GoodWords

We've been quiet for a while, but that doesn't mean we haven't been optimistic! God is still good! Maybe this good word ;-) will encourage someone today. A TABLE.

A Table Find out more at www.goodwords.live.

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Someone* wrote, “In history, actions of honor and dishonor do appear plainly and distinctly…but in the present age they are so disguised." It’s true: The world is in chaos; and it’s often difficult for us to know if what’s happening is right or wrong.

But don’t worry! Because God doesn’t share this limitation — consider this scripture: “There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:13): God knows everything about every person and every action.

Four things about this:
1. Justice will be done!
2. Isn’t it good that God is the judge — He knows all the facts and He’ll make the right decisions.
3. Don’t ever think you are tricking God.
4. We ALL need to learn what God thinks is good.

God is and God helps.

*Thomas Hobbes, preface to his (1628) translation of Thucydides’ "Peloponnesian War"

Social Justice Find out more at https://goodwords.live.

INTERPRETATIONS

One ancient historian* writing about the war between the Spartans and Athenians** said, “priests were giving out prophecies of all kinds, and everyone made the interpretation” he himself preferred.

It is so common for "spiritual" people to believe what we WANT to believe. And the result is chaos.

But this is not God’s fault and it is not His plan. Consider what He says about the Bible: “Know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (2 Peter 1:20-21).

When it comes to God and the Bible, our role is not to determine what it means but to DISCOVER what HE means — whether or not it’s to our liking.

God is and God helps.

*Thucydides, "The Peloponnesian War," book 2, chapter 21; Hobbes
**And their confederacies.

Interpretation Find out more at https://goodwords.live.

PARENTING

After Edward, Prince of Wales, visited the United States one time, he quipped: “The thing that impresses me the most about America is the way parents obey their children.”

This may be funny to hear about, but it’s not funny for the family spiraling out of control — it’s anguish for the mom, for the dad, and for the children.

One book, the Bible, says: “Children, obey your parents” and “Honor your father and mother” “so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth” and “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger” and “Her children rise up and bless her."*

It may not always be easy, but it is possible!

God is and God helps.

*The first four quotes are from Ephesians 6:1-4 (there is more in the verses); the last quote is from Proverbs 31:28.

Parenting Find out more at https://goodwords.live.

CLEAR AND SIMPLE

A man sees a sign through a shop window that says, “Shirts pressed here.” He goes in and begins taking off his shirt. The shop’s owner reacts, “Stop! I don’t press shirts. I make signs.”

It’s a funny illustration of something being simple but not clear.

And though it may not always be clear, life is pretty simple. For example, consider the instruction from the Bible to “make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands” (1 Thessalonians 4:11).

How clear. How simple.

Here is another instruction from the same book: “Treat people the same way you want them to treat you” (Matthew 7:12).

Clear. Simple. And at the same time, profound: Life-changing. (Even society-changing, if everyone joined in.)

For everyone looking for clear and simple, go to the Bible!

God is and God helps.

Clearly Simple Find out more at https://goodwords.live.

"Some temper!" "This is just the way I am." Does this describe you or someone you know? In this Sound Bite, the tempest and the temper!

WHIPPING THE SEA

According to Herodotus ("The Histories," 7.35), when Xerxes, king of Persia, invaded Greece he built a pontoon bridge across the Hellespont River, but the bridge was immediately destroyed by a storm. Xerxes became very angry and commanded that the river be whipped with three hundred lashes, and a pair of fetters be thrown into the river, and the river be branded with a hot branding iron, and they were to say, “Bitter water, our master thus punishes you.”

How ridiculous!

There is a proverb, “He who is slow to anger has great understanding, But he who is quick-tempered exalts folly” (Proverbs 14:29). Can we find a better illustration of this truth than Xerxes?

This also illustrates that it’s really easy to see this folly in others. But if we’re being honest, we might just see it in some things that WE have done.

But we can overcome!

God is and God helps.

Whipping The Sea Find out more at https://goodwords.live.