Water on Mars? Not surprising. Nor does the method NASA used sound very conclusive either.
"So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: 'Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for 'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we are indeed his offspring.' Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.' " - Acts 17:22-31 ESV
I see NASA as a great example of man 'feeling their way' towards God. The Greek word used there is pselaphao (Strong's G5584) and it means to grope or look with your hands for something.
Man tries to put God in a box but it is God who has limited us in our place and time but He did not limit us to keep us limited. Just as we are wise not to limit Him we can truly move and have our being in Him.
Here Paul is speaking to Greek philosophers and people who had gathered from other people groups. It was a place where ideas were presented before people who were curious. Many of them had a type of 'wisdom lust.' You know those people just as I do. They crave news and new ideas all the time but that knowledge does not seem to change them very much. They have become immune to it.
Paul's Spirit inspired approach is good for them and for us. Maybe we think more knowledge will save us. We grope along the terrain of ideas looking for something lost or a switch that will illuminate the room but all the while God is very near. God understands our groping and actually has designated a time for it in His plan but now it is time to repent (turn to Him) because there is One who was raised from the dead. There is One who has ventured into the greatest unknown terrain and returned with a message.
Perhaps there is water on Mars. Maybe it is some low gravity multicolored sand sculpture. I'm sure man will continue to grope for answers as long as we have the resources and means to do it.
Those of us who have found Jesus because He looked for us first have also found a light switch for the dark places. He becomes our spiritual illumination.
God isn't far away and beyond our imagination. He is here in the room. The room is in Him. Knowing that we can begin to converse with Him. He has things to say if we will pour out our hearts and listen.
--
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
The Power Of Humility
Humility.
I always marvel at the power of it.
"Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 'The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.' " - Matthew 23:1-12 ESV
Interesting. Notice how Jesus doesn't tell the people to rebel against the Pharisees or refuse to cooperate with them.
Other men teach rebellion. They teach a person to fight in a moral framework. Christ is harmless. He creates life in what was dead and that life takes over.
In God's economy the humble person is the one who is exalted. God's economy is a grace economy. God doesn't favor those who carry heavier burdens or those who demand others carry heavy burdens.
In our desire to reclaim a sense of perfection that has been lost people get very concerned with right and wrong. Things being right and others getting things right becomes hyper-important. This isn't mysterious. When things are wrong life becomes uncomfortable.
God is holy and His things are in order but they are that way not because of effort but because of God's nature.
"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you." - 1 Peter 5:6-10 ESV
"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?" - James 4:10-12 ESV
Humility produces integrity not rebellion. The humble person isn't a doormat for evil. Evil is recognized and resisted but the focus is on God and not the problem.
When we focus on God we are humbled.
I see person after person in the scriptures who were put in situations that challenged them to trust God and not in the power they themselves could muster up.
We face the same challenge. Will it be might or integrity? Will we rage against injustice or will we humble ourselves and let God work through us to be part of the solution?
"Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain." - Philippians 2:14-16 ESV
God does amazing things though people who are being humbled by grace and rely on Him. Heaven's history books are filled with stories we won't hear about here on Earth. If we cling to grace and life in God's economy we are like salt and light wherever God has us.
--
I always marvel at the power of it.
"Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 'The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.' " - Matthew 23:1-12 ESV
Interesting. Notice how Jesus doesn't tell the people to rebel against the Pharisees or refuse to cooperate with them.
Other men teach rebellion. They teach a person to fight in a moral framework. Christ is harmless. He creates life in what was dead and that life takes over.
In God's economy the humble person is the one who is exalted. God's economy is a grace economy. God doesn't favor those who carry heavier burdens or those who demand others carry heavy burdens.
In our desire to reclaim a sense of perfection that has been lost people get very concerned with right and wrong. Things being right and others getting things right becomes hyper-important. This isn't mysterious. When things are wrong life becomes uncomfortable.
God is holy and His things are in order but they are that way not because of effort but because of God's nature.
"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you." - 1 Peter 5:6-10 ESV
"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?" - James 4:10-12 ESV
Humility produces integrity not rebellion. The humble person isn't a doormat for evil. Evil is recognized and resisted but the focus is on God and not the problem.
When we focus on God we are humbled.
I see person after person in the scriptures who were put in situations that challenged them to trust God and not in the power they themselves could muster up.
We face the same challenge. Will it be might or integrity? Will we rage against injustice or will we humble ourselves and let God work through us to be part of the solution?
"Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain." - Philippians 2:14-16 ESV
God does amazing things though people who are being humbled by grace and rely on Him. Heaven's history books are filled with stories we won't hear about here on Earth. If we cling to grace and life in God's economy we are like salt and light wherever God has us.
--
Monday, September 28, 2015
A Significant Celestial Event
I look forward to seeing pictures of the eclipse. People do such a good job with celestial events these days because of the widespread availability of good camera equipment.
At the same time because I am tuned into 'a Biblical mindset' I know I am also going to have to contend with a bunch of strange prophetic correlations. People are going to look back upon this significant celestial event and make political, economic and spiritual connections to it. It is sure to appear in charts and graphs and as the years go by events will be linked to it that will make some folks scratch their heads.
There is a reason that the brass serpent used in the wilderness is lost and that the ark of the covenant is gone from our sight. People tend to worship the wrong things. They bring events and things into their life and hold unto them in strange ways.
"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." - Deuteronomy 6:5-9 ESV
The Bible is something I keep close. God's words are things that I hold onto. I incorporate them into my life and living. I don't change them to suit me. I bring them just as they are into my life and they change me.
There is an event I return to and find significance in above any other. It happened on a day of celestial significance. It is the cross. I can't bring that into my life like I bring the Bible in. I must leave my life to get there.
Jesus left His life to go to the Cross. I find that I must do that also. The cross isn't going to be in my backyard or around my neck. It isn't just an event that appears on a theological chart. It is always outside the walls of the city. It can't be domesticated.
I find that I can't live the Christian life but I can go to Christ's cross and find life on the other side of it.
"Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.' When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, 'Who then can be saved?' But Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.' " - Matthew 19:24-26 ESV
The cross is what makes it possible for us to pass through the narrow gate. My goods and currency can't fit through that gate. My life and deeds only disqualify me from righteousness. But at the same time they qualify me for the cross.
God did something unchangeable there. Ultimate betrayal and ultimate forgiveness are manifested in the same place. The cross also gives us the right to certain assurances.
We are sure of forgiveness because of the cross. Eternal salvation is possible because of that cross. I find that I am washed in an experiential way because I have been there.
I am going to enjoy the pictures and take all of the tabloid style theology with a grain or two of salt. No matter what people say happened this weekend my focus isn't going to change. I will carry the same seed to sow.
God's grace is what changes lives.
God's word is what we can take home with us.
Christ's cross is my daily destination.
--
At the same time because I am tuned into 'a Biblical mindset' I know I am also going to have to contend with a bunch of strange prophetic correlations. People are going to look back upon this significant celestial event and make political, economic and spiritual connections to it. It is sure to appear in charts and graphs and as the years go by events will be linked to it that will make some folks scratch their heads.
There is a reason that the brass serpent used in the wilderness is lost and that the ark of the covenant is gone from our sight. People tend to worship the wrong things. They bring events and things into their life and hold unto them in strange ways.
"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." - Deuteronomy 6:5-9 ESV
The Bible is something I keep close. God's words are things that I hold onto. I incorporate them into my life and living. I don't change them to suit me. I bring them just as they are into my life and they change me.
There is an event I return to and find significance in above any other. It happened on a day of celestial significance. It is the cross. I can't bring that into my life like I bring the Bible in. I must leave my life to get there.
Jesus left His life to go to the Cross. I find that I must do that also. The cross isn't going to be in my backyard or around my neck. It isn't just an event that appears on a theological chart. It is always outside the walls of the city. It can't be domesticated.
I find that I can't live the Christian life but I can go to Christ's cross and find life on the other side of it.
"Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.' When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, 'Who then can be saved?' But Jesus looked at them and said, 'With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.' " - Matthew 19:24-26 ESV
The cross is what makes it possible for us to pass through the narrow gate. My goods and currency can't fit through that gate. My life and deeds only disqualify me from righteousness. But at the same time they qualify me for the cross.
God did something unchangeable there. Ultimate betrayal and ultimate forgiveness are manifested in the same place. The cross also gives us the right to certain assurances.
We are sure of forgiveness because of the cross. Eternal salvation is possible because of that cross. I find that I am washed in an experiential way because I have been there.
I am going to enjoy the pictures and take all of the tabloid style theology with a grain or two of salt. No matter what people say happened this weekend my focus isn't going to change. I will carry the same seed to sow.
God's grace is what changes lives.
God's word is what we can take home with us.
Christ's cross is my daily destination.
--
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Sheep Among Wolves
"Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." - Matthew 10:16 ESV
The cosmic system is a complex wire framework operating and changing in tandem with the fallen souls of men. It's structure and solidity is determined in part by individual soul power and the group dynamic.
A person can escape to nature and bring only themselves but as soon as a group forms anywhere the cosmic system dynamic picks up right where it left off.
The only way to truly know a system is to experience the inside of it and the outside of it.
The redeemed soul has escaped and is sent back in again with eyes opened.
"But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." - Jude 1:20-25 ESV
We do in-reach among the other sheep but outreach is when we reach into the cosmic system as agents free of that system but with souls that can still be vulnerable to the dynamics involved.
"Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you.' " - John 20:26 ESV
The locked door was no barrier to Jesus neither was the wire frame of fear that blanked the room.
When we have received grace we are no longer looking for favor inside the system because we have found it outside the camp. Peace pulls us out of our culture and shows us the dynamic from the outside. Peace stills our minds so that we are free to see the patterns that were invisible to us when we were caught up in the motions.
Curse the culture if you want to but the strife and injustice is mostly the product of the souls involved. It isn't a mysterious 'them' that is calling the shots. Our souls power the system when we feed on the dust of a fallen life. The cosmic system is the faith field organized by fallen angels that presently blanket the Earth.
But before we go and break out the tin foil hats to feebly try and protect ourselves from ourselves we must know that the root of the issue is lostness not ignorance. If people are taken out by God and sent back in again then things can change for the better because God is able to 'keep us from stumbling and to present us blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy'.
We can discern the wire framework and step through it this weekend. There is a natural current that is moving in a set direction but we don't have to be moved by those forces. We have a new purpose and Heavenly priorities that move us. If we are citizens of Heaven then we are no longer under or energized by that power. It can affect us but we are above it even when we are in the middle of it.
"Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them." - Matthew 18:19-20 ESV
I'm not looking for a devil behind every rock and stone. I just want to love the people God has put in my life in unusual ways that ignores accepted barriers because it is really God loving people through me. I may be just a sheep but I can venture out among the wolves because I see something they don't see with a real peace that has been given to me by God.
--
The cosmic system is a complex wire framework operating and changing in tandem with the fallen souls of men. It's structure and solidity is determined in part by individual soul power and the group dynamic.
A person can escape to nature and bring only themselves but as soon as a group forms anywhere the cosmic system dynamic picks up right where it left off.
The only way to truly know a system is to experience the inside of it and the outside of it.
The redeemed soul has escaped and is sent back in again with eyes opened.
"But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." - Jude 1:20-25 ESV
We do in-reach among the other sheep but outreach is when we reach into the cosmic system as agents free of that system but with souls that can still be vulnerable to the dynamics involved.
"Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you.' " - John 20:26 ESV
The locked door was no barrier to Jesus neither was the wire frame of fear that blanked the room.
When we have received grace we are no longer looking for favor inside the system because we have found it outside the camp. Peace pulls us out of our culture and shows us the dynamic from the outside. Peace stills our minds so that we are free to see the patterns that were invisible to us when we were caught up in the motions.
Curse the culture if you want to but the strife and injustice is mostly the product of the souls involved. It isn't a mysterious 'them' that is calling the shots. Our souls power the system when we feed on the dust of a fallen life. The cosmic system is the faith field organized by fallen angels that presently blanket the Earth.
But before we go and break out the tin foil hats to feebly try and protect ourselves from ourselves we must know that the root of the issue is lostness not ignorance. If people are taken out by God and sent back in again then things can change for the better because God is able to 'keep us from stumbling and to present us blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy'.
We can discern the wire framework and step through it this weekend. There is a natural current that is moving in a set direction but we don't have to be moved by those forces. We have a new purpose and Heavenly priorities that move us. If we are citizens of Heaven then we are no longer under or energized by that power. It can affect us but we are above it even when we are in the middle of it.
"Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them." - Matthew 18:19-20 ESV
I'm not looking for a devil behind every rock and stone. I just want to love the people God has put in my life in unusual ways that ignores accepted barriers because it is really God loving people through me. I may be just a sheep but I can venture out among the wolves because I see something they don't see with a real peace that has been given to me by God.
--
Friday, September 25, 2015
Success Stories
How many success stories involve a more established person giving a less established person a chance? Many of them I would say.
All the talent and determination is the world can mean very little without a window of opportunity. For some that happens early in life and for others much later. Some never get that window or just plain miss it.
No doubt there is a natural success that involves fame and the realization of a skill or talent. Natural success involves resources, connections and security but there is a spiritual success that is set apart. It is holy and it involves God in a very intimate way.
"But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world." - 1 Timothy 6:6-7 ESV
How true that is.
I was in a music store last night looking at instruments for a young fellow I often see who walks by my work place. He used to have a guitar strapped to his back to go and busk (play for donations) down by the water where the people gather. I spoke to him the other day and he didn't have the guitar anymore. He said it got stolen. Who knows what really happened to it. Either way he is just begging now because he lost his dignified way to survive so I was out looking for a replacement I can afford to get it to him.
A couple of middle aged musicians were talking in the store about a younger companion and lamenting about how he was wasting his life in a chaste relationship with one girl going to Bible studies when he could be living up his youth and being with many women instead.
I couldn't help but think, 'Wow. That young musician they are talking about is making good decisions.'
It's all about who you know isn't it?
A person who knows Jesus has the most powerful and influential friend.
Because we know Jesus we are out looking for ways to help others succeed. We can introduce people to who we know and it can make all the difference for them.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil." - John 3:16-19 ESV
God sent us a connection. He sent a person who Is the way, the truth and the life.
Whatever you do... Don't miss getting to know Him. He Is the One you need to succeed. Maybe you can get rich without Him. Maybe your talents will be developed without Him but there is no lasting peace without Him. There Is no eternal life without him. Without Him time will erase whatever mark you have made. If you know him things will be written in Heaven that will never be erased.
If you know Him you will make it. God's hands will make sure you make it.
--
All the talent and determination is the world can mean very little without a window of opportunity. For some that happens early in life and for others much later. Some never get that window or just plain miss it.
No doubt there is a natural success that involves fame and the realization of a skill or talent. Natural success involves resources, connections and security but there is a spiritual success that is set apart. It is holy and it involves God in a very intimate way.
"But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world." - 1 Timothy 6:6-7 ESV
How true that is.
I was in a music store last night looking at instruments for a young fellow I often see who walks by my work place. He used to have a guitar strapped to his back to go and busk (play for donations) down by the water where the people gather. I spoke to him the other day and he didn't have the guitar anymore. He said it got stolen. Who knows what really happened to it. Either way he is just begging now because he lost his dignified way to survive so I was out looking for a replacement I can afford to get it to him.
A couple of middle aged musicians were talking in the store about a younger companion and lamenting about how he was wasting his life in a chaste relationship with one girl going to Bible studies when he could be living up his youth and being with many women instead.
I couldn't help but think, 'Wow. That young musician they are talking about is making good decisions.'
It's all about who you know isn't it?
A person who knows Jesus has the most powerful and influential friend.
Because we know Jesus we are out looking for ways to help others succeed. We can introduce people to who we know and it can make all the difference for them.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil." - John 3:16-19 ESV
God sent us a connection. He sent a person who Is the way, the truth and the life.
Whatever you do... Don't miss getting to know Him. He Is the One you need to succeed. Maybe you can get rich without Him. Maybe your talents will be developed without Him but there is no lasting peace without Him. There Is no eternal life without him. Without Him time will erase whatever mark you have made. If you know him things will be written in Heaven that will never be erased.
If you know Him you will make it. God's hands will make sure you make it.
--
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Dignity Because Of The Foundation
What relationship does a beggar have to the people they are asking money from?
Is my prayer life just me begging from God or is it something more?
"May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire." - 2 Peter 1:2-4 ESV
God gives us a dignified provision before the need even arises.
If you live in an urban center you see all kinds of hardship and people who have been stripped of their dignity because of their circumstances. They look at you and are hoping for something but they can't look you in the eye.
God doesn't want to just give us things. He Is not our vending machine. We can know Him and have a transfer of life that is dignified because of a foundation that was put down before the world came into existence.
Considering who we are that is amazing. We are not beggars. We are sons and daughters.
People's circumstances are so complex but we can have dignified exchanges with everyone because of the 'all things' flow that we have the great privileged of living in.
God help us to by people who live in dignity and impart dignity.
--
Is my prayer life just me begging from God or is it something more?
"May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire." - 2 Peter 1:2-4 ESV
God gives us a dignified provision before the need even arises.
If you live in an urban center you see all kinds of hardship and people who have been stripped of their dignity because of their circumstances. They look at you and are hoping for something but they can't look you in the eye.
God doesn't want to just give us things. He Is not our vending machine. We can know Him and have a transfer of life that is dignified because of a foundation that was put down before the world came into existence.
Considering who we are that is amazing. We are not beggars. We are sons and daughters.
People's circumstances are so complex but we can have dignified exchanges with everyone because of the 'all things' flow that we have the great privileged of living in.
God help us to by people who live in dignity and impart dignity.
--
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Mind Not High Things
"A Song of Ascents. Of David.
-
O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.
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But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore." - Psalm 131:1-3 ESV
Such a good psalm.
One key to apply the wisdom expressed in it is to understand the context. Songs of ascent were sung on the uphill journey to Jerusalem on the way to one of the feasts. At points in Jewish history they were sung going up the steps to the temple. Tradition says that some groups would stop on a step and sing a psalm and then move to the next step and sing another one.
The Hebrew word translated 'too great' is gadowl (Strong's H1419) and it means great in magnitude.
In a way this is the simplification we long to achieve when we go on a special trip like a wedding in another city, a vacation or a trip to a fair. The psalmist isn't saying they never mind high things or attempt large or complicated tasks they are saying that this is not the time to do those things because the family, with other families, is traveling to Jerusalem and it in a time for worship, fellowship and a narrowing of purpose.
It is also time to have a weaned soul that can endure discomfort knowing the provision is coming like a child that sees a schedule for feeding and is not driven and ruled by it's hunger to react and demand in panic.
"So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his... For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." - Hebrews 4:9-10, 12-16 ESV
There is a rest to enter into. There is a throne to go boldly towards. On this trip things are simplified. The truth that is God's sword cuts and divides so that motives and intentions are defined and visible. Attitudes become evident on trips like these. We are not mentally wrestling with large luggage that breaks our back. We travel light and have what we need. We pack with purpose knowing when we are going and why we are going there.
We have a destination and we worship as we go and say, 'hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore' because we value the pilgrim life and the vacation journey.
The high things are for another time because when we function in God's word and simplicity we get definition that exposes and illuminates the light burden of being yoked up with Jesus. The word of God whittles that large unmanageable thing into smaller manageable parts.
Jesus has passed through the Heavens already. He has moved past principalities and powers and sits at our destination. We can rest going there also.
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O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.
-
But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore." - Psalm 131:1-3 ESV
Such a good psalm.
One key to apply the wisdom expressed in it is to understand the context. Songs of ascent were sung on the uphill journey to Jerusalem on the way to one of the feasts. At points in Jewish history they were sung going up the steps to the temple. Tradition says that some groups would stop on a step and sing a psalm and then move to the next step and sing another one.
The Hebrew word translated 'too great' is gadowl (Strong's H1419) and it means great in magnitude.
In a way this is the simplification we long to achieve when we go on a special trip like a wedding in another city, a vacation or a trip to a fair. The psalmist isn't saying they never mind high things or attempt large or complicated tasks they are saying that this is not the time to do those things because the family, with other families, is traveling to Jerusalem and it in a time for worship, fellowship and a narrowing of purpose.
It is also time to have a weaned soul that can endure discomfort knowing the provision is coming like a child that sees a schedule for feeding and is not driven and ruled by it's hunger to react and demand in panic.
"So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his... For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." - Hebrews 4:9-10, 12-16 ESV
There is a rest to enter into. There is a throne to go boldly towards. On this trip things are simplified. The truth that is God's sword cuts and divides so that motives and intentions are defined and visible. Attitudes become evident on trips like these. We are not mentally wrestling with large luggage that breaks our back. We travel light and have what we need. We pack with purpose knowing when we are going and why we are going there.
We have a destination and we worship as we go and say, 'hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore' because we value the pilgrim life and the vacation journey.
The high things are for another time because when we function in God's word and simplicity we get definition that exposes and illuminates the light burden of being yoked up with Jesus. The word of God whittles that large unmanageable thing into smaller manageable parts.
Jesus has passed through the Heavens already. He has moved past principalities and powers and sits at our destination. We can rest going there also.
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