Ladies in Waiting

I know that it has been quite a while since my last post. My apologies; I was trying to juggle a new career into my life and took a sabbatical from posting.


So, as stated before we will look at several women in the Bible and discuss their situations.


First we will look at King David's daughter Tamar, who experienced a fate all too common today. We will also meet up with Hagar, Jael, The Woman from Sychar, and The Syrophonecian/Canaanite Woman, just to list a few.


If there are any women which you would like to visit please let me know.


Peace be with you,
Gye

This Woman!

Many women were in the life of Jesus. In the weeks to come we will look at stories of several of these women, especially as pertains to the inner wounds each suffered.

Get your mirrors ready....

Gye

It's Gonna Rain

I'm bringing you this hot off the press! This morning my pastor, Bishop Michael R. Barringer, preached "Because God Said So" using the text of Noah building the ark. Bishop dispelled a few myths that we continue to perpetuate when we recount Noah's story. I won't get into that here, but I'll place a link to the sermon when it's uploaded on my church's website. But in the meantime, here's the story:

And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them.

Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

Genesis 6 (King James version)

Because God said so, a man who was aged 60 spent 120 years building a vessel that would contain 8 human beings and, he would later learn, thousands of animals plus food for everyone to last months while the waters receded and the land dried out.

Water? What water? I'm glad that you asked. Did it ever dawn on you that Noah had no concept of what rain was because it had never rained on Earth before? After the vessel was built God told Noah that in 7 days rains would come for 40 days and nights.

Noah was probably fascinated to hear the thunder, observe the dark clouds, and smell and see the droplets falling from the sky like manna from heaven. (Oh, that's another story yet to come). All from the window of the vessel that he was locked in.

But the point of this story is that God told Noah to do a thing, without revealing the end result, and Noah did it. Why? Because God said so.

Are we as obedient as Noah? Can we follow without having to know the details? Because God said so?

Look for the link to Bishop Barringer's sermon here soon. You've got to get this from him.

Peace be with you,
Gye

And

And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath
And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years
And was bowed together
And could in no wise lift up herself
And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him
And said unto her, "Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity"
And he laid his hands upon her
And immediately she was made straight
And glorified God

And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation,
because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day,
And said unto the people, "There are six days of the week
in which men work: in them therefore come
And be healed
And not on the sabbath day"
The Lord then answered him
And said, "Hypocrite,
doth not each of you on the sabbath day
loose his ox or his ass from the stall
And lead him away to watering?
And should not this woman,
this daughter of Abraham whom Satan has bound,
lo, these eighteen years,
be loosed on the sabbath day?"

And when he said these things,
his adversaries were ashamed
And all the people rejoiced
for all of the glorious things
which had been done by him
13 Luke 10-17 KJV

In this passage, the word "and" is stated 18 times, and the woman was bound for eighteen years. For those of us who like to work with the spiritual meaning of numbers in the bible, it is understood that the number 18 stands for bondage.

What has you bound? What is your infirmity?
It doesn't have to be physical. Many of us suffer from mental and/or emotional bondage. Some of us even suffer from financial bondage, and bondage of other sorts. Bondage does not have to remain your state. Let's look at the passage to discvover how to become free.

How To Be Relieved From Bondage
First, note that Jesus was teaching at the synagogue; he was in control. Step One: let God take control of your life.

Second, Jesus saw the woman's affliction. Step Two: get God to notice you. Pray.

Third, Jesus called the woman to him and spoke to her. When you pray with faith, God will hear you and speak to you. Step Three: listen for God to answer you.

Fourth, Jesus laid his hands upon the woman and immediately she was made straight. Step Four: allow God to touch you and heal you. Realize that the healing will be in God's own time, but the healing will come right on time.

Fifth, as soon as she was healed, the woman praised God. Step Five: praise God for your healing, without delay. And if you are not sure that you have been healed, praise him anyhow.

Sixth, the ruler of the synagogue was perturbed that Jesus had the audacity to heal on the sabbath day, breaking the law of Moses. Jesus, in turn, pointed out that a daughter of Abraham was more important than a beast of burden and deserved as much, if not better, than such beast. Step Six: don't let others shake your faith. You are the head and not the tail.

My sisters and brothers, what God has for you is for you alone and no one can take it away from you. But, you can refuse to accept the gift that is yours. I suggest that you not. Be healed!

Let the Peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
Gye

A Tale of Two Altars

A long time ago, after King Solomon was dead, the kingdom of Israel divided into two, Israel to the north and Judah to the south. Jerusalem remained the city of the king of Judah.

During the time when King Asa ruled in Judah, Israel had trouble keeping a king. In fact, during the 41 years that King Asa reigned in Jerusalem, Israel had seven kings.

That 7th king of Israel was a mean man named Ahab, who had a wife named Jezebel. Some say that Jezebel was even meaner than Ahab (if you can even imagine that)!

Well, this story takes place during the time of King Ahab, when Israel had a prophet named Elijah. There had been a drought in Israel – it hadn’t rained for three years. And one day, God told Elijah to go to mean King Ahab and tell Ahab that God would send rain on the land. So, Elijah went.

During the drought, Queen Jezebel had tried to kill all of the prophets of Israel that belonged to God, but a man named Obadiah had hidden one hundred of God’s prophets in two caves. Well, when Elijah went to find King Ahab, he ran into Obadiah. Now, Obadiah knew King Ahab well because Obadiah was in charge of King Ahab’s palace. So Elijah asked Obadiah to go tell mean King Ahab that he, Elijah, a prophet of the Living God, wanted to see him.

Now, Obadiah freaked out because if mean King Ahab knew that one of the Living God’s prophets was still alive mean King Ahab would have Obadiah killed. But Elijah convinced Obadiah to go to mean King Ahab anyway.

To make a long story sort of short, when King Ahab saw Elijah the prophet, Ahab knew he was in for trouble. And he was.

Elijah asked King Ahab to bring all the people of Israel to Mount Carmel, and to be sure to bring the 450 prophets of Baal (that’s what mean King Ahab and his followers served, a god they called Baal). When they all came, Elijah asked the people, “How long will you waiver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him, but if it is Baal, follow him.” But the people said nothing.

Then Elijah said, “I am the only prophet of the Living God remaining,” (you see, Elijah didn’t know that Obadiah had hidden those 100 prophets away in those two caves). So Elijah continued, “Bring two bulls and let the 450 prophets of Baal choose one and cut it into pieces and place it on the wood, but do not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on wood and I will not set fire to it. Then, you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Living God. The god who answers by fire – he is God.”

Then all the people said, “What you say is good.” So they got two bulls, the 450 prophets of Baal chose one and Elijah took the other.

The 450 prophets of Baal called on the name of Baal from morning until noon. They shouted, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no answer. Then they started limping around the altar they had made.

At noon, Elijah began to mock them, saying, “Shout louder! Surely he is a god. Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.”

So they shouted louder, and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their raving until the time came for evening sacrifice. But there was still no voice, no answer, no response.

Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come closer to me,” and they came closer. Then, Elijah repaired the altar of the LORD, the Living God, which had been in ruins. Then he took 12 stones, one to represent each tribe of Israel and with the stones he built an altar to the LORD.

Then Elijah made a trench around the altar, large enough to hold two measures of seed. Next, he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the pieces of bull and on the wood.” And they did as he said. Then he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did. Then he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time, so that water ran all around the altar, and filled the trench with water.

When it was the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed, saying, ”O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your bidding. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”

Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the pieces of bull, the wood, the stones, the dust, and even the water that had filled the trench. (Everything that the 12 jars of water had covered.)

When all the people saw it, they fell on their knees and said, “The LORD indeed is God; the LORD indeed is God!”

Then Elijah commanded them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let any of them get away!” The people seized the prophets of Baal, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.
1 Kings 18 adapted by Gye Miller

12 tribes, 12 stones, 12 jars of water
Notice how the number 12 appears in this story three times - two explicitly and the third if you know your arithmatic. Twelve is significant to those who study biblical numerology in that the number stands for governmental perfection. With the number three meaning resurrection, divine completeness, and perfection, the number 12 takes on even more significance because it appears three times.

Why did the people of Israel waiver back and forth between following Baal and following God?
Good question. At first blush we could say that it was because they were easily influenced by their surroundings. You know, when in Rome... But how does that explain us? We waiver back and forth. Maybe not another religious god, but how about things such as cars, jewelry, money, jobs, friends, hobbies, addictions ... need I go on? And even on the religious front, some of us worship our pastors and church leaders.

Why didn't Baal respond to the 450 prophets plea?
Perhaps Baal was not really a god. If Baal doesn't really exist how could he respond?

What are the Baals in your life?
Do you continue to believe in them even though they do nothing productive for you?
Quit calling on them. They are not real.
Seek instead the Living God.

Let the Peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
Gye

The Kingdom of Heaven #1

The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast
that a woman took
and mixed in three measures of flour
until all of it was leavened!
Matthew 13:33 NRSV

How much is three measures?
According to those who know more about measurements than I, three measures is about 23 liters - 2/3 bushel.

How much yeast does it take to make it all leavened?
The amount of yeast has not been distinguished, but those who bake bread know that it only takes a small amount of yeast to make the dough rise.

Imagine that!
It only takes a little bit to impact largely.
What impact do you make on others?
Has anyone ever smiled at you and it changed your day from sour to sweet?
What is it that you do that impacts others?
Are you the yeast or the flour?
Be yeast.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
Gye

Truth Tellings

So, where does the name come from?
From The Gospel According to John, 17th chapter, 17th verse: Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. (KJV)

So what does it mean?
It means that the stories you read here will be biblical in nature.

Will the stories be straight out of the bible?
Sometimes, but usually they are adapted by me. Some are complete originals.

What's the point of this spot?
To bring the Truth to the masses through my gift: stories