HELP FOR OUR HUMAN FRAILTIES

Posted on by BETH

In Mark 9:14-29, we read of the boy that Jesus healed, who had a deaf and dumb spirit and who often had fits.  Jesus asked the father whether he believed the boy could be healed and the father cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

Words could not express that piercing emotion—that deep-seated need for help to overcome his human frailties.

I have often thought of the pitiful concubine in Judges 19 whose frailties caused her to run away from her husband and back to her home.  In her father’s house she had affection and familiar things that made life easier, but the Lord says she was unfaithful.

Did she make vows when her father sold her?

What happened that caused her to run away?

We are not told those things, but we know she was at least “unfaithful” to the covenant her father made with her new owner.

She did not run off with a lover.

She ran home!

Not only did she lack faith, but she also was not submissive.   Judges 19:2 says, “And his concubine played the whore against him, and went away from him unto her father’s house to Bethlehemjudah and was there four whole months.”

Those strong words define the frailties that made up her character.

On the other hand, Sarah was blessed to have a “familiar friend” and a brother who became her husband. The new land and the people were strange to her, but her husband was the solid rock that brought her through it all.

“Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken” (Ecc. 4:9-12).

THIS is yet another reason why one’s life companion must be chosen carefully and must be a disciple of Christ (2 Cor. 6:4). Many young people find someone who is “in the church,” but fail to realize that not all church members are children of God (Matt. 13:38-40).

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BIBLE WARDROBES AND THE CHRISTIAN WOMAN’S SPIRITUAL CLOTHING – Lesson 9 – THE HARLOT’S WARDROBE

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Lesson 9 – THE HARLOT’S WARDROBE

And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart (Pro. 7:10).

According to the reading, this woman had the attire of a harlot, which was gaudy and flaunting to set off her beauty so that she might trap the unwary, void of understanding (Prov. 7:7).  Perhaps she was painted like Jezebel or she may even have gone with her shoulders and bosom bare—showing “just the right amount of cleavage” for appeal.  She does not seem to be a common harlot; because she was, according to her own testimony, a married woman, and kept house (Pro. 7:19).  Whether her claims were true or false, they were calculated to prevent any suspicion that her lovers were cohabiting with a common harlot.  Either way we see she was subtle of heart.  In stark contrast, purity of heart will show itself in modesty which becomes women professing godliness; however, this woman had no semblance of purity (1 Tim. 2:10).

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YOU LIED!

Posted on by BETH

YOU LIED!
Eileen Light

This morning, when I checked on my friend, he told me a story about a young man who approached him about clearing brush and debris from the culverts on his ranch so the creek where his cows drink could flow freely. We had about 13 inches of rain, heavy rain two weeks ago, and trees, brush, and even a brand new tire washed up into the culverts. They negotiated the pay by the hour.

When the young man finished, he gave the amount of hours it took to complete the job; he lied. As it sometimes happens, my friend, who can see from his house across the highway, happened to look from his dining room window and knew exactly when the young man arrived at his gate for work. When the young man came to his house for his pay, he lied about the hours it took him to complete his task. My friend then told him he saw the time he arrived, and was it not his wife’s car at the gate? He had to confess; it was the truth.

 

My friend paid that which was due to the young man, but in the absence of honesty and integrity with a false weight and balance, the young man will never return again to work for him.

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HEZEKIAH’S PRAYER

Posted on by BETH

After the division of the kingdom in Israel following the death of King Solomon, the descendants of David and Solomon reigned over the tribes of Judah and Benjamin until the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 586 B.C. by Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon. Beginning with David, this earthly dynasty included 21 kings and lasted approximately 425 years.  However, scripture records that after Solomon, only four kings walked in the steps of their father David: Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah.  King Hezekiah is truly one of the great examples of faith and righteousness found in God’s word.

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ARE YOU A STUMBLINGBLOCK

Posted on by BETH

“Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the Lord” (Lev. 19:14).

Most normal people would never imagine such wickedness as to cause a blind man to fall, yet they may mock him. How many times have you seen someone who ridiculed a deaf person or others who were handicapped? Some may be like the children who mocked Elisha (2 Kings 2:23-24). Was it a sin for Elisha to curse those children? We are not told, but we can read clearly “Whoso causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit…” (Pro. 28:10).

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