Today's post is by guest writer Keith Ward.
 
As we consider this memorial feast, we should return and try to recapture the disciples’ thoughts as they heard it for the first time.  Why?  Decades later, three of the gospel writers recorded the scene for the church that then was, and the Holy Spirit preserved it for the church of all time exactly as it was instituted, not as it came to be under later ecclesiasticism.  When the Corinthians abused the feast, the apostle Paul pointed them back to “in the night in which he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus….” Thus, we see that what they saw, what they understood on that night is essential to our understanding and proper observation of this memorial.  Too often, our understanding has been so colored by interpretations and happenings since “the night in which he was betrayed” that we miss essential points and bend passages to mean what we have come to understand instead of understanding what happened and the meaning God intended.
 
First, the disciples that night did not know about the cross and sacrificial death of Jesus.  Certainly, the supper is pregnant with that meaning by the time the disciples began to meet on the first day of the week.  It will blossom more fully in our spiritual minds if we first comprehend their understanding.  Otherwise, we may be missing significant nuances in the glare of the obvious. Yes, Jesus taught them about the coming cross over and over beginning at Peter’s confession (Mt 16:18).  After the supper he stated that he, “the shepherd,” would be smitten and they would be scattered.  Peter, understood that much and denied that he would ever leave the Lord.  Jesus also referred to the resurrection:  “after I am raised up, I will go before you into Galilee.”  Still, they did not understand the death, burial and resurrection.  
 
In our classes we often point out all the clues and remark how dense they were.  Be cautious:  Out of a nation that God carefully prepared for two thousand years, a large number chose to follow Jesus.  He then prayed all night and from those chose these 12.  They were the culmination of God’s plan, the best of the best in the best nation in the entire world.  Sometimes we seem to join the council in their contempt “that they were unlearned and ignorant men” in opposition to God’s choice of them (Ax 4:13).
 
So, then, if even they missed what later the Holy Spirit certified as the main point, what did they see, what did they understand that we may be missing in the glorious light of that greatest of all truths?
 
First, they undoubtedly were excited by his statement that the kingdom would come before the next Passover, “With desire I have desired to eat this Passover …for … I shall not eat it until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God” (Lk 22:15-16).  They also heard him say that “this is my blood of the new covenant” (Mt 26:28).  They knew that every covenant, from God’s covenant with Abram to the covenant with Israel at Sinai, had been inaugurated with the blood of sacrifices (Gen 15:9-21; Ex 24:5-8).   They knew that Jeremiah promised a new covenant at the time of the Messiah (31:31-34).  They must have been bursting with excitement for he had just proclaimed, now is the time, I am the man.
 
Then, let us note some simple things from their observations on that night.  When he said, “This is my body,” they could see Jesus standing there and knew that the unleavened bread had not become his body.  They would immediately understand the metaphor being familiar with many such from God’s preparation in the Old Testament, e.g., God is a rock (Psa 18:31), “Judah is a lion’s whelp” (Gen 49:9).   When he “took a cup” and said, “This is my blood,” (Mt 26:27-28), they knew it had nothing to do with the container.   Jesus specified, “This (the antecedent of which is “cup”) is my blood.”   They understood and did as he said, “Drink ye all of it,” and it was still fruit of the vine.
 
So, then, what did they think he meant by his expressive figures? What teaching had they received that led to the understanding they had?
 
The first place we think to look for a clue to their knowledge is John 6:48-58.   We have often read this over the supper and tend to equate the bread in John 6 as the bread of the Lord’s Supper and the blood of John 6 as the fruit of the vine.  Jesus was teaching something else entirely.  Anything more than a careless reading of the passage and context shows that Jesus uses both the body and blood in reference to his having come down out of heaven as the bread of life.  In other words, his incarnation is the body and blood which he challenges them to partake of, in a spiritual sense, of course.  In the context of the Lord’s Supper, that would refer to the body, and to only the body.  John 6 is not a prequel to the Lord’s Supper at all.  It is a challenge to those alleged disciples to dispense with all other philosophies or sources of life.  He is it.  Eat him and him only as spiritual sustenance. Who he was and What he was and How he lived are the bread of life.  Certainly, they so understood it—they said it was a hard saying, they understood exactly and rejected it as too hard, too demanding.  The apostles also understood but they knew they had no choice, “To whom shall we go? …we have believed and know that thou art the holy one of God,” (the incarnate).
 
Often, speakers who bless the bread talk of his body as it hung on the cross.  No, his body on the cross is referred to by, “This is my blood.”  The blood refers to death as in Isa 53:12, “He poured out his soul unto death.”  “The life is in the blood” (Lev 17:11)  refers to the blood he sacrificed, the life he gave and the carcass hanging on the cross is not what he meant when he said, “This is my body.”   That phrase refers to the incarnation.  When we take of the bread, we are to be remembering that “The word became flesh [“This is my body”] and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). “This is my body” includes all that life from when he “emptied himself and took the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men and being found in the fashion as a man” to the night in which he was betrayed.  All that happened after the fatal kiss in beatings, mockings, scourgings, in thorns and nails, are included in “This is my blood”—“becoming obedient unto death, yea, the death of the cross” (Phil 2:6-9).  
 
This is the pre-eminent falsehood of the insertion in 1 Cor 11 that “This is my body which is broken for you.”  Not only do all scholars, and the overwhelming majority of manuscripts, agree that the word “broken” is an insertion and not written by Paul or the Holy Spirit, the meaning of “body” is the incarnation, not Jesus on the cross.  That, John specifically says, was not broken in the context of the giving of the life of the Pascal lamb, i.e. “This is my blood” (Jn 19:36).   If we who often think the disciples were dense understand what they understood “in the night in which he was betrayed, we would know that the incarnation was not broken, by its nature could not be broken.  From John 6, they knew that body = bread down out of heaven = his life, and when he stood before them, that is what they heard.  They knew that “This is my body” referred to his incarnation.
 
At least two of the disciples had heard John the Immerser proclaim, “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world” (Jn1:29,35).  On this night, as they ate the Pascal lamb and Jesus spoke of “his blood which is poured out for many unto the remission of sins,” they certainly connected the memorial they were eating with something greater that was about to happen.  Their comprehension was vague, but they understood that in the future, remembrance of Jesus and salvation from sin would mark their Passover, not the remembrance of salvation from Egypt.
 
God said, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” (Ex 12:13).   As year by year the Israelites replicated the event, there was no death angel, no passing over, but a memorial to renew their gratitude for the salvation of God.  It seems that we wish magic from the Lord’s Supper.  We pray that “it is to us by faith” something more than just bread and grape juice.  We invest it with magical properties--we are “safe” for the week if we really, really think about it hard when we partake. NO!  As the Israelites' Passover was a memorial, so the Lord's Supper is a memorial to remind us of the love of God, the salvation of God, the sacrifice of the son of God.  That memory is then to build our gratitude to the level that we go out and live like the one we remembered.  Taking “in an unworthy manner” has nothing to do with how hard we think about Jesus on the cross for a few moments before and after we feast, and everything to do with how we live the week before and after.  “For Christ our Passover has been sacrificed, let us keep the feast [week of unleavened bread that followed the Passover] …with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1 Cor 5:7-8).
 
Say, “This is my blood” and we think of Jesus’ blood pouring from “his head, his hands, his feet,” but they thought of death. Say, “This is my blood” in their context, the Passover, and they automatically would think of the slaughtered lamb and its blood smeared on their doorways in memorial of deliverance.  Add “of the New Covenant” and they add the death of the sacrifice that inaugurates a covenant.
 
To the Twelve who heard them, those four words did not mean the same as we think today.  But, they had a breadth of understanding that we seldom think on and they quickly added Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection after Pentecost.  Would not our memorial be richer and more accurate if we focused more fully on “the night in which he was betrayed?”
 
Keith Ward

I have a feeling that some of Bella and Chloe’s playtime might have been a little unsettling to Bella’s youngest master.  Young wild animals learn survival skills through play—how to hunt and how to fight.  Even domesticated animals learn some of these things.  Puppies always engage in rough and tumble play, including baby nips and growls.  Chloe and Bella did the same, and being larger and older, it looked much fiercer.
 
             Teeth bared, growls ferocious, their muzzles tilted back and forth as if trying to find the best place to lock onto one another.  Larger Bella ran at Chloe and broadsided her, sending her rolling, then pounced on top.  In seconds, more experienced Chloe had her legs wrapped around Bella and flipped her over, like a wrestler reversing a pin.  Sometimes they ran headlong into one another like charging bulls and as they met, the saliva flew in all directions.  I learned to stand way back.

              How did I know this wasn’t real, that it was simply an older dog teaching a younger through play?  Because they never drew blood.  If you watched their mouths, neither ever closed tightly on the other dog’s body anywhere.  And when they finished, they stood panting for a few moments, energy spent, both tongues dangling toward the ground, looking at one another.  Often they would touch noses, then walk shoulder to shoulder back to the shade, Chloe under the truck and Bella under a tree—lesson for the day over.

              I remember a time when brethren could discuss things, even differing views on a passage, and each come away having learned something.  They could trust one another, not only to have each other’s best interest at heart, but also to listen and consider fairly, and never to become angry.  Even if voices rose, no blood was drawn, spiritually speaking, respect continued, and both left with more knowledge and insight.

              What has happened to us?  If someone disagrees with me, it makes me mad or it hurts my feelings, and either way I don’t like him any more.  It is no longer about learning and growing—it about winning arguments and putting people down.  Instead of being able to trust a person because he is a brother, one must try to find a brother he can trust, and it isn’t easy.  That’s not just a shame, it’s a tragedy.  If a man say, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar: for he that loves not his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment have we from him, that he who loves God love his brother also. 1 John 4:20-21

              God meant us to learn and grow together, honing our skills and building one another up.  It might make us occasional sparring partners, but in that sparring we learn how to handle the word more accurately, we learn how to defeat the gainsayers who deny the Lord, and the false teachers who might be after our souls.  And after that sparring match, we “touch gloves” and leave with our love and respect intact.

              At least that’s the way it’s supposed to be.
 
Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17
 
Dene Ward

We had a second stint of puppysitting recently and this time Chloe adapted more quickly.  By the end of the first day, she and now six month old Bella were romping together in the field.  Chloe was still the boss and called the shots—including the play schedule—but play they did, especially in the evenings when Chloe would crawl out from under the porch, stretch, look over her shoulder at Bella and scamper off with a toss of the head—an open invitation to “catch me if you can.”

              Bella also came with us when I gave Chloe her morning walk around the property.  Chloe usually accompanies me in a steady trot, stopping here and there to sniff at an armadillo hole or a depression at the bottom of the fence where a possum makes its nightly excursions.  Bella preferred to run everywhere, usually in the meandering lines of Billy, the little boy in the Family Circus comic.  Then when she suddenly looked up and found herself behind, she would come bulling her way past us in a brown blur.

              It was one of those times that particular morning and I heard her overtaking us like a buffalo stampede.  The path at that point was narrow, just room for me, my two walking sticks, and Chloe.  As Bella drew near, I just happened to be looking down when she very neatly leapfrogged over Chloe without disturbing a fur on her head.  In a few seconds she was around the bend and out of sight.

              I wonder how many we leapfrog over every day and leave in the dust behind us because we’re too impatient to wait, too unconcerned to care, too impulsive to even notice?  Sometimes the young with their new ideas, scriptural though they may be, have too little respect for the old warriors who need time to consider and be sure.  Sometimes the more knowledgeable become too arrogant to slow their pace for the babes or those whose capacity may not be as deep.  Sometimes the strong forget that God expects them to help the weak, the ill, the faltering.  All these people are just obstacles in our way, things to get past in our rush.

              When you leapfrog over a brother and leave him behind, how do you know he will make it?  God didn’t expect us to walk the path alone.  He meant for us to walk it together.  When you lack the love to walk it with your brother, you may as well not walk it at all.
 
Now we that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each one of us please his neighbor for that which is good, unto edifying. For Christ also pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell upon m. Romans 15:1-3.
 
Dene Ward

A three consecutive-day series.  I hope you will check in all three days!

We are puppysitting for some friends, a four month old chocolate lab named Bella.  She is already taller than our full-grown Australian cattle dog, though not as heavy, a long-legged gangly dog still with a puppy mindset—which means faster is better than slower, all things are meant to be chewed upon, and play time is the only time. 

              Chloe, on the other hand, is middle-aged, 6½, or about 45 in dog years.  To her the best things in the world are a belly scratch, a chewy treat, and a nap, and one of the worst things in the world is a puppy being foisted upon her carefully controlled domain.  She learned quickly that Bella has difficulty getting under the truck—something about all those long knobby leg bones getting in the way—so she spends the vast majority of her day there while Bella roams about being a curious puppy.  Someone I know well has learned not to leave things lying about outside if he doesn’t want them ventilated with puppy-teeth holes, something I consider an unexpected benefit to Bella’s visit.

              Chloe is not a purely sedentary lap dog, though.  She enjoys nosing around some, and will run back and forth to the gate to greet us.  She walks around the property with me and often leaves me in the dust when she spies something interesting in the corner woods.  Bella is walking with us now.  Her nose is always in the air, and her ears cocked for any sounds that might drift our way—one neighbor’s baying bloodhound and the other’s crowing rooster, for example.  But she doesn’t listen long.  As soon as she determines the direction, she is off in a shot while Chloe listens a bit more, making a studied determination about whether the sound needs investigating or not.

              Bella thinks everything is a game.  She has no ability to distinguish when it’s time to be serious.  Chloe will stop for a drink and Bella will be all over her, standing in the water, stepping on the edge of the pan, causing it to tilt and spilling the water everywhere.  When a frog jumps in the old tubs Keith uses to soak his hickory wood for smoking meat, she jumps right in after it, NOT looking before she leaps, landing belly deep with a splash.  Reminds me of the puppy we had once who thought the rattlesnake next to the woodpile was a toy and tried to play with it.  We managed to get him away before he was bitten, but when we left for a camping trip, the neighbor found him one morning with fang marks in his neck.  Lucky for him, the skin there was loose and that’s all the snake got, not the muscle in his neck.

              Yet despite their own preferences, both of these dogs are adapting.  Chloe finally learned to quit running away and stand up for herself.  After a nip or two on the nose, Bella knows who the boss is now and she will actually “bow” before Chloe, lowering her height by crouching on her belly in front of her.  Chloe will now stand nose to nose with her, sniffing, and then suddenly take off in a run, looking behind to make sure Bella is chasing her.  Bella has learned to be a little more discreet and Chloe has learned that fun is still—well, fun, and it’s worth having some once in awhile.

              Older and younger people—older and younger Christians, no matter their physical age—need to learn from one another in the same way.  We teach our children not to go running down the halls, especially among older people who have issues with balance and might be knocked over.  A fall for the elderly could easily lead to a broken bone, and how many broken bones have led to a fatal case of pneumonia?  That’s not something a child would ever think of, which is why the adults must teach them.  In the same way, babes in Christ mustn’t go running helter-skelter down our spiritual halls with no concern about the fragile souls we might encounter.  Yet, the older ones need to learn that we must go out into those halls and encounter those souls, not sit quietly and safely in our pews.

              The younger must learn the need for wisdom and discretion and the value of quiet reverence, but the older must learn that “emotion” is not a four letter word. 

              The younger must learn respect for those they label “nay-sayers.”  They must realize that those old “fuddy-duddy” cautions come from concern for their younger souls’ safety and good, not from cowardice or a lack of faith.  The older must remind themselves that God called them to take a risk, to exercise their faith not to sit in dusty rooms discussing it.

              The younger in the faith and the older in the faith—we learn from each other, but not if we’re too busy putting one another down, refusing to listen to one another, with attitudes full of disrespect and disdain. 
 
The glory of young men is their strength, but the beauty of old men is their gray hair, Prov 20:29.
 
Dene Ward

And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand! Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” And behold, the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, ‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory in her midst.’” Up! Up! Flee from the land of the north, declares the LORD. For I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the LORD. Up! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. For thus said the LORD of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye: “Behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the LORD. And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. And the LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.” Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling. (Zech 2:1-13)

              If ever a night vision should be a comfort to us in this present age, it is this one.  Yes, it also reminded those people that as long as God was on their side they needed no other protection. The temple was the priority, but when the time was right, they built the walls under Nehemiah's leadership.  But the Jerusalem Zechariah pictures here is not that ancient city.  The Jerusalem in the vision is one that experiences a population explosion like none seen before.  God's children from every part of the world--from many nations--will come into it.  God will dwell in its midst, yet we know that the glory of God that had dwelt in the physical Temple never returned to their rebuilt Temple.  Zechariah is speaking of the New Jerusalem, the one where all nations, both Jew and Gentile, would be his people, the one in which His glory would again dwell.   And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.’” (Hag 2:7-9)

              And that is us, folks, the kingdom of his son, the body of Christ, the church.  Because we are a spiritual city, we have no walls, but he is telling us that we won't need them.  He will be our "wall of fire about them, there's nothing now to fear" ("Lily of the Valley," lyrics by William C. Fry).  As we approach a new age of possible, and probable, persecution, that promise should mean even more.  People all over the world have suffered.  Our turn might be coming. 

              Understand, that does not mean we won't be harmed.  But it does mean that the promised kingdom will not be destroyed, and that our reward is sure.
 
O LORD, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me; many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. — Selah But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill. — Selah I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked. Salvation belongs to the LORD; your blessing be on your people! — Selah (Ps 3:1-8)

Dene Ward         

Because of my membership in three professional organizations and their local branches, my students were able to participate in several piano and voice competitions a year.  By far their favorite was the Florida Federation’s Junior State Convention and Competition.

              We discovered this event by accident when I overheard two teachers talking about it at our District Festival, a ratings-only non-competitive event.  So I asked, and after being told about this competition for district-rated superiors, was also advised not to bother taking any students.  “There are as many as 70-80 in each category, and the winners are always students of some retired concert artist or college professor.  You’ll never win.”

              My students, despite being from the smallest county in Florida, and a rural one at that, took it as a challenge, and every year after that “going to state” was the goal for them all.  And guess what?  We did win, several times, in several events.  My students had come up with their own little uniforms—white shirt, black pants or skirt, and Looney Tunes tie—and it got to the point that I heard people in the audience say things like, “Uh-oh.  It’s one of the kids with the ties!” when they approached the piano or stood up to sing.  We were not only recognized, but actually feared!

              When you make a superior in a group event, like piano duet or piano trio, all parties must attend State in order for that group to compete.  Imagine my surprise when a parent called me a few weeks before the competition telling me that her daughter, who had made a superior in piano duet, would not be attending State Contest.  I knew the partner would be very disappointed.  Then the mother really burst my tea bag when she said, “It’s not like they have any chance of winning anyway.”

              What?  As a matter of fact, piano duet was one of our best categories.  And the partner had already won a second place the year before with another partner.  If my students had gone to State feeling like they could never win anything, they never would have.  They won because they believed they could, and worked toward that goal. 

              I have heard Christians say some things that sound just like that mother.

              “I don’t know if I’m going to Heaven or not, but I sure hope so.” 

              “I don’t know if I sinned Lord, but forgive me if I did.”

              “We’re only human.  We all sin every day.”

              Just what kind of God do these people think we serve?  A capricious, malicious God who toys with us like a cat with a mouse, or a loving, faithful God who helps us in every way He can, including giving us clear instructions for life, the means to overcome sin, and promises that are real?

              Do you think Paul went at Christianity with such a defeatist attitude?  Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified, 1 Corinthians 9:25-27.  It sounds to me like he expected to win.

              Do you need a little help getting over that defeatist attitude?  Just look at these passages this morning:

              No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13

              Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5

              Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:10-11

              In case you didn’t notice, when we have a defeatist attitude, it isn’t so much ourselves we doubt as it is God.  Satan is making inroads in our hearts and calling it “humility.”  It isn’t humility to wonder about my salvation; it’s a lack of faith and trust in a God who has furnished everything I need to know that I am saved. 

              Who are you listening to this morning?
 
Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 2 Corinthians 3:4-5
 
Dene Ward

I had heard of it happening before, washing machines walking across a room during a spin cycle because they were out of balance.  The washers of our day must be more attuned to the problem.  In fact, several years back when I put something large and heavy in the washer, as it began to spin, it simply cut itself off—some sort of failsafe, I suppose.  I rearranged the heavy bedspread and it spun just fine, finishing the load as programmed.

              Yet a couple of months ago, I went to move the towel load from the washer to the dryer, and found my machine sitting cockeyed from the wall.  In fact, if the back corner of the machine hadn’t hit the sidewall of the nook where it sat, it might have done a complete 360, water spewing everywhere when the hose pulled out of the wall.

              Ever since then, any sort of semi-heavy load sets the machine to walking—towels, jeans, sheets—and I have numerous dings in my laundry nook wall where that back corner always slams into the wall.  The washer man gave us some instructions, but nothing works.  Somehow my washing machine has become out of balance, and it appears it will stay that way.  On our recently slashed retirement budget, it isn’t worth the money to fix.

              Some of us have the same problem.  We can’t seem to find the balance.  Some stress obedience to the neglect of sincerity; others say, “The heart is all that matters.”  Some emphasize purity and truth to the point that compassion is all but lost, while others view mercy and compassion as the be-all-and-end-all.  A good many believe that wisdom and common sense will solve all matters, avoiding sacrifice for others and unquestioning faith in a God who controls all.

              “It isn’t good stewardship of my money.”

              “God would never expect…”

              “He meant well, and that’s what counts.”

              “They have family.  Let them do it.”

              “At least they attend a sound church.”

              “I thought we’d never get him baptized.”

              “This isn’t wrong but it might lead to…”

              All of these statements are a sign of a washing machine out of balance, banging against the wall as it pits one scripture against another, wresting the Word of God to make it fit what I want, instead of weighing the spirit of the law, and making a righteous decision based upon an appropriate balance of faith and wisdom, purity and compassion, obedience and sincerity.

              I know a man who had to study to make an important decision in his life.  He said, “I studied it knowing the wrong decision would send me to Hell.”  He’s the same man who will reach into his pocket the moment he hears of a need.  If you have that kind of balance in your life, none of this will be as difficult as the contentious always want to make it.
               
But if you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless, Matt 12:7.
 
Dene Ward

I just made a peach cobbler.  Most any peach cobbler is worth eating in my book, but I did a little something special on this one.  Instead of a plain biscuit or pie crust topping, either of which is outstanding, I rolled the biscuit dough out fairly thin, then spread it with a mixture of brown sugar, cinnamon, finely diced crystallized ginger, and melted butter, rolled that up jelly roll style and sliced it in one inch wide circles.  They looked just like cinnamon rolls.  That was my top crust.  As I said, this is not your ordinary peach cobbler.

              I have special touches I add to a lot of things, small nuances that make it just a little better and little different.  Like adding a teaspoon of vanilla to my apple pie filling and sprinkling the top crust with freshly grated cinnamon, throwing a teaspoon each of lemon juice and lemon zest into my blueberry pie filling, rolling my molasses or ginger cookie dough in white sparkling sugar before baking them, adding a chopped jalapeno to my collards, and a tablespoon of vinegar to a Dutch oven full of beans or lentils.  I do those things because I am always looking for ways to make the things I cook for friends and family out of the ordinary.

              I bet you all do things like that with the things that matter most to you.  My mother used to finish all the edges of her seams—the part you never see unless you wear the item inside-out—with a special stitch that kept it from raveling.   And when anyone did happen to inspect her seams they were always impressed with how neat those raw edges looked and marveled that she would take that extra time.

              So here is the thought for the day:  What extra effort do we go to in our offerings to God?  I am afraid that too many of us think that coming in for the Lord's Supper hour on Sunday mornings is the most we really "have" to do.  But could we do something extra for God?  Could we get up an hour earlier or stay an hour later?  And beyond that, could we wake up every morning with the determination to offer him something a little special, a little out of the ordinary in our behavior, in our service to others, in our prayer life, in the way we conduct ourselves out there in the world?  Wouldn't it be great to offer God a taste of a life that has just a little more zeal, a little more devotion, and a little more sacrifice? 

              We will never match the extra he put into our salvation, but wouldn't it be nice of us to try?

              A prayer for the day:  I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. (1Chr 29:17-18)

Dene Ward

God must have loved gardens.  That first garden was used as the ideal all through the scriptures, the utopia that everyone longed for.  The Messianic kingdom is referred to as the restoration of the Garden of Eden in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and other prophets. And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by. And they will say, 'This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.' Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the LORD; I have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which was desolate. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it. (Ezekiel 36:34-36).

              And why was Eden perfect? Everything man needed was in that first garden, trees and plants to sustain his physical life, including the Tree of Life.  God also gave man the companionship of a woman, for He said, it is not good that man should be alone, 2:18.  He gave him work to do, tending that garden, and every evening He came to walk with man.  Surely that marvelous fellowship was the greatest need He fulfilled.

              Revelation 22 depicts another garden, one that despite my growing belief that the majority of the descriptions in that book are about the victorious church, I cannot help but see in a final heavenly fulfillment.  We will be back where the Tree of Life spreads its branches, 22:2.  We will be with other servants of God, “those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life” 21:27.  We will have work—to serve and worship our Creator for Eternity, 22:3,8,9.  And once again we will be in fellowship, and proximity, to God—His throne is there and we shall “see his face” 22:1,4.  God’s plan will have come full circle, from that first garden to an eternal one.

              But there was another garden, one right in the middle of it all—Gethsemane.  It had some of the same characteristics.  The disciples had fellowship with each other and with their Lord.  And they had work to do.  “Watch with me,” Jesus told them, Matt 26:38.  It had been a long day, one full of surprises and mysterious statements by their Master.  They were tired, wanting only to rest, and so “their eyes were heavy,” and they slept, 26:48.  When the Lord needed them most, they failed Him.

              That garden was the reason we have hope of an Eternal Garden.  In a sense, we are living our lives in that middle garden with the Lord.  “Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation,” he told those men, Mark 14:38, adding at the end, “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  My flesh may indeed be weak, but too often my spirit is lacking as well.  Life can wear you out.  Trials seem to come in one long succession, like a string of ugly beads.  All you want to do is have one day of peace, one day when something goes right, when it seems like the world isn’t against you and justice will prevail. 

              It is hard, and your Lord knows it.  He sat in that same garden you are in now, awaiting things you will probably never have to experience.  And he did it so you can have hope of a garden where everything will finally be right, where you can rest and “there will be no curse any more.”

              But for now, you must watch, you must endure just a little while longer.  I have finally lived long enough to know that it isn’t that long a “while” till it’s over, and then there shall be night no more; and they need no light of lamp, neither light of sun; for the Lord God shall give them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. 

              And once again, we will walk in the garden with God.
 
He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him that overcomes, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God. Revelation 2:7.                                                                                                      
 
Dene Ward

And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four horns! And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” And he said to me, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen. And I said, “What are these coming to do?” He said, “These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one raised his head. And these have come to terrify them, to cast down the horns of the nations who lifted up their horns against the land of Judah to scatter it.” (Zech 1:18-21)

              The second night vision is short and, to those returned exiles, probably very sweet.  "Horns" in the Bible represent power and especially military strength.  To cut off a nation's horn is to render it powerless against attack.  God here is promising them that the "four horns" which scattered his people will be destroyed.

              Who are the four horns?  That is a source of debate among the scholars, but I would think that Assyria and Babylon are two of them—it only makes sense.  But once again, it's that number "four" that may be the key.  Israel had enemies on every side.  Even during the siege of Jerusalem there were allies who were no help to them (Egypt) and old enemies that actively aided the Babylonians against them (Edom).  Perhaps the meaning is this:  all of their enemies on every side (north, south, east, and west) would be punished for their part in the destruction of Judah, and especially Jerusalem and the Temple.

              And who are the "smiths" in the vision?  Just as a smith is an artisan who creates and mends, these are the people who would carefully and selflessly work to put back together the nation.  I have never seen a list of possible names, but it seems to me that Ezra, Nehemiah, and the three post-exilic prophets—Haggai, Zechariah himself, and Malachi—should be included.

              God is once again telling these people that he knows what they are going through and that he cares.  But added to that, he is promising judgment on the wicked for their part in Judah's suffering.  He is also promising that His people will have what they need to repair themselves and become that promised, glorious, restored kingdom that every one of the prophets spoke of.

              And for us?  Most of us have never felt severe physical persecution.  The worst we have had is a bit of name-calling or being left out of the popular crowd.  But do not think it won't come.  Our country is moving in a direction where we may begin to feel the heat in our own lifetimes and our children and grandchildren may suffer real persecution. 

              God tells us that it is not our place to exact vengeance (Rom 12:19).  However, He has always promised that He will take vengeance for his people (1 Sam 24:12; Psa 58:10,11; Isa 61:2; 2 Thes 1:6-8, etc.).  He will not allow our suffering to go unrequited. 

              And He also gives us the promise that we will have what we need in this glorious restored kingdom of the Messiah, the church--to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, (Eph 4:11-16).  Look around at the "smiths" you have among you, who work for little or no remuneration, who give of themselves for hours upon end to teach the ignorant, to heal the broken, to lead the flock, and you will see the hand of God working among you.  If we don't see it, it is only because, like so many of those people long ago, we aren't looking for the right things.  We can be certain that God will not fail us.
 
When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. (Rev 6:9-11)
 
Dene Ward