Bible Thoughts by Terry Hedderman

Sunday, 6/28/15  Ps 119:148 Mine eyes prevent the night watches, that I might meditate in thy word. David made himself get stay up simply to think about the Bible.  Do you ever alter your schedule for God, or inconvenience yourself  or force yourself to gout out of your comfort zone for Jesus and His will and way?             2 Tim 3:7 Ever learning, and never able to come unto the knowledge of the truth. Do you feel you’re just “spinning your wheels” regarding the Christian life? Does God’s word seem foreign to you? Do you wonder how your pastor (or even me) can get fresh stuff out of it daily? The verse before, ...and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts. “Silly women” is a derisive term; it means “small women.” I think “petty” might be a good synonym. “Laden” means burdened with the consciousness of many sins; “led away” has the connotation of a dog on a leash; “divers” just means varied and many; and “lusts” are strong desires, especially for what is forbidden. If the Bible is “just not your thing...”  1Are you saved?  2Are you confessed up? Confess, forsake, and fight what you know to be wrong in your life. This involves humbling yourself.  3Do you have “secret sins” that “are nobody’s business!!” (Not even God’s?) Do you have secret closets in your heart into which He may not go? Do you indulge in a fantasy life (sexual or otherwise) as a “release” a “personal thing” that you reserve all rights to?            Pro 25:4 Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer. First comes the removal of the worthless rock, dross, i.e. sin, and then the finishing/refining of the pure metal. Application: the fire and pain that you feel may be for the purging of sin, or it may be the final shaping to make you into something useful.

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I Will Follow If…

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Luke 9:57
“And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.”

The man in the verse above had great intentions, but when it came down to following up with his decision he failed. Jesus talked about three different people who said, “I will follow thee…” What these men were truly saying was, “I will follow if…” They had conditions to following Jesus. They would follow Jesus if all the right conditions were met.

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Mistakes of the Successful ​

2 Kings 20:13
“ And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.”

Hezekiah had seen great accomplishments in his life. He had rebuilt the military so that they were able to stand against the King of Assyria. He was used to bring one of the greatest revivals in history to Judah. He had rebuilt the treasures of the kingdom and experienced God’s healing hand. His success will be talked about forever. Yet, his success bred some classic mistakes that successful people often make. There were four mistakes he made that every successful person will have to guard against.

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Unintended consequence

Clean Overkill

The relentless expansion of usda regulations to make our food supply super-clean appears to have backfired, big time. A New York Times article titled “Invite Some Germs to Dinner” points out that the American food industry is the safest in the world, but food-borne illnesses have not decreased. In fact, the number of people getting sick from pathogens and autoimmune diseases is growing. According to the “hygiene hypothesis,” over-the-top industrial food sanitation practices (ahem, mandated by the usda) have harmed our “microbiome.” A little science lingo, there — meaning all the bacteria, viruses, mites, and fungi that live in and on our bodies. Turns out, thanks to our over-clean food, our immune system is so underemployed that it attacks the body’s own tissues and overreacts to harmless substances. Which is what you get when food safety nannies run amuck — while cleaning up taxpayer money.


From The Limbaugh Letter, July 2015

Dealing with Sorrow

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Mark 14:34
“And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.”

One of the great things about Jesus’ life on Earth is that He gave us an example of how to deal with every emotion. That is why Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” He completely understands everything you face because He was touched by every emotion that you will ever experience.

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Dealing With an Adversary​

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1 Samuel 1:6
“And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb.”

Hannah nearly allowed her adversary to destroy her. You see some tragic steps she took that very nearly caused her to become a bitter woman in the end, but through the guiding hand of God she took some good steps that allowed her to come through her time of opposition with the blessings of God.

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