Why pray before eating, instead of after?

 The Jews pray after eating, so why do we pray before we eat? Everything should be Biblically based. Let's look at the Jewish viewpoint.


Exo 3:8  And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 

Deu 8:10  When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. 
Deu 8:11  Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: 
Deu 8:12  Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; 
Deu 8:13  And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; 
Deu 8:14  Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; 

I see this as a thanksgiving for the promised blessings because of obedience to the laws. They were to remember to give thanks in the midst of their plenty from God. The Gentile Christian also is to give thanks for the blessing of food. Jesus blessed the food before feeding the five thousand.


Mat 14:19  And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. 
Mat 14:20  And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. 
Mat 14:21  And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children. 

We give thanks because Jesus gave thanks before eating.

Joh 6:23  (Howbeit there came other boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks:) 

Paul blessed the food before eating.

Act 27:35  And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat. 

We are to give thanks in the name of Jesus in whatever we do.

Col 3:17  And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. 


Rom 14:6  He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. 

1Th 5:17  Pray without ceasing. 

1Th 5:18  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 

In conclusion it is good to give thanks in all things, before eating, after eating and for all of his blessings  that he pours out upon us.

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Thanksgiving Guests

This story took place early, in fact it was two weeks ago that I witnessed guests coming as my wife and I were sitting in chairs in the front yard. Tom Turkey was in a hurry.

There were four turkeys running in the street across from us. They were in our suburb unafraid of man or dogs, "gobbling" down anything that tasted good from the different lawns.

These were lovely turkeys.

They found one lawn with leaves, and they began feasting. This is the yard that has two big dogs who play in it when their owner is home. The dogs spend a lot of time in this yard and are friendly; perhaps there were bits of dog food left in the yard?

Tom takes a quick look into the house and then he noticed a "welcome" sign.

I noticed another turkey head, making it five turkeys, the number of grace. God had given them grace this day. The rest of the story is my imagination. The "rafter" flock heeded the welcome sign and headed for the front  door where the owner met them with a big smile. Inside the two big dogs were wagging their friendly tails. A tablecloth was spread on the kitchen floor and it was covered with bird seed and in the center was a bowl of cool water. After dinner the old man of the house got out his well weathered fiddle and began playing "Turkey in the Straw". The birds and dogs danced around in delightttttttttttttttttttttt...well? It could happen like this when Jesus returns, all will be peace with man and beast and turkeys too. 

Peace be with you.

Type "A" personality

I was speaking with a friend before the band concert at the college last night. My friend was once part of our musical quartette, but when it broke up he joined with a little group that entertained at the senior homes. He was saying that you need a type "A" leader to keep a group together, someone who is aggressive and skilled. His small group lost it's leadership and people lost interest and fell away.

Mat 9:36  But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. 

 What is a type "A" person?

A type "A" personality is a psychology theory based on certain behavior. Wikopedia states that Friedman, who came up with the theory, suggests that Type A behavior is expressed in three major symptoms: (1) free-floating hostility, which can be triggered by even minor incidents; (2) time urgency and impatience, which causes irritation and exasperation usually described as being "short-fused"; and (3) a competitive drive, which causes stress and an achievement-driven mentality.

The natural man gets angry and impatient with this personality type if things get in the way. On the positive, he is driven to achieve, but with a competitive spirit. Was Paul driven to achieve? Yes, he was to finish the work that Jesus had given him.

 

Rom 1:14  I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.
Rom 1:15  So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.
Rom 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

The Christian has the fruit of the Spirit, love, peace, long suffering, faith...he is not to be seeking his own way, but the will of the father. Did Paul endure much suffering? Yes he did and he was sometimes angry at those who opposed his work.

 

2Ti 4:14  Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:
2Ti 4:15  Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.

Paul was not a quitter. When chained to Roman guards under house arrest, he witnessed to the guards and the gospel reached into the King's palace. Like Paul, we are to be zealous to do good service unto the Lord.

 

Tit 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Tit 2:14  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
Tit 2:15  These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.

 

No matter our personality types, aggressive or meek, we are to do the work of the Lord with all of our heart.

 

Heb 13:20  Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
Heb 13:21  Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 

Seek unity for God's glory.

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Not Over Yet

In church there was a lesson about peace and fear. The world has no peace, but we in Jesus have the peace of God regardless of what happens. The discussion turned to a lady who had cancer and how that she has been living in fear day to day for the past three years. I wanted to say something about this because I had been through cancer as a young man. I was actually brought to the Lord in the hospital when the Lord quickened me. There were recoveries and then the cancer would return. I should have been fearful, but the Lord's peace  came to me. Finally the Lord healed me after many recurrences.

It was about twelve years later that I found a lump on the side of my head. I thought, oh no it is cancer again. I was working with my brother in a new cabinet shop that we had started.  I thought to myself, "is my time over?" We were behind on a cabinet job that needed to be done the next morning but my doctors appointment was that afternoon. It was good news, the lump was only a cyst, that he removed. I was so relieved about this. I wanted to express my joy, so that night I returned to the cabinet shop with my brothers teenage son and we finished all the cabinets that needed to be done. We did it with no pay and just out of the joy of being able to do it. My nephew Tom wrote on the dust of the floor. "The cabinet fairies were here."

We need to be enthusiastic about this life while we have it. Let us do good works, express our joy and be thankful using the time we have left. I lost two good spirit filled ministry partners this year. Earl was 86 and Bob was 79. What I remember them by was their great joy in praise and worship. We all truly loved making music together and sharing in the rest homes. It is not over yet, so lets do things from hearts of joy. Encourage someone and start a ministry. There is still time, it is not over yet.

John 9:4  I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. 
John 9:5  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 
John 9:6  When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, 
John 9:7  And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. 

Do you see the possibilities in serving others as unto the Lord?

John 14:12  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 

John 14:13  And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 

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Tip hat

They say if you have to explain a picture, then it is not much of a picture. A picture is worth a thousand words, if the picture speaks for itself. Bear with me as I explain this picture. It is a picture of Randy, the goose with a broken wing. In the background a man is removing his hat in a random walk by picture. I have seen Randy survive several years at the park. His relatives fly in to visit from time to time.

If Randy gets a tip of the hat then how much more should we tip our hats to our veterans? To tip the hat is a greeting of respect, of recognition and of gratitude. We respect our veterans of  foreign and domestic wars. The men and women who give their lives in service to protect us and the honor of our country. Hats off in admiration and I thank you and ask the LORD to bless you.

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Clarity

When seeking God's direction for a proposition or a problem, I like to walk in the places of God's creation. Tonight I paused to look at the reflection of trees in the ripples of a pond. Life is full of ripples, always changing, but we must not be distracted by the ripples instead of focusing on what is clear before us. We know what to do when we follow the Holy Spirit of peace.

Eph 5:15  See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 
Eph 5:16  Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 
Eph 5:17  Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

Circumspectly means to be cautious, to be exact, to be accurate, to be diligent. Living carefully, not deviating from that which is honest and true. We do need to walk circumspectly in this age of confusion. 

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Sour Words

We had a good crop of lemons on our little tree this year. I squeeze them and put the juice into ice trays and then store them in plastic bags in the freezer. A cube of lemon works great for recipes and for lemonade. I sometimes use a potato peeler and peel the lemons and make candied lemon peels. These are good in lemon cookies. Adding a little sugar makes the lemon delicious. Some like to show off by eating a lemon in front of you without sugar. Then there are those who eat raw chili peppers; both need toning down. How often I remember words said from emotion, that were not sweet. Some were like chili peppers, offensive to the hearer because my words were not sweetened and made acceptable by speaking words of faith. When we speak words of faith, it makes the lemons sweet and the peppers into chili. Everywhere we go we make an impression on those we meet. What about those closest to us? Are we nicer to strangers than to our own family?  We may put sugar on our words outside but in the home, we relax, we express our feelings, sometimes without sugar on our lemon tongues. There is a song; "You only hurt the one you love". A Christian is to be an example of God's love. Turn the lemon tongue into "sugar lips, from a true heart of love from Jesus Christ." 

Jas 3:10  Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. 
Jas 3:11  Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? 
Jas 3:12  Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. 
Jas 3:13  Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. 

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