So What's Wrong With a Little Bread?

Ok, so I admit, with Christmas and shopping, and tons of snow, and Christmas Eve service, etc., etc., etc. - I didn't do a very good job of keeping up on my blog. Sorry about that.

Any way, we come today to a passage of scripture (Luke 4:1-15) that has always baffled me just a little bit. I understand what Jesus was saying about and worshiping only God and not testing God - test number two and three seem very straightforward. Of course it would have been wrong for Jesus to do either one of those, but even today as I reread this passage again - I found myself asking - what was so wrong about the idea of Jesus turning a stone into bread to feed himself after not eating for 40 days.

Man shall not live by bread alone - in no way implies that man can't eat bread. I have heard and read in the past that the issue was the fact that Jesus would have been misusing His abilities and position as the Son of God to provide for His physical needs. And while there may be something to that, I think there is more to it than just that.

Jesus responds to this temptation by quoting from Deut. 8:3 where Moses is reminding the people of Israel how God provided for their physical needs to teach them to depend upon and obey the word of God. To me this makes me think of a few things - The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tested - for Jesus to take matters into His own hands and either leave the wilderness early or provide food for Himself earlier than the Spirit led him to would have been a sin. I don't think that it had necessarily anything to do with turning a stone to bread, but rather the sin would have been to stop following the Lord and take matters into His own hands. How often do we do this? We go someplace confidently believing that "God led us" or "God told us" to do something but then when we get in the mix we find out that it is hard and we convince ourselves that just because it is hard, God must be leading us to do something different.

God is not a fickle God that changes His mind on a whim. If God leads you somewhere to do something - chances are pretty good that He will not lead you to do something different until you have accomplished your initial calling. If you believe that God is calling you to do something different, you have to ask yourself if you have accomplished everything that God called you to accomplish at the outset.

The other thing that comes to mind is that even if it wasn't wrong for Jesus to turn a rock into bread the motivation for doing so came from Satan, not from God. The moral here is that if we do the right things for the wrong reasons it is still wrong. I'll let you ponder that one for a while - I would love to hear your thoughts on why it would have been wrong for Jesus to turn a stone into bread.

It's Good to be a Sheep

In Jeremiah 23, the Lord refers to His people as His sheep. This was in no way intended to be a slam or a put down.

As someone who grew up with sheep let me be honest - I used to say that sheep were stupid - and in a way - they are. I remember once watching as a bunch of sheep ran down the alley of our corral. There was a spot in the fence where the sun shone through and caused a sunbeam break in the shadows. Each and everyone of those stupid sheep jumped over that beam. Another time I remember holding a board out in front of the lead sheep trying to get it to stop - of course the sheep just jumped over it. In frustration, I took the board away but was amazed as each and every one of the remaining sheep also jumped over the place where I had previously been holding the board. Another way that sheep are stupid is they will stick their head through the smallest possible hole in a fence and proceed to push and shove until they get their whole body through.

The more I think about it though - a couple of things come to mind. Sheep are followers. For us as people - this can be good or this can be bad. We have to ask ourselves - if we are sheep and if we are following - what or who are we following? How do we know that we are following the right thing? How do we know that we are jumping at the right spot or over the right thing?

That is why it is so important to know the voice of God and follow the voice of God. In the New Testament - the bible says that Jesus is the Good Shepherd - and that his sheep know his voice and follow his voice. The only way that we can get to know his voice is to listen to it - over and over and over again.

The other great thing about being a sheep and having a shepherd is that when we get scared and when we get scattered by wolves and we find ourselves lost - we can be assured that the Good Shepherd will come and find us and rescue us. He will also hunt down the wolves that prey on us.

Thank You Jesus

Today's scripture reading, Isaiah 52:13-53:12, is perhaps one of my most favorite passages of scripture. Let me share a short story with you that will perhaps help you understand why.

One of my professors in college was a Messianic Jew (that means that he was Jewish by birth and heritage, but he had come to believe and know that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah). One day in class, he relayed a story of an Evangelical Christian and a Jewish Rabbi that were friends (I'm not sure if the Christian he was referring to was himself or not). This Christian and Rabbi always had good discussions about religion and the differences between Christianity and Judaism. One day the Christian asked if he could read something to the Rabbi and proceeded to reed Isaiah 53 without telling the Rabbi where it came from. When he was done, the Christian asked the Rabbi if he knew who the passage was talking about. The Rabbi said that clearly the passage was talking about Jesus. The Christian said - that is correct, now do you know what I am reading? The Rabbi either said that He didn't or guessed something out of the New Testament. The Christian then told the Rabbi that he was in fact reading from the Jewish scriptures (known as the Tanakh) - specifically from the Prophet Isaiah. The Rabbi was totally blown away - and it was only a few short weeks before this Rabbi also professed faith in Jesus Christ as the Messiah.

Many people do not realize that the Jewish Scriptures are identical in content to the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. This passage of scripture is so clearly talking about Jesus that for a long time there was a huge group of scholars that believed that at least that part of the book of Isaiah had been written after the death and burial of Jesus Christ - but in 1947 the first of the Dead Sea scrolls was uncovered. Amidst the more than 800 scrolls uncovered was a complete copy of every book of the Old Testament including a complete copy of Isaiah. Most scholars agree that the Dead Sea scrolls were buried as early as the 2nd century BC - which of course predates Jesus.

Ok enough history. Now for just a few of my thoughts on this.

Jesus proved himself over and over to be an expert on the Jewish scriptures. This particular passage is pretty graphic when it comes to what is going to happen to the Servant of God. Jesus had to have known exactly what was in store for him - 52:14 indicates that he will be beaten and so disfigured that he won't even be recognizable (have you seen The Passion of the Christ?). 53:10 says that it was God's will to crush Him.

Why did this all have to happen? Because of our sins. Jesus knew all of this was going to happen and He chose to go through it so that we could be counted as righteous in the sight of the Lord.

Wow - it really puts "MERRY CHRISTMAS" into context doesn't it.

Wow that's a bit confusing

This should be fun. I am once again posting from my blackberry and my thums already hurt - so I'm going to keep it short.

Isaiah 40:1-11, like much of the rest of Isaiah contains prophecy that is yet to be fulfilled. As such it is not something that we should read and be alarmed by. It is in fact something that should bring us encouragement and hope.

For instance in Isaiah 40 I see a couple of things. First, no matter how hard it gets, God is in control and there will be a day when the entire Earth comes under submission to Him. I can't wait.

The other thing that I love is the statement that no matter what else happens. The word of the Lord endures forever. Always hang onto the word of thr Lord.

Even when the Bible seems difficult to understand, look for the small truths that you can pull out and apply to your life. The more you read the more you will understand.

Catching Up

Today's reading in Psalm 132:11-18 culminated in a revelation for me that has been building as I read through Amos over the past week. (And I must admit that I didn't read everyday - but I did catch up and read the whole thing today - does that count for anything?)

This revelation stems from a conversation that I had with a friend a while back. This friend commented that in the Old Testament people followed God because they were scared of Him. In the New Testament - and on into our present time - we follow God because He loves us. He stated that the God of the Old Testament was a God of wrath and vengeance, but the God of the New Testament was a God of love.

Well, reading through the book of Amos, you could definitely see that. But I must point out - that the book of Amos is written as a warning. How many of us that are parents ever give our kids warnings - probably way more than they deserve - and that is in fact what God did - over and over and over again. Countless chances to change their behavior. In fact generations and generations of chances.

The warnings started when David was King and that is what we see in our reading of Psalms today. God said - IF YOUR SONS KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS - they will sit on the throne of Israel forever.

Well Solomon, the first son of David to sit on the throne of Israel blew that by the end of his life - just goes to show you what too many wives will get ya :)

Anyway, my point is that the what we see in the Old Testament that demonstrates the wrath of God is simply a consequence of disobedience. They brought it upon themselves and we continue to do the same thing today.

The good news is that as we read through Amos and the rest of the OT, we can see over and over again the promise of God that if we change our attitudes and our behavior, we may once again find ourselves in the good graces of God.

The other thing that I feel compelled to point out in toady's reading is that God states that what He wants is for Zion (Jerusalem) to be His resting place and for the sons of David to sit forever on the throne. Well that didn't happen, obviously, hmmmm...... I will just let you ponder that one for a while.

Don't Shoot the Messenger

Amos 6 offers what is to me a haunting picture of what we as Americans have become. The prophet is warning the people of Israel/Judah of complacency and arrogance when it comes to fearfully following the Lord. The people had become so secure in their place as "God's Chosen People" that they believed themselves to be untouchable.

We as American's are in a similar place. We are a country founded on faith in God and biblical values - and yet we are no longer a Christian nation. We are living in a post-Christian era where God is no longer given top priority by people in positions of power and authority within our nation. We need more Christian leaders, businessmen, and politicians who are willing to stand up for the truth and say - I will not give up, back down, or let go - I am standing up for what is right - I will not compromise on my beliefs or my values.

The only time that God can judge a nation is this side of heaven. If we don't change our ways - if we don't turn and stop relying on or past greatness to save us - God will cast Judgement upon our nation. We must turn and seek God and perhaps He will spare us.

Do run run, yaaahh ya Do run run

Well I'm back - I hope that you have all continued reading along with our Powered by 4 reading plan. I have had a crazy last week - with Thanksgiving, family visits, the close of Deer season and life in general. I apologize for not keeping up on the blog over the past week.

A couple of fleeting thoughts over the past few days reading. Psalms is poetry - never forget that - it is not meant as doctrine or deep Theological reading - but it can offer us tremendous insight into the character of God as well as the lives of the various authors. I have never really known much about the descendants of Korah, but Psalm 42 - 46 remind us that the Lord is trustworthy even when life seems really tough. When we can't see or feel God at work in or around us - He is still with us. Put your trust in Him.

The book of Amos kind of builds on this theme - today's reading in Amos 5:1-17, reminds me that no matter what I have done, no matter how far I have strayed from God - if I turn to Him and praise Him - if I trust Him when my life is in shambles because of the stupid mistakes and choices that I have made - He is faithful and will forgive me.

That doesn't mean that I am let off of the hook when it comes to suffering the consequences of my choices, but I am forgiven and loved by God no matter what I have done. And maybe, just maybe if I turn and run hard enough and long enough in the direction that God wants me to go - perhaps, I will reach a point where the good things and the blessings in my life outweigh the pain and sorrow that I have brought upon myself.

If there is just one or two verses that you remember from today's reading - let it be Amos 5:14-15.

Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live! Then the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will be your helper, just as you have claimed. Hate evil and love what is good; turn your courts into true halls of justice. Perhaps even yet the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will have mercy on the remnant of his people. (Amos 5:14-15, NLT)