The morning
Manna will be provided at 6am. Thanks. Studying In
the Crucible with Christ in the SSnet.org series Lesson 5, may the Holy
Spirit be the speaker to your heart. The Topic today
is: "Abraham asked to do something God never intended him to
complete" The Opening
Hymn will be 229 "Spirit of the Living God" The Sabbath
School Quarterly, downloadable from SSnet.org in the Teacher's Edition is on
page 58 and for the laymen edition or Standard Edition, on page 39. The SSnet.org
site allows anyone, anywhere to read the lesson in their own language. Choose
your own language to see God speaking also to your heart. ---Isaac was
born in 2131 BC. Calculated from 970 BC the Shea-Davidson and myself chronology
for the fourth year of Solomon but not the Horn, Thiele, Schwantes, Waterhouse
date for that event because they like 966 BC. ---For me, I
can say to Thiele that it is not possible because the outside sources to the
fourth year of Solomon do not match 966 BC but do 970 BC. ---So Isaac was
born in 2131 BC. A short while after this God asked Abraham to go and offer his
son Isaac on Mount Moriah, the place in the Golden Dome at the Temple Mount in
Jerusalem. ---It does not sound
like a mountain to climb. Well Jesus delivered a Sermon on the Mount just next
to it and have you climbed it? ---Maybe our
vocabulary of "mount" is not the same as the Bible? ---But here is
the lesson learned from this experience: Sometimes God wants us to do something
which He never intended that we should complete. ---My wife and
I were set to teach at Avondale College [now University] in 2008. Contracts
signed for both of us. Maybe they had in mind a two year research lecturers'
contract on campus salaried completely? ---I resigned
in South Korea, we went to the embassy, bought our tickets, ready to go. ---Then God
allowed the finance crush to come that week in 2008 Globally, tickets in the
making. ---Message came
from Avondale College: “We regret that we have to pull out of the contract since
the financial crisis hit us hard.” ---We are
people of God just as they are and we pulled out of the deal. No courts, no
"speak to my lawyer" tough language. No, Paul advised us how to deal
with each other out of court. With Christian understanding there are no hard
feelings. That is life. That is God. God did not intend us to complete this
assignment. Abraham. Period. And maybe them too? ---In 2011 as
consolation they did asked us to come to be keynote speakers at one of their
conferences on campus and we flew to Australia on their costs. They spent about
$5000 on us during that week. No hard
feelings. In Christ we all grow up to the stature of Christ and we all learned
from experiences. Like Abraham did as John 8:36 had Jesus said about Abraham:
"Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day, he saw and was
glad". What an amazing campus and excellent time we had there in
Australia! ---Next time
you run into a cul de sac and have to turn around. Thank God for that.
He never intended you do go that direction. In heaven he will tell you why. ---Avondale
College/university made my wife and I "conjoint lecturers" ever since
2009. No money. No contract but just this appointment. No salary. But we enjoy
sending our research notifications every year as report to them and include
them in our publications as reference. Two hands wash each other and both get
clean. ---I learned
about myself a lot as well and between God and myself, I think I know why God
did not want me to go there in 2008. I also follow God like my wife and our
family. Like Abraham. ---Let God
complete or not complete tasks in you and through you too.