John 21:15-17
15So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, [son] of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. 16He saith to him again the second time, Simon, [son] of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. 17He saith unto him the third time, Simon, [son] of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
I love this portion of scripture. It is one of my favorites. I have seen a lot of teachings on it that have been valuable, yet the full meaning of the scripture is often not seen. I decided to flesh it out a bit but looking up the original Greek. Specifically, the words I looked at are lovest, knowest, feed, lambs, and sheep. What I found is that while many versions of the translate "Feed my sheep" the same way twice, the original Greek did not use the same words.
Two words for love are used by Jesus and Peter. One is agapao. According to Strong's Concordance, this translates as:
"properly, to prefer, to love; for the believer, preferring to "live through Christ" (1 Jn 4:9,10), i.e. embracing God's will (choosing His choices) and obeying them through His power. 25 (agapáō) preeminently refers to what God prefers as He "is love" (1 Jn 4:8,16). See 26 (agapē).
With the believer, 25 /agapáō ("to love") means actively doing what the Lord prefers, with Him (by His power and direction). True 25 /agapáō ("loving") is always defined by God – a "discriminating affection which involves choice and selection" (WS, 477). 1 Jn 4:8,16,17 for example convey how loving ("preferring," 25 /agapáō) is Christ living His life through the believer."
Phileo is the other word that is used. This translates as:
"affectionate friendship") – properly, to show warm affection in intimate friendship, characterized by tender, heartfelt consideration and kinship."
Next, I looked at the words for lambs and sheep. The word used for lambs is arnion. This translates as:
"properly, a young lamb, "a little lamb" (J. Thayer); (figuratively) a person with pure (innocent), virgin-like (gentle) intentions."
The word used for sheep is probaton. This translates as:
"sheep; (figuratively) someone easily led, one way or the other (like a sheep)."
I then looked at the word feed. This translates in two different ways. The first word is bosko. This translates as:
"properly, feed (graze); (figuratively) spiritually nourish by feeding people the Word of God (Jn 21:15,17). While 4166 (poimḗn) focuses on "shepherding" the flock of God (caring for them)"
Feed also translates to the word poimaino. This means:
"focuses on "tending" ("shepherding") (WS, 274), which includes guarding, guiding, and folding the flock and is only provided (ultimately) by Jesus Christ – the Shepherd, who calls under-shepherds (such as elder-overseers) to guard and guide His people by His direction (1 Pet 5:1-5)"
Finally, I looked at the word knowest. This also translates two different ways. First, this translates as eido, which means:
"properly, to see with physical eyes (cf. Ro 1:11), as it naturally bridges to the metaphorical sense: perceiving ("mentally seeing"). This is akin to the expressions: "I see what You mean"; "I see what you are saying.""
This also translates to the word ginosko, which means:
"I am taking in knowledge, come to know, learn; aor: I ascertained, realized."
So, with all of this said, allow me to write this out a little bit closer to the original Greek.
15So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, [son] of Jonas, do you long for me with a Godly Love? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou physically see that I strongly like thee. He saith unto him, Spiritually nourish with the Word of God my people with pure virgin-like intentions. 16He saith to him again the second time, Simon, [son] of Jonas, do you long for me with a Godly love? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou physically see that I strongly like thee thee. He saith unto him, Guard, guide and fold into the flock my people that are easily led. 17He saith unto him the third time, Simon, [son] of Jonas, do you only strongly like me with a brotherly love? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, do you only strongly like me with a brotherly love? And he said unto him, Lord, thou are aware of all things; thou have perceived that I only strongly like thee. Jesus saith unto him, Nourish my easily led people with the Word of God.
So, with all of this, why does it matter that the text is different from what is seen at face value? First, the same thing is not said back and forth between Jesus and Peter three times. I think it is important to note that Jesus does not waste words in this conversation.
To me, one of the most important things is that we are called to follow Christ with an unwavering, fully committed love. Even when we don't have the relationship with Christ that we should, we are still called to nourish, guide, and guard those that are easily led. We are also called to nourish the young and innocent believers. How do I know that what Jesus said to Peter applies to us as well? Romans 2:11 tells us that God does not show favoritism.
Until next time,
Derek
Saturday, December 3, 2016
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Secret Sins
I have been thinking a lot lately about secret sins. Those things that we do alone or with a certain group of people that we don't want people to know about. Those things that we know if our family or coworkers found out about, we would regret what we had done.
Now, I could cite many verses that warn us against these types of sins. If we go to Proverbs 28:13, we see that "He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion." I could take you over to Psalm 90:8 where it says "You have placed our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence." If you wanted to see a verse in the New Testament, I could even take you to Ephesians 5:11 that says "Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them."
All of these are true, but I have learned my greatest lessons by the mistakes that I have made. I've heard it asked why make my own mistakes when I can learn from the mistakes of others? In the spirit of this, I wanted to look at a few stories of how secret sin has hurt a few individuals throughout scripture.
Turning back to Noah, we see in Genesis 9 where he had gotten drunk on the wine from his vineyard. We are not given a lot of detail on this story, but we do see where Noah was upset that Canaan advertised his nudity and his overindulgence in alcohol. Perhaps he did not know this would happen, but it is a good example of how alcohol can bring regret.
For an example of sins of lust and murder, we can look at King David. We go to 2 Samuel 11 for this story that there is so much to draw out of. We see that David was back home when he should be off at war. (2 Samuel 11:1) David looked at Bathsheba and slept with her and she became pregnant. This shows his sin of lust. He tried to hide this by inviting Eliam to sleep with her, but he refused to do so because he would not go home when other soldiers were fighting for his King. David then plotted to murder Eliam and tried to hide this by having the army hold back while Eliam was killed by David's enemies. In spite of these and other sins, David repented and this man is called a man after God's own heart. We see in scripture that David will rule with Christ during the millennium. (Ezekiel 37:24) With this, there were still consequences to David's sin that included his son Absalom plotting to betray David. (2 Samuel 15-19)
Lastly, I want to take you, the reader, to an instance of greed, pride and deception in the New Testament. As we read Acts 5:1-11, we see a couple named Ananias and Sapphira lie to their church leaders that they have given all of their money from the sale of their house to the church when they actually held part of it back. I believe they did this because they were afraid to trust God fully and wanted to be looked at as being as generous as others. We see that the result of their deception here was death.
Above are just a few examples of secret sin to be found in the Bible. These are chased after for many reasons. Maybe they are done to fit in with a crowd. Maybe it is to fill a desire, but we have so many wonderful examples in the Bible of people like Solomon who have had everything that he could possibly want, tried everything there was for him to try, and determined that it was all meaningless. We believe that the one perfect drink or person or score will fulfill us, but we deceive ourselves and fall into a trap of our enemy. Solomon said it best at the end of Ecclesiastes where he wrote in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14:
Now, I could cite many verses that warn us against these types of sins. If we go to Proverbs 28:13, we see that "He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion." I could take you over to Psalm 90:8 where it says "You have placed our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence." If you wanted to see a verse in the New Testament, I could even take you to Ephesians 5:11 that says "Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them."
All of these are true, but I have learned my greatest lessons by the mistakes that I have made. I've heard it asked why make my own mistakes when I can learn from the mistakes of others? In the spirit of this, I wanted to look at a few stories of how secret sin has hurt a few individuals throughout scripture.
Turning back to Noah, we see in Genesis 9 where he had gotten drunk on the wine from his vineyard. We are not given a lot of detail on this story, but we do see where Noah was upset that Canaan advertised his nudity and his overindulgence in alcohol. Perhaps he did not know this would happen, but it is a good example of how alcohol can bring regret.
For an example of sins of lust and murder, we can look at King David. We go to 2 Samuel 11 for this story that there is so much to draw out of. We see that David was back home when he should be off at war. (2 Samuel 11:1) David looked at Bathsheba and slept with her and she became pregnant. This shows his sin of lust. He tried to hide this by inviting Eliam to sleep with her, but he refused to do so because he would not go home when other soldiers were fighting for his King. David then plotted to murder Eliam and tried to hide this by having the army hold back while Eliam was killed by David's enemies. In spite of these and other sins, David repented and this man is called a man after God's own heart. We see in scripture that David will rule with Christ during the millennium. (Ezekiel 37:24) With this, there were still consequences to David's sin that included his son Absalom plotting to betray David. (2 Samuel 15-19)
Lastly, I want to take you, the reader, to an instance of greed, pride and deception in the New Testament. As we read Acts 5:1-11, we see a couple named Ananias and Sapphira lie to their church leaders that they have given all of their money from the sale of their house to the church when they actually held part of it back. I believe they did this because they were afraid to trust God fully and wanted to be looked at as being as generous as others. We see that the result of their deception here was death.
Above are just a few examples of secret sin to be found in the Bible. These are chased after for many reasons. Maybe they are done to fit in with a crowd. Maybe it is to fill a desire, but we have so many wonderful examples in the Bible of people like Solomon who have had everything that he could possibly want, tried everything there was for him to try, and determined that it was all meaningless. We believe that the one perfect drink or person or score will fulfill us, but we deceive ourselves and fall into a trap of our enemy. Solomon said it best at the end of Ecclesiastes where he wrote in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14:
13 Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Forward
I have been thinking lately of Wisconsin’s motto. It is simply forward. Wisconsin chose this because it has a goal of being the top state in the nation. To do this, the goal is to be continually improving and moving in a forward direction.
We, too, should constantly be moving forward. Forward in our walks with Christ, with our relationships with family, and with education to better ourselves. So many times, I have been afraid to step out in faith instead of stay in the safe confines of what is familiar. Yet Proverbs 3:5-6 clearly says:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Paul also talks about running a race in Hebrews 12:1-2a:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
Not only do we see the importance in this verse of casting off weights and sins, but also the importance of looking to Jesus as He is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. It can be so easy to remain in what is comfortable. To go through the motions of going to work, coming home, watching some television, going to bed, and repeating. To spend time with family on the weekends but not really change or advance over time.
What has God put on your heart to do that you know you should? Maybe it isn’t stepping out in faith but rather stepping out in obedience. This blog post is an example of this for me. After stepping away from working on this blog for seven years, the Lord prompted me to write this post.
If there is something on your heart to do, ask if it is good. Ask if it will glorify God. What you want may take effort, but simply making the effort and stepping out speaks volumes to others of the character within you. We are admonished in Colossians 3:23-24 that:
23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
A reason for church attendance
I have been thinking a lot lately about why I go to church and why it is important to me to do so. As I was considering this, a few things occurred to me.
First, I like having a pastor. It is important to me to have one. I have somebody I can go to when I don't know what to do. He never says I have to do anything, but I like to go to him when I am just uncertain myself. He is who married my wife and I and he is who I call when I am having a difficult time. He is the one who called every day when we lost the child that we expected to carry to term. He is the one who came when we lost our grandmother while her husband was in the hospital.
In my church, I have people that have been christian believers much longer than I have. They have been through more and have seen more than I have. I can go to them when I need to know what the bible has to say on a topic when I can't find it myself. I can talk to them about what they did when they went through something like I am going through.
In my church, I have things that I can do that are not just for me but for God's kingdom. I can serve by teaching children or by mixing the sound that will be put on tape and broadcast throughout the region I live in on television stations. I can help on a church cleaning day to keep things organized and make sure things are done in excellence. I can serve on staff. I can be a part of leading others to Christ.
I bring my tithe to my church in accordance to God's word. Malachi 3:8 would say that I am robbing God in tithes and offerings by not doing this and promises in verse 10 that by tithing, the windows of heaven are open to me to pour out a blessing I don't have room enough to contain.
In my church, I find peers to walk this journey together with. These are people that will stick closer than a brother. Friends like this will come in times of trouble even when it is not convenient for them to do so. These are friends that come in the middle of the night when my wife is in the hospital. They come to our rescue when a serpentine belt breaks in our truck. They give me a ride home after I crash my bike on the railroad tracks.
In my church, I find opportunities to help other people. I find new believers and people that are completely new to knowing God. These are people that find themselves where I once was just being hungry to know more about God and I am able to be available to help.
Mostly, I go to church because I find in his word that I am to do so. Hebrews 10:25 in the New International Version tells us to "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another..."
I have often read of Jesus who worshiped at the synagogue as his habit was. I have recently really been thinking of this and realized that if ANYBODY in all of history had the right to say that everybody in all churches that were available were messed up and misdirected, it would be Jesus. Here was a man that knew how off base the people around him were, and yet he still made a habit of going to church.
My pastor has shared about the idea of making small little adjustments in order to stay on track. If you stay on top of the adjustments that need to be made, this is easy to do, but let us take this analogy and look at driving a moment. If we are driving a vehicle and forget to correct for awhile, we will come more and more off the road that we are on. We may eventually go off the road completely. This is true in our christian lives as well. People don't just decide to turn away from God in an instant or to slack off on their commitment to him, it is something that develops over a period of time.
First, I like having a pastor. It is important to me to have one. I have somebody I can go to when I don't know what to do. He never says I have to do anything, but I like to go to him when I am just uncertain myself. He is who married my wife and I and he is who I call when I am having a difficult time. He is the one who called every day when we lost the child that we expected to carry to term. He is the one who came when we lost our grandmother while her husband was in the hospital.
In my church, I have people that have been christian believers much longer than I have. They have been through more and have seen more than I have. I can go to them when I need to know what the bible has to say on a topic when I can't find it myself. I can talk to them about what they did when they went through something like I am going through.
In my church, I have things that I can do that are not just for me but for God's kingdom. I can serve by teaching children or by mixing the sound that will be put on tape and broadcast throughout the region I live in on television stations. I can help on a church cleaning day to keep things organized and make sure things are done in excellence. I can serve on staff. I can be a part of leading others to Christ.
I bring my tithe to my church in accordance to God's word. Malachi 3:8 would say that I am robbing God in tithes and offerings by not doing this and promises in verse 10 that by tithing, the windows of heaven are open to me to pour out a blessing I don't have room enough to contain.
In my church, I find peers to walk this journey together with. These are people that will stick closer than a brother. Friends like this will come in times of trouble even when it is not convenient for them to do so. These are friends that come in the middle of the night when my wife is in the hospital. They come to our rescue when a serpentine belt breaks in our truck. They give me a ride home after I crash my bike on the railroad tracks.
In my church, I find opportunities to help other people. I find new believers and people that are completely new to knowing God. These are people that find themselves where I once was just being hungry to know more about God and I am able to be available to help.
Mostly, I go to church because I find in his word that I am to do so. Hebrews 10:25 in the New International Version tells us to "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another..."
I have often read of Jesus who worshiped at the synagogue as his habit was. I have recently really been thinking of this and realized that if ANYBODY in all of history had the right to say that everybody in all churches that were available were messed up and misdirected, it would be Jesus. Here was a man that knew how off base the people around him were, and yet he still made a habit of going to church.
My pastor has shared about the idea of making small little adjustments in order to stay on track. If you stay on top of the adjustments that need to be made, this is easy to do, but let us take this analogy and look at driving a moment. If we are driving a vehicle and forget to correct for awhile, we will come more and more off the road that we are on. We may eventually go off the road completely. This is true in our christian lives as well. People don't just decide to turn away from God in an instant or to slack off on their commitment to him, it is something that develops over a period of time.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Armor of God Part 1
Tonight I want to introduce a new series on the armor of God. This is a topic I have always found interesting and am looking forward to studying further. For tonight, however, I will just give a brief introduction.
The portion of scripture this is coming from is Ephesians 6:10-18 that says...
10Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.11Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the world's rulers, of the darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in high places.13Therefore take to yourselves the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.14Therefore stand, having your loins girded about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness15and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.16Above all, take the shield of faith, with which you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God,18praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching to this very thing with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.
I will be going into each of these peaces of armor as I progress though this portion of scripture, but let me first point out that the only offensive weapon that Paul tells us about is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. I have posted this in the Modern King James Version, however, I like the way God's Word translation puts this when it says Pray in the Spirit in every situation. Use every kind of prayer and request there is. For the same reason be alert. use every kind of effort and make every kind of request for all of God's people.
Wow. Do you get the idea here? God wants us to ask. He wants us to pray. He wants us to ask his opinion. There is never anything too small or too big for God. Most people don't have a problem asking God for big things except when they talk themselves out of it thinking that they are not good enough or that it more than they deserve. Well, my bible tells me that God will give me immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine(Eph 3:20). But I digress on this until I get to this part of the scripture.
The other point that I want to make here is that every weapon found here covers the front and not one of them covers our rear ends. We are not supposed to run away from our problems and opposition but we are to run toward it fully equipped with the armor of God.
I also look at the end of verse 13 and the beginning of verse 14. I have been taught that when you see a word repeated, it means emphasis in the same way that we would yell something or use an exclamation point or all capital letters. "having done all to stand. Therefore STAND!". In other words, if you are struggling, keep struggling. Fighting? Keep fighting! While my pastor didn't coin the phrase, I have heard him say "When you are going through hell, don't stop. And catch a little fire on your way out.
Again, this is a very, very brief introduction and I look forward to digging deep into this portion of scripture. Come with me as we journey together and find what truth's we can draw out.
The portion of scripture this is coming from is Ephesians 6:10-18 that says...
10Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.11Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the world's rulers, of the darkness of this age, against spiritual wickedness in high places.13Therefore take to yourselves the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.14Therefore stand, having your loins girded about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness15and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.16Above all, take the shield of faith, with which you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God,18praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching to this very thing with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.
I will be going into each of these peaces of armor as I progress though this portion of scripture, but let me first point out that the only offensive weapon that Paul tells us about is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. I have posted this in the Modern King James Version, however, I like the way God's Word translation puts this when it says Pray in the Spirit in every situation. Use every kind of prayer and request there is. For the same reason be alert. use every kind of effort and make every kind of request for all of God's people.
Wow. Do you get the idea here? God wants us to ask. He wants us to pray. He wants us to ask his opinion. There is never anything too small or too big for God. Most people don't have a problem asking God for big things except when they talk themselves out of it thinking that they are not good enough or that it more than they deserve. Well, my bible tells me that God will give me immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine(Eph 3:20). But I digress on this until I get to this part of the scripture.
The other point that I want to make here is that every weapon found here covers the front and not one of them covers our rear ends. We are not supposed to run away from our problems and opposition but we are to run toward it fully equipped with the armor of God.
I also look at the end of verse 13 and the beginning of verse 14. I have been taught that when you see a word repeated, it means emphasis in the same way that we would yell something or use an exclamation point or all capital letters. "having done all to stand. Therefore STAND!". In other words, if you are struggling, keep struggling. Fighting? Keep fighting! While my pastor didn't coin the phrase, I have heard him say "When you are going through hell, don't stop. And catch a little fire on your way out.
Again, this is a very, very brief introduction and I look forward to digging deep into this portion of scripture. Come with me as we journey together and find what truth's we can draw out.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Today I declare war
No, I'm not attacking another person or group of people. Today I begin my war on a kingdom. Today I stop being part of a company and advance to the front lines. Today, I move to attack in a way that hurts and drive out any enemies from my own camp. Today, I declare war on evil, on demonic spirits, and on Satan himself.
This may sound hokey to some. I don't care. There is a kingdom of light and a kingdom of darkness and while some don't want to believe it, this kingdom of darkness is where lack comes from. This kingdom of darkness is where depression comes from. This kingdom of darkness is where sickness comes from.
Today I claim my right as a child of God and come boldly before his throne. Today I drive out and demonic influence in my home and declare that it must leave and never come back. Tonight, this night, this very night, sleepness nights will end and be banished forever. Tonight, temptations to sin in ANY way have no place in my home. Tonight my home becomes a home of peace, rest, and unity.
One thing about going to war is that you have to have weapons to fight with. Tonight, I begin building my arsenal finding out who I am in Christ. With this arsenal, I can fight the common cold, depression, lack of finances, disunity, and every other evil thing that comes into this life because I am a child of God. This is NOT because of who I am or what I have done but because of what Christ has done in me.
What is making me sad here is that I have taken so long to declare this war. I have had the tools available to me for 8 years now and am only now fully taking advantage of them. I have gone to a good church where this is taught and been saved for seven years now and thus far have only done baby stuff feeding off of the sincere milk of the word.
It is now time for me to grow up and begin to feed on the meat that is available to me. It is time for me to go from being a follower who is being coddled and protected to being a leader who is available to attack and defend. The fire has been lit in my life and will continue to be fed through daily bible reading and prayer and confession of God's word and church. I will continue forward and I will not look back.
This may sound hokey to some. I don't care. There is a kingdom of light and a kingdom of darkness and while some don't want to believe it, this kingdom of darkness is where lack comes from. This kingdom of darkness is where depression comes from. This kingdom of darkness is where sickness comes from.
Today I claim my right as a child of God and come boldly before his throne. Today I drive out and demonic influence in my home and declare that it must leave and never come back. Tonight, this night, this very night, sleepness nights will end and be banished forever. Tonight, temptations to sin in ANY way have no place in my home. Tonight my home becomes a home of peace, rest, and unity.
One thing about going to war is that you have to have weapons to fight with. Tonight, I begin building my arsenal finding out who I am in Christ. With this arsenal, I can fight the common cold, depression, lack of finances, disunity, and every other evil thing that comes into this life because I am a child of God. This is NOT because of who I am or what I have done but because of what Christ has done in me.
What is making me sad here is that I have taken so long to declare this war. I have had the tools available to me for 8 years now and am only now fully taking advantage of them. I have gone to a good church where this is taught and been saved for seven years now and thus far have only done baby stuff feeding off of the sincere milk of the word.
It is now time for me to grow up and begin to feed on the meat that is available to me. It is time for me to go from being a follower who is being coddled and protected to being a leader who is available to attack and defend. The fire has been lit in my life and will continue to be fed through daily bible reading and prayer and confession of God's word and church. I will continue forward and I will not look back.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
God is good...
Okay, I know I just did this topic, but I don't feel like I completed it. I keep seeing so many instances where people just aren't getting what is from God and what is not as people are often confusing disaster with God testing us.
Yes, God does test us. We see this when God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son on the alter. This is the same son that God gave to Abraham when he was by all natural standards too old to have a son and this was his only son. Abraham did take his son with him fully prepared to sacrifice his son. My pastor has painted a fantastic picture of this describing how Isaac must have helped carry the wood. We see where Isaac asked where the lamb for the sacrifice was and Abraham answered that God would provide a lamb. We see that Isaac allowed his father to tie him up and must have known at this point that he was to be the sacrifice made. How hard this must have been for Abraham prepared to do this in obedience of God.
I will take a moment to point out that this was not judgment against Isaac or Abraham. We see nothing here where they were being punished for a sin against God, and yet Abraham was fully prepared to obey.
Now we come to the point where Isaac is bound and Abraham is bringing the knife down to kill his son and the angel of the Lord stayed his hand. A sacrifice was still made that day with the ram in the thicket that God had provided.
If interested, you can find this full account in Genesis 21 through 22. This is an instance where a man was tested. This also, incidentally, established the covenant for God to provide His only son as a sacrifice for us. That, however, is for another blog post.
When a person's home is destroyed or a family member is taken, that is bad and not from God. It is not a test. It is not a way of getting the person to lean more on God. It is bad.
When 9-11 happened and thousands died, it was not the wrath of God for the sins of America. It was evil and was not judgment for our sins.
Does God judge? Emphatically yes, however, when we see this happen, it is only the person who sinned who dies or is punished. We see this as Lot's wife turns to salt when she turned back as the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19. We see judgment against Ananias and Saphirah as they lied about what they sold their house for in Acts 5. We see it when Korah rebelled in Numbers 16.
In all of these cases, it is individuals sinning against God, it is never a whole punished for the actions of a few. In fact, we see examples of this when Lot leaves to separate himself and when Korah is punished. An angel specifically tells Lot that he cannot destroy Sodom and Gomorrah until Lot has left. Moses also tells the people to separate themselves from those being judged so that the do not suffer for the sins of Korah and the others rebelling with him.
People even blame the weather on God when things happen like killing crops. Truth is that even rain was a result of our sin. Before that, mist rose from the ground to water the plants. In fact, the first rain to ever happen was the one the flooded the earth. Think of what Noah's neighbor's thought when he said he was building an ark because it was going to rain. They must have all wondered about the crazy man talking about this thing called rain that was water that fell from the sky.
Well, that's enough on that for now. As my pastor often says, we are never really done, we just take a break. I may continue on this topic on my next post or move onto a new topic.
Yes, God does test us. We see this when God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son on the alter. This is the same son that God gave to Abraham when he was by all natural standards too old to have a son and this was his only son. Abraham did take his son with him fully prepared to sacrifice his son. My pastor has painted a fantastic picture of this describing how Isaac must have helped carry the wood. We see where Isaac asked where the lamb for the sacrifice was and Abraham answered that God would provide a lamb. We see that Isaac allowed his father to tie him up and must have known at this point that he was to be the sacrifice made. How hard this must have been for Abraham prepared to do this in obedience of God.
I will take a moment to point out that this was not judgment against Isaac or Abraham. We see nothing here where they were being punished for a sin against God, and yet Abraham was fully prepared to obey.
Now we come to the point where Isaac is bound and Abraham is bringing the knife down to kill his son and the angel of the Lord stayed his hand. A sacrifice was still made that day with the ram in the thicket that God had provided.
If interested, you can find this full account in Genesis 21 through 22. This is an instance where a man was tested. This also, incidentally, established the covenant for God to provide His only son as a sacrifice for us. That, however, is for another blog post.
When a person's home is destroyed or a family member is taken, that is bad and not from God. It is not a test. It is not a way of getting the person to lean more on God. It is bad.
When 9-11 happened and thousands died, it was not the wrath of God for the sins of America. It was evil and was not judgment for our sins.
Does God judge? Emphatically yes, however, when we see this happen, it is only the person who sinned who dies or is punished. We see this as Lot's wife turns to salt when she turned back as the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19. We see judgment against Ananias and Saphirah as they lied about what they sold their house for in Acts 5. We see it when Korah rebelled in Numbers 16.
In all of these cases, it is individuals sinning against God, it is never a whole punished for the actions of a few. In fact, we see examples of this when Lot leaves to separate himself and when Korah is punished. An angel specifically tells Lot that he cannot destroy Sodom and Gomorrah until Lot has left. Moses also tells the people to separate themselves from those being judged so that the do not suffer for the sins of Korah and the others rebelling with him.
People even blame the weather on God when things happen like killing crops. Truth is that even rain was a result of our sin. Before that, mist rose from the ground to water the plants. In fact, the first rain to ever happen was the one the flooded the earth. Think of what Noah's neighbor's thought when he said he was building an ark because it was going to rain. They must have all wondered about the crazy man talking about this thing called rain that was water that fell from the sky.
Well, that's enough on that for now. As my pastor often says, we are never really done, we just take a break. I may continue on this topic on my next post or move onto a new topic.
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