I've been stuck in Hebrews recently--I've re-read the entire book about 5 times in the last few weeks. Every time I go through it again I feel so renewed in my outlook about things. If you need some particular refreshing, I really, really suggest Hebrews chapter 12. Maybe it won't speak to you like it does me, but for me this chapter has been an incredible reminder that God knows so much more than I do about every thing I am going through. He knows me better than I know myself. He knows exactly what outcome is going to come from every tiny flinch or giant leap I make, which I am capable of making only because He is letting me, even the flinches. :)
Ironically--as I am so emerged in Hebrews--a woman who writes the weekly Christian inspirational emails I subscribed to awhile ago, wrote this last week's email about Hebrews 12:1-12, about being refined by God and allowing him to work in our lives. A favorite quote from this email:
"Hebrews 12:11 tells us, 'No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening--it's painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in it's way.'
No matter what circumstances we face, whether caused by our own actions or caused by merely living in a fallen world, God can and will work those circumstances together for our good, if we allow him to lead us through. He only asks that we remain childlike, putting our unwavering trust in his love and his desire to mature us in our faith, strengthen us in his service and bless us as his beloved children."
The last few verses in Heb. 12 puts things into perspective for me.
Verses 26-29,
When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise:
"Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also." [Haggai 2:6 referenced]
This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain. Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire.
I like to think of it this way:
Every thing we think of as important compared to God's version of importance can sometimes be similar to dirt thinking it's more important than the plants that grow in it or the sun and rain that causes those things to grow in it; forgetting the fact that we can't actually do anything on our own that is of /real/ importance, and the things we do will all be washed away eventually anyway. But the miracle lies in us, as dirt, being used by God in the process of bringing glory to his name. The fact that He even considers us all the way down in the sin and darkness from where He sits in holiness and light is what should ignite a riveting desire to forget everything we thought was important and seek Him.
As Paul says is Philippians [3:8a], "Yes, everything else is worthless /when compared/ with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus as my Lord." That's not to say that everything we do, or things we may want for ourselves are worthless, but that in comparison they don't really hold a candle to any of the real important stuff.
Paul continues in verse 8, "For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ."
To me, that's the secret to really feeling peace about stuff--keep every little thing in perspective in relation to what we have already gained, and from there nothing can touch you.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
This is why I live.
"The face that Moses had begged to see--was forbidden to see--was slapped bloody (Exodus 33:19-20). The thorns that God had sent to curse the earth's rebellion now twisted around His brow. 'On your back with you!' One raises a mallet to sink in the spike. But the soldier's heart must continue pumping as he readies the prisoner's wrist. Someone must sustain the soldier's life minute by minute, for no man has this power on his own (John 19:11). Who supplies breath to his lungs? Who gives energy to his cells? Only by the Son do all things hold together (Colossians 1:17). The victim wills that the soldier lives on--He grants the warriors continued existence. The man swings. As the man swings, the Son recalls how he and the Father first designed the medial nerve of the human fore arm--the sensations it would be capable of. The design proves flawless--the nerves perform exquisitely. 'Up you go!' They lift the cross. God is on display in his underwear and can scarcely breathe.
But these pains are the mere warm-up to His other and growing dread. He begins to feel a foreign sensation. Somewhere during this day an unearthly foul odor began to waft, not around his nose, but his heart. He feels dirty. Human wickedness starts to crawl upon His spotless being--the living excrement from our souls. The apple of His Father's eye turns brown with rot. His Father! He must face His Father like this!
From Heaven the Father now raises himself like a Lion disturbed, shakes his mane and roars against the shriveling remnant of a man hanging on a cross. Never has Son seen the Father look at him so, never felt even the least of his hot breath. But the roar shakes the unseen world and darkens the visible sky.
The Son does not recognize these eyes. 'Son of Man! Why have you behaved so? You have cheated, lusted, stolen, gossiped--murdered, envied, hated, lied. You have cursed, robbed, overspent, overeaten--fornicated, disobeyed, embezzled and blasphemed. Oh the duties you have shirked, the children you have abandoned! Who has ever ignored the poor, so played the coward, so belittled my name? Have you ever held your razor tongue? What a self-righteous, pitiful drunk--you, who molest young boys, peddle killer drugs, travel in cliques and mock your parents. Who gave you the boldness to rig elections, foment revolutions, torture animals, and worship demons? Does the list never end? Splitting families, raping virgins, acting smugly, playing the pimp--buying politicians, practicing exhortation, filming pornography, accepting bribes. You have burned down buildings, perfected terrorists tactics, founded false religions, traded in slaves--relishing each morsel and bragging about it all.
I hate; Loathe the things in You! Disgust for everything about you consumes me!
Can you feel my wrath?'
Of course the Son is innocent. He is blamelessness itself. The Father knows this. But the divine pair have an agreement; and the unthinkable must now take place. Jesus will be treated as if personally responsible for every sin ever committed.
The Father watches as his heart's treasure, the mirror image of himself, sinks drowning into raw, liquid sin. Jehovah's stored rags against humankind from every century explodes in a single directions.
'Father, Father! Why have you forsaken me?!'
But Heaven stops it's ears. The Son stares up at the One who cannot, who will not, reach down or reply.
The Trinity had planned it. The Son endured it. The Spirit enabled him. The Father rejected the Son, whom He loved. Jesus, the God man from Nazareth, perished.
The Father accepted his sacrifice for sin and was satisfied. The Rescue was accomplished."
--From "Boy Meets Girl" by Josh Herris, written by Joni Tada.
"It is finished." (John 19:30)
Even as Father and Son were designing man in their own image, perfection at it's uttermost, they were preparing also for the redemption that would be necessary for mankind later. In their all-knowing power, they knew that man would fall into sin and separation from God, and before man could fulfill that knowledge, they knew what would have to happen in order to be redeemed; Christ's death.
Through God's infinite mercy, he gave us our one chance; He gave his only, holy Son. He allowed his son to be ridiculed, beaten, and eventually murdered at the hands of his own creation. Through His grace, he welcomes us back with open arms as if we had never committed a crime, if we would only just believe in our need for his Son and the power of his life and death.
I cannot fathom existence without this God as the center of it; The source of all love, hope, truth, and true life. How can He be so willing to receive us now? We betrayed Him in everything we did, yet he still reaches out and calls to our souls. How can His love be so unconditional?
You haven't felt love if you haven't felt God's love. There is nothing on earth to compare it to. There will never be enough words, in every language ever spoken, to speak out loud what only a heart burning in faith and salvation can feel.
But these pains are the mere warm-up to His other and growing dread. He begins to feel a foreign sensation. Somewhere during this day an unearthly foul odor began to waft, not around his nose, but his heart. He feels dirty. Human wickedness starts to crawl upon His spotless being--the living excrement from our souls. The apple of His Father's eye turns brown with rot. His Father! He must face His Father like this!
From Heaven the Father now raises himself like a Lion disturbed, shakes his mane and roars against the shriveling remnant of a man hanging on a cross. Never has Son seen the Father look at him so, never felt even the least of his hot breath. But the roar shakes the unseen world and darkens the visible sky.
The Son does not recognize these eyes. 'Son of Man! Why have you behaved so? You have cheated, lusted, stolen, gossiped--murdered, envied, hated, lied. You have cursed, robbed, overspent, overeaten--fornicated, disobeyed, embezzled and blasphemed. Oh the duties you have shirked, the children you have abandoned! Who has ever ignored the poor, so played the coward, so belittled my name? Have you ever held your razor tongue? What a self-righteous, pitiful drunk--you, who molest young boys, peddle killer drugs, travel in cliques and mock your parents. Who gave you the boldness to rig elections, foment revolutions, torture animals, and worship demons? Does the list never end? Splitting families, raping virgins, acting smugly, playing the pimp--buying politicians, practicing exhortation, filming pornography, accepting bribes. You have burned down buildings, perfected terrorists tactics, founded false religions, traded in slaves--relishing each morsel and bragging about it all.
I hate; Loathe the things in You! Disgust for everything about you consumes me!
Can you feel my wrath?'
Of course the Son is innocent. He is blamelessness itself. The Father knows this. But the divine pair have an agreement; and the unthinkable must now take place. Jesus will be treated as if personally responsible for every sin ever committed.
The Father watches as his heart's treasure, the mirror image of himself, sinks drowning into raw, liquid sin. Jehovah's stored rags against humankind from every century explodes in a single directions.
'Father, Father! Why have you forsaken me?!'
But Heaven stops it's ears. The Son stares up at the One who cannot, who will not, reach down or reply.
The Trinity had planned it. The Son endured it. The Spirit enabled him. The Father rejected the Son, whom He loved. Jesus, the God man from Nazareth, perished.
The Father accepted his sacrifice for sin and was satisfied. The Rescue was accomplished."
--From "Boy Meets Girl" by Josh Herris, written by Joni Tada.
"It is finished." (John 19:30)
Even as Father and Son were designing man in their own image, perfection at it's uttermost, they were preparing also for the redemption that would be necessary for mankind later. In their all-knowing power, they knew that man would fall into sin and separation from God, and before man could fulfill that knowledge, they knew what would have to happen in order to be redeemed; Christ's death.
Through God's infinite mercy, he gave us our one chance; He gave his only, holy Son. He allowed his son to be ridiculed, beaten, and eventually murdered at the hands of his own creation. Through His grace, he welcomes us back with open arms as if we had never committed a crime, if we would only just believe in our need for his Son and the power of his life and death.
I cannot fathom existence without this God as the center of it; The source of all love, hope, truth, and true life. How can He be so willing to receive us now? We betrayed Him in everything we did, yet he still reaches out and calls to our souls. How can His love be so unconditional?
You haven't felt love if you haven't felt God's love. There is nothing on earth to compare it to. There will never be enough words, in every language ever spoken, to speak out loud what only a heart burning in faith and salvation can feel.
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