John 3:9-15
English Standard Version (ESV)
Is that the question on all of our minds at times -- how can these things be? We hear what Jesus says, we read about the miracles performed in the Gospels, we read the incredible promises from Paul in the New Testament letters, reminding us that we are loved unconditionally, without cause or merit, and that we are awarded heaven because God loves us. All of these things are too incredible for us to fathom, too great to grasp with the human mind.
What Jesus tells us is exactly right -- our minds cannot immediately grasp heavenly things. We have to start with the earthly things, and this is exactly why God came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ. God knew we couldn't just grasp the concept of the free gift of salvation unless we saw, with our own eyes, the limitless love of God displayed on the cross and through the resurrection. We needed to see the truths of heaven displayed here on earth before we could grasp how high and how wide the love of God is. God translates himself into our world so that we might begin to understand, to get a glimpse of what heaven is like.
Now that we have seen on earth, we can begin to believe that God is, in heaven, all powerful, all wise, all loving, and completely majestic. We have seen this, and it has been passed down to us, and so we can then believe!
Monday, June 24, 2019
Friday, June 21, 2019
John 3:1-8
John 3:1-8
English Standard Version (ESV)
When you're a kid, you assume your parents know everything. I listen to the questions my kids ask me, some of which can get pretty deep, and there's an implicit expectation that I will know the answers. When I confess that I don't have the answer to some of their biggest questions, it confuses them. As they grow up and have kids of their own, they'll realize how little I really knew!
Some church leaders create an atmosphere where questions aren't encouraged. But church leaders don't always have all the answers, now or back then. "I don't know" is sometimes the right answer, but pride can get in the way of acknowledging that, so some people will make the person asking the question feel bad. Please don't invest your time and energy in organizations led by such people. Find a place where you are encouraged to ask questions and discover what is true and what is unknown.
Nicodemus is a ruler of Jews, but he comes to Jesus because he realizes that he has reached the end of his knowledge, and in Jesus he recognizes that there is still more. In Jesus, he finds something Truer than he has ever known, and it is beyond what his mind can grasp. He wants to see the Kingdom of God, but he's afraid his aged eyes cannot look at the world that way. Jesus is inviting him into something bigger, but he's so anchored in the reality that he's struggling to grasp it, even as a leader of the people of God.
Faith isn't always easy for anyone. We all have moments where we try and wrap our minds around what God has done, is doing and has promised to do. Ever tried to imagine what the myriads of myriads described in Revelation look like? Or tried to picture a resurrection body? God is beyond us, beyond what we can grasp in our human minds, but God also comes to us to ensure that we can know God and be fully known by God.
English Standard Version (ESV)
When you're a kid, you assume your parents know everything. I listen to the questions my kids ask me, some of which can get pretty deep, and there's an implicit expectation that I will know the answers. When I confess that I don't have the answer to some of their biggest questions, it confuses them. As they grow up and have kids of their own, they'll realize how little I really knew!
Some church leaders create an atmosphere where questions aren't encouraged. But church leaders don't always have all the answers, now or back then. "I don't know" is sometimes the right answer, but pride can get in the way of acknowledging that, so some people will make the person asking the question feel bad. Please don't invest your time and energy in organizations led by such people. Find a place where you are encouraged to ask questions and discover what is true and what is unknown.
Nicodemus is a ruler of Jews, but he comes to Jesus because he realizes that he has reached the end of his knowledge, and in Jesus he recognizes that there is still more. In Jesus, he finds something Truer than he has ever known, and it is beyond what his mind can grasp. He wants to see the Kingdom of God, but he's afraid his aged eyes cannot look at the world that way. Jesus is inviting him into something bigger, but he's so anchored in the reality that he's struggling to grasp it, even as a leader of the people of God.
Faith isn't always easy for anyone. We all have moments where we try and wrap our minds around what God has done, is doing and has promised to do. Ever tried to imagine what the myriads of myriads described in Revelation look like? Or tried to picture a resurrection body? God is beyond us, beyond what we can grasp in our human minds, but God also comes to us to ensure that we can know God and be fully known by God.
Thursday, June 20, 2019
John 2:23-25
John 2:23-25
English Standard Version (ESV)
One of my favorite quotes is the Solzhenitsyn quote about how the line between good and evil runs through every human heart. Jesus saw the crowds, the people who were amazed by his miracles, the ones believing in his name, and he saw them for who they are. He saw their passion for him, but he also understood the evil they were capable of. Jesus was able to foresee that many in these crowds would likely be calling for him to be crucified years later. The crowds that hailed his name now would turn on him when he challenged them. They loved him now, but he knew they would not always.
You and I are no different. We are capable of great acts of passion, devotion and selfless service, just as we can be selfish and divisive. We can be awful to one another. Jesus sees this in us because he knows us completely, and he still chooses to die on the cross for us.
This is the miracle of Easter -- Jesus sees the sin within us and still lays down his life for us. Jesus knew what he was getting in to -- he knew how the crowds would react, and he still spent years serving them, healing them, astounding them, teaching them, and he still ascended the cross and accepted their sin, my sin, your sin, so that we might be healed. Jesus knows us, the good and the bad, and opts to die for us, because we are loved unconditionally. We aren't loved when we're good, and we don't need to wait until we get it figured out to approach God -- we are fully known and fully loved, scars and wounds and everything!
English Standard Version (ESV)
One of my favorite quotes is the Solzhenitsyn quote about how the line between good and evil runs through every human heart. Jesus saw the crowds, the people who were amazed by his miracles, the ones believing in his name, and he saw them for who they are. He saw their passion for him, but he also understood the evil they were capable of. Jesus was able to foresee that many in these crowds would likely be calling for him to be crucified years later. The crowds that hailed his name now would turn on him when he challenged them. They loved him now, but he knew they would not always.
You and I are no different. We are capable of great acts of passion, devotion and selfless service, just as we can be selfish and divisive. We can be awful to one another. Jesus sees this in us because he knows us completely, and he still chooses to die on the cross for us.
This is the miracle of Easter -- Jesus sees the sin within us and still lays down his life for us. Jesus knew what he was getting in to -- he knew how the crowds would react, and he still spent years serving them, healing them, astounding them, teaching them, and he still ascended the cross and accepted their sin, my sin, your sin, so that we might be healed. Jesus knows us, the good and the bad, and opts to die for us, because we are loved unconditionally. We aren't loved when we're good, and we don't need to wait until we get it figured out to approach God -- we are fully known and fully loved, scars and wounds and everything!
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
John 2:13-22
John 2:13-22
English Standard Version (ESV)
It probably started innocently enough, and with good intentions. Some people set up booths to sell animals for the sacrifice, trying to assist those who didn't have their own. Then the money changers showed up, helping people pay the temple tax. A few people probably did well, and then some others saw the business opportunity and followed them into the line of business, hoping they, too, could make some money. It likely grew and grew and grew, until soon it had become a large commercial operation, maybe with little thought given to the reasons why or the original intention of it all.
It happens to each of us, and it happens to all of us. Things start small, and then they grow. It's like telling a little lie to protect someone, and then suddenly it snowballs into something far bigger than it ever originally was. Our hearts and our lives can become cluttered by things that have gotten bigger than we ever imagined -- we can become trapped, unable to see the original thought or goal.
Jesus came to clear away anything that separated us from God. Our hearts and lives can become so full that we can miss the single most important relationship in our lives. May we pray for the courage to let God remove the barriers in our lives that separate us from pursuing God, and may we be willing to accept that it isn't always easy to let Jesus prune us so that we may continue to grow.
English Standard Version (ESV)
It probably started innocently enough, and with good intentions. Some people set up booths to sell animals for the sacrifice, trying to assist those who didn't have their own. Then the money changers showed up, helping people pay the temple tax. A few people probably did well, and then some others saw the business opportunity and followed them into the line of business, hoping they, too, could make some money. It likely grew and grew and grew, until soon it had become a large commercial operation, maybe with little thought given to the reasons why or the original intention of it all.
It happens to each of us, and it happens to all of us. Things start small, and then they grow. It's like telling a little lie to protect someone, and then suddenly it snowballs into something far bigger than it ever originally was. Our hearts and our lives can become cluttered by things that have gotten bigger than we ever imagined -- we can become trapped, unable to see the original thought or goal.
Jesus came to clear away anything that separated us from God. Our hearts and lives can become so full that we can miss the single most important relationship in our lives. May we pray for the courage to let God remove the barriers in our lives that separate us from pursuing God, and may we be willing to accept that it isn't always easy to let Jesus prune us so that we may continue to grow.
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