Sprint to Repentance - Part I. Amos 5-9, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah 1-5

May the mumbling commence!

We are embarking on the last three days of our year through the Bible.  Now is the time to sprint through the “minor” prophets, who are only minor because of the brief length of their books.  Today we will finish Amos, read Obadiah and Jonah, and then dig five chapters into Micah.  That’s fifteen chapters!  That’s our pace for the next several days.  Wee!

Just look at these wonderful passages, which are built around the theme of repentance.  Some chronicle what we should not do.  Some chronicle what we are doing.  And some chronicle what we should be doing.  Read them below:

Now this is what the Lord says to the family of Israel: "Come back to me and live!  Don't go to worship the idols of Bethel, Gilgal, or Beersheba. For the people of Gilgal will be dragged off into exile, and the people of Bethel will come to nothing." 

Come back to the Lord and live! If you don't, he will roar through Israel like a fire, devouring you completely. Your gods in Bethel certainly won't be able to quench the flames!  You wicked people! You twist justice, making it a bitter pill for the poor and oppressed. Righteousness and fair play are meaningless fictions to you.  (Amos 5:4-7)

"I hate all your show and pretense – the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies.  I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won't even notice all your choice peace offerings.  Away with your hymns of praise! They are only noise to my ears. I will not listen to your music, no matter how lovely it is.  Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, a river of righteous living that will never run dry.” (Amos 5:21-24)

Listen to this, you who rob the poor and trample the needy!  You can't wait for the Sabbath day to be over and the religious festivals to end so you can get back to cheating the helpless. You measure out your grain in false measures and weigh it out on dishonest scales.  And you mix the wheat you sell with chaff swept from the floor! Then you enslave poor people for a debt of one piece of silver or a pair of sandals. (Amos 8:4-6)

But as the ship was sailing along, suddenly the Lord flung a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to send them to the bottom.  Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. And all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold.  So the captain went down after him. "How can you sleep at a time like this?" he shouted. "Get up and pray to your god! Maybe he will have mercy on us and spare our lives." (Jonah 1:4-6)

How terrible it will be for you who lie awake at night, thinking up evil plans. You rise at dawn and hurry to carry out any of the wicked schemes you have power to accomplish.  When you want a certain piece of land, you find a way to seize it. When you want someone's house, you take it by fraud and violence. No one's family or inheritance is safe with you around! (Micah 2:1-2)

Should you talk that way, O family of Israel? Will the Lord have patience with such behavior? If you would do what is right, you would find my words to be good.  Yet to this very hour my people rise against me! You steal the shirts right off the backs of those who trusted you, making them as ragged as men who have just come home from battle.  You have evicted women from their homes and stripped their children of all their God-given rights.  Up! Begone! This is no longer your land and home, for you have filled it with sin and ruined it completely. (Micah 2:7-10)

Many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the Temple of the God of Israel. There he will teach us his ways, so that we may obey him." For in those days the Lord's teaching and his word will go out from Jerusalem. (Micah 4:2)

Let’s wake up to what the Lord is doing in the world.  Let’s leave behind our hypocrisy and take up the Way of the Lord.  Let’s start with our hearts and attitudes and allow God’s Way to grow naturally from our lives.  That is true repentance!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Obedience is Far Better than Sacrifice! Amos 2-4

May the mumbling commence!

In the global context, we live opulent lives here in the States.  And many millions of people suffer from lack of good distribution of food and wealth.  So the Lord will visit trials upon us… trials that have the underlying purpose of causing us to come to repentance.  There’s that theme again!  Look for it in Amos chapter four:

Listen to me, you "fat cows" of Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and who are always asking your husbands for another drink!  The Sovereign Lord has sworn this by his holiness: "The time will come when you will be led away with hooks in your noses. Every last one of you will be dragged away like a fish on a hook!  You will leave by going straight through the breaks in the wall; you will be thrown from your fortresses. I, the Lord, have spoken! 

Go ahead and offer your sacrifices to the idols at Bethel and Gilgal. Keep on disobeying – your sins are mounting up! Offer sacrifices each morning and bring your tithes every three days!  Present your bread made with yeast as an offering of thanksgiving. Then give your extra voluntary offerings so you can brag about it everywhere! This is the kind of thing you Israelites love to do," says the Sovereign Lord. 

"I brought hunger to every city and famine to every town. But still you wouldn't return to me," says the Lord. 

"I kept the rain from falling when you needed it the most, ruining all your crops. I sent rain on one town but withheld it from another. Rain fell on one field, while another field withered away.  People staggered from one town to another for a drink of water, but there was never enough. But still you wouldn't return to me," says the Lord. 

"I struck your farms and vineyards with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured all your fig and olive trees. But still you wouldn't return to me," says the Lord. 

"I sent plagues against you like the plagues I sent against Egypt long ago. I killed your young men in war and slaughtered all your horses. The stench of death filled the air! But still you wouldn't return to me," says the Lord. 

"I destroyed some of your cities, as I destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Those of you who survived were like half-burned sticks snatched from a fire. But still you wouldn't return to me," says the Lord. (Verses 1-11)

Let’s leave behind our ways of opulence and take up the Way of the Lord.  Return to God.  Repent.

Protect the poor and needy.  Sacrifice to God by the way you live your life.  That is the way to obedience… to pleasing the Lord.

May it be so!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

The Call that Echoes Throughout the Ages. Hosea 14 & Joel (& Amos 1)

May the mumbling commence!

The call echoes throughout all generations.  The call echoes through the voice of the prophets of the Lord.  The call to repent comes.  It comes from Elijah to Malachi, from John the Baptist to Jesus, from Peter and Paul to our current day faith leaders.

We find the call to repent as the ending exclamation point in Hosea.  Read Hosea chapter fourteen:

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, for your sins have brought you down.  Bring your petitions, and return to the Lord. Say to him, "Forgive all our sins and graciously receive us, so that we may offer you the sacrifice of praise.  Assyria cannot save us, nor can our strength in battle. Never again will we call the idols we have made 'our gods.' No, in you alone do the orphans find mercy." 

The Lord says, "Then I will heal you of your idolatry and faithlessness, and my love will know no bounds, for my anger will be gone forever!  I will be to Israel like a refreshing dew from heaven. It will blossom like the lily; it will send roots deep into the soil like the cedars in Lebanon.  Its branches will spread out like those of beautiful olive trees, as fragrant as the cedar forests of Lebanon.  My people will return again to the safety of their land. They will flourish like grain and blossom like grapevines. They will be as fragrant as the wines of Lebanon. 

O Israel, stay away from idols! I am the one who looks after you and cares for you. I am like a tree that is always green, giving my fruit to you all through the year." 

Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those who are discerning listen carefully. The paths of the Lord are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them. But sinners stumble and fall along the way.

Return to the Lord.  The call is clear.  Return to the Lord and be forgiven.  Return to the Lord and be healed.

Idolatry and faithlessness will be transformed into steadfast faithfulness to the Lord.  Return and follow the Way of the Lord.  Walk in the Way of God.

And prosperity will return.  But be careful not to forget who the source of prosperity is – the Lord.  Do not be deceived into thinking your own power has brought prosperity… or the power of your allies.  In other words, do not return to the idols of the past… even if they are cleverly disguised as something else.

And we find the call to repent at the heart of the book of the prophet Joel.  Read from Joel chapter two:

That is why the Lord says, "Turn to me now, while there is time! Give me your hearts. Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.  Don't tear your clothing in your grief; instead, tear your hearts." Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful. He is not easily angered. He is filled with kindness and is eager not to punish you.  Who knows? Perhaps even yet he will give you a reprieve, sending you a blessing instead of this terrible curse. Perhaps he will give you so much that you will be able to offer grain and wine to the Lord your God as before! (Verses 12-14)

Our God is not looking for a mere surface change.  Repentance and returning to the Lord is about a heart change – a deep change from within.  Let’s give God our hearts… our attitudes… our dreams.  And God will transform them into what each should become so that each of us can become more like children of the Lord.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Good Leaders Look to Our Leader - the Lord. Hosea 12-13; Luke 1

May the mumbling commence!

With leadership comes responsibility.  So, as the priesthood of believers, let’s do our best.  Doing our best is realizing who the true leader is… the Lord God Almighty.  Read from Hosea chapter thirteen:

In the past when the tribe of Ephraim spoke, the people shook with fear because the other Israelite tribes looked up to them. But the people of Ephraim sinned by worshiping Baal and thus sealed their destruction.  Now they keep on sinning by making silver idols to worship – images shaped skillfully with human hands. "Sacrifice to these," they cry, "and kiss the calf idols!"  Therefore, they will disappear like the morning mist, like dew in the morning sun, like chaff blown by the wind, like smoke from a chimney. 

"I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from your slavery in Egypt. You have no God but me, for there is no other savior.  I took care of you in the wilderness, in that dry and thirsty land.  But when you had eaten and were satisfied, then you became proud and forgot me.  So now I will attack you like a lion, or like a leopard that lurks along the road.  I will rip you to pieces like a bear whose cubs have been taken away. I will tear you apart and devour you like a hungry lion.” (Verses 1-8)

Let’s not revel in pride and forget God.  Let’s not confuse creation with the Creator.  Let’s remember the Lordship of God so we do not fall into idolatry like the people of Ephraim.

In doing so, we will aid the Lord in turning the world right-side-up.  Read the words of Mary, the mother of Jesus, from Luke chapter one:

"Oh, how I praise the Lord. 

How I rejoice in God my Savior! 

For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,

and now generation after generation will call me blessed. 

For he, the Mighty One, is holy,

and he has done great things for me. 

His mercy goes on from generation to generation,

to all who fear him. 

His mighty arm does tremendous things!

How he scatters the proud and haughty ones! 

He has taken princes from their thrones

and exalted the lowly. 

He has satisfied the hungry with good things

and sent the rich away with empty hands. 

And how he has helped his servant Israel!

He has not forgotten his promise to be merciful. 

For he promised our ancestors—

Abraham and his children—

to be merciful to them forever." (Verses 46-55)

Lead our lives, O God.  That would be the greatest mercy we could ever receive.  May we follow you obediently.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

No Protection in Air Strikes or Bombs or Guns. Hosea 10-11; John 21

May the mumbling commence!

The country that we live in – the United States – has a bigger military than any other nation in the world.  We spend far more than any other nation on our military.  And we have come to trust in the strength of our military.

To put it boldly, that is a mistake.  Military might will not save us if we live unjust lives.  Neither will lack of military might cause our downfall if we live just lives and follow God.  Read from Hosea chapter ten:

"But you have cultivated wickedness and raised a thriving crop of sins. You have eaten the fruit of lies – trusting in your military might, believing that great armies could make your nation safe!  Now the terrors of war will rise among your people. All your fortifications will fall, just as they did when Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel. Even mothers and children were dashed to death there.  You will share that fate, Bethel, because of your great wickedness. When the day of judgment dawns, the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.” (Verses 13-15)

Don’t believe in the fantasy that military might can protect us.  It’s a lie, plain and simple.  Military might cannot protect us when we are filled with wickedness.

Protection only comes from our Lord.  God is who we should trust.  It’s not just a saying printed on our money.  It’s truth.

But it’s so easy to fall back into old patterns of living.  We see it over and over again in the Scriptures.  We see it over and over again in our lifetimes.  Indeed, we see it in our own lives.  It’s a part of the human condition.  Read from John chapter twenty-one:

Later Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened.  Several of the disciples were there – Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples. 

Simon Peter said, "I'm going fishing."

"We'll come, too," they all said.

So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night. (Verses 1-3)

With Jesus gone, it was easy to fall back into old patterns.  Simon Peter was a fisherman.  Why not return to fishing?  That was his plan, and because of his leadership in the group, the other followed him.

Back to the boat!  Back to the nets!  And back to the futility!  They still caught no fish all night long.

We will be blessed if we do what God is calling us to do.  We will find success, though success may look quite a bit different than we expect.  But, when we go back to old patterns, we will find frustration.

Guide us, O Holy Spirit, to remain with God and do His righteous will.  It is the way to security.  It’s the way to success.  It’s the way to life.

God, take our lives this day… and every day thereafter.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Relinquish the Whirlwind. Hosea 8-9; John 20

May the mumbling commence!

Harvesting the whirlwind is what we do when we look for salvation from any other source than the Lord.  This truth is spoken about in Hosea chapter eight.  Read a passage from it below:

"O Samaria, I reject this calf – this idol you have made. My fury burns against you. How long will you be incapable of innocence?  This calf you worship was crafted by your own hands! It is not God! Therefore, it must be smashed to bits. 

They have planted the wind and will harvest the whirlwind. The stalks of wheat wither, producing no grain. And if there is any grain, foreigners will eat it.  The people of Israel have been swallowed up; they lie among the nations like an old pot that no one wants.” (Verses 5-8)

We harvest the whirlwind when we confuse the creation with the Creator.  The whirlwind throws our lives into chaos.  There will be nothing to sustain us outside of the Lord our God.  So why go anywhere else?

If we refuse to return to God, we will become like a worthless antique – hopelessly outdated and obsolete.  May we instead grasp the heart and soul of the message.  In the gospel according to John, the author makes no secret about what the heart and soul of the gospel message is.  Read about this overarching purpose from the end of chapter twenty:

Jesus' disciples saw him do many other miraculous signs besides the ones recorded in this book.  But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life. (Verses 30-31)

Believe in Jesus – who he is and how he lived… and you will have eternal life.  It’s that simple.  Relinquish the whirlwind and be revived by the breath of God!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Answering the Call. Hosea 6-7; John 19

May the mumbling commence!

The call comes daily.  God calls us to repentance.  Are we listening for what the Lord desires of us?  Read from Hosea chapter six:

"Come, let us return to the Lord! He has torn us in pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds.  In just a short time, he will restore us so we can live in his presence.  Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him! Then he will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring." 

"O Israel and Judah, what should I do with you?" asks the Lord. "For your love vanishes like the morning mist and disappears like dew in the sunlight.  I sent my prophets to cut you to pieces. I have slaughtered you with my words, threatening you with death. My judgment will strike you as surely as day follows night.  I want you to be merciful; I don't want your sacrifices. I want you to know God; that's more important than burnt offerings.” (Verses 1-6)

Return to the Lord.  Make a u-turn.  God allows them.  Eschew your injurious ways.

God will heal us.  God will bandage our wounds and restore us to full fellowship.  God does these things because of His good Name.

Our love vanishes in the morning like mist.  We are dull and do not respond to the most vehement pleas and calls to action.  Instead we rely solely upon sacrifices and offerings that we make on our Sabbaths.  Forget about day-to-day living.

God calls us to be merciful.  To be merciful is to begin to know God, who is rich in mercy and grace and love.  This kind of love does not disappear with the sunlight of morning.  This kind of love perseveres through all things.

Will we answer that call today?  Will we answer that call together?  Will we claim God as our one and only King?  Or do we look elsewhere for our guidance and instruction?  Do we make the same mistake as the Jewish religious leaders of Jesus’ day?  Read from John chapter nineteen:

Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders told him, "If you release this man, you are not a friend of Caesar. Anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar." 

When they said this, Pilate brought Jesus out to them again. Then Pilate sat down on the judgment seat on the platform that is called the Stone Pavement (in Hebrew, Gabbatha).  It was now about noon of the day of preparation for the Passover. And Pilate said to the people, "Here is your king!" 

"Away with him," they yelled. "Away with him – crucify him!"

"What? Crucify your king?" Pilate asked.

"We have no king but Caesar," the leading priests shouted back. (Verses 12-15)

Do we claim President Obama as our ultimate leader… or anyone else for that matter?  Let’s say an emphatic “NO”!  God is our ultimate leader.  Jesus is our President.  We have no other.  We need no other.

Let’s return to the Lord this day and every day that follows.  Answer that call to mercy.  Answer that call to know the Lord.  Answer that call to know yourself better.  There is nothing better, more godly, to do than that.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

We Are Reclamation Projects. Hosea 4-5; John 18

May the mumbling commence!

When things go wrong, don’t point the finger at other people.  Examine yourself so that you might know your part in the problem.  When we point the finger at others, there are many more fingers pointing back at us.  That includes the most important finger of all – the finger of our Lord. 

And it’s amazing to me how little humanity has changed over the years.  Read from Hosea chapter four:

Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel! The Lord has filed a lawsuit against you, saying: "There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land.  You curse and lie and kill and steal and commit adultery. There is violence everywhere, with one murder after another.  That is why your land is not producing. It is filled with sadness, and all living things are becoming sick and dying. Even the animals, birds, and fish have begun to disappear. 

Don't point your finger at someone else and try to pass the blame! Look, you priests, my complaint is with you!  As a sentence for your crimes, you will stumble in broad daylight, just as you might at night, and so will your false prophets. And I will destroy your mother, Israel.  My people are being destroyed because they don't know me. It is all your fault, you priests, for you yourselves refuse to know me. Now I refuse to recognize you as my priests. Since you have forgotten the laws of your God, I will forget to bless your children.  The more priests there are, the more they sin against me. They have exchanged the glory of God for the disgrace of idols. (Verses 1-7)

Faithfulness and kindness are a dying breed.  People seek less and less to know God.  Instead of conforming to the image of God, we try to form God in our image.

We curse and lie and kill.  We steal and commit adultery.  Violence is still everywhere.  Power is abused.  Murder after murder is committed.

As a result, we are filled with profound sadness.  We are sick and dying.  And we refuse to go to the only one who can heal us – the Lord.

We have infected the world around us.  We see animals diminish in numbers… and then go extinct.  Our natural resources are disappearing before our eyes because of our abuses and excesses.

In circumstances like these, finger pointing is easy to do.  But we are the priesthood of believers.  We are to lead the world in right relationships.  God is not failing, but we are failing God.

May we seek to know You, O Lord!  Through Your Law, we know You.  We become Your children.

Let’s reclaim the glory of God.  Let’s jettison the echo of glory in the creation and the idols we bow down to serve.  Let’s reclaim the blessings of the Lord and follow God’s will for our lives – no matter where it may lead.  Read from John chapter eighteen:

Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest's servant. 

But Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword back into its sheath. Shall I not drink from the cup the Father has given me?" (Verses 10-11)

May we drink from that cup.  

Enough mumbling for now…  

Peace Out

Redemption & Purification - the Road to Glorifying the Lord. Hosea 2-3; John 17

May the mumbling commence!

The Lord is about redemption.  The Lord is about purification.  These two ways are among the ways that God shows love to His children… His wife.  Read Hosea chapter three:

Then the Lord said to me, "Go and get your wife again. Bring her back to you and love her, even though she loves adultery. For the Lord still loves Israel even though the people have turned to other gods, offering them choice gifts. " 

So I bought her back for fifteen pieces of silver and about five bushels of barley and a measure of wine.  Then I said to her, "You must live in my house for many days and stop your prostitution. During this time, you will not have sexual intercourse with anyone, not even with me. " 

This illustrates that Israel will be a long time without a king or prince, and without sacrifices, temple, priests, or even idols!  But afterward the people will return to the Lord their God and to David's descendant, their king. They will come trembling in awe to the Lord, and they will receive his good gifts in the last days.  

Just as Hosea bought back his wife, the Lord has bought us with a price.  The price the Lord paid was much steeper.  It cost Jesus his life.

During the season of Lent, we recognize the sacrifice by denying ourselves from some pleasure.  We fast to travel to the cross with Jesus and to cleanse ourselves.  We fast to focus on the Lord and to prepare ourselves for Resurrection Sunday.  We fast to make ourselves anew into the image of God.

We do well to remind ourselves of this practice outside the context of Lent.  We can benefit from periods of fasting and praying at times throughout the year.  Through this practice, we can glorify the Lord and be a light for Him. 

We will share in God’s glory when we do things like these.  We receive glory so that we might give it back to the Lord.  Read from the beginning of Jesus’ high priestly prayer in John chapter seventeen:

When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he looked up to heaven and said, "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son so he can give glory back to you.” (Verse 1)

Indeed, when we surrender our glory to God, we glorify and please the Lord.  We are obedient to the call of the Lord.  May it be so!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

God is There to Pick up the Pieces. Daniel 9-12; Hosea 1

May the mumbling commence!

We make mistakes.  We are human.  We sin.

But God is there to pick up the pieces.  God has saved us – not because of our worthiness but because of the sake of the Name of the Lord.  Read from Daniel chapter nine:

"O my God, listen to me and hear my request. Open your eyes and see our wretchedness. See how your city lies in ruins – for everyone knows that it is yours. We do not ask because we deserve help, but because you are so merciful. 

O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, listen and act! For your own sake, O my God, do not delay, for your people and your city bear your name." (Verses 18-19)

God does see our wretchedness.  The Lord sees our wretchedness even better than we do.  Help us, O God, to see ourselves more clearly so that we might change.

Help us for the sake of Your Name.

Though we are wretched and give our love to others, help us for Your Name sake.  Help us to see the connection between our idolatry and our adultery.  Read from the first chapter of Hosea.

When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, "Go and marry a prostitute, so some of her children will be born to you from other men. This will illustrate the way my people have been untrue to me, openly committing adultery against the Lord by worshiping other gods." 

So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she became pregnant and gave Hosea a son.  And the Lord said, "Name the child Jezreel, for I am about to punish King Jehu's dynasty to avenge the murders he committed at Jezreel.  In fact, I will put an end to Israel's independence by breaking its military power in the Jezreel Valley." 

Soon Gomer became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to Hosea, "Name your daughter Lo-ruhamah – 'Not loved' – for I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them.  But I, the Lord their God, will show love to the people of Judah. I will personally free them from their enemies without any help from weapons or armies." 

After Gomer had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she again became pregnant and gave birth to a second son.  And the Lord said, "Name him Lo-ammi – ‘Not my people' – for Israel is not my people, and I am not their God. 

Yet the time will come when Israel will prosper and become a great nation. In that day its people will be like the sands of the seashore – too many to count! Then, at the place where they were told, 'You are not my people,' it will be said, 'You are children of the living God.'   Then the people of Judah and Israel will unite under one leader, and they will return from exile together. What a day that will be – the day of Jezreel – when God will again plant his people in his land.  (Verses 2-11)

Yes, we are the children of God.  All our fortune comes from God.  We are created to bring praise to the Name of the Lord.  Let’s worship God only.  No more idols!  No more adultery!

Help us, O Lord, for the sake of Your Name.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out

Overcoming Troubled Waters. Daniel 7-8; John 16

May the mumbling commence!

It’s easy to be troubled when we do not understand how God is working in the world.  It was true for Daniel.  It’s true for us.  Read the last verse of Daniel chapter eight:

Then I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for several days. Afterward I got up and performed my duties for the king, but I was greatly troubled by the vision and could not understand it. (Verse 27)

Daniel was troubled by his dreams.  He did not understand them.  Why should we claim to understand them?  Neither can we understand the ways of this world… or the way that God works.

The one thing that we can know is that Jesus us the Great Overcomer.  We need know nothing else.  Read from John chapter sixteen:

Jesus asked, "Do you finally believe?  But the time is coming – in fact, it is already here – when you will be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me.  I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world."  (Verses 31-33)    

Jesus has overcome.  Jesus has won.  Enough said!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out