25 September 2015

Scriptures:

• Luke 18:31-19:27
• Ezekiel 16
• 2 Samuel 14:25-15:12
• Psalm 55

Observations:

In the Luke passage, we see a few things going on. First, Jesus predicts his death to the disciples. Second, we see two instances of faith, the first of the blind man, who recognised Jesus as the Son of David, the Messiah, and the second of Zaccheus, the tax collector whose desire to see Jesus led him to climb a tree just to see him and was changed by his interaction with Christ. Last, we see a parable which reflects into this time, of a king to be crowned who goes away and leaves a portion of money with a number of servants. While away, some individuals conspire against him to prevent his crowning. When he returns, he asks of the servants what they did with the money given them. To those who returned a greater portion, he gave rulership of cities. To the one who returned no profit, he chastised and gave the capital to the one who returned greatest, before turning to he slaughter of his enemies.

In the Ezekiel passage, we see the analogy of Jerusalem as an infant raised by God, in adulthood, taken in covenant by God, and who has whored herself out to other gods. We see the punishment heaped upon Jerusalem and the comparison of Jerusalem's iniquity against that of righteous-seeming Sodom and Samaria. Lastly, we see the issuance of a promise for an eventual, eternal restoration that would come.

In 2 Samuel, we see the rise of Absalom, the handsome, as he attempts to undermine the rule of his father, David.

In the psalm, we see David appealing to God for succour. By all appearances, it seems as though someone close to him has betrayed him, yet David casts this burden upon the Lord and leaves the vengeance to him.

Application:

Firstly, I love the imagery of the Ezekiel passage - it is one that always will stand out to me and is still of immense applicative value today.

Secondly, I really like how the blind man in Luke was healed by his faith. If we look at what the man said about Jesus, we see that, most immediately, he believes that Jesus can heal him, but, more importantly, we see him acknowledging Jesus as God. When is the last time I actually acknowledged God as the almighty God when I asked something of him?

Thirdly, I think this is really the first time any talet-ish parable has made sense to me in a post-resurrection, pre-return sense. Now is the time in which we should be investing that which is given to us and combating those saying Jesus is undeserving of kingship. We must take the Gospel, the seed of our faith to those around us and invest it, making it grow in others, returning a yield, a harvest, of more disciples - this is not a numbers game, mind you. We're not talking about flag-stamping everything, but about cultivating a harvest, a field of new believers, fully equipped to do the same. At the end, we see the rewards given to those who have invested that which was given to us, akin to the crown which Paul talks about us receiving in 2 Tim 4:8, and 1 Cor 9:25. At the same time, we will see the utter defeat of the king's enemies, the false prophets and forces of Satan.

My application, then: first, let me not take lightly the gifts given to me - let me not entrust them to other, false gods, but instead, let me invest them into the harvest, keeping faithfully to the work given to me. Second, let me cultivate the pure, unadorned, simple faith of the blind man, who trusted completely in God's power to work, where I know God could work, but my doubts and skeptical realism occlude such a pure completeness of faith.

Prayer:

Lord, where do I begin?

Remind me of your power, Lord. Give me a glimpse of your ability to work and act beyond all wisdom and sense of man. I desire to see your glory, yet my fear of your greatness prevents me from genuinely asking to bask in your presence. Forgive me for my sin of self, that I would prefer to maintain what mortal faculties and presence I have than obliterate myself in the face of your majesty. I count myself fortunate, Lord, that you even choose to speak to me and allow me to speak to you, yet I must ask: allow me to see just the train of your robe as you pass by with your splendour.

I know I profess much with my head and do little to affect or change my heart, the cowardice of my sins that holds vestige there, preying on my fear of change, keeping me from making the jump into unfettered faith, that I would become and live a self-less life, devoid of the flaws and foibles the characteristics that make me me, the sins that I bemoan, while finding myself returning to. The sinful aspect of myself fears its obliteration while that of me which has been redeemed and is sanctified would ask nothing greater than to be suffused with your presence, given over completely, such that I am no longer me, but your reflection.

Hammer out my impurities, Lord and bring to the fore, develop, that which you have invested in me. Let me be inspired by you, permeating the very core of my being. Yet again, Lord, do I open up my heart. I acknowledge the dark corners of fear and pet sins. I acknowledge that there are even sins my conscious will not alight upon for fear they be exposed and exterminated. Lord, bring these sins to light; disinfect my heart and soul. Bring full function back into my self, that I would be a complete whole, in full use of my every attribute, in strength, thought, emotion, and spirit.

Allow me to die more fully to myself, that the sins in me would quake at your presence and the flesh of others would grieve. 

Allow me to bring to you praise, true praise, such has not been uttered from my lips.

Hallelujah

Amen

24 September 2015

Scriptures:

• Luke 17:11-37
• Ezekiel 14-15
• 2 Samuel 14:1-24
• Psalm 54

Observations:

In the Luke passage, we see two teachable moments. The first is the case of Jesus healing the 10 lepers, with only the one, a Samaritan coming back to thank him. The second is Jesus talking about his returning, how it will be sudden and unexpected.

The Ezekiel passage is largely about punishment for those of Israel. It's a large edict against those who worship false idols, but come to the prophets for a word from God.

In the 2 Samuel passage, we see some of the beginnings of the strife with Absalom and how David ha to be shown what was going on.

In the psalm, we see David praising God for his upkeep and constant attention.

Application:

Honestly, I'm having a hard time putting everything together - I'm definitely a little - lotta - bit distracted. (no more quiet times in the lecture room before lectures begin) We have lessons in gratitude, preparedness, idolatry, intra-familial strife, and praise. 

There are a couple things, though, worth highlighting. The Ezekiel passage was talking specifically about coming before God with an idolater's heart. Similarly, we need to check our own hearts every time we come to God. Where do our priorities lie? Our work? Our finances? Our relationships? These things can also become idols. 

Funnily enough, this also plays into preparedness - are you ready for Christ to return? Are you engaged in the work he's given? Where is your heart - if he returned now, in what situation would you find yourself, the one taken or the one left?

Playing into the idea of preparedness, are we acknowledging God at all? Let us start with an attitude of gladness, of gratitude to God for the salvation he's given, never once taking anything for granted. From this base of gratitude, we can see all things flow, preparedness, denial of idolatry, even the manners by which we praise God and handle troubling affairs.

Prayer:

Lord, help me to have a heart of gratitude. Teach me to be cognisant of the work you did and the pain you endured to bring about my salvation. Let me not put anything before you in my heart and help me to be prepared for your coming - show me the work I need to be doing and help me in its performance.

Teach me to be a better student, husband, and youth leader. Help cover my deficits and make a glorious whole of my brokenness.

Give wisdom to my parents as they make their decision. Give grace to my sister - you know her situation better than I. Give endurance to both my brothers - one for his test, one for his cast. Give patience to my wife as she has to put up with me and my foibles.

I thank you and praise you for your nature and character.

Amen

21 September 2015

Scriptures:

• Luke 14
• Ezekiel 11:14-25
• 2 Samuel 11
• Psalm 51

Observations:

In the Luke passage, we see a collection of smaller teachings of Christ in two separate instances.
In Ezekiel, we see God promise a restoration of Israel from those scattered in disparate reaches, gathering them together in one spirit and renewing their hearts. However, those still desiring rebellion will not regain what was lost.
In 2 Samuel, we see David's fall as he had an affair with Bathsheba and arranged for her husband, one of his best warriors, to be killed in an attempt to cover it up.
The psalm today, coincidentally, is David's psalm to God after the Bathsheba incident. We see him praying up to God, asking for forgiveness and restoration of heart.

Application:

I really kinda see an element of Our sin, God's response, Our contrition, and God's restoration.

Our sin: We regularly sin against God, disobeying his commands and turning from him.
God's response: We deserve punishment, that is, death, for our offence.
Our contrition: God allows us to come to him in a state of brokenness, acknowledging our sin and asking forgiveness
God's restoration: Through Christ, our sins are atoned for, should we accept the sacrifice.

It's just a very good reminder of what our attitude should be towards our sin.

Prayer:

Lord, I am a sinner. My sins are present before me even now, as I sit trying to spend time with you. My various temptations, lusts, and sins are echoing through my head, as I am trying to pray. Help me to press onwards towards you, to overcome my sins. Give me the heart of humble contrition instead of resigned numbness. I want to honour you, but so often I feel like I am not.

Strengthen my wife today, as she works through both jobs and my parents as they try to make a wise decision that honours you.

Amen

18 September 2015

Scripture:

• Luke 12:13-48
• Ezekiel 8
• 2 Samuel 18
• Psalm 48

Observations:

In the Luke passage, we have a very pointed question posed: where is your value stored? What is the point of stockpiling material and wealth when your soul may be called into eternity this very night? Does not God provide the needs of the sparrows and the lilies? Instead, be ready, doing the work given to you, for God may decide to come at any time.

In Ezekiel, we see God showing Ezekiel the defilement happening in the temple, the reason, amongst others, for Jerusalem's fall.

In 2 Samuel, we see the geographic expansion of Israel under David's rule and the wealth of Israel as it grew from tribute and spoil.

The psalm today extols God for his majesty and presence. His power is such that other rulers see it and quake.

Application:

Again, like the last few days, it is the Luke passage which speaks more to me. I swear, God is trying to prepare me for a life in poverty, serving others from what little I have, relying on God for everything, as I show God's love for my neighbours, those poor, in need, or without access to medicine and the Gospel. This is something I need to pray about, along with my wife.

Prayer:

God, this message I seem to be receiving from you is indeed something honourable and praise-worthy to do, albeit, perhaps, slightly foolhardy to many today. I need confirmation that this is what you're calling my wife and I to. First, I ask that you'd put a very similar passion on her heart, to prompt a conversation with me as confirmation. Second, I ask that you would confirm this through my schooling, that either one of my classmates or professors would bring up this very subject to me on Monday.

I also pray for my wife, that you would restore her to health and bring her to a point better than where she was.

I pray, too for the rest of my family - give my parents wisdom in their decision, my sister guidance in turning to you, my brother endurance and recollection for his exams, and my other brother healing for his arm.

Be with my dean as he battles cancer and with the mother of my classmate, as she battles a bizarre illness.

Give me the wisdom to lead according to you and to reflect you to those around me, in school and in church.

Amen

17 September 2015

Scriptures:

• Luke 11:37-12:12
• Ezekiel 7
• 2 Samuel 7
• Psalm 47

Observations:

• Ezekiel 7:26

So, in this first passage, in Luke, we see Jesus dining with a pharisee, who calls him out on a small facet of the law that he did not observe. Jesus' response, however, targeted the hypocritical nature of the pharisees and teachers of the law in that they made such an ado about keeping to the appearance of not just the God-given law,  but their own, extraneous law for the appearance of holiness and to the revilement of the common man who would not be able to keep these extra laws. 

In Ezekiel, we see, the fall of Jerusalem, steeped in her sin and death.

In 2 Samuel, we see David, out of a willing heart, desiring to build God a temple, as he already had a nice home in which to live, but God's ark was still in a tent. God commended David for his heart and promised that, while he would not build the temple, his heir would and that his heirs would always be on the throne.
The psalm is praising God for being God, the Most High, who reigns over the earth, who chose Jerusalem and Judah amongst all the other nations.

So, here, we have Jerusalem and the Israelites, at their end, fallen state, and at their beginning. Once, they were seeking after God, praising God for his nature and how he chose Jerusalem, but, by the time of Ezekiel, Jerusalem was condemned to destruction as punishment for her sins and after the exile, in Christ's time, we see the proliferation of legalistic self-righteousness that grew out of the reaction to the punishment and exile and how it brought about a seeming of righteousness, but the sinful heart was still in place.

Application:

I think the application I can take from this is to do as Christ warned the church in Ephesus, to not forget my first love, to not lose sight of Christ as I grow in him, to not become empty and religious as a response to hardship, but to lean on him continually, having the whole, complete faith as a child.

Prayer:

Lord, thank you for this reminder to remain in a whole love with you. Help me keep this love open, that it would not wither into an empty husk, but would remain vibrant.

Teach me also how to do the same for my wife.

I also pray for my wife as she's not feeling 100%. Bring her healing and grant the doctor wisdom tomorrow, that a solution would be reached.

Give wisdom to my parents in their decision they have to make

Amen

16 September 2015

Scriptures:

• Luke 11:1-36
• Ezekiel 6
• 2 Samuel 6
• Psalm 46

Observations:

• Luke 11:13
• Luke 11:34

The Luke passage today is a collection of small encounters, but the two passages listed above stood out to me. Part of it is because there is a very real, palpable spiritual struggle going on that I am battling. The other part, well, one is a word of hope that we, though we are sinful know how to give good things, so how much more would God, who is perfectly good be able to do so, and the other is a caution and warning to remain spiritually healthy, to not allow your spiritual eyes to become occluded. This is something that I am reminded of today, as I attempt new strategies to not simply run from sin, but to engage it and move past it, relying on God to see me through. These strategies, I am coming to realise will and do put me in the line of fire, so there is ever more reason to carry with me the shield of faith.

In Ezekiel 6, we see the results of generations of sinfulness, of increasingly hardened hearts and occluded eyes. 

Incidentally, in 2 Samuel, we see both a hardened heart and a tender heart. David, brought the ark into Jerusalem with singing and dancing, himself leading the throng. Michal, his wife, however, scorned David for his self-abasement, not recognising his worship of God and was never blessed with any children throughout her marriage.

In the psalm, we see praise given to God for his strength, refuge, and victorious nature - something that is always good to remain mindful of.

Application:

Well, I need to keep my eyes on God, keep in God's word, first of all. Secondly, I have the reminder from the psalm of God's victoriousness. As I engage in warfare, I can and should be confident of God, just as I should be spending time with him daily and throughout the day to be equiped to wage war. I see the example of Michal and the punishment of Jerusalem and recognise that I want my sin to be relieved from me, that I would not be weighed down by my sins, to risk falling back into them, but I desire freedom.

Prayer:

Lord, thank you for your victory. Thank you for the strength you provide.

As I engage more seriously in spiritual warfare against my own sins, I ask for wisdom and insight into the deep-seated causes, facilitators, and enablers of my sin. Enable me to more effectively combat my temptations by pressing onward towards you, not focusing on myself, cowering behind your forgiveness. Help me to face my temptations and quell them instead of running, but let me do so with wisdom, not by simply allowing myself to gratify the temptation as a means of desensitising or deflating the temptation, but the rather see the temptation, acknowledge it, and rebuke it. I'm still trying to decipher what this means in practice anyways, but give me wisdom.

Grant my wife patience as well. This is likely to be a long process and trying to her. Help her to persevere with both jobs and to be able to serve you. Give her opportunities to connect better within the church and to engage in ministries tailored to the skills you have given her.

Be with my parents, Lord. Grant them the wisdom about their future. Do they stay overseas or return to the USA? Do they remain with their senders or become independents? These are answers they need to questions that feature very prominently right now.

Be with my sister, Lord, as she's engaging in choices that do not reflect you or truly honour you. Help her to find the stable root in you that she's been without.

Amen

15 September 2015

Scriptures:

• Luke 10:25-42
• Ezekiel 5:5-17
• 2 Samuel 5
• Psalm 45

Observations:

• Ezekiel 5:7-9

Ah, I love this passage in Luke. Here, we have one who is familiar with the law and who understands it asking Christ for some interpretation. He knows that the summation of the law is to love God and Love your neighbours (paraphrased), but he's asking for clarification on who his neighbour is. Jesus' response: the person in need. Period. End of story. (it really plays off of yesterday's reading, but I'll get to that later).

In Ezekiel, God gets real serious. In a complete opposite tone, we see God explaining the reason for Jerusalem's punishment. Not only are they wicked and breaking God's law, but they are so wicked, they make the surrounding nations, already very wicked by God's standard, look good. In response, God is about to unleash a punishment on Jerusalem which he had never done yet and never would do afterwards.

In 2 Samuel, we see David's coronation and the strength of his rule, as God was with him (note, this is all pre-Bathsheba). In the psalm, we see, somewhat differently, a praise given to the king, for he follows God and is honoured by God.

Application:

So, it's really interesting to see the contrast from the psalm and beginning of David's reign to the destruction wreaked upon Jerusalem for its wickedness - shows how far something that was started off well can fall.

On another bent, I really, really want to focus on the Luke passage. Yesterday, we were seeing the qualities of what true missional action looks like and last week, we saw what exactly love looks like. Today, we see where love and selfless missional living meet. Who is your neighbour? The person living next to you, the guy in the car in front of you, the random dude on the other end of the phone at the call centre, the random person living on the street on the other half of the globe. These are all your neighbours. So, we must love them, we must go and teach them about God and share his love to them. That is missional living. In this passage, a Samaritan, who was reviled by and reviled the Jews came to the aid, at his own expense, of a Jewish man. There is so much we can learn here, if we only live and walk in obedience.

Prayer:

Lord, give me the heart of this Samaritan. Help me to grow in my understanding of your love and in both showing your love to others and in actually loving others as you love them. Give me the boldness to go out and witness as you commanded, and give me the heart to love sacrificially.

Lord, spread this love and understanding around me. As I grow, help others to understand and to join in: the kids at youth, my classmates, my wife. Help us to come together in your word and in our love to make a difference here.

Be with my parents, Lord, as they are praying over a life-changing decision. Communicate your will to them - whether they should stay or go, whether or not their ministry field is changing.

Be with my wife as we prepare for some next steps in our lives, getting ready for her to return to school. Help me to understand and appreciate her better. Give me the wisdom to speak well, and the love to love passionately. Help me to better support her in this.

Amen