Small Gifts

John 6:8-9

One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?"

Even though neither Andrew or this little boy understood how this small gift would help, Andrew made sure it was brought to Jesus anyway. If you know the rest of the story, you know that Jesus took those five loaves and two fish and fed a crowd of 5,000 men along with the women and the children that were there. Jesus took that small gift given in faith, and it was used for great things.

The same is true of our gifts given to God, which come in so many different forms, including service, money, time, anything you can think of. God uses them even when we see them as insignificant. He uses them when we can't see how He will use them. So don't be discouraged when you feel like your service to God is not enough, because that is when God somehow uses it the most! That doesn't mean that we shouldn't also be led to serve more and in other ways, because we are clearly commanded in Hebrews 10 to "stir up one another to love and good works" (v 24).

What I am trying to say can be clearly summed up in 2 Corinthians 12:10:

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul had a "thorn" in his flesh, a weakness that kept him humble. We are all human, and thus we are all imperfect. Through these imperfections God uses us for his glory. So don't be discouraged by them, but instead be encouraged and thank God for them!

-All Scripture taken from the English Standard Version (ESV).

Jesus Weeps

I am aware once again at the size of the chunk of scripture that I've posted. Fear not, this is not an in depth exposition of the whole passage verse for verse, but this is merely to provide context.

Before further explanation, let me say that I am going to come back to the parable of the prodigal son, but right now I'm kind of busy studying the Scriptures to have time to study the Scriptures. In other words, after personal devotions and classwork for my Bible classes and other classes, I haven't had time to do any more studying of the prodigal son. This passage and insight is in fact something that I stumbled across while working on my Biblical Interpretation homework, and I felt that it would be good to share.

I Am the Resurrection and the Life
17Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
Jesus Weeps
28When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. 30Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35Jesus wept. 36So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

Most of us probably know about how Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and we've probably heard some teaching on the profound nature of His claim in verses 25 and 26: "I am the resurrection and the life."

What I would like to focus in on is verses 33-35. I'll repeat it so your eyes don't have to find it again in the bigger passage:

33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." 35Jesus wept.

In verse 35, Jesus wept. In verse 36, the Jews say, "See how he loved him!" and there is some validity to that remark, but I think also that Jesus was weeping not for Lazarus, but for the suffering that he saw Mary going through.

There's a cliche that goes, "I know what you're going through," or "I know how you feel." Jesus Christ can actually say that, and have it be absolutely, 100% true in every way. Until verse 33, this passage says nothing about Jesus being troubled or mourning, but when He sees Mary weeping, that is when He was "deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled" (v 34).

As Christians, it seems that when we are going through struggles, it may be hard to remember that God is sovereign over our circumstances, and that all things work for the good of those who love Him, but at least we know these two things from an intellectual standpoint. And those are good things that are encouraging to remember.

What we see of Jesus in this passage is something that we don't necessarily think of as often. We see Jesus' compassion. He knew that soon, Lazarus would be raised again, and Mary would rejoice in that, just like he knows that our sufferings on this earth are temporary. But this doesn't change the fact that He truly feels compassion and mourns WITH us. He cries with us. He actually cares about what we are going through on a personal level, and we can cling to that when this world brings us pain. What a great and compassionate God we serve!

Disclaimer

Sorry it's taking so long for this next post to happen. Unfortunately, this still isn't it. I'm just starting college Monday, and I've been pretty busy with the Week Of Welcome, or WOW at my school. Hopefully, the next part in the series will arrive in the near future.

The Prodigal Son (Part 3)

Sorry for the long delay, but I was gone for a week on a missions trip, and then I kind of got side-tracked. If you're lost, follow one of these links:

Part 1
Part 2

Otherwise, let's continue with part 3. As mentioned last time, the audience of the parable means that the parable has two focuses.

First of all, we're going to concentrate on the "prodigal son" which represents the repentant sinner.

To begin with, we're going to see the sin that this son committed.

Luke 15:12-13
12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. [ESV]

The younger son was definitely greedy in asking for his inheritance while his father was still alive. Proverbs even warns against such behavior in Proverbs 20:21:

"An inheritance gained hastily in the beginning will not be blessed in the end." [ESV]

After greedily requesting his inheritance prematurely, the son went out and squandered it all in "reckless living." 1 Peter 4:3-4 sums up this reckless living rather well:

3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; [ESV, emphasis added]

The emphasized word here: "debauchery," contains the same root as "reckless" in Luke 15:13. The younger son asked for his inheritance, and then went out and spent it all on liquor, partying, and, as we learn in verse 30 of Luke 15, prostitutes. While not guilty of all the same sins, we as humans are all guilty of some form of sin that separates Us from God, our Heavenly Father; just like this son's sin separated him from his father in the parable. We take the free will that God gives us and "spend" it on sinning against God. But as we go on to learn further in the parable, the son's father, representing God, is always willing to forgive a repentant sinner, but that's for next time.

The Prodigal Son (Part 2)

If you are wondering why this is part 2, follow this link and read part 1 first:

Part 1

Okay, now that that's cleared up, let's get to the good stuff.

My apologies for the next part taking so long. I've been doing something every night for the past week. But, anyway, here goes.

For starters, we're going to look a little bit at the verses that come before the parable.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep
Chapter 15
1Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
3So he told them this parable: 4“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
The Parable of the Lost Coin
8“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The first key point to consider is the audience of these three parables (the lost coin, the lost sheep, and the prodigal son). In verses 1-3, we see that Jesus tells these parables as a response to the Pharisee's outrage. The Pharisees were upset because Jesus was hanging out with sinners. He was eating with tax collectors and others that had a bad reputation for the period. Jesus is using these parables to point out that he has come to save the sinners who need saving. That is not to say that the "good people" don't need Jesus. Verse 7 tells us that when one sinner comes to salvation and repents (they are closely connected), there is much happiness, just like in the first parable with the sheep. But it also compares that event to 99 righteous people that don't need any repentance. Now it is obvious from the teaching of God's word that no one is righteous enough on their own. Everyone needs repentance and everyone needs Jesus.

Romans 3:23-24
23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

It seems to make the most sense then, that this verse is a sarcastic remark referring to the Pharisees' exalted view of themselves as righteous. The parable of the lost coin has the same meaning as the lost sheep, but the repeated metaphor is to emphasize the fact that a sinner, like the ones Jesus was with, coming to repentance is a great and joyous event in Heaven. But the Pharisees couldn't see past the fact that all these people were "worse" sinners than they were. It is obvious of course from Romans, and the rest of the Bible that all sin is deserving of the same end punishment in God's eyes, and so the Pharisees weren't any better.

Well, I guess the application for this section is that God is willing and waiting to receive a repentant sinner who will accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Another application would be more of a warning. Be careful not to fall into the trap of thinking that you are more righteous than anyone else, and always be willing to forgive them.

As a preview of what's to come, the Parable of the Prodigal has two focuses. There is the story of forgiveness and acceptance of the repentant sinner, but there is also a message to the Pharisees, which is also an invitation for Salvation and forgiveness. It would make sense that Jesus would involve the Pharisees in the parable since they were the primary audience of all three parables. I think the next two parts of this set are going to focus on these two aspects of the parable of the prodigal son. But that's for next time, and the time after.

The Prodigal Son (Part 1)

Before I begin, let me explain what I am beginning. A while back, I read the parable of the prodigal son in Luke. Now that I'm out of school I've decided to do a more in depth study of the passage. Because it's a rather large chunk of scripture, this is going to be more than a one part blog. How many parts, I don't know. For tonight, we're gonna have sort of an introduction.

Here it is--

Luke 15:
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”3 So he told them this parable:4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
The Parable of the Lost Coin
8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
The Parable of the Prodigal Son
11 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons.12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them.13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living.14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need.15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.
17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate.24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing.26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him,29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’” (ESV)

I am aware of the fact that this is a huge passage. But please read the whole thing. The context is especially important to truly understanding what this parable is talking about. And yes, I am aware that all of you are capable of taking a reference and going to look it up yourself. But, on the other hand, if it were me, I would tell myself, "go look it up later," and later would probably never happen. So now you are all without excuse. I think just the passage is enough for tonight. After all, it is rather long, and I don't want you all to lose patience with me. More to come soon.

If you followed a link to get here, you're probably going to want to go here next:
Part 2

My Graduation Party

This last Saturday, I had my graduation party. It went pretty well with only a couple of mishaps, but it was a lot of fun and the mishaps weren't a big deal. Okay, a few. Anyway, thanks to everyone who was able to make it; thank you cards are on the way, so if you read this, you should feel privileged to receive 2 thank yous (just kidding, unless you do feel that way). Special thanks to all the people that showed up early for music and other preparation. Also, special thanks to mom and dad for all the organizing, set-up, and food prep. It couldn't have happened without you. Thanks.

So as for the mishaps:

Number 1: the cake.
We ordered two sheet cakes, both white and blue. The first round, they both came out neon yellow and purple. Needless to say, they got to redo the cakes. After redoing the cakes, one came out white and blue, and the other came out yellow and purple. We put the white and blue one out and hid the other one. on the positive side, the white and blue one was the chocolate cake. On the negative side, I didn't get a piece of my own chocolate graduation cake. We have a whole yellow and purple vanilla cake leftover. Anyway, it all worked out okay and I got a piece of chocolate cake today, so it's all good.

Number 2:
I claim full responsibility for this one. So we all decided to try out the long jump. Unfortunately, I was a bit of an overachiever and jumped over the long jump sand pit. In case you aren't keeping score, that's a bad thing. It means that instead of landing in the nice soft sand, I landed on the nice solid ground. My ankle still hurts a little bit, but the limp is just about gone. The dirt streak up the back of my shirt rubbed off fairly easily.

Number 3:
During the party, the weather was great. It was warm, but not too warm, and it was sunny. After the party, it started to rain. This wouldn't have been a problem, except for the sound equipment that we had to get home in the back of the truck. A quick trip over to Wal-Mart and the purchase of a jumbo sized tarp later, we were on our way home safe and dry (thanks mom).

To sum it up, it was a great party, and I wouldn't change a thing (except maybe the long jump incident; see Number 2).

Done, for Good

As of today, I am officially done. I am done with Spanish, done with high school, and done with South Puget Sound Community College; and it is amazing.

That will be all. Thank you.

Almost Free

Well, this month has turned out to be an extremely busy one. Thankfully, as of this coming Wednesday, I will be done with classes with my Spanish final. Tomorrow I have a piano final. Fortunately, my teacher's already heard me play Fur Elise, and it didn't make her scream in agony, so that should be okay. I have an astronomy final Tuesday, but since I have one "free" test for that class, I'm not too worried about it. The only one I'm really AT ALL worried about is the Spanish final Wed., but even that shouldn't be TOO bad.

Humble Pie

Luke 14:7-11
7 And He {began} speaking a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been picking out the places of honor {at the table;} saying to them,8 "When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him,9 and he who invited you both shall come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place.10 "But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher'; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you.11 "For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted."(NAS)

This passage is actually closely related to my last blog. The message of this passage goes far beyond good manners at a banquet. If I do something for my own benefit, or my own glory, I am going to be fail-sauce (don't ask). In other words, the ending is not going to be good. Proverbs talks about the fate of a prideful man often. And I would say there's a major connection between those exalting themselves and those that are prideful.

Prov 11:22 When pride comes, then comes dishonor, but with the humble is wisdom.(NAS)
Prov 16:18 Pride {goes} before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling.(NAS)
Prov 29:23 A man's pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.(NAS)

All three of these verses are really saying similar things. And they all have similar messages to Jesus' parable in the passage from Luke. Pride and self-exaltation come before dishonor. The way to gain honor is to show humility, not seek honor. In human terms, it all seems a little backwards, but that's how it works.

Here is another passage from Proverbs with a slightly different emphasis:

Prov 8:13 "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way, and the perverted mouth, I hate.(NAS)

In this passage, the one speaking is wisdom (see Prov. 8:12). To be wise and fear God includes hating pride and arrogance.

The bottom line of this post: we all, especially me, need to eat some humble pie every once in a while. And if I may make a suggestion: learning about how amazingly awesome God is by reading His word is a great way to culture humility.

The Greatest Prophet Among Men

Luke 7:27-28
27 "This is he of whom it is written: 'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You.'28 "For I say to you, among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he."(NKJ)

This is a great example of how God's kingdom works. Jesus actually said that John the Baptist was the greatest prophet on earth. But right after that, he balances it out by saying that one can be greater than John the Baptist simply by being the least. By humbling themselves and becoming nothing, that is how a person becomes greater than the greatest prophet among men.

Jesus is an excellent example of this. He is THE greatest because he lowered himself further than any man ever could.

When He came to earth as a man, He gave up some of the power that He had in heaven. He was still God, but He was also a man, with an imperfect body. He came not as a conqueror, but as a servant. He said so Himself:

Matt 20:26-28
26 "It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,27 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave;28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."(NAS)

He took on the sins of the entire world on the cross, becoming separated from God the Father and bearing a punishment that we can't even begin to imagine. The punishment was so severe that the actual physical pain and humiliation associated with Crucifixion doesn't even begin to compare with the separation from the Father that He felt when He took on our sins.

So, how does this relate back to the passage about John the baptist? To be great in the Kingdom of God, one must be a servant. And the greatest example of a servant is Jesus Christ. He is the model that we look to for a servant's life, a man who was truly capable of keeping the greatest commandment: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength; and the second: love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus did both. He died on the cross to bring absolute glory to the Father. He loves the Father enough that He gave up His life for the Father's glory to be shown. And He loved His neighbor because it gave us the opportunity to become children of the most high God through the same sacrifice.

"Busy"

To any of you that haven't abandoned my blog by this point, I apologize for the long lack of posts. I've been "busy" lately. For those of you in my youth group, you'll understand the reason for the quotation marks. For those of you not in my youth group, the quotation marks mean that I have been "busy" but that I have not been productive. I've been a bit of a procrastinator in many areas including: Bible study, prayer, schoolwork, chores, making important telephone calls, blogging, and anything else I'm responsible for. The order that these areas in is not an accident. They are in order of importance, and unfortunately, it's very similar to the order of neglect, with the exception of course being blogging since this is the first time in a long time I've done that at all.

Basically, I need prayer. I am in need of perseverance to plan out a little more, get the most important things done first, and very important: maintain my prayer life.

Prayer (again)

Luke 6:12 And it was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.(NAS)

This was part of what we talked about in Sunday school yesterday. It's something that I've noticed before, but it's a really good reminder. Whenever Jesus had any major praying to do, where did he go?

He went off to a mountain, or into the wilderness, away from people; in other words, he went off by himself. Sometimes it is necessary to get away from daily life to just talk to God. I know I don't always take the time that I should to talk to God. I guess I need to pray for the perseverance to pray.

Be Bold

John 20:19 When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first {day} of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and said to them, "Peace {be} with you."(NAS)

This takes place just after Jesus' tomb has been found empty, and Mary has seen Jesus, alive again. It is amazing that this same group of men who were hiding out in a room with the doors shut, afraid of the Jews, would eventually be so bold as to spend the rest of their lives sharing the gospel to all peoples, no matter what the cost. Nearly all of them would suffer terrible deaths for the sake of the gospel. This is an amazing testament to the changing power of the Holy Spirit, and proof that the God we serve truly is alive and truly is all powerful!

Concert

Last night I went to the Rock and Worship Roadshow. It's a tour that a few Christian bands are doing now. The tickets are 10 dollars at the door. They plan on making them even cheaper next year, and eventually free. 7th Avenue North, Addison Road, Hawk Nelson, Jeremy Camp, and MercyMe were all there.

MercyMe and Jeremy Camp were both amazing shows. And they were both worshipful; to me that's what makes a Christian concert really good.

An Explanation

John 12:23-28
23 And Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.25 "He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.26 "If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall My servant also be; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.27 "Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour.28 "Father, glorify Thy name." There came therefore a voice out of heaven: "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again."(NAS)

This verse is very similar to another verse found in Matthew:

Matt 16:24-25
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.25 "For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it.(NAS)

There is a reason the saying goes: "accept Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior." Sometimes we forget that it involves a surrender. In John 12:23, Jesus is referring directly to the cross that he is about to endure for our sins, but He also relates it to us. When we accept Salvation, we are taking God's gift, but we are giving a life of service in return. As Believers, we can't be stuck in what this world has to offer. The goal is at the end of the course, not off to either side. As Paul tells us repeatedly, that goal is to become like Christ. That is often accomplished through suffering, which is what Matthew 16:24 means by "take up his cross."

I know I personally do a better job of surrendering some days more than others. I think it has to be a daily task. Something we're always working for. And prayer is a big part of it.

At the tail end of the passage in John, it even says that we will be honored for our gift of service. It's not entirely clear what that honor will be, but if it's something God wants to give us, it's got to be good. I feel like going on and on, but I think I'm a little scattered already, and it's past my bedtime, so I guess that's it for the night. No wonder I postponed this explanation.

A Great Passage and No Time to Explain Tonight

John 12:23-28
23 And Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.25 "He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.26 "If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall My servant also be; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.27 "Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour.28 "Father, glorify Thy name." There came therefore a voice out of heaven: "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again."(NAS)

The Blind Man

John 9:1-7
CHAPTER 9
1 And as He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth.2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?"3 Jesus answered, "{It was} neither {that} this man sinned, nor his parents; but {it was} in order that the works of God might be displayed in him.4 "We must work the works of Him who sent Me, as long as it is day; night is coming, when no man can work.5 "While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."6 When He had said this, He spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and applied the clay to his eyes,7 and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, sent). And so he went away and washed, and came {back} seeing.(NAS)

This story actually fits right in with the Piper book I'm reading right now. Everything that happens fits into God's plan, and eventually glorifies Him. This blind man wasn't blind as some sort of punishment, he was blind so that Jesus could heal him and show His glory. It's the same with other tragedies. They all have a purpose. Our suffering has a purpose. In case you're wondering, the book I'm referring to is Spectacular Sins, by John Piper. The book is all about how God allows terrible things to happen, but how they somehow glorify Him in the end.

As a side note, it's interesting in the story of the blind man to note what Jesus says in verses 4 and 5. It's hard to say for sure, but it seems like Jesus is saying there is only a limited time where these miraculous works (like healing a blind man) will occur. It's only a bit of a theory, but one with historical evidence. After Jesus left, some of the believers performed miraculous signs for a while longer, but these signs eventually stopped.

His Words

John 7:16-18
16 Jesus therefore answered them, and said, "My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.17 "If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or {whether} I speak from Myself.18 "He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.(NAS)

Jesus' reply here is seen after the Jews wondered how such a man as Jesus could be so educated.

His reply is that His teaching comes from God. Even though Jesus is God, He made himself a man and came to earth to glorify the Father. While on earth, He submitted to the will of the Father, including His death on the cross. The way Jesus acted while on earth in respect to His relationship with the Father is a good example for us. In verse 18, Jesus says that whoever speaks his own words is glorifying himself, but Jesus spoke the Father's words. It seems that the translators assumed the Him to be referring to Christ by capitalizing it (this isn't present in every translation either), but even if that is the case it can still expand to our own lives. As believers, we are God's ambassadors, not our own. I hope and pray that my words never get in the way of God's words.

Children of God

To anyone patiently waiting for me to blog... OK, I doubt there's that many, if any. Anyway, I've tried a few times lately, but having dial-up, I've had some trouble with the Internet lately. I've been lucky to get my e-mail some nights.

I've also been rather busy of late. I recently took a short trip to California for a scholarship interview at The Master's College, the school I'm planning on going to. I stayed the weekend with some nice friends of the family that live south of LA (the college is north of LA). I spent one night in the dorm at the college, and I met so many great students and staff that I don't remember hardly any of their names (if that makes sense. if it doesn't, sorry).

John 1:12-13
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, {even} to those who believe in His name,13 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.(NAS)

This verse is a strong case for predestination. Those who become children of God reach this point not by inheritance (blood), not by the will of the flesh, and not by man's will. Those of us that are children of God are children of God only through God. We received Jesus because he gave us the faith to do so.

Not born of blood means that just because someone's parents are Christians doesn't mean they automatically are. The Greek word translated "flesh" is a word that is often associated with the flesh nature and the sin that comes along with it. It can also mean the physical body, as opposed to the spirit. So, it is apart from our own fleshly desires that we are saved as God's children. It could also imply that it is outside of our own work in the flesh. Not by man's will means nearly the same thing. Even the desire to be a child of God does not come from man. We have to be "encouraged" by the Holy Spirit so to speak.

The fact that God chose us not on merit, but just because he could is encouraging. It means that our salvation is secure. Nothing we did got us salvation, and nothing we do will take it away. I know I probably say all this a lot, but I guess I feel it's important. It's also important to note once again with this what Paul says:

Rom 6:1-2
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase?2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?(NAS)

The question is, how to balance eternal security with the need to stop sinning. From Romans 6:2, it seems that being saved from the slavery of sin, we wouldn't want to continue in it. This doesn't mean we'll never sin (on the contrary, in 1 John it says that anyone who claims to be without sin is not a true Christian), but it does mean that the pattern of sin in a believer's life should be less and less as spiritual growth takes place. We should continually be aiming for further Christlikeness.

He Must Increase

John 3:26-30
26 And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have borne witness, behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him."
27 John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing, unless it has been given him from heaven.
28 "You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before Him.'
29 "He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. And so this joy of mine has been made full.
30 "He must increase, but I must decrease.
(NAS)

This passage is at the tail end of John the Baptist’s ministry. Many of the crowds that were coming to John to be baptized were now going to Jesus. Some of those around John approached him and in a way, they asked if John was jealous that the crowds had moved from John to Jesus.

John’s response is what every believer’s attitude, especially those in ministry of any kind, should be. Basically, “I’m not God, I’m just a servant, a messenger for Him. He’s the one that deserves the glory and it brings me joy to see His people coming to Him.” Verse 30 is the key. The attitude of the believer needs to be that Jesus is ever more important, and we continue to think of ourselves as less important.

New Classes

I am now three weeks into winter quarter at SPSCC. My classes this quarter are a little bit lighter. I'm taking two music classes: a piano class and a voice class. I'm also taking CAD, or Computer Aided Drafting. My fourth class is principles of fitness, which is basically a class to tell me how out of shape I am and how much I have to do to be "in shape." Sounds fun, huh?

Being a couple weeks into it, I'd like to give a disclaimer on taking a voice class. If you don't like (or do like) speaking and singing in gibberish, doing lots of embarrassing vocal exercises, stretches, etc., you should take voice class because it will either very quickly help you get over any shyness that you have about making a fool of yourself and you will have a lot of fun. The flip side is, you could hate it, in which case you can drop the class. I really doubt there are many people that couldn't enjoy themselves at least a little bit making all those sounds that you get in trouble for making at the dinner table when you're 8, but to each his own. On top of everything else, if you can sing, you'll sing better, and if you can't, you just might learn how to. Definitely worthwhile.

Joy!

I Jn 1:1-4
1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we beheld and our hands handled, concerning the Word of Life--2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us--3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, that you also may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.4 And these things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.(NAS)

In the opening passage of 1 John, John explains the purpose for sending this letter. Later it gives reasons such as "that you might not sin." The book also warns of false teachers rising up from the church. But in the above verses, the purpose revealed is something that all Believers should be actively doing. We should be telling others what we have experienced concerning Jesus Christ in our lives. We should share Him with others.

Through this, we can share the best fellowship with those we witness to, the common Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It also says that by sharing Jesus with others and even by teaching other believers, "our joy," the disciples' joy, is made complete. Sharing with others not only brings them into fellowship with God, but also brings us joy.