Why did Jesus bother with parables?
Why did Jesus bother with parables if, as he said in Matthew 13:13, They seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand?
Many years ago, in my youth, I used to do marathon walking, up to 50 miles (80 kilometres) a day. One evening I was walking at dusk, and just as I wondered if I was coming close to the next town, or whether I should rest on the side of the road until the morning, a motor vehicle drove past, headlights blazing, illuminating a reflective sign on the roadside ahead telling the distance to the next town. No, I hadn't seen the sign ahead in the darkness, but the reflected light from the vehicle was all that I needed for it to be visible. Jesus' parables were like that sign in the dark. Truth couldn't be seen until light was shed upon it. Truth was there, it just couldn't be seen. Jesus' parables are within our reading or hearing. We need the light of God's Spirit for us to be able to see them so that seeing we will see and hearing we will hear and understand.
-- Lionel Hartley.
Pride Vs Humility
Pride Vs Humility
If you want to see the stars at any time, day or night, there is an easy way to do this. All you need is a fireplace with a tall straight chimney - and look up the chimney. However, to see the stars you need to get down as low as possible and possibly get dirty in the process. The same with life. If we want to reach for the stars we need to accept that humility is the best course, even if it means getting our hands soiled in the process.
-- Lionel Hartley ©
If you come closer, I'll tell you how it feels...
Last night in our family devotions we read the verse, "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." (James 1:22 KJV)
This morning my wife Rosemary said that her back felt sore. I responded. "If you come closer, I'll tell you how it feels to have your back massaged."
As she drew near I began to tell her how nice it feels to have a caressing hand in contact with one's back, a firm but gentle pressure, a caring touch administered with compassionate concern, loosening muscles and relaxing the whole body.
As I continued to tell her how wonderful it would feel to have her back massaged, she interrupted me to say that rather that just hearing about it, she would much rather actually experience it. Hearing about it was good, but not what she really needed or wanted. (Gratefully, she knew I was teasing her.)
The lesson applies to our talk about our Saviour. It is really great to talk about what we could do for Him, to talk about what we will do for Him, to talk about where we could go for Him, but what He really wants is action.
-- Lionel Hartley ©
What's inside?
Inside every girl is a young woman waiting to blossom.
Inside every boy is a fireman or engine driver bursting to be revealed.
Inside every skinny woman is an average-build woman hiding in the shadows.
Inside every fat woman is a skinny one trying to get out.
Inside every skinny man is a muscular man hoping to be seen.
Inside every fat man is another fat man saying, “Who cares?”
©July 2011 Lionel Hartley
The Measure of Friendship
Friendship is not measured
By day or by year
Nor by miles or kilometers
By far or by near...
Nor by rule or by dictate
Command or by law
Nor freedom from argument
Disagreement or war.
Friendship is not even measured
By how much we share
But by love and concern
And showing we care.
-- Lionel Hartley © 2011
God Speaks to Man in a Variety of Ways
God Speaks to Man in a Variety of Ways:
Asaph the Psalmist: The Sanctuary - Psalm 73:17; Signs and Wonders - Psalm 77:14-20
Balaam: Donkey - Num. 22:28-30
David the Psalmist: Creation - Psalm 145:10-12; Outer Space - Psalm 19:1; Children - Psalm 8:2
Disciples and contemporaries of Jesus: Jesus in person - Matthew 5:2
Ethan the Ezrahite: Creation & God's past leading - Psalm 89:8-14
Gad the prophet: Message - 2 Sam. 24:11
Gideon: Fleece - Jud. 6:36-40
Isaiah: Vision - Isa. 6:1-13
Jerusalem Council: Baptism of the Spirit - Acts 11:1-18
John the Revelator: Angel - Rev 1:1
Joshua: Army Commander - Josh. 5:13-15
Magi: Star - Matt. 2:1-10
Manoah and his wife (Sampson's Parents): Angel - Jud. 13:20,21
Mary the mother of Jesus: Angel - Luke 1:26-38
Moses: Burning Bush - Ex. 3:1-6
Moses: Face-to-face - Ex. 33:11
Nebuchadnezzar: Dream - Dan.2:1-28
People of Isaiah's time: Mountains, Hills and Trees - Isaiah 55:12
Samuel: Voice - 1 Sam 3:4-14
The wise: Proverbs - Proverbs 1:5,6; By Fearing God - Vs 2; By Heeding Parents - Vs 8
The Writer of the book of Hebrews: Witnesses of Faith - Hebrews 11:1 - 12:1
Unnamed Psalmist: The Law - Psalm 119
You and I: God's Word - Revelation 1:3
You and I: Holy Spirit - John 16:13
You and I: The witness of Jesus - Hebrews 1:1, 1 Peter 2:21
-- Lionel Hartley ©
Asaph the Psalmist: The Sanctuary - Psalm 73:17; Signs and Wonders - Psalm 77:14-20
Balaam: Donkey - Num. 22:28-30
David the Psalmist: Creation - Psalm 145:10-12; Outer Space - Psalm 19:1; Children - Psalm 8:2
Disciples and contemporaries of Jesus: Jesus in person - Matthew 5:2
Ethan the Ezrahite: Creation & God's past leading - Psalm 89:8-14
Gad the prophet: Message - 2 Sam. 24:11
Gideon: Fleece - Jud. 6:36-40
Isaiah: Vision - Isa. 6:1-13
Jerusalem Council: Baptism of the Spirit - Acts 11:1-18
John the Revelator: Angel - Rev 1:1
Joshua: Army Commander - Josh. 5:13-15
Magi: Star - Matt. 2:1-10
Manoah and his wife (Sampson's Parents): Angel - Jud. 13:20,21
Mary the mother of Jesus: Angel - Luke 1:26-38
Moses: Burning Bush - Ex. 3:1-6
Moses: Face-to-face - Ex. 33:11
Nebuchadnezzar: Dream - Dan.2:1-28
People of Isaiah's time: Mountains, Hills and Trees - Isaiah 55:12
Samuel: Voice - 1 Sam 3:4-14
The wise: Proverbs - Proverbs 1:5,6; By Fearing God - Vs 2; By Heeding Parents - Vs 8
The Writer of the book of Hebrews: Witnesses of Faith - Hebrews 11:1 - 12:1
Unnamed Psalmist: The Law - Psalm 119
You and I: God's Word - Revelation 1:3
You and I: Holy Spirit - John 16:13
You and I: The witness of Jesus - Hebrews 1:1, 1 Peter 2:21
-- Lionel Hartley ©
Feeling down-in-the-mouth?
Last weekend, a spelling error that I noticed in a PowerPoint slide of Newton’s hymn Amazing Grace provided my journal with an interesting object lesson (not to be read at mealtime).
In the first verse of the hymn a line on the screen read: “That saved a retch like me” instead of “That saved a wretch like me”.
A wretch (spelled with a W) is one for whom we feel sorry whereas a retch (spelled without a W) is that which is spued out of the mouth.
However, this lapsus calami may still have been quite biblical.
Leviticus 18:25 & 28 speaks of the land vomiting out its evil inhabitants and Leviticus 20:22 speaks of the obedient ones not being vomited out of the land.
In Job 20:15 we read the words of one of Job’s “friends”, Zophar the Naamathite. Zophar’s discourse upon the certain misery of the wicked includes the expression, “He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.” (Which is just another way of saying that wickedness is a retch.)
After the well-known expression “[As a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he” the proverb continues, “ Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words. (Proverbs 23:7,8)
Proverbs 25:16 warns against eating too much honey (remembering that honey, according to Proverbs 24:13, is good for you.) confirming that too much of a good thing is bad for us. (This warning is repeated in Proverbs 25:27.)
Revelation 3:16 reads, “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” This is the most unequivocally definitive verse likening us (embarrassingly) to vomit!
However the most reassuring verse in the Bible in relation to us being a retch is found in Jonah 2:10 where God caused Jonah the wretch (spelled with a W) to become Jonah the retch (spelled without the W) in order to give Jonah a second chance. It says “And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.” Jonah then changed from retch to revivalist, from throw-up to show up, from puke to preacher, from sick to sermoniser, from filled with spew to filling the pew, in short, Jonah was called from the vomit by God to the vocation of God.
Finally, if you’re feeling down-in-the-mouth over this, remember Jonah. He came out all right!
-- Lionel Hartley ©14 April 2011
In the first verse of the hymn a line on the screen read: “That saved a retch like me” instead of “That saved a wretch like me”.
A wretch (spelled with a W) is one for whom we feel sorry whereas a retch (spelled without a W) is that which is spued out of the mouth.
However, this lapsus calami may still have been quite biblical.
Leviticus 18:25 & 28 speaks of the land vomiting out its evil inhabitants and Leviticus 20:22 speaks of the obedient ones not being vomited out of the land.
In Job 20:15 we read the words of one of Job’s “friends”, Zophar the Naamathite. Zophar’s discourse upon the certain misery of the wicked includes the expression, “He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.” (Which is just another way of saying that wickedness is a retch.)
After the well-known expression “[As a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he” the proverb continues, “ Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words. (Proverbs 23:7,8)
Proverbs 25:16 warns against eating too much honey (remembering that honey, according to Proverbs 24:13, is good for you.) confirming that too much of a good thing is bad for us. (This warning is repeated in Proverbs 25:27.)
Revelation 3:16 reads, “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” This is the most unequivocally definitive verse likening us (embarrassingly) to vomit!
However the most reassuring verse in the Bible in relation to us being a retch is found in Jonah 2:10 where God caused Jonah the wretch (spelled with a W) to become Jonah the retch (spelled without the W) in order to give Jonah a second chance. It says “And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.” Jonah then changed from retch to revivalist, from throw-up to show up, from puke to preacher, from sick to sermoniser, from filled with spew to filling the pew, in short, Jonah was called from the vomit by God to the vocation of God.
Finally, if you’re feeling down-in-the-mouth over this, remember Jonah. He came out all right!
-- Lionel Hartley ©14 April 2011
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