John 5:6 (NIV)
6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
I think that Jesus is asking the same of us. We initially would say, “oh yea”! But if we got well, we would be well. Think about it. This question should therefore be thought provoking for our own lives. Jesus would ask us the same thing, “do you really want…”
John 5:19 (NIV)
19 Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; the can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.
If Jesus couldn’t do anything alone, how much more should we rely on the Father! O.k., that would be generally accepted by most if not all, but how about this, Jesus saw what the Father was doing. Did you get that? He SAW it! Jesus saw what the Father was doing. That is what we need to pray for – to see what the Father is doing! That means that at least some of the time we need to SEE the spirit realm. There are ways of seeing what God is doing because of the physical ramifications of the Father’s move, however, if we don’t have our eyes opened to the spirit realm, then we will surely miss many things that the Father is doing and thereby we won’t be able to do what the Father is doing.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
March 13
John 4:10-11 (NIV)
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?
Even with living water, you have to draw it with something. I think this woman said something prophetic about God here. With God the well is deep and you need something to draw the water up to be tasted and for the need (or desire) of thirst to be quenched. In the natural realm you would have a bucket of some sort attached to a rope. What do you think you need in the spirit realm to draw and release the water? Faith! Jesus said faith moves mountains. The whole conversation with the woman in John 4 is a spiritual one that she didn’t get until Jesus told her about her life, which was discerned spiritually.
We have been busy about getting the water from the well while Jesus is trying to teach us about living water! We do need to pay attention to and believe for material water, (food, clothing, housing…) however our FOCUS has to be on the living water, which by the way, will be a pipeline for all that we could ever need.
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?
Even with living water, you have to draw it with something. I think this woman said something prophetic about God here. With God the well is deep and you need something to draw the water up to be tasted and for the need (or desire) of thirst to be quenched. In the natural realm you would have a bucket of some sort attached to a rope. What do you think you need in the spirit realm to draw and release the water? Faith! Jesus said faith moves mountains. The whole conversation with the woman in John 4 is a spiritual one that she didn’t get until Jesus told her about her life, which was discerned spiritually.
We have been busy about getting the water from the well while Jesus is trying to teach us about living water! We do need to pay attention to and believe for material water, (food, clothing, housing…) however our FOCUS has to be on the living water, which by the way, will be a pipeline for all that we could ever need.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
march 12
John 3:8 (NIV)
8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
The Spirit of God can’t be pinned down and therefore neither can those born of the Spirit. We are like the wind, being blown wherever the Spirit pleases. This is deep stuff that Jesus is talking about. Jesus is talking about heavenly things but he uses the earthly things to explain the spiritual. Nicodemus can’t understand a thing Jesus is saying because he is thinking from an earthly – what can be seen perspective. Yet even the wind – an earthly thing – couldn’t be understood clearly in this day. They didn’t know where it came from or why it came, only that it came. How do you know that the wind is here except you see it’s effect on the place where it is. That is how we are like the wind – those who have been born again. You can see the effect that we have – that is how you know we are around. There is much more about seeing the spirit realm and believing, but let me just say this, you are a powerful spiritual force that people won’t understand. All they will understand is that when you are around things happen that are absent when you are absent. Determine right now to have an impact on your surroundings wherever you go and bring glory to the wind maker – star creator – the Father of all!
8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
The Spirit of God can’t be pinned down and therefore neither can those born of the Spirit. We are like the wind, being blown wherever the Spirit pleases. This is deep stuff that Jesus is talking about. Jesus is talking about heavenly things but he uses the earthly things to explain the spiritual. Nicodemus can’t understand a thing Jesus is saying because he is thinking from an earthly – what can be seen perspective. Yet even the wind – an earthly thing – couldn’t be understood clearly in this day. They didn’t know where it came from or why it came, only that it came. How do you know that the wind is here except you see it’s effect on the place where it is. That is how we are like the wind – those who have been born again. You can see the effect that we have – that is how you know we are around. There is much more about seeing the spirit realm and believing, but let me just say this, you are a powerful spiritual force that people won’t understand. All they will understand is that when you are around things happen that are absent when you are absent. Determine right now to have an impact on your surroundings wherever you go and bring glory to the wind maker – star creator – the Father of all!
Friday, March 11, 2011
March 11
I want to weave both the OT and the NT readings together today. In Exodus 40 it says 7 times that Moses did “as the Lord commanded”, and then this happened;
Exodus 40:34 (NIV)
34 Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
In John 2 we read about Jesus turning water into wine. Mary said to the servants, “do whatever he (Jesus) tells you.” When they did, the miracle of wine – the best wine – coming from ordinary water happened, and then it says this;
John 2:11 (NIV)
11 This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.
It should be obvious that when we do as the Lord commands, it puts us in the best possible position for a miracle and for God to reveal His glory in us, through us or around us. Here is the kicker in these two accounts: God takes ordinary things, raw materials if you will, and makes them into something extraordinarily different and thus reveals His glory. The tent was made up of common materials of this earth, and the water was from the earth. The tent became the dwelling place of God Himself and the water was transformed (without the help of any earthly compound) into the best wine!
God’s plan in us is to take our base earthly compound and transform us into a revelation of His glory and dwell within us! Is that crazy or what? Sure He will perform miracles through us, but we need to get this first – WE are the miracle! We are the transformed people of His great power and love! We are not the same! So let’s believe, think and act like we are those transformed people, not just laying aside those fleshly things that we all could list, but putting on the mind of Christ and walking around like the transformed people that we are!
Exodus 40:34 (NIV)
34 Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
In John 2 we read about Jesus turning water into wine. Mary said to the servants, “do whatever he (Jesus) tells you.” When they did, the miracle of wine – the best wine – coming from ordinary water happened, and then it says this;
John 2:11 (NIV)
11 This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.
It should be obvious that when we do as the Lord commands, it puts us in the best possible position for a miracle and for God to reveal His glory in us, through us or around us. Here is the kicker in these two accounts: God takes ordinary things, raw materials if you will, and makes them into something extraordinarily different and thus reveals His glory. The tent was made up of common materials of this earth, and the water was from the earth. The tent became the dwelling place of God Himself and the water was transformed (without the help of any earthly compound) into the best wine!
God’s plan in us is to take our base earthly compound and transform us into a revelation of His glory and dwell within us! Is that crazy or what? Sure He will perform miracles through us, but we need to get this first – WE are the miracle! We are the transformed people of His great power and love! We are not the same! So let’s believe, think and act like we are those transformed people, not just laying aside those fleshly things that we all could list, but putting on the mind of Christ and walking around like the transformed people that we are!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
March 10
John 1:51 (NIV)
51 He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
I do believe that we have to contextually interpret this scripture as we do others. This one seems to be specific to the disciples and even more specifically towards Nathanael. Here is the where the big however comes in, why couldn’t it apply to us today? Because why? Plenty of people through the centuries have seen heavenly things – ahh, but not you? So that is why it couldn’t happen – because it didn’t already happen? That is a pervasive and real doctrine of many Christians – but we are not of those. The only thing that the disciples saw that we can’t see is Jesus physically walking on the earth doing the “stuff” (advancing the Kingdom of God). We are not precluded from seeing an open heaven because Jesus isn’t here! As much as Jesus told His disciples that they would do greater things (John 14:12), and here that they would see greater things, I believe that applies to us as well. The hurdle for us, that is very doable, is that we have to seek it! It is the thirsty that get watered. When we give our lives to anything in the world we usually see results (business, fitness, scholastically…), how much more when we give ourselves to seeing an open heaven will we see heaven touching earth? Jesus clearly says, “ask and it will be given”. We have to ask ourselves, do we believe Jesus? If we believe, then we will expect to receive – we will plan on.
We are people of faith, vision and secure hope. We don’t waiver from believing for things that we have never seen. We are people who want an open heaven and believe that this promise applies to us today. We may not see them ascend and descend on the Son of Man, but we will certainly see the heavens open.
51 He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
I do believe that we have to contextually interpret this scripture as we do others. This one seems to be specific to the disciples and even more specifically towards Nathanael. Here is the where the big however comes in, why couldn’t it apply to us today? Because why? Plenty of people through the centuries have seen heavenly things – ahh, but not you? So that is why it couldn’t happen – because it didn’t already happen? That is a pervasive and real doctrine of many Christians – but we are not of those. The only thing that the disciples saw that we can’t see is Jesus physically walking on the earth doing the “stuff” (advancing the Kingdom of God). We are not precluded from seeing an open heaven because Jesus isn’t here! As much as Jesus told His disciples that they would do greater things (John 14:12), and here that they would see greater things, I believe that applies to us as well. The hurdle for us, that is very doable, is that we have to seek it! It is the thirsty that get watered. When we give our lives to anything in the world we usually see results (business, fitness, scholastically…), how much more when we give ourselves to seeing an open heaven will we see heaven touching earth? Jesus clearly says, “ask and it will be given”. We have to ask ourselves, do we believe Jesus? If we believe, then we will expect to receive – we will plan on.
We are people of faith, vision and secure hope. We don’t waiver from believing for things that we have never seen. We are people who want an open heaven and believe that this promise applies to us today. We may not see them ascend and descend on the Son of Man, but we will certainly see the heavens open.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
March 8
Romans 16:17 (NIV)
17 I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.
I feel like I could just let this scripture ring and not comment. What an extreme view huh? Paul is urging people to avoid or severely limit contact with people who cause divisions (In some languages the equivalent of ‘causing division’ is literally ‘to cause two groups in place of one group,’ but more frequently the equivalent is expressed in terms of attitudes, for example, ‘to cause people to be angry at one another’ or ‘to cause people not to like one another’ or ‘to cause people to think of one another as enemies.’), or who turn people away from the solid teaching they have received. Paul must have been thinking about grace, works, sin and justification by faith, etc…, but something else came in my mind when I was reading. Some people, well meaning or not, turn others away from trusting God through criticism or doubt. They utter words against the miraculous and cause people to doubt God could or will come through for them. Paul is saying that we need to be on our guard against them! That is because you can’t always identify them easily or it may be that we easily fall into the same trap by causing people to dislike or distrust one another or to distrust God’s faithfulness to fulfill His entire Word.
We have to not only watch out for “those people”, who are out there, but we have to be alert to not fall into that ourselves. Speak well of others, build unity and encourage people to believe God’s Word in total. Reprove others who speak about others negatively in your presence. These sins that Paul mentions are some of the most harmful if not the most harmful sins. If we want to take the cities for God, we have to stop being divisive. It’s a big deal and needs to be stopped!
Titus 3:10 (NIV)
10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him.
17 I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.
I feel like I could just let this scripture ring and not comment. What an extreme view huh? Paul is urging people to avoid or severely limit contact with people who cause divisions (In some languages the equivalent of ‘causing division’ is literally ‘to cause two groups in place of one group,’ but more frequently the equivalent is expressed in terms of attitudes, for example, ‘to cause people to be angry at one another’ or ‘to cause people not to like one another’ or ‘to cause people to think of one another as enemies.’), or who turn people away from the solid teaching they have received. Paul must have been thinking about grace, works, sin and justification by faith, etc…, but something else came in my mind when I was reading. Some people, well meaning or not, turn others away from trusting God through criticism or doubt. They utter words against the miraculous and cause people to doubt God could or will come through for them. Paul is saying that we need to be on our guard against them! That is because you can’t always identify them easily or it may be that we easily fall into the same trap by causing people to dislike or distrust one another or to distrust God’s faithfulness to fulfill His entire Word.
We have to not only watch out for “those people”, who are out there, but we have to be alert to not fall into that ourselves. Speak well of others, build unity and encourage people to believe God’s Word in total. Reprove others who speak about others negatively in your presence. These sins that Paul mentions are some of the most harmful if not the most harmful sins. If we want to take the cities for God, we have to stop being divisive. It’s a big deal and needs to be stopped!
Titus 3:10 (NIV)
10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
March 8
Romans 15:18-19 (NIV)
18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19 by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.
What a great portion of scripture! How did Paul lead the Gentiles? By what he said and by what he did. What did he do? He performed signs and miracles through the power of the Spirit. Will you say with me, will you pray with me today that we would live and expect the Spirit to do the same things? We would all agree that we should lead people to Christ in what we say and what we do, but will we contend for miracles? This won’t be as easy as praying here and there. This will have to be a concerted contention for the miraculous in our lives. We will need to read and know the Word and be convinced that the power of God is within each of us and that we have the mandate from God Himself to display His acts of mercy and compassion through great signs and wonders. Paul did not lead a “nice” life for Christ – he was a sold out Jesus freak and expected the power of God to manifest regularly. Choose today – nice Christian or sold out miracle working Jesus freak.
18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19 by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.
What a great portion of scripture! How did Paul lead the Gentiles? By what he said and by what he did. What did he do? He performed signs and miracles through the power of the Spirit. Will you say with me, will you pray with me today that we would live and expect the Spirit to do the same things? We would all agree that we should lead people to Christ in what we say and what we do, but will we contend for miracles? This won’t be as easy as praying here and there. This will have to be a concerted contention for the miraculous in our lives. We will need to read and know the Word and be convinced that the power of God is within each of us and that we have the mandate from God Himself to display His acts of mercy and compassion through great signs and wonders. Paul did not lead a “nice” life for Christ – he was a sold out Jesus freak and expected the power of God to manifest regularly. Choose today – nice Christian or sold out miracle working Jesus freak.
Monday, March 7, 2011
March 7
Exodus 32:21-24 (NIV)
21 He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?” 22 “Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. 23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ 24 So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”
Besides being one of the funniest lines in the Bible, “I threw it in the fire and out came this calf,” we see here that there was a question of accountability and fault, and Aaron deflected it like a master and threw it back on all the people. Then he deflected it towards some sort of spiritual power that made the calf. In other words, he lied his face off to get away from any responsibility of his own multiple sins. The problem with that is he didn’t get away from it far enough, in fact, 3,000 people died that day and a plague was to kill many more. There were far reaching actions of Aaron’s sin and the people’s sin before the Lord. We may think that we would never cast an idol like that or that we would have waited, but let’s humbly remember that Moses was gone for over a month and gold, stone and wood idols were the gods of that day. We have different gods and should keep our pride in check. Think about it.
The final point today is this:
Exodus 32:20 (NIV)
20 And he took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.
We have got to understand that this is the norm. When we worship other gods, we take them into ourselves. We don’t hold the fire and not get burned, we get burned on the inside! Church – stay as far away as possible from the idols of our society, (our labor, effort and wisdom, beauty, money, fame, power and control, sex, inebriants, etc…), or else that will corrupt you from the inside, because you will drink them. Instead, serve the Living God who loves you so and gave everything for you and gives everything to you!
21 He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?” 22 “Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. 23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ 24 So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”
Besides being one of the funniest lines in the Bible, “I threw it in the fire and out came this calf,” we see here that there was a question of accountability and fault, and Aaron deflected it like a master and threw it back on all the people. Then he deflected it towards some sort of spiritual power that made the calf. In other words, he lied his face off to get away from any responsibility of his own multiple sins. The problem with that is he didn’t get away from it far enough, in fact, 3,000 people died that day and a plague was to kill many more. There were far reaching actions of Aaron’s sin and the people’s sin before the Lord. We may think that we would never cast an idol like that or that we would have waited, but let’s humbly remember that Moses was gone for over a month and gold, stone and wood idols were the gods of that day. We have different gods and should keep our pride in check. Think about it.
The final point today is this:
Exodus 32:20 (NIV)
20 And he took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.
We have got to understand that this is the norm. When we worship other gods, we take them into ourselves. We don’t hold the fire and not get burned, we get burned on the inside! Church – stay as far away as possible from the idols of our society, (our labor, effort and wisdom, beauty, money, fame, power and control, sex, inebriants, etc…), or else that will corrupt you from the inside, because you will drink them. Instead, serve the Living God who loves you so and gave everything for you and gives everything to you!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
March 6
Exodus 31:13 (NIV)
13 “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy.
The Sabbath was set up between Israel and God and is part of the Old Testament. However, that doesn’t mean that we can forget about it and not experience death. It is true that we are not “bound” by the law, but have freedom in Christ, which means we have freedom to choose right! The Sabbath rest, and the special Sabbaths bring life to us through rest, relaxation and recreation and also through remembrance and consecration. The special Sabbaths are a time to celebrate and we should have those celebration times. That point I will save for another time as we focus on the Sabbath. Instead of me telling you the rules for our New Covenant Sabbath, I will point out two timeless truths.
First the Sabbath will be a sign. There is within the Sabbath day a sign to God, can you guess what it is? Spend some time thinking about that. The second thing is “so you may know that I am the Lord who makes you holy”. When I read that today the Lord was saying to me that I have to cease from my work so I can trust in His work for my salvation and His ability to provide my provision. Who is the Lord? He is the one who can bring about all things – who has given us all things. Does He need help? Not on the Sabbath He doesn’t.
13 “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy.
The Sabbath was set up between Israel and God and is part of the Old Testament. However, that doesn’t mean that we can forget about it and not experience death. It is true that we are not “bound” by the law, but have freedom in Christ, which means we have freedom to choose right! The Sabbath rest, and the special Sabbaths bring life to us through rest, relaxation and recreation and also through remembrance and consecration. The special Sabbaths are a time to celebrate and we should have those celebration times. That point I will save for another time as we focus on the Sabbath. Instead of me telling you the rules for our New Covenant Sabbath, I will point out two timeless truths.
First the Sabbath will be a sign. There is within the Sabbath day a sign to God, can you guess what it is? Spend some time thinking about that. The second thing is “so you may know that I am the Lord who makes you holy”. When I read that today the Lord was saying to me that I have to cease from my work so I can trust in His work for my salvation and His ability to provide my provision. Who is the Lord? He is the one who can bring about all things – who has given us all things. Does He need help? Not on the Sabbath He doesn’t.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
March 5
Romans 12 is one of the spectacularly rich chapters in the Word of God that touches nearly every area of life. It talks about sacrifice, worship, church body life, gifts, grace, humility, love, zeal and many other things like how to overcome evil. We have our children memorize this entire chapter several times in their lives because it is so rich.
Romans 12:17 (NIV)
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil…
Romans 12:21 (NIV)
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
The thing about overcoming evil is it is hard! Christianity isn’t for wimps! It is a way of life that self sacrifice and self control is given and demanded in order to demonstrate the Kingdom of God. Let’s be honest, I want to fight fire with fire many times. When someone cuts me down, I have on my tongue within milliseconds a response to make someone feel like a jerk and never do it again. It comes natural to me – it’s a gift. However the gift of my Father is mercy and self control to which I MUST yield if I am to “win”, and I love winning! The win is only through being good to people who are being evil toward you. That means we don’t give them back “what they deserve”. That means that we don’t talk about them behind their back (man is that hard), not even to your spouse! That means we don’t avoid them or complain or anything else but figure out a way to bless them. If we can’t figure anything else out, just bless them audibly.
There is a promise in the Bible that is still true today; “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.” If people are being evil to me and rendering curses with backbiting, gossip, judgments or outright harmful to my face evil, God will unleash curses against them – even if they are Christians! There will be a removal of protection from evil and evil will have it’s way to some extent. I need to pray for those people and not act in an evil fashion toward them! If I do, I may be in the same boat they are in! Don’t get caught in that boat, but learn the Kingdom way to overcome evil – with good!
Romans 12:17 (NIV)
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil…
Romans 12:21 (NIV)
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
The thing about overcoming evil is it is hard! Christianity isn’t for wimps! It is a way of life that self sacrifice and self control is given and demanded in order to demonstrate the Kingdom of God. Let’s be honest, I want to fight fire with fire many times. When someone cuts me down, I have on my tongue within milliseconds a response to make someone feel like a jerk and never do it again. It comes natural to me – it’s a gift. However the gift of my Father is mercy and self control to which I MUST yield if I am to “win”, and I love winning! The win is only through being good to people who are being evil toward you. That means we don’t give them back “what they deserve”. That means that we don’t talk about them behind their back (man is that hard), not even to your spouse! That means we don’t avoid them or complain or anything else but figure out a way to bless them. If we can’t figure anything else out, just bless them audibly.
There is a promise in the Bible that is still true today; “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.” If people are being evil to me and rendering curses with backbiting, gossip, judgments or outright harmful to my face evil, God will unleash curses against them – even if they are Christians! There will be a removal of protection from evil and evil will have it’s way to some extent. I need to pray for those people and not act in an evil fashion toward them! If I do, I may be in the same boat they are in! Don’t get caught in that boat, but learn the Kingdom way to overcome evil – with good!
Friday, March 4, 2011
March 4
Romans 11:33 (NIV)
33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
The unsearchableness of God is great! Sometimes it is so hard to understand certain things and Romans 11 fits into that category. It messes with your head and challenges your preconceived notions. How God does things, why God does things and what God is doing in the grand scheme of things is incredible! For me, this reminds me that I am not going to figure everything out. Even though we have been given the understanding of mysteries, there is so much to God that is unfathomable. I suppose that we will take an eternity and still not get it all.
This is frustrating and comforting at the same time. It is frustrating because we want to figure it all out. We want to be able to publish books to answer all the questions of humanity. There are certain things that are cut and dry – God is love – but there are other things that are at the very least hard to search out if not unfathomable. However there is a comfort in knowing that God is bigger than us! His ways are not fully understandable! He is greater and grander than us! Isn’t it comforting that God isn’t limited by what we can think? He has your life in His hands, aren’t you glad His hands are bigger than yours? Think about it.
33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!
The unsearchableness of God is great! Sometimes it is so hard to understand certain things and Romans 11 fits into that category. It messes with your head and challenges your preconceived notions. How God does things, why God does things and what God is doing in the grand scheme of things is incredible! For me, this reminds me that I am not going to figure everything out. Even though we have been given the understanding of mysteries, there is so much to God that is unfathomable. I suppose that we will take an eternity and still not get it all.
This is frustrating and comforting at the same time. It is frustrating because we want to figure it all out. We want to be able to publish books to answer all the questions of humanity. There are certain things that are cut and dry – God is love – but there are other things that are at the very least hard to search out if not unfathomable. However there is a comfort in knowing that God is bigger than us! His ways are not fully understandable! He is greater and grander than us! Isn’t it comforting that God isn’t limited by what we can think? He has your life in His hands, aren’t you glad His hands are bigger than yours? Think about it.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
March 3
Exodus 25:9 (NIV)
9 Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.
At first I thought that Moses had some creative license as to how to make the articles of the tabernacle. The descriptions were not super detailed and I was thinking that it was wonderful that God gave man so much creativity in making His temple. Then I came upon this verse:
Exodus 25:40 (NIV)
40 See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.
That is when I noticed that God showed it to him. Verse 9 had said the same thing but I hadn’t caught it until I started writing. God showed it to him! I believe there was some craftsmanship and handiwork that went into the tabernacle or tent and all of it’s articles, but it was to be done as God had told them and showed them.
There are a few steps within our lives that we go through in reference to how we live and interact with our Champion and Architect. The first way is that we ask God to bless our day. We plan it for the most part and ask His blessing on it. The second is that we do get direction from the Lord for our day but most of what we talk to Him about is the big stuff and not the small stuff. Next, we surrender our days in complete, but the pattern of our lives, (the way we used to do things), takes over a lot of the time. This happens because we are not purposeful and because even though we received instructions on our day, we didn’t really see it as God sees it. The final step is to sit before the Lord and be so entrenched in His will, we not only see what He wants, but we cannot see it being done any other way. We receive the pattern of our days from Him and we fear Him enough to know that the accomplishments that need to be done, that are there for us to do, that are within our reach, will never be done without paying close attention to detail.
Will you aspire with me to seek His face before we do anything else, get clear direction from Him, and fear and respect Him enough to carry out things just as He shows us?
9 Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.
At first I thought that Moses had some creative license as to how to make the articles of the tabernacle. The descriptions were not super detailed and I was thinking that it was wonderful that God gave man so much creativity in making His temple. Then I came upon this verse:
Exodus 25:40 (NIV)
40 See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.
That is when I noticed that God showed it to him. Verse 9 had said the same thing but I hadn’t caught it until I started writing. God showed it to him! I believe there was some craftsmanship and handiwork that went into the tabernacle or tent and all of it’s articles, but it was to be done as God had told them and showed them.
There are a few steps within our lives that we go through in reference to how we live and interact with our Champion and Architect. The first way is that we ask God to bless our day. We plan it for the most part and ask His blessing on it. The second is that we do get direction from the Lord for our day but most of what we talk to Him about is the big stuff and not the small stuff. Next, we surrender our days in complete, but the pattern of our lives, (the way we used to do things), takes over a lot of the time. This happens because we are not purposeful and because even though we received instructions on our day, we didn’t really see it as God sees it. The final step is to sit before the Lord and be so entrenched in His will, we not only see what He wants, but we cannot see it being done any other way. We receive the pattern of our days from Him and we fear Him enough to know that the accomplishments that need to be done, that are there for us to do, that are within our reach, will never be done without paying close attention to detail.
Will you aspire with me to seek His face before we do anything else, get clear direction from Him, and fear and respect Him enough to carry out things just as He shows us?
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
March 2
Exodus 23:29-30 (NIV)
29 But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.
God thinks so differently than us! We think, let’s get rid of all of our enemies, kick them out of the land and be done with them and the battle. God is thinking that isn’t such a good idea – He wants the enemies in the land for a while and for us to engage in battle for a long time. If God gave us the physical victory in a moment, we would be free from battle. That seems so good! However, the Word tells us that the land would become desolate and the wild animals would take over and overpower us. If God gives us everything in a moment then our lives would not be taken over by Him, they would be free of enemies, until another type of enemy comes in and rules. Are you getting this? God in His mercy keeps us engaged in the battle so after we have conquered with His strength and power areas of our lives that were enemy territory – those areas that we couldn’t seem to control and they got us into trouble of one sort or another – then we can actually occupy, or better yet, the Spirit can occupy those areas so we continue to walk in victory. The battle keeps us sharp!
These wild animals that would be too numerous, what do they represent for us? Many things I suppose, but one thing is clear – they become too much for us. Oh how I have wished that I would just be done with the inner struggles and battles, but I suppose if I was done with them, I would have the outer struggles that would take over. With the inner struggles being won little by little, I stay in the struggle, I stay in hope, I stay on my knees, and the wild animals have little chance of occupying any territory giving to and won for my Jesus.
Maybe we should take a moment and thank the Lord for the daily battles and daily consecration and that we haven’t been taken over by exterior spiritual forces.
29 But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.
God thinks so differently than us! We think, let’s get rid of all of our enemies, kick them out of the land and be done with them and the battle. God is thinking that isn’t such a good idea – He wants the enemies in the land for a while and for us to engage in battle for a long time. If God gave us the physical victory in a moment, we would be free from battle. That seems so good! However, the Word tells us that the land would become desolate and the wild animals would take over and overpower us. If God gives us everything in a moment then our lives would not be taken over by Him, they would be free of enemies, until another type of enemy comes in and rules. Are you getting this? God in His mercy keeps us engaged in the battle so after we have conquered with His strength and power areas of our lives that were enemy territory – those areas that we couldn’t seem to control and they got us into trouble of one sort or another – then we can actually occupy, or better yet, the Spirit can occupy those areas so we continue to walk in victory. The battle keeps us sharp!
These wild animals that would be too numerous, what do they represent for us? Many things I suppose, but one thing is clear – they become too much for us. Oh how I have wished that I would just be done with the inner struggles and battles, but I suppose if I was done with them, I would have the outer struggles that would take over. With the inner struggles being won little by little, I stay in the struggle, I stay in hope, I stay on my knees, and the wild animals have little chance of occupying any territory giving to and won for my Jesus.
Maybe we should take a moment and thank the Lord for the daily battles and daily consecration and that we haven’t been taken over by exterior spiritual forces.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
March 1
Psalm 119:128 (NIV)
128 and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path.
It seems that many have been lulled to sleep and accept wrong or tolerate it. I myself found myself fast forwarding a TV show because of objectionable content. My question to myself and all of us is, why just fast forward it? Let’s turn it off! Why just fast forward or tolerate it? We don’t hate wrong paths.
It is easy in this society to let the lines of right and wrong blur and for us as Christians in the name of tolerance accept the practices of evil. Of course we condemn murder, rape, child abuse, but there are the not so subtle and subtle things of our lives and of others that we “tolerate” instead of hate. Our hatred, like God’s hatred of wrong or evil is based in His love for right or good. He loves good because He wants our lives to be good! He loves us so much He wants the best for us! I think God loves us more than we love us. Either that or we don’t consider His precepts right. For most of us we believe what God says is true, right and just, but we may have the attitude that it “isn’t that big of a deal”, when the very thing we are accepting is causing us a death that will reverberate through our lives and even the lives of our family.
This week, ask yourself if you hate the wrong paths you see, hear about or do. Talk to God about it – He loves you more than you love you!
128 and because I consider all your precepts right, I hate every wrong path.
It seems that many have been lulled to sleep and accept wrong or tolerate it. I myself found myself fast forwarding a TV show because of objectionable content. My question to myself and all of us is, why just fast forward it? Let’s turn it off! Why just fast forward or tolerate it? We don’t hate wrong paths.
It is easy in this society to let the lines of right and wrong blur and for us as Christians in the name of tolerance accept the practices of evil. Of course we condemn murder, rape, child abuse, but there are the not so subtle and subtle things of our lives and of others that we “tolerate” instead of hate. Our hatred, like God’s hatred of wrong or evil is based in His love for right or good. He loves good because He wants our lives to be good! He loves us so much He wants the best for us! I think God loves us more than we love us. Either that or we don’t consider His precepts right. For most of us we believe what God says is true, right and just, but we may have the attitude that it “isn’t that big of a deal”, when the very thing we are accepting is causing us a death that will reverberate through our lives and even the lives of our family.
This week, ask yourself if you hate the wrong paths you see, hear about or do. Talk to God about it – He loves you more than you love you!
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