Hebrews

So the past few weeks I've been doing a personal study of Hebrews, and man let me tell you, It has been really cool. It's really the first time I've done my own personal study and been relatively consistent. Since it has been a huge blessing to me so far this summer, I figured I'd post something about it. I've only made it through a few chapters thus far, so I still have a lot more to dive into. One thing that really jumped out at me and continues to be a subject of thought is Hebrews 1:10-12.


"And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:
They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;
And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail."


Here the author of Hebrews is quoting an old testament passage in Psalms, where the the author of that particular psalm is prophetically declaring the characteristics of Christ our Lord. One reason this jumps out to me is because the author of the Psalm is declaring these truths about our Lord centuries before he came into the world. This adds truth to the eternal truths of Jesus. From a simple intelectual perspective, any knowledgeable person can see how things of this world have been changing throughout time. From the changing types of governments, monarchies to democracies, to the changing types of family order, where women had no rights or respect, societies have altered on a continual basis in so many perspectives. What comfort there is to know that our God and our Savior has been the same for all time. Even in times from day to day, we find ourselves not knowing what to expect in our lives, and rightfully we can't really know, however there is one thing, which the author of Hebrews talks about, that we can find complete hope in. Our Lord has been from the beginning and will be till the end, and has not changed, is not changing, and will not change. I definitely have not yet grasped the reality associated with this truth. If I completely understood and acknowledged this truth, my thoughts throughout the day would be surrounded with peace and confidence in our Lord.
How can I get to that place where I do have complete confidence? James 4:8, Ephesians 6:10-20, I know  it's a continual war I have to fight against. The enemy's best strategy is to get us to doubt the plans God has for us. When we begin to doubt that, we begin to try and make and chase those plans ourselves. I've got to chase after God, work towards him, and yes it is work, because it's fighting against everything this world is telling us. And when I do that, I will unexplainably begin to find myself not worrying about such fears. I will begin to find myself naturally trusting his purpose and plan. It's how he works in his children's lives, and it's worth pursuing.

Brief

Dependencies!

We are dependent on food. We are dependent on water. Some of us are dependent on other things like coffee, friends, long walks on the bea... I mean, maybe not.

But do we have a noticeable dependence on God?
One can always tell when they haven't eaten or when they haven't been drinking enough liquids. But can we tell when we haven't had God as our focus? I think for most followers of Christ, it is quite apparent when they haven't set time aside to rest in God's presence, however I find myself, and I don't think I am the only one, not becoming desperate for it as much as I am for water after a long workout or food midday.

I am humbled by this obvious lack of dependency. It reveals to me my continual pride that is still present in my life. I long to be completely dependent on my Father, as I am for food and drink. I long to be desperate for Him when I have been away for a decent amount of time.

Your shepherd staff
Comforts me
You are my feast
In the presence of enemy
Surely goodness
Follow me
Follow me
In the house of God, forever

Fasting for... someone??

If I were to be completely honest, my experience with fasting is rather shallow. I have decided to refrain from eating food or partaking in some other distraction or entertainment in hopes that I would draw closer to God in that time. Looking back on it, there have really been only two significant times where I have decided to fast from something and felt as if my heart was changed after breaking the fast. I think this is partially from my lack of focus on the purpose of the fast, and instead focused on the things I removed myself from rather than the things I was longing for. 

I think due to my inability to focus on the right things while fasting, my concept of fasting is skewed and tainted. I believe a lot of this has to do with my spiritual maturity. Whether I enter into the fasting really desiring change, or enter into it because of pressure from other sources, my motives and purposes for starting it are the things that will allow me to have a Godly experience. Unfortunately it will be the thing that also causes me to have a miserable, painful experience. 

So in order for me to experience God through fasting, I need to approach it cautiously, and be certain that my intentions are pure and holy before attempting to humble myself in such a way. I've had these thoughts hovering in my mind for a while, and a brief comment in a podcast the other day stirred it back up. A comment about fasting for someone or something was said as if it were a common act… Well is it??

I've never really even thought about fasting for someone else. I've always pictured it as something an individual would do in order to draw themselves closer to God. However as I got lost in my thoughts as the podcast went on, it made sense that fasting for something outside of yourself would be powerful. Jesus is recorded in John 15 saying, 

"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends."

This sunday school verse entered my mind as I pondered about the ramifications of fasting for a friend. We can get more from this verse than just the idea of one dying for a friend. Reading into the verse a bit, any type of sacrifice for a friend in one's life is a reflection of Christ in our lives. Actions which are done willingly, without any hesitation or expectation for compensation, towards a friend are powerful, and really do show the care and love they have for their friend. 

So even more, how powerful is it to approach God on the behalf of a friend. Fasting, removing "necessities" from my life, so that I can reveal my weaknesses, my need for God, my dependence on my Father, in order to request His power to be revealed in a friend's life. This would be the greater Love Jesus talked about, putting someone else's life before mine, someone else's future, someone else's heart before mine. 

I look forward to attempting experiencing God by fasting on behalf of a friend. 

Church, submit

Ephesians 5:22-24

"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the Husband is head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything."

So I asked a friend what the first thing she thinks of when she hears this verse. Her repines: "umm..Wives submit to your husbands.."

I think I may not have phrased the question in the best way, however I think this is a fair representation of what most people, (single/engaged/married) initially think of when they hear this verse. The church I am attending this summer covered this passage on Sunday, and approached again at the CityGroup on Thursday night. I didn't realize how much this verse means to me personally until mid-conversation Thursday night.

While others were talking, the meaning of the passage to me started overflowing my mind. The first phrase isn't necessarily the first thing I think of when I hear the verse. Well it isn't necessarily referring to me either, so obviously it doesn't convict me as it would others. (women in particular) The later part of the verses is what provokes most thought. "……..,as unto the Lord. …….., even as Christ is head of the church: and he is the savior of the body." Chewing on these verses resulted in a few powerful points (to me personally)

1) This world's view of marriage is screwed up.

This also stemmed from watching the show Two and a Half Men with my roommate earlier that day. In the episode, there was a couple who was about to get married. In this sitcom, along with so many others, they portrayed the man as the cowardly spouse, who would run to his fiance with his tail between his legs every time the woman would yell out his name. This portrayal can be seen in so many other sitcoms, and also in so many modern day young marriages (just go to your local grocery store and people watch) If you were to ask the guy if he's happy, most the time he'd say yes. But being a guy, I know this is simply degrading to a man's confidence. Also, although i know I am not an expert in women's psychology, you never hear a woman complain about her husband's role when he lovingly takes leadership in the relationship. Enough on marriage counseling, I really wanted to compare the world's view of marriage to the way you and I (the church) live our lives with Christ. 

When we, the bride, desire to take control, desire to create our own path, and attempt to establish ourselves on our own man-made foundation, we become the domineering controlling bride in today's worldly view of marriage. Ironically, does not our relationship with God result in the same dysfunctional and destructive outcome as those relationships the world portrays?? (I'm referring to the 50% divorce rate) Do we not find ourselves in places of depression, confrontation, and sadness? 

(to be continued…)

Skeptic

1 Timothy 1:3-5

"As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:

Sunday I spent a whole hour focused on on only 3 verses. I never thought I would get frustrated reading the bible, but alas, I got pretty close yesterday. Reading these verses got me all confused at what Paul meant by them. I know they may be pretty simple, however like I mentioned in the title, I am a skeptic. Reading a few commentaries, I got the same idea from all of them. My main question was when Paul refers to the "commandment" in verse 5, what commandment was he referring to?? All the commentaries I was able to find associated that commandment to the divinely given "Greatest Commandments." (Matthew 22:37-40) However, when I read it, I automatically associated the commandment in verse 5 with the command (or charge) he told Timothy to give in verse 3. I found an awesome relatively literal greek to english translation of 1 Timothy, and in both instances, Paul uses the same root, just a different conjugation. So I just can't convince myself that he was referring to a different commandment. Like I mentioned earlier, I spent quite a while struggling over this, just trying to find and explanation of how he could mean the "Greatest commandments."

Now if Paul did mean the "Greatest Commandments," then verse 5 would be easy to understand. The purpose of the "Greatest Commandments" now is to have a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith. And through those three things, love.

On the contrary however, if Paul referred to the charge he wants Timothy to give those who are teaching false doctrines, this passage has a different application. In both scenarios, Paul instructs us that we should have love, and this love should sprout from a particular state in which we are in. 

Despite what Paul was referring to, we are still to desire the purity,goodness, and sincerity and Paul speaks of. The different interpretations in no way take away the ultimate point Paul was attempting to make. However, since I am a skeptic, I often get caught up in whether the interpretation is accurate. I suppose if Paul referred to points of the faith which were not necessarily in context, then it would be rather accurate to assume he did so again here. Unfortunately I am not that observant when reading through Paul's letters, so I am not able to speak of one way or the other. 

This is an instance where I don't simply want to except what other theologians have come up with, and want to find out for myself. Unfortunately, in this passage, along with my inadequate knowledge of the scriptures, I don't think I can really know at this time..