Words To Live By

By Kenneth Rishel

How the Words to Live By came to be. I drive a tractor trailer for a living, and in 1995, I started hauling produce from the west coast to the Boston, Massachusetts, area for Scott & Allen. Their office was in Chelsea, Massachusetts, and there were three men in the office. After I delivered the load to the Wholesale Produce Market in Chelsea, I would go to their office, and they would pay me for delivering the load. I visited with them for a while and got to know them quite well.

One day, when I was leaving to go home, I said to them, "The next time I leave home and head out west, how about I send you all an email to let you know and maybe send you some words to live by?"

And they said that would be just fine. That is how it all started. Each time I left home and headed west, I would send the three men at Scott & Allen an email and one of the segments.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9781639617999

Book preview

A Universal Invitation

Ho everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat: yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. (Isaiah 55:1)

This is God speaking, and He is inviting all to come. Can you hear the call? Ho! Everyone, it is all-inclusive; it even includes you. God is calling you to come to the waters. The water is the Word of God. By it, we are cleansed.

Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. (John 15:3)

We also read what Jesus said in the book of John.

In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters. (John 7:37–38)

God also asks us to buy wine and milk, but did you observe it is without money and without price? It does not cost us anything. Salvation is free.

O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. (Psalm 34:8)

Our next segment: The Word of God Is to Be Eaten.

The Word of God Is to Be Eaten

Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? And your labour for that which satisfieth not? Harken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. (Isaiah 55:2)

The last time we looked at verse 1. Here in verse 2, God is still speaking. He is saying that people are trying to buy or work their way to heaven. They think that by giving to some charity, or by doing some righteous act, it will earn them points with God. They will not come to Jesus who is the true bread.

And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. (John 6:35)

Verse 2 of Isaiah 55 also tells us to eat that which is good, and what is it?

Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts. (Jeremiah 15:16)

It is the Word of God. Did you know that the Word of God was to be eaten? Have you feasted on God’s Word lately? Have you meditated therein and discovered the peace and joy that it gives? If not, why not try it? You might like it.

O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. (Psalm 34:8)

Our next segment: An Ear Examination.

An Ear Examination

Incline your ear and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. (Isaiah 55:3)

Can you hear the call of God? He is inviting you to come to Him.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20)

This verse tells us that Jesus is knocking at your heart’s door. He is asking to enter. But you must open the door. Are your ears open to hear His knock?

God also says that He will make an everlasting covenant with you. That is a binding agreement that will last forever. But you must come.

The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. (Psalms 145:8–9)

The simple definition for mercy is withholding judgment when judgment is due.

Here is part of a song: In loving kindness Jesus came, my soul in mercy to reclaim, and from the depths of sin and shame, through grace He lifted me. From sinking sand He lifted me. With tender hand He lifted me. From shades of night to plains of light, oh, praise His name, He lifted me.

O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. (Psalm 34:8)

Our next segment: Are You Thirsty?

Are You Thirsty?

We looked at the first three verses of Isaiah 55. This is a very rich section of the Word of God. To review, it was God offering salvation to all. He was inviting each and every one to come to Him. He said He would make an everlasting covenant with whoever would come. However, there was one requirement that I did not point out the first time. Verse 1 said, Ho, everyone that thirsteth. You must be thirsty. If you are not thirsty, then salvation is not for you.

It is my hope and prayer that I might create in you a sincere thirst for God. A thirst for that joy and peace that He gives when we know Him and trust Him. Look at what Jesus told the woman at the well.

Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (John 4:13–14)

Are you thirsty? Thirsty for that living water that Christ can give? Thirsty for the Word of God?

O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. (Psalm 34:8)

Our next segment: Whose Family Are You In?

Whose Family Are You In?

This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him. (Genesis 5:1)

This chapter gives the descendants of Adam. It actually places all of us in the human family. None of us had anything to do with it. We were just born into that family.

The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. (Matthew 1:1)

These are the only two places in the entire Bible that the phrase the book of the generation of is found. This one in Matthew places us in the family of Christ. We get there by a birth also—the new birth.

God separated or set apart a special people, the Israelites, and through them, He sent His Son into the human family. Christ, even though He was God, was born in a human family and identified Himself with us.

In the genealogy of Christ, there is a parallel story of how we can get into the family of Christ. This story is told through four women. Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. We will look at each one of these women one at a time.

Whose family are you in? Actually, we need to be in both. Adam’s earthly and Christ’s heavenly.

You have already been born into Adam’s family, which was a physical birth. To get into Christ’s family also takes a birth, only that is a spiritual birth. That happens by believing in Christ. This is what Jesus told Nicodemus.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. (John 3:6–7)

That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:15)

O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. (Psalm 34:8)

Our next segment: Tamar: A Sinner.

Tamar A Sinner

The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judah and his brethren; and Judah begat Phares and Zara of Tamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram. (Matthew 1:1–3)

Here in verse 3, we find a woman mentioned, Tamar. It is unusual because in the genealogy, only the man’s name is given. Tamar’s story is found in Genesis 38. You ought to read that whole chapter; however, it is one of the worst in the whole Bible. I will just briefly summarize it.

Judah, a son of Jacob, married and had three sons. The first one married Tamar, but he was evil, and the Lord slew him. Jewish