Christian Notebook

My small group is doing Keeping Your Focus When Your Dreams Are Shattered - A Study on Joseph - (Genesis 37-50). In the second lesson, it lists 22 characteristics of God. Each characteristic has about two or three verses. But they only give the reference, not the verse itself. They make the point that it's good to look up verses in your bible and write the characteristic in the margin. But I also like being able to look through all the verses together.

Here's all the characteristics with their complete verses from the ESV.

Omniscient - God knows all. He has a perfect knowledge of everything that is past, present, or future.

Do you know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge, (Job 37:16 ESV)

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. (Psa 139:1-6 ESV)

Omnipotent - God possesses all power. He is able to bring into being anything that He has decided to do, with or without the use of any means.

Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” (Gen 18:14 ESV)

“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. (Job 42:2 ESV)

“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me? (Jer 32:27 ESV)

Omnipresent - God is present everywhere, in the entire universe, at all times, in the totality of His character.

The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. (Pro 15:3 ESV)

“Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. (Jer 23:23-24 ESV)

Eternal - God has no beginning, and He has no end. He is not confined to the finiteness of time or of man’s reckoning of time. He is, in fact, the cause of time.

For I lift up my hand to heaven and swear, As I live forever, (Deu 32:40 ESV)

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:”I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. (Isa 57:15 ESV)

• Joseph precepts

An interesting devotion on "Santa Claus is coming to town"

"No Disappointment Here"

December 26, 2006

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. Titus 3:4-5

You've probably all heard the following lyrics: "He knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake." Santa has become known for rewarding the good and punishing the bad. After all, this is the way the world works and Santa is a very worldly guy.

Fortunately, Jesus doesn't work that way at all! Scripture tells us that, apart from Jesus, "there is no one righteous, not even one" (Romans 3:10). If our salvation depended on the theory of Santa, then no one would be saved … because no one could ever be good enough to earn salvation on his or her own merit. Jesus saved us because He is merciful, not because we deserved it.

Jesus knows exactly how full of sin we are, and yet He came to save us at great personal cost. No wonder St. Paul tells Titus about the "kindness and love of God our Savior." Santa might be a symbol for kindness and generosity, but he can't compare to Jesus. You can truly put your faith in Jesus and never be disappointed.

Prayer: Dearest King of Kings, born to us a child in Bethlehem to take away the sin of the world, may we ever adore Thee Christ our Lord. Amen.

© 2006 Lutheran Hour Ministries

There is a Christmas song that sings about Jesus coming down to beat up Santa for stealing Christmas. Which is absolutely ridiculous.

A clipping from Power Games, a Lutheran Hour Ministries Daily Devotion:

Some people, including some Christians, say, “My God is bigger than your god,” as if this were something to boast about. Fortunately Jesus didn’t feel that way when He came to live among us. Jesus has power, but you wouldn’t know it to look at Him. Jesus didn’t come to play the power game; He came to be our Savior. He meekly let them crucify Him so that He could take the fire and we might escape.

This devotion explains how nowadays people think Santa Claus is real, but the birth of Jesus is the fairy tale. It's so bizarre to think how people get it all flipped around!

According to Ask Yahoo, less than 3 percent of mammals are monogamous. So the first thing that runs through many people's minds are, "ah-ha! so humans are not meant to have a mate for life." But on the contrary, it just shows us how unique humans are. We are not animals. We are special creatures created in God's image.

There's an interesting devotion by Lutheran Hour Ministries called "You can't do it all":

October 17, 2006

"Select capable men from all the people -- men who fear God ... and appoint them as officials." Exodus 18:21

Moses had to learn what to do. He had to learn what not to do. It was harder to learn what to have others do. Learning to delegate is a hard lesson. Bookstores are filled with books offering help. A recent fad book portrayed such insights to be learned in one minute.

In one minute you can read Exodus 18:17-23. It is the word of Jethro to his son-in-law, Moses. Jethro outlined the art of delegation. He said that Moses should get others to help so the objectives would be met. When studying administration at the University of Nebraska, I was surprised to see this Bible story in secular textbooks. Dwight L. Moody, an evangelist of a bygone day said: "It is better to train ten people to work than to do the work of ten people."

Jesus trained the Twelve. He also trained the 70, then 120 more. He knew that He was returning to heaven. Others would carry on the mission of proclaiming salvation. He enlisted and equipped people for ministry, then sent them out. The principle still applies. Jesus still gives pastors, teachers, and other workers "to prepare God's people for works of service" (Ephesians 4:12).

PRAYER: Help us, Lord, to do Your work as best we can and to enlist others to help. Amen.

I need to learn to be better at asking people to help me with projects. I always want to do them myself.

And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. -Genesis 3:14.

It's interesting how God tells the serpent that he has to crawl on his belly.

In hebrew belly is: gachown (hebrew lexicon). I did a google search for gachown, and not many results come up that really go depth into this.

Theology web says this:

In the case of the "talking snake" who tempted Adam and Eve, it is clear that this serpent was Satan because this is consistent with all the other references in scripture which identify the serpent as Satan. There are other points in this passage that support this interpretation which I have already mentioned in this thread. BTW, there are two Hebrew words that constitute the so-called "legless" idea, . gachown:H1512 and yalak:H3212, which mean "belly" and "go". This is translated literally as "on your belly you will go".

Because there are only 2 actual words used in the Hebrew text, the rest being an interpreter interpolation, it may be that this is just another case of a "figure of speech" similar to our "hit the road, brother". People who read scripture a lot have found that God apparently likes "puns" and the one's surrounding the "talking snake" story seem to be real beauts.

I was always kinda confused why God would use a brass serpent to heal the Israelites. But here's a good explanation from Smiths Bible Dictionary:

When God punished the murmurs of the Israelites in the wilderness by sending among them serpents whose fiery bite was fatal, Moses, upon their repentance, was commanded to make a serpent of brass, whose polished surface shone like fire, and to set it up on the banner-pole in the midst of the people; and whoever was bitten by a serpent had but to look up at it and live. (Numbers 21:4-9) The comparison used by Christ, (John 3:14,15) adds a deep interest to this scene. To present the serpent form, as deprived of its power to hurt, impaled as the trophy of a conqueror was to assert that evil, physical and spiritual, had been overcome, and thus help to strengthen the weak faith of the Israelites in a victory over both. Others look upon the uplifted serpent as a symbol of life and health, it having been so worshipped in Egypt. The two views have a point of contact, for the serpent is wisdom . Wisdom, apart from obedience to God, degenerates to cunning, and degrades and envenoms man’s nature. Wisdom, yielding to the divine law, is the source of healing and restoring influences, and the serpent form thus became a symbol of deliverance and health; and the Israelites were taught that it would be so with them in proportion as they ceased to be sensual and rebellious. Preserved as a relic, whether on the spot of its first erection or elsewhere the brazen serpent, called by the name of Nehushtan , became an object of idolatrous veneration, and the zeal of Hezekiah destroyed it with the other idols of his father. (2 Kings 18:4)

In my Bible Study group, we are currently studying "Gripped by the Greatness of God" by James MacDonald. The study is split up into seven weeks. In each of those seven weeks are five days of studies. At the beginning of each of those days it asks the reader to "Meditate on God's Name" with a particular verse. I really enjoy this section of the study, so I'm putting the whole collection up online.

Eventually, I want to look up the Greek/Hebrew origins of each verse and make a chart to hang up at work. I'll post that chart on my blog here when it's done.

Chapter 1: Introduction to Gripped by the greatness of God

Lord God Almighty Revelation 4:8 KJV
KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS Revelation 19:16
The Majesty on high Hebrews 1:3
Him who is able to keep you from stumbling Jude 24
Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end Revelation 21:6

Chapter 2: Gripped by the Holiness of God

The Holy One of Israel Isaiah 1:4
God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth Genesis 14:19
Lord--Yahweh Isaiah 1:2
The LORD who sanctifies you Exodus 31:13
The LORD, who makes you holy Exodus 31:13 NIV
Holy Spirit of God Ephesians 4:30

Chapter 3: Gripped by the Awesomeness of God

The great, the mighty, and the awesome God Deuteronomy 10:17
The Creator of the ends of the earth Isaiah 40:28
Ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations 2 Chronicles 20:6
Our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and lovingkindness Nehemiah 9:32
Lord, the great and awesome God Daniel 9:4

Chapter 4: Gripped by the Sovereignty of God

Sovereign LORD Isaiah 40:10 NIV
The One... causing well-being and creating calamity Isaiah 45:7
The head over all rule and authority Colossians 2:10
Jesus Christ, ... the Ruler of the kings of the earth Revelation 1:5
Our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ Jude 4

Chapter 5: Gripped by the works of God

The Author and Pefector of faith Hebrews 12:2
One who wipes out your transgressions Isaiah 43:25
Him who loves us and released us from our sins Revelation 1:5
The Word John 1:1
The Truth John 14:6
Fountain of Living Waters Jeremiah 2:13

Chapter 6: Gripped by the worship of God

The Father of glory Ephesians 1:17
God who sees Genesis 16:13
Father of mercies and God of all comfort 2 Corinthians 1:3
The Light of the world John 8:12
LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth Exodus 34:6

Chapter 7: Gripped by my identity in God

The Maker of all Jeremiah 10:16
Redeemer Isaiah 41:14; 47:4; 54:8; 63:16
He who formed you Isaiah 43:1
Faithful and True Revelation 19:11
The LORD your Redeemer Isaiah 43:14
Great and Awesome God Deuteronomy 7:21

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• jamesmacdonald