KennethBow's Blog

Each year I read my Bible through.

Usually I use a Bible I have never used and read all the notes and commentary as well as the Bible text.

This year I am reading the Bible through and skipping the italicized words. These words are not in the original language and were added by the translators to help the flow of the text. They are east to spot because they are a different type.

While reading through Exodus this week I have noticed when the animals are mentioned the goats never say skins. It just says goats. The text reads ram skins, and badger skins, but when it comes to goats it only says goats. It caught my attention.

I have no idea if I know the answer or if it is even important, but here is my thought.

Is it possible this was the only thing worth using on a goat? If so, there would be no reason to add the word skin. Hebrew being a compact language with no vowels was conservative with adjectives so the translators added them to help the English reader.

If my simple thought is feasible, it would mean the parts of other animals had use. Therefore the text identifies when it is referring to that part of a ram or badger. But when speaking of a goat there was no need to mention the skin for nothing else about the animal was usable. Nothing inside the goat was good for anything. It’s only value was it’s skin.

The analogy I drew was that there are people like that. They are empty and hollow inside. All they have to offer our world is the skin everyone sees. So they have to try and improve it with cosmetics (make-up), and jewelry, and artificial means. This draws attention to the only thing they have to offer, the outside, which can be seen by the everyday person.

This is not the way a follower of Christ lives. The good stuff, if you please, is on the inside. We do not flaunt the skin, but rather realize we have much more to offer our world than an artificial appearance. It is the primary reason the New Testament teaches us to avoid the artificial on the outer man and let the inner man shine though.

It is the fruit of the spirit that God wants the world to see. When you put honesty and loyalty and sincerity up against lipstick and rouge and eye liner it is easy to see why the person who is empty inside needs to glamorize the skin. They are a goat, and it is all they have to offer the world.

A true child of God has much more to offer the world than just their skin. They offer love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.

It is hard for the light of Christ to shine through when your skin is painted with the artificial elements of the world. Our command is let your light so shine before men. There is nothing more beautiful to man and to God than a Christian woman adorned with godliness and holiness. She stands out, people notice her purity. You see her light glowing through, and Christ is magnified and lifted up.

When a person paints the skin, adorns the skin, it is a notice of what is lacking inside. It is all they have to offer our world.

Thanks for reading today…….

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There is a fascination with death in my life. Death has claimed many, my mother, my father, my step mom, my pastor Bro Terry. So many they are adding up. It makes me want to run and live life to it’s fullest.

We have questions. What is on the other side? What happens when we take our last breath? Are we instantly in God’s presence? Do we just sleep until the resurrection? Do angels come and carry us home?

As unwanted and feared as death is, the Bible speaks of a second death 4 times: Rev 2.11, 20.6, 20.14, and 21.8. I cannot imagine going through the process two times.

Death was brought on by sin. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, part of the curse and judgement was death. For His own reasons, God gave Satan the power of death. Heb 2.14 this power simply means he held the souls in Hades until Christ came and set them free at his resurrection. Satan never controlled the moment the person died that is in the hands of God alone.

It is appointed unto men once to die Heb 9.27. Does this mean there is an appointed moment? (Unusual deaths). Does it mean simply you will die? One of the most comforting things about death is if we willingly die now to our flesh, and Jesus comes before we die we will never die.

Then there is John 11.26 where Jesus says if we believe on him we will never die. This is why I believe we go immediately into Christ’s presence, no soul sleep. Our bodies wait for the resurrection, but our spirits go to be with the Lord.

Causes of natural death can be cancer, heart attacks, accidents, something stops working and there is a chain reaction. Some deaths are sudden, some long and painful. Sometimes there are indicators that something is wrong, others simply drop dead.

Indicators are things like loss of appetite, pain that was not there in your life that suddenly showed up, blood in your urine is an indicator. There are all kinds of symptoms that signal something is wrong.

There are a lot of parallels in our physical bodies and our spiritual bodies. For one thing, both can die. Both will be inseparatable at judgement. Your natural body can and does affect your spiritual body. I personally believe your spiritual body can and does affect your natural body through stress and guilt and fear. So they are connected.

We often care more for our natural body more than our spiritual body. If we get up late and over sleep the spiritual man is pushed to second place while we curry and fuss over the natural man.

We see doctors and go to emergency to make sure our pain is not signaling a potential problem.

When I measure this against the spiritual man, I feel we are generally as a rule, less attentive to our spiritual symptoms; depression, anger, spiritually cold, loss of appetite, hatred, jealousy, and indifference, all signal spiritual problems.

It is true in both the natural and the spiritual that sometimes when left alone the body heals itself. The ship rights itself. But if the symptoms continue and do not heal them self, something is wrong.

When we get scared naturally we go to the doctor, but many times we ignore and endure the symptoms spiritually. We waste away because we refuse to confront the symptoms. Maybe we even try and it continues for so long, so many years, we give up. Maybe we have dealt with the same issue spiritually for so many years we are tired of trying to get it fixed.

Then when the symptoms are ignored they wreak havoc and people sometimes drop dead spiritually. Because we cannot see the spiritual man, sometimes the spiritual man is emaciated and needs care or death is certain.

Jesus came to open a Holy Ghost clinic for all the spiritually sick and needy today. His clinic is free and certain, all are welcome. There is one near you. It is called a church.

Thanks for reading today…..

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