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Don’t miss the roses

Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? For whom are you looking?” Supposing that He was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you are the one who has carried Him away from here, tell me where you have put Him, and I will take Him away.” – JOHN 20:15 AMP​

How often have we thought He was just a man in need on the street corner, just a passerby on the sidewalk or in the hall, just a heaven laden mother trying to make it through the grocery store with her kids in tow, just a person that has fallen on tough times, just a person who has made poor choices…

Let’s look at the full passage of scripture. 

But Mary [who had returned] was standing outside the tomb sobbing; and so, as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?” She told them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” After saying this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? For whom are you looking?” Supposing that He was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you are the one who has carried Him away from here, tell me where you have put Him, and I will take Him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). Jesus said to her, “ Do not hold Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene came, reporting to the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that He had said these things to her.

JOHN 20:11‭-‬18 AMP

And don’t we see this recurring theme of the Lord being present but not being heard or seen or recognized?

Let love of your fellow believers continue. Do not neglect to extend hospitality to strangers [especially among the family of believers–being friendly, cordial, and gracious, sharing the comforts of your home and doing your part generously], for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. – HEBREWS 13:1‭-‬2 AMP

And isn’t this in fact quite important to understanding the condemnation:

And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

John 3:19‭-‬21 NKJV

So it makes it much easier to understand the judgement:

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.  All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.  And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.  Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:  for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;  I was  naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?  When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You?  Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’  And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:  for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink;  I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’  Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’  And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Matthew 25:31‭-‬46 NKJV

Open our eyes to see you, Lord, so that we can enjoy those precious moments in the garden with you. Amen.

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Rise and go…

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt. 

But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.

– Matthew 2:13‭-‬14‭, ‬19‭-‬21 ESV

#Awake #Arisen #On Mission

Have you received the call to rise and go?

Have you dreams or the answers to your prayers pressed you on towards a new and unknown destination? 

What will be your answer to the call today? 

We can’t change yesterday,  nor can we let guilt or pride over our past influence our actions to “rise and go” today. 

Lord, help us to be attentive to your call,  to listen for your instruction, to be prepared to go,  and to rise and go when called into action. And if we are to wait, if this is our time to rest in your grace and prepare for the knock at our hearts, let us meditate upon your word,  renewing our minds, preparing ourselves for the journey ahead by consuming your Word, loving and serving, and looking to you without ceasing. Amen.

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Come, let us reason together

​Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil,  learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.  

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord : though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.  If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land;  but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

– Isaiah 1:16‭-‬20 ESV

#WashYourself #CeaseEvil #LearnGood

Are your sins easily hidden? Or are they clear and visible and evident in your words, in your attitude, in your “un-grace”? I say this because that lack of grace at work in your life shows up like a scarlet stain that can’t just be seen,  but it can be smelled as either the fresh aroma of life or the decaying stench of death. 

I praise God that I smell such a wonderful aroma of life coming off of the lives of my friends and loved ones most of the time. It is a welcoming and inviting aroma that purr from their hearts and comes out in their smiles,  their encouragement,  their joy, their love for one another. And I see them willingly obedient, and eating of the good of the land, and they warm my heart for what they are pouring out into the lives of so many around them. it’s a valuable treasure that when they share it with others,  they come away with more themselves. 

Buy the rebellious and the willful. I know the stench well, it used to engulf me. I used to walk in its thick cloud, as it blinded my vision and hindered my navigation. Whereas others hear the Word of God and are humbled, you think that it doesn’t apply to you! You think that this message is meant for someone else, but why has the Lord brought it to your ears? It is sharp and it cuts deep. 

So will you:

​1) “Wash yourselves; ”

2) “make yourselves clean;” 

3) “remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;” 

4) “cease to do evil, ” 

5) “learn to do good;” 

6) “seek justice, ”

7) “correct oppression;” 

8) “bring justice to the fatherless,” 

9) “plead the widow’s cause.”

Or do you have something better to do even though the Lord has called you to “Come, let us reason together”?

Will you say,  “I am too busy for the Lord’s work, too busy to be called by the Lord into action,  into ministry. ”

“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son,  and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.  Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’  But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business,  while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.  The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.  Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy.  Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’  And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.   “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there  a man who had no wedding garment.  And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’  For many are called, but few are chosen.”

– Matthew 22:2‭-‬14 ESV

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Let’s try resting AFTER all of our work…

​”So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” – Genesis 2:3 ESV

#RestIfYouveWorked

I love this example of resting as a natural part of productive work. Rest not as something that would allow us to be lazy and unproductive and a non-contributor to those we should be assisting and providing for –  but as part of a progression, of a pattern, of a glimpse of some things that appear drastically different that when working together rightly in the correct order.

Yes, rest at the end of our work is productive and effective in producing a great multiplication of our end results, because it allows a new season of productive work. 

“Command these things as well, so that they may be without reproach. But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” – 1 Timothy 5:7‭-‬8 ESV


“For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.  As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.” – 2 Thessalonians 3:10‭-‬15 ESV

I also love that we aren’t to twist God’s example of rest on the seventh into only a hard,  religious requirement of the letter of the law that would hinder observance of “those greater parts of the law – mercy, justice, and faithfulness”. The Pharisees of today are still more immersed in heavy burdens of laws to restrict and confine,  instead of being anointed by the Spirit of the Law to love,  serve, forgive, and restore. 

And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.  So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” – Mark 2:27 ESV

Do you see the beauty of it? The balance of it?

Just like we need the rest of Winter to allow for the new birth of Spring, the perseverence through the heat of Summer, and the fruitfulness of the harvest – do you see it?

Do you see the need for an imperfect people, in order for God to show that rightly working perfection is demonstrated more clearly and beautifully in the contrast allowed by the mercies of His love than in any rigid and unwavering law. The world can’t adequately measure what the hands can’t touch,  what the eyes can’t see, what the ears can’t hear,  what the tongue can’t tate – but what the heart cannot deny – a truth greater than measurement – a touch stronger than E=mc^2.

Yes, it is that narrow path. When I try to tell you, I find it is better instead to show you so that it isn’t lost in translation. He says, “Come walk with me,  and I will show you the way. I will lift off your heavy burdens and give you rest.” 

Rest in that right measure,  in that balance, in that abiding trust in an Almighty God who loves you and who has made this Sabbath, this rest, for you. Will you enter into His rest today? 

Will you confess that He is Lord and believe in your heart,  and will you demonstrate it to others in your walk today? Not a walk of heavy obligation, but a dance of gratitude and praise – for the price paid, for the undeserved grace, for the inescapable beauty of this relationship with a living and loving God who is changing us – who is bringing us from the cold death of winter into the new life of spring so that we might last through the summer and see the fruit being bared in its due season. 

If this is your time to be working,  work!

If this is your time to be resting,  rest! 

If you have been doing either for too long,  repent! 

May the Lord bless you and lead you in His beautiful purpose, today and forevermore. Amen.

hballingerLeave a comment

Be strong and courageous

​This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:8‭-‬9 ESV

I’m sure there are some who have to hear me talk about Jesus all the time who would “just like me to not be so religious” and for the Word of God to not come out from my mouth. They might find some hope in believing this is what the Scripture is saying,  right? 

Sorry to disappoint you, but hang around, you might find something else of interest in a minute. That phrase “shall not depart” really means something like “will not be removed”. Another way to describe what this is saying is:

If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot. – Jeremiah 20:9 ESV

And another description is:

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” – John 7:38 ESV

Yep, it actually means that we just can’t shut up about our God.We just can’t stop singing His praises. And it’s because He’s with us. “Do not be frightened,  do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you WHEREVER  YOU GO.”
So when that picture caught your eye and led you to “that” website, yep, God was there. He knows.

When you did that thing,  yeah, that one that you hope people don’t ever find out about. He knows. 

In fact, He knew you when He knit you in your mother’s womb. Pretty freaky concept,  huh? Some stalker God that’s always watching, “knows when you’ve been bad or good…” Well, not really. See, you’ve never actually been good. 
What? I crossed a line? You mean you didn’t leave after the “I can’t shut up thing” and you made it past the “God is a stalker” thing,  and you’re going to leave just when I’m talking about our favorite person,  self?  Come on, how bad can it be. Hang around just a little longer…

So, why does God want you to meditate on His Word? So you can get a big fat check? Isn’t that what He means by “For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

Well, let’s unpack it before either the prosperity gospel folks start flooding in along you to send them your prosperity bribe… oops, I mean tithe… or the stodgy old religious conservatives get so uncomfortable with the whole idea that they decide we should try to shut the door of heaven quickly before any sinners can get in. LOL. Okay,  sorry for the sarcasm,  folks,  it’s getting late. 

So what in the world is the point of my ramblings tonight? 

It’s pretty simple, I’m here to tell you that God is for you. Jesus Christ,  God come in the flesh to live among us, died for your sin. 

Yep. Died. 

On a cross.

It was really awful. Have you seen The Passion? Don’t try to eat pizza through that movie, I’ll tell you. Not a good idea. 

Anyways,  man… I’m all over the place,  right?  why in the world would someone take the time to read something so disorganized and chaotic as this? Have you met our kids? Have you met us these days? ADD is the new baseline and people want everything in 5 second sound bites or chock full of enriching rabbit trails and jokes. Now where was I again? 
Right, I was there,  with the hammer in my hand,  nailing Jesus to the cross. What? Yep,  those were my nails in his hands. 

I see you threw the brakes on hard there,  right? You’re wondering how they were my nails unless I’m some 2000 year old vampire,  or I’m some Dr. Who type with a time traveling tardis, or I’m just insane and joined up with a bunch of religious crazies like all the other “many paths to heaven” that Oprah is selling (or giving out to people from underneath their chairs).

You see, even if no one else in all of history believed, I believe that He went to the cross for my sin. And I believe that His Word is true and that this whole God thinner,  this whole Jesus Christ died on a cross,  was buried and risen from the dead is true. And I’ll tell you that Jesus is Lord – not because He needs me, not because I need to gather recruits, not because I need to live a more perfect life, not because I will burn if I don’t. 

I’m just telling you because that’s what I do now. I celebrate. I am strong and courageous now, because shame and guilt and fear and worry is out the window if I’ve got, Almighty God, maker of heaven and earth with me and He says, “Don’t worry, kid,  I’ve got this.”

Yep, my Daddy is pretty sweet and amazing. Yeah, that’s what I call Him sometimes when it’s our time just the two of us. I tried Abba Father,  but that just sounded too pretentious. He just smiles because He knows the name that my heart cries out to Him. And He is there,  and He never leaves me. And it isn’t creepy, it’s wonderful. 

I hope you have this. I hope you know Him closely and personally. If not,  dude,  you’re so missing out! I mean,  we’re talking about God here. I mean,  really,  for real. What is going to top that? Yeah,  I know you have Sunday night’s episode of The Walking Dead revised that you haven’t watched yet,  but Daddy is saying,  not just to me,  but to you as well,  “meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Do you hear what He’s saying? 

Even if it sounds too good to be true,  why not give it a double take. I mean,  you’ve read my ramblings this far, why not read and meditate on some of His Word. I promise you that it will captivate you a lot more than my writing if you open your ears, your mind,  and your heart to heart it.

Go, meditate, do what is written. Then come back and tell me about it. I dare you. What have you got to lose if I’m wrong? 

Even more importantly, what have you got to lose if I’m right? 

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” – Romans 10:9‭-‬11 ESV

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Context Matters!

​You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? – Matthew 23:33 ESV

Yes, these are Jesus’s words! These are the “words in red”, but don’t mistakenly think that Jesus walked up to some scared teenage girl headed into a planned parenthood building and said this. Don’t think that Jesus walked up to a boy or girl struggling with their identity and the temptation of their flesh that has led them into shameful ground before a perfect and holy God and said this. Don’t think that Jesus walked into the meth cooker’s house, or the bar, or the jail and said this. 

No, He walked into the church. He pointed that sword from His mouth in the direction of the religious and said to those hypocrites –

You make it burdensome for the people to come to me. Instead of helping them carry their burdens, you lay burdens on their shoulders. 

You do everything to be seen and honored yourselves. You take the best seats and titles and honor from others and return it to your “same people” instead of extending it to those you don’t know, those who are poor, needy,  sick, burdened, lost. You enjoy your season tickets, golf courses,  country clubs, first class accommodations while His people starve, hurt, freeze, suffer,  and die alone and without love or hope in this world. You celebrate with songs and lukewarm religious practices that make me sick enough to puke you out. 

You want to be seen and revered as wise teachers and leaders when you don’t even know how to serve and love. You are puffed up in knowledge and pride and you would rather be called Father yourself than admit to who your real father is. That snake, that liar, he is quite satisfied with you remaining religious and lost and serving as hischireling crying Lord, Lord but serving only your own pride.

You won’t enter into grace and belief yourself,  and you try to shut the door in the faces of those who would. You would tell them that Christ is necessary but that He is not sufficient. You would tell them that even though they have received salvation by grace through faith that they must turn back to the law because you wish foolishly that you could pluck them from His hand so they might fall short of grace? May it never be so! Foolish children, who has bewitched you? Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Having begun by the Spirit,  are you now being perfected by the flesh? Do you not know that those who rely on works of the law are under a curse? Are you cursed or blessed? Are you bearing love or condemnation? Thistles and thorns or fruit? 

You make grand overtures to sign people up for your religious practices, observances of days and seasons, sacrifices of obligation,  and empty works – and you prove them twice the chill of hell as yourselves. They no more know God or bear the fruit of His Holy Spirit than you do,  you sons of perdition! 

You guard the safe keeping of the money and “valuables” in your buildings, houses, warehouses and bank accounts, but you have no such safeguards for what is the only thing valuable that ever enters your building – my people. You wouldn’t even know if you lost a hundred of them, but you sure would know if your balance sheet was off a penny! 

You spend your effort on tithes and attendance and clothes and appearances because these are the greatest desires of your own eyes and what is valuable to you – thinking foolishly that I value the same things by your same priorities. But I desire mercy above sacrifice, justice above bribes, and faithfulness of heart above outward compliance. With your striving to uphold the law, you strain at removing the smallest speck of dirt on your dinner plate while you try to conceal your coming on the log wedged securely in your throat.

You are full of greed and self-indulgence. Though your mind has learned the great mental gymnastics of hiding your heart from the undiscerning, though you have learned to treat the symptoms of your cancer it is still at work killing you from the inside. So realize the heart of the issue and get that transplant, that cure, before it is too late.

Yes, you are dressed in the right outward appearance,  but you are dead inside. Your fear of admitting the lies that you have spread founding your own reputation as white washed, should be exceeded by your fear of falling into the hands of am angry God who knows your heart. The stench of your hypocrisy and your lawlessness is not just like death lingering in the air,  it is the rotting death of your “legacy”. 

Yes, you outwardly honor with your flattering words the very ones from the past that you try your best to kill today with your biting and devouring. You stand on high saying, “I would not do such things” when you are quick to go to war with any wise man who offers you a rebuke. You are a fool,  drinking the full measure of the foolishness of your fathers. 

You serpents, you brood of vipers, HOW ARE YOU TO ESCAPE BEING SENTENCED TO HELL?

You think this should be aimed at the sinners,  with your picket signs, and your political support, and your vocal self-righteousness but the Lord has set His eye on you. He is that bear lying in wait for you, He has walked you in so that you cannot escape, He has bent His bow and His arrows will pierce you, He will make your teeth grind on gravel,  if you do not hear my cry and repent! Do not delay! 

Because the steadfast love of the Lord is everlasting,  and His mercies are for the humble and the lowly. Will you rail against the Truth? Will the rock fall on you so that you are utterly destroyed,  or will you fall upon the solid rock and be saved and sing praises of His mercy, love and grace through the testimony of your life extending these same mercies to so many more? 

If you read this and said to yourself,  “_______ ought to hear that.” or “That preacher over at _________ sure needs to hear that” – then you are the very person that needs to stop right here and go back and read this message that IS MEANT FOR YOU! Because if you think that you can teach _________ something, you fit the bill for this message. If that is you,  go back and read it again and let the words til up the soIL of your heart – you aren’t so perfectly cold and dead that the Word of God can’t touch your hardened heart at all are you? 

If you have come to repentance, continue reading,  otherwise, I’m sorry,  but this message is not for you. 

My child, your sins are forgiven. Go and sin no more. 

 

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Blessed be the name of the Lord

​And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord .” – Job 1:21 ESV

#BlessedBeTheLord

If we only praise God when our circumstances live up to our wants, are we interested in being “Blessed”? That word in Hebrew is pronounced “barak”, which means “kneeling” – as an act of adoration, where we acknowledge our position as servant and God as master.

 Or are we only interested in God if we can be the one in control,  saying to Him, “Servant,  go fetch this for me. Do this for me. Do that for me.”

Our God is Almighty God, not a pagan genie in a bottle, not a trapped demon to be manipulated by the binding Word of God, not a counterfeit (like mammon) that offers worldliness and pleasures of the flesh but has no power to save or redeem or deliver into freedom and a truly abundant life. No, we serve the Lord God Almighty, maker of heavens and earth, God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and who came in the flesh as Jesus Christ to deliver you and I to a reconciled relationship with Him.

In fact, can’t we see that our God isn’t just the God of “prosperity, health, and favor”,  but our God is the God of the poor, the needy,  the afflicted, the lost,  the humble.  And He reaches them through you and I who are in that “Blessed” position of humble servant to our fellow man – so that we can truly say like Job, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return.Whether the Lord gives or takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord .”

Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?  If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. – James 2:5‭-‬8 ESV

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And God Blessed Them

​So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” – Genesis 1:27‭-‬28 ESV


#InHis Image #Blessed
And God blessed them.

“Blessed” 

In Hebrew,  the word is:

בָּרַךְ

If we were to sound it out ourselves,  it would be spelled like barak (bä·rak). What is interesting about this word is its meaning and usage in Hebrew. It means to kneel – and interestingly enough it is translated as blessing 302 times in the old testament,  but it is also translated as curse or blaspheme 6 times. How odd for blessing and cursing to come from the same word. I just find that so interesting! 

And the reason is because the Word is about relationship and position with respect to God. You see,  we were created to kneel,  to submit,  to yield to God. And if we understand who God really is, we would be honored to worship Almighty God, Heavenly Father. But if we’ve made some imperfect image of God in our heads that is more like ourselves, there’s no reason some might ask,  “Why do I have to worship God, that just isn’t right.”

For example,  let’s say the person we’ve lobbied for and campaigned for the whole year to get elected into office wins, and we are offered the opportunity to formally present them at their inauguration – wouldn’t we be excited?  But what if that other person won and we are faced with the same opportunity? Isn’t is clear that how we see God affects whether we see kneeling to Him, worshiping Him, obeying Him as either a blessing or a curse? 

And how this word for “kneeling” has gotten twisted into the worldliness of having an abundance of things – that’s not blessing! That’s responsibility to be a good steward lest the stones and beams in our own houses cry out and testify against us about the poor and the hungry and the afflicted at judgement! 

I’m talking about real blessing – a life surrendered to Christ,  not just in a confessed sinner’s prayer,  but in a believing heart that bears the burdens of his fellow men and that shares this Good News to the ends of the earth. Yes, a life anointed and flowing in the Spirit,  bearing fruit, renewing their mind, bringing Hope into the dark places, encouraging others in faithfulness, and leading one another in the holiness that is loving one another.

That is blessed. Blessing is kneeling surrendered humbly at the foot of the cross, not rich and proud at the edge of the cliff of worldliness and sinfulness. 

May we all be blessed by the reading of, and the meditating upon, the Word of God today. Thanks be to God! Amen!

hballinger1 Comment

God Saves, God with Us

​”She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:  

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” 

(which means, God with us). – Matthew 1:21‭-‬23 ESV

#HisPeople #Saved

Jesus, Ἰησοῦς (Iēsous), a rendition of the Hebrew Yeshua (ישוע) “God Saves”.

Immanuel (Hebrew: עִמָּנוּאֵל‎) meaning, “God with us”.

Yes, God is for us and not against us,  believer,  child of God. I’m thankful for this when I realize how much of my life I was against myself, and I was against others – not that I was overly cruel or so wicked that I would gather a crowd who hated me and were ready to kill me for my great treachery and lawlessness, but I definitely wasn’t much help to anyone whether we are talking physical needs or spiritual needs. But even then He was for me. 

But He did have people that were ready to kill Him and scourge Him and put Him on that cross, not because He was wicked to them,  but because the light of His love some so brightly against their darkness that they would rather remain hidden than be brought into the light. And He died so that I might live. In fact,  more importantly,  so that He might live in me and through me. 

A love poured out. We know the end of the story,  and we are quick to hurry along to it, but we might miss the beautiful rose. We might overlook this precious Prince of Peace come into the world as a babe to teach us things like the faith of a child. 

It reminds me of that little one’s prayer,  “Lord, please make the bad people good. And the good people nice.”

Teach me that you are close, Lord, and that you are for even those who (like me) can be hard to love. Teach me to pour out the rains of love onto both “the good and the evil” – those groups in which I might foolishly classify those you call your own, those you came for and have called, those you long to see not stumbled by my hypocrisy and my falling short of your perfection and glory. Don’t let me be wise like a teacher, but humble like a studious servant, Lord. Remind me of that childlike love and faith that you desire,  Lord. Amen.