Musings

The Bible has much to say about peace. The focus of my reading this morning was Isaiah 26:3 - You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You - in both inclination and character], because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation] . Amplified Bible What is rendered 'perfect and constant peace' in the AMP is actually 'shalom shalom' in Hebrew. The following comment from Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible sums it up succinctly: The word "perfect" is not in the Hebrew text, it is there "peace, peace"; which is doubled to denote the certainty of it, the enjoyment of it, and the constancy and continuance of it; and as expressive of all sorts of peace, which God grants unto his people, and keeps for them, and them in; as peace with God and peace with men, peace outward and peace inward, peace here and peace hereafter; and particularly it denotes t...

During the few decades of my Christian life, I have come to understand that God takes great note of how we treat others. When we read and study the Bible, God's heart is revealed in over 2000 verses concerning the poor and needy of this world. In the Old Testament, one of God's laws was for landowners to leave part of the harvest at the edge of the fields for the poor to gather (Leviticus 23:22). The little book of Ruth contains a well-known portrayal of this principal.                                                             The Gleaners, Millet. The opening verses of Psalm 41 promise a blessing to those who consider the weak/poor: Blessed is he who has regard for the weak ('dal'  meaning dangling, lean, thin, poor, needy); the LORD delivers him in times of trouble. The LORD will protect him and preserve his life; he will...

When life looks like this: Кога животот изгледа така: GOD IS THERE! БОГ Е ПРИСУТЕН! And on the mountain-top experiences: И во врвните доживувања:  GOD IS THERE! БОГ Е ПРИСУТЕН! When you just want to chill: Кога сакаш да се отпуштиш: GOD IS THERE! БОГ Е ПРИСУТЕН! When you feel the whole world is against you: Кога мислиш дека целиот свет е против тебе: GOD IS THERE! БОГ Е ПРИСУТЕН! When others laugh at your ideas and dreams: Кога другите се потсмеваат на твоите идеи и соништа: GOD IS THERE! БОГ Е ПРИСУТЕН! You see, he has promised that He'll never leave you nor forsake you! Take heart and believe Him for everything. HE IS ALWAYS THERE! Знаеш, тој вети дека нема да те остави, нема да те напушти! Охрабри се и верувај Му за сѐ. ТОЈ Е СЕКОГАШ ПРИСУТЕН!

Дали сме свесни дека Творецот на целиот универзум ни испрати љубовно писмо на земјата? Библијата која била напишана во текот на 1500 години од најмалку 40 различни писатели, е најважната и најскапоцената книга што можеме да држиме во нашите раце. Самата Библија ни вели: Целото Писмо е од Бога вдахновено и е полезно за поука, за изобличување, за поправање и за воспитување во правдата ... 2 Тимотеј 3:16 Апостолот Петар објаснува: ...никогаш пророштвото не дошло од човечка волја туку светите Божји луѓе зборувале носени од Светиот Дух . 2 Петрово 1:21 На тој начин Светото Писмо било напишано кога Светиот Дух им зборувал на писателите и тие го напишале она што им било речено. Живиот Бог сакаше да ни пренесе една многу важна порака и начинот беше преку една книга. Кога читаме за историјата на Библијата, гледаме дека имало многу обиди да се уништи секој нејзин примерок но Бог ја чувал на чудесен начин преку Евреите, апостолите, раните христијани и црквата. Колку луѓе се умрени во ...

The works of His hands are faithful and just; all His precepts are trustworthy. Psalm 111:7 I read the Psalms every day because of their poetic beauty and depth. Mostly, they are an outpouring of praise from profound, personal experience. Praise which comes from the inner recesses of the heart is a true exaltation of God. The desperate cry of the overwhelmed heart is also manifest within the Psalms, which again is an honest expression of the human experience. Just in passing, the Bible as a whole makes no attempt to appear as a religious book. It is an accurate unfolding of the story of humanity with all its depravity and human weakness recorded. As I read Psalm 111 recently, verse 7 caught my attention: the work of His hands are faithful and just. The very first time I ever felt conscious of God was at the age of eight while looking at the night sky. I would call this moment 'surprised by beauty'. I could literally feel the presence of God while marvelling at ...

Last night, we spent a couple of hours explaining the real meaning of the Gospel after our Bible study to an inquirer. It just made me realize the confusion that exists within so-called Christendom regarding the very central message of the Bible. Salvation is not through a church or man-made system! What an insult to our magnified Lord, who paid the ultimate price of our salvation when He took our sins on His body on the cross of Calvary (Isaiah 53:5-6, 2 Cor. 5:21, 1 Peter 1:18-19). NO ONE is worthy or deserving of salv ation, but the Lord Jesus Christ offers this gift to us in mercy and love because He so much desires fellowship with His creatures. He died to redeem us. How dare anyone suggest that we atone for our sins by praying for this or that person or afflict self-torment to become worthy of God!! Why spit in the face of the One who has done it all? Why trample on His cross with our filthy rags of 'righteousness'! My God will not be mocked. It is very simple. Nothing...

The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Matthew 13: 45-46 Небесното царство може да се спореди со трговец што трага по најскапоцениот бисер; кога ќе го најде, тој оди и продава се што има и го купува. Матеј 13: 45-46 The Kingdom of Heaven is of infinite value, but we often are so busy with the small details of life that we do not see the bigger picture. Why are we here on this earth? To eat, drink, work and die? If we are not part of the Kingdom of Heaven, which will last eternally, everything has no ultimate meaning. Yes, we can live a good life, but if we do not live with eternity or God's plan in view, at the end we will be expelled from God's presence forever. That is why I write quotations from the Bible maybe ad nauseam for some of you here, but the importance of our relationship with the Living God is indescribable. Take some moments t...