The Gospel of IDD

Psalm 12                        Help, Lord, for no one is faithful anymore; those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.  Everyone lies to their neighbor; they flatter with their lips but harbor deception in their hearts.  May the Lord silence all flattering lips and every boastful tongue-those who say, “By our tongues we will prevail; our own lips will defend us-who is lord over us?” “Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord.  “I will protect them from those who malign them.”  And the words of the Lord are pure, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times.  You, Lord, will keep the needy safe and will protect us forever from the wicked, who freely strut about when what is vile is honored by the human race. Psalm 12:1-8          ...

Abraham’s Faith                        What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter?  If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about-but not before God.  What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”  Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation.  However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. Romans 4:1-5              We know that it is Faith that saves us.  We know.  We know that we cannot earn our way into Heaven.  We cannot impress God with our outstanding Spiritual Resume so much that He cannot stop Himself from ushering us through the Pea...

Ishmael                        Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian slave-girl whose name was Hagar, and Sarai said to Abram, “You see that the  Lord  has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my slave-girl; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.    So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave-girl, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife.    He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress.    Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my slave-girl to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the  Lord  judge between you a...

God’s call to Abraham                        Now the  Lord  said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.    I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.    I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”    So Abram went, as the  Lord  had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.    Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land...

Do not put God to the test                    Be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.  Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.  Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land.  Do not put the Lord your God to the test. Deuteronomy 6:12-16              This is the type of passage that turns people off from Christianity.  At first glance, God comes across looking like an abusive spouse.  The Israelites are told to fear Him and obey or else He will get jealous and He will get angry and then He will wipe them out.  Nothing in there sounds like unconditional love...

Man does not live by bread alone                    Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these 40 years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.  He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.  Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these 40 years.  Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.  Observe the commands of the Lord your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him.  For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; a land ...

The Temptation of Jesus                    Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”  But he answered, “It is written,  ‘One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple,   saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,  ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”   Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”   Again, the devil took him to a ...

Blessed are the Pure in Heart Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Matthew 5:8                         When my son was a baby, my wife and I joked with each other that he saw angels.  He would be lying on the bed with us and his eyes would be darting around as he smiled and laughed, seemingly following something that I could not see as it danced around our ceiling.  I don’t know if our little boy was playing with angels or doing random baby things or if this was something to do with autism, but this verse always takes me back to those times.             Purity is something that our world has outgrown but is constantly searching for.  Purity…innocence is seen as nice, sweet, child-like.  It is tied to wonder and everyone assumes that it is something that you grow out of when t...

Faith Engages the World                    By faith Noah, warned by God about events as yet unseen, respected the warning and built an ark to save his household; by this he condemned the world and became an heir to the righteousness that is in accordance with faith. Hebrews 11:7             “By this he condemned the world.”  This is the most confusing and troubling piece of this passage.  The Flood was not Noah’s idea.  He did not cause the flood to come.  He did not choose who would live and who would die.  Noah was simply faithful.  He listened to God when others would not.  He believed that God was telling the truth and acted accordingly.  Others would not.  There was nothing special about Noah, no superhuman abilities or supernatural heritage that set him apart from the rest of humanity.  H...

Noah                    Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence.     And God saw that the earth was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its ways upon the earth. And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence because of them; now I am going to destroy them along with the earth.    Make yourself an ark of cypress   wood…For my part, I am going to bring a flood of waters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.    But I will establish my covenant with you; and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.    And of every living thing, of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; t...

Who Sinned Here?                  As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth.    His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”    Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.    We   must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work.    As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”    When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes,   saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.      John 9:1-7 Who sinned here?  Whose fault is this?  Why would an innocent baby come into the word with...