Love, An Opposing Force

This morning I was reading from Roman's 5 and ran across something that caused me to think deeply about a very base truth.  Here are the verses - Romans 5:1-11 NIV:

[1] "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, [2] through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. [3] Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; [4] perseverance, character; and character, hope. [5] And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."

[6] "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. [7] Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. [8] But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

[9] "Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! [10] For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! [11] Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation."

The specific verses that grabbed my attention was verse 9, where it speaks of our being saved from God's wrath.  As I read that, it just seemed strange to me that we, after the revelation of Jesus' love and redemption of us while we are are still sinners, consider God's wrath (I read anger).  I thought this might be one of those times where a particular mindset caused a translation that might not be as strong in the original language so I decided to look up the original language and see.

The original Greek word is orge' and it is defined as follows:

Transliteration: orgé
Phonetic Spelling: (or-gay')
Definition: impulse, wrath
Usage: anger, wrath, passion; punishment, vengeance.

HELPS Word-studies

3709 orgḗ (from orgáō, "to teem, swelling up to constitutionally oppose") – properly, settled anger (opposition), i.e. rising up from an ongoing (fixed) opposition.

3709 /orgḗ ("settled anger") proceeds from an internal disposition which steadfastly opposes someone or something based on extended personal exposure, i.e. solidifying what the beholder considers wrong (unjust, evil).

["Orgē comes from the verb oragō meaning, 'to teem, to swell'; and thus implies that it is not a sudden outburst, but rather (referring to God's) fixed, controlled, passionate feeling against sin . . . a settled indignation (so Hendriksen)" (D. E. Hiebert, at 1 Thes 1:10).]

As I was reading through these descriptions, I thought it quite interesting, as sin is essentially choosing something other than God's will, but that freedom of choice or free-will is something that God absolutely supports and defends.  I saw it as an almost exact opposite - on one hand God wants us to choose, but on the other hand hates it when we choose poorly, and knows we will often do so.  It is almost paradoxical, and would be if we take away relationship.

It is interesting, looking at the deep stuff - oppose is basically the root of opposite. In this case we have God described as swelling up against sin, steadfastly opposing.  What if this is a swelling up of His goodness, His love, His mercy, His forgiveness, and it is the opposite of our selfishness and focus on our own wants and needs, which is generally the cause of our sin.  What if this swelling opposition is actually not "wrath" but offering a choice in relationship, as in refusing to hate, refusing to be disappointed, refusing to abandon, choosing to love the other perfectly at all times. 

When I think about my love for my kids, I love them in spite of themselves, at times.  In spite of their decisions, actions, and even sometimes anger or frustration at me, I love them.  It might seem like I am unmoving, or strict, or whatever, but I can assure you the basis of everything is an undying love that overrides everything else!  I could be presented the worst evidence in the world, and I would still love them!  I refuse to offer anything but love to them, and in essence that is my swelling up opposition, my love!  I do hate it if they make bad decisions, or decisions that will hurt them or others, but I never stop loving them!  If I am going to  stand my ground it will be in Love, and that will be my opposing force, if you will! 

Continuing back to the verses, verse 10 continues - "For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!"   Again, when we read this the language is of opposition, and struggle, "while we were God's enemies", and it just seems to me that we are only looking at this with a single focus.   This doesn't sound like something anyone would do for their enemy (I think this is part of Paul's point), and actually demonstrates something more in line with John 3:16 - God so loved the world!   The original Greek word is echthros, and described as properly, an enemy; someone openly hostile (at enmity), animated by deep-seated hatred.  Strong's describes it as  "actively, hostile, hating and opposing another; with the genitive of the person hated or opposed".   Yet, Jesus speaks about enemies in Matthew 5:43-48 NIV:

[43] “You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' [44] But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, [45] that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. [46] If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? [47] And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? [48] Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Its almost like we need a translator ring here, for where we read enemy, we have Jesus saying essentially that the Father loves them and blesses them!  We have Paul writing that while we were still God's enemies that He gave Himself for us!  When we see the word enemy, we must realize that He means us (prior to a real relationship with Him), and has chosen to love us in spite of our condition or ignorance.  That is Paul's point here in these verses! 

God isn't like us, He doesn't think like us!  When He sees someone unaware of His love and affection, His mercy, grace, forgiveness, salvation and invitation to relationship, He loves them anyway until they become aware!  While we were still sinners (His enemies), Jesus made a way for us to be in relationship with Him!  Maybe God's coming wrath (opposing force) is an opposing of all things that would color Him as anything other than as He is, the One who knows us and loves us perfectly, since before the creation of the world!

Amen and Amen!

Honoring A Mother's Love

This morning as I sat down to pray, I was asking the Lord to reveal something new to me about Himself.  I have been thinking of the importance of continued revelation in relationships and how we need to press in further and never be satisfied with our level of understanding and knowledge of another, especially concerning the Lord.  I felt led to turn to Luke 7:11 and these are the verses that follow - Luke 7:11-17 NIV:

[11] "Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. [12] As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out---the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. [13] When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don't cry.” 

[14] Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” [15] The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. 

[16] They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” [17] This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country."

As I was reflecting on these verses, the thing that stood out to me was Jesus' compassion for the widow, whose only son had died.  The word that was translated "his heart went out to her" is more commonly translated "moved with compassion" and describes someone deeply affected, even to the bowels.  Jesus just didn't feel sorry for her, He was physically moved by her pain and loss, by her love for her son.  

As I was reflecting on the Lord's soft heart for this widow, I realized that this is something His own mother would have experienced at Jesus' crucifixion!  I saw an understanding in Him, of what pain He was going to cause to His own beloved mother.  We know that she was present at His crucifixion, and that he entrusted her to John (see John 19:25-27) and one wonders if this miracle is somewhat related to the pain He knew she was going to be feeling?  We don't really hear much more of Mary, other than that she was part of the people gathering in Jerusalem, waiting for the Holy Spirit (See Acts 1:14).  

We find no mention of Jesus meeting her (Mary His Mother) after His resurrection, no mention of the sweet reunion that must have been.  We know He cared for her as His first miracle was at her request, and His last act was to take care of her by entrusting her to John.  Jesus was perfect in all He did, so He was a perfect son, directed to be so by His Father.  His earthly family was important to Him, and no one more so than His mother. Over the years I have written a few reflections about the significance of family to Jesus (Here is a link to one - https://amomentwithgod-srh.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-significance-of-family.html ) and I think we must believe that if the family unit is important to God, then Jesus' family was very important to Him, and no one more so than His mother.

Going back to the verses from this morning, I imagine that Jesus was moved not only by the widow's pain and loss, but also by the idea that His mother Mary would experience this same exact pain.  I am also aware that the widow's pain was turned to joy and jubilation as Jesus raises the son back to life!  How great must have been His joy, to be able to give the gift of her son back to this widow!  How great that son's joy must have been in being restored to life that He could comfort and care for his Mother!  One wonders if He was equally moved by her joy, as by her sorrow?  Again, I imagine He was, for He also knew how great His mother's joy would be after He rose from the dead! 

So this morning, I am aware of how important Jesus' relationship was with His mother!  I am aware of how deeply moved He was by her, how much love He had for her!  I am aware of Jesus' understanding of the family dynamic, the care, and deep relationships!  I am aware that He is moved by our family cares, when we hurt about family members or situations, He understands our pain!  He also rejoices when we rejoice, especially concerning our family! He cares deeply for us, and what we care about!

Amen!

Relationship, Not Rules or Rewards

Yesterday I ran across an interesting set of verses in Jeremiah 44:15-18 NIV:

[15] "Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women who were present---a large assembly---and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt, said to Jeremiah, [16] “We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord! [17] We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our ancestors, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm. [18] But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine."

When I read these verses I immediately thought of the somewhat popular prosperity Gospel, for this is the same logic, applied in the negative.  We are so tempted to want to think about our faith in lines of what we get, rather than as relationship, and I know the enemy works overtime to keep us thinking this way.  

In this case, the people had tried following God's ways by stopping their worship of other gods, specifically the queen of heaven, and because bad things happened afterwards they decided that it didn't pay to follow God.  How many of us have been tempted to think this exact way?  How many of us have walked away from our faith, or known someone who walked away from their faith because of bad things that happened, to them or to loved ones?  This story represents that mindset.

While many of us wouldn't say we ascribe to the prosperity gospel, this mindset is often practiced and alive in our lives even though we don't know it.  For example, it can show up when we question the faith or righteousness of ourselves or others when they have a bad experience or get really sick.  When my wife was diagnosed with cancer, there were many that couldn't figure out why, as she hadn't any obvious sin in her life!  I know in my life when things aren't going my way, I tend to start thinking about what I might have done to earn this punishment.  This is exactly the same thinking.  Quite simply, we think good behavior ought to earn us good things.  Bad behavior (sin) ought to earn us punishment.  

This type of thinking comes from the old testament,  and represents God's revelation at that time, follow God's ways and He will bless you, sin and he will punish you.  While this was a clear teaching, God continued to bring further revelation, that of Christ Jesus.  Much of the previous revelation was essentially setting the stage for the Messiah.  Man is incapable of perfect righteousness, no matter how many times we are warned or repent, we always seem to fall back into sin.  The whole of the history of Scripture from Exodus through Malachi is basically a record of God calling the people to follow His ways, calling them back to repentance, and the people failing.  

The Good News is that Jesus accomplished for us what we were incapable of doing on our own, righteousness. He came not just to pay for our sins, and bring forgiveness, but also to allow us to be restored to relationship with the Father!  Jesus took away the requirement to do stuff (follow the law) to achieve righteousness, and instead invited us into relationship, so now our salvation comes from knowing Him and accepting His offered salvation.  What is required is surrender into Him, nothing else.  We struggle with this thinking, with this idea, with this reality, because we think somehow it isn't fair and it doesn't make sense to those of us that keep score.  Deep down we feel like we must earn God's love, and being given it freely, just doesn't make sense.  The Good News is that it really is True!, regardless of whether it makes sense or not.

In fact, what we are invited to is pretty significantly different than the prosperity gospel.  Jesus doesn't promise good stuff, in fact its pretty much the opposite.  He says to be His follows we must take up our cross and follow Him (Matt 10:38), we must love others as He loved us (John 13:34).   He invites us to enter into a deeply unselfish, loving relationship with Him and others.  We are invited to eternal life with Him, and in doing so we join ourselves to what He is doing on the earth.  While some of it is grand and glorious (healings, miracles, signs and wonders), some of it is sacrificial, in laying down our lives for others.  Just as in any healthy marriage relationship, we aren't in them to get things, we are in them because we love the other, and sometimes that love requires us to sacrifice our own agendas, needs, and wants for the sake of the other.

Jesus calls us to relationship, and too often we want to keep things impersonal and just keep score, as we like the mode instituted by the Law.  This plays out in many of our lives and our churches where we put in our time on Sunday, and think that we have done our Christian "duty"!  Once free of that task, we go on to live out the rest of the week as if God doesn't exist.  We think that somehow our going to church will count, or being nice will be sufficient.  We think that if we do enough good things, that we will somehow make it to heaven, and this just isn't the Gospel of Christ at all!  God is not after our actions or attendance, He is after our hearts!

My encouragement today is to review my life and root out and repent of anything that looks like this old way of thinking.  I am encouraged to look at my life, to see where I am keeping score, whether with God or with others, for healthy relationships are not about tasks, or check marks, they are about growing in love, and intimacy. I am encouraged to look at my life and see if any of the mindset expressed in the verses in Jeremiah exists in me, where I just think that following God's ways isn't worth it!  

Lord, thank You for the wonderful gift of salvation, freely given, even though I don't deserve it and could never earn it!  Thank You for loving me while I was still a sinner, and still loving me in spite of my sinfulness.  Thank You for the invitation to relationship!  Thank You for meeting me daily, and blessing me with relational intimacy! You are who and what I desire! 

Amen and Amen!

Hardness of Heart - In Marriage and Belief

This morning I am reflecting on an interesting term used by Jesus in his discussion with people about divorce.  I ran across it in Matthew 19:8 NASB:

"He said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way."

The term hardness of heart is really only used two times, once in this verse (and in Mark's version of this same story) and once at the end of Mark's Gospel, following Jesus' resurrection - Mark 16:14 NASB:  "Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen."

The original Greek word is sklērokardía (from sklērós, "hard because dry" and kardía, "heart") – properly, hardness of heart because of a lack of moisture (lubricant); an obstinate, hard heart which lacks the oil of the Holy Spirit and hence implies rebellion – i.e. someone refusing to be receptive (obedient) to God's inworking of faith.

I find it interesting that these are the only two times this phrase is used, once in talking about marriage and the other talking about belief and acceptance of Jesus' Resurrection!  Hardness of heart because of lack of moisture, is a sad description of any heart, but specifically one that is committed in marriage to another.  It seems to me that this relates to long periods of not experiencing enough emotional and intimate connectivity.   The fact that someone's heart can grow hard towards the one they once loved ardently, can be seen all around us, as divorce seems rampant.  

The second definition above, talks about one being obstinate, even rebellious, and that description implies choice.  We choose to be obstinate, choose to be rebellious, we don't accidentally become so.  

If we accept these two definitions and combine them, we come to an understanding that much of the hardness of heart, at least in marriage, is related to how we choose to respond to opportunities to change.  That there will be difficulties and hard times in relationships should come as no surprise.  What is hugely important is how we choose to think about these situations.  

I find that the great temptation for me is to always think about my own needs and wants, taking a very selfish approach.  I tend to assume what my wife's motive is behind her actions, and my assumptions are often of the worst sort.  I use the word temptation, because I have come to discover that much of my negative thinking towards my bride, is coming from an outside source.  I find my thoughts often are being barraged with negativity, and the purpose seems to be  to get me to agree with the accusations.  The issue is that motive is always assumed in any accusation, and in this case the motive is always assumed to be negative towards me, or at least selfish on her part, with implied intentional ignorance of my needs, wants and feelings.  Let me just say, that I know my wife and none of these things are true, but in the moment they seem right.  If I start agreeing with these accusations over a long period of time, I will solidify the idea in my mind and heart that she doesn't really care about me, is selfish, and even hateful towards me, which isn't true at all!  It is amazing to me how my choice of what I listen to, can totally change my perspective of a situation.  

In Revelations 12:10 the enemy is called the "accuser of the brethren", and this is exactly where I believe these lines of thinking and accusation come from.  Jesus, on the other hand, according to Romans 8:34, stands at the right hand of the Father, interceding (defending) for us.  In other words, in the spiritual realm, Jesus is our defender and satan is our accuser, is it not possible that we experience this same spiritual dynamic here, played out in our very own minds?  The question becomes which argument would I find myself agreeing with? Again, its my choice. 

As I look back over that previous paragraph, I am aware of the one thing that is missing from the above description is actual intimate conversation with my wife.  The last thing the accuser wants me to hear is her own words, her real motivation and heart towards me.   I find that if I am ever to ask about her motivation, it is often completely different than my assumption. If I am willing to be transparent, and vulnerable, and willing to be wrong, I often discover a completely different perspective than the one that has been playing in my head.  

Going back to the definition, if dryness is defined by lack of moisture, which I believe is experienced as a lack of emotional, intimate connectivity, the one way I know to resolve that is to have deep, vulnerable  conversations, allowing compassion for my bride to stir in my heart.  How often do we think that, only to have the thought, "they never listen to me anyway" pop into our minds?  I wonder where that thought comes from?  If we begin to recognize that these thoughts come from another source, we can reject them, and we can begin to pray and ask the One who intercedes for our spouse to show us what He knows about them!  

Going all the way back to the second time hardness of heart was used by Jesus, it occurred after His resurrection, and He specifically was talking about the Apostles unwillingness to believe those who said they had seen Him alive, risen from the dead.  I find this hardness of heart interesting in that it seems more directed towards others, than towards their actual faith. That they were crushed by disappointment, is an understatement, however it seems that there was also a bit of accusation going on as well.  If they didn't believe the eye-witness accounts of those who saw Jesus, it seems to me that they had to have made some assumptions about the motivation of those individuals for them to make such claims!  I also see a similar selfishness, the possible thinking that if Jesus was going to show Himself to anyone, He should be showing Himself to the ones who were His closest followers, the one's who had given the most up in following Him, the ones who were hurting the most!  I would say they sound offended to me!   

In summary, it seems that dryness and hardness of heart is actually related to choices we make about what we are going to listen to.  We can choose to listen to the Lord or to the accuser, and our choice will impact our heart!  

Oh Lord, help us to listen to You, to the one who intercedes at the right hand of the Father!  Help us to repent of any offense, any accusations we have believed about our loved ones, and about You!  Help us to allow our hearts to be stirred anew!  Come Holy Spirit, bring the rain of compassion and mercy to soften our hard hearts!

Amen and Amen!

Welcoming the Lord

This morning I felt led to read from Mark 9, and after a brief glance at all the topics, decided to read through that chapter in its entirety to see what verses would resonate with my spirit.  This is just one of the many ways I have learned to listen to the Lord, allowing Him to steer my focus and thoughts. Yesterday I felt like He told me to turn to a specific page and start reading, and it was related to something larger that He was doing.  I love how the Lord uses multiple different ways to speak to me, and I want to be ever listening for His voice.  Probably the hardest time to listen is during work, when I am busy and my mind and thoughts are occupied with the work before me.  Lord, help me to hear You speak at all times.

Back to the reading from Mark, I felt these particular verses were significant this morning - Mark 9:37-41 NIV:

[37] “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.” 

[38] “Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.” 

[39] “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, [40] for whoever is not against us is for us. [41] Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward."

I guess, to start with, the theme this morning is the welcoming of the Lord, and His word, for that is exactly what we do when we listen, we welcome Him to speak. I love the fact that when I welcome Him, I welcome the Father as well.  I do believe we can apply this to the Holy Spirit as well, if we welcome Him, we welcome the Father and Son as well.  I am eagerly anticipating them speaking into my life!

Secondly, I love Jesus' comment about the one who was doing a miracle in His name!  Someone who has been entrusted with Miracle-working power is someone we can trust loves the Lord, and is for Him.

However, as I read this verse today, I recognized that sometimes we add some additional thoughts that the Lord doesn't add here.  We think that someone with a powerful ministry (Miracles, healings, prophecy) has been "authorized" by God, and somehow that validates everything they are doing, and begin to look past sin areas, as if somehow God's approval gives them special privileges.  This is how people get themselves in trouble, and end up falling to sin, for we can believe this about ourselves as well.  

In the same way, when I listen to the Lord, sometimes I misunderstand what He is saying, or think I know what He is saying, and don't listen well, or long enough!  I once had a friend who described his recent troubles as over-exuberance, coupled with a lack of listening.  He would hear the Lord calling, and would immediately start running, never realizing that the Lord was calling His name to warn him about the impending cliff!  

We must recognize that all of us, even those redeemed, saved, justified and made righteous by Jesus' death and resurrection, can still miss what God is doing and saying!  We can misunderstand, or even fall into sinful mindsets and ideations, and allow our flesh to influence us, and through our actions impact others.  We must be on our guard, personally and as a Body of believers for any ways in which we allow vain imaginations to divert us off the path of the Lord, thinking that somehow we are more special than everyone else.  

Jesus, in verse 39, actually dealt with this idea that there were "special" followers of Him, who were the only ones approved for ministry.  I love the fact that He basically opens the door wide for any who believe in Him.  This is another area where the church can add some of our own thoughts to what Jesus said.  We think that this no longer applies, as those people actually walked with Jesus and so had His personal approval, but now anyone who ministers has to be trained and certified, and thus have created this professional minister mindset, as if ministering in Jesus' name requires a degree.  

As I was writing that I was reminded of something Paul wrote, and have included some of the surrounding context here - 1 Corinthians 12:3-11 NIV:

[3] "Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. [4] There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. [5] There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. [6] There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work." 

[7] "Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. [8] To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, [9] to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, [10] to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. [11] All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines."

The verse that popped into my mind was verse 7, these are given for the "common good".  In other words, all of us are supposed to be encouraged and blessed by what we receive from the Lord.  We are meant to benefit from the gifts that have  been distributed amongst all the Body, not just the gifts distributed to a small professional ministry team.

These verses from Paul actually bring us back to what Jesus said in Mark.  Someone who is ministering in Jesus' name, in the power of the Holy Spirit, is part of the Body of Christ, and we should rejoice that their gift is benefitting us all.  However, we must help them to recognize this doesn't give them carte blanche approval for everything.  

Lord help us to welcome You in our daily lives!  Help us to encourage all those who would minister in Your name, for their good and the good of us all!   Help us to encourage one another in the sharing of their gifts, and let us differentiate being empowered and gifted from carte blanche acceptance.  

Amen and Amen!

Walk In The Way Of Love

For this morning - Ephesians 5:1-4,8-20 NIV:

[1] "Follow God's example, therefore, as dearly loved children [2] and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 

[3] But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people. [4] Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 

[8] For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light [9] (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) [10] and find out what pleases the Lord. [11] Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. [12] It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. [13] But everything exposed by the light becomes visible---and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. 

[14] This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” 

[15] Be very careful, then, how you live---not as unwise but as wise, [16] making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. [17] Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. [18] Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, [19] speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, [20] always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

I think I could just focus on the second and last verse quoted above for the rest of my life!  

Walking in the way of love, always giving thanks for everything, in the name of Jesus!  It sounds so simple, and yet the day to day effort to love all, to walk out this simple yet profound command, takes everything, and that is exactly how Jesus lived.  His example, His perfect obedience, His gratitude to the Father in the midst of everything, in the laying down His divinity, in choosing to empty Himself that He might become fully man, in knowing well the ultimate cost, is such a high bar for us to attain, and yet that is the invitation, as follows.

Luke 9:23-25 NIV: "Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. [24] For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. [25] What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?"

This is the life example of Jesus.  He embraced denying Himself daily, and followed the will of the Father perfectly!  His life, viewed from a logical, human perspective, made no sense.  Why would the Son of God come to earth and spend 30 years hidden away in a back country town as a carpenter?  The answer is that it was the Father's perfect plan, and Jesus embraced it fully!  He trusted and laid everything down, believing in the Father, believing that His life would lead to salvation for all, believing that His death would lead to resurrection, believing that one day He would reclaim everything that was rightfully His as the Son of God!  

In this light, we are invited to lay down our lives, take up our cross daily and follow Him.  Its voluntary.  It requires faith in His words, and His example.  This is not a simple invitation, and the Lord knows we need His help!  Walking in the way of love, loving others as He loved us (See John 13:34) is His command for us, and it is a daily choice.  

Oh Lord, help me today to embrace this invitation! 

Oh Lord, help me today to follow Your example!

Oh Lord, help me today to give thanks today for everything!

Oh Lord, above all else, help me to walk in the way of love!

God, Maker and Shaper of History

 

This morning I am reading from the Book of Zechariah and came upon an interesting verse, which I decided to research.  Here is the verse - Zechariah 9:8 NIV:

[8] "But I will encamp at my temple to guard it against marauding forces. Never again will an oppressor overrun my people, for now I am keeping watch."

When I read that verse I was a bit perplexed, as clearly the Temple was overrun by the Romans, and completely destroyed, so I was trying to understand the context of this verse.  I went online to one of my favorite Bible Commentators David Guzik's site www.enduringword.com and was reading his notes, Since I am not a Bible scholar in any way, I like to initially read commentaries to give me perspective that the authors have gained in their studies.

Here is some of what I learned from David Guzik's entry for this verse and chapter.

1) These verses (5-8) were prophecies concerning the next period, and accurately foretold the conquest of the eastern Mediterranean coastlands by Greek armies under the command of Alexander the Great. 

2) Verse 8 is a prophecy concerning a very interesting historical event concerning Alexander, as noted by Josephus (Antiquities 11 8;4-5).

Here is the account of Josephus:

"Now Alexander, when he had taken Gaza, made haste to go up to Jerusalem; and Jaddua the high-priest, when he heard that, was in agony, and under terror, as not knowing how he should meet the Macedonians, since the king was displeased at his foregoing disobedience. He therefore ordained that the people should make supplications, and should join with him in offering sacrifices to God, whom he besought to protect that nation, and to deliver them from the perils that were coming upon them; whereupon God warned him in a dream, which came upon him after he had offered sacrifice, that he should take courage, adorn the city, and open the gates; that the rest appear in white garments, but that he and the priests should meet the king in habits proper to their order, without the dread of any ill consequences, which the providence of God would prevent. Upon which, when he rose from his sleep, he greatly rejoiced; and declared to all the warning he had received from God. According to the dream he acted entirely, and so waited for the coming of the king."

"And when he understood that he was not far from the city, he went out in procession, with the priests and the multitude of the citizens. The procession was venerable, and the manner of it different from that of other nations. It reached to a place called Sapha; which name, translated in Greek, signifies a prospect, for you have thence a prospect both of Jerusalem and of the temple; and when the Phoenicians and the Chaldeans that followed him, thought they should have liberty to plunder the city, and torment the high-priest to death, which the king’s displeasure fairly promised them, the very reverse of it happened; for Alexander, when he saw the multitude at a distance, in white garments, while the priests stood clothed with fine linen, and the high-priest in purple and scarlet clothing, with his mitre on his head having the golden plate on which the name of God was engraved, he approached by himself, and adored that name, and first saluted the high-priest. The Jews also did all together, with one voice, salute Alexander, and encompass him about: whereupon the kings of Syria and the rest were surprised at what Alexander had done, and supposed him to be disordered in his mind.

However, Parmenio [Alexander’s second-in-command] alone went up to him, and asked him how it came to pass, that when all others adored him, he should adore the high-priest of the Jews?

To whom he replied, “I did not adore him, but that God who has honored him with that high-priesthood; for I saw this very person in a dream, in this very habit, when I was at Dios, in Macedonia, who, when I was considering with myself how I might obtain the dominion of Asia, exhorted me to make no delay, but boldly to pass over the sea thither, for that he would conduct my army, and would give me dominion over the Persians; whence it is, that having seen no other in that habit, and now seeing this person in it, and remembering my vision and the exhortation which I had in my dream, I believe that I bring this army under divine conduct, and shall therewith conquer Darius, and destroy the power of the Persians, and that all things will succeed according to what is in my own mind.”

And when he had said this to Parmenio, and had given the high-priest his right hand, the priests ran along by him, and he came into the city; and when he went up into the temple, he offered sacrifice to God, according to the high-priest’s direction, and magnificently treated both the high-priest and the priests. And when the book of Daniel was showed him, wherein Daniel declared that one of the Greeks should destroy the empire of the Persians, he supposed that himself was the person intended; and as he was then glad, he dismissed the multitude for the present, but the next day he called them to him, and bade them ask what favors they pleased of him: whereupon the high-priest desired that they might enjoy the laws of their forefathers, and might pay no tribute on the seventh year. He granted all they desired: and when they entreated him that he would permit the Jews in Babylon and Media to enjoy their own laws also, he willingly promised to do hereafter what they desired: and when he said to the multitude, that if any of them would enlist themselves in his army on this condition, that they should continue under the laws of their forefathers, and live according to them, he was willing to take them with him, many were ready to accompany him in his wars."

This is an amazing historical account that I have never heard before!  God apparently had initiated Alexander's conquest through a dream, and then confirmed the dream by having Alexander meet the priest he had seen in his dream.  The Priest then showed Alexander the prophesies of Daniel which foretold of His victory over Darius and the Persians, Alexander was obviously overjoyed and encouraged.

What was encouraging to me today was how God was intimately involved in ordering and even initiating this great conquest that we have all read about in history books!  Alexander was not a follower of God, that we know of, and yet, God moved in His life, gave him encouragement and direction that made him successful. 

Often we think that God in some way only favors and blesses His followers, and yet we see Him changing the history of pagan nations and the minds of Kings who do not know Him.  We are told by Jesus the following from Matthew 5:43-48 NIV:  “You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' [44] But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, [45] that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. [46] If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? [47] And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? [48] Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Later James provides a similar perspective - James 2:1, 8-9,12-13 NIV:

[1] "My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism."

[8] "If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing right. [9] But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers."

[12] "Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, [13] because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment."

We are called to pray for and love those who are not followers, every bit as much as those who are followers of Christ. We are called to love our neighbors, whether they are Christians or not!  The Lord is our example in this!  We are called to love and extend mercy regardless of our neighbors beliefs or religion.  Our overriding mode of operation should be love!

Finally, we can trust that God is working, even when we don't see it, or know of His interactions.  He is so much more capable than we give Him credit for, He has all authority and all power, He is not limited by our understanding or thoughts!  He is the shaper and maker of history whether we know it or not!

Amen and Amen!

Familiarity Can Lead to Offense

This morning I was reading from the Gospel of Mark, and came across a familiar story, but one that made me think differently this morning.  Here are the verses - Mark 6:1-6 NIV:

[1] "Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. [2] When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. 

“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What's this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? [3] Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 

[4] Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” [5] He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. [6] He was amazed at their lack of faith. 

Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village."

Both Matthew (13) and Luke (4) also repeat this story of Jesus trying to minister in His home town of Nazareth, so its pretty safe to say this really happened.  Luke's version goes into quite a bit more detail, but the basic principle is the same, Jesus, was unable to work many miracles in His hometown, and while we are told its lack of faith, in verse 3 we are told they took offense at Him.  

The Greek word used here is eskadalizonto, from which we get the word scandal, and which is defined as: to make stumble, fall into a trap, a stumbling block, or to take offense.  In our English definition of scandal we find the following definition in Webster's Dictionary: 

1 a : discredit brought upon religion by unseemly conduct in a religious person

b : conduct that causes or encourages a lapse of faith or of religious obedience in another

2 : loss of or damage to reputation caused by actual or apparent violation of morality or propriety : disgrace

3 a : a circumstance or action that offends propriety or established moral conceptions or disgraces those associated with it

b : a person whose conduct offends propriety or morality <a scandal to the profession>

I think this is the more important factor, in Jesus' struggles to do any miracle in His home town.  I have several reflections on this theme in my blog, (See - https://amomentwithgod-srh.blogspot.com/2021/09/offenses-and-our-walk.html) and will summarize it here - I think because Jesus lived in their midst and didn't do any works (for He was hidden by command of the Father) that the people became offended by His doing miraculous works in other places!  Clearly there were well familiar with Him, and knew his family and nothing was apparently unique about Him during His whole life up to that point.  He was a carpenter, and that is all.  He wasn't some wise teacher, someone who could do miraculous things, he was well known for His normalcy!    

We have a saying that familiarity breeds contempt, and this seems to be part of the issue.  They didn't think highly of Him because they knew Him and had history with Him.  

Recently I have been reflecting on growing up in the church with a Christian mindset and understanding of the basics of our faith.  I have known about Jesus since I was little, and have been familiar with Him, the bible stories, etc.  Growing up Catholic, we believed in His miracle working power, and all the works, we just rarely saw His direct intervention in someone's life.  We would pray long prayers, for days, sometimes weeks on end, in the hope of seeing our prayers answered, and while we did see answered prayers at times, there was more often than not, no dynamic interaction where people were instantly healed, or delivered, etc.  

My thinking of late is that this common experience and familiarity, has somewhat caused a lack of faith in myself.  I believe it all, I just don't expect to see it happen much in my life, the life of my close friends, and church, even though I pray all the time!  

Going back to the definition, it says the people took offense, fell into a trap, or stumbled, and I think that this is related to a powerless experience of faith. We have lived so long without seeing God work in power that we have fallen into the trap of the enemy, believing that this is our reality, and this is all God is capable of doing!  It says Jesus could only lay hands on a few sick people and heal them, and I would say that is my most regular experience of God, healing a few, no real powerful miracles, healing blind or deaf, seeing limbs grow, deliverances, etc.  

That being said, I have seen miracles and even been a part of them in my past, just nothing recently and I think the reason is because of me, not because somehow Jesus has become limited in power.  I find myself repeating the prayer of the man whose son had epilepsy (Mark 9:24), "Lord, I believe, help me in my unbelief!" 

I don't want to be offended at Jesus, or so familiar with my image of who He is, that I no longer expect Him to do miracles.  I don't want to become jealous when He does touch others! I want to experience who He really is, the son of God, establishing His kingdom in my midst, demonstrating His power, healing and doing miracles, not to show me its possible, but because that is who He is!!! 

Lord help me to overcome any familiarity I have, any unbelief I have that says You are less than exceptional!  You are exactly who You say You are, the Son of God!  You heal, You do miracles, when You pray for the sick, they are healed, when You speak to blind eyes, they see, when You speak to deaf ears they hear, and when You command the dead to rise, they do!  You are exactly who You say You are, help me to believe!

In all of this, I see the need to repent, for I find in my heart an agreement with the lies of the enemy, that at best I will only see some simple healings!  I want to press in to see miracles, signs and wonders, and I want anything in me that doesn't align with Your word to be cast from my mind and heart!  You are the Healer, the Miracle-Working, dead-raising only Son of God!  You have all authority and all power!

Amen and Amen!

Which Would You Choose?

Recently I was reading through Luke's Gospel the first 4 or 5 chapters, and had an interesting insight comparing the ministry of John the Baptist and Jesus.  

Here is John's ministry described with his message - Luke 3:2-3,7-17 NIV:

[2] "during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. [3] He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 

[7] John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? [8] Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. [9] The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” 

[10] “What should we do then?” the crowd asked. 

[11] John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” 

[12] Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” 

[13] “Don't collect any more than you are required to,” he told them. 

[14] Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” 

He replied, “Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely---be content with your pay.” 

[15] The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. [16] John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. [17] His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

In contrast here is Luke's description of Jesus' ministry in Capernaum (after being rejected in Nazareth) - Luke 4:31-41 NIV:

[31] "Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people. [32] They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority. [33] In the synagogue there was a man possessed by a demon, an impure spirit. He cried out at the top of his voice, 

[34] “Go away! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are---the Holy One of God!” 

[35] “Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” Then the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without injuring him. 

[36] All the people were amazed and said to each other, “What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!” [37] And the news about him spread throughout the surrounding area. 

[38] Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. [39] So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them. 

[40] At sunset, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. [41] Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah."

The thought came to me that many of our churches seem to have settled for the ministry of John, rather than the ministry of Jesus.  We preach repentance for sin and being nice, caring for one another, not being bad people, basically all things that are possible without the power of God.  

Jesus on the other hand, ministered in power and authority.  Just His presence alone was sufficient to cause demons to manifest, and He cast them out, He then went on and healed and delivered people, none of which are possible without the power of God.

I know which ministry I want to represent!  John was the greatest of the old testament prophets, but I want to experience the ministry of Jesus, the proclamation of the Kingdom, through the New Covenant, empowered through the Power of the Holy Spirit present and active!

Help us Lord!

Coming Kingdom and Cleansing the Temple

This morning I am looking at a couple of different verses having to do with Jesus' triumphant entry to Jerusalem and His following actions.  Lately, I have been reinvigorated in my study about the Kingdom of God, and this morning I felt like I received some new thoughts.  I am looking at two sets of verses from Mark's and Matthew's gospels  The first come from the Gospel of Mark 11:7-11 NIV:

[7] "When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. [8] Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. 

[9] Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, “Hosanna! ” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” 

[10] “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!” 

“Hosanna in the highest heaven!” 

[11] Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve."

Followed by Matthews account of what Jesus did once in Jerusalem, found in Matthew 21:12-16 NIV:

[12] Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. [13] “It is written,” he said to them, “ 'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it 'a den of robbers.' ” 

[14] The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. [15] But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant. 

[16] “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him. 

“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, “ 'From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise' ?”

Both Mark and Matthew have the same order of events, but they each included something unique that was not found in the other synoptic Gospel's so I wanted to highlight those today.

In Mark's Gospel, He records one of the phrases that were shouted, as "Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!" which definitely caught my eye!  Jesus had been preaching about the coming Kingdom of God, and Mark records eleven times He spoke of this Kingdom, prior to this parade.  This particular phrase is only found here in Mark, in all of the New Testament, however it is directly related to the Messianic prophecy found in Isaiah 9:7 NIV: "Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this."

It is my belief that this cry echoed the misunderstanding of what the Messiah would accomplish.  They thought that Jesus was coming to claim the throne, and establish an earthly kingdom, like David's Kingdom, and this was the parade that was getting things started. I imagine, there was some consternation, as Mark records Jesus, once he arrived in Jerusalem, just looking around and then leaving, having done nothing.  This should have been their first clue that Jesus was about something completely different then they thought.

Regardless of the exact timing, it is clear that Jesus' next steps, once in Jerusalem, was the clearing the temple.  I can't imagine the amount of turmoil and confusion this must have caused in the temple, and clearly the pharisees and temple leaders were upset.  As Messiah, I would have imagined that this seemed like a logical step for Jesus to make in the eyes of the people.  He was clearing out the temple that is supposed to be dedicated to His Father, and ultimately pointing to Him.  

What I love about Matthew's account is that he adds that then the blind and lame came and Jesus healed them!  This is exactly what Jesus normally did when proclaiming the coming Kingdom, He healed people as a sign of the New Kingdom reality!  It appears to me that Jesus cleansed the temple so that He could do in it what was supposed to happen in the temple, Healing and miracles, God's presence manifesting in His people!  Matthew records that children were shouting in the temple courts after witnessing the miracles that Jesus was performing!  Isn't that just the complete opposite of what the temple had sounded like before?  Instead of the shouts of people selling doves and changing money, there were shouts of of joy, as Jesus healed the lame and restored the sight to the blind!  

Is it safe to say that the spirit of religion only allows business transactions meaning nothing and completely ineffectual in the pursuit of righteousness?  

If I was going to draw these together into a point of reflection and then action,  I would say that as the time draws near to the actual coming of Jesus earthly Kingdom, His second coming, we will see something similar.  There will be many who misunderstand what this means, looking for some change in the political structure of the world!  There will be many who resist changes, especially in the church and because of this, there will be a cleansing of the Temple, now the global Body of Christ.  The Lord will increasingly demonstrate the reality of this Kingdom through miracles, signs and wonders, and the Body of Christ will be filled with shouts of joy and praise!  We live in an interesting time of partial expression and experience, of a final reality of God's Kingdom, and I believe that the word spoken by Isaiah will be fulfilled perfectly in time. 

"There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this." (Isaiah 9:7 NASB).

So, let us look to the Lord!  Let us give ourselves to the proclamation of the Kingdom, and demonstration of the Kingdom reality!  Let us pray for a cleansing of the Body of Christ, that we might truly represent the Kingdom of God, present already!  Let us pray that the House of Lord, the global church would be filled with shouts of joy and praise!  Let us pray for the hastening of His Kingdom into our midst!

Amen and Amen!

The Kingdom of God AND The Parable of the Sower

This morning I am reflecting on several verses from Matthew's Gospel.  The parable of the sower is found in all three Synoptic Gospels, but it Matthew adds a little extra that is interesting.  Here are the verses - Matthew 13:3-19 NIV:

[3] "Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. [4] As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. [5] Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. [6] But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. [7] Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. [8] Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop---a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. [9] Whoever has ears, let them hear.” 

[10] The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” 

[11] He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. [12] Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 

[13] This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. [14] In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “ 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. [15] For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.' 

[16] But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. [17] For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it. 

[18] “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: [19] When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path."

A couple things that are unique about Matthew's version are that he provides an expanded set of verses for Jesus' quote from Isaiah, verses 13-15 above, and His definition of the seed is slightly different.  Mark and Luke both have Jesus refer to the seed as the word of God, but in Matthew's version Jesus defines the seed as the message about the Kingdom, in other words the Gospel of the Kingdom of God being established by Jesus, and coming near to them.  Matthew, in general seems to bring out the theme of the Kingdom of God more regularly, with more emphasis than the other Gospel authors.  All three do quote verse 11 similarly, that the apostles were being given "knowledge of the secrets of the Kingdom."

Recently our church has started diving more in the theme of the Kingdom and this is something I have waited for years to see happen.  I have written several entries about the Kingdom of God and the centrality of this message in Jesus' ministry, so I won't say much about it today.  Suffice it to say that this was Jesus' primary message.

Going back to the verses from this morning, what struck me was the statement Jesus made in verse 16 & 17.  He says that those who see with their eyes and hear with their ears the message of the Kingdom of God are blessed.  This was a moment that many of the fore-fathers of their faith, had looked forward to for centuries!   The apostles, and by extension us who have followed them, are seeing things and hearing things that were hidden from the early fathers.  In other words, we live in a rare age of revelation, and this knowledge should drive us forward to see the Kingdom, and the message of the Kingdom, revealed, fulfilled and embraced in our lives and the lives of our brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ!

Somehow we have lessened the importance of this Gospel of the Kingdom over the centuries and millennia, and I believe it is being stirred back up by the Holy Spirit!  I love the promise that Jesus makes in verses 11 & 12.  He says that,  "whoever has 'been given the secrets of the Kingdom (from verse 11)' will be given more, and they will have an abundance."  What a great opportunity for us to press into, believing that the Lord will bring greater revelation of His Kingdom and the secrets of it, if we listen and observe (verse 16).  That message about the kingdom, if landing in good soil (verse 8 above) will produce an abundance, even a great harvest!  We have the ability to be good soil, and if we are the fruit will be evident, multiplication! 

Thus, we must make sure that we are listening and hearing, looking and seeing, what the Lord is saying!  This requires active participation on our parts, and focus and discipline in our pursuit, one could almost say we are required to become disciples!  :-)  I am reminded that great commission, found in Matthew 28, was to make disciples!  

In Mark 16, Jesus gives this command just before ascending, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation." ( Mark 16:15 NIV).  In Mark's version of the Gospel, the Gospel Jesus is referring to is the Good News (Gospel) about the Kingdom of God.  He records the following as the foundation of Jesus message, "After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” ( Mark 1:14-15 NIV).

Oh Lord, I pray that You would stir in our hearts the Gospel of the Kingdom, once again!  I pray that You would release revelation of the secrets of Your Kingdom, and that we, Your Church, would be good soil for this central message!  Let us hear and see and proclaim and demonstrate the reality that Your Kingdom is here, and real, and expanding!

Amen and Amen!

Love In Spite of Waywardness

Yesterday I felt like I should read the book of Hosea.  This is such an interesting book, as it starts out with the Lord telling Hosea to marry a prostitute as a prophetic representation of the the Nation of Israel, and their constant turning to other gods, and nations, prostituting themselves with them.  Most of the book, Hosea speaks of the Lord's threats against Israel, interspersed with God's love for them.  The book ends with a promise of blessing for repentance (Chapter 14).

What I have been thinking about is how to read this book in light of the greater revelation of Christ Jesus, and the salvation available through faith in Him?  It is clear that this book demonstrates the futility of the Old Covenant. It wasn't that it (The Covenant of the Law) was wrong, but it was meant to show that we can only succeed in experiencing salvation if God does it for us.  Second, it describes God's unrelenting love, His constant willingness to take us back and love us again, in spite of our unfaithfulness, which He knew about from the very start.  Third, it affirms the relational context of God's desire for us.  He doesn't want emotionless worshippers, He wants lovers.  Finally, it reveals God's plans to bless us, to reward our repentance with blessing and love.  

As I mentioned previously, after all the threats and disappointment, this is how it ends - Hosea 14:1-9 NIV:

[1] "Return, Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall! 

[2] Take words with you and return to the Lord. 

Say to him: “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips. 

[3] Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount warhorses. 

We will never again say 'Our gods' to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion.” 

[4] “I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them. 

[5] I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like a lily. Like a cedar of Lebanon he will send down his roots; 

[6] his young shoots will grow. His splendor will be like an olive tree, his fragrance like a cedar of Lebanon. 

[7] People will dwell again in his shade; they will flourish like the grain, they will blossom like the vine---Israel's fame will be like the wine of Lebanon. 

[8] Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? I will answer him and care for him. I am like a flourishing juniper; your fruitfulness comes from me.” 

[9] Who is wise? Let them realize these things. Who is discerning? Let them understand. 

The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them."

This is not the letter of an angry God, but one who loves and blesses.  Our invitation is into relationship, and the Lord provided the way to that through Jesus.

Let us step into His invitation, for He will love us freely, despite our waywardness.

Amen!

Failure or Planned Obsolescence?

Lately I have been spending some time chewing through an interesting topic, that arose for me after a couple of verses popped into my mind and I wanted to spend some time unpacking them.  The first is from Paul's letter to the Romans 9:6 NIV:

"It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel."

Here Paul was writing about God's choosing of Israel as His people and their failure, for the most part, to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. 

The second is from the letter to the Hebrews 8:7-13 NIV:

[7] "For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. [8] But God found fault with the people and said : “The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. [9] It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. [10] This is the covenant I will establish with the people 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. [11] No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. [12] For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. ” 

[13] By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear." 

This is such an interesting concept, that God built into His Perfect Plan the "failure" of the first covenant, and the "failure" of Jews.  They were not really failures,  so much as they were opening the way for the greater revelation.  At the time, and from that perspective, it would seem that they failed, but in the light of New Covenant, they were types or foreshadowings of the things to come, the things to be revealed.  

I was just thinking about James Dyson, and his relentless inventing, learning from each failure, and revising his next prototype.  He was constantly working to improve his inventions, and we owned a couple of units and the latter ones were better than the first versions.   

I guess we could say that the Covenant of the Law was a sort of prototype covenant, put in place to lay the ground work of the New Covenant.  It is clear that this was God's plan all along, they just didn't understand it initially.  Even though Jesus talked about the New Covenant, He didn't lay out everything that was needed to transition to it, but He gave us the Holy Spirit to guide the early church.  I find Acts 8- 15 such interesting reading, seeing God moving the Church through major transition as He makes a way for the Gentiles to become part of the Body.  I think this is every bit as monumental as the establishment of the New Covenant, and yet it was something mostly hidden, and lightly addressed by the Lord, and earlier prophetic imagery.  He was releasing major revelation and change, at just the right time, in exactly the way He planned from before the creation of the world! 

It is interesting to think about God seemingly fine-tuning things (I think it is all part of His perfect merciful plan), but that is precisely how He works with us, with endless patience, carefully correcting us, bringing revelation when needed.  He never abandons us, never considers us failures, but rather as works in progress.  His mercy and compassion are such that He can have thousands of years of patience, centuries of revelation, and careful guidance and direction.  In our lives that revelation and change is always limited by our own physical lives (100 or so years), but in the record of the Bible, we see His plan being unfolded over thousands of years.  What was understood at one point, is in time over-written with new revelation, a sort of planned obsolescence, starting with Abraham all the way through the new covenant established by Christ Jesus, and into the time of the Gentiles becoming part of the Church. 

In Christ, and in His Gospel of Grace, we find almost all the promises and foreshadowings of the Old testament fulfilled and revealed.  We are now living in the time of the unfolding of the mystery that is the Kingdom of God and the New Covenant present and expanding on earth, as established by Jesus.  It is all perfectly timed, and perfectly orchestrated, but to us, in our limited view, sometimes it seems like things are failing.  These times are based on our expectations, not God's!  He isn't worried, and if asked would tell us that everything is working exactly the way He planned.  There are ages and eras that are waxing and waning, each bringing revelation and  experience which are fulfillment of part of the plan.  

Our limited human perspective struggles to deal with these big-picture perspectives, for we are all so focused on our own ideas and views.  We think somehow that our expectations have relevance in God's greater plan, and when unmet, then clearly God isn't with the program, and that is completely true!  God isn't with "our program" His is so much bigger, so much more complex, taking into account the billions of lives, and never missing a beat.  I can barely think beyond my circle of friends, maybe my neighborhood, and I am certainly not aware of all of the events that have occurred in their lives, nor their thoughts, dreams, promises, etc.  I go back to the famous verses from Isaiah 55:8-11 NIV: 

[8] “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 

[9] “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

[10] As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, 

so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 

[11] so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, 

but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

His ways are perfect, and our understanding is far from perfect.  We can only see dimly the full story this side of eternity (1 Cor 13:12).  We must learn to trust God that He will reveal all we need, in the time we need it, and when all is revealed we will see the glorious perfection of His whole plan. Paul wrote the following about the revelation concerning the Gentiles - Ephesians 3:8-12 NIV:

[8] "Although I am less than the least of all the Lord's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, [9] and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. [10] His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, [11] according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. [12] In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence."

I believe that we will continue to see things revealed by God, that have been unknown or hidden by God until the time is right.  We must be willing to listen to Him, to trust Him, to believe that things that make no sense, or seem like a failure, will make complete sense in the fullness of time.  We must believe that all the words of the Lord will accomplish His desires and purposes!  We may see other planned obsolescences in our future, things the Lord put in place, until the time for the better version arrives.  He is much bigger than we can imagine or comprehend, and His plans are much more the same!

Let us entrust ourselves to the full leading of the Holy Spirit, and embrace the Lord's ways, even when they mean things we have believed previously need to change!   

Amen and Amen!

Roller-Coasters and Faith

This morning I am reading Mark's Gospel again, and I am encouraged by Peter, or should I say, encouraged by the way the Lord pastored Peter.  In Mark 8 & 9 Peter seems to be on a faith roller-coaster.  Here are the first few verses - Mark 8:29-30 NIV:

[29] “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” [30] Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him."

Here Peter has clearly received some revelation from the Father (See Matt 16:17) and must have been feeling pretty good about his relationship with Jesus!  He was clearly one of the leaders, and he was engaged with deeper level of revelation than the others.  The very next set of verses demonstrate the exact opposite from Peter.   Here are those verses - Mark 8:31-33 NIV:

[31] "He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. [32] He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 

[33] But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

What an absolute failure, in light of the previous verses, where He was speaking revelation from the Father, now he is speaking from purely human concerns, and I would add, things that had been whispered to him by the enemy.  Jesus dealt with him straight away, and whether in public or private, Peter must have been devastated by his failure.  

This is so common, at least in my life of faith, I am doing really well, firing on all cylinders, speaking and acting in line with the Lord, and then bam!  I run into a wall of my own selfishness, sin, or idiocy (depends on the situation).  The enemy is always looking for ways to get us to stumble, and then when we stumble, tries to convince us that we have messed up so bad that we have been benched by the Lord, at the very minimum.  

Imagine how Peter must have felt following this rebuke from Jesus.  There is no doubt that His heart was for the things of the Lord, but his mind and emotions and thinking were not aligned with his heart.  I am sure he was pretty crushed, probably went to the back of the group of disciples, and maybe even thought of packing his bags and heading home.  Being called satan by the one you love and are following has got to shake you to the core.

Mark continues on in the next verses with a bit that seems an unlikely next teaching by Jesus - Mark 8:34-35 NIV:

[34] Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. [35] For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it."

I think this represents Jesus drawing Peter back from the pit of his own failure.  Peter, as well as the other Apostles, had done exactly what Jesus is describing, they had "lost" their lives, walked away from everything, to follow Him.  Jesus is effectively calling them all to that place of obedience, trust and self-sacrifice, and I think part of His purpose is to get Peter to re-engage.

Moving on into Mark 9, we find that after 6 days, Jesus selects Peter, John and James to accompany Him up the mountain.  I am sure at this point some of the relational stress from Peter's rebuking has worn off by this time, but if he is at all like me, he was probably still wondering if he had disqualified himself from being in the inner circle.  I am sure being asked by the Lord to accompany Him up the mountain was very reassuring, and again showing the Lord's pastoral care for Peter.

Moving on, we now know that up that mountain, Jesus was transfigured before their eyes.  I am sure they were all blown away by this all.  Here are the verses - Mark 9:2-4 NIV:

[2] "After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. [3] His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. [4] And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus."

Again, talk about roller-coaster rides, this was definitely a "mountain-top experience" for Peter, and apparently this all happened in just over a week!  Wow, what  a week!  Here we have Jesus apparently stepping for a moment into His divine nature, and Peter was there to witness it.  He wrote about that moment in 2 Peter 1:16-18 NIV:

[16] "For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. [17] He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” [18] We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain."

I can't even imagine how impactful that must have been!  One would think from that point on, Peter would be all-in, and it seems that is the case.  That doesn't mean that he stopped making mistakes, or stopped the roller-coaster ride, he was still going to deny Christ, abandon him in the garden, cut off the ear of a guard, misunderstand about Jesus' Kingdom, and even go over to the "circumcision party", but his life direction was set, and the Lord loved him through all of the mistakes, missteps, wrong-thinking, and the like.  

I like to think that Peter's example is a great witness to those of us who are far from perfect, who's hearts are in the right place, but not always our minds and actions!  Nothing Peter did ever disqualified him from serving Jesus, from following Him, or from loving Him!  The Lord was confident in His own ability to shepherd Peter through all the tough times and mistakes, and He is equally confident in His ability to shepherd me.  He knows my life can be a roller-coaster ride of faith and obedience as well as unbelief and rebellion, yet He loves me through them all!  He expects me to get up each day to do my best in following, loving and obeying Him, and He will guide me. 

In summary, I am encouraged today to just keep following the Lord, to not give up, not give in, not disqualify myself, but t trust that He knows what He is doing in guiding me!  He knows me and He loves me!  I am sure Jesus had to roll his eyes back in His head a few times at Peter's antics, but he loved him and encouraged him and restored him, and was always faithful!  I am confident He will do the same for me.

Amen and amen!