His Whisperings – Page 67 – Inspired by His Word

Psalm 78:1-4 Teaching the next generation

Posted on January 27, 2008 by Janice D. GreenJanuary 27, 2008

¹O my people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth.
²I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter hidden things, things from of old–
³what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us.
⁴We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done. Psalms 78:1-4 (NIV)

These four verses are the beginning of a Psalm written by Asaph in which he teaches the history of the Jewish people beginning with Jacob and his sons in Egypt, through the time of King David. He urges the people to listen as he tells the wondrous story of how God has performed many wonders for the Israelites and impresses upon the people the importance of teaching this to the next generation so they too will learn of the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.

This is why I am blogging. It is my heart’s desire to pass on the truths of the Bible to the next generation. They are not getting Bible teaching on TV, radio, or in the movies. Instead they are being bombarded with one form of blasphemy after another on every front. So few are regular church attendees like their grandparents were. In the majority of schools they are being taught from a humanistic point of view–to look for the answers to their problems from within themselves, to depend on human strength and wisdom. It has become passé to believe in the Bible or to expect God to be anything more than a crutch.

It breaks my heart, too, to see Sunday school classes and youth activities that seem to have the philosophy that getting them in church through fun and games is paramount to teaching the children directly from the Bible. Too many leaders and teachers seem to make the assumption that the Bible is too boring to be interesting to their students, so they sugar coat it so much that the students can easily make the assumption that the characters and tales are little more than fairy tales.

My hope for this blog is that my readers will discover that there is sound wisdom and direction in the Bible. I pray that they will hunger and thirst to read the Bible for themselves, and that they will find the power, strength, comfort, and direction for life that can be found within its pages.

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Psalm 146:1-7 Trust God, not earthly leaders

Posted on January 26, 2008 by Janice D. GreenJanuary 26, 2008

1 Praise the LORD.      Praise the LORD, O my soul.
     2 I will praise the LORD all my life;
     I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

3 Do not put your trust in princes,
     in mortal men, who cannot save.
4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
     on that very day their plans come to nothing. 5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
     whose hope is in the LORD his God,
6 the Maker of heaven and earth,
     the sea, and everything in them–
     the LORD, who remains faithful forever.
7 He upholds the cause of the oppressed
      and gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets prisoners free,
Psalm 146:1-7 (NIV)

The Lord alone is worthy of continuous praise. When we put too much confidence in any one person, we may find God taking that person out of our circle. I grew up with an older brother who I adored. And when I started college, joy of joys, we were thrown into the same group of friends. I loved being known as Keith’s sister and found a certain amount of self-identity there. But at the end of our first year with our wonderful new friends, Keith was suddenly and without warning taken up to be with the Lord. …along with my confidence in who I was as his sister. Now I would have to be my own person with no crutch to lean on. It was a scary thought. So it is with putting too much trust in any one person. Pastors come and go, or rise and fall. Husbands and wives may find themselves abandoned through death or divorce. Government leaders change and often disappoint us. God encourages us to seek good counsel, but our highest source of direction must come from our Heavenly Father, and nothing short of Him.

The God who made us knows us completely. He knows what we need and is able to provide for us. He knows how to separate what we want from what we need; he knows what is truly good for us. We can trust in him fully without reservation. He alone is worthy of our praise.

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Luke 12:15-21 Bigger Barns

Posted on January 26, 2008 by Janice D. GreenJanuary 26, 2008

15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”‘

20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

21 “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:15-21 (NIV)

What do we do with our abundance? The man in this parable was so thrilled with his good crop. He knew he had more than enough to last for a long time so he made up his mind to build bigger barns to store the excess so he could take life easy from that time on. Little did he know that God had other plans and he would not live to see the next morning.

But what do we do with our excess possessions? Build bigger barns in the form of bigger closets, bigger storage buildings, bigger homes, second homes?

Before I appear to be anti-rich people, let me turn on myself. My house is small in typical American standards (though fantastic in the eyes of the third world standards). We are always running out of space for the things we want at our fingertips. So what do we do? Enclose the carport and add another storage area behind our home. Are we not guilty of the same thing that Jesus faulted the rich farmer of doing? We waste money on hoarding things that might benefit others, but they are things we can’t bear to part with. They are things that weigh us down rather than lift our eyes to Jesus. I pity our children and grandchildren who may have to sort it all out one day if we don’t get around to it.

Dear Heavenly Father, bless this mess by helping us to rise above it. Help us to trim it down to a size that blesses and honors you.

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Luke 12:32-34 Kingdom Treasures

Posted on January 25, 2008 by Janice D. GreenJanuary 25, 2008

32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 32-34 (NIV)

Referring to us as sheep, Jesus reminds us that we don’t need to be afraid. He understands our fears and our limitations, yet he reassures us that it pleases God to give us his kingdom. He wants to bless us.

Then Jesus encourages us to sell our possessions and give to the poor. Wow! That can feel like a punch in the stomach if our eyes are focused on the things we have worked so hard to get or the things we are still striving to obtain. But while struggling to regain our composure, Jesus gently assures us by encouraging us to provide for ourselves purses that will not wear out. The things we give away in this world are the treasures we are storing up for ourselves in heaven.

When we store up treasures for ourselves on earth, we are always at risk of having them stolen or otherwise taken from us. When we give them to others who need them, we are placing our treasures in heaven where they will never be destroyed.

We so much need the courage to step out in faith on this teaching. Here in America where we have so much, especially in comparison to what people have in the impoverished nations of the world, yet we cringe to consider giving up what we have and settling for less. Lord, help us to focus our eyes on you so much that we will be willing to let you replace these earthly treasures that keep us down with heavenly treasures that will lift us up.

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Luke 12:29-31 Seek God and his kingdom, not things.

Posted on January 24, 2008 by Janice D. GreenJanuary 24, 2008

²⁹ And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. ³⁰ For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. ³¹ But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Luke 12:29-31 (NIV)

If we will pause to think of the people and their culture in which Jesus first gave this teaching, it will help us to bring it into perspective. People raised their own food, made their own clothes, and lived in homes we would consider sub-standard in our day and time. The primary modes of travel was by foot, by donkey, or camel. The average person’s wardrobe would probably have fit in a suitcase. Their water was drawn in pots from public wells.

Keeping this in mind, re-read the passage again. Somehow it has a greater impact when we realize that food, drink, and clothing were not taken for granted by these people. For many, to have more than this would be luxury.

In our culture these items are taken for granted by most. We find ourselves setting our hearts on bigger homes, nicer cars, bigger retirement accounts, computers with all the latest features, bigger TVs and sound systems, boats, RVs, second homes, the list goes on and on…

I understand that statistics have shown that persons who have the least are the most likely to tithe their income, while those with the greatest resources give the smallest proportion of their income to others.

How safe do we have to feel before we can trust God to meet all our needs? Is it true that the more we have, the less we trust him? What is the Father asking of you or me that we are afraid to give? How wholehearted are we seeking his kingdom? What is getting in the way?

Lord, help me to give all of myself in your service. Help me to seek you and your kingdom with all of my heart. Help me to prioritize my days and hours to spend personal time with you every day, so there will be no question about how you would have me order my steps.

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.