Its close to Christmas and I am at my mom's house currently visiting my family for the holiday. As always I have to go through all the mail I receive as the places that I dont want to mail me at my actual home I leave for my mom's house. I came across 2 things: 1. An alumni letter asking me whether I missed good ol Mary Washington and how crazy it is that its been 7 months (actually 1 year for me) since we graduated. Then they asked for a donation. (Sorry UMW you have 36,000 of my money I think I'm good). 2. I received some weird high tech UMW 2.0 magazine that detailed all the cool things my college is doing while I am no longer there (ironic isnt it?). New buildings we needed like 10 years ago, a new basketball area, a new dorm area, new shops, places to hang out and eat for more social activity that is safe and on campus. Though all those things I was not bitter about this as the magazine was pretty boring but there was a picture on the back, as if you were standing in front of Monroe Hall facing the fountain at dusk. It showed the fountain and the lights lit up and it was actually quite an amazing picture. Rarely but on this time I began to think of the numerous walks I took past that fountain at night, by myself, with friends or with my girlfriend. It was one of those moments where you think of memories and smile to yourself in enjoyment. I remembered meeting my gf and taking walks with her to get to know her and her relationship with Christ. I remember walking by it at night dressed up as a clown to head to the eagles nest with friends to act like an idiot, and I remember sitting at it during grad ball just taking in the end of college life. I reflected on memories from all 3 years at UMW and it was alot of fun. I can say that I have no regrets (except maybe actually trying to get good grades..................naw!). My relationship with Christ grew immensely from it. Each pitfall, each person who told me to believe in this or that. Or Jesus was really this, the Bible says this cause I say so.....all of it made my faith grow.
I think one of the greatest joys is that memories are truly a gift from God. To sit and remember good times, and even bad times to show grow is so reminiscent of our God.
GOd remembers his promises (Gen. 9:15) He remembers and blesses those who are his (Psalm 115:12, and we remember what he has done for us(Psalm 77:11)
So take sometime and think of a period of time that not only did you create and have great memories, but also grew in your relationship with Christ. It doesnt have to be epic and have tons of melodrama, but a time where you remember, a memory of value and importance.
Be blessed!
Wedding Day
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Do You Delight?
The Book of Psalms as I later found out in seminary is best translated the Book of Praise. It is a book of praise becasue well God is praised constantly. There are 2 kinds of Psalms: sad ones and happy ones. So then how is the Book of Praises about praises in the sad ones. I'm glad you asked, as the Psalmist shows us that the laments always move to praise. For example many lament Psalms start out with "why does this crap happen, why do you turn away, why do you abandon me?" (I wish God would be like: Do you want some cheese with that wine?" I know cheesy! No pun intended) So the pattern is consistent: Psalm that start with lament end in praise, and we see this movement throughout.
Second important thought: Psalm wasnt written by David (alone!). There were many psalmist as indicated by the beginning of the majority of the Psalms.
So into the meat:
Psalm 1 gives a contrast between 2 kinds of people. Now this Psalm reminds me of a John book (Gospel of John, 1 John, 2 John, etc) because he makes clear distinctions between 2 different kinds of people: People who love God and people who do not.
Psalm 1 does this also:
vs. 1:
"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked...But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night"
So a man is blessed when he does not walk in the way of the wicked but rather when he DELIGHTS in the law of the LORD.
To delight: a high degree of pleasure or enjoyment; joy
law-contextually the law is not necessarily the Mosaic Law, rather it is God's commands, or as RC Sproul says the "whole of Scripture" The Hebrew actually says "teachings"
So a man is blessed when he takes pleasure in the commands of Yahweh. How do we take pleasure in God's commands? First we need know what joy our LORD takes in us:
1. He loves us unconditionally
2. He is always available
3. He values us
4. He never abandons us
5. He hears us
6. He loves us unconditionally
7. He is in control of all things
8. He is irresistable
9. He loves you unconditonally
Did you catch the pattern. God delights in YOU! He created us all with the purpose of loving HIM. That was our original creation. We were in the Kingdom of God--God's people, under God's rule, in God's place. God created man in his image, and after creating them blessed (Gen. 1:26-27) them, setting them apart from every other being in the garden. All was very good, in Ephesians 1:4 it says that before creation he chose YOU!
We can take delight in God because He takes delight in us first.
So the righteous man delights in God's law, obviously the contrast is true, the wicked hate God's law. They despise it, and want nothing of it.
Notice what the righteous man also does: "he meditates on it day and night"
Meditate:to engage in thought or contemplation, reflect.
The Hebrew here gives meditate--studies or recites (which makes sense knowing Jewish customs of recitation in the synogogue)
So the man delights in God's teachings, and reflects on it day and night.
When have you reflected on a passage of Scripture? Now this doesnt mean you need to go into seclusion for 2 weeks and recite a passage. Rather our Christian culture jumps from one verse to another without really taking the meaning of it, nor the meaning to the individual seriously.
Here is a goal you should try:
Read a passage of Scripture, how ever long you want. Then reflect on it throughout the day. How did it fit into your day: did you have an experience that reflected that passage, a conversation? Did it apply to something you thought about, saw, touched, read in another book? Just reflect on it for once and see where that takes you. It might just help reduce the stress level of so many people. It gives renewal, just see Psalm 19:8-" The teaching of the LORD is perfect, renewing life." (JPS Hebrew)
If this Psalm is correct, we have joy in God's teachings (Scripture) and we should and want to meditate on it daily (prayer, reflection).
The benefits are detailed in the rest of the passage:
He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
Be Blessed!
Second important thought: Psalm wasnt written by David (alone!). There were many psalmist as indicated by the beginning of the majority of the Psalms.
So into the meat:
Psalm 1 gives a contrast between 2 kinds of people. Now this Psalm reminds me of a John book (Gospel of John, 1 John, 2 John, etc) because he makes clear distinctions between 2 different kinds of people: People who love God and people who do not.
Psalm 1 does this also:
vs. 1:
"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked...But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night"
So a man is blessed when he does not walk in the way of the wicked but rather when he DELIGHTS in the law of the LORD.
To delight: a high degree of pleasure or enjoyment; joy
law-contextually the law is not necessarily the Mosaic Law, rather it is God's commands, or as RC Sproul says the "whole of Scripture" The Hebrew actually says "teachings"
So a man is blessed when he takes pleasure in the commands of Yahweh. How do we take pleasure in God's commands? First we need know what joy our LORD takes in us:
1. He loves us unconditionally
2. He is always available
3. He values us
4. He never abandons us
5. He hears us
6. He loves us unconditionally
7. He is in control of all things
8. He is irresistable
9. He loves you unconditonally
Did you catch the pattern. God delights in YOU! He created us all with the purpose of loving HIM. That was our original creation. We were in the Kingdom of God--God's people, under God's rule, in God's place. God created man in his image, and after creating them blessed (Gen. 1:26-27) them, setting them apart from every other being in the garden. All was very good, in Ephesians 1:4 it says that before creation he chose YOU!
We can take delight in God because He takes delight in us first.
So the righteous man delights in God's law, obviously the contrast is true, the wicked hate God's law. They despise it, and want nothing of it.
Notice what the righteous man also does: "he meditates on it day and night"
Meditate:to engage in thought or contemplation, reflect.
The Hebrew here gives meditate--studies or recites (which makes sense knowing Jewish customs of recitation in the synogogue)
So the man delights in God's teachings, and reflects on it day and night.
When have you reflected on a passage of Scripture? Now this doesnt mean you need to go into seclusion for 2 weeks and recite a passage. Rather our Christian culture jumps from one verse to another without really taking the meaning of it, nor the meaning to the individual seriously.
Here is a goal you should try:
Read a passage of Scripture, how ever long you want. Then reflect on it throughout the day. How did it fit into your day: did you have an experience that reflected that passage, a conversation? Did it apply to something you thought about, saw, touched, read in another book? Just reflect on it for once and see where that takes you. It might just help reduce the stress level of so many people. It gives renewal, just see Psalm 19:8-" The teaching of the LORD is perfect, renewing life." (JPS Hebrew)
If this Psalm is correct, we have joy in God's teachings (Scripture) and we should and want to meditate on it daily (prayer, reflection).
The benefits are detailed in the rest of the passage:
He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
Be Blessed!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
A Mediator....
I have decided to embark on a new journey. Like numerous Christians I enjoy the New Testament immensely and love Greek. I could spend hours over Paul books and jump into the Gospels at will. Problem is that 77% of the Bible is the Old Testament, and another problem is that many Christians are very weak on their Old Testament knowledge and reading. I am one of those people. Sadly it took a seminary course to stir my interest and mind into reading it, which explains my first statement: I am on a new journey. Now by all means I have read the Old Testament before but not with the clarity that seminary has provided.
As my reading goes I have been in the book of 1 Samuel. Now in the Hebrew Bible Samuel is not separated. The reason for this isnt some deep theological ramification but rather they couldn't fit both of the books onto one scroll so they divided it up. Then stinky Westerners were like hey these should be two books??!!! Deep I know! Anyway, 1 Samuel is broken into 3 main parts--simply focusing on the 3 main/important characters:
Chapters 1-7 focus on Samuel (notice how they contrast the faithful Samuel to Eli the disobedient priest).
Chapters 8-15 focus on Saul and his kingship, battles, and eventual fall from the LORDs grace.
Chapter 15-30 focus on David
Now that we have all the background out of the way check out this cool passage I came across a day ago and has just stuck in my mind.
1 Samuel 2:25
"If a man sins against another man, God may mediate for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who will intercede for him?" His sons, however, did not listen to their father's rebuke, for it was the LORD's will to put them to death."
There are 2 parts to this I will tackle the first part then write a second blog for the second part.
Part I. God as mediator
*Whats amazing about this verse is that it displays that when we sin against another person, God may mediate for us. Contextually this verse is Eli the High Priest rebuking his sons because they were sleeping with the temple women, and they were taking the consecreated meat and chowing down. Its kinda like if the Jewish temple hired frat boys??!!!!
Eli is saying that though there will be a need for mediation between people who have disputes, if you offend God WHO will intervene on YOUR part??
We know in this story that the 2 sons were the offenders. Eli knows they have done wrong, it was being spread around EVERYONE knew!! He is telling them guys yes you can hurt others but there will be mediation but who will stand up to you when you have NO MEDIATOR.
And this is why reading the OT and then the NT is so useful:
1 John 2:1-2:
"I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world."
If anybody does sin (Grk. here is Harmatia--to miss the mark or deviate from the path)
We have offended God---with what?? Our sin. We loved sin, our body/flesh loves sin and wants to perform it. By nature we were sinners, from our very birth we were sinners (Eph. 2:1-2; Rom.), So we have offended a holy righteous God. So going back to 1 Samuel---Eli asks WHO will intercede?
I like the direct Hebrew translation of this "who can obtain pardon for himself?"
Ladies and gentlemen John answers this question without a doubt:
"we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense..."
"we have an advocate to the Father..." NASB
"we have an advocate who pleads our case..." NLT
We have one who pardons us from our offense to God. One who brings peace between the relationship between God and man (most translations have the term propitation--this is what that term means). Who redeems, who purchases us, who makes us right before God and who is OUR MEDIATOR: Jesus Christ.
Eli recognized there was no sacrifice that would remove the offense they had incurred. He knew that it would wash away the sin they committed. Hence why he is so worried, my sons you have offended God, who will stand in your place to plead your case, to help, save, redeem you?
Well we have the perfect lawyer: Jesus Christ. He plead our case with God and won. He was the mediator, the ONLY mediator between God and man. Not merit, not status, not how much money we owned, it was only because of His grace and goodness.
I close with this wonderful Paul verse found in 1 Tim. 2:1 before he launches into his discourse on how graceful God is:
"For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."
Be Blessed!
As my reading goes I have been in the book of 1 Samuel. Now in the Hebrew Bible Samuel is not separated. The reason for this isnt some deep theological ramification but rather they couldn't fit both of the books onto one scroll so they divided it up. Then stinky Westerners were like hey these should be two books??!!! Deep I know! Anyway, 1 Samuel is broken into 3 main parts--simply focusing on the 3 main/important characters:
Chapters 1-7 focus on Samuel (notice how they contrast the faithful Samuel to Eli the disobedient priest).
Chapters 8-15 focus on Saul and his kingship, battles, and eventual fall from the LORDs grace.
Chapter 15-30 focus on David
Now that we have all the background out of the way check out this cool passage I came across a day ago and has just stuck in my mind.
1 Samuel 2:25
"If a man sins against another man, God may mediate for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who will intercede for him?" His sons, however, did not listen to their father's rebuke, for it was the LORD's will to put them to death."
There are 2 parts to this I will tackle the first part then write a second blog for the second part.
Part I. God as mediator
*Whats amazing about this verse is that it displays that when we sin against another person, God may mediate for us. Contextually this verse is Eli the High Priest rebuking his sons because they were sleeping with the temple women, and they were taking the consecreated meat and chowing down. Its kinda like if the Jewish temple hired frat boys??!!!!
Eli is saying that though there will be a need for mediation between people who have disputes, if you offend God WHO will intervene on YOUR part??
We know in this story that the 2 sons were the offenders. Eli knows they have done wrong, it was being spread around EVERYONE knew!! He is telling them guys yes you can hurt others but there will be mediation but who will stand up to you when you have NO MEDIATOR.
And this is why reading the OT and then the NT is so useful:
1 John 2:1-2:
"I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world."
If anybody does sin (Grk. here is Harmatia--to miss the mark or deviate from the path)
We have offended God---with what?? Our sin. We loved sin, our body/flesh loves sin and wants to perform it. By nature we were sinners, from our very birth we were sinners (Eph. 2:1-2; Rom.), So we have offended a holy righteous God. So going back to 1 Samuel---Eli asks WHO will intercede?
I like the direct Hebrew translation of this "who can obtain pardon for himself?"
Ladies and gentlemen John answers this question without a doubt:
"we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense..."
"we have an advocate to the Father..." NASB
"we have an advocate who pleads our case..." NLT
We have one who pardons us from our offense to God. One who brings peace between the relationship between God and man (most translations have the term propitation--this is what that term means). Who redeems, who purchases us, who makes us right before God and who is OUR MEDIATOR: Jesus Christ.
Eli recognized there was no sacrifice that would remove the offense they had incurred. He knew that it would wash away the sin they committed. Hence why he is so worried, my sons you have offended God, who will stand in your place to plead your case, to help, save, redeem you?
Well we have the perfect lawyer: Jesus Christ. He plead our case with God and won. He was the mediator, the ONLY mediator between God and man. Not merit, not status, not how much money we owned, it was only because of His grace and goodness.
I close with this wonderful Paul verse found in 1 Tim. 2:1 before he launches into his discourse on how graceful God is:
"For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."
Be Blessed!
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