Wednesday, 3/4/2015

"They say a person needs just three things in this world to be happy: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for." ~ Tom Bodett

NUMBERS 32, 33

The Reubenites and Gadites come to Moses and ask to settle in the land in which they currently are camped...instead of crossing into the promised land.

 10The Lord’s anger was aroused that day and he swore this oath: 11‘Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of those who were twenty years old or more when they came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob— 12not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they followed the Lord wholeheartedly.’ ...14“And here you are, a brood of sinners, standing in the place of your fathers and making the Lord even more angry with Israel. 15If you turn away from following him, he will again leave all this people in the wilderness, and you will be the cause of their destruction.” 

50On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho the Lord said to Moses, 51“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, 52drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places. 53Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess. 

MARK 10:1-31

 13People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

Jesus is then confronted by the rich young ruler who asks him what he needs to do to inherit eternal life...through the course of the dialogue Jesus says he must sell everything he owns and give it to the poor and follow.

22At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

23Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

24The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is^e to enter the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

26The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”

27Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

JOURNAL

The texts from both the old and new testament are similar in that God is asking for obedience.  In both scenarios the Israelites and the rich ruler are unwilling to follow.  In the case of the two clans...they are satisfied with where they are.  They see no need to go further, with the rich ruler, he as well is satisfied with this part of his life...why does he need to go any further into obedience.  

Because God is after our heart not trying to satisfy us with things outside of him.  Yet I know that this is my tripping point as well, I listen often to that little dark voice that says, "God wants you to be happy, you deserve more, you have had a tough time and need to get your fair share".  Yet that is not God, God only promises that I will find joy and hope and love when I love him with all my heart...When I am willing to follow no matter where he commands me to go...no matter what he commands me to do.  Because he has given me everything already...his love, his grace, his redemption.  He has set me free from bondage and why would I ever choose to disobey him?

7“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,whose confidence is in him.8They will be like a tree planted by the waterthat sends out its roots by the stream.It does not fear when heat comes;its leaves are always green.It has no worries in a year of droughtand never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8)

Tuesday, 3/3/2015

“Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods." ~ Edmund Burke 

NUMBERS 30, 31

1The Lord said to Moses, 2“Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.”

The Israelites attack the people of Midian 

7They fought against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and killed every man. 8Among their victims were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba—the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword...
13Moses, Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp. 14Moses was angry with the officers of the army—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—who returned from the battle.15“Have you allowed all the women to live?” he asked them. 16“They were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice and enticed the Israelites to be unfaithful to the Lord in the Peor incident, so that a plague struck the Lord’s people. 17Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, 18but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.

MARK 9:30-50

33They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.

35Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

42“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea. 43If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. [44]^b 45And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. [46]^c 47And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48where

“ ‘the worms that eat them do not die,

and the fire is not quenched.’^d 

JOURNAL

Well so much for Balaam obeying God.  Here we find that he did not do it the overt way but actually got the Midianite women to entice the men of Israel to sleep with them.  As a result a plague breaks out, kills several thousand but then God has the Israelites attack and everyone but the female virgins are killed.   

Then in Mark we find the disciples arguing about who is the greatest among them.  I can just see them all jockeying for position in what they believe is going to be an earthly kingdom.  Jesus of course turns all this upside down and then gives them the warning to not let anything cause others to fall and to not let anything, even your own body to stand between them and God.

Reading these passages I am horrified as to how casually I have treated the Gospel.  For most of my life I have used it as help guide instead of the authentic word of God.  So often I have dismissed whole sections as parts I can ignore because it did not seem to fit my particular circumstance in the way I wanted it to fit. I realize more than ever that the Gospel is not something to casually read and use when I need help.  I am guilty of minimizing God and completely dismissing his word.  I have spoke of things I did not understand, I have acted in ways that never considered God or his word. I have questioned God because of things that seemed unfair...I have acted in ignorance and scoffed at the creator.

1Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:

2“Who is this that obscures my plans

with words without knowledge?

3Brace yourself like a man;

I will question you,

and you shall answer me.

4“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?

Tell me, if you understand.

5Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! (Job 38:1-5)

Prayer

Life is hard!  Even with knowledge of God's word and a realization of my own destructive habits...I still emotionally crave the things of this world in ways that let me know that I am far from home.  It lets me know that I am double-minded and weak and full of anger, laziness and pride.  Yet my God is quietly relentless and will not let me go...he washes over me with his love and grace, he tends to my hurts, hugs me through my bitter rage and gives me strength to love in the face of hate.

God you are beyond my understanding, beyond my minds ability to conceive...how can you faithfully love me when my heart so often drifts from you?  How are you not weary of my pettiness?  How do you continue to grace my life when I fail to be faithful? I know that it is because you love and love, real true authentic love has no bottom...never runs dry, always hopes, is patient, does not fear or envy, keeps no record of wrongs...never delights in evil, rejoices full in truth, always protects, always hopes, always perseveres and never fails.

Yet you never can be captured or tamed or manipulated...you are stronger than any force on earth, larger than the universe itself, deeper than the blackest hole...Father tame my wandering mind and cowardly heart, fill me full with your love and grace.

Monday, 3/2/2015

I am absolutely convinced that no wealth in the world can help humanity forward, even in the hands of the most devoted worker in this cause...Money only appeals to selfishness and always irresistibly tempts its owner to abuse it. Can anyone imagine Moses, Jesus or Gandhi with the moneybags of Carnegie?  ~ Albert Einstein

NUMBERS 28, 29

God gives Moses instructions on 

• Daily offerings
• Sabbath offerings
• Monthly offerings
• The Passover
• Festival of weeks
• Festival of Trumpets
• Day of Atonement
• Festival of Tabernacles

MARK 9:1-29

Jesus takes 3 disciples Peter, James and John with him up on a high mountain.  

There he was transfigured before them. 3His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 4And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.

They come back down that mountain and there is a boy who has seizures and the disciples are unable to heal him.  

25When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”

26The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” 27But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.

28After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

29He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.^a ”

JOURNAL

The quote by Einstein is extremely sobering...I often think that if I just had more resources I could do...fill in the blank. However, reading the Bible and taking everything in context it is easier to see that faith, trust and love is all that God is after and none of that is directly fixed or answered by more resources. 

It is easy to get distracted by the miracles and some of Jesus' words and begin to apply those to situations in my own life.  It is easy to think that every situation can be resolved and fixed in the way I want.  It is easy to start going to God and thinking that if I just follow a certain script and pray a certain way then God will fix my problems, heal my hurts and give me my heaven on earth.  That is the marketing genius of our world, promise us an easier way to get what we really want.  

Here is the danger of taking things out of context in scripture.  While Jesus healed lots of people, he did not heal everyone.  While Jesus gave the Israelites hope, he did not elevate them out of their suffering.  While Jesus eased people's hunger, he did not make them rich.  So what is the point in following and trusting Jesus, if it is not guaranteed to fix our immediate problems?  If God really loves me, why does he not alleviate all my suffering?  Why do children suffer?  Why are some people allowed to be selfish their entire lives and seem to get everything they want?......Because as much as I want my heaven to be experienced here in this world, I have to realize that Jesus never promises such, and is operating from an entirely different perspective. 

36Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” (John 18:36)

Sunday, 3/1/2015

“That's why they call it the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it.” ~ George Carlin

NUMBERS 23-27

Balaak again is pushed by Balaam to curse the Israelites.  He again tells him that it is impossible for him to do this no matter how much wealth he promises...

“May those who bless you be blessed

and those who curse you be cursed!”

10Then Balak’s anger burned against Balaam. He struck his hands together and said to him, “I summoned you to curse my enemies, but you have blessed them these three times. 11Now leave at once and go home! I said I would reward you handsomely, but the Lord has kept you from being rewarded.”

12Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell the messengers you sent me, 13‘Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the Lord—and I must say only what the Lord says’? 14Now I am going back to my people, but come, let me warn you of what this people will do to your people in days to come.”

Chapter 25 then begins with the Israelites being seduced by Moabite women and falling prey to worshiping their Gods.  God causes a plague to sweep through the camp and in the end 24,000 Israelites die as a result of their rebellion.

Chapter 26 and 27 contain the numbers of a second census and finally at the end of chapter 27 Moses passes the leadership to Joshua

18So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of leadership,^a and lay your hand on him. 19Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence. 20Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite community will obey him. 21He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the Lord. At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in.”22Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly. 23Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the Lord instructed through Moses.

MARK 8

Jesus again has compassion on the crowds that are following him...since they have nothing to eat he again takes seven loaves and a few fish and feeds all 5000.  From there Jesus is confronted by a blind man whom he heals.  Then Jesus tells predicts his death and Peter takes him aside and rebukes him and tells him he will never let this happen.

33But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Jesus then tells them the way of the Kingdom

34Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35For whoever wants to save their life^b will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

JOURNAL

Here we find the Israelites being tempted and indulging in the women of another kingdom.  Balaak thought that sending down curses on the Israelites was the way to defeat them.  Little did he realize that all he had to do was expose them to his it's women.  This will continue to haunt the Israelites and all mankind.  Our entire culture is consumed with the promises and lies that all that we are looking for is found outside of the blessings God has given.  We continually wax and wane over what we don't have and thereby dismiss all that we do.

Jesus confronted this head on with Peter...even calling him Satan.  Peter's only concern is the here and now and ensuring that earthly pleasures, position and power are achieved.  Yet Jesus knows that this is a distraction and is completely missing the point of his life and ministry.

A good friend of mine sent me the following clip...it is a tough message and one that puts me in the position of Peter...blind to my own sin and how I often miss the point of it all!

15Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father^d is not in them. 16For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17)