The Breathings of God's Heart - Bruce Atchison

Isn't The Holy Bible the breathings of God's heart? Second Timothy chapter two and verse sixteen declairs that all scripture is God-breathed. Therefore when we read it or hear it read aloud, we're experiencing the breathings of the Lord's heart.

We can discover much from studying our heavenly Father's communication with humanity. We learn of his continual sorrow when we reject his sovereign and magnanimous love.  Reading the Old Testiment prophets alone shows how troubled the Lord was over Israel's never-ending harlotries. Jesus also wept over Jerusalem because he knew how close they came to meeting their messiah and yet they rejected him. Christ also wept as he foresaw what would happen in A.D. 70.

Our heavenly Father's joy is also manifest in both testiments. Whether it was his blessings on Israel when they worshipped him or his joy over Christ's faithfulness, even a casual reading shows how the Lord felt about those he chose. At the end of the worldly system, Jesus will pronounce his joyous blessing on all of us who have been faithful.

God's anger is also evident in scripture. Sadly, some non Christian readers mistake it for petty jealousy and many other insulting things that I'd rather not list. This is because they don't know him as we do, as our heavenly Father. Like any good parent, he punishes bad behaviour for its sake alone. Our Lord is immune to the human faults of peevishness or waking up in a bad mood. His justice is just, completely free of malice.

The Bible also shows us that God laughs at the puny efforts of humanity to rebel against him. As (Psalms 59:8 KJV)says,  "But thou, O LORD, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision." We human beings figure we're made of gold and can't be sold, yet we lack the experience of our eternal and all-powerful Lord to see how foolish we look.

One of the most wonderful facts we can learn in regard to our relationship with God is that, through Jesus, he knows what it's like to be human. Hebrews chapter two and verse sixteen to eighteen demonstrates how he experienced life as we do, not as if he were some distant super being without emotion or empathy.

The passage above deeply touched me as I recovered from the teachings of an aberrant house church minister. Please listen to my testimony here and rejoice with me that our heavenly Father rescues lost lambs from the clutches of wicked shepherds.

@ve6xtc

A Little Guy Who Made A Big Impact - Bruce Atchison

Of all the noble characters in Scripture, Gideon is my favourite. I can relate to him since He wasn't strong like Samson, brave like joshua, or highly educated like the Apostle Paul. As he admitted to the angel who appeared to him, "O Lord, how may I be the saviour of Israel? See, my family is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house." I love the fact that once this unassuming man knew what he had to do, he went forth and liberated his nation from the Midianite invaders.

Since the biblical Gideon was a timid person who nevertheless caused his enemies to be defeated, I named one of my house rabbits in honour of him. He certainly was worthy of his name. He was a Himalayan bunny who behaved like a fur-clad Dennis the Menace.

Like that comic strip character, Gideon had the knack of getting into trouble. He once found his way past the boards that I placed around my bed and chewed up a leather suitcase, along with assorted cardboard boxes and papers. He snipped my phone line one morning, even though I wrapped it in aluminum foil and tucked it under the baseboards. To this day, I have blankets, sheets, and pillow cases that bear his dental autographs.

Even with all the mischief he caused, I loved that pint-sized rascal. I fondly remember the many pleasant evening hours we spent together as I lay on the floor and petted him. Whenever I sat down on the rug, he came bounding over for pets. He often loafed next to my desk for hours like a faithful dog as I wrote freelance articles.

Gideon also entertained me with his playful antics. During many mornings, he raced up and down the hallway in an attitude of pure enjoyment of being alive. I also let him shred cardboard boxes and phone books so he wouldn't ruin my furniture. He even learned how to hurl rolled up socks between his hind legs like a football quarterback. I loved watching him clearing them out from under the desk and pushing them with his forelegs as if he was digging a burrow.

I wrote a book about Gideon as well as the other loveable rogues that I adopted over an eight-year period. Through hilarious and poignant vignettes, When a Man Loves a Rabbit (Learning and Living With Bunnies) describes how I discovered the true nature of these misunderstood animals by treating them like house pets rather than furry amusements. For more information regarding this memoir, as well as Deliverance From Jericho (Six Years in a Blind School), please visit my InScribe page.