GOD SPEAKS: THE OLD REVEALS THE NEW

Kari Farnell

 The original intent of this post was to discuss the words and messages of several less familiar, more modern Christmas songs, but with this being the last post before Christmas, I felt led to go in a different direction. What follows is a comparison of the beginning of the Old Testament with the beginning of the New Testament book of John. The Old begins with the creation of the World; the New begins with the creation of the World’s Savior. There is a great parallel between the two and I believe it shows that Jesus is present throughout the Bible, not just a character appearing in the New Testament. I have recently been intrigued by the amount of Old Testament scriptures that depict the life of Jesus. As it turns out, some of these books also parallel with the book of Revelation as well. In this we see the Creation of the World, the Creation of the World’s Savior, and the Creation of the New World and what is yet to come.


FIRST;
Genesis 1:1a--"In the beginning..."

John 1:1-2--"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God."

Revelation 21:6b--"I am...the Beginning and the End."

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CREATION:
Genesis 1:1b--God created the Heavens and the Earth."

John 1:3--"All things came into being through HIm, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being."

Revelation 21:1--"Then I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth."

Kari Farnell

LIGHT:
Genesis 1:3-4--"Then God said, 'Let there be light'. and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness."

John 1:4-5--"In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."

Revelation 21:23--"...for the glory of God has illumined it and its lamp IS the Lamb."


FELLOWSHIP:
Genesis 3:8a--"They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day..."

John 1:14--"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us..."

Revelation 22:4a --"...they will see His face..."

Kari Farnell

As can be clearly seen, the Bible is not a book of tales divided into older and newer stories. It is a cohesive, on-going narrative, written by God, about Jesus, his life, ministry, death and resurrection, and our future with Him.

During this Christmas season, my prayer is that you will come to know fully this Jesus of the Bible and see His presence in your life throughout the year to come. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Kari Farnell

God Speaks Through Familiar Christmas Carols

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How often do we pay attention to the words we sing in those old familiar Christmas carols? I must admit that in “researching” for this post, I had to actually go back and look at the words to a lot of these carols. We all tend to know the first verse, often without even looking at the words, but how often do we really pay attention to what we are singing and how often do we focus on the message of the song? This is how God speaks to us through music. The melody and rhythm may ignite our soul, but the words are what speaks to us.

Growing up, my mother and I sang together often for different church events and occasions. Eventually my sister and my daughters started to sing with us as well. One thing I always remember about this experience with my mother (and I’m sure my sister and daughters would say the same) is that the words mattered. My mother was also a choir director and she used the same philosophy in choosing music for the choir...words mattered. Yes, the music had to be in the correct range and skill level of the singers, but then it was the message that was important. My family always viewed our singing as a ministry or opportunity to lead someone to Christ or bring them closer in their journey, so to us the words mattered more than the melody.

Because it is Christmas, I started thinking about the words to some of those more familiar Christmas carols that are sung in church this time of year and realized that I was not always familiar with the complete messages of those carols. Here is a closer look at the message from some of these well-known carols.

Kari Farnell

Hark, the Herald Angels Sing-- written in 1739 by Charles Wesley, adapted by George Whitefield in 1758. By 1961, our present adaptation was complete. This Christmas Hymn begins, in the first two verses, exclaiming the birth of Jesus, as do most Christmas carols. The third verse makes a striking change and acknowledges that Jesus came from Heaven, gives life to all, and has risen to heal our sins. It proclaims that Jesus puts aside his “Glory” to come to earth. I love the way Charles Wesley originally wrote the ending, “Born—that Man no more may die, Born—to raise the Sons of Earth, Born—to give them Second Birth.” The entire third verse explains Jesus’ reason for coming to Earth.

Kari Farnell

Joy to the World--words by Isaac Watts (1719), traditional music by Lowell Mason (1848). Although Joy to the World is one of the most published (according to Wikipedia) Christmas hymns in North America, if you really look at the words, it really reflects Jesus’ power and future coming more than it does His first coming.  Verse 1 could arguably be about Jesus’ birth. Verse 2 is an ode to Jesus’ reign as King where even nature sings His praises. Verse 3 refers to Jesus’ death on the cross which allows us to live in Heaven where there will be no more sin, sadness, thorns, etc. HE BREAKS THE CURSE of death! Verse 4 is a proclamation of Jesus’ future reign over all of the world; of His righteousness and love.

Good Christian Men, Rejoice--attributed to Heinrich Suso circa 1328; music In dulci jubilo circa 1305.

This is an interesting example of how God can even speak through “suspect” people. Heinrich Suso was considered a German mystic, who claimed to have either had a vision or an actual sighting of angels singing these words. As they sang, he joined them in dancing. However Suso was “inspired” to write the words, they are something God can use to speak to us. Verse 1 exclaims the birth of Jesus even in present tense. He is in the manger now!  Verse 2 gives the reason for Jesus to come to earth. His birth is the catalyst of the opening of Heaven to us. Verse 3 again proclaims that we have no more need to fear [eternal] death because Jesus was born to save us. He calls all of us to be present at His table in Heaven and has provided the means for getting there.

Kari Farnell

The last familiar Christmas carol I’d like to mention is O Come, All Ye Faithful. The text of this hymn is attributed to many different people. It was originally printed by John Francis Wade circa 1750, but originally appeared on a manuscript bearing the name of King John IV of Portugal in the mid-1600s. The music also has been attributed to various people including John Wade and a musician in the court of King John IV. Whoever penned the words to this carol, did so as a reflection of praise of the birth of Jesus. They call all people to come and celebrate and worship the newborn Christ. Verses 1, 3, and 4 issue this proclamation and praise of Jesus, while verse 2 explains who Jesus is; the true God, begotten not created.

Kari Farnell

During this Christmas season, I urge you to pay attention to the words; to allow God to speak to you through the familiar; to find something new among the traditional. As you listen to the traditional songs, decide whether they are telling the story of Jesus, or whether they are asking you to praise Him for who He is.

The next post will take a similar track as this, but using modern Christian Christmas songs. I’m excited to see what God will tell us about those.

Speaking Back to God by Being Thankful

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Philippians 4:6

Kari Farnell

We all know that God can speak through Scriptures as we read them, but God speaks through Scriptures we have memorized as well. God wants us to speak back to him through prayer and thanksgiving. I am going to relate a story that shows this idea.

On a bright May morning in 1993, I underwent a scheduled c-section to deliver my 10lb. 14 oz. baby boy. I am a Type 1 diabetic and this was my second baby. Having given birth to his sister through an emergency c-section and with him weighing in at a suspected 8+ lbs at 35 ½ weeks, the doctors had convinced me to undergo another c-section.  Because I had requested to be fully under for the c-section, my husband watched through the surgery door. Time was of the essence because I had been given anesthesia to put me to sleep and the longer it took to get the baby out, the more anesthesia he would have in his system as well. Once the opening was made, the baby ended up being so large that he got stuck coming out. Once he was born, his initial APGAR score was 4; however, his second APGAR reading was 8, so all seemed well.

always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.  Ephesians 5:20

Kari Farnell

At that time (and perhaps still), diabetics were not typically allowed to go past 35-36 weeks before giving birth due to complications that could arise. Earlier in my pregnancy, one of the doctors decided to change my due date and make it a week later than the original date. In my gut, I felt this was an issue, but wasn’t going to doubt the doctor. As it turns out, I was right to have thought it an issue. Shortly after my son’s birth, someone overheard one of the doctors state that my placenta had already started to deteriorate and my son may not have survived another day in the womb.

Again all seemed well despite the prior problems and issues, until his 4^th day. It was on the 4^th day, while still at the hospital, his doctor came in and said, “Well, you must know if I’m here, it’s not good news.” The doctor then began to explain that my son had suddenly become septic and was having difficulty sustaining his breathing. They had tried many things that were not working and they were going to have to fly him to Baltimore. I was devastated, but the first thing to enter my mind was in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

This Scripture, which I had heard many times before, was an immediate thought (almost an audible voice) and a definite word from God. My mind vacillated between this verse, and thinking “this can’t be happening”. I immediately phoned everyone I could think of and got everyone involved in praying. Meanwhile, I sat there THANKING God for the 4 days I had had with my son; for the doctors and nurses; for the situation; and for anything else that came to mind. 

To shorten a long story, I will just say that everything did turn out well. My son came home after 2 weeks in the NICU in Baltimore and has had no related issues since. I thank God for that whole experience. I thank God for friends and family that prayed. I thank God for all of my family that are whole and healthy. I thank God in the bad times as well, because that is what we are commanded to do. It is not easy, but it is important. It helps to take our focus off of what WE can do and put it onto what GOD can do.

God speaks to us in many ways, but sometimes and in some circumstances, he wants us to speak back. He is waiting to hear from us in prayer and through thankfulness for ALL circumstances. Take this Thanksgiving holiday to speak back to God and thank HIm

for ALL things!  

Nick Dykeman

God Speaks Through an Assassin

Kari Farnell

Have you ever noticed how many seemingly inconsequential verses or phrases are found in the Bible? You may read a passage and think, "why in the world is that in here", or even "why is that important?" Judges, chapter 3 contains a couples of these examples. Let's look at some of the background leading up to these seemingly unimportant verses.

The Israelites have recently come into their Promised Land and have defeated some of the

neighboring tribes, but there are still a few remaining. Joshua, who had become their leader

after the death of Moses, has now also died. Thus begins a terrible pattern that lasts for

hundreds of years. Evidently, the Israelites were not smart enough on their own to continue in

the ways of God. Without direct leadership, they begin to worship the false gods of the

neighboring countries and begin to intermarry with their women. God becomes angry with

them because He has brought them all this way, protected and kept them safe, and at the

first opportunity, they throw all of that aside and begin to turn their backs on HIm.

Israel is taken over by the king of Mesopotamia and the Israelites realize their sinful ways
and cry out to God for help. God raises up the first of the Biblical judges, Othniel, to come
to their rescue. After their rescue, Othniel lived and judged for 40 years until he died. 

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After 40 years of peace and again with no direct leader, the Israelites begin to “do evil in the
sight of the Eternal”. So God again delivers them into the hands of a neighboring country. This
time it is the country of Moab, whose king is Eglon. After being enslaved by Eglon for 18 years,
the Israelites cry out to God for help again. Seems like they have learned their lesson. This time
God raises up Ehud. The Israelites decide that Ehud should take a tribute to Eglon, the king,
and try to convince him to let them go. What is interesting about Ehud is that he is left-handed
and the writer of Judges makes a point in telling us that. To me this seems like one of those
inconsequential phrases. Who cares if he’s left-handed? Why in the world would God point this out? 

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A couple of things come to mind here. First, being left-handed was rare then, just as it is now. But that still doesn’t seem to be enough reason to mention it in the Bible. The second thing to think about is that in those days most people and most warriors were right-handed. Swords were and still are typically carried on the opposite side of your strong hand for easier reach and easier use. Those in charge of security for the king would generally search the LEFT side of people for weapons since most were right-handed. In the case of Ehud, since he was left-handed, he carried his sword on his RIGHT side and therefore, it was not found during the security search. 
Ehud goes in to see King Eglon, whom the Bible describes as “a very fat man”. Again, why
does God care if we know Eglon’s size or body type? Is this another seemingly
inconsequential part of Scripture? Ehud brings the tribute to Eglon and leaves. After he
starts to leave the palace, he goes back and tells the King that he has a secret message
for him. At this point, King Eglon has gone into the “upstairs room”. This is often said to be
where the chamber pot is and where the king might be relieving himself.

Despite that fact, King Eglon is so pleased by the promise of this secret message that he invites Ehud upstairs
alone. After locking the door, Ehud wastes no time in drawing his sword from his RIGHT side
and plunges it into Eglon. We are told that the king is so fat, the sword AND hilt go in and are
surrounded by skin. Ehud may have been the world’s first assassin! He makes his escape
and eventually Eglon’s guards go in and check on him and find him dead. At first glance,
I'm sure they were confused because they likely were not able to see the sword
that killed him. God had delivered Israel once again and they rested from war for 80 years. 

It would be nice to say that the nation of Israel had learned their lesson after this, but this
pattern of falling into sinful ways and being rescued by a judge becomes a vicious cycle
that lasts for hundreds of years before God finally gives them a king to rule them.
Even after that, Israel’s kings did not always do “what was right in the sight of the Lord”.
Eventually, Israel is defeated as a nation and dispersed for good.

There are a couple closing thoughts about this story. The first thing that we can take away
from this passage of Scripture is that ALL of the Bible is there for a reason. We can always
glean things from the verses that seem insignificant. If it’s in the Bible, it’s there for a reason;
we may just need to pray and research to find the meaning.

The second is that God continues to give second chances to the Israelites when they
disobey and fall away from Him. He does the same for us today. God continues to invite
us into His presence and His kingdom and even when we don’t accept that invitation,
He continues to send it back out. There will come a day, though, that the date on the
invitation expires and God won’t have the opportunity to send it back out. We need to
accept God’s invitation now before that expiration date arrives. 

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God Speaks Through Barnabas, but who is he?

Kari Farnell

I have to admit it! I often do not remember sermons much beyond Sunday morning. One exception to this is a sermon given by my father-in-law about 30 years ago. To be honest I don’t remember a lot of it either, but I do remember he talked about Barnabas. I didn’t remember ever hearing much about Barnabas prior to this sermon. You too may have never heard of him. 

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 The first mention of Barnabas is in Acts, chapter 4. I rediscovered him when I recently read through Acts, chapters 3-5. These chapters talk about some of the events surrounding the beginnings of the church, including one of the arrests of Peter and John as they attempted to share the good news of Christ. There is a lot of interesting information in these two chapters, so I encourage you to read them on your own. After healing a man, Peter, John, and the man who was healed, were arrested.  The Sadducees couldn’t decide what should be done with them, but finally released them with the instruction to stop spreading the stories of Jesus. The main reason they released them was because between the time of healing the man and being arrested, Peter and John had convinced more than 5000 people to believe their stories about Jesus. In addition, there was no way to hide the fact that this man who had been crippled for more than 40 years was now healed. With all of that community support for Peter and John, the Jewish leaders were afraid of riots and so they released the men telling them not to share the news of Jesus. Once Peter and John were released they went back to the community of believers who prayed about the situation. The Bible tells us that after the prayer, they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began sharing God’s message with even more confidence.

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Acts 4 then goes on to describe this community of believers as being so deeply committed to the cause that they put all of their earthly belongings together in “one pot”, so to speak, and shared what they had with each other. This is where Barnabas comes in. Barnabas is first identified as a Cyprian Levite, a Jewish man (of the priestly order) that had been born in Cyprus. His name was originally Joseph. The writer of Acts tells us that this Cyprian Levite, Joseph, along with others, sold property and put all of the money from the sale into this “pot” to be used by the fellow believers. The apostles recognized the significance of this act and actually nicknamed Joseph as Barnabas, which means “son of encouragement”. Barnabas’ act was an encouragement to others that they could also give what they had to this community of believers. This same Barnabas went on to travel and spread the Gospel with Paul a little later in Acts..

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When I heard my father-in-law’s sermon all those years ago and he talked about Barnabas being an encourager, I knew right then and there that this was my calling...to encourage others. For some time I had wrestled with my spiritual gift(s). I knew that we were each given at least one, but was really unsure of what mine was...until I heard about Barnabas. It was then that it occurred to me that perhaps this was my gift.  In college, I studied Psychology with the idea of helping others, then wanted to try teaching to help others. My gift was really not in teaching or even helping others, but in encouraging. Often we may feel that we have no contributions to the family of God, but know that we can always be an encourager. Encourage others to follow God; encourage them to pray; encourage folks to come to church; encourage friends to read the Bible. If you cannot seem to find any other gift, choose to be a Barnabas!

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God Speaks Through Clay

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Usually when I pick up a Bible, it is to research a particular verse or topic, or to read what goes along with the devotion for the day. Occasionally, I will pick one up, close my eyes, open the Bible, and point to a particular verse. By using this "surprise" method, I sometimes come across just what God wants me to see at that moment. Such is the case with the Scripture for this week's blog. When I tried it this week, I pointed to Jeremiah 18:1, so I started reading through the whole chapter. In this chapter, God is giving Jeremiah another word to Israel and God begins by sending Jeremiah down to the local potter's shop. God tells him that once he is there, God will reveal His word to Jeremiah. So Jeremiah saunters on down to the potter's wheel and notices that the potter is making something. He begins to watch and observe. Let's compare here several versions of the same verse that describe what Jeremiah observes (vs. 4):

"And whenever the clay would not take the shape he wanted, he would change his mind and form it into some other shape." (CEV)

"But the jar that he was forming didn’t turn out as he wished, so he kneaded it into a lump and started again" (Living)

"And as I watched, the clay vessel in his hands became flawed and unusable. So the potter started again with the same clay. He crushed and squeezed and shaped it into another vessel that was to his liking." (The Voice)

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While I enjoy all three of these versions, I like The Voice best in this case. This version adds some additional comments (italicized words) to passages to help them be a little more understandable. In this case, they have added the words unusable, crushed, and squeezed and this formed a meaningful picture for me. 

We have often heard the idea that God is the potter and we are the clay in His hands, but as I really read these verses, especially verse 4, God began to reveal a little bit more. Not only does God mold and make us as a potter makes a pot, but just as a potter does, God must crush and squeeze us (or allow us to be) and cause us to become unusable before we are fit to be re-made. Maybe this involves changing our attitudes, changing our hearts, changing our circumstances or changing something else. Whatever that change may be, it causes us to become pliable again and allows us to be molded into something usable. Looking at the CEV and Living Bible versions of this verse, it also reveals that perhaps when we are headed in the wrong direction, we didn't turn out the way He wished, or did not take the shape He wanted, it was at this time that the Master Potter crushed and squeezed us and we became unusable for a time, allowing Him to re-mold and re-make us into a usable vessel once more.

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The other point that God wanted to make to Jeremiah and Israel through this passage is more clearly eluded to in the CEV version above.  The fact that the potter would change his mind was something God wanted Israel to know. God, as the Master Potter, can and will, change His mind from time to time. Further in Jeremiah 18, God explains how He deals with some of the neighboring people. (Jonah would have benefitted from reading this passage). God sometimes changes His mind in how he deals with people. Verses 6-10 say, "People of Israel, I, the Lord, have power over you, just as a potter has power over clay. If I threaten to uproot and shatter an evil nation and that nation turns from its evil, I will change my mind. If I promise to make a nation strong, but its people start disobeying me and doing evil, then I will change my mind and not help them at all." He wanted the people of Israel to understand why He may decide NOT to destroy a nation or why He may be inclined TO destroy a nation. 

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With this in mind, in verse 11, God lays down His next announcement, "So listen to me, people of Judah and Jerusalem! I have decided to strike you with disaster, and I won’t change my mind unless you stop sinning and start living right." Rather than belabor a long story, Let's cut to the end. Israel (at least in chapter 18), does not make efforts to change and in fact, look for ways to kill God's messenger, Jeremiah. I suspect Israel is about to be crushed, squeezed, and rendered unusable. Read Jeremiah 19 and beyond for the rest of the story.
So, what points can we take away from Jeremiah 18? First, understand that God is the Master Potter and we are the clay. God will mold us into His desired creation. If we mess up, we may be crushed and squeezed and become unusable (by God) until we repent and he remakes the vessel. Second, if we are not Christians, we are headed for disaster; an everlasting sorrow, guilt, and sadness once we die our earthly death. God has said that we are not worthy to spend life with Him on our own graces. However, if we try to stop sinning AND accept that Jesus took our penalty and created a worthy pathway for us, God will change His mind and save us from eternal misery. 

For more information about this Worthy Pathway that Jesus created, please contact me, or go here: Peace with God

    

God Speaks "YET"

Kari Farnell

In the last post, I shared with you one of my favorite Bible passages. I will do the same on this post. Both of these passages come from the “minor” prophets. If you’ve never read through them, I encourage you to do so.

Today’s verse is Habakkuk 3:17-18. I use Bible Gateway often to look at these verses in different translations. This excerpt was no different and I’d like to share it from a couple different translations.

The Contemporary English Version describes it this way, "Fig trees may no longer bloom,or vineyards produce grapes; olive trees may be fruitless,and harvest time a failure;sheep pens may be empty, and cattle stalls vacant—but I will still celebrate because the Lord God saves me."

The Voice (which is typically my favorite) says, "Even if the fig tree does not blossom and there are no grapes on the vines, If the olive trees fail to give fruit and the fields produce no food, If the flocks die far from the fold and there are no cattle in the stalls;Then I will still rejoice in the Eternal! I will rejoice in the God who saves me!"

Kari Farnell

The New King James Version states, "Though the fig tree may not blossom,nor fruit be on the vines;Though the labor of the olive may fail,and the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,and there be no herd in the stalls—Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

And lastly, the Amplified Bible declares, "Though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines,though the yield of the olive fails and the fields produce no food,Though the flock is cut off from the fold and there are no cattle in the stalls,Yet I will [choose to] rejoice in the Lord;I will [choose to] shout in exultation in the [victorious] God of my salvation!"

Verse 18 is the focus here, but it really needs verse 17 with it to get its full value. Verse 17 reminds me of Job. You may recall that Job suffered physically, emotionally, and mentally as a test to prove His allegiance to God. Despite all of his losses, he continued to serve God. That is what verse 18 is all about. Verse 17 speaks of all types of loss and sorrow, and then verse 18 responds that even with all of this, Habakkuk will still praise God. The translations I enjoy most are the ones that use the term “Yet”. 

Flaming Text

Isn’t it amazing how such a small word can just change the whole focal point of the sentence or phrase? That is the function of some conjunctions. The word “but” is one example. The day was warm, but the wind was cold. He was ill, but he went to work. The stick was thin, but it was strong.

The word “yet” is a similar conjunction; used to change the heart of the passage in Habakkuk. In today’s passage, Habakkuk is lamenting a message he has had from God in a vision. In verse 16, he begins to describe his feelings from the vision. He goes on, in 17 and 18, to basically say that no matter what happens, and even if these bad things DO happen, he will YET rejoice in the God of his salvation because He knows that God’s way and plan are perfect. Habakkuk must go on in faith that God will be in charge, no matter the outcome.

Just as Job did and Habakkuk did, we should remember that through our bleak times, God is watching out for us. When the way seems long and dark and frightening, we should still praise God for He is the God of our Salvation. We can rest assured that He is in control and He will take care of us and our situation.

Kari Farnell