Monday, 3/30/2015

“Most of the evil in this world is done by people with good intentions.” ~ T.S. Eliot

JUDGES 1-2

Israel begins to worship other God's after Joshua, Caleb and those originally with Moses' death...

20Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and said, “Because this nation has violated the covenant I ordained for their ancestors and has not listened to me, 21I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. 22I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their ancestors did.” 23The Lord had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua.

LUKE 7:1-30

Jesus heals a centurion's servant...

He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. 7That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. 8For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

9When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” 10Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

JOURNAL

Faith comes from one thing only...time spent with God.  It is amazing how intellectually I know this yet emotionally my heart constantly turns from it.  I am good to seek God fully when the world does not work for me.  Yet when it is temporarily working I don't earnestly seek God. I tend to worship everything else.  To seek God consistently and fully means that I am willing to sacrifice everything else...my time, my cravings, my immediate needs and desires in order to receive love from God.  I am willing to make receiving God's love and instruction more important than even the air that I breathe.  

What does that look like?  For starters it means I depend on it and seek it first without a backup plan.  I have a tendency to consult God first and then if I am fuzzy on the answer or don't like the answer...I try and find a way of following an easier more appealing path and then rationalizing that path as God's.  That is simple blasphemy.  It is using God's name for something that is not God's.  Reality is that God would rather me outright reject it and follow my own path and own it rather than try and pawn off the path as his.

This is hard because it strikes at the very heart of my sin and rebellion.  It goes deep to the core of my selfishness and reveals how secretly devoted I am to following my own way...there is a scene from Lord of the Rings that creepily exposes this deep rebellion and wickedness...

 39Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” 41He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 43An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. (Luke 22:39-43)