Surrendered- A Gospel Ministry

Thursday, February 27, 2014

February 27

Exodus 10; Luke 13

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 34: HOW DOES THE SPIRIT APPLY TO US THE REDEMPTION PURCHASED BY CHRIST?
Answer: The Spirit applies to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling.
Scripture: 1 John 5:1; Philippians 1:29; Ephesians 2:8; Acts 16:14; 18:27; John 3:8; 6:64f.

Exodus10

Ready:
The previous chapter included plagues 5-7 and Pharaoh did not seem to have a reaction to the first two, which seemed very much like judgment mores than signs. With the 7th plague he pleaded for relief from but then reneged again once he had what he wanted.

Seeing what’s there:
This chapter covers the 8th and 9th plagues. In this chapter I see a few things jump out at me. There is a bit of a summary here from verse 1-2 where God seems to describe his purpose on this whole interchange with Pharaoh and it is about showing himself so that the Israelites would know that he is the Lord and so they would have a history of wonders and deliverance to pass down through the generations. God was creating legacy. In the eighth plague owes and Aaron challenge Pharaoh to humble himself before God in order to stop the judgement. Allowing Pharaoh and his counsel to speak Pharaoh’s counsel even urges him to let them go pleading that he open his eyes and see that Egypt is devastated already from this judgement of God. Pharaoh seems to proud to admit defeat or to see the true state of affairs. Thus Pharaoh tries to keep the children back and ends up ignoring Moses’ request that all of the people go and Pharaoh yells at him some lie about what he is asking or not and forces him out under the false pretense that he has only asked for the men to be released. This turns to the Pharaoh pleading for relief once more after the locusts come…followed again by a reneging due to another hardening. There seems a pattern here that there is additional hardening all along the way and not just a continuous state of hardness but that on a daily or even moment by moment basis the Lord may choose to mercifully restrain or to release us in freedom to express what is within us. Next the darkness. No dialogue with Pharaoh first, just a “darkness to be felt” as God said. Three days of darkness over the Egyptians (and light in Goshen) was the response God gave to Pharaoh’s impenitent refusal to humble himself. It could be that this darkness is representative of God withdrawing the final measure of his mercy and allowing Pharaoh now to even threaten the life of Moses and refuse to have any additional meetings after Pharaoh tries this time to get Moses to leave behind the flocks and herds. Alternatively the darkness can be a foreboding of the death to come in the final plague…or the darkness also could be a shaming of the Egyptian sun god named Re, who was responsible for providing sunlight and warmth and productivity. Pharaoh is intent to have some sense of control and he wants to ensure their return to his reign. But Moses agrees that they will have no further meetings and proceeds to describe to final plague to Pharaoh, except there is a bummer of a chapter break right before his emotional charged speech to Pharaoh that brings this for tomorrow.

Key Verses:
Exodus 10:1-2, 3-4, 7, 10-11, 14, 16-17, 20, 21-22, 24, 27-29

Theme:
The hard heart ultimately ends up surrounded by devastation and in complete denial of the truth.

Thinking about the message:
    v1-2. Here is a summary of the purpose of what is happening in this difficult Exodus. God is creating legacy for his children by demonstrating his wondrous and strong hand against the will and might of man and by demonstrating judgement against the proud and impenitent who would try to enslave his people.
    v3-6. Here it is made clear to the reader that the issue in Pharaoh is pride and a failure to humble himself before God. This is the failure of mankind from the Garden through today. Pride is the source of our troubles. Romans 1:18-32 demonstrates a spiraling affect of pride that takes us deeper and deeper into sin and rebellion.
    v7-11. Trying to hold back the young and the flocks and herds, Pharaoh tries to negotiate a compromise against God’s will again and ultimately he refuses the wise counsel of his servants that beg him to take note of the devastated condition of Egypt and to let the people go. Often times we may try to negotiate with God in order to protect our idol or our selfish interest and this is not what God is looking for…he is looking for our complete surrender (Luke 14:33). He wants all of our heart to be his and not just a part (Deut 4:29, Gal 2:20). Pharaoh abruptly ends the discussion and ignores Moses’ response about all of Israel being released together. Pharaoh is blind to the devastation surrounding him and he is too stubborn to admit defeat even though he is surrounded by death and destruction.
    v12-20. Here the locusts do their work and Pharaoh confesses his sin again and pleads for relief. As before, he reneges once the relief comes.
    v21-29. Now the Lord brings a darkness for three days that seems like an ominous indication of his disapproval and his removal of mercy and his warning of his coming final judgment. Pharaoh ends the conversation with a threat of Moses’ life should he come back again requesting the release of the people. Pharaoh thinks he can just deny God and send him away! Sometimes I may think I can just close my eyes and ignore a situation created by my sin, but this will not fend off the hand of God at work in my life (1 Thess 5:23-24; Titus 2:11-14; Heb 12:10-11). I need to own up to it and face God in brokenness and with a contrite heart (Psalm 51:17).

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
      I take from this chapter that God is exposing the pride and blindness of mankind in order to not only judge it but also to show how his strong hand delivers his people and accomplishes his holy will in spite of man’s rebellion. He is also demonstrating that father’s create legacy and leave a mark upon the generations to come that directs the focus of the people to the faithfulness and unstoppable power of God. The implication for today is that God is still unstoppable and that he still cares about legacy and that he still calls us to humble ourselves and to surrender to his will in repentance. The significance for me is that I might watch over my heart and ensure that I maintain a brokenness over my sin and that I create a pattern of confession and repentance rather than self-protection and manipulation. I can leave a legacy of pride and rebellion or one of humble surrender to my children and their children after them. One brings wrath and fury and the other results in glory, honor, and peace (Romans 2:6-11).

Valuing the message:
I value this message because it guides me in how I am to impact the generations after me. God cares about the message I send and he intends to be remembered as mighty and as a deliverer. My actions and my relationship with God can and will have a ripple effect through my family.

Reflecting on the message:
I need to consider all areas where I am still resisting God before the discipline increases in severity to get my attention. I need to consider the devastation around me that I may be ignoring and think more carefully about how I am reacting to God.

Questions to ask:

Is there devastation around me from my sin that I am denying?
What is the message I am leaving my children by my choices and my priorities?
Am I being stubborn and resisting any last areas in my life where God is needling me?
Am I doing anything to protect from the daily chance of hardening my heart against the truth?

Responding to God & Reacting to His Lesson:
Tell God about your observations and your thoughts and your struggles with the chapter and determine how it will change or impact your thinking and your decisions. Be sure to react in some way to the truth rather than remain silent.

Proclaiming the Truth to Others:
Decide who you can share what you have learned with and ask for God’s help in reaching out to love others.

Luke 13

Ready:
The previous chapters have made it clear that I am to ask, seek, and knock. I am to come to God with persistence and ask for the filling of his Spirit that I might see true transformation in my heart and mind and that I might live richly toward God instead of the default of living rich toward self with only a surface level appearance of faith. I am to be settled with God by trusting Jesus and living no longer for satisfaction in this life, but in Christ.

Seeing what’s there:
There seems to be three units of teaching here in this chapter as there are three separate settings. It begins with Jesus teaching the crowd and then moves to him teaching in one of the synagogues, and finally to him making his way through town and villages. The first unit is related to true faith resulting in repentance and fruit bearing (though the fruit does not often come in an instant). The second is related to true faith resulting in a love for others. The third is related to true faith resulting in a striving for Jesus in this life that looks like a daily death to self of a cross (Luke 9:23) and a whole-hearted devotion to Jesus (Gal 2:20) and not a casual acquaintance. These pictures of faith help make sense of James assertion that true faith is not alone but is accompanied by works (James 2:17).

No time to expound...moving on! In catch up mode :)

Soli Deo Gloria!

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

February 26

Exodus 9; Luke 12

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 33: HOW ARE WE MADE PARTAKERS OF THE REDEMPTION PURCHASED BY CHRIST?
Answer: We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ, by the effective application of it to us, by his Holy Spirit.
Scripture: John 3:5, 6; Titus 3:5, 6.

Exodus 9

Ready:
The previous chapter spoke to hard hearts and gave warning about not letting the truth impact my thinking and my actions.

Seeing what’s there:
This chapter presents the 5th through 7th plagues in Egypt. Here the plagues seem evident as judgement upon Egypt and no longer merely a sign of the power and authority that Moses carries on behalf of the Lord. Still Pharaoh is hard hearted and in this chapter Moses makes clear that Pharaoh is to blame for this sin of hardening his heart, even though we already saw that there is a real sense in which God is hardening his heart by removing his restraining mercy. Pharaoh either has a true acknowledgement of his sin that vaporizes once relief is found or he has a false confession simply to try to manipulate God into making his life comfortable. Either way is a lesson in how the hard heart functions. The person who loves God’s blessings over God will likely also fear God’s judgment over God. We need to get down to the personal level with God and know him, not just interact with his actions. There is also a big statement made about Pharaoh and how and why he is who he is and where he is.

Key Verses:
Exodus 9:2-3, 6-7, 10-12, 15-17, 24-26, 27-28, 34-35

Theme:
The hard heart manipulates and abuses the grace of God and seeks only the comfort that God can give without a true desire to honor him, particularly because this could come at great cost to temporal personal comfort or an injury to the ego.

Thinking about the message:
    v1-7. The language that God instructs Moses to use here is different than in the preceding plagues. This time he is to tell Pharaoh that the “hand of the Lord will fall with a very severe plague” and it has a much more judgmental tone. I take there to be somewhat oaf a shift from signs for Egypt to judgements of Egypt. This 5th plague does not come with any statement about it’s purpose being in a sign but it seems to come as judgement. There is no response given to Moses at all.
    v8-12. The 6th plague follows Pharaoh again hardening his heart and giving no response to Moses. This too seems to be straight up judgement. The magicians could not even remain present because their were so affected by the boils. But Pharaoh remained stubborn and refused to budge.
    v13-26. Here Moses meets with Pharaoh and gives another declaration that the Lord will bring a 7th plague in order that he may know something about God…”that there is none like me in all the earth”. In verse 16 God says through Moses something huge. He declares that Pharaoh is in the position he is in for the very purpose of receiving these plagues and for resisting and for letting the exodus of Israel be a spectacle and a wonder for all the generations to follow…for all the earth to proclaim the name of God. So God is to performing these wonders simply to convince Pharaoh of something, but like Moses records in Exodus 10:2, God is doing this to show Israel that he is the covenant keeping God who has a strong arm and can keep any and every promise he could make.
    v27-35. Here Pharaoh calls to Moses and Aaron and wants relief from the hail. He confesses his sin against the Lord and asks Moses to pled with the Lord to stop the hail with a promise to release Israel. But again, once the affliction is lifted, Pharaoh sins again and hardens his heart to the truth. He reneges on the deal once more. All is of course shaping up just as the Lord told Moses it would…

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
       This chapter is showing acts of judgement and I believe that the believer will face only loving discipline (Heb 12:6; Rev 3:19; 1 Cor 11:32), not wrathful judgement (Rom 2:5; Rom 1:18), but the lesson is nearly identical. I hear a message that the hard heart reacts wrongly to affliction as well as blessing. Pharaoh reacts to affliction with a shallow repentance or even with arrogant obstinence toward the judgement of God. When he does relent and humble himself it seems to immediately vanish in a return of pride as soon as the affliction lifts. What he was seeking was relief, not God. The implication is that God holds people accountable for their reactions to his warnings and his lessons. If one hardens his heart against the truth and he resists submission to the Lord then judgment (or discipline in the case of the wayward believer) is sure to follow. The significance for my life is that I too am responsible for the reactions of my heart as God brings discipline or hardship to teach me and to guide me. If I love and fear God, instead of his actions, then I will be able to rightly react to his blessings and discipline in my life. In the end God put this man in the position of Pharaoh so that this exact thing would go down similar to how God put Judas Iscariot in the 12. Sin does not thwart God’s plan because he has no problem planning for its use from the beginning.

Valuing the message:
This message is valuable because it trains me in knowing that I should focus on the giver of the gift or the discipline and not on the thing itself. It helps me to see the impact of letting my heart be hardened.

Reflecting on the message:
I need to observe the way I tend to react to affliction or to it’s removal.

Questions to ask:

Do I require some “sign” from God before I will listen to his Word, or even read his Word? If so, maybe I have a hard heart.
Do I make promises to God when I am under affliction that I renege on them once it lifts? If so, maybe I have a hard heart.
Do I sometimes stop listening entirely to God when I am in pain and I know it is due to my sin but I do not want to humble myself and repent? If so, maybe I have a hard heart.
Do I want the blessings of God or do I want God, even if he comes with some hardship? If I choose comfort or blessing over God (honoring him and enjoying him), then maybe I have a hard heart.

Luke 12

Ready:
The previous chapter was about seeking the influence of the Holy Spirit in my life and not relying on human effort to change myself. The inside of my dirty house can only be flushed out by the power of God and this requires that I understand the fear of the Lord.

Seeing what’s there:
Luke had spent chapters 10 & 11 establishing mankind’s need for repentance and a need to rely upon Jesus. A filling of the Holy Spirit is needed to accomplish this repentance by the power of God and not by human means. Now in this chapter Luke documents Jesus’ warning not to try to fool God regarding our heart level obedience of faith. He warns that God knows all we say and do in private and public and it is our words and deeds that will confess or deny Christ. The parable of the rich fool and the teaching on seeking the kingdom of God over the things of this world and the parable of the servants waiting for the master illustrate that a failure to seek the kingdom purposes of God in this life is itself a denial of Christ. The chapter closes with Jesus admonishing the hearer to pay attention and to be prepared and to settle with God before we are called to give payment on our insurmountable debt to our creator whom we have rebelled against.

Key verses:
Luke 12:2, 4-5, 8-9, 21, 31-32, 34

Theme:
Seeking God as the priority of my life is how I ask, seek, and knock and how I live richly toward God. Human effort at dressing up my life is a denial of Christ and God is well aware of my heart.

Thinking about the message:
   v1-3. A little hypocrisy goes a long way! I am warned here to not allow any. I am an open book to God and to think that I can have some portion of my thoughts or actions or attitudes or anything that is kept private is foolishness. God is all-knowing and all-present. There is no hiding or denying my sin. Having sin is not in itself hypocrisy, but denying it and covering it and failing to confess and seek repentance in Jesus is hypocrisy when I represent myself as a child of God.
   v4-7. Worrying about my appearance before men and the impression I leave upon them is one thing, but much more should I be afraid of the message I am sending the creator of my soul who will one day place me in heaven or hell based upon my obedience of faith or lack thereof. He knows all there is to know and cares much about the smallest creatures so surely he knows everything about me and cares deeply about what I am up to.
   v8-12. The Holy Spirit is here presented as one who teaches and leads by internal witness as in the case of when we may be held to give an account before man. As with Peter, a temporary denial of the person of Christ when he is externally evident is one thing, but denying the internal witness of the Holy Spirit convicting us of the truth is another thing altogether…this hardening of our heart to the truth is unforgivable because it is by the Holy Spirit alone that I am born again unto new life. I will surely be given opportunities to confess or deny Christ by my words and actions in this life. Will I fear man or God? Man looks at the porch and the garden and can take my life…God looks inside the house and in the closet and can damn my soul.
   v13-21. The rich fool here is focused on worldly riches and investments toward himself. Jesus teaches that this is a denial of God and that we are to be rich toward God by seeking him over and above the riches of this life (Matt 13:44). God is to be our provision (Psalm 73:25-26).
   v22-34. Jesus presents the picture of our life here in that we are to rely on God for our needs (Luke 11:3-4) and we are to focus out attention on seeking God and his kingdom purposes as the priority of our life. Our desires and motives are in what we value so if I value God this will show, but it will also be evident if what I value most is something other than God. My desires follow after what I value…I must ask God to tune my heart and mind to value him!
   v35-40. Seeking God now and always is indeed how we keep ready with oil in the lamps. Here Jesus teaches that we cannot know when the master returns and we deny him if we are not prepared day by day.
   v41-48. Jesus makes clear that those who have the law of God, or any other understanding of truth, have an increased responsibility to act upon the truth. There will clearly be a higher level of judgment or critical evaluation of reward based on what we do with the knowledge we receive. Knowledge brings responsibility and Jesus holds those with knowledge responsible for misleading others through their twisting of the truth (Luke 11:52).
   v49-53. Here Jesus seems to describe that he did not come to make everyone comfortable but to destroy the lies that bind us and to demolish the strongholds. Jesus speaks of a baptism to be baptized into and this phraseology reminds me of Paul in Roman 6:3-4 where he speaks of being baptized into death. Christ intends to die and he will die as a baptism that cleanses us. He was baptized by John in a baptism of repentance eve though he did not need to repent (Lk 3:3). He is taking on our sin and he is accomplishing our death to sin and to the law through his own body (Rom 7:4-6). Jesus is a stumbling block and a rock of offense (Is 8:14; Rom 9:33; 1 Pet 2:8) so peace between people on earth is not the goal…peace between his people and God is the goal (Rom 5:1). Therefore he calls on us to live peaceably with all when it is in our power (Rom 12:18) but Jesus is offensive to falsehood and he is sure to bring discord between us and many non-believers (Luke 12:51-53).
   v54-59. Here he speaks about the importance of not just looking ahead to likely occurrences in the physical realm of daily life but on the spiritual realm also. He urges us to think ahead and to be ready for his impending return. He makes the point that we have a debt to settle with God and it must be settled before we face judgement or we will spend eternity trying without success to pay off the debt. But in Christ, the debt is cancelled (Col 2:14)! He mentions the debt being paid to the last penny and this is the case with my sin. It is completely paid in the cause of justice and the glory of God,but not by me…it is paid by Jesus on my behalf by the grace of God. This is good news!

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
   There is no fooling God, though we can sometimes fool ourselves and others. God is after my heart and my devotion and my desires. He wants me to live for him (Gal 2:19-20; Rom 6:11) and not for comfort or anything else (Luke 14:33). He calls me to die to self provision (Matt 16:24) and to live dependent upon Jesus (Phil 3:9). The implication is that mankind is unable to live this out when they are focused on this world and we must be focused on Christ. The significance of my life is that I need to evaluate what I am seeking (Psalm 9:10; Prov 18:1; Luke 17:33; John 5:30; John 7:18; Rom 10:3) and where my value is (Matt 13:44) and where I may be denying Christ with my actions (Titus 1:16).

Valuing the message:
This message is valuable because sin is deceptive and I can be in hypocrisy quite easily if I am not reflecting upon my own motives and my attitudes and thoughts.

Reflecting on the message:
I need to consider if I am living rich toward God or rich toward myself and this world.

Questions to ask:
Are my motives, thoughts, words, and actions denying or confessing Christ?

Responding to God & Reacting to His Lesson:
Tell God about your observations and your thoughts and your struggles with the chapter and determine how it will change or impact your thinking and your decisions. Be sure to react in some way to the truth rather than remain silent.

Proclaiming the Truth to Others:
Decide who you can share what you have learned with and ask for God’s help in reaching out to love others.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

February 25

Exodus 8; Luke 11

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 32: WHAT DO WE MEAN BY CHRIST’S EXALTATION?
Answer: By Christ’s exaltation we mean his rising again from the dead on the third day, ascending up into heaven, sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and coming to judge the world at the last day.
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:4; Acts 1:11; Mark 16:19; Acts 17:31.

Exodus 8

Ready:
In the last chapter Pharaoh matched the first two miracles offered by Moses and Aaron, including the first plague of the bloody Nile. Magic produced similar results and made for an opportunity for Pharaoh harden himself to the truth. God had set them in to Pharaoh again despite the failure of the Israelites to listen to Moses or have faith in the coming deliverance.

Seeing what’s there:
In this chapter I see the second, third and fourth plagues (frogs, gnats, and flies) delivered by Moses. Pharaoh concede for the first time to let the people go, but he changes his mind when the frogs are taken away and there is some relief. Then he refuses to react to the gnats and then again he concedes after the flies only to renege again once the Lord removes the plague. The plagues seem to have an increasing intensity or impact.

Key Verses:
Exodus 8:1-2, 8, 15, 16, 18-19, 23-24, 28-29, 32

Theme:
Pharaoh’s hard heart resists or brings him to cry out for relief from the plagues only to renege on the agreement with God each time the affliction is lifted.

Thinking about the message:
    v1-15. Here the frogs are brought and they plague the land. Though Pharaoh’s magicians were able to bring frogs as well (which may not have been his request) it seems that they cannot get rid of them and he pleads with Moses to remove the frogs. Although he initially agrees to let the people go, things change once the affliction lets up. Now with a chance to think, the hard heart of Pharaoh takes over and he reverts back to his proud self and reneges on his decision to release Israel. This is a decent picture of the human heart that might call out to God, like the Israelites, when hardship arises but once the storm calms the desire and need for God subsides and pride resumes right where it left off. It seems critical that when the water is smooth…go deep! When times are easy- seek the Lord with fervor (Rom 12:11), and then when hardship hits- rejoice in hope (Rom 12:12).
    v16-19. Here Moses and Aaron deliver the Lord’s third plague of gnats and this is not reproducible by the magicians. They even declare to Pharaoh that they believe it to be the finger of God…but Pharaoh is hardened to the truth and refuses to budge. It seems the personal impact was not severe enough on this plague to cause Pharaoh to even ask for relief.
    v20-32. Here the fourth plague comes upon Egypt, which is flies. This gets Pharaoh’s attention and he again pleads for relief. Pharaoh negotiates with Moses attempting to keep them in Goshen performing their worship, but Moses refuses and explains that it must be out in the wilderness (no doubt he plans to go to the mountain of God- Hebron, aka Sinai). Again Pharaoh concedes and then reneges once the affliction is lifted.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    I hear the message that a hard heart can see and even understand the truth but will not surrender itself to the Lord, taking every opportunity to resist and revert to sinful patterns, because it does not value or feel the impact of the truth it has been hardened to. Pain and affliction is the only thing that gets the momentary attention of the hard heart (Ex 8:15) so discipline or even judgement may be God’s response. The implication is that a heart is resistant to value what it sees to be true and it values comfort or the familiar more than truth (Mark 16:14; Matt 19:8). The hard heart is proud and seeks not to answer for itself when faced with the truth (Mark 3:5), so it covers the truth with lies (Rom 1:18, 21-25; Rom 2:5). The hard heart never learns the lesson because it chooses ignorance to understanding (Eph 4:18). The significance to me is that I must be on guard from hardening my heart against the truth. I must not exchange it for lies and I must accept it when I am guilty and need to confess my sins. I must not let patterns of sin break in and deceive me because this will bring hardening to protect my own selfish motives and desires that are contrary to the heart of God (Heb 3:12-14, Prov 28:14).

Valuing the message:
This message is valuable because it is a good warning against a common problem. I have heard it said that knowledge without application is damaging to the soul and I believe this is because it hardens me to the truth and keeps me resistant though I understand at a certain level of what is supposed to be. This message is valuable because the writer of hebrews makes it plain that a hard heart leads me away from God, which can eventually evidence that I never knew him. I can avoid unnecessary discipline of the Lord by humbling myself and surrendering rather than resisting the truth out of pride or worldly desires.

Reflecting on the message:
I need to consider areas in my life where I currently resist God and where I knowingly allow sin to remain unresolved and un-confessed. I need to be at war with sin, by the Spirit (Rom 8:13-14), because I am a child of God, not a slave to sin, who will accept affliction in order to gain Christ (Rom 8:15-17).

Questions to ask:

Am I unrepentant in any areas?
Is there anything in God’s Word that I am ignoring?
Am I resisting what I think God wants me to do?
Do I return to a pattern of distance from God when pain and affliction seem to revolve?

Luke 11

Ready:
The previous chapter seemed to focus on the importance of acknowledging sin and coming to terms with a need to repent and a need for deliverance from sin by dependence upon Jesus.

Seeing what’s there:
I see in this chapter that Luke opens with a transition to a different location and a new unit of teaching. He presents an slightly abbreviated version of the Lord’s Prayer but adds a section on praying with persistence to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit from our good Father who knows how to give good gifts. He then documents Jesus’ response to the accusation that he exorcises demons by the power of Beelzebul where Jesus explains his power and some of the nature of spiritual oppression. Jesus also speaks on the obedience of faith being more valuable than visible recognition or positional authority of any kind in the life of the believer. He speaks of an evil (and blind) generation that requires special signs and refuses to listen to the message of coming judgement because they have lost their fear of the Lord.

Theme:
Only the Holy Spirit can change our heart, mind, and body and teach us the fear of the Lord that we may have the knowledge of God and true blessing as we then walk in the obedience of faith. We must seek him and forget about the petunias.

Thinking about the message:
   v1-4. Here is the Lord’s prayer with an omission of the third petition of “Thy will be done”. It also leaves out some detail about the sixth petition of protection from the enemy in temptation, but he adds a whole section at the end (beginning in verse 5) on persistence in prayer. Jesus clearly fought that prayer was to be focused upon connecting with God and hallowing his name. The petitions all support a hallowing of his name and they descend from high and lofty requests that re about God and then move into very practical down to earth requests about sustaining us her on earth in our fallen state. The clear idea is a focus on the God who made us and sustains us and thus prayer should be more worship than a “to do” list presented to God. My personal request should be in support of the hallowing of his name and the coming of his kingdom in my life and all around me.
   v5-13. This section make a couple of points. The first is that we are to come to God with persistence and to not give up simply because we do not receive and answer in the timing that we expect. It also makes the point that God is a better gift giver and a better friend than any other and so if we know that we can find our needs met by an earthly friend who doesn’t have internal motivation to help us in every circumstance, how much more can we trust that our great God who is always there to do us good with all his heart and soul (Jer 32:41) will come through and give us what is good for us? He makes clear that the primary gift the Lord holds for us is his Spirit, not material blessings. If I am praying according to the Lord’s Prayer and I add this understanding of what the good gift he holds for me is the picture is plain. I need to be asking daily for a filling of the Holy Spirit. I need to ask, seek, knock with persistence and I need to know that this filling is an invisible thing that produces a slow progress of holiness in my life (Heb 12:9-11; 1 Peter 1:13-25; Titus 2:11-14). This is transformation from the inside out and it is not something excitingly visible or attention getting.
   v14-26. Casting out demons, however, is attention getting. This is an outward action that does not necessarily indicate that I am fearing the Lord of seeking his transforming power in my life. Jesus answers the claims that he works with the power of Beelzebul by explaining how a house divided against itself will not stand and that it takes a strong man to push out and keep out an evil spirit. Jesus gives a rebuke about not being for him is being against him and an assertion that a spirit who is pushed out but the house left empty ends up returning stronger and with more friends. In Matthew’s account he reveals that Jesus compares this hypothetical person to the evil generation. I take all this in relation to his teaching in this section about seeking a filling by the Holy Spirit with persistence vs the removal of wickedness from our lives here represented by an unclean spirit. I take it to mean that if we simply push out wickedness by some means other than by the filling of the Holy Spirit (strong man who takes new residence and stands to protect us) but instead use evil means (human effort- see Luke 11:13) then we will see our wickedness return with vengeance and we will not see lading change in our lives but we will see more oppression and enslavement to sin. If we are trying to remove sin my humans means and for self-improvement, then we are against Jesus and our house will not stand. If I am seeking the glory of God and the filling of the Spirit in my life, then the strong man will change me from the inside out and I will stand victorious and united with Christ and free.
   v27-28. Back to the attention getting. I think here Jesus is teaching that a visible place of honor or as in the casting out of demons, a visible sign of some spiritual power is really nothing compared to a quiet and even invisible trust of God that results in obedience (obedience of faith). He seems to minimize human efforts (like nursing a child) in favor of trusting God. He calls us to take him at his Word and to act upon it with fear of the Lord. This fear of the Lord becomes evident in the remainder of the chapter and I take it to relate to this here about true blessedness not being recognized human effort or our outward signs, but our holiness that comes from taking God at his Word alone.
   v29-36. Here Jesus rebukes the “evil generation” who will not repent at the message of judgment and the coming kingdom, but instead demand signs to special signs and evidence that they really do have a problem. Jesus goes on in verses 33-36 to blame this problem on spiritual blindness that has corrupted all that we see and hear. He speaks of us needing to have healthy vision and then we will be whole and then we will have understanding and knowledge and brightness in our life…and we will not demand more signs! He speaks of the fear of the Lord. He speaks of us needing to clearly see the Lord and thus have a holy fear of our creator. This is the beginning of knowledge and without this we are in darkness and we are blind.
   v37-44. In this section Jesus makes his way closer to the plain statement ahead (Luke 11:52) about the lack of fearing the Lord being the cause of our trouble and leading to our lack of repentance. He routs the Pharisees for their concept of cleaning up outward appearances and yet never repenting of the failure to love God and love others…which is the whole law! Keeping ourselves free of sin of various kind is good and will happen when we are being filled with his Spirit, but it becomes plain that our house is to guarded and the sin is not being pushed out by the Holy Spirit (strong man) when there remains a host of wickedness under the surface. We are not removing the problem but we are dressing up the pig. Having the best seats in places of honor or being seen as blessed because of our human effort fails us in the end if we lack the obedience of faith and we are not truly seeking God and his filling and reign in our lives. We need the Holy Spirit filling this house…we cannot just plant a new garden and hand new drapes that we close to hid the haunted house inside from those who pass by and make comment on how lovely are petunias look as the house fills to overflowing with wickedness behind the new drapes. This results in the injury of all who trust them and who come and sit on their porch to drink lemonade and smell their petunias…like unmarked graves that defile the one who walk on it since they do not recognize it as a grave and mistakenly walk where they shouldn’t…so is the one who is influenced by a Pharisee who is at best an empty house and at worst stuffed with all forms of evil.
   v45-52. The lawyer (specialist in the Mosaic law) here recognizes that the grave bit is a pretty big jab and he knows that Jesus is not speaking good things about the Pharisees and he plainly tells Jesus that he is offending them. Now he turns to him and opens up the firehouse on him! He explains that their expounding of the law as a ladder to climb in order to please God is abhorrent and they lay on burden upon the people that hey themselves do not and cannot carry. They put on this pious outward appearances with the petunias and all and the people see this and hear them teach the law and they are killing themselves to try to grow these flowers and they are without hope. The prophets after Moses came with messages of an everlasting covenant (Jer 31:31-33; Ezek 36:22, 26-27) and promises of a coming bridegroom (Isaiah 61:10) who would prepare his bride and a Messiah who would deliver his people from their sin but they have killed and ignored these prophets in favor only of this impossible law that was not meant as a ladder to heaven (Rom 9:31-32). The last verse exposes the problem and it is that they do not fear the Lord. They have focused on a law and not on their God who gave them the law. They have not entered into knowledge and they remain in darkness and they hinder anyone led to seek the knowledge of God while wearing the clothes of those who are supposed to be the guidance. Woe to you! Read Proverbs 2:1-5ff regarding how to find the knowledge of God.
   v53-54. Both of the main sects of Jews represented in the council are now thoroughly upset with Jesus and they want nothing more than to catch him in error. Again- they lack the fear of the Lord.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
I take a pretty clear meaning from this chapter that I am to seek a filing of the Spirit by persistent seeking, asking, knocking for this good gift from my Heavenly Father and that this is how I will get a clean house that is protected and sure. The implication is that human effort and visible shows of spirituality do not cut it and they result in an outward appearance of godliness that hides a problem of emptiness or worse. The significance for my life is that I need not try to impress anyone with my spirituality or my appearance, but I need to daily go deep in seeking my God in private and in asking him to do what I cannot do…clean house to the glory of his name and not mine.

Valuing the message:
I see the value in this message because it will help me avoid being a Pharisee who does not love God or others but who thinks he has it all together.

Reflecting on the message:
I need to examine the patterns of my seeking, knocking, asking and if they are not there I need to go to God and ask for help in this. If I see that I have been dressing up the garden and ignoring the failure to truly love and honor God and to love people, then I need to ask for a clearing of the house by the strong man. I need to pray with a focus on hallowing his name and seeking his will and his kingdom so that I do not get fooled into thinking that the garden and the porch are my only concern while I then host a party inside the house for vampires and werewolves.

Questions to ask:

What help am I to others? Do I teach and encourage them with open vulnerability and authenticity to seek the Lord in gladness or do I just show them how nice my flowers are and hope they figure out some way to grow nice flowers too?
Do I open the doors to the Holy Spirit and plead with him to come and own this home?
How often to I seek worldly blessing and use human effort to make change in my life?
How often do I seek the blessing of the Spirit of God and his working to change my life?

Monday, February 24, 2014

February 24

Exodus 7; Luke 10

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 31: WHAT DO WE MEAN BY CHRIST’S HUMILIATION?
Answer: By Christ’s humiliation we mean that he was born, and that in a low condition; that he was made under the law, and underwent the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross; that he was buried, and continued under the power of death for a time.
Scripture: Luke 2:7; Galatians 4:4; Isaiah 53:3; Luke 22:44; Matthew 12:40; 27:46; Philippians 2:8; Mark 15:45-6.

Exodus 7

Ready:
In the previous chapter Moses documented how the Israelites became broken and they ceased listening to him and they were without hope. Moses and Aaron were charged by God to continue on and to go to Pharaoh again.

Seeing What’s There:
Here I see Moses and Aaron perform two miracles that are duplicated by Pharaoh’s magicians and so Pharaoh is either convinced that they do not come with the authority of God or at least he is comforted that his magicians can match this God of theirs. Either way he hardens his heart (according to the plan and will of God) against the truth.

Key Verses:
Exodus 7:3, 5, 22

Theme:
God has a message for the world. Man is responsible and accountable for his Sin, though it may be used by God in his unsearchable judgement and inscrutable ways, and man is also responsible for not feeding himself lies that take him off track in what he is seeking in this life.

Thinking About the Message:
    A few things jumps out in this chapter.
    v3. One is that God will harden Pharaoh’s heart in order to accomplish his will. This can be taken in a couple of ways. Later I know that Moses documents not only that Pharaoh hardens his own heart but that he is also held accountable by God for this sin (Exodus 9:34). I take this to mean that what has happened is that God’s restraining mercy that keep every one of us from being as wicked as we could possibly be is removed from him so that it can be said that God hardens his heart and yet Pharaoh hardens his own heart and bears the responsibility. It is like God unbridles him to do what is in him. The picture of this is seen in Rom 1:21-32. Paul says in 1 Cor 15:10 that he is what he is only by the grace of God. There is an important and deep truth here that relates to our fallen nature and the depth of our depravity. When reading the newspaper headlines and the question “who could do such a thing” rises, I think we need to understand that the answer is “we would”…if it were not for the grace of God. Rom 9:18 goes on and says (with the preceding reference to Pharaoh) that the Lord will have mercy on whomever he wills and he will harden whomever he wills. He is making a contrast and hardening is opposed to mercy. Knowing that mercy is the withholding of due judgement and also the helping of the one in dire need the picture emerges that God delivers a just judgement when he withdraws his help and leaves us to dive further into wickedness. This is the message of that Romans 1 passage. God indeed has a plan for Pharaoh, but Pharaoh is guilty as sin and has no argument against God.
    v5. Another is that God seems intent that the deliverance of his people from captivity will be a message to Egypt and probably to the whole earth (Rom 9:17). His message is not merely for Israel and not merely for Pharaoh. As revealed through Paul, the message was to the world. God saves. God fulfills covenant. God is personal. God is opposed to the proud. God has chosen a people.
    v22. Another is that false miracles and false experiences and false doctrine is a real problem. Pharaoh’s magicians are twice able to repeat a similar “miracle” no doubt by the power of evil and they convince Pharaoh that there is no special thing to be seen or known of in this God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is evolution and humanism and relativism and tolerance and false religion. If what I am looking for in my Christianity is a peaceful existence or an improved family life or motivation in life or a greater love for others then there are many magical ways to produce these things and there is nothing special to be had in my Christianity. I can have a Christ-less Christianity. The point of my surrender to Jesus is to seek him hotly and to love God and to get God, not to get something else like the list I mentioned. These things too will come but the goal is God. It has been said that God is the gospel. God is the great treasure and if I make something else the goal then God is a means to an end and I either have a false religion that will not get me to where I am hoping- or I have a very poor understanding of my God and I need to repent and seek him (Deut 4:29).

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    1. The implications of the above is that God alone has the power to deliver me from my sin and to keep me from diving into the wickedness of my misery. All mankind us fallen and depraved and deserving of judgment but thanks be to God that he has chosen to give mercy to those whom he will give mercy. The significance for me is that I should come before God each day with a broken and contrite spirit with thanksgiving in my heart and I should ask for the blessing of his mercy that I might find greater victory each day over the sin nature that remains in me. I can ask him to take from me selfishness and pride, for a start. The significance is recognizing that I am not better than Pharaoh and that is is only the grace (unmerited favor and power) of God exercised as mercy in my life that keeps what I am. I do not want to sink into evil by failing to acknowledge this and let pride pit me against God in a way that he is moved to show me myself like he did in Romans 1.
    2. Another implication is that Satan uses falsehood and bizzaro blessings that would try to pull people away from the source of life. The significance us that I must be on the lookout for falsehood. I must not buy the world’s lies that I can get what “I want” somewhere other than from God. The truth is that if what I want is something other than God… there is a temporary truth to the world’s message. It will be hell to pay but I can find temporal happiness and relief and a number of “blessings” apart from God. I must recognize true blessings (side affects of seeking God) from false blessings (selfish desires of my prideful heart).

Valuing the Message:
This message is valuable to me because there is a clear warning of very believable lies and there is a realization of who I am and what I am capable of if I am not dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus (Rom 6:11).

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
I must search my own heart for lies that I am currently believing about life and blessings and purpose and goals. I must think on whether I am seeking water turned to blood any way I can get it or am I seeking the author of life. I must face the fact that I have the same capacity for evil as another guy and I must give thanks to God that he is merciful (not that I am so wonderful or better than another as the Pharisee did in Luke 18:9-14).

Questions to ask:

What am I trying to get out of life?
Why am I not a murderer?
Who chooses whether I will receive mercy or justice? Are either of these wrong?

Luke 10

Ready:
The previous chapter was a heavy teaching on discipleship. Highlights include the need to take up my cross daily and follow Jesus, the cost of following Jesus, humility in the community of believers, the amazing provision of God, and Jesus as the embodiment of God’s message to the world.

Seeing What’s There:
I see this chapter as about seeing and acknowledging our sin and need for a savior. It is about relying on him and not looking to ourselves. Luke begins with the account of Jesus sending out the 72 ahead of him with a message of repentance due to the kingdom being near (John the Baptist’s message). He pronounces woe upon those who reject this message and do not see the need for repentance. Jesus rejoices that the Father has chosen to reveal himself not based upon the ability or wisdom of man but based upon his mercy and grace alone to those who know they have nothing to offer Jesus. He explains to the lawyer that the law offers life to the one who wold keep it but the dilemma is that none keep it and it should therefore have been a message of need and brokenness and not confidence in self accomplishment as he tried to take it. Mary and Martha close out the chapter with Jesus explaining that worship is not an offering to Jesus from our abilities but an offering to Jesus from our dependence…which is a receiving from Jesus.

Key Verses:
Luke 10:9-12, 13, 16, 20, 25-28, 40-42

Theme:
A gospel without a perceived need for repentance, resulting in a complete dependence upon Jesus, is not the gospel.

Thinking About the Message:
    v1-16. This passage teaches the main message that all people must recognize their need for repentance and their subsequent need for deliverance from sin. When there is an increase in revelation there is an increase in responsibility to act upon the revelation from God. He does not teach that the other cities are not guilty but that the ones with greater revelation will face a more severe judgement (all are judged). Jesus explains that a rejection of the message of repentance in preparation of the kingdom is a rejection of him. Without an acknowledgement of the problem of sin and a running to Jesus for freedom from it, there is no gospel. This speaks in the face of the health wealth and prosperity gospel (even faint forms of it) that teaches only promise of an improved life and does not teach that the gospel is a bidding to come and die (Rom 6:5-8). The gospel is about dying to self and to the world and to sin and living for Christ and his purposes (Rom 6:11; Gal 6:14; Luke 9:23). The gospel is about a need for transformation in our lives and not just a get out of jail free card (Titus 2:11-15; Rom 6:1-4; Rom 6:12-19).      v17-24. The main message of this passage is that we do not bring God something but he brings us something. We ought not to see what we do in his power as something of ourselves but we ought to simply rejoice that he chose to use us for his glory. Spiritual pride is a real problem and we should recognize that it is God at work and he is the one responsible at to be praised.
    v25-37. Here Jesus explains that the law is powerless to save us because we are unable to keep it and this is how it was meant. The law is a spiritual signpost and a message of need, not a ladder to heaven (Rom 7:14, Rom 3:20, 1 Tim 1:8-11). He does not teach here to keep the law for salvation but he points out our need for deliverance because we are in a heap of trouble. Jesus also does not throw out the law but expects that by his indwelling Spirit we actually will fulfill it and keep it (Rom 3:30).
    v38-42. I take this to show that one person can react to the gospel with a need to prove themselves and another with a need to fall upon Christ in dependence and worship. There is nothing wrong with service ministry but I take the lesson to be a heart issue. A point is being made that has nothing to do with cooking or service. Luke is still carrying the same theme of the recognition of dependence.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    The implication I hear is that Jesus does not save men from guilt but leave them in sin. Jesus first calls me to see my sin and know that it must die, then he is the solution to the guilt and the power and the presence of sin in my life. I have a sin problem…not a self esteem problem. I have a death problem…not a need a better life problem. I have an enemy of God problem…not a show him my goodness problem. I have an idolatry problem…not a need things to go better problem. Jesus solves my problem on the cross and in my life every day. How much more and I saved by his life (Rom 5:9-10)!

Valuing the Message:
I value this message be because it is easy for me to get distracted from the necessary task of reflecting upon my heart and confessing my sin (1 john 1:9; Mark 1:5). It is easy to get caught up in the idea that what Jesus is doing is fixing the circumstances of my life and not fixing my wicked heart. One of these looks like everything going right and getting easier…the other looks like things going the way they need to go to teach me and to train me in godliness and to make me like Jesus.

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
I need to reflect on my heart and my hope.

Questions to ask:

What do I hope for in life?
Do I want Jesus to make me holy or do I want him to fix my circumstances so things are comfortable?
Do I see and confess my sin or do I ignore it and ask for more blessing?
Do I work to impress him so he will feed me my idol (comfort, praise of men, stuff & things, etc) or do I seek him to enjoy him and rely on him and be transformed by him?

Sunday, February 23, 2014

February 23

Exodus 6; Luke 9

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 30: HOW DOES CHRIST PERFORM THE OFFICE OF A KING?
Answer: Christ performs the office of a king, in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.
Scripture: Psalm 110:1-2; Matthew 2:6; Luke 1:32-33; 1 Corinthians 15:25.

Exodus 6

Ready:
Yesterday I read Moses’ account of how the Jews listened to his message from God but then Pharaoh really worked to break their will and the people of God were put to the test to expose their weak motives and to show Moses the challenge before him.

Seeing What’s There:
I see God training Moses and appealing to his people with outstretched arms inviting them to trust him. I see Moses in this inspired text narrating and by listing the genealogy of himself and Aaron I get that the simple fact that he and Aaron were standing before Pharaoh at all is the amazing work of God and perhaps afterward as now being recorded he thought to include this because it ought to have been a thought of his at the time. The fact that God had delivered one promise of making a nation out of Jacob was evident and now he stands to move the nation into the next of God’s promises. Yet Moses hesitates and still requires God’s prodding and continual assurance.

Theme:
God works in absence of faithfulness for the sake of his name (glory) and for the good of his people (joy).

Thinking About the Message:
    v1. Here is God’s response to Moses’ challenging prayer as he seeks understanding of how everything became so messed up by following the Lord’s directions. I see here that Moses did not know God’s thoughts or ways and so he did not know how to interpret what God was doing and it takes a trust that extends beyond what is seen and beyond the immediate impact of our surrender to God. The Lord responds to Moses by telling him that he is preparing to do a mighty work whereby God will cause Pharaoh to do his bidding. He tells Moses that Pharaoh will not only relent but that he will be quite motivated to see the people of Israel leave. It will be such that Pharaoh will force them out.
    v2-9. Here God has a curious conversation with Moses and tells him that by his personal name of Yahweh he had not made himself known to the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The context is that he did make himself known in this way to Moses and through Moses to the people at large and God has tied this name to his promises and the covenant he established with Abraham and his offspring. Interestingly, God did tell Abraham this name in Gen 15:7 and Abraham used this name of God in Gen 22:14 and there are accounts of many others referring to God by this name prior to this moment when God tells this to Moses. So what does he mean? God contrasts his name as El-Shaddai, translated Almighty God, with this personal name Yahweh when he says he did reveal himself the first way but not the next. In his dealings with Moses God has attached the extension “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” to the term Yahweh and perhaps this is related to his meaning. God showed himself almighty but maybe has not shown his personal commitment to the covenant people of God yet? Maybe he means something along the lines of he has shown that he can deliver upon his promises but that now he will do it in complete absence of the faithfulness and trust of his own people. Maybe covenant is covenant because it means keeping it when you are not naturally motivated to. Maybe the significance of God’s covenant being unilateral in Gen 17 is here going to mean something since the people of God fail to trust him unlike Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did. Now the nation will need God to do a work simply for the sake of his name (Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) this time. So God then goes on with the message for Moses to deliver to the people in response to what has now transpired with Pharaoh requiring the brick production without providing the needed straw. Through Moses, God declares to his people what he shall accomplish and it hits them flat. They react like the Pharisees who were silent to Jesus’ question about whether it was right or wrong to help someone on the Sabbath. The truth of God lands flat on this people because their eyes were on their circumstances and not on their God. In verses 6-8 God tells them “I am”...“I will”…”I will”…”I will”…"I will”…”I will”…”I am”…”I will”…”I will”…”I am”. But "they did not listen”... "because their broken spirit and harsh slavery”. This is surely setting up to be God leaning on his covenant name here because the people are not giving his a reason to deliver them.
    v10-13. The next verse begins with “so”. This is great. God basically takes note of Israel’s deafness and he moves straight into covenant mode and tells Moses that we are moving forward with the plan. Moses is not to tell Pharaoh simply “Let the People of Israel go…” without reference to the whole “so we can make offering to God in the wilderness” thing. God has now moved into the simple mode of keeping his covenant and not fulfilling the request of his people. Moses again makes a plea to God due to his lack of trust in himself. He could not convince the people of Israel who supposedly trust God and now how can he convince this King who does not know God or care a thing about this people? Moses is again looking at himself and not at God Almighty. Verse 13 is vague but God gives him and Aaron some charge concerning both dealing with Pharaoh as well as with Israel. It could be that he tells them you will simply need to trust me and do what I say and you will need to lead this stiff-necked people step by step knowing that they will resist and they will be stubborn. Maybe it was simply…"Listen- bring the people out!”
    v14-25. I take this section as the narrator, Moses, adding for our record what maybe he should have considered in the moment this was happening. Perhaps he places this here for the reader to see that indeed God was keeping covenant and had displayed his omnipotence and his faithfulness to his promises already by the simple existence of Moses and Aaron. Maybe he was also calling attention to the one million person strong nation that God had built who all bore his mark of circumcision.
    v26-27. Moses seems to conclude something from the genealogy in how he uses words like “These are the Aaron and Moses to whom the Lord said…” and “It was they that spoke to Pharaoh…this Moses and Aaron”. I take it to mean that God was sending a message to humanity that he accomplishes his will through his people and he keeps covenant with them. Moses is perhaps noting that he was silly for being so uncertain and weak.
    v28-29. Yet Moses recounts again here that he responded with uncertainty and perhaps this is simply a restatement by him as narrator to come back in follow-up to the genealogy that he felt should have better informed him and perhaps caused him to avoid such a response.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    There is a wrestling here between God and Moses within his heart and mind where he is needing to determine if he will trust himself, the people of God, or the God who makes and keeps covenant. God is putting on display the fact that he is acting not from a position of responding to the faith of his people who are crying out but he now is evidencing that his action will be for the sake of his name.

Valuing the Message:
I value this message because I know that God will act not merely when I call upon him but he knows what is needed and when I fail to pray as I should he will yet intercede and bring me along (Rom 8:26-29). God is not waiting to see my faithfulness but he has blessed me in spite of my faithlessness out of his faithfulness to his name. Though I am faithless in the moment, he will ever be faithful to his name and he will therefore restore me unto faith for his own sake (Rom 3:3-4; 2 Tim 2:10-14, Heb 3:14, Is 43:25ff; Is 48:11). The implication is that my salvation and my destiny is firmly in his hand and I can trust that he will indeed complete the work that was begun by him. He will indeed bring me to the finish line as a prepared bride (1 Thess 5:23-24). The significance for me is that I can rejoice even in my weaknesses (2 Cor 12:10) and I can walk without fear and I can repent freely without pressure of my salvation resting upon my own natural faithfulness but upon his alone that is given to me supernaturally by his Spirit (Rom 5:5; Eph 2:8-9; Rom 2:29; Deut 30:6) to maintain my faith in Christ (Rom 2:6-10; Deut 7:12). If you look at the Deuteronomy verse there you will see a problem. God’s covenant is conditional upon my keeping of his law! Wait a minute! It’s a beautiful thing to know that I have fulfilled the law of God in the body of Christ (Rom 8:3-4) who did what I could never hope to accomplish in my place!!!!! The covenant was conditional upon the obedience of faith…conditioned upon God guaranteeing (commanding omnipotently) it himself somehow…which he did in Christ Jesus (Rom 1:5; Rom 16:26)!

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
I need to consider my heart and my trust of God in the tough spots of life. I can take great peace and freedom if I can comprehend that he acts not merely in response to my faithfulness, but primarily in the glorification of his name. His name is the great backstop to Peter’s denial of Christ and my failures. He has accomplished the work already and he now lives to pray for me to sustain my faith as he did Peter’s (Heb 7:25; Rom 8:34).

Questions to ask:

Do I recognize the significance of how God has chosen to reveal himself through a people and how he has kept covenant with them and through them even when they were faithless?
Do I understand that God is at work through people and through me?
Do I trust that is is his work and that he will complete it?

Luke 9

Not going to try to catch up. Picking up comments on chapter 10 tomorrow.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Saturday, February 22, 2014

February 22

Exodus 5; Luke 8

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 29: HOW DOES CHRIST PERFORM THE OFFICE OF A PRIEST?
Answer: Christ performs the office of a priest by once offering him- self as a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, and to reconcile us to God; and by making continual intercession for us before God.
Scripture: 1 Peter 2:24; Hebrews 2: 17; 7:25; 9:28; Ephesians 5:2; Romans 8:34.

Exodus 5

Ready:
Yesterday I read Moses’ account of his difficult conversation with God and his wrestling with his own perceptions of himself. God gave him powerful signs and worked to convince him that it would not be him accomplishing this work and to simply trust him. Aaron is assigned to work with Moses and they approach the Israelites with the message of God’s plan to deliver them from Egypt…and it is received with gladness.

Seeing What’s There:
Now Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh with the request that the Jews be allowed three days travel into the wilderness to sacrifice and worship the Lord. Pharaoh not only refuses but he reacts with anger and works harder to suppress them by taking away the straw used for making bricks and expects them to keep producing the same quantity while having to go our an scavenge for their own straw. This is clearly impossible and he is looking to break their will regarding going into the wilderness to worship the Lord. The chapter concludes with Moses praying to God with a very straightforward and honest prayer. God uses this episode to teach Moses and the people that they truly are more desiring of comfort than of worshiping their God. Like always, God acts for the sake of his name and in favor of the elect remnant within Israel but the over-all message here is directed and the whole of Israel and they are pegged by Pharaoh in this case. They prefer a lighter load to a hope of meeting God in the wilderness and they are ready to bail out immediately. Pharaoh means to break them and God means to test them. Moses serves to learn an important lesson at the outset of his leadership of this people and he must know the challenge before him and how it is he will overcome. Perhaps this Exodus begins with God shaping Moses as a leader more than anything else?

Key Verses:
Exodus 5:1-2, 4, 7-8, 14, 17-18, 20-21, 22-23

Theme:
Comfort is not always part of God’s plan in this life but he works his goodness even through hardship for those that trust him.

Thinking About the Message:
    v1-9. Moses and Aaron make a plea to Pharaoh first based on nothing but their religion and a desire to honor God. The Pharaoh’s response is that he does not know this God and he will not let them go. Moses responds with an amended plea that is now based on his personal experience of meeting with God and receiving this specific direction so that Pharaoh gets the picture that the living God is personal and knowable but that he also holds people accountable for their sinful actions with judgement. Now Pharaoh reacts with more zeal against them. Having never met with God before he is likely getting uncomfortable now and he moves to cut them off before this conviction in them becomes a major problem, as he tried to do with their burgeoning population. He accuses them of simply trying to get out from under the burden and he cruelly reacts by increasing the expectations to an impossible degree. He determines to break their will by making them labor and strive without hope of accomplishing what he demands and then he beats them for not achieving what is required of them. I see a couple of things here. First, Pharaoh tells the task masters to not listen to their lying words about wanting release so they can worship when Pharaoh contends this is a lie and the truth is they want relief from the labor only and God is their excuse (Ex 5:8-9). Second I see a parallel between what Pharaoh does here and what the law does. The law (taken alone and apart from the promised offspring) requires something impossible from the people of God without supplying the ability to accomplish it (Rom 7:14; Rom 10:4) and their response should be to run to God for mercy with a trust that he will accomplish the impossible for them and in them by the promised offspring (Rom 8:3-4, Gal 3:18-19).
    v10-14. Here the taskmasters carry out the order of Pharaoh and the test is set to the people of God. Will they trust the Lord and hope in his promise or will they prefer comfort and abandon hope? Will they rejoice in all circumstances due to their trust in God's goodness? This is a people still learning about God without our advantages of even the OT scripture at this point. God uses his people to teach the coming generations. Moses will get a glimpse at the challenge that is before him in leading this people.
    v15-21. Here there is interchange between the Jewish foremen who are leading the workers in the brick making and they plead with Pharaoh to understand that the task is impossible due to his new limitation. Pharaoh lays the argument before them that their request is a lie and that they are actually just wanting to get out of work. Straight in their face he challenges their faith and says they lie. The question now is this- Have the people of God been merely desiring a deliverance from hardship or are they desiring the coming offspring to deliver them from their sin? Do they want to be changed or do they merely want their circumstances to be changed (1 Pet 1:5-7; Rom 5:2-5)? Is their hope in what is seen or unseen (Rom 8:18; Rom 8:24-25)? God has promised them something very specific (Exodus 3:16-17)…will they trust him or will they take Pharaoh’s bait? Pharaoh is now slithering on his belly asking them if God really meant what he said and if they really trust him to be looking out for them and if maybe they don’t know better how to proceed with independence from this God. This is also the message that the television and the radio and the world around me send me incessantly day and night 24 hours a day. Wouldn’t you rather just be more comfortable? Are you sure about this? Are you sure you don’t want the blue pill (Matrix allusion)?
    v22-23. Here Moses faces the troublesome condition of the people and this difficult test of God. Moses rightly responds by crying out to God. Moses comes to God in honest prayer. This prayer can be seen as a pretty bad way to speak to God but notice God’s response by reading ahead a little into the next chapter and it is clear that God is not offended by this prayer of Moses. Moses is honest with God and he lays his emotions down without filtering them. He refers to God with respect and honor as Lord but he expresses his confusion with the results of following God’s directions. He is asking God for help in understanding how this is good. He trusts the goodness of God and he is seeking from God some reconciliation between this goodness and what is now happening to the people of God. Moses teaches me that is is right and good to expect God to keep his promises and to work with a mighty hand. Moses is coming to God for help with what looks like God not behaving like God. The truth is that the people of God are not behaving like the people of God and this is what Moses needs to see and understand. Moses needs to get the picture that Pharaoh is right. The people of God prefer their own comfort. The people of God are not trusting him. The people of God are stiff-necked and sinful and Moses needs to know this. Moses also needs to know that when God made the promise to deliver them from Egypt…it was at that moment accomplished. They need to learn that God’s ways are not our ways but that he is trustworthy and true. They need the message to come later in Isaiah 55:6-11.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    1. The message I hear is that God intends to deliver his people but that he will teach them and shape them along the way in order to grow them. The implication is that I can expect to be learning through adversity in live even as God is guiding and directing me and as he is indeed working all things according to the counsel of his will (Eph 1:11). The significance to me is that I can look for the lessons in my difficult seasons and I can praise God that he is at work even when I am uncomfortable and it seems like everything is going wrong…probably mostly when I am uncomfortable. Here Moses was being prepared to lead a difficult people and he needed to trust God supremely.
    2. I also hear they message that God wants our hearts and not just because of what he can offer us (like deliverance from circumstances). The implication is that even today God does not seek a church that hopes for comfort and ease but a church that is prepared to die for the cause of Christ in this world. The significance for me is that I need to check my motives and desires and make sure that I am not disguising my desire for comfort and ease and a perfect little existence behind religious overtones and ideas.

Valuing the Message:
The message is valuable because it is very practical and gets down to the nitty gritty of all the circumstances I deal with in life. This begins to set the stage for a doctrine of rejoicing always in good and “bad” situations.

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
I need to ensure that I have love for God and others that comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith (1 Tim 1:5). This means that I do not have messed up motives and I am honest and open with God and with others about my actions and I truly trust God to be at work in my life and in the church. This trust will lead me to “risk” for the cause of love. If I find myself hiding self-protective or self-seeking motives under a veil of Christianity then I can take that to God in repentance and ask him for the mind of Christ (Phil 2:3-5).

Questions to ask:

Where am I seeking comfort as a priority instead of love for God and others?
What is God teaching me right know through my tough situations?
Is God preparing me for something ahead?

Luke 8

Not going to try to catch up...moving on.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Friday, February 21, 2014

February 21

Exodus 4; Luke 7

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 28: HOW DOES CHRIST PERFORM THE OFFICE OF A PROPHET?
Answer: Christ performs the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by his Word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation.
Scripture: John 1:18; 14:26; 15:15.

Exodus 4

Ready:
God met Moses in the area of Mount Horeb in a burning bush and he recruited Moses with explanation of what he would do to deliver Israel from the affliction of the Egyptians.

Seeing What’s There:
In this chapter Moses concludes his conversation with God and though resistant to the point of angering God, Moses is convinced to proceed, with Aaron’s help. Moses meets up with Aaron and tells him all that God had said after God speaks to Aaron and leads him to meet Moses in the wilderness near Mount Horeb. The two meet up with the Jewish elders in Egypt and with signs convince them that God had indeed spoken and that they were to be delivered. Their response is belief and worship of the Lord.

Key Verses:
Exodus 4:1, 8-9, 10, 11-12, 13-14, 16, 20, 22-23, 27, 29-31

Theme:
God will make a way for the weak and broken to carry out his mission.

Thinking About the Message:
    v1-17. Moses makes a couple of arguments in his attempt to resist God’s call upon him. God had already declared that the Israelites would listen to him, but this doesn’t stop Moses from coming up with reasons to doubt himself. First he appeals to an inability to overcome their challenge to his story of meeting with God. After God conquers this fear, by granting him a few amazing signs to evidence his anointing with the authority of God, Moses then appeals to his inability to speak well and to be convincing and proper in speech. But God then comforted him that God himself was the one who grants speech and silence and who can grant him all the ability needed. So all-in-all Moses’ fears of inadequacy are dismantled by God but this does not stop Moses. Next Moses expresses either a failure to trust God or a reluctance to obey God by asking that God send someone else. This angers God and God finally provides Moses with the help that puts Moses over the edge on agreeing to move forward. Moses will receive help from his older brother Aaron, who Moses perceives is a better representative before the people. Moses may not be too accurate is his perception since Luke later refers to Moses as being mighty in his words and deeds. Surely there can be confidence for any believer here to see that a fearful and weak and resistant shepherd was not only selected, but launched into service and indeed accomplished the mighty will of God despite his apprehensions and weaknesses and sin. God indicates that he will speak primarily to Moses and Moses will give Aaron the words of God to communicate to the Israelites but God seems also to have some direct communication with Aaron. In the end God commands Moses to take the staff that he will use to perform signs and to go. A side note in this passage is a realization in verse 11 that God takes responsibility for the mute and the blind and the deaf…our God is sovereign and I need not fear that my circumstances are out of control or pointless!
    v18-20. Moses sets out for Egypt with his family after getting the blessing of his father-in-law and after God reveals to him that there is safety due to the Pharaoh who wanted to kill him being dead at this point 40 years later.
    v21-23. Here God jumps right to the meat. He gives Moses a summary of what is to happen and tells him that God himself will “harden” Pharaoh’s heart and that Pharaoh will therefore not let the people go easily. Verse 22-23 indicate that it will take the most serious plague of killing the first born in Egypt to break the will of Pharaoh to resist.
    v24-26. This is interesting and it seems that Moses had not circumcised at least one of his sons perhaps out of weakness when he first arrived in Midian. Maybe he did not want to challenge his new wife and father-in-law regarding circumcision with his first child. Regardless of the reasons, it is clear that Moses did not circumcise at least one of his sons and this became a major problem. The test indicates that God was in the process of killing Moses, which I take to be a very bad illness that he and his wife perceived to be a judgement of God and they knew the cause…they had not submitted to circumcise their child. Moses’ wife does what must be done while Moses is perhaps laid up and extremely ill. She seems to express disdain toward Moses either because of his previous failure to be firm and stick to his beliefs or because of her current dislike of her circumstances altogether.
    v27-31. Here Aaron is led by God to meet up with Moses and they are reunited after 40 years. There seems to be no hesitation and not the two approach the elders of Israel with the message and the signs of God. The people believe and worship God in thanks, no doubt, of this amazing news that God has seen and heard and now acts by revealing himself to Moses as he has. Unfortunately, this “belief” will prove to not be so deep and true when challenges mount.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    1. I hear a message that God will accomplish what he sets out to accomplish and he will do it through and in spite of my weakness but that he wants me to understand that this is possible because it depends not upon me, but upon him and his power and authority and name. The implication is that the greatest efforts can fail if God is not behind them to give authority and power while God’s plans carried out by the weakest and feeblest will certainly not be stopped. The significance for me is to take heart and walk in the light of the gospel knowing that I have, as all believers do, a calling to make disciples and to teach others all that Jesus said and did and he can accomplish much with very little.

Valuing the Message:
I value the message because it highlights God’s might and how he overcomes our weaknesses and failures.

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
I need to look at my own heart and consider if I am resisting action due to my own fears or sense of inability or lack. Perhaps I need to put my eyes on the mission and not on me.

Questions to ask:

Am I looking to God and to his mission and stepping forward or am I standing still and staring in the mirror as if there is something there that will convince me to take a step?

Luke 7

Ready:
Yesterday I read Luke’s account of the sermon on the mount and Jesus spoke a picture of the children of God and thy kind of fruit that they bear and why.

Seeing What’s There:
I see this chapter teaching on the object of faith and the proper response to the mercy of God. Luke begins with the Centurion (great faith plainly evident) and then to the Widow (no obvious faith until after the resurrection) to John the Baptist (Tested and weary faith), which Jesus comforts and strengthens, to the pharisees holding God in judgement regarding this need for repentance. The pharisees do not accept the message however it may be delivered because they are simply not placing their faith in a promised offspring. They have settled their faith upon a law, which happens to lead to death. In the closing scene Luke recounts the story of the sinful woman who anoints Jesus and washes his feet with tears and her hair and all this to the dismay of the Pharisee who was having Jesus over because he holds contempt for her and does not recognize the place for mercy and forgiveness. Jesus corrects his unstated opinion and makes it clear that she has not only already been forgiven, but even implies that he has not been forgiven.

Theme:
Jesus is the object of faith. The one who reacts to God’s mercy with judgement of God rather than worship of God has not experienced forgiveness and knows not wisdom, which is the fear of the Lord. His faith is not in the right object.

Thinking About the Message:
    v1-10. Here the Centurion’s faith is plain and he see that Jesus us “under” the authority of the Father and that Jesus has this authority fully vested and that he is free to wield it accordingly for the purposes of God. The Centurion is highly respected but yet he humbles himself before Jesus making argument that he is not worthy of Jesus’ presence in his home. He expresses a trust that Jesus has authority to command that illness leave and that blessings or new empowerment come…like sight or hearing or life or faith perhaps. So plainly in this story the Centurion has faith in Jesus and he expresses it compellingly. Jesus even declares that he has seen no such faith in all of Israel.
    v11-17. In the next scenario there is no explicit statement of faith in Jesus but it would seem that Jesus acts unilaterally based on his compassion for the widow. He takes action without any expressions of faith whatsoever and he does something more amazing than he did for the Centurion! I take the point to these back to back stories to be that what ultimately matters is the object of faith (Jesus) and not the degree of faith possessed by the individual. We also see a contrast between someone “worthy” and someone “weak and helpless” and Jesus is not partial. As john 5:25 states, this dead man hears the voice of Jesus and he lives! The dead are given life. Life is called into being by Jesus where it was not (Rom 4:17).
    v18-30. Now we see a man of great faith who was filed with the Holy Spirit from birth but now faces a great test and challenge and he is looking for confidence in his own discernment of the facts. Jesus warmly sends great news to boost John’s faith just like he prayed for Peter’s faith. Jesus even turns to the crowd and boosts their faith in their need for his baptism of repentance since they may be injured by this public question from John. Jesus goes to great ends to lift John up and to tell the crowd that those who were baptized by John will actually be greater than him! The Pharisees did not agree with this a refused to believe that there was a repentance needed for them. Their pride and failure to be on the watch fort the promised offspring sinks them.
    v31-35. Jesus describes their failure like a group of kids who can’t be pleased and who can’t decide what game to play because they hold judgment over the mercy that Jesus dispenses instead of simply rejoicing over it and repenting (Psalm 51:3-6).
    v36-50. Here Jesus makes it clear that those who are forgiven love mercy and they respond with love for Jesus and they are contrite and grateful. The woman expresses her love and gratitude prior to Jesus speaking the words of forgiveness and this speaks to the fact that out love is in response to his, not the other way around (1 John 4:19)! Jesus declares that she was already forgiven when she began blessing him and yet the Pharisee who holds himself to be righteous is yet unforgiven by the implication of Jesus’ quick parable. I do not take it to mean that the Pharisee may have been forgiven little because there is no such thing. The debt owed by all is unfathomable and cannot ever be paid except by the unparalleled blood of Jesus. I take this condemnation of the Pharisee to be a statement that he does not recognize there degree to which he needs forgiveness and he has therefore not been forgiven and he shows it. This speaks back to verse 35 where Jesus personifies wisdom and basically says that the children of wisdom "get it” and these children are forgiven and these children respond in love and they extend mercy.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    I take it that I need to be a child of wisdom and I need to subject myself to the authority of God in repentance and faith in Jesus and this comes to me as a work of God upon my heart like the dead man who is raised by Jesus. The implication is that the one who is proud and hides his sin and is unloving and does not show mercy…this person is not a child of God and has not tasted the forgiveness Jesus gives to his sheep. The significance for me is that it does not matter what I have to offer God, but it matters if I realize what he offers me.

Valuing the Message:
The value here is in God and not in me so I can trust that he works in me the same as he works in some great men of old. I can trust that the same Jesus died for me as died for them. I can trust that the same Spirit works life in my soul and I can trust that my love and honor and contrition and hope is not misplaced when it is directed to Jesus.

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
I need to consider my heart and my level of comprehension of how needy I am.

Questions to ask:

Do I understand how much I would owe if it were not for Jesus canceling my debt?
Do I understand the power that Jesus has over my soul and life and body?
Do I hold God under judgement by not acknowledging my need for repentance or by looking down upon his mercy toward others?

Thursday, February 20, 2014

February 20

Exodus 3; Luke 6

Daily Catechism

QUESTION 27: WHAT OFFICES DOES CHRIST PERFORM AS OUR REDEEMER?
Answer: Christ, as our Redeemer, performs the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his condition of humiliation and exaltation.
Scripture: Acts 3:22; Hebrews 5:6; Psalm 2:6.

Exodus 3

Ready:
In the last chapter Moses came into the scene and ended up hiding out in Midian due to his sin and he is now married with a child. God has heard the cry of his people and he has remembered his promise to the patriarchs...

Seeing What’s There:
I see Moses working in Midian as a shepherd caring for a flock and minding his own business…seemingly forgetting the plight of his people as he spends 40 years here in Midian before this day where God speaks to him. But God has not forgotten. This chapter is a huge turn in the story of redemption because here God reveals himself by his personal name which he has given himself and he expresses his plan to Moses and he recruits Moses to be his prophet and the leader of his people. The exodus of Israel from Egypt becomes such a grounding historical moment for the Jews that it’s significance cannot be overstated. God breaks in by his might and does a miraculous delivery of his people that he intends to be remembered forever. It begins here at this bush with Moses hearing the voice of God. The whole chapter basically consists of this conversation between God and Moses regarding what God is going to accomplish. There is certainty in everything that God shares with Moses- nothing less than stating what will come to pass for his purposes.

Key Verses:
Exodus 3:2-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9, 12, 13-14, 15, 17-18, 19-20, 21

Theme:
God starts in motion his intention to deliver and establish his people by his own mighty hand as a people who will know his holiness and hallow his name.

Thinking About the Message:
    v1. Here Moses has settled in with his wife and family and his new life as a shepherd and he has perhaps tried to forget about the poor Hebrews in Egypt and his concerns for them. Moses has now spent 40 years in Midian and he is about 80 years old (Ex 7:7)…not like its been a few months. But the Lord has a plan for this octogenarian that involves leading sheep away from trouble. Something happens when Moses comes near Mount Horeb this time (another name for Mount Sinai where God will soon deliver the law to Israel).
    v2-4. Moses is stopped in his tracks by God’s appearance to him in burning bush that is not consumed. The Angel of the Lord here is the very presence of God mediated in this bush for Moses’ protection. Sometimes the Bible uses the term Angel of the Lord to refer to God’s very presence or even the presence of pre-incarnate Jesus (but other times it is not God at all, but an angel of God (2 Sam 24:16-17).
    v5-6. This teaches of the holiness of God and how whatever he touches is in that moment made holy…which is fine for a bush or the ground, but deadly for a human with a sin nature (Uzzah’s error in 2 Sam 6:6-7). But what is holiness? God tells Moses to remove his shoes and we know that the sole of shoes are seen as unclean things then and now. God is calling for a hallowing of his name. He ties the term holiness to the removal of uncleanness and to his identity as the God of the patriarchs who he has revealed himself to and made covenant with. This begins to unpack the idea that his holiness is a separation from sin and a very core attribute that is inseparably tied to his identity and how he deals with mankind. R.C. Sproul argues that Holiness is the prime attribute of God that all other attributes come from (e.g., love, justice, omnipotence, omnipresence). Moses’ reaction to knowing something here of the holiness of God is fear. This is appropriate and this is good. He has a sin problem that must be solved (by translation into a glorified state in bodily redemption) before he can openly face the God of the universe (in physical presence). Right now we can come before God spiritually with boldness and confidence as we are told in Ephesians 3:11-12 thanks to Christ’s work. I am always struck by God’s choice to identify himself in reference to his people rather than just as the God who made everything you see and know. God is relational and he desires that his creation would know him in his fullness (no small thing and something that comes at cost- just like all relationships).
    v7-12. A few things here. I see God give two (or three) bases upon which he is grounding his action. One is his care for his people and his faithfulness to his covenant. Secondly he has seen the wickedness of the Egyptians and so he intends to judge them. Implied is also the wickedness of the people living in Canaan as he told Abraham that their sin would be complete by the time he brought Israel into Canaan. Moses can’t imagine how he can accomplish what God is asking and I see God give Moses courage when he lacks it by promising to be with him and declaring that he will indeed bring the people to this very mountain to worship. Interesting that a sign to give him confidence would be in the future…certainly takes the obedience of faith to benefit from such a sign! Hebrews 11:24 makes it clear that Moses walked with faith in God from the time he left Pharaoh’s house but now his faith is again called into action.
    v13-22. It seems here that Moses is on board and now he is looking for all the details on how to proceed. Moses wants to know a few things here. What authority do I come with that I can express to the Israelites…how do I describe you? What is the message to them? What is the message to Pharaoh? God gives him this information and he declares that he himself will accomplish what he is asking Moses to do and he will move the hearts of Pharaoh and the Egyptians so that Israel will indeed leave and they will take with them great provisions. God here makes declaration to Moses that he is a God of covenant. He begins with making clear that he is completely consistent and never changing. He simply is and there is nothing that can challenge that. But going further he expresses how this identity becomes personal and how it is a comfort to Moses. I take it like “This is who I am and this is what I do”. He gives him his personal name “YHWH” written as "The lord” (Lord in small caps) in the ESV Bible and relates this name to his covenant promises to the patriarchs. He says that this will be his name forever thus expressing the nature of his promises to them. He declares that he shall be remembered this way throughout all generations and already this is seen by the crying out of the Israelites under the Egyptian oppression. God tells Moses how to speak to the Israelite elders (first-born descendants of the tribal chiefs) and assures him that they will listen. God gives specific direction on how to speak to Pharaoh and explains that it will take the mighty hand of God to connive him, but that this too will happen. The message is not freedom for the sake of comfort but the message is "let us go so that we may worship our God as he has directed us to.” As God promised in Gen 15:14 to Abraham he now details to Moses that the Israelites will leave Egypt with great possessions.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
    There is no doubt that here God intends to do a work that only he can accomplish that will express is identity of a righteous God and a Savior (Is 45:21). God will judge and God will deliver and all by his mighty hand and all in perfect justice for the proud who deny him and mercy upon his chosen people. The implication is that the work God does here is to be a sign and a remembrance forever of who he is and what he does. The significance for me is that I too need to remember who God is (holy and omnipotent) and how he works (judges the proud and saves the contrite) and know that this life is not so small as to ultimately be about houses and cars and jobs, but it is about a great God who saves from a coming judgement that I might live to honor him and love others.

Valuing the Message:
This message is valuable because it grounds me and reminds me that God is not a genie or a coach but he is the holy God who has worked at great cost to himself in order to protect me from his own holiness (Rom 5:8-11) so that I may know him in his glory (Rom 9:23-24). My relationship to God should not be about what he is going to do for me here on earth (James 4:3-4) but should be about knowing him (John 17:3) and making him known (Matt 28:18-20; 1 John 5:11-12; Col 1:24-29) and about enjoying who he is (Psalm 37:4, Phil 1:21).

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
I need to reflect upon my understanding of holiness and God’s character and the centrality of God being the prime actor in this story of my life.

Questions to ask:

Do I say to God each day “Here I am” or do I look away from the bush and keep my shoes on?
Do I say, “Yes Lord, what do you have to tell me?” or do I say “sometime later I will look and see”.
Do I look for ground where my shoes don’t seem so dirty or do I come near and let him teach me what holiness is?

Luke 6

Ready:
The last chapter was about new wine and wine skins and fasting and Jesus calling disciples.

Seeing What’s There:
Luke 6 leads in with Jesus demonstrating in two events that mercy is preferred by God over ceremony or symbols. Souls are matter more to God than ceremony. Establishing this, Luke then documents an abbreviated account of the Sermon on the Mount that Matthew spends three chapters on. I see in Luke’s account one thread of fruit bearing. I see Jesus basically start from the nesting bird and work his way down into the water that feeds the roots. Psalm 1 helps here.

Theme:
What the foundation of the building, or the roots of the tree are set into (choose your analogy) determines the strength of the building or the quality of the fruit. The obedience of faith…taking God at his Word is the bedrock, is the stream of water.

Thinking About the Message:
   v1-11. In this read I am focusing on the big point that I see from the two events here. In both the Lord of the Sabbath and the healing of the withered hand I see Jesus declare that mercy is better than ceremony. Jesus told the pharisees to learn that he prefers mercy to sacrifice in Matt 9:13 and Matt 12:7. In both those cases the Pharisees are condemning someone for something out of a preference for ceremony (sacrifice) instead of love (mercy). Jesus makes it plain here that we are to love and care for our fellow humans as a higher priority than keeping tradition and ceremony for what proves to be an empty religion if it does not make us lovers of people in the first place. This Jesus made clear in Matt 25:31-46 what his sheep look like... and they love mercy.
   v12-16. Next Luke tells of Jesus getting alone and praying all night long just before picking his twelve apostles who will receive his teaching and guidance up close and who will represent him after he ascends to heaven. This choosing of the Apostles may be chronologically placed but I wrestle with how it may relate to the thread or mercy being the primary fruit we bear. Jesus prayed all night for them and the longest prayer of Jesus recorded is for these 12 as well and it is in John 17. He closes with a request that the love with which God has loved will be in them and Jesus in them. Perhaps this abiding love is the source of the mercy and the cause of the obedience of faith that grounds it.
   v17-19. Jesus gets started with some pre-sermon healing and exorcisms. Jesus obliged them and he showed that he can make the sick well and give freedom to the oppressed. Now he begins his message…
   v20-26. The Beatitudes are recorded here by Luke in an abbreviated fashion. He gives four things that do not scare the children of God. He gives for risks that his children take in the cause of love. He gives four things that his sheep risk in order to love mercy. He describes the four things that the world tries at all cost to avoid but his sheep walk right into because they reflect their teacher (Luke 6:40) and their father (Luke 6:36). These things are poverty, hunger, sorrow, and persecution. The world seeks to avoid these with selfish vengeance but the child of God knows that he has everything already (Rom 8:32) and he is not a blind leader (Luke 6:39), but he knows the love of God because it has been poured into his heart (Rom 5:5). The woes are merely the opposite of the beatitudes and the picture of the world. The beatitudes are not an instruction guide but a description of fruit. This is a picture of the children of God and not a lesson in morality. Jesus says blessed “are”, not blessed “will be”. I see Jesus describing the result of the mustard seed of the obedience of faith as it has sprouted by the grace of God into a full blown tree that now serves the good of others (Mark 4:30-32). Jesus declares that the ones who protect themselves at cost of others are not his own.
   v27-36. Here he explains that the children of God love mercy and they risk for the cause of love. They do not fight for their rights (Rom 12:14-21) because their hope is not here in the seen (Rom 8:24-25) because they are not of this world (John 17:15-19, John 15:19) and are not in love with this world (1 John 2:15).
   v37-40. Here Jesus similarly describes fruit. God has forgiven us and given us the gift of righteousness to justify us rather than judged us according to our sin, which would therefore have resulted in our condemnation (Rom 5:15-17). So because we are not blind to this and he has given us eternal life, we bear the fruit of this same love poured out to others in the form of mercy. Therefore we also do not judge and condemn but we offer grace and mercy. This fruit is there increasingly as we become like our teacher and our Father. Yet Jesus offers a point of clarification here…
   v41-42. Here I see Jesus make known that we do bear a responsibility for helping our Christian brothers out after recognizing our own sin and repenting. There is a place for “judging” those inside the church (1 Cor 5:11-13) but it should be done with clear eyes.
   v43-49. I see both of these parables as teaching that quality of our fruit and the strength of our structure will come from what the foundation or roots are sunk into. This needs be the truth of God in the person of Jesus and we do this by the obedience of faith. Luke 6:47 sets it up well…”everyone who comes to me [Jesus] and hears my words and does them. I will show you what he is like…”. Bingo! The obedience of faith. Trust what he says and act on it. Psalm 1 tells us that the one who meditates on God’s Word day and night will be like a tree planted by streams of water and will be fruitful and durable and prosperous…maybe he will bear up the loads of others like the tree in Mark 4:32.

Meaning, Implications, and Significance
   The fruit of mercy and selfless risk in my life is not an earning of anything but it is an outflowing of the love of God that he has poured into me. My role is to walk in the obedience of faith and his Spirit will push the fruit out. The implication is that I cannot twist the beatitudes into a list of do’s but it is merely a picture of the believer who is grounded in the truth. The significance for my life is that I can seek after God like Psalm 1 and Proverbs 2 teach and then I am likely to see my life resemble this picture to the glory of God. Read those.

Valuing the Message:
I value understanding this message because I know that God is the one who will accomplish these attitudes in my life by my abiding in him and not by my striving to be a really good guy.

Reflecting to Feel the Impact of the Message:
I need to pray and ask for God to search out my motives and drives and desires and I need to reflect upon my heart and ensure that my roots and my foundation are in his truth and that I walk in out of a trusting of his word and not out of a proving of my goodness. The latter is using these beatitudes as a list of to do’s and this is using the law to try to impress God…he is really only impressed by his Son…better to focus on loving that Son and in time I will look more and more like him, but the sheer grace of God.

Questions to ask:

Does my fruit look like the mushy stuff that the world produces or like the ripe and plump fruit that God produces in his children?
Am I busy trying to make fruit when I should be pushing roots down into the soil?

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Thursday, February 27, 2014

Exodus 10; Luke 13

Daily Catechism

Exodus10

Luke 13

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Exodus 9; Luke 12

Daily Catechism

Exodus 9

Luke 12

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Exodus 8; Luke 11

Daily Catechism

Exodus 8

Luke 11

Monday, February 24, 2014

Exodus 7; Luke 10

Daily Catechism

Exodus 7

Luke 10

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Exodus 6; Luke 9

Daily Catechism

Exodus 6

Luke 9

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Exodus 5; Luke 8

Daily Catechism

Exodus 5

Luke 8

Friday, February 21, 2014

Exodus 4; Luke 7

Daily Catechism

Exodus 4

Luke 7

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Exodus 3; Luke 6

Daily Catechism

Exodus 3

Luke 6