Live the Scriptures

Having grown up in the church, I've had Bible passages read to me my entire life.  But outside of the church service, it's easy to forget that those same verses still apply.  The New Testament is chock-full of references to the Old Testament.  Take today's passage, for example.  

The margins of my Bible are crammed with study references to other Old Testament verses that are referenced in Matthew 21.  In verse 5 Jesus quotes Isaiah 62:11 and Zechariah 9:9; just a few sentences later, in verse 9, He quotes Psalm 118:26, and then in verse 13, when He rids the temple of the money changers, Jesus again quoted the Old Testament, this time Isaiah 56:7 and Jeremiah 7:11.  The dramatic apex comes in verse 16, when Jesus, quoting Psalm 8:2, rebukes the Pharisees, asking them rather ironically if they had ever read the Scriptures.

Of course they had read the Scriptures.  Their entire lives revolved around knowing the Scriptures.  They were the ones who were supposed to know it better than anyone else in the world.  But to them, the Word of the Lord was simply words on paper.  The holy text was only an incriminating and inconvenient set of rules to be followed.  The God-breathed Scripture was just a dead document. 

The Pharisees thought of the Bible as simply words on paper.  But Jesus wanted them - and us - to see it as a living, breathing document.  It affects us personally; it's not just a set of rules.  God's word is as true today as it was when it was written.  If you don't see the proof of the Scriptures everywhere around you, if you don't see that God's word is coming true every single day, if your life doesn't change based on the principles that you've learned from the Bible....then you haven't really read it. 

Matthew 21:1-17

Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King

 ¹ As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

 ⁴ This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

 ⁵ “Say to Daughter Zion, 
   ‘See, your king comes to you, 
gentle and riding on a donkey, 
   and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

 ⁶ The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. ⁸ A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

   “Hosanna to the Son of David!”

   “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

   “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

 ¹⁰ When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

 ¹¹ The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Jesus at the Temple

 ¹² Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. ¹³ “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”

 ¹⁴ The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.

 ¹⁶ “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.

   “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,

   “‘From the lips of children and infants 
   you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?”

 ¹⁷ And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

Remember

Deuteronomy 4:9 says "only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live.  Teach them to your children and to their children after them."

Last night I spent close to an hour going back and reading old blog posts, notes, and journal entries.  It was strange to go back to the struggles and triumphs that have been old history for so many years now.  But at the same time, it was so good to remember.  There were so many things that seemed like such big issues to me at the time, and now looking back....they're not even a blip on my radar of life.  And I found things that I had prayed for, that had lain very heavy on my heart for quite a while, that have now been answered.

One of my biggest struggles has always been making close female friends.  I don't know why, but I've always found it difficult to really connect with girls.  And there are some things that I just can't tell guys, so I was always kind of in a tough spot.  So a big prayer, one that surfaced over and over in my writings, was that God would send me close girlfriends.  Well, as I was reading back over those writings, I was struck by the fact that now, for the first time in my life, I now have more girlfriends than I have guy friends.

That may seem like a simple, trivial thing.  But to me it was huge.  Countless other examples of God's mercy and provision surfaced as I was perusing the cries of my heart from long ago.  And that's why it is so important to remember.  I encourage you to keep a journal.  Even if it's not regular, it's so important to remember what God has done for you.  And, although you may think right now that you will never forget, I can guarantee you that you will.

But God's mercies are always here.  And remembering what He has done in the past can make trusting Him with your future so much easier.  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  Remember what He has done for you.  That will never change.  Even though the future may be scary, trust that He will take care of you like He has already done in the past.  He has promised that He won't let you down.  It's your job to remember that. 

Deuteronomy 4:9-14

 ⁹ Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. ¹⁰ Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when he said to me, “Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children.” ¹¹ You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness. ¹² Then the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there was only a voice. ¹³ He declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets. ¹⁴ And the LORD directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

Hold on

I'm on a music kick.  It's amazing how music can affect my life - for better or for worse.  And sometimes, I hear these songs that mirror my life so exactly, so perfectly, that I just have to write about it.  Today is one of those days.  I've been listening to "Hold on," by Michael Bublé.  I've always thought of that song as a love song, written by a man to a woman, and I strongly suspect that that is how the song was intended to be thought of.

But I realized tonight that there's another interpretation, that of a Christian to the Lord, or even a Christian to another Christian.  It's a nice utopian thought to think that life will always be pretty flowers and sunny skies.  But anyone who's lived any amount of time knows that that utopian view is a shame - it doesn't exist.  The flowers will die, the skies will grow dark.  But that doesn't mean that it's the end of the world.

As Michael Bublé would say, just hold on.  Find Christians to lift you up, take solace in the Lord that you can always lean on.  The Bible says that 2 are better than one, because they are always there to pick each other up.  Do you have someone to help you back up?  Don't get stuck wallowing in the mud alone when life's storms rains on your parade.

Hold On

By Michael Bublé

Didn't they always say we were the lucky ones?
I guess that we were once.  Babe, we were once

But luck will leave you cause it is a faithless friend
And in the end when life has got you down
You've got someone here that you can wrap your arms around

Chorus

So hold on to me tight, hold on to me tonight
We are stronger here together
Than we could ever be alone
So hold on to me, don't you ever let me go

There's a thousand ways for things to fall apart
But it's no one's fault, no it's not my fault

Maybe all the plans we made would not work out
But I have no doubt even though it's hard to see
I've got faith in us and I believe in you and me

There's so many dreams that we have given up
Take a look at all we've got
And with this kind of love
What we've got here is enough

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

 ⁹ Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor:
¹⁰ If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.
¹¹ Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?
¹² Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. 

Step on toes

When I was in high school, I was surrounded by incredibly Godly people.  They were always challenging me in my faith, lifting me up in prayer, encouraging me to be a better Christian.  But do you know what they did not do?  They weren't particularly nice all of the time.  They didn't walk gently and skirt the issue.  They didn't really care about your feelings.

Somehow we have been convinced that Christians are supposed to be nice.  That we're not supposed to hurt peoples' feelings.  That we're supposed to tiptoe around life and make sure to not step on any toes.

But really, as Christians, we are supposed to be little Christs.  And Jesus was anything but polite.  He called people snakes, sons of vipers, and whitewashed sepulchers.  He busted up tables and threw the money-lenders of the temple.  In short, saving peoples' toes was not at all a priority for Him.  Did He love people?  Unconditionally.  Did He want the best for them?  Absolutely.  But did He mince words just to make them feel better?  Most certainly not.

You see, loving people and making them feel good about themselves sometimes are really opposites.  God wants His people to know Him and be saved, not to be content with not knowing Him.  Sometimes it's hard.  Sometimes it's uncomfortable.  But when the going gets tough, just think about what Jesus did.  Let Him be your example.  And love those in your life enough to step on their toes when need be.

Acts 26

 ¹ Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.”
   So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defense: ² “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews, ³ and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.
 ⁴ “The Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. ⁵ They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sect of our religion, living as a Pharisee. ⁶ And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today. ⁷ This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. King Agrippa, it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me. ⁸ Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?
 ⁹ “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰ And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. ¹¹ Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. I was so obsessed with persecuting them that I even hunted them down in foreign cities.
 ¹² “On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. ¹³ About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. ¹⁴ We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic,^[a] ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
 ¹⁵ “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
   “ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ¹⁶ ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. ¹⁷ I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them ¹⁸ to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
 ¹⁹ “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. ²⁰ First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. ²¹ That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. ²² But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen— ²³ that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”
 ²⁴ At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defense. “You are out of your mind, Paul!” he shouted. “Your great learning is driving you insane.”
 ²⁵ “I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable. ²⁶ The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”
 ²⁸ Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”
 ²⁹ Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”
 ³⁰ The king rose, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them. ³¹ After they left the room, they began saying to one another, “This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment.”
 ³² Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

Prepare for rain

One of my favorite movies is Facing the Giants.  Now, that may very well be because my home church happens to be the very same church that made that movie, and I worked behind the scenes for the entire shooting period.  So I am definitely biased towards that movie from the start :).  But bias aside, it has a really great storyline that reminds us to always trust in God, through the thick and thin.

At one point, the main character has a conversation about trusting in the Lord with a man known for his faith.  The man tells the story about 2 farmers who both desperately needed - and prayed for - rain.  But only 1 farmer actually went out and prepared his fields for rain.  Now which man, he asks, actually believed that God would send the rain?  Well of course, it was the man who prepared his fields.

A similar story is found in the Bible, in the book of Acts.  Cornelius, a God-fearing man, hears from the Lord in a vision that he should go to Joppa and send for Peter, who was staying there.  So Cornelius did - and he also called together all of his relatives and friends to wait in his home for Peter's arrival. 

How easy it would have been to keep the house empty, to avoid possible embarrassment.  After all, Cornelius didn't even know if Peter actually existed, and he certainly had no proof that Peter would agree to come to his house.  What if his messengers returned empty-handed?  By inviting everyone to his house to wait, Cornelius was opening himself up to a huge embarrassment.  It was really quite a risky move.

But just like the farmer, Cornelius was preparing for the rain.  He lived his life in the expectation that God would fulfill His promises.  The Bible says that faith is "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1).  That means that sometimes we will have to act on God's word alone, before we see actual proof that it is true.  It means that we must prepare for the rain before we see it; we must live our lives in expectation of His promises to us coming true.  God wants us to have faith in Him, not just react to what we can tangibly observe that He has already done.  So tell me...how ready are your fields for Him to work in your life?

Acts 10:1-7, 19-33

¹ At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. ² He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. ³ One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”
 ⁴ Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked.
   The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. ⁵ Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. ⁶ He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.”
 ⁷ When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. ⁸ He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.
 ¹⁹ While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you. ²⁰ So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”
 ²¹ Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?”
 ²² The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.” ²³ Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.

Peter at Cornelius’s House

    The next day Peter started out with them, and some of the believers from Joppa went along. ²⁴ The following day he arrived in Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵ As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. ²⁶ But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”  ²⁷ While talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. ²⁸ He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean. ²⁹ So when I was sent for, I came without raising any objection. May I ask why you sent for me?”
 ³⁰ Cornelius answered: “Three days ago I was in my house praying at this hour, at three in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in shining clothes stood before me ³¹ and said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor. ³² Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.’ ³³ So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us.”

Lean on Him

I've been listening to Just a kiss, by Lady Antebellum, ad nauseum today.  I would normally consider myself a very content person.  I am successful and blessed far beyond what I deserve.  I have had the opportunities to see so many different things, meet so many different people, experience so many different perspectives, sometimes the weight of God's blessings in my life just about bowls me over.

But sometimes, like today, it is the loneliness, not the blessings, that threatens to suffocate me.  All of these wonderful opportunities I've had, all of these new things I've done - they've always been experienced alone.  Of course, the Lord has not left me hanging out to dry.  He has always sent me people to help me, befriend me, and teach me wherever I have gone.  But the fact remains that I have always gone to those places alone.

I was made for marriage.  It's woven just about as deeply into my being as it could be.  And sometimes the fact that I do all of these wonderful things, but I do them by myself....sometimes that really gets to me.

But Jesus is the boyfriend who will always be around.  He is, when it gets down to it, really all we need, and He will give us everything we need to not only live, but to thrive.  As Thoreau put it, "to live deliberately.  To live deep and suck the marrow out of life, to put to rout all that is not life and not, at the end of my life, discover that I have not lived."

I know that sometimes life can get hard.  It can get lonely.  It can feel like it's you against the world.  But there's always at least one other person in your court.  And He just happened to have made the world.  So really, the world is nothing.  Lean on Him; let Him romance you; let Him be your succor and the one you run to.

2 Peter 1:3

 ³ His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. ⁴ Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.   

My Offering

I was listening to the song Offering, by Third Day, today, and was reminded of a story I used to read as a child around Christmas time.  After some digging, I finally found the title - the Littlest Angel, by Charles Tazewell.  This story follows the life of the littlest angel in Heaven, who pines after his simple little box of childhood treasures that were left on Earth.  Well, the box is finally brought up to him in Heaven, and he is quite content; that is, until Jesus is born, and all of the angels must make gifts to give to the Christ child.  The only thing he has is his little box, and so he places it on the throne, next to all of the glittering gifts of gold and silver and precious jewels.  But then, as God was looking over all of the gifts, it was not one of the glittering ornaments that He chose to be sent down to Jesus - it was the plain, simple box of the littlest angel.

It's so easy to convince ourselves that God wouldn't want what we have to offer.  But what we are forgetting is that God was the one who gave us our talents in the first place; of course He thinks they're valuable!!  The tragedy is that we are ever convinced to believe otherwise.  Sure, our gifts and talents may seem poor and simple compared to His.  But He wants us - and whatever we have to offer Him - just as we are.

Offering

By Third Day

Magnificent Holy Father
I stand in awe of all I see
Of all the things You have created
But still You choose to think of me

Who am I that You should suffer
Your very life to set me free
The only thing that I can give You
Is the life You gave to me

This is my offering, dear Lord
This is my offering to You, God
And I will give You my life
For it’s all I have to give
Because You gave Your life for me

I stand before You at this altar
So many have given You more
I may not have much I can offer
Yet what I have is truly Yours

Deuteronomy 10:12-13

 ¹² And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³ and to observe the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?