DECEMBER 2, 2021

  “You’ll never know who you are unless you shed who you pretend to be.” 

― Vironika Tugaleva

EZEKIEL 47-48

“And the name of the city from that time on will be:

THE LORD IS THERE.” (48:35) 

1 JOHN 1

5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all^b sin.

8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

JOURNAL 

Humility and Honesty are the foundation of this letter. Here again we have a former disciple of Christ, having walked with Jesus, having experienced the resurrection and here he is writing letters to christians all over Asia Minor. He cautions against claiming something and not living it...which is thereby using Christ and or moral superiority as a means to puff up or disguise one's sin. 

It is interesting that the exact same warnings issued 2000 years ago...apply today. It is not our stuff, our technology, social media etc...the problem is in our hearts. Going back to scripture affirms that God just wants us to surrender to him, be truly grateful for where we are at this moment in time, and follow him in making the most and the best of it. It doesn't matter if it's 2000 years ago, yesterday, today, tomorrow or 2000 years from now...God's message is still the same. 

11The Lord will guide you always;

he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land

and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring whose waters never fail.

ISAIAH 58:11

DECEMBER 1, 2021

 “When an individual is motivated by great and powerful convictions of truth, then he disciplines himself, not because of the demands of the church, but because of the knowledge within his heart” 

― Gordon B. Hinckley

EZEKIEL 45-46

9“ ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You have gone far enough, princes of Israel! Give up your violence and oppression and do what is just and right. Stop dispossessing my people, declares the Sovereign Lord. (44:9) 

2 PETER 3

14So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

17Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

JOURNAL 

In the end its all about "growing in the grace and knowledge" of Christ. To see that Peter and Paul are of one spirit and one intent and that each of them warn of being deceived.  It is imperative that my own faith journey continue in this vein. It is of paramount importance to keep a discipline of reading scripture, thinking and meditating on it. For this is where God's ultimate truth is found. This is where I gain the knowledge and strength to counter my own misguided emotions and thoughts as well as those of others. 

More and more I realize that we are to love but never to make any human anything other that what they are...broken, sinful but still a child of God. Therefore we are to love, forgive, have grace but trust in God and God alone.

22Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail.

23They are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

24I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;

therefore I will wait for him.”

25The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,

to the one who seeks him;

26it is good to wait quietly

for the salvation of the Lord.

LAMENTATIONS 3:22-26

NOVEMBER 30, 2021

  Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints

on the sand of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,

Sailing o'er life's solenm main,

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

Seeing, shall take heart again...” 

― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

EZEKIEL 43-44

23They are to teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.(44:23) 

2 PETER 2

17These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. 18For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error.

JOURNAL 

When life is really lived well...it is lived in consciousness of others. To live without regard for the influence one may have on another human being is to live carelessly. God makes it very clear that once he inhabits our hearts and souls then we represent him to the world. This is definitely a sobering reality. 
This is a reality that often juxtaposed to the train wrecks played out by public figures becomes all the more sobering. A life lived for what it can attain, rather than for what it can give is a life of darkness. In fact I had a realization...in the end it's not how much you were loved but rather how much you love. The loved part is what we get from accepting God's love for us...it is the ultimate and everything really pales in comparison. 

Coming off a great week with family is just a reminder that we have the capacity to bring the magical love of God to each moment of the life we are blessed to live. Make no mistake...it is magical and we really should strive to remember and live it as such. I realize more and more that these magical moments are all around us...we just must believe in them and remember that God is far greater than our most imaginative dream. In fact he is the author, he gives us those thoughts and hopes and ideas that have the capacity to change hearts, heal hurts, right wrongs and effectively change the world. But we must BELIEVE and we must act in love always!

"Because you have so little faith," He answered. "For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

MATTHEW 17:20

NOVEMBER 29, 2021

  “The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.” 

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

EZEKIEL 41-42

1Then the man brought me to the main hall and measured the jambs; the width of the jambs was six cubits^a on each side.^b2The entrance was ten cubits^c wide, and the projecting walls on each side of it were five cubits^d wide. He also measured the main hall; it was forty cubits long and twenty cubits wide.^e(41:1-2) 

2 PETER 1

3His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

JOURNAL 

I guess in many ways I grew up with a somewhat delusional belief in God. I think part of it is just in our nature to hope and dream for the day when all things will be made right. That's not a bad thing...but yet it can make the world we live in pretty confusing...especially when also believing in a God that is fully and completely righteous. 

Yet scripture confirms that we are only promised Heaven in Heaven or hell in hell. Those are the only definits. What happens here on earth is a grab bag of good and bad experiences...some will have more good than bad while others get more bad than good. The rhyme or reason is never a guarantee. Good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good. There is even scripture that confirms that some people will enjoy long life and success and wealth while on earth...even though they are selfish, greedy and full of hate. There is also scripture that confirms that those that follow God will experience, suffering, rebuke, rejection and horrible death. 

For example...Jesus, the disciples, Paul...all experienced extreme suffering. They hoped in something far beyond them, far beyond their own lives and even beyond the lives of their wives, children, friends etc. They hoped and lived for a future kingdom where love and joy would rule. Where happiness would never be measured by how much money or toys you had but rather because you were free to love and serve others. 

When I read the letters of Paul and Peter and the words of Jesus I find that they are calling believers to a life of joy regardless of circumstance. They are calling for us to live beyond what happens to us. To serve, sacrifice, love and forgive no matter the situation but especially...in the midst of persecution, suffering and death. There is evil in the world...we are promised that it will exist until the earth is completely restored, we can find it everywhere, but we also are promised that God is everywhere and he will never leave us.

I love the book EPIC by John Eldredge. The beginning of the book talks about story and how each of us are part of God's EPIC story that he has been telling from the beginning of time. Each of us have an important role to play in that story or else we wouldn't be here. It's easy to forget that sometimes and get distracted in ways that take the focus off the big picture and our role in the story. It's easy to think about frustrations and things that make me uncomfortable rather than that I am part of a God's story with subplots and adventure and battle and that I get to play a vital role. 

This letter from Peter was written shortly before his martyrdom. Thankfully we have this word. This is what gives meaning and purpose when the world doesn't make sense and when it doesn't reflect the goodness, peace and love of God's heart. This verse from John says it best. 

27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

JOHN 14:27

NOVEMBER 28, 2021

 “We will not be measured by the world’s standards anymore. We will be measured by the plumb line of God’s Word. We will be people who live out our Christianity by walking faithfully in obedience to God. We will love mercy and justice. We will love others the way God loves us— unconditionally, relentlessly, and with grace.”

― Teresa Schultz

EZEKIEL 40

1In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the fall of the city—on that very day the hand of the Lord was on me and he took me there. 2In visions of God he took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose south side were some buildings that looked like a city. 3He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze; he was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. 4The man said to me, “Son of man, look carefully and listen closely and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Tell the people of Israel everything you see.”(40:1-4) 

1 PETER 5

1To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

JOURNAL 

Here in 1 Peter, Peter is writing to those who have been displaced and who are struggling. Here he writes as a witness to all that Christ suffered. He writes as one who devoted his life and spent it intimately with Christ. These final words of the letter are sobering and a reminder that we are here for a purpose. We are here to serve, we are here to be examples and to encourage. We are here to be humble and submit. We are here to take action...he promises that no matter the outcome in this world he will restore us.

The past few days have been really good days with family...just being together. These times are so important and necessary. They are necessary because they remind me of the importance of relationships over stuff and things. They also serve to remind how different our lives are in comparison to these early Christians who were dying and being martyred for the faith. These early believers could only dream of the life we enjoy. It is really humbling to consider the difference. Yet although the circumstances are different the message is still the same. Be humble, resist evil and cling to God and our family of believers. 

17Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

ACTS 9:17-19