"For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Galatians 5:14
Ouch.
Why do verses like these look so much easier than they actually are? We always think it's so easy to love our neighbours. I mean, we love our friends, we love our family members, the word love is thrown around so often that this should be easy. However, there's one problem that always seems to get us.
We love ourselves way too much. Do you ever realize how many times in one day your turn the conversation back around to you? How everything that someone else is saying has to relate to your story, or you always have an even better story to tell someone than the one that they're already telling. We are a really selfish species.
So then this is where the Bible lesson takes a left turn and just keeps on burning down that path, talking about how you must put people before yourself, always be kind to people, and always try to do good to them. When they somehow happened to breeze over one really important point.
Do you ever realize how much you forgive yourself? How any time you do something wrong, you are immediately able to defend yourself and justify what you did or said, because of course you knew what you were thinking, and you understood your rationale.
Shouldn't that mean that we should pass that blessing onto others? Forgive them when they do something wrong, instead of being so quick to judge? Obviously they were thinking about it, and obviously they have a reason and a rationale, so give it to them. Forgive them as you would forgive yourself.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Galatians 5
"So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don't get tied up again in slavery to the law." 5:1
My friends in youth group always laugh because I'm a huge note-writer. We take notes in church, and even though we only have about 6 main points where we fill in some blanks like a guided reading, by the end of the sermon my entire page is usually covered, sometimes spilling onto the back. I'm just someone that learns best when i write down everything, and i listen better when i'm working on copying it all down.
So, last week at Bible Study our group leader told us we just had to read about 4 lines a night, spending 10 minutes each day. He said it split up about 6 minutes to read, 4 minutes to write. Or, for me, 5 minutes to read, 25 minutes to write. And as I went home and started working on Galatians 5, I pretty much proved them right. I read that verse up there, verse one, in about 30 seconds while I was in the waiting room at the Orthodontist, and immediately started writing, took it home, and had an entire blog's worth of ideas spinning around in my head ready to be written.
It's amazing how often it seems that the Bible has been written specifically for and directly speaking at me. All of Galatians is screaming in my head "HEY, THIS IS WHAT WAS BUGGING YOU, RIGHT? WELL HERE YOU GO, THIS IS ALL THE INFORMATION YOU COULD EVER NEED ON IT." I'm almost being pounded in the head by the idea that no! i actually don't have to follow the law. What an amazing idea.
We all get saved, sometimes you're just sitting in your room saying a prayer, sometimes you're cool like me and have a dramatic show of courage in a huge room of people at winter camp. Either way, you always have that chance to feel really fantastic for an entire week, maybe an entire month. Jesus is in your heart, and you know it, and life is just so amazingly fantastic that nothing could ever turn you away from God.
Oh, wait, that Satan guy is still walking around, and he's even pretty angry now because since you've gotten saved that means he's lost you, so he's going to start working overtime. And even though it doesn't really make sense, one of the biggest things he does is that he starts making you believe that you have to earn heaven. But wait! Didn't you just get saved? Doesn't that mean that by accepting Jesus, that's your one way ticket into heaven, and you're wiped clean, already exactly where you need to be to enter the kingdom of God?!
It's easy to see that when the Holy Spirit is controlling your life, but sometimes when the devil gets in the way it's not as easy. Then enters the idea of the law. People, myself included, start to believe that they have to do and say certain things to be "right" with God, or that if they mess up, it means they need to make up for it with some more good deeds. It becomes this crazy system of balance that shouldn't even work because your sin was so heavy and so destructive before you knew Christ that nothing could ever make it even save for Jesus himself. And by following the law, it's really saying that we don't need Jesus.
Anyway, that's a topic i already mentioned, but here's the big deal. Christ has SET US FREE. Are you set free from things that are good for you? Of course not. When you're "set free" from something it means being set free from jail, or from being grounded, or from being bound in some way. Jesus has set us free because he loves us, because it's for our own good.
My friends in youth group always laugh because I'm a huge note-writer. We take notes in church, and even though we only have about 6 main points where we fill in some blanks like a guided reading, by the end of the sermon my entire page is usually covered, sometimes spilling onto the back. I'm just someone that learns best when i write down everything, and i listen better when i'm working on copying it all down.
So, last week at Bible Study our group leader told us we just had to read about 4 lines a night, spending 10 minutes each day. He said it split up about 6 minutes to read, 4 minutes to write. Or, for me, 5 minutes to read, 25 minutes to write. And as I went home and started working on Galatians 5, I pretty much proved them right. I read that verse up there, verse one, in about 30 seconds while I was in the waiting room at the Orthodontist, and immediately started writing, took it home, and had an entire blog's worth of ideas spinning around in my head ready to be written.
It's amazing how often it seems that the Bible has been written specifically for and directly speaking at me. All of Galatians is screaming in my head "HEY, THIS IS WHAT WAS BUGGING YOU, RIGHT? WELL HERE YOU GO, THIS IS ALL THE INFORMATION YOU COULD EVER NEED ON IT." I'm almost being pounded in the head by the idea that no! i actually don't have to follow the law. What an amazing idea.
We all get saved, sometimes you're just sitting in your room saying a prayer, sometimes you're cool like me and have a dramatic show of courage in a huge room of people at winter camp. Either way, you always have that chance to feel really fantastic for an entire week, maybe an entire month. Jesus is in your heart, and you know it, and life is just so amazingly fantastic that nothing could ever turn you away from God.
Oh, wait, that Satan guy is still walking around, and he's even pretty angry now because since you've gotten saved that means he's lost you, so he's going to start working overtime. And even though it doesn't really make sense, one of the biggest things he does is that he starts making you believe that you have to earn heaven. But wait! Didn't you just get saved? Doesn't that mean that by accepting Jesus, that's your one way ticket into heaven, and you're wiped clean, already exactly where you need to be to enter the kingdom of God?!
It's easy to see that when the Holy Spirit is controlling your life, but sometimes when the devil gets in the way it's not as easy. Then enters the idea of the law. People, myself included, start to believe that they have to do and say certain things to be "right" with God, or that if they mess up, it means they need to make up for it with some more good deeds. It becomes this crazy system of balance that shouldn't even work because your sin was so heavy and so destructive before you knew Christ that nothing could ever make it even save for Jesus himself. And by following the law, it's really saying that we don't need Jesus.
Anyway, that's a topic i already mentioned, but here's the big deal. Christ has SET US FREE. Are you set free from things that are good for you? Of course not. When you're "set free" from something it means being set free from jail, or from being grounded, or from being bound in some way. Jesus has set us free because he loves us, because it's for our own good.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
"Gabriel appeared to her and said, 'Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!'" 1:28
So Mary was favoured, huh. What exactly does that even mean? I mean, her whole life she wasn't blessed or anything. According to the Bible she was just a normal servant girl, yet God chose her for the most amazing job ever asked of someone.
You know, if you think about it, we are all God's children, and therefore we are all favoured. In the same way that Mary was a holy vessel that brought Christ into the world, we are all holy vessels that continue to bring the Holy Spirit to the world through our home, our school, or our job. We've been chosen as witnesses to God.
crazy, huh?
So Mary was favoured, huh. What exactly does that even mean? I mean, her whole life she wasn't blessed or anything. According to the Bible she was just a normal servant girl, yet God chose her for the most amazing job ever asked of someone.
You know, if you think about it, we are all God's children, and therefore we are all favoured. In the same way that Mary was a holy vessel that brought Christ into the world, we are all holy vessels that continue to bring the Holy Spirit to the world through our home, our school, or our job. We've been chosen as witnesses to God.
crazy, huh?
Luke 1
So, you crack open your Bible to Luke, and the first thing you see is the story about Zechariah. His wife, Elizabeth, is barren and they are both getting old. However, an angel comes to them and tells them they are going to have a child, whom they will name John, and he will lead the way for the Messiah. And, of course, being characters in the Bible, believe it right away because an angel told them and therefore it must be real. (well, actually, Zechariah questions the angel and can't talk until the birth of his son, but all Elizabeth can do is praise the Lord for blessing her with a child)
But wait a minute, it can't be that easy?
So you move onto the next part, where the angel Gabriel comes to tell Mary that, as a virgin, she will have a child. And not just any child, the Messiah that will come to save the entire human race from sin. Of course, Mary should be asking herself so many questions. "How will I tell Joseph?" "What will people think if I am a virgin with child?" "Will my child be shunned and considered illegitimate?"
But she doesn't. She simply stops and thanks God for blessing not only her, but for all of the amazing things that he has done for everyone.
Wow. God asks me to do so many things every day, things that are clearly explained in his word. I try my best to follow him but when I'm faced with a particularly difficult situation, all I can do is ask "why me?" or "but I don't really want to do that. That's really hard." But why?
Maybe it's all down to faith. All these people are so certain about God's power, and God's will. How differently would life be if we all had such faith in God? If we all took everything we should do, and actually did it, and with 100% heart? Imagine the work we could get done.
What does having faith look like? Josh always asks that at church. What does something look like? Honestly, I don't know. I have a clue as to what it feels like. Maybe. Maybe next time something comes up, I just need to do it. We'll see how this works.
But wait a minute, it can't be that easy?
So you move onto the next part, where the angel Gabriel comes to tell Mary that, as a virgin, she will have a child. And not just any child, the Messiah that will come to save the entire human race from sin. Of course, Mary should be asking herself so many questions. "How will I tell Joseph?" "What will people think if I am a virgin with child?" "Will my child be shunned and considered illegitimate?"
But she doesn't. She simply stops and thanks God for blessing not only her, but for all of the amazing things that he has done for everyone.
Wow. God asks me to do so many things every day, things that are clearly explained in his word. I try my best to follow him but when I'm faced with a particularly difficult situation, all I can do is ask "why me?" or "but I don't really want to do that. That's really hard." But why?
Maybe it's all down to faith. All these people are so certain about God's power, and God's will. How differently would life be if we all had such faith in God? If we all took everything we should do, and actually did it, and with 100% heart? Imagine the work we could get done.
What does having faith look like? Josh always asks that at church. What does something look like? Honestly, I don't know. I have a clue as to what it feels like. Maybe. Maybe next time something comes up, I just need to do it. We'll see how this works.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Galatians 3
"Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit becayse you believed the message you heard about Christ." 3:2, NLT
This is where our story begins. My number one biggest issue. I do a lot of things because I think i should. I think to myself "Hey, I'm a Christian, so I shouldn't swear" or "Hey, I'm a Christian, so I can't tell anyone that really bad, but absolutely hilarious sex joke." I make it all about me, my image, and the law.
They always told me that even though the Bible was written 57 trillion years ago, it can still apply to me today. Yeah, sure. I believe that. But we read this yesterday in small groups and I almost just had to yell out "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" because this passage is exactly my biggest battle.
Paul is writing this letter to people at the Church in Galatia. Before this, I didn't even know that Galatia existed, and I probably never would have found that out anyway. I don't know any of these people, I know maybe three of the rules in the Law of Moses, so how exactly does this apply to me? I'm not following the Law like them! I understand that my salvation is reached only by Christ! Or wait, do I?
I try to weigh out my good deeds and my bad. "Whoops, I gossiped with someone today, I'll have to compliment three people tomorrow" or "Uh-oh, I swore, I have to go home and pray." I act like if I do enough good stuff, if I follow enough rules, then that will be what saves me. That is all I need.
Not. In verse 19, it states that "It [the Law] was given alongside the promise to show people their sins." Woah. So you mean, this is all a sin issue? One of those "you can't have rule-breakers without rules" things? But Jesus died for us so that we can live without sin? Is that saying that when we use the Law to accept the idea of being righteous, we're saying that Jesus died...for nothing? Oh boy.
It all comes down to having faith in Christ. People walk around following this "Law", following their own personal checklist of what a "Good Christian" looks like, and yet they lose sight of the big picture. JESUS DIED SO THAT WE CAN BE WITHOUT SIN. It's that easy. Okay, maybe it's not that easy. But it's just about accepting Christ, and accepting the fact that he is enough, that he is the way to heaven.
So what on earth do I do now? What could all of this possibly look like to me? There really isn't any solid answer to this, except when you do the right thing, the "Christian" thing you might say, do it because you love God and you want people to know that you are convicted and moved to do the right thing. Not because you should, or because you need to fulfill this checklist before you can go to heaven.
It's a heart condition.
This is where our story begins. My number one biggest issue. I do a lot of things because I think i should. I think to myself "Hey, I'm a Christian, so I shouldn't swear" or "Hey, I'm a Christian, so I can't tell anyone that really bad, but absolutely hilarious sex joke." I make it all about me, my image, and the law.
They always told me that even though the Bible was written 57 trillion years ago, it can still apply to me today. Yeah, sure. I believe that. But we read this yesterday in small groups and I almost just had to yell out "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" because this passage is exactly my biggest battle.
Paul is writing this letter to people at the Church in Galatia. Before this, I didn't even know that Galatia existed, and I probably never would have found that out anyway. I don't know any of these people, I know maybe three of the rules in the Law of Moses, so how exactly does this apply to me? I'm not following the Law like them! I understand that my salvation is reached only by Christ! Or wait, do I?
I try to weigh out my good deeds and my bad. "Whoops, I gossiped with someone today, I'll have to compliment three people tomorrow" or "Uh-oh, I swore, I have to go home and pray." I act like if I do enough good stuff, if I follow enough rules, then that will be what saves me. That is all I need.
Not. In verse 19, it states that "It [the Law] was given alongside the promise to show people their sins." Woah. So you mean, this is all a sin issue? One of those "you can't have rule-breakers without rules" things? But Jesus died for us so that we can live without sin? Is that saying that when we use the Law to accept the idea of being righteous, we're saying that Jesus died...for nothing? Oh boy.
It all comes down to having faith in Christ. People walk around following this "Law", following their own personal checklist of what a "Good Christian" looks like, and yet they lose sight of the big picture. JESUS DIED SO THAT WE CAN BE WITHOUT SIN. It's that easy. Okay, maybe it's not that easy. But it's just about accepting Christ, and accepting the fact that he is enough, that he is the way to heaven.
So what on earth do I do now? What could all of this possibly look like to me? There really isn't any solid answer to this, except when you do the right thing, the "Christian" thing you might say, do it because you love God and you want people to know that you are convicted and moved to do the right thing. Not because you should, or because you need to fulfill this checklist before you can go to heaven.
It's a heart condition.
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