Job 1-2
All I keep thinking is "Poor Job," and "Poor his people." It really sucks for them. They're getting murdered, burned, and killed by natural disasters. There's so much death. I can't imagine what a sad place Job's house must have become. And then, after all that, this is what he does:
20 Job got to his feet, ripped his robe, shaved his head, then fell to the ground and worshiped:
21 Naked I came from my mother's womb,
naked I'll return to the womb of the earth.
God gives, God takes.
God's name be ever blessed.
22 Not once through all this did Job sin; not once did he blame God.
This is truly amazing. The first thing he does in his mourning is worship God. He praises God. This demonstrates his incredible faith in God. And if Job worshiped, after all these awful sufferings, then we, with our smaller sufferings, should most certainly follow his example.
Matthew 13: 1-23
The Harvest parable is perfect to accompany Job because it is a story of how suffering in our lives sheds light on what our faith is like.
One of the other things to note about the Harvest story is that it demonstrates that we are not responsible for anyone else's faith/salvation. This is the whole idea of "You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink." We can, and should, share the truth of Jesus. We can be the light of the world. We can tell the good news, but we cannot determine how it will be received or what people will do with it.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Read: Matthew 12:20-50
There is so much packed into these thirty verses.
"There's nothing done or said that can't be forgiven. But if you deliberately persist in your slanders against God's Spirit, you are repudiating the very One who forgives. If you reject the Son of Man out of some misunderstanding, the Holy Spirit can forgive you, but when you reject the Holy Spirit, you're sawing off the branch on which you're sitting, severing by your own perversity all connection with the One who forgives." - Matthew 12:31-32
This is really serious stuff. First, Jesus is basically obliterating the idea that there are unforgivable sins: "There's nothing done or said that can't be forgiven." I'm still not exactly sure how this applies to suicide, but I suppose I'll just let God deal with that. Jesus does say that slandering and/or rejecting the Holy Spirit is bad news. But... I'm not exactly sure how one would go about rejecting the Holy Spirit. Thoughts?
"On Judgment Day, the Ninevites will stand up and give evidence that will condemn this generation, because when Jonah preached to them they changed their lives. A far greater preacher than Jonah is here, and you squabble about 'proofs.' On Judgment Day, the Queen of Sheba will come forward and bring evidence that will condemn this generation, because she traveled from a far corner of the earth to listen to wise Solomon. Wisdom far greater than Solomon's is right in front of you, and you quibble over 'evidence.'" - Matthew 12:41-42
This really puts into perspective what the Pharisees were doing. However, it applies to our generation and time, too. Churches today get so bogged down in silly, unimportant things without realizing they're missing all the good that's there. We have to keep praying that God will open our eyes to his wisdom and word.
"There's nothing done or said that can't be forgiven. But if you deliberately persist in your slanders against God's Spirit, you are repudiating the very One who forgives. If you reject the Son of Man out of some misunderstanding, the Holy Spirit can forgive you, but when you reject the Holy Spirit, you're sawing off the branch on which you're sitting, severing by your own perversity all connection with the One who forgives." - Matthew 12:31-32
This is really serious stuff. First, Jesus is basically obliterating the idea that there are unforgivable sins: "There's nothing done or said that can't be forgiven." I'm still not exactly sure how this applies to suicide, but I suppose I'll just let God deal with that. Jesus does say that slandering and/or rejecting the Holy Spirit is bad news. But... I'm not exactly sure how one would go about rejecting the Holy Spirit. Thoughts?
"On Judgment Day, the Ninevites will stand up and give evidence that will condemn this generation, because when Jonah preached to them they changed their lives. A far greater preacher than Jonah is here, and you squabble about 'proofs.' On Judgment Day, the Queen of Sheba will come forward and bring evidence that will condemn this generation, because she traveled from a far corner of the earth to listen to wise Solomon. Wisdom far greater than Solomon's is right in front of you, and you quibble over 'evidence.'" - Matthew 12:41-42
This really puts into perspective what the Pharisees were doing. However, it applies to our generation and time, too. Churches today get so bogged down in silly, unimportant things without realizing they're missing all the good that's there. We have to keep praying that God will open our eyes to his wisdom and word.
Friday, August 5, 2011
The start of something new
I've been considering starting a blog for some time now. I tend to be really great at starting new things and really awful about carrying through with them. Maybe this time will be different. I suppose that all depends on how much gets put into this, from me and from any potential readers.
This will probably end up being a place to write about a lot of things, goals in particular. For example, one of my current goals is to finish reading The Message Remix: Pause Edition that I was given after I graduated from high school. That was four years ago. I haven't been very consistent in my reading. Lately, though, in an effort to reaquaint myself with my Creator, I've been trying to make sure and read a section a day, and then I journal about verses that stand out to me or ideas that catch my attention. For the time being, this is what I want to post about. I don't know a whole lot (although in four years, I should know a lot more, considering I should have my degrees from seminary), but I think what I've thought and written could be really good for other people, too. Here's hoping for the best.
Yours truly,
Rachella
This will probably end up being a place to write about a lot of things, goals in particular. For example, one of my current goals is to finish reading The Message Remix: Pause Edition that I was given after I graduated from high school. That was four years ago. I haven't been very consistent in my reading. Lately, though, in an effort to reaquaint myself with my Creator, I've been trying to make sure and read a section a day, and then I journal about verses that stand out to me or ideas that catch my attention. For the time being, this is what I want to post about. I don't know a whole lot (although in four years, I should know a lot more, considering I should have my degrees from seminary), but I think what I've thought and written could be really good for other people, too. Here's hoping for the best.
Yours truly,
Rachella
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