Stone Soup

 

The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.”

—Exodus 4:2

During one year of my public-school teaching, I had my third graders put on a musical play based on the legend of Stone Soup. For hundreds of years, this old story has been told in various cultures and in various renditions:

In our particular play, three soldiers returning from war stumbled into a village they had visited before the war, where they had found the villagers happy, generous, and welcoming. But now, the people of this village suffered from poverty and heartless selfishness brought on by the war, and these people had no food or lodging to share with the soldiers.

Through a stroke of creative thinking, one of the soldiers asked the villagers for a stone. The soldier told the people that with the stone he would make them a very special soup. Following the soldier’s instruction, the puzzled villagers filled a caldron with water, placed the stone in the caldron, and set the caldron on a fire. Once the “soup” was hot, the soldiers asked the villagers to taste it.

One of the villagers tasted the stone soup and decided it needed an onion. That villager went quickly home, brought back an onion, and quickly put it into the soup. Another villager tasted the soup and decided it would taste much better if it had a carrot. That villager went quickly home and brought back a carrot, which he put into the soup. Still another villager tasted the soup and declared that the soup needed some herbs. So, that villager went quickly home, brought back some herbs, and she quickly put the herbs into the soup.

One by one, the villagers tasted the soup, then rushed home only to return and then add various ingredients that they felt the soup needed. Their individual efforts all merged and produced a succulent broth that became a meal for everyone present. They ate, shared this tasty soup with the soldiers, sang, and spent the day rejoicing, which brought back to their small town the happiness it had once known.

This ancient Stone Soup story teaches a valuable moral. When people each give a portion of what they have, all of them can then enjoy a magnificent supply of wonderful things.

In Scripture, we read of several places where God asked people to give what they had, even from the depth of their poverty. As a result, God used what they willingly gave with miraculous results.

1 Kings 17:7-17 provides an account of a widow in Zarephath, whom God sent Elijah to visit when he, too, needed food. The widow, obedient to Elijah’s request for bread, had only a handful of flour and a little oil, but she took those items, made bread, and gave it to feed Elijah because she believed he spoke to her about the true God. This Bible account goes on to tell how, after she obeyed, that no matter how much flour or oil she needed, the jar of flour was not used up, nor the jug of oil diminished. She had every bit of flour and oil that she needed to feed herself and her household for many days.

Similarly in the New Testament story of the Marriage at Cana from John 2:1-11, Jesus showed His power to spare the bridegroom great embarrassment by turning six stone jars of water into delicious wine. In this story, we see the point of Jesus performing this miracle when, in John 2:11, the Scripture states:

He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.

Remember the boy who came to listen to Jesus with the five thousand others? Jesus saw that these people, too, needed food with no supply. This story, recorded in John 6:1-14, shows us again how His miracle of taking the boy’s five small loaves and two small fish, blessing this paltry bit of food, and then feeding the multitude with many baskets of food left over gave witness to His power among the people.

In these three Bible stories, we find the same happy ingredients:

• A known and expressed need.
  
  
• A willing and obedient servant.
  
  
• God wanting to reveal Himself to His people.
  
  

The bottom line result for all these accounts, as in the ancient story of Stone Soup, was gladness and rejoicing.

Most of us have experienced a poverty of some kind, whether spiritual, financial, emotional, or physical. Sometimes, God asks of us the last bit of strength we have, so that He can make it into a glowing example of His power and grace. At other times, He may ask us to provide a service for which we do not naturally feel suited. Still other times, He may ask us to give to Him from our nearly exhausted resources, in order to accomplish His purposes.

God wants us all to render praise to Him and experience the joy that comes from obediently giving Him all that we have. Oftentimes, such an action on our part allows others to rejoice in God’s goodness to us, and we’re as happy as though we discovered the secret recipe to Stone Soup.

 

 

God's Omniscient Journal

 

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

—Psalm 139:16

Both of my grandmothers kept diaries. My mom also kept a diary. I keep one, as well, but I call mine a journal. I find quite interesting the styles and the myriad of ways that people write down what has happened in their lives.

My one grandmother used a pencil to write in tiny bank books. Usually, she merely wrote just one line a day:

“M and G came from Cleveland today.”

She included no details. Just the facts. It was as if she had taken lessons from the character Jack Webb, who appeared on the long-ago TV show “Dragnet.”

My mom’s diaries had similar entries. But with each entry, like any good farm wife of her day, she always recorded the weather.

Each day, my other grandmother wrote many paragraphs of newsy information about the family and the neighbors. She wrote using the most beautiful penmanship, with a lovely script handwriting.

None of these women forerunners of mine ever wrote about their feelings. They also never wrote about the spiritual lessons they’d learned, or anything deeply personal.

My own journal writing has changed over the years. At first, my journals carried only Scripture passages and spiritual lessons that I had learned. Now, my journal entries are a combination of those spiritual meditations, my feelings about them, a running day-to-day recording of activities, and once in a while, even comments about the weather.

All this, by way of introduction, to say that God keeps a journal on us, too. God’s journal about us is an “omniscient journal.”

Studying the nature of God, at least to the extent that He has revealed His nature to us in the pages of His written Word, we learn that God has written odd and magnificent things in His journal about our days before they have taken place. No human that I know has such an ability. Yes, we do make plans. But, as the Scripture tells us in Proverbs 19:21:

Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

Even more than having written the activities of each day ahead of time, God has written our feelings about Him, our feelings about life, and our feelings about those things He has brought about to draw us closer to Him. He records our trials, our joys, our thoughts, our dreams, and our physical ailments. He knows more about us before our actual days happen than we know about ourselves after those days happen.

Can you record, in advance, how God brought about that meeting with someone who needed your word of encouragement? Can you record, in advance, the blessing you gave to someone whom you never saw again? Of course not. I repeat: God knows more about us before our actual days happen than we know about ourselves after those days happen.

What does this fact cause us to do? First of all, I believe that it should cause us to joyfully worship Him, acknowledging His power, love, and omniscience. Like the Samaritan woman at the well, who exclaimed in John 4:29:

“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”

Then, knowing what we now understand about God’s foreknowledge of us, we should find this fact comforting, as we look at days before they occur and wonder what will ever happen to us in this situation, or in that one. God already knows what will happen. He knows how He will help get us through that situation. And, He knows the reasons He has for allowing everything to occur in our lives the way that they do.

As we continue to move through each day in our lives, may the wonderful knowledge of God’s omniscience cause us to trust His awesome love and power. Knowing that God sees what will happen to us before it even occurs should give us a sense of “peace that passes all understanding.”

 

 

Contract or Covenant?

 

This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

—Hebrews 8:10

God doesn’t do contracts. A contract, according to Webster’s Dictionary, is created by both parties and signed as a legally binding agreement. Most often, love has nothing to do with a contract document. In fact generally speaking, people enter such contracts in order to prevent the other party from taking advantage of them.

God made a divine covenant with His dearly loved children in the Garden of Eden. He made Adam, and Adam’s race, care-givers of God’s new creation. Later, as a result of sin, God made another covenant with humankind. Throughout the Old Testament, God often visited His chosen and dearly loved people with covenants of one kind or another.

Humans have made covenants with each other, too. In her study of King David in 1 Samuel 18, Beth Moore shows how the relationship between Jonathan and David gives us a perfect picture of God’s new covenant with us. She points out that a Godly covenant has three parts: ¹

1. A sign.
   
   
2. A sacrifice.
   
   
3. A spoken commitment.
   
   

In the case of Jonathan making a covenant with David, Jonathan signaled his covenant by giving David his robe, his tunic, his sword, his bow, and his belt. Jonathan sacrificed to David the very throne to which Jonathan would normally have been entitled, as the son of then King Saul. And, Jonathan spoke his commitment in 1 Samuel 20:13:

If my father is inclined to harm you, may the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if I do not let you know and send you away safely. May the Lord be with you as he has been with my father.

Like God’s new covenant with us—through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, based on God’s love for us—the foundation for Jonathan’s covenant with David was based on his deep brotherly love for David. What a perfect picture of God’s covenant with us.

Beth Moore also points out that the covenant between Jonathan and David was not based on David’s love for Jonathan, but the other way around. The evidence of love always flows from the one who initiated the covenant. ²

So it is with the covenant God has made with us through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The evidence of God’s love for us flows to us through His covenant with us. This divine covenant cannot hold together by relying on our poor and imperfect love for God. The glue in this covenant comes to us because of God’s unfailing, undying, and eternal love for us.

God’s love for us, His covenantal love, should inspire us and move us ever closer to Him. We should faithfully and gratefully serve and love our God in response to His faithfulness shown to us through His covenant with us.

______________________

1 Moore, Beth. Portraits of Devotion. Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Publishing Company, 2014. Pp. 29-30. Please note that, in each case, whenever the citation of any Copyrighted material is made within a post on this blog, such citation is made strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

2 Ibid.

 

 

Progression

 

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.

—Psalm 1:1

Sin works subtly to trap us. In the verse from Psalm 1:1 at the beginning of this blog post, we can already see that walking in the wrong counsel will lead to standing with those who lead us there, and then to sitting among those who mock and despise God’s truth. We need vigilance to overcome the enticements that come from our fallen nature and from the enemy of our souls.

At the end of Judge Samuel’s life, King Saul became the ill-advised leader of Israel. His coronation came against the counsel of God’s prophet, and led to years of bad leadership. However, Saul himself fell into the deadly progression of sin that, according to Romans 6:23, in the end leads to death.

Saul’s story begins in 1 Samuel 9, with the documentation of his confirmation as king. His reign began innocently enough. Saul’s sin started to overtake him when he became impatient. He tried to please his men when they expected him to present a burnt offering. This kind of self-motivation led Saul to oppressive and foolish leadership, in which he required his men to fast during battle! (1 Samuel 24).

When Saul’s army defeated the Amalekites, as God had commanded in 1 Samuel 15, he clearly disobeyed God by not destroying everything. He then progressed downward to the sins of pride and arrogance by building a monument to himself. He stepped even further down into sin by lying to Samuel and blaming his soldiers.

As Saul’s story moves through the next 40 years, one bad decision after another marked his reign. Once David entered the picture, Saul’s sin went from jealousy of David to attempts at murder, unholy schemes, and to assigning his murderous plans to others. King Saul became obsessed with the narcissistic murder of David, finally delving into the counsel of witchcraft. Where does all this end? It ends with death, of course. King Saul committed suicide on the battlefield when war with the Philistines went badly. 1 Samuel 31:6 describes this horrible end:

So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearers and all his men died together that same day.

I like the way author Beth Moore sums up King Saul’s story: ¹

How does a man who is the people’s choice lose a kingdom? Saul provides a sad object lesson. All his life he focused on himself instead of his God. Therefore, he feared public opinion; he would not trust God but rather had to feel he was in control. He disobeyed, because obedience requires the trust and humility he did not possess.

Saul. The first king of Israel. The people’s choice. Not an accident waiting for a place to happen but a train wreck mangling the lives of others. Sad but true. A head taller but a heart shorter.

We find it easy to read a story like this one and not to realize that we could fall into the same pattern as King Saul: from a revered leader to a murderous crazy person. We must ask God to make us aware of any downward steps we take. Perhaps God will warn us when we, like Saul, begin to fall into sin by trying to please ourselves and others, rather than pleasing God.

Whatever our weaknesses, we can rest assured that our enemy, Satan, will tempt us to sin. Satan will strive to lead us into a downward progression that, in the end, will lead to destruction. May the Lord, deliver us!

______________________

1 Moore, Beth. Portraits of Devotion. Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Publishing, 2014. p. 21. Please note that, in each case, whenever the citation of any Copyrighted material is made within a post on this blog, such citation is made strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

 

Divine Interruptions

 

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

—Isaiah 55:8-9

^{___________________}

SAUL

Interrupting the Acts of the Apostles!

Knocked
from his horse by an unseen Force.

Blinded,
hearing a thundering voice—
truth, like a spear in his side.

Stunned, Stumbling
waiting further instruction.

Anointed
and driven to the Arabian desert.

Three clarifying years.

PAUL

Commissioned.

Ready.

^{___________________}

Have you ever been “knocked from your horse,” so to speak? Stunned in such a way that everything changed? Perhaps the sudden death of a companion, or the pink slip that you had no idea was coming? Certainly the Apostle Paul’s story of conversion demonstrates such an event.

He was traveling on behalf of the temple leaders in Jerusalem on his way to Damascus. He had been given the duty to imprison anyone he found belonging to the cult of “The Way”—the group that started over the influence of their crucified leader several years before. Paul was of the temple establishment that believed this new group meant nothing but trouble for those traditional Jews in Palestine. Known for his zeal, he enjoyed the respect and responsibilities given him by this auspicious group of Jewish spiritual leaders in Jerusalem.

Even the Book of Acts itself, telling the story of the work done by Jesus’ Apostles in establishing the new Church, is interrupted by this story. No one saw it coming! This sudden call, transformational, an obviously divine moment.

No doubt shocked above all others, Paul needed time to process all that happened to him that day, including a God-directed name change. After such a forceful occurrence, he needed to get away, to think, to pray, and to study. He spent three years on such an endeavor away from all distractions in the Arabian wilderness.

God alone knew what this world-interrupting event meant to His new work in the world. He gave this commissioning to the leader He had chosen to take the Gospel to the Gentile nations. Paul’s life-focus had to change. He could never go back to his old life and his old ways.

Perhaps you have had a “spear” thrust into your side that struck with such force that you knew God wanted your attention. The best response you could give was to say, “Lord, what do you have for me to do?” You were not alone:

• Remember Moses’ experience at the burning bush, as recorded in Exodus 3.
  
  
• Remember Isaiah’s vision and God’s call to him, as found in Isaiah 6.
  
  
• And, remember Mary’s breathtaking news of a virgin pregnancy, as detailed in Luke 1.
  
  

Each of these events acted as a prelude to something new that God was doing. Whenever we face similar trials, we must examine how God may be using what we are experiencing to advance His Kingdom.

At the beginning of this new year, let’s watch for God’s work in this world. Let’s particularly be aware of events He will bring about through us. If those events seem to turn in a backwards directions, we should ask what God is doing. In this time in history, we should anxiously await His call to action—even and especially if that call comes in a new and startling moment. We must recognize that He has plans far above our selfish puny insights and timetables.

 

 

Carrying the Load

 

Carry each other’s burdens …

—from Galatians 6:2

I can still see the image from my teaching days of teacher Mary Ann Peters’ third graders coming down the hall with her. She always assigned the line leader the task of carrying her purse. This was a daily assignment for one of her boys or girls.

Now, Mary Ann didn’t travel “light” as they say. She always had a hefty bag, often with a long shoulder strap. I can still see a small boy, shifting the weight from one arm to the other, as he proudly led the class through the hallways.

I didn’t detect that her students complained about the discomfort of this job. Instead, they seemed to love doing this for Mary Ann. They enjoyed the trust she had in them, even though her bag contained her most necessary and personal items.

Galatians 6:2 tells us:

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

The word “law” conveys a pretty strong principle that Christ desires for His people. A “law” in His Kingdom is a way of life, the manner in which He lived on earth, and the way He expects His subjects to live.

Another image fresh in my mind from the TV mini-series, The Bible, is that of Simon from Cyrene carrying Jesus’ cross to Golgotha. This scene, in my opinion, was well portrayed. As Jesus struggled to carry the heavy wooden cross, this man, Simon, was pulled from the crowd and given the task of helping.

In Jesus’ physical pain, what a comfort this stranger must have been to Jesus, helping to reduce His fear and His humiliation. Even though Simon struggled clumsily—just like the little boy with the teacher’s purse—Simon helped Jesus, and that was enough.

If the Lord Jesus Christ asks us today, are we ready to help carry someone’s burden? We may not feel up to the task, may not do it well, may struggle and feel awkward, but we may be a very real lifeline to someone in need of a traveling companion, who provides help along the road of life. If we choose to respond to Christ’s call, may God bless us on the journey!

 

 

The Women of Christmas: Anna

 

… she [Anna] gave thanks to God …

—from Luke 2:38

The Bible only mentions Anna once, but the memory of her lives on through the ages, even to this very day. Notice how Dr. Luke describes Anna, as found in Luke 2:36-38:

There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

Dr. Luke says Anna was a Prophet. Yet, some have said she may not have foretold the future like Simeon did at the time of this same meeting with Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus, who had come to the Temple at Jerusalem in order to fulfill the requirements of the Law, and in order to present Jesus to God with an offering for sacrifice. Rather, Anna forthtold the impression that God had given her of His precious Son.

Whether Anna foretold the future, or she forthtold her God-given impression, she certainly knew her way around the Temple, and she knew well the Scriptures of the Old Testament. Luke speaks of her love for the place where the Holy of Holies resided—this place where pilgrims from all over Israel came several times a year for the Jewish festivals. Luke proclaims that this octogenarian never left the temple, but worshiped day and night.

Anna must have enjoyed special favors from the priests, in order to live within the Temple walls along with other Temple servants. No doubt she had plenty to share about her knowledge of the sacred texts. Of one thing I am fully persuaded: Anna not only knew the text of Psalm 122:1-9, she actually lived it!

I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.” Our feet are standing in your gates, Jerusalem. Jerusalem is built like a city that is closely compacted together. That is where the tribes go up— the tribes of the Lord— to praise the name of the Lord according to the statute given to Israel. There stand the thrones for judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.” For the sake of my family and friends, I will say, “Peace be within you.” For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your prosperity.

Anna watched the tribes of people “go up” to Jerusalem, year after year. Perhaps on former journeys, Mary and Joseph had even seen this old woman in the temple. Anna rejoiced over this Holy City, praised God for it, and prayed for its peace, just as the Psalmist had instructed. Anna saw Jesus as the Hope for her city, her Temple, her people, and her world. She had given her life in devotion to that Hope. She spent her days there in the Temple serving the Lord.

I suppose the nuns of the Roman Catholic church could be likened to Anna in their life-long devotion to service. But, I’m thinking that Protestant women can dedicate themselves to the Lord in service to Christ, His Kingdom, and their church in this modern age, as well. I challenge myself and my Christian sisters to make a vow like Anna gave before God that, in the new year of 2026, we will dedicate ourselves to the reading, studying, and meditating on the Scriptures, to prayer, and to the work of God through the church.

The Lord Jesus Christ expects us, as serious disciples, to give more than a single hour of time in worship each week. He wants us, as much as it is possible, to give our lives, like He did, to the work of His Kingdom through the church. We should love Him and His church. We should serve Christ’s church with a heart like Anna’s—even to our eighty-fourth year and beyond.