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Posted on
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
by Greg S
Joseph: A
Life to Remember
 A couple days ago I sat back in my chair after
reading chapter 1 of Matthew and thought “Joseph! (Jesus’ earthy father) …that
guy deserves a big High Five for a job well done!”. Have you ever
stepped back and looked at the
big picture of what God called Joseph to do? A simple man,
a man with a nature just like ours was to single handedly raise, teach, and
protect the life of the savior of the world.
What a task! Contained in that beautiful package
was every ounce of
love, joy, faith, peace,
and hope of eternal life that you and I have ever
experienced, and yet God entrusted Him to a man. The more I meditated on it,
the more I saw that your calling and my calling are no different than Joseph’s.
OK…granted…Joseph had an encounter with a
messenger of God of Biblical proportions and that might set him apart
from us a bit. BUT let’s look at the encounter. God shows up while Joseph
was sleeping, and says… (Matt. 1:20-21) (I don’t know about you, but if God
actually got through to me while I was sleeping, that alone would be a miracle
of biblical proportions).
Essentially, this dream was like God leaning over to Joseph
and pointing out Jesus’ life from the window of an airplane at 30,000 ft. and
saying `Jesus will “save his people from their sins”. From what I can tell,
Joseph was not given too many details. The only concrete direction given to
Joseph in this is to take Mary as his wife. God did not say anything about
Joseph having the responsibility of ensuring Jesus’ mission is fulfilled. If
the purpose of this encounter wasn’t to give him a task order of the things that
need to be done in the first five years of Jesus’ life (let alone the next few
days), what WAS the purpose?
Joseph did not walk in right relationship because
he had a set of rules that he followed to the “T”, Joseph successfully obeyed
God because he continually feared God. Proverbs 1:7 says “The fear of the LORD
is the beginning of knowledge.” God didn’t call Joseph to make sure everything
happened a certain way in a specific timeframe,
God called Joseph to be a
person that would continually pause and wait and listen for God. The purpose of the encounter was to teach
Joseph the 2 things He needed to know: 1) God was all powerful, and 2) God had
the character, the passion, and the vision for the redemption of humanity that
was worthy of Joseph’s life and loving attention. God didn’t call Joseph to
do something, God called Joseph to be
someone; someone who trusts in God. The people who fear God will know what
to do.
The more I meditate on life and calling of
Joseph, the more I hear God saying that He has called you and me to the same
thing. Trust. I see the simplicity of God’s agreement with man and His plan to
work through Him. I hear him saying, `Don’t worry so much about the details or
the magnitude (big or small) of what you are doing. Be concerned with how you
are walking, be concerned with
being someone who fearfully thirsts for the Living Word of God
and who desperately longs for your part in the incredible plan of redemption to
be completed through your life.’ God will take care of the details.
E-mail:
XAGreg@gmail.com.
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Posted on
Wednesday, May 3, 2006
by Greg S
On Prayer
I have been asked to speak about prayer this week to a group of
students at the University of Maryland. I have been doing some studying on the
subject, and I have good references to find out more, but as I was mapping out
what I would speak on, I was reminded of this verse:
Romans 15:18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished
through me...
So I am going to share 3 aspects of what prayer means to me. I
would also encourage you also to post some thoughts on the Message Board
about
your experience with prayer.
A Natural Language
Psalm 30:2
O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.
My Christian
life started with a prayer. It wasn't well put together words, something
recited in church or spoken over food. It was an honest introduction.
I was
nudged...prompted...led to pray. It was like a little kid who stole a pack of
gum from a store and his parents lovingly took him back to confess to the shop
owner. The parent took him only as far as the door and then gave him a little
push in the right direction. I only wish that my first words were "I stole a
pack of gum".
I didn't go into a lot of detail about my current state or why I
had been away so long, I didn't have to because I knew He knew... So we
talked. He would talk and I would listen and vice versa. That continued as I
grew in Him. Not really knowing what I was doing, I would go on long walks
talking to Him or sit in a secret place in my house to talk and look for
glimpses of Him in the dark(...it is very easy to see small glimpses of light in
very dark places). Even now as I look back on that season of my life I know
that prayer experience was purer and more authentic than my prayer experience
now even though I know more now than I did then. I need to go back to that more
often.
An Opposite Response
2 Corinthians 10:4a
The weapons we fight with
are not the weapons of the world. On the
contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
When Martin Luther King Jr. prepared people to march out in the
face of injustice he taught them to kneel and pray when they were attacked or
beaten. They did not just pray some general prayer, they prayed for the
specific person that was beating them at that moment. THAT, my friends,
is an opposite response. It is all well and good to walk in the fruits of the
Spirit on a sunny Sunday afternoon when brother or sister so-and-so just
encouraged you with the Word, but to walk in the fruits of the Spirit in serious
family Crisis or in a heated argument or when someone has just spoken a blatant
lie about you is a another story.
It is in these moments where I have found the
weapon of prayer to help me respond differently and to affect the situation
positively. My natural response is to take things into my hands or to defend
myself. This prayer is essentially where the Spirit tells my spirit "sure...you
can easily retaliate or be angry just like the other person and get temporary
fulfillment, but I have given you the weapon of forgiveness an of spoken
blessings over those who curse you; in those gifts you will find peace and see
the Kingdom advance in victory."
A Muscle for Change
James 5:16
The effective prayer of a righteous
man can accomplish much.
The world seems to go on and on without altering its course. There
is a pattern and a system with logical outcomes. Families continue on, slowly
changing from generation to generation, sicknesses gradually get the better of
people and cultures rarely alter. That is all well and good if I had to live by
the rules of the current regime on earth, but
the fact is, I am a citizen of
a different Kingdom with different and better rules that supercede the rules of
this world.
Prayer is the place where I can change things. Prayer is the
fulcrum point, the Word is the lever and faith is the energy source. I take
that big ol' lever and place it under that object that seems immovable and watch
in amazement as the Lord multiplies my efforts. I cannot go on accepting that
things are just they way they always will be, and I thank God that He gave us
prayer.
E-mail:
XAGreg@gmail.com.
Or leave a comment on the
Message Board.
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Posted on
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
by Greg S
Remember
It’s
Sunday morning and the service is coming to an end. The elders of the church are
coming forward and I recognize it as the time to take the elements of communion.
As the pastor is concluding the scriptural readings related to this tradition,
he pauses for a moment and asks
"has everyone
been served?"
To my surprise someone in the back exclaims, "NO, I have not been served! I
stand for the hundreds of thousands of people in North Africa who have not been
served the Body and Blood of Christ." And another says
"I HAVE NOT BEEN SERVED, I represent
the multitudes of people in America who have not been presented with the
opportunity to partake of the sacrifice of Christ." These heart wrenching
proclamations continue to come forth until all the un-reached people groups of
the world are heard. After a long stretch of silence, I’m asked to take up these
elements in my hand that I have too often taken for granted.
Imagine your life without the cleansing blood of Christ. Imagine
what it would be like to walk this life with the weight of guilt that results
from sin. What would it be like to have the sweet forgiveness of Christ
removed
or to never have tasted? Imagine yourself covered with the filth that you once
carried coupled with the inability to do anything about your state.
I experienced this first hand
in a service at a missions conference this year. I can tell you this simple dramatic expression radically altered
how I looked at this celebration we hold dear. It also altered the way I look at
people. What I realized in that moment was awesome and awful. IT WORKS, the
blood REALLY works and we can give led others to its amazing relief! I have
tasted and I have seen, but I have taken it for granted. I go to church on
Sunday morning, I thank Jesus for his sacrifice and I am on my way out to eat
with some friends in no time. I fail to walk in the realization that
forgiveness is available for others. I received the forgiveness, I felt better
and I settled down into it like it was a la-Z-boy. I fail to remember that
Christ forgives us to go and do likewise. Christ empowers and commands us,
the people called by his name, to go beyond ourselves and to give it to others.
It's Monday morning
and
a coworker sits in front of you talking, going on about something related to
today's work. You see his mouth moving, but you aren't actually hearing any
words. You can gather from his demeanor that he is generally comfortable with
life, but what you can't get past in that moment is the fact that you have been
swimming in the depths of God’s forgiveness but he hasn’t even tasted…he has
not been served.
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it,
and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body." Then he
took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it,
all of you. This is my blood of the[b]
covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
~ Matthew 26:26-27
E-mail:
XAGreg@gmail.com.
Or leave a comment on the
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Posted on
Wednesday, February 8, 2006
by Greg S
Answer the
Thirst
What if God's mercies were new every morning? We live in a generation that is fascinated with
new things...anything and everything new; unfortunately there is nothing new
under the sun. This year's iPod will be obsolete in a a year or two. The
slimmest and coolest cell-phone will be outdated and sitting next to the Zach
Morris cell-phone in a museum in no time. The the rush and the excitement of
the latest movie fade as soon as the credits roll, and in a few months the plot
is forgotten. New boyfriends, new girlfriends, new places, new jobs, new homes,
new, new, new new. What we see is a generation that is thirsting for something
new, and when that new thing doesn't last, they continue searching, and
searching and searching. With nothing truly new under the sun, they never find
anything that lasts.
What if the thirst
of this generation is not a fault, but a divinely given attribute? What if God
ordained them to long for new things?
Well... if He created them this way, he must have
also created a way to fulfill the desire. Maybe there is a new thing that does
not wear out like technology and entertainment? What if God could give them
something new that lasts? What if He could! What if the Kingdom contained new
ways, new items, new experiences, new thoughts, new fulfillments, new hopes, new
dreams, new mercies? If God created them to want new things, He must believe
that their desire for new things will lead them to Him.
What if God's people
did not live under the sun, what if they were people under Heaven?
Woa! If God's people did not live under the sun,
but under His Kingdom, they could step up into heaven with free and full access
and take hold of something entirely new and unseen and bring it down. They could
reach into their Kingdom and bring back a healthy dose of selflessness;
something unseen under the sun, yet plentiful in Heaven. They could show people
to the new and endless wells of cleansing, forgiveness, hope, faith, love. They
could serve without false motives, and they could give freely and generously.
My goodness, now that I think about it, they could even grab a new song, wisdom
for the nations, a cure for the sick, or some rest for the weary!
What if God's people
are the key that unlocks the gap between God's answer and the desire He put in
this generation's heart?
If God's people are the key, then they too must
take up a hunger and a thirst for new things: the new things of the Kingdom that
bring true fulfillment to the people of this generation. If they are the key,
they must learn to love new things even though new things sometimes bring change
and even discomfort. Babies, for example, are great new blessings, yet these
little bundles of joy can wreak havoc on our schedules and lives. If God's
people are the key to this generation, they must not reject the new because it
is different, unfamiliar or unpredictable. God's people must believe for and
receive new mercies daily...fresh gifts from the Kingdom for this generation to
see...to guide them to the true fulfillment of their thirst.
Jesus replied, "I am the bread of life. No one
who comes to me will ever be hungry again. Those who believe in me will never
thirst. (John 6:35)
E-mail:
XAGreg@gmail.com.
Or leave a comment on the
Message Board.
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