We all know that blasphemy is one I those uuuuhhhhh/gasp/ooohhh sins we read about in the bible. However, we see the clear cut consequences of blaspheming in Leviticus 24. Being the nerd that I am I started doing a little research on the word blasphemy and once again the Lord illuminated the gospel of Christ in this old testament passage.
Holman's bible dictionary defines blasphemy as the "actual pronunciation of the name of God along with an attitude of disrespect.". Wow, pretty rough sounding right? To be actually speaking about God with a cold, hard heart. Makes sense then what happens to the person who commits this offense in Leviticus. They get stoned to death. It's also important to note that before the offender is stones everyone who heard the blaspheming comes and lays their hands on his head as to pass his sin back.
First off, thank you God for Jesus Christ who put us under the umbrella of Grace, otherwise the number of stones on earth would probably be limited. Secondly, when I think about being under grace it is easy to forget the magnitude of what we do every day. If we, as the church, are the bride of Christ and represent His righteousness in this dark world; we proclaim/represent/stand for The Lord Jesus Christ in all we do. Pretty much our lives are a continual pronunciation of God and what he does for us.
Now for that "gulp" moment that hit me; how many times a day do I make a comment, have a thought, or give a look that does not respect our Lord? As I have said many times on my blog, we may be the only Jesus some people ever see, and if we are not representing Him in His 100% awesomeness then we are pronunciating the name of God with an attitude of disrespect. Now, the beauty of this whole thing is we cannot represent His awesomeness without asking for His help.
I also think it is important to know that what we say and how we act can have a direct impact on people. If you see in this story those that heard this man blaspheme places their hand on his head as to pass this sin back to him. There are probably many people who look at faith the same way, in that we speak of our lives in one manner and live them in a different manner. This causes people to put their hands on our head and basically pass on a relationship with Jesus Christ.
The goodness of God is so evident here though, because while we all deserve to be stoned to death, Jesus took all of our stonings. He took them with love, not out of anything else but love for His church. All that we have to do us surrender our lives to Him.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Infectious Diseases & Mildew
As I have continued on in the book of Leviticus, again I am in awe of God's word. The whole bible, not just the new testament. When you dig into the old testament and ask the Lord to show you amazing things, he does. I just finished reading through Leviticus 13 & 14 where God gives instructions on how to handle infectious skin diseases and mildew. There is an awesome picture of the gospel and the Holy Spirit in these 2 old testament chapters.
First we'll look at infectious diseases. If you read in chapter 13 when a person comes to the priest with red skin, burns, or boils he will examine them for a few things. First how deep are they, and secondly has the hair turned white. When I first read through this I was kind of like, what does this have to do with anything; but God showed me what in a mighty way. These different symptoms are just like the symptoms of sin in our life. When looking at how deep the spot was; that is like looking at how deep the sin is in our lives. For believers I think this is at the time of repentance. If the sin has not gotten "beneath the skin" per say and we have repented all is good. We recognizes the sin before it was destructive.
Now, if the spot has gotten below the skin that is the same as sin in our lives that has taken a deeper root, at the point we reach repentance. Same thing goes for the white hair (which I think means a dead hair). That sort of sin has already started to choke the life out of us. We see that when the priest would see these sort of areas he would have the person come back the next day to check for spreading. If it had not spread the person would be placed in isolation for 7 days. I think this is exactly how we should approach this type of major rooted sin in our lives. We need to isolate ourselves from the world and it's temptations and spend time with the Lord. I believe that the Holy Spirit is kind of like that priest in Leviticus, helping us realize the infectious disease that is sin in our lives.
Now for the unclean. I haven't read what happens to the unclean, maybe it is coming or maybe not but here is what I think about that. When the person comes back and their spots are spreading and getting worse that person is unclean. I think this represents those who claim to know Jesus but have habitual rooted sin in their lives. For those people that the sin continues to grow to new areas of their life they are unclean. They have not been washed by the blood of the lamb, they are not followers of Christ.
Now for the mildew, it has almost the same thought process for me, only this time it refers to a house. I think this is extremely important, especially for the men in our culture. The way I see it this mildew is like sin, only it is a man's sin that is beginning to damage his house. If we come to the point of repentance and take the bad stones (influences) out an scrape the mildew off we have a chance to save the house. I see this scraping of the mildew off as that point when a husband confesses to God and his spouse. It's like scraping the mildew off. It's painful and makes him extremely vulnerable. Likewise, if we don't come to the point of repentance, and the son begins to infect our families it will ultimately lead to the destruction of the household.
Thank You Jesus for making us clean from the infectious disease that is sin!
First we'll look at infectious diseases. If you read in chapter 13 when a person comes to the priest with red skin, burns, or boils he will examine them for a few things. First how deep are they, and secondly has the hair turned white. When I first read through this I was kind of like, what does this have to do with anything; but God showed me what in a mighty way. These different symptoms are just like the symptoms of sin in our life. When looking at how deep the spot was; that is like looking at how deep the sin is in our lives. For believers I think this is at the time of repentance. If the sin has not gotten "beneath the skin" per say and we have repented all is good. We recognizes the sin before it was destructive.
Now, if the spot has gotten below the skin that is the same as sin in our lives that has taken a deeper root, at the point we reach repentance. Same thing goes for the white hair (which I think means a dead hair). That sort of sin has already started to choke the life out of us. We see that when the priest would see these sort of areas he would have the person come back the next day to check for spreading. If it had not spread the person would be placed in isolation for 7 days. I think this is exactly how we should approach this type of major rooted sin in our lives. We need to isolate ourselves from the world and it's temptations and spend time with the Lord. I believe that the Holy Spirit is kind of like that priest in Leviticus, helping us realize the infectious disease that is sin in our lives.
Now for the unclean. I haven't read what happens to the unclean, maybe it is coming or maybe not but here is what I think about that. When the person comes back and their spots are spreading and getting worse that person is unclean. I think this represents those who claim to know Jesus but have habitual rooted sin in their lives. For those people that the sin continues to grow to new areas of their life they are unclean. They have not been washed by the blood of the lamb, they are not followers of Christ.
Now for the mildew, it has almost the same thought process for me, only this time it refers to a house. I think this is extremely important, especially for the men in our culture. The way I see it this mildew is like sin, only it is a man's sin that is beginning to damage his house. If we come to the point of repentance and take the bad stones (influences) out an scrape the mildew off we have a chance to save the house. I see this scraping of the mildew off as that point when a husband confesses to God and his spouse. It's like scraping the mildew off. It's painful and makes him extremely vulnerable. Likewise, if we don't come to the point of repentance, and the son begins to infect our families it will ultimately lead to the destruction of the household.
Thank You Jesus for making us clean from the infectious disease that is sin!
Sunday, February 5, 2012
The Lamb of God
I have been on a quest since the beginning of the year to read the bible front to back, and thanks to my handy bible app I have a pretty good guide to keep track of it. I actually use a program that is supposed to get you to read the entire bible in 90 days. I will not even get close to hitting that mark however it provides a great guide. I just finished reading the 9th chapter in Leviticus and God really spoke to me as I was sitting here rocking my 8 month old.
Through the first 9 chapters of Leviticus it talks about all the different sacrifices required. The one that really stuck out to me was the sin offering. Jesus was the Lamb of God and took the place of all of these different sacrifices, but this one really got to me. It says in Leviticus 8
"He then presented the bull for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head. Moses slaughtered the bull and took some of the blood, and with his finger he put it on all the horns of the altar to purify the altar. He poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. So he consecrated it to make atonement for it. Moses also took all the fat around the inner parts, the covering of the liver, and both kidneys and their fat, and burned it on the altar. But the bull with its hide and its flesh and its offal he burned up outside the camp, as the Lord commanded Moses." (Leviticus 8:14-17 NIV84)
This sounds like just another day at the office for the high priest. Slaughtering a bull and separating the good stuff to be sacrificed from the bad stuff to be taken outside of the camp and burned. But, as any good red blooded southern man I have actually done this same process on a deer. Let me tell you, if you have ever done this you know that it is not a quick and easy process. And to separate the fat from everything else would take forever. I think we see this for a couple of reasons.
First, I think it gives us a clear picture that our sanctification process takes time. It's not something that happens overnight. Just like for Aaron and his sons. I bet it took them a full day to do one of the sin offerings. God continues to separate the good from the bad in our lives (detail below) all the time.
Secondly, and this was what blew my mind; I think it shows exactly what happens as we go though the process of sanctification. They way that my small brain reads this is that when Aaron was going through and separating the fat from the organs he was basically saying, ok this is the stuff that will be pleasing to God and everything else needs to be disposed of. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior he comes in and separates the good from the bad with surgical precision. He shows us our spiritual gifts that have been given to us by God. I believe those are the good things. He also points out the sin in our lives, which is obviously the bad stuff. He takes the sin and disposes of it, through his death on the cross. He takes the good stuff and shows us how we can use our gifts to glorify Him.
My hope and prayer is that the Lord never stops cutting on me and showing me both the good and bad things in my life and how I can use the good to Glorify Him and overcome the bad.
Through the first 9 chapters of Leviticus it talks about all the different sacrifices required. The one that really stuck out to me was the sin offering. Jesus was the Lamb of God and took the place of all of these different sacrifices, but this one really got to me. It says in Leviticus 8
"He then presented the bull for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head. Moses slaughtered the bull and took some of the blood, and with his finger he put it on all the horns of the altar to purify the altar. He poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. So he consecrated it to make atonement for it. Moses also took all the fat around the inner parts, the covering of the liver, and both kidneys and their fat, and burned it on the altar. But the bull with its hide and its flesh and its offal he burned up outside the camp, as the Lord commanded Moses." (Leviticus 8:14-17 NIV84)
This sounds like just another day at the office for the high priest. Slaughtering a bull and separating the good stuff to be sacrificed from the bad stuff to be taken outside of the camp and burned. But, as any good red blooded southern man I have actually done this same process on a deer. Let me tell you, if you have ever done this you know that it is not a quick and easy process. And to separate the fat from everything else would take forever. I think we see this for a couple of reasons.
First, I think it gives us a clear picture that our sanctification process takes time. It's not something that happens overnight. Just like for Aaron and his sons. I bet it took them a full day to do one of the sin offerings. God continues to separate the good from the bad in our lives (detail below) all the time.
Secondly, and this was what blew my mind; I think it shows exactly what happens as we go though the process of sanctification. They way that my small brain reads this is that when Aaron was going through and separating the fat from the organs he was basically saying, ok this is the stuff that will be pleasing to God and everything else needs to be disposed of. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior he comes in and separates the good from the bad with surgical precision. He shows us our spiritual gifts that have been given to us by God. I believe those are the good things. He also points out the sin in our lives, which is obviously the bad stuff. He takes the sin and disposes of it, through his death on the cross. He takes the good stuff and shows us how we can use our gifts to glorify Him.
My hope and prayer is that the Lord never stops cutting on me and showing me both the good and bad things in my life and how I can use the good to Glorify Him and overcome the bad.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens Iron
This morning in church and then tonight in a journey group this passage in proverbs was discussed in length.u For me this is one of those pivotal verses in the life of a disciple of Christ. Dan mentioned how the proverb did not say that a wet stone (or in most of our lives, that sharpener on the back of the automatic can opener) sharpens iron. Of the majority of us who have ever sharpened a knife, I would dare to say not a single one did so by using another knife.
There are the obvious reasons why we do not use knives to sharpen knives and here are my thoughts on them and how they pertain to our friendships.
First off, it would take entirely too long. Can you imagine? Using a knife to sharpen another one? It would take a lifetime. Just as with knife sharpening, I think it is awesome how this applies in our lives. In order to be sharpened and to sharpen someone else spiritually takes a long time and a deep relationship. We cannot just meet someone and expect them to be sharpening us or is sharpening them. As Dan put it, they have to be able to trample around in our soul first.
Secondly, do you know what happens when two pieces of metal are rubbed together? It makes an awful noise. It's like nails and a chalkboard on steroids. Why would you want to put up with that to sharpen a knife for a lifetime? The main reason for the noise is because of friction. The metal is adding resistance to the other piece of metal causing a noise. Now, when using a wet stone there is no friction. There is an oil placed on the stone that provides smooth movement between the knife and the stone. Again, in our friendships wouldn't it be nice if things were always smooth and there was never any friction? Sure from a comfort standpoint, from a growth perspective you have to have the friction and noise to drive growth. Haven't you had that time in your life when you and a friend were having a major argument and by the time you had worked it out you were infinitely closer? Just as with the gospel, where we have to be wounded to be healed, in true friendship their must be friction to produce sharpening.
Finally, another significant thing that happens when two pieces of metal are rubbed together is that sparks fly. You know when a person takes a grinder and puts to a piece of metal to smooth an edge, and that shower of sparks comes off. Again, caused by friction but lets take a little different approach to looking at this in our friendships. How many times have you and your close friend got into an argument or debate which got somewhat heated? I know I have and the sparks begin to fly. However, typically when sparks are flying it means that the two people having the discussion have very strong opinions about what the best decision is. This is where the best ideas are birthed and people are able to see the flaws in thief viewpoint; therefore being sharpened.
As we move into the next week lets not be afraid to put metal to metal.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
There are the obvious reasons why we do not use knives to sharpen knives and here are my thoughts on them and how they pertain to our friendships.
First off, it would take entirely too long. Can you imagine? Using a knife to sharpen another one? It would take a lifetime. Just as with knife sharpening, I think it is awesome how this applies in our lives. In order to be sharpened and to sharpen someone else spiritually takes a long time and a deep relationship. We cannot just meet someone and expect them to be sharpening us or is sharpening them. As Dan put it, they have to be able to trample around in our soul first.
Secondly, do you know what happens when two pieces of metal are rubbed together? It makes an awful noise. It's like nails and a chalkboard on steroids. Why would you want to put up with that to sharpen a knife for a lifetime? The main reason for the noise is because of friction. The metal is adding resistance to the other piece of metal causing a noise. Now, when using a wet stone there is no friction. There is an oil placed on the stone that provides smooth movement between the knife and the stone. Again, in our friendships wouldn't it be nice if things were always smooth and there was never any friction? Sure from a comfort standpoint, from a growth perspective you have to have the friction and noise to drive growth. Haven't you had that time in your life when you and a friend were having a major argument and by the time you had worked it out you were infinitely closer? Just as with the gospel, where we have to be wounded to be healed, in true friendship their must be friction to produce sharpening.
Finally, another significant thing that happens when two pieces of metal are rubbed together is that sparks fly. You know when a person takes a grinder and puts to a piece of metal to smooth an edge, and that shower of sparks comes off. Again, caused by friction but lets take a little different approach to looking at this in our friendships. How many times have you and your close friend got into an argument or debate which got somewhat heated? I know I have and the sparks begin to fly. However, typically when sparks are flying it means that the two people having the discussion have very strong opinions about what the best decision is. This is where the best ideas are birthed and people are able to see the flaws in thief viewpoint; therefore being sharpened.
As we move into the next week lets not be afraid to put metal to metal.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Saturday, January 28, 2012
John 15 "Man!"
Yesterday our Teaching Pastor put on twitter that he was "soaking in John 15 today", and he proceeded to put "man" after that. So as I was sitting at my desk waiting on a peer to come over and look at something I whipped open my iPhone bible app and opened John 15. Dan's statement of "man", was the understatement of the day for me. Within the first few verses my mind was rolling on what an amazing picture Jesus was using in describing our relationship with Him. So here are a few of my thoughts related to this passage.
When Jesus said "I am the vine and you are the branches" in verse 5 I began to think about the relevance of the relationship between a vine and its branches and it really sort of blew my mind. In nature when talking about a vine and its branches the first thing that jumps out at me is that the branches are completely connected to and dependent on the vine. If you can imagine a fruit vine and the process that takes place to produce the fruit there is no way the branch can produce the fruit apart from the vine. The vine is the only way that the water can get from the ground to the branch which is crucial to being able to produce the fruit.
Now I have no doubt that it is not by chance that Jesus used this illustration and also was called the living water. Just as the branch must be connected to the vine to get the water needed we also must be connected to Jesus in order to get the water needed to produce spiritual fruit in our lives. The only way to become as connected to Jesus as a branch is to a vine is to be completely engrossed in the word and be tuned into the Holy Spirit. One thing also mentioned in this passage is that if a branch does not produce fruit it withers and dies. My take on this part is that something has to become between the vine and the branch. In nature there are certain parasitic vines that attach to the branches and vines and begin to re-route the water and nutrients o themselves. In the same way it is very easy to make something else in our lives be the first priority, which will redirect our energies away from the vine. This will cause us to quit producing fruit, wither and die, and be gathered up and thrown into the fire. So no matter what is going on in our lives (jobs, spouses, kids, church) we have to make sure that our relationship is Jesus is the number one priority.
It also talks about how the branches that do produce fruit will be pruned to be more fruitful. I can only imagine that if a branch had a nervous system that this would be pretty painful. However, we do have one and I think that just like in James 1 Jesus is telling us that we should be prepared to face trials in our lives because that is what will give us the necessary characteristics to be even more fruitful. God will use trials in our lives to trim off the spiritually dead areas to allow them to become fruitful areas of our life. Wow, the work of God is so good. "Man!".
When Jesus said "I am the vine and you are the branches" in verse 5 I began to think about the relevance of the relationship between a vine and its branches and it really sort of blew my mind. In nature when talking about a vine and its branches the first thing that jumps out at me is that the branches are completely connected to and dependent on the vine. If you can imagine a fruit vine and the process that takes place to produce the fruit there is no way the branch can produce the fruit apart from the vine. The vine is the only way that the water can get from the ground to the branch which is crucial to being able to produce the fruit.
Now I have no doubt that it is not by chance that Jesus used this illustration and also was called the living water. Just as the branch must be connected to the vine to get the water needed we also must be connected to Jesus in order to get the water needed to produce spiritual fruit in our lives. The only way to become as connected to Jesus as a branch is to a vine is to be completely engrossed in the word and be tuned into the Holy Spirit. One thing also mentioned in this passage is that if a branch does not produce fruit it withers and dies. My take on this part is that something has to become between the vine and the branch. In nature there are certain parasitic vines that attach to the branches and vines and begin to re-route the water and nutrients o themselves. In the same way it is very easy to make something else in our lives be the first priority, which will redirect our energies away from the vine. This will cause us to quit producing fruit, wither and die, and be gathered up and thrown into the fire. So no matter what is going on in our lives (jobs, spouses, kids, church) we have to make sure that our relationship is Jesus is the number one priority.
It also talks about how the branches that do produce fruit will be pruned to be more fruitful. I can only imagine that if a branch had a nervous system that this would be pretty painful. However, we do have one and I think that just like in James 1 Jesus is telling us that we should be prepared to face trials in our lives because that is what will give us the necessary characteristics to be even more fruitful. God will use trials in our lives to trim off the spiritually dead areas to allow them to become fruitful areas of our life. Wow, the work of God is so good. "Man!".
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Fear of God
After our first 2919 of the semester (which is part of the college ministry of the Journey Campus), it really got me thinking about the fear of God. For the first few weeks we are going to be going through Francis Chan's basic series and tonight was talking about the fear of God and how a lot of us tend to take that to be old testament or simply reverence. This lead me to think a lot about what my last post was talking about but on a different level.
One of the discussion questions tonight was think about a time where we were simply terrified, well I actually had one of those times today at lunch. I am on the encourager team at The Journey Campus and one of the things we do is follow up with people who fill out a visitor card. I had the awesome luxury of having lunch with a person today who had indicated on the card that they wanted to discuss a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Talk about fear! This discussion could be one of the most important discussion in this person's life and I was supposed to be able to talk with them about it? Through the awesome power of the holy spirit and God's ultimate provision I was able to pray with this person to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. Hallelujah! All the praise to the Lord. That being said, it was still one of the most frightening experiences I have ever faced.
When it comes to the fear of God one way I am going to try to look at it is, just as my last post, that every person I come in contact with I may be the only Jesus they ever see. The reason this strikes fear into me is that this is not some nonchalant ritual that people go through, this is eternity either with or separated from God. But to take it a step further, as my buddy Charles said, it goes so much further than our words. Not only do the words of our mouth have to proclaim the gospel, the actions of our day to day lives must also project that holiness. When people are aware that a person goes to church that person becomes the person to watch, because a lot of people are looking to catch a "Christian" breaking one of the rules.
I don't know about anyone else, but it strikes a major fear in me to think of standing in front of the Lord and having to give account for every careless word, and action that could possibly lead someone to doubt or even turn from their faith. We should attempt to live a life that is so out of the ordinary in a good way that the only explanation is something greater than this world. That is my personal goal and challenge to everyone out there. Lets live a life that screams Jesus with every action and word because it could play a part in the decision that someone makes in regards to eternity.
One of the discussion questions tonight was think about a time where we were simply terrified, well I actually had one of those times today at lunch. I am on the encourager team at The Journey Campus and one of the things we do is follow up with people who fill out a visitor card. I had the awesome luxury of having lunch with a person today who had indicated on the card that they wanted to discuss a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Talk about fear! This discussion could be one of the most important discussion in this person's life and I was supposed to be able to talk with them about it? Through the awesome power of the holy spirit and God's ultimate provision I was able to pray with this person to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. Hallelujah! All the praise to the Lord. That being said, it was still one of the most frightening experiences I have ever faced.
When it comes to the fear of God one way I am going to try to look at it is, just as my last post, that every person I come in contact with I may be the only Jesus they ever see. The reason this strikes fear into me is that this is not some nonchalant ritual that people go through, this is eternity either with or separated from God. But to take it a step further, as my buddy Charles said, it goes so much further than our words. Not only do the words of our mouth have to proclaim the gospel, the actions of our day to day lives must also project that holiness. When people are aware that a person goes to church that person becomes the person to watch, because a lot of people are looking to catch a "Christian" breaking one of the rules.
I don't know about anyone else, but it strikes a major fear in me to think of standing in front of the Lord and having to give account for every careless word, and action that could possibly lead someone to doubt or even turn from their faith. We should attempt to live a life that is so out of the ordinary in a good way that the only explanation is something greater than this world. That is my personal goal and challenge to everyone out there. Lets live a life that screams Jesus with every action and word because it could play a part in the decision that someone makes in regards to eternity.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Condemning Words
So it's 3 am and I am in the glider rocking our 8 month old daughter who is not wanting to be put down tonight. I haven't blogged in a while and after a really good discussion in our journey group I feel it is about time for some more of my thoughts.
We talked about words this week, and the power they can have. Ephesians 4:29 gives us clear direction for what our mouths are to be used for. Building each other up. I am not sure about you all but at the end of my days the # of conversations that built either me or someone else up are the minority. Let me put this plug in right now, conversation that is building someone up is not always a happy conversation. Sometimes, the most important thing we need to hear is far removed from what we want to hear.
Now to the meat of my thoughts. We got to talking about how easy it is to pick people apart, for whatever reason. Maybe your sitting at dinner with friends and a less fortunate person comes in; how easy is it to say "don't know what he's doing here?", or maybe your in class and that non traditional student asks the 400th question the have had today. Whatever the situation, we all tend to pick people apart.
Now let's talk about John 8. Jesus was talking with the group gathered around him and the pharisee's brought a woman in who was caught in the act of adultery. Basically, look at her; what do you have to say about her? Here you are talking about us, but what about her? We all know the story, Jesus says he who is without sin cast the first stone.
Now, Jesus also says if you lust after another in your heart you have already committed adultery. When we pick people apart whether out loud or in our heads we are simply putting them in front of Jesus and saying, "look this person does this, or doesn't do this" or whatever it maybe. We are basically putting them in front of Jesus saying "Condemn Them!". It is so easy to take the people we should be loving and putting the on front of our savior.
One other thought, it's easy to say well, I didn't say anything I just laughed. But that is one in the same. In Joshua 7 we see that Achan was the one who took from God, yet his whole family was stoned. Knowing and letting it happen are just as bad as doing it.
I write all that to challenge mainly myself, but anyone else who happens to read this, to be extremely aware of their words and thoughts. Being a parent I struggle with the weight that me and my wife will likely be the first Jesus either of our girls see. Same goes for the person we run into at the gas station. We may be the only Jesus they see.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
We talked about words this week, and the power they can have. Ephesians 4:29 gives us clear direction for what our mouths are to be used for. Building each other up. I am not sure about you all but at the end of my days the # of conversations that built either me or someone else up are the minority. Let me put this plug in right now, conversation that is building someone up is not always a happy conversation. Sometimes, the most important thing we need to hear is far removed from what we want to hear.
Now to the meat of my thoughts. We got to talking about how easy it is to pick people apart, for whatever reason. Maybe your sitting at dinner with friends and a less fortunate person comes in; how easy is it to say "don't know what he's doing here?", or maybe your in class and that non traditional student asks the 400th question the have had today. Whatever the situation, we all tend to pick people apart.
Now let's talk about John 8. Jesus was talking with the group gathered around him and the pharisee's brought a woman in who was caught in the act of adultery. Basically, look at her; what do you have to say about her? Here you are talking about us, but what about her? We all know the story, Jesus says he who is without sin cast the first stone.
Now, Jesus also says if you lust after another in your heart you have already committed adultery. When we pick people apart whether out loud or in our heads we are simply putting them in front of Jesus and saying, "look this person does this, or doesn't do this" or whatever it maybe. We are basically putting them in front of Jesus saying "Condemn Them!". It is so easy to take the people we should be loving and putting the on front of our savior.
One other thought, it's easy to say well, I didn't say anything I just laughed. But that is one in the same. In Joshua 7 we see that Achan was the one who took from God, yet his whole family was stoned. Knowing and letting it happen are just as bad as doing it.
I write all that to challenge mainly myself, but anyone else who happens to read this, to be extremely aware of their words and thoughts. Being a parent I struggle with the weight that me and my wife will likely be the first Jesus either of our girls see. Same goes for the person we run into at the gas station. We may be the only Jesus they see.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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