When I think of the Word of God I almost always go to the scripture in Hebrews that says, “the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates, even to dividing soul and spirit, joint and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) That passage teaches us several important ways the Word of God affects us.
The word of God is alive. We may read it in ink on paper, but it is much more than that. The word doesn’t change, but it applies to every situation we can endure or imagine. The same passage may come to mean something new regarding our present circumstances. When we are looking for direction in our lives, “seek first the kingdom of God” may mean something valuable to us as an encouragement, but when we are backslidden, it may mean something entirely different. Then when we wonder what we might say to someone to encourage their Christian walk, “seek first…” may give new meaning in old words. Yes, and the word also lives because it changes things. From the very beginning we see the creative power of the word. God spoke and it came to be. The word of God is just as creative today: “seek first the kingdom…” may not be a command as much as it is a promise, for God gives us everything we need to accomplish whatever he has asked.
Often, we may find great comfort in God’s word as we see his interaction with humanity, but Hebrews also reveals another side of the word – it cuts. If we always only find comfort in the word, we are not letting it do all that God has purposed in giving it to us. He wants us to be shaped and convicted by the words that describe his righteousness.
Finally the word has something to do with judgment. And I am both thankful and frightened by the realization that the word searches my private thoughts and even my attitude about things. When the preacher encourages us to have an attitude of gratitude, with God, that translates to faith. My mind is nowhere near to perfection, my attitudes are often at war with my own desires and goals, but God knows me. He has walked with me when I am weak and when I have had the strength to help others. His word teaches me new things about myself in all those circumstances. When the word judges the thoughts and attitudes of my heart, it finds more work for the holy Spirit in transformation and for the blood of Jesus in forgiveness.
Showing posts with label beliefs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beliefs. Show all posts
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
One Woe
As Jesus looks toward his impending crucifixion and the culmination of his ministry he gets more and more confrontational with the religious leaders who are influencing God’s people to follow them in their hypocrisy. On the one hand he is certainly angry at their abuse of position and its results on the people who have depended on them for spiritual guidance. On the other hand, his purpose is to find a way to redeem even them into a reconciled relationship with the Father. So when we look at the Seven Woes in Matthew 23:13-36 we have to make a decision about how we hear Jesus’ words. Is he angry or is he speaking a lament? Is he preaching for them or is he preaching against them?
At times I have heard these woes in my mind as a rant against the scribes and Pharisees – “hypocrites!” But most of the time I hear them as a more pitiful dirge; an explanation of their arrogantly pathetic circumstances and the disastrous results of their self-righteousness.
The fifth and sixth woes particularly strike me as sad. The fifth one says, “Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside will also be clean.”
These people think that their religious activity is the essence of their relationship with God. Jesus proposes that they should work from the inside out; that when they are contrite and humble before God – when they devote their hearts to God – their bodies will follow their hearts' decision. Some have suggested that they were taking the opposite approach; that is, they were trying to work from the outside in, but that is not the case. They were completely neglecting the inside. In fact their motives for caring about the outside were corrupt from their conception. Jesus says they are motivated by greed and self-indulgence.
I think Jesus is preaching to two groups of people here. I think he is making a loving and frank attempt to jar the consciences of these leaders and he is also warning their followers and us about cultivating hypocrisy. Anyone can have a bad moment, a lapse in self-control, which they regret and bring to the Father for transformation and forgiveness. May we never attempt to hide behind a veil of religious practices, but be genuine in turning our hearts toward him.
At times I have heard these woes in my mind as a rant against the scribes and Pharisees – “hypocrites!” But most of the time I hear them as a more pitiful dirge; an explanation of their arrogantly pathetic circumstances and the disastrous results of their self-righteousness.
The fifth and sixth woes particularly strike me as sad. The fifth one says, “Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside will also be clean.”
These people think that their religious activity is the essence of their relationship with God. Jesus proposes that they should work from the inside out; that when they are contrite and humble before God – when they devote their hearts to God – their bodies will follow their hearts' decision. Some have suggested that they were taking the opposite approach; that is, they were trying to work from the outside in, but that is not the case. They were completely neglecting the inside. In fact their motives for caring about the outside were corrupt from their conception. Jesus says they are motivated by greed and self-indulgence.
I think Jesus is preaching to two groups of people here. I think he is making a loving and frank attempt to jar the consciences of these leaders and he is also warning their followers and us about cultivating hypocrisy. Anyone can have a bad moment, a lapse in self-control, which they regret and bring to the Father for transformation and forgiveness. May we never attempt to hide behind a veil of religious practices, but be genuine in turning our hearts toward him.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
My Personal Beliefs
I wrote this in 2001 during the pursuit of a ministry position. The church had asked me to write a statement outlining my beliefs. I found that intriguing; I was excited to cull through all the doctrines and traditions and try to prioritize the most important elements of my faith. After I had completed it I emailed a copy to my dad and asked him what he thought. Right off the bat he pointed out something I had comepletely missed - they didn't want this kind of a statement at all; they wanted to know where I stood on baptism, the Holy Spirit, "women's roles," denominationalism... He was so obviously correct. But they got this anyway.
I post this today because of Dell Kimberly's (Who Told You That) blog post today on Undeniable Truths. Thanks, Dell for making me think of this.
God exists and He loves. The fact that He is and that He loves is our only hope both in this life and forever in eternity with Him. Because He loves, we know what love is.
We receive His love through His promises. Promises given to Abraham and his descendants. Fortunately, we need not depend upon human ancestry for these promises – we are children of Abraham through faith, for he is the father of the faithful. But promises are not enough, especially when they are so veiled as to be indecipherable even by prophets who searched intently to understand them better.
We receive His love through His commands – that is how He chose to reveal His righteousness to us initially. But that is inadequate. Because of that revelation, sin gained power in our lives and God found fault with people.
This is where the story gets good . . .
We receive His love best of all through the presence of His Son and Spirit in our lives. Rather than pour out judgment because of our faults, He poured out redemption in the blood of Jesus. And His Spirit also was poured out on us by that same love. Just as we receive righteousness through the Son, so we are led into all righteousness by the presence of the Spirit. The Spirit works through His sword, the words of scripture, and through His presence. In fact we cannot discern spiritual words without some benefit from the Spirit of God. This presence of God among is an extravagant expression of God’s tender love for us. God desires that we all accept His extravagant love
But there will be a judgment against those who reject Jesus and do not accept His words. God is powerful Creator, so it is understandable that His judgment will be carried out with power. All His enemies will be destroyed: Satan, his angels as well as those souls whom God judges unworthy to enter His own glory; death, sorrow, confusion and fear – doubt, hunger, sin and sloth. These will all be destroyed to have no more power over us.
Praise God! His ways are just and forgiving. Judgment comes with power and mercy.
We have been redeemed from the worldly system and brought to life in Jesus. We have rejected the flesh to answer the Spirit. And so we have been given purpose by His mercy – we are ministers of reconciliation. We have left all to follow Him and so we call Him Savior and Lord. We desire to learn to love what Jesus loves, to hate what Jesus hates, to become unconcerned with those things He is not concerned with. We want to be like Him in righteous living and in purpose. So we place the Father at the highest place. We seek first His kingdom. And we love the people around us, honoring our brothers and sisters above ourselves, and even laying down our lives to reconcile people to God.
How great is the love the Father has lavished upon us that we should be called His children.
Summary:
• I believe in the Father - Powerful Creator who willed us into existence through the force of His words.
• I believe in the story of redemption from before the fall into eternity. The words were spoken for life and for freedom.
• I believe in Jesus, the Son. Present and working with the Father at creation, He disavowed the glory and privileges of deity to become the perfect sacrifice, the ultimate expression of God’s love. He humbled Himself to death by His own volition. He raised from the dead by God’s power and so began the defeat of God’s adversary.
• I believe in the Spirit who leads us and aids us in understanding the righteousness of God – Who also comforts us in our present state of mortality, giving us a foretaste of the Heavenly Presence and sealing us for His sake.
• I believe in the first command: to love God with our entire being, to worship Him and bring glory to Him through our words and our lives.
• I believe in the second command: to love all others as they have need – especially those of God’s family.
• I believe in the mission of Christ to reconcile the world to Himself, thus fulfilling the Father’s design for Him. Which mission was first transferred first to His apostles and later to us as we accept His grace and call Him Lord.
• I believe God’s people have a bond that is greater than friendship or earthly family. We ought to encourage and admonish one another as brothers and sisters.
• I believe God is the ultimate Judge and we are not. But that we must be faithful to teach everything that is right. We cannot turn to the right or the left.
• I believe that God will deliver us from this world and its ways into a better world by the redemption that comes through faith in Jesus. (We share with Jesus in life by our baptism for the forgiveness of our sins – trusting in His grace toward us.) On that same day of deliverance for God’s people, most will meet their doom, having failed God’s righteous judgment since they have not trusted in the righteousness of Christ. Lord, have mercy on us all.
I wrote this in 2001 during the pursuit of a ministry position. The church had asked me to write a statement outlining my beliefs. I found that intriguing; I was excited to cull through all the doctrines and traditions and try to prioritize the most important elements of my faith. After I had completed it I emailed a copy to my dad and asked him what he thought. Right off the bat he pointed out something I had comepletely missed - they didn't want this kind of a statement at all; they wanted to know where I stood on baptism, the Holy Spirit, "women's roles," denominationalism... He was so obviously correct. But they got this anyway.
I post this today because of Dell Kimberly's (Who Told You That) blog post today on Undeniable Truths. Thanks, Dell for making me think of this.
God exists and He loves. The fact that He is and that He loves is our only hope both in this life and forever in eternity with Him. Because He loves, we know what love is.
We receive His love through His promises. Promises given to Abraham and his descendants. Fortunately, we need not depend upon human ancestry for these promises – we are children of Abraham through faith, for he is the father of the faithful. But promises are not enough, especially when they are so veiled as to be indecipherable even by prophets who searched intently to understand them better.
We receive His love through His commands – that is how He chose to reveal His righteousness to us initially. But that is inadequate. Because of that revelation, sin gained power in our lives and God found fault with people.
This is where the story gets good . . .
We receive His love best of all through the presence of His Son and Spirit in our lives. Rather than pour out judgment because of our faults, He poured out redemption in the blood of Jesus. And His Spirit also was poured out on us by that same love. Just as we receive righteousness through the Son, so we are led into all righteousness by the presence of the Spirit. The Spirit works through His sword, the words of scripture, and through His presence. In fact we cannot discern spiritual words without some benefit from the Spirit of God. This presence of God among is an extravagant expression of God’s tender love for us. God desires that we all accept His extravagant love
But there will be a judgment against those who reject Jesus and do not accept His words. God is powerful Creator, so it is understandable that His judgment will be carried out with power. All His enemies will be destroyed: Satan, his angels as well as those souls whom God judges unworthy to enter His own glory; death, sorrow, confusion and fear – doubt, hunger, sin and sloth. These will all be destroyed to have no more power over us.
Praise God! His ways are just and forgiving. Judgment comes with power and mercy.
We have been redeemed from the worldly system and brought to life in Jesus. We have rejected the flesh to answer the Spirit. And so we have been given purpose by His mercy – we are ministers of reconciliation. We have left all to follow Him and so we call Him Savior and Lord. We desire to learn to love what Jesus loves, to hate what Jesus hates, to become unconcerned with those things He is not concerned with. We want to be like Him in righteous living and in purpose. So we place the Father at the highest place. We seek first His kingdom. And we love the people around us, honoring our brothers and sisters above ourselves, and even laying down our lives to reconcile people to God.
How great is the love the Father has lavished upon us that we should be called His children.
Summary:
• I believe in the Father - Powerful Creator who willed us into existence through the force of His words.
• I believe in the story of redemption from before the fall into eternity. The words were spoken for life and for freedom.
• I believe in Jesus, the Son. Present and working with the Father at creation, He disavowed the glory and privileges of deity to become the perfect sacrifice, the ultimate expression of God’s love. He humbled Himself to death by His own volition. He raised from the dead by God’s power and so began the defeat of God’s adversary.
• I believe in the Spirit who leads us and aids us in understanding the righteousness of God – Who also comforts us in our present state of mortality, giving us a foretaste of the Heavenly Presence and sealing us for His sake.
• I believe in the first command: to love God with our entire being, to worship Him and bring glory to Him through our words and our lives.
• I believe in the second command: to love all others as they have need – especially those of God’s family.
• I believe in the mission of Christ to reconcile the world to Himself, thus fulfilling the Father’s design for Him. Which mission was first transferred first to His apostles and later to us as we accept His grace and call Him Lord.
• I believe God’s people have a bond that is greater than friendship or earthly family. We ought to encourage and admonish one another as brothers and sisters.
• I believe God is the ultimate Judge and we are not. But that we must be faithful to teach everything that is right. We cannot turn to the right or the left.
• I believe that God will deliver us from this world and its ways into a better world by the redemption that comes through faith in Jesus. (We share with Jesus in life by our baptism for the forgiveness of our sins – trusting in His grace toward us.) On that same day of deliverance for God’s people, most will meet their doom, having failed God’s righteous judgment since they have not trusted in the righteousness of Christ. Lord, have mercy on us all.
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