Friday slowdown

What a great week of study! Thank you to all who posted comments and who studied with us....I hope that you were blessed by these thoughts we shared.

Today's song is an "oldie but goodie."

Praying God's best blessing for you today!

Carpentry skills, conclusion

We've been discussing some thoughts this week about our Lord Jesus, and His work as the Great Carpenter.

As a carpenter, and as the Great Carpenter, Jesus has the ability to see potential. How does a carpenter think when he is looking at a piece of wood?
I believe from my experience from artisans who craft amazing things from wood, that they see it differently. Most people will look at a piece of wood and think, "Hmmmm, it's got several knots in it, and there's a fairly large crack right there; it even has a glob of ink on it where they stamped it at the lumber yard." Or maybe they see, "Oh, look, it's got a bow in it. I just don't see how we can make anything good from that piece."
A carpenter, though, looks at the wood differently. The artisan sees the potential in the wood. They might say, "I can glue those knots in so they won't move, and I can fix that crack, too. I can take out the bow or bend with my plane or other tools." The carpenter sees the potential of the wood, not the problems there.
If you were to look on Pinterest, or on some home improvement sites, you would see there is a big demand for old wood, for barn sidings and the like. We might think those pieces are worthless, but that's not the way a carpenter sees them. They look at them and think about what they could make from them!
In the same way, Jesus looks at our lives today -- what does He see? Does He see all of our flaws? Yes. But He sees our potential, too. Here's an example: Christ looked at a man named Simon, who was a fisherman. He told him, Simon, you shall be called "Cephas," which means Peter, or rock. I imagine that Peter's friends must have chuckled, or maybe laughed like crazy..... this guy? Simon? You must be joking! He's a braggart, a big bag of wind! He's impulsive and he likes to show off!
But Jesus saw his potential, and said no, I'm going to rename him, because He will be a rock in my kingdom.
The Great Carpenter is still working in our lives today. He knows which tools to use to bring out our potential. He knows when we need to be sanded down. He knows what flaws need fixing, and He knows if we need some polishing. He knows what needs to happen in our lives to bring out the talents we have.....and He works in our lives today.

Our final thoughts today have to do with the manner of the Great Carpenter's death. I mentioned when we began our study that I couldn't get that out of my mind. I was drawn back repeatedly to study and prepare these posts.
Our Lord Jesus Christ could have chosen to die in a number of ways. He could have chosen to be beheaded, as John the Baptist was. He could have chosen to be stoned, as in the old days of the Law of Moses. He could have chosen to be shot to death with an arrow, like King Ahab in the book of I Kings. Instead, He chose to die a carpenter's death. The Romans took a hammer and nails, the tools of a craftsman, a carpenter, and they nailed the Son of God to a wooden cross. It was an ugly way to die. It was a humiliating way to die. It was reserved for the basest of the base. The low. The criminals. Tears are filling my eyes as I try to type this, for my Savior chose this death.
Why?
He went through this kind of death so that He could buy us, redeem us from Satan. His blood would result in forgiveness of our sins, if we accepted it. When we accepted it, we would be not just forgiven, but transferred from darkness into light. Given new life. It was a fitting way for the Master Carpenter to depart.

As we strive to be like Him, we should value honest work. We should rely on His ability to repair our lives, and tell others how He can make things new. We should see the potential in others, as He did.

There have been tears this week, but I hope there has been encouragement, as well, for us as believers. If you are not yet a believer, I hope that you will think about the fact that Jesus, the Great Carpenter, died for you and your sins. I would encourage you to click on the link on our sidebar and learn more about accepting His gift. Message me if you have questions, and I will be honored to try to assist you.

Blessings to all!

Carpentry skills, continued

Yesterday, we studied how Jesus was trained as a carpenter at His stepfather's knee and then at his side. We applied that to our own lives and said that our honest labor, no matter what we are working on, can be done to God's glory.
Jesus modeled that for us in His role as a carpenter.

There is another application of His work as the Great Carpenter. I hope you will receive a blessing from our study today....

Have you ever thought about the nature of a carpenter's work? Let me explain..... There are really two things that a carpenter does with his skills and experience.
First, he repairs things. There are many times that we have something that needs to be repaired, and it's beyond our pay grade, as my grandpa used to say. It's something that we don't have enough skill to complete.
Sure, we can sand the cabinets and fill the holes with wood putty. We can nail a board down when it comes loose on our deck.
But how about repairing the leg on that kitchen chair, so it doesn't collapse the next time cousin sits in it? Or maybe there is a violent storm, and a tree falls across the deck, and causes a great deal of damage?
Who helps us then?
We may go on our phone or computer to find the right one, but we generally are looking for a carpenter for these tasks. Someone who has the skill and the experience to repair the damage.
Jesus Christ was trained as a carpenter, and He was (and still is) a spiritual carpenter as well. People brought Him their broken lives, and He repaired them, just as He does today.
There's a dear old hymn that reads:

           Bring Christ your broken life, so marred by sin.
           He will create anew, make whole again.
           Your empty, wasted years He will restore,
           And your iniquities, remember no more.

The Great Carpenter can look down and see the mess we have created, and He can begin to repair the damage, and allow the healing to start.
This line of thinking reminds me of a verse in Matthew that would have been very meaningful to the Jews of that time, but may have lost its familiarity for us:

A bruised reed he will not break,    and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,till he has brought justice through to victory.     In his name the nations will put their hope. (Matthew 12:20-21)

This is actually pointing back to a prophesy of Isaiah, and if you'd like to turn there, the passage is Isaiah 42:1-4. In ancient times, reeds were used for many purposes, but once it was bent, or bruised, or battered it was useless. A shepherd could make a flute-like instrument from a reed and play soft music on it to sooth and calm the restless sheep. If the reed became soft or cracked, it would no longer make music and the shepherd would break it and discard it. It was no longer useful; he would throw it away.
In the lamps of the time, the end of usefulness would be signaled by the fact that it had burned down to the end of the wick. It would smolder and smoke, but it would not make any light. Since it wasn't useful, it was put out and thrown away, just like that broken reed.
The battered reed and the smoldering wick are like the people in this world whose lives are broken and worn out. The world may see no value in them. If they can no longer make music or give light, the world casts off the weak and the helpless. They have no time for the suffering and the burdened souls of this world. In ancient times the Romans ignored people like this as uselesss; the Pharisees despised them as worthless.
Since the advent of sin in the world, and the fall from grace by Adam and Eve, it's been mankind's natural tendency to destroy. Little children will often follow a scampering bug just to step on it. They will snap off a beautiful bud before it flowers. Adults will undercut, hurt, and devour each other in business, politics, society, and even in families.

By contrast, it's the nature of our Father to restore. He will not break off or put out even the least of those who come to Him -- and He gives a dire warning to those who want to do so.

 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." (Matthew 18:6)

Many times, we humans are like that smoldering week. We are like that broken reed. We've been beaten down and defeated by life. But the Great Carpenter begins to work with that reed and with that smoldering wick and begins to rebuild our lives. Christ repairs our lives instead of tossing us aside.

There is a second thing that a carpenter does: in addition to making repairs, he builds new items. John says this about Jesus:

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (John 1:3)

This is the Carpenter Who built the universe! From scratch! Everything that was created was built by Him, and He was still building in the first century, for He said that He would build His church, and the gates of Hell would not overpower it!

And our Savior is still working as a carpenter today.....

My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? (John 14:2)

Jesus, the Great Carpenter, is constructing places for us where we will dwell, once we reach heaven. His carpentry skills are awesome and amazing; He can repair our lives and He builds things from scratch.

We'll finish our study tomorrow....

More about our Great Carpenter....

Yesterday, we talked about how in Bible times, there were people extremely skilled in carpentry. I know that there are peeps who do awesome work nowadays, too, but just think about if you didn't have the advantages of modern-day tools! They were not blessed with huge expanses of forests, so they learned incredible techniques to help them conserve the wood, and not waste any little bit.

When Jesus was born of the virgin, Mary, He became part of a family that was very familiar with carpentry. His stepfather, Joseph, was a carpenter in the city of Nazareth, in the province of Galilee. It was pretty routine for the Jewish people to teach their sons the skills that their dad had, so probably around the age of fifteen, Jesus began to learn from His stepfather the skills involved in the trade of carpentry.  I read in a commentary that there was a saying among the men of Israel, "If you do not teach your son how to work, you teach him how to be a thief."
(I can picture Him with Joseph before that, can't you? I imagine that He would have been like other little boys, and climbed His daddy's legs or clambered up into his lap, to see what he was doing. Joseph could have let Jesus' little hands ride on top of his strong, calloused ones, as he smoothed wood, or shaped it into something useful.)

We see evidences in some of Jesus' sermons that prove his expertise for us. There are references to things a carpenter would think about. Jesus spoke of a "narrow gate," and we can imagine that he and his stepfather, Joseph, crafted many gates for the people in the town. Our Lord also talked about building a house "upon the rock" and not on sand -- that's a concept that carpenters would have known about. In a beautiful passage in Matthew, Jesus said that His "yoke" was easy:

 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

As a skilled carpenter, He could make a yoke that was comfortable for the animals as they labored. He talked about building a tower in a vineyard, and also told the parable of a king who wanted to build but didn't count the cost . . . you have to know the expenses before you begin a project. That's another thing a skilled carpenter would know. Then, in Matthew 13, He is referred to:

“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? (Matthew 13:55)

If we think about it, Jesus Christ actually served as a carpenter longer than He served as a preacher and leader.  And He wasn't ashamed of it. The people of the town may have looked down their noses, but He wasn't ashamed.  I believe that this emphasizes the fact that God respects all honorable work that we may do -- even manual labor -- even things that seem ordinary.

That was a tough lesson for the Jews to learn in the town of Nazareth! Jesus didn't meet with their criteria for the Messiah.... they expected the Messiah to be born in a palace; instead He was born in a humble stable. They expected their Messiah to be born into a royal family; instead He was born into a poor family in a tiny town. They expected their Messiah, that they'd been told would come, would be taught military skills. They thought He would raise an army and be the general of a military powerhouse. Then He would force the Romans out of Judea and establish the Jewish nation.....

But it didn't happen that way. He wasn't trained in military skills; He was trained to be a carpenter. I found myself pondering this as that verse and that mental image stayed with me. The image of bare skin on rough, splintery wood, and nails pounded right through gentle hands.
I believe that Jesus wanted to identify Himself with the common people. The everyday folks. He wanted to align Himself with the dignity of manual labor, of working hard and creating things with our hands.
I think He wanted all of us to understand that as long as it is honest work that we are engaged in, then any job is respectable in the eyes of God. That's not the way the people of Nazareth reacted to being a carpenter. They seemed to be prejudiced against those who worked with their hands. In the sixth chapter of Mark we see again that they rejected Jesus, and they insulted both His previous profession and His lineage. They are a good example for us of how NOT to look at others! Jesus wanted to demonstrate the dignity of any job done for God's glory.
As long as it's honest work, and as long as we remain faithful to God, it doesn't matter what we do for a living. Any profession can be carried out for the glory of God.
One of the commentaries that I consulted had a brief illustration for this point. Over in Great Britain, there is a tombstone for a man who had an ordinary life: "Here lies Thomas Cobb, who mended shoes to the glory of God..."  And did you know that Johann Sebastian Bach wrote his lovely music and wrote the letters "SDG" on each piece? That meant "Sola Deo Gloria," or "to God alone be the glory."

Whether we work each day at manual labor, or we work "pushing papers," or if we labor to keep our family's house clean and cozy.....no matter what it is that we do every day, it can be done to the glory of the One Who saved us! Work is not our enemy. The real enemy is our attitude. (Ouch!) It's our failure to see our daily tasks as a part of our service to Christ. In a world still struggling with the effects of sin, we have a responsibility to work to the glory of God.

And whatever you do,whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17)

I believe that is why Jesus began as a carpenter.

We'll continue this study tomorrow.

Carpentry skills

This week's study comes from our next verse in I Peter (although indirectly):

“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”  (I Peter 2:24)

These words struck me....."His body on the cross."
I had an immediate mental image of Christ's body in contact with the wood of the cross. I couldn't get it out of my mind. I'm sure that the wood of the cross was very rough. The pieces would have been rough-hewn; they would not have smoothed or sanded the wood used for a cross to execute a criminal.
The Great Carpenter's skin against terribly rough, splintered wood.
Join me this week as we talk about that Great Carpenter.....

Like so many things in God's wonderful creation, wood has been used, abused, and then ultimately used again.... In Bible times, it wasn't beautiful furniture most of the time, or decorative items for the home, but mostly plows, yokes for oxen, ladders, doorways, and things like that. (It would be something very unusual to see a carpenter take time out of his workday to create an intricate box or item for someone he loved, or for a rich patron.) The Temple walls were made of wood, and there was wood used in the sacrifice of millions of animals in the worship of God. Although it was fairly rare in the land of Israel, it was probably more abundant then, than it is there today.

This blessing of God that was so useful, though, was also abused. It was the tree that the snake spoke to Eve from, and persuaded her to rebel against God. It was wood that many carpenters grabbed and turned into idols. (There are several references describing the craftsman making an idol in Isaiah, if you want to look those up.) You would think that the irony would sink in, as the worker took the scraps from making the idol and tossed them into the fire to keep warm, but evidently not! Wood was used in other "bad" ways, too, for the spear that King Saul wanted to impale David with, to the gallows that Haman erected for Mordecai.....

But God overcame the abuse and used wood in ways to rescue mankind. Noah's ark was wood; Moses' staff was wood; even the Ark of the Covenant was wood covered in gold. That was the place of God's presence here on earth. When the Israelites complained and the Lord sent poisonous snakes, it was wood where God instructed Moses to hang the bronze snake, so that anyone bitten could look and be cured (Numbers 21).

Hundreds of years later, God sent His Son -- He was laid in a manger made of wood. And as He grew up here on earth, He was in contact with wood every day, as He was the son of a carpenter. I'm certain that He was very familiar with, and very comfortable with the tools of that trade. Then one day the carpenter shop closed, for it appears from the Bible that Joseph passed away, and Jesus went out to preach, tell parables, work miracles, heal diseases, and train His disciples. He didn't work on wood any more. He was progressing toward the day when wood would work on Him.

The very last day of His life, Jesus was in contact with wood. It was the only solid substance that He was in contact with, the last few hours of His life. When He was a carpenter, his palms held the tools and touched the wood, working to bring out the best of the wood's potential. Now His hands were nailed to the wood so that the backs of His hands were against the rough surface -- working to save our souls. The carpenter didn't pound nails into the wood; nails were pounded into His hands.
The carpenter Who had been so comfortable and at ease working in the shop was not comfortable on the cross. He was there to pay the price of our sins. The cross wasn't burned to make a fiery offering, but it was an altar just the same -- the altar on which the Lamb took away the sins of the world.

I still get all geeky with words, and I thought it was significant that on five occasions, when the "Epistles" of the Bible refer to the cross, it's not called a cross; it's not called a tree; it's called wood in the Greek. If you look at the literal Greek translation, here is what you see:

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on wood." (Galatians 3:13)

That one refers to Deuteronomy 21, where at the end of the chapter it says that someone whose body is hung on a pole (for murder) is under a curse.
Then Peter says this (if you change the word to the literal Greek):

“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the wood, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” (I Peter 2:24)

Wood was created by God. It has been used for good purposes, and it has been abused and used for bad purposes, too. God used wood as the framework of our salvation. We've been healed by Jesus' wounds, and the devil has been overcome.

This week we'll look deeply into this concept from Peter's letter.

Respite

I hope that you have been blessed by our week of respite and peace. I thought this song rendered by George Beverly Shea was a wonderful conclusion to our thoughts this week....

It's a lovely old song penned by Fannie Crosby:

1. Safe in the arms of Jesus,

1. Safe on His gentle breast;

1. There by His love o’ershaded,

1. Sweetly my soul shall rest.

1. Hark! ’tis the voice of angels

1. Borne in a song to me,

1. Over the fields of glory,

1. Over the jasper sea.

• Refrain:

• Safe in the arms of Jesus,

• Safe on His gentle breast;

• There by His love o’ershaded,

• Sweetly my soul shall rest.

1. Safe in the arms of Jesus,

1. Safe from corroding care,

1. Safe from the world’s temptations;

1. Sin cannot harm me there.

1. Free from the blight of sorrow,

1. Free from my doubts and fears;

1. Only a few more trials,

1. Only a few more tears!

1. Jesus, my heart’s dear Refuge,

1. Jesus has died for me;

1. Firm on the Rock of Ages

1. Ever my trust shall be.

1. Here let me wait with patience,

1. Wait till the night is o’er;

1. Wait till I see the morning

1. Break on the golden shore.

Blessings to all who pause here.

Respite

Peace.
Rest.
Shalom.
Today in our prayer and contemplation, let's re-read these familiar verses and ask God to shower His peace and comfort in our hearts.

The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” (Exodus 33:14)

 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

You will keep in perfect peace    those whose minds are steadfast,    because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever,    for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal. (Isaiah 26:3-4)

The busy, noisy world and its voices and influences bring about an overload of weariness if we are not careful to rest in Him. The pressures of Satan and the world are ever mounting.  If we neglect the "it's you and me, Lord" time, what hope do we have of strength to resist the world? Not just the routine reading of the Word. Not just assembling with others to worship. But a true, set-aside time for secrets that only the Lord shares with us. We can cry. We can wrestle as Jacob did. We can wait. We can listen. And then we can rest in the peace that He will give. We just have to ask.....

Shalom....