Malachi

Relationships are not designed to meet selfish needs… selflessness makes healthy relationships

So, this seems like a simple thing but really… I have noticed that this is a hard one for me to live out. While I see the imperative in God’s word to love others… I often fail to deal well when I feel left out of being loved in return… I often see my relationships as having a purpose to meet my needs. I wonder if I love people for the sake of loving and blessing them… or if it’s for the sake of getting what I need out of people. This truth came from a section in Malachi which speaks against divorce… a passage where it is clear that God’s heart for marriage was not for selfish gain. At first this passage struck me about my desire for a wife… for I need to examine my intentions in desiring the blessing a wife is. Do I want this for my own personal gain… for I see a lot of awesome blessings as the benefit of being married. In the midst of seeing the blessing it is to be married I was challenged to think to myself exactly what my motivation is in this desire… which triggered me to think of what my relationships with other people are all about. This truth should just affect committed marriage relationships… but also all relationships that I have. I want my relationships with my friends, with my family, with my eventual wife and children… to be healthy and Godly… and the only way I can contribute to making this happen is by being completely selfless. It is interesting to see through God’s word that my relationship is all about him… and then now I was humbled yesterday and today to realize that the relationships I have with others are not supposed to be about me either. I guess I have understood this before… and I might even walk it out at certain points… I learned much about this while studying psychology in college. I guess this truth just hit me like a ton of bricks these last few days because I have been wrestling through some things regarding this year and taking a bit of inventory on my life this year. The reality is that all things considered I believe I could say I am getting better at loving people… and this is encouraging to me. The thing that irks me though is that I feel rather lonely a great deal of the time… even forgotten or not cared about by others. Whether this is the reality or not is in many ways inconsequential… for in this simple truth I realize that I need to stop looking for others to meet my needs and look to Christ. His grace is sufficient… and by walking in the freedom he has given I can receive the truth of others’ love for me. When I am looking for something from others I realize that I get blinded to the ever present reality that God’s love is all that truly matters. Yeah… so this has awoken something inside me that I still don’t really understand… but I want to. I see very clearly that selfishness on my part as I look at relationships I have will be my ruin. I must love freely and selflessly if I desire to be a light to those I love… and I can do this as I trust in God’s word to faithfully speak his life to me… through other people or through his means… his grace will be enough.

To practically apply this I really want to make sure that I base my relationships from now on not on what people do for me… or what I get out of the relationships… but just in selflessness. This has made me take a step back also in how I desire a woman or a wife. It’s actually rather humbling… to realize that I must be careful not to think some woman is going to be able to be what God alone can be to me. I know this truth… I have heard it and learned it before… but it is elusive to me nonetheless. I want to do things right… and I sincerely pray that God will help me remember this truth every day of my life. I honestly feel like I have walked this out fairly well in a lot of ways… but regardless of all that I see the imperative to truly be a selfless servant toward others. I have been reading a few books that talk about sacrificing for the sake of others and it is affirming what I hear God speaking in this truth. True change and life and light will only come into this world as I lay myself down for the sake of others. So yeah… God, help me see this and live it out. By the way Mark… I gave you a few bucks on your café account so you can get yourself a coffee… love you bro.

(these are our new SBS hoodies we got this year... they say "Primary Observation = I dominated SBS 08" and then have a tree that says "Stand Firmly Rooted" and have the verse Ephesians 3.14-19 which speaks of being rooted and grounded in the love of Christ.)

Zechariah

Messianic Predictions

Throughout the book of Zechariah the entire point of God’s word to his people is that they have a glorious future ahead of them as they are found in Him. He has disciplined them harshly… but it is now time to move on learn from the mistakes of their fathers. God offers them life and death… and in his Messiah there is a glorious hope that seems truly too good to be true. The prophecies about this servant will be fulfilled… as surely as God has proven himself for the last thousand plus years to his people Israel. They doubted him before and paid dearly… and now he offers them a glorious hope that they can tangibly welcome… a Savior who will deliver them into a glorious day of sins forgiven and victory over all that would harm them. The hope that is set before them is found in this Messiah… who will suffer for the sake of their glory… who will usher in a new day of security and triumph. God loves his people… he is jealous for Zion… and the fullness of his desire to restore humanity to Eden will be made manifest in the coming of the Messiah. He will remove the iniquity of man in one day… holding every man in righteousness before God as they are forgiven in him. He will be a King to rule over all the earth… establishing a glorious kingdom in which the worship of Yahweh will be paramount. It will be a time of comfort… it will be a time of gathering the nations so that God will reign as shepherd, providing faithfully his love poured out in justice and peace. This servant will be a humble and merciful peacemaker… restoring man not by violence but by overwhelming the spiritual forces to bring and end to evil in humanity. The wicked will be devoured… the evil within creation purged… and all that will remain will be set apart to worship Yahweh… the holy ones of humanity worshiping their Maker in a glorious day of light and rejoicing. This is what will come through the Messiah… living water will pour from his throne… God’s purpose will be completed as his name is glorified through all earth b/c of his Messiah.

To the original reader these prophecies showed a hope worth hanging onto… they desperately desired this redemption from the Messiah to come. They would wonder when these things were to come to pass… realizing the hope and glory that come through God’s promised Messiah. They saw God promised a beautiful end… and they would hold on… desiring the fruits of God’s love and redemption.

Today we see that this is Jesus the Christ… the Messiah. The word has become flesh and the reality for us now is that God has brought his life and light to the world as he said he would. What he offers is beautiful… we can look at God’s word in Zechariah and in the other prophets and see that God fulfilled his words… he spoke of the future and Jesus fulfilled it. The reality for us is that the blessings that come in trusting in Christ are here offered… living water… security in his covenant of blood… sins forgiven… he offers genuine hope and life of eternal restoration with the Father. The kingdom is here… the kingdom is now… yet today the world lives as if it lost… believers live as if they are without. No, Christ has come… he has brought life and light to the world. It is here… as surely as God’s word has come true his mercy and life is indeed here… all that is left to do is to believe and walk in the life he offers.

Daniel

Character of Daniel

Daniel is just a flat out stud. This guy did pretty much everything right in God’s eyes. He started with nothing… in fact he had every reason to turn out as a pagan God-hating man. He was taken from everything that he knew… his family… his culture… his God… and placed in a society that spent all of its energy to complete destroy his former identity and make him a robot of the king. He didn’t even come from a God-fearing family or people… for Judah was an evil nation at the time he was taken. Something inside of him though loved God’s Law and feared Yahweh alone above all else. He was a teenager being brainwashed yet he saw that the moment he stopped fearing Yahweh was them moment he was altogether lost. Everything he did was for the glory of God… he feared not man… yet he was humble and prudent enough to exercise wisdom in how to interact with those who despised him. He challenged authority without attacking it… he dared to step into situations that looked utterly desperate and trusted in Yahweh for salvation. He was altogether humble… knowing full well his place in the order of creation as God’s subject to glorify his Maker to all people. He was merciful to those who were technically his enemies… valuing their lives every bit as much as his own. He developed loving relationships with those who exercised authority over him by doing all of his worth with absolute excellence… for he did everything to the glory of God… not for his own sake or the sake of those who ruled over him in human authority. He didn’t change the way he worshipped God based on man… fearing Yahweh even more than hands of men who would seek to kill him for the way he stood for God’s glory. The most beautiful thing about Daniel is that he was truly holy as God was holy… set apart. In his being set apart and excellent in everything he found God’s favor amongst even the men that failed to honor God as Maker. He was a witness for God’s glory and a beautiful witness at that. He was a light for the sake of God’s glory because he lived to honor Yahweh in ALL that he did. He didn’t have to fear man… he didn’t have to promote himself… he didn’t have any needs… he didn’t have to protect himself… he didn’t have to proclaim God’s glory through his words… for his actions spoke loudly and boldly of the glory of Yahweh as the one true living God, maker of heaven and earth and ruler of all man.

The OR would see that Daniel was a man blessed by God and would see that it was because of his humble understanding that all of life was to glorify Yahweh. It was clear as day to them too… his life would challenge them to see what God offered them as they obeyed his Law above all else. Daniel had what they wanted… and the beautiful thing is that God offers it to them too if they would but fear him alone as Daniel did. Life is available for them… Daniel wasn’t an exception to God’s mercy… he was the standard that God desired for all humanity. He was a light to the nations… he was a blessed man… he experienced God’s salvation. They too could partake of the blessing upon Daniel… if they would but choose life in obedience to the covenant relationship they had with Yahweh.

Today the character of Daniel is still the standard… unfortunately not lived up to by most believers in Christ… but the standard nonetheless. Daniel did not live a radical or extraordinary life for Christ. He lived what should be the norm… a life of simple and humble obedience to God’s heart & God’s Law. Any individual can be Daniel… any individual can change the world… and individual can live unashamedly for the glory of Yahweh... the Heavenly Father of the true Savior Jesus Christ. Daniel was a light as God desired. This is what will change the world… what will bring nations to life… souls desiring the glory of God. Man doesn’t know what’s best… God does… and we can learn from Daniel’s example… seeing that as we walk glorifying our Maker… we will indeed as a world find life and be restored to Eden. This is not just some idealistic hope that is impossible… it is the reality that God offers those who would dare to live for him.

Ezekiel

God’s Communication

God speaks very plainly to his people in exile throughout the book of exile. He shows clear images that would grasp the attention of those he wishes to lead to repentance. He uses Ezekiel as a sign to show the impending doom that is to be upon them as they walk in sin. He proclaims time and time again that he is the LORD… the one true living Maker of heaven and earth who alone is to be feared. He proclaims after every word that his purpose in speaking to them is that they might know that he is life… speaking almost 80 times that this is so that they will know that Yahweh is sovereign God. He proclaims multiple times that he desires life for man… speaking that his word is a call to repentance. His word of destruction and justice brought upon sin is so that man will have a hope of life and restoration. His word of a promised restoration is his kindness and steadfast love that is to lead his people to repentance. God speaks in many ways the same message through Ezekiel… he offers life… he doesn’t enjoy bringing his wrath… but he must… so choose life. This is the message he is speaking… choose life, not death.

For the original readers this message would take them back to see that God is speaking so mightily to them. They have been foolish and now would realize that God’s word was right before their eyes. God was clearly communicating to them through his prophets… God was remaining faithful to his people by speaking to them… warning them that they must not walk in the sin they were enslaved to. They failed to listen… they ignored God’s word of warning. He offers restoration to them if they would be listen… if they would turn from the lies they had fallen into and give God a chance. God proved that his word was REALITY… his word was fulfilled… he is the TRUE God. In him they are offered life… and this is just the way it is. God spoke to them… and is still speaking to them… they would realize that it is time to listen.

Today God is still speaking mightily to all humanity. He has proclaimed his word in the scriptures. He fulfilled his word about Jesus and he lays before mankind a beautiful hope for salvation and everlasting life. He proclaims his timeless heart that none would perish but that all would find life in him. God is not up in heaven wishing to bring his wrath upon anyone… but the reality is that man has failed to heed his abundant warnings to listen to his call to repentance. He speaks loudly through his written word. He speaks loudly through nature… he speaks loudly through the pain and anguish in the world. The problem today is that we too are unwilling to listen. We are unwilling to heed his the written scriptures and live according to God’s Law. We are unwilling to stop all our busyness and take time to just get away with God. We are dying in today’s culture because we have ignored God’s voice. It’s not that God is failing to communicate… it’s that man fails to listen.

*This picture is the vision of God's glory that Ezekiel saw... God was speaking clearly through this abstract picture that he is mighty... he holds all power in his hands...

Jeremiah

God just wants us to be real with him… He made man for genuine relationship w/ him

This year has been something else… I am so thankful for the opportunity that I have had to just delve into God’s word and pull truth after truth after truth out of it. The hardest part is that I feel like I am drinking from a fire hose… having so many different things that I am learning without the time enough to really meditate on it. In the midst of all this the thing I fear the most is that I would be working so hard to be excellent and getting God’s word that I would lose sight of the fact that what I have with Yahweh through Jesus’ blood is relationship. In Jeremiah I see a man who was able to just be real with God about his emotions… who had no fear to glorify God with his actions and no hesitation to simply be real with all of his emotions. My flesh would lead me to be a perfectionist and the sad reality of this is that I often feel like I have to be perfectly happy and content with all that comes up in my life. I often wonder if there is something wrong with me in how I lament so often with God. I see in my flesh this feeling of discontentment and “woe is me” attitude. While I don’t see God being pleased with that I do see that God wants us to wrestle through things with him, for he is patient to love us through the things we don’t understand. This blesses me… because I surely don’t understand a lot of things… and all I want is to have the freedom to be understood and to just be… well… me. God is cool with this and it blesses my heart to see the reality that God just wants relationship with me. I see in Jeremiah’s laments and even in the book of Lamentations that God wants to be a part of man’s life and can deal with the mess. He says that he alone can heal… and that is why I am so thankful for Christ’s blood. I need healing… big time… all the time. I needed salvation and he has given it freely by his blood. In the Christology passage in Colossians 1.20, paraphrasing Eugene Peterson here… “all of the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe are restored into vibrant harmonies through the blood of Christ poured out on the cross”. This to me shows that God is in the business of restoration and I need it. I don’t know how to get there without just being honest with my Maker… my Savior. Jesus says that we are friends of God through his blood in John 15.15-16… and I am honest with my friends… living in open and real relationships with them.

I don’t know how to really apply this other than just continuing to walk in relationship with God. I have come to appreciate so much just the quiet times that I have with my living Savior. I now see in Jeremiah a man who was intimate with his Maker and I am thankful that Christ is here with me every moment… walking in relationship with me.

Lamentations

My Closing thoughts on Lamentations

As I read through Lamentations I see Jeremiah trying to paint a picture so God’s people will understand more clearly who they are and who God is. This is the entire point of this writing… to bring God’s people to see that they are not God… to show them that they are hopeless without him. This is something that has become increasingly powerful in my mind especially lately. I have been working with a youth group here in town and I see more clearly every Wednesday evening how utterly lost this world is. These kids are good kids… but they are blinded to the reality that they are hungry and thirsty and desperate for God. I see more and more clearly that they are utterly hopeless every moment that they look for life apart from God. I am so thankful for what God has given me… and I am broken at the thought of people being without the genuine article of life that God offers. God has offered us living water through Christ… he has offered us all the blessings of the kingdom of God NOW. Yet… we choose less. I see this in the high school kids… I see this in the church today… I see this in my own life… the temptation to settle for less than what God says is best. It’s not that everything is bad… there are good things that I desire… but am I going to seek life in those things or in what God desires as best for me? I don’t know much… but I know that I want what God has… and I will not settle for less. If he has living water then I want it. If he has REAL… GENUINE… life… then I want it. This is what I see in Lamentations… a man broken that his people have traded the truth of God for a lie. They chose selfishness and sin, which brought death… instead of what God offered in his righteous ways, which is pure life.
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
"See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey… then you shall & God will bless you. But if your heart turns away… you shall surely perish. I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days…”
This is what I see as I read through Lamentations. God offers life and death… Judah chose death… I am not going to make the mistake Judah chose. It seems like such a simple decision but I am humbled at how often I choose sin instead of righteousness. This also breaks my heart… and I see it in this book… that I am a fallen human and for some reason sin seems attractive to me. I would rather have death… that’s the bottom line… for my flesh will do everything it can to make me walk in sin… to think that sin is attractive. Sin sucks… there is no life in it… period. We as humans are absolute morons to think that sin brings any sort of joy or rest or happiness. Selfishness is sin… hate is sin… and these two things pretty much are the cause of all pain and suffering in this world. So… the hell with them. I want love… I want selfishness… I want to walk in God’s ways… because you know what… in God’s ways there is life, the genuine article.

God offers restoration, redemption, rest, security, joy, peace, hope… eternal life… REAL… TRUE… GENUINE… life. He has come and brought life and love and light to a world of darkness in Christ. I want that. I want the real stuff. I am tired of what sin offers… I don’t want death… I don’t want all the crap… I don’t want what sucks. I want God… I want what he wants… he wants life for me… and I want life for me. All these equations make it seem so simple… thank you Jesus that it is simple. The beautiful thing that I see in Lamentations is that God wants this for me. This is what I have seen throughout God’s word. He wants life for us… he is working relentlessly to restore us… by his awesome grace that we in no way deserve he is working to rid this world of sin and restore us to himself in righteousness. This is why Christ came… this is why he wants us to walk in his commandments… this is why we dare not look at the cross and think anything less than of God’s steadfast love. He has restored us who find ourselves in Christ…

HALLELUJAH… what a SAVIOR… we were dead in our sins and he has made us ALIVE!!!

Habakkuk

Faith

Habakkuk the prophet learned a great deal about trust through his interaction with the Lord in this book. He spoke directly to the Lord… asking him some difficult questions and expectant of answers. Perhaps this is the first thing to be learned about faith… that God was willing to answer the questions of Habakkuk because he cried out to him alone… he sought Yahweh for salvation and deliverance and was unwilling to just accept what was happening without being in relationship with God. Habakkuk didn’t doubt God was alive and active… he just didn’t understand and was desperate for God’s hand. The second thing that is quite clear in Habakkuk is that as soon as God spoke he was attentive and patient. He acknowledged who God was and was willing to be patient for God’s word to come to fruition. He realized he didn’t have to force God’s hand… that God truly was alive in his life and his gratitude for God’s sovereignty was displayed as he simply let God be God. As he saw more and more of who God truly was he simply took a step back and dared to believe in God’s awesome deliverance despite the disastrous circumstances in his life. He realized and rejoiced in the reality of God’s mighty hand to save those who belong to him. He didn’t give up because he saw whom he believed. This is the greater reality that pervaded Habakkuk’s life… once he had a clear glimpse of his Maker he understood his place in relationship to him. He understood that God really does hold the world in his hand… that he truly is Maker… Deliverer… Judge… Savior… Consuming Fire… the ONE TRUE ALMIGHTY GOD over ALL creation. He also very clearly saw that he was good despite the circumstances that Habakkuk and God’s people were going through. He understood that somehow & some way God will ultimately make things all come together for the good of those who love him… those who are found in him.

The sad reality is that this is not where Judah was… they failed to see who God was and as a result they had absolutely no belief in the reality of who he was. Unfortunately for them their lack of faith did not change who God was… he remained the same despite their ignorance of his being the overriding REALITY in all creation. That’s the crazy thing that they didn’t see but Habakkuk saw. They placed their faith in that which was temporal… idols and sin. Habakkuk saw what was eternal… GOD… and he realized that his only hope was in placing all he had on God. Judah ultimately paid the price for their foolishness… for failing to trust in God for their deliverance.

Today it is sad to say, but our culture is the same. We have chosen not to trust in God… to live in ignorance of his being the overwhelming REALITY in all that exists. This world is not contingent on what we believe but we live like it is. The world is contingent upon who God is… and we are suffering because our mindset has been so warped to think that we can make God who we want him to be. We fail to see as Habakkuk did… that he OWNS it all. He made it all… he can unmake it all at any moment. We have chosen ignorance… thinking it bliss… when the TRUTH is that this world is fallen and broken and utterly desperate for God without even knowing it. We need God’s hand… yet we reject it. We are hungry and thirsty for the bread of life… for his living water… yet we don’t even know it and would rather walk around in the deception that the temporal things of this world can somehow fulfill us.
Luke 18:7-8
‘And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?’

(This picture is a few years old... but a waterfall I went to on a hike in Arizona... a place called Havasu Canyon. This was probably the most vivid example of living water I have ever experienced. This place was a true oasis. In the middle of the desert outside the Grand Canyon this place springs up... it was the clearest most beautiful water I had ever seen... especially after hiking 10 miles without the hint of any water...)

Obadiah

Obadiah v.15 “as you have done, it shall be done to you..."

Timeless Truth = You reap what you sow…

It’s funny to think about this verse… because it seems to be in a context of judgment… that in doing evil you will bring upon your own self evil. While I am not too afraid of necessarily reaping harsh consequences to my behavior… and I say this altogether humbly… I just am not afraid of God’s wrath b/c of Christ’s mercy in my life. What I am challenged by though is that I am seeing more and more all the things that I can be sowing into. It’s funny to think about how I want to see the world changed. Yes… I want to see the world changed. I want every person on this planet to have peace and rest and joy. And yes, I will gladly boast that I know how that can happen… through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ… my Savior. He is life for everyone and I will surely boast in him… hopefully in all humility… but also hopefully with all zeal. This is where I want to be… sowing into people’s lives. I see this truth playing out a bit differently than the context it is in but nonetheless I see it as a principle that works on the positive side as well as the harsh side. I see in every aspect of my life how every moment I can choose either to sow into God’s kingdom or how to sow into my own selfishness. I see how I can do what I can to love others… and I see how I can be deceived into thinking that what I want is what is “best”. This softens my heart… for I have been given so much, in all humility again, I have been given great blessings and great gifts in Christ… and I am seeing more and more that all I have is his… and I desire all the more to use it for his kingdom.

This challenges me with my finances… to be generous. This challenges me in my time… to invest it wisely in rest and in pouring myself out for others. This challenges me in my relationships… to have fierce and deep conversations with all I meet. This challenges me in love… daring to pour myself out for the sake of all people equally. This challenges me in the way of my desires… to be willing to sacrifice myself for the sake of loving people to see Christ. This challenges me in the way of my devotions with the LORD… to see that every moment spent with him is loving others and blessing my wonderful Savior. Most importantly this challenges me to really examine how I relate to that which is eternal… God and people. What do I do to others… how do I love others… do I love others well… do they see Christ in me… do they experience his love and light when they leave me. I could care less what they think of me… I could care less about what I get out of it… I just want them to experience His life. I trust that my reward is in heaven w/ Christ. Oh, that he would be glorified in my life… which means I reap into what he reaped into… people. Yeah… I am so thankful to be reminded how vital it is for me to simply… be… HIS.

(this is a video of a panoramic shot of Many Glacier... giving a bit better idea of what our view was as we hiked)

Zephaniah

Zephaniah 3.17 “Fear not, O Zion… I will gather you… I will save… I will restore your fortunes before your eyes… ”

God does not relent… he will not relent… in bringing his justice… in restoring man

So this year our school has had a worship song that has kind of become our theme song… called “You won’t Relent”. It has captured the minds of our entire school b/c it is the reality of God’s love over us… that he is working powerfully to save us… his children. The song is a beautiful song that sums up God’s heart towards us in this powerful chorus line about how he won’t let go of us… then the rest of the song is how we are called to respond. This is what has rocked me in this book… God’s relentless pursuit of restoring his paradise, Eden. This is God’s heart for man… that sin and evil would no longer exist. The harsh reality of it though is that those who are under the law of sin and death will perish with it. I know that this is not who I am… for as I respond in gratitude and trust I have nothing but the hope of taking part in God’s restoration of creation. This is the song… I have just been meditating on it recently… daring to ask myself if I really grasp the gravity of God’s relentless pursuit to restore me and this world to what he desires.

“You won’t Relent”

You won't relent until You have it all
My heart is Yours

I'll set You as a seal upon my heart
As a seal upon my arm
For there is love that is as strong as death
Jealousy demanding as the grave
Many waters cannot quench this love

Come be the fire inside of me
Come be the flame upon my heart
Come be the fire inside of me
Until You and I are one

I am so thankful that God has shown himself relentless in pursuing me… that he is relentless in pursuing mankind to show them the reality of his justice against sin and his relentless calls to repentance. What challenges me is to ask whether I am willing to live my life relentlessly for him. He is going to have his way… he is God… not me. I have been spending the last few years trying to make big decisions that are surrendered to his will… and I am so thankful that he has been guiding me in that way. What I see more clearly now is that I must relentlessly abandon myself to him in every tiny aspect of my life… whether I feel like it or not. I want those words “My heart is yours” to mean so much more than just being thankful… for I am his. I have been bought with a price… & I see now that life is found in the overwhelming reality that he owns me and can do with me what he pleases. This is where I am seeing I must now live… belonging to him and abandoned to his will. Perhaps that’s why I love this song so much.

Micah

Justice

This book could easily be referred to as God’s courtroom because the entire heart of the message through Micah is that God is coming down to bring HIS justice to his creation. In his nation this was written at a time of great sin caused by idolatry… sins of social injustice that would be hard to imagine if there wasn’t such harsh injustice prevalent in the world today. The overriding message of this book is that God is prosecutor, jury, and judge. The reality presented in Micah is that not only will man be judged at the Day of the LORD… all are judged right now… constantly under God’s Law. ALL humanity is under the hand of God’s judgment… and he will have justice… he will make sure that righteousness rules over creation… for this was his intent from the beginning and he is God and he will have his will done on earth. God’s desire for justice is a scary thought for those who are walking in sin but for those who are being oppressed… the faithful who love God and have sought after righteousness… this bringing of justice is deliverance and salvation. This is the double-edged sword of justice… when judgment is over a person they are desperate for mercy… and when a person is walking in righteousness judgment upon their enemies is deliverance and mercy is that deliverance. God will have his justice… he will make things right… the question is whether or not people will be found righteous & blameless in his sight… or whether they will be found utterly guilty for walking in sin and wickedness.

For Judah this message of God’s impending justice was a harsh word for an evil nation. They had turned wholly from the LORD to idolatry and corruption and injustice. They had utterly disregarded God’s Law… his desire that ALL peoples should be provided for and blessed. They wickedly perverted justice for the sake of personal gain… the rich grew richer at the expense of the poor. As God brought his courtroom before them they could not say a word in their defense… they were guilty as charged for the sins they knew not to commit. For this God brought his hand of punishment upon them… prophesying over them destruction and devastation… that their iniquities would lead them into exile. Now we can look back and see that God did all that he said he would but Judah would have simply seen God’s word and realized they had messed up and were going to be punished for it. The beautiful part of God’s justice is that it is mercy for the faithful… for those who love God and walk in righteousness. So… even this harsh discipline was a call to repentance… a call to seek his mercy for grace… that they would be together found in his steadfast love and restored to him in deliverance.

Today God’s rule still governs humanity… he will ultimately judge and his now standing over his creation as judge. Not much has changed… we still are stupid and walk in our sin instead of seeking after his righteousness. God’s words to us mean nothing… just as God’s words to his people Judah meant nothing to them.

Micah 6.8

• “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you… but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

God has shown us what he loves… and what will come to humanity when he ultimately judges. Those who are found in sin will only find death and his wrath… while those who are faithful and seek righteousness have this hope…

Matthew 5.3-10 (The Sermon on the Mount)

• 5.3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…”
• 5.4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted…”
• 5.5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth…”
• 5.6 “Blessed are those who hunger & thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied…”
• 5.7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy…”
• 5.8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God…”
• 5.9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God…”
• 5.10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…”

Today we see things upside down… we see selfish gain and personal pleasure as blessing when in all reality we are willing to sell our souls for them… we live in sin thinking that there is life and hope in it alone. The truth couldn’t be any more different… we have traded the truth of God for a lie. God will purge this world of all evil and only the faithful will remain. While this is scary because all are sinful and evil before God’s eyes… in Christ there is hope for the hopeless… he is our righteousness… and in his gift of mercy there is an ever present righteousness imputed to those who walk with God. This is not a free ticket to simply say some prayer and then be saved… it is the overwhelming reality to those who are found faithful to God through the merits of Christ. God will bring his justice… those not found in Christ will bear the weight of their iniquities… while those found in Christ, the faithful, have a promise of eternal life and a hope of glory that is assured in Him.

Isaiah

Isaiah 12.2 “…I will trust, & will not be afraid; for the LORD God is my strength and my song, & he has become my salvation”

Yahweh is the One True God Almighty over all creation…

God the Father

Holy One of Israel
Holy God
The King
The Most High
Maker
LORD of hosts
Mighty One of Israel
The Rock of your refuge
The God of Israel
Lord GOD of Hosts
The Majestic One
LORD God of Israel
Teacher

An everlasting rock

Rock of Israel
God of David
The living God
The everlasting God
The Holy One
The Creator
The LORD your God
The first & last = I am he
Redeemer
King of Jacob
Your King
Rock

The One high & lifted up
The God of truth
Creator of Israel
Savior

Jesus the Christ (Messiah)

Branch of the LORD
Immanuel (God with us)
A great light…
Wonderful Counselor
Mighty God
Everlasting Father
Prince of Peace
Shoot from stump of Jesse
Root of Jesse
My servant
His Holy One
My chosen
Man of sorrows
Your light
The Righteous One

Who we are in Christ

My Delight is in Her
Married
The Holy People
The Redeemed of the LORD
Sought Out
A City Not Forsaken

This rocked me this week to just see who God says he is and then to see who he says Christ is… and then to see who God says that we are because of God’s redemption in our lives. This is REALITY… according to God’s word. If these words are true… which they are… then how do I live my life? I live it with a reckless abandon… yeah… with no fear… because I know whom I have believed. My God is none less than the One True Living God… the Maker of heaven & earth. He delights in me… he has redeemed me… he sees me as Holy because of Christ’s work of redemption. This is freedom for me… to see who God is and see who I am because of it. How could I say anything less than Hallelujah every moment of every day. My hope is as secure as God is over the universe… praise God… seriously… I just want to live in the TRUTH… seeing who I am because of who my God and my Savior is.

Jonah

Jonah 4.11 “…should not I pity…”

God is not to be manipulated… he will do his will despite our opinions of what’s best

The entire story of Jonah gets me in this one simple fact that is evident throughout the text. Jonah was disobedient because he didn’t like what God was going to do for his sworn enemy. As I think about what this meant for Jonah I realize again this truth that my opinion of what is best is not necessarily what God’s opinion is. Do I think that I can trick God into doing what I think is best? Do I live in anger against God for the ways in which he does his will here on this earth… constantly angry at his mercy shown to certain people and not to others? This is a crucial issue today in the lives of many believers and I have to be humble and say that I wrestle with this too. I cannot escape the fact that I often times would rather God do something different than what he has chosen to bring about. I guess this is the core of our fallen nature… we think we know what’s best… especially when we cannot understand at all the difficulties of life that we are faced with. As we were going through this book yesterday, I was humbled at the thought that I would question what God is doing in my life and in the lives of others. I realized a while ago that even though my desires may be good they can oppose what God says is best… what God is actually doing. I don’t know if any of this really makes sense to me in all totality but the core issue that I must face every moment of every day is whether or not I will abandon myself to trust him as GOD over my life. Will I dare to let go of my will and ask him what he wants and then be willing to accept what comes? Do I try to manipulate God to do what I think he should do… and then do I get angry when things don’t come out the way I wanted them to? This is the core issue behind trust… really accepting what God offers with a heart of rest and peace. I don’t know if I do this well but I want to. I am seeing more and more clearly that he does indeed love us… that he does indeed know what is best for us. I want to dare to believe this… despite my doubts and fears and even the desires I have that are good. I want to abandon myself to trusting his goodness… especially as I look at the cross… how he has proved his great and merciful love to us. Why wouldn’t I trust such a wonderful Savior… such an amazing Creator… such a Redeemer… for that is who Jesus is… that is who my God is.

I don’t know how to practically apply this except to continually rest in the reality of his grace… trusting him as I pray to show me what he wants… to ask boldly and confidently for him to do his will… trusting that whatever is coming in my life is under his great and awesome grasp.

Joel

Day of the LORD

This book deals a harsh word to a people who have lost sight of fearing God. They have allowed themselves to fall away from the covenant they had with Yahweh… it isn’t described what their sin is… the imperative here is that their hearts are no longer God’s. This is the issue… not some specific sin… but rather that they have failed to acknowledge that Yahweh is their source of all life. Joel uses this picture of the day of the LORD to show very clearly that there is not time with which to waste in seeking Yahweh and glorifying him. The day of the LORD is proclaimed to be near… not because the world is coming to an end… but because the time to honor Yahweh as God over all creation is the immediate. This picture of a day of judgment is simply an object with which Judah is to see God’s hand over creation. The day of the LORD is used in a few different ways… all of which serve the purpose to show God’s people that if they find themselves in him they will have abundant life and the beautiful blessings that Yahweh alone offers. The day of the LORD is used as a day of judgment upon them to show them that they must seek him now… for if they don’t seek him with their hearts in humble reverence… they will find only death. The day is then flipped back into a picture of blessing for them if they are found in him… for if their hearts are his they have nothing to fear and only blessings upon blessing to enjoy. This is who God is… he proclaims that they can no him… now is the time at hand to walk with God… for in him… now… there is hope and life… without him there is only death and hopelessness.

For Judah this was accentuated by the harsh circumstances that were upon them in their immediate present. Determining how the book is interpreted the situation at hand for this nation of God’s people was utterly dire. They saw very clearly that the consequence of turning from God were far too fierce than what they would be able to endure or survive. They had reaped the just ends of their sin and saw very clearly that Yahweh alone was to be feared. This word of blessing and mercy though would take them aback to see that they have a gracious and merciful Savior in Yahweh, their God. He alone is God… he alone can save… and he is both willing and able. This is who they have in their corner… and if their hearts are seeking him they have absolutely nothing to fear at the day of the LORD.

Today this truth remains the same… though we are in a time more than 2700 years later than the time Joel wrote this… today is the day to seek God’s mercy and grace. The reality is that the day of the LORD is now… well… unless we just want the crappy life that comes from not walking with God. For those who don’t know God… those who want what the world offers… the sad truth is that the day of the LORD could be any moment. Judgment is knocking at everyone’s door and death comes in the blink of an eye to all. Those who claim to know Christ must stand aback in humility and reverence for God… living every moment not for ourselves but for the reality that tomorrow might be our last. The day of the LORD is at hand… Jesus might not be coming back tomorrow… but that doesn’t mean that we won’t be face to face with him tomorrow. If the fear of the LORD really is the beginning of all wisdom then we would be wise to live as if today might be our last… humbly glorifying our creator that we will meet… to either be welcomed home or condemned justly.

Hosea

Hosea 14.1 “Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God… you stumbled because of your iniquity… ”

God desires to redeem those who are lost to him… none are outside his hand…

This truth really hit me in class the other day… that I so often fail to see that God’s heart is restoration for all who are lost. I get caught up in my own personal issues and fail to acknowledge the greater reality… that those who do not have Christ face the eternal ramifications of their sin without mercy. This is the greater reality in the world we live in… it is the overriding theme of God’s word and I see it as so encouraging in my life. Those who are found in Jesus have righteousness before God and will be forever restored with him… gaining eternal life through his blood.

1 John 5.12 “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life…”

The flipside of this that I often forget, and I am broken hearted at my lack of living in this truth, is that those who do not have Jesus’ blood as their forgiveness and righteousness… are, well, literally toast. It’s not that God isn’t merciful… he is… that’s the whole point. Jesus sacrificed his son so that none would be lost outside of him… but people must glorify him as the Son of God and believe in him as Savior. Sadly enough I often fail to recognize the gravity of this… for this is truth. I am distraught at how I fail to care though… for those I love who do not have Christ’s forgiveness over them. This wrecks me actually… as I think of all who are in my family that don’t know Jesus. Those who don’t know Jesus are under God’s wrath… it’s that simple… there is no mercy for them because they have rejected God’s mercy in Jesus. God loves them… surely… it is so apparent… that’s what the cross means… God’s love and forgiveness and mercy. But those who reject the cross and spurn God’s son have… well… nothing… and honestly they deserve it every bit as much as I do. I deserve death but God has spared me… that’s TRUTH. Yeah… so this breaks my heart… to see that there are those who don’t know him and realize that I don’t do anything about it. God loves them… he desires them to know him… they are not outside of his mercy… BUT… they must choose him… they must accept his forgiveness and bow their knee to trust in Jesus Christ as God’s Son and their only hope for Salvation.

In many ways this is my practical application because many in my family will read this and hopefully this REALITY will change their hearts to seek God’s face and know him… or at least… I hope that it will awaken myself and them to the desperate need that we have for Christ as individuals… and the desperate circumstance that those we love are in. This is no light thing… and that’s what I am confessing to… that I have not treated it with the gravity it demands. The other practical thing I am going to be doing is praying daily for those I love to be awakened to God’s great mercy that they are lost without.

Amos

Social Injustice

In a time of prosperity and peace Amos hits the scene as God’s mouthpiece… speaking harsh words of inescapable wrath because of their indignation of those who are without. Israel at this time had restored its borders, had peace from all sides, had more wealth than they knew what to do with, and ultimately saw themselves as blessed by the gods. The harsh reality is that God did not see them as they did… for God saw their oppression and abandonment of the poor and needy and his wrath was kindled in severe fury because of it. They thought that the blessings upon their nation were because they were doing something right… while in God’s eyes they couldn’t have been more wrong. The continual word against Israel is that they have trampled the poor, sold the righteous for money, and destroyed the needy. They had gained their wealth through oppression… the rich grew richer while the poor grew poorer. This God held against them in the fullness of his fury… abandoning them to exile with no hope of return… his word against them was complete annihilation of his former people. They failed to keep the 2nd most important commandment which was rooted in the first… they failed to love their neighbor. This is where they failed… this is what God hated… this brought the full force of his wrath. God loves his people and sees in them his own image… Israel essentially destroyed those who God valued and God was going to bring his justice and his righteousness upon Israel for their sin.

For Israel who heard these words the reality was that they were hardened against God’s voice and were more than blinded by their materialism. Those with resources only wanted more and those without were continually oppressed. The disparity between the wealthy and the needy mattered not to those who could have brought change… and this is why God’s wrath was going to come without question. They had already chosen to be hardened to the needs of those who were lacking… in fact they simply oppressed them more by taxing them and selling them like slaves. The righteous remnant in Israel, if there even were any, would realize that these words were falling on deaf ears and see that God’s heart burns in jealousy over the people who are lacking.

Today this word from God should have special significance… for there are many suffering and dying in this world due to poverty and other social injustices. The reality today is that these are not small injustices but complete atrocities that simply should not be. In wealthier nations the disparity between the wealthy and the poor is appalling… as the wealthy spend money without hesitation… walking right by the homeless lying on the street. Those with resources put a minimal amount of investment, if any, into the needs of those who have nothing. In many ways western society has fallen into materialism so heavily that we are so deceived by our own greed and selfishness that we can see an injustice and in a moment be completely distracted by something else that we “need” or “desire” or are “entertained” by. Today God’s word against the severe injustices in this world would remain the same as they were spoken by Amos…

Amos 5.15 “Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice…”

This is the harsh reality today... materialism IS evil when others die every day while we chose to spend $20 dollars on a 50th T-shirt that we will wear once every two months... because that money could have saved 20 people from dying of thirst this year. Our world today, unfortunately, has fallen into the same materialistic and selfish form of thinking which carries with it the harsh weight of social injustice. This is truth = people need help and today there are more than enough resources to go around… but we just don’t care enough to do anything to make things right. This is the greater reality… that everything has a cost… and today there are too many suffering this cost unjustly because of the selfishness of many.

(International Justice Mission is one of a vast many organizations who are trying to make a difference against the world of social injustice... please... check out their website along with Blood Water Missons... I have seen these ministries at work and read much about them... they are a few organizations that we can literally help make a difference with... there are links to both on the right hand column in my links portion.)