#24912 - 02/07/05 07:41 PM
Re: Ch. 5: The Dedication
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Registered: 11/22/03
Posts: 777
Loc: Beyond your grasp
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But the priest did not see through the veil; he did not read the mystery beyond. The presentation of infants was a common scene. Day after day the priest received the redemption money as the babes were presented to the Lord. Day after day he went through the routine of his work, giving little heed to the parents or children, unless he saw some indication of the wealth or high rank of the parents. Joseph and Mary were poor; and when they came with their child, the priests saw only a man and woman dressed as Galileans, and in the humblest garments. There was nothing in their appearance to attract attention, and they presented only the offering made by the poorer classes.
Do we likewise go through the motions today, failing to see the presence of the Living God in our midst because we overlook the poorest or humblest among us? Or those with a lack of social graces, a lower intelligence, a more stumbling personality? Especially for those of us doing church work we must never become so blasé as to cheat those we serve of the fulness of that service, from a dedicated heart and a spirit connected with the Eternal Spirit.
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"After such knowledge, what forgiveness?" -- T.S. Eliot
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#24914 - 02/07/05 07:51 PM
Re: Ch. 5: The Dedication
[Re: ]
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Registered: 11/22/03
Posts: 777
Loc: Beyond your grasp
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Quote:
The priest looked upon Him as he would upon any other child. But though he neither saw nor felt anything unusual, God's act in giving His Son to the world was acknowledged. This occasion did not pass without some recognition of Christ.
... Simeon understands the warnings of the Spirit, and he is deeply impressed that the infant being presented to the Lord is the Consolation of Israel, the One he has longed to see.
... Anna also, a prophetess, came in and confirmed Simeon's testimony concerning Christ. As Simeon spoke, her face lighted up with the glory of God, and she poured out her heartfelt thanks that she had been permitted to behold Christ the Lord.
God never leaves Himself without witness where and when He is at work or is present among us. The question is, would we have recognized these witnesses for what they are? Or would we have considered them fanatic and unbalanced? Would we have asked, "Is this truly the One to come?" or would we have engaged in naysayings against Simeon and Anna?
Why do you suppose the Lord chose two elderly folks to be witnesses at this particular moment? Why not younger folks or middle-agers? (Just asking & wondering -- not implying anything!)
_________________________
"After such knowledge, what forgiveness?" -- T.S. Eliot
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#24915 - 02/07/05 10:05 PM
Re: Ch. 5: The Dedication
[Re: ]
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Registered: 11/22/03
Posts: 777
Loc: Beyond your grasp
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Quote:
[T]hose who held positions as rulers and priests in Israel, though they too had before them the precious utterances of prophecy, were not walking in the way of the Lord, and their eyes were not open to behold the Light of life.
So it is still. Events upon which the attention of all heaven is centered are undiscerned, their very occurrence is unnoticed, by religious leaders, and worshipers in the house of God. Men acknowledge Christ in history, while they turn away from the living Christ. Christ in His word calling to self-sacrifice, in the poor and suffering who plead for relief, in the righteous cause that involves poverty and toil and reproach, is no more readily received today than He was eighteen hundred years ago.
Likewise, I observe, men acknowledge the spirit of Christ active today while wishing to spiritualize Him away as a real historical Person who lived, walked, breathed, taught self-sacrifice, practiced self-renunciation, and bade us to follow Him. So long as He may be universalized into a symbol He is acceptable; the historical Person tied to specific events involving a Cross still seems a reproach unto the heathen as it were. Many schools of thought even purporting to be religious in nature now hold to the notion that the Historical Jesus never actually existed as a single Person.
Thus we have come full circle and shown the opposite route to be, in latter end, the same as the first, and no closer to discerning of the Living God.
_________________________
"After such knowledge, what forgiveness?" -- T.S. Eliot
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#24916 - 02/08/05 04:38 AM
Re: Ch. 5: The Dedication
[Re: ]
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Registered: 11/11/03
Posts: 4849
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Especially for those of us doing church work we must never become so blasé as to cheat those we serve of the fulness of that service, from a dedicated heart and a spirit connected with the Eternal Spirit.
Guilty. So very guilty. But, what can we do about it? Week after week we serve and yet no one else wants to give it a go. It can be draining.
Last Sabbath, I didn't even go to church at all. Instead, I spent the hours with my children experiencing time with God, and giving to them--not feeling drained or neglected in my Sabbath time with God.
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Does that mean, at the time of Jesus' first coming, humanity stood at the "high noon" of its history (where shadow meets substance), even as we now stand near the end of our (nighttime) eleventh hour (just before Midnight)?
I like this kind of insight. So right on target. And so, are we prepared? We should have our lanterns lit and we should be trying desperately to find others in the dark who can light their lanterns from the fire of ours.
Here's a thought though--let us not lose our own fire in giving to others. Let us not run around so quickly as to forget why we're running. Let us carefully guard our own light so as not to let it burn out in the sharing.
Quote:
Why do you suppose the Lord chose two elderly folks to be witnesses at this particular moment? Why not younger folks or middle-agers? (Just asking & wondering -- not implying anything!)
I think it is because the elders among us (at least in the time of Jesus' birth) are considered to be wiser than the rest. They are the ones who have been around long enough to have experienced true joy, true disappointment, true love and true sorrow. Their experiences give them wisdom that younger people simply have not had the opportunity to glean.
It is also possible that these two elderly people are the ones who chose God. In their wisdom, they waited. They waited on the Lord. We would do well to learn to wait sometimes.
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Thus we have come full circle and shown the opposite route to be, in latter end, the same as the first, and no closer to discerning of the Living God.
And yet, there are those among us who are seeking the truth. There are those who are willing to listen to the wisdom of the elders. There are those who want to grow and want to get off this merry-go-round.
Hence, Club Adventist; hence, this Desire of Ages study.
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#24917 - 02/08/05 05:37 AM
Re: Ch. 5: The Dedication
[Re: CaregiverDee]
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Registered: 11/22/03
Posts: 777
Loc: Beyond your grasp
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Quote:
Guilty. So very guilty. But, what can we do about it? Week after week we serve and yet no one else wants to give it a go. It can be draining.
Chrys I must ask your forgiveness. In my zeal to characterize what I was seeing in the passage I inadvertently laid a very heavy burden on those in the regular performance of the work. I should not have said "we must never become so blasé ..." (etc.) I should rather have said simply that becoming blasé is a very real risk for those who minister continually, and posed the question, what can we do to deal with the very real possibility and/or experience of "spiritual burn-out"? How can we keep our own fires fresh? Your response hit this on the head: (1) know your limitations and stay well within them while serving; (2) take time as needed for yourself to refresh yourself in the Lord's presence in ways that do not pose a drain on your reserves.
About the two elderly folk: I think it is a terrific witness to us in these last days where respect for age is all but non-existent, and where people are even being devalued, especially in the workplace, for daring to hit 35, let alone 40. 35 and 40 is "old"??? I don't think so. But as a 40 year old I have finally learned that age is not going to change me. I will still be ME inside at the age of 85 -- not someone mysteriously morphed into a nameless generic "little old lady" any more than hitting 25 or 30 mysteriously morphed me into a nameless generic "adult" or hitting 40 mysteriously morphed me into some nameless generic "middle-ager". I don't even think of myself as a "middle ager" -- don't even know what that means. Doubtless at 65 I will likewise not think of myself as a "senior citizen" and will ask, what does THAT mean???
But to our youth-worshipping culture it is a rebuke: everyone is too stupid to figure out baby Jesus is in the temple except these two "old fogies", Simeon and Anna. Good for them!!! And then again, it is also an encouragement to us who sometimes feel we must wait "forever" for something ... their age is a testimony to long years of endurance, hopefully patient; of waiting on the Lord for the fulfillment of the prophecies. They waited at least as long as their years would suggest, and remained faithful to the last.
_________________________
"After such knowledge, what forgiveness?" -- T.S. Eliot
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#24919 - 02/08/05 05:24 PM
Re: Ch. 5: The Dedication
[Re: CaregiverDee]
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Registered: 11/22/03
Posts: 777
Loc: Beyond your grasp
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Yes, but you have helped me become aware of how my words may affect another, even inadvertently, and that is valuable awareness to have, especially for someone like me. I live in my head so am often lacking in that.
_________________________
"After such knowledge, what forgiveness?" -- T.S. Eliot
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#24920 - 02/08/05 09:37 PM
Re: Ch. 5: The Dedication
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Quote:
One greater than Moses lay in the priest's arms; and when he enrolled the child's name, he was enrolling the name of One who was the foundation of the whole Jewish economy. That name was to be its death warrant; for the system of sacrifices and offerings was waxing old; the type had almost reached its antitype, the shadow its substance.
Does that mean, at the time of Jesus' first coming, humanity stood at the "high noon" of its history (where shadow meets substance), even as we now stand near the end of our (nighttime) eleventh hour (just before Midnight)?
Just a thought that occurred to me ... anyone else reading with me this week?
Check out Col 2:17, Heb 8:5 and Heb 10:1
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#24921 - 02/08/05 10:00 PM
Re: Ch. 5: The Dedication
[Re: sweettrini]
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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What you posted about the 2 oldies but goodies people knowing Jesus verses the religious establishment not doing so ...is why I preach on JUDE.
I am getting reading to write out the sermon..
JUDE- a message for our time..
1. Contend, 2. Conflict, 3. Conquer
OR
1. Effort, 2. Enmity, 3. Empathy
Jude (as well As Peter..in 2 Peter) exhort the believers to .."keep the faith"...
The church was being impacted by false, greasy grace, incompetent, carnal phony teachers
You can catch a clue as to the personal result...they speak "evil of dignities.."
This has taken place in the last few decades in an increasing manner.
I call it the Rodney Dangerfield syndrome...due to people like Archie bunker types and Don Rickles..
It is the societal demeaning and fractioning trend..causing cynicism and lack or respect for anyone.
We have
Pedophile priests
Quack Fraudulant doctors,
Corrupt Politician perverts
Gestapo, donut addicited cops
Psycho postal workers
Ambulance chasing lawyers
Democrats
Republicans
Right wing evangelical, fundamentalists
Catholics
Jesuits
Ragheads
Liberals
Conservatives
us verses them attitudes big time
Things were so demeaning in Jesus time that Jesus even brought out that it was ok'd by the Pharisees to get a mule out of a ditch but not ok to take care of a sick person ..on the sabbath...wait til you get to DA on this dialog..
Even most of the the religious leaders had lost their spiritual sensitivity and personableness...they just went through the motions and got richer as fast as they could ..to compensate for their loss of soul life.
They were so clueless that they were not of the sensitivity of the 2 oldies .
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#24924 - 02/09/05 06:43 PM
Re: Ch. 5: The Dedication
[Re: ]
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Now, you're sure you didn't pick up this meme from my posts here on C/A, Jimbob? I have been calling this the "Rodney Dangerfield" syndrome for some time myself. Or maybe I picked it up from you? Can't remember. Either way you've got your peanut butter in my chocolate ... erm, we seem to be tainting one another's meme pool ... *ahem* ...
I have used this goodie for at least 10 years...so didn't pick it up from you...
I used Trickle Down Immorality for about that long and would fax a syndicated talk radio host that term and he ended up thinking he coined it..
I actually have a Sunday funnies cartoon with that used also..
I don't have any copyrights..they are just for communication memory helps
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#24925 - 02/14/05 06:17 AM
Re: Ch. 5: The Dedication
[Re: sweettrini]
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Registered: 11/22/03
Posts: 777
Loc: Beyond your grasp
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Quote:
Satan has represented God as selfish and oppressive, as claiming all, and giving nothing, as requiring the service of His creatures for His own glory, and making no sacrifice for their good.
This is immensely, intensely true. Just listen for a moment to the messages out there in the world, from the voice of the "angry atheist" to the detractors of faith to the outright Satanist to any and all who have a word to speak against Christianity. Aside from the very real and legitimate complaints about how greatly short God's people (that's us) often fall -- as well as words evincing confusion and conflation between the "beast" power (false/fallen churchianity) and the Way of Christ -- are mingled in vocalizations born in hell itself for their contents against God.
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But the gift of Christ reveals the Father's heart. It testifies that the thoughts of God toward us are "thoughts of peace, and not of evil." Jer. 29:11. It declares that while God's hatred of sin is as strong as death, His love for the sinner is stronger than death. Having undertaken our redemption, He will spare nothing, however dear, which is necessary to the completion of His work. No truth essential to our salvation is withheld, no miracle of mercy is neglected, no divine agency is left unemployed. Favor is heaped upon favor, gift upon gift. The whole treasury of heaven is open to those He seeks to save.
We cannot leave this chapter without serious contemplation of these words. Herein are amazing testimonies to the graciousness and love of our Father, words that should give us tremendous hope and joy, confidence and anticipation, comfort and succor.
_________________________
"After such knowledge, what forgiveness?" -- T.S. Eliot
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#24926 - 02/14/05 06:29 AM
Re: Ch. 5: The Dedication
[Re: ]
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Registered: 11/22/03
Posts: 777
Loc: Beyond your grasp
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Quote:
At the cross of Calvary, love and selfishness stood face to face. Here was their crowning manifestation. Christ had lived only to comfort and bless, and in putting Him to death, Satan manifested the malignity of his hatred against God. He made it evident that the real purpose of his rebellion was to dethrone God, and to destroy Him through whom the love of God was shown.
I had a friend who used to refer simply to a force he called "that which hates love."
Says it all in my book ... satan is simply that which hates love, and seeks to destroy it. can anything be any more contrary to life, more alien to our hearts' yearnings, than that which hates love and would see it murdered in cold blood, crushed out, smothered, suffocated, broken beneath a calloused heel?
_________________________
"After such knowledge, what forgiveness?" -- T.S. Eliot
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#24927 - 02/14/05 06:32 AM
Re: Ch. 5: The Dedication
[Re: ]
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Registered: 11/22/03
Posts: 777
Loc: Beyond your grasp
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Quote:
Jesus came with the truth of heaven, and all who were listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit were drawn to Him. The worshipers of self belonged to Satan's kingdom. In their attitude toward Christ, all would show on which side they stood. And thus everyone passes judgment on himself.
In the day of final judgment, every lost soul will understand the nature of his own rejection of truth. The cross will be presented, and its real bearing will be seen by every mind that has been blinded by transgression. Before the vision of Calvary with its mysterious Victim, sinners will stand condemned. Every lying excuse will be swept away. Human apostasy will appear in its heinous character. Men will see what their choice has been. Every question of truth and error in the long-standing controversy will then have been made plain. In the judgment of the universe, God will stand clear of blame for the existence or continuance of evil. It will be demonstrated that the divine decrees are not accessory to sin. There was no defect in God's government, no cause for disaffection. When the thoughts of all hearts shall be revealed, both the loyal and the rebellious will unite in declaring, "Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints. Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? . . . for Thy judgments are made manifest." Rev. 15:3, 4.
This sweeping theme of the Great Controversy permeates all throughout the writings of Ellen White. It is central to her thinking and her view of the world and of realities spiritual and mundane.
In that great day all will acknowledge the truth of God's worthiness. Some will have known all along and be rejoicing; others will have their eyes opened most unpleasantly and be in misery and weeping and wailing. Where do you think you'll be standing? Why?
_________________________
"After such knowledge, what forgiveness?" -- T.S. Eliot
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