I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

Above is the beginning line of the 1914 poem by Joyce Kilmer about trees. Those of you following these articles about "rightly dividing the word of truth", might ask: What in the world could a poem about trees have to do with interpreting the Bible. Well the short answer is, EVERYTHING!

Lieutenant Dan
Have you found Jesus yet, Gump?
Forrest Gump:
I didn't know I was supposed to be looking for him, sir.

This is part 6 of a continuing series about how to “rightly divide the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). We are following Jesus' own example for doing this as illustrated in Luke 24:27. In which, Jesus begins at Moses to expound all the scriptures concerning himself. So far, we have lightly examined how that Moses is synonymous with God’s Law or covenant with mankind. The Law (Ten Commandments) teaches us that none of us are perfect. Paul expounds on this in Galatians among other places.

It is very hard to get people’s attention and even harder to keep it, especially with the written word. Our attention spans are very short, even more so in this information age, with multiple social media platforms clamoring for our participation constantly. Old time preachers used to harp against the evils of TV and how it was leading people away from the straight and narrow path.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to this Week’s Article.

Now I don’t mean funny ha, ha, I’m talking funny in terms of things which make you go HMMM!

God’s Emergency Alert System! Yep! I am trying to get your attention and so is God! In a fortuitous stroke of the keyboard last week we compared the Old Testament Prophets to today’s EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM. How timely this was considering the False EMERGENCY ALERT in Hawaii this weekend.

This is the third article in a series, about rightly dividing the word of truth. We are following Jesus’ own example, in which He begins at Moses…, to expound all the scriptures concerning himself. Last time, we began looking into one of the reasons why Moses is the important place to start if we want to “rightly divide the word of truth.” Bible scriptures show that Moses is synonymous with the Law, (i.e. the Ten Commandments). Further examination of God’s Law illustrates that the Ten Commandments are more than just rules, but, in fact, are the basis for God’s Covenant with mankind.

Last time we started with 2 Timothy 2:15 and talked about rightly dividing the word of truth. We surmised that the proper way to do this was by following the example Jesus illustrates in Luke 24, in particular verse 27.

Luke 24:27 KJV
And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

In 2 Timothy 2:15, the Apostle Paul charged Timothy to … “rightly divide the word of truth.” Every Christian Church quotes that passage and yet we disagree on the interpretation of many scriptures. Sometimes these disagreements are so vast that professing Christians simply cannot get along. Proof for this statement is plentiful, all you have to do is look at all the different denominations.

I, like many of you, am shocked and appalled when I see the things happening in the news these days. It seems that mass shootings and terrorist attacks have become an everyday occurrence. These things are evil and should never happen. They seem to be carried out by people who have a deep seeded hatred toward another person or group of people. I am no psychologist, but still I try to analyze what would make a person commit such evil acts. The only conclusion that I can make is the people who commit such acts of violence have been overwhelmed by hatred and evil.

I’m thankful I was raised in a Christian home. Did you know that statistics show that the action of families turning off the TV and smart phones, gathering around the dinner table and beginning their dinner with prayer results in a positive influence on the children and the entire family? If you ever wonder why prayer has such great effect on the family, let’s consider the true meaning of prayer. A prayer is the sincere desire of the heart. When praying, we are acknowledging things in life are not in our control and we need the guidance of our Lord.

As a young boy, I remember that sometime around Thanksgiving my dad would reserve a day for killing and dressing a hog or two. I remember the weather was always cold. He would build a nice fire and would place a large barrel of water over it. After everything was ready he would kill the hog. We would all pitch in. Using the hot water and a sharp knife we would scrape all the hair off the hog. Then he would proceed to cut it up as a butcher would do. This is the way we were to have meat on the table for months to come.

If things were different in your life, what would you do?

We often think about what we could do if we were millionaires? What would we do if we found our self in extreme poverty? In either situation, what would we do? The fact is, we are who we are and happiness is not about being wealthy. Happiness comes from being who you are, being content with yourself and treating your friends and neighbors the same way you would like to be treated.

All the prophets in the Old Testament prophesied of the coming of Christ. Matthew chapter 4 verse 23 refers to Jesus in this way: and Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.

As Jesus taught His disciples to pray, it’s important for us to realize the depth and sincerity of the prayer. Unless we realize the difference between reciting the Lord's prayer and praying the Lord's prayer, our efforts are in vain. When we simply recite the Lord's prayer, although reciting is good, we are just calling words. On the other hand, when we pray the Lord's prayer, we are sincerely desiring that God will hear us.

I may not understand everything concerning what the future holds, and I'm not making a prediction of the end time or how it will happen, but I can tell you how to escape the destruction that is coming. Even if the end of time does not happen in our lifetime, you can rest assured we are all leaving this world. For it is appointed to every man once to die and after that the judgment.

Scientists think the world is billions of years old. This theory only brings me to further embrace the awesomeness and greatness of God. According to the scripture, with God one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. The Scripture emphasizes that in the last days knowledge will be increased. This leads me to the conclusion that the signs of the times are being manifested in our presence. The Scripture talks about people encountering a time that never was before or that ever will be. We should take notice. The Word of God is true.