Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Better eyes.

It's Sunday morning. Early. Jesus was killed Friday evening and buried in the new tomb before the sun went down and the Sabbath officially began. Which was Saturday back then. The day after the Sabbath when work could once again be done Mary walks to the tomb.

Once Jesus was confirmed dead the religious leaders went to Pilate and asked that a seal and detachment of guards be placed at the tomb to keep the disciples from taking Jesus body from the grave and claiming He had risen. After all, He said that if you destroy this temple I'll rebuild it in three days. They got the point - that He was talking about Himself.

So Mary gets near the tomb and sees that the stone has been rolled away and she runs and finds Peter and John (he's the one who reaches the tomb first) and tells them, "they have taken the Lord." Interesting isn't it. The religious leaders protect the tomb because they think the disciples will try to steal the body of Jesus (they obviously don't believe He will actually rise because they "know" he's not the Messiah). And then Mary blames the religious leaders for stealing Jesus' body (obviously she didn't get the memo that He was going to come back to life).

Curious situation. Both sides, good and bad if you want to call it that, blaming the other for something that Jesus told them was gonna happen.

Do you ever rush to judgment? Yea, me too. But often I find that if I would have been listening to God in the first place I'd know what was going on. I think I'll try to do more listening and less judgment jumping so that when I discover that God has done something incredible I'll be like, "yep. I know that was going to happen." Here's to spiritual eyes and a better rememberer.

Friday, March 12, 2010

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Scars that change our lives...

Working on this Sunday's message and I'm thinking about Scars, emotional/spiritual cuts that God has been healing, and how some of them actually lead to life change. This Sunday we'll talk a little about One of Trevor's scars. When he was about 2 years old Andi and I were getting around on Sunday morning for church when we heard Trevor screaming. We ran into the living room to find him standing next to the ironing board, HOLDING THE IRON! He was screaming because it was on and he was burning his right hand, the hand holding the hot part! For several weeks he couldn't close his hand because of the huge blister that covered his whole palm and went up to the first knuckle on each finger. Bad. I don't think Trevor ever reached for an iron again. And I sure know that he has absolutely no desire to pick one up even today! Sometimes the scars we receive in life actually teach us a lesson. Keep us from doing things that will hurt us.

The Bible says that God disciplines His children so they grow. So we learn a lesson. So we become more like His Son, Jesus. The scar from our sin then, actually acts like a string tied on our finger, to remind us of the pain committing that sin will bring. And sometimes, through the scars we receive in life, God actually reveals His grace, mercy and love to us. So that in that scar we might see Him - instead of the sin that cut us so deeply.

Instead of hating your scars why not let your scars be a warning and a light to others. A warning so they might not make the same mistakes and a light by which they might see the grace of God and experience the forgiveness of sin.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

What should I expect? Nothing.

In the church we often talk about those great passages that make people WANT to give and tithe. You know, ones like, give and it will be given back - pressed down, shaken together and overflowing will be poured into your lap. for with the measure you use it will be measured back to you. I hear guys, like that one down in TX (and lots of others - especially on tv), who seem to be saying that if you give your life to Christ and if you give your money to the church then God will take care of you and you'll get everything you always wanted - new cars, jobs, homes, better family, etc.

But today I wondered whatever happened to the widow?

In verse 4 Jesus praises her in front of the disciples and other for "putting in all she had to live on." But what happens next?! If you believe some - she must have went home and discovered that she had the winning lottery ticket! Or maybe she got a promotion at the Jordan River Laundry so she made more and was given an assistant to carry her load to the river. We desperately want to believe that God must have done something incredible in her life because all we hear is that if we are faithful and give to God what is God He takes responsibility for providing, the new Wii, new car, new 52" flat panel television (you can send it to me!).

But here's the reality. There's no more to that story. Jesus doesn't chase her down and miraculously give her a pile of money. He just recognizes her sacrifice. And He allows it to be a sacrifice. You see, if you and I give to God so that we can "see what He might do to give back to us" then we're wrong. I'm gonna go way out on a spiritual limb here and say that some people who get back so much are not getting that from God. But Satan is keeping them tied to a "give/get" spiritual relationship and that is unBiblical.

My wife and I tithe because we believe we've been asked to in Scripture. It's not our money, that first 10% belongs to God we have no right to spend it. So, with bills in hand and no food on the table (a little exaggeration for effect) we put that check in at church. And God doesn't run to thank us. He doesn't pour out on us great financial blessings. Because we're only giving what we've been told to give. What isn't ours in the first place. If I give back to you something you gave me first should I expect a "thank you"? No. I should be thanking you! That's what we're doing financially. We're saying, "thank You Father for providing for us already." The truth is... He doesn't have to.