Bad days, we all have them...

Today was one of those days at work.  I didn't like the way some things went, and boy, did I revert back to the pre-Christian days.  The words flew, and I became everything I want and try not to be.  Last week in church, one of the themes of the sermon was praying in Psalms, just as Jesus did.  More on that tomorrow.  We all have bad days, and today won't be the last bad day that I'll have.  But I will try to handle people obstacles a little better in the future.  It's one of the do-overs we are offered in being Christian.  I'll wake up, and I'll ask Him back.  For tonight, my prayer is Psalm 5.

[1] Give ear to my words, O LORD;
consider my groaning. 
[2] Give attention to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you do I pray.
[3] O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.

[4] For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil may not dwell with you.
[5] The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
you hate all evildoers.
[6] You destroy those who speak lies;
the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

[7] But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
in the fear of you.
[8] Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness
because of my enemies;
make your way straight before me.

[9] For there is no truth in their mouth;
their inmost self is destruction;
their throat is an open grave;
they flatter with their tongue.
[10] Make them bear their guilt, O God;
let them fall by their own counsels;
because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
for they have rebelled against you.

[11] But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may exult in you.
[12] For you bless the righteous, O LORD;
you cover him with favor as with a shield.
Psalm 5 ESV

We are no accident...

The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever - do not abandon the works of your hands.  Psalm 138:8

From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.  Acts 17:26

"You are not an accident.  Your birth was no mistake or mishap, and your life is no fluke of nature.  Your parents may not have planned you, but God did.  He was not at all surprised by your birth.  In fact, he expected it.  Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God.  God never does anything accidentally, and he never makes mistakes.  He has a reason for everything he creates.  Every plant and every animal was planned by God, and every person was designed with a purpose in mind."  Rick Warren - The Purpose Driven Life

It is comforting to know that God created me, for a purpose, and he knows me intimately.  I can't hide anything from him, he knows all about me.  I am what I am. What a sense of relief... To know that I can live my life free from guilt, with no trying, or needing, to hide things.  What a friend.  I talk with him daily, I used to call this prayer, but now I call it a daily conversation with a great friend.  Someone I can call on in need.  Someone who knows my pains.  Someone who knows what I meant to say, not how what I said was taken.  Someone to celebrate with, and someone to complain to.  Someone to be thankful to.  Someone to praise.  Someone to lifelong study.  Someone who never changes.  Someone who had me in mind before time began.  And sometimes, someone to yell at.  He is there always, always will be, and he created me, sense of humor that he has :)   And then, he gave me someone to share this crazy thing called life with, my other buddy, Jessi.  And 4 great kids to boot.  What a cool God he is!

30 pieces...

14  Then one of the Twelve—the one called Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests 15  and asked, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" So they counted out for him thirty silver coins. 16  From then on Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over.  Matthew 26:14-16

1  Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death. 2  They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor. 3  When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders.4  "I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood."  "What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility."  5  So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.  6  The chief priests picked up the coins and said, "It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money." 7  So they decided to use the money to buy the potter's field as a burial place for foreigners.   Matthew 27:1-7

The book of Zechariah was written about 550 years before Judas took the bribe:

12  I told them, "If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it." So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.  13  And the LORD said to me, "Throw it to the potter"-the handsome price at which they priced me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD to the potter.  Zechariah 11:12-13 

Thankful...

Well, Wed morning I got a call from one of my customers saying they are out of my product, and that they need my product...NOW.  So, I rented a truck and I was on the road at 11 a.m.  Then I drove 1200 miles to pick up my product which was stuck in a Southern Oregon trucking terminal, then I delivered the product to my dealer at the Canadian border, then I made it home at 8:30 a.m. Thanksgiving morning.  My wife asked me, "What the heck, was this really that important?"  Well, it was, it's my job and people rely on me, I don't let them down.  It's just the way I am.

Then I was still was able to join my family for Thanksgiving dinner at my son's (Joseph) house.  And our other son, Ryan, was able to celebrate Thanksgiving with us from Juneau, AK, via Skype.

I am blessed, I know it, and I am truly thankful to God for everything that I have been given.

I AM...

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I AM your shield; your reward shall be very great.”  Genesis 15:1 ESV
God said, "I AM".  Here, God tells Abram (known as Abraham later, when God renames him) that he will be rewarded for serving God faithfully, that the Messiah will come thru Abram's lineage.


57 So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”  John 8:57-58 ESV
What was Jesus claiming here?  It's pretty big, this is why the religious folks killed Him.


61 But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”  62 And Jesus said, “I AM, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 63 And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? 64 You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death.  
Mark 14:61-64 ESV
He remained silent on all accusations, until they asked him if he was the Messiah.  His response? 
"I AM".


I AM the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”  Revelation 22:13 ESV
Jesus was crucified, on a legal basis in those times, because he claimed to be God.  These two single words got him murdered, "I AM".

Jesus freaks...

"The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!"  Mark 1:15

While I was growing up, the word repent used to really bother me.  It made me conjure up images of people I deemed as holy rollers, bible thumpers, Jesus freaks...I always thought people like that were weird.  What does the word repent mean?  Simply, to recognize your sins and turn away from them, to make an attempt to sin no more.  We'll never achieve being sinless, we are human.  But each day if we try, we can get better at it.  Being Christian means we get do-overs, I like do-overs.

Remember an earlier verse I talked of, in John? 
7  When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8  Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.  9  At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10  Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"  11  "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."  John 8:7-11
Jesus showed compassion and forgiveness, and then asked her to go and sin no more, to repent.  Whatever sin we have, whatever problem we have, we need to acknowledge it, then ask Him for help to turn things around for us.

UFC 123 picks...

Machida over Rampage
Hughes over Penn
Satiropoulos over Lauzon

The curtain torn...

 36  One man ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down," he said.  37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.  38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!"  Mark 15:36-39

Why was the curtain torn in two?  Some believe it was the curtain inside the temple that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple.  Only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and then only enter it once a year to offer a sacrifice to God for the sins of the people.  When Jesus died, the curtain was no longer needed, as the way to God was now through Jesus.

Others compare it to the verse below, when Jesus was baptized:

9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."  Mark 1:9-11

There were two curtains in the temple, one at the entrance of the temple, the outer veil, and one separating the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple, the inner veil. The curtain at the entrance of the temple was said to be a Babylonian tapestry with a pictorial of the heavens on it.  And because the centurion saw Jesus die and and then he saw the curtain tear, that it was the outer veil that he had to see.  Mark may have compared the two, baptism and death, as the bookends of Jesus' ministry on earth.  Or, he may have thought of both instances as respective beginnings for Jesus.  The opening of the heavens at his baptism as the beginning of his earthly ministry, and the tearing of the temple curtain as the beginning of his real reason, to save those who believe in Him as Savior. The centurion may have been the first saved.

Roadwork...

Being a Christian is a lot like road construction.  Life with Him is a continual process; wake up, ask Him back, wake up, ask Him back, wake up, ask Him back.  We are human, and we will fail.  But He will always accept us back (the Bible says with wide open arms) if we are truly sorry for our daily failures.  We are not perfect, only One was/is, Jesus, and no amount of religiousness can make us perfect.  But in Christ, unlike any religion, we can have constant do-overs, and with each do-over, we'll get better at it.  Then, at the end of our time here on earth, we we will be able to put up the road sign, "End of construction, thanks for Your patience!"

Predestination...

When you start to really break down the nuts and bolts of the Bible, you will start seeing a lot about Predestination in it.  Paul talks about the "Elect" a lot, meaning we are chosen by God, we didn't chose him.  Jesus says that His sheep will hear the Shepherd's call, again, He chose you, you didn't choose Him, you just heard the call.  I have no problem with God foreknowing everything, He created it all.  The Bible talks about Predestination, and the Bible is the inerrant word of God, so it is true.  But, banter back and forth about such things need not worry us, disagreement on it need not pull the people in Christ apart.  I like Martin Luther's view on the subject, "it's true, but don't fret about it, give it to God".  Luther's take on the subject can be read here; http://www.orlutheran.com/html/mlpredestination.html

No mere man...

42 Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?” 43 So there was a division among the people because of Him. 44 Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him. 45 Then the officers (soldiers) came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?”  46 The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this Man!”   John 7:42-46 

7:46 The uniqueness of Jesus, “I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man.  Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison.  Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have founded empires.  But on what did we rest the creations of our genius?  Upon force.  Jesus Christ founded His empire upon love; and at this hour millions of  [people] would die for Him.”  Napoleon Bonaparte

The Word in the sand...

2  At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3  The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group  4  and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5  In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6  They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.  But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7  When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8  Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.  9  At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.10  Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"  11  "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."   
John 8:2-11

What was he writing on the ground?  Some say, because he is God, he was proving his knowledge to the accusers by writing their sins in full view for all to see.  Others say he may have been listing the 10 commandments, each commandment as convicting of sin as the other.  This is probably the correct view as God wrote the 10 commandments (The Law) for Moses with His finger,  Exodus 31:18.  The Law was written in stone, uncompromising.  Jesus wrote them in the sand, removable (or forgivable thru Him).  Oh, oh, religious people were starting to get ticked.  This Guy was claiming to be able to forgive sin, only God could do that in the Law (the Old Testament).

The first miracle...

6  Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.  7  Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim.  8  Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet."  They did so,  9  and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside  10  and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."  11  This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.   John 2:6-11

The significance of the first miracle?  In the Old Testament, Exodus 7:20, the turning of water into blood was the first of the public miracles that Moses did in Egypt. Moses’ miracle was one of destruction, a payment for sin.  In the New Testament (or in the Good News), turning the water into wine was the first of the public miracles that Jesus did.  Not only did he turn water into wine, it was the best wine, served last, a taste of the Messiah come to earth.  It was served in the “washing jars”.   My take on the "washing jars"?  This signifies that the forgiveness of sins is to be done by Him.

"I’ve tried to read the Bible, but I can’t understand it." I've heard this said before.

"A person who isn't spiritual doesn't accept the teachings of God's Spirit.  He thinks they're nonsense.  He can't understand them because a person must be spiritual to evaluate them."  1 Corinthians 2:14

 

The Scriptures tell us that the "natural man" cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God. Most of us would find it difficult to understand the Chinese language. However, a child who is born into a Chinese family can understand every word. That’s why you must be born again with God’s Spirit living within you (John 3:3  Jesus replied to Nicodemus, "I can guarantee this truth: No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above."). The moment you become part of God’s family, the Bible will begin to make sense.

Genesis 22:1-14 Worth the long read...

1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"  "Here I am," he replied.  2 Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."  3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."  6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together,  7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"  "Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.   "The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"   8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.  9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"   "Here I am," he replied.  12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."   13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."  Genesis 22:1-14 NIV

The "region of Moriah" is not a single peak, not even a mountain.  It is a ridge of hills that runs through the city of Jerusalem.  The highest hill in the ridge is Golgotha (Calvary) at 777', where the crucifixion of Jesus is thought to have taken place. "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."

In the beginning was the WORD...

"In the beginning the Word already existed.  The Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was already with God in the beginning.  Everything came into existence through Him.  Not one thing that exists was made without Him."  John 1:1-3

One thing I've always struggled with is the Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  3 being 1 and 1 being 3.  John says that Jesus was able to tell God's message to people accurately because Jesus was fully God and fully man at the same time.  How could this be?  But again, John tells us that Jesus (the Word) ALWAYS was, He was there with God in the beginning.  And Jesus told the disciples that He ALWAYS will be.  The Always with us being the Holy Spirit with us, or Jesus with us.  But what about the beginning, was He there with God as John claims?  We don't have to read very far into the Bible to find out.

Then God said, "Let US make humans in OUR image, in OUR likeness.  Let them rule the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the domestic animals all over the earth, and all the animals that crawl on the earth."  Genesis 1:26

Ironically, this passage was pointed out to us by a Mormon who was trying to show that many gods exist in heaven.  But we knew better, this was the first time we ever saw evidence of the Trinity in the Bible.  We were always taught about it, but there it was, right before us in the beginning.

Here is a good site to visit to hear some great philosophers of this era talk about the beginning of the world; http://fixed-point.org/index.php/video/35-full-length/164-the-dawkins-lennox-debate;