth Divine,
dawn upon this soul of mine;
Voice of God and inward light,
wake my spirit, clear my sight.

 Holy Spirit, law Divine,
reign within this soul of mine.
Be my law, and I shall be
firmly bound, forever free."
                           Samuel Longfellow 

Bibledoorajar: Reasonable Service

       God helped Moses to further develop some of the parameters of the Ten Commandments.  In Exodus 21, we find guidance for what would be reasonable service for a Hebrew slave. It would be reasonable for him to serve for six years of careful service completed according to the master's wishes. After that, however, he must be set free UNLESS, HE, OUT OF LOVE, AND, OF HIS OWN ACCORD, chose to remain in service. If he so chose, the master would take him before God, have him stand at the doorpost and an awl would be driven through his ear. This would signify that he had elected lifetime service freely before God and man.
       The New Testament declares that Christians have a reasonable service to God. It declares that if we choose it freely, out of love, it is doable. We can come to the Door, participate in His piercing, and He will help us serve God for life. The apostle to the Gentiles says:

"Therefore I exhort you, brothers, through the compassions of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy to God, well-pleasing, which is your reasonable service."    Romans 12:1, Berean Literal Bible
 
     And, this freely sought for and freely given reasonable service will look something like this:

"Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."  1
Corinthians 15:58, Berean Literal Bible

     Our reasonable service springs from the actions of the Holy Spirit speaking God's truth to us through the compassions of God ( as the preacher said this morning, grace upon grace). Our works may not seem reasonable to the world especially if they feel we are too steadfast and too immovable. But if you read the book of Mark you will find our Servant Leader steadfast and immovable in His service to His Father and fellow man. Often, when I do not find something I am called on to do as reasonable and I feel it will be unappreciated, I have a friend who gently reminds me to consider it a doable service. I try to think back on the book of Mark. The Servant just went about and did. Some times he was appreciated and sometimes He was not. But He always did what He could. It was doable through prayer and through a desire to excel in service. And, it was not in vain. 

                                       "Door of my heart I hasten 
                                         Thee will I open wide. 
                                 Though He rebuke and chasten 
                                         He will with me abide."  
                                                                      M.B. Slade