Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Sacrificial -OR- Relational Actions


“Jesus and his disciples were walking through some wheat fields.  His disciples were hungry and began picking and eating grains of wheat. Some Pharisees noticed this and said to Jesus, “Why are your disciples picking grain on the Sabbath? They are not supposed to do that!” Jesus answered:  You surely must have read what David did when he and his followers were hungry. Don’t you know what the Scriptures mean when they say, “Instead of offering sacrifices to me, I want you to be merciful to others?” If you knew what this means, you would not condemn these innocent disciples of mine.” - Matthew 12:1-3, 7 (CEV)
Observation
Man, I wrestling with this text....  So, let’s take things back to figuring out who God is and what God looks like. 

In the book of Hebrews, the Bible says, “God is a consuming fire.” This basically means that God changes us. He changes the way we look and the way we think. There is nothing more powerful than Him, nothing more aggressive than Him and nothing more able to shape and bend to His will than God.
In Psalm 144:2. It says, “He is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I take refuge.”  So not only is God a consuming fire, but He is a refuge, a shield, a fortress and a castle. So not only does God change whatever He touches, but if we run to Him and run into Him, He is our protector, He is our defender and He is our provider.  “I am your fortress. I am your shield. I am your protector.”

And then the last and most common picture that God is most painted with and the way that God has chosen to communicate Himself to us most consistently is with the term “Father.”  So God is a consuming fire, God is a fortress, shield and provider, but He is most often in the Bible simply called Father.  Now that’s a tough one.  It’s tough because all of us, regardless of who you are, had imperfect men as fathers.  When that happens, we begin to believe that God is like our earthly father.  So if our earthly father didn’t have enough time for us, didn’t want to bother with us, abandoned us or didn’t care about us, then if we’re not careful, we’ll believe that God is like our earthly fathers.  All earthly fathers are broken.
In Matthew 12:7 Jesus emphasized, “Instead of offering sacrifices to me, I want you to be merciful to others?”  Is Matthew 12:1-7 talking about developing a genuine personal growing relationship with Jesus verses merely going through the actions?  God’s purpose in sending His Son was NOT to condemn us - the Law already did that! God’s purpose in sending His Son was to save us from condemnation (personal & eternal) through the work Jesus fulfilled on the Cross.
My Personal Application
Now here’s the best news that I’m going to be able to give anyone ever. This consuming fire, this fortress, this shield, this protector, this provider, this infinite all-powerful God Father in heaven longs to adopt us as sons and daughters, to correct and make right the shortcomings of our fathers and to fill in where they have failed.
Wow, I can’t believe how this plays out!  
Let’s go Galatians 4, starting in verse 3. “In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.” Let me try to explain this as easily as I can. You and I have one thing in common – we are sinners. I’ve lied!  Have you? That’s unanimous. I’ve taken something that’s not mine (my kids candy)!  Have you?  So if we have all told lies, then we are all liars. If we’ve all taken what’s not ours, we’re thieves.
Watch what happens next in the text. “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” So you’re a sinner, I’m a sinner, you’re a thief, I’m a thief, you’re a liar, I’m a liar, you worship other things besides God and I worship other things besides God.  All of this is true, so we’re under the Law and condemned. So Christ comes and He obeys all the rules. He literally breaks no rules. He obeys all of them and says to us that if we’ll believe in Him, He will give us His goodness and take from us our badness or our rebellion.
Now Jesus did not come to bring your rules to be followed. Because you already know the rules and you can’t keep them. The problem is not the action. The problem is my heart. So what I need is a new heart, not to do better at following the rules. It has been my experience that most people with a church background struggle with this idea. It’s the difference between grace, an acknowledgment of what grace is and a belief that I can control my own salvation with my behavior.
So what he’s describing in this text in Galatians is that, after my sin is taken from me and I’m given this sonship, the heart change is we cry out, “Abba! Daddy! Father!”  Which means I know He’s for me, He loves me and He has made a way for me.  So I pursue Him rather than run from Him.  And that takes care of the bad stuff.  The bad stuff doesn’t get removed from my life because I try not to be bad. The bad stuff gets removed from my life when I find something that is more beautiful, lovely and desirable than the bad stuff.
It’s here I need to stop offering sacrifices of action and continue to focus on extending to others all that Christ has extended to me.  “Instead of offering sacrifices to me, I want you to be merciful to others?”

Monday, April 23, 2012

IT'S SUCH GOOD NEWS


It's such good news!

1 Therefore, since God in his mercy has given us this new way, we never give up. 2 We reject all shameful deeds and underhanded methods. We don’t try to trick anyone or distort the word of God. We tell the truth before God, and all who are honest know this. 3 If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. 4 Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. 5 You see, we don’t go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. - 2 Corinthians 4:1-6

Is the Old Testament law something to be considered / proposition?  

Is it either you comply with every ounce of the law, or your cursed?  

Do we have a right to pick and choose from the law - from the Old Testament / New Testament? 

Have we been awarded the luxury of mixing a portion of the law with Christ?  

Often when I’m feeling confused and distant from God, it’s because I’ve picked, I’ve chosen, I’ve twisted the law & mixed it with my relationship with Christ. By doing so I then measured myself and come up short. The new law, the new covenant, the new testament is good news! 
Why? 
It's not meant to be burdensome. 
“Since God in his mercy has given us this new way, we never give up!” 2 Corinthians 4:1  
It’s centered around developing a genuine personal growing relationship with Jesus cultivated, nurtured, and brought to life through Jesus commands (1 John 3:24).  God’s commandments are to love Him and to love each other (Matthew 22:36-40).  

The “new” is not just a modified versions of the old.  Thank God!  The New is good & it’s up to us to keep it GOOD & not just a dressed up version of the Old.  

The new is different, the new is simple, the new is organic, the new is relational, the new allows us to breathe and have hope! Now that’s GOOD NEWS! 

God’s purpose in sending His Son was NOT to condemn us - the Law already did that! God’s purpose in sending His Son was to save us from condemnation (personal & eternal) through the work Jesus fulfilled on the Cross.
My Personal Application
Jesus doesn’t express disapproval.
Jesus doesn’t find us guilty of not upholding the law.
Jesus doesn’t sentence anyone to a particular punishment.
Jesus doesn’t declare us to be unfit.
Post cross - the law is fulfilled by Jesus work.
Post cross - we experience FREEDOM & GRACE

Thursday, April 19, 2012

YOU are the LIGHT

"14 You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father." - Matthew 5:14-16
 

Light and dark - the two have been a timeless epic contrast.  So, what is light?  What is darkness?

“Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact, we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present." - Albert Einstein (Malice of Absence)

Some have used Einstein's’ statement in attempt to prove the existence of God.  As an individual, I must be wiser than that - not deriving means outside there intended / original context. There are many different views of light and darkness in the world. A few individuals have focused on the shades of light and darkness in attempts to avoid conflict or push back. However, when shifting the focus to a shade or sub point - one must also recognize the source from which the shade or hue originated from to continue any logical thought pattern. 

If the text in Matthew 5:14 makes a reference towards ‘me’ (Trevor Drinen) as a ‘light of the world’ - I must first discover the source from which I obtain this illuminance or likeness to light. 

John 1:1-8 reads, “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.”

Here in John 1:1-8, two vital points are made about this subject of light.
    

First, “.... In him (God & the Word) was life, and that life was the light of all mankind....”

What was the light of all mankind?  
Life. 
        

Where is the source of ‘life’? 
.... .... God & the Word.
    

Secondly,‘....witness to testify concerning the light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was     not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.”
        

What is my role / purpose? 
To personally testify concerning the light. 
        

Why? 
So that others might believe that God is the source of life.
 

I am man.  

A creation.  

Born of woman, giving intellect, and empowered to regenerate life.  

I am mere reflection of my creator.  

Yes, this does point to my biological parents and at the same time points beyond them to the source from which the origin of ‘life’ was created.
 
Personal bottom line application: 

1) To not attempt to hide the fact I am a creation. 

2) In all that I am / In all that I do - to give credit where credit is do (aka: a lights illumination is derived from a source).

3) If people see a light in me - I am to point them to the TRUE source!  Jesus Christ alone is the light of the world....


Prayer
Thanks for spending time with me today G. Help me, live out today all that I have learned during our time.




youR THOUGHTS?

Friday, April 6, 2012

Where am I begin lead? What results am I wanting?


Where do I begin to lead?  What results am I wanting?


often those two question are key in navigate both our current and future destinations.

....thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.” - 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 (NIV)
Let’s do this!  First let’s examine: (vs 14) “thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.”  Secondly let’s look at: (vs 15) “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. 

Let’s go verse 14.  “thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.”  Okay G, let’s break it down and see how it redirects and hits home.  

    “...thanks be to God...”  As I read these four words I’m reminded of the truth and peace that’s discovered     while “being still and knowing that YOU are God.”  It’s through the process of me slowing down that I gain     a better perspective and obtain a deeper since of gratefulness.... hmm.... there’s also something about     expressing gratitude upfront.  Paul, first expresses his gratitude and then unpacks the why behind his     gratefulness!  Can I conclude that Paul is grateful because God daily leads him in triumph     (emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually)? 

Questions:  
How did Paul find triumph via Christ in his daily reality?                                                                            Paul, must have connected his personal business, commerce, relationships, etc.... to all that             Jesus accomplished through his death and resurrection.  

How did that cause Paul to be grateful and find daily victory?    Is it not true that when I’m able to slow down and get a glimpse of the whole picture it affects             every area of my life and naturally spreads to those around me.

Wow, this train of thought rolls right into verse 15.  “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.”  

My Personal Application=I need to keep my desired results / my end goal in the forefront of my mind.
My Personal Application=I can not place a high enough value on slowing down and sitting at Jesus feet.!
Why?  It’s there I’m changed.  It’s there my heart and mind are relined.  It’s there I’m able to gain a better perspective.
How? -perspective (mentally / physically), -gratefulness (emotionally / physically), -daily *as I connected everything to eternity verses the smallness of my personal life (reality / spiritually).