First, I want to apologize to those who read this blog. November obviously hasn't been a very productive month for me. There has been a lot going on and I've been dealing with both family and personal issues. There hasn't been a lot of motivation to write and the things that have been on my mind are too personal to post all over the internet. All of that being said, what I'm about to share is personal.
For several weeks, maybe months, now I've been angry. It's been something that builds, as anger usually does when it isn't dealt with. Part of the problem is there are things I've needed to say to people, but I can't say to them for one reason or another. There have been people who have hurt me directly, those who I have allowed myself to be hurt by indirectly, and for most of it I've blamed God, or more, questioned why God was allowing all of the hardships to happen.
I've written and thought a lot about the Romans 8 verse, "God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love Him." And the verse in Philippians 1 that states, "It is for Christ's sake that you will suffer." Hardships are part of the life of any Christ follower, and God will cause all things to work together for the good of those who love Him. But it seems, especially of late, like my life has a lot more suffering than some people I know. It feels like I've gotten the short end of the stick, while others who haven't worked as hard as I have have gotten all the breaks.
I know I'm not the only one who has felt, or is feeling, like this. I know that there are those out there who would trade their hardships for mine in a heartbeat. The point of this is not to evoke pity, but instead to put it all in perspective.
Yesterday in church, my mentor preached a sermon that hit me. I'm not usually one who gets hit by a sermon. I don't mean to sound arrogant, but much of the preaching I've heard has been shallow, hard to follow, or just really bad. Honestly, my mentor is one of the only people I can actually listen to. He's one of the few people that I get new and deeper insights from. I have a hard time sitting in Sunday services. But yesterday was a sermon that hit me. He gave a twenty-first century version of Luke 15.11-31, the Prodigal Son.
The message hit me because it spoke to exactly where I was. He pointed out after his narrative that there are three characters, the younger brother, the older brother and the father. That is obviously nothing new, but the way he presented the older brother was. And it all comes down to the fact that I am the older brother.
We have a story of a man with two sons. One wishes his father was dead and asks for his share of the inheritance. His father gives him his share and he takes off to live it up. The older son remains with his father, working hard and being faithful. When the younger brother's share is spent and his life is falling apart he returns home, and to his complete shock, is welcomed back by his father as his son. A celebration takes place, but the older brother is absent.
He refuses to join the celebration because in his mind it isn't fair. He has never betrayed his father, but has obeyed everything he has been told to do. He has worked hard and earned what is his. His brother has spent his share and deserves nothing more, and yet his father has welcomed him back, even after all the pain and worry he has caused him, and continues to pour out more.
I am the older brother. I have worked hard and been obedient. I've committed to things God has asked even though I had absolutely no desire to do them. And even with all of that, life has been harder than I ever thought it would be. In many ways, it's been harder than most of the people I knew in college and have met in ministry. Again, I know that others have it so much harder, and I am not in anyway trying to make this bigger that it is, simply showing the attitude I've had.
I graduated college with a 3.92 GPA. I was the only religion major in my class to graduate Summa Cum Laude. I've had a few incredible internship experiences in mega churches, I was on staff at a church when I was 19, and I am the only member of my graduating class to be ordained. I've put the time and work in, and in my eyes, I am the most deserving of achievement, I've worked hard and earned it. And yet I find myself living in my parent's basement, with no ministry position, and I couldn't even get a job stocking shelves at a toy store during Christmas.
I've had a bad attitude, and in a way I've basically said to God, "How dare you put me through this and bless them." I don't want to be the older brother, but I have to admit with embarrassment that I am.
So what happens now? Where do I go from here? Honestly, I'm still trying to figure that out. I don't want to have the attitude of the older brother, where I am "owed" blessings and favor for my work and effort. I don't want the attitude of anger, bitterness, and resentment when others receive the things that I've worked for instead of me. I want the attitude of the father.
We have a man who gives unconditionally and joyfully. He gave his youngest son his share of the inheritance and let him go his way. And even though the youngest son treated him as if he were dead, when he came home he ran to him, embraced him, and poured out more blessings on him as he welcomed him home. He went out to his oldest son. In spite of the sons anger he talks with him, he reaches out to him. That is the attitude I want.
I don't know how long this stage of life is going to last. Honestly, I don't know if another professional ministry position will ever open up for me. It's hard for me to say that, because it's the call that I have on my life and I've invested so much into it. Honestly, I don't know what else I would do with my life if the door never opens up. But I do know that no matter what happens, I want to pour out the love of the Father.
No matter where I am I can show the love and compassion of God. I can be joyful in spite of my circumstances because I am a son of God. Ultimately that is reason I am to rejoice. The only thing that matters in the end is that I belong to God, and that I show His love to everyone I come in contact with. That is the attitude I want, so God, I'm asking you to help me.
"I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread."
To God alone be the Glory!
Peace be with you
Showing posts with label Love of God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Love of God. Show all posts
Monday, November 19, 2012
Friday, April 6, 2012
Good Friday
Every year Good Friday in the Philippines is marked by people recreating the crucifixion of Christ, literally. This ritual is one that I heard about in high school. People walk through the streets and beat themselves with bamboo, before being nailed to a cross. They put themselves through what Jesus went through.
"Many of the mostly impoverished penitents undergo the ritual to atone for sins, pray for the sick or a better life, or give thanks for what they believe were God-given miracles." (http://news.yahoo.com/filipino-good-friday-devotees-nailed-crosses-094124305.html)
I've read somewhere that people do it out of appreciation. And that it isn't a onetime thing for the participants. If you survive it's expected of you to do it every year. The article link I've given above talks about a 51 year old man who has done it twenty-six times.
This is one of those things I wonder how it got started. Who thought that it was necessary to go through what Jesus went through by voluntarily being nailed to a cross? Who thought that this would make atonement for their sins? How do Christians feel the need to go through this?
I've been to Jerusalem; I've touched the floor where Jesus' blood fell as He was beaten. I've walked the streets of the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and knelt under the altar where they say Christ was crucified. I was overwhelmed by appreciation, and humbled with gratitude. All I could say as I knelt was "Thank you."
1 Peter 2.24 says, "and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed." Jesus went to the cross; Jesus was crucified, so that I wouldn't have to be.
Romans 3.23 says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," and Romans 6.23 tells us, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
John 3.16-17 states, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him." Romans 5.8 declares, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
We are all sinners, and the penalty for that sin is death. But God offers us life freely through Christ. There is no need for us to do anything to atone for our sins, because God out of His great love sent Jesus to die in our place. I don't need to beat myself and be nailed to a cross to receive salvation, all I have to do according to Romans 10 is "for 'WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED'" (verse 13), and "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." (verses 9-10).
God does not demand that I go through the pain and agony that Christ did on the first Good Friday. Jesus did that so I wouldn't have to. God's desire is for all of us to be saved from sin through the blood Jesus shed on the cross. His desire is for us to become like Christ, and live as Christ lived. Philippians 1 tells us that we will suffer for Christ sake. Jesus said in the Gospel of John that we would have trouble in this world because of Him. Hardship will come from the world because we have been forgiven by Christ, not for us to gain forgiveness from God.
As I've written the last few sentences, Micah 6.6-8 has been on my mind. "With what shall I come to the LORD and bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"
God does not demand physical punishment of us. Because of Jesus He no longer requires animal sacrifices. As Psalm 51.16-17 says, "For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise." God wants us simply to come to Him, and ask for forgiveness. God doesn’t ask for, or even want, the ritual of self-inflicted pain or animal sacrifice. God simply wants us to come to Him in our brokenness and allow Him to heal us.
God Himself paid the price for sin so that we wouldn't have to. God Himself endured the pain and death of sin so that we wouldn't have to. That is Good Friday.
To God alone be the glory!
Peace be with you
"Many of the mostly impoverished penitents undergo the ritual to atone for sins, pray for the sick or a better life, or give thanks for what they believe were God-given miracles." (http://news.yahoo.com/filipino-good-friday-devotees-nailed-crosses-094124305.html)
I've read somewhere that people do it out of appreciation. And that it isn't a onetime thing for the participants. If you survive it's expected of you to do it every year. The article link I've given above talks about a 51 year old man who has done it twenty-six times.
This is one of those things I wonder how it got started. Who thought that it was necessary to go through what Jesus went through by voluntarily being nailed to a cross? Who thought that this would make atonement for their sins? How do Christians feel the need to go through this?
I've been to Jerusalem; I've touched the floor where Jesus' blood fell as He was beaten. I've walked the streets of the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and knelt under the altar where they say Christ was crucified. I was overwhelmed by appreciation, and humbled with gratitude. All I could say as I knelt was "Thank you."
1 Peter 2.24 says, "and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed." Jesus went to the cross; Jesus was crucified, so that I wouldn't have to be.
Romans 3.23 says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," and Romans 6.23 tells us, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
John 3.16-17 states, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him." Romans 5.8 declares, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
We are all sinners, and the penalty for that sin is death. But God offers us life freely through Christ. There is no need for us to do anything to atone for our sins, because God out of His great love sent Jesus to die in our place. I don't need to beat myself and be nailed to a cross to receive salvation, all I have to do according to Romans 10 is "for 'WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED'" (verse 13), and "that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." (verses 9-10).
God does not demand that I go through the pain and agony that Christ did on the first Good Friday. Jesus did that so I wouldn't have to. God's desire is for all of us to be saved from sin through the blood Jesus shed on the cross. His desire is for us to become like Christ, and live as Christ lived. Philippians 1 tells us that we will suffer for Christ sake. Jesus said in the Gospel of John that we would have trouble in this world because of Him. Hardship will come from the world because we have been forgiven by Christ, not for us to gain forgiveness from God.
As I've written the last few sentences, Micah 6.6-8 has been on my mind. "With what shall I come to the LORD and bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"
God does not demand physical punishment of us. Because of Jesus He no longer requires animal sacrifices. As Psalm 51.16-17 says, "For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise." God wants us simply to come to Him, and ask for forgiveness. God doesn’t ask for, or even want, the ritual of self-inflicted pain or animal sacrifice. God simply wants us to come to Him in our brokenness and allow Him to heal us.
God Himself paid the price for sin so that we wouldn't have to. God Himself endured the pain and death of sin so that we wouldn't have to. That is Good Friday.
To God alone be the glory!
Peace be with you
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
God Cares about the Little Things
Back when I was in high school I was sitting in my collapsible hunting blind watching a beautiful ten point white tail walk closer and closer to me. He started up at the top of the hill, and made his way to the bottom until he was standing about fifty feet from me presenting me with a beautiful chest shot. I raised my muzzle loader and centered the cross hairs of my scope on his chest. I exhaled slowly, and then pulled the trigger. I saw the smoke from my shot and part of my blind fly up in front of me, and when it all cleared I saw the deer limping very slowly back up the hill.
Very excited about the biggest deer I'd ever gotten a shot at, I decided to climb through the front window of my blind instead of taking time to unzip the door in the back. And as I did, I noticed a hole in the wall. When I had taken aim I hadn't paid attention to the barrel of my gun. I had simply focused on the big picture of my scope. I had been sitting back in my blind so that my outline would be broken up and I wouldn't be seen, but it had caused my gun to be below the window.
At that time I was using bullets that had a plastic jacket called a sabot. It is designed to grip the rifling in the barrel when the gun is fired and help the bullet fly straight. But when it was fired through the fabric of my hunting blind the sabot was stripped off of the bullet and it threw it off target. Instead of hitting the deer in the center of his chest, it struck him in his left shoulder. My dad, cousin, and I tracked it for more than an hour, but never could find it. I felt really bad; a little for me, but a lot for the deer. I had injured an animal but hadn't killed it, all because I didn't pay attention to the details.
I share this story to remind us that the details are important. I've heard a lot in my life that I need to focus on the big picture. I personally have said I can only see a little portion of the painting, but God sees it all. We're told not to worry about the little stuff, like it doesn't matter over all. But the details are important to God. He cares about the little things.
In the book of Exodus when God is giving the instructions for building the Tabernacle, we see this aspect of God. Every detail is planned out. Everything. In Exodus 26 He gives instructions about the hooks for the curtains. He talks about the sockets and claps for the walls. He gives instructions about where items are to placed inside of the tabernacle, and the direction it is to face. In Exodus 27 He gives instructions about the pails and shovels used to clean the bronze altar, and the other elements used in the sacrifices for it. There are instructions for the priests. Every detail is taken care of by God, because God cares about the little things.
We see in the New Testament that Jesus is as well. He invites little children to come to Him in Luke 18.16. Over and over He goes to the least of these, the outcast, and the broken. On every occasion that I'm thinking of right now He meets the physical needs of the person who came to Him before He talks about Spiritual matters. Jesus came to show us what God is like, and God cares about the little things. God cares about the details.
It doesn't matter what your going through, it matters to God. It could be something as big as cancer, or as small as a pop quiz you weren't prepared for; God cares. God cares about the needs of Christians who worship Him illegally, and the four year old who kneels by her bed each night to pray. There is no need too small or insignificant to bring to God. There is no detail of your life He doesn't want you to share with Him. And there is no detail that it is too specific for Him to handle. God cares about the little things, God cares about the details.
To God alone be the glory!
Peace be with you
Very excited about the biggest deer I'd ever gotten a shot at, I decided to climb through the front window of my blind instead of taking time to unzip the door in the back. And as I did, I noticed a hole in the wall. When I had taken aim I hadn't paid attention to the barrel of my gun. I had simply focused on the big picture of my scope. I had been sitting back in my blind so that my outline would be broken up and I wouldn't be seen, but it had caused my gun to be below the window.
At that time I was using bullets that had a plastic jacket called a sabot. It is designed to grip the rifling in the barrel when the gun is fired and help the bullet fly straight. But when it was fired through the fabric of my hunting blind the sabot was stripped off of the bullet and it threw it off target. Instead of hitting the deer in the center of his chest, it struck him in his left shoulder. My dad, cousin, and I tracked it for more than an hour, but never could find it. I felt really bad; a little for me, but a lot for the deer. I had injured an animal but hadn't killed it, all because I didn't pay attention to the details.
I share this story to remind us that the details are important. I've heard a lot in my life that I need to focus on the big picture. I personally have said I can only see a little portion of the painting, but God sees it all. We're told not to worry about the little stuff, like it doesn't matter over all. But the details are important to God. He cares about the little things.
In the book of Exodus when God is giving the instructions for building the Tabernacle, we see this aspect of God. Every detail is planned out. Everything. In Exodus 26 He gives instructions about the hooks for the curtains. He talks about the sockets and claps for the walls. He gives instructions about where items are to placed inside of the tabernacle, and the direction it is to face. In Exodus 27 He gives instructions about the pails and shovels used to clean the bronze altar, and the other elements used in the sacrifices for it. There are instructions for the priests. Every detail is taken care of by God, because God cares about the little things.
We see in the New Testament that Jesus is as well. He invites little children to come to Him in Luke 18.16. Over and over He goes to the least of these, the outcast, and the broken. On every occasion that I'm thinking of right now He meets the physical needs of the person who came to Him before He talks about Spiritual matters. Jesus came to show us what God is like, and God cares about the little things. God cares about the details.
It doesn't matter what your going through, it matters to God. It could be something as big as cancer, or as small as a pop quiz you weren't prepared for; God cares. God cares about the needs of Christians who worship Him illegally, and the four year old who kneels by her bed each night to pray. There is no need too small or insignificant to bring to God. There is no detail of your life He doesn't want you to share with Him. And there is no detail that it is too specific for Him to handle. God cares about the little things, God cares about the details.
To God alone be the glory!
Peace be with you
Monday, March 5, 2012
Our Best Isn't Good Enough
In Exodus 25.8 God says, "Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them." God desires to dwell among His people. He wants to be present with them and fellowship with them. He wants them to be able to worship Him, and be reminded that He is with them. And so for the next five chapters God gives instructions about the Tabernacle.
It is going to be the earthly dwelling for God, and so it must be worthy of Him. God gives instructions that the items inside are either to be covered in gold or made out of pure gold. The curtains are to be of linen, goat hair with bronze clasps, and blue, purple, and scarlet material. The pillars are to be covered with gold. The altar of sacrifice is to be made out of wood and covered in bronze. The outer court is to have pillars with silver and bronze on them. The priests, ministers in the Tabernacle, are to have precious stones and other costly garments as they stand before God. Everything is to be the best. It is for God.
Gold is the most precious thing we have. It is the medal that represents first place. It is something that armies have marched for. Entire nations have been wiped out for it. Gold is precious and valuable. But even gold isn't good enough for God.
Recently I talked to a dying man about Heaven. I spoke with my mentor while I was on my way to his house, and he pointed out something to me that I had never really thought of before. In Revelation 21 there is a description of Heaven. Part of verse 21 says, "And the street of the city was pure gold". Here on earth our streets are paved with asphalt or concrete. It is worthless material because it exists in abundance. People aren't out in the road with a pickax breaking up asphalt and putting it in a lock box. It is so common place that it has no value. We pave our streets with a worthless material. In Heaven the street is made of gold. The thing that is most valuable here on earth is so common place in heaven that it has no value. The thing that men have been killed over is what the streets are made out of.
Gold is of little value in heaven. And yet that is what God has His dwelling place made of here on earth. Something that is common place and worthless is what He has His dwelling place made of, and it doesn't even come close to what He is worthy of. Our best isn't even good enough to give to God. And the amazing thing, is God accepts it from us. Even though He deserves far more than we would ever be able to give Him, He desires and delights in our offering to Him. It was God who instructed the Tabernacle to be built so He could dwell among His people.
God loves us so much, He wants to be with us so much, that He will dwell in a house made of something worthless. God loves us so much, that even though He deserves so much better than our best, gladly accepts it, and welcomes our offerings. God deserves for better than the best we could ever offer to Him, and yet He gladly accepts it from us.
Think of what God has done. He dwelt in a tent, unworthy of Him, as His disobedient people camped in the desert. He later came to earth as a man to die on a cross for the Sin of the world. He died for people who would deny His existence, for people who would say that He was a good man but not God. He died and rose again for people that would offer Him their best that wasn't close to good enough, and also for those who would give Him their left overs if they happened to feel like it. Our God truly is amazing.
Let us give our best to God. Even though He is worthy of so much more, He gladly welcomes it because it is from His children. Like the father who proudly displays the indistinguishable scribble of his two year old, God gladly and proudly accepts the gifts of His children, and longs to dwell with them.
To God alone be the glory!
Peace be with you
It is going to be the earthly dwelling for God, and so it must be worthy of Him. God gives instructions that the items inside are either to be covered in gold or made out of pure gold. The curtains are to be of linen, goat hair with bronze clasps, and blue, purple, and scarlet material. The pillars are to be covered with gold. The altar of sacrifice is to be made out of wood and covered in bronze. The outer court is to have pillars with silver and bronze on them. The priests, ministers in the Tabernacle, are to have precious stones and other costly garments as they stand before God. Everything is to be the best. It is for God.
Gold is the most precious thing we have. It is the medal that represents first place. It is something that armies have marched for. Entire nations have been wiped out for it. Gold is precious and valuable. But even gold isn't good enough for God.
Recently I talked to a dying man about Heaven. I spoke with my mentor while I was on my way to his house, and he pointed out something to me that I had never really thought of before. In Revelation 21 there is a description of Heaven. Part of verse 21 says, "And the street of the city was pure gold". Here on earth our streets are paved with asphalt or concrete. It is worthless material because it exists in abundance. People aren't out in the road with a pickax breaking up asphalt and putting it in a lock box. It is so common place that it has no value. We pave our streets with a worthless material. In Heaven the street is made of gold. The thing that is most valuable here on earth is so common place in heaven that it has no value. The thing that men have been killed over is what the streets are made out of.
Gold is of little value in heaven. And yet that is what God has His dwelling place made of here on earth. Something that is common place and worthless is what He has His dwelling place made of, and it doesn't even come close to what He is worthy of. Our best isn't even good enough to give to God. And the amazing thing, is God accepts it from us. Even though He deserves far more than we would ever be able to give Him, He desires and delights in our offering to Him. It was God who instructed the Tabernacle to be built so He could dwell among His people.
God loves us so much, He wants to be with us so much, that He will dwell in a house made of something worthless. God loves us so much, that even though He deserves so much better than our best, gladly accepts it, and welcomes our offerings. God deserves for better than the best we could ever offer to Him, and yet He gladly accepts it from us.
Think of what God has done. He dwelt in a tent, unworthy of Him, as His disobedient people camped in the desert. He later came to earth as a man to die on a cross for the Sin of the world. He died for people who would deny His existence, for people who would say that He was a good man but not God. He died and rose again for people that would offer Him their best that wasn't close to good enough, and also for those who would give Him their left overs if they happened to feel like it. Our God truly is amazing.
Let us give our best to God. Even though He is worthy of so much more, He gladly welcomes it because it is from His children. Like the father who proudly displays the indistinguishable scribble of his two year old, God gladly and proudly accepts the gifts of His children, and longs to dwell with them.
To God alone be the glory!
Peace be with you
Saturday, March 3, 2012
God, Just and Justifier
As I'm working through the Bible looking for the characteristics of God I noticed something in Exodus 19, 20, and 21.
In Exodus 19 the people have arrived at Sinai, and God tells Moses that the people need to prepare for His visit. Moses gives them God's instructions for preparing themselves to meet God, and when they are ready God descends on the mountain.
Exodus 19.18-19 says, "Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the LORD descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder."
God is fierce and dangerous. God is to be feared and respected. God spoke the universe into creation, He sustains it, and He has the power to destroy it. God comes in fire, the mountain quakes, He speaks in thunder. God is powerful. God is to be obeyed. He gives Moses instructions for himself and the people to follow for their own good. He gives them boundaries so that they will not die. when the people obey, they live and are able to behold God.
Exodus 19 tells us that God is to be obeyed.
Exodus 20 is the giving of the Law, the 10 Commandments. God is to be obeyed, and here He tells us what to obey. He lays out His standards for Holiness. He alone is God, and must be worshiped and revered as God. God created us for relationships and He lays out how we can exist together in harmony. He shows His desire for life, for purity, for honesty, and contentment. His standards are perfect, they are the foundation that society is to stand upon.
Exodus 20 shows us what God requires. His standards are to be obeyed.
Exodus 21 (to 23) show God's justice. When wrongs are committed, when God's standards aren't broken then there must be justice. For God to be a holy and righteous God He must be a God of justice. He cannot allow people to slide by and act as if nothing happened when His standard isn't kept. If He did, He wouldn't be God. God's laws must be followed, His standard must be kept.
Exodus 21 tells us that God is a God of justice.
So we have a God who must be obeyed, He then tells us what we are to obey, and then we see that He gives justice when wrong things are done.
We're in trouble. We have failed over and over to obey God. We have failed over and over to keep His standards, and we deserve His justice to be enforced. And God would be fully justified in punishing us. We know that He is to be obeyed, and we know what we are to obey, and we deliberately choose not to. God is just and we deserve justice.
But greater than God's justice, is His love. God, knowing that we justly deserve death for breaking His law, makes a way for us to be justified. He sends His Son, Jesus, God made man, the only one capable of perfectly keeping the law, to die in our place. Jesus the perfect lamb, came and took the punishment for breaking the law, in order for us to be justified. The God of justice is God the justifier. We truly do worship an awesome God.
To God alone be the glory!
Peace be with you
In Exodus 19 the people have arrived at Sinai, and God tells Moses that the people need to prepare for His visit. Moses gives them God's instructions for preparing themselves to meet God, and when they are ready God descends on the mountain.
Exodus 19.18-19 says, "Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the LORD descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder."
God is fierce and dangerous. God is to be feared and respected. God spoke the universe into creation, He sustains it, and He has the power to destroy it. God comes in fire, the mountain quakes, He speaks in thunder. God is powerful. God is to be obeyed. He gives Moses instructions for himself and the people to follow for their own good. He gives them boundaries so that they will not die. when the people obey, they live and are able to behold God.
Exodus 19 tells us that God is to be obeyed.
Exodus 20 is the giving of the Law, the 10 Commandments. God is to be obeyed, and here He tells us what to obey. He lays out His standards for Holiness. He alone is God, and must be worshiped and revered as God. God created us for relationships and He lays out how we can exist together in harmony. He shows His desire for life, for purity, for honesty, and contentment. His standards are perfect, they are the foundation that society is to stand upon.
Exodus 20 shows us what God requires. His standards are to be obeyed.
Exodus 21 (to 23) show God's justice. When wrongs are committed, when God's standards aren't broken then there must be justice. For God to be a holy and righteous God He must be a God of justice. He cannot allow people to slide by and act as if nothing happened when His standard isn't kept. If He did, He wouldn't be God. God's laws must be followed, His standard must be kept.
Exodus 21 tells us that God is a God of justice.
So we have a God who must be obeyed, He then tells us what we are to obey, and then we see that He gives justice when wrong things are done.
We're in trouble. We have failed over and over to obey God. We have failed over and over to keep His standards, and we deserve His justice to be enforced. And God would be fully justified in punishing us. We know that He is to be obeyed, and we know what we are to obey, and we deliberately choose not to. God is just and we deserve justice.
But greater than God's justice, is His love. God, knowing that we justly deserve death for breaking His law, makes a way for us to be justified. He sends His Son, Jesus, God made man, the only one capable of perfectly keeping the law, to die in our place. Jesus the perfect lamb, came and took the punishment for breaking the law, in order for us to be justified. The God of justice is God the justifier. We truly do worship an awesome God.
To God alone be the glory!
Peace be with you
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
1 Corinthians 13.11-12, revisited
Two years ago today I wrote the blog that has been read the most. At the time I was a single youth pastor in Michigan who thought I knew what love was. The blog post was written in response to something one of the teens had said about these two verses. "When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known."
Over the last few months I've been thinking about it a lot. In that two years a lot has changed. I've gotten married, moved twice, dealt with some rough work situations, had a job that I didn't understand why God was having me do (and honestly don't know that I yet understand), been to two new countries, and taken my first senior pastor role. It's been a busy two years.
In two years I'd like to think I've grown up some more. I'd like to say I'm a better man now than I was two years ago. And I'd like to say I know a little more about love than I did then, I know that I do.
Two years ago I thought I knew about love. There was a girl I was infatuated with. From what I could see she was perfect. That didn't work out, and it wasn't supposed to. I remember that April of 2010, I was coming to the realization that whatever that was was over. At that point I thought I would never be able to feel that way about anyone ever again. That was a childish thought. One day I was watching Brave Heart, and there was a line in the movie that God spoke to me through.
At the beginning of the movie William Wallace is a young boy whose father has just been killed in a battle. That night William has a dream, he is laying next to his father's body. In the dream his father turns his head to look at him and says, "Your heart is free. Have the courage to follow it." In that moment God gave me my heart back. He had set it free, and it wasn't just releasing me from the past situation, but freeing me to love again. My heart came with the message, "You can have this back now. Don't be afraid to give it away again."
I am so grateful for that moment. Because that moment enabled me to love my wife. That September I got a facebook message from a girl I had been friends with in college. I had always been attracted to her, but was never able to pursue her, she was dating someone else. So we became friends, honestly I never thought she would go for me. We had lost touch after she graduated, but now she had contacted me. I told her we should catch up, and as soon as she agreed I decided I would ask her out.
We played phone tag for a few days, but finally connected. At the end of our conversation I told her I would be around Mount Vernon the following week and asked if she wanted to get together. When she said yes, I immediately decided I would ask her out again at the end of the first date if it went well. It did. October 12, 2010 I had my first date with my wife, at the end I asked her out again, she obviously said yes. And at the end of the second date she asked me for a third one (at that point I was like, "Got her").
We got engaged May 7, 2011, and married on August 20. For almost six months now we've been adjusting to life as a married couple. It hasn't always been easy, but in the last few weeks things have been incredible. Situations in life has brought us closer together, more welded together as a unit. I never knew you could be like this with someone else. With her I've learned so much about love.
"When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known."
Love is not infatuation. Love is not just warm fuzzy feelings. Love is much deeper than that, much more than that. "Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails;" (1 Corinthians 13.4-8a).
I think for it to be love it has to last forever. It says that love never fails, that it endures all things. I think for it to really be love it has to last forever. Everything I've felt in the past for anyone else wasn't love, because I no longer feel that way. But with my wife, it's real. There is nothing that could ever happen to change the way I feel about her. Rough times that come up just help us grow closer together, it just makes us stronger and more inseparable. It takes patience and kindness. It takes trust and humility. It requires dignity and selflessness. It must be self-controlled and forgiving. It must focus on what is good and right. It must stand firm in everything, and it must look at the future with hope. Love will last.
I love my wife in a way I never knew I could love a human being. She is the only girl I have ever really loved, and I wish I had never said those words until I said them to her for the first time on November 6, 2010. Love is not infatuation because that doesn't last. Love is not warm fuzzy feelings because they won't get you through the hard times. Love is a suit of armor, it protects you and strengthens you to fight for it. As a child, as one immature I didn't understand this, I didn't understand what all love is, and still don't fully understand. In my marriage I am able to see a glimpse of how God loves me.
God will always love me, no matter what I put Him through. He will always fight for me, always protect me. God has sacrificed everything for me. And everything He and I go through together is just there to weld us together more. There is nothing good that God would not do for me. And in the way that God loves me I am to love my wife.
Ephesians 5.25 says, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,". My wedding ring has stripes engraved into it (http://www.kay.com/ProductDisplayEnlargeView?langId=-1&storeId=10101&catalogId=10001&imgDir=2519&partNumber=251982601&imageAttributes=true&main=true). I got this one to remind myself of the stripes on Christ's back; to serve as a constant reminder to myself to love her as Christ loves the church. I still don't fully know what that means, but I believe it starts here in 1 Corinthians 13.
We have a model of how God loves us, a model of how we are to love God, and a model of how we are to love each other. Marriage is the closest model we have of the relationship God desires with each of us. In it we see in part the love of God; a dim reflection of God's love for us. One day we will know fully when we see God face to face. I used to look at love through childish eyes and with childish thoughts. But as I have truly become a man I have put those thoughts away. I am beginning to see love as it is.
Peace be with you
Over the last few months I've been thinking about it a lot. In that two years a lot has changed. I've gotten married, moved twice, dealt with some rough work situations, had a job that I didn't understand why God was having me do (and honestly don't know that I yet understand), been to two new countries, and taken my first senior pastor role. It's been a busy two years.
In two years I'd like to think I've grown up some more. I'd like to say I'm a better man now than I was two years ago. And I'd like to say I know a little more about love than I did then, I know that I do.
Two years ago I thought I knew about love. There was a girl I was infatuated with. From what I could see she was perfect. That didn't work out, and it wasn't supposed to. I remember that April of 2010, I was coming to the realization that whatever that was was over. At that point I thought I would never be able to feel that way about anyone ever again. That was a childish thought. One day I was watching Brave Heart, and there was a line in the movie that God spoke to me through.
At the beginning of the movie William Wallace is a young boy whose father has just been killed in a battle. That night William has a dream, he is laying next to his father's body. In the dream his father turns his head to look at him and says, "Your heart is free. Have the courage to follow it." In that moment God gave me my heart back. He had set it free, and it wasn't just releasing me from the past situation, but freeing me to love again. My heart came with the message, "You can have this back now. Don't be afraid to give it away again."
I am so grateful for that moment. Because that moment enabled me to love my wife. That September I got a facebook message from a girl I had been friends with in college. I had always been attracted to her, but was never able to pursue her, she was dating someone else. So we became friends, honestly I never thought she would go for me. We had lost touch after she graduated, but now she had contacted me. I told her we should catch up, and as soon as she agreed I decided I would ask her out.
We played phone tag for a few days, but finally connected. At the end of our conversation I told her I would be around Mount Vernon the following week and asked if she wanted to get together. When she said yes, I immediately decided I would ask her out again at the end of the first date if it went well. It did. October 12, 2010 I had my first date with my wife, at the end I asked her out again, she obviously said yes. And at the end of the second date she asked me for a third one (at that point I was like, "Got her").
We got engaged May 7, 2011, and married on August 20. For almost six months now we've been adjusting to life as a married couple. It hasn't always been easy, but in the last few weeks things have been incredible. Situations in life has brought us closer together, more welded together as a unit. I never knew you could be like this with someone else. With her I've learned so much about love.
"When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known."
Love is not infatuation. Love is not just warm fuzzy feelings. Love is much deeper than that, much more than that. "Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails;" (1 Corinthians 13.4-8a).
I think for it to be love it has to last forever. It says that love never fails, that it endures all things. I think for it to really be love it has to last forever. Everything I've felt in the past for anyone else wasn't love, because I no longer feel that way. But with my wife, it's real. There is nothing that could ever happen to change the way I feel about her. Rough times that come up just help us grow closer together, it just makes us stronger and more inseparable. It takes patience and kindness. It takes trust and humility. It requires dignity and selflessness. It must be self-controlled and forgiving. It must focus on what is good and right. It must stand firm in everything, and it must look at the future with hope. Love will last.
I love my wife in a way I never knew I could love a human being. She is the only girl I have ever really loved, and I wish I had never said those words until I said them to her for the first time on November 6, 2010. Love is not infatuation because that doesn't last. Love is not warm fuzzy feelings because they won't get you through the hard times. Love is a suit of armor, it protects you and strengthens you to fight for it. As a child, as one immature I didn't understand this, I didn't understand what all love is, and still don't fully understand. In my marriage I am able to see a glimpse of how God loves me.
God will always love me, no matter what I put Him through. He will always fight for me, always protect me. God has sacrificed everything for me. And everything He and I go through together is just there to weld us together more. There is nothing good that God would not do for me. And in the way that God loves me I am to love my wife.
Ephesians 5.25 says, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,". My wedding ring has stripes engraved into it (http://www.kay.com/ProductDisplayEnlargeView?langId=-1&storeId=10101&catalogId=10001&imgDir=2519&partNumber=251982601&imageAttributes=true&main=true). I got this one to remind myself of the stripes on Christ's back; to serve as a constant reminder to myself to love her as Christ loves the church. I still don't fully know what that means, but I believe it starts here in 1 Corinthians 13.
We have a model of how God loves us, a model of how we are to love God, and a model of how we are to love each other. Marriage is the closest model we have of the relationship God desires with each of us. In it we see in part the love of God; a dim reflection of God's love for us. One day we will know fully when we see God face to face. I used to look at love through childish eyes and with childish thoughts. But as I have truly become a man I have put those thoughts away. I am beginning to see love as it is.
Peace be with you
Monday, February 8, 2010
1 Corinthians 13.11-12
"When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known."
How does this relate to the rest of chapter? At an initial glace it may seem totally random and out of place. The first ten verses and the last verse are about love. This passage is very often used at weddings but the love Paul refers to here is so much more than a human emotion that a husband and wife show to each other.
The love that we read about is so much more than the love we as people have for one another. This love is the love that we are to have for God, but more importantly it is the love that God has for us! Think about it,
"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away" (verses 4-8).
All of those are things God shows to us and it is so awesome that he does, where would we be if he didn't? If he wasn't patient or kind? If he was provoked and took our sins into account? If his love didn't endure when we didn't accept or appreciate it, where would we be? This is the love that God has for us, and it is the model of the love we are to have for him and each other.
But the two verses I mentioned, eleven and twelve, look at them in relation to love, since that is the context they fall in. When I was a child the word love was one that was used so freely, and in some cases it still is. As a little boy, "I love Batman." "I love the Cleveland Indians." "I love ..." Even as I grew older and used the word towards a girl I dated, I never got it. My love was immature. As it says, I spoke, thought, and reasoned as a child would, and my love for God was the same way. But then my life changed, I became a man, and my ability to understand and show love changed.
I understand what it is to love another person, and even though I've never been able to say it to her except on paper in letters I haven't sent, I understand it. My love for, and understanding of, God has increased, and I've come to further understand his heart, due to things I've experienced with this girl.
But even though I have come to this deeper understanding and my love isn't childish and immature, my love is still incomplete, as is my ability to fully comprehend it. I see and know only in part, but one day I will fully know it, I will fully be able to love when I see love face to face. "God is love" (1 John 4.8b).
I will know love as God has loved me, and I will finally be able to love him as he loves me. And this is the most important part, not that I partially love God now, and one day will be able to fully love him, it isn't about my ability to love at all, it isn't that I have chosen to give that love to God. The most important part is that I have been loved by God. God loves me, and that is the only thing that matters at all. And one day I will fully be able to grasp that love when I look Love in the eye, face to face.
Peace be with you.
How does this relate to the rest of chapter? At an initial glace it may seem totally random and out of place. The first ten verses and the last verse are about love. This passage is very often used at weddings but the love Paul refers to here is so much more than a human emotion that a husband and wife show to each other.
The love that we read about is so much more than the love we as people have for one another. This love is the love that we are to have for God, but more importantly it is the love that God has for us! Think about it,
"Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away" (verses 4-8).
All of those are things God shows to us and it is so awesome that he does, where would we be if he didn't? If he wasn't patient or kind? If he was provoked and took our sins into account? If his love didn't endure when we didn't accept or appreciate it, where would we be? This is the love that God has for us, and it is the model of the love we are to have for him and each other.
But the two verses I mentioned, eleven and twelve, look at them in relation to love, since that is the context they fall in. When I was a child the word love was one that was used so freely, and in some cases it still is. As a little boy, "I love Batman." "I love the Cleveland Indians." "I love ..." Even as I grew older and used the word towards a girl I dated, I never got it. My love was immature. As it says, I spoke, thought, and reasoned as a child would, and my love for God was the same way. But then my life changed, I became a man, and my ability to understand and show love changed.
I understand what it is to love another person, and even though I've never been able to say it to her except on paper in letters I haven't sent, I understand it. My love for, and understanding of, God has increased, and I've come to further understand his heart, due to things I've experienced with this girl.
But even though I have come to this deeper understanding and my love isn't childish and immature, my love is still incomplete, as is my ability to fully comprehend it. I see and know only in part, but one day I will fully know it, I will fully be able to love when I see love face to face. "God is love" (1 John 4.8b).
I will know love as God has loved me, and I will finally be able to love him as he loves me. And this is the most important part, not that I partially love God now, and one day will be able to fully love him, it isn't about my ability to love at all, it isn't that I have chosen to give that love to God. The most important part is that I have been loved by God. God loves me, and that is the only thing that matters at all. And one day I will fully be able to grasp that love when I look Love in the eye, face to face.
Peace be with you.
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