In our North American context, failure and struggle are often viewed as problems, jagged detours on what is supposed to be the smooth, straight road of life. It's a distinctly Western phenomenon, but one that subtly impacts our Christian perceptions. Chuck DeGroat
For some reason, those of us who follow Jesus have bought into the above statement at one time or another in our life of following Jesus. Sadly, many stay in the mindset of the above quote.There are those who have come to find out that even though you are a follower of Jesus your life will still have struggle. But even then those people can fall back into the above mindset, if the struggle goes on too long.
What makes it so hard for us to accept that struggle is a part of life? Why do we think that if we begin to follow Jesus with our lives that there should be no more struggle? If we fail to see that struggle is a part of life we will come up with all kinds of untrue explanations. Worse yet, we will have to hear the opinions of those who don't believe there should be any struggle in the Christian life.
See if you have heard any of these statements before;
"There must be some sin in your life"
"I'm not saying you are possesed, but you may have an evil spirit oppressing you"
"You just aren't exercising enough faith to get out of your situation"
"If you were more committed to Jesus, this wouldn't be going on in your life'
"This is probably a generational curse passed down from your great, great, great grandparents"
The list could go on and on.
Now let me say, I believe all of the above statements can happen in a person's life and be the reason as to why they are experiencing struggle. But I believe as followers of Jesus, that we aren't to just throw out ideas like these and go down our "list" on someone. Imagine the damage you could do to a person who is really struggling with something and then you just throw out one of the above statements without really knowing the person's situation. You could make the situation worse. Sadly, many want to feel as though they are "spiritual" and will throw out the above solutions quickly, rather then taking the time to get to know the person and their situation.
I think at the root of the situation is that we are uncomfortable with struggle. Obviously we don't like it in our lives, but we are also uncomfortable in seeing it in someone else's life. So we try to come up with a quick fix.
I was reading recently in the Book of Acts where the apostle Paul was telling the people that even though the Prophets, the Books of Moses, etc... had been read regularly in the synagouges, yet the people didn't recognize who Jesus was when He came and they had Him crucified. Think about that, they had been reading for hundereds of years about a Messiah to come, and when He came they didn't recognize Him.
Well, those of us who are followers of Jesus have the Bible to read. Isn't it interesting that in just about every story in the Bible, and in just about every person who we get some detail about their lives, there is struggle. Think of it, Abraham, Joseph, David, Peter, Paul, and the list could go on and on. All of them had struggles and not all of those struggles were the result of them doing something "wrong". Yet, we somehow can believe that there is something not right about experiencing struggle even though everyone in the Bible experienced it. Aren't we just like the people that Paul spoke about in Acts, just in a different way?
We have difficulty with struggle many times because at the heart of the matter, we think we can control God. When struggle comes we have to realize that we aren't in control. If times are good we look at what we are doing, our actions, and we think we have somehow found a way to please God and with that some way in that we are controlling Him. But, when struggle comes we have a hard time excepting it because we haven't changed our actions, so our thought process is why did the struggle come? Which then can lead to the realization that we aren't in control, which means we aren't in control of God. We would never admit it, but deep down many of our actions are ways of trying to see if we can manipulate God. We want to find God on our terms, but He wants it on His terms.
Struggle is a part of life. For some reason we have trouble with this truth. Struggle is going to come even when you are living a life that is pleasing to God. Sometimes the struggle is a result of wrong actions on our part. When we realize what we have done that was wrong, let's adjust our lives accordingly. Struggle can be the result of the enemy,of our souls, at those times we have to rely on God and fight. Remember though, not every struggle is the result of you or I or some other person doing something wrong. Let us not be hasty in jumping to wrong conclusions. It can lead to more harm than good.
After they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith,and saying, "Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God."
Acts 14:21,22
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.
Psalm 34:19
Troy
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Monday, January 9, 2012
Musings from John 15:12-17
This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.
John 15:12
I love verses that show us how much God loves us, I'm sure you do to. They are encouraging and it is amazing to think of how much Jesus loves us.
In this verse Jesus is teaching us, or should I say commanding us to love others just as He has loved us. Ouch!!!! I don't know what you think, but this is one of those verses that is hard to live out. But let's remember, Jesus commanded it, so it must be possible in some way. Let's love others the way Jesus loved us. And yes, that includes those who we feel are unloveable.
Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:13
Jesus continues to develop the thought on commanding us to love others as He has loved us. Jesus shows us the ultimate way to show this love. Though we may never be called to "lay down our lives" we can still lay down or lay aside our agendas, our expectations, our plans, for our friends. Let us remember that Jesus showed us His great love for us by laying down His life for us.
You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.
John 15:14,15
Probably at least once in our lives we have referred to someone as our friend to try and impress someone. When it comes to Jesus, I am not surprised that I want to call Him friend. What amazes me, is that He calls us His friends.
Jesus teaches us in these verses that He wants us to do what He commands. Jesus also revealed to the disciples the things the Father was telling Jesus. Today the Holy Spirit reveals to us what God is saying.
Let's go out today remembering that Jesus call us friends. As we here from the Holy Spirit, let's obey Jesus' commands.
You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give it to you.
John 15:16
Let us think on one truth from this verse; you and I were chosen by Jesus. I can grasp me... wanting to choose Him, I cannot grasp Him wanting to choose me. Yet He did choose us. Ready for another mind blowing thought ? He didn't wait for us to be "worthy" or "good enough" to choose us. He chose us as we were. He also teaches us that He appointed us to go and bear fruit with our lives, and that that fruit would remain. As we abide in Him and our lives bear fruit we will begin to know what is on God's heart and when we ask for it in Jesus' name it will be given.
Although all you may see of yourself is your faults and failures, remember, you were chosen by Jesus!!!
This I command you, that you love one another.
John 15:17
This is the second time in John 15 that Jesus has commanded to love one another. Jesus had said in John 13:35," By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another". Loving others shows the world Christlikeness. The world has seen people saying they believe certain truths, they have seen people be "religious", but nothing impacts or makes an impression on someone like love. The Apostle Paul said in 1st Corinthians 13 that without love we are nothing.
Let's follow the example and command of Jesus and love each other. And when it gets really hard to do let's ask Jesus for His power to be able to love others because we can't do it in our own strength.
Troy
John 15:12
I love verses that show us how much God loves us, I'm sure you do to. They are encouraging and it is amazing to think of how much Jesus loves us.
In this verse Jesus is teaching us, or should I say commanding us to love others just as He has loved us. Ouch!!!! I don't know what you think, but this is one of those verses that is hard to live out. But let's remember, Jesus commanded it, so it must be possible in some way. Let's love others the way Jesus loved us. And yes, that includes those who we feel are unloveable.
Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.
John 15:13
Jesus continues to develop the thought on commanding us to love others as He has loved us. Jesus shows us the ultimate way to show this love. Though we may never be called to "lay down our lives" we can still lay down or lay aside our agendas, our expectations, our plans, for our friends. Let us remember that Jesus showed us His great love for us by laying down His life for us.
You are My friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.
John 15:14,15
Probably at least once in our lives we have referred to someone as our friend to try and impress someone. When it comes to Jesus, I am not surprised that I want to call Him friend. What amazes me, is that He calls us His friends.
Jesus teaches us in these verses that He wants us to do what He commands. Jesus also revealed to the disciples the things the Father was telling Jesus. Today the Holy Spirit reveals to us what God is saying.
Let's go out today remembering that Jesus call us friends. As we here from the Holy Spirit, let's obey Jesus' commands.
You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give it to you.
John 15:16
Let us think on one truth from this verse; you and I were chosen by Jesus. I can grasp me... wanting to choose Him, I cannot grasp Him wanting to choose me. Yet He did choose us. Ready for another mind blowing thought ? He didn't wait for us to be "worthy" or "good enough" to choose us. He chose us as we were. He also teaches us that He appointed us to go and bear fruit with our lives, and that that fruit would remain. As we abide in Him and our lives bear fruit we will begin to know what is on God's heart and when we ask for it in Jesus' name it will be given.
Although all you may see of yourself is your faults and failures, remember, you were chosen by Jesus!!!
This I command you, that you love one another.
John 15:17
This is the second time in John 15 that Jesus has commanded to love one another. Jesus had said in John 13:35," By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another". Loving others shows the world Christlikeness. The world has seen people saying they believe certain truths, they have seen people be "religious", but nothing impacts or makes an impression on someone like love. The Apostle Paul said in 1st Corinthians 13 that without love we are nothing.
Let's follow the example and command of Jesus and love each other. And when it gets really hard to do let's ask Jesus for His power to be able to love others because we can't do it in our own strength.
Troy
Friday, December 30, 2011
We Can't Always Trust Our Own Judgement
I have made many wrong choices in life. What baffles me about many of those choices, is that at the time I thought I was making the right choice. Often I was trusting my own judgement. Others would try to advise me, but I would do what I wanted. Many times we make choices according to our feelings. This is very dangerous because we can't trust our feelings alone. Many of my wrong choices in life were based on feelings. It felt "right", it seemed "right", etc...
The Bible says," There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death."
Proverbs 14:12
Many of the wrong choices we have made seemed right at the time, but in the end had negative results. When I reflect on the wrong choices I had made in life before I became a follower of Jesus, even then, though it felt right, something way deep down inside of me knew it wasn't the right choice to make, but I went ahead and did what I wanted based on feeling.
Even though I still continue to make wrong choices in life and am far from perfect, I would like to share with you a few things that have helped me from making choices based on what just seemed right and just trusting my own judgement. As a follower of Jesus I have the Bible. Even though the Bible seems to be grey in some areas, in other areas it is pretty black and white between what is right and what is wrong.
I have to remember that when I follow God's way, HE IS NOT TRYING TO RUIN MY LIFE OR TAKE ALL THE FUN OUT OF LIFE, HE WANTS WHAT IS BEST FOR ME!!!
A child may cry because they want more candy or cookies, but a parent knows that just giving the child what they want is not in the child's best interest. Many people think God is too restrictive, but when we look back on our lives we will see that His commands are there for us to have the life that we have longed for deep down inside. Remember that we are told that as followers of Jesus we will experience an abundant life.
As followers of Jesus we have the Holy Spirit. He will guide us into all truth. Let me say that He will guide, but He will not force. When we are about to make a choice that is not right, The Holy Spirit will let us know, but we have to be willing to listen to that "still small voice".
We have the patience of God. When we make a wrong choice He doesn't just strike us down. I am so thankful for the patience and grace of God. The Church in Thyatira had someone who was involved in some things that they shouldn't have been and Jesus said in the Book of Revelation:
I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality.
Revelation 3:21
I am so thankful for all the times in my life in which God gave me time to repent of wrong actions. Sadly just like the woman mentioned in the Church in Thyatira God gave me time to repent but I did not want to repent of my immorality. I am sure we can all relate to that at some point in our life.
The last thing that I would like to mention in this post is that when we make a wrong choice, which is often based on our own judgement andled by our feelings, and we haven't responded to what we know deep down inside, or the prompting of the Holy Spirit, God will then "out of love" begin to discipline us.
This is where many people get upset with God. A God made in our image is no god at all. The God made in our image will let us do whatever we want. But that is not the God of the Bible. He loves us too much to just let us do whatever we want without attempting to try to lead us back on the right path. Just as a good parent will give their children opportunity to change their wrong action before they discipline, so does God. His discipline is actually Him showing His love for us and that we belong to Him. To allow our child to do things that aren't right without disciplining them only shows a lack of love on our part. The reason you don't discipline other children is because they don't belong to you.
We belong to God and He will do all He can to keep us on the right path, including discipline. Everyone who is a follower of Jesus has experienced His discipline because none of us are perfect.
You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin ; 5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM. 6 FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." 7 It is for discipline that you endure ; God deals with you as with sons ; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline ? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live ? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. 11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful ; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
Hebrews 12:4-11
As I mentioned earlier I have made many wrong choices in my life. Many of those choices were based on feelings. Since I have been a follower of Jesus I have made wrong choices, hopefully I am not making as many and I am not being led by just my feelings to make a decision. But I am not perfect and so when I make a wrong choice God attempts to get my attention through His Word. He has the Holy Spirit try to get my attention. Through the whole process He is full of mercy, grace and patience. If I don't respond to His promptings He will discipline me.
As we go through life let us continue to follow Jesus. Let us trust His way and not our own judgement when it comes to life's choices..His way is best. He knows what is best for our lives. Remember He loves us so much that He was willing to be crucified for us so that we wouldn't be stuck in our sin. He is full of love and He is faithful.
Thank you Lord for Your grace over our lives. Thank you for loving us with an everlasting love. Help us to follow Your ways. Help us to respond to Your leadings.
Amen.
Troy
The Bible says," There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death."
Proverbs 14:12
Many of the wrong choices we have made seemed right at the time, but in the end had negative results. When I reflect on the wrong choices I had made in life before I became a follower of Jesus, even then, though it felt right, something way deep down inside of me knew it wasn't the right choice to make, but I went ahead and did what I wanted based on feeling.
Even though I still continue to make wrong choices in life and am far from perfect, I would like to share with you a few things that have helped me from making choices based on what just seemed right and just trusting my own judgement. As a follower of Jesus I have the Bible. Even though the Bible seems to be grey in some areas, in other areas it is pretty black and white between what is right and what is wrong.
I have to remember that when I follow God's way, HE IS NOT TRYING TO RUIN MY LIFE OR TAKE ALL THE FUN OUT OF LIFE, HE WANTS WHAT IS BEST FOR ME!!!
A child may cry because they want more candy or cookies, but a parent knows that just giving the child what they want is not in the child's best interest. Many people think God is too restrictive, but when we look back on our lives we will see that His commands are there for us to have the life that we have longed for deep down inside. Remember that we are told that as followers of Jesus we will experience an abundant life.
As followers of Jesus we have the Holy Spirit. He will guide us into all truth. Let me say that He will guide, but He will not force. When we are about to make a choice that is not right, The Holy Spirit will let us know, but we have to be willing to listen to that "still small voice".
We have the patience of God. When we make a wrong choice He doesn't just strike us down. I am so thankful for the patience and grace of God. The Church in Thyatira had someone who was involved in some things that they shouldn't have been and Jesus said in the Book of Revelation:
I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality.
Revelation 3:21
I am so thankful for all the times in my life in which God gave me time to repent of wrong actions. Sadly just like the woman mentioned in the Church in Thyatira God gave me time to repent but I did not want to repent of my immorality. I am sure we can all relate to that at some point in our life.
The last thing that I would like to mention in this post is that when we make a wrong choice, which is often based on our own judgement andled by our feelings, and we haven't responded to what we know deep down inside, or the prompting of the Holy Spirit, God will then "out of love" begin to discipline us.
This is where many people get upset with God. A God made in our image is no god at all. The God made in our image will let us do whatever we want. But that is not the God of the Bible. He loves us too much to just let us do whatever we want without attempting to try to lead us back on the right path. Just as a good parent will give their children opportunity to change their wrong action before they discipline, so does God. His discipline is actually Him showing His love for us and that we belong to Him. To allow our child to do things that aren't right without disciplining them only shows a lack of love on our part. The reason you don't discipline other children is because they don't belong to you.
We belong to God and He will do all He can to keep us on the right path, including discipline. Everyone who is a follower of Jesus has experienced His discipline because none of us are perfect.
You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin ; 5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM. 6 FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." 7 It is for discipline that you endure ; God deals with you as with sons ; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline ? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live ? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. 11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful ; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
Hebrews 12:4-11
As I mentioned earlier I have made many wrong choices in my life. Many of those choices were based on feelings. Since I have been a follower of Jesus I have made wrong choices, hopefully I am not making as many and I am not being led by just my feelings to make a decision. But I am not perfect and so when I make a wrong choice God attempts to get my attention through His Word. He has the Holy Spirit try to get my attention. Through the whole process He is full of mercy, grace and patience. If I don't respond to His promptings He will discipline me.
As we go through life let us continue to follow Jesus. Let us trust His way and not our own judgement when it comes to life's choices..His way is best. He knows what is best for our lives. Remember He loves us so much that He was willing to be crucified for us so that we wouldn't be stuck in our sin. He is full of love and He is faithful.
Thank you Lord for Your grace over our lives. Thank you for loving us with an everlasting love. Help us to follow Your ways. Help us to respond to Your leadings.
Amen.
Troy
Thursday, December 29, 2011
When It Feels Like God Doesn't Hear Our Prayers
Sometimes there are "seasons" where it feels like God doesn't hear our prayers. We may begin to feel God doesn't care. We may not understand what is going on. We may feel like we are in the dark. We may begin to lose hope.
Jeremiah had prayed and prayed for his nation. It seemed to him that God wasn't hearing his prayers. The things he didn't want to happen to his people had come to pass. In the book of Lamentations Jeremiah wrote," He has made me to dwell in darkness like those long dead. He has walled me in so I cannot escape;he has weighed me down with chains.Even when I ...call out or cry for help, he shuts out my prayer"(Lamentations 3:6-8).
For those who are going through a difficult season, or maybe it has been going on longer than that. Let us remember the words that the writer of Lamentations wrote a few verses later, and with whatever hope is left cling to his words. "Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail" (Lamentations 3:21,22).
Troy
Jeremiah had prayed and prayed for his nation. It seemed to him that God wasn't hearing his prayers. The things he didn't want to happen to his people had come to pass. In the book of Lamentations Jeremiah wrote," He has made me to dwell in darkness like those long dead. He has walled me in so I cannot escape;he has weighed me down with chains.Even when I ...call out or cry for help, he shuts out my prayer"(Lamentations 3:6-8).
For those who are going through a difficult season, or maybe it has been going on longer than that. Let us remember the words that the writer of Lamentations wrote a few verses later, and with whatever hope is left cling to his words. "Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail" (Lamentations 3:21,22).
Troy
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Musings from John 15:7-11
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. John 15:7
Jesus is teaching us that as we abide in Him, God will be able to lay on our hearts what is on His heart. What is His heart's desire becomes our heart's desire. Then as we ask, He tells us it will be answered. Let us abide in Him.
Here is the musing from John 15:8:
My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
Jesus is teaching us that God the Father is glorified as we bear much fruit. As our actions and lives become more Christ like not only is God the Father glorified, but we also are showing that we are Jesus' disciples. We are apprentices of Jesus so let's bear much fruit and glorify God the Father.
Here is the musing from John 15:9:
Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.
How much do you think God the Father loves Jesus? Jesus is teaching us that we are loved by Him the way God the Father loves Jesus. Pretty remarkable isn't it? Most of us have a hard time believing it. But Jesus said it, so believe it and walk in this truth. Let's learn how to abide in Jesus' love. Let's especially abide in it when we think we aren't worthy of His love.
Here is the musing from John 15:10:
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.
In the previous verse Jesus spoke about abiding in His love. He now teaches us that if we keep His commandments we will abide in His love. His commandments are not meant to be burdensome, they help us to live life the way we were designed. When we follow Jesus' design for our lives we will not only sense His love, we will abide in His love. It is very difficult to sense the love of Jesus when we choose to live life the way we want instead of the way we were designed. Let's keep His commandments and abide in His love.
Here is the musing from John 15:11:
These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
Jesus' joy in us? Is it possible? According to Jesus, yes. Our joy made full? Again, according to Jesus, yes. Jesus said the things He had spoken would bring His joy to us and that our joy would be made full because of them. Let's go back over the words that Jesus had spoken up to John 15:11. Let's apply His words to our lives.
Jesus is teaching us that as we abide in Him, God will be able to lay on our hearts what is on His heart. What is His heart's desire becomes our heart's desire. Then as we ask, He tells us it will be answered. Let us abide in Him.
Here is the musing from John 15:8:
My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
Jesus is teaching us that God the Father is glorified as we bear much fruit. As our actions and lives become more Christ like not only is God the Father glorified, but we also are showing that we are Jesus' disciples. We are apprentices of Jesus so let's bear much fruit and glorify God the Father.
Here is the musing from John 15:9:
Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.
How much do you think God the Father loves Jesus? Jesus is teaching us that we are loved by Him the way God the Father loves Jesus. Pretty remarkable isn't it? Most of us have a hard time believing it. But Jesus said it, so believe it and walk in this truth. Let's learn how to abide in Jesus' love. Let's especially abide in it when we think we aren't worthy of His love.
Here is the musing from John 15:10:
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.
In the previous verse Jesus spoke about abiding in His love. He now teaches us that if we keep His commandments we will abide in His love. His commandments are not meant to be burdensome, they help us to live life the way we were designed. When we follow Jesus' design for our lives we will not only sense His love, we will abide in His love. It is very difficult to sense the love of Jesus when we choose to live life the way we want instead of the way we were designed. Let's keep His commandments and abide in His love.
Here is the musing from John 15:11:
These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.
Jesus' joy in us? Is it possible? According to Jesus, yes. Our joy made full? Again, according to Jesus, yes. Jesus said the things He had spoken would bring His joy to us and that our joy would be made full because of them. Let's go back over the words that Jesus had spoken up to John 15:11. Let's apply His words to our lives.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Lost Hope
I was reading Luke 24 this morning. It tells the story of the two followers of Jesus walking on the road to Emmaus. Jesus had been crucified and risen from the dead, but they didn't know that the resurrection had happened. Then something very interesting happens, Jesus begins to walk with them, but they don't know it is Jesus.
And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.
Luke 24:13-16
They begin talking with Jesus. Jesus acts like He hasn't heard of anything that has happened, so they begin to tell Him.
And He said to them, "What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking ?" And they stood still, looking sad. One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, "Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days ?" And He said to them, "What things ?" And they said to Him, "The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him.
Luke 24:17-20
It is the next verse that spoke to my heart this morning:
"But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.
What spoke to my heart was that these men had a hope. Their hope was that Jesus was going to redeem Israel. But because of the crucifixion of Jesus they had lost their hope. You can't blame them, the reality was as far as they knew, was that Jesus was dead.
Then they tell Jesus that they had heard that some women said that they had seen angels, and the angels said Jesus was alive, resurrected from the dead. Some had been to the tomb and saw it was empty, but Jesus they had not seen.
"But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. "Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said ; but Him they did not see."
Luke 24:22-24
What I saw out of this story was that we as followers of Jesus, all have a hope about Jesus doing something in our lives. We all have hope that He will work out some situation in our lives.
When things don't go as planned, we begin to lose our hope. As I mentioned earlier, we can't blame them, as far as they knew Jesus was dead. Often times in our situations the reality is that things have gone from bad to worse. So we begin to lose hope and don't think that Jesus is working in the situation.
Finally the interesting thing to me, is that Jesus was with them. He was right next to them in the midst of their sadness (vv.17). What they thought was reality was, and yet, there was a greater reality going on that they didn't know about, and that was that Jesus was alive. They also couldn't see how what the women had said was true because three days had passed. They may have thought that nobody is coming back from the dead after three days. Isn't that like our situations in life? We see a reality going on in our lives, but we aren't even thinking that there may be a greater reality going on at the same time. Also, we may think that there may be another reality going on, but that reality sounds impossible for us to believe.
How often in my life have I had a hope, but the because of situations (that were real) I thought that I should give up hope? How often have I thought that Jesus wasn't working in my life because of certain realities, and yet the whole time He was working? How often have I felt like Jesus wasn't with me, and yet just like the story of the two on the road to Emmaus, He was right next to me?
Eventually Jesus revealed Himself to the two:
And He said to them, "O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken ! "Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory ?" Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther. But they urged Him, saying, "Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over." So He went in to stay with them. When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. They said to one another, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?"
Luke 24:25-32
Let us be encouraged today that Jesus is always with us. Though we may not always recognize His presence, He is right next to us.
Here are a couple of links of a song that is about God always being with us. The song is by Matt Redman.
The first one is the story behind the song. The second link is the song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de6M5iu3Ez8&feature=relmfu The story behind "Never Once"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=722zPX1npcA&feature=relmfu Video for "Never Once"
Troy
And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.
Luke 24:13-16
They begin talking with Jesus. Jesus acts like He hasn't heard of anything that has happened, so they begin to tell Him.
And He said to them, "What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking ?" And they stood still, looking sad. One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, "Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days ?" And He said to them, "What things ?" And they said to Him, "The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him.
Luke 24:17-20
It is the next verse that spoke to my heart this morning:
"But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.
What spoke to my heart was that these men had a hope. Their hope was that Jesus was going to redeem Israel. But because of the crucifixion of Jesus they had lost their hope. You can't blame them, the reality was as far as they knew, was that Jesus was dead.
Then they tell Jesus that they had heard that some women said that they had seen angels, and the angels said Jesus was alive, resurrected from the dead. Some had been to the tomb and saw it was empty, but Jesus they had not seen.
"But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. "Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said ; but Him they did not see."
Luke 24:22-24
What I saw out of this story was that we as followers of Jesus, all have a hope about Jesus doing something in our lives. We all have hope that He will work out some situation in our lives.
When things don't go as planned, we begin to lose our hope. As I mentioned earlier, we can't blame them, as far as they knew Jesus was dead. Often times in our situations the reality is that things have gone from bad to worse. So we begin to lose hope and don't think that Jesus is working in the situation.
Finally the interesting thing to me, is that Jesus was with them. He was right next to them in the midst of their sadness (vv.17). What they thought was reality was, and yet, there was a greater reality going on that they didn't know about, and that was that Jesus was alive. They also couldn't see how what the women had said was true because three days had passed. They may have thought that nobody is coming back from the dead after three days. Isn't that like our situations in life? We see a reality going on in our lives, but we aren't even thinking that there may be a greater reality going on at the same time. Also, we may think that there may be another reality going on, but that reality sounds impossible for us to believe.
How often in my life have I had a hope, but the because of situations (that were real) I thought that I should give up hope? How often have I thought that Jesus wasn't working in my life because of certain realities, and yet the whole time He was working? How often have I felt like Jesus wasn't with me, and yet just like the story of the two on the road to Emmaus, He was right next to me?
Eventually Jesus revealed Himself to the two:
And He said to them, "O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken ! "Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory ?" Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther. But they urged Him, saying, "Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over." So He went in to stay with them. When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. They said to one another, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?"
Luke 24:25-32
Let us be encouraged today that Jesus is always with us. Though we may not always recognize His presence, He is right next to us.
Here are a couple of links of a song that is about God always being with us. The song is by Matt Redman.
The first one is the story behind the song. The second link is the song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de6M5iu3Ez8&feature=relmfu The story behind "Never Once"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=722zPX1npcA&feature=relmfu Video for "Never Once"
Troy
Monday, June 13, 2011
George Benson And The Problem Of Labeling
When I was in High School I would like to keep my albums in alphabetical order by genre. I would have three main genre's, rock or pop, r+b, and jazz. Anything that didn't fit those genre's then went into a fourth group, miscellaneous. This way of keeping order worked well until about 1981. In 1981 George Benson released his album "Give Me The Night". Up until this point George always went into my jazz section. He would always have a vocal number or two on each album, but the majority of the songs would be jazz instrumentals. With "Give Me The Night" it all changed. Here was an album with two instrumentals and except for "Moody's Mood" the rest of the tracks all had an r+b feel. George, for the most part has kept this trend up with all of his following releases. When it came time to label him, I couldn't. Was he jazz? Yes. Was he r+b? Yes. Where do I put him in my collection? From that point all I could do was put all the albums together, and just alphabetize from there, no more genre's. It was too difficult to label.
Being a musician myself, I found that people like to label. If I was playing in a Mexican band, people just generally thought that was the only style I knew how to play. They didn't know I could rip into a classic rock song or a funky r+b number at anytime. When I would play jazz, people had no idea I could do other genre's. They would just label me by whatever they saw me doing. I have seen the same thing with my other musician friends.
Why do we like to label people in life? Maybe we want life to be simplistic and not have to think too hard. I really don't know why we want to do it. I do know it is very hard to do. We humans are complex, and to try and label one is very dangerous and takes away the beauty of our complexities.
Think of David in the Bible, he is referred to as a man after God's own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). Yet this same man would commit adultery with a woman, get her pregnant, and then order her husband to the front lines so that he would be killed in battle (2 Samuel 11). So was David a man after God's own heart or was he a murdering adulterer? Yes!!! That is the complexity of us humans. We have the capability of being both.
Maybe you and I will catch someone on a good day, maybe we will catch someone on a bad day. Maybe your waitress has a parent who is deathly ill the day she waits on your table and seems rude. Maybe she is having marital problems. On the flip side maybe you are having a tough time and the waitress needs to be reminded about this before she says to another waitress that you are rude.
Scot McKnight says the story of humans is about being both brilliant and bad. In his long sentence prose Brian Doyle reflects on the heart of all humans. Humans, he says, carry with them a heart filled with all kinds of pain.
I think about this all the time. I find myself staring at the shoulders of counselors and priests and doctors and mothers, to see what the weight looks like. I find myself thinking that most people sure are extraordinary. I find myself thinking, as I get older and less cocky and less sure and more merciful and more hip to the fact that everyone has scars on their hearts and will, and everyone carries their loads or will, and everyone carries their load alone or will, that maybe all people are extraordinary, whether or not I see that clear, and that my seeing it or not seeing it has nothing to do with the reality of grace under duress, which is pretty much the story of the human race. Love carries a lot of pain in its chest.
When I was younger I thought labeling my record collection was a tough task. I have since learned that there is a similarity in dealing with humans. We just can't be labeled. We are capable of both good and bad actions. To quote Scot McKnight again,"We find in humans around us a glory that astounds as well as a frailty that can shatter."
I never would have guessed that all those years ago as I was trying to label George Benson, I was being taught a lesson about life. A lesson about myself and other humans.
Troy
Works Cited
Doyle, B. The Wet Engine (Brewster, Mass: Paraclete,2005), 132
McKnight, S. Embracing Grace (Brewster,Mass: Paraclete,2005), 29,30
Being a musician myself, I found that people like to label. If I was playing in a Mexican band, people just generally thought that was the only style I knew how to play. They didn't know I could rip into a classic rock song or a funky r+b number at anytime. When I would play jazz, people had no idea I could do other genre's. They would just label me by whatever they saw me doing. I have seen the same thing with my other musician friends.
Why do we like to label people in life? Maybe we want life to be simplistic and not have to think too hard. I really don't know why we want to do it. I do know it is very hard to do. We humans are complex, and to try and label one is very dangerous and takes away the beauty of our complexities.
Think of David in the Bible, he is referred to as a man after God's own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). Yet this same man would commit adultery with a woman, get her pregnant, and then order her husband to the front lines so that he would be killed in battle (2 Samuel 11). So was David a man after God's own heart or was he a murdering adulterer? Yes!!! That is the complexity of us humans. We have the capability of being both.
Maybe you and I will catch someone on a good day, maybe we will catch someone on a bad day. Maybe your waitress has a parent who is deathly ill the day she waits on your table and seems rude. Maybe she is having marital problems. On the flip side maybe you are having a tough time and the waitress needs to be reminded about this before she says to another waitress that you are rude.
Scot McKnight says the story of humans is about being both brilliant and bad. In his long sentence prose Brian Doyle reflects on the heart of all humans. Humans, he says, carry with them a heart filled with all kinds of pain.
I think about this all the time. I find myself staring at the shoulders of counselors and priests and doctors and mothers, to see what the weight looks like. I find myself thinking that most people sure are extraordinary. I find myself thinking, as I get older and less cocky and less sure and more merciful and more hip to the fact that everyone has scars on their hearts and will, and everyone carries their loads or will, and everyone carries their load alone or will, that maybe all people are extraordinary, whether or not I see that clear, and that my seeing it or not seeing it has nothing to do with the reality of grace under duress, which is pretty much the story of the human race. Love carries a lot of pain in its chest.
When I was younger I thought labeling my record collection was a tough task. I have since learned that there is a similarity in dealing with humans. We just can't be labeled. We are capable of both good and bad actions. To quote Scot McKnight again,"We find in humans around us a glory that astounds as well as a frailty that can shatter."
I never would have guessed that all those years ago as I was trying to label George Benson, I was being taught a lesson about life. A lesson about myself and other humans.
Troy
Works Cited
Doyle, B. The Wet Engine (Brewster, Mass: Paraclete,2005), 132
McKnight, S. Embracing Grace (Brewster,Mass: Paraclete,2005), 29,30
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