What I Have Learned

                                                                                                       

 

Aloha Dearest Family,

            I have been studying the Bible for over 40 years now, and it’s amazing what I have learned. Throughout the years I can say without a doubt, that if you want to know God, you’ve got to come to His Word. The Bible doesn’t just say that there IS a God, but shows you His heart and soul and His great love He has for mankind. He had His Word written so that we may know Him and His ways.

            In my years of study, here is what I have found:

 A God of Order.

            God’s brilliance and planning when He created the earth is nothing short of breathtaking. He created all life with incredible precision. He created plants, animals and man to reproduce “after its own kind” so that life could be perpetuated throughout the ages. Even after man’s disobedience to God, He still showed His perfect plan for man to be redeemed by promising to send a redeemer. His only begotten Son.

 God is Faithful. 

            God always stays true to His promises, for He is not a man that He should lie.

            "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" (Number 23:19)

Since God had made a promise that He would someday send a redeemer, He made a way for the line of Adam to continue – through Noah. God saved Noah and his family and preserved mankind and through Noah, the world would once again be repopulated.

            To ensure that God remained true to His promise, He chose a man out of all tribes of the earth to bless. Abraham and his descendants would be a people that would be the example to all other nations, that God was mighty with abundant blessings to those who follow and obey Him. God also gave the children of Israel laws and precepts that would keep them alive and prospering for generations. This law would also point the way to the coming Messiah.

 A God of Mercy.

            The Old Testament shows us constant examples of the failures of His people, Israel. And even though they were worthy of punishment, time and time again, God showed His mercy toward His people by sending deliverers and prophets to try and bring them back. God saved them from utter destruction many, many times even though Israel continually turned their backs on their own God.

 God is Love.

            Nothing can demonstrate the amazing love God has for mankind more than sending His own son to be the payment for man’s sins.

            “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

 Jesus Christ would be the greatest gift mankind had ever received. But God was about to unveil His greatest secret of all – showing His great love for all men by making salvation available for EVERYONE. Jesus Christ became the sacrifice so Christians could triumph in life.

 God the Father

            Because of the finished work of His son, God was able to bring many more sons and daughters into His family. The born-again ones are true children of God Almighty and we can call Him Daddy. As God’s children, we are brought into the family business of bringing more sons and daughters into the household. It is not hard to do when we tell people how good our Heavenly Father is.

 God the Victor over evil.

            In the age to come, God will demonstrate His justice by punishing the ungodly and destroying all evil. The final day of reckoning has come. God has foretold of this day for 6,000 years and there will be no excuses for anyone who chooses NOT to believe.

After the ungodly are destroyed, God will once again establish paradise on earth where there is no more death, tears or sorrow.

“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)

This little sharing cannot fully capture the full essence and magnificence of God, but what He has revealed to us is wonderful. The story of our wonderful God as written in the pages of the Bible, shows us a God of order, faithfulness and mercy. But most of all Love. The Father’s love cannot be fathomed and His wisdom and knowledge are beyond comprehension.

            Love Always, Ray

 “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33)

3 Words

                                                                                            

Aloha Dearest Family,

               Words are used to communicate something to the hearer. However, many of the words we hear during our day sound an awful lot like just noise; sounding a lot like Charlie Brown’s teacher. But some words are full of meaning and sentiment. Just three words can convey so much. Just hearing the words, “I love you”, for example,  immediately gives us a sense of happiness and warmth.

                When it comes to the Bible, so much is conveyed in just a few words. In the Gospels for example, we might think about when Philip told Nathaniel, “Come and see” (John 1:46). Or maybe when Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” (John 11:43). These words have tons of meaning, especially when we know the context of when they were spoken. But I think the three words that mean the most to me is when Jesus said from the cross, “It Is Finished”.

 

                “When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (John 19:30)

 

After many hours of anguish, torture and pain, Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the savior of the world, spoke these last three words before giving up his life. In truth, our vocabulary cannot fully convey the full depth and meaning of what his sacrifice truly meant, but the words, “It is finished”, came close. But what do these words mean?

                In one sense, it could mean that the cruel suffering that he had to endure was finally over. Or it could be referring to the work that His Father gave him to do on earth; he successfully completed it. But I think the meaning is even bigger than even this.

                At the time when the New Testament was written, the Roman Empire spoke mostly Greek. And many of the phrases used by the common people of the time, are also used in the Bible. One of these Greek phrases that was commonly used was, “it is finished”. Whenever a contract was transacted and completed, it was stamped “finished” or “paid in full”. This means that the parties listed in the contract had fulfilled their part of the contract and now it was completed or fulfilled.

So what was the contract that Jesus said was finished?

               

        The covenant of the law can be considered, more or less, like a contract. When God gave the law to Israel, He explained all the abundant blessings that He would shower upon them - IF they obeyed the law. God also listed the curses that they would experience if they DID NOT obey God’s Law. After explaining the terms of the covenant, the people said:

               

“…We will do everything the LORD has said…” (Exodus 19:8a)

 

They willingly entered into this “contract” with God. God would fulfill His part, but Israel had to fulfill their part as well. The law of Moses consisted of more than 613 laws covering every aspect of life. These included laws about, diet, clothing, servants, sex, as well as the required feasts and sacrifices. The laws involving the animal sacrifices were very important for they would cover the sins of the people, year after year. But these animal sacrifices could never really take away sin; it only covered them. In truth all of Israel’s sacrifices were just a “shadow” of the ultimate sacrifice that was coming - Jesus Christ.

               

“For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect….For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins” (Hebrews 10:1 and 4)

               

The importance of the three words “it is finished” cannot be overstated. No other sacrifices were needed for his FINAL sacrifice took away all sin. His death COMPLETED and FINISHED the Covenant of the Law, rendering it “Paid in Full.” Christ was the end of the law administration.

               

“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” (Romans 10:4)

 

Jesus Christ completed the entire Law Covenant and opened up the way for a New Covenant; the Covenant of the Spirit. This is the covenant that we are a part of right now. We have been set free from sin and the penalty of sin and our righteousness is not based upon following rules and regulations, but is based upon the finished work of Jesus Christ. Yes, Jesus paid it all.

 

             “…He takes away the first (the Old Covenant) that He may establish the second (the New Covenant). By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:9b and 10)

 

                        Love Always, Ray

Perfect Peace

                                                                                                             

Aloha Dearest Family,

            I would like to examine a verse that is one  of the greatest keys to peace, health, joy and safety. (Yes, please show me this verse!)

            “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusts in Thee.” (Isaiah 26:3)

            If we “stay our mind” on God, we will have “perfect peace”. The word “perfect” in this verse means peace. So, the person that stays their mind upon God can have peace, peace. But what does this mean? (No really – it’s peace, peace. That’s a lot of peace).

            The Hebrew word for peace, shalom, has many different meanings. Shalom could also mean harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquility. In this context, we are told that those who stay their mind on God, will have “complete well-being” in all aspects of life. This is available because we TRUST God. The very next verse says:

            “Trust ye in the LORD forever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:”

This is an amazing, amazing verse so, since there is everlasting strength in the Lord, we can surely trust in Him – and Him alone.

            In addition to these wonderful truths, we also need to include Psalm 103:2.

            “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:” (Psalm 103:2)

His benefits (which are endless) are available to the believer when they stay their mind on God and trust Him at all times.    

In life, we are constantly bombarded by the influences of the world. These come to us by the media via TV, internet and radio. These influences bring nothing but discouragement and fear into people’s lives. Fear can steal our peace. Fear always defeats the believer and keeps us from experiencing God’s best in every category of life.

            But I have found that we can CHOOSE what we look at and what will influence us. The negative thoughts that we harbor are like overgrown vines and bramble bushes that stand in the way of God and His goodness.

            Years ago, when we moved into military housing, we found that the school where my young son would be attending was not very far away. But we discovered that to get to the school we had to walk back to the entrance of the housing complex and then travel back along a busy road to get there. Not ideal.

Trying to find an easier way to get to this school, we discovered an old walking path that had been used in the past, but now was overgrown with vines, bushes and small trees. This path would be a safer and quicker way to get to the sidewalk where the school was located.

So, one Saturday, my neighbor’s family and mine, took axes and hacksaws and started to clear out the path. It took some time but we finally got through to the other side. We used this path from then on and also many other families in this large complex used it as well.

Our way to God can be just like these vines and briars. Our minds may have let negative thoughts creep in and start taking root. These obstructions get in the way and block us from getting to know God and His ways and keep us from receiving the blessings that He has for us. But we don’t have to live this way. We could instead choose to start hacking away at the useless vegetation that has grown up around our minds and replace these negative, defeating thoughts with God’s perfect words and victorious thoughts. It may take time but it is necessary if you want to experience the “perfect peace” that God promised us if we stay our minds on Him and trust in Him. When we renew our minds (put God’s thoughts where negative thoughts were) to God and His Word, our lives will surely be transformed.

 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.“  (Romans 12:2) 

                                   Love Always, Ray

 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8 NIV)