2/8/15- Revelation and Holiness

6“I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.
 14I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world... 17Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:6,17)

Thoughts: Jesus reveals God the Father to those who are chosen and given by God- picked out of the world.  Why are some eyes opened and others' eyes seem to be blind no matter how many miracles or clear evidences are before them?  To think our choices are simply made in a vacuum underestimates the effects of nurture, nature, and God.  Jesus reveals the Father to His own. In another place Jesus says, "He who has seen me has seen the Father" (Jn. 14:9).  When we look at Jesus we see what God is like.
      Jesus also talked in the same chapter of the word- referring to both scripture and his own words- as truth.  Jesus was not merely claiming that He alone was the word of God.  He gave the word to his disciples- both in terms of his message of love and the words he used of his own and from scripture.  It is the word of God that sanctifies us- makes us holy and better people.  It is the word of God that makes us different from animals and from giving into our base instincts.  While there is a part of us that pulls us into acting like animals- the word of God pulls us away into both toward self control and calls us to care beyond our selfishness.  The truth- the reality of life- pulls us away from fakeness and the illusions of life into living how we are designed and meant to live.  

Prayer: Lord, may your word- abiding in it and you make me a better person- more holy for you.  

2/7/15- The Difference Maker

6For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

7The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. 8But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.  (Deuteronomy 7:6-9)

16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17This is my command: Love each other. (John 15:16,17)

Thoughts: God is a God who does not stay away from us- transcendent, holy other, and distant.  He maintains His holiness but reveals Himself.  Part of what makes Him holy is His love.  His love is also a good and holy love.  God, however, chooses those to whom He reveals Himself.  This is the scandal of particularity and election.  Often we ask the question why does God not reveal Himself to all of us- picking us all or none.  We would claim it is unfair for God to pick any to save.  Perhaps we would rather that God left us all alone and saved none?  The truth is absolutely none of us deserve salvation.  Noah did not deserve to be saved from the flood. He showed that afterwards.  Rather Noah found grace- undeserved favor- in the eyes of the Lord.  Lot did not deserve to be saved from Sodom.  David did not deserve to be chosen as king.  None of the disciples deserved to be chosen- they all denied, betrayed, or ran away from the Lord.  Why would Jesus choose to reveal Himself to these twelve?  It is the scandal of grace and love.  No one deserves love, but when one is chosen to be loved it is a beautiful thing.  We are dust but God chooses to make some dust life.  We are clay and God has the right as the potter to mold the clay as He wills- choosing some to make a beautiful pot. Jesus did not heal everyone when He was on earth.  But He healed some.
     When God chose Israel it was not that they deserved it.  When the Lord Jesus chose the disciples it was not that they deserved it or chose Him first.  When God chooses to open our eyes- and make His revelation in scripture real to us- it is a gift that we do not deserve, and we should not squander it.  God is the difference maker.  He culls us out- to make a difference in our lives that we might make a difference in the world for good.
      It is God's differentiation of us that makes us different and holy (meaning separate).  Not all faiths are the same.  To not be able to differentiate between the faith of someone who worships a piece of wood, or someone whose worship inspires terrorism, and the Christian way of love is naiive at best.  The one who wishes to disavow themselves from all religion because of the abuse of religion by others, loses the gift that faith gives of adding value, purpose, hope, and love to simple atoms and chemicals.  The great experiments of the last century of disavowing from faith killed themselves by the cruelty of the Gulags, the killing fields, or Mao's cultural revolution along with the clear selfishness of their leaders.  Everyone lives by some system or lack thereof in life.  It is important to be able to distinguish between beliefs that are good for society and those that are not.  If we cannot do this, we cannot truly distinguish between right and wrong.  Who your God is defines your ethics.  If your god is tolerance of all- then no belief or behavior should matter.  In this passage in Deuteronomy 7 the people of God are called to be holy- to be different because the God who chose them is holy and different from the world. Certainly a part of that holiness is love even for those who differ from us.  

Prayer: Lord, in your holiness you make choices.  Keep me from doubting your choices or fairness, for you define what is right because you made all that is seen.  Keep me from squandering the choice you have made by unbelief or failing to make a difference in this life.  

2-6-15 Christ the Revelation

25Now to him who is able to establish you in accordance with my gospel, the message I proclaim about Jesus Christ, in keeping with the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, 26but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all the Gentiles might come to the obedience that comes from^f faith— (Romans 16:25-26).

 

Thoughts: The mystery of God remains hidden until Christ comes and sets us free from darkness about God.  There is a sense that God revealed Himself fully to the Gentiles only after Christ came.  Now all people may know.  Christ is the light of the world that pierces the darkness. 

 

Prayer: Lord, thank you for opening to me yourself and your hope.

2/5/15- Revelation of the mystery of God

25I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. (Colossians 1:25,26)

Thoughts; Revelation is a mystery revealed.  God is cloaked in mystery- now we see in a mirror dimly.  Revelation of God is the uncloaking- the pulling back of the curtain to reveal God in all His fullness.  Jesus Christ is the word of God in its fullness.  He is true to what the Bible says- and lived according to the other revealed history found in scripture.  He is true to Himself- not going back on his own teaching- without hypocrisy or two faced wavering.  He is true to the purpose and revealed plans of God for our ultimate salvation even if that meant death on a cross.
    Revelation in its fullness will never be seen in a sunset or a mountaintop.  Beauty is never perfect in this life- but it points to the most  beautiful.  Revelation in its fullness is never fully seen in a salvific or holy event.   The fullness of the revealed God is found in the God squeezed down so we may see who He is- Jesus.  So let us fix our eyes on this revelation- Jesus- the author and perfector of our faith. 

Prayer: May my eyes focus on you- the only true God.  

2/4/15= God the Provider

1Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

2Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—

those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,

3those he gathered from the lands,

from east and west, from north and south.^a

4Some wandered in desert wastelands,

finding no way to a city where they could settle.

5They were hungry and thirsty,

and their lives ebbed away.

6Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress.

7He led them by a straight way

to a city where they could settle.

8Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love

and his wonderful deeds for mankind,

9for he satisfies the thirsty

and fills the hungry with good things. (Psalm 107)

Thoughts: God saves in times of trouble.  God is the One who rescues us when we have no help but Him.  He leads us and guides us after He delivers us.  In other words, in providence God is the One who pours grace and help upon us.  God is our provider who satisfies us with good things.  God is our provider of help of food, of life.  He reveals Himself in this way, and to Him we are called to give thanks. 

Prayer: Thank you Lord for your geat blessings and love.  

2-3-15 God reveals In History

1Praise the Lord.^a

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

2Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord

or fully declare his praise?

3Blessed are those who act justly,

who always do what is right.

4Remember me, Lord, when you show favor to your people,

come to my aid when you save them,

5that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones,

that I may share in the joy of your nation

and join your inheritance in giving praise.

6We have sinned, even as our ancestors did;

we have done wrong and acted wickedly.

7When our ancestors were in Egypt,

they gave no thought to your miracles;

they did not remember your many kindnesses,

and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.^b

8Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,

to make his mighty power known. (Psalm 106) 

Thoughts: God revealed His saving power by His mighty acts- His miracles in history.
Specifically this Psalm points out how the people would forget God and sin but He would save them anyway- for the sake of His own name.  He saved them from Egypt, in the wilderness, and even in the conquest of the land.  Without God;s intervention, the people would not be saved.  It is in these salvific acts that we see glimpses of God's grace that shows in the greatest act of salvation the sacrifice of Christ on the cross.  All these little salvations that were one time for one place point to a greater salvation offered to all people at all times- the cross.  The holy history (heilsgeschichte) of salvation culminates in Christ's salvation.  

Prayer: Lord, whenever you help or save me, may I remember your salvation on the cross.  

2-2-15 The Non-aloof God

1Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;

make known among the nations what he has done.

2Sing to him, sing praise to him;

tell of all his wonderful acts.

3Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

4Look to the Lord and his strength;

seek his face always.

5Remember the wonders he has done,

his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,

6you his servants, the descendants of Abraham,

his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.

7He is the Lord our God;

his judgments are in all the earth. (Psalm 105)

Thoughts: God chose a people.  In this choosing He revealed Himself.  He is the God who cares and interacts- even making covenants and promises.  God's wonders and miracles are done to encourage the people God has chosen and interacts with.  That God chooses to act in a mighty way with those He has elected, reminds us that God is not only powerful but He is loving.  

Prayer: Lord, help me to appreciate your love and that you did not choose to remain aloof.