Tis a Wonderful Day in the Kingdom!

I’m so thankful and grateful for your prayers for Danny! You are good and Godly men to remember and include him in your prayers. Thank you!

They (and all the prayers of others) were indeed graciously answered yesterday. Our older sister and brother-in-law drew the hospital and recovery duties. At 11:30 a.m., our time, Dan had just been taken off the mechanical pump; perhaps 90 minutes later, he was buttoned up and in ICU.

It was a triple bypass, and the surgeon was able to repair the damaged valve. He told my sister that, apparently, Danny had had a heart attack at some time in the past! I hope to speak and pray with him tomorrow; or if not then, on Sunday.

Our God is really so great!

We get to keep my brother with us for a while longer. He gets to serve God some more here. He gets to know Him better before he is called home. Our family is spared grief and mourning; instead, we can put that energy and more into praising God.

Yes!

What a great day it is in the Kingdom!

: Jim

About that Law ...

We've been doing a lot of study and talking about The Law recently.

We've read and discussed

• its characteristics—natural and revealed,
• its impact on people at the time of its proclamation,
• its acceptance and rejection—then and now,
• the weight added to it by human interpretations and embellishments which made it a yoke that causes men to fall (and fail),
• how its commandments are a perfect reflection of God's nature and character,
• how only One could fulfill the law and totally obey it,
• how, with it, we can identify sin,
• how it was a such blessing that we received through Moses, followed by an even more significant, more meaningful and more powerful blessing from Christ Jesus, who gave us grace and truth,
• how through His sacrifice, we who believe in Him have died to sin; we are no longer slaves to it, but can stand in His grace, and
• how a "new' law might be embraced in the invitation:

"Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30 NIV

Key words: Come, Take, Learn.

Learn what?

Well, if we believe Him, we have eternal life. And what is eternal life? Learning and knowing for eternity the God that Jesus has revealed.

Remember also, that Jesus came to fulfill the Law and not to judge, but to save.

If we accept that the Law was one of God's gifts to man—that indeed it is a reflection of His nature, then we can more readily embrace it as true followers of Christ.

I thought it might be appropriate to read and remind ourselves of what one man wrote about the law, a long time ago, in a place far, far away.

After he described and praised the majesty of God's natural law, he wrote:

The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.

The precepts of the LORD are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.

The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever.
The ordinances of the LORD are sure
and altogether righteous.

They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the comb.

By them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.

I, for one, am glad we have the Law, and seek to embrace all of them. But that, I guess, is the topic of this week's discussion and study. See you then. (Remember what Psalm 1 says about what the blessed man does day and night. Hmmm.)

IBG / JF

613 What?

Since we talked about this briefly this week, here is a list of all 613 Mitzvot that Jewish tradition has enumerated from the Torah -- just in case you were wondering!

Judaism 101