Cultural Influences

“Culture is considered to be group-specific behavior that is acquired, at least in part, from social influences.”

            When I look back over my life I realize that I’ve been influenced by so many different social settings, and cultural influences. Of course our families are first. Those first years at home dictate how we will think and feel about so many things. Then comes Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers and eventually kindergarten, and from there, it sort of gets crazy. Not only are you learning from your teachers, but you are influenced by every text book, and every person sitting in those desks in the room with you. Every time we moved, which was quite a bit, all of these outside influences multiplied. Church was always a big part of our lives and I was definitely influenced by Pastors through the years and Sunday School teachers. If you think of all of the things, situations and people throughout your life that had an impact, it is really pretty amazing.

            Ten years of living in an Eastern European country really threw me for a loop, but had even more of an impact on our children, because it came during their formative years. I’ve talked about this in earlier posts, but will probably repeat it more than once. No matter what “social setting” we are in, we have to be able to come back to an absolute standard for truth. How do we know what is right and wrong?

Mr. Rogers said, “You make each day a special day. You know how, by just your being you. There's only one person in this whole world like you. And people can like you exactly as you are.” Really?

My textbooks and teachers from the 6^th grade on up taught that we are evolving, and there is some sort of “missing link” between us and our “ancestors”, the primates. Seriously?

I had a Sunday School teacher in High School that told us that people in our association of churches were the only ones going to heaven. Can we say, lunatic?

I’m telling you that in 45 years I have had A LOT of information coming in and going out! How do we filter it? I suppose I realized that many of the things that I post may have too much of me in them. I never mean to be obnoxious or offensive. I’m sure there are many of you who disagree with much of what I write. The older I get the more I realize that I don’t know much. You know how when you finally get out of your teens and the day comes that you realize your mother wasn’t so stupid after all? Well, somewhere around 40 it hit me that everyone in the world has their own idea of what is true. And guess what? They all think they’re right! But I’ll let you in on another little secret. When two people disagree, they can’t both be right, but they can both be wrongJ Only God is always right and true on every issue, anywhere, all the time.

For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth. Psalm 33:4

Authority - Part 4

Children are to obey their parents in the Lord, the Bible says, “…for this is right.” So the man has authority over his wife, and the husband and wife both have authority over their children. Parents sometimes delegate authority of their children to others when they can’t be with them. Some parents choose to send their children to day care or to public school, and when they do this, they are giving over authority to those caring for their children at the time. Delegating authority works alright, within reason, if the people that you delegate authority to can be trusted. Sometimes, you know your child’s teacher.(Great) They may even be wonderful Christian people. (Even better) Thank God for Christian teachers who have a godly impact on our children, but many times, we don’t know them and certainly don’t know if we can trust them.

“From kindergarten through the 12^th grade, children spend 14,000 seat hours in school. Yes, I said, Fourteen Thousand! The average evangelical, Christian family spends about 30 minutes a WEEK discussing spiritual matters.” Vodie Baucham  “A STUDENT IS NOT ABOVE HIS TEACHER,BUT EVERYONE WHO IS FULLY TRAINED WILL BE LIKE HIS TEACHER.” Luke 6:40

Is it really any wonder that, as evangelicals, we are losing around 80% of our children by their freshman year of college? I’m saying they walk away from God and the church. How can this be happening? Let me tell you how. No one takes their role of authority seriously.

-       The government wants to be our God, but can’t even take care of themselves. They’ve taken our country and sold us into slavery to the highest bidder.

-       Pastors and churches have given up their authority because people won’t support the truth. The people want a 15 minute feel good sermon that doesn’t interfere with their lives. Most pastors have become hirelings who hand over authority to deacons and their wives.

-       Many husbands and fathers have traded in their authority because they don’t want to be the “bad guy”. Let mom decide. Ask your mother. I don’t know, honey, whatever you think. This is really just a form of selfishness by the way. God says if you love your children you will discipline them. Ephesians 6:4 says, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

-       Parents have given control of their children’s physical and mental well being to the state run school system, even to the point of them being taught that they evolved from monkeys and that God is for fools and old people. Oh yeah, you don’t even have enough sense to pack your kid’s lunch. I mean, a ham and cheese sandwich? Come on! Worse that this, we give our spiritual authority away and expect our children to get what they need spiritually from their Sunday School teacher and their youth leader. We don’t really have time, and besides they are trained professionals? Really?

“Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the Lord swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.” Deuteronomy 11: 18-22

Lord, help us, I realize we can’t know the good or do it without you.

Who's on Third? - Authority (part 3)

In the garden when Adam and Eve sinned, God cursed the snake first, and then dealt with Eve. “Unto the woman He said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” The word that is translated “rule” here is the same word that is used when a king has dominion or rule over his kingdom. Sorry ladies, but it is a curse, after allJ  God goes on to curse Adam with the responsibility of working and sweating to bring forth food to care for his wife and family. The fact remains that God put the man as an authority over the woman. What an unpopular concept! But these two didn’t get a trial by a jury of their peers, this judgment was sent down by God.

In the Old Testament God generally dealt with men. He dealt with fathers of families, He dealt with Patriarchs, Kings, Judges, Priests and so on. The poster child for women’s equality is always Deborah in the book of Judges because she was a Prophetess. If you read through the book of Judges, most of what Deborah did was done from home. Also, just because something happens and is chronicled in the Bible doesn’t make it an example of the way things should be. Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines, (for goodness sake) and we certainly don’t hold him up as the role model for our husbands! We also read of times in Israel that God searched for a man to do His will, and found none. In Ezekiel 22:30 it says, “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.” In Isaiah 3:12 Isaiah is proclaiming the wickedness of His people and that men were saying, “…make me not a ruler of the people.”vs.7, and then further condemns them in vs. 12 when he says, “As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.” Children oppressing them and women ruling over them was NOT considered as a good thing.

The Bible is filled with scripture on women and their role in the family, the home, and the church. I Corinthians says in chapter 11 verse 9, “Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.” Ephesians 5:22-24 states, “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church; and he is the savior of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.” Again in I Peter 3:1-6 “Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands ….Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well….”

I Timothy 2:11,12 after talking about how women should dress, Paul says, “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, not to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” Then in I Corinthians 14:34,35, Paul says, “Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.” What a shame that in most churches today, not only are women speaking and “usurping authority over men” in teaching, but they are also preaching. Wasn’t one of the qualifications of a bishop to be the husband of one wife?

I’m NOT saying that the problem with our world today is women. Actually, whether men accept their role of authority or not, it is still theirs none the less. If a man is not ruling his home well, it is not the woman’s fault, no matter how bossy and overbearing she may be. Responsibility lies with the man, and he will be held accountable by God. 

Civic and Spiritual Authority - (Authority Part 2)

If God is the supreme authority in our lives, who comes next?

 First, we need to realize there are different realms of authority. Our government and political leaders do have the rule over us, like it or not. Even if we didn’t vote for them, we are still to be respectful and obey them as long as they don’t ask us to do something against God and His word. “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men” Titus 3:1,2. Also, unfortunately, even if we believe that the taxes placed on us are unjust or unfair, we are still to pay them. Mark 12:15-17 talks about that. There are civil authorities that God has placed over us, policeman, judges, governors and so on.

Outside of this civil authority, there is another realm of spiritual authority. In the Old Testament it was Prophets and Priests who held this authority. In the New Testament, under the new covenant, spiritual authority was given to the church. This is a foreign concept to many of us, because Pastors and churches have not taken this responsibility seriously. This my friends is where our downfall has come as a nation. Our churches and our Pastors instead of preaching the word of God with authority have compromised and turned the church of the Living God into nothing more than a social club. Years ago churches and pastors had authority and respect in their communities. Now in America we have what I have heard someone call a “haunting of Christ”. We know that churches and men of God are supposed to receive some sort of respect, but we can’t quite remember why.

Paul wrote to the church in Corinth that it was “commonly heard” that there was fornication in the church. He wrote in chapter 5 verse 4,5, “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” Then in verse 13 he says, “Therefore, put away from among yourselves that wicked person.” It is good to read the whole chapter because he talks about judging. I’ve heard so many times, “we are not to judge.” But Paul in chapter 5 tells the church in Corinth to judge itself. He said that God has already judged those outside the church, but that they needed to at least judge those within it.

In I Corinthians 6:1,2 says, “Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world shall be judged by you are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?” In other words the church is to judge itself. Paul, in I and II Timothy, is instructing Timothy how to pastor the Lord’s church. In I Timothy 5:20 he says, “Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.” So, the church has the authority to judge and rebuke and even to put someone out if there is not repentance. It also tells us why the church is to do these things, “…that other also may fear.” The Bible tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom. Those in our churches today have no fear of God, and no honor or respect for the authorities that God has placed over them. If the pastor neglects to preach on sin, and encourage people to live godly lives, then before you know it, we have a church full of people that are no different from the world. Yes, we all sin, but we should never give in to it. Paul talked about the war he had between his flesh and spirit, and then at the end of his life he was able to say, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race”, in II Timothy chapter 4. If we give in to sin, then there is no light on a hill, people cannot find God where He should be, and we are living in Sodom and Gomorrah. 

A New Crop

            As the seasons change, everything begins to wake up. Spring is one of my favorite times of year. Even while it’s still cold outside, the daffodils poke their heads up and bear their bright, beautiful faces. The goats across the way start to have their kids and I can see children leading the newest additions out to green grass. It’s time to trim back the roses, plant fruit trees, and herbs (my favorite).

So every year, it seems, there is a new crop of kids, flowers, vegetables and farm animals all coming up together. In the morning as I look out my upstairs window before coming down, I see Josiah(6) coming out of the chicken pen with his bucket of eggs. He was so excited this week because the ducks and geese have started laying and he gets BIG eggs. Then Haley comes along pulling a mamma goat twice her size by a rope and a little baby goat is following along behind. One of the other girls is over milking when I go out to pick some parsley and a couple of green onions to put in our morning omelet.

            Our rabbits didn’t make it through the heat last summer, but the garden still did good. We have a lot in the freezer from the harvest. I have a couple of bags of peas left and I made salsa with the peppers and tomatoes that is really good. We’ve been eating collard greens and turnips out of the garden the past few weeks. That’s another nice thing about community. I had several things come up last year during the summer including some health problems, and didn’t get to help with the actual planting and tending, but I still got to enjoy some things from the garden. I’m hoping to be more involved this year.

            The year before last we had a huge crop of basil. I’m not sure why it did so well, but we made pesto and then just dried the rest. We still have quite a bit of that left, too. Growing things and “farming” is another one of the things we all enjoy doing together and this morning seemed like the perfect time to write about that. The weather is warming up and it makes me want to get out and “dig in the dirt” as my neighbor, Alyssa, says. Enjoy your spring! Go out and plant something just to watch it grow! Herbs are the best, and mint is my favorite. It takes a lot of water, but multiplies quickly and is hard to killJ

Authority - Part 1

            Authority is a dirty word in our culture. Most people will concede the fact that the government, from the President of the United States to the policeman on the corner of Main Street, USA, has limited authority in their lives. Many people answer to a boss at work and put themselves under that authority. But today like no other time in history, we are raising up a generation of people who will not tolerate authority in their lives.

In a postmodern world where everything is relative and there is no truth, then why would we give place to authority? Who is to say that “Father knows best”. Even the Bible is brought into question, because most of that “stuff” was good for them “during that time”, but we live in a much different world today. Right? Unfortunately, we do, and I propose that it is because God and His word don’t have authority over our lives. We want to be the masters of our own fate, and the rulers of our own destiny.

God’s word in Proverbs chapter 1, verse 7 says, “The fear of the LORD is the BEGINNING of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” The word for fear here in the Hebrew meant to reverence or to dread. ·  God is in control of all things and rules over all things. He has power and authority over nature, earthly kings,  angels, and demons. We see in Job that even Satan himself has to ask God’s permission before he can act. Jesus said in Matthew 28:18 that “all authority” had been given unto Him. If God has all authority, then His words should also.

 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." (2nd. Tim. 3:16-17).

If we trust that God and His word are perfect and true and give them their rightful place of authority over our lives, then there is a chain of authority that follows. God has set up a system of positions and roles that are also perfect and true. I understand that people in positions of authority have misused and abused it time and time again. This just proves that we all need authority over us, someone to answer to, a system of checks and balances.

The centurian in Matthew chapter 8 with the servant that was sick told Jesus that “For I am a man UNDER authority, having soldiers UNDER me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.”

So, there is a chain of command, and God is at the top. One day “every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”

Community Life - Part 6

I promised to talk about some of the things that we as a community enjoy doing together. Several years ago, my husband, who was raised the son of a commercial fisherman near the Gulf of Mexico and loves anything to do with the water, decided he wanted to learn to sail. He and Matt decided to go to Kemah to sailing school. They did go to the school in Kemah and got their certification. For a few years after that, we would rent a boat out of Kemah at least once a year and take a week long sailing trip. Being more of a day sailor myself, I never went on these longer voyages. The trips were mostly made up of men and teens. Our own children were teenagers at the time and always looked forward to these trips.

A couple of years ago there was much research done to find just the right boat and several of us went together and bought a sailboat. The Sonsey, is an Alberg 30, hull # 200, and she really is beautiful. We have had a lot of good times aboard her together, sailing, fishing, and snorkeling. 

There are many ways to enjoy God's creation, this is just one of them. Not only seeing creatures that He made, but feeling the power of the wind and waves and knowing that He controls them. So thankful that the one who controls the elements is also in control of our lives. 

Doesn't she know what causes that?

Of course marriage naturally leads into the subject of children, or should. If marriage is scorned in our society, even by Christians, I suppose it follows that children would be scorned also. Marriage is something to be put off, and children are not even to be thought about until you’ve “lived a little”. If a woman has more than two (a girl for me, a boy for you, and we’re through), then someone is sure to say, “Doesn’t she know what causes that?” As if children were a disease that can be cured.

What does the Bible, God’s Holy Word, have to say about children? Psalm 127:3-5 says, “Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.” What man would not want to be happy, or rewarded, or unashamed? Children are always spoken of as a blessing from God in the Bible, and to be childless was always considered a curse. A very popular verse of scripture today comes from Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 11 where God is speaking to Israel while they are in captivity in Babylon. The most quoted is the NIV version, which reads, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”  If you read the whole chapter it gives a little clearer picture of what God is telling them. He tells them in vs. 5,6 “Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished.” Build houses? Plant gardens? He was telling them they were going to be there a long time! Just get comfortable folks because this slavery that you’re under is not going away any time soon! What about prospering, and not harming? What about hope and a future? Yes, God had plans for them, to give them a future and a hope and to prosper them, but it would be through their children and their children’s children. You see, now that the Bible is all about me and how these verses apply to me, God is suddenly doting on one person instead of a nation or a church. Christianity today has no hope and no future because we are not having children.

God tells Israel to give their sons and daughters in marriage. Why? “…that they may bear sons and daughters.” Mark Steyn wrote an eye-opening book titled, “America Alone” which basically talks about the end of the world as we know it. It doesn’t come by global warming or famines, earthquakes or wars, but by our own failure to reproduce. We won’t even figure in the 1.6 million abortions each year in America alone, let’s just discuss the children that are actually being born. Stein explains, “For a stable population – i.e., no growth, no decline, just a million folks in 1950, a million in 1980, a million in 2010 – you need a total fertility rate of 2.1 live births per woman. That’s what America has: 2.1, give or take. (Immigrants help our ratio greatly!” Canada has 1.4, an all-time low… Europe as a whole has 1.38; Japan, 1.32; Russia, 1.14. These countries – or, more precisely, these people – are going out of business.” While most countries in the world are well below replacement level, some are well above. “Niger, is 7.46; Mali, 7.42; Somalia, 6.76; Afghanistan, 6.69; Yemen, 6.58” Can you guess what all these countries have in common? You probably guessed it, they are Islamic.  Not only are Muslim people reproducing and thriving in their own countries, but in other countries as well. Steyn questions, “What’s the Muslim population in Rotterdam? Forty percent. What’s the most popular baby boy’s name in Belgium? Mohammed. In Amsterdam? Mohammed. In Malmo, Sweden? Mohammed.” And he surmises, “In the fourteenth century, the Black Death wiped out a third of the Continent’s population; in the twenty-first, a larger proportion will disappear – in effect, by choice. We are living through a rare moment; the self-extinction of the civilization which, for good or ill, shaped the age we live in. One can cite examples of remote backward tribes who expire upon contact with the modern world, but for the modern world to expire in favor of the backward tribes is a turn of events future anthropologists will ponder, as we do the fall of Rome.”

I Timothy 5:14 “I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.” What a shame that we as Christians have given up our children and followed the world and the culture of our day in saying that we don’t want to marry, bear children, or guide the house. And women today are much happier, right?

Community Life - Part 5

Community is………having common ground with your neighbor.

“Common ground” is defined as - a basis, agreed to by all parties, for reaching a mutual understanding.

Everyone in our community has agreed on the basis for reaching a mutual understanding. Any problem or question that arises is taken to God and His word. We can’t rely on what we think or how we feel. What we “think” can change and our “feelings” can be deceptive. Only God’s word is unchanging and endures forever. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.”

            Here is the really neat part about community…….When you have “common ground” in God and His word, and you also have “common ground” that is actual ground beneath your feet, soil that you plant your gardens in, the foundation that you build your houses on, and paths that your feet walk on every day, it can be a beautiful thing. Life becomes something that you share and burdens become lighter. Whether it is help with babysitting, sharing your dinner with someone who is not feeling well, having tea and a chat on a rainy afternoon, borrowing the one ingredient needed for dinner that you forgot at the grocery store, planting flowers or an herb garden with the children, sitting on the porch in the evenings with the neighbor kids singing hymns or playing the dulcimer.

            I find myself coming back lots of times to something our pastor said. “You can’t serve God without serving others” and it is so true. I enjoy the time that I spend reading news at my computer, or watching a sappy movie, even just sitting on my porch listening to the birds sing, but I know that the things I do that will last are when I give of myself to others. That is what community is all about.

“Nobody can discover the world for somebody else. Only when we discover it for ourselves does it become common ground and a common bond and we cease to be alone.” 
― Wendell Berry, A Place on Earth

Attributes - Part 8 (last one!)

The attribute of God that everyone knows and appreciates most is love. God is love. The Hebrew word for love (chesed) means “goodness” and “loving-kindness”. The Greek word (agape) means “sacrificial” or a “selfless love”. So it would seem that to say, “God is love” and “God is good” are very close to the same thing. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” I John 4:10 states, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

And last but definitely not least, God is Sovereign. This is one that I personally have struggled with. In many religious circles today, the Sovereignty of God has been completely denied. There are many reasons for this. The word sovereign can act as a verb, an adjective or a noun. In Webster’s 1828 dictionary good old Noah Webster wrote, “SOVEREIGN, adj. 1. Supreme in power: possessing supreme dominion… God is the sovereign ruler of the universe.” 2. Supreme; superior to all others; chief.  God is the sovereign good of all who love and obey Him.” And then, “SOVEREIGN, n. A supreme lord or ruler; one who possesses the highest authority without control. Some earthly princes, kings and emperors are sovereigns in their dominions.” God is in control, folks. We like to think we are the masters of our own destinies, and I’m not saying that we can’t mess things up pretty good sometimes, but ultimately it is God who is sovereign. 

I have to admit that upon reading and reasoning through some of what I learned I about the attributes of God, I became angry. I don’t think that I was angry with God, but I was very angry that God was not exactly who I thought He was. I had a picture of God as He related to me, and in all actuality had Him existing for me, not me for Him. I knew I was to serve Him, but in so doing, I thought I was really doing Him a great favor and that He needed me somehow to carry out His will. In Luke 19:37-40 Jesus was coming down the Mount of Olives  and “the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest. And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, ‘I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.” God will receive glory and honor and praise from His creation and His will certainly shall be done. I can be an instrument in His hand and be fully blessed, or I can step out of the way. 

Attributes - Part 7

God is jealous. What?!? Many times in the English language, the word jealous has been replaced with the word envious. Our God does not envy. The root of the Old Testament word, Kannaw, which the English translators translated as jealous, means, “to be zealous about or desirous of” or “to be excited to anger over and to execute judgment because of.” When the Bible speaks of God’s jealousy it is assessing His anger and wrath. I Kings 14:22 says, “And Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done.” Some attributes of God are things that we are meant to immolate. God is love and we are to love, God is holy and we are to be holy. Why, if God is jealous should we not be jealous? The answer is obvious. The negative response to jealousy comes when we are jealous or envious over something that does not belong to us. God could never have this kind of jealousy because everything belongs to HimJ

God is perfect. He is infinitely perfect in every way. Psalm 18:30 states, “As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in Him.” and in Deuteronomy 32:4, “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He.” God is the standard of perfection. This sort of perfection must need lead to jealousy and judgment. He is perfect when He shows mercy and perfect when He shows wrath. No matter what happens in this world, God in His perfection and in all of His attributes never changes. He alone remains the same.

God is love and truth. The Hebrew word for truth means, “faithful”, “reliable”, “correct”. The Greek word means, “upright”, “real”. In other words, true statements deal with reality. Many of the verses we have already covered deal with God’s truthfulness. God’s word tells us over and over that it is impossible for God to lie. (Numbers 23:19, Hebrews 6:18) Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man commeth unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6 Not only is God truth, but His words are true. The Bible is called, “the word of truth”. In I Peter 1:24,25 it says, “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth forever…” I find it very curious that man, who is here today and gone tomorrow, fancies himself the standard of truth.