A good friend of Freedom gifted each of us missionaries a copy of Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus. Lois Tverberg looks at important biblical truths and interprets them from a Jewish point of view. This book made me realize just how much I don’t know about the Bible. I felt like I was underlining every sentence. Lots of interesting and convicting information to take in. How deep and rich and precious is God’s Word!
Some of my favorite thoughts/quotes from my reading this month:
When Jesus sent his disciples out, he told them to heal the sick and proclaim the kingdom, as he did himself. Not one or the other, but both. We need both words and deeds to bring God glory. ¹
A child’s main classroom is usually what they overhear from their parents’ conversations. ¹
[Regarding gossip] Have you heard something? Let it die with you. Be brave, it will not make you burst. -Sirach 19:10 ¹
Being angry, I’ve discovered, usually indicates judgment… Whenever I get angry, I look for the selfish or wrong-headed motive that I assume lies behind the person’s actions. ¹
How you pray reveals what you believe about God. Since I heard this, I’ve listened more closely to what I pray and what it says about what I believe about God. ¹
… the faith that we’re supposed to have is not in the outcome, but in God himself. God wants us to be absolutely convinced of his love for us and of his power and desire to take care of us. ¹
The task is not yours to complete, but neither are you free to desist from it. – Mishnah , Avot 2:21. ¹
“Sir, you wish to serve God and go to heaven. Remember you cannot serve Him alone. You must therefore find companions or make them. The Bible knows nothing of solitary religion.” ²
Our end in leaving our native country was not to avoid want (God having given us plenty of temporal blessings), nor to gain the dung or dross of riches or honor; but singly this–to save our souls; to live wholly to the glory of God. ²
I went to America, to convert the Indians; but oh! who shall convert me? … I have a fair summer religion. I can talk well; nay, and believe myself, while no danger is near; but let death look me in the face, and my spirit is troubled. Nor can I say, ‘To die is gain!’ ²
After my return home, I was much buffeted with temptations, but I cried out, and they fled away. They returned again and again. I as often lifted up my eyes, and He “sent me help from his holy place.” And herein I found the difference between this and my former state chiefly consisted. I was striving, yea fighting with all my might under the law, as well as under grace… ²
… the shortest distance between a human being and the truth is a story. Surely this is why Jesus preferred to use stories. ³
As it turns out, it’s hard to see when your vision is blocked by planks of secret judgments and grievances against yourself and the world. ³
His Way of being in this world is full of joy and gratefulness. A place where all burdens are light and each step sure. Contentment and peace rule the heart. A new power flows unrestricted. ³
¹Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus, Lois Tverberg
²The Journal of John Wesley, John Wesley
³A.D. 30, Ted Dekker
The Mitcheners 