Some of You Need to Hear This

For those who need to hear this:

Devotional for today Matthew 9:18-26

We read about a woman who has been bleeding for twelve years. She sneaks in-between the crowd to touch the hem/edge of Jesus' garment. She does this because she believes that even if she touches Him, even in the most smallest way, she will be healed. But the other reason she does this is to be undetected. You see in that culture a woman's menstrual made her "unclean" and in fact she was suppose to separated from the town's people until she was "clean" again. This is a law we read in the Old Testament's book of Leviticus 15. Never should an unclean thing touch or even be near a clean thing, but she wanted to be healed. She wanted to go unnoticed as to not cause a scene. She had faith Christ could heal her, but she didn't  know how much He would love her.

We read however that Jesus feels the power leave from within Him and He addresses her-which was probably the one thing she didn't want from Him. For by the law if something unclean intentional or unintentionally touched a clean thing on the low end the spectrum both items were unclean and had to go through a ritual to be re-cleansed or on the high end of the spectrum the unclean thing would be put to death.

But note Jesus doesn't say anything about the law. Jesus doesn't condemn her. He is the only "clean"  thing that can never be contaminated. He calls her daughter. He declares her forgiven.

***
A lot of you don't go to church because you're afraid God's going to send a lightening bolt down on you once you walk in or that the building is going to catch on fire. You think these outrageous thoughts because, "How could God love and accept someone like me?" You recognize the enormous holiness of which you are entering. You acknowledge the fact that God is so much more deserving of anything we could ever offer and yet how could we ever be clean enough to enter His presence?

We read just previous to this woman being healed that Jesus was eating at a houseful of "tax collectors and sinners." The religious people scuffed at Him, but He responded: "It is not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick." Verse 12

For sinners like me, I want to tell you that God came for people exactly like you.

Jesus is not ashamed of you.

In fact He calls you out of your hiding, calls you out from the crowd, out from the places that are dark, lonesome, and seemed to have been forgotten.

He calls you and names you:
daughter, brother, mother, friend...

There is no condemnation in Jesus.

And His holy place is not contained in four walls, but with His people. People like you and me-the sinners, whom by His sanctification makes into saints.

Everyday you awaken you're given God's grace and are within His presence: for He is everywhere. On the hilltop He can meet you, in the valley He can meet you, in the jail cell He can meet you, and the bathrooms He can meet you, in your bedroom He can meet you, on the street He can meet you, in churches, in buses, in camps, in high-rises, and in shacks, in mud huts, in concerts, in seminaries, in all places you can meet find Him. (Psalm 139, Jeremiah 29:13)

The next thing I want to say is this-
there are those who are coming to Jesus, but oh so tentatively. You believe in His goodness, His mercy, His forgiveness, but you're also keeping an arms length away because you're afraid of what He might do to you if you give Him more than just your immediate need.

Is that true of you today?

Are you afraid of experiencing all of who God is because you're afraid He will be angry at the dark parts of your heart? Are you afraid that coming to Him fully because of what He might ask you to do next?

Later in the gospels we read that little children are coming to hang out with Jesus. The disciples though try to shew them away. Jesus stops the disciples and says, "Let the children come to me, because the kingdom is made of people like this." (Matthew 19:13-15)

Children are so free spirited and sometimes crazy; yet, here is Jesus welcoming even them with opened arms.

Come like a child, let Him heal and pray over you for He is gentle at heart and kind in spirit (Matthew 11:25-30). Like the prophet Isaiah said, "let all who are thirsty come." (Isaiah 55)

Be bold like the woman and I encourage you to keep coming to Jesus!

Yet do know at some point He is going to address you. Do not fear, little one, because the parts you were trying to hide He already knows & sees yet still calls you to be with Him (John 4: 1-26).

Note the woman in our story of Matthew 9 wasn't fully healed, at least spiritually healed, until Jesus SPOKE to her. Don't just take your physical body to God, take all of who you are. Let the Living Water speak to you.

What will He say?

I have no doubt it'll be like the psalmist has said in Psalm 119:97-104

"Father God,

You are my healer. You see and know me. I praise your holy name. I thank you for being the one I can always come to. I thank you that I'm able to because of what Jesus has done for me. Lord, forgive me and make me clean. Thank you for dwelling with me and loving me. Holy Spirit, speak for your servant is listening.

In Jesus' name, let it be so."

How Do You Accept?

I was taken back today as someone gave me a large gift. I've always struggled with these sort of things. I broke down crying, but obviously not in front them! I was speechless, at a loss for words...slowly and finally making out a small, "tha-tha-thank you." But that one thank you is never enough for a person who doesn't feel worthy...you start bargaining in your head, thinking these thoughts: "I don't really deserve this. Are they really sure they want to give me this? If I ask it might offend them. I don't want them to think that I think I deserve such things or take things for granted...maybe I can offer half of the gift back." All of which leads to another exclaiming of "Thank you" that's just a little more bolder and louder to kill the awkward silence you created.

I briefly tried to find a Psychology article about this panominan. You would think it would be easy to find such an article considering we are a day away from the biggest gift exchange holiday of the year-Christmas.

So I sit here pondering: How do people accept gifts?

Are you like me? Believing your unworthy and don't know how to show your gratitude, so you overcompensate in other ways like 'you better bet I'm 100% going to clean the whole house now because you gave me this gift!' Or something of that nature? Although this is nice of you, your way of "proving your gratitude" could be in a form that the giver never really wanted.

Or how about this, you may not be like me but perhaps you relate more with my sister who on Christmas one year barely opened her gift and knew exactly what it was, squealed at the top of her lungs and bounced up & down ecstatically! I had never seen such authentic joy in my whole life-she was about the age of 6. I'm pretty sure the gift was dollhouse...She was soooo outlandishly happy; her humongous smile lit up the whole room and her jumping made the house shake (we lived in a trailer so it wasn't that hard). Her childlikeness made me question: when was the last time I felt that?

So we have the Feel-Unworthy, Overcompensator Receiver and the Feel-Overjoyed, Wants Achieved, Receiver

There's another way I have observed people recieve gifts in my sort time being alive and that is what I'll call the Feel-Grateful, Praising the Giver, Receiver.

I've observed this from an older lady I've recently met here in SoCal. I haven't given her any physical gift, but I have given her the gift of my time and listening ears. To her this meant the world because she has been a widower for three years and is still grieving the loss of her "sweetheart." We conversed once for three consecutive hours and it was only the second time we chatted! But her expression of gratitude wasn't focussed on the gift (the gift of my time and energy), but rather on me-on the giver. She would thank me, but more often would spend the time saying positive qualities over me.

I think we can see this personality play out not only in this scenario, but perhaps think of a child whose father they haven't seen for an extended amount of time. He returns with some cheap gift (not because they love the child less but because of outstanding reasons) and gives it to his son/daughter. The child isn't going to cling to the gift-although appreciative to have a gift, but rather they will wrap themselves in the giver's arms.

Where would you fall among these three types of receivers? Are you like me? Like my sister? Or perhaps like that older woman?

I think the healthiest state of being would be the last Receiver. This receiver who acknowledges the giver went out of their (no matter how big or small), the receiver doesn't discredit their own worthiness, they receive the gift with gratitude, and thanks the giver properly.

What do you think? Do you agree?

With it being Christmas Eve, as a believer in Jesus, I can not ignore how this can easily transition to how we receive the greatest gift of all-Himself.

Although Jesus wasn't literally born on December 25th, we celebrate His birth. God himself became flesh and dealt among us. John 1 

And He gave His life as a gift Romans 6:23

His gift made us right with the Father 1 Timothy 2:5-6, Romans 8

His gift we can not return (Hebrews 10) , we can not earn (Ephesians 2), and we can not ignore (Hebrews 2).
 
So how do we receive it? How do we receive Him?

Although I have been walking with the Lord since 2005, it is a question I still face today-especially as a Seminary student. How do I receive Him? How much do I receive Him? How do I receive this greatest gift ever given-the son of God, Jesus...who died for my sins and rose again defeating death, making me right with God, giving His righteousness over to me, and who calls me friend????

I don't understand love like that. I don't understand mercy like that. I don't understand giving like that.

How about you? When receiving God's gift do you struggle in finding yourself worthy and so you try to work it off to somehow pay Him back (i.e. having a religious spirit)? Or are you thrilled that you have such a gift, but you ignore the relationship it also brings, thinking you got what you wanted (salvation) and that's good enough? Or are you enamored by the Giver, lost in haze of His glorious love for you and in ALL of who He is?

This Christmas, I encourage you to evaluate how you receive gifts. I encourage you to be honest with yourself as to how you fit in one of these categories: the Feel-Unworthy, Overcompensator Receiver, the Feel-Overjoyed, Wants Achieved Receiver, and/or the Feel-Grateful, Praising Giver Receiver. And lastly, I encourage you to see how that mentality has seeped into how you receive Jesus.

 

Painful To Hear, Painful to Teach

The Different Sides of God's Glory & Holiness

Have you ever seen the movie Lion King 2: Simba's Pride? It follows the story of Kiara, Simba's daughter, and her love with Kuvo, the enemy's son. It's basically "a child's" rendition of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet. In this movie, two other characters also show up who are not new to the cinematic scene of Lion King admirers: Timon & Pumbaa. Towards the tail end of the movie, at the climax of the big cat fight (literally), Timon & Pumbaa are faced with their fears once again-fighting the enemy. Timon pounds his fist into his hand and says to Pumbaa, "There's only one thing we can do...when the going gets tough, the tough get going. That's our new motto..." in hopes to invigorate their cowardly spirits. However, once the lions make their thunderous roar, instead of "get going into battle" Timon quickly jumps and says, "Like I said, the tough get going!" and scatters away with his friend Pumbaa. 

Why do I share this? Like Timon and Pumbaa's seemingly new motto, there's one interpretation-you could say in this case the interpretation is "when things get tough it requires action not stagnation." Yet, as you saw, there can be more than one application-in this case either running towards the fight or running away from it!

The same can be said about scripture-the Holy Bible. There is only one interpretation, but many applications.

Yet, I do not want to stop there. I want to take it a step further and say that this same idea can be carried over to God Himself. 

What do I mean? I mean that God, Himself is One (Deut. 6:4), but is He is also "multifaceted"-we see this in the Holy Trinity=Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Gen. 1:26, Matthew 28: 19, John 1:1-18, 10:30, 17:20-21, Acts 1:4-5). 

But again, I don't want to stop there. Think with me, is not what do a reflection of who we are? Jesus Himself mentioned that from the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45)-how much more do the rest of our actions say about our heart, our core nature?! You can learn this principle in psychology and sociology, not just the Bible's proverbs. 

Thus, what does all of this say about God's actions? They are multifaceted because they overflow from His multifaceted heart. The meanings behind His actions can have more than one explanation because God encompasses many characteristics-WONDERFUL AND BRILLIANT characteristics I may add.   

Let's take a look now into scripture to see what I mean. Read (or follow the link to) Ezekiel 28: 20-26. --And let's set the stage, Ezekiel is considered a "major prophet" by Bible scholars and the Church today not because he is a major deal but because of the length of his book in the Old Testament.  In the beginning Ezekiel recalls a vision he has of seeing the Lord's angels (we later find out are called Cherubim), seeing God's glory upon the throne, and being called to be a prophet-not an easy or fun job. The job comes with being exiled, hated, and mocked. Ezekiel is commanded to dramatize each prophecy through physical actions-for example laying on his left side and then his right all to symbolize an impending future upon the Israelites (Ez. 4:4-8). Ezekiel witnesses God's presence leaving the temple, which is a BIG BIG DEAl. That's like the NFL saying they're never coming back to the Superbowl! God rolls back His glory for several reasons here, one major reason being that the Israelites (His chosen people) stopped following Him with their whole hearts. When we get to our section in the reading, God isn't finished with disciplining Israel, but now is also disciplining those who have hurt her (Israel).     

What did Sidon do to God's chosen people, it introduced cults-especially the worship of Baal (you can read more in 1 Kings). 

With all of this background (and there is certainly more), let's read verse 22 again.

 ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:

“‘I am against you, Sidon,

    and among you I will display my glory.

You will know that I am the Lord,

    when I inflict punishment on you

    and within you am proved to be holy.'"

Why does God say, in the midst of Him bringing disaster (which is a very important piece), that His glory and holiness will be known?

How's come God's glory and holiness is here with Israel's enemy, Sidon, instead of with them (Israel)?

Isn't God's glory and holiness supposed to go hand in hand with leaps of joy and exuberating happiness not anger and pain? The answer is no and yes. It's multifaceted.

I want to suggest that it is in this revelation-of knowing that God can bring destruction, infliction, judgement, and death through His glory and His holiness; as opposed to, just restoration, healing, blessings and life, that we have a much grandeur application from "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." (Pr. 9:10)

Why did I title this "Painful to Hear, Painful to Teach"? Because who out there can fully understand or accept that the God we serve can be swift, severe, stern, and sometimes even scary? I want to clarify here that: 1) YHWY (God) is not the god Hindu's see in Shiva who is known by his destructive and restorative traits which is based off how well you please him or not. 2)As you learn more about the Gospel you learn more of the HEART behind God's actions we read more in the Old Testament.

Please keep reading as I explain these points-

When bad things happen, we can not always assume it was because of our sin that God allowed such things (Read the story of Job).

On the flip side, neither can we then say, "God is cruel and causes pain for the fun of it all." We read in Romans 8: 28 that He 'works all things together for the good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.' 

God is multifaceted, but He is still good. No pain or infliction will be wasted. He brings all broken things back  and creates something new (read Revelation). 

 It is easy for those who haven't walked through God's trials and have not received that "crown of life" as James 1 talks about to succumb to this notion that God and the Devil are the same. 

Let us clarify the major differences for those of you struggling:

Satan says:

"Surely God didn't mean you would die..."-Genesis 3:4

Satan toys with our concept of God-

making God fit our logical understandings-

a god who is all loving and hates nothing-

certainly a god who wouldn't kill-

a god who is not multifaceted-

a god whose glory and holiness

bring happiness only.

Satan not only contorts the believer's mindset,

but the unbeliever's.

He persuades the un-enlightened mind

that darkness is all that there is,

that they deserve the pit,

that nothing can save them,

and certainly no one can hear them.

Jesus' says:

"Don't suppose that I have come to bring peace...rather I bring a sword."-Matthew 10:34

Jesus is blunt, honest, and sometimes brutal,

but all of it is meant to lead to repentance (Hebrews 12:6).

The sword illustration is not only used here,

but in other places:

Eph. 6:17,

Heb. 4:12,

Rev. 1:16.

All of which are describing His Spirit,

His very breath.

Jesus' image is much different than the hippy

we try to make Him out to be.

Yes, Jesus was revolutionary.

Yes, Jesus promoted love and unity.

But He also knew that things were going to get ugly

and sometimes He was/is going to be bringing in the storms.

We must have faith in His multifacetedness.

We must trust in one who

knows all things,

creates all things, &

restores all things.

As you can see, Jesus (God) is much different than Satan. And if you're are still not convinced, here is a more in depth (but certainly not complete) look at who Satan truly is/does contrary to some of those Hollywood movies you've watched or charismatic church preacher's you've listened to:

Satan cannot create. He is a creature, a fallen angel. 

He is the father of lies. 

He uses his light to trick and deceive people. 

He cannot make you do anything, but he can tempt you.

You still have your free will and can make choices within his domain. 

His kingdom is the world not hell.

He has lost the war, but can win battles.

He and the rest of the fallen angels from Heaven can possess anything-

meaning take over, control, or move,

but they cannot win your soul.

(Is. 14: 12-17, Ez. 28: 1-19, John 8:44, 2 Cor. 11:14, Gen. 3:1-5 & 13-15, 1 Peter 5:8, Eph. 2:2, Mark 3:20-26, Rev. 20:10, Rev. 12, Matt. 8:28-34, Luke 8:26-37, Mark 5:1-20)

So what do you do now since you've been taught something you've never thought you'd hear?

1. Stop making God so small and fitting Him into confines of your understanding because you like Him better that way-He can not be defined by just one word 
2. When different and difficult situations arrive in you life, don't give them one answered explanations-they are multifaceted as well!
3. Stop giving Satan all the credit! This is a big one! Because with this point, you need to reconcile the fact that a good God could and can bring such things as we read in the Old Testament.  
4. "When the going gets tough, the tough get going!" Let this apply to how we run into our Abba's arms regardless of what this life brings because that is where He truly desires us to be!