Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. (Deuteronomy 30:11-14, NIV)
(Wrote this Thursday while at the airport!)
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(Sorry for being a sloppy writer! This will be my last post before we hit tomorrow to Florida. I should return with my craziness by next week.) And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.”(Revelation 10:4, NIV) Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” (Luke 9:58, NIV) I woke up early to take the SAT. I can explain later, but it wasn’t too grueling as I thought, even though I had the Reasoning only. Before I hit the sack, lemme post something up… I must’ve had the song in my head. (I wanted to post “Yele”, the one Wyclef Jean sang, but it was in Creole/French.) Anyways, I’m relieved that this week has ended, and all the pressures (SAT, science project) have died out. Thank You, Jesus. Organizing a bit for next semester, but knowing consciously that I’ll leave to FLORIDA for the week! I can’t wait to see the family! Blessings y Bendiciones, Joe P.S.: Please explain…? See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. (Hebrews 3:12, 13, NIV) (Been thinking about this…) The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” (Exodus 16:3, NIV) In my geometry class, I learned about logical reasoning and conditionals. A conditional is an if-then statement (e.g.: If a city votes against drilling holes in the Alaska wildlife, then its citizens are mostly Republican.). However, its converse follows the same if-then statement backwards (e.g.: If a city’s citizens are mostly Republican, then they are against drilling holes in the Alaska wildlife.). A conditional may have a truth value, and it may be true or false. The conditional may be false, but the converse may be true. If both conditional AND converse are true, they are combined using a biconditional with if and only if (e.g.: A city votes against drilling holes in the Alaska wildlife if and only if its citizens are mostly Republican; is it true?)
I do not mind the value of conditionals and biconditionals. However, I do not see them with good eyes when it comes to the things of God. I look at the desert, where the Israelites suffered –for their own good at the end- during four straight decades. They were hollering infinite “If only’s” and complaining –REAL killers of the power of the Mighty! “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand…!” This time, per verse, they were complaining about the food. “If only…” “If only…” “If only!”… Seeing how “if and only if” as a way of limiting God has made me view things differently about stuff. If you are a Christian, then you are going to Heaven, but if you are going to Heaven, then you are a Christian? If Jesus is the Savior then He died for us, but if a man died for us, then He is Jesus the Savior? If God is holy, then He has big standards, but if God has big standards then He is holy? Wait a minute! These conditionals I don’t view well definitely speak a truth…for us who believe! On one side, they show a complaint which is not pretty; on another side, they will always be true with Jesus, in any way or matter. Let us try how it looks with each conditional… If God is love, then I am glad to be alive. If I am glad to be alive, then God is love. God is love if and only if I am glad to be alive! During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.” (Exodus 12:31, 32, NIV) How unknowledgeable of my part! Christmas is here, and we should celebrate it will all poise it deserves. More than a celebration of love, charity, family, and beauty, we know that there is more than a holiday season: the birth of the King of Kings. “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD.”Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18, NIV) See now that I myself am he! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand. (Deuteronomy 32:39, NIV) |
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