Wow #80!
I started writing ‘Interruptions’ after returning from Israel in March, 2020! My plan — I get up; I pray; I write. There is no masterplan and often I type and let thoughts flow. Sorry for typos and my own rules of grammar and punctuation. The ‘OGV’ of English can be problematic for the purist.
Go ahead and forward the Interruptions at will.
Today we check out the number 3 and its influence in the Word of God. As I have read the Bible over the past half century, I’m often amazed at the Bible’s coherence. The Bible has common themes, foreshadowing, tension, creativity, and mystery in a book written over 1,500 years.
Only the God of history could write it. All great authors hide indicators of their personality in their writings. God does this with the number 3 …
3 … God is trinity. The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit!
According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ — 1 Peter 1:2.
3 … We are made in the image of God as 3. Spirit, Soul, Body!
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. — 1 Thessalonians 5:23
3 … Our Soul is 3: Mind, Will, Emotion!
My soul knows (mind) it well. — Psalm 139:14
My soul would choose (will). — Job 7:15
Make glad (emotion) the soul of your servant. — Psalm 86.4
3 … Our spirit (not God’s Spirit) has 3 senses: Intuition, Presence, Conscience
May God give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation (intuition is God leading and telling us) — Ephesians 1:17
My conscience testifies (conscience is an innate knowing of right and wrong). — Romans 9:1
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you (presence is God within and standing next to you) — James 4:8
3 … All temptation can be summed in 3 vices:
Lust of the flesh (sensuality), Lust of eyes (possessions), Pride of Life (Ambition)
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. — 1 John 2:16
3 … Adam and Eve stumbled in all 3 temptations …
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food (lust of the flesh), and that it was a delight to the eyes (lust of the eyes) , and that the tree was desirable to make one wise (pride), she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. — Genesis 3:6
3 … Jesus was victorious in all 3 temptations …
Temptation of turning stones to bread (lust to satisfy the flesh)
Temptation of begin given all the Kingdoms of the World (lust of the eye or of possession)
Temptation to jump off the temple and amaze people (pride)
You can add other 3’s: Jesus job description in Luke 4 is summarized as save the lost, heal the sick and set the captives. Jesus was in the grave three days!
The third day is symbolic of our victory. The same power that raised Jesus is now in us!!!
Okay, let’s stop. We walk by faith and not by sight and those who discern will find ample evidence that God wrote scripture. He knows history past, present and future.
God has written the greatest historical novel of all time. The difference between God’s historical novel and Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”?
God writes in past, present, and future because He is eternal. He knows and controls all things! In spite of current troubled times – God wraps it all into His eternal purposes.
Stay faithful and hope.