|
 Spiritual
Conditioning Millions of dollars are
spent yearly for memberships in health clubs so that people can
exercise and keep their bodies strong and healthy. This is good and
all surely know the importance of trying to keep our bodies in
relatively good physical condition. As easy as it is to see the
importance of keeping up some type of a conditioning program
physically, it is amazing to see the unbelievably large number of
Christians that see no need in keeping themselves in a "spiritual"
conditioning program. It is so sad to look about us and see many
children of God becoming weak in their faithfulness to the Lord. The
enticements of the world, if given favorable attention, will rob the
Christian of his strength, just as surely as a deadly virus drains
the human body of its strength. There must be a concentrated effort
on our part to remain strong spiritually. The Lord knew of the
weakening effects of temptation day in and day out that His children
would have to face. He also knows that we must strive to be strong,
so he challenges us to "be strong in the Lord and in the power of
his might." (Eph. 6:10)
The life of a Christian is filled with
battles against evil and requires a constant program of spiritual
conditioning. We must ever be conditioning ourselves to overcome
temptations to do evil, temptations to quit and give up in despair,
to defend the truth against false teaching, to work when all about
us others are unwilling. The one who is unwilling to work at being
strong spiritually will more than likely be overcome by evil and die
the eternal death separated from God. To be able to fight the
battles and overcome the wiles of Satan we must follow the Lord's
instructions as to what we must do to remain strong and useful in
His kingdom.
It begins with letting "the word of Christ dwell in you richly in
all wisdom..." (Col. 3:16). This comes from our being willing to
"study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not
to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth." (2 Tim. 2:15).
The Spirit moved Peter to admonish, "But grow in the grace and
knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ..." (2 Pet. 3:18).
When we constantly make application of these instructions in our
life then He says we will be strong: "I have written unto you,
fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I
have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the
word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.” (1
John 2:14). Paul told the Ephesian elders, "I commend you to God,
and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up ..."
(Acts 20:32).
The taking of nourishment is good for the body, but it alone will
not give the strength needed to be victorious. There must also be
exercise. We may read the Bible daily, be able to quote a large
portion by memory and give the proper meaning of many passages, but
if we do not put into practice those things we read, we will not
become strong. We must preach, teach, defend, convict, admonish and
comfort as we are instructed if we are to remain strong children of
God.
A great factor in whether or not one remains strong in the faith is
one's attitude. The proper attitude begins with the realization of
one's own insufficiency. This means we realize that we will never be
able to stand alone, but that we always need God's help to remain
strong. The warning is sounded in 1 Corinthians 10:12, "Wherefore
let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." Paul
realized his constant need for the Lord in his efforts to remain
strong in the faith when he said, "I can do all things through
Christ which strengtheneth me." (Phil. 4:13). This proper attitude
also involves a love for His Word and His Church. When we have a
love for the work we are doing we will desire to try to stay strong
spiritually so that our labor of love will continue until our death:
“Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life."
(Rev. 2:10). Then we can hear Him say, "Well done, thou good and
faithful servant: ... Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." (Matt.
25:21).
How strong is your desire to build and maintain your spiritual
strength and usefulness to the Lord? If you find that worldliness is
becoming more attractive to you, then it is certainly time for you
to work on regaining your spiritual strength before it is
everlastingly too late. ~
Gary N. Patton From the Charlottesville Beacon
|
|
 Mesha
Stele (Moabite Stone)
(Click photo for larger view) In the Bible it says that Mesha
the king of Moab was paying tribute to Israel and that they suddenly
stopped: "Mesha, king of Moab rebelled against the king of
Israel..." (2 Kings 3:5). Well, Mesha made his own record of this
rebellion, and the record has been found. It is known today as "The
Mesha Stele" or the more popular designation "The Moabite Stone." It
was found in 1868 at Dibon, in Moab. Dibon is located 20 miles east
of the Dead Sea. Amazingly enough it was discovered by chance by F.A.
Klein, a German missionary who had heard rumors of this stone while
visiting the area. It was a bluish basalt stone, about 4 feet high
and 2 feet wide, and 14 inches thick, with an inscription from king
Mesha. When it was found the Berlin Museum negotiated for it while
the French Consulate at Jerusalem offered more money.
The next year some local Arabs, realizing all that was at stake,
laboriously hoisted it out of the earth and lit a fire around it,
and after pouring cold water on it they chipped away several large
pieces which they distributed among a few of them. Later the French
re-assembled 669 of the estimated 1100 consonants from the pieces
and preserved the inscription. It now remains in the Louvre Museum
in Paris.
"The skeptics' claim that King David never existed is now hard to
defend. Last year the French scholar Andre Lemaire reported a
related "House of David" discovery in Biblical Archaeology Review.
His subject was the Mesha Stele (also known as the Moabite Stone),
the most extensive inscription ever recovered from ancient
Palestine. Found in 1868 at the ruins of biblical Dibon and later
fractured, the basalt stone wound up in the Louvre, where Lemaire
spent seven years studying it. His conclusion: the phrase "House of
David" appears there as well. As with the Tel Dan fragment, this
inscription comes from an enemy of Israel boasting of a
victory--King Mesha of Moab, who figured in the Bible. Lemaire had
to reconstruct a missing letter to decode the wording, but if he's
right, there are now two 9th century references to David's dynasty."
TIME Magazine, December 18, 1995 Volume 146, No. 25
From http://www.bible-history.com/resource/ff_mesha.htm |
|
The Bible and
Archeology
By Jon Quinn
One expert not so long ago suggested that only about two percent of
the potential archaeology of the Palestine area had been
accomplished. Some quite amazing discoveries have been made, and
we've only just begun. But one has to approach the relationship
between archaeology and the Bible with caution. Archaeology can
never tell us about God's character or purpose. What it can do is
give us further information on the events that we read about in the
Bible.
It is important to note that no archaeological discovery has
contradicted anything that the Bible states. Thus far, the Bible has
been shown to be 100 per cent accurate. Of course this is not
surprising to one who already has faith. It is also very frustrating
to the skeptic who wants so badly to find some discrepancy. New
discoveries continue to confirm what the Bible has said all along
while putting to rest one after the other of the skeptics'
antibiblical theories.
SODOM AND GOMORRAH MEET THEIR DOOM
"Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from
the Lord out of heaven, and He overthrew those cities, and all the
valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the
ground" (Gen. 19:24-25).
The skeptics ridiculed the whole account. They said there had never
been a Sodom and Gomorrah. The acidity of the soil around the Salt
Sea (also called the Dead Sea) was too great to have ever supported
cities there. And besides, why are they not mentioned anywhere other
than the Bible? And why have we not found some remains of the
cities?
That was being said 50 years ago. Its not being said any longer. It
seems that it was the “enlightened" skeptic who was the ignorant one
all along!
Recently, the ancient city of Elba has been discovered to the north
of Canaan. It had been the capital of a vast empire centuries before
Abraham. It established trade with various Canaanite cities, and
according to business records these cities included Sodom and
Gomorrah! By the way, Elba was polytheistic, but in the city records
we do find that "Jehovah" was one of the deities worshiped there.
Charred remains of cities have now been discovered in the Salt Sea
region. Why did it take so long? Because these remains are now under
the Salt Sea itself! The contour of the land has changed to where
the ruins have been covered by corrosive salt water, but charred
pieces of pottery have been found.
THE WALLS CAME TUMBLING DOWN!
"So the people shouted, and the priests blew the trumpets; and it
came about, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, that the
people shouted with a great shout and the wall fell down flat, so
that the people went up into the city, every man straight ahead, and
they took the city" (Josh. 6:20).
Of course it has never been denied that Jericho existed, nor that it
was conquered by Israel. But the method has been questioned by the
skeptics. This idea of the walls falling down flat is too much to
swallow for people who do not know God. During the excavations of
Jericho that took place in 1930-1936, the archaeologists discovered
something startling. One of them, Garstang by name, had this to say:
"As to the main fact, then, there remains no doubt: the walls fell
outwards so completely that the attackers would be able to clamber
up and over their ruins into the city."
Incidentally, there have also been recovered documents in Egypt
written during this time. The documents are correspondence from
various kings in Canaan appealing to Egypt for help against the
"Habiru" (a term referring to nomads) who were invading Canaan at
that time. The letters state doubt as to whether they will be able
to hold out even for another year if help does not come. Of course,
Egypt knew by experience that they were in no position to send help
against Jehovah's people.
SHISHAK...THE EARLIEST SO FAR
"Now it came about in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, that Shishak
the king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. And he took away the
treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's
house, and he took everything, even taking all the shields of gold
which Solomon had made" (1 Kings 14:25,26).
The Kingdom of Israel had just divided and neither the north or the
south were faithful. The Bible says "Judah did evil" and "provoked
(God) to jealousy" and "did according to all the abominations of the
nations" (1 Kings 14:21-24). Consequently, God withdrew His
protection and Egypt attacked. The Bible refers to the pharaoh by
the name of "Shishak." He is the earliest character mentioned by
name in both the Bible and other ancient writings, or at least the
earliest discovered so far. Previous pharaohs had been referred to
simply as "Pharaoh" in the Bible.
Back in Egypt following the campaign against Judah, Shishak erected
a monument at Karnak to his military victory in Judah, and mentions
Jerusalem by name thus confirming the above account. This monument
has been found and can be visited today.
THE MOABITE STONE
"Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and use to pay the king
of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams. But it came
about when Ahab died , the king of Moab rebelled against the king of
Israel" (2 Kings 3:4,5).
The Moabites had been subjects of Israel from David's time. However,
since Israel had become unfaithful she found herself losing control.
The Moabites, under king Mesha, rebelled after Ahab's death.
Archaeologists have found the Moabite Stone. It is Mesha's own
account of the above passage. He mentions his servitude to Omri and
his son (Ahab). He claims to have thrown off the yoke thanks to his
god Chemosh. The victory speech was premature because Moab was
subsequently defeated by an alliance of Israel, Judah and even Edom
(2 Kings 3:24).
It makes you wonder what new discovery might be on the horizon,
doesn't it! The Bible is history. It is true! ~ |
