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Footnotes: Tapping Into God’s Wisdom
By Wes Shaffer,
on 20-11-2008 00:00
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Footnotes: Tapping Into God’s Wisdom
The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him – the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD – and He will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what He sees with His eyes, or decide by what He hears with His ears; but with righteousness He will judge the needy, with justice He will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth; with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be His belt and faithfulness the sash around His waist. – (Isaiah 11.2-5)
Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen were reporters at the Daily Planet newspaper in a city called Metropolis. At least according to the story of the “man of steel” called Superman. He was, according to the old Superman TV show, “faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.” He had been sent here as a baby from Krypton by parents on the doomed and dying planet. And he came to earth with, as the announcer liked to say, “Powers far beyond those of mortal man.” So, when Lois and Jimmy faced a situation that no normal person could possibly resolve, they would invariably say those words that always precede an amazing solution – “This is a job for Superman!”
I hope this doesn't come as a shock to you and ruin your day, but there really is no Superman… really… there’s not (Just FYI – the “S” on my shirt is for Shaffer). But there is one the Bible calls Sovereign LORD (Adhonay Yahweh), the Most High God. And if you're facing a situation or a need that is going to require “powers far beyond those of mortal man,” you have this awesome, all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful God to turn to. That's when you get a ringside seat to see the greatness of the Son of the Most High God – Jesus.
Last update: 20-11-2008 00:00
Footnotes: Nothing…Will Be Able To Separate Us!
By Wes Shaffer,
on 13-11-2008 00:00
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Favoured : 1
Footnotes: Nothing…Will Be Able To Separate Us!
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[i] No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[ii] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8.35-39.
For years I took my family along to the Atlantic beach in Maryland while I participated in an annual week long business conference. Actually, we stayed at a hotel right along the boardwalk in Ocean City. On a number of occasions, during our visit, there was a major sand sculpting competition. Each contestant would go to work trying to build the most impressive sand creation. Of course they worked most of the day before and after low tide when there was some beach to build on. Well, one evening right before dark, I can remember walking out on the boardwalk and watching the high tide crashing in all around and the beach disappearing as the waves advanced. And, oh, all those sand sculptures people had worked so hard on… Gone, without a trace!
Last update: 13-11-2008 00:00
Footnotes: Growing in Grace
By Wes Shaffer,
on 06-11-2008 00:00
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Footnotes: Growing in Grace
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with Whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. – (Ephesians 4.29-32)
My younger sister Dina’s twins – like most 20-month old toddlers – were (are) members of the Lewis & Clark Junior Rangers… in my Dad’s words – “they love to explore!” From the time they would get up in the morning until they would go down for nap time or bed time, they could (can) move with lightning speed… faster than you can blink, maybe faster than you can think! They’re now several years older, but they’re still like two little Energizer Bunnies, going and going and into everything and, of course, they have one basic maneuver – grab and grip!
Now, that’s a little person’s way of exploring something new. The problem is – some things are delicate and fragile – a concept beyond the understanding of most little people. But in the two weeks my sister and her three little cute ones were visiting with my parents, a pretty good job was done of protecting most of what’s breakable while not discouraging that toddler explorer spirit. One word you could hear often repeated beside “no” was “gentle”. So when one of the busy junior explorers was spotted closing in on something fragile, someone would softly say that important word – “Gentle, gentle.” And suddenly one of the toddlers in the act of investigating would slow down and touch their target ever so carefully, softly… “gentle”.
Last update: 06-11-2008 00:00
Footnotes: God Is Not Fair!
By Wes Shaffer,
on 30-10-2008 00:00
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Favoured : 2
Footnotes: God Is Not Fair!
Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him. The LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”
Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.”
Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you.”
Then I said, “Put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the LORD stood by. – (Zechariah 3.1-5)
Last update: 30-10-2008 00:00
Footnotes: Making a Difference
By Wes Shaffer,
on 23-10-2008 00:00
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Favoured : 2
Footnotes: Making a Difference
The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king's table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king's service. Among these were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. – (Daniel 1.5-8)
For many years, my family had been going to Ocean City, Maryland, for combined vacations and business conferences. There’s the boardwalk, the great Atlantic beach, and the family time. Well, those are all things that we can all get excited about, but something happened over those years at the beach. The beach shrank. Well, not all at once; a little at a time. It just got eroded. Eventually, the city fathers and the governor had a major challenge on their hands – to rebuild their bread-and-butter – those beaches that were slowly disappearing!
Last update: 23-10-2008 00:00
Footnotes: Winning Through Prayer!
By Wes Shaffer,
on 16-10-2008 00:00
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Favoured : 1
Footnotes: Winning Through Prayer!
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. – (James 5.16-18)
Boxing. Now, some people like it and some people don't. It’s not my very favorite sport, but I can get into watching certain matches. Now those ever-present “Rocky” movies seemed to give us boxing as a mythical battlefield between the nice guy underdog and the not-so-nice favorite. And the “Cinderella Man” film is a real life story of a down and out every man guy, James Braddock, successfully going up against a modern day Goliath, Max Baer.
A lot of boxing fans thought it was sort of a Rocky or Cinderella Man matchup when Evander Holyfield went against Mike Tyson for the WBA heavyweight championship. Holyfield was a 25-1 underdog when the fight was booked. Tyson was the almost invincible "Iron Mike” – called by some commentators "the baddest man on the planet."
