Father Marty's Muppet Ministry- You're My Best Friendly Enemy

[MartyMuppets]

And now here is CHAPTER 7

"In Numbers Chapter 20 the people again complained bitterly that God had afflicted them with thirst and that Moses and his brother Aaron were responsible for bringing them into the desert to suffer and perish thusly. So God told them to lead the people to a rock and quietly speak to it and water would flow out of it for drinking.
But sadly Bert, Moses and Aaron allowed their anger against the people to cause them to forget to honour God's command to them. Moses lost his temper and cried out "Hear now you rebels. Must we bring forth water out of this rock for you?" and he struck the rock sharply twice with his rod instead of speaking gently to it as God commanded. Water did indeed flow out and the people drank as well as their cattle. But God told the two brothers that because they did not take care to honour Him before Israel, they would not live to bring them into the Promised Land"

Bert was astounded as he listened to Father Marty. "Wow. What a price to have to pay just for getting angry. But Moses and Aaron must have been rightfully enraged with the people Father."
"Yes Bert. There is a righteous anger, but the Bible warns us not to allow our anger to lead us into sin. Moses and Aaron crossed that line when they forgot to follow God's distinct directions."
"So when did they die Father?"
"We are told right here at the end of Numbers 20 Bert, that God directed that Moses, Aaron and Aaron's son Eleazar climb up Mount Hor. At the top Aaron died and Moses stripped off his High Priest's garments and put them on Eleazar so that he could take his father's position over. Moses and Eleazar buried Aaron somewhere atop the mountain and climbed back down and Israel mourned for him 30 days."
"And Moses Father?"

 

[MartyMuppets]

And finally here's CHAPTER 8

"Moses himself died at the end of the Book of Deuteronomy Bert."
Father Marty explained. "He wrote that Book as his farewell message to the Israelites. Somebody else wrote the epilogue at the end saying how Moses climbed by himself to the top of Mount Nebo nearby Jericho and died there after viewing the Promised Land from the heights. We're told that God personally buried His own servant in the valley of Moab opposite Beth-peor and nobody knows where his tomb lies to this day."
"This is incredible Father." Bert was so awestruck. "Moses was a powerful man of God, yet even he was far from perfect. He lost his cool just like I sometimes have with Ernie, and what a penalty to pay."
"True Bert." Father Marty flicked through his Bible's pages dome more. "He was responsible for his sinful actions and speech and God couldn't overlook them. But Moses was forgiven for his sin on the basis of somebody else whom he prophesied about to thew Israelites. Shall I share that with you also?"
"Certainly Father. I want to learn all I can."

 

[MartyMuppets]

CHAPTER 9

Father Marty showed Bert the prophecy Moses made in Deuteronomy Chapter 18 verse 18 about how God swore to one day raise up a prophet like Moses from among his own kindred. In other words from among Moses' own descendants the Israelites, the Jewish race. As Father Marty continued he showed Bert how other parts of the Old Testament pointed towards the same prophecy and how they were fulfilled in the birth of the Great Prophet of the New Testament Jesus Christ. God Himself became a man in the form of Jesus and He lived a perfectly sinless pure life, willingly suffering and dying to pay the penalty for all the sins of Moses and all others throughout history, who would accept Him as their Saviour and He rose from the dead conquering the grave.

Bert came to feel the conviction of his own sin and prayed with Father Marty inviting Jesus into his heart. They also prayed for the grace to enable Bert to forgive Ernie in full for all the hurtful things he had ever done to him. Such as when he had eaten and drunk all of Bert's pizza and grapefruit juice while trying to "make sure" each of them didn't have more than the other's share. And also when he had kept asking Bert to show him how angry he could become by imagining that Ernie had lost his favourite paper clip collection down the sewers until Bert couldn't get mad again and then admitting that it had really happened.

Bert even admitted that some of Ernie's pranks that he'd been upset about were really quite harmless and funny now that he thought more calmly about them. Like the timewhen Ernie had wanted to play I game where he said "I one the sandbox" and Bert said "I two the sandbox" and so on back and forth until Bert finally said "I eight the sandbox", to which Ernie replied "You ate the sandbox? How did it taste Bert?"
"That Ernie really does have such a cool sense of humour Father. Hahahaha! Now that I've invited Jesus to live within me I see things so differently now. Ernie does have his faults, but he's not quite as bad as I used to make him out to be."
"I'm so happy for you Bert. Remember Ernie will still be hard to live with sometimes. But I shall be praying for you. Here's some homework for you to do before I come again and a Bible for you to keep. Keep your eyes fixed upon God no matter what happens. You need to set a spiritual example for Ernie to observe."
Father Marty rose from his chair and he and Bert shook hands. "Bless you Father. Thank you."

 

[MartyMuppets]

EPILOGUE

It was a month later and Father Marty had finished all his sessions with Bert. He was very pleased and gave God praise for the changes in Bert's life. Ernie had been unsure what to make about his old buddy Bert's conversion to Christ at first but he had to admit Bert was different. He lost his cool less often and started to laugh at Ernie's little harmless trick games. When Ernie was really bad Bert still got upset but somehow he seemed to be more relaxed in his displeasure. Ernie didn't believe in Bert's faith but as time went by he began to respect Bert for the way he handled himself and became just a little bit better for Bert to live with.

Father Marty had achieved his purpose in helping Bert find peace and he knew that Ernie had also been witnessed to even though he wouldn't even ever consent to stay and listen to the message with Bert. He made a note on his prayer book to keep praying for Ernie. One day he might be ready to make a commitment too.

THE END

I've finally finished. Now I'll bump the others so you can read my full trilogy complete.