Hebrew 12 : fix your eyes on Jesus

This is not the next reading in the plan - just felt like reading this one tonight - this verse in particular was in my mind tonight and so I thought I'd read the whole chapter...

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning it’s shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hebrews 12:2,3

Sometime I wonder about myself - where my heart is - there is just one thing on my mind which I can not shake - which I so much want to shake - cos it is not God, it is not holiness - it is just stupid stupid stupid.

And so, of course, this verse came to mind - fix my eyes on Jesus - the author, the one who makes it so, the one who brought it about, wrote it down and made it truth, and perfector, the one who then went on to make my faith perfect - a perfect focus, a perfect example, a living breathing example of what my faith should look like.

Who, cos of what he knew was to come - endured the cross - went through it cos he knew it was worth it - scorning it's shame - knowing that it was worth it.

Consider HIm - do not grow weary and lose heart.

It's quite that bad - but that is why i need to consider him know - so that I do not grow weary, so that I do no lose heart.

Consider.

Change me God as I look at Jesus, as I listen to your Spirit, as I do what you say. [that last one is tough and yet so easy].

Help me be Jesus to the people around me, and take my mind off the constant chatter of inanity and focus on your loving concerns for the people around me, your gracious gift giving nature, focus outwards and not inwards, change my heart. Change my life.

Psalm 78-80 : A God Of Judgement and Mercy

Yet he was merciful;
he forgave their iniquities
and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his anger
and did not stir up his full wrath.
He remembered that they were but flesh,
a passing breeze that does not return.

Psalm 78:38,39

God has never dealt with me as I deserve.

He saved me 6 months after i had told him to get stuffed cos if he was real he didn't care.

That was at the end of 20 years of flirting with God, never really committing myself to Him.

He has forgiven me for so many times doubting that He will hold me up when things are hard.

He has forgiven me for a most evil act I have committed and instead of humiliation and hatred he gently brought the issue to light and brought me healing and forgiveness and another chance to serve him. Sparing me and other people the full consequences of what I had done.

What an awesome God.

He does not destroy me when I believe the darkness that says that He does not love me - otherwise He would give me what I want when I want it - instead He continues to remind me - internally and through my friends and things that are happening around me, that He loves me and has given me all I need and even if I have nothing I have Him, and His love and His forgiveness and His acceptance and His provision and these - these are the only things I need.

This week i have been trying to find the peace that comes from knowing that in God I have everything I need - not in the things he has given me, not in relationships, these are all good things I should enjoy and cherish and love but they are not not the source of contentment - only God is the source of contentment and I need to find peace in having Him - in Knowing Him - in being His child.

Life under construction...

Leviticus 4-6 : The Return

Hi there, I think a few people come this way so hi, been a very very busy 16 days since my last post - I have still been reading just not with time to post - so I thought I might get back into it tonight - chose some interesting come back chapters.

Leviticus is all about the law given to God's people as they were about to enter the promised land - so it is a law for the people of God living in God's place. Doing the things Godly people should do. It is very very detailed - and very very repetitive - and seems like you couldn't go an hour of an day with doing something that would make you unclean or sinful.

ahhh

That is the point - unHoly people living in the presence of a Holy God has a problem - sin - and unless that sin is dealt with then we are in big trouble - so way detailed? cos God cases about everything - big and small he notices, he cares, and he expects us to care too. Repetitive - cos we are sinful over and over and over again - cos these law are not about dealing with sin once and for all but about doing enough to make up for what we have done to live day to day in God's presence - but without solving the problem completely.

What a stark reminder that there is nothing we can do to please God - if there was then we could do it once and that would be that.

And in all these things, the sin was never dealt with - or the offerings would stop.
In all these things blood [death] was required - and when dealing with our sin something had to be identified with us [laying hands] and then killed to deal with that sin and let us be holy for a moment - until we needed to present the next sin offering.

Day after day, sacrifices, offerings, week after week, month after month - year after year - sacrifices, offerings - a never ending cycle of being clean/unclean, able to approach God/unable to approach God.

And it's all stopped

Have we out grown offerings to deal with sin? no way.

Jesus came - the man who was God - who died to take away the sin of the world - perfect so he had no sin to die for for himself - and being God able to take on the sins of all the world and accept the punishment we deserved. But just as the sin offering required the jews to lay hands on it and identify in it - believe in what God said.

We have to believe jesus when he says that he is "the way, the truth and the life" and that "no one comes to the father except by" him,

we have to say that he died for our sins - that he was punished for our rejection of God - and that the punishment he took was for us.

And because he died for sins, once and for all - there are no longer sacrifices - cos the one and only sacrifice for sins for us to God was jesus.

And he rose again - and he is alive today and only by believing in his punishment death and resurrection can anyone be right with God.

The other thing this books reminds me of, is that God takes our sin very very seriously and that is something we need to do to - not to go, well it's okay for a little sin, cos to God it does not matter - little sins make us unclean and in need for a sacrifice - so do big sins - we need to be serious about looking at ourselves, and not assuming that just cos everything is going the way we want it to that there is nothing in our lives to turn away from.

this only serves to confirm my suspicion that I'm still a man in need of a saviour,
I wanna be in the light, as you are in the light

dcTalk - In The Light

Luke 7-8 : Raising the dead

Pre-Prayer - father, thanks for tops day - you are always with me - just right now help me to be aware of your presence, to listen to your spirit as He speaks to me of you as I read your word - help me to read it and do what it says. AMEN.

Little snippets of Jesus - who he is revealed but the things he does and says - raising the dead, forgiving sins, confounding the religious, lifting up the down trodden.

And John The Baptist asks the big question - are you the christ or is there another?

Jesus says - you wonder - look about at what is happening - am I the christ?

In the midst of all this - a statement - if you have been forgiven much then you forgive much.

I must admit I am pretty tired - I think I will read it again and pray and go to sleep.

thaat's all for tonight - catch you tomorrow.

Jeremiah 47-52 : God promises and He delivers

Opening Prayer : I don't deserve to be heard by you, but I thank you that you are gracious and loving and forgiving and so you are always waiting to hear from me, even though I ignore you all day, when I call you drop what you are doing and listen - oh gracious God, bless me now as I read your word. Help me to read it, hear your voice and live more like you each day - AMEN.

"The sound of a cry comes from Babylon,
the sound of great destruction
from the land of the Babylonians.
The LORD will destroy Babylon;
he will silence her noisy din.
Waves of enemies will rage like great waters;
the roar of their voices will resound.
A destroyer will come against Babylon;
her warriors will be captured,
and their bows will be broken.
For the LORD is a God of retribution;
he will repay in full.
I will make her officials and wise men drunk,
her governors, officers and warriors as well;
they will sleep forever and not awake,"
declares the King, whose name is the LORD Almighty.
- Jer 51:54-57 [NIV]

having outlined curses and judgement against many peoples and fortelling using the Babylonians to do the punishing - God now turns to the babylonians and outlines what he will do with them - and al because people would trust God and follow him.

hmm - that's a bit scary really - Jer 52 is where the story begins to reveal what happened - all the things promised basically - cos that is one thing about God - when he promises something, he delivers, every time.

I have been reading Jesus Freaks - the stories of different martyrs of Christ - I feel humbled - they faced so much and I, I face a bit of rejection from friends, but questioning interest from non-christians- and how feeble is my efforts at standing up for God. Most of the people I know live lives of unseeing compromise [me too] cos we have everything, cos our lives are easy, what do we need to change or gain? I'll tell you what a true living out of our, I need to gain a true living out of my faith - what does it matter what other people are doing - I have a personal relationship with the God of the universe - I have forgiveness and hope and grace - I have the Holy Spirit within and He can empower me, make be bold, give me words to say.

Things really are easy - at the moment the big worry of my life is that I may have lost the friendship and trust of one of the young guys from church - oh and feeling like I am not happy with being single - that is it - everything else is fine - and those things can get me down down down - what a goober I am. How unfocused on God, how looking at me and myself and not really caring about others.

Dunno how to change it - apart from the obvious - looking to God, and remembering all I have - and doing that during the day - I don't talk to God much during the day, which is probably why I can have a day where I start :D and end :( - cos I am looking to see the proof that I am losing a friend, rather than looking to see how I can give away the truth about Jesus and his salvation, rather than looking to God and knowing that in him I have a God, a Father, a Saviour, a Friend someone who loves me unconditionally and will never ever let me down cos I have access to Him through His son dying for me.

Fine words - help me live them.

Prayer:
A: power, control, history, strength, never thrawted, controls all from the biggest company to the smallest cell.
C: hate, lust, anger, selfishness, looking inward not upward, foul language in my mind, taking not giving, fear not faith
T: so many materially goood things, friends, family, church, a place to fit in, love, God's love, jesus death, Spirit to speak to me, for getting time off for the move, for PL taking time off he needs a break, for snakey's questions,
S: peace, not fear but love, looking to God, joy cos I remember I am saved, hear the Spirit and do what He says, no hatred, love and give even when I don't get anything back, love like jesus, not take things personally, for snakey as he seeks the truth, james and mel, jo and houghdy, mate and kate, steve and sarah, micah and lily, summer and glen, kylie, b2, rob, carly, james, PL, work, safety for the workers on our site, trusting God, what do I do about being single? peace in Him.

Proverbs 1 : the way to wisdom

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline ...
they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me ...
but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.
Proverbs 1:7,28,33 [NIV]

The one true God - He promises so much and never ever fails to deliver - even though I am so faithless. And even the then he so often does not deal with me as harshly as I deserve - no, one thing I can testify to is that God is gracious, generous, faithful.

And this fear of the Lord - an understanding that God is God, has control, has power of all, can speak and call matter into being from nothing, can speak and summon time into existence, can speak and change the course of human history, a God who deals with sin, a God who is holy and before whom nothing that is unholy can exist - this is a God to be feared, to understand that He is God and I am not is the beginning of wisdom.

Not a popular idea that God can not be messed with - and that He is God and will be God and will exercise His Godhood when and where he chooses - and it would be a harsh and despairing thing - but for the fact that we also know how much He loves us - I know how much He loves me.

We know it cos He sent His only Son into the World - not to condemn the world, but to save it - and nothing can take me away from the love of God that is mine through Christ Jesus - a God who loves that much, a God who is that powerful and uncompromising, THAT, is my God, the one in whom I trust - what sort of God do you trust in?

And I though i would add a new thing - Prayer Points - without going into detail for everything i thought I would type out the things I want to pray about tonight and then use that as a guide when I do pray.

Prayer Points:
Adore - consider God's power
Confess
Thank - job, safety, shelter, work, reports, relaxing, looking after houghdling, friends, Nicole's baptism, emt [new people, gifts, willingness to serve], church [new associate, leadership]
Ask - houghdling, peace, friendship restoration, emt [chensee leading, new people, new song practice, starting on time, each person focusing on God], humility, baptism, focus on Jesus, opportunities to share, give a book, boldness to share, my friends marriages, church leadership, personal walk with God.

Psalm 63-65 :

On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.
My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.
- Psm 63:6-8

Three sweet psalms.

I enjoy psalms so much - I wish I could write such words of praise, of hope, of trust in God, to God.

Let the righteous rejoice in the LORD and take refuge in him;
let all the upright in heart praise him!

words which lift the heart and bring peace to the soul - words that comfort the weary, identify with the hurt, the confused - but in all of them [except one I think] they turn us back to God, back to He who made everything, who keeps it going, who is so intimately concerned with the well being of each and every one of His creation He sent His only son into the world to die for it. To rise again. To return to judge.

You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness, O God our Savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest sea.

When I turn my eyes from an awesome God, I only see what is not, I only see what can not be, I only see the negative, the dark. When I am looking to God :D I see love, I see what is, I see that anything could be, I see the positive, the light. When I look to God, I feel hope and life not despair and death. I sense a place and a time where fears are stilled and striving cease - where my soul will find a place where it will be able to stop and rest - and feel more than fine, feel more than just getting bye, where I will not have to cope - because finally I will be whole, I will be made to be what I was made to me - I will be one of God's people - and He, He will be my God - the way it was meant to be all those years ago - the garden, yet more, even better.

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land where there is no water.