JANUARY 15, 2020

“Yet as I read the birth stories about Jesus I cannot help but conclude that though the world may be tilted toward the rich and powerful, God is tilted toward the underdog.” 
― Philip Yancey

GENESIS 36-37

10When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” 11His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.(37:10-11)

MATTHEW 12:1-21

1At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

3He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. 5Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? 6I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’^a you would not have condemned the innocent. 8For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

JOURNAL 

I love that Jesus is a rebel. I love that he is constantly confounding the Pharisees. I can only imagine their pious judgement of him as they scoff and look down their nose...searching for ways to discredit him. 

The Bible is full of examples of those, whom God has given inspiration, being rejected and minimized because of their passion and belief. Yet in the end...they are proved righteous. I love that God loves the rejects and chooses to build his Kingdom through them. From Moses to Jacob to Joseph to David and ultimately through Jesus. All of them were rejected in one way or another. All of them clung to God and his love for them as they navigated the waters of shame and ridicule. 

One of the first movies I ever remember going to see was Rocky. I vividly remember people standing up in the movie and cheering. Thinking back it seems silly but as I think deeper I think it is because movies and stories capture the longing in our hearts. We desperately want to know that the shame of our past and present is not the final word on us. We want to believe and hope that better days are ahead and that somehow some way, we will finally get it right and be redeemed. 

The miracle of the gospel is that we in fact do have that hope. We can take comfort in knowing that God is here to redeem us and we are part of the greatest underdog story of all time. 

 13For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

COLOSSIANS 1:13-14

JANUARY 14, 2020

“Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God's love encompasses us completely. ... He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken.” 
― Dieter F. Uchtdorf

GENESIS 33-35

4But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept. 5Then Esau looked up and saw the women and children. “Who are these with you?” he asked.

Jacob answered, “They are the children God has graciously given your servant.”

6Then the female servants and their children approached and bowed down. 7Next, Leah and her children came and bowed down. Last of all came Joseph and Rachel, and they too bowed down.

8Esau asked, “What’s the meaning of all these flocks and herds I met?”

“To find favor in your eyes, my lord,” he said.

9But Esau said, “I already have plenty, my brother. Keep what you have for yourself.”

10“No, please!” said Jacob. “If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably. 11Please accept the present that was brought to you, for God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.” And because Jacob insisted, Esau accepted it.(33:4-11)

MATTHEW 11

18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’19The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”

JOURNAL 

I love these verses and the reunion of Jacob and Esau. I can only imagine the drama and the tension and the fear as Jacob crosses the desert as Esau approaches. He can only imagine the rage and depth of anger and what is surely to be retaliation for his deceit. Yet he is embraced in love and genuine affection. 

It overwhelms Jacob and he even states that seeing the loving face of his brother is like seeing the face of God. I am reminded of the story of the prodigal that Jesus tells and I can't help but imagine that this is the same joy and love that he is referencing. To know that your greatest fear has been turned on its head and become a source of joy is the joy of God and  the joy of the Kingdom. 

Jesus came to mend our hearts and join us to God in the embrace of forgiveness, acceptance and love. He is the friend of all and the savior for the worst of us and the worst in us.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

21“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

22“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

LUKE 15:20-24

JANUARY 13, 2020

“God is not an employer looking for employees. He is an Eagle looking for people who will take refuge under his wings. He is looking for people who will leave father and mother and homeland or anything else that may hold them back from a life of love under the wings of Jesus.” 
― John Piper, A Sweet and Bitter Providence: Sex, Race, and the Sovereignty of God

GENESIS 31-32

22That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 23After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 24So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. 25When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. 26Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

27The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

28Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,^e because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

29Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

30So Jacob called the place Peniel,^f saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

31The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel,^g and he was limping because of his hip. 32Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.(32:22-32)

MATTHEW 10:24-42

26“So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 27What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. 28Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.^b 30And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

32“Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.

34“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35For I have come to turn

“ ‘a man against his father,

a daughter against her mother,

a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—

36a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’^c

37“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.38Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.39Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

40“Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. 42And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”

JOURNAL 

Ok so Jacob wrestles with God and Jesus tells that we are to not love our family and children over him...these verses are tough ones and have caused more questions than answers for me over the years. So what is the deal of Jacob wrestling with God?

Quite frankly I have always been a little put out by Jacob. He seems like a fearful, conniving snake to me. He is always manipulating, always fearful, always scheming...yet God loves and blesses him. Why?

The easy answer is that it was because of the promise to Abraham...yet in that same vein I wonder why God would still choose him...there were others and God is sovereign and in control so why Jacob?

I don't know that there is an easy answer...God's grace though is evident and again shows up without question. Jacob definitely did not deserve the blessing but neither do I deserve the blessings in my life. Yet Jacob changed, his story is a light into the process of God changing a man over time. Jacob became a better man and it was through God's provision, in both suffering and blessing. 

In sitting back in judgment,  it is easy to cast stones, yet when I am honest with myself I realize I have been blessed beyond measure, my sins have been forgiven and are not held against me. God has also forgiven me when I did not deserve it, and allowed me to suffer in circumstances that at times didn't seem fair. Yet I can see looking back that it was part of a process. The lesson for me is to always consider my own journey before judging others and to continue to seek obedience to God in humility and gratitude. In doing so God will continue to transform me from a getter to a giver. 

For ultimately the greatest gift I can give to God is to be the best version of me...that can only happen when I seek God and fully surrender to his love and the unique talents and life in which I live. When I seek to give the best of myself in love and obedience to God. This changes things because my objective no longer becomes what I can get but rather what can I give. Because what I get is the all-powerful living God and what I can give is the best of myself fueled from his love for me. 

6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

ROMANS 5:6-8

JANUARY 12, 2020

“Our worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace.” 
― Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace

GENESIS 29-30

31When the Lord saw that Leah was not loved, he enabled her to conceive, but Rachel remained childless. 32Leah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Reuben,^b for she said, “It is because the Lord has seen my misery.(29:31-32)

MATTHEW 10:1-23

1Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

2These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

JOURNAL 

Again God's intervention in the lives of normal, flawed people confounds the ideas behind the usual ideas of religion...ie...be a good person and good things will happen. While there is evidence of this happening in scripture, there is just as much evidence, really more, that blessings are not a result of righteous actions but rather a righteous God. 

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. 10For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

EPHESIANS 2:8-10

JANUARY 11, 2020

“The basic premise of religion– that if you live a good life, things will go well for you– is wrong. Jesus was the most morally upright person who ever lived, yet He had a life filled with the experience of poverty, rejection, injustice, and even torture.”
― Tim Keller

GENESIS 27-28

20Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the Lord^f will be my God 22and^g this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”(28:20-22)

MATTHEW 9:18-38

20Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. 21She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”

22Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment.

JOURNAL 

Throughout the story of Jacob, my thoughts are why would God reward a lying manipulator like Jacob. In the same vein, I do not know the story of all the people he is healing in Matthew but it obviously is not because of their righteousness but rather because of their need and then their faith that Jesus can heal them.

This idea is really astounding and turns the typical idea of blessing received as a result of being earned on its head. Need and faith are really the only requirements...because that is the only thing that is a constant. God is the only consistent trustworthy thing in our lives and in this universe. Everything else is flawed, designed to fail and fall apart. 

I confess that over the course of my life I spent alot of time putting my faith and hope in people. I wanted people to come through for me, love me, be there for me when my life was falling apart. In short...I wanted other people to be my God. That includes my wife, family, friends etc. What I found was that people are flawed, they fail miserably to be God. Hoping and trying to make them fill that void is a miserable proposition that only creates frustration, disappointment and heartache.

This is the story and essence of the Bible. Humans tend to try and fill God's void with people, places, things and experiences. Doing so is the essence of sin and leads to all kinds of problems and ultimately the depths of hell.  Jesus came to show us how a life devoted to God is supposed to be lived and then died so that his spirit (God's spirit) could infect our hearts and lives.  

When I look at how Jesus lived...it is a lesson of how as followers we are also to live. Jesus was so sold out to the love of God and faith to the point that even when he felt God had abandoned him he still persisted in trusting God and his plan. It didn't culminate in riches or titles or trophies on earth but it provided a way to save all of humanity for eternity. This is the whole point of the Christian faith...we can have the same relationship that Jesus had with God. We can become son's and daughters of God, but in order to do so we must turn loose of anything and everything that would take the place of God. 

22This righteousness is given through faith in^h Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

ROMANS 3:22-24