Entertainment

Proverbs 10:23

A fool finds pleasure in evil conduct, but a man of understanding delights in wisdom.

What kind of entertainment do I enjoy?

Would I prefer to watch a movie about how a gangster robs all those "shlups" and buys his way out of prison? Or would I rather watch something about how two friends deepen their friendship over the years? Or a Nature show demonstrating how God designed this world to operate by everything doing its part in relation to everything else, so that all are benefited?

What kind of humor do I laugh at?

Do I find humorous someone doing something that would hurt or harm himself or someone else? Or is it funny when someone successfully deceives someone else to trick him or cheat him? Even if we consider that the victim deserves it, will we be the judge to determine his sentence? 

Like a wise clock-maker, our Creator designed our world to run smoothly, with even the fires, floods and storms contributing to the health and well-being of this planet. And He has given us His Manufacturer's Instructions to show us how to live in this world, and how to relate to Him and one another to deepen our relationships. All for our benefit and He receives the glory, the credit.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Worship First

Ezra 3:2-3

. . . [Built] the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord.

When the people returned to the land of Israel from Babylon, everything had been destroyed. The first thing they did was not to build houses for themselves, but to replace the Temple that had been demolished. But even though the foundation of the Lord's Temple had not yet been laid (v. 6), they wanted to worship God. They knew that their power and strength were in the Lord their God, and they immediately went to the instructions and built the altar first, so they could obey God and offer the sacrifices prescribed by The Law, even in spite of their fear of the pagan peoples surrounding them. Worship itself came first, even before the Temple was begun.

Do we consider our Lord worth our worship first, before anything else we do each day? 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Salt And Light

Matthew 5:13-16

You are the salt of the Earth . . .

Salt flavors by bringing out the flavor of the food it is put on. As Christians, we need to bring out in others the good qualities with which God has gifted them, whether their natural or spiritual qualities. 

Salt also purifies and preserves. We are to purify our society and our families of the harmful attitudes that are drawing us away from the prosperity God wants for us.

You are the light of the world . . .

Light dispels darkness and fills the whole area. Our light shines out into our families, neighbors and our Nation, to show up what is hidden and to reveal secrets that are harmful. Sunlight is also purifying--our light can clean out hidden wounds so they can heal.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Nothing Is Impossible

Genesis 11:6

The Lord said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them."

Wow! When we get together and work together, understanding one another, then whatever we can imagine, we will be able to accomplish! God made us in His image, and we, like Him, are creative. We can imagine new things and plan out how to use the things God has created to build new things to carry out new concepts never done before! Nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them! Wow!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Foundation Of All Science

Isaiah 66:22a

"The new Heavens and the new Earth that I make will endure before me," declares the Lord.

The Earth and the whole Universe (the Heavens) are all wearing out, winding down under the present order of things. The Second Law of Thermodynamics is the Law of Entropy, that everything tends to degrade from order to chaos. This is the curse God placed on Creation because of Adam's sin. If we can't die, then we can't be redeemed. The angels who sinned couldn't die, so they couldn't be redeemed by a substitute dying in their place, and they are now what we call demons.

But when God destroys this scheme of matter and creates the new Heavens and the new Earth, Death itself will be destroyed, so that curse of death will be removed, and we will enjoy only the First Law of Thermodynamics, the Law of Conservation of Matter: What is, is, and can neither be increased or diminished, none more can be created nor can what exists be destroyed, it just changes form. It will endure.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Don't Quit Before Payday!

Galatians 6:8-9

The one who sows to his flesh, -- Works to please his own comfort.

from the flesh -- From the corrupted, sinful nature.

will reap destruction: -- Will die.

The one who sows to the Spirit -- Obeys the Law of Love, responding to others in love, not reacting to their (possibly negative) acts or words toward us.

from the Spirit -- From God's Holy Spirit, our seal, our deposit, our constant companion.

will reap eternal life. -- Eternal living that starts right now.

Let us not become weary -- Let's not get tired of, worn out.

in doing good, -- In always maintaining a positive attitude of seeing the best in others.

for at the proper time -- Not our time, but God's time, actual harvest time.

we will reap a harvest -- We will get our paycheck, our reward, our prize.

if we do not give up. -- Don't quit before payday! before the crop comes in!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

God's Reputation

Isaiah 36 and 37

In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah's reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria, attacked. . . . "This is what the great king the king of Assyria, says, 'On what are you basing this confidence of yours? . . . Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?'" . . . Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the Temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. . . . "It is true, O Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone fashioned by human hands. Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand so that all kingdoms on Earth may know that You alone, O Lord, are God."

So God did deliver them, in a miraculous way! Wow! God told Hezekiah, I will defend this city and save it, for My sake and for the sake of David my Servant.

Then: The angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning--there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.

One day . . . his sons . . . cut him down with the sword. . . . And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.

God will always defend His own reputation. Because this pagan king considered God to be no greater than the idols of the other countries, thereby blaspheming, lying about, Him, and because Hezekiah put his trust in God and prayed; then God pulled that king back home again and had him die there.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!