Family

 Family

June 1, 2025

Matthew 12:46-50

Changed Relationships

46 While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. 47Someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.” 48 But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” 49 And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

The problem with a family vacation is family. They are the people that know you best, they know all of your faults and foibles, which can lead to problems. Even Jesus had issues with his family from time to time. In the story in Matthew the implication is that Jesus’ family had come to take him away, “speak with him”, because they thought he was making a spectacle of himself. You know what it means when your mother wants to “speak with you”! Then there was the time when he gave His first sermon at his home synagogue in Nazareth when his closest friends and family tried to throw Him off of a cliff. Talk about rejection! Anyway, sometimes it is those closest to you who resist you the most. 

But in the end, they are also your best supporters. James the brother of Jesus became the bishop of the church in Jerusalem and turned into a pillar of the church once he saw who Jesus really is. And of course, his Mother Mary, stuck with him through everything and was present at the crucifixion, which had to be extremely painful for her to watch. 

Bottom line is that family is your family, and you only get one! You support one another, even as you fight with each other. You all know how brothers fight with one another, but if an outsider picks on one, the others all pitch in to defend him. So cherish your family and do your best to get along and support one another. One day you begin to see them pass away and you don’t want to have regrets about things that you didn’t say that you should have. You want to have good memories of the times you spent together and fond images of places you have gone together. My immediate family is all gone now, but I remember the summers we spent in Colorado visiting family and exploring the mountains with our cousins. Those were good times that built up strong relationships. Now that they are gone I still have those memories to hold on to to know that I had a good family and that I was loved. Much of what I am today is the result of what my mother and father taught me and what my sister and brother-in-law poured into my life. So I am grateful and appreciate the times that I have with my own family now, even when they get on my nerves, they are still my family, and i love them.

Sea Shore

 Sea Shore

May 31, 2025

Matthew 4:18-19

The First Disciples

18Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 And He *said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Matthew 13:1-2

1 Thatday Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. 2 And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.

The sea figured prominently in Jesus’ ministry. In Matthew 4 we see where He called his first disciples while walking by the Sea of Galilee. And in the other verse, we see where He preached to a large crowd on the sea shore. Then, of course, there is the story about crossing the sea when a fierce storm blew up. “Peace, be still…” seems an appropriate expression while sitting by the sea. The waves today don’t need to be rebuked, just watched and admired, which brings a peace of its own.

Walking by the sea and sitting on the shore brings a peace and a sense of he presence of God. The vastness of the ocean brings a sense of your won smallness and the greatness of God. He created all that the eye can see, and many things that the eye cannot see. He is a great God. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praises, is how the Psalmist put it, and I agree!  So wherever you find yourself today, look at nature and get a sense of the greatness and majesty of the Lord.

Rest

 Rest

May 30, 2025

Matthew 11:28-29

28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentleand humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.

Mark 6:31-32

31 And He *said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) 32 They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves.

Yesterday we took a tongue in cheek look at vacations. But today let us look more seriously at rest. Even when you are doing the Lord’s work, the pressure and stress of constant activity can get to you. Even Jesus and His disciples needed to get away for awhile to rest from their labors. In Mark it ways that so many people were crowding around them, seeking to hear Jesus’ teaching and receive healing, that they were exhausted. The went away on a boat to get away from it all and rest awhile. So there is a Biblical example for taking a vacation, taking a break from all the activity and just resting.

The passage in Matthew is a bit more spiritual. There Jesus is teaching about resting from sin. The evil and sin around you can weight on your soul, but when you come to Jesus and He forgives you, you can rest easy. Your soul feels lighter when relieved of the weight of sin and shame. So another important aspect of resting in the Lord is to take His yoke upon you, Listen to His guidance, enter into the gentle and humble ways of His heart and you will find rest for your souls.

  

Vacation

 Vacation

May 29, 2025

Vaca-t-ion- from the Latin vaca, cow, T for Taurus the bull, and ion is a charged particle. So vacation is coming for us like a charging bull! At least it looks like that. So far we have had lightening, thunder, rain and road construction. But at least we’re safe.  But what about rest? Isn’t vacationing supposed to be about rest?

The writer of Hebrews talks about rest.

Hebrews 4:8-12

8 For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. 9 So there remains a Sabbath rest for the peopleof God. 10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. 11 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

He promises a Sabbath rest for the people of God, but he also says that we must diligently enter that rest, so that doesn’t sound much like a vacation! He goes on to say that the answer is in the Word of God, which is sharper than any two-edged sword, so the answer lies there if we can perceive it.

Anyway, we are off to pursue whatever “vacation” means in this day and age. Hopefully, that will include good times with the family, making good memories, with the faint hope that there will be a little rest involved! So school’s out, you have a little time off of work, so enjoy vacation time, but remember to keep the Word of God included to judge the thoughts and intentions of your heart.

All the Days of My Life

 All the Days of My Life 

May 27, 2025

Psalms 27:4-6 (NASB95) 

4 One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD And to meditate in His temple. 5 For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of Histent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock. 6 And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me, And I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.

Psalms 27:13-14 (NASB95) 

13 I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living. 14 Wait for the LORD;Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.

On this day, seventy six years ago, in a small town in Illinois, Mother Brillhart delivered a baby boy. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then, but my prayer is still the same as King David in Psalm 27: “That I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life”. I’ve gone a lot of places and done a lot of things in these 76 years, but one thing remains the same, it is a joy to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in his presence. There are many times that “I would have despaired, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” None of us know the numer of our days and Proverbs 27 warns us not to boast:

Proverbs 27:1 (NASB95) Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth.

So wait for the Lord, be strong and have courage, and sing praises the the Lord. That’s all that really matters.

Truth and Deception

 Truth and Deception

May 25, 2025

Matthew 24:4-5

4 And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads ^g4105 you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead ^g4105 many.

Matthew 24:24-26

24 For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead ^g4105 , if possible, even the elect. 25 Behold, I have told you in advance. 26 So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them.

2 Timothy 3:13-14

13 But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving ^g4105 and being deceived ^g4105. 14 You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them,

1 John 2:26-27

26 These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive^g4105 you. 27 As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.

Revelation 13:13-14

13 He (the beast) performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. 14 And he deceives^g4105 those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who *had the wound of the sword and has come to life.

John 18:38

38 Pilate *said to Him, “What is truth^g0225?”

And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and *said to them, “I find no guilt in Him.

John 14:6

6 Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth ^g0225, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

g4105. πλανάω planaō ; from 4106; to cause to wander, to wander:--

deceive(3), deceived(9), deceives(3), deceiving(2), go astray(1), gone astray(3), leads...astray(2)

g0225. ἀλήθεια alētheia ; from 227; truth:--

We live in a day when truth is a scarce commodity. The public discourse is full of fake news, miss-information, dis-information and other types of propaganda. So how do we know the truth? Even Pontious Pilot, as corrupt a ruler as he was, had enough wisdom to ask the questions “What is truth?” But then, we don’t know if he wanted a serious answer or was just trying to deflect blame for what he was about to do to Jesus. Our modern day leaders are no different, all proclaiming to want to know the truth, but few who actually tell the truth. So where is our guidepost to show us the truth?

There are many, even in the church, who voted for Obama, thinking he was the answer to racial inequality and injustice. But Obama is not out savior.

There are others in the church who voted for Trump, thinking he was the answer to fighting the great evil of the great reset and the NWO. But Trump is not out savior.

Jesus taught that in the last days, evil men would come to deceive many, even in the church. They might even perform great signs and miracles, but if they don’t proclaim the truth, they are not of God but of the evil one. So how do we discern who is good and who is evil?

First of all, you can not rely only on what people say. Deceivers come to deceive and so tell lies. They can be very convincing and popular, but even if they work wonders, they are liars.

Second of all, you can not look at the amazing things that they do. Even if they perform signs and miracles, if they don’t represent Jesus, they are from the evil one.

In the scriptures, we see that the answer is found in the scriptures. In Timothy we are encourages to “continue in the things you have learned”, and in John we are told to rely on the anointing of the Holy Spirit and the things we have learned to distinguish truth from falsehood. It is not easy to tell the difference in many cases. Politicians and celebrities in particular are trained in the fine art of appearing trustworthy. It is said that President Clinton once said, “Sincerity is the thing. When you can fake sincerity, you can fake anything.” And certainly “Slick Willie” was an expert in telling the smooth lie. So you can’t rely solely  on the things that they say or the way that they say it, but you need to look deeper at the ideas that they represent. Does their message line up with scripture? Do they lift up the name of Jesus? Does the Holy Spirit bear witness that the things they are telling represent the truth? And most of all, are the fruits of their teachings good or evil? Many of the ideas proclaimed by the popular politicians sound good; equity, diversity, inclusion anti-discrimination, etc., but when put into practice they can produce great suffering, so you know that they are not true. By their fruits you shall know them.

You also can’t rely on labels. As Paul said, there are Jews who say they are Jews, but who are not. That applies to christians as well. Just saying so doesn’t make it so. It takes discernment to tell the difference, but their fruit will tell the truth even when their words do not.

So, we live in perilous days, but Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to guide us, so press into Him and compare every thought to the truth of the scriptures. If someone doesn’t agree that “Jesus is the way and the truth”, then their words should be suspect. So look for those who proclaim Jesus, who depend on prayer and who follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. Follow those who follow Him, all others will lead you astray.

Bible Translations

 Translations

May 22, 2025

Last night, we had a discussion about Bible translations. One comment was about the difference in the translation of Romans 8:1 in some modern translations. Note the following from NASB, NKJV and NET.

Romans 8:1-5 NASB

1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likenessof sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

Romans 8:1-5  KJV

1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do in that itwas weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

Romans 8:1-5 - The NET Bible

1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set youfree from the law of sin and death. ^a 3 For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

5 For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit havetheir outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit.

The translation notes in the footnotes to the NET Bible explain the differences.

1 a tc The earliest and best witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western texts, as well as a few others (א* B D* F G 6 1506 1739 1881 pc co), have noadditional words for v. 1. Later scribes (A D1 Ψ 81 365 629 pc vg) added the words μὴ κατὰ σάρκα περιπατοῦσιν (me kata sarka peripatousin , "who do not walk according to the flesh"), while even later ones (2 א2 D2 33vid Ï) added ἀλλὰ κατὰ πνεῦμα (alla kata pneuma , "but [who do walk] according to the Spirit"). Both the external evidence and the internal evidence are compelling for the shortest reading. The scribes were evidently motivated to add such qualifications (interpolated from v. 4) to insulate Paul's gospel from charges that it was characterized too much by grace. The KJV follows the longest reading found in Ï.

Thus the complaint that the newer translations omit important ideas from the scripture doesn’t hold up here as it was the KJV and NkJV that incorporated the later additions to the Greek text. The ideas in the phrase is included in verse 4 in all of the newer translations; “who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Anyway, there is a good explanation of the differences in translations, and the essential thought is not lost, it was just copied to verse 1 in the KJV.

Bottom line is that it is always a good idea to study a verse in multiple translations as different translators capture a slightly different sense of the meaning in English. Any translation is subject to interpretation since Greek and English words and ideas do not always match one-to-one. By studying different translations and the footnotes you can get a better idea of what the original writer meant. That, and relying on the Holy Spirit to give you Insight into the meaning of scripture for you. After all, any translation is just words on a page until the Holy Spirit breaths life into it and makes it real in your own heart. The Greeks would say that the written, logos word becomes a rhema word, a living word. May the Holy Spirit bless you and inspire you as you study the Word and give you insight into how to live today.