Happy Easter 2014

This season of Lent, the kids and I did a study of all the "I am" statements that Jesus made in the book of John.  Here they are:

• I am the source of living water:  John 4:1-14, 7:37-39
• I am the Messiah:  John 4:15-26
• I am the Bread of Life:  John 6: 25 - 40
• I am the Bread from Heaven:  John 6:41-59
• I am the Light of the World:  John 8:12-18, 9:1-5
• I am YHWH:  John 8:52-58 with references to Exodus 3:14
• I am the Gate for the Sheep:  John 10:1-10
• I am the Good Shepherd who lays his life down for his sheep:  John 10:11-18
• I have authority to lay down my life for my sheep and take it up again:  John 10:11-18
• I am one with God the Father:  John 10: 25-30,  14:8-14
• I am the Resurrection and the Life:  john 11:12-27
• I am the way, the truth, the life; No one gets to God the Father, except through me:  John 14:1-7

I have always thought that John wrote with a sense of humor.  In the past, I have laughed through Jesus' "Whose Your Daddy" argument with the Pharisees in John 8.  This year, my funny bone was struck in John 9.  His disciples raise a theological argument when they see a man  born blind begging in the streets (which of course, is EXACTLY what Jesus wants us to do--NOT).  They ask Jesus if he is blind because of his sins or his parents.  Jesus tells them there is another option:  a chance to see the glory of God at work.  Then he hocks a goober, makes mud with it, and smears the man's eyes with it.  Not exactly what we think of when we hear the words "The Glory of God."  And yet, the man was able to see once he washed the mud out of his eyes.  The story has both a happy and sad ending.  The sad ending is that there were people who saw this miracle, the first unique miracle that Jesus had performed, restoring a genetic defect, and still didn't believe.  They condemned Jesus for breaking their Sabbath rules (not God's) and plotted his death, thinking that God wouldn't save him because Jesus was a sinner.  When they saw Jesus hanging on the cross, thought that God's judgment against him was complete.  Proof that we will believe what we choose to believe, even with evidence for God's existence, His grace, love and mercy staring us in the face.  We see the light, but prefer darkness and blindness to really seeing and really living. But the Good News is that God's Judgement, which WAS placed on Jesus at the cross on our behalf, was replace by grace and mercy when Jesus rose again from the dead, proving once and for all that all the claims he made before the cross were true.  And Jesus still offers grace and mercy to the blind and real life to those who are the living dead.  My prayer is that today, they would see and live.

Christ is Risen!  He is risen indeed!

A late post election commentary

I, along with many people I know, was praying through the election that God would put His man in the White House. I believe He has, though it may not look like it to all the McCain supporters. So, for those of us whose candidate did not make it into the White House, or any of the Senate elections, what should we do?
The Bible is pretty clear on this. In 1 Timothy 2:1-2 says that "requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone--for kings (i.e. presidents for Americans) and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives..." Paul was saying this at a time when those in authority were pretty focused on persecuting and killing Christians. In fact, it was just before Nero blamed the Christians on a huge fire that was started in Rome that resulted in Paul's beheading and mass rioting and killing of Christians in Rome. So, if those Christians, whose lives were in danger by being Christians should have been praying for their leaders, we, who can worship Christ freely should exercise our freedom even more and pray for wisdom and good counselors for Barak Obama and for God's protection for our country.
The Bible also reminds us that "The king's (president's) heart is in the hand of the Lord; He directs it like a watercourse wherever He pleases." If God can convince an arrogant, idol-worshipping heathen the Pharoh Rameses to let the Isrealites go; if He can convince an arrogant, idol worshipping heathen like King Nebuchnedzzer to worship him (read the book of Daniel); if He can cause an idol loving king like Darius to let the Isrealites rebuild Jerusalem (the book of Nehemiah), He can lead a president-elect who at least claims that he is Christian.
Finally, all Americans should remember that no president, nor is any form of government our saviour. Nor do I believe that Barak Obama is the Antichrist, even though the Pick 3 Lotto numbers in Illinois right after the election were 6,6,6 (http://www.illinoislottery.com/subsections/numbers2.htm as a fact check).

Here are some other verses regarding world leaders in the Bible. It is by no means exhaustive.
Isaiah 40: 21-24
Isaiah 49:7
Daniel 2:21
Titus 3:1

God Bless!

Renewed Hunger

I confess that I have been in a spiritual sulk for a while. We have had a hard year in our church, we have witnessed good friends and godly people seem to turn away from God and follow their own desires and I have dealing with personal setbacks. My head tells me, "Remember, Romans 8:28 says that all things work for the good of others and the glory of God.". Even with that encouragement, it is sometimes hard to live out that faith in my heart. It has been tempting to join my friends and turn away from God. Yet I know better because, in the past, I tried living without Jesus for a relatively brief , terrible, horrible, no good, very bad time. I thought I could live life fine without God and He used that time to demonstrate conclusively that I couldn't: I couldn't make better decisions, I couldn't navigate through life very well, I couldn't even keep the promises I made to myself about being a good person. Therefore I know that however hard a place God has put me, I know that living without God in my life would be much worse. Recently, God has been wooing me out of my sulk, mainly by pouring out His grace into my life to prepare me to pour it out on others. During the Illinois Christian Homeschooling Conference, He really opened the floodgates and started lifting my eyes up to the hills and realize that my help comes from God (Psalm 121:1&2, read all of it sometime when you really need your spirits lifted).

As a result, I have felt a renewed hunger for God's word and for loving Him with my whole heart mind and strength. My husband and I are starting to go through the "Experiencing God" Bible Study (which I highly recommend) and when I get the chance, I am reading My Utmost For His Highest as a midday break to carry me through the remainder of the day. Today's devotional is about the service of passionate devotion and is based on John 21:16. The comments from Oswald Chambers that really spoke to me were the following (italics are my thoughts):

• Jesus Christ call service what we are to Him, not what we do for Him. (He values us, not our works. Even though I have experienced it personally, it is still hard to accept because I don't consider myself to be much of a prize and I have a tendency to be task oriented.)
• People do not want to be devoted to Jesus, but only to the cause He started. (It is easier to do the works than to figure out what it means to be devoted to God--I know this personally)
• Our Lord's first obedience was to the will of the Father, not to the needs of men; the saving of men was the natural outcome of His obedience to the Father. (Deeds are the natural result of devotion but deeds can not come first)
• If I love Jesus Christ personally and passionately, I can serve humanity though men treat me as a door mat. (because it is Jesus' love that pours out of me into the people around me. As His love pours into me, I have no room left for overweening pride, selfishness, or personal agendas.)

Praise God, who knows how foolish and prideful and inept I am at truly loving Him as He ought to be loved. Praise Him for showing me, little by little, with great patience, how He wants me to love Him. Praise Him for walking with me through this time and keeping me on His path. Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Kris