Issue 12> 4 February 2002
  This site is updated weekly Fri, 8 February, 2002 6:34 PM

STRESS!!

But what did Jesus mean by taking His yoke? Interesting because a yoke normally comes in a pair - i.e. a pair of oxen is strapped together to the yoke and together they will walk the fields. It is never meant for one animal to carry that yoke. If that happens, very soon the animal will get tired and exhausted. Also if there is only one animal bearing that yoke, it goes out of balance and no matter how hard the farmer guides the animal, it will never be able to walk straight. I believe Jesus wants to share that yoke with us because He is the Strong One of God and with him sharing that yoke, we would never feel tired because each time we feel the strain, He knows and He will come and take over the burden from us.

I know it is never easy knowing just what to do in every situation we face every day. That is why we need to know God's will for our lives each day. Spend time with Him and know the "heartbeat of God" and know Him; yes, I said know God and not know about God. Go on, try it and you will not regret it

Click Here to read Full Article

29 " Take My yoke
upon you and learn
from Me, for I am
gentle and lowly in
heart, and you will
find rest for your
souls."
Matthew 11:29 NKJV

Discouraged...

1 "Let not your heart
be troubled; you believe
in God, believe also
in Me."
John 14:1 NKJV
Hard Sayings of the Bible ( IVP Press)
Mark 10:25: Easier for a Camel?

In all three Synoptic Gospels this saying follows the incident of the rich man who was anxious to know how to inherit eternal life--and, in the idiom of the Gospels, inheriting eternal life is synonymous with entering the kingdom of God. His record in keeping the commandments was unimpeachable--he assured Jesus that he had kept them all ever since he came to years of discretion, and Jesus said nothing to suggest that his claim was exaggerated. But, to test the strength of his commitment, Jesus bade him sell his property and distribute the proceeds among the poor. "And," he said, "you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me" (RSV). At that the rich man's face fell: this sacrifice was more than he was prepared to make. The incident brings out the real nature of the discipleship to which Jesus called people.

Click Here to Read Full Article
excerpts from BibleHistory.com
Gathering The Old Testament.

The Old Testament collection was written over many centuries as we have noted. Scholars observe that there were oral traditions as well as written accounts. Stories were told over and over, detail by detail, when the covenant people gathered around their campfires. And the stories were preserved on parchment, or animal skins, so the account of God's dealing with his people would never be forgotten. The parchments were rolled up into scrolls. Over the centuries more scrolls were written and added to the collection. Some were recognized as having special importance and came to be regarded as sacred text or holy scripture.
Of course, none of the original scroll writings has been preserved. Scrolls would wear out and were given an honored burial. But before they wore out, copies would be made and then copies of copies.

Inasmuch as the books were written over at least a thousand-year period, there was an ongoing process to gather the collection. The early books of the law were stored in the ark of the tabernacle (Deuteronomy 31:26). The nation reconsecrated its devotion to the sacred writings at different times (II Kings 23:1-3, Nehemiah 8:1ff).
By the time of Jesus it seems that there was general agreement on what constituted the recognized collection of sacred scrolls for the Jewish people. They are summed up in Jesus' reference to the three main sections of the Hebrew scriptures when He noted that "Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." Luke 24:44

A major tragedy in the life of the Jewish nation occurred in 70 AD when the Jewish temple, the center of Jewish religious life, was destroyed by the Romans under Titus Livy. It is commonly thought that at a gathering of rabbis in the city of Jamnia in 90 AD there was a re-affirmation and confirmation of what fully and finally constituted the Hebrew scriptures. The Jewish historian Josephus, writing in the early 90's AD in his Against Apion, observed:

For we have not countless books among us, disagreeing and contradicting one another but only twenty-two books, which contain the records of all the past times; which are justly believed to be divine and how firmly we have given credit to these books of our nation is evident by what we do; for during so many ages as have already passed, no one hath been so bold as either to add anything to them, to take anything from them, or to make any change in them, but it has become natural to all Jews, immediately and from their very birth, to esteem these books to contain divine doctrines, and to persist in them, and if occasion be, willingly to die for them.
 
All references taken from RBC, Pat Robertson, Ron Rhodes, Kenneth/Gloria Copeland, Charles Slagle, Smith Wigglesworth, Selwyn Hughes, Charles Spurgeon, Manners and Customs of Bible Times, The Complete Bible Handbook, The Spirit Filled Bible(NKJV), The NIV Bible, God's Promises for your every Need, Idiot's Guide to Bible Mysteries, Hard Sayings of The Bible, Articles courtesy of Mr Andrew L W Lee.