Blood

I'm starting to get a glimpse of how the Jews might feel about the Old Testament sacrificial system.


Burdened. Overwhelmed. Hopeless. Lost.


My Bible reading plan for 2011 involves reading through the whole Bible.  Part of that includes the book of Leviticus - which I've been avoiding (most likely subconsciously) due to its content.  I mean, who wants to read rules we don't even follow anymore?  Right?


I have to be honest, though, reading through the book of Leviticus so far has been a very eye-opening experience.  I think I came across the whole point of Leviticus in today's reading.  Chapter 11, verse 45.  "You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy."


My thoughts are all jumbled when it comes to the subject of Leviticus because I'm still new to the concept of ritual sacrifice.  I'm still processing all that Leviticus means to me and how it affects my faith and my relationship with God.  In words, the idea that keeps coming to mind and weighing on my heart is "burden."  I mean, I read through the first 7 chapters and literally got up from each reading feeling heavy.  I felt weighed down and burdened by the amount of blood that had to be shed just for the atonement of the priest, not to mention all the Jews who also had to sacrifice for their sins.  I started to think about my own life, my own sins, and what I would have to sacrifice were I living during that time.  How much blood would I have to offer for myself and my family?  It's too much!  How can anyone live under that burden?  How can anyone exist knowing that what you offer will never be enough, will never satisfy the burden of sin that is on your life and can never be fully atoned for?  It's just too much!


"You shall be holy therefore, for I am holy."


And yet God's standard is the same.  For all of us.  Be holy.


You might recognize Romans 3:23, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"


It's a verse that makes it clear - none of us has met the standard God has set for us.  None of us are perfect.


Maybe less recognized, but all the more important, are verses 24 and 25:

"and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood..."

If there is one thing I come away from reading Leviticus with, it's an even greater appreciation for my salvation.  Christ, a perfectly sinless man, died a cruel death on a Roman cross, so that through the shedding of His blood, we who are sinners - who have no hope and would otherwise be "dead in our trespasses" - can be justified and redeemed.  In light of that, how can we do anything but praise Jesus for His sacrifice and tell others about this incredible gift we've received?


"O, praise the One who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead!"

Trust and Obey

Obedience.


This theme keeps coming up in my life lately - through conversations, sermons, experiences - so I think the best thing I can do is write it down.  It's a guaranteed way for me to remember it.


Sunday night in small group we were talking about Romans 12:1-2 and the topic came up.  "...present your bodies as a living sacrifice..."  "...be transformed by the renewal of your mind..."  To do these things requires obedience.


Every time Isabella does something (whether it's doing what we asked her not to do or not doing something that we asked her to do), we talk to her about obedience.  For right now, it goes something like this:  "Isabella, you need to listen and obey."


In church we've been talking about Abraham's life, the most recent installment being where he is commanded by God to sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering.  What does the Bible say that Abraham did?  "So Abraham rose early in the morning..."  He obeyed.


It's an interesting thing, this obedience.  I looked up the definition of the word and the dictionary says that to obey means "to submit or conform in action to."  I guess technically that is a correct description of obedience.  However, growing up I learned a different definition.  My parents always described obedience something like this:

"Jacob, when we ask you to do something we want you to do it right away and with the right attitude." 

You see, as a child growing up in my parents house, obedience was much more than just "doing what you're told to do."  Did you catch emphasis in my definition?  Right away.  Right attitude.


Right away - the task is to be done at that very moment, no questions asked.
Right attitude - the task is to be done without grumbling, complaining, pouting, etc.


It adds a whole new element to obedience, doesn't it?  Yeah, I didn't really like it much either.  But here's the thing, the point I'm trying to get at.  God expects the same from us.  God wants us to obey Him with that same frame of mind.  Right away.  Right attitude.


Look at Abraham's example.  He "rose early in the morning" to go kill his only son - simply because God commanded it to be done.
Or what about Jesus' example?  He willingly went to his death, on the most brutal form of punishment known at the time, because God commanded it to be so.


I know sometimes we have questions about what God is doing and why He's doing it.  I have them all the time.  I don't think God gets mad at us when we question Him either (within certain boundaries, check out Moses' run-in with that).  It's important to remember though, that we can't see everything that God sees.  Think about it this way (Thank you, Dad, for this example - it's stuck with me all these years):


You are out in the front yard tossing a football with a friend and one of you clumsily drops it.  The ball rolls ever so conveniently out of the yard and into the street.  Of course, not wanting to miss a single second of this riveting game of catch, you immediately dash toward the street to retrieve the ball.  From the front porch you hear your Dad (who has spied a car coming entirely too fast down the street in your direction) yell, "STOP!!!"  At this point you can do one of two things: you can either continue on your way and get the ball or you can listen to your Dad and stop.  Which do you do?


For us, the third party observer, the choice is simple.  Stop.  Listen.  Obey.  Easy choice, Jacob, why ask?


Think back to the time when that was you, though.  Obviously if you continue in your path, you will be struck by a car and potentially killed because of your disobedience.  Your Dad doesn't have time to explain all the details of what he sees.  He barely has time to get the words out that save your life.  If you wait until you have all the explanation, it's too late.  If you wait until it all makes sense to you, it's too late.  The same is true with obedience to God.


It may not be necessary for you to know the "why" behind God's plan for you.  It may not be possible for you to understand every detail of what God has commanded you to do.  All we know is that we must trust that God knows what He's doing and obey Him.


Regardless of how we feel about it.

Full

For almost a week now I've been reading through the book of Acts (continuing the L3 Journal Bible reading plan that my church provides) and I've been struck over and over by the example of the early Church.  Their effectiveness, boldness, faith, passion - basically, everything they did - is exciting to read about!


Even more than exciting, it's convicting to read as well.  Seriously.  When's the last time you saw a miracle?  Not that they don't happen - I believe they still do - but it's not an every day occurrence like seems to be the case in Acts.  So while the passionate, Bible-believing, Gospel-preaching side of me loves to read the book of Acts, at the same time my complacent, comfortable-where-I-am, safety-seeking side doesn't like to read it at all.  Conflict of interests...


Stephen is the man I encountered in today's reading.  If there was ever a person to make me feel convicted about how I currently live my life, it's Stephen.  He was "full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people."  He was called to the synagogue for a little argument and "they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking."  Talk about a man who is on fire for Christ!  He so frustrated the Hellenistic Jews who confronted him that they had to call in people to give false testimony about him just so that they could have something to hold against him.  As sad as it makes me to see people so against this man, it is absolutely an example worth living up to.  I  hope all believers today come to the point where they would be a modern day Stephen in the face of persecution.


One thing I noticed about Stephen that I just had to write down (before I forget!) - he is described as "full of grace and power."  Not "half full".  Not "half empty".  Not "a few little drops at the bottom of the cup that's mostly backwash anyway".  FULL.  As in, "if you touch this cup water is spilling out" full.  If I were writing the book of Acts, this is how I would have phrased it:

"Stephen was so full of the grace of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit that there was no room left inside of him for petty personal preferences or selfish ambitions or any desires that might take him away from the work that the Lord had for him to do here on this earth."

It took me reading this passage a couple of times before I got it, but once I did...well, let's just say I have a lot of work to do.  Let me rephrase, God has a lot of work left to do in me.  There's no way I can do this on my own.  There's no way I can fill myself with the power of God to the point of overflowing.  That's a work only He can do.  But it's a work that I desperately need Him to do.


Father, fill me up.  To overflowing.  Fill up the Church.  Help us spill out all over the world so that people will know and worship the name of Christ.

Quadragesima

Lent is coming soon and, while I'm not a typical observer of the tradition, I love the idea of giving up something in order to spend the forty days before Easter in prayer, anticipating Easter Sunday when we remember and celebrate Christ's death on the cross and resurrection from the grave.


To me, it's a chance to sacrifice (albeit temporarily) something I spend time doing and to spend that extra time remembering the permanent and ultimate sacrifice Jesus made on the cross.  A worthy endeavor, to say the least.


For some reason, it's a little over a month before that time is supposed to begin and I'm already thinking about Lent and what I want to give up during those 40 days.  I'm selfish, to be honest, and I want so badly to say "Look what I gave up!  Isn't that such a sacrifice?" (*pats self on back)  The problem is, that's not the attitude Christ had while here on earth and it's not the point of Lent.  I think that maybe God is trying to teach me that His plan is so much bigger than myself and that the world doesn't revolve around me.


So, I suppose I'm just posting this as a reminder not to forget the true meaning behind Lent and the posture of humility that Christ had during His time here on earth.  I know it seems like a long time from now, but wouldn't it be awesome if we were already in the right mindset before Lent and Easter get here?  Wouldn't it be awesome if we were praying and lifting that time up to the Lord, that He would be magnified during that time, that His name would be heard across the world as believers celebrate the single, perfect death that made eternal life a possibility?

Forever Reign

I keep hearing this song at church and it resonates in my heart every time.  For my first post of 2011, a new year and new decade, I'm just typing out the lyrics.  They make me re-evaluate so many things about my walk with the Lord and I hope that they also move you to action.  Read through them, ask some questions yourself.


Is God really your goodness and your love?  Your light and hope?  Your peace and truth?  Your joy and life?


Would you truly walk away from the wealth and material things of this world just for the love and light of God to reign in your life?

You are good, You are good

When there's nothing good in me

You are love, You are love

On display for all to see

You are light, You are light

When the darkness closes in

You are hope, You are hope

You have covered all my sin

You are peace, You are peace

When my fear is crippling

You are true, You are true

Even in my wandering

You are joy, You are joy

You're the reason that I sing

You are life, You are life

In You death has lost its sting

Oh, I'm running to Your arms, I'm running to Your arms

The riches of Your love will always be enough

Nothing compares to Your embrace

Light of the world forever reign

You are more, You are more

Than my words will ever say

You are Lord, You are Lord

All creation will proclaim

You are here, You are here

In Your presence I'm made whole

You are God, You are God

Of all else I'm letting go

Oh, I'm running to Your arms, I'm running to Your arms

The riches of Your love will always be enough

Nothing compares to Your embrace

Light of the world forever reign

I'm running to Your arms, I'm running to Your arms

The riches of Your love will always be enough

Nothing compares to Your embrace

Light of the world forever reign

My heart will sing no other name

Jesus, Jesus

My heart will sing no other name

Jesus, Jesus

My heart will sing no other name

Jesus, Jesus

My heart will sing no other name

Jesus, Jesus

Oh, I'm running to Your arms, I'm running to Your arms

The riches of Your love will always be enough

Nothing compares to Your embrace

Light of the world forever reign

I'm running to Your arms, I'm running to Your arms

The riches of Your love will always be enough

Nothing compares to Your embrace

Light of the world forever reign

My heart will sing no other name

Jesus, Jesus

My heart will sing no other name

Jesus, Jesus

Altogether

Wow.  This feels almost unfamiliar.  It's been too long since I wrote anything down.  Maybe it's like riding a bike - I just need to get going.

We came to my parents' house for the night, and this morning while sipping my coffee I got the chance to read some of my dad's journals from a time in his life when things were not easy (to say the least) - but he was still faithful to seek the Lord and God was still faithful in His promises to my dad.  It's an awesome picture of struggling with life, asking tough questions of God, and seeing Him answer those questions - even if the answers were not exactly what was hoped for.  It's encouraging to know that the man I most look up to as I journey through life (spiritually and otherwise) has had struggles and seen God prove Himself faithful time and again.

This morning I also spent some time reading in the Psalms, 139 to be exact.  Verse 4 stood out to me, and as I thought about it conviction started to set in...

"Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether."

I've read this verse before, and having read James as well, it is not a new lesson for me to think about taming my tongue and thinking before I speak.  But 'altogether' still sticks out to me.  I realized as I read that God knows what I'll say before I speak it, that's true.  What convicts me today is that God also knows the intentions behind my words before I say them.  I can lie to myself and mislead other people all day long, but at the end of the day God knows why I chose to say (or not say) what I did.

He knows that I didn't speak truth when I had perfect opportunity - because I was scared.

He knows that I said something judgementally - even though I claim "I'm just concerned."

It's a hard thing to face your intentions, the hidden meanings behind what you do and say.  It's even harder to admit it online where anyone can judge me.  That's okay, though.  I'm glad the Psalm doesn't end there.  David continues,

"Where shall I go from your Spirit?  Or where shall I flee from your presence? ... Search me, O God, and know my thoughts!  And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!" (vs. 7, 23-24)

I'm praying that same prayer - God search me out.  Know me altogether.  Continue to convict and encourage me through Your Word.  Continue to inspire me through the stories of other believers who are further down the road than myself.

A Remnant

On occasions when I'm by myself and thinking about life, there have been some times where I've felt lonely.  It's the kind of lonely that Elijah felt in 1 Kings:

"I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts.  For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away." (1 Kings 19:14)

Don't get me wrong - I'm not claiming to be a prophet or to have everything together.  That's not it at all.  I'm far from perfect and God has a lot of molding left to do in me.  I'm just saying that sometimes I really resonate with Elijah in this passage.  He's had to be the bearer of bad news (a drought for an unspecified amount of time), challenged and killed a whole slew of Baal prophets, and now Jezebel wants his head on a platter.  He feels like he's the only one left who believes in God.

Do you ever feel that way?  Maybe at work you're the only Christian...or at school you're the only one of your friends who stands up for the kid who's being bullied...or you have Christian friends who aren't living out their faith while you struggle to be genuine.  It can be quite discouraging...


Look at how God replied to Elijah, though - "Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him." (vs.18)  Encouraging?  Yes!  God saw what Elijah could not - a remnant of people who were faithful to Him.  I've been reading in Revelation the last few days (in the L3 Journal) and I noticed a similar pattern.


In Revelation 2 and 3, there are 7 letters to 7 churches and almost all of them have a fault of some sort.  But in each of the 7 churches, Jesus sees and points out a faithful few.  They are the people of the church who are "faithful unto death" and who still "hold fast my name", who continue in "faithful endurance" and suffer "tribulation and poverty" for His name.  It's a beautiful picture of a world that is broken, even churches that are broken and people who have remained faithful.  They are the remnant.


And so I'm challenged today because, well...you and I?  We are those people.  We are the few.  We are the remnant.  Be encouraged today to live out your faith.  Keep pressing on in the effort to live for Christ, even when it seems that no one around you is with you in that effort, because God has set us apart for His purposes.

Overwhelmed

Overwhelmed - "to overcome completely in mind or feeling"
Burdened - "that which is borne with difficulty"


I feel overwhelmed and burdened lately.  It has been steadily growing in my heart.  It literally has been weighing on me, so much so that my countenance has been affected.


There's a problem with this world that I've recently had my eyes opened to.  I had heard of it but it had not really been on my list of priorities.  I had not been that concerned about it but it is urgent nonetheless.


Poverty.
Hunger.
Disease.
Death.


These things are running rampant across our planet.  In countries all over the world, millions and millions of people are dying because they are malnourished or because of preventable disease.  Millions of people don't have access to clean drinking water or a steady food supply.  Orphans are heading households full of other orphans because all of their parents have died with HIV/AIDS.


I won't get into the actual data, but just believe me - the situation in places around the world is so terrible that it's unbelievable, unfathomable, inexpressible.  Google it.  It will blow your mind at how staggering the problem is.


This burden I feel that the Lord has laid on my heart has two parts:


First, how many of these people could we feed?  Or clothe?  Or provide medicine for?  It seems like we're so caught up in the materialism of this world that we have forgotten the "least of these."  It seems like we're so wrapped up in being entertained by sports or music or movies or books that we've turned a blind eye to the real issues that are worth caring about.

"And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'" Matthew 25:40

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this:  to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."  James 1:27

Are we (the Church) taking care of widows and orphans?  Are we providing for the "least of these"?  Are we "unstained from the world"?


Second (but most certainly foremost), how many of these people who are dying every day know the saving power of Jesus Christ?  How many of them have even heard the Gospel because we loved them enough to take it to them?

"And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?'  Then I said, 'Here am I!  Send me.'"  Isaiah 6:8

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."  Matthew 28:19-20

We are all called to take the Gospel to the nations.  We must.  The situation is too desperate to not go.  The command of our Lord Jesus Christ is just that - a command.  There is no option.  In the words of David Platt, "We are the plan of God, and there is no plan B."


How many people will die without Christ while we (myself included) continue to live in disobedience to His command?

Questions

Have you read or heard the account of Jesus feeding the 4000?  Not the 5000, the 4000.  It's not one that I've read in a while, but that was part of my reading this morning.  Here's the beginning part:

"Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, 'I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat.  And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.'  And the disciples said to him, 'Where are we going to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?'"  Matthew 15:32-33

The question that the disciples ask is sticking with me today.  Like an itch I can't scratch.  In a good way.


I wrote in my Bible as I was reading - "had they not seen the 5000 fed?" - and I literally wonder about that very thing.  Just a few chapters ago, Matthew wrote down the account of Jesus feeding the 5000.  Which is interesting because if the disciples questioned Jesus then, and they did, then their questions were more than answered.  5000 people (women and children not included) were fed.  12 baskets full of food was left over!  Jesus provides for His people.  Case closed.  But then 4000 people (women and children not included) come along and what's the first thing the disciples say to Jesus?


"Jesus, we know you can meet this need!  We've seen it!"
"Pssh!  4000 people!  That's nothing!  My Jesus fed 5000 people last week - this is child's play!"
"Jesus, we collected food from everyone.  It's only 7 loaves and some fish, but we know you can multiply it.  Will you bless the food so we can feed these people?"


They didn't say any of these things.  They questioned.  They showed their lack of faith - yet again - that Jesus would accomplish the impossible.  "Where are we going to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?"  I can almost hear the whining.  Jesus has proved Himself time and time again to be a faithful, trustworthy provider.  And the disciples still hadn't learned the lesson.  They still questioned Him.


Here's the thing, though.  The reason this question bothers me so much, I think, is because it reminds me of...well...me.  I see it in myself all the time.  I see (and hear) myself questioning God and not putting the whole of my trust in Him.  I whine about my circumstances and forget that all along the way God has provided me with more blessing than I could ever deserve.  He's proved Himself a faithful, trustworthy provider time and again and yet I still question Him.  I still show my lack of faith.


I think about that account and I know how I would have responded to the disciples' question.  "Um.  I'm Jesus.  I just fed 5000 people with three loaves and two fish.  Oh, and after that I healed some people and did other miracles.  I think I can handle 4000."  But He didn't respond that way, did He?  He took the bread and fish, prayed thanks to God for them, and fed the 4000.  And again, Jesus proves His provision.  He proves His faithfulness, in spite of the faithlessness of the disciples.


It's the same in my life.  And yours.  He continues to prove His faithful, trustworthy provision time and time again - in spite of how faithless we can be.  Isn't it about time we trusted Him?

Redefining Normal

I started running this past summer.  Since I had never really run before, my distances were short and my breaks were many.  Now, I typically run 5 miles or more without stopping at all.  But, when I think back to it, it's almost funny.  I used to think that 3 miles was a long way. Now, 3 miles is just a normal run.  I used to think about running for more than an hour and it literally made me question my sanity.


Last Saturday, I went running with my pastor, Michael Manuel (who is incredibly encouraging, by the way - I wish I had been more encouraging to him during the run!), and we went a total of 8 miles.  Literally, after the 6 mile mark every step was further than I had ever been before.  It was exciting!  Anyway, while we were running, I commented that I used to think 3 miles was a long way and Michael said that all the time he has to redefine "normal."  Interestingly enough, it's been the same sort of thought process for me as well.


You see, here's the thing.  Normal a relative term, isn't it?  Normal just depends on the perspective of the viewer.  What is normal for me may be entirely crazy for you.  Does that make sense?


So, we continued running.  We finished.  But, my brain was still going 90-to-nothing.


Question:  What does a normal Christian look like?
Another question:  What should a normal Christian look like?


The Bible is very clear on the topic, actually.


"Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.'" Matthew 16:24


"And Jesus said to him, 'Leave the dead to bury their own dead.  But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.'"  Luke 9:60


"And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, 'You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.'"  Mark 10:21


The things (and there are many more examples than what I've given) that Jesus called us to do as believers are things that look very crazy to the world.  They are things that make people stop and question our intentions.  They are things that may even make us stop and question our own sanity.  But, it's there.  In the Word.  Plain as day.


The point I'm (in a very roundabout way) getting to is this:  When I go out and run 8 miles some people will not understand what I'm doing or why, and will even look at me like I'm crazy, but it's a normal thing to me now.  What they think doesn't matter because it's not crazy to me.  What if we believed Jesus and acted on His calling in our lives to live in a way that some people won't understand, that they might say is crazy?


If we live that life long enough, if we pursue that end hard enough, we'll see it as a normal way of living.  We won't care any longer what people think or say because our definition of normal will have changed.  It's like Michael said - we've got to constantly be in the process of redefining the "normal" of our lives to be centered around what Jesus said our lives should look like.  Of course, that means you have to be willing to look pretty crazy to a lot of people.


So.  What's your definition of normal?