7:52a "They replied, 'Are you from Galilee too?'..."
The Pharisees rebuke Nicodemus for defending Jesus.
Prior to this outburst at Nicodemus, the Pharisees scold the men they sent to arrest Jesus by asking them if they have "also been deceived?" It struck me as comical in a sense that they hate Jesus so much that they regard anyone moved by the obvious power in His message as dolts. It really seems that the implication of their two statements is to ask "are you stupid?" Galileans unfortunately had a stereotype of being uneducated manual labor-types.
This points to a problem I have with sharing my faith. Among like minded brethren, I love discussing my faith and God's holy Word. Among unbelievers, however, I'm not as comfortable because I expect the same reaction as with the Pharisees. Mind you, I don't doubt the truth of the Bible, but I expect scoffing from those who do doubt, and in all truthfulness, I don't want a reputation of idiocy. To avoid beating around the bush, I have a pride issue. I wholeheartedly believe my faith is true saving faith, but I still care about spiritually blind people calling me stupid.
Boy, when you write it out like that... I actually do sound stupid.
So, to rectify my problem (after I repent to God), I'm going to meditate on 1 Cor. 1:18 tonight and for however long it takes to drive out this preoccupation with what my unsaved acquaintances think of me.
"For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."
Who cares what they think!? They think it's stupid because they can't understand it because they don't have the Holy Spirit because they're lost! I should react to derision with pity and prayer, not shame.
Lord, help me to be quick to boast about You and Your salvation. Help me to be bold in proclaiming You and Your gospel. Draw in the hearts of the mockers and open their eyes to Your truth and glory.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
2 Kings 20, 21, 22
Today's reading was done from my brand new ESV Bible. Thanks Ryan!
2 Kings 22:11 "When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes"
King Josiah hears the words of God for the first time and reacts with fear and penitence.
I did the math and found out that Josiah was 26 when this happened... the same age as me. That got me thinking; what if the Bible I was just given today was my first Bible? Well, first of all, I'll go out on a limb and assume I wouldn't be a believer. My family would probably be a mess (and might not even exist altogether!). Many areas of my life would be disgusting junk heaps. I probably wouldn't know many of the dear people I count as friends today. Yet I know I take this book for granted sometimes.
I'm not at all suggesting we do this, but I wonder how many people would have a greater appreciation for the Bible if they had to live without it for a couple months or years. Josiah instantly knew what he had been missing and reacted just as God wanted him to. With humility and a penitent heart. I'm trying to think of the last time I felt cut to the quick after reading a passage or hearing a convicting sermon... ok, it was actually quite recently.
If you're a fundamentalist like me (and I don't mean in the "suicide bomber" sense of the word), you probably struggle with the balance of making truth come before experience and emotion, yet not pushing emotions out of the picture completely. We need to come to the word completely and allow it to perform it's convicting work in us. We should use proper study and exegesis to mine truth, but when the truth slaps you in the face, take a second to stop studying and talk to God about it.
If you were "slapped" by James 1:20, pray for forgiveness for a temper that stunts your spiritual growth. If you were "slapped" by Psalm 65:1-4, praise your God for choosing you and saving you. This should be a conversation, God talks through His word, we respond through prayer and application. Don't be afraid to show some emotion!
Lord, thank You for Your Word! Let me be consumed with Your words and let them convict me and lift me up. Let me meditate on Your precepts and fix my eyes on Your ways. Let me delight in Your statutes and not forget Your word.
2 Kings 22:11 "When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes"
King Josiah hears the words of God for the first time and reacts with fear and penitence.
I did the math and found out that Josiah was 26 when this happened... the same age as me. That got me thinking; what if the Bible I was just given today was my first Bible? Well, first of all, I'll go out on a limb and assume I wouldn't be a believer. My family would probably be a mess (and might not even exist altogether!). Many areas of my life would be disgusting junk heaps. I probably wouldn't know many of the dear people I count as friends today. Yet I know I take this book for granted sometimes.
I'm not at all suggesting we do this, but I wonder how many people would have a greater appreciation for the Bible if they had to live without it for a couple months or years. Josiah instantly knew what he had been missing and reacted just as God wanted him to. With humility and a penitent heart. I'm trying to think of the last time I felt cut to the quick after reading a passage or hearing a convicting sermon... ok, it was actually quite recently.
If you're a fundamentalist like me (and I don't mean in the "suicide bomber" sense of the word), you probably struggle with the balance of making truth come before experience and emotion, yet not pushing emotions out of the picture completely. We need to come to the word completely and allow it to perform it's convicting work in us. We should use proper study and exegesis to mine truth, but when the truth slaps you in the face, take a second to stop studying and talk to God about it.
If you were "slapped" by James 1:20, pray for forgiveness for a temper that stunts your spiritual growth. If you were "slapped" by Psalm 65:1-4, praise your God for choosing you and saving you. This should be a conversation, God talks through His word, we respond through prayer and application. Don't be afraid to show some emotion!
Lord, thank You for Your Word! Let me be consumed with Your words and let them convict me and lift me up. Let me meditate on Your precepts and fix my eyes on Your ways. Let me delight in Your statutes and not forget Your word.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
John 5:1-24
5:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life."
Jesus summarizes the gospel, emphasizing the power He yields to save.
I was thinking about passing from death into life. This isn't a reference to hell vs. heaven as much as it is a statement of the difference in the earthly life of a believer vs. an unbeliever. We have "passed" (past-tense) from death into life. What is "death" and what is "life"?
"And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world...in the lusts of our flesh, indulging in the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath" - Eph 2:1-3
"Death" is the slavery to our own sin nature. Like zombies we walk around not even hardly aware of our spiritually dilapidated state. We sin and think nothing of it, we deceive ourselves with good works that are themselves sins of pride and arrogance.
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." - Eph 2:4-6
"Life" is the freedom from sin and the exultation with Christ. Despite deserving destruction, we are exalted with Christ by being joined to Him in His resurrection. The miracle of the "third day" when Christ showed His power over death is ours as we pass from "death" to "life". We are rejoined to our Creator as we had never been, but always should have been. We are given a desire to do good works for God's pleasure, not our own. We are given the Holy Spirit, God dwelling inside us to guide and mold us. We are grafted into the body of Christ, the church which gives us direction, purpose, and support. Now that's what I call life!
Don't get me wrong... heaven will be great! But when you read this passage, don't skip past it with fleeting images of pearly gates and gold pavement. Realize that Jesus is talking about the power to punch the bully of sin a deathblow and lead you to the life that God always dreamed for you.
Lord, help me to appreciate the LIFE I have now! Thank You for Your Word, the good works You prepared for me, Your Holy Spirit, Your body, and most of all for the ability to commune with You as I was made to do. Help me to ever grow closer to You.
Jesus summarizes the gospel, emphasizing the power He yields to save.
I was thinking about passing from death into life. This isn't a reference to hell vs. heaven as much as it is a statement of the difference in the earthly life of a believer vs. an unbeliever. We have "passed" (past-tense) from death into life. What is "death" and what is "life"?
"And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world...in the lusts of our flesh, indulging in the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath" - Eph 2:1-3
"Death" is the slavery to our own sin nature. Like zombies we walk around not even hardly aware of our spiritually dilapidated state. We sin and think nothing of it, we deceive ourselves with good works that are themselves sins of pride and arrogance.
"But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." - Eph 2:4-6
"Life" is the freedom from sin and the exultation with Christ. Despite deserving destruction, we are exalted with Christ by being joined to Him in His resurrection. The miracle of the "third day" when Christ showed His power over death is ours as we pass from "death" to "life". We are rejoined to our Creator as we had never been, but always should have been. We are given a desire to do good works for God's pleasure, not our own. We are given the Holy Spirit, God dwelling inside us to guide and mold us. We are grafted into the body of Christ, the church which gives us direction, purpose, and support. Now that's what I call life!
Don't get me wrong... heaven will be great! But when you read this passage, don't skip past it with fleeting images of pearly gates and gold pavement. Realize that Jesus is talking about the power to punch the bully of sin a deathblow and lead you to the life that God always dreamed for you.
Lord, help me to appreciate the LIFE I have now! Thank You for Your Word, the good works You prepared for me, Your Holy Spirit, Your body, and most of all for the ability to commune with You as I was made to do. Help me to ever grow closer to You.
Monday, May 5, 2008
1 Kings 10,11
11:2 "...the LORD had said to the sons of Israel, 'You shall not associate with [foreign women], nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.' Solomon held fast to these in love."
The writer summarizes the downfall of Solomon.
Chapter 10 is the pinnacle of Solomon's success. He is blessed with fullness of wisdom and riches. Everyone wants to meet him to get a piece of wisdom to treasure for themselves. The Queen of Sheba is amazed at all he possesses and gives glory to God. He made "silver as common as stones in Jerusalem" for crying out loud! It reminds me of Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof" singing "If I were a rich man..."
But how quickly it all comes crashing down.
God punishes Solomon by giving him headaches in the form of enemies all around Israel, including one from his own ranks. This former servant of Solomon, Jeroboam, is also revealed to be the one who will rule over the majority of Israel after Solomon's passing, leaving only Judah under the reign of David's lineage. Stress and shame galore which is traced back to a heart led astray from God. Solomon's downfall was in diverting his affections from God to the fancies of his many wives. While this may be enough application for those of you currently hanging out with worshippers of Ashtoreth, the rest of us should dig deeper into the story for our lesson.
How did Solomon get to that position of turning from God? One would argue that he did not stand up to the machinations of his foreign wives for what he knew to be right... and that one would be correct. Another would argue he should never have taken the foreign wives in the first place... and that one would be correct too. I think the answer is in 11:2. I put forth that the beginning of the end for Solomon began before all that - Solomon's doom was that he didn't take God's word seriously. Instead of hungering for God's messages of truth, he was hungry for Hittites.
So what do I put before God's word? While my journaling has been lacking recently, I have been reading my Bible, but certainly not as often or as intensely as I (or more importantly, God) would like. I know there were times when I could have better spent my time this last week, but I didn't do what I was supposed to do... most of the time out of laziness.
I just celebrated my 26th birthday recently and was reflecting on the blessings I have that many people don't reach by 26. Five years of marriage to a wonderful wife, two awesome kids and a third on the way, a degree from the UW, and our first house. I look at all that and I see 1 Kings chapter 10, a la Dave. I don't want a chapter 11, and I don't mean in the legal sense (although that would stink, too).
Lord, help me to take Your word seriously. Help me to hunger for Your truth and to be bored with worthless pastimes. Give me the maturity to crave Your teaching like the air I breathe.
The writer summarizes the downfall of Solomon.
Chapter 10 is the pinnacle of Solomon's success. He is blessed with fullness of wisdom and riches. Everyone wants to meet him to get a piece of wisdom to treasure for themselves. The Queen of Sheba is amazed at all he possesses and gives glory to God. He made "silver as common as stones in Jerusalem" for crying out loud! It reminds me of Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof" singing "If I were a rich man..."
But how quickly it all comes crashing down.
God punishes Solomon by giving him headaches in the form of enemies all around Israel, including one from his own ranks. This former servant of Solomon, Jeroboam, is also revealed to be the one who will rule over the majority of Israel after Solomon's passing, leaving only Judah under the reign of David's lineage. Stress and shame galore which is traced back to a heart led astray from God. Solomon's downfall was in diverting his affections from God to the fancies of his many wives. While this may be enough application for those of you currently hanging out with worshippers of Ashtoreth, the rest of us should dig deeper into the story for our lesson.
How did Solomon get to that position of turning from God? One would argue that he did not stand up to the machinations of his foreign wives for what he knew to be right... and that one would be correct. Another would argue he should never have taken the foreign wives in the first place... and that one would be correct too. I think the answer is in 11:2. I put forth that the beginning of the end for Solomon began before all that - Solomon's doom was that he didn't take God's word seriously. Instead of hungering for God's messages of truth, he was hungry for Hittites.
So what do I put before God's word? While my journaling has been lacking recently, I have been reading my Bible, but certainly not as often or as intensely as I (or more importantly, God) would like. I know there were times when I could have better spent my time this last week, but I didn't do what I was supposed to do... most of the time out of laziness.
I just celebrated my 26th birthday recently and was reflecting on the blessings I have that many people don't reach by 26. Five years of marriage to a wonderful wife, two awesome kids and a third on the way, a degree from the UW, and our first house. I look at all that and I see 1 Kings chapter 10, a la Dave. I don't want a chapter 11, and I don't mean in the legal sense (although that would stink, too).
Lord, help me to take Your word seriously. Help me to hunger for Your truth and to be bored with worthless pastimes. Give me the maturity to crave Your teaching like the air I breathe.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
