I'm blogging on Kester Brewin's The Complex Christ at Who in the world are we?
Isaiah 40:1-31
Isaiah 37:1-39:8Who has believed what they heard from us?Day 17: Isaiah 53:7-12
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
...
But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities v 1, 5a
I tend to divide God into at least two handy categories. One category is God-the-Ruler. He is the sovereign strong one, the One who will not countenance sin. The other category is God-the-Redeemer. He is the humble Savior, who gives himself for his people. Truth is, though, that God is Ruler-Redeemer. He is God of the strong arm and God wounded for our transgressions.
...and as for his generation, who consideredDay 18: Colossians 1:18-23
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
...
when his soul makes an offering for sin,
he shall see his offspring... v 8b, 10b
We are the legacy of a sacrifice. There is weight to this truth that escapes me. Not that the fact of the weight (glory) escapes me, but the experience of it. there are moments when the experience is overwhelming and response overflows in emotion. But most of the time it is a quiet, nearly hidden act of dumbstruck-ness. Sometimes, I hide it so well that I forget, yet the Spirit in my heart does not forget.
"...reconciled in his body of flesh..." v 22Day 19: Romans 8:1-11
incarnation
ecclesia
this brand new thing,
intertwined.
neither without the other
the Divine Invader reconciles
Yahweh, insiders, outsiders.
Amazing!
"...God has done what the law weakened by the flesh could not do" v 3aDay 20: 1 Corinthians 15:51-58
weak flesh tries
to no avail
and
only brokenness and inability
remain.
trust is
--has always been--
the only answer.
God doing completely
what we cannot do at all.
Lord, you are fully able and I am not. Too often I trust my inability rather than your complete ability. Thank you for grace that cleanses.
"...and we shall be changed." v 52c
There is brokenness into which I have run headlong. Even in this there is hope, for God will accomplish his work.
My heart hurts when I willfully put myself in the way. Here I am broken, less broken than before, but still broken. Here I learn righteousness, yearning, reaching for that day when I will be righteousness in him.
If the Holy Spirit is a power, we’ll want to get hold of it.
If the Holy Spirit is a person, we’ll want Him to get hold of us.
Read the rest.Tag(s): theology
...that we would know the story of God for what it is—God's glorious work through all of time, bringing everything into conformity to his will—and would be honest about the story of ourselves—that we are messy people learning to follow Jesus.Our mission: Matthew 28:16-20
...that we would be the people of God—members of Christ's body and members with all Christ-followers (even those who do not seem to be as spiritual as we are). We commit ourselves to connection with the believers at TFB, actively participating in the life of our local congregation.
...that we would expand the kingdom, not only by telling others about Jesus, but also by taking a hard look at our lifestyle choices, by being broken by our own worldly conformity, and by deciding to live lives that point to Jesus.
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
"...let us make humanity in our image..." v26aDay 12: Genesis 3:1-12
Alone and together we bear the image of God. Together, the image is richer, deeper, and more complete than alone. Together, we are conformed to the image of the Son (Eph 4:11-16).
Lord God, we need to understand our essential community. We--especially those of us in Western, individualistic cultures--need to understand that we ARE community. It is neither a choice nor a program.
But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." v4-5Day 13: Genesis 3:13-19
At our self-infected core, we wish to be God. The serpent pegged it. In fact, we are quite certain that we are gods. We are sure that good and evil are ours to decide ("...but it doesn't feel wrong..."). but this is the sin that polluted us all, this usurping of divine right, this making ourselves like God. How can we not see that we, humanity, bear his image?
Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" v13aDay 14: Psalm 14:1-7
God's partnership with humanity shows even here. As with the man, God asks the woman what she has done. Some level of responsibility must be take, however slight.
Yahweh, I want to be honest before you and name my sins. I want not to hide behind excuses or reasons, but it is difficult. To hide is so simple. Yahweh, I trust you; help my lack of trust.
The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man,Day 15: Jeremiah 17:5-10
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after God. v 2
I wrote a phrase a couple of years ago: holiness is direction, not destination. In other words, holiness is tending toward God and God only. It is not arrival at any sort of completeness. It is pointing our lives in the direction of God's glory, just as God himself is pointed in the direction of his glory.
Yes, there will be course corrections. But I think it is the trendline that matters.
Thus says the LORD:Tag(s): lectio
"Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,[a]
whose heart turns away from the LORD.
He is like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose trust is the LORD. v 5-7
Once again, I see it is about the tending. The deed Yahweh judges is the tending of the heart, the object of trust. Do I trust humanity or do I trust Yahweh?
God, my tending is not pure, but I do trust.
Retreat: The process of going backward or receding from a position or condition gained.
Resurgence: 1. A continuing after interruption; a renewal. 2. A restoration to use, acceptance, activity, or vigor; a revival.
And I will not be silent
I will not be quiet anymore
there is only one answer: the tangible, manifest, presence of God
We don't need debates. We need His presence. Neither does the unbelieving world need slickly presented church services. They're genuinely hungry and thirsty for His presence too. They'll accept all manner of amateurishness and mess if only the presence of God is tangible. Isn't that what the gospel is all about?
Read the rest
There are hidden parts of my self—hidden from others, hidden from me. How are these parts changed? How do I get to the place where I can recognize and confess them in community? Maybe a first step is daily, hourly, maybe minute-by-minute remembering who God is. Maybe asking the question in verse 11 over and over, rewriting it, asking it anew. Maybe.Day 7: John 1:1-4; Hebrews 2:14-15
Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
Human, earthed life has been made holy by his presence. I do not understand how it is that God himself took on flesh. I do not understand how it is that the Divine Logos, the Second Person of the Triune God is even now the God-Man. I have no words—not even 1000-word pictures—adequate to the task of explanation. All I have is vague shadows, mere outlines, yet even these amaze me beyond comprehension.Day 8: Psalm 90:1-17
Not sure if it slips my mind or gets pushed out by self, but too often I don't remember that God is not manageable and tidy. He does not fit neatly into my plans. He confronts all my plans and and my unplans.Day 9: Psalm 139:1-12
(3-6)You return man to dust
and say, "Return, O children of man!"
For a thousand years in your sight
are but as yesterday when it is past,
or as a watch in the night.
You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning:
in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.
This week has been filled with undefined angst. A reminder of God's vastness (and my smallness) and holiness (and my natural uncleanness) is in order. Thank you God that the knowledge of you is too much. You are too vast to comprehend. You are too holy to stand before. And yet, you have taken up residence in my soul and I stand holy in your presence. I have no words.Day 10: Psalm 139:13-24
Yahweh, help me to put myself in places where I will remember. I intend intentionality. I may start small. That is all I can do. But I will not stop and I will NOT be silent.
Isaiah 36:1-22How often I come to the Word as if it were a textbook and reading/studying as mere preparation for teaching. Rather, I ought to come with eagerness and submission, expecting to hear God, to be poked by God, and to be changed by God.Hebrews 1:1-4
Today’s reading leaves me with questions, and one question in particular: Since we have the Word of God in print, what does it look like to read and speak this written Word in light of the Father’s speaking his Word through the incarnate Son?2 Peter 1:16-21
Do we cast aside the ink on paper? I think not. But what we are to do escapes me for the moment, though I have an inkling that it has much to do with reading and speaking the Word in the company of God’s people, living out the Word for God’s glory and for the sake of the world.
Interpretive humility is the only proper stance. But this humility must not be of the sort upon which others wipe their feet. Rather, this humility boldly points to the Word and to the God of the Word, clearly declaring, yet always submitting to correction. The revealed Word in words--the Bible--is the source and my observations, reasonings, and summaries are always subject to correction by this same Word.Psalm 119:169-176
Isaiah 32:9-35:10
