Thursday, October 30, 2014
How to Fix the 2015 Milwaukee Brewers
If I were GM, and I'm not (as seen by the fact that they exercised their option on Yovanni Gallardo), here is what I would do to make a championship team. The philosophy is opposite Doug Melvin's. He assembles the best possible lineup of starters and everyday players using up most of the budget and then piecemeals the bullpen with scrap heap players. What you can see from this year's playoffs is that the bullpen needs to be the priority. Here's what I would have done and it is already shot with the signing of Yo.
2014 salary $104 million
Don't sign
Ramirez $10-14 million
Yovanni $11.25 million
Weeks $11 million
Estrada $3.3 million
KRod $3.3 million
Reynolds/Overbay $3.5 million
Gorzellany $2.8 million
Duke $1 million
$48 million saved. Now I don't know how much of Parra's and Broxton's salaries were figured in to that $104 million but I figure you have to take away $11 million of that $48 million which leaves you $37 million to spend. Use that to get 3 of these guys on the FA market
Andrew Miller, Pat Neshek, Darren O'Day, Sergio Romo, Joakim Soria, Huston Street, Koji Uehara
Maybe you can't get 3. Then get 2 and sign Duke and KRod. Imagine the bullpen you would have with 2 of those guys and Broxton and Jeffress. Games would be over after 6. (Have you seen the Cubs bullpen? I'm worried!)
The rest of the lineup would be like this - SP Peralta, Lohse, Garza, Fiers, ? Smith, Nelson, Wagner, Jungman, Thornburg
1B - Braun/ Clark
2B Gennett / Velez
SS Segura / Arcia
3B Rogers
LF Davis/ Parra
CF Gomez/Shaefer
RF Parra/ Braun
C Lucroy/ Maldonado
Yes we would be weaker at 3B but lets face it - Ramirez doesn't cover much ground at 3rd and is a log jam on the bases. He doesn't even slide anymore and is always hurt. And our starters would be less deep but who knows, someone might step up. And our bullpen would be grade A.
But nevermind. We signed Yo so it is 81-81 for us
Kid's Video Devotion - What RU Going 2B when you grow up?
1 Watch the following Doug video
2. Doug Trivia
Who bought a boat with the earnings he made at career day last year?
What was Skeeter's suggested career?
3. What did Doug want to be when he grew up? What was he good at and enjoyed doing? What kind of emotions did project manager evoke in Doug? What was the one thing he liked about being a corporate executive?
4. Why was Chalky a good choice to be Doug's replacement? What do you think of the advice "Decide, Direct, Delegate"?
5. What do you want to be when you grow up?
What do you think God wants you to be?
Why do you think those 2 are different?
6. Read Jeremiah 29:11 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=jeremiah+29%3A11&version=NIV Does God intend for you to be miserable?
7.Read Nehemiah 3. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Nehemiah+3&version=NIV List 6 professions in this passage that helped build the wall.
8. Read Exodus 36:1,2. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=exodus+36%3A1-2&version=NIV What God given ability was used to serve the Lord in this passage?
9.Read Acts 18:2,3. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=acts+18%3A2-3&version=NIV What was the apostle Paul's profession?
10. Summarize what lesson this devotion is trying to teach you.
Note to parents/teachers
a lot of people think that there are two possible futures for them - a fun one and the Holy One that God intends for them to do. Nothing could be further from the truth. God gives us all interests, abilities and passions that are uniquely ours and the trick is to find a future using those in order to glorify God and hopefully serve people. If we find that, we will enjoy our work. Too many people get stuck in a career which, like Doug's, offered dreams of riches but unfortunately didn't excite him nor was it in his giftedness. Throughout the Bible we see that holy gifted saints had professions that weren't what people would call" full time Christian service "but in effect they used them in their full time Christian service. You don't have to "go into the ministry" to be in the ministry although that certainly is a worthy calling ,too.
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
― Howard Thurman
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Retirement
13 Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way and see that they have everything they need. 14 Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives. Titus 3:13,14
As I get older, and look older, or maybe it's just because I am delivering grandchildren for people who I delivered, many people ask when I am going to retire. It is a reasonable question. After all, the house is paid for, the kids are all self-supporting, colleges and med school and seminary bills are all paid, and we have zero debt. In fact the retirement fund is pretty good. Why not just enjoy the rest of my life?
Well, the obvious answer is that I am enjoying my life. I love delivering babies. I was sharing with someone the other day that with Halloween coming up, it is often like a homecoming for me where kids come to my door and I get to see all the children I've delivered and how they are growing up. It is fun!
A new reason for not retiring came in the mail the other day and is reinforced in the above passage in Titus. The letter from Social Security says that if I retire at 62 I get $1900 dollars a month but if I wait till 65 I get $3900 a month. Now that isn't much but combined with our assets and retirement funds we would be OK. But let's say we tithed on $3900 a month - $390 a month to the Lord. I know we are not supposed to let the right hand know what the left hand is giving, etc. but as Paul would say, "let me be foolish for a second" (and because very few people read my blogs anyway), we currently give over 15 times that amount to ministries like our local church, Young life, rescue ministries, Honduras orphanages, gay restitution ministry, prostitute restoration ministries, jail ministries, hunger funds, Compassion Int., missionaries in multiple areas, and the list goes on. So what I would essentially be doing if I retired would be to say to the down-trodden, " the $1000 I used to give you, I am now going to use to go visit Yosemite". I just heard an interesting message by Louie Giglio on what happens when we die, and he compares the difference between our earthly bodies and our heavenly bodies to the difference between the old earth and the new earth. It just makes much more sense to wait to see the new earth for free for all eternity than to use God's resources on ourselves to the detriment of the needy to see a fallen creation.
You see, retirement - to go and spend your hard earned money on self, and to quit making income to bless others is a severe blow to these ministries and contrary to what the Bible says. There are multiple other reasons not to retire given in the Bible and this blog wasn't meant to be a treatise on the subject. It was just meant to present one new reason I hadn't thought of before.
As I get older, and look older, or maybe it's just because I am delivering grandchildren for people who I delivered, many people ask when I am going to retire. It is a reasonable question. After all, the house is paid for, the kids are all self-supporting, colleges and med school and seminary bills are all paid, and we have zero debt. In fact the retirement fund is pretty good. Why not just enjoy the rest of my life?
Well, the obvious answer is that I am enjoying my life. I love delivering babies. I was sharing with someone the other day that with Halloween coming up, it is often like a homecoming for me where kids come to my door and I get to see all the children I've delivered and how they are growing up. It is fun!
A new reason for not retiring came in the mail the other day and is reinforced in the above passage in Titus. The letter from Social Security says that if I retire at 62 I get $1900 dollars a month but if I wait till 65 I get $3900 a month. Now that isn't much but combined with our assets and retirement funds we would be OK. But let's say we tithed on $3900 a month - $390 a month to the Lord. I know we are not supposed to let the right hand know what the left hand is giving, etc. but as Paul would say, "let me be foolish for a second" (and because very few people read my blogs anyway), we currently give over 15 times that amount to ministries like our local church, Young life, rescue ministries, Honduras orphanages, gay restitution ministry, prostitute restoration ministries, jail ministries, hunger funds, Compassion Int., missionaries in multiple areas, and the list goes on. So what I would essentially be doing if I retired would be to say to the down-trodden, " the $1000 I used to give you, I am now going to use to go visit Yosemite". I just heard an interesting message by Louie Giglio on what happens when we die, and he compares the difference between our earthly bodies and our heavenly bodies to the difference between the old earth and the new earth. It just makes much more sense to wait to see the new earth for free for all eternity than to use God's resources on ourselves to the detriment of the needy to see a fallen creation.
You see, retirement - to go and spend your hard earned money on self, and to quit making income to bless others is a severe blow to these ministries and contrary to what the Bible says. There are multiple other reasons not to retire given in the Bible and this blog wasn't meant to be a treatise on the subject. It was just meant to present one new reason I hadn't thought of before.
Monday, October 27, 2014
Ragamuffin Review - The Story of Rich Mullins
Ragamuffin Review - The Story of Rich Mullins
I don't normally review movies. In fact the only movies I review are ones that keep me awake at night pondering them and writing about them is a catharsis of sorts. This won't be an in depth review but just some random thoughts.
First of all, you need to watch the closing credits to get a real feeling for who Rich Mullins was. They include live footage of him interacting during a concert. You can see his boyish charm, the twinkle in his eyes, his winsome personality. I saw him in multiple venues and he was always very endearing. I never knew of his inner demons, I just knew he was bizarre. The actor that portrayed him was dark, brooding, angry. In fact, 1 hour and 45 minutes into the movie I said to my wife, who had long since quit watching because they didn't play Step by Step, "I wonder when he becomes likable?" He never did. I can't imagine why anyone would ever go to his concert but we ate up the real Rich Mullins concerts. They were fun!
Second, I'm always bothered by the deconstruction of Christian icons. Couldn't we just remember him for his great music rather than remember him now for smoking, alcoholism, anger issues, unkindness to friends, and daddy issues. The movie focused on these 90% of the time and left me disliking him, not so much because he was flawed because we all are, but because he spoke out against the hypocrisy of the church, the recording industry, etc. and yet he was the biggest hypocrite of all. He would have probably justified it by saying, "The difference is I know I'm a hypocrite. therefore I am a free Ragamuffin" which would sound superior to or on a higher plane than us but actually was just non victorious living given spiritualeeze by an often defeated Ragamuffin mentor.
Anyway, I wish I hadn't seen it because I will never listen to his music again with the same joy but now with a sense of sadness and despair. Sorry, that's just how it affected me.
5 Minute Devotions to Give Using Object Lessons - Firehelmet
5 Minute Devotions to Give Using Object Lessons - Firehelmet
Get a toy firehelmet at Firehouse Subs or at some toy store. Put it on and say," Someone gave me this fire helmet and I'm so excited because I'm a fireman now. I wanted to be one since I was a little kid... What? I see some puzzled looks." Allow responses. Most of them will be "Just because you put on a helmet doesn't make you a fireman". Ask, "Why not, what would make me a fireman?" Responses would be "you sign up", "you study", "you train", "you hang out with firemen", and "you fight fires"!
You know, you are right. Just wearing this toy helmet makes me no more a fireman than sleeping in a garage makes me a car- just like going to Chick-Fil-A makes me a chicken sandwich. The same is true for being a Christian. A lot of people think that going to Church makes them a Christian. They put on the Church clothes, the Godliness façade, and think they are checking God's boxes for entry to Heaven, even if it is only Christmas and Easter.
So how do you become a Christian? First is sign up. What do I mean by that? You have to admit you aren't a child of God, but you want to be. Tell Him. If you admit you are a sinner and you want to be admitted to His family, confess your sins to Him and ask for His forgiveness which He gives freely through the death of His son on the cross (John 3:16)
Second, study and train and fellowship. He gave you His instruction manual on how to get to know Him and live a life pleasing to Him. Read the Bible. Go to Church. Join a Bible study. Memorize scripture. Did you know that's what Paul did for a few years before he became the apostle who changed the world.
Third - fight fires. Real Christians love the poor, they serve the less fortunate. They share the gospel boldly. James 1:22 says "Be doers of the word, not hearers only deceiving yourself" What are they deceiving themselves of? If you aren't behaving like a Christian, then you aren't one. In Matt 7 and Luke 13 people come to Jesus when He shuts the door to them to Heaven and say, "Wait a second, didn't we hang out with you? We know you... and He will say "depart from me you evildoers I don't know who you are."
I know this is hardcore but you know that there are a lot of phonies out there. Do you want to be one of them? Come join us putting out hells fires!
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Names of God 7. Jehovah Rapha
Names of God 7. Jehovah Rapha
As a bit of review lets look at the previous 6 names through the eyes of Moses. Moses met Elohim at the burning bush. Elohim is the triune all-powerful creator of the universe who is so holy, to be in His presence is to die. The mystery wasn't that the bush didn't burn up but rather that Moses didn't. He told Moses to take off his shoes because he was standing on holy ground. Elohim then went on to become the eternal God who communicates with man and promised to be with Moses and that name is YHWH or Jehovah the great I Am. Jehovah said "I have seen the hardships of my people" revealing Himself as El Roi, the God who sees. Moses was about to learn a hard lesson because even though he knew Elohim and had entered into a relationship with Him through Yahweh, He needed to reveal Himself as Adonai or Lord to Moses. God wouldn't take excuses from Moses on why Moses was the wrong man for the job. Finally Moses said "No, Lord" which is an oxymoron and Moses went anyway because you can't be in a relationship with God without Him being master. Jehovah Jireh had already provided a helper for him - Aaron was long on his way well before the meeting at the bush. Jehovah Jireh, our provider, provided His name, three neat convincing miracles, and 10 plagues with a Passover Lamb which eventually provide for all of us. Not only that but all the Egyptians and Pharoah regarded Moses as a god, God provided a great cover for him! When they were released God led them like a shepherd, Jehovah Rohi, protecting, feeding, restoring them, leading them in paths of righteousness, even though they were prone to wander, helpless, stupid, yet somehow valuable to Him. And where did He lead them? We see in Exodus 15
Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) 24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”
25 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink.
There the Lord issued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test. 26 He said, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.” (Jehovah Rapha)
27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.
He reveals Himself as the God who restores back to normal. Don't you think when God led them through the desert for 3 days that He knew He was leading them to undrinkable water? Of course He did. And Jehovah Jireh was going to provide some wood to throw in it to make it potable. What was His purpose for this? We can only guess but I think it was to reveal more of Himself to them - a new name. The God who can take the bitterness of your old life and restore you back to the way you should have been. Jehovah rapha - the God who heals.
Lets look at some aspects of our healer. In the context of this Exodus passage we see a preventative medicine aspect of our healer; to prevent the disease from ever happening. It's like Zantac or Pepcid; I tell my patients that this isn't to treat heartburn, it is to prevent it from ever happening. If you have heartburn, it is too late for this. Before sin, mankind had only one rule - don't eat from the tree. Now the world had become a very dangerous place and God had to give them a bunch more rules to prevent things like the diseases that they saw in Egypt. They are still valid principles today as seen by studies that show that people who attend church every week live an average of 7 years longer. They are 50% less likely to die from heart attacks, 56% less likely to die from Emphysema, 74% less likely to die from cirrhosis, and 53% less likely to commit suicide. They are also seen to recover faster from surgery. This confirms Prov. 10:27 "The fear of the Lord adds length to life," Why would this be?
1. Prevention of spread of disease- the Bible, long before anyone knew about germs, gave the Israelites principles to keep epidemics away
- Leprosy; Lev. 13:46 tells them that they needed to live outside camp and yell "unclean" when anyone came close. Obviously they shouldn't be in an airplane or cruise ship (recent Ebola scare)
- Dead bodies; Num.5:23, Num. 19:11 whoever touches a dead body would be off limits for 7 days. They were to leave their job and spend an entire week in the surrounding desert
- Hand washing. Semmelweis, a doctor in Austria in the 1840s saw a number of maternity patients dying postpartum. He proposed that doctors, after performing autopsies would wash their hands consistent with the principles found in Numbers 19 - running water, long time, with soap, and vigorous scrubbing. He found that this cured the problem but the medical field scorned and mocked him until years after his death he was declared to be a prophet before his time
- Sanitation - Duet. 23:12,13 says take an instrument, go outside of camp, bury your excrement in a hole and cover it. How many plagues could have been averted with these simple instructions.
2. Lifestyles
- alcoholism and drug addiction- The Bible forbids drunkenness and being controlled or mastered by anything. How many violent deaths, MVA's, liver diseases, domestic violence and divorces could be stopped if we just listen to what the Bible says
- obesity - Prov.23:21 and many other verses discuss gluttony as being a sin. Obesity leads to hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, endometrial cancer, premature death
- promiscuity - cervical cancer, 44 different STDs, blindness, Hepatitis C, HIV, abortion all related to disobeying God's command for monogamy.
- smoking - violates the principles of treating our body as the temple of the Holy Ghost not to mention wasting God's money. You only need to try to get health insurance if you smoke to know how detrimental to your health smoking is
- dietary - Lev. 7:22 warns about eating fat. The list of clean and unclean animals warned them which were hazardous to their health. The recent pandemics of AIDS and Ebola have unclean animal carriers of chimpanzees/monkeys, and fruit bats respectively.
3. Emotions - stress and anxiety
The Bible says in Phil. 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. " What does stress cause? Psychosomatic illnesses. Illnesses that are real and physical but caused by the psyche. Here is a non-comprehensive list of some of the illnesses.
stomach and intestine disorders
ulcerative colitis
irritable bowel syndrome
problems swallowing
high blood pressure
abnormal heartbeat
angina, heart attacks
strokes
irregular periods, infertility
headaches, migraines
seizures
panic attacks
tremors
suicide
chronic fatigue syndrome
hives
asthma
common cold
dermatitis
anorexia
cancer
- anger; increases blood pressure, strokes, heart attacks. If anger is unresolved and buried beneath the surface it leads to depression. Jehovah Rapha can heal you of your anxiety and anger and replace it with the fruit of the spirit - Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Self-control
Not only is He a healer in the fact that He prevents our illnesses, but if we do get sick He can heal those too? Will He? That is totally up to Him. If your sickness is for His glory and plan, then you won't be healed. If it would glorify Him you will be healed. John 9:1-3 says
"As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him."
In Jeremiah 26, Jeremiah gets spared while Uriah gets executed. Peter gets rescued from prison by an angel and John the Baptist doesn't. How many Christians were eaten by lions and we just read of Daniel being spared. Paul heals people on Malta but can't heal himself, Epaphroditus or Trophimus. So we are commanded to pray in James 5 and call the elders to pray and anoint you with oil and then God will do what he intends.
The ultimate healing is the healing that lasts forever, the salvation of your soul. This enables you to say, like Paul in Phil. 1
" 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body"
When I go on these medical mission trips, we give people 50 blood pressure pills which will be gone in a couple months. However, if you can lead them to the Lord they will live forever.
Here are a few songs that come to mind
As a bit of review lets look at the previous 6 names through the eyes of Moses. Moses met Elohim at the burning bush. Elohim is the triune all-powerful creator of the universe who is so holy, to be in His presence is to die. The mystery wasn't that the bush didn't burn up but rather that Moses didn't. He told Moses to take off his shoes because he was standing on holy ground. Elohim then went on to become the eternal God who communicates with man and promised to be with Moses and that name is YHWH or Jehovah the great I Am. Jehovah said "I have seen the hardships of my people" revealing Himself as El Roi, the God who sees. Moses was about to learn a hard lesson because even though he knew Elohim and had entered into a relationship with Him through Yahweh, He needed to reveal Himself as Adonai or Lord to Moses. God wouldn't take excuses from Moses on why Moses was the wrong man for the job. Finally Moses said "No, Lord" which is an oxymoron and Moses went anyway because you can't be in a relationship with God without Him being master. Jehovah Jireh had already provided a helper for him - Aaron was long on his way well before the meeting at the bush. Jehovah Jireh, our provider, provided His name, three neat convincing miracles, and 10 plagues with a Passover Lamb which eventually provide for all of us. Not only that but all the Egyptians and Pharoah regarded Moses as a god, God provided a great cover for him! When they were released God led them like a shepherd, Jehovah Rohi, protecting, feeding, restoring them, leading them in paths of righteousness, even though they were prone to wander, helpless, stupid, yet somehow valuable to Him. And where did He lead them? We see in Exodus 15
Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) 24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”
25 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink.
There the Lord issued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test. 26 He said, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.” (Jehovah Rapha)
27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there near the water.
He reveals Himself as the God who restores back to normal. Don't you think when God led them through the desert for 3 days that He knew He was leading them to undrinkable water? Of course He did. And Jehovah Jireh was going to provide some wood to throw in it to make it potable. What was His purpose for this? We can only guess but I think it was to reveal more of Himself to them - a new name. The God who can take the bitterness of your old life and restore you back to the way you should have been. Jehovah rapha - the God who heals.
Lets look at some aspects of our healer. In the context of this Exodus passage we see a preventative medicine aspect of our healer; to prevent the disease from ever happening. It's like Zantac or Pepcid; I tell my patients that this isn't to treat heartburn, it is to prevent it from ever happening. If you have heartburn, it is too late for this. Before sin, mankind had only one rule - don't eat from the tree. Now the world had become a very dangerous place and God had to give them a bunch more rules to prevent things like the diseases that they saw in Egypt. They are still valid principles today as seen by studies that show that people who attend church every week live an average of 7 years longer. They are 50% less likely to die from heart attacks, 56% less likely to die from Emphysema, 74% less likely to die from cirrhosis, and 53% less likely to commit suicide. They are also seen to recover faster from surgery. This confirms Prov. 10:27 "The fear of the Lord adds length to life," Why would this be?
1. Prevention of spread of disease- the Bible, long before anyone knew about germs, gave the Israelites principles to keep epidemics away
- Leprosy; Lev. 13:46 tells them that they needed to live outside camp and yell "unclean" when anyone came close. Obviously they shouldn't be in an airplane or cruise ship (recent Ebola scare)
- Dead bodies; Num.5:23, Num. 19:11 whoever touches a dead body would be off limits for 7 days. They were to leave their job and spend an entire week in the surrounding desert
- Hand washing. Semmelweis, a doctor in Austria in the 1840s saw a number of maternity patients dying postpartum. He proposed that doctors, after performing autopsies would wash their hands consistent with the principles found in Numbers 19 - running water, long time, with soap, and vigorous scrubbing. He found that this cured the problem but the medical field scorned and mocked him until years after his death he was declared to be a prophet before his time
- Sanitation - Duet. 23:12,13 says take an instrument, go outside of camp, bury your excrement in a hole and cover it. How many plagues could have been averted with these simple instructions.
2. Lifestyles
- alcoholism and drug addiction- The Bible forbids drunkenness and being controlled or mastered by anything. How many violent deaths, MVA's, liver diseases, domestic violence and divorces could be stopped if we just listen to what the Bible says
- obesity - Prov.23:21 and many other verses discuss gluttony as being a sin. Obesity leads to hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, endometrial cancer, premature death
- promiscuity - cervical cancer, 44 different STDs, blindness, Hepatitis C, HIV, abortion all related to disobeying God's command for monogamy.
- smoking - violates the principles of treating our body as the temple of the Holy Ghost not to mention wasting God's money. You only need to try to get health insurance if you smoke to know how detrimental to your health smoking is
- dietary - Lev. 7:22 warns about eating fat. The list of clean and unclean animals warned them which were hazardous to their health. The recent pandemics of AIDS and Ebola have unclean animal carriers of chimpanzees/monkeys, and fruit bats respectively.
3. Emotions - stress and anxiety
The Bible says in Phil. 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. " What does stress cause? Psychosomatic illnesses. Illnesses that are real and physical but caused by the psyche. Here is a non-comprehensive list of some of the illnesses.
stomach and intestine disorders
ulcerative colitis
irritable bowel syndrome
problems swallowing
high blood pressure
abnormal heartbeat
angina, heart attacks
strokes
irregular periods, infertility
headaches, migraines
seizures
panic attacks
tremors
suicide
chronic fatigue syndrome
hives
asthma
common cold
dermatitis
anorexia
cancer
- anger; increases blood pressure, strokes, heart attacks. If anger is unresolved and buried beneath the surface it leads to depression. Jehovah Rapha can heal you of your anxiety and anger and replace it with the fruit of the spirit - Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Self-control
Not only is He a healer in the fact that He prevents our illnesses, but if we do get sick He can heal those too? Will He? That is totally up to Him. If your sickness is for His glory and plan, then you won't be healed. If it would glorify Him you will be healed. John 9:1-3 says
"As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him."
In Jeremiah 26, Jeremiah gets spared while Uriah gets executed. Peter gets rescued from prison by an angel and John the Baptist doesn't. How many Christians were eaten by lions and we just read of Daniel being spared. Paul heals people on Malta but can't heal himself, Epaphroditus or Trophimus. So we are commanded to pray in James 5 and call the elders to pray and anoint you with oil and then God will do what he intends.
The ultimate healing is the healing that lasts forever, the salvation of your soul. This enables you to say, like Paul in Phil. 1
" 21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body"
When I go on these medical mission trips, we give people 50 blood pressure pills which will be gone in a couple months. However, if you can lead them to the Lord they will live forever.
Here are a few songs that come to mind
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Frozen Pizza Playoff Brackets - the west
After visiting the local grocery store the other day and seeing the oodles of frozen pizzas, I had the bright idea to try all these in an NCAA bracket way and find the champion. I realize everyone has different tastes - that must be why so many can survive. I also realize if history repeats itself, the one I choose is probably the most likely to be discontinued. But here goes. Here are my first four.
Red Baron wins the southwest regional!! On to the Northwest next week.
The winner of the Northwest regional is California Pizza Kitchen and the winner of the west is California Pizza Kitchen! Next blog will be Mtn. Time Zone.
Names of God 6. Jehovah Rohi
Names of God 6. Jehovah Rohi
As we go through the names of God as they appear in the Bible, we jump ahead to Psalms 23, God our Shepherd. The reason I did this is because in my One Year Bible I came across the Psalmists summary of the Books of the Law in Psalms 78. Here is a "little bit" of it
They forgot what he had done,
and the miracles that he had shown them.
12 In the sight of their fathers he wrought marvels
in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zo′an.
13 He divided the sea and let them pass through it,
and made the waters stand like a heap.
14 In the daytime he led them with a cloud,
and all the night with a fiery light.
15 He cleft rocks in the wilderness,
and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
16 He made streams come out of the rock,
and caused waters to flow down like rivers.
17 Yet they sinned still more against him,
rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18 They tested God in their heart
by demanding the food they craved.
19 They spoke against God, saying,
“Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
20 He smote the rock so that water gushed out
and streams overflowed.
Can he also give bread,
or provide meat for his people?”
rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18 They tested God in their heart
by demanding the food they craved.
19 They spoke against God, saying,
“Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
20 He smote the rock so that water gushed out
and streams overflowed.
Can he also give bread,
or provide meat for his people?”
21 Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath;
a fire was kindled against Jacob,
his anger mounted against Israel;
22 because they had no faith in God,
and did not trust his saving power.
23 Yet he commanded the skies above,
and opened the doors of heaven;
24 and he rained down upon them manna to eat,
and gave them the grain of heaven.
25 Man ate of the bread of the angels;
he sent them food in abundance.
26 He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,
and by his power he led out the south wind;
27 he rained flesh upon them like dust,
winged birds like the sand of the seas;
28 he let them fall in the midst of their camp,
all around their habitations.
29 And they ate and were well filled,
for he gave them what they craved.
30 But before they had sated their craving,
while the food was still in their mouths,
31 the anger of God rose against them
and he slew the strongest of them,
and laid low the picked men of Israel.
a fire was kindled against Jacob,
his anger mounted against Israel;
22 because they had no faith in God,
and did not trust his saving power.
23 Yet he commanded the skies above,
and opened the doors of heaven;
24 and he rained down upon them manna to eat,
and gave them the grain of heaven.
25 Man ate of the bread of the angels;
he sent them food in abundance.
26 He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens,
and by his power he led out the south wind;
27 he rained flesh upon them like dust,
winged birds like the sand of the seas;
28 he let them fall in the midst of their camp,
all around their habitations.
29 And they ate and were well filled,
for he gave them what they craved.
30 But before they had sated their craving,
while the food was still in their mouths,
31 the anger of God rose against them
and he slew the strongest of them,
and laid low the picked men of Israel.
32 In spite of all this they still sinned;
despite his wonders they did not believe.
33 So he made their days vanish like a breath,
and their years in terror.
34 When he slew them, they sought for him;
they repented and sought God earnestly.
35 They remembered that God was their rock,
the Most High God their redeemer.
36 But they flattered him with their mouths;
they lied to him with their tongues.
37 Their heart was not steadfast toward him;
they were not true to his covenant.
38 Yet he, being compassionate,
forgave their iniquity,
and did not destroy them;
he restrained his anger often,
and did not stir up all his wrath.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh,
a wind that passes and comes not again.
40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
and grieved him in the desert!
41 They tested him again and again,
and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not keep in mind his power,
or the day when he redeemed them from the foe;
43 when he wrought his signs in Egypt,
and his miracles in the fields of Zo′an.
44 He turned their rivers to blood,
so that they could not drink of their streams.
45 He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them,
and frogs, which destroyed them.
46 He gave their crops to the caterpillar,
and the fruit of their labor to the locust.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail,
and their sycamores with frost.
48 He gave over their cattle to the hail,
and their flocks to thunderbolts.
49 He let loose on them his fierce anger,
wrath, indignation, and distress,
a company of destroying angels.
50 He made a path for his anger;
he did not spare them from death,
but gave their lives over to the plague.
51 He smote all the first-born in Egypt,
the first issue of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52 Then he led forth his people like sheep,
and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53 He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid;
but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54 And he brought them to his holy land,
to the mountain which his right hand had won.
despite his wonders they did not believe.
33 So he made their days vanish like a breath,
and their years in terror.
34 When he slew them, they sought for him;
they repented and sought God earnestly.
35 They remembered that God was their rock,
the Most High God their redeemer.
36 But they flattered him with their mouths;
they lied to him with their tongues.
37 Their heart was not steadfast toward him;
they were not true to his covenant.
38 Yet he, being compassionate,
forgave their iniquity,
and did not destroy them;
he restrained his anger often,
and did not stir up all his wrath.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh,
a wind that passes and comes not again.
40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
and grieved him in the desert!
41 They tested him again and again,
and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not keep in mind his power,
or the day when he redeemed them from the foe;
43 when he wrought his signs in Egypt,
and his miracles in the fields of Zo′an.
44 He turned their rivers to blood,
so that they could not drink of their streams.
45 He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them,
and frogs, which destroyed them.
46 He gave their crops to the caterpillar,
and the fruit of their labor to the locust.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail,
and their sycamores with frost.
48 He gave over their cattle to the hail,
and their flocks to thunderbolts.
49 He let loose on them his fierce anger,
wrath, indignation, and distress,
a company of destroying angels.
50 He made a path for his anger;
he did not spare them from death,
but gave their lives over to the plague.
51 He smote all the first-born in Egypt,
the first issue of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52 Then he led forth his people like sheep,
and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53 He led them in safety, so that they were not afraid;
but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54 And he brought them to his holy land,
to the mountain which his right hand had won.
As God revealed Himself to Moses, He revealed Himself as Elohim, Jehovah, El Roi, Adonai, and Jehovah Jireh, and now after providing a way out of Egypt He led them like a Shepherd. The Bible refers to us as sheep over 400 times and God as a shepherd 100 times. Why so much? Kay Arthur says that God wants to make sure we understand two things; 1. our condition 2. our need for a shepherd. Lets look at these 2 things in light of Psalms 23 where the name Jehovah Rohi is revealed.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want;
2 he makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters;
3 he restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
2 he makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters;
3 he restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil;
for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff,
they comfort me.
I fear no evil;
for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff,
they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
thou anointest my head with oil,
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
for ever
in the presence of my enemies;
thou anointest my head with oil,
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
for ever
First of all, what is our condition? We are sheep. What do we know about Sheep? They are
1. Dumb - you will never see sheep tricks on youtube or David Letterman. They can't be trained. They have been known to eat themselves off the edge of a cliff or roll down a hill to their death if it gets too steep. They will eat their field to the nub and starve to death with a lush field next to them because they don't think about exploring.
2. Dirty - they may look white and fluffy from a distance but when you get up close they are gray and matted.
3. Diseased - from nose flies that form larvae that burrow into the flesh of the sheep to being a medium for ascaris worms, sheep are disease carriers
4. Defenseless - like a mouse, they are the low rung of the food chain. There is a reason David doesn't say the Lord is my rancher and I am a horse. If the rancher isn't present the horse runs free. If the shepherd isn't present, the sheep die. You never see packs of wild sheep that are causing a nuisance. There is no such thing.
5. Directionally challenged - They can't find their way home. They will follow whoever is leading even if it is going in a circle.
6. Valuable - here is the positive. Every part of the sheep is valuable. The shepherd didn't have a bank account. His account was the flock.
What does this tell us? 1) We are not as good as we think. In fact this is the key to salvation - realizing that we are not "good". The first step of Roman's road is Romans 3:23 "All have sinned" 2) We must realize we need a shepherd.
Romans 5:8
"while we were still sinners, Christ died for us".
Isa 53:6
" All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all"
Heb. 13:20,21
" Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in you that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen"
So if we understand we are sheep and we developed that, and we realize we need a shepherd- let's develop that from Psalm 23. What is a shepherd? The Hebrew word Rohi means to tend to and rule over a herd but also implies companion and friend. Can you imagine a situation where someone is a companion and friend to someone so helpless they would die without that oversight? My thoughts went to
where George and Lennie are companions and friends but Lennie because of his mental condition could not survive without George. And then I pictured
This is me and my granddaughter. We are headed to a restraunt. I am going to have to pay, lift her up to see the food options, and carry her food, put her in a safe chair, and feed her not to mention keep her out of the road. Yet - she is my buddy, my companion. It's a little different than a parent. Parents have to be careful about being friends with their kids. They have a different role. They must train and discipline their kids. They are not shepherds. Shepherds can't train and discipline sheep - they are untrainable! There is a model for God as a parent but Jehovah Rohi is not it. What else do we learn about God our Shepherd from Psalm 23? Look thru the Psalm and highlight all the personal pronouns.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want;
2 he makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters;
3 he restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
2 he makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters;
3 he restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil;
for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff,
they comfort me.
I fear no evil;
for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff,
they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
thou anointest my head with oil,
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
for ever
17 times. What does that tell us? God is a personal shepherd. We know God personally and he knows us by name. John 10:3,4 - the Good Shepherd passage says "the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice."
When I read about shepherds, no shepherds called their sheep by name, i.e. "Here Ralphy, let's go Sally, etc." If sheep shared a common pen, each shepherd would have a characteristic whistle or voice that all his sheep would follow, but never individual relationships. Isn't it amazing that the God of the Universe would want to delve into a personal relationship with someone as "sheepish" as us!
Now go through Psalm 23 and highlight all the other pronouns referring to God.
Lastly He blesses you. We are well fed, protected, owned, cared for, quenched, and goodness and mercy is pursuing us 24/7. Not only that but we get to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. If I could give a personal testimony, God has blessed my family with the cup overflowing. Four kids who all love the Lord and two are married with Godly spouses. We are financially blessed, healthy, and have good reputations in the community.( As Paul would say, "I can't believe I'm talking such foolishness") The Shepherd has blessed us tremendously. Why? Well here are some conditions that we have tried to abide by in Psalm 23. (It could be that this is why or some totally unknown reason to me) #1. We daily acknowledge our utter dependence on Him. We realize that we are just dumb sheep and apart from Him we can do nothing. #2. We rest in Him and let Him restore us. When we are down we go try to serve someone or bless someone. Instead of watching something secular we listen to or watch a message by Tim Keller, Andy Stanley, Louie Giglio, John Ortberg, Pete Briscoe, etc. We get up early for prayer and Bible study and get ready for the day. Plus we try to go on regular mission trips to recharge us #3. We walk in paths of righteousness. I can only imagine how secret sins would destroy this family. As James 1:22 says, don't just read the Bible but do what it says. We try. And we taught our kids through daily devotions what the paths of righteousness are and they are walking in them #4. Live for His glory - not ours. If people sing our praises without mentioning that we love Jesus, then we are plagiarizing. We aren't giving God the credit and are failing. If unbelievers aren't secretly wishing we would fail, God probably isn't getting the glory in our lives.
I just say all these things to reinforce that there are conditions to the blessed life and they are spelled out in Psalm 23.
Here are some songs to worship to alluding to this name.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmHTqS_cHjQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMUQEI0CLQM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpAgHktfgX0
in the presence of my enemies;
thou anointest my head with oil,
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
for ever
17 times. What does that tell us? God is a personal shepherd. We know God personally and he knows us by name. John 10:3,4 - the Good Shepherd passage says "the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice."
When I read about shepherds, no shepherds called their sheep by name, i.e. "Here Ralphy, let's go Sally, etc." If sheep shared a common pen, each shepherd would have a characteristic whistle or voice that all his sheep would follow, but never individual relationships. Isn't it amazing that the God of the Universe would want to delve into a personal relationship with someone as "sheepish" as us!
Now go through Psalm 23 and highlight all the other pronouns referring to God.
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want;
2 he makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters;
3 he restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
2 he makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters;
3 he restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil;
for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff,
they comfort me.
I fear no evil;
for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff,
they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
thou anointest my head with oil,
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
for ever
10 times. What does this tell us? 2 things. 1) It's all about Him. We exist for His glory. As vs. 3 says, "for His name sake". The worth of a shepherd is judged by how good His flock looks. Are you representing Him well?
Matt. 5:16
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Jer. 13:11
For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,’ declares the Lord, ‘to be my people for my renown and praise and honor.
Ex. 9:16
But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth
Secondly, we see the shift from 3rd person to 2nd person in vs. 4 - from "He" to thou or "You". Why is that significant. It is significant because it reveals a deepening relationship. As we follow Him, we get to know Him better. Especially as we follow Him through the dark, foreboding trials of life, i.e. "the shadow of death", we develop an intimate relationship with Him. Those dark times have a purpose - He will reveal Himself to you during those.
Third, we see that our shepherd meets our needs. Kay Arthur talks about the phrase "He makes me lie down". The Hebrew of this means the 4 legged bending below the body of the animal. She says that sheep will only lie down under these conditions. 1) they are well fed. He sets a table before us. He lays out a spread and the plate is so full it is spilling over. God never skimps with us 2) they are free from fear. He gives His life for the sheep. The hired hand runs away. The shepherd's savings rest in the flock. He sees us as valuable. As He lays out the spread for us it implies the predators are sitting in the woods watching and wishing they could see our demise but they know they can't because the Shepherd has a staff and knows how to use it. 3) Free from pests - The shepherd has oil that He anoints the wounds with and the nose with to keep the nose flies away.
Fourth, we see the Shepherd restores us. This means our battery is dead and He recharges it. Literally, He takes us back to the beginning. He comforts us (vs.4) which means we breathe a sigh of relief. What are you going to for reenergizing? Amazon.com? Drugs? Sporting Events? Netflix? The Beach? The Shepherd wants to restore your soul
.
Matt. 11:28-30
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
in the presence of my enemies;
thou anointest my head with oil,
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
for ever
10 times. What does this tell us? 2 things. 1) It's all about Him. We exist for His glory. As vs. 3 says, "for His name sake". The worth of a shepherd is judged by how good His flock looks. Are you representing Him well?
Matt. 5:16
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Jer. 13:11
For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,’ declares the Lord, ‘to be my people for my renown and praise and honor.
Ex. 9:16
But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth
Secondly, we see the shift from 3rd person to 2nd person in vs. 4 - from "He" to thou or "You". Why is that significant. It is significant because it reveals a deepening relationship. As we follow Him, we get to know Him better. Especially as we follow Him through the dark, foreboding trials of life, i.e. "the shadow of death", we develop an intimate relationship with Him. Those dark times have a purpose - He will reveal Himself to you during those.
Third, we see that our shepherd meets our needs. Kay Arthur talks about the phrase "He makes me lie down". The Hebrew of this means the 4 legged bending below the body of the animal. She says that sheep will only lie down under these conditions. 1) they are well fed. He sets a table before us. He lays out a spread and the plate is so full it is spilling over. God never skimps with us 2) they are free from fear. He gives His life for the sheep. The hired hand runs away. The shepherd's savings rest in the flock. He sees us as valuable. As He lays out the spread for us it implies the predators are sitting in the woods watching and wishing they could see our demise but they know they can't because the Shepherd has a staff and knows how to use it. 3) Free from pests - The shepherd has oil that He anoints the wounds with and the nose with to keep the nose flies away.
Fourth, we see the Shepherd restores us. This means our battery is dead and He recharges it. Literally, He takes us back to the beginning. He comforts us (vs.4) which means we breathe a sigh of relief. What are you going to for reenergizing? Amazon.com? Drugs? Sporting Events? Netflix? The Beach? The Shepherd wants to restore your soul
.
Matt. 11:28-30
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Lastly He blesses you. We are well fed, protected, owned, cared for, quenched, and goodness and mercy is pursuing us 24/7. Not only that but we get to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. If I could give a personal testimony, God has blessed my family with the cup overflowing. Four kids who all love the Lord and two are married with Godly spouses. We are financially blessed, healthy, and have good reputations in the community.( As Paul would say, "I can't believe I'm talking such foolishness") The Shepherd has blessed us tremendously. Why? Well here are some conditions that we have tried to abide by in Psalm 23. (It could be that this is why or some totally unknown reason to me) #1. We daily acknowledge our utter dependence on Him. We realize that we are just dumb sheep and apart from Him we can do nothing. #2. We rest in Him and let Him restore us. When we are down we go try to serve someone or bless someone. Instead of watching something secular we listen to or watch a message by Tim Keller, Andy Stanley, Louie Giglio, John Ortberg, Pete Briscoe, etc. We get up early for prayer and Bible study and get ready for the day. Plus we try to go on regular mission trips to recharge us #3. We walk in paths of righteousness. I can only imagine how secret sins would destroy this family. As James 1:22 says, don't just read the Bible but do what it says. We try. And we taught our kids through daily devotions what the paths of righteousness are and they are walking in them #4. Live for His glory - not ours. If people sing our praises without mentioning that we love Jesus, then we are plagiarizing. We aren't giving God the credit and are failing. If unbelievers aren't secretly wishing we would fail, God probably isn't getting the glory in our lives.
I just say all these things to reinforce that there are conditions to the blessed life and they are spelled out in Psalm 23.
Here are some songs to worship to alluding to this name.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmHTqS_cHjQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMUQEI0CLQM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpAgHktfgX0
Monday, October 6, 2014
Names of God 5. Jehovah Jireh
Names of God 5. Jehovah Jireh
OK. The first thing that comes to my name is this;
But let's flesh out what this name of God really means. But first, how about a song to review Elohim, Yahweh, and Adonai;
Jireh or Yireh is taken from the Hebrew root word "raah" which means "to see". If you have been following along you might remember El Roi which means the God who sees. How are these different? When you look at the instance with Hagar and El Roi, God sees her problem, appears to her and tells her to go back. Hagar goes back, rejoicing that she has seen God and lived to tell about it even though nothing else has changed. This is very consistant with El or Elohim, our first introduction to God. We learned that Jehovah, our next word, appeared in chapter 2 as the relational God. So what is the difference between El Raah (Roi) and Jehovah (Raah) Jireh? Well, when the relational God sees our problems, He provides or sees to it. He forsees the solution and has already made a way to meet our needs.
Picture this in Exodus 4:1-14 where Moses meets Jehovah Jireh.
Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’” 2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A rod.” 3 And he said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. 4 But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand, and take it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand— 5 “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” 6 Again, the Lord said to him, “Put your hand into your bosom.” And he put his hand into his bosom; and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous, as white as snow. 7 Then God said, “Put your hand back into your bosom.” So he put his hand back into his bosom; and when he took it out, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh. 8 “If they will not believe you,” God said, “or heed the first sign, they may believe the latter sign. 9 If they will not believe even these two signs or heed your voice, you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it upon the dry ground; and the water which you shall take from the Nile will become blood upon the dry ground.”
10 But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either heretofore or since thou hast spoken to thy servant; but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” 11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him dumb, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.” 13 But he said, “Oh, my Lord, send, I pray, some other person.” 14 Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, “Is there not Aaron, your brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well; and behold, he is coming out to meet youMoses is scared and God is providing him with everything he asks for - what name? "I AM", what sign - leprosy that comes and goes, a staff that turns into a serpent and back again, and water turning to blood. Favor? The people and Pharoah treated him as a God. Deliverance? A Passover lamb. But when he balks and says don't send me, God says Aaron is already on his way. You see, before the burning bush, Jehovah Jireh had put upon Aaron's heart to go visit Moses. God, who is outside of time had foreseen the fear of Moses and seen to it that a cure was already on the way.
We are first introduced to Jehovah Jireh in Genesis 22 as Moses through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit writes;
After these things God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Mori′ah, and offer him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; and he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the ass; I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.” 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here am I, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 Then Abraham put forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
Picture it this way - coming up one side Coming up the other side is a
of the mountain are Abraham and Isaac ram. They both meet at the top
God has given Moses a trial and already sent an answer on the way. The word "provide" is taken from the latin "providere" which means to see ahead. When God created Adam and Eve He knew that He would have to provide a solution for sin up the mountain on the other side of our sin and that remedy was Jesus, the lamb for our sin , and this time, God did not hold back the arms killing Him.
So the question is if Matthew 6:8 is true - " for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.", and God is already seeing to the answer, then why pray. One answer could certainly be that He has forseen your prayers and is fore-acting in response to those prayers and that is probably true. But to even ask that question tells us we need to rethink prayer. Check out the following blog. http://www.thoughtsfromtherightbrain.blogspot.com/2010/12/pr-ay-er.html
Basically,what this blog is saying is that the paradigm of problems leading to prayer giving answers with answers being the focal point, should be replaced by a paradigm of problems lead us to prayer and answers reinforce prayer with prayer - in intimate meeting with God is the focal point. This is illustrated throughout scripture. One example is
Phil. 4:6,7
"Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
So you have problems causing anxiety. What do you do? You pray and instead of removing the problems, God gives you peace and puts a sentry at the door to the heart keeping that anxiety from creeping back in. Jehovah Jireh reminds you that a solution is already on the way and a supernatural peace settles in.
Heb.5:7
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard for his godly fear.
Jesus passionately prayed with sweat drops of blood that if there would be any other way let the cup pass from Him. What was the answer? God heard Him. The communication was the bottom line.
Heb. 4:14-16
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
What do we get from our High Priest? mercy and grace! Tender compassion and an inner supernatural comforting. The intimate fellowship with God is what the problems bring - not necessarily answers although they are being provided for.
Luke 11:9-13
And I tell you, Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
As we ask, seek, and knock, what do we get? Not answers but the Holy Spirit!
James 1:2-8
Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7, 8 For that person must not suppose that a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways, will receive anything from the Lord.So you get trials that lead you to prayer and do you get answers? No, you get wisdom!
When God made his promise to Abraham to give him a supernatural child, more ancestors than the stars in the sky, etc. what did Abraham say - You are my great reward. What does Jehovah provide? He provides your needs ,yes. But what do we need most? Him! And He never lets us down there!
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