Month: June 2015

Inventory

Re: Verse reading–1 Samuel 16:1-7; Psalm 139 (day three)

“Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord?” The hardest type of leadership is self-leadership, experts conclude.  You don’t say.  “If only you, God, would slay the wicked!”  That comes easy enough.  Then, a sobering turn: If God is everywhere, he is surely privy to one’s innermost thoughts.  What if those innermost thoughts harbor malice, greed, dishonesty?  Has the psalmist just condemned himself?  He realizes the high probability that his own heart shares the same traits as the hearts of the people he has asked the Lord to annihilate.  Self-leadership demands a fierce moral inventory: God, search me, test me, see me, lead me.  We will never preach God’s forgiveness without the poison of arrogance until we have humbled ourselves enough to become the forgiven.

Bound to Freedom

Re: Verse reading–1 Samuel 16:1-7; Psalm 139 (day two)

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” Psalm 139:7

Have you ever heard someone speak about a relationship being smothering? Someone might lament that the relationship can be suffocating, and that they need space. So why is the text from Psalm 139 so comforting? Post-modern thought would not support the idea of a relationship that is so comprehensive, and yet the Christian finds great peace in knowing the Lord is already where they have ever thought about going. Consider the third verse to the beloved hymn Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing:

O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!                                                     Let Thy grace, Lord, like a fetter, bind my wand’ring heart to Thee:                                           Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;                                                 Here’s my heart, Lord, take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.

The second half of the verse answers why such strong language is needed in the first half. Knowing that God is all around us helps us find freedom in yoking ourselves to his perfect will. Left alone we wander, bound to him we are sealed.

(Shameless Dad moment ahead)

A God that knows us, forms us, and knits us together is certainly worthy of our allegiance.

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Voluntary vulnerability

Re: Verse reading–1 Samuel 16:1-7; Psalm 139 (day one, week two of a new summer series)

“Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”–1 Samuel 16:7.

It is a statement of fact.  Not a threat or a promise.  God looks at the heart.  He IS looking, this very moment.  “I am the Lord who searches the heart, who tests the inner depths to give to each person according to what he deserves.”—Jeremiah 17:10.  “Able to discern the thoughts and the intentions of the heart.”—Hebrews 4:13.  Does it give you the willies to think of it?  I hope not.  The infinitely holy One is also the infinitely merciful One.  David came to a place where He welcomed the searching eye of the trustworthy One.  He prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart.”—Psalm 139:23.  He became voluntarily vulnerable.  If God already knows my deepest secrets, why shouldn’t I be open and honest with Him? Only good will come from it.

Whose image?

RE Verse reading–Genesis 1:26-31; Romans 5:1-11 (day seven) “They brought [Him] a coin, and He asked them, ‘Whose IMAGE is this?’ ‘Caesar’s they replied.’ “–Mark 12:16.  With a Mayoral election coming up on Saturday, my mind is on this story.  “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesars, but RENDER TO GOD THE THINGS THAT ARE GOD’S.” These are unforgettable words and wisdom from Christ.  The backstory is from Genesis 1.  Jesus knew, assumed we would know as well, that God stamped His likeness on us, His image in us.  Like a Roman coin, we are marked off as God’s property for God’s purpose.  While we owe something to the state, and should gladly return to it attentive and informed involvement, we owe everything to God, our very lives!  So, go vote on Saturday, but come worship on Sunday (and every day of the week).  All of us have two loyalties. One should always be higher than the other.  We belong to God!

Peace

Re: Verse reading–Genesis 1:26-31; Romans 5:1-11 (day Six)
Jesus told the Samaritan woman, “God is seeking worshippers who worship in Spirit and truth.” (John 4:23) We are those worshippers, and not of our own making, but God’s. In Jesus’ death we have forgiveness of sin for all time, but in the resurrected life of Jesus we find our righteousness. In other words God required more than forgiveness for us to be at “peace” with Him; He required a righteousness that forgiveness alone could not provide (Romans 4:25). God transferred the infinite and beautiful righteousness of His resurrected Son onto us, those who by faith rest in the Son. So our slate was not only wiped clean from past and future sin, but our sin was replaced with the righteousness of God’s Son! That jaw-dropping transfer gives us “peace” with God, giving us the privilege to come to God as worshippers.
And by the way, this is no tenuous peace, but a true peace. It is not like King Saul, who changed his relationship with David on a dime. David never knew what Saul he would encounter. An angry Saul? Friendly? Ally? Enemy? Not so with God. The resurrected life of Jesus affords us true everlasting peace with God; we can “boldly approach the throne of grace!” (Hebrews 4:16) God made that happen; He sought after you and made a way!

Past and Present

Re: Verse reading–Genesis 1:26-31; Romans 5:1-11 (day five)

Romans 5:8  “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”

Ever notice the 2 verb tenses in this verse?  Past (Christ died) and Present (God demonstrates).  Jesus’ death on the cross was a “once and for all” moment, yet God still uses it in the present as a reminder of His never-ending love.  We remember Christ’s death and are immediately filled with a flood of emotions (thankfulness, joy, sorrow).  It is the work of the Holy Spirit that constantly/presently points us to the death of Christ to prove and pour out the Love of God.  God’s past love (Christ’s death) can be understood as a present reality.  As believers we have the privilege each day to remember back and rejoice now in God’s Love.  When we do this, the result is a deep and daily Hope of the Glory of God.

Created…Restored

Re: Verse reading–Genesis 1:26-31; Romans 5:1-11 (day four)  “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.”  God’s creation was good…for just a short time.  It did not take long for sin to enter the world.  Then, the rest of history has been God’s working to bring about the redemption of man.  We were created in God’s image and only after Christ came to redeem mankind, could we again have a relationship with God.  Once God has poured His love into us through the Holy Spirit, we are able now to seek to become more like Christ.  A lot of big words describing the character of Christ…perseverance, character, hope, atonement, redemption, reconciliation…we are once more being created into the image of God through His Son Jesus Christ.  We could not restore the relationship with God ourselves…it was only through the work of Jesus.  He is our only hope.  A relationship with our Creator God?  Absolutely…but only through Christ!

Love

Re: Verse reading–Genesis 1:26-31; Romans 5:1-11 (day three)

“God created mankind in his own image.”  The celebrated idea of our times is that constraint on human power is oppression, that boundaries are made to be crossed, that order is a tool of the privileged to deny people a voice.  And so the story of contemporary society has become a story of endless self-expression, self-focus, and self-indulgence.  The rise of the “selfie” perfectly sums up the state of our thinking.  As creatures made in God’s image, we, like God, have the power to carry out our will.  Interestingly, though, the Bible says “God is love”, not “God is power.”  God is powerful, but his love informs his power.  Without love, God’s power would destroy, not create.  The same is true for us.  Without love, our power isn’t our glory, but our destruction.

Create

Re: Verse reading–Genesis 1:26-31; Romans 5:1-11 (day two)

So God created…one of the fundamental characteristics of God is that of creator. The first chapters of the Bible are filled with the infinite creativity of our maker. Every shade of green, every variation of plant or animal. The minute differences that separate similar looking things, and the vast canvas of mountains and deserts. Our God is an artist. And we are in his image. Therefore, one of the distinguishing traits that God gave us and no other creature is the ability to create. Although we do not share God’s ability to create ex nihilo (out of nothing), each time we paint, write, sing, construct, or engineer we reflect part of his amazing nature. It was this scripture, and this reason that we have named our Arts Academy Imago (Image).  We are helping foster this love of creativity with our church and the community, and to help them see that all these gifts are given by God, and they all reflect part of him. It is a joy to see these gifts develop.

Imago Dei

Re: Verse reading–Genesis 1:26-31; Romans 5:1-11 (day one)

“Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over.  .  . all the earth.”  Genesis 1:26.  It is an uniquely Jewish/Christian thought.  Not found in other religions or secular philosophy.  Humans are made in the image of God.  Every human is a small representation of His nature!  We do not earn our value.  It is ours by virtue of His plan and purpose.  Some say that His likeness is seen in human CREATIVITY.  He is the creator.  We are “creative”–music, art, architecture, literature.    Others say it is our RESPONSIBILITY to rule over the planet. Others say it is our SPIRITUALITY (lost in sin, but restored in the death and resurrection of Christ)–the capacity for real, mutual friendship with the Holy One.  Whatever else it means, the image of God marks humans as uniquely valuable to Him.  It proposes a HIGH dream of what is planned and possible for every life.