The Preacher's Diary, Author at The Preacher's Diary

DISCERNING MESSIAHS (Part 1 of 2)

January 7, 2023 by The Preacher's Diary

This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.

Acts 7:35

Messiahs Refused

Not always do an oppressed people recognize and receive their messiah, because messiahs don’t often look like it. A people’s reception or refusal of their messiah, however, does not dismiss his mandate, although it can diminish his mission to them. Reception often determines delivery. In other words, how well one receives a messenger often determines how much of the message, or of the benefits of the message, one gets (Matthew 10:41; Mark 6:11). It may also be said that reception begets reception. That is, the reception that one gives to a message or messenger often influences how much of the related benefits one can receive.

DISPLACMENTS FOR SURVIVAL

December 22, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

10 To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn … 11 And brought out Israel from among them: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Psalms 136:10-11.

To get Israel out of Egypt, according to this psalm, God had to smite the oppressors, in one night eliminating the first-borns of humans and animals. It was one unforgettable night of colossal lamentations from palace to dungeon. Until Super Power Egypt was thus judged, ironically according to “his mercy [that] endureth for ever,” deliverance for Israel lingered, even though they were the people of God. In other words, some deliverance will never be possible unless, first, by the elimination of the threats to the deliverance, and the threats could be thrones and beasts, with their collateral casualties (Mark 3:27).

FIVE HUSBANDS

December 22, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

The Insight of a Prophet

One tiring thirsty afternoon, Jesus broke a long-distance trip on foot to sit by a midway Samaritan well where He struck a conversation with a local woman. By prophetic insight, at one point in their discussion, Jesus said to her, “thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband” (John 4:18). She was very shocked at how the stranger knew so much about her private life, and that opened the door to other matters.

THE POWER OF A PRESENCE (Part 2 of 3)

December 18, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

The Midas Touch

Joseph’s master “saw” something; a Something that made that servant “a prosperous man.” Yes, servants may also carry a presence; a negative or positive presence; and servants need not be masters before they prosper. There can be prospering servants as there can be prospering masters; there are enabling servants, and there disabling servants; carrier-servants who leave their masters worse than they had met them.

A POWER OF A PRESENCE

December 14, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, If I have found favour in thine eyes, tarry: for I have learned by experience that the LORD hath blessed me for thy sake.

Genesis 30:27.

Collateral Cruises and Crises

Sometimes we are blessed for another’s sake, or cursed for another’s sake. Everyone carries a presence; a right or wrong presence, which often follows them to wherever they are allowed. The Presence that followed Jacob blessed his boss; the Presence that followed Abraham cursed the palace of the kings who forcefully took advantage of his weakness (Genesis 12:17; 20:1-3). Laban “learned by experience,” by observation, that while Jacob ‘tarried’ with him, he was collaterally benefitted by the Presence that followed that guest.

GOD BLESSES WHAT HE CREATES

December 8, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

“And God created great whales … And God blessed them … So God created man … And God bless them” (Genesis 1:21-22, 27-28). God is committed to blessing what He creates. Even when man fell, God did not curse man. He merely cursed the ground on which man worked (Genesis 3:17). He did not use the word “curse” in addressing the woman or the man in that disaster.

KINDS OF MEALS (Part 3 of 3)

December 8, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

iv) Religious Meals

Religious meals are foods and drinks served or received primarily for their ritual potency, even where the meals might have had a social setting. They could be meals like every other meal: rice or bread or meat and drinks, but in this case defined by their specific context and their primary purpose. A case in point would be the kind of meals against which God warns in our opening text: food dedicated to idols. In this category would also come certain meals served as part of, or served to mark, an idolatrous festival or rite.

KINDS OF MEALS (Part 2 of 3)

December 8, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

Four Kinds of Meals

There are four basic kinds of meals, although some meals could fall into more than one category, or might mean a different thing to the eater than the server. The four basic kinds of meals are:

1. Recreational meals
2. Nutritional meals
3. Social meals
4. Religious meals

KINDS OF MEALS (Part 1 of 3)

December 8, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

Revelation 2:20

Why We Eat

All food does not serve a nutritional purpose, even though it might have nutritional value. Everything we eat or drink is not because we were hungry or thirsty. Sometimes it is merely for the fun of the food, or because it is part of a social event, or because there are medicinal properties we wish to derive from the food, or because the eating is part of a religious ritual. The spirit realm is one of frequent meals and communions, and that realm recognizes and distinguishes meals and meal types.

THE MISSING MAN

November 23, 2022 by The Preacher's Diary

Jesus met a needy sick man at a healing pool. He had been there for thirty-eight fruitless years. His complaint: “I have no man” (John 5:7). Jesus met an eager single pretty woman at a frequent well. She had had unfortunate five failed marriages and was in the sixth tentative relationship. Her frank notice to the Master: “I have no husband” (John 4:17). She probably hoped He might have been her Man Number Seven. Everyone discovered their lack when they met Him. His brightness illumined their darkness; His sweet presence amplified the painful echoes of their crushing void.