Tag: understanding

The Desire For a Place of Power

“But they didn’t answer, because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest.” 

Mark 9:34, New Living Translation

As the disciples walked they talked.  There was a casualness as they followed Jesus, it was a warm day and they walked, and sometimes even stopped–keeping up in a relaxed way. They finally meander their way slowly into Capernaum.  There was a safe-house there, and a place of peace.  It is here that Jesus confronts His followers.

He wants to know what they were talking about as they walked.  “What did you say to each other?”  The disciples looked at each other, and then down at the floor.  No one spoke. I think they were ashamed.  No one would reveal what they had thought about, and then had spoken out loud.

Did Jesus really need to ask this?  I honestly don’t know, but as I think about these verses, I say yes, and no.  Jesus was bringing His disciples to a place– an opportunity for them to be critically honest, perhaps even a bit reflective and thoughtful.  And yet He knew exactly what they had been discussing.

Even though the disciples knew what they had discussed on that dusty road; they don’t know that Jesus knows.  Awkward.  At this point Jesus doesn’t confront.  He shows.  As they sit down, Jesus begins to reveal their hearts.  A local street urchin, playing outside is brought into the house.  The disciples look, and think.  The child moves close to Jesus.  Jesus pulls him close.

At this point, Jesus begins to say things that elevate.  One of those crystalline moments that happen when His truth meets the human understanding.  That child is transformed into a lesson of influence.

“Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me.”  v.37

This is a clear, and powerful statement of how things operate in the kingdom.  The child is brought into ultimate significance and worth.  The disciples are diminished into a lower status.  It’s funny, but our treatment of a child describes our real relationship with our Father God, and our Savior Jesus.  That little one has now become our “litmus test.”

I encourage you to seek out and develop relationships with the children in your life.  Although this is a literal interpretation, it will adjust us to a broader application of our Lord’s lesson.  When we are altered, we will be putting others first.  Our desire for place, and the power that goes with it, is nullified and zeroed out.

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Exuberantly Alive, [Being Bulletproof]

He holds us very close

“The glory of God is a person fully alive” said the church father Irenaeus.

Psalm 18 shows David exuberantly alive with the life of God. It is filled with rich imagery of God’s deliverance and blessing upon people the people of faith.

I want Psalm 18 to become my story! I want it in my heart so it can stir my spiritual imaginations and strengthen my confidence of God and his kingdom in my midst all the time – in stress and disappointment and injustice and waiting for prayers to be answered.

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Psalm 18

1-2 I love you, God— you make me strong.
God is bedrock under my feet,
the castle in which I live,
my rescuing knight.
My God—the high crag
where I run for dear life,
hiding behind the boulders,
safe in the granite hideout.

3 I sing to God, the Praise-Lofty,
and find myself safe and saved.

4-5 The hangman’s noose was tight at my throat;
devil waters rushed over me.
Hell’s ropes cinched me tight;
death traps barred every exit.

6 A hostile world! I call to God,
I cry to God to help me.
From his palace he hears my call;
my cry brings me right into his presence—
a private audience!

7-15 Earth wobbles and lurches;
huge mountains shake like leaves,
Quake like aspen leaves
because of his rage.
His nostrils flare, bellowing smoke;
his mouth spits fire.
Tongues of fire dart in and out;
he lowers the sky.
He steps down;
under his feet an abyss opens up.
He’s riding a winged creature,
swift on wind-wings.
Now he’s wrapped himself
in a trenchcoat of black-cloud darkness.
But his cloud-brightness bursts through,
spraying hailstones and fireballs.
Then God thundered out of heaven;
the High God gave a great shout,
spraying hailstones and fireballs.
God shoots his arrows—pandemonium!
He hurls his lightnings—a rout!
The secret sources of ocean are exposed,
the hidden depths of earth lie uncovered
The moment you roar in protest,
let loose your hurricane anger.

16-19 But me he caught—reached all the way
from sky to sea; he pulled me out
Of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos,
the void in which I was drowning.
They hit me when I was down,
but God stuck by me.
He stood me up on a wide-open field;
I stood there saved—surprised to be loved!

20-24 God made my life complete
when I placed all the pieces before him.
When I got my act together,
he gave me a fresh start.
Now I’m alert to God’s ways;
I don’t take God for granted.
Every day I review the ways he works;
I try not to miss a trick.
I feel put back together,
and I’m watching my step.
God rewrote the text of my life
when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.

25-27 The good people taste your goodness,
The whole people taste your health,
The true people taste your truth,
The bad ones can’t figure you out.
You take the side of the down-and-out,
But the stuck-up you take down a peg.

28-29 Suddenly, God, you floodlight my life;
I’m blazing with glory, God’s glory!
I smash the bands of marauders,
I vault the highest fences.

30 What a God! His road
stretches straight and smooth.
Every God-direction is road-tested.
Everyone who runs toward him
Makes it.

31-42 Is there any god like God?
Are we not at bedrock?
Is not this the God who armed me,
then aimed me in the right direction?
Now I run like a deer;
I’m king of the mountain.
He shows me how to fight;
I can bend a bronze bow!
You protect me with salvation-armor;
you hold me up with a firm hand,
caress me with your gentle ways.
You cleared the ground under me
so my footing was firm.
When I chased my enemies I caught them;
I didn’t let go till they were dead men.
I nailed them; they were down for good;
then I walked all over them.
You armed me well for this fight,
you smashed the upstarts.
You made my enemies turn tail,
and I wiped out the haters.
They cried “uncle”
but Uncle didn’t come;
They yelled for God
and got no for an answer.
I ground them to dust; they gusted in the wind.
I threw them out, like garbage in the gutter.

43-45 You rescued me from a squabbling people;
you made me a leader of nations.
People I’d never heard of served me;
the moment they got wind of me they listened.
The foreign devils gave up; they came
on their bellies, crawling from their hideouts.

46-48 Live, God! Blessings from my Rock,
my free and freeing God, towering!
This God set things right for me
and shut up the people who talked back.
He rescued me from enemy anger,
he pulled me from the grip of upstarts,
He saved me from the bullies.

49-50 That’s why I’m thanking you, God,
all over the world.
That’s why I’m singing songs
that rhyme your name.
God’s king takes the trophy;
God’s chosen is beloved.
I mean David and all his children—
always.

The Message, (MSG)

Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson

She Makes the Difference, [Lynn]

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Thank You, Sweetheart!

“Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:

If they fall down,
they can help each other up.
But pity those who fall
and have no one to help them up!

Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?

Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

I wish the very best to my single brothers and sisters, and only hope you’ll find the joy of a God-given marriage that will most certainly enhance your present life. When you discover your mate, there will come an awareness that exceeds all that you can work out. I want to exhort you to “trust, and obey.” But I have to insist that there be three strands, not two.

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Restrain Them: Psalms 141:8-10

8″ I look to you for help, O Sovereign Lord.
    You are my refuge; don’t let them kill me.
9 Keep me from the traps they have set for me,
    from the snares of those who do wrong.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
    but let me escape.”

 Psalms 141:8-10, NLT

Spoken like a man who knows and has experienced a whole lot of trouble. David speaks from the matrix of his heart. In this day of cool indifference and sterile objectivity, you rarely see a passionate life being lived.

Perhaps we need a baptism of trouble and woe. I like softness, and love comfort. I am easily taken in by a menu at my favorite diner, and I adore Starbucks. I seem to have an “instant Christian” mentality. I want patience, and I want it now!

Commentary

V. 8, “I look to you for help, O Sovereign Lord.
    You are my refuge; don’t let them kill me.”

This is one of those deep, “rock-bottom” prayers. There is no flowery elegance in this verse. I can smell the sweat, and see the grime. There is dirt under the fingernails of David. It is a cry of somebody in trouble.

But David’s vision is full of God. He chooses to call on the Lord for the help he must have. People want to kill him, and David needs a temporary restraining order desperately.

As I read these verses, there is an absence of anxiety. This man has taken his refuge in the cave of God’s heart. David will be kept securely and safely in that place. He is aware, but he also trusts.

V. 9, “Keep me from the traps they have set for me,
    from the snares of those who do wrong.”

The nature of traps and snares is that they must be hidden. A snare only works by surprise. They must be stealthy. The psalmist doesn’t rely on his own abilities to detect and escape these traps. Rather he reaches out to his Father, and he relies on God’s abilities.

V. 10,  “Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
    but let me escape.”

What we see around us must be (and will be) reversed. The righteous and the wicked will switch places. We need to believe this. Those who have buried themselves in darkness are the ones caught. We must understand this transforming “swap.” It happens when embattled hearts seek the Lord, just like David has done.

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