OCTOBER EDITION...2018...WONDERFUL WORDS OF LIFE...

                                             BY Dr. Keith J. Wise

I. INTRODUCTION: The month of October is a month of preparation for winter in most of the midwest of the United States.  Here, people are cleaning up their yards and putting away the summer lawn furniture, cleaning up dying gardens and conditioning the tools for next Spring.  We have as a society over the decades selected certain days of the month as special days.  In my blog a year ago I listed about a dozen or so special days in the month that we as a people celebrate.  This year I would like to note just one important date of celebration, and that is Columbus Day.

Columbus was Italian by nationality and explored for Queen Isabella of Spain. His main directive was to search out a totally new yet in most part, uncharted waters and lands.  It would be much like our first flight to the moon.  It was not always clear as he traveled where he was going, but he persevered with his primitive instruments as he reached the Western Hemisphere. As many of you know, he traveled with three ships, the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria. Although he traveled for the Queen, many in the shipping industry of his day laugh as such a venture.  However, I always remember a quote from my 6th grade teacher Mrs. Huestis, "If Columbus had tuned back, no one could have blamed him, but no one would have remembered him!"  His discovery of a new world, with new people and new dimensions changed the course of world history for both good and bad.  Furthermore, it gave birth to redefining the concept of "NEW" in the minds of many Europeans, while providing a rich history beyond Europe and giving  people, yet unborn, opportunity.  So in this month of October we can celebrate Columbus Day on October 12 of our calendars in a way that celebrates the spirit of adventure and discovery.

II. DIGGING DEEPER... The hand of God concerning King Cyrus of Persia...

The days of old Babylon were over as the Meads and Persians entered the city with little to no resistance and captured by King Cyrus, a splendid wealthy city of antiquity.  Within the captured populations that Cyrus inherited were the Children of Israel or the Jews.  They had been in exile seventy years and by God's providence would again be displayed as king Cyrus the Great directed a proclamation, a release of these captive people along with any number of captive peoples of the Babylonians.  The Bible records in three separate locations this momentous event: II Chronicles 36:23; Ezra 1:2-4 and Ezra 6:2-5.    

Secular history and archaeology have since confirmed this event by finding in 1879, a clay cylinder about 9 inches long known as the Cyrus Cylinder.  You can search this on your computer and see pictures.   Written in Akkadian Cuneiform, it is today a national treasure of the country of Iran and is on display in replica at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.  Furthermore, it has been translated into all the official languages of the UN.  Part of the inscription reads: 'I returned them unharmed to their cells, in the sanctuaries that make them happy.  May all the gods that I returned to their sanctuaries...ask for a long life for me, and mention my good deeds...'   Although the Jews are not mentioned by name, they are suggested by being a captured people and noted in their sacred history to preserve them as a people.

II. A DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT FROM THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW- 

Matthew is the first gospel in our Bibles of the New Testament.  It connects the last book of the Jewish Scriptures of Malachi to a revelation of the God's Son in Jesus Christ our Lord.  In fact it proclaims Him as the fulfillment of prophecy and the King.  In verses 1 to 18 of chapter one, we begin reading in a strange way  the introduction to a book containing a family tree of genealogies.  In part it reads, "...An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham..." 

Matthew has a strong cycle of Jewish roots and backgrounds and convincingly displays the list of some biblical heroes and figures from the Jewish Scriptures. We call this the Old Testament, (42 generations), but also with the opening lines gives textual pride to the place of David and Abraham.  Verse 1, quoted above, has a lot to do with a new heavenly revealed theology of Christ the King as the Word that became flesh.  In his conclusion, Matthew sums up some eighteen centuries of history in three equal rounds of fourteen generations: 1.) From Abraham to David, from 2.) David to the deportation to Babylon and 3.) from the deportation to Jesus Christ. Ironically, how can fourteen generations account for such unbalanced periods of time, from approximately 1750-1000 B.C., from 1000-598 B.C. and from 598-6B.C.?  Seeing it another way, fourteen is two times seven the perfect number.  Consequently, perfected fullness multiplied by two.  It is in truth, another way of representing Jesus' coming as the fulfilment of history.

III. NUGGETS OF NOURISHMENT- A Sermon for Righteous Affirmative Living-

Title: Affirmative Living in the Life of Joseph

Text: Genesis 37:12-28

Introduction: Do you have a dream?  You need one.  Our dreams, hopes and aspirations drive us to fulfillment.  They display a powerful image of what life can be and often we have let people, circumstances and life in general degrade or destroy our dreams.  It is my personal opinion that even after age sixty you should have a dream and still be used of God in your Christian life.

Joseph was called, derisively, the "dreamer."  Some of his dreams were prophetic and some if not for any other reason were interesting.  Joseph dreamed of using his considerable talents to do great things for God and his family.  He remained faithful from the family business, to the house of Potiphar in Egypt and from the pit to the palace to be only second in honor to the Pharaoh.  What his brothers meant for death God used for life in his time frame and in eternity.  In other words, Joseph's dreams enabled him to live affirmatively.  How do we live affirmatively and what does it mean? 

A. Affirmative living means recognizing the presence of God in your life.

     1. Whatever happened to Joseph never caused him to give up on God.  In fact, everything that happened to him seemed to only draw him closer to God.

     2. Do you notice the presence of God in your life? As a Christian, the Holy Spirit is a testator to your position in Him.  With the many distractions we endure in our daily schedules, quiet time and focusing on God will help us recognize and realize how He wants to work in us.  I believe God has a plan for your life and mine and having a dream to trust in His will can accomplish this for us.  One of the distractions we can face can be the past.  The past has two elements of destruction in distraction: Guilt- over what we have done in remorse as sinners, and the Hurt and Pain- what others have done to us.  Joseph kept his focus on God so at least as we have recorded, these two powerful distractions did not control him.

B.  Affirmative living means making the best of bad situations.  

      1. Joseph was hated and sold into slavery.  He was unjustly accused and placed into prison.  Though forgotten, it is never recorded he lost hope.

      2. But whatever happened to Joseph, he kept on making the best of his circumstances. He was sold into slavery only to become the head servant in the house of Potiphar.  Enticed by Potiphar's wife, he was unjustly accused and thrown in prison. Here he interpreted the dreams of the Butler and the Baker and eventually interpreted the colossal dream of the Pharaoh which saved Egypt, Israel(Jacob and his family), and that part of the world from famine.  

      3. Are you faced with what may appear as surmountable difficulties and challenges?  If you are, dream again.  Look up and let the living God provide a fresh look at your circumstances.

 C. Affirmative living means maintaining your principles even when inconvenient.

      1. Joseph had to face deceptive brothers, corrupt officials, unjust circumstances and an alien culture.  He could have made all kinds of excuses and given in at any point, but he did not do so.  He was willing to do what was right and in the will of God ignoring the consequences. 

      2. Have you been mistreated and in unfair circumstances?  Dream again and trust God...He is still the answer to every aspect of your life.

  D. Affirmative living means recognizing God is in final control.

      1. When Joseph was finally reunited with his brothers, he said to them, "What you did to me you meant for bad, but God used it for good."  Joseph recognized that God can "turn around" any situation and make it right and whole.  Remember only God can make such dramatic changes "...all things work together for our good."

      2. Have you wondered if God has deserted you?  Have to had doubts if your life has any purpose at all?  Stop and dream again that God is good and that he will provide the path to the future.  I have a formula that if you look at Joseph, Moses, David and even our Lord Jesus Christ we see the following.

              a) HEARING... Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

              b) TRUSTING... Trust what God has said, we have examples in scripture.

              c) OBEYING... The Lord will never lead you wrong.  He is always right!!

CONCLUSION: Can you dream again?  Yes... He will give you what you need.  He has provided all the tools to see beyond your circumstances and life in general. Jesus said, "Ask, Seek, and Knock."  Beloved He is the way, the truth, and life for all of us.

IV. QUOTABLE QUOTES FROM AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY

1. Oliver Wendell Holmes: "Great things in this world is not so much where we are, but in what direction we are going."

2. Henry David Thoreau: "I had three chairs in my house- one for solitude,two for friends, and three for society."

3. Thomas Jefferson: "The wise know too well their own weakness to assume infallibility; and he who knows most, knows how little he knows." 

4. Woodrow Wilson: "Character is a by-product; it is produced in the great manufacture of daily duty."

5. Horace Mann: "Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it each day, and at last we cannot break it."

V. JUST A THOUGHT HERE AND THERE THAT CAN INSPIRE...

1. Our Potential: "A plain bar of iron is worth about $5.00.  This same bar of iron when made into horseshoes is worth $10.50.  If made into sewing needles it is worth $4,285. If turned into balance wheels for watches it becomes worth $250,000. " This illustrates in another sense the worth of you.  Many times your value is what you do with yourself with the help of God.  

2. The current of time carries us on inevitably to our destiny.  No single moment can be relived exactly except in memory, and then only vaguely.

3. He who has energy to root out vice, should go a step farther and plant virtue in its place.

4. Blessed is the man who is too busy to worry in the day-time and too tired to lie awake at night.