How to Experience the Glory of God... Like a Woman

Matthew 28:8-10 

And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.”

Several weeks ago, I wrote about Experiencing the Glory of God like a Shepherd.  Shepherds were the some of the lowliest members of Jewish society at the time that Jesus was born, and yet God chose to appear to them in the fields through the presence of angels.  He didn't go to the rich, the powerful, the famous.  He went to the stinky nobodies, and brought them to His Son, who was born in a place to house animals.  With this in mind, it is really striking to realize that at the end (sort-0f) of Christ's life and the beginning of ours in Him, God chose to announce the resurrection to others who were lowly in the eyes of the society of the day: women.

You would think if Jesus was to resurrect, the first people He'd tell were His disciples.  Especially the three He was closest to: Peter, James and John.  It seems as if Peter and James were the first men to find out about the resurrection, but the first to find out were the women who went to bring spices to the tomb.  I am not an expert on Jewish customs or the political situation of the times, but I wonder why it wasn't the men who were bringing spices to what would have been believed to be the rotting, stinking corpse of Jesus.  It is kind of like how women are usually the ones washing dishes at a church gathering, I think.

I know that women in that culture and that day were socially inferior to men.  They had less rights, were less educated, and generally did not have any sort of social power.  Yet, the God of the Universe and the God of that people decided to tell them that Jesus had risen from the dead through another angel, and Jesus Himself even appeared to them.  I find it even more interesting that their first reaction was to worship and know who Jesus was while the men did not recognize him at first (such as on the Road to Emmaus) and some of them, like Thomas, doubted fiercely the news. 

In fact, in Luke 24:8-11, we find out the women were trying to tell the disciples about the resurrection of Jesus.  Verse 11 says, "But these words appeared to them [the disciples] as nonsense, and they would not believe them."  Finally, after Jesus revealed himself, it seems the disciples accepted what had happened.

I don't know that this scenario is necessarily about gender.  I don't think God favors men or women one above the other.  I think, instead, that this God-act reveals an aspect about the nature of God that we can see in his revelation to the shepherds.  God's ways aren't our ways-- He didn't go to the powerful and obvious, but He revealed Himself to those who would take joy in His presence and worship Him.  He valued the women, who in that society would have lesser value, so much that He chose to trust them with the revelation rather than the men who spent so much time with Him. God chose to reveal Himself first to the lowly and the humble, to those who were not self-sufficient, and those who would be receptive to him.  Then He opened the eyes of the rest.

In today's circumstances, this translates into purposefully seeking to have a heart that is receptive, so we can be the first that God reveals Himself to--His thoughts, and His glory.  It is also a demonstration of how we ourselves are to love and view others.  If we value those that God marks as valuable, if we have open, receptive hearts, if we pursue the right things such as going to the tomb (rather than whatever the disciples were doing, inside, away), then  we, ourselves, can experience the glory of God like the women at the tomb.

Snakes and Scorpions: Gifts from the Father

Luke 11:11-13 Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?  Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?  If you the, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?

I have always thought these verses would make the best short film.  You have this cute African American kid sitting at a counter top in a multi-million dollar home, drinking some milk.  It’s morning, and Dad is in the kitchen opening cupboards, and then the fridge.

            “What you want for breakfast, little man?” the father asks in a deep, throaty voice.

            “I would like an egg,” the kid says in the most adorable, high pitched voice.  It melts your heart like the butter the dad throws in the pan the next moment.  The kid drinks his milk, and you hear the sound of sizzling like an egg frying.  You can imagine the wonderful smell.  There is nothing more wonderful than the smell of a hot breakfast in the morning.

            You see the kid, sitting at the counter, expecting a nice, hot egg fried in butter.  Then you see the father come toward the kid with a frying pan.  You don’t see the contents of the pan, but you know it’s the egg.  What a wonderful, touching moment.  The African American kid sings a song to himself about how yummy the egg will be.

            Suddenly, the camera zooms from the kid’s perspective and the father drops something on to the kid’s plate.  It is so fast, you can’t see it at first, but all you hear is the kid screaming at the top of his lungs.  The camera cuts to a different angle, and you see a live scorpion on the plate while some sort of horror music plays. 

            Suddenly, the camera cuts to a close-up of the father laughing in an evil, mad-scientist sort of way.

            The short film ends with white words on black:

“If your kid asks for an egg, will you give him a scorpion?”

            New screen, white words on black:

            “How much more will your Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

            It’s evil, I know, but I cannot help but picturing this short film every time I read this verse.

            It’s kind of random, but while I was on a Bible-reading schedule, I could not help but notice that on the same day, I read several other verses about scorpions that seemed to fit right into the idea of God’s good gifts to us.  Not too much earlier, in Luke 10:19, Jesus says:

“I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.”

            Imagine if the father in the short film was able to empower the son to trample on snakes and scorpions the way that Jesus empowered us and His disciples.  I think the film would have quite a different ending.

            You would see the dad come toward the kid with the frying pan, and you would be thinking it was an egg.  You’d still get the surprise of seeing the live scorpion drop onto the plate, but then you would get a further shock of (director’s choice), the kid laughing just as evilly, like it was a good joke, and leaping onto the counter to trample on the scorpion, OR, the child could pick up the scorpion, lick his lips, and eat it with the sound of a crunching exoskeleton (your choice).  The ending screens would read:

“If your kid asks for an egg, will you give him a scorpion?”

            “How much more will your Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

            “In fact, He has ‘given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.’”

            I couldn’t help but wonder at the fact that I came across an earlier assurance of God towards his servant Ezekial in regards to scorpions.  In Ezekial 2:6, God tells this prophet, “And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words.  Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions.  Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people.”

            I could not imagine “living among scorpions”.  That is probably one of the more terrifying things I can think of.  I remember a woman I met whose husband was in the military.  She had just moved to a southern state with scorpions from a northern one without them.  One day, she said she opened the front door and there was a scorpion on her porch.  She screamed, shut and bolted the door and cancelled all her plans for the day until her husband came home and removed the scorpion from her porch.

            I don’t know if I would be that afraid of them, but they are a frightening prospect.  I remember hearing one time of a man who was stung by a scorpion that had climbed on a plane.  I think he had to be hospitalized.  And to have live among them?  That is scary.

            But imagine if you had to live among them, and you were the child empowered by his father to trample on them (or even eat them).  I imagine the short video could end with both the father and son laughing evilly, and then doing battle on the scorpions that lived outside, like some science fiction movie (which would make this short film project pretty high budget, I think, so if I ever made it, I would probably stick to the first two ideas).

            Anyway, the point is that one of the gifts God has given to us is that we don’t need to be afraid when we walk in His authority.  In a sense, God has given us the snakes and scorpions and we own them.  He told his prophet not to fear hundreds of years before he empowered his people to trample on them.  Throughout the ages, His will for us and intent towards us remains the same.

            Maybe we won’t face scorpions on our front porches or for the breakfast entre, but there are many things in life that can be akin to scorpions.  There are many challenges in this world and hard times that might come.  The great thing as that with God, who loves us like a loving father who would give his child an egg if they asked for it for breakfast, we are empowered to face the figurative snakes and scorpions that come our way. And the best gift of all is that we have His presence, which goes with us throughout each day, which is much better than any ol' fried egg.

             

How to Be An Awesome Minor Character, Part 2

Luke Chapter 2 tells about the amazing birth of Christ and how God reached out to lowly shepherds to be the first to announce the coming of the savior.  It also details a second story of Jesus being presented at the temple, and how Joseph and Mary received encouragement and confirmation regarding the identity of Jesus.  Being that Luke, the writer of the book, was a doctor, it is very likely that he included this part to show how outside sources, independently acting people, confirmed the identity of Christ, making the entire story more plausible. 

The first person Luke uses to confirm Christ’s identity is a minor character named Simeon, a devout man who was told by God that he would live to see the Messiah.  Luke also details the story of another minor character with an equally amazing story.  This character was a prophet named Anna, a woman.

I like that God used Anna, merely for the fact that the culture of the time was a male-dominated culture.  I personally think this reflects on an aspect of how God wanted His people.  There is an importance in male leadership, even if this topic might have been distorted over the years by our flesh, and it very well could have been misused by the Jewish people.  Whatever the case may be, God chose a woman prophet as a minor character in the story of Jesus.

In Part 1 of How to Be An Awesome Minor Character, I proposed that while a personal relationship with Jesus is important, it might be more accurate to view the story of our lives as being about Jesus, as the main character, like this chapter, and not with us being the heroes, as our self-centered, fleshliness might like.  With this perspective, it is easier to cast away the sins of pride and fear.  Anna is another example to us as to how we could become awesome minor characters in God’s story.

Anna was incredible as she devoted her entire life to God.  Verse 37 says “She never left the temple but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying.”  That’s dedication for you.  Like Simeon, she devoted much of her time to the Lord.

Anna was very old, so she had lived a long time before we meet her.  What happened in those years, we do not know.  What we do know is that she was married for seven years only and then she was a widow until she was eighty-four.  We do not know at what point in her life she was married, if it was recently or very early on.  We do not know if she had a happy marriage.  We do know that somehow, sometime, she experienced a very deep loss and then she never married again.  What did Anna do with her pain?  She sought the Lord with her whole being.

When Mary and Joseph came to the temple with the Savior of the Universe, Anna was no stranger to the ways of God.  She had saturated herself in His presence.  She could sense the presence of God and told everyone around that he would redeem Jerusalem.  She confirmed the identity of the Savior, she who had lost love and some kind of respectability in her culture, for married women had status and security in those times.
While perhaps not all of us are like Anna or are called to live lives like her, I think we can take from her life the lesson that if we want to be awesome minor characters in God’s story, we need to take what has been given to us, accept what has been taken, and still glorify God for it.  We may not understand pain or things that happen, and life may not go our way, but ultimately if we seek God and keep our hearts soft toward him, we will fulfill our purpose, even if that is to speak one word of truth.  We may not see our purpose at the moment, and perhaps our days may be dark and dreary in the eyes of society, and maybe our days may not be what we would have wished, but ultimately, in the end, the story will be the most beautiful if we surrender our days to God.

How to Be An Awesome Minor Character, Part 1

It’s all about the hero’s journey.  A call to adventure, discovery, an epic battle, transformation, return to normal life.  We are all warriors, and God is writing our epic story.  We are the heroes, and the center of the universe… oh wait.  Maybe not the center of the universe, but pretty central, anyway.  At least, for me, everything I am involved in, I am there (unless I have fallen asleep or am daydreaming).

            When we read the Bible, we look for ourselves in it, how God has predestined us or chosen us before the foundations of the universe, and how we are to become all that we can be.  It’s typically on an individual level, this looking for ourselves in the Bible.  Our individual promises.  Our individual call to destiny.

            Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that we don’t have an awesome, amazing identity in Christ.  I am not saying we don’t have an individual relationship with the Creator of the Universe.  A personal relationship and understanding and experience of God’s love are central to the Christian experience.  But not many people take a moment to think that perhaps the story that we are involved in doesn’t center around us.  Perhaps we are not the main characters.  Perhaps we are the supporting characters.  The important minor character in someone else’s story, set there to change the course of their lives.

            I am not undermining each person’s individual life.  I am not saying God isn’t writing a story in each of us and that each person doesn’t have a purpose.  But I am challenging the “all about me” perspective that I have too.  What if it is not about you or I.  What if the main character is supposed to be Jesus?

            I’ve recently read Luke Chapter 2.  The first part is the very familiar Christmas story about the angels appearing to shepherds keeping their flocks in the fields at night, Mary is treasuring things in her heart.  It’s a long chapter, and my Bible at least breaks it up at verse 22 into another story about Jesus being presented in the temple.

            I don’t know about you, but there is not one, but there are two incredible minor characters in this story about Jesus that absolutely blow my mind.

            Luke 2:25- 28 (with 28 abbreviated) says:

25And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, 28then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God…

           

            All Simeon does in this story is tell Joseph and Mary a few things that amaze them, perhaps to encourage them in the difficult path they are walking.  Joseph, maybe, might have struggled inwardly at the public humiliation of marrying a wife who was pregnant out-of-wedlock, and Mary at this point might have wondered if she really saw an angel of the Lord (at least, I might have started doubting after changing Jesus’s nappies for so long).  Who really knows what was going on in their minds.  All we know is that Luke, a believing physician, thought to record a few words spoken by a man named Simeon, and we never hear about Simeon again (at least not to my knowledge).

            There are a few cool things about Simeon as a minor character that strike me as a writer.  Simeon was known to be righteous and devout—a lifestyle that takes more than just attending a few meetings at the synagogue or local church, or thinking in your head occasionally that you think God is real.  This minor character Simeon lived a life that was purposefully seeking after the Lord, which takes time and commitment and sometimes many years of it.  The other thing that strikes me about Simeon is that he is one of the first people in Jesus’s life to be described as having the Holy Spirit.

              I haven’t really done a study on this, perhaps it’s just merely a way that Luke chose to describe the fact that Simeon had communion with the spirit of God, as I know Jesus says later on in his life that he has to leave so his disciples would receive the Holy Spirit.  All I know is that he “came in the Spirit” to the temple, he was willing to be led by God’s promptings in his comings and goings and then he spoke a prophetic word over God-in-the-flesh that came true! 

Not only that, but he had incredible faith to believe that he would see the Messiah before he died, even before he had any concrete reason to believe so.  This man, who probably took only a few moments of Jesus’s physical time on earth, had such an incredible backstory that were captured in a few sentences in the story of the main man, Jesus.  One could use their imagination to think of how many less-amazing versions of the story we could have had.
              Each one of us can take pointers from Simeon’s example to be the best minor character in God’s story that we can be.

Experiencing the Glory of God... Like A Shepherd

1 Corinthians 1:27

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

Isaiah 55:8

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.

Luke Chapter 2.  I’ve read it what feels like a thousand times.  Glory to God in the Highest, peace on earth and good will to men.  Heavenly hosts singing to shepherds.  Blah blah blah.  When I get to this part of the Bible, I start to tune the words out.  At Christmas pageants, my mind wanders while cardboard stars shimmer and people dressed in bath robes pretend to herd sheep.  Or they use real sheep, which leave messes behind in the auditorium.

                  My daily Bible reading took me to this passage way before the Christmas season, actually right after Halloween.  I read the passage and started to tune it out, until God gave me fresh eyes to His character, revealed in a message so familiar to Western Christians.

                  The chapter starts off with Mary journeying with Joseph to Bethlehem.  Verse 5 states he was pledged to be married to her, and she was expecting a child.

                  I know it is fairly common knowledge that Mary was probably a young teenager.  I have heard many times, too, that to be pregnant out of wedlock was a great source of shame in their culture, especially since her betrothed was not the father.  God wanted his Son to come to the earth and the first thing he does is chooses a young woman, who has no authority in that culture, to carry Him.

                  Not only did God choose a lowly member of society through which to work, He also orchestrated the birth to come at a time when everyone was going to Bethlehem so that they had to stay in a stable and place their sleeping newborn, the Son of God, in a manger.  There was no room for them in the inn; Joseph, Mary, and Jesus were not wanted nor pre-anticipated, and their lodgings had to be an afterthought-place normally used to house animals.  God not only chose to work in a woman, but he chose for Jesus's first hours a dirty, stinky place when He could have had the palace, if He wanted.

                  This chapter doesn’t stop there, either.  While God could have sent his heavenly hosts and glory to the priests in the temple, to the government officials in their houses, or the rich as they sat reclined on couches after an abundant dinner, God sent his angels in the night to the lowliest members of society—dirty, stinky shepherds living in fields.  Having experienced moments of God’s glory, it is amazing to me that God revealed himself in this way, to these people.  Having experienced sheep first hand, too, I can vouch for their stinkiness.  And yet, these stinking shepherds blessed the heart of God as they, in verse 20, returned to their fields “glorying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen.”

                  While the reading of this passage has long put me to sleep in Christmas services, the reading of this passage at home with the Holy Spirit has given me new eyes again for the incredible God that I serve.  As a Christian who has spent a long time in the church, it is easy to sometimes feel like God will choose you if you’re the most important, most visible person.  Or the most obviously humble.  Yes, He does choose us, proud or humble, but sometimes it is so easy to loose sight of the heart of God in the search for appearance and acceptance and visibility.  God loves the lowly and chooses to work through them—not those perfectly poised, established, reputable people that you would necessarily think of as God-material.  God likes to take the foolish things of the world and use them to shame the wise.  He likes to take the last and make them first.

                  I find this so encouraging in my own personal walk, as I am not the most popular person, nor am I the most devout, nor the most humble, nor the greatest.  Sometimes, I fall and have to repent, and many times, I just don't feel like God-material.  But God can use someone like me for His incredible plan—He has chosen you and I to carry His Son in our hearts and to experience the glory of God like the shepherds.  And that, to me, is incredible, this chance to experience the glory of God like a lowly shepherd.

All Things?

Philippines 4:13

I can do all things through him who gives me strength.

This verse is perhaps one of the more well-known verses in Christian circles.  As a child, it was one of the first verses that I memorized.  I had a test in school?  The Sunday school teacher told me to believe I can do all things through him who gives me strength.  I had to try and catch or throw a ball in gym class without injuring someone or myself?  I needed to believe in the God who gives me strength.  I needed to finish a book report?  I can do it!

As a teenager, the meaning of the verse changed for me.  I needed to be more vocal about my faith and not be concerned about being shunned by my peers?  God would give me strength.  I needed to do ten papers and read fifty pages before the end of the week?  I could do it if I believed.  I needed to do well on the SAT and my college applications?  God would help me.

As an adult, the verse has taken on a whole ’nother meaning in situations like college and living on my own, working a full-time job and paying my own bills.  In college, it was more like ten papers and one hundred and fifty pages before the next class period.  God would, I hope, give me strength.  I need to pay bills I accumulated, sometimes with needless spending?  God would help me do all things.  I need to try to witness to an audience that is hardened, unwilling, and closed to the Gospel or travel around the Philippines non-stop for six months?  God would give me strength.

Throughout the years, this verse has encouraged me in hard situations, but in my older and wiser years, I have come to view this verse in a whole new light.

Something I have learned recently is placing well-known verses in context with their passages and with the particular book, and then with the whole Bible.  When I place this verse into context of the passage, I feel it takes on a whole different meaning than what we’re taught in Sunday school.

If you check out the preceding verse, the author, Paul says (Phillipians 4:12):

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or want.

It is directly after this verse that Paul says he can do all things through God who gives him strength.  Directly after, he says (verse 14), “Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles.”  If you read it without the verse breaks we’ve added, it reads like:

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or want.  I can do all things through him who gives me strength.  Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles.

Furthermore, if you read the section, you will find that this verse comes in a context of Paul thanking the Philippians for giving him gifts, which I assume to be financial support.  Within this context, then, I feel that there are a few more things to consider when understanding this verse than are necessarily taught in Sunday school.

1) Paul was referring to persevering despite circumstances.  Whether he was poor or financially blessed, Paul found out he could be content in Jesus.  Moreover, whether rich or poor, he found that he could work through all things God asked him to do, whether it was to preach to Jews near home or Gentiles (non-Jews) far away. 

I had a glimpse of perhaps what this might have been like to Paul as I traveled and lived with poor pastors in the Phillippines.  Each week, our team’s living arrangements became less and less what we were used to as Western Christians.  In the last living arrangement, I had to share a bed made for a single person shorter than me with another person taller than me, and neither of us could sleep on the floor because there was a horrendous red ant nest.  That was merely the highlight of the primitive accommodations.  And yet, our team managed to be happy every day in the small things and in our faith.

Now, I feel a particular connection to this notion as I am in a uncomfortable in-between phase which was much like returning to college as an adult and living in the dorms with teenagers and young twenty-somethings, since I received a grant for housing and it was significantly cheaper.  Now I am living in community until I am able to afford a place of my own, and having lived on my own for many years prior, it is definitely not my ideal.  But, like Paul, I can do all things.  And if you are in a less-than-idea living situation or place in your life, so can you!

2) Paul really did mean “all things”. While I feel that Paul was particularly talking about his living circumstances, I feel that there is a contextual basis in this passage and with other stories of the Bible that God can empower us to get through difficult situations or even do things that seem impossible.  I don’t know what life events happened prior to this verse, but I do know Paul was shipwrecked, stoned, imprisoned, to name a few uncomfortable circumstances.  And you know what, he lived through them all, and found his contentment in Jesus!  So yes, I think Paul was talking about more than just living situations in this passage, and a lot of the circumstances were probably a lot more severe than what many of us would face.

3) When he said “all things”, he was referring to all things that God would want him to do.  While I think Paul was referring to more than just his circumstances, I don’t that “all” includes evil things, such as self-serving acts or acts that harm others.  This is, after all, the same passage (Philippians 4) where Paul says in verse 8, “Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” 

I think that perhaps if you thought God would give you strength to win lots of money gambling at a casino or that God would give you strength to use ministry as a route for personal glorification, or any lesser-obvious act of self-service, you are using this verse out of context and will be disappointed.  Not that God can’t use sinful people or sinful acts for His ultimate glory, God is big enough to use our messes.  But since Paul was living a life of holiness and service before the Lord, all the things that he was trying to do were true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing, and commendable. 

Paul was also doing what he was called to do, and God gave him strength to do all of it.  While we are all called to make disciples, we aren’t all called to take the same route in fulfilling this God-ordained process.  I think, too, in the context of Paul’s life, if we try to use this verse to hope that God will empower us to do something we aren’t called to do, we will be also be disappointed.  

How do we know God’s will and God’s calling?  This is my favorite part: we spend time with God, letting God love on us, getting to know His voice, and we will know our calling since God will tell us, and we will have the strength to do all things.

Prayer for A "Search and Reveal" Operation

Psalm 10:17-18 NASB

O Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble;

You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear

To vindicate the orphan and the oppressed,

So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror.

In recent years, I have been made aware of the horrors of the human trafficking industries around the world.  Not being of a legal- or law-enforcement sort-of profession, I sometimes feel powerless to do anything to help those victims and to stop the perpetrators that make the victims.  One day, feeling especially powerless, I started to pray that God would "search and reveal" those perpetrators and that he would move on behalf of the victims, and I kept this up for some time.  I was highly encouraged, then, to read not too many days later of one of the largest busts of sex traffickers in history to take place in the Philippines, assisted by local law enforcement.  Having stayed in some of the heavier areas for these activities in the Philippines, this answer to prayer was very real to me.  

So what does a powerless non-legal, non-law enforcement person do if they want to do something?  Prayer is a good start.  From my experience, prayer for situations like this are effective when:

1) You pray the will/heart of God - God desires mercy for the oppressed and justice for the oppressors, for this is Love- 1 John 4:16 says "God is love".  And there's a whole lot of verses that talk about God having a heart for those oppressed.

2) You pray the Word of God- Hebrews 4:12 says the word is "alive and active".  I don't know if I could fully dissect the notion now (perhaps this will be a future topic), but not only is there power in speaking the words of the Bible, but God likes it when we remind Him of His character and His promises as stated in the Bible.

3) You have a heart that's right before God- James 5:16 says (NKJV), "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much."  The Old Testament has examples of how people who were unworthy to come into God's presence (such as touching the ark or entering the Holy of Holies) and what happened (they died).  But those who came into God's presence ceremonially clean could experience God's presence.  With the New Covenant under Jesus, we are ceremonially clean by the blood.  But we still need to surrender current transgressions to God and claim that blood-covering just like the ceremony before entering God's presence.  A life-style of righteousness will get God's attention, as can be seen in many of the stories of heroes in the Bible.

4) You are persistent- Galatians 6:9 talks about not growing weary while doing good, as harvests come after a time a toil first.  James 5:16 mentions the "fervent" prayer of a righteous man.  And I always think of the hilarious story Jesus told of the "Persistent Widow" in Luke 18:1-8 which was Jesus's example to "show [his disciples] that they should always pray and not give up" (Luke 18:1 NIV).  After this widow harasses a wicked judge for her justice, he eventually gets so fed up that he grants it.  Jesus says in Luke 18:7-8:

"And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?  Will he keep putting them off?  I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly...."

I praise God for quick justice in the Philippines.  Imagine what more can happen if tens, hundreds, and even thousands cry out to God on behalf of the oppressed?

I Wanted to Eat Beans: A Word on Tithing

Malachi 3:10 (NIV)

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it."

Mark 12:17 (NIV)

Then Jesus said to them, "Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."  ...

If you really want to offend Western Christians, you should bring up the matter of their pocketbooks.  Sure we can live "holy" lives, we can take time to read the Bible, we can go to church and even not swear, but when it ultimately comes down to it, you will invest your money into what you really believe in, whether that be entertainment, housing, or other matters of your own comfort.  If you really want to offend me, you should serve me beans.  That is a matter of non-comfort for me-- they are bland, mushy, and while they are supposed to be good for you, I think they are just plain gross.  And yet many people in the world would be happy to eat them.

I cannot say that if you looked at my budget, bank account, or credit card statement, that you would 100% applaud my purchases, though you might applaud my culinary choices.  Being a spender/giver, I tend to like to purchase things for myself and others that we don't necessarily need, especially when food is involved.  I am often times convicted of how many people I could have helped in a foreign currency (for example, feeding them beans) if I had given that money away, though.  

But if you want to get technical, we aren't necessarily required to put all that extra spending money towards purchasing beans for people to eat in foreign countries.  The amount laid out by scripture that we should give to the local church is a mere 10%, leaving a plentiful 90% to live off of.  Yet, I do wonder with all that I've seen going on around me, why more people do not give this small amount to help the local body-- pastors and church congregations and all that they give toward-- survive and thrive.

Obedience is one mark of spiritual maturity that grows in the lives of those touched by the Holy Spirit like bean sprouts.  If you live in such a way that is pleasing to God, and you walk with Him, you will not only want to obey, but you will do so joyfully.  Having been taught at a young age by a godly father to tithe, I have generally always been glad to give to God a small portion when the other 90% has been so bountiful.

In fact, because of that monetary obedience, I believe that God has blessed me financially throughout the years, just as he promises in Malachi 3:10.  I have eaten well and never had to eat beans unless I wanted to.  Those times that I have "cheated" on my tithe, paying off the net instead of the gross (basically paying off what I receive after taxes and instead of what I actually earn), I have struggled financially and considered eating lots of bean chili.  When I have realized my disobedience, and have repented and corrected my actions, I have seen God's blessing upon my life again.

But, you, say, what happens if you are struggling to get by, and you are grateful to even afford beans for dinner?  What do you do then?  I ran into this question recently as I returned to college as an adult and lived off of my income as a dishwasher, having quit a career desk job, the income of which I had gotten quite comfortable on.  My last semester of college was exciting with the  prospect of graduation, but as I searched for a job after graduation and as I headed into spring break, I found that my bank account was rapidly depleting, my income was not enough to cover expenses, and there wasn't even enough money to purchase a week's worth of cheap groceries for me to survive off of in the dorms, since I couldn't afford to travel anywhere the entire time.

I received a $70.14 paycheck from my two weeks of student working and was grateful because I should most certainly be able to squeeze a week's worth of food out of that if that's all I bought.  But that weekend at the spirit-filled church I attended, the pastor spoke about tithing and I remembered, "Oh, yeah.  Not only do I need to tithe my $7.02 from this paycheck, but I also forgot to tithe on my last $100-some dollar paycheck."  $70.14 - $17.02 = $53.12, which doesn't get you very far on groceries.

"God," I said, "You have to understand that I can't tithe now or else I cannot eat."  Since I was not from the area and tend to not have a gift for being as connected as others, I didn't even know anyone from the church I could ask for help or if there might be a food bank where I could get beans.  You have to be pretty desperate to eat beans, as most people don't take them from food banks.  I know because I helped with one at my church, and I hate beans, too.  Nevertheless, I felt a strong conviction to be obedient.  Did I mention I'd been turned down for about 15 jobs at this point?  I was going to starve before college was out, and after...

I had to come to a realization then and there that even if all I had in the bank was a mere $70, that little bit was the Lord's.  I thought of the story of the loaves and fishes that God had multiplied to feed thousands.  While I believed that happened, at that moment in my life, it kind of felt like a story in a book that wasn't real.  My very real reality was the fact that I would be hungry.  But, I realized, if all I have is a little bit, and that is God's, I might as well give God what is his.  So I wrote my check, and tithed.  And you know what?  My tax refund, with which everything had gone wrong (I mean like everything), miraculously came through that week (and it was supposed to be another 10 weeks), I got hired for a job over Spring Break (back at my old office with the comfortable pay!), and the paperwork for some money I had applied for which had kept getting lost and not received was suddenly received and I became eligible and all my financial woes were turned into nothing as God provided in abundance.

So, regardless of how things look, a small act of obedience, such as giving $17.02, is the best way to approach the issue of tithing, because what little (even if it doesn't amount to a hill of beans) or lot (I guess this would be a hill of beans) you have is ultimately the Lord's.

Ezra, Part IV

Ezra is one of those books where the main character doesn’t come on scene until the story contained with its pages is half-way over.  For the longest time, I wondered why the book was even named after him because he doesn’t really show up much.  It’s only in Chapter 7 that the leader Ezra comes to Jerusalem.  

Ezra is a righteous man, one who has devoted himself to the study and observance of the Law of the Lord.  It is, oddly enough, Ezra’s decisions in this book that offended me at first.  Ezra was completely sold out to the will of God and was willing to do whatever it took to make right his life and repent before God so that he and his followers could experience the full blessing.  While his actions might not exactly be those to emulate today, his heart of repentance is most certainly one to use as an example.  

With Ezra’s life, we ask ourselves the question: What are we willing to give up to be right with God?

In Ezra Chapters 8 and 9, Ezra and others make the journey to Jerusalem.  Upon arrival, he learns from the leaders that “the people… including the priests and Levites, had not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices” (Ezra 9:1).  The people who had planned to rebuild the temple— a presence of long-term worship in their lives— had ultimately lost sight of their goal.  In the lull of waiting for permission to go forward, they had prostituted their hearts with what had once been detestable to them.  Did they marry the very enemies who had threatened them in the first place?  Whatever the case may be, they had lost sight of the will of God and had settled for less than what was best.

It is so easy when pursuing God’s will to be like the people of Israel.  It is so easy to lose patience, to take your eyes off the prize— especially if your goal is temporarily deferred.  What will you do when you find yourself waiting?  Hopefully we can all learn from the lesson based off the seriousness with which Ezra handled the situation.

In Chapter 9, Ezra tears his clothes (verse 5) and falls on his face before God, crying out with repentance.  This was not the first time Israel had turned away from God, and it most certainly wasn’t the last.  Ezra’s repentance leads to the conviction of the hearts of the Israelites, as in Chapter 10:1, “ a large crowd of Israelites— men, women, and children— gathered around him.”  They too wept bitterly and declared their unfaithfulness (verse 2) and that they were willing to do what it took to be in relationship with God again.

I think the book of Ezra is often overlooked because of what Ezra decided should be done.  For our culture, it is extreme, and as can be seen by Jesus’ teachings, it would not be right to do today, under the New Covenant.  But, Ezra said in 10:10, “You have been unfaithful… Now honor the Lord… and do his will.  Separate yourselves from the peoples around you and your foreign wives.”  

Yes, by separation, he meant divorce.  He meant a complete end to the union that should have never been.  Is this an excuse for divorce today?  No— I believe this was one of those decisions unique to the Israelites who were rebuilding the temple.  But there is a spiritual lesson for us today— we should divorce that in our hearts which has been an illicit union taking the place of what God wants, and God wants what is ultimately the best for us.  Not only this, but I believe we should walk in such  way that we are separate from all those distractions, all those time-fillers, all those things that will not ultimately satisfy, and walk in such a way that we are single-minded about the Lord and pursing His will.  

We should be like Ezra himself— devoted to the study and observance of the ways of God (7:10).

Ezra, Part III

Through the first two parts of Ezra, we see God move kings and leaders and provide for those in His will, and we see how those who have come into the promise of God should respond upon arrival to that place— in both an initial posture of worship and the building of practices that will cultivate life-long worship.  In Part III of my insights on Ezra, we see how life inevitably brings opposition to those moving in God’s will, and how we should respond.

At the end of Ezra Chapter 3, we find the Israelites in a moving corporate demonstration of worship where (verse 13), “No one could distinguish the sounds of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise.”  This verse adds, “And the sound was heard far away.”

From my own personal experience, whenever I have achieved a great spiritual victory, there always seems to be some negative repercussions afterwards.  It’s as if a land mark event in your life makes a larger target in the enemy's sight, like the way the pyramids might better show up in a sniper scope, and that landmark becomes the next gathering point for the forces of darkness and destruction.  Ezra Chapter 4 seems to demonstrate this principle by showing the reaction of the people around the Israelites to the loud sound of corporate worship.

Ezra 4:1-4 (with a few parts left out for the sake of time) says:

When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the Lord [Ace’s thoughts here: they must have literally heard them], the God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, “Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him…”  

But Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, “You have no part with us in building a temple to our God.  We alone will build it…”  

Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building.  They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.

This passage demonstrates how the enemies of Judah and Benjamin first tried to sneak in the back door and “offer to help” but probably secretly sabotage the Israelites’ efforts.  It might have been tempting to accept the additional help, since many hands make for lighter work, but the leaders said to them that comforting though the offer many be, they would have no part in something that would ultimately lead to their destruction.

It is harder to find a present-day analogy for this part of the story, but I would ask how many times we compromise in trying to do God’s will in a short-cut way— our own easy way— when ultimately that will lead to disobedience?  How many times do we reach for instant-gratification when patience or wisdom should mark our steps?

When the people of Judah said no to compromise and yes to doing things the Lord's way, their enemies attacked, “setting out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building.”  I feel often times this is why a spiritual victory seems to always follow with a feeling of attack— when we are doing  what we’re supposed to do, the enemy tries to discourage us by making it feel daunting.  

Sometimes, we won't just be discouraged or afraid, though.  The opposition will be so hard that we will feel defeated.  The enemies of Judah actually managed to get the whole temple-rebuilding-operation shut down for quite some time.  Ezra 4:24 says "the work on the house of God… came to a stand still.”  How about that for a feeling of utter defeat!  But, did people of Judah give up?  No, eventually, Zerubbabel and Joshua started rebuilding the house (Ezra 5:2), continuing to be obedient to the will of God.  5:5 says that “the eye of their God was watching over the elders of the Jews”, making me wonder if it was because of their obedience despite opposition.  Whatever the case may be, the government officials who had shut down the building because of the trouble-makers eventually investigated the whole situation, and ultimately (unknowingly), upheld the sovereign will of God.  God willed it, so it would take place, and the government officials then decreed in Ezra 6:7 “Do not interfere with the work on this temple of God.”

What we can take away from this passage of scripture is: If we are obedient to the will of God despite our circumstances, and press into the things of God despite opposition, God’s eye will watch over us— He will make a way, and we will succeed.

Ezra, Part II

The beginning of Ezra is full of promise— the promise of the Lord— and the steps He takes in His sovereignty to fulfill His will.  God basically moved the government, moved on the hearts of the leaders, and gave provision for that which He called His people to do.  Ezra Chapter 3 transitions as the people are resettling into their lands, demonstrating how a person should respond when their heart has been moved by God and they settle in to claim the fulfillment of His promise.

Ezra Chapter 3 starts out with the Israelites settling into their towns.  When they had done so, verse 1 says in the seventh month, “the people assembled together as one in Jerusalem.”  At the very beginning, they were unified, and not just for their own purpose.  Verse 2 says the first thing they did was begin “to build the altar to the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it.”  So they, who were in God’s will, were unified in purpose, and the first thing they did was worship God!  Verse 3 says they did this despite their fears of the circumstances— the peoples around them who were their enemies.

Being in the will of God can be a scary place because you’re not in your comfort zone, and you might feel like you’re in enemy territory.  But regardless of this, our first response, as seen in Ezra, should be to worship God in all the many ways that one can— festivals, sacrifices, and free-will offerings, and the modern equivalent of these today.

While the altars were small acts of worship, the people set into motion the rebuilding of the temple— a more permanent place of worship— a place where the spirit of the Lord could dwell.  This took much more effort than the small altars the people initially built— planning, giving, and time.  They did this, accompanied by musical worship.  Verse 10 speaks about trumpets and cymbals, and verse 11 says they sang to the Lord with praise and thanksgiving.

My favorite verse is the worshipful response of those who waited such a long time for the promise to be fulfilled.  Verse 12 says these people wept aloud, while others shouted for joy.  Verse 13 says, “No one could distinguish the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise.  And the sound was heard far away.”  It makes me wonder what those people, whom the Israelites were so afraid of, were thinking.  If I were them [the enemies], I would be afraid.

While the situation of the Israelites and their culture is so different from ours, I feel there is an applicable spiritual lesson that we can carry away from this and use today.  For those walking in the will of God, our first response to the reception of His promise should be worship, praise and thanksgiving.  There, of course, should be the initial altar in our hearts, but it shouldn’t stop there.  When we have moved into the will of God, we need to take the steps necessary to establish a more permanent “house of worship”.  Whether this is joining in unity with the local church or putting into practice spiritual disciplines in your own life so that your own life can be a temple for God to dwell in, it is clear the correct process is intentionally putting the stones in place for a foundation of a lifestyle of worship.

Ezra, Part I

Ezra is a small book in the Old Testament that’s often overlooked.  I’ve never heard a sermon preached on Ezra, and personally, the first time I read through the book, I hated it because I thought it promoted divorce.  I could not see through the surface to understand the lessons that can be learned from this priest’s writings, lessons that are applicable today.

Ezra, Part I

The first thing that strikes me about the book of Ezra is the fact that a non-Hebraic king, Cyrus, is the instrument of God’s will— for His temple to be built, Jerusalem to be repopulated, for His promises to His people to be fulfilled and His presence to be given to both the Jews and eventually through them, the Gentiles.  Cyrus, a non-Hebraic king declares that God has “appointed me to build a temple for him” (Ezra 1:2).

How crazy is that?!  A heathen king is used by God— “the Lord moved his heart,” 2 Chronicles 36:22 says, and Cyrus was no small player in the kingdom arena— he felt as if he had been given “all the kingdoms of the earth” (Ezra 1:2).

I am further impressed in the first part of Ezra by God’s sovereignty in selecting leaders— family heads and priests and Levites (1:5)— to help accomplish His plan.  Someone had to direct and oversee the repopulating and rebuilding, and this would take a move away from the known life in captivity into the unknown, unfamiliar Promised Land.  The verse says God moved their hearts as well, setting into motion a grand scheme that eventually made salvation possible.

Not only had God prepared the powerful king Cyrus & the leaders to accomplish His plan, but He also made provision for the leaders to move in His calling.  Ezra 1:6 says their neighbors were moved with generosity and assisted them with extravagant and practical gifts— making it possible for those leaders to move and accomplish God’s will.  They didn’t have to worry about how they were going to resettle Jerusalem because God provided them with gold and cattle in advance.

The over-arching lesson that can be carried away from this grand-scale maneuvering, then is:

If God has willed for something to happen, He will make sure all the details are in place so that it will happen.  God is sovereign, all-powerful, and reliable.

For a person following Christ, this is amazing because if you know God’s will, and you are acting within it, then you can expect to see everything work out— permission from the King, the right leaders, and provisions, and all the metaphorical things these might stand for.  You don’t have to fear when you are walking in God’s will because if God wants it to happen, it will happen.  You just need to be wiling to have your heart moved by God like all those involved in the first part of Ezra, and then step out.