by David Saunders
The answer to the question often
asked-“Why me, Lord?
He
is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in
heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or
rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he
is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head
of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that
in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was
pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether
on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. Colossians
1:15-20 (ESV)
This
is a good portion of scripture to read slowly and consider carefully each
individual idea expressed. I think each
one of these ideas has a several paragraphs in this teaching series. I wasn’t trying to sneak up on you like that
but this teaching series is really all about Jesus. Just saying so you know: it really is all
about Jesus.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and
be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the
righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted
righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Isaiah 53:11(ESV)
Jesus
experienced trials. He was often
misunderstood by those he loved and ultimately he was completely and totally
rejected by them. He didn’t have a place
on this earth to call home. He suffered
hunger and the temptations common to any man.
He experienced anger and righteous indignation when he saw the holy
things of God used to oppress the powerless and poor, elevate the self-righteous
hypocrite who did not fear God, and become allied with the spirit of the age
embodied in a corrupt political system based on self-indulgence and greed.
The
sin of Sodom, the reason the population of the city was destroyed, is that
their society had become so arrogant, unconcerned, and overfeed that not a
single person in it was interested in righteousness and justice. If that offends your sense of tradition and
takes away one of your talking points for discriminating against homosexuals
open your Bible to Ezekiel 16:49 and argue with him about it. The point I wish to make here is that Jesus
stated when the citizens of Sodom were resurrected and appointed to stand
before the Righteous Judge they would fare better than the citizens of the
locality in which he was preaching yet Jesus still lovingly wept over them in
bitter disappointment. Ministering the
Kingdom of God in Jerusalem as the old covenant was coming to an end and a new
age was dawning with a new and better covenant came with plenty of toil,
trouble, trials, and tribulation.
Jesus
wants you to have a better resurrection than both the citizens of Jerusalem
during his time and the citizens of their sister city Sodom during Abraham’s
time. Regardless of the experiences you
have had, anything you may have done or left undone, or whatever issue or
addiction you are struggling with Jesus weeps for your pain and separation from
God and calls out to you with the words given to the prophet Isaiah through the
Holy Spirit:
“ Why do you continue to invite
punishment? Must you rebel forever? Your head is injured, and your heart is
sick. You are battered from head to foot—covered with bruises, welts, and infected
wounds—without any soothing ointments or bandages.” “Come now, let’s settle this, though
your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are
red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool. If you will only obey me, you will have
plenty to eat. But if you
turn away and refuse to listen, you will be devoured by the sword of your
enemies. I, the Lord, have
spoken!” (1:5-6,18-20 NLT)
The Lord God says he is the one who heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds (Psalm 147:3). Pray you respond along with all people “Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces; now he will heal us. He has injured us; now he will bandage our wounds. (Hosea 6:1 NLT)
There
is one very important piece of information I haven’t mentioned yet. This is easy.
It is light work, all of it.
Jesus stated;
“my yoke is easy, and my burden is
light.” Matthew 11:30 (ESV) “My
way of carrying a load is easy and My load is not heavy.” (NLV) "Are you
tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and
you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me
and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I
won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll
learn to live freely and lightly." Matthew 11:28-30 ( Message)
There is joy in all of this. There is understanding about who and what you
are as well as purpose for your life.
There is family in the truest sense of the word because you come into
right relationship with your Creator, your Father, and learn stuff from the
absolute coolest Elder Brother ever.
Some of your brothers and sisters may be a little sketchy but we are all
growing up together and it will all work out for the best in the end. That is another thing: No matter what happens
it will all work out for good when you love God and your fellow human beings
with all you’ve got. That thought makes
it easier to get up and face the day. This is peace.
All we have to do is pay attention:
simply look. The Bible says “ Dear
friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we
will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for
we will see him as he really is.” 1 John 3:2
(NLT)
The
idea I would like to extract from this scripture is that as we see Jesus as he
is we will become more like him. That is
why it is so important to understand God’s nature and character which is grace
and truth. That is why you must know his
name. That is why you must understand
God’s plan for the ages. When you accept
this knowledge as true it becomes the prism through which all circumstance is
viewed and considered. It becomes the way you see yourself. You become wise. The Kingdom of God becomes your
worldview. This is righteousness.
“To
know God is perfect justice.” Book of Wisdom 15:3
(This
is the time that you pause, exhale, take a deep breath and say “Yes, Lord, make
it like that for me-I believe and want to be on Team Jesus. Make this the realest thing in my life.)
This
view of yourself and the world comes through welcoming the Holy Spirit into
your whole being to set you apart for service in the Kingdom of God and to
further God’s purpose which is now your purpose as well. If you simply look for God in your
circumstance and learn the lessons that come from overcoming the unpleasant
things you will do well. You may have to
learn to fight negative influences but you will be stronger and wiser for
it. Oh, study your Bible, don’t just
read it, then live it.
Brother
James writes in James chapter 1 verses 22-27: Don't fool yourself into thinking
that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one
ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don't act are
like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no
idea who they are, what they look like. But whoever catches a glimpse of the
revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and
sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action.
That person will find delight and affirmation in the action. Anyone who sets
himself up as "religious" by talking a good game is self-deceived.
This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that
passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and
loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world. (Message)
There
is a book, one of my favorites, entitled “The Three Questions” written by John
Muth and based on a short story by Leo Tolstoy.
In this book a boy named Nikolai poses three questions to his
companions, a dog, a monkey and a bird.
The questions are what is the best time to do things, who is the most
important one, and what is the right thing to do? After experiencing a number of trials and
receiving a lot of questionable advice from his companions Nikolai meets a wise
old turtle named Leo whose questions and direction lead him to the answers to
his three questions and enable Nikolai to save a baby panda bear. Nikolai learns that the best time to do
things is now because being fully present in the moment is all we truly posses
of time. Now is the place in our mind
where we may encounter God. If you are
distracted from the moment you are in by ghosts of the past or the hopes and
fears of the future it is impossible to participate fully in the now which is
the only real thing happening. The way
to be fully involved in your now is to simply be quite and pay attention to it. Simply look at it and listen.
Who
is the most important one? The one
beside you is. They are sharing your
now.
What
is the right thing to do? Help the one
beside you. Providence has put them
there. There will be a blessing for both
of you if you intentionally love the one who is closest to you now.
What
Brother James wrote made me think of the lessons in “The Three Questions.” He wrote: Real religion, the kind that passes
muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless
in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.”
It
is very important that you keep your way of thinking from becoming corrupted by
the influences of this age which are artfully designed to keep you distracted
from the present reality of the Kingdom of God.
James mentioned the practice of religion which talks a good game but
fails to express the love of God as an example of one of these artful
deceptions. This kind of religion is
usually pretty easy to spot because it looks more like the people who say they
believe in it than a God who has fashioned a beautiful plan for the ages that
culminates with nothing but peace, love, and good happiness stuff going on. This type of thing is referenced in Psalm
50:16-21: to the
wicked, God says: “What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on
your lips? You hate my instruction and cast my words
behind you. When you see a thief, you join with him;
you throw in your lot with adulterers. You use your mouth for
evil and harness your tongue to deceit. You speak continually against your
brother and
slander your own mother’s son. These things you have done and I kept
silent; you thought I was altogether
like you. But I will rebuke you and accuse you to your
face. (NIV1984)
Jesus puts it this way:"If God gives such attention to the appearance of
wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to
you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to
get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can
respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works
fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life
in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out.
You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Matthew 6:30-33 (MSG)
Seek first the kingdom of God and
his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (ESV)
I have a lot more to say, I realized
that after I scrolled through this installment and discovered about 15 pages
more than any reasonable blog post should be.
Well, I always planned on writing a book and it seems these blogs will
be a good foundation. I plan on
structuring it around the title of these teachings and I think it will be a
positive contribution to the conversation about the revolution of spiritual
evolution which continues gaining momentum daily.
Two last thoughts and I will be
done for today.
This is easy.
One of the only difficult things about the process of sanctification and
the increase of the Kingdom of God is that we can’t figure out how it grows
just what does make it grow.
And (Jesus) said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. Mark 4:26-27 (ESV)
Simply practice the presence of God and study the Scriptures like they contain the mystery of the Divine Plan of the Ages as well as the secret to possessing the very mind of Christ because they do. Don’t forget there is one who devises artful deceptions to keep your vision on lesser goals.
Lo, I -- I have
prepared an artizan, Blowing on a
fire of coals, And bringing out an instrument for his work, And I have prepared
a destroyer to destroy. Isaiah
54:16(YLT)
Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 1 Timothy 4:7-8 (ESV)
No comments:
Post a Comment