Daily Bread

Lord, grant me the common sense to profit by my yesterday...the wisdom to love to the utmost today... and the vision to cope with my tomorrow.




FOR I KNOW THE THOUGHTS THAT I THINK TOWARD YOU, SAITH THE LORD, THOUGHTS OF PEACE, AND NOT OF EVIL, TO GIVE YOU AN EXPECTED END. JEREMIAH 29:11

Word of Wisdom

It is easier

to leave angry words

unspoken,

than to mend a heart

those words have broken.

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs 15:1 (NIV)

Word of Wisdom

Before you go to bed,

give your troubles to God;

He'll be up all night anyway.

He who keeps you will not slumber. Psalm 121:3

Jacob's Ladder (awesome message)

Today's WordSaturday, September 27, 2008
Jacob's Ladder
And He said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, from now on you will see the heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” John 1:51
On – Jesus knew Jacob. He also knew that the preposition “on” in Hebrew can mean “because of.” That’s something we must know if we are going to understand what Jesus tells Nathaniel. When we translate only the Greek text, we don’t see what Jesus really says. But once we realize what Jesus is saying in Hebrew, everything makes sense. Suddenly Jacob’s ladder isn’t about Jacob anymore.Jacob’s ladder is a well-known story. But there are elements of the story that we don’t normally see. The first of these is the idea that the ladder stretches from heaven to earth. This isn’t Man’s attempt to reach up to God. That would be like the tower of Babel. This is God’s extension of a bridge from heaven to earth. And who goes up and down on this bridge? God’s angels, carrying out His purposes. Only those who originate in heaven can travel up and down this ladder. Why are they able to do this? Because first they are citizens of God’s heavenly kingdom.Jesus uses this understanding when He tells His followers that no one can ascend to heaven who has not first descended from heaven. There is no way for men to reach up to God. God must reach down to men. And the paradigm example of the One Who descends to the realm of men is the Son of Man, a true citizen of heaven, who comes to those who are unable to ascend without His help.How will Nathaniel see angels ascending and descending because of the Son of Man? He will see the invisible angels in the works that the Son of Man commands them to do. In other words, Jesus tells Nathaniel that if he sticks around, he is going to see God’s angels carry out assignments that will reveal the intrusion of the divine in the normal course of life. He will see miracles. He will see signs. Then he will know who commands the army of angels – Yeshua, the Messiah. Jesus’ commentary on the story of Jacob’s remarkable vision teaches us something that even Jacob did not understand. Jacob’s ladder is not about angels coming down from heaven to bless Jacob. The ladder is an ancient picture of the way that God will rescue mankind – through the One Who descends. The ladder is about the Messiah, not Jacob. Jesus’ commentary confirms this. This is one more example of the need to see the New Testament as an authorized commentary on the Old Testament. One without the other just isn’t clear to us.What are the implications of Jesus’ commentary? They are fairly severe. Only one has descended to rescue those who cannot ascend. In other words, there is no other pathway back to heaven. There is only one means of salvation, and it must come through the One Who has descended. Without Him, you are just building a tower of Babel.Long before the Messiah arrived, God was giving glimpses of His plan. Jacob’s dream was just one of the Messianic images in the stories of the Torah. God shows us that there is one way, and only one way. God’s Son must come down to rescue us or we are lost. You can thank God for Jacob’s ladder. It’s your ladder too.Topical Index: Salvation
From Skip Moen www.atgodstable.com
Printer-friendly Version

Word of Wisdom

The secret for my success? It is simple. It is found in the Bible, "In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths."
-George Washington Carver

I Love My Job

I love my job, I love the pay,

I love it more and more each day.

I love my boss and she's the best.

I love her boss and all the rest.

I love my office and its location.

I hate to have to take vacation.

I love my desk so drab and gray,

And love those paper piles each day.

I love my chair in my padded cell;

There's nothing else I love so well.

I love to work among my peers.

I love their leers and jeers and sneers.

I love my computer and all its ware;

I hug it often to show I care.

I love each program and every file;

I even try using it once in a while.

I'm happy to be here, I am, I am...

I'm the happiest slave to my Uncle Sam.

I love this work; I love these chores;

I love the meetings with deadly bores.

I love my job and I'll say it again,

I even love those friendly men;

These men who've come to visit today,

In lovely white coats to take me away!

In every thing give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. IThes. 5:18

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

-Joshua 1:8