Psalm 123
For the past several months every time I look at the word mercy the word karma rattles around in my brain. This happens because the words, in my opinion, are close to direct opposites, and while Jesus followers should be about mercy too often we hope for karma instead. Karma is the idea that what you do will come back to you, good for good, bad for bad. Often I see people invoke the concept of karma when someone has wronged them. Mercy is the idea that while you may do bad you may instead receive good. Often I see people invoke the concept of mercy when they have wronged someone else, particularly God.
Without the explicit use of the word, karma is invoked many times throughout the Psalms. Every time that the Psalmists say that they want God to punish someone for what that person has done to the Psalmist they invoke karma. On the other hand the Psalmists often invoke mercy explicitly, like they do in Psalm 123, but they also put it in terms of how they feel about the people around them, "Our soul has had more than its fill of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud." They invoke personal mercy, instead of communal mercy.
Paul states that we have all fallen short of the glory of God, yet we often only think of that in personal terms and think of the need for mercy in personal terms. We forget that those around us are also in need of the same mercy we claim for ourselves. Jesus states that we will be forgiven if we forgive, that we will be judged by the standard we use to judge others, and I wonder if he would continue and say that we will be shown the amount of mercy that we show to others. Karma is a popular idea in our world, oftentimes entering into the consciousness of Jesus followers, let's expunge it from our lexicon and instead show ridiculous amounts of mercy so that our cries of mercy will not be overlooked.
+ Who have you failed to show mercy to recently? How can you turn from your need of vengeance/justice and instead show mercy?
Friday, April 28, 2017
Monday, April 24, 2017
The Heart's Cry: Psalm 122
Psalm 122
Historically humanity has been a people that place extreme importance on place. I have a place. You have a place. God must have a place. So we give God a place and decide where God is and where God is not. At the same time we speak of God being omnipresent, or in simpler language, that God is everywhere at all times. But if God is everywhere at all times then there is no need to go to a particular place to find God, we must merely see with new eyes, hear with new ears, sense with new senses.
Saying that is not to say that God did not give the people some particular places to worship. Indeed God commanded the building of the temple, and before that told the people that God's spirit rested in the Ark of the Covenant. Though God said those things I think it was for a greater purpose than to suggest that God could only be found in those places, after all God "showed" up in the midst of a non consumed, burning bush. The greater purpose was to give the people a sense of belonging to God, if a particular place could strengthen that bond then so be it.
And so, the people worshiped God in a particular place, but then with the death of Jesus on the cross there was an accompanying tear of the veil in the Holy of Holies, a symbolic ripping of the status quo that "freed" God from the confines of place. Yet, today we still call churches the house of God, with some understanding that each church is considered the house of God and if every church is the house of God then God is not contained inside a house, but it rather found in every corner of the world, the bright ones and the dark ones.
+ Where do you encounter God? in a church? in nature? in your home?
Historically humanity has been a people that place extreme importance on place. I have a place. You have a place. God must have a place. So we give God a place and decide where God is and where God is not. At the same time we speak of God being omnipresent, or in simpler language, that God is everywhere at all times. But if God is everywhere at all times then there is no need to go to a particular place to find God, we must merely see with new eyes, hear with new ears, sense with new senses.
Saying that is not to say that God did not give the people some particular places to worship. Indeed God commanded the building of the temple, and before that told the people that God's spirit rested in the Ark of the Covenant. Though God said those things I think it was for a greater purpose than to suggest that God could only be found in those places, after all God "showed" up in the midst of a non consumed, burning bush. The greater purpose was to give the people a sense of belonging to God, if a particular place could strengthen that bond then so be it.
And so, the people worshiped God in a particular place, but then with the death of Jesus on the cross there was an accompanying tear of the veil in the Holy of Holies, a symbolic ripping of the status quo that "freed" God from the confines of place. Yet, today we still call churches the house of God, with some understanding that each church is considered the house of God and if every church is the house of God then God is not contained inside a house, but it rather found in every corner of the world, the bright ones and the dark ones.
+ Where do you encounter God? in a church? in nature? in your home?
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
The Heart's Cry: Psalm 121
Psalm 121
Obviously this Psalm is a Psalm praising God for the protection that God gives. Neat and tidy, see you tomorrow.
Ok, maybe there is more to be said than that. Maybe we should talk about God's protection, perhaps even talk about the times when it seems that God isn't in the protection business in your life. If you have been living the life of faith for any amount of time I would think that you can pinpoint something that God has protected you from. At the same time if you have been living the life of faith for any amount of time I would think that you might hold a little grudge against God because there was a moment, or moments, where you would have liked to be protected but you weren't. You may not think of it in this way, but each of those beliefs, that you were protected, that you weren't protected is a matter of perspective. You believe that God protected you from X Y or Z and you believe that God didn't protect you from A B or C. But what if you're not always right? What if there were times when you think you weren't protected that you actually were? And vice versa for that matter, there may have been times where you think God protected you and you weren't protected at all.
No to go too deep down the rabbit hole but to some degree every blessing is a curse and every curse is a blessing. For instance if you were to win the lottery, something you might consider a blessing, along with the money would come people asking for it and the need to protect it and the fear of what might happen if you were to lose the money you just won. On the flip side if you were to get cancer, something you might consider a curse, you might also come to the realization of who many people truly care for you and a new sense of what is and is not important in life and a better idea of what life really is and is not. We live life from moment to moment and when we are in that moment we can get shortsighted, missing the possible ramifications of our blessings and our curses. God may have protected you from a whole host of things that you do not even realize and at the same time God may yet protect you when you feel that all hope has been lost.
+ Have you had a blessing turn into a curse? Did you see it coming?
+ How may God be working inside of you to bring a blessing from a curse?
Obviously this Psalm is a Psalm praising God for the protection that God gives. Neat and tidy, see you tomorrow.
Ok, maybe there is more to be said than that. Maybe we should talk about God's protection, perhaps even talk about the times when it seems that God isn't in the protection business in your life. If you have been living the life of faith for any amount of time I would think that you can pinpoint something that God has protected you from. At the same time if you have been living the life of faith for any amount of time I would think that you might hold a little grudge against God because there was a moment, or moments, where you would have liked to be protected but you weren't. You may not think of it in this way, but each of those beliefs, that you were protected, that you weren't protected is a matter of perspective. You believe that God protected you from X Y or Z and you believe that God didn't protect you from A B or C. But what if you're not always right? What if there were times when you think you weren't protected that you actually were? And vice versa for that matter, there may have been times where you think God protected you and you weren't protected at all.
No to go too deep down the rabbit hole but to some degree every blessing is a curse and every curse is a blessing. For instance if you were to win the lottery, something you might consider a blessing, along with the money would come people asking for it and the need to protect it and the fear of what might happen if you were to lose the money you just won. On the flip side if you were to get cancer, something you might consider a curse, you might also come to the realization of who many people truly care for you and a new sense of what is and is not important in life and a better idea of what life really is and is not. We live life from moment to moment and when we are in that moment we can get shortsighted, missing the possible ramifications of our blessings and our curses. God may have protected you from a whole host of things that you do not even realize and at the same time God may yet protect you when you feel that all hope has been lost.
+ Have you had a blessing turn into a curse? Did you see it coming?
+ How may God be working inside of you to bring a blessing from a curse?
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
The Heart's Cry: Psalm 120
Psalm 120
I am for peace;
but when I speak,
they are for war.
This Psalm is titled Deliverance from Slanderers in the above link, but I don't think that is a very good title. The Psalmist does indeed ask for deliverance from lying lips, but they also seem to seek deliverance in general from being a stranger in a strange land, and then ends the Psalm in what I think may be the real point of the whole thing, and perhaps even more than that. The Psalmist says that they are in a land surrounded by people who hate peace and that while they speak for peace the people speak for war. I can understand the Psalmists dilemma, when I was younger I was, for lack of a better term, a fan of war, I would argue that we as a country should go in to wherever and destroy whomever was threatening us with whatever they were threatening us with. Over the course of years I switched sides and would now argue that we shouldn't go to war, period, the end. When I was younger I spoke from the majority, now that I am a bit older I speak from the minority and so I can understand how the Psalmist may be feeling. But...
A little bit ago I typed the following "and then ends the Psalm in what I think may be the real point of the whole thing, and perhaps even more than that" and what I mean is that perhaps the whole point of not just the Psalm but of the Psalmist's predicament is that their voice needs to be heard in places like the one they dwell in. God needs voices in the wilderness, crying out the truth in the darkness, and unfortunately that necessarily requires for us to sometimes be in the darkness. Sometimes the very place we don't want to be in is the exact place that God wants us to be in, it is the place that can do both us and those around us the most good. The hang-up is that we often just want what is easiest for us, not best, in addition we often don't much care about the well-being of others. But God sees beyond the momentary, beyond the momentary hardship, beyond the momentary pain, beyond the momentary doubt, beyond the momentary fear, God sees us surviving all that we don't think we can survive, more than that God sees us thriving in the situations that we think we're stuck in.
+ How has God used you as a light in the darkness?
+ How might God be wanting to use you currently?
I am for peace;
but when I speak,
they are for war.
This Psalm is titled Deliverance from Slanderers in the above link, but I don't think that is a very good title. The Psalmist does indeed ask for deliverance from lying lips, but they also seem to seek deliverance in general from being a stranger in a strange land, and then ends the Psalm in what I think may be the real point of the whole thing, and perhaps even more than that. The Psalmist says that they are in a land surrounded by people who hate peace and that while they speak for peace the people speak for war. I can understand the Psalmists dilemma, when I was younger I was, for lack of a better term, a fan of war, I would argue that we as a country should go in to wherever and destroy whomever was threatening us with whatever they were threatening us with. Over the course of years I switched sides and would now argue that we shouldn't go to war, period, the end. When I was younger I spoke from the majority, now that I am a bit older I speak from the minority and so I can understand how the Psalmist may be feeling. But...
A little bit ago I typed the following "and then ends the Psalm in what I think may be the real point of the whole thing, and perhaps even more than that" and what I mean is that perhaps the whole point of not just the Psalm but of the Psalmist's predicament is that their voice needs to be heard in places like the one they dwell in. God needs voices in the wilderness, crying out the truth in the darkness, and unfortunately that necessarily requires for us to sometimes be in the darkness. Sometimes the very place we don't want to be in is the exact place that God wants us to be in, it is the place that can do both us and those around us the most good. The hang-up is that we often just want what is easiest for us, not best, in addition we often don't much care about the well-being of others. But God sees beyond the momentary, beyond the momentary hardship, beyond the momentary pain, beyond the momentary doubt, beyond the momentary fear, God sees us surviving all that we don't think we can survive, more than that God sees us thriving in the situations that we think we're stuck in.
+ How has God used you as a light in the darkness?
+ How might God be wanting to use you currently?
Monday, April 17, 2017
The Heart's Cry: Psalm 119
Psalm 119
Ok, ok, I get it, there has been too many days in a row where instead of something long and complicated I have shared a song or a poem or a song and here I go again. Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, comprising 176 verses and as I sat here and contemplated how to narrow it down to just a couple words, a couple paragraphs, a couple thoughts I realized that I already did 12 years ago, soad here is Road Signs
road signs along the walk of life
I see them as I'm passing them by
I look forward always ever onward
never bother to look back at my life
sometimes I feel so out of place
like my life is just a sham
I never know just where I'm going
never can forget where I've been
and I need to slow down, just to look around at
Chorus:
the signs of life
that I so often miss
the words of life
that I so often skip
and I know, that something's coming
coming down the road
dreams dreamt momentarily lost
I see them as they're passing me by
I look backward never going forward
looking back at the scheme of my life
sometimes I feel I'm where I should be
it's never really where I am
I don't know exactly where I'm aiming
try forgetting what I've never done
and I need to slow down, just to stop and wait for
Chorus:
Bridge:
and while I'm not sure what it is
I think it may be real good
so I sit and ponder my predicament
I sit and wonder over all you've done
you gave your word, you gave your son
you gave your all, to make sure it was done
and here I sit, here we are, running circles
around your love, wondering where you are
where you are, I sit and wait
Chorus:
Ok, ok, I get it, there has been too many days in a row where instead of something long and complicated I have shared a song or a poem or a song and here I go again. Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, comprising 176 verses and as I sat here and contemplated how to narrow it down to just a couple words, a couple paragraphs, a couple thoughts I realized that I already did 12 years ago, soad here is Road Signs
road signs along the walk of life
I see them as I'm passing them by
I look forward always ever onward
never bother to look back at my life
sometimes I feel so out of place
like my life is just a sham
I never know just where I'm going
never can forget where I've been
and I need to slow down, just to look around at
Chorus:
the signs of life
that I so often miss
the words of life
that I so often skip
and I know, that something's coming
coming down the road
dreams dreamt momentarily lost
I see them as they're passing me by
I look backward never going forward
looking back at the scheme of my life
sometimes I feel I'm where I should be
it's never really where I am
I don't know exactly where I'm aiming
try forgetting what I've never done
and I need to slow down, just to stop and wait for
Chorus:
Bridge:
and while I'm not sure what it is
I think it may be real good
so I sit and ponder my predicament
I sit and wonder over all you've done
you gave your word, you gave your son
you gave your all, to make sure it was done
and here I sit, here we are, running circles
around your love, wondering where you are
where you are, I sit and wait
Chorus:
Friday, April 14, 2017
The Heart's Cry: Psalm 118
Psalm 118
Two posts ago I shared song lyrics from MercyMe. Last post I shared a poem I wrote on the spot. This time I share song lyrics written 12 years ago. Hypocrites are those who shame others for what they themselves do, I try not to be one if at all possible. I am a bundle of mistakes and misdeeds and bad choices and occasional good ones, I am stardust and bile. I am a like Paul, the chief of sinners. If you can learn from what I say, great, but don't follow me, don't do that, follow Jesus, unlike myself, he won't let you down.
Trust
I see you watching me so closely
looking for the least bit of loss
I understand just what you're looking for
but my friend, you won't find it in me
because I am not who you want me to be
Chorus:
it is better to put trust in the Lord
than to put your confidence in me
it is better to put trust in the Lord
than to put your hope on me
I see you watching every move I make
looking for how to live your life
I understand what you're hoping to find
but my love, you won't find it in me
because I can't be who you want me to be
Chorus:
Bridge:
cause I'm a failure
you just miss my pain
and I'm a loser
stuck right in my shame
and I'm a sinner
living how I want
so do yourself a favor
don't put your trust in me
Chorus:
Two posts ago I shared song lyrics from MercyMe. Last post I shared a poem I wrote on the spot. This time I share song lyrics written 12 years ago. Hypocrites are those who shame others for what they themselves do, I try not to be one if at all possible. I am a bundle of mistakes and misdeeds and bad choices and occasional good ones, I am stardust and bile. I am a like Paul, the chief of sinners. If you can learn from what I say, great, but don't follow me, don't do that, follow Jesus, unlike myself, he won't let you down.
Trust
I see you watching me so closely
looking for the least bit of loss
I understand just what you're looking for
but my friend, you won't find it in me
because I am not who you want me to be
Chorus:
it is better to put trust in the Lord
than to put your confidence in me
it is better to put trust in the Lord
than to put your hope on me
I see you watching every move I make
looking for how to live your life
I understand what you're hoping to find
but my love, you won't find it in me
because I can't be who you want me to be
Chorus:
Bridge:
cause I'm a failure
you just miss my pain
and I'm a loser
stuck right in my shame
and I'm a sinner
living how I want
so do yourself a favor
don't put your trust in me
Chorus:
Thursday, April 13, 2017
The Heart's Cry: Psalm 117
Psalm 117
In the rising
In the setting
may the Lord be praised
In the coming
In the going
may the Lord be praised
may the Lord be praised
the one who knelt and washed dirty feet
may the Lord be praised
the one who stood between her life and her death
may the Lord be praised
the one who walked upon and calmed the waters
may the Lord be praised
the one who denied the liar to uphold the TRUTH
may the Lord be praised
the one who sweat blood
may the Lord be praised
the feeder, the fuller, the shepherd, the king
may the Lord be praised
the one whose life brought us life and saved our lives
In the coming
In the going
may the Lord be praised
In the rising
In the setting
may the Lord be praised
+ Right where you are pen [or type] your own praise.
In the rising
In the setting
may the Lord be praised
In the coming
In the going
may the Lord be praised
may the Lord be praised
the one who knelt and washed dirty feet
may the Lord be praised
the one who stood between her life and her death
may the Lord be praised
the one who walked upon and calmed the waters
may the Lord be praised
the one who denied the liar to uphold the TRUTH
may the Lord be praised
the one who sweat blood
may the Lord be praised
the feeder, the fuller, the shepherd, the king
may the Lord be praised
the one whose life brought us life and saved our lives
In the coming
In the going
may the Lord be praised
In the rising
In the setting
may the Lord be praised
+ Right where you are pen [or type] your own praise.
The Heart's Cry: Psalm 116
Psalm 116
First, let me say that if God saves you from whatever has afflicted you it is right and good to praise the Lord. Second, I hate the first verse of this Psalm, but it is how most of us operate most of the time. The Psalmist begins by saying that he/she love the Lord because God has saved him/her from their affliction. Later on the author does redeem him/herself by saying that even in their distress he/she kept the faith, but by starting where they start I am left with a sour taste in my mouth. Too often we praise God only when God is working things out for us, when we are on the uptick. We might not have been fully delivered from whatever is ailing us, but the clouds are dissipating and we are praising God. That is not the only time we should be praising God, we should also praise while we are rolling down the hill toward oblivion. I say this because praise is not about our situation but rather God's elevation.
I could go on about this, but I would prefer to use the words of others instead of my own, so here are the lyric to MercyMe's song Even If, read the lyrics, go listen to the song, then make it true in your life.
Even If
They say sometimes you win some
Sometimes you lose some
And right now, right now I'm losing bad
I've stood on this stage night after night
Reminding the broken it'll be alright
But right now, oh right now I just can't
It's easy to sing
When there's nothing to bring me down
But what will I say
When I'm held to the flame
Like I am right now
I know You're able and I know You can
Save through the fire with Your mighty hand
But even if You don't
My hope is You alone
They say it only takes a little faith
To move a mountain
Well good thing
A little faith is all I have, right now
But God, when You choose
To leave mountains unmovable
Oh give me the strength to be able to sing
It is well with my soul
I know You're able and I know You can
Save through the fire with Your mighty hand
But even if You don't
My hope is You alone
I know the sorrow, and I know the hurt
Would all go away if You'd just say the word
But even if You don't
My hope is You alone
You've been faithful, You've been good
All of my days
Jesus, I will cling to You
Come what may
‘Cause I know You're able
I know You can
I know You're able and I know You can
Save through the fire with Your mighty hand
But even if You don't
My hope is You alone
I know the sorrow, I know the hurt
Would all go away if You'd just say the word
But even if You don't
My hope is You alone
It is well with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul
First, let me say that if God saves you from whatever has afflicted you it is right and good to praise the Lord. Second, I hate the first verse of this Psalm, but it is how most of us operate most of the time. The Psalmist begins by saying that he/she love the Lord because God has saved him/her from their affliction. Later on the author does redeem him/herself by saying that even in their distress he/she kept the faith, but by starting where they start I am left with a sour taste in my mouth. Too often we praise God only when God is working things out for us, when we are on the uptick. We might not have been fully delivered from whatever is ailing us, but the clouds are dissipating and we are praising God. That is not the only time we should be praising God, we should also praise while we are rolling down the hill toward oblivion. I say this because praise is not about our situation but rather God's elevation.
I could go on about this, but I would prefer to use the words of others instead of my own, so here are the lyric to MercyMe's song Even If, read the lyrics, go listen to the song, then make it true in your life.
Even If
They say sometimes you win some
Sometimes you lose some
And right now, right now I'm losing bad
I've stood on this stage night after night
Reminding the broken it'll be alright
But right now, oh right now I just can't
It's easy to sing
When there's nothing to bring me down
But what will I say
When I'm held to the flame
Like I am right now
I know You're able and I know You can
Save through the fire with Your mighty hand
But even if You don't
My hope is You alone
They say it only takes a little faith
To move a mountain
Well good thing
A little faith is all I have, right now
But God, when You choose
To leave mountains unmovable
Oh give me the strength to be able to sing
It is well with my soul
I know You're able and I know You can
Save through the fire with Your mighty hand
But even if You don't
My hope is You alone
I know the sorrow, and I know the hurt
Would all go away if You'd just say the word
But even if You don't
My hope is You alone
You've been faithful, You've been good
All of my days
Jesus, I will cling to You
Come what may
‘Cause I know You're able
I know You can
I know You're able and I know You can
Save through the fire with Your mighty hand
But even if You don't
My hope is You alone
I know the sorrow, I know the hurt
Would all go away if You'd just say the word
But even if You don't
My hope is You alone
It is well with my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
The Heart's Cry: Psalm 115
Psalm 115
This Psalm at base is a simple contrast between the living God and fake idols. Idols are as prevalent today as they used to be, at least not in the Western world, at least not in the same form they once were. The problem is that it was a lot easier to make fun of little statues that stood in for gods as opposed to the things that today stand in for gods. You see, by and large we don't worship idols and what we do worship we no longer call idols. Instead we call them money or power or position or the rat race or capitalism or patriotism or... you can fill in the blank depending on what idols you see or what idols you worship. Other times the idols we worship we see in the mirror or across the bed or in someone else's bed or on a TV screen with a microphone or wearing dancing shoes or behind a desk in an oval office. Still others we live in or they sit in our driveway or they flash in 30 second increments between snippets of our favorite shows. Then come the ones that appear in different seasons and we buy the jerseys and hats and foam fingers and we declare our allegiance to ours and hate all others, especially the ones that those who like what we like hate. The problem that we face is that through the passage of time we have acquired more idols, not less.
But none of those things are idols, right? That's what we tell ourselves. "It's just money." "It's just a hobby." "It's what we should do." "I'm a fan, that's all." But in reality they control us, it's how we spend our time, it's how we spend our money, it's how we spend our energies. And when we are in front of the TV or computer or tablet or cellphone everything else fades away, we don't listen, we don't pay attention, and we definitely don't worship what we should because we are too busy worshiping what we shouldn't. Do yourself a favor and take a good long hard look at your life, because those idols, "have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; they make no sound in their throats. Those who make them are like them; so are all who trust in them."
+ What idols do you have in your life? How can you lay them aside and spend your time, money, and energies on things that do matter?
This Psalm at base is a simple contrast between the living God and fake idols. Idols are as prevalent today as they used to be, at least not in the Western world, at least not in the same form they once were. The problem is that it was a lot easier to make fun of little statues that stood in for gods as opposed to the things that today stand in for gods. You see, by and large we don't worship idols and what we do worship we no longer call idols. Instead we call them money or power or position or the rat race or capitalism or patriotism or... you can fill in the blank depending on what idols you see or what idols you worship. Other times the idols we worship we see in the mirror or across the bed or in someone else's bed or on a TV screen with a microphone or wearing dancing shoes or behind a desk in an oval office. Still others we live in or they sit in our driveway or they flash in 30 second increments between snippets of our favorite shows. Then come the ones that appear in different seasons and we buy the jerseys and hats and foam fingers and we declare our allegiance to ours and hate all others, especially the ones that those who like what we like hate. The problem that we face is that through the passage of time we have acquired more idols, not less.
But none of those things are idols, right? That's what we tell ourselves. "It's just money." "It's just a hobby." "It's what we should do." "I'm a fan, that's all." But in reality they control us, it's how we spend our time, it's how we spend our money, it's how we spend our energies. And when we are in front of the TV or computer or tablet or cellphone everything else fades away, we don't listen, we don't pay attention, and we definitely don't worship what we should because we are too busy worshiping what we shouldn't. Do yourself a favor and take a good long hard look at your life, because those idols, "have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; they make no sound in their throats. Those who make them are like them; so are all who trust in them."
+ What idols do you have in your life? How can you lay them aside and spend your time, money, and energies on things that do matter?
Monday, April 10, 2017
The Heart's Cry: Psalm 114
Psalm 114
Where there is water, God makes the land dry.
Where there is no water, God brings water forth.
Where there is other water, God walks on it.
Still other water is turned into blood or wine.
Raging waters are calmed, and living water never stops flowing.
Water flows from eyes and when that is not enough blood flows from brows and sides.
Waters are created. Waters are separated. Waters are stopped. Waters flow. And water kills us but more often keeps us alive. This is the way it was, the way it is, and the way that it will be. And there is a peace in that, knowing that the water is and who it comes from and how it works and why so much of the universe, the earth, and us are made of it. But sometimes God takes what is ordinary, what is known and flips our understanding on its head. I can't imagine what it is like to be a slave to a superpower, after all I am a member of a super power. I can't imagine what it is like to need water when you are surrounded by sand, after all water magically flows with a twist of a knob, cold or hot or even lukewarm at my desire. I can't imagine what it is like to be on the run for my life and needing the water to move and it moves, after all I am comfortable and safe in my own little world. But the people of Israel, the Bible ones, didn't have to imagine it, they lived it and they were both better off and worse off because of it.
Jesus says that if you are given much, much is expected, and it was true of the Israelites, they were chosen and shown wonder after wonder. Sometimes they followed closely and sometimes they wandered in the desert for 40 years. Sometimes they were protected and sometimes they were defeated. And if that was all that was true we would be just fine in our day and age, but that is not the rest of the story. The rest of the story is that we have also been given much, in the shape of a thick book containing multiple books and sometimes we follow closely and sometimes we wander in our own deserts. We have the stories that they lived, and we have other stories of a God taking on flesh and dwelling among us. We have his teachings, his parables, his actions and if we fail to listen, to take to heart, to follow close enough to get the dust of the rabbi on us we may also go from protected to defeated, perhaps we will not be slaves to another, but we can very easily become slaves to our own desires, our own decisions, our own sins.
Believe in the water, but believe that God can make the water part, or appear, or calm, or rage.
+ What does water mean to you?
+ How are you treating your 'much'?
Where there is water, God makes the land dry.
Where there is no water, God brings water forth.
Where there is other water, God walks on it.
Still other water is turned into blood or wine.
Raging waters are calmed, and living water never stops flowing.
Water flows from eyes and when that is not enough blood flows from brows and sides.
Waters are created. Waters are separated. Waters are stopped. Waters flow. And water kills us but more often keeps us alive. This is the way it was, the way it is, and the way that it will be. And there is a peace in that, knowing that the water is and who it comes from and how it works and why so much of the universe, the earth, and us are made of it. But sometimes God takes what is ordinary, what is known and flips our understanding on its head. I can't imagine what it is like to be a slave to a superpower, after all I am a member of a super power. I can't imagine what it is like to need water when you are surrounded by sand, after all water magically flows with a twist of a knob, cold or hot or even lukewarm at my desire. I can't imagine what it is like to be on the run for my life and needing the water to move and it moves, after all I am comfortable and safe in my own little world. But the people of Israel, the Bible ones, didn't have to imagine it, they lived it and they were both better off and worse off because of it.
Jesus says that if you are given much, much is expected, and it was true of the Israelites, they were chosen and shown wonder after wonder. Sometimes they followed closely and sometimes they wandered in the desert for 40 years. Sometimes they were protected and sometimes they were defeated. And if that was all that was true we would be just fine in our day and age, but that is not the rest of the story. The rest of the story is that we have also been given much, in the shape of a thick book containing multiple books and sometimes we follow closely and sometimes we wander in our own deserts. We have the stories that they lived, and we have other stories of a God taking on flesh and dwelling among us. We have his teachings, his parables, his actions and if we fail to listen, to take to heart, to follow close enough to get the dust of the rabbi on us we may also go from protected to defeated, perhaps we will not be slaves to another, but we can very easily become slaves to our own desires, our own decisions, our own sins.
Believe in the water, but believe that God can make the water part, or appear, or calm, or rage.
+ What does water mean to you?
+ How are you treating your 'much'?
Friday, April 7, 2017
The Heart's Cry: Psalm 113
Psalm 113
Sometimes things just seem to work out in a peculiar way for whatever reason, and this is one of those times. The US bombed a Syrian airbase late last night/early this morning and among the dead were 4 children. This bombing was a response to a heinous chemical weapons attack by the Syrian government against its own people, which is merely the next moment in an ongoing civil war. [Civil war, as if they were ever civil.] So the Syrian government killed families and in response we kill families. It is in light of those events that we find ourselves in Psalm 113, a Psalm that is titled "God the Helper of the Needy" in the RSV.
He raises the poor from the dust,
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of his people.
He gives the barren woman a home,
making her the joyous mother of children.
This is my prayer today:
that God will lift the poor up from the dust that this world has thrown at them
that God will lift the needy from the ash heap that we have turned them into
that God will let them sit with princes and kings and presidents and senators and all those that have swept them off the board
that God will give the barren a home joining together those who have no children and the children that are unwanted by their parents and by the world
that God will roll justice down the mountain bringing awareness to all those who willing live in darkness and ignorance
that God will rescue all those that have suffered at the hands of those that should have loved
that God will remake the world once again, bringing peace and hope and grace and love to every corner God's light shines on
Peace and Love to you my brothers and sisters, whatever you look like, wherever you call home, whatever god you pray too, whomever you love
Sometimes things just seem to work out in a peculiar way for whatever reason, and this is one of those times. The US bombed a Syrian airbase late last night/early this morning and among the dead were 4 children. This bombing was a response to a heinous chemical weapons attack by the Syrian government against its own people, which is merely the next moment in an ongoing civil war. [Civil war, as if they were ever civil.] So the Syrian government killed families and in response we kill families. It is in light of those events that we find ourselves in Psalm 113, a Psalm that is titled "God the Helper of the Needy" in the RSV.
He raises the poor from the dust,
and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes,
with the princes of his people.
He gives the barren woman a home,
making her the joyous mother of children.
This is my prayer today:
that God will lift the poor up from the dust that this world has thrown at them
that God will lift the needy from the ash heap that we have turned them into
that God will let them sit with princes and kings and presidents and senators and all those that have swept them off the board
that God will give the barren a home joining together those who have no children and the children that are unwanted by their parents and by the world
that God will roll justice down the mountain bringing awareness to all those who willing live in darkness and ignorance
that God will rescue all those that have suffered at the hands of those that should have loved
that God will remake the world once again, bringing peace and hope and grace and love to every corner God's light shines on
Peace and Love to you my brothers and sisters, whatever you look like, wherever you call home, whatever god you pray too, whomever you love
Thursday, April 6, 2017
The Heart's Cry: Psalm 112
Psalm 112
Today I would like to look at one particular verse in this Psalm and then focus on three verses from the Sermon on the Mount. I want to do this because there is a vast difference between expecting our lives to look a certain way based on various scriptures and living our lives based on Jesus's teachings.
So we will start with the following verse:
Wealth and riches are in their houses,
and their righteousness endures forever. 112:3
This Psalm is one of blessing on the righteous followers of God, and it says that the righteous will have certain things in their lives [they will not fear evil, they will never be moved, their descendants will continue to dwell in the same land], and even certain things after their lives are over [that the will never be forgotten], but verse 3 seems to fly in the face of something Jesus will say later. The fact of the matter is that wealth does not automatically stem from righteousness, you can be extremely wealthy and very unrighteous, you can be extremely righteous and have absolutely nothing.
Unfortunately things like the prosperity gospel have sprung up and convinced a segment of the population that should they follow Jesus he will in turn bless them monetarily and materially, this is not how it works. I could use quite a few Gospel scriptures to prove my point, but I think that the obvious place to begin is the Sermon on the Mount, more specifically Matthew 6:19-21:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Let's begin at the end of these verses, where your treasure is, will be where your heart is as well. In other words if you have a lot of worldly wealth then your heart will be very firmly in the world, concerned with keeping your wealth and expanding your wealth. Incidentally if your heart is focused on your wealth it will not be focused on things of eternal meaning. And things of eternal meaning is where Jesus would prefer your heart to be focused. So Jesus asks us to forget about the worldly wealth and focus on the heavenly kind instead, knowing that both the kingdom and ourselves will be better off.
+ What do you consider your wealth?
+ How has God blessed you on your faith journey, materially and/or eternally?
Today I would like to look at one particular verse in this Psalm and then focus on three verses from the Sermon on the Mount. I want to do this because there is a vast difference between expecting our lives to look a certain way based on various scriptures and living our lives based on Jesus's teachings.
So we will start with the following verse:
Wealth and riches are in their houses,
and their righteousness endures forever. 112:3
This Psalm is one of blessing on the righteous followers of God, and it says that the righteous will have certain things in their lives [they will not fear evil, they will never be moved, their descendants will continue to dwell in the same land], and even certain things after their lives are over [that the will never be forgotten], but verse 3 seems to fly in the face of something Jesus will say later. The fact of the matter is that wealth does not automatically stem from righteousness, you can be extremely wealthy and very unrighteous, you can be extremely righteous and have absolutely nothing.
Unfortunately things like the prosperity gospel have sprung up and convinced a segment of the population that should they follow Jesus he will in turn bless them monetarily and materially, this is not how it works. I could use quite a few Gospel scriptures to prove my point, but I think that the obvious place to begin is the Sermon on the Mount, more specifically Matthew 6:19-21:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Let's begin at the end of these verses, where your treasure is, will be where your heart is as well. In other words if you have a lot of worldly wealth then your heart will be very firmly in the world, concerned with keeping your wealth and expanding your wealth. Incidentally if your heart is focused on your wealth it will not be focused on things of eternal meaning. And things of eternal meaning is where Jesus would prefer your heart to be focused. So Jesus asks us to forget about the worldly wealth and focus on the heavenly kind instead, knowing that both the kingdom and ourselves will be better off.
+ What do you consider your wealth?
+ How has God blessed you on your faith journey, materially and/or eternally?
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
The Heart's Cry: Psalm 111
Psalm 111
Psalm 111 is a Psalm of praise, that much is certain, but as I have said before, sometimes I am not in a praising mood, and this moment is one of those moments. One of those moments where the snowball rolling down the hill has seemed to become an avalanche and I just want it to stop. So, I decided to glance back to my 25 year old self to see what he was praising about, turns out he wasn't exactly praising either, but what he was doing was important, trying to find his way on this road we call faith. If you don't think that faith is a journey you're missing the point. If you don't think that side-trips are allowed on this journey you're missing the truth. To that end, I present the following...
Zany Definitions of Meaningful Response
what does it mean to fear you
in this day and age
does to fear mean to be afraid
or does it just mean to respect
should I be alarmed by your hand
causing fear and dread
does it mean o be fearsome
or does it just mean to honor
we speak of fear
and too many of us mean
that we should be afraid of you
we speak of fear
and too many times
we think that we should hide from you
what does it mean to love you
one who is far away
does it mean to have fuzzy feelings
should you take my breath away
should I be joyful in my heart
causing love and care
does it mean that I should love you
like a man loves his wife
we speak of love
and too many of us mean
that we should be in love with you
we speak of love
and too many times
we think that we should hold your hand
Bridge:
our words don't convey
just what we mean to say
language is lost on us
and we are lost in you
just what does it mean
Lord I'm hungry for you
what do you taste like
Lord I want to touch you
what do you feel like
+ When you encounter the concept that you should "fear God" what does it conjure in your mind?
+ When you encounter the concept that you should "love God" what does it conjure in your mind?
+ What does it mean to hunger & thirst for God?
+ How else has our language failed to explain the relationship you have with God? Has it?
Psalm 111 is a Psalm of praise, that much is certain, but as I have said before, sometimes I am not in a praising mood, and this moment is one of those moments. One of those moments where the snowball rolling down the hill has seemed to become an avalanche and I just want it to stop. So, I decided to glance back to my 25 year old self to see what he was praising about, turns out he wasn't exactly praising either, but what he was doing was important, trying to find his way on this road we call faith. If you don't think that faith is a journey you're missing the point. If you don't think that side-trips are allowed on this journey you're missing the truth. To that end, I present the following...
Zany Definitions of Meaningful Response
what does it mean to fear you
in this day and age
does to fear mean to be afraid
or does it just mean to respect
should I be alarmed by your hand
causing fear and dread
does it mean o be fearsome
or does it just mean to honor
we speak of fear
and too many of us mean
that we should be afraid of you
we speak of fear
and too many times
we think that we should hide from you
what does it mean to love you
one who is far away
does it mean to have fuzzy feelings
should you take my breath away
should I be joyful in my heart
causing love and care
does it mean that I should love you
like a man loves his wife
we speak of love
and too many of us mean
that we should be in love with you
we speak of love
and too many times
we think that we should hold your hand
Bridge:
our words don't convey
just what we mean to say
language is lost on us
and we are lost in you
just what does it mean
Lord I'm hungry for you
what do you taste like
Lord I want to touch you
what do you feel like
+ When you encounter the concept that you should "fear God" what does it conjure in your mind?
+ When you encounter the concept that you should "love God" what does it conjure in your mind?
+ What does it mean to hunger & thirst for God?
+ How else has our language failed to explain the relationship you have with God? Has it?
Tuesday, April 4, 2017
The Heart's Cry: Psalm 110
Psalm 110
First off, if you want to know more about Melchizedek you should check out Hebrews 7 and Genesis 14:17-21. What is important to know is that he is Son of Godish, what that means is that it is possible that Melchizedek is Jesus. What is interesting is that the writer of Hebrew says that Melchizedek resembles Jesus and that Jesus resembles Melchizedek, the author does this in order to connect Jesus to what the Jews already know. Jesus is not someone new on the street but rather someone that has been intrinsically connected to the story all this time. It's the same thing that the author of the Gospel of John does in the opening chapter of that book, connecting Jesus to the very fabric of the universe, letting us know that Jesus is not an addition but rather was always there, just behind the corner of our known reality.
I point all of that out because in this Psalm David is saying that he has a lord that is above him, this is to whom The Lord is speaking. And this lord of David is being called a "priest in the order of Melchizedek" which leads some to believe that David is talking about Jesus without naming him, because while the name has importance, it is who Jesus is, not what we call him that really matters. It is the space we give him in our lives that is of highest importance, because whether we know Jesus or not, whether we believe in Jesus or not, whether we follow Jesus or not, that is what really matters. Do we mean the word Lord, or is it merely lip service? Do we allow Jesus to mold us and remake us, becoming that new creation that Paul speaks of or do we put the bumper sticker on and tell people what they should be doing? At base the question is, who is Jesus to you?
First off, if you want to know more about Melchizedek you should check out Hebrews 7 and Genesis 14:17-21. What is important to know is that he is Son of Godish, what that means is that it is possible that Melchizedek is Jesus. What is interesting is that the writer of Hebrew says that Melchizedek resembles Jesus and that Jesus resembles Melchizedek, the author does this in order to connect Jesus to what the Jews already know. Jesus is not someone new on the street but rather someone that has been intrinsically connected to the story all this time. It's the same thing that the author of the Gospel of John does in the opening chapter of that book, connecting Jesus to the very fabric of the universe, letting us know that Jesus is not an addition but rather was always there, just behind the corner of our known reality.
I point all of that out because in this Psalm David is saying that he has a lord that is above him, this is to whom The Lord is speaking. And this lord of David is being called a "priest in the order of Melchizedek" which leads some to believe that David is talking about Jesus without naming him, because while the name has importance, it is who Jesus is, not what we call him that really matters. It is the space we give him in our lives that is of highest importance, because whether we know Jesus or not, whether we believe in Jesus or not, whether we follow Jesus or not, that is what really matters. Do we mean the word Lord, or is it merely lip service? Do we allow Jesus to mold us and remake us, becoming that new creation that Paul speaks of or do we put the bumper sticker on and tell people what they should be doing? At base the question is, who is Jesus to you?
Monday, April 3, 2017
The Heart's Cry: Psalm 109
Psalm 109
I greatly dislike calls from telemarketers but recently I have been getting more so may the Lord cast them from the Lord's sight, may they fall down to the depths and have their friends despise them. May their significant others turn their love from them and may they fall to ruin.
I had to call a company at 11:30 pm on a Sunday night because they did not remove a fee that they said they would remove but instead threatened to disconnect my service because the fee has not been removed, may the Lord bring there joy to ashes, may the Lord cause them pain upon pain, physical, mental, spiritual till they lay on the ground begging for death. May all their endeavors come to naught, may their pleading words fall on deaf ears and may they grovel for food and receive none.
If I took every scripture as the way I should act in my life statements like the above would be a part of my everyday life, God forbid. But, some people would use the following verse to prove such a point, "All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17 Oftentimes you can use scripture as an example of the correct way to go about things, but some scriptures should only ever be used as an example of what not to do, how not to act. We should perhaps ask, 'What would Jesus do?' but there are some Biblical characters where we should instead ask, 'What wouldn't this person do?' and most of the people in the Bible have both good and bad actions, much like you and I have good and bad actions.
It is of utmost importance for us to read the Bible through the lens of Jesus, of God's grace and mercy and love seeing the times when we should act the same and seeing the times when we should act contrary to the central figures in the Bible. We should act like Abraham in that if God calls us we should go. We should act contrary to Abraham in that we should never tell someone that our spouse is our sibling in order to escape possible punishment. We should be like David in being a person after God's own heart, but we should shy away from his occasional rape, murder, and polygamy. Only by reading with the right perspective can we understand the story of the Bible, understand which parts are to be upheld and will sustain us and which are to be shown for what they are, archaic stories of archaic people doing archaic things.
+ Be honest with yourself, how often have you wanted to say something similar to my first two statements?
+ How has reading the Bible through the lens of Jesus helped you to better understand the scripture? Has it ever caused things to become more blurry?
I greatly dislike calls from telemarketers but recently I have been getting more so may the Lord cast them from the Lord's sight, may they fall down to the depths and have their friends despise them. May their significant others turn their love from them and may they fall to ruin.
I had to call a company at 11:30 pm on a Sunday night because they did not remove a fee that they said they would remove but instead threatened to disconnect my service because the fee has not been removed, may the Lord bring there joy to ashes, may the Lord cause them pain upon pain, physical, mental, spiritual till they lay on the ground begging for death. May all their endeavors come to naught, may their pleading words fall on deaf ears and may they grovel for food and receive none.
If I took every scripture as the way I should act in my life statements like the above would be a part of my everyday life, God forbid. But, some people would use the following verse to prove such a point, "All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17 Oftentimes you can use scripture as an example of the correct way to go about things, but some scriptures should only ever be used as an example of what not to do, how not to act. We should perhaps ask, 'What would Jesus do?' but there are some Biblical characters where we should instead ask, 'What wouldn't this person do?' and most of the people in the Bible have both good and bad actions, much like you and I have good and bad actions.
It is of utmost importance for us to read the Bible through the lens of Jesus, of God's grace and mercy and love seeing the times when we should act the same and seeing the times when we should act contrary to the central figures in the Bible. We should act like Abraham in that if God calls us we should go. We should act contrary to Abraham in that we should never tell someone that our spouse is our sibling in order to escape possible punishment. We should be like David in being a person after God's own heart, but we should shy away from his occasional rape, murder, and polygamy. Only by reading with the right perspective can we understand the story of the Bible, understand which parts are to be upheld and will sustain us and which are to be shown for what they are, archaic stories of archaic people doing archaic things.
+ Be honest with yourself, how often have you wanted to say something similar to my first two statements?
+ How has reading the Bible through the lens of Jesus helped you to better understand the scripture? Has it ever caused things to become more blurry?
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