In addition to an actual journal post (which I have done) I will Explain what I am planning to do. I am going to be doing a daily bible reading, meditation, and general thoughts. The difference is I am going to put everything on this blog. Nothing will be censored or played down or sugar coated. This will be exactly what I am thinking, and what I feel God is speaking to me. If you would like to follow along. I will be using the http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com reading plan starting with today. Along with that I am going to ask myself the folowing questions during, and after the reading:
1. What scripture hit you today?
2. What struck you about it?
3. What do you think God wants you to do in response to this insight?
4. What do you think it would look like in Nebraska (and the Nation) if every Christian man and boy were to respond to this portion of scripture like God is asking you to?
I will be posting daily updates and if I don't I will do some catching up. I am still going to keep an actual hard-copy of the journal and hope to just transcribe. I may add to my writing or simply leave things out. What I choose to leave out, will be of no consequence.
I am really just doing this out of obedience to God. I feel that I need to do this. So here is Day 1.
The verses for Today were Joshua 16, 17, 18, and 28; Luke 19:1-27; Proverbs 13:11; Psalm 87:1-7
I really enjoyed reading today. I felt that Joshua was a lot of this person begets this person and this person gets this land and so on and so forth. It was actually a very easy read. When i got to Luke, however that was a different story. Luke started out telling the story of Zaccheaus. What a great story! This man GOT IT! He got it in a way that most people will never GET IT. he understood what it meant to follow Christ and he put value in what he believed. HE gave away half his possessions and wealth (which was considerable) and gave money back to the people he had stolen from with 400% interest. All this at the simple wish for Christ to dine in his home. The Israelites did not like this. They saw Zaccheaus as a "sinner". They failed to realize that so were they. What were they thinking? Why did they think they were any better than Zaccheaus? This got me thinking.
Somebody once said that Hell is filled with religious people. I believe that to be true. These people who questioned Jesus (in their heart) were religious. Somebody somewhere along the line taught them that they were somehow better than all the other sinners. This is simply not true. Christians ARE SINNERS! There is no way around it.
"religious" Institutions make people feel judged and unwelcome. Churches make people feel loved and forgiven and safe. "religious" institutions fill their building with pompous, self-righteous individuals, while churches fill the building with caring, gracious, and loving people. There are numerous "religious" institutions that masquerade as churches and many religious individuals who only desire to be "religious." my prayer for myself and all of you is that you strive to be more like Christ and you stand up to all those who are religious.
Make no judgment. WE ARE ALL SINNERS. None of us deserve the gift of Christ, but we can all receive it.
Sin is sin. We all do it and while man puts degrees on sin, God does not. The only thing that matters is a relationship with Christ. An active relationship. Hopefully all Christ followers will act with humility and obedience and these acts will separate us from the "religious" people.
I had trouble with the second part of Luke 19 and would value any input on the parable of the Ten Minas. Thank You and God bless.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
4 comments:
Please feel free to be as open as you want. Please refrain from personal attacks. I will never personally attack you. I do welcome constructive criticism and healthy conversation. I do allow anonymous comments, but leaving your name adds credibility. I will delete comments that attack me or other people who comment.
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hey - anytime someone puts out an open invitation for valuable input, i'm there! did you mean luke 19? the ten minas is in that chapter of luke. so, my thoughts on this are that this parable refers to believers. we all have gifts to share. by not sharing, we prevent others from receiving some of God's blessing as well as not receiving fully of what God has for us either. in order for your cup to runneth over, you have to let the water spill over onto others and not try to hoard it for yourself. God cannot replenish it if it is full. same with giving and tithing (all this is related). the apostles knew that in order to have a new harvest the following year, they had to re-sow the seed they set aside from this year's harvest. if all they did was keep the seed and not re-plant it, there would not be another harvest and they would not have food to eat the next year. it's the same with us. if we hoard our gifts, we're not going to have a very big harvest. gifts are not entirely free. they come with a responsibility to share. if you share them, God will give you more to share. if not, you're going to come up dry (keep thinking about the seed parallel). if you're not going to plant your seed, share your gifts, let your cup runneth over onto someone else, God will give it to someone who will. and of course, once you start blessing others, God will start giving you some things to bless other people with. it's not liek a one time deal that if He takes your mina aand gives it to someone else you can never get another. that's not God's way (thank God!). the killing of the people who did not want that person to be king, no comment on that. uncle cesar would know. so, this is my rather long take on the ten minas.
ReplyDeleteI like your comment on having a responsibility to share our gifts georgia, although I must disagree with you saying it is not entirely free. It wouldn't be a gift if it was to come with attachments would it?
ReplyDeleteThat is the thing about free will, God gives us gifts, and expects us to use them for his glory. But whether or not we use it is a different matter.
God doesn't take away our gifts he has given us because we don't use them, it just sits there dormant and worthless. Like a "dead corpse" so to speak.
I do believe as Christians we do have a responsibility to share and be a vessel for God's work. So I am not disputing that there are reasons for our gifts. I just don't like it being called a gift and then saying, but wait, that gift, it's not entirely free. Because that would just be contradictory.
Bryant - I love your comment, "Sin is sin. We all do it and while man puts degrees on sin, God does not."
ReplyDeleteYou would not believe the issues some people have with just that quote alone. For some reason, people have done exactly that, put a degree on sin. As if though Sin A is any different than Sin B because of who or why or what-nots. As far as I'm concerned, according to John 3:16 (Yes, it is THAT verse :D), Jesus died for the sins of the world. Not just some sins.. and not just for some people. The sins of the world! "Whom so ever"!! I would think that to include basically EVERYONE.
Thanks Bryant, I enjoy this blog you got going on. It helps me clear my mind when I read it.
thanks for your input, sokhom. there's always more than one way to view things. ga.
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