"Someone in the crowd said to him, 'Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.' But he said to him, 'Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?' And he said to them, 'Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.' " - Luke 12:13-15 ESV
Interesting. Was Jesus speaking about who He was in the incarnation or was He speaking about God's role in our interactions and transactions with each other? I believe both are true.
This man came to Jesus asking Him to act and make a ruling about an injustice but God didn't act. He made the person who approached Him mindful of his own heart condition.
Perhaps we might say, 'If we have this great relationship why won't you act on my on my behalf when I am in need or treated unjustly?' Earthly friends are 'there for you' when you need them.
If you begin to catalogue God's promises to believers they are mostly about access, not action. He promises unbelievers, nations and fallen angels to act but to those He knows He promises access.
People often pull promises out of a hat and claim that they mean something they don't. Like this one:
"Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known." - Jeremiah 33:3 ESV
They (we) claim the first part of this passage and say, 'Look God will act on my behalf!' but ignore the second part. Doesn't this whole passage describe what Jesus did for those two brothers? God injected divine viewpoint into that argument that was causing a breakdown. That family suddenly had a different option because one of it's members sought out the Lord.
"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
Wow.
Now that is an action promise. If we use our access and heed His heart condition advice God will 'exalt us' in time because grace will have done a work in us.
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Showing posts with label Access. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Access. Show all posts
Monday, October 8, 2018
Friday, September 28, 2018
Access To What We Are Standing In
"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God." - Romans 5:1-2 ESV
This is such a loaded passage.
We have access to the grace we are standing in through (and because of) Jesus Christ.
Because of the fall people get disconnected from things they are standing in all the time. They lack access. They stand in a place but miss the beauty of their surroundings. They stand in a family but they are cut off from the warmth and connection of what a family is (or should be). They stand in marriages but lack intimacy.
We gain access to grace through Jesus Christ. We gain access to the knowledge that God is thinking kind thoughts about us. We are connected to the fact that we have favor with God based on the work and character of His Son. This access causes us to rejoice and have hope that God's 'glory' will be manifested in the world.
I see people get disconnected all the time. If the isolation happens and is sustained for long periods of time people start to get strange in their thinking. It is like they have spiritual oxygen deprivation.
Jesus is our access to intimacy. He is the master key that opens all doors. He is how we can have access to what is real and not imagined. Faith in Him can heal our other connections. Peace and justification come into our lives and we get restored over time.
"For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband..." - 1 Corinthians 7:14a ESV
Yes. Holiness can enter the home, workplace or nation because of one believing person who has access to what they are standing in.
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This is such a loaded passage.
We have access to the grace we are standing in through (and because of) Jesus Christ.
Because of the fall people get disconnected from things they are standing in all the time. They lack access. They stand in a place but miss the beauty of their surroundings. They stand in a family but they are cut off from the warmth and connection of what a family is (or should be). They stand in marriages but lack intimacy.
We gain access to grace through Jesus Christ. We gain access to the knowledge that God is thinking kind thoughts about us. We are connected to the fact that we have favor with God based on the work and character of His Son. This access causes us to rejoice and have hope that God's 'glory' will be manifested in the world.
I see people get disconnected all the time. If the isolation happens and is sustained for long periods of time people start to get strange in their thinking. It is like they have spiritual oxygen deprivation.
Jesus is our access to intimacy. He is the master key that opens all doors. He is how we can have access to what is real and not imagined. Faith in Him can heal our other connections. Peace and justification come into our lives and we get restored over time.
"For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband..." - 1 Corinthians 7:14a ESV
Yes. Holiness can enter the home, workplace or nation because of one believing person who has access to what they are standing in.
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Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Access Is Limited
Just sitting here thinking about Valentine's day and access to people. People want to be wanted... but access is limited. It should be limited but it gets limited in funny sometimes unhealthy ways.
Under the law God commanded Israel to keep personal access limited in certain ways. There were laws about sex. There were laws about nudity. There were laws about strangers to the land. Access was controlled.
"Jesus said to him, 'Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.' Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." - John 20:29-31 ESV
I think of the access that I have been given to God and I am truly humbled. I know more about Jesus than I do about most people even though I haven't seen Him face-to-face.
"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 4:15-16 ESV
By becoming a man he gained access to our perspective and He wants us to have access to His life. Amazing.
This morning I'm praying for the people in my circle who are looking for love in the wrong places and giving people access to their lives in hurtful ways. They have real needs and limited options. God help them. Then there are others that are so closed off that no one can get in... not even God.
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28 ESV
Jesus is the One who straightens all of this out. The whore finds love and stops giving themselves away and the prude finds love and opens up in healthy ways. Jesus gives rest. Jesus restores purity. Jesus fixes the access issue.
"A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a spring locked, a fountain sealed." - Song of Songs 4:12 ESV
May we live life with healthy boundaries. Locked off is some ways but open and accessible in others. Let our private and public lives glorify God.
Thank You God. You have sent Your Son to open doors to us that never would have been opened otherwise. It is a great privilege to have access to Your throne. Help us to live with great respect for people's privacy while at the same time inviting them to be involved in the spaces where we meet You. Open doors. Open hearts. Open places so that souls will be saved. Make us creative and sensitive people.
Thank You God.
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Under the law God commanded Israel to keep personal access limited in certain ways. There were laws about sex. There were laws about nudity. There were laws about strangers to the land. Access was controlled.
"Jesus said to him, 'Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.' Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." - John 20:29-31 ESV
I think of the access that I have been given to God and I am truly humbled. I know more about Jesus than I do about most people even though I haven't seen Him face-to-face.
"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 4:15-16 ESV
By becoming a man he gained access to our perspective and He wants us to have access to His life. Amazing.
This morning I'm praying for the people in my circle who are looking for love in the wrong places and giving people access to their lives in hurtful ways. They have real needs and limited options. God help them. Then there are others that are so closed off that no one can get in... not even God.
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28 ESV
Jesus is the One who straightens all of this out. The whore finds love and stops giving themselves away and the prude finds love and opens up in healthy ways. Jesus gives rest. Jesus restores purity. Jesus fixes the access issue.
"A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a spring locked, a fountain sealed." - Song of Songs 4:12 ESV
May we live life with healthy boundaries. Locked off is some ways but open and accessible in others. Let our private and public lives glorify God.
Thank You God. You have sent Your Son to open doors to us that never would have been opened otherwise. It is a great privilege to have access to Your throne. Help us to live with great respect for people's privacy while at the same time inviting them to be involved in the spaces where we meet You. Open doors. Open hearts. Open places so that souls will be saved. Make us creative and sensitive people.
Thank You God.
--
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
The Way Into The Banquet
Have you ever felt insulated from truth?
We all perhaps have felt insulated from an idea. Maybe we have heard something and just felt like an outsider. We acknowledge what another person is saying but do not feel the conviction they feel.
An older person who is technologically challenged might say, 'Cell phones are stupid and they are ruining society! I'm never buying one.'
We nod and acknowledge that they have a point but as cell phone users we are insulated from that conviction. We can't reject it even if we see children crossing the street as they look down at a tiny screen. This technology is the water we swim in.
I often feel insulated from truth. I read my Bible and it doesn't sink in. I look at a passage that once filled me with wonder and feel nothing as I read it. It can be like walking down a hallway that has windows but no doors. I can see the beautiful thoughts but I don't experience them.
We need a bridge to reach Heaven's shores.
"So Jesus again said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture...' " - John 10:7-9 ESV
Jesus is our bridge. We can smell the banquet without Him but we can only taste it if He opens access to it..
"To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." - John 10:3-5 ESV
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." - John 10:27-30 ESV
There are other voices that give access to other things. Jesus gives access to Gods things and closes off access to evil.
"O you who love the LORD, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name!" - Psalm 97:10-12 ESV
"Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph." - Amos 5:14-15 KJV
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." - Matthew 5:43-48 ESV
Only Christ can give us this balance. If we hear His voice we can love what God loves and hate what God hates. If we hear His voice we can love people even if they participate it things that we have decided to hate.
I don't want to live insulated from love or cut off from truth. I must hear my shepherd's voice. Behind that voice is my father's voice. If I hear my shepherd I find pasture. It is there that mercy becomes my bed and my banquet.
--
We all perhaps have felt insulated from an idea. Maybe we have heard something and just felt like an outsider. We acknowledge what another person is saying but do not feel the conviction they feel.
An older person who is technologically challenged might say, 'Cell phones are stupid and they are ruining society! I'm never buying one.'
We nod and acknowledge that they have a point but as cell phone users we are insulated from that conviction. We can't reject it even if we see children crossing the street as they look down at a tiny screen. This technology is the water we swim in.
I often feel insulated from truth. I read my Bible and it doesn't sink in. I look at a passage that once filled me with wonder and feel nothing as I read it. It can be like walking down a hallway that has windows but no doors. I can see the beautiful thoughts but I don't experience them.
We need a bridge to reach Heaven's shores.
"So Jesus again said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture...' " - John 10:7-9 ESV
Jesus is our bridge. We can smell the banquet without Him but we can only taste it if He opens access to it..
"To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." - John 10:3-5 ESV
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." - John 10:27-30 ESV
There are other voices that give access to other things. Jesus gives access to Gods things and closes off access to evil.
"O you who love the LORD, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name!" - Psalm 97:10-12 ESV
"Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph." - Amos 5:14-15 KJV
"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." - Matthew 5:43-48 ESV
Only Christ can give us this balance. If we hear His voice we can love what God loves and hate what God hates. If we hear His voice we can love people even if they participate it things that we have decided to hate.
I don't want to live insulated from love or cut off from truth. I must hear my shepherd's voice. Behind that voice is my father's voice. If I hear my shepherd I find pasture. It is there that mercy becomes my bed and my banquet.
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