A Life Out of Control

My life is out of control......it's not as dire as it sounds, it is a blessing! I am blessed because God is in control. When I look back and ponder His providence - and knowing my own heart, with by the help of the Holy Spirit I can see the possibilities of how the script of my life might have been different. I see only emptiness which would have filled my heart and helplessness to fill my life had I not given my heart to Jesus on that fateful day of Septermber 29th, 1985.

Proverbs 16:9 tells us that "The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.". That's pretty awesome when you think about it. Think of a small child who without the guidance of a more knowing caretaker would simply walk out into the highway into traffic! THAT is what our lives are like without the direction of the Lord. We can't fathom the dangers in our path nor would we understand it should we require an explanation from God! We could understand His perfect will no better than that small child would understand if someone explained the laws of physics, velocity, etc.

Equally, we until we give the Lord the reigns in our heart and life we no idea how much better life can be!
1 Corinthians 2:9 says:"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard," nor has it entered into the heart of man, "the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." About this passage Matthew Henry concluded and penned better than I ever could: "There are things God hath prepared for those that love him, and wait for him, which sense cannot discover, no teaching can convey to our ears, nor can it yet enter our hearts. We must take them as they stand in the Scriptures, as God hath been pleased to reveal them to us."

I can't wait for that awesome day of discovery! Maranatha!

Maranatha

Sometimes you may hear or see the term "Maranatha" used. Do you know what it means and where it came from?

To the best of my knowledge, Maranatha is a Greek transliteration of an Aramaic word meaning "Our Lord come". It may have been used by early Christians as a greeting and a goodbye, much like the Italian "ciao" or Hebrew "shalom" of today.

The word occurs only once in the New Testament at the closing of Paul's first letter to the Corinthians (I Cor. 16:22): "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha."

Strong's Greek Dictionary explains it as such:
G3134
μαρὰν ἀθά
maran atha
mar'-an ath'-ah
Of Chaldee origin (meaning our Lord has come); maranatha, that is, an exclamation of the approaching divine judgment: - Maran-atha.

In the penultimate verse of the Bible Jesus Himself uses a form of this word in Rev 22:20 "He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus."

Of this John Wesley wrote:
Rev 22:20 - [He who testifies to these things] - Even all that is contained in this book. Saith - For the encouragement of the church in all her afflictions. Yea - Answering the call of the Spirit and the bride. I come quickly - To destroy all her enemies, and establish her in a state of perfect and everlasting happiness. The apostle expresses his earnest desire and hope of this, by answering, Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

Who Was Moshe Dayan????

I'm new to studying Jewish history, so this may be old news to some or most of you but I was surprised.....to say the very least, when I found out that a man named Moshe Dayan had captured the temple mount during the 6-day war of 1967..................and 12 hours later gave it away to the enemy - to the their own surprise! The temple mount! The most sacred of all their sites!

I keep scratching my head over this and wondering WHY?!? The only possible reason I could think of (from limited knowledge) is that perhaps the secular government was averse to the renewing of Torah worship & sacrifices to resume.


An online friend in a discussion on this very subject was helpful and wrote directly to the Temple Institute to ask the same question:
I wrote a short email to the Temple Mount Faithful, asking about this, and the Temple Mount Institute replied with the following data:

"The Israeli defense Minister at the time, Moshe Dyan personally made the decision and was responsible for handing the Temple Mount back over to the WAQF (Islamic Trust) just a few hours after Israeli soldiers captured it. He said he did this because he was afraid of Islamic retaliation and to foster peace with the Arabs. Basically, he was a complete secularist and saw absolutely no value in Israel keeping the Temple Mount. It was a horrible crime and sin and it never should have happened. The same thing is happening today.........."

Did you know............ (Exo 26:31 describes the inner veil of the tabernacle): The inner veil separated the Holy Place (which contained the Altar of Incense, the lampstand, and the table for the bread) from the Most Holy Place, or Holy of Holies (which contained the ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat)..............Jewish historian Josephus reported that the veil was four inches thick, was renewed every year, and that horses tied to each side could not pull it apart. It barred all but the high priest from the presence of God.

Mat 27:51 tells us at the moment of Christ's death on the cross that veil was torn from top to bottom "And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split."-

The Exo. veil and the Matt. veil are 2 different "temples". The first being the tabernacle which moved around with the Hebrews in the desert during their 40 years wandering, being assembled and disassembled at each place they camped. Eventually Solomon built the first temple The latter is in the actual 2nd temple of the Jews (destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans) and was probably about 18" thick!!!

All preparations for the third temple have been finished. All the garments, implements, etc. exactly as per God's description in the Bible. Personally, I believe the rapture will occur before the 3rd temple is again on this earth. Either way..........Maranatha!