We want it backwards

The people of Nazareth were initially excited to have their hometown hero return to their humble city. After all, there was quite a stir in the region from the miracles that were flowing from His fingertips, let alone His teaching. But in a heartbeat, their expectations were crushed, and their excitement turned to rage. Before anyone could logically think through the ramifications of their actions, the mob was forcing Jesus to the edge of a cliff to cast Him over. What a swing from popularity to repudiation!

You see, Jesus had called them out. He had told them that blessing followed obedience and not the other way around. That's why He used the examples of the widow of Zarephath and Naaman (Luke4:23-27), to show them that actions bred consequences.

There is nothing new under the sun, is there? We are the same faithless people today as they were in His day. We want the blessing before the obedience. "Lord, if you would only do _______, then I would start living for you." Of course, we aren't that blatant, but it is at the heart of our request.

We're also into instant gratification. "Well, I've been submitting to my husband for four days now and there's still no change in him. How much longer do I have to do this?" Rather than set our eyes on our Savior and walk in obedience to please Him, we try to find a quick fix in the scriptures and we think the blessing comes in the form of earthly rewards, rather than the growth of our faith in the person of Jesus Christ. We put our hope in changing circumstances rather than the unchanging character of God.

It's time to stop trying to put the horse before the cart and living by faith.

Seeing is not believing.

Believing is seeing.

Jackie's Eagle Picture

How cool is this? Did I exaggerate?

Full of His Glory

"...Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory..." Isaiah 6:3

The land of Canaan was full of fortified cities, well organized and strong armies, and last but not least, giants. The nation of Israel were uneducated, escaped slaves, who had travelled the desert on foot with everything they owned, and stood at the edge of the land, wondering what to do next.

In His grace and wisdom, God instructed them to send in twelve spies, to check out the land "...that I am going to give to the sons of Israel..." (Numbers 13:2) It was a sneak preview of the goodness of God, and guess what? It backfired.

Ten spies came back, having seen the walls and the giants, shaking in their sandals, completely confident that they could never retake their land.

But two returned, proclaiming the goodness of God.

On Sunday, Dave introduced Joshua to us, and explained why Joshua had a different perspective on the land of Canaan. He was a man who saw God through his service to Moses, he lingered with God, he trusted the Word of God and he understood the cost of rebellion. In his message, Dave pointed to the fact that seeing the glory of God was a life changing event for Joshua and then he read several passages, including the one above from Isaiah, that tells us that the whole earth is filled with the glory of God.

It made me stop and think about how I take creation for granted. This summer I was in Italy and after visiting the Vatican Museum, I promptly returned home, ordered a book on the life of Michelangelo, read it in about two sittings and was fascinated by this incredible artist.

And yet, truth be known, what Michelangelo sculpted and painted is simply a copy of God's creation. Why do I praise the copier rather than the Creator? If my future granddaughters color me a picture and I walk over to my copier and make a copy, do I praise the HP Office Jet for making me a copy, or do I praise my little granddaughters for their artwork? Does this even make sense?

Today, my friend Jackie was at the house and she spotted two, full-sized adult eagles perching in a tree. The sky was bright blue and clear, and their white heads were such a contrast to the blue sky. We both grabbed our cameras, but she took a better picture than I (way to go, Jackie!). When we were done comparing photos, she looked at me and said, "Tell Dave we saw the glory of God today!"

I am committed to paying attention to my surroundings. If life is all about me, then I don't have to look out the window at anything. But if life is all about His glory - if everything He created was for His glory - then I need to start paying attention and PRAISING the One who made all things.

I must stop looking at the copiers and set my eyes on the Creator.

Because when I see the glory of God, it is a life changing event, isn't it?

Learned Obedience

"Although He was Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered..." Hebrews 5:8

This week we studied the temptations of Christ found in Luke 4. I have been carrying this passage around with me all week, trying to imagine the scene - a weakened, hungry Jesus finding the strength in His relationship with His Father to battle Satan head on.

Then I've been trying to use the tools that Jesus used in facing the temptations in my own life - what does that look like? Do I know enough scripture to battle temptation? At the moment of trial, am I aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life? Do I rely on the love of the Father? Does my love for the Father drive obedience, or do I struggle getting off the throne of my life?

We also discussed this week that no matter how difficult our trials and temptations have been, none of us had ever come face to face with Satan before. That's kind of important to remember - it's a perspective thing. We looked at I Corinthians 10:13 which tells us that our temptations are not unique to us, and that because of God's faithfulness, we can endure, knowing that He always provides a way of escape.

But the eye opening verses for me were Hebrews 2:16-18, where it tells us that though God does not give help to the angels, He does help man. That's why Jesus had to be made like us in all things - His humanity made Him the merciful and faithful high priest for us. And then there's verse 18 - "For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted."

Jesus suffered through the temptations. If they weren't real to Him, there wouldn't have been suffering. But because He was made like us in all things, the temptations were real to Him. He suffered through them and then (per the verse at the top) we learn that through His suffering He learned obedience.

Wow.

Read that again.

In battling temptation, we have the love of the Father, the leading of the Holy Spirit, the arsenal of scripture at our disposal, the ability to talk to the Father whenever we want, as well as a sympathetic High Priest who intercedes for us.

But let's go one step further, using Jesus still as our example. Are we learning obedience through suffering? Is is possible that temptation and trials are in our life to learn obedience? When we disobey when we suffer, what are we learning? Can we look back at past temptations and see a progression in our education, or are we still making first grade mistakes though we should be in high school?

Does this make sense?

The verse above (Hebrews 5:8) is a powerful statement that has HUGE ramifications on how we view Christ. The fact that Jesus LEARNED anything is mind blowing, let alone the fact that it was through His sufferings that He was being educated.

So, I guess I only have one question left: what have you learned lately?