Psalm 5:1-3 English Standard Version

1 Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my groaning.

2 Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray.

3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you[a] and watch.

Footnotes [a] Or I direct my prayer to you

Using the footnote that portion of line 3 would read “I prepare a sacrifice for I direct my prayer to you.”

Do we think of directed prayer as a sacrifice? All we are doing is giving up a portion of our time with the understanding that in the morning God is listening.

When did we get the notion that the fist part of our day is the only time that God is paying attention to us?

Matthew 28:19-20 English Standard Version

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

“I am with you always.” That is not a promise to be here for us only in the early morning. So when did that change?

Considering that HIs instruction was to go and make disciples, perhaps Jesus was referring to the church age. This current church age did not truly begin until the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and the Word was declared to many of the Jews that had come from all over the known world for that event.

Many things changed from the OT to the NT and the only reason is because God the Father sent the Son into the world to change everything that was misunderstood into an understanding of the truth in a real and relevant way.

Our old way of thinking and understanding moved from intellectual to faith based relationship in which God the Father sent the Holy Spirit to oversee this life in Christ which we live by faith. The OT only had a few chosen prophets that heard God speak. Now in this church age we have access to the will of God because of the Spirit of Truth. What hasn’t changed is our sacrifice of our time.

John 3:16 English Standard Version (ESV) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Last week I wore a shirt that has a decorative cross pattern with the words “John 3:16” on it.

The checkout girl at the grocery store said to me, “John 3:16, I know what that says.”

So I asked her, “How about John 10:10?”

Her answer was no. So I asked her if she wanted to look up John 10:10 and her answer was a resounding no. Apparently John 3:16 was all she wanted to know about the bible.

Knowing a quote is not understanding the depths of its meaning or believing it for that matter. She would have been more honest with me if she had said “I hate that shirt.”

Hopefully my next encounter with that young lady will be more fruitful. Maybe some curiosity over the verse John 10:10 will cause her to look it up on her phone and discover that bad things happen because of our enemy and it is not God’s fault.

It is not for us to press an issue in a manner that is aggressive and unwelcomed. Plant the seed and let God use that if He should choose to do so to get her attention. I would love nothing more than at our next encounter that she says to me “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Then I will have the opportunity to ask “Who is the thief?”

It isn’t enough to know a thing if you don’t know who you are talking about.

This is why bible studies, small groups, teachings and counselors are so important. They allow us to have the same understanding and be on the same foot with one another.

My personal quote on Facebook is “if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”

It is an arguable point but one that is worthy of discussion.

Joe Kelly’s quote was “Truth Justice and the American Way.”

The fictional character Superman stood for that quote.

Jesus Christ is not fictional but if you don’t know Him then what does it matter if you can quote one line of scripture?