CAN YOU SLEEP WHEN THE WIND BLOWS?

Years ago, a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops.

As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals. Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. "Are you a good farmhand?" the farmer asked him.

"Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man.

 Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him.

The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work. Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand’s sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!"

 The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows."

Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot.  Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.

MORAL: When you're prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically, you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life?

The hired hand in the story could sleep because he had secured the farm against the storm. We, as believers in Christ, secure ourselves against the storms of life by grounding ourselves in the Word of God. We don't need to understand, we just need to hold His hand to have peace in the midst of the storms. 

In Christ,

Janet Irene Thomas

Founder/CEO

Bible Stories Theatre of

Fine & Performing Arts

www.biblestoriestheatre.org

info@biblestoriestheatre.org

MY FATHER'S HOUSE

John 14:1-4

New International Version (NIV)

14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.

 ² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?

 ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

 ⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.”

M

 essiah’s Peace, Place, and Promise for His People  – MESSIAH’S COMING.  These are among the most comforting words in all of Scripture; from Jesus’ own lips, we receive the promise of His return.  He spoke these words during His most intimate time with His disciples, and they echo down to us as a precious promise to the bride of Christ.

In this text, Jesus tells us of a peace, a place, and a promise.  He begins with a comforting encouragement: do not be troubled; be at peace.  Our peace is based on our belief in GOD and in Christ.  We know that He is trustworthy and that give us a foundation of peace upon which to build our lives.  Second, Jesus spoke of a place.  He has promised to prepare for us a place where we will have eternal fellowship with Him.  Finally, we have Christ’s personal promise that He is returning for us.  Think of it!  His personal signature is on our salvation; as we have received Him.  He is coming to receive us.  We look forward to that day in expectation, preparing ourselves for it, for “every man that hath this hope…purifieth himself. (1John 3:3).  (Ps. 16:10/Acts 1:10, 11)

 14:1-4 - In 13:36  Jesus responded to Peter’s question individually; now He answers the same question for all the disciples.

14:2 Mansions literally means “dwelling places.” A better translation is “rooms,” conveying the idea that there is ample space in heaven for all who come to Jesus as Savior.

So, it would behoove every believer to read a bit further and  remember the following, “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. (John 14:23)

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. (Revelation 21:4)

In Christ,

Playwright Janet Irene Thomas

Founder/CEO

Bible Stories Theatre of

Fine & Performing Arts

www.biblestoriestheatre.org

info@biblestoriestheatre.org

HANUKKAH 1

‘Tis The Hanukkah Season – 

 WHAT IS HANUKKAH?

Let’s start with the origins of the “word” Hanukkah.

Hanukkah (also spelled Hanukka, Chanukah, Chanukkah), is from Hebrew and means "consecration, dedication." It was first recorded in English in 1891. Hanukkah is observed somewhere between November 25 and December 26, from 25 Kislev to 2 Tevet, because the original re-dedication was on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev. The celebration is also called the Festival of Lights, Feast of Lights, Feast of Dedication, or Feast of the Maccabees.

The origins of the "word" Hanukkah came about 2,000 years ago, when the Syrian-Greek King Antiochus IV occupied Jerusalem. He forced the Jewish people to worship the Greek gods, and for three years, Judah the Maccabee (also Judas Maccabeus) led a rebellion against the Syrians, and when he finally defeated them in 165 BCE, the Jews could worship freely again. To re-dedicate the temple, they cleaned it from top -to- bottom, and then re-lit the menorah, their special branched candelabrum.

However, there was only enough sanctified oil for one day, and since it took eight days to formulate more oil, the Jews succeeded in making the oil in that one bottle last eight days.

Oops, let’s go back a moment. Who was Judah the Maccabee?  One would need to know this since Hanukkah is a celebration that came about because of this one man’s family’s act of bravery.

When an era of darkness and misery descended upon the Jews of Israel, then came Judah the Maccabee.

The Maccabees, also spelled Machabees, were the leaders of a Jewish rebel army that took control of Judea, which at the time had been a province of the Seleucid Empire. They founded the Hasmonean dynasty, which ruled from 164 BCE to 63 BCE.

Judah was from a family called the Hasmoneans. The Hasmonean family was led by Mattisyahu and his five sons: Shimon, Yochanan, Yehudah (Judah), Elazar and Yonasan.

Mattisyahu was a fervent righteous man who tired of seeing Judaism and the Jewish spirit crushed by the Syrians. It as his valor that provided the original catalyst for the revolt against these powerful Greeks. Though he died soon after the uprising grew into a full-fledged war, the cloak of leadership passed from to his son Judah, and with that the course of history was forever changed.

Judah Maccabee was a fearless leader, who perceived of ways for the Jewish militaries to out-maneuver the superior, better equipped and expert Greek army.

Judah Maccabee fought/rebelled against the heaviness that bear on the Jewish people. There were the women who insisted that their sons be circumcised, and were killed along with their babies. There also were the brides who were forced to sleep with Greek officers before they were ever with their husbands, and were required to eat pork and sacrifice pigs to the Greek gods.

Other examples of torture included the teaching of Torah as a capital crime, and many were tortured and murdered for their defiance.      
                                     …to be continued on Monday, December 26th.

In Christ,

Playwright Janet Irene Thomas

Founder/CEO

Bible Stories Theatre of

Fine & Performing Arts

www.biblestoriestheatre.org

info@biblestoriestheatre.org

PRAY TO BE ON GOD’S SIDE

"ARE YOU FOR US OR FOR OUR ENEMIES?"

JOSHUA 5:13

"Pray not that God is on our side but that we are on God’s side." That saying, attributed to Abraham Lincoln, is the point of this story. Joshua, is put in his place when he challenges the warrior standing in the road with a drawn sword.

"Are you for us or for our enemies?" He wasn’t expecting to hear "Neither…but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come." Joshua is the one who should be answering the questions.

What Joshua hears is humbling, but it is also heartening. God is involved in Israel’s war - - actually, the war is God’s, and Israel is involved in God’s war. What a relief for Joshua, the rookie commander of the army.  Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, "What message does my Lord have for his servant? " Joshua may not be sure of his battle plan, but he can have absolute confidence in God. What a relief to not have to figure things out ourselves, but to submit to God in humble reverence and do his will. That’s what prayer is: not asking God to do what we want, but doing what he wants. Then he lets us be a part of his great plan.

God’s plan will blow Joshua’s mind and topple the walls of Jericho. Do you have a "Jericho" to face? Be humbled, to heartened, be prayerful

In Christ,

Playwright Janet Irene Thomas

Founder/CEO

Bible Stories Theatre of

Fine & Performing Arts

www.biblestoriestheatre.org

info@biblestoriestheatre.org

THE FLIMFLAM MEN

JOSHUA 9:14 

THE MEN OF ISRAEL SAMPLED THEIR PROVISIONS  BUT DID NOT INQUIRE OF THE LORD

There are a lot of ways to describe what happened to the Israelites when they met the Gibeonites: flimflammed, snookered, duped, deceived. Having heard what the Israelites did to Jericho and Ai, the Gibeonites knew they needed something more than an army to survived the Israelite military machine; they needed a plan. Their plan was to trick the Israelites, into a treaty by making them think they weren’t part of the peoples Israel was commanded by God to subdue. So, they made their clothes and food look old and stale, like they had come from a great distance, and they proposed a treaty. The Israelites, brought the story. They sampled their provisions, but they did not "inquire of the Lord."  Full of themselves after consecutive victories, they were so confident about what they thought that they didn’t bother to ask the Lord what he thought. The treaty was ratified.

If only the Israelites have prayed about the Gibeonites and their proposal, this story would have turned out better for God’s people.

"Would’ve, could’ve, should’ve" are the words of regrets. Taking the time to pray uses up time in the short run, but it saves time in the long run. When was the last time you thought you were too busy to pray? This morning, perhaps? The Gibeonites were whispering deception in your ear. The lesson of this story is the title of a book on prayer by Bill Hybels: The truth of the matter was that you were Too Busy Not to Pray.

There is another lesson in the story of the Gibeonite deception: Simply pursuing God’s goals is not enough. We need to use God’s means, too. God’s Will covers not only what we are to do, but how; and in the case of the Gibeonites, it covers who we are to do it with. Pray until you hear the Lord speak, and don’t stop until he stops speaking. "In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:6).

In Christ,

Playwright Janet Irene Thomas

Founder/CEO

Bible Stories Theatre of

Fine & Performing Arts

www.biblestoriestheatre.org

info@biblestoriestheatre.org

A HUMBLE and GRATEFUL GUIDE

Job 1:21 THE LORD GAVE AND THE LORD HAS TAKEN AWAY; MAY THE NAME OF THE LORD BE PRAISED

God was proud of his servant Job (1:8), and Job’s prayer in verse 21 shows why. First there is his remarkable humility. He had known all along that everything came from God. Naked he arrived in this world; naked he would depart. Second, even though Job had just learned that he had lost the people and things most precious to him, he utters an amazing expression of gratitude. His attitude wasn’t "God took what was mine!" Job acknowledged that everything is the Lord’s. Everything he had was his by gift, not by right. Humility and gratitude are the irreducible minimums of prayer. The grateful are humble or they wouldn’t be grateful. God dwells only with the humble (Isaiah 57:15); 1 Peter 5:5). Until we know we have no ground to stand on before God, we have no ground to stand on before God.

Job’s humility and gratitude will be even more severely tested. He will be pushed out to the very edge of humanity, and return holier and happier. SØren Kierkegaard pictured Job as standing at an outpost from which he could lead the rest of us through the dark wilds of suffering. Job is a guide; he gives us hope; he reassures us that what we thought isn’t possible is possible. When Job’s story ends, "the terror is endured, the horror experienced, the battle of despair waged, to the honor of God, to his own salvation, to the profit and happiness of others. In joyful days, in fortunate times Job walks by the side of the race and guarantees it is happiness, combats the apprehensive dream that some horror may suddenly befall a man and have power to destroy his soul as its certain pray."

Job is a great prayer partner. His prayers aren’t necessarily tidy, because his life isn’t always tidy. Because of this, he teaches prayer, but mainly he encourages us to pray just as we are. He is one of the original, "Just as I am" pray-ers.

In Christ,

Playwright Janet Irene Thomas

Founder/CEO

Bible Stories Theatre of

Fine & Performing Arts

www.biblestoriestheatre.org

info@biblestoriestheatre.org

NIGHT OF FIRE

ONE DAY IN HEAVEN WHEN WE SEE JESUS AS HE IS

BLAISE PASCAL was one of the greatest minds in history. His work on probability, experiments with the vacuum and atmospheric pressure and invention of the first calculating machine established him as a scientist of the highest order. The elegance of his prose moved Voltaire to proclaim him the finest writer in France. But what he will most be remembered for are his Pensèes, a collection of thoughts that, had he lived long enough, were to form the basis of a defense of the Christian faith.

After Pascal’s death, a piece of parchment was found sewn into his clothing. It is the record of a decisive and ecstatic encounter he had with God on the night on November 23,1654. What follows is a portion of what he wrote.

Fire

"God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob," not of philosophers

           and scholars. Certainty, certainty, heartfelt, joy, peace.

God of Jesus Christ.

God of Jesus Christ…

Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy…

"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God,

                and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent."

Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ…

Sweet and total renunciation…

Everlasting joy in return for one day’s effort on earth.

I will not forget thy word. Amen

The god of Pascal’s times was an abstract noun, merely part of the intellectual and theoretical landscape, a principle to ponder – not the consuming Fire of the Bible, the Father of Jesus Christ (see Hebrews 12:29; John 14:9). The god of "philosophers and scholars" is something one thinks about; the God of Scripture is someone one meets. And this God is much more than interesting and impressive. To meet God face to face is to know "Certainty, certainty, heartfelt, joy, peace…Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy."

What Pascal saw of God is breathtakingly lovely and wonderful. But not everyone has Pascal’s experience, and one can’t hardly read of it and not ache with envy. Nevertheless, what Pascal glimpsed that night awaits all who hope in Christ. One Day, in heaven, when we see him as he is, we too will be as he is, gloriously so (see 1 John 3:2; Romans 8:18-21). In fact, to see him as he is, is heaven. We pray in that hope, knowing that although we don’t see him now, we are still filled with "an inexpressible and glorious joy." For we are receiving the gold of our faith, the salvation of our souls (1Peter 1:8-9).

BLAISE PASCAL (1623-1662

In Christ,

Playwright Janet Irene Thomas

Founder/CEO

Bible Stories Theatre of

Fine & Performing Arts

www.biblestoriestheatre.org

info@biblestoriestheatre.org

THE BATTLE IS THE LORD’S

FOR HANDS WERE LIFTED UP TO THE THRONE OF THE LORD

EXODUS 17:8-16

Based on this episode, many "Aaron and Hur Prayer Societies" were formed to pray for pastors and other Christian leaders in the 19^th century. It was believed that as the spiritual life of the pastor went, especially in prayer, so went the success of the spiritual battle in the church. So, people banded together to uphold their pastor in prayer and to intercede for the health of the church.

The picture in Exodus is vivid: The typical posture of prayer in the Bible is to stand with arms lifted and hands held out. Added to this picture of supplication is Moses’ staff, the symbol of divine power and conquest. As Joshua leads the troops in battle against the Amalekites in the valley below. Moses stand on the hill above and holds out his staff over the battle. When his arms are raised and the staff is held out, Joshua’s army prevails; when Moses tires and the staff is lowered, the Amalekites prevail. 

So, Aaron and Hur come alongside Moses to provide a rock for him to sit on and to hold up his arms.

The imagery of spiritual warfare in this story is also vivid. The battle always belongs to the Lord; we succeed only as we are "strong in the Lord" and in his mighty power" (Ephesians 6:10). 

Prayer is one way we continue to stay strong in God. Only through an ongoing relationship with the Lord can we stay vigilant and fight the battle (see Ephesian 6:18). And prayer is never a solitary exercise, even when we pray alone, we pray in the fellowship of the church, the body of Christ. Paul urged the believer in Rome, "by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me" (Romans 15:30).

Hold up your pastor in prayer. Leaders need protection and encouragement to keep on praying.

In Christ,

Playwright Janet Irene Thomas

Founder/CEO

Bible Stories Theatre of

Fine & Performing Arts

www.biblestoriestheatre.org

info@biblestoriestheatre.org

HONEST COMPLAINT AND MERE GRUMBLING

"O LORD, WHY HAVE YOU BROUGHT TROUBLE UPON THIS PEOPLE"

EXODUS 5:22-23

Life was bad for the people of Israel before God sent his deliverer, Moses. After Moses arrived, things got bad. Thus, this prayer of Moses.  Moses returned to the Lord and said, " 'O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all" (5:22-23). Have you ever had the courage, or at least the inclination, to pray to God this way?

First, the inclination: It’s not easy to serve God. In the work of his kingdom, things often get worse before they get better. Abraham enters the promised land only to find a famine (see Genesis 12:10). Jesus is crucified before he’s raised (see Mark 15-16). It is almost axiomatic that the mark of any true work of God is opposition and difficulty. Don’t be surprised by this, and that you struggle. Take it to the Lord.

Second, the courage: Sometimes God doesn’t seem to be in control. Are you comfortable telling God exactly how you feel about how things are going? Or do you feel you need to edit your prayers for theological accuracy? It’s important that good theology inform the way we pray. But it’s also important to know that a healthy relationship with God (and people) requires the freedom to say what you feel: happy or sad, glad or mad. Read the book of Psalms – these are the prayers of people who had a healthy relationship with God.

But keep in mind the difference between honest complaint and mere grumbling. The difference is in the prepositions: Honest complaint speaks to God about the complaint, mere grumbling. The difference is in the prepositions: Honest complaint speaks to God about the complaint; mere griping talks about God. When you speak to God about your concern, you pray. When you complain about your situation to others, you grip. Honest complaint, like this prayer of Moses, is open ended and teachable. Behind the prayer is a question mark. Behind mere grumbling is an exclamation point. 

In Christ,

Playwright Janet Irene Thomas

Founder/CEO

Bible Stories Theatre of

Fine & Performing Arts

www.biblestoriestheatre.org 

info@biblestoriestheatre.org

MAKE MEMORY A GOOD SERVANT

3:19-21 I REMEMBER MY AFFLICTION AND MY WONDERING. THE BITTERNESS AND THE GALL…YET THIS I CALL TO MIND AND THEREFORE I HAVE HOPE.

LAMENTATIONS 3:19-33

The value of memory, like intellect, is determined by what it serves. Memory in the service of despair has the power to destroy, whereas memory in the service of hope has the power to save. In John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, the main character, Christian, is locked up in Doubting Castle and beaten savagely with a club by Giant Despair. The giant’s club is made of memory. As he, beaten, Christian is filled with memories of his sin and how many times he’d been warned not to sin but had anyway. As he’s clubbed by memory, Christian sinks deeper and deeper into despair. But one night, the same memory that Despair had used for torture came to him and whispered something in his ear. 

Then Christian realized with joy that all along he had been carry the key to unlock Doubting Castle. The key was in his heart, and it was Promise. He thrust it into the lock, and though it was hard to turn, the lock yielded and he was set free.

Sometimes praying about things like loss, disappointment and failure can leave us more despondent after we pray than before. The memories, the recollection of these things even when spoken to God, are like Despair’s club in Doubting Castle. The key is promise. Pray the promises of God into your despair Make memory into a good servant. Remember God’s love and faithfulness. "Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. Because of the LORD’S great love, we are not consumed for his compassions never fail" (3:21-22).

The Lord wants our suffering to refine us, not consume us. We may think that, we are getting exactly what we deserve for the wrongs we have done, and we bow our heads in resignation. But we are wrong! We never get exactly what we deserve. Only one person got exactly what we deserve – he died on the cross and was raised from the dead for our justification (see Romans 4:25). Our sin and guilt is real. But God’s love is greater than both. Where there was once condemnation, now there is discipline.

In Christ,

Playwright Janet Irene Thomas

Bible Stories Theatre of  

Fine & Performing Arts

www.biblestoriestheatre.org

info@biblestoriestheatre.org

NO ONE IS AN ISLAND

1:10 "THEY ARE YOUR SERVANTS AND YOUR PEOPLE, 

WHOM YOU REDEEMED BY YOUR GREAT STRENGTH."

NEHEMIAH 1 (NIV)

This is the second of three prayers by Ezra and Nehemiah that we will look at in this blog. All three prayers are exemplars of the mind of an intercessor – that deep sense of solidarity with a people, treating their sins as one’s own and pleading for God’s mercy for "us," not "them." John Donne’s famous mediation captures the perspective of these great men of prayer.

No man is an Island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea. Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.

Only love can cause us to see others this way. Paul told husbands to love their wives as they love their own bodies, for that is how Christ loves the church – as his own body (see Ephesians 5:25-33). Ezra and Nehemiah love the people of God the way Christ loves the church.

In this prayer, Nehemiah draws on a text from Moses' intercession and puts himself in the same place Moses was when he pleaded with God for the life of the nation. Nehemiah prays, "They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed" (Nehemiah 1:10). The first time that kind of prayer was prayed, the Israelites were close to extinction following the incident with the golden calf (see Deuteronomy 9:25-29). 

So Moses did a daring and provocative thing. He "stood in the breach before [God] to keep his wrath from destroying" the nation (Psalm 106:23). Now Nehemiah does the same.

What would happen to your personal prayer life, and the prayers of your church. If these were the perspectives, you brought to prayer: a deep sense of solidarity with the people you for and the courage to stand in the breach between them and destruction? It would be harder to get drowsy and trivial when you pray.

In Christ,

Playwright Janet Irene Thomas

Founder/CEO

Bible Stories Theatre of

Fine & Performing Arts

www.biblestoriestheatre.org

info@biblestoriestheatre.org

BE A WE INSTEAD OF A ME

OUR SINS ARE HIGHER THAN OUR HEADS AND OUR GUILT

HAS REACHED TO THE HEAVENS

EZRA 9:1-15

---

Two things set this prayer apart from the prayers of many modern Christians in the Western world. The first, and easier to understand, is the frequency of words like our and we and us; as opposed to words like I and me. Clearly, Ezra's chief identity is his Jewishness. He is a "we" before he is an "I".  Scholars call this way of thinking "corporate solidary." The individualism of Western culture has a hard time getting its mind around this point of view. There is far too much "me and Jesus" in our thinking and praying. There should be a lot more "we and Jesus."

The second thing that sets this prayer apart is the really hard part: Ezra repents of the sins of others as though they were his own This act takes his "corporate solidarity" to an even deeper level. But this isn't something peculiar to Ezra. It is the view of Scripture God’s people are members of a body, not an organization. A member of an organization can exist outside the organization; a member of a body is dead outside the body. And the body stretches out not only in space, but in time.

Read the end of Hebrews 11 and the beginning of Hebrews 12:1 says that a great cloud of witnesses – the heroes of the faith who came before us, mentioned in chapter – are waiting for us to finish the race. "God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect" (Hebrews 11:40).

We are linked to one another in ways we must understand if we are to give to intercessory prayer the urgency it deserves. What I do for another, or fail to do for another, has profound implications for that person’s well-being. Ezra is stricken over the effect other’s sins have had on the whole people – so much so that he repents as one of them. In the final analysis, this kind of praying is not about "corporate solidarity", it is about love. Ask God to expand your sense of your self, so you can pray for others as you would for yourself. In this way, you love your neighbor as yourself.

 

In Christ,

Playwright Janet Irene Thomas
Founder/CEO
Bible Stories Theatre of
Fine & Performing Arts
www.biblestoriestheatre.org
info@biblestoriestheatre.org

HOW TO WALK WITH GOD

GENESIS 5:21-24

ENOCH’S WALK WITH THE LORD was so close that Scripture tells us, "God took him" (Gen. 5:24). This implies Enoch didn’t die but was taken directly into the presence of God. What a wonderful testimony!

As we seek to follow God with this same passion, let’s review some specific steps to help us keep up in our walk with the Lord.

RECONCILIATION.  This concept carries the sense of God moving toward us. We can be joyful because the responsibility is all His. Through the cross of His Son Jesus Christ, God has already made His move in our direction. Scripture says, "Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation" (2 Cor. 5:18).

TRUSTING GOD.  We must have faith, not only that God is concerned with our walk, but that He has, through Jesus Christ, provided all we need to walk intimately with Him anytime.

AGREEMENT.   To appreciate the closeness God longs to have with us, we must agree with what Scripture teaches about His Son, His Word, the church, and our problem with sin.

FELLOWSHIP.  Just as human relationships fall apart without regular contact, our intimacy with God weakens when we don’t spend time with Him. Walking with God is not an impossible mission, but it   does require careful attention to the details of our Christian lives. When we set our course for God, He’ll always be there to direct our paths (Prov. 3:5-6). 

- Dr. Charles F. Stanley

Submitted In Christ,

Playwright Janet Irene Thomas

Founder/CEO

Bible Stories Theatre of

Fine & Performing Arts

www.biblestoriestheatre.org

info@biblestoriestheatre.org

THE SEED OF WOMAN

The Gospel’s First Proclamation    MESSIAH’S COMING

GENESIS 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

WORD WEALTH

3:15 head, the promise is that the Seed of woman would someday crush the Serpent’s head, that woman in particular would play a part in undoing the effects of the Fall. In its most specific sense the Lord Jesus has trampled Satan at the Cross. In its wider sense, the human race will eventually completely triumph over the Evil One (Roman 16:20).

           

KINGDOM DYNAMICS

3:15 The Gospel’s First Proclamation, MESSIAH’S COMING. This verse contains the first proclamation of the gospel. All of the richness, the mercy, the sorrow, and the glory of God’s redeeming work with man is here in miniature. God promises to bring a Redeemer from the Seed of the woman; He will be completely human yet divinely begotten. "That old serpent, called the Devil," would war with the war with the Seed (see Rev. 12) and would smite Him. 

But even as the Serpent struck at the Redeemer’s heel. His foot would descend crushing the Serpent’s head. I Christ’s life and death this scripture was fulfilled. Divinely begotten, yet fully human, by His death and resurrection Christ has defeated and made a public spectacle of the power of hell (Col. 2:15). This first messianic promise is one of the most succinct statements of the gospel to be found anywhere.

In Christ,

Playwright Janet Irene Thomas

Founder/CEO

Bible Stories Theatre of

Fine & Performing Arts

www.biblestoriestheatre.org

info@biblestoriestheatre.org