The Promises of God

All our needs But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Phillipians 4:19)  

Strength to overcome temptation There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (1 Corinthians 10:13) 

Deliverance from fear I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. (Psalm 34:4) 

Rest Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. (Matthew 11:28-29)

Wisdom If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (James 1:5) 

Forgiveness As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:12)  

Eternal life And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (John 10:28) 

That Jesus will come again In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.(John 14:2-3)

What Does the Bible Say About Divorce?

Over 1 million couples will file as married on this year's tax form, for the last time. That is, until they get married again, and risk an even greater rate of divorce. More people file for divorce the day after the federal tax deadline than any other day of the year, when the couple's monetary worth is revealed. What is the true measure of a couple's worth? Let's go to the Bible to find out, since after all, marriage is a covenant that we made with our spouse and God.  

The first Bible search word that came to my mind regarding marriage was 'long-suffering'. (Tee hee hee - I couldn't help myself!) Actually, in Ephesians 4 it says, "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love".  This is the measure of your patience, and the real test of patience is not in the waiting, but in how one acts while he or she is waiting. 

I know I can wait quite patiently when I distract myself by stewing a plan of vengeance. Obviously, this is not good idea. These verses in Romans 12 remind us that God will take care of repaying wrongs… "If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." I imagine God's disappointment and punishment can far outweigh mine. 'Tis best to just forgive.

How do we measure up in the forgiveness department? In Colossians 3 it says, "Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye." 

The next verse goes on the say, "And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness." Hmm…charity; the highest form of love from God, far surpassing erotic and emotional love. This is unconditional love at it's finest, and must be what they are talking about when they say you must love your spouse even when you don't like them. 

Let's say it goes way beyond not liking your spouse. Let's say we don't even want to breath the same air as they are. Let's say, as the Bible says, we want to "put them away". Can we? This is what the Pharisees asked Jesus, and our Lord's response was,  "Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." (Matthew 19) That last sentence always gets me. 

If one is really searching, there are two (and only two) reasons a divorce is tolerated by our God.  The first reason Jesus reveals in later in Matthew 19, "Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery." Therefore, if your partner has been unfaithful, you are pardoned. And the second reason, as told by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 7, is if your spouse is not a believer in Christ as his or her Savior, and leaves you. (You cannot, however, leave them if they wish to stay.) 

As always, it is best if we follow God's own example. He 'married' us when we came to believe in His Son, as we are the Church, the bride of Christ.  There is absolutely nothing we could possibly do that would cause Him to leave us. How blessed are we?!

Divorce, as very hard as it is, is actually the easy way out. Staying married is much harder work, yet this endeavor is what God wants of us. If pleasing God is not enough motivation for us to bear through it, maybe not pleasing Satan is. One of the prince of lies' most successful plans to win souls has been the break-up of the family unit. United we stand against him. What it looks like we really need to do is to take to heart Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra's quote: “The worst reconciliation is better than the best divorce”  Since our marriage reflects our relationship with God, there is nothing we should want more than for it to be overflowing with charity. 

Please remember, BIBLE BAIT is written by a novice Bible study student, (who happens to be divorced and remarried) not a Bible scholar. If something doesn't look quite right to you, dig into God's word. The one thing I promise you is that you won't get bored! Many thanks to my Bible study friends who proofread for me every week.

What Does the Bible Say About Parenting?

Did I ever mention that I was mean and annoying? I stink, am unreasonable, and crazy, too! These are some of the best compliments I could ask for…from my teens. They tell me that I'm doing my job as a parent right. I'll be their friend later. Being detested by the very souls I would give my life for is not an easy pill to swallow though, even when taken with the knowledge that it is temporary. Over the last seventeen years I have fumbled through at least a dozen parenting books looking for help. Of course I never thought to open the book my Heavenly Father gave me. I suddenly felt like a child myself, so I thought I would take a look at what the Father of all of us has to say about parenting.

God gives special blessings to parents who raise their children in His ways. (Proverbs 23:24&25) He also blesses children who obey their parents. (Exodus 20:12) However, if all we talked about were the blessings, we would be missing the just as consequential other half..the cursing. (Proverbs 17:21) We must assimilate the example set by our own Father in Heaven in how he punishes our wrongdoings, as well as rewards us for our good. The Bible makes it very clear how important correcting your child is. (Proverbs 23:13&14) 

Love isn't always a hug. It's also a boundary, and at times a disciplinary action. In fact gifting your children with a consistent set of rules and punishments for breaking them is the maximum expression of love you can give to your children. Even at their tender young ages, they instinctively know this. Children and teens become very frightened when so many important decisions are left up to them to make. It is actually quite cruel to not help them through the temptations that even our mature selves struggle to fight off. Therefor it is best to let our children explore new territories within a controlled environment before setting them completely free. 

The very first action we should take when our children disobey us, is what we ourselves yearn most for and graciously receive from God our Father…forgiveness! Letting your kids know that your love for them is unconditional is crucial to their well-being. Only once your forgiveness is established should a punishment be given. This act of love and mercy is the very Grace that God gave us when He sent His Son to forgive our sins. 

They say it takes a village to raise a child. While it is wonderful to have the positive influence of others, such as school teachers, counselors and pastors, God has placed all the responsibility on the parents. Together, the father and the mother are the one and only authority over their kids, no questions asked. It is best that we then keep in mind the words of Jesus from Luke's Gospel, "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required."

Without God, we wouldn't even have our children. He has gifted and entrusted them to us, and it is our responsibility to teach our children exactly who our Creator is. Being Godly parents means that we must love God with all our hearts, and teach our children His word. My ultimate goal is to instill in my children the unfeigned faith that Paul commended Timothy for in 2 Timothy 1:5. His faith was instilled in him by his mother, who's faith was instilled in her by her mother. My five siblings and I are so very fortunate that our parents did the same. There is no question that I can speak on their behalf and proclaim… Mom and Dad - Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts!

"What the Bible Says About Child Training" by J. Richard Fugate

Please remember, BIBLE BAIT is written by a novice Bible study student, not a Bible scholar. If something doesn't look quite right to you, do some digging. One thing you won't get is bored!

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

Don't you just love a good epiphany? It is especially engaging when a Bible message that you have heard over and over finally registers. I should be too embarrassed to admit this, but Jesus' parable of the workers in the vineyard suddenly became crystal clear to me during a child's puppet show. 

To quickly review, the parable told in Matthew 20 tells of a vineyard owner who hires laborers at an agreed price. At the end of the day, the employer paid all of his workers the same wages, even though some of them worked all day, some only half, and others only an hour. When the workers that labored all day complained, the employer made it very clear that they were paid what they had agreed on, and that he will give unto the last even as unto them.     

I believe the real reason that I didn't get this parable is because I always associated with the laborers that put in an entire day, so I didn't want to talk about it anymore. Now I love to talk about it! This is one of the best examples of scripture for those who think it is too late for them to be saved, and that the mess they've made is too big to clean up. God graciously forgives and gives everlasting life to people who repent even in their last breath. 

Betwixt the stirrup and the ground, Mercy I ask'd; mercy I found, written by William Camden  illustrates quite well how last minute this can be. A soldier, even in the time it takes to fall from his horse to his death on the ground can 'change his mind' and thus change his eternity.

Jesus Himself demonstrated last breath salvation when He told the thief on the cross next to Him that he would be with Him that day in Paradise. All we know about this criminal is that he committed some vile sin…and that moments before his death he asked Jesus to remember him when He came into His Kingdom. 

God wants all of us to be with him in paradise; that's why He makes it so easy. He gives us our whole life to make the right decision, to come to Him. Because this is so loving, I no longer feel resentment towards those who didn't work the entire day.  Additionally, I have yet to meet one person who regrets accepting their salvation early in life, and the deep rooted relationship they have with Christ because of it. 

There is one caveat…what if we die in our sleep? What if a metro bus hits us on our way to work? Too bad we don't know the hour of our death; we could have loads of fun up to it. Jesus taught us to number our days. In Revelation 3:3 He warns nonbelievers that He will come like a thief in the night. Personally, I'm not the gambling type, not even with a couple of bucks. The thought of gambling with my eternity gives me the chills. Since today could be our last, shouldn't we take Him up on His last call?

Puppets 'n' Parables Children's Video

Please remember, BIBLE BAIT is written by a novice Bible study student, not a Bible scholar. If something doesn't look quite right to you, do some digging. One thing you won't get is bored!