Psalms 63:1-11 A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God; I will seek You earnestly; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You, as in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; (2) so I have seen You in the holy place, seeing Your power and Your glory. (3) Because Your loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You. (4) So I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. (5) My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips, (6) when I remember You on my bed and think of You in the night watches. (7) Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. (8) My soul follows hard after You; Your right hand upholds me. (9) But those who seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the depths of the earth. (10) They shall fall by the sword; they shall be a serving for jackals. (11) But the king shall rejoice in God; everyone who swears by Him shall glory; but the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.
Peter James and John. The three disciples we can immediately think about and say “They were with Christ a lot.” They were with Christ at the Mount of Olives. They were with Christ at the Transfiguration. They were the only disciples allowed inside the synagogue ruler's house when Christ resurrected his daughter. So why were they more special than the other nine? Did Jesus love them more? No. Did they love Jesus more than the other disciples? Hard to prove, but I can say this for a certainty, They followed Jesus more closely. They were the ones that followed hard after Jesus. And that is why they were chosen out amongst the Twelve.
Psalms 42:1-2 As the hart pants after the water brooks, so my soul pants after You, O God. (2) My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?
Peter James and John were like the deer, or hart, that longs for water. That is why they were selected out of the Twelve. They had great zeal. Sometimes this made them look like idiots. Such as the time Peter would pompously boast about how he would never betray Jesus. And then he ran in terror from a little girl (Luke 22:33; John 18:17). Or when James and John wanted to call down thunder and fire on a Samaritan village. Or when James and John and their mommy wanted to know who would sit at the right hand of Christ (Matthew 20:21; Mark 10:37).
However, when they were given wisdom and power by the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost that zeal was put to good use. Peter eloquently spoke against the Pharisees and would be first out amongst the Gentiles spreading the good news. James would be one of the first martyrs for Christ by being beheaded. And for the Jews to behead James meant he really had to have done something that got their attention. James finally drank of Christ's cup. John, of course would be the last apostle standing and would have the Second Coming of Christ shown to him on the isle of Patmos. Finally, their zeal would pay off.
John 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who has sent Me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
Like Peter, James and John we too ought to follow hard after Christ. Our seeking comes because God first sought us. (John 6:44). The seeking is a by product of God's intentions for our lives. He wants us badly and so first He came for us. What a wonderful Lord. What other religion has a deity that would do such a thing?
But why should we follow hard after God? What will it benefit us? Surely in the day and age of enlightenment and prosperity such antiquated notions are beyond the human sphere. We live in the Post-Atomic Age. Our science has done things the likes of which were only dreamt of during the first Great Enlightenment of the 19th Century. As Nietzsche said “God is dead, and we have killed him.” Why in the age of the iPod and Wii and Playstation 3 would we ever want a relationship with an invisible God? I can't touch Him. I can't manipulate His control interface so that He only plays the songs that I want to hear. So what's the point?
Philippians 3:8-10 But no, rather, I also count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them to be dung, so that I may win Christ (9) and be found in Him; not having my own righteousness, which is of the Law, but through the faith of Christ, the righteousness of God by faith, (10) that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death;
Paul writes that there is nothing better than to know Jesus. That knowing Him is greater than anything of this world. He equates everything else as “dung.” You know, cow pooh. Its like the idea of choosing gold over dung. Which is valuable on the world market? Can you buy commodities of dung? Is dung a tradeable resource that one ought to invest in?
A life lived without the saving grace of God and without the knowledge of Christ Jesus is a life lived in a dung heap. Better for us to have never been born than to never turn to the arms of Christ. When you die your possessions do not die with you. You cannot take your iPod to the afterlife. There are no Wii games in Heaven, as awesome as that would be. The “excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord” is more valuable than silver or gold. If God paves Heaven in gold what value do you suppose he placed on it?
Its like asphalt. And asphalt isn't spendable on this plane of existence either.
-Nick
*emphasis added by the author
Monday, April 5, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Humility. Strength. Power.
Deuteronomy 31:23 “Adonai also commissioned Y’hoshua [Joshua] the son of Nun with these words: “Be strong and full of courage; for you are to bring the people of Isra’el into the land about which I swore to them; and I will be with you.”” (CJB)
Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (NIV)
God has a blessing, a purpose and a cause for your life. In God’s plans are the seeds of greatness. It may not be “Greatness” according to man’s estimate but it is Greatness by God’s knowing. Every place He would take you requires a step of boldness. God wants you to be bold. God wants you to be strong.’
However, God first wants you to be humble.
Proverbs 15:33 “The discipline of wisdom is fear of Adonai, so before being honored, a person must be humble.” (CJB)
Numbers 12:3 “Now Moses was a humble man…”
Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”
Psalms 37:11 “But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.”
Meekness means having a humble heart. A humble heart pleases the Lord. Boldness and strength are valued when going about God’s work: Proverbs 28:1 “The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.”
We also know that God grants us this power thru his Holy Spirit: Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes oh you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
He wants first a humble heart. God needs a humble heart. Then He will embolden this heart and give it strength to carry out His work. Your blessing will find its fulfillment, however, none of this is possible without humility. Humble yourself as Joshua, David and Moses did and He will make you strong and bold. Humility is the first step toward power.
1 Peter 5:5-7
(5) “Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves in humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (6) Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. (7) Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
2 Chronicles 7:13-14
(13) “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, (14) if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
But what is humbleness? What is humility?
“Humility, the place of entire dependence upon God, is from the very nature of things the first duty and the highest virtue of His creatures… [It] is simply the sense of entire nothingness that comes when we see how truly God is everything. When the creature realizes that this is a place or honor, and consents to be the vessel in which the life and glory of God are to work and manifest themselves, he sees that humility is simply acknowledging the truth of his position as creature and yielding to God His place.” - Andrew Murray, “Humility: the Journey Toward Holiness”
“If you are looking for an example of humility, look at the cross.” -Thomas Aquinas
Philippians 2:5-9
(5) “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: (6) Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
(7) but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
(8) And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!
(9) Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name.”
Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter of Jerusalem! Behold your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (NASB)
Matthew 11:29 “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
I would therefore say our ultimate example of humility would be Jesus. He didn’t come as a King conquering with the sword. He came as a servant offering his life, his blood and his body. He was bruised, beaten and broken so that we might have eternal life.
John 18:36-37
(36) “Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
(37) “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.””
Matthew 25:31-46
(31) “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. (32) All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. (33) He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
(34) “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. (35) For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, (36) I need clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
(37) “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? (38) When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? (39) When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
(40) “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
(41) “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. (42) For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty an you gave me nothing to drink, (43) I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.
(44) “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
(45) “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
(46) “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, and the righteous to eternal life.”
John 13:3-17
(3) “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; (4) so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. (5) After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
(6) He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” (7) Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
(8) “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part of me.”
(9) “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
(10) Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” (11) For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. (12) When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. (13) ”You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. (14) Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. (15) I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. (16) I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than the one who sent him. (17) Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”
Christ showed us humility: as the true King, as a servant and as a sacrifice. When you stick your “Self” on the tree you give up yourself to God. Total surrender comes thru the cross. Let us continually rely on God for all our needs. Let us continually find our nothingness in His awesome completeness. We must be nothing so that God can be everything. We must pour out our selves so that God can pour in His Holy Spirit.
-Nick
Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (NIV)
God has a blessing, a purpose and a cause for your life. In God’s plans are the seeds of greatness. It may not be “Greatness” according to man’s estimate but it is Greatness by God’s knowing. Every place He would take you requires a step of boldness. God wants you to be bold. God wants you to be strong.’
However, God first wants you to be humble.
Proverbs 15:33 “The discipline of wisdom is fear of Adonai, so before being honored, a person must be humble.” (CJB)
Numbers 12:3 “Now Moses was a humble man…”
Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”
Psalms 37:11 “But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.”
Meekness means having a humble heart. A humble heart pleases the Lord. Boldness and strength are valued when going about God’s work: Proverbs 28:1 “The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.”
We also know that God grants us this power thru his Holy Spirit: Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes oh you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
He wants first a humble heart. God needs a humble heart. Then He will embolden this heart and give it strength to carry out His work. Your blessing will find its fulfillment, however, none of this is possible without humility. Humble yourself as Joshua, David and Moses did and He will make you strong and bold. Humility is the first step toward power.
1 Peter 5:5-7
(5) “Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves in humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (6) Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. (7) Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
2 Chronicles 7:13-14
(13) “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, (14) if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
But what is humbleness? What is humility?
“Humility, the place of entire dependence upon God, is from the very nature of things the first duty and the highest virtue of His creatures… [It] is simply the sense of entire nothingness that comes when we see how truly God is everything. When the creature realizes that this is a place or honor, and consents to be the vessel in which the life and glory of God are to work and manifest themselves, he sees that humility is simply acknowledging the truth of his position as creature and yielding to God His place.” - Andrew Murray, “Humility: the Journey Toward Holiness”
“If you are looking for an example of humility, look at the cross.” -Thomas Aquinas
Philippians 2:5-9
(5) “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: (6) Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
(7) but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
(8) And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!
(9) Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name.”
Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter of Jerusalem! Behold your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (NASB)
Matthew 11:29 “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
I would therefore say our ultimate example of humility would be Jesus. He didn’t come as a King conquering with the sword. He came as a servant offering his life, his blood and his body. He was bruised, beaten and broken so that we might have eternal life.
John 18:36-37
(36) “Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
(37) “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.””
Matthew 25:31-46
(31) “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. (32) All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. (33) He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
(34) “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. (35) For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, (36) I need clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
(37) “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? (38) When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? (39) When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
(40) “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
(41) “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. (42) For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty an you gave me nothing to drink, (43) I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.
(44) “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
(45) “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
(46) “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, and the righteous to eternal life.”
John 13:3-17
(3) “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; (4) so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. (5) After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
(6) He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” (7) Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
(8) “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part of me.”
(9) “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”
(10) Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” (11) For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. (12) When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. (13) ”You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. (14) Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. (15) I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. (16) I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than the one who sent him. (17) Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”
Christ showed us humility: as the true King, as a servant and as a sacrifice. When you stick your “Self” on the tree you give up yourself to God. Total surrender comes thru the cross. Let us continually rely on God for all our needs. Let us continually find our nothingness in His awesome completeness. We must be nothing so that God can be everything. We must pour out our selves so that God can pour in His Holy Spirit.
-Nick
Monday, March 22, 2010
A quick Prayer
I am getting weary.
“Waiting on the Lord,” has turned into “Waiting on the Dentist.”
Lord, I need a refreshing and a reminder.
I need a refreshing of your Spirit, but first I need a reminder of your Grace.
Above all I must repent.
I am a wicked and low-down sinner.
I am undeserving of your love and grace.
Yet, you give it anyway.
Thank you Father.
Teach me to hate what you hate.
Teach me to loathe sin.
Teach me to love what you love.
Teach me to love others.
Especially my Enemies.
Lord I love you.
Amen
-N
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Taking a break for a bit while I focus on Mid-terms. Thankfully, Spring Break is almost upon us. Shall attempt a reading marathon during the break. Projected books:
Jesus Rediscovered by Malcolm Muggeridge
Reflections on the Psalms by CS Lewis (finish off)
The God They Never Knew by George Otis Jr.
Seems a fairly easy goal don't you think?
-Nick
Jesus Rediscovered by Malcolm Muggeridge
Reflections on the Psalms by CS Lewis (finish off)
The God They Never Knew by George Otis Jr.
Seems a fairly easy goal don't you think?
-Nick
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Greetings
Matt 28:8-9
"So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples."
"And behold, Jesus met them and said, 'Greetings!' And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him"
I'm suddenly struck by this passages great beauty. In Jesus' "Greetings!" lies a larger subtext. He isn't just saying "Hi" or "Hello." It carries the weight of his love. Like a father greets his most beloved child. Here Christ's words jump with a great joy. I cannot wait to see Jesus and hear him issue me this same "Greetings!" I continually feel God's Love all around in this time of our physical separation. We have the promise of one day seeing him in his full glory and wonder so that we too will be full of fear and great joy, worshiping him as our Lord and King.
"So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples."
"And behold, Jesus met them and said, 'Greetings!' And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him"
I'm suddenly struck by this passages great beauty. In Jesus' "Greetings!" lies a larger subtext. He isn't just saying "Hi" or "Hello." It carries the weight of his love. Like a father greets his most beloved child. Here Christ's words jump with a great joy. I cannot wait to see Jesus and hear him issue me this same "Greetings!" I continually feel God's Love all around in this time of our physical separation. We have the promise of one day seeing him in his full glory and wonder so that we too will be full of fear and great joy, worshiping him as our Lord and King.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Friends of Paralysis
Mark 2:1-12
Luke 5:17-26
Matt 9:2-8
Consider the paralyzed man's friends. They couldn't get inside to see Jesus because of the great multitudes. Instead of giving up they scaled the house and ripped open the roof to lower their friend to Jesus. We Christians are the friends and the world is the paralyzed man. Would we use every means necessary to bring our friends to Christ? We can't save them but we can show them our Lord. Are we so bold to climb a house and dismantle a roof in order to present Christ? Or are we cowards?
Luke 5:17-26
Matt 9:2-8
Consider the paralyzed man's friends. They couldn't get inside to see Jesus because of the great multitudes. Instead of giving up they scaled the house and ripped open the roof to lower their friend to Jesus. We Christians are the friends and the world is the paralyzed man. Would we use every means necessary to bring our friends to Christ? We can't save them but we can show them our Lord. Are we so bold to climb a house and dismantle a roof in order to present Christ? Or are we cowards?
-N
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