Bind the Word of God to our Minds

An Orthodox Jewish man will wear a black leather box strapped to his forehead during morning prayers.  This box, called a Tefillin or phylacteries, contains scrolls of parchment with the word of God written on them.  This is their way of applying God's command in their lives to 'Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.' Deuteronomy 6:8

They do this as an outward sign, but there is also an inward, spiritual significance to this as well.  This binding is important in changing your life and your mind.  In fact, what it signifies is essential in every Christian's life.

What goes on inside your head is hidden.  No one (but God) knows what your mind is thinking.  Our thoughts are where sin begins.  We think about something we know is forbidden and, instead of switching off those thoughts and dwelling on something wholesome and pure, we dwell on that dark thought.  We cradle that sinful thought in our minds until it takes root and we act upon it.  We always seem to think of sex as the evil thoughts we always have in these type of situations, and while they are part of this, they are not the only evil that is found in our hearts and minds.

We envy the car someone has and think about how great it would be to have that car.  We enjoy the gossip we have heard and can't wait to tell others.  We feel angry at someone for what they did to us and we plot our revenge.  We plan how to get out of being caught for something we did by lies and deceit.

How can we change this pattern of thinking?  This little leather box is telling us that things do not have to be this way.  When God speaks of binding the word to your head, he is revealing that your thoughts can be holy and pure.  The secret to a life of holiness is to bind the Word of God to your mind, your thoughts, your thinking.  Your will can only change when the Word of God is bound to your life.

The word bind in Hebrew is 'kashar'.  Kashar means to knit together.  When we bind God's word to our thoughts, we do not just strap them to our heads, but we knit them together.  Our minds should be intertwined with scripture.  The scriptures are to be so united to our thoughts that it is impossible to separate the two.  When our minds are working, the scriptures are filtering out what is good and what is bad.

If your thoughts are following the words of God, your life will follow as well.  If you allow God to change your way of thinking, your life will change.  You will find joy, peace, patience and a life empty of guilt and shame.

Take your Bible, read it, study it and meditate on it. Let your mind soak up the words and heart of God.

Photo Credit: Meditacion en el Muro de los Lamentos, Jerusalen, Israel by Edgardo W. Olivera
  

Jesus is Our Hupogrammos

In ancient Greece, a teacher would take a shallow wooden box filled with wax and write in it.  The student would then place his stylus into the grooves of the teacher's writing and carefully trace them. In this way, the student would learn the proper way to write by using the teacher's model.

This box of wax was called the Hupogrammos, which means underwriter.  It was used to teach a student to copy the teacher and become perfected in the way the teacher would write.  The better the student was in following the teacher, the more perfect he would become.

In 1 Peter 2:21  it is written,  "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps."  The word 'example' is actually the word "hupogrammos".  Jesus is our underwriter.  He has etched into this world how we are to live our lives. We are to make the actions of our lives match his life.

The thoughts of Jesus are the hupogrammos by which we are to think.  His love for God and for man are the hupogrammos that we are to emulate in our lives.  The very heart of  Christ is our hupogrammos that our hearts should reproduce exactly as his heart.

We are students whose assignment is to learn of Christ.  Our lessons are given to us by the master himself that we might follow in his footsteps and know him intimately.  Every moment in our lives we have Jesus Christ as our hupogrammos to guide us in the way we are to go.  Jesus is our hupogrammos of life.

Photo Credit: Pre-Apple tablet by Jennifer Krauel 

The Captain and the Seaman Recruit

I have the honor to have served in the U.S. Navy on two destroyers during the Viet Nam war.  My ships were stationed in Hawaii.  It was rough living in Hawaii with all those beaches and bikini-clad girls, but I was willing to make that sacrifice.

On a ship, the highest ranking person is normally the captain.  He has the most authority with everyone else below him and every other rank on the ship must obey his orders.

The lowest possible rank on a ship would be a seaman recruit.  There is no one lower in rank. Anyone could give him an order.  He has no authority over any other person on the ship.  This would be the person who would be given the dirtiest jobs.

But there is a time when that seaman recruit has the same authority as the ship's captain.  If the captain gives that seaman recruit an assignment to be carried out, he has the captain' authority.  When a seaman recruit carries out a directive given to him from the captain, he is doing so as if it was the captain himself.  Every other person on that ship must yield to that lowly seaman recruit so that he can fulfill his assignment.

As Christians, we have a captain who we must yield to in our lives.  God is the one who has the authority to give us orders to carry out.  His missions in our lives are to be followed as if we are that seaman recruit taking orders from the captain.   When the captain says jump, you jump.  When God says jump, you jump.

If God gives you a ministry or a command, you are to carry out that order in His name with His authority.  Anyone who lives inside the will of God follows the directives of God.
 
In the great commission, Matthew 28:16-20, Jesus says "... All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

You are commissioned by Jesus Christ, who has all authority, to bring the gospel to those who do not know him and train them up to become mature Christians able to know and obey the teachings of Christ.  You have the authority of Jesus Christ to carry out this command and every other command of his found in scripture.

Bitterness and Rebellion Gave Birth to Salvation

If you have heard of Jesus, you have almost certainly heard of his mother Mary.  However, she was never called Mary in real life.  Her name was Miryam.  The name Miryam comes from the older sister of Moses, who watched over him while he floated in a basket on the Nile River.  She was the one who ensured that he survived when other young baby boys were being killed.

In Egypt, one of the meanings of the name Miryam is love.  So Jesus was born of Miryam, or you could say, Jesus was born of love.  Love certainly from his mother but also born of the love of the father.  God was the father of Jesus and out of his love for the world, He sent Jesus to us. The name Jesus means salvation.  Out of the love of God, salvation was born.

In Hebrew, the meaning of Miryam is quite different.  It means bitterness and rebellion.  Out of bitterness and rebellion was born salvation.  God takes those who are bitter and rebellious and brings forth salvation to them.  

Look around the world and you will see bitterness towards others everywhere.  Rebellion is the rule rather than the exception.  Solving one source of bitterness in your life will only make room for something else to be bitter about.  The answer to all this is found only in Jesus because salvation is found only in Jesus.

Salvation is more than just eternal life in Heaven forever.  Salvation is also freedom from bitterness. It means instead of rebelling, to be supporting what is good and right.  It is a new life that is abundant, free, joyful and full of peace.  No guilt!  No fear! No emptiness! No hate! Just a life that is worth living.

"...I come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10b

Photo Credit: Violence! [Explored] by Riccardo Cuppini 

Sacrificing Isaac and Jesus

The Akedah is the Hebrew word meaning "binding".  It is the word used when referring to when Abraham took Isaac to be sacrificed.  It was a test which sealed God's covenant with Abraham.  This type of covenant, each party had to be willing to do what the other was willing to do.  Abraham was willing to sacrifice his beloved son as a sacrifice, therefore God would have to be willing to sacrifice his beloved son as well.

Abraham took Isaac to the region of Moriah and took his son to a mountain God directed him to. Jesus was taken to the exact same mountain.
Abraham laid the wood on Isaac's shoulders.
Jesus carried the wood up the mountain.
Abraham laid his son upon the wood of sacrifice.
Jesus lay upon the cross.
Abraham bound his son.
Jesus was fixed to the cross by nails.
Abraham lifted up the knife to strike the death blow upon his son but was stopped.
Jesus died on the cross.

Just as Abraham loved his son Isaac, God loved Jesus.  Abraham loved his son but out of his love for God, he was willing to sacrifice him. God loved his son but out of His love for us, he sacrificed him.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."  John 3:16

The Bridal Chamber

The Groom and Bride enter the bridal chamber.  This is the first time that they are alone.  It is during this time that they shall have physical union which consummates their wedding.  The groom then informs the shomer (best man) who has been guarding the door, and the wedding party.  They then announce it to everyone who has come to the wedding and the celebration begins.

The festivities go on for seven days.  There is much feasting, dancing and singing.  The celebrating continues for the seven days, but the bride remains in the bedchamber for those seven days.  No one sees her during this time.  When she finally comes out, she is no longer wearing her veil.  This is the first time that anyone sees her face and sees who the bride is.

When Christ comes and takes us away to be with him, we shall at last see him face to face.  There will no longer be a go between.  We will have more than just love letters written to us in the scriptures.  We will not just pray to Jesus, but will be able to speak directly to him and actually hear his voice answering us.  For the first time we will be look into his eyes of love and everything else that exist will all fade away into the background.

Just as the bride was hidden for seven days before she was revealed, (I believe) we shall be hidden from the world for seven years during the tribulation.  Then Christ will return to the earth to save mankind from destruction and the bride shall be revealed to the world.  For the first time the world will see for sure who the righteous ones are.  They shall at last know, without a doubt, that those who followed Christ were correct in what they had been saying.

Today we can not enter into the bridal chamber, but we can enter the prayer closet.  We can get to know our groom by reading his love letters to us.  We can study about who God is and what He desires of us.  We can know him better by spending time alone with him everyday.  He desires to let himself be known to us.  He prizes that time which foreshadows the day we shall be with him face to face.

To read other posts from this series:
Part one  "Purchasing the Bride."
Part two  "Preparing the Bride"
Part three "The Brides Future Home"

Part four "The Snatching of the Bride"

Photo Credit: The First Dance by Will fisher

The Snatching of the Bride

The bride would not know when the groom would come to take her away.  He has not seen her since the covenant of marriage had been made a year ago.  Usually the groom would come at night to take her off with him.  He and his men, with lit torches, would lead a procession of his family and friends to the brides house.

The shomer (best man) would give a shout to the brides house warning her that her groom is coming. Quickly she would have to get ready for his arrival.  When the groom arrived she would be waiting adorned in robes and precious stones.  Her maidens would be standing at her side as the groom and his procession gathered around them.

The bridegroom's men would then lift up the bride and groom on a sedan chair and carry them back to the home of the groom.  The procession would be singing, shouting and dancing.  The brides family and friends would follow behind as if trying to catch up and bring back their kidnapped daughter.

When they arrive at the groom's home, the wedding guest have all assembled.  The wedding celebration would now start and continue for seven days.  Soon after arriving the bride and groom would go into the bridal chamber to be alone for the first time while the shomer would stand guard outside the chamber.

Soon our groom Jesus Christ will come to take us away.  1 Thessalonians 4:16 says that Jesus will descend from Heaven with a shout. He shall come down and take all Christians who follow him back to Heaven as his bride to live with him.

We do not know the day or hour of his coming.  We only know that he will come.  We must be ready to go to him.  There is nothing on this world worth missing out on compared to our groom coming to take us to the home he has prepared especially for us.  We need to gather eternal treasures to adorn ourselves. To learn more of exchanging temporary earthly treasures for eternal Heavenly treasures, click here.

To read other posts from this series:
Part one  "Purchasing the Bride."
Part two  "Preparing the Bride"
Part three "The Brides Future Home"
Part five "The Bridal Chamber"

Photo Credit: Jewish Hora Chair Dance at Nate & Bekah's Wedding by Zachary Long