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Knowing God

Mart De Haan Posted by Mart DeHaan
March 31st, 2012
49 Comments » 

One of the most eloquent and inspiring quotes of the Bible comes out of the mouth of a grieving prophet. Speaking in behalf of the God of Israel, Jeremiah says,

This is what the Lord says: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom, or the strong man boast of his strength, or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth,  for in these I delight,” declares the Lord (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

Two thoughts come to mind. Since this statement comes in the middle of a lament for the conditions in which God has found his people, what is it that is breaking the prophet and God’s heart; and maybe even more importantly, what attention should we give to the three delights he seems to find missing?

1.  Lovingkindness

2.  Justice

3.  Righteousness

We probably are not too confused with why knowing God is so connected with lovingkindness. But what about justice, and righteousness? Is there any connection between the last two and the first?

Here’s a start. The best I can tell.

Lovingkindness carries the idea of mercy, love, faithfulness, and loyalty.

Justice involves intervention in wrongs. It includes decisions, actions, and protective advocacy in behalf of those who are being taken advantage of by others. It is lovingkindness in action and perhaps with some degree of self-sacrifice.

Righteousness seems to reflect a state of things which have been made right, so that they are as they should be, reflecting the purposes and character of our creator. In this sense it would be a state of right relationships– marked by lovingkindness.

And if this is the case, maybe we can take together another step. Can we test our understanding of lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness by moving forward in the story to the coming of the long anticipated Deliverer? When Jesus comes, where do we see in him these three characteristics which, according to Jeremiah, would be important identifiers in knowing and understanding our God in Christ?

And at this point am asking myself, if I believe I have any knowledge of him, to what extent am I  learning to be a part of  what he delights in? Seem to have barely begun.

 


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49 Responses to “Knowing God”

  1. SFDBWV says:
    March 31, 2012 at 6:54 am

    Mart as I read your quote of Jeremiah this morning and read that God delights in kindness, righteousness, and justice I am straightaway confronted with what seems to be a contrast between His statement and our perception of the three actions God speaks of.

    God delights in kindness, but it seems what He actually delights in is our kindness toward others. Because there are many who think their situation in life can be made better if only God would be kind enough to see to it.

    Justice is seen by all of us with different eyes, yet many among us are treated unfairly and unjustly and look to God for full justice and the restitution of wrongs some feel unjustly perpetrated on them.

    Righteousness or a state of right living and all actions in their proper place and order, some would say there is very little right about conditions they suffer in. And don’t understand why God continues to allow it.

    Jeremiah was written during the time of captivity and during a time when the people of Israel were crying out for deliverance.

    As a whole Israel had brought about their dire circumstances themselves, but there were some who were innocent yet suffered the same fate as everyone else.

    Or did they?

    I believe that kindness and justice and righteousness are given out from God all the time and if we stop and think about it even in the middle of the worst of our circumstances we can see God’s loving-kindness at work in our lives.

    If we stop and think about it, if we ask God to use us He will and when He dose be prepared to suffer for Him and His purposes. As our purposes become His purposes our desires become His desires and as evidenced throughout history living will not be easy for us anymore.

    Steve

  2. Mart De Haan says:
    March 31, 2012 at 7:27 am

    Thanks, Steve, good thoughts.

    Part of what I kept feeling as I was thinking about this is that we often see justice as being in contrast to God’s mercy.

    Am copying below an excerpt from Harper’s Bible dictionary which shows how God’s care and concern is at the heart of his judgments/justice.

    Harper’s Bible Dictionary: “Justice is founded in the being of God, for whom it is a chief attribute. As such, God is the sure defender of the poor and the oppressed (Jer. 9:23-24; Ps. 10:17-18). This care of God is universal (Pss. 76:8-9; 103:6). The Psalms ground it in God’s role as the sovereign creator of the universe (Ps. 99:1-4). The demands of God’s justice thus extend beyond the nation of Israel (Ps. 9:7-9; cf. Dan. 4:27).

    Since the justice of God is characterized by special regard for the poor and the weak, a corresponding quality is demanded of God’s people (Deut. 10:18-19). When they properly carry out justice, they are agents of the divine will (Isa. 59:15-16)…”

    Continued from HBD: “Justice is closely related to love and grace (Deut. 10:18-19; Hos. 10:12) rather than being a contrasting principle. It thus provides vindication, deliverance, and creation of community in addition to retribution. Need is the criterion for distributing benefits although the provisions do not exclude ability as a criterion once this priority is met. Thus the focus is upon the oppressed with particular attention given to specific groups, such as the poor, widows, the fatherless, slaves, resident aliens, wage earners, and those with physical infirmities (Job 29:12-17; Ps. 146:7-9; Mal. 3:5).” End of excerpt from Harper’s Bible Dictionary

  3. SFDBWV says:
    March 31, 2012 at 7:49 am

    In some ways the appearance of Jesus and especially His teaching came into direct contrast to what the Hebrew scholars seen as God’s sense of *justice*.

    Jesus came with a message of mercy whereas the Law of Moses called for an eye for an eye style of exacting justice.

    Jesus taught patience whereas God showed very little mercy or patience in the wilderness as He taught the Hebrew to be under His authority.

    Jesus taught to love everyone even enemies, yet God ordered the destruction of Israel’s enemies and punished Israel if the letter of the law or the letter of His orders were not carried out.

    It is difficult to see a God who killed every living thing except those in the Ark as kind, yet was kind enough to this one man and his family.

    It is difficult to see justice in the execution of an innocent man for the salvation of everyone else, when everyone else deserved to be executed. Yet it is God’s will that it be so since it was He that was executed in place of every one of us.

    It is very difficult to see righteousness appreciated in a world where those who try to be are made fun of, taken advantage of and even ridiculed by their so called peers. Yet secretly people admire those among us who try to live a righteous life.

    Because God helps us to walk that straight and narrow path, sometimes by a swift kick in the rear, it may appear as we are being punished unjustly when all along it is the Love God has for us that cause Him to be heavy handed now and then.

    The conflicts we see in scripture are actually our lack of understanding, as we endlessly seek to know God better.

    Steve

  4. yooperjack says:
    March 31, 2012 at 8:08 am

    Mart: In the NKJV they use (glory) instead of boasting. The way I understand these verses is: that God delights in those that understand and know Him, those that glories in this, that He is Lord and exercises loving kindness, judgments and righteousness in the earth.

    Our God is a just God He is definitely righteous and shows us loving kindness in that we all deserve judgment but He gave us the gift of salvation by grace through faith.

  5. remarutho says:
    March 31, 2012 at 9:43 am

    Good Morning All –

    Mart, your question for yourself (and us) catches my attention:
    “…if I believe I have any knowledge of him, to what extent am I learning to be a part of what he delights in?”

    The echoes of the prophet Micah come through the question – (Micah 6:8). Then, Micah enumerates the sins of Jerusalem: unjust measure, hoarding, cheating, violence and lying. The prophecy culminates in the words of Isaiah – and then John Baptist after him:

    “Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God,” (Luke 3:4, 5, 6) (Isaiah 40:3, 4, 5) – because finally the greedy shall eat and not be satisfied; the land will not yield plenty. (Micah 6:13-16)

    The great leveling that God brings on those who do not live by God’s loving- kindness, mercy, justice and righteousness –comes in the acts of God that certainly read like retribution. It is/will be a reckoning. All accounts in deficit will be replenished and all accounts that are over-full will be depleted. Those who have been oppressed and robbed will receive restoration.

    It seems to me the image of God in humans, though marred by sin, still hungers and thirsts for the spiritual nourishment God’s character brings. We are completed and made right by closely following Messiah. We are called to act justly now and always, not just when we think it “counts.”

    Maru

  6. oneg2dblu says:
    March 31, 2012 at 10:06 am

    Grace to all… we read the record in the Word of God and see for ourselves how loving at times and cruel at times our history has been to the inhabitants of this earth. But, today we live in a much different place, we live in the Age of Grace. We who are the recipients of this Grace now see the Hand of God playing out in the background of our world through both justice and mercy just like before, but with Grace abounding through Christ Our Saviour, the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the relationship that God provides. Although, the human condition is the same, the remedy is never again without His Grace. Blessed are those who Believe and have not seen, for they Glorify Our Lord through this Grace. None before us knew this type of Grace we have today so lovingly poured out upon all those who will Believe and Obey. Praise God! Gary

  7. poohpity says:
    March 31, 2012 at 11:48 am

    In scripture the Lord asks us to know Him like He told Jeremiah in Hosea 6:3, 6 NLT. How can any one boast in something we all are given and the Lord has asked us all to do. He delights in us getting to know Him and about Him. To delight ourselves in Him. Then we can see how much not only does Jesus satisfy Loving-kindness, Justice and righteousness but is those things when we are unable to.

  8. fadingman says:
    March 31, 2012 at 12:21 pm

    Mart, another passage in Jeremiah is very similar. God spoke to the son of Josiah:

    “Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 22:15-16)

    Sometimes we see justice only from the condemning point of view. But justice is also seeing that those who are suffering unjustly are relieved of their burdens, and the injustices done against them are corrected. This is lovingkindness towards the suffering. If someone has it in his power to seek justice for the poor and needy, and doesn’t, how can the love of God abide in him? (1 John 3:17)

    When we seek righteounsness and justice for the needy, we have a much greater understanding and appreciation for God who also judges the cause of the poor and needy. Job did this (Job 29:12-17), and I believe it’s an important reason why he spoke right of God in the end (Job 42:7). As a doer of righteousness and justice, he knew God better than his friends.

    On another note, Steve is partially correct when he said, “Jesus taught patience whereas God showed very little mercy or patience in the wilderness as He taught the Hebrew to be under His authority.” Before the law, God showed extreme patience with Israel. There was no judgment for any of Israel’s sins until the people bound themselves to obey God’s commands (Exodus 19:7-8, 24:3). They grumbled and complained a lot up to Sinai, but God overlooked all of it – even blessing them in spite of it (i.e. Exodus 16).

  9. poohpity says:
    March 31, 2012 at 1:55 pm

    Do you really think that God showed very little patience or mercy in the wilderness? That is the same God that sent His son to die for us while we were yet sinners. If when one reads the OT and sees all the sacrifices that a person could offer when they admit their sin is that not mercy? In Leviticus which was given in the wilderness have you not ever read Lev 4-5:13 that is for unintentional sins as well as premeditated sins and the sacrifice given will provide forgiveness for the sin. There was always in place some type of offering for any offense against God or others which when offered the sacrifice was the atonement for the sin but they had to happen every time someone did something wrong and I bet those Levites were busy. With every law that was given and if someone broke that Law there was a way to receive mercy by offering a sacrifice. If one does not understand that then the fullness of what Christ did is not understood.

    Repeatedly in the OT God’s mercy was seen by not giving the Israelite’s what they really deserved, He made a way and it was all finished by that final sacrifice of Jesus. We see those three characteristics in Jesus, the lovingkindness, justice and righteousness in many areas one such area is what Paul wrote to the Romans in Romans 5:5-11 NIV

    You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

    9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

    The God of the OT is the same God of the NT and will be the same forever and ever. In the OT if God was not merciful then why would He create so many cities of refuge so justice could be done? Why did He put into place the sacrifice system? Why would He warn them repeatedly before something was going to happen and then tell them how to handle it? That does not sound like a God without patience or mercy to me.

  10. fadingman says:
    March 31, 2012 at 2:40 pm

    I think Steve is talking about the apparent differences between God in the OT and Jesus. As he said, “The conflicts we see in scripture are actually our lack of understanding, as we endlessly seek to know God better.” What didn’t help was how the self-righteous religious leaders focused on the letter of the law (and their many interpretations) and ignored mercy and grace.

    Moses is often portrayed as a stern, unforgiving leader, but he really was merciful. He was the one who interceded for Israel before God when Aaron made the golden calf, and he interceded many times after.

  11. poohpity says:
    March 31, 2012 at 3:56 pm

    Yes I agree Moses pleaded with God many time on behalf of the Israelite’s and God changed His mind Exodus 32:14 but does that not also show that God was willing to be patient and show mercy. Even when those who remained behind when Moses went up on the mountain were given another chance to make a commitment to God to pick who they were going to follow God or other gods after committing adultery in Exodus 32:25-29 some were saved and some lost their lives. I agree with Steve that the conflicts are from our understanding especially when we see people being put to death and how can that be from a loving God yet that same God is also Holy, just, full of truth but I do not see where there is conflict in scripture.

    When we do not understand what love really looks like because at times it is harsh or tough but it does not mean it is not love. If certain things are allowed to remain they can destroy so is it not loving to get rid of them. It totally is our understanding and our preconceived ideas but God did not change from the OT to the NT. From what I understand is Jesus’ coming was thought of way before He came (since the foundations of the World) so if that was the plan of God would that not show He already had it in place to come in the form of a human to show us just how patient and merciful He has been with us since the beginning of time.

  12. yooperjack says:
    March 31, 2012 at 4:25 pm

    Here you all go again, mixing apples, the Jews, with oranges, we Christians. We “are” the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus 2 Corinthians 5: 21 Start reading at verse 12-21 verse 17 is interesting. Now go to I Corinthians 2:16 start reading at verse 6 -16. We have the mind of Christ. The Jews did not have the Holy Spirit. We do.

    In Jeremiah 9:23-24 the Lord was comparing a wise man, a mighty man and a rich man to those who know and understand God and those who know He is Lord and exercises loving kindness, good judgment and righteousness. We Christians are the ones He delights in now.

    I said all that I am going to say about this topic because it is way off track in what those verses say. It’s like most here forgets the NT teaching when they read the OT. “Weird” We are NT Christians period; you can’t mix the two or you will get screwed up and go back to salvation by works.

  13. poohpity says:
    March 31, 2012 at 7:30 pm

    In the wilderness Numbers 21:7-9 NIV yet Jesus recalled that as pointing to Himself in John 3:14-15 NIV and the God of the OT showed His love John 3:16 NLT.

  14. poohpity says:
    March 31, 2012 at 7:38 pm

    If God over looked sin then He would not be showing Justice or showing righteousness and if it were not for loving kindness God would have never sent Jesus.

  15. remarutho says:
    March 31, 2012 at 8:32 pm

    Hello All –

    Some students of Scripture say that the Old Testament is the Bible; and the New Testament is the story the fulfillment of it. Yet there have been those (esp. Marcion of Sinope, 2nd c. AD) who wish to surgically remove the Old Testament and make the New the whole Bible.

    Mart, you wrote:
    “When Jesus comes, where do we see in him these three characteristics which, according to Jeremiah, would be important identifiers in knowing and understanding our God in Christ?”

    The writer of Hebrews makes a systematic array of connections between the Creator God of the Old Testament and the New Covenant in Jesus Christ, reminding us he “is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) Around his throne, the four creatures sing day and night (Revelation 4:8).
    There is a scene from the gospel of John where Jesus shows his “zeal for the house of God.” Jesus acts justly driving the cattle vendors and money changers out of the temple court. He scatters those who dishonor the place where God meets his people. The disciples remembered later that it was foretold that the honor of God would be upheld by the king. (Psalm 69:9). This is a glimpse of the majesty of Christ enthroned as ruler of the whole universe. It especially shows how deeply Jesus understood the Father’s heart.

    Blessings,
    Maru

  16. oneg2dblu says:
    April 1, 2012 at 6:25 am

    yooperjack… you are right on, we are NT Christians, we have the Holy Spirit living in us, we also have God’s Grace to bring us into Obedience, where the OT Law only brought to the Jew, a constant knowing and failing to be Obedient. Without God’s Helper, which the Jew does not have, they also can not be Saved by Following their Laws, traditions, Religion, for God has blinded their eyes to this Saviour, until He comes again they will continue in their blindness if they continue in their Religion. Unfortunately, all religion fails to bring the Salvation that only the Saviour, Jesus Christ can bring. “If you love me…” not if you become more religious, follow more tradition, and learn more book knowledge, which is all failing to bring about your Salvation. Obedience is the only way to truly show God you know Him and Love Him, and through His Holy Spirit can we become Obedient beyond our self strength, knowledge, tradition, and religion.
    As only God Provides exactly what man can’t find by himself, Obedience comes through following the Holy Spirit’s direction, not man’s effort, not religions claims, and not through anything but Following Jesus Christ first! Gary

  17. Mart De Haan says:
    April 1, 2012 at 6:28 am

    Maru, those connections appear to be at the heart of seeing that the ‘God of the OT’ is in Christ reconciling the world to himself– and that in Christ we see more clearly (yet still “through a glass/mirror darkly”) more of the heart of God that we do not see as well in “judgment events” of the OT period.

  18. SFDBWV says:
    April 1, 2012 at 6:52 am

    Knowing God; wasn’t this the whole problem that God faced after He forced the dispersion of the people at Babel (Genesis 11: 6-9)? People forgot who God is and began to invent Him.

    In Genesis 12: 1 the lord calls Abram and so begins the story of God interacting with certain men and women in order to create a people who know Him personally and so can present Him to the ignorant world of gentiles who have forgotten God and restore fellowship with Him.

    Yet we learn from the prophets that the very people God had given the responsibility to gather in the nations, failed (Ezekiel 34: 1-10) and so we learn that God Himself will do the job (Ezekiel 34: 11-31).

    In Malachi 2: 17 we hear the people ask, where is the God of judgment? And then in Malachi 3: 1 God says He will send His messenger before *Him*. Who? Him, He is coming.

    In Malachi 4: 5 God says he will send Elijah before the coming of the *great and dreadful* day of the Lord (Luke 1: 17) and (Mathew 11: 14)

    Reading in Luke 1: 35 we are told that Jesus of Nazareth born to Mary is the Son of God, and in John 1: 1-4 we learn that this same Jesus is in fact God and in John 14: 7 Jesus says plainly if you know Him you know the father.

    Want to know God? Get to know Jesus and you have your answer.

    But do not do as the people of old and many today, reinvent God so He fits your desired view of Him. He is exposed from Genesis through Revelation and is the same forever (Hebrews 13: 8).

    Steve

  19. yooperjack says:
    April 1, 2012 at 7:20 am

    Gary: It is the Holy Spirit that is in us that gives us revelations of God and His ways, gives us understanding of Gods Word. When we began to think We, instead of Me, or I, when we get it in our heads it not about Me but Christ; only then will we stop struggling and live the Christian life God intended us to live.

    We have the mind of Christ we need to use it. It’s not that difficult if we follow the manual. NT is the manual for Christian living.

  20. yooperjack says:
    April 1, 2012 at 8:30 am

    Gary: May I just add, in the NT, the new covenant and the Gospels, the OT, old covenant is quoted over 300 times; so that means the authors of the new covenant understood which parts of the OT we needed to know. But if one wants to go deeper they can study the OT as well. I prefer studying the NT because I have the mind of Christ and the same Spirit that He had as He was walking on this earth. The Bible says that we will do greater work than Jesus did. I’d like to have the knowledge to do just what He did, like heal the sick, cast out demons, get the blind to see, the deaf to hear and yes, raise the dead. That is the deep stuff I want to know. Time is too short, for me anyway and people are hurting, for me to waste my time on ancient Jewish history.

  21. remarutho says:
    April 1, 2012 at 8:31 am

    Good Morning Mart & Friends –

    God coming in the flesh to die a shameful death is the shocking truth of the gospel. The question, “Why did God do it this way?” does not have an answer in human understanding.

    The picture of the triune God is Yes – And, or “because I have done it; therefore it is.” Jesus preached very early in his ministry that he had not come to destroy God’s Word, but to fulfill it. (Matthew 5:17, 18, 20) Christ calls for God’s Law to bring his people to greater righteousness than the church leaders and religious experts gathered around the altar of the temple.

    Jesus also calls us to greater justice on earth and greater lovingkindness than has ever been among humanity before. The character of God is in the Old Testament — and it is magnified and brought intimately near in the New Covenant. That curtain in the sanctuary is torn in two from top to bottom. (Mark 15:38) Through the faults God finds in the administration of the gifts he gave (Hebrews 8:8, 9, 10)he has made a New Covenant that still reflects his glory and presence. (Hebrews 8:13)

    Blessings,
    Maru

  22. remarutho says:
    April 1, 2012 at 8:35 am

    Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, saw this even when Judah was exiled in Babylon (Jeremiah 31:31, 32, 33)
    Maru

  23. yooperjack says:
    April 1, 2012 at 9:13 am

    Where are Narrow, Bob and the rest of the gang? Hope all is well? The rapture didn’t come did it? LOL We’re kind of icellated up here.

  24. poohpity says:
    April 1, 2012 at 10:48 am

    Steve, the Tower of Babel is a good example of human beings again exalting themselves above God. Isn’t that similar to the desires that Satan put into Adam and Eve’s hearts to be like God?

    Abraham is also a good example of God’s patience and mercy in Genesis 18:16-33 NIV

    Then again in Judges 6:11-7:25 NIV

    We can see the mercy and patience of God both in the OT and NT He is the same God and yes it is so important to get to know Him, all that we are given to know. Do you not feel excited when someone puts the time in to get to know you and understand you, I bet that is how God feels when we push on to know Him.

  25. poohpity says:
    April 1, 2012 at 11:14 am

    Malachi was also a foretaste of the mission of John the Baptist in John 1:19-34 NLT. I think it is so awesome that God informs us of things way before they happen. Even when we behave as we do now that is loving kindness to the Nth degree.

  26. SFDBWV says:
    April 2, 2012 at 6:21 am

    I suppose everyone in the world was like me yesterday, busy away from the computer. I hope Narrowpathseeker didn’t have to sweep off the snow to get to her gardening.

    Whereas the whole of the OT is a foretaste of the coming events of man, it is always relevant to Christ; even the fall of man is the story of God’s love in making a way to restore mankind to proper fellowship with Him.

    I have been exposed to many different beliefs and believers; the problem is always that too many people do not know scripture.

    I won’t say that that isn’t enough to obtain salvation, because in the beginning as the Church spread out into the Gentile world that was all there was. The basic and simple offering to believe on a man named Jesus, that He is the Son of the one and only God born to a virgin and that He died for our sins and by His own power and authority rose up from the grave as proof of His power and authority over everything, including death.

    If you make a study of the Eastern Orthodox religion, there is little dedicated to the OT and a great deal dedicated to the worship of Jesus Christ.

    At this point I would like to enter a piece of Eastern Orthodox doctrine, it reads as follows;
    “At this point it must be mentioned that although God’s self-revelation in history through the chosen people of Israel–the revelation which culminates in the coming of Christ the Messiah–is of primary importance, it also is the doctrine of the Christian Church that all genuine strivings of men after the truth are fulfilled in Christ.”

    “It can not be overstressed that divine revelation in the Old Testament, in the Church of the New Testament, in the lives of the saints, in the wisdom of the fathers, in the beauty of creation, and most fully and perfectly in Jesus Christ the Son of God, is the revelation of God Himself. God has spoken. God has acted. God has manifested Himself and continues to manifest Himself in the lives of His people.”

    I think sometimes we need to keep things simple, it is fun and enjoyable to dig into the OT and see the revelations from and of God, but our eyes need focused on *who* it is all about, Jesus of Nazareth. What it is He requires from us and how it is He wants us to live *now*.

    I welcome April and the coming of Easter.

    Steve

  27. remarutho says:
    April 2, 2012 at 7:18 am

    Good Morning All —

    Yes Steve! Without Easter there is no Gospel message to bring to a lost and dying world.

    When the Spirit of God fell upon Zechariah, he spoke forth all that could be in his heart at that moment, being steeped in the Holy Scriptures. (Luke 1:68, 69, 73, 76, 78, 79)

    Malachi 4:2, 5; Isaiah 9:2 The Lord has only ever shown one heart and one will in the entire universe:
    1. Lovingkindness

    2. Justice

    3. Righteousness

    Joy at Easter!
    In Him,
    Maru

  28. oneg2dblu says:
    April 2, 2012 at 8:40 am

    Steve.. I like your keep it simple… “Want to know God,
    get to know Jesus and you have the answer.”
    It confirms my statement that knowing scripture is not enough, even memorizing it all does not save you, but if you get to know Jesus, not read or memorize his written account, but know him personally,then you know you also have found in Him, the way to your salvation! Gary

  29. oneg2dblu says:
    April 2, 2012 at 8:53 am

    Without Christ in the picture, you can not fully see God! My freind Laraine with the Buddha statue in her garden came home yesterday to find the a neighbor had left a palm branch in her refrigerator.
    See emailed me and said she had just read, that Jesus Claims to be the Son of God. She is reading now in both Genesis and John and says she needs to read that statement over and over, and also much more. Thanking me for all the bibles I have sent her, but I can’t wait for the day see realizes “Who” is actually is working in the background of her life here, calling her to himself. In His timing… Gary
    PS Buddha can’t leave a branch in your refrigerator!

  30. poohpity says:
    April 2, 2012 at 11:01 am

    Mart, you asked where do we see those three characteristics in Jesus (loving kindness, justice and righteousness) here are just a few or we would have to write out the entire gospels, lol. Matt 9:10-12 NIV; John 8:3-11 NIV; Mark 12:42-44 NLT; Matt 23:4,5 NIV; then His loyalty and faithfulness Matt 26:42 NLT.

  31. foreverblessed says:
    April 2, 2012 at 11:08 am

    HI you all, have been busy being quiet, to seek Jesus.
    I have been a christian for many years, but the essence of His cross which releases us from all our sins, and makes us white as snow, what a profound wonder! Why should I want to “know” so much knowledge, as we were searching in the lost topic, and do not even know the blessedness of being His, through faith in Jesus and His cross.

    Thanks Maru for all your verses, I have another few verses which say that all the essence of the OT is Jesus, and the Salvation that comes through Him.
    Genesis 3:15, Deut 12:23, Deut 18:15,18 , Isaiah 7:14, 52:13-15, 53:1-12,
    and many many more verses in the OT. I was thinking of writing them down one time, and so to be able to preach the Gospel out of the OT, just like Jesus did to the Emmaus walkers. (Many Psalms would fit in here as well, all the psalms which speak of salvation, like Psalm 91:14-15,16).

    for the life is in the blood, we drink the blood of Jesus, when we remember Him in the wine and bread His life in fusion into our lives, which was dead, but now alive in Him through faith. I just read that last week: a person who is almost dead because of the loss of blood, is given life again by a blood infusion. So we were spiritually dead, how can we have life again, but by the blood of Jesus, spiritual life from Him infused into us.
    The breaking of bread in drinking of the wine is such an essence of being christians together. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

    Gary, I pray that Isaiah 52:15b will be for your friend!

  32. yooperjack says:
    April 2, 2012 at 11:55 am

    Don’t forget we have God living in us, the Holy Spirit. That is how we can understand and know God intimately. Read all about it in the NT if you want to know more. Jesus did nothing on His own, He did what the Father told Him to do; as should we.

  33. oneg2dblu says:
    April 2, 2012 at 2:00 pm

    foreverblessed… thank you for your comment. I trust that those who truly know us see us as a palm branch laid down for Him as well. Gary

  34. foreverblessed says:
    April 2, 2012 at 2:25 pm

    Never thought of that, Gary, that we are a palm branch laid down for Jesus so He can meet more lost people. We are a palm branch laid down for others so Jesus can attend them through us. That is the humbly and lowly serving of others, in words if need be.
    Just before I read this about the palm branch I got 2 e-mails of people who I visited last week, and the other one I gave a phone call, and both were so comforted. This must be Jesus, because I did not do anything special. I am so thankful He arranges all our steps. But that I am a palm branch laid down for Him to touch someone else’s heart! I pray all of us, christians are like that more and more, that as Maru wrote, christians also are proof that Christ exists.

  35. poohpity says:
    April 2, 2012 at 5:07 pm

    Mart, good article on “The Roar of Deception” for April 1st.

  36. SFDBWV says:
    April 3, 2012 at 5:38 am

    It has been said that God delights in the three aforementioned matters; loving-kindness, justice, righteousness.

    Yet where does being taken advantage of by another reach a point that their actions of injustice need action from us in order to exact justice?

    It seems that people who use kindness as a means of weakness in another are guilty of affronting both man and God, how can God who seeks justice be pleased by such a matter?

    Are we then guilty in God’s eyes of not showing love by exacting justice where necessary for righteous living?

    God delights in loving-kindness, not speaking here of forgiveness, but how far does an injustice against others need to go before justice is required?

    Are we living righteously when we turn our backs on injustice in the name of loving-kindness?

    It seems to me that in order to live a righteous life that justice also has to be exacted while applying kindness where applicable.

    Steve

  37. remarutho says:
    April 3, 2012 at 7:25 am

    Good Morning Mart and Friends –

    Jesus comes as the great Deliverer of all humankind. He fulfills all the needs of God’s people: God, Priest & King. He tears down the dividing wall (Ephesians 3:14) between the Father and all peoples.
    He sends the Advocate once the veil is removed (2 Corinthians 3:15, 16, 17, 18) to bring fresh understanding to our minds.

    There is a portrait in the Book of Ruth of the kinsman-redeemer. What he accomplishes is what Jesus, through our faith and the working of the Holy Spirit, calls us to do. Boaz, like Jesus, sees Ruth’s needs: justice and loving kindness. Once he sees the woman’s hope and trust in him – even her faith, through Naomi’s encouragement that Ruth should express it, he represents her in court. He claims her, and he does not stop until it is accomplished. (Ruth 4:9, 10)

    In his self-giving, Boaz shows forth the character of Messiah. (Psalm 146:8, 9) He is a righteous man. So, we are to take action in the community. Boaz took into his household two women who were “bowed down.” He takes a real interest in a widow, an alien, and finally brings into the world a legitimate heir, Obed, father of Jesse, father of David. Boaz is a picture of Jesus.

    Blessings,
    Maru

  38. remarutho says:
    April 3, 2012 at 7:27 am

    My reference is Ephesians 2:14 — sorry! Maru

  39. SFDBWV says:
    April 3, 2012 at 8:55 am

    I am focusing my thoughts this morning of Marts last paragraph; “to what extent am I learning to be a part of what He delights in?”

    Often we speak of attempting to live a righteous life and are criticized even by our fellow Christians for it. Yet it is what God wants from us, to live, not a hypocritical pious life, but a life of doing our best to do what is *right* in His eyes.

    I find that in studying the “Beatitudes” there are many examples I could never live up to, but can strive towards. That I may fall short (Romans 3: 23), but am justified by faith (Romans 3: 28) because of the grace of Christ (Romans 3: 24).

    So as I stumble along trying to do what is pleasing to God, sometimes I succeed sometimes I fall short. I must most certainly consciously work toward doing a better job, but know I will from time to time fail and that that is ok, because God knows I am trying.

    Then in my attitude toward others, I am to show the same kind of mercy God has shown me (Luke 6: 36) for God holds me responsible in passing along forgiveness (Luke 6: 38).

    But what about when others make no attempt to either ask forgives or continue to trespass against me, to treat me and others with contempt and violate every condition of social living? Am I to just endure the actions of another? Where they show no signs of remorse or of changing their actions? Are we not also bound to obey the law of the land (1Timothy 2: 1-3)?

    I am out of time.

    Steve

  40. poohpity says:
    April 3, 2012 at 11:11 am

    Steve, have you tried going to the person who is causing you such harm and talking with them. Maybe you may find some resolution. It sounds as if you are hurting real bad, hope everything works out for you.

    I was reminded of Psalms 37:4,23 NIV

  41. yooperjack says:
    April 3, 2012 at 12:32 pm

    Steve: Proverbs 15:1 works for me. Or don’t say anything at all and avoid them as much as possible. Do not let anyone steal your joy, life is way too short.

  42. remarutho says:
    April 3, 2012 at 12:57 pm

    Steve, I wonder about recourse to the law of the land. It is not unrighteous to seek justice for yourself or your family or friends, it seems to me. If there is a wrong that needs to be made right, legal action may be the most appropriate way — or some form of mediation. Just a suggestion. Maru

  43. poohpity says:
    April 3, 2012 at 1:22 pm

    I was reminded of a topic we had in January 19th, 2011 about “Why We See Forgiveness Differently” it offered several pamphlets on forgiveness.

  44. SFDBWV says:
    April 3, 2012 at 2:06 pm

    Pooh, Maru and Jackie, thank you all for your heart felt concern, my purpose in my post is both personal and general.

    For many reasons which I can not get into here on this blog the personal side of it is far too complex and lengthy to discuss.

    Just try being Mayor of a small Municipality and Municipal court Judge for 40 years and deal with every type of person and their problems as well as their transgressions.

    Then try and apply the principals of “loving-kindness, justice and righteousness” to them in every instance as I have attempted to do for all these years.

    Justice often comes into conflict with loving-kindness yet righteousness demands justice.

    I am often too bold and daring and have no problem going to individuals and addressing whatever issue may be between them and I. but most often that does not resolve issues only inflames them.

    Perhaps because of my unique situation I understand better than some the suffering and insult that God endures from the very people He strives to care for; no matter how much He does it is never good enough and everyone second guesses His decisions. To listen to some they could be better at being God than He Himself.

    My primary concern is the care of my son, yet God has seen to it to place added responsibility on me and unlike Jonah I will not run from it and unlike Elijah I will not ask to be replaced. I will obey God and accept His will in all matters great and small.

    Steve

  45. poohpity says:
    April 3, 2012 at 2:25 pm

    I think when we understand that it is only the Lord as Jeremiah was saying, “that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth” Jeremiah 9:24. When we understand and know God well, we will find those characteristics being fully satisfied only in God. Maybe you can groom someone else in your community to help. I know there is only a few hundred people there but surely there is someone who can come alongside you to share the load.

  46. yooperjack says:
    April 3, 2012 at 3:17 pm

    Steve: Your personality is suited for being a Judge; I won’t even go on a county board because I don’t have the patience to deal with people that run their mouth without doing their homework. One can show them all the facts and they won’t let the facts get in the way of what they believe or what they where told by Joe Blow at some tavern.

    No way brother, not me; you just pray for wisdom and let the chips fall where they may or resign. Just don’t let anyone, anything, a job or the devil steal your joy. Life’s too short.

  47. poohpity says:
    April 3, 2012 at 4:30 pm

    To know that our God wants us to know and understand Him, is to me such a wonderful and humbling thought. Hosea was put in a situation to show how God feels about us when we put others things above God in our lives but through it all God told Hosea not to divorce Gomer but to be reconciled to her even though she was an adulteress wife just as we are many times in our lives to God. Hosea 2:16-20 NLT

  48. foreverblessed says:
    April 3, 2012 at 5:03 pm

    Kindness, Justice, righteousness.
    This is all in Jesus, the justice is fulfilled by His sacrifice, all payment has been paid, the judgment for my faults fell on Him.
    Kindness because Jesus wanted to take this upon Him, Love would be a better word,
    and righteousness, because I no longer live, I died with Christ, and now He lives in me through faith, it is His life in me that is righteousness.

    We all like sheep went astray,
    and He took the infirmity upon Him

    If God was so gracious to me,and so full of patience, should I not be full of grace towards others?
    (but if you are a judge: if a law is broken a penalty must follow, the same law for everybody, no respecter of persons, for the alien a different law, and for the poor a harder penalty then for the rich, and defending the cause of the fatherless and widows (but I am no judge, so I should be graceful to my fellow human being).

  49. oneg2dblu says:
    April 3, 2012 at 6:21 pm

    Steve… even if you gave us the particulars we could not walk in your shoes and equally make the right choice between discernment and judgement that you are now burdened with, but God can and does know which way you are to choose. I laways seem to wander back to the garden and ask what if Adam or Eve took their situation to the Lord first, instead of in their own hands? But, like us, we make our bed and sleep in it, many times to our own tossing and turning. But, joy comes in the morning.
    May your morning soon arrive and your tossing and turning come to a resolve that only God can provide.
    Your in Good Hands, so I do not distress in your position but only await it’s passing. Gary

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