Thursday, 3/19/2015

“Extraordinary afflictions are not always the punishment of extraordinary sins, but sometimes the trial of extraordinary graces.” ~ Matthew Henry

DEUTERONOMY 34

The torch is passed...

 4Then the Lord said to him, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.”...5And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said... 9Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit^b of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the Lord had commanded Moses.

10Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, 11who did all those signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. 12For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel. 

LUKE 1:24-56

God's plan begins to unfold...

29Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

34“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

35The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called^b the Son of God. 36Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37For no word from God will ever fail.”

38“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

JOURNAL

God is now showing up in the strangest of ways...God never seems to do things the easy way.  The struggle and difficulty that comes upon Mary to conceive a child out of wedlock by immaculate conception is a tough road to hoe...especially since punishment based on old testament law would have been her being stoned.  Why would God do something in such a way as to risk her life and reputation?

The answer is that God seems to use those with questionable backgrounds throughout the entire Bible.  Rehab the Canaanite prostitute is actually in the Davidic line.  Then you have all the mighty men of David who were all outcasts with tainted backgrounds...not to mention the disciples...who were all less than stellar.  Then finally to have Saul...a staunch murderer of Christians be the one who spreads the Gospel is really almost comical.  

However...God is in the business of redemption.  This is my hope and the hope of every man and woman who walk the earth.  God does not save the righteous...God saves the sick.

8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast.  (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Wednesday, 3/18/2015

“I can hardly wait for tomorrow, it means a new life for me each and every day.”  ~ Stanley Kunitz

DEUTERONOMY 32, 33

The final blessings...

29Blessed are you, Israel!

Who is like you,

a people saved by the Lord?

He is your shield and helper

and your glorious sword.

Your enemies will cower before you,

and you will tread on their heights.”

LUKE 1:1-23

Luke begins his book with setting the stage for Christ...

12When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.

JOURNAL

The end and the beginning...It is winding down now for Moses.  His final words are being delivered, the warnings and the blessings.  Moses only gets to see the land that he has labored to get the Israelites to...he doesn't get to experience it or enjoy it, he gets that only in his mind and heart.  It is a reminder that the blessings of life are all not in this life and are not always "fair".  

Zechariah is blessed with a son, but that son will meet and experience a very difficult life on this earth.  John is a social misfit and outcast who ultimately is beheaded while in prison.  So when it comes to reaping the rewards for obedience...this life is not the place to put our hope and trust.

This is a hard truth because so many things in our culture are geared to receiving immediate gratification and just rewards for a job well done.  Yet God never promises that in worldly terms...so often the most loving and obedient end up getting a horrible outcome and reward.   And here is where the Bible differs and is so counter-cultural.  Our reward is not material because we do not get a reward or a medal...we get the love of God.

14Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:14-16)

Tuesday, 3/17/2015

“To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.” ~ Mahatma Ghandi

DEUTERONOMY 31

Moses passes the torch to Joshua...

7Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. 8The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

MARK 16

Jesus conquers death...

4But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

6“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ ” 

JOURNAL

Go...there is a time in our lives when it is no longer about knowing but rather it is about doing.  The torch is passed to Joshua, the tomb is empty...this does not signify the end but it signals the beginning. It is the green light and the signal that now is the time to begin.  

I can say that I have struggled with this part most of my adult life.  What does the going mean, what am I supposed to do?  It first of all is not a call to justify my life, it's not a yoke of obligation...it is the prison door opening, the shackles being removed, the freedom of love given without hindrance.  It is the Father running down the road to embrace the wayward son.  It is Jesus forgiving Peter and sending him into the world a changed man.  It is Saul changed forever from a self-righteous murderer to a martyr for the gospel.  It is Joshua taking claim of the promised land in confidence and with the blessing of God.

In essence it is not a have to...it is a get to.

7So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. (Galatians 4:7)

Monday, 3/16/2015

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.” ~ Mark Twain

DEUTERONOMY 28-30

Moses defines very clearly the path to destruction and the path to life...

15See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

MARK 15:27

The end...

37With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

38The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died,^c he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”

JOURNAL

"It's the end of the world as we know it"...good tune from my long past high school days.  It was the end of life as they all knew it.  The Messiah had come and been crucified.  The worldly life and ministry of Jesus in the flesh was over.  The chief priests were still in power. Rome was still in power...in the worldly sense...nothing had changed.  From the perspective of the world this was a blip in history...another radical crucified...another man with great hopes dashed in a bitter death. 

Who would ever imagine that this blip in history would change the world.  Yet 2000 years later this blip in history changed everything.  It is a reminder that what seems insignificant to man, can have effects that ripple centuries into the future.  It is the reason that we trust God and not man.  It is the reason that the logic of our present world does not always apply.

Years ago...my heart was called to trust in God.  I didn't understand it, didn't know what it all meant.  I just knew that I longed to belong and that the world never really met that longing.  In today's world, discipleship really doesn't make sense...there are no guarantees of worldly riches or protection from pain and suffering or escape from human death.  What we get is beyond understanding, beyond logical reasoning, beyond the promises of an imperfect world...it is the joy, hope and grace found only in the intimate love of God.

50I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye... (I Corinthians 15:50-52)

Sunday, 3/15/2015

“A revolution is not a bed of roses. A revolution is a struggle between the future and the past.” ~ Fidel Castro

DEUTERONOMY 26,27

God commands the people to obey him with all their heart and that they are his special people...

16The Lord your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. 17You have declared this day that the Lord is your God and that you will walk in obedience to him, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws—that you will listen to him. 18And the Lord has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands. 19He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.

MARK 15:1-26

The Chief priests have their way and finally get Jesus crucified...

9“Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, 10knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. 11But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.

12“What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them.

13“Crucify him!” they shouted.

14“Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.

But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”

15Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. 

JOURNAL

Jealousy finally wins.  The chief priests have been so overcome with envy and hatred and finally they win the day by getting the people to vote to release Barrabas instead of Jesus.  Barbaras was a revolutionary...he opposed the Romans and was not the problem for the chief priests that Jesus was..I find myself wondering...what would I have done? 

If I put myself in the position of the chief priests...here is an amazing man who has shown up and continually puts me in my place.  Minimizes my position without having the "authority" to do so.  Jesus is a man that is a constant thorn in my side with the people that I am trying to lead.  He stirs up the crowds and is a real threat to my future existence as the authority on God's word.  Jesus has caused disruption and given me hard choices and said things that make me question all that I have accepted as absolute truth.

Barrabas on the other hand is a bigger problem for the Romans...although a "murderer" he is more of the Robin Hood variety.  Getting the people to choose Barrabas is a pretty easy sell...do you want the man who is willing to kill for the sake of Revolution or the man that says "pay to Caesar what is Caesar's and pay to God what is God's"?  I think in this scenario I more than likely would choose Barrabas as well.

In my life the reality is that Jesus does cause disruption, he does challenge me to question everything.  When he commands that I love my enemies or to consider others before myself or to be a servant above all else or to love God more than any relationship here on earth.  This is hard, disruptive and has the potential to reek havoc in my life...question is do I choose "Barrabas" or Jesus?

11Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” (John 18:11)