JULY 5, 2016

“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.” 
― Theodore Roosevelt

JOB 31-32

Job searches himself for any possible wrongdoing...

35(“Oh, that I had someone to hear me!

I sign now my defense—let the Almighty answer me;

let my accuser put his indictment in writing.

36Surely I would wear it on my shoulder,

I would put it on like a crown.

37I would give him an account of my every step;

I would present it to him as to a ruler.)—

ACTS 13:1-23

Paul confronts a sorcerer...

There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, 7who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. 9Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, 10“You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? 11Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.”

Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.

JOURNAL 

Taking personal inventory is a good and necessary step in the journey of following Christ. To go through my actions and see if I have hurt anyone or done something that would have wronged another is good and healthy and keeps me humble. It also has a way of helping me to not take on things that are not my responsibility. 

To see Job go through his inventory of actions...weighing each as he searches for possible reasons for his current circumstances, is both encouraging and discouraging. For Job never knew the reasons behind his fall and suffering. We get to see behind the scenes but Job never does. Yet in the end it draws him closer to God.

To understand and know the depth of human darkness is to understand that there are those that will oppose God and anything good. Just as with Job...it is not for me to know why or necessarily to understand...I can only be responsible for my actions and how I lead those to whom God has put as my responsibility.  Still...I cannot make someone behave a certain way, I can only lead and love by example.

23Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 

 ~ 2 CORINTHIANS 6:3-10

JULY 4, 2016

"I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph."
― Theodore Roosevelt

JOB 29-30

Job longs for days gone by...

2“How I long for the months gone by,

for the days when God watched over me,

3when his lamp shone on my head

and by his light I walked through darkness!

4Oh, for the days when I was in my prime,

when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house,

5when the Almighty was still with me

and my children were around me,

6when my path was drenched with cream

and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil.

ACTS 12

Peter is imprisoned and then rescued by an angel...

8Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

11Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”

JOURNAL 

There have been many times in my own life where I have longed for the days in the past. Especially when they were filled with success or times with people now gone. Mostly though they are memories of family or community or times when things were good.  I realize this is only natural but it also can get me into a place where I don't live in appreciation of today and the present and all the gifts that I have been given. There is a definite danger in this...to be able to focus on the here and now is such a blessing and gift.

Thinking about all that happened to Peter and the early christians it is clear to see that they were living in the moment...not consumed with days gone by with Jesus. They had a mission and were focused on living that mission out every day.  Through persecution, imprisonment etc.  they remained clear and focused. 

This is such a lesson for me...to have a clear focus and mission that is fueled through and powered by God. On this Independence Day, to remember that those that sacrificed and gave their lives did so in order that we that follow them would continue to fight for a greater Kingdom.  That we would be able to provide opportunity and a life that build a Kingdom of Love...the Kingdom of God. For to think that all the sacrifices were only to give us greater pleasure without increasing brotherly love and Godly communities, would be to trivialize their sacrifice. Their sacrifice gave us power, freedom and opportunity to do greater good. Not to simply wallow in our wealth and indulge in excess. 

I think we are to enjoy and celebrate our good fortunes but we should never forget the sacrifices made in order to give us these gifts. We are to use these blessings to further the the Kingdom for all mankind.

3We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. 4Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; 5in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; 6in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; 7in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; 8through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; 9known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; 10sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

 ~ 2 CORINTHIANS 6:3-10

JULY 3, 2016

“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.” 
― William Shakespeare

JOB 26-28

Job continues to debate his friends and states that true wisdom comes only from God...

20Where then does wisdom come from?

Where does understanding dwell?

21It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,

concealed even from the birds in the sky.

22Destruction^b and Death say,

“Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.”

23God understands the way to it

and he alone knows where it dwells,

24for he views the ends of the earth

and sees everything under the heavens.

25When he established the force of the wind

and measured out the waters,

26when he made a decree for the rain

and a path for the thunderstorm,

27then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;

he confirmed it and tested it.

28And he said to the human race,

“The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,

and to shun evil is understanding.”

 

ACTS 11

Peter is questioned by the other apostles for eating and preaching to the Gentiles...Peter explains...

15“As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning. 16Then I remembered what the Lord had said: ‘John baptized with^a water, but you will be baptized with^b the Holy Spirit.’ 17So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”

18When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

JOURNAL 

The gifts of wisdom are hidden many times in experiences and circumstances that often I would on the outset deem as evil. Yet God uses it...confounding my own wisdom so that I would trust him. Job understands this from and through his experience. 

Peter and the apostles are also corrected in their exclusivity in believing that salvation and the love of God is only for the Jews. God uses dreams and circumstances to teach Peter that his love is for all. 

This affirms again that relying on my own view of "right and wrong" is a deadly act. For on my own I do not have the capacity, wisdom or understanding to determine good and evil. This is why even though God has blessed me with talents and tools and gifts...they are only used well when I seek the wisdom of God. Otherwise I am operating arrogantly and independently and as a result will pretty much be guaranteed to make foolish choices.

13Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

17But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

 ~ JAMES 3:13-17

JULY 2, 2016

“No one has ever become poor by giving.” 
― Anne Frank

JOB 23-25

Job declares the fate of the righteous and the wicked to be the same...

18“Yet they are foam on the surface of the water;

their portion of the land is cursed,

so that no one goes to the vineyards.

19As heat and drought snatch away the melted snow,

so the grave snatches away those who have sinned.

20The womb forgets them,

the worm feasts on them;

the wicked are no longer remembered

but are broken like a tree.

21They prey on the barren and childless woman,

and to the widow they show no kindness.

22But God drags away the mighty by his power;

though they become established, they have no assurance of life.

23He may let them rest in a feeling of security,

but his eyes are on their ways.

24For a little while they are exalted, and then they are gone;

they are brought low and gathered up like all others;

they are cut off like heads of grain.

ACTS 10:24-48

Peter preaches to the Gentiles...

34Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism 35but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. 36You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 37You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— 38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.

39“We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, 40but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. 41He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. 43All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

JOURNAL 

Job brings up a point which is always troubling...why does the same fate await the righteous and the wicked. His friends hold onto the belief that only "bad" things happen to those who have sinned and Job's argument refutes that thinking.  

Peter is convicted of favoritism and realizes that God's message is for all...not just for the Israelites. Here again...I realize that God came to wipe away shame. He came to give hope to all humanity and that hope is that we can be restored to the original intent. Man in all his glory in fellowship with God and man.

16For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 

 ~ JOHN 3:16-17

JULY 1, 2016

“Don't set your goals by what other people deem important.” 
― Jaachynma N.E. Agu, The Prince and the Pauper

JOB 21-22

Job rebukes his friends and their judgement...

27“I know full well what you are thinking,

the schemes by which you would wrong me.

28You say, ‘Where now is the house of the great,

the tents where the wicked lived?’

29Have you never questioned those who travel?

Have you paid no regard to their accounts—

30that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity,

that they are delivered from^c the day of wrath?

31Who denounces their conduct to their face?

Who repays them for what they have done?

32They are carried to the grave,

and watch is kept over their tombs.

33The soil in the valley is sweet to them;

everyone follows after them,

and a countless throng goes^d before them.

34“So how can you console me with your nonsense?

Nothing is left of your answers but falsehood!”

ACTS 10:1-23

God reveals to Peter that all foods are clean...

9About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

14“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

15The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

JOURNAL 

Job presents the argument that "bad" people live good lives. He does this to counter the argument that God is punishing Job because of "sin". Job's point is that if that was why bad things happen, then people living in absolute rejection of God would be punished. 

God reveals to Peter that he is the author of all things and that something that was once seen as "unclean" can become "clean". 

In all of these circumstances and encounters...it seems clear that God is communicating that what matters most is relationship with God. Regardless of societies rules, traditions, laws etc. They have their purpose but in the end they do not trump relationship with God and no person can be judge and jury over what that is to look like. Each souls relationship with God is unique...it is personal and never can fit a formula or a certain mold.

12“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

 ~ MATTHEW 18:12-14