Archive for » January, 2014 «

January 4, 2013 – Matthew 4

temptation
Temptation. The bag of Oreos on the counter next to the apple.  The empty country road with nary a police officer in sight.  The Facebook feed beckoning during study time.  The cat a slight foot swipe away.  The last cold soda in the fridge when you and brother both want one.  What to do, what to do.  One of the most quoted verses in the Bible is I Corinthians 10:13: You will not be tempted beyond what you can endure. We tend to think of it like a comforting little blanket; God will always make sure that we don’t have to struggle too much.  Is that really what it means?  Is temptation really just a little annoyance we can push aside with a favorite verse? Or is there more to it than that?

Today’s reading is a familiar passage on Jesus’ temptation.  Notice how Satan keeps raising the stakes in this encounter.  The first thing he offers Jesus is just relief for his immediate suffering.  “Make some food, and feel better.”  When that doesn’t work, he suggests Jesus perform a miracle (saving Himself from a fall), since then all of the Jews would then follow him.  When Jesus again turns him down, Satan plays the ace: the whole world simply for worship him. Satan alway seems to keep the pressure up. As soon you have one temptation under control, he raises another.

FEEL THE BURN

On the other hand, God is constantly training us up to stand against those temptations.  How does Jesus respond? He just keeps repeating God’s Word. As the devil’s temptations get larger and larger, Jesus returns to what God has revealed over and over.  Notice he doesn’t use his divine power to turn Satan away, though he certainly could have.  He uses the same tools that are available to us.It seems that rather than avoiding trouble, God purposefully lets us work through it on occasion.  Why is that? Does He just enjoy watching us struggle? Or is it possible that He knows that only through struggle can we grow.  If you’re a weight lifter (and who isn’t in January?), you know that you don’t grow stronger by lifting the same weight over and over.  You have to up the poundage regularly to keep pushing your muscles. Only by facing temptation and overcoming it with His ability in us can we truly grow closer to Him.

UP NEXT 

Whatever you have dealt with in the past, it’s important to keep in mind that when temptation and trouble come, they will probably be just a little bit more than what you dealt with in the past.  God uses those times to grow us and strengthen our dependence on Him.  You may feel you have spent years trying to get past that addiction, and then when you finally feel like it’s under control, God says “yes, but what about ungratefulness?” You may finally be getting your finances in line with Biblical principles, and God says “what about that pride?”  We are constantly be re-formed into Jesus’ image; there’s a good chance we won’t be complete this side of eternity.  There will always be something new to work on, until the moment we’re in his presence for good.

Final thought: It’s easy to look at others in the Church and feel like “why come my life is so hard? Life is so easy for them.”  We need to keep in mind that God is teaching everyone something different, something unique to their individuality and time of life.  Maybe they are being tempted by something that you dealt with long ago, or something that you will deal with in the future.  We would probably go a long ways towards peace in the Church if we were a little more gracious with others in their struggles, whether we understand those struggles or not.

How is your current temptation making you more like Christ?

January 3, 2014 – Genesis 3

Click here to read Genesis 3 on BibleGateway.com

1419Ah, the holidays.  In many parts of the world, we are only partway through the “twelve days of Christmas.” (December 25 to January 6).  That means we are right in the middle of the high-risk time for the infectious epidemic known as spoiledbratitis.  In the weeks leading up to Christmas, somehow children are miraculously well-behaved; smiles are wider, obedience is quicker, bottoms are less swattened.  Yet we’ve all see these same children not one week later returning gifts at Walmart or Toys-R-Us, and it seems as if all the demons of the brimstone netherworld have taken up residence in their little adorable spastic bodies.

The toy wasn’t new enough, the phone wasn’t advanced enough, the necklace wasn’t sparkly enough, the new bike was the wrong color, the new tablet is too small, the pants are too long, the dress is too poofy and the book is too booky.  How could ye ole present-giver be so monumentally stupid as to purchase such a worthless piece of eggnog.  If only Mom and Dad had listened to them, they would know exactly what to get.  Some people just shouldn’t have kids.

BILLY’S GARDEN HAS BETTER FRUIT

We might smile and shake our heads (or “accidentally” smack them with our cart as they pass), but have you ever considered how many times we approach God like a spoiled child?  If only He would listen to us, everything would be fine.  It’s only his crazy rules and archaic view of the world (after all, he’s been around forever, how could he possibly know what the best iPhone is?) that make life so difficult.

Look at Adam and Eve in today’s reading.  Not only do they disobey God’s rules about the Eden produce section, the reason they do it is to “be wise…like God.”  Interesting plan.  Even after they screwup, they decide to “fix” the problem on their own, and get some matching fig leaf ensembles.

But when God comes, he tells them the truth.  Their way is not good enough; they will be like God , yes, they know good and evil.  But now they can no longer stay in Paradise.  Similarly, they were right to try to cover their sin, but their way was not enough.  Plants were not enough to cover up their shame; it took the death of a life, an innocent life, to provide a covering for their sin.

HEAVENLY DADDY

Too often, we try to tell God how to be God.  We see all the evil around us – God should do something about that.  My child is dying – God should heal him.  There’s a hurricane coming – God should stop that.  God didn’t do what I thought he should – He must not be God. If He doesn’t do what we want, we throw a tantrum.  “You’re not my mom anymore; I’m gonna run away; I’m gonna go live with Janie’s mom.”  “You must not be God, I’m not going to church anymore, I’m gonna check out other religions/gods.”  Are we really so much different than that lil angelic demon-spawn at Walmart?

Are you able to let God be God? Are you able to look at the way things are and say “I still trust you.”  Are you able to say “I don’t know why I can’t have this fruit, but I’ll take Your word for it.”  Or do you have to know the reason why? Is God only God if He meets your expectations?  Will you still follow when He doesn’t make sense that you can see? Can you accept that He loves you and wants the best for you?

Can you accept that an unreasonable God might have the best reasons after all?

Remember Remember – Ezra 2

Click here to read Ezra 2 on BibleGateway.com

rememberThere’s a lot to be thankful for in this modern world.  The Interwebs give us access to just about any information we need at the touch of a button, not to mention the occasional dancing fox or two.  We can cross the globe in a few hours, only to discover that we don’t really like “authentic” Chinese food after all (hello, eyeball stew).  Not to mention refrigeration; raise your hand if you miss the rancid meat of the days of yore.   Can you imagine food poisoning when you’re locked in a suit of armor? Ish.

The New Year is usually a time when we look ahead and envision all the new joys and conveniences that are sure to come our way in the next twelve months.  It’s good to get a fresh start. Even the Bible reminds us that God’s mercies are new every morning. There’s something comforting to know that no matter what we’ve done in the past, God can start over with us at the point we are right now.

SANTANA’S SAGACITY 

However, all the appreciation and anticipation of the New doesn’t mean we should just forget what happened in the past.  In our chapter today, we read about several families that come to Jerusalem after the Babylonian Exile and claim to be Israelites, yet over the years their families have lost their records.  Whether they never believed that the Jews would ever return or just simply forgot to keep track, the end result was that they could not prove they were of the right family to serve in the temple.  They had let the day to day worries of life take precedence over who they were in God, and had lost the opportunity to be close to God’s presence.

God repeatedly tells us to “remember” throughout the Bible. Even one of the Ten Commandments says to “remember” the Sabbath. What does it mean to remember? Does that mean to just not forget what day Sunday is (or Saturday if you’re a scholar and/or somewhat a pretentious jerk).  Does God think we won’t be able to remember to take a day off every seven days? Clearly there’s more to it than that.

Remembrance in the Bible has less to do with forgetfulness and more to do with elevating something to a position of importance within your thinking. When God “remembers” Israel in Egypt, that doesn’t mean that they slipped his mind. It means that the time was now ripe for the next step of his plan.  When God tells us to “remember,” He is saying “keep this at the center of your mind.” When the Israelites didn’t keep God at the center of their lives, they “forgot” their destiny.

THIS DO…

In what may be the most important moment of Jesus’ life, he turns to his disciples and says “remember me when you do this.” Jesus is saying “elevate me and what I do tonite” to a place of honor in your lives. This is not a reminder from Siri that you need to take some bread and wine this morning at church. This is Jesus telling his followers that nothing is more important than His sacrifice and our relationship to it. Jesus knew that the troubles and worries of life would come along and distract us from what was really important. He implores us to remember.

This year, as we look forward to what God will do in the twelve months, let’s not forget what He did this past year. Let’s “remember” Christ.  Take a minute and think about the prayers you prayed this year.  How many did God answer (even if not in the way you wanted)? How may of those things you were so worried about actually happened?  What happened this year that brought you closer (or farther) away from God?

If we remember, this may just be the year that God calls us into his service or deeper into his presence.  Isn’t that what the New Year is all about?