Matthew 1 / Jeremiah 1

Matthew 1

Family Matters - Just some thoughts on Jesus’ genealogy listed in Matt 1. Kind of a drag reading through all those names, but it did get me thinking how important family and lineage is to human folk, especially in Jewish history. Just like Jesus belongs to this beautifully rich lineage, so do I. The family of God is complex and beautiful. Though we call the church a family, I think we have missed something. We structure our church relationships in more of a hierarchical format than we would find in most families. Maybe this is why one good fight can bring down a church. I’ve seen it so many times…it’s heartbreaking. In my family we bicker and fight sometimes, but we never walk out on each other. A good read along these lines is Culture of Honor by Danny Silk.

Women Rock - Another observation…several women are listed in Jesus’s lineage. It seems significant that the women were not marginalized or excluded all together. I think it demonstrates how much God values women in His family.

Honoring the Gift - Joseph not only accepted Jesus into his family, he made sure he would not defile the Gift God had given (v24-25). How many times have I received a gift from God – a calling, a revelation, a mission, etc – only to defile it with my own ideas or feeble attempts to ‘own’ the gift? Ouch, something to think about…not sure how to avoid doing that. Asking Father to help me honor the gifts He has given me.

Jeremiah 1

 Who Am I? - What a beautiful dialogue between God and Jeremiah. I know God has known me ‘from my mothers womb’ but what would He tell me about who I am? In a moment, Jeremiah was appointed as a prophet of God (v5). I wonder what God sees when He looks at me. I suspect to find out I need only listen. Perhaps a bit less Facebook, TV and even church and a bit more time with Him, just to let Him speak. I love that God’s appointment for Jeremiah was too big for him. It didn’t matter, God gave the words and direction he needed. It’s a beautiful idea: walking so closely with God that I don’t need to have all the answers, but just trust in Him daily to give me what I need to be the man He sees when He looks at me.

Reboot

Just a word of explanation for my vast and diverse audience(all three of you). I’ve decided to hijack my blog for awhile and use it as a journal of sorts. I’ll be doing a daily devotion where I read one chapter in the Gospels, followed by a chapter in the OT Prophets and I need a place to emote, pontificate or otherwise express what I learn each day. So I’ll warn you it may seem dry and self serving. I considered making the blog private for awhile, but who knows, maybe something I write will be helpful to someone. But really, this is totally for my own benefit, so I’m just offering an apology and an invitation to read or not read, comment or not comment.

Why the Gospels and the Prophets? Well it’s like this: The Gospels are all about what Jesus had to say. The Prophets are all about what God had to say before Jesus throat-punched sin and religion. The rest of the Good Book is fluff if you ask me. And since I live in an area with the spiritual vitality of a pharisee convention, this is pretty much a last resort.

Being Dainty in the Lord

You might say I’ve had blogger’s block lately, but nothing like a head scratcher from scripture to get the juices flowing.

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.  (Psalm 37:4)

Seems straightforward, doesn’t it? That’s what I’ve always thought, but today I actually looked it up on Blue Letter Bible.  It turns out to delight yourself has a rather peculiar meaning:

1) to be soft, be delicate, be dainty
 a) (Pual) to be delicate
 b) (Hithpael)
  1) to be of dainty habit, be pampered
  2) to be happy about, take exquisite delight
  3) to make merry over, make sport of

That’s right, friends: we need to be dainty in the Lord. I’m not quite sure what to do with that. When I read it, the first image that popped in my head was Lucille Ball vacuuming her floor in one of those super cool dresses she wore on “I Love Lucy.” Maybe that’s just because she, along with my fourth grade teacher, was my first crush about 30 years back…or maybe it’s because the image of the 50′s era housewife fits the bill. What if we look to God like He is big and strong and awesome and we are, well, dainty? What would life be like if were head over heels gaga over God…just dingbats in love with Him? Maybe we’d have a face-plant with the desires of our hearts. I’m not sure, but it’s something to think about.

It’s Our Move

I have often cried out to God to “move” in my life. That can mean many things: intercede in a situation on my behalf, bring healing to my soul and body, or just to let me feel His presence. I have not been disappointed. He has saved my soul, restored my marriage, and allowed me to physically feel His presence, to name a few. The heart cry to “Move in my life God!” is a great prayer, but this morning I started thinking differently about God moving when I read this:

Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people. (Exodus 13:22)

This passage is from the story of the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, led by Moses. The pillar was the manifest presence of God. All they had to do was follow it and their journey was on track. Had they decided to go a different direction, they would have surely been lost and I would likely not have the pleasure of writing about the powerful move of God on the behalf of those He loved. This verse tells us that the pillar never “left its place.” It was always there, right where it belonged.

It occurred to me this morning that I sometimes feel God is not “there” for me, but I realized He is right where He belongs. If I can’t see Him, I should consider that it is me, not God, who has moved. When Moses encountered the burning bush, he had to move off his path and go see what was going on. When God saw that he had altered his path to see the burning bush, He spoke to Moses for the first time. This was the beginning of one of the greatest moves of God in history.

When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” (Exodus 3:4)

Are you feeling like God is absent in your life? Consider with me today that it may be us, not God, who needs to move. I am looking for Him today and when I see His pillar, His burning bush, His presence, I will abandon my present path and make my move. I hope you will too.

The gospel according to Gollum

I’m a HUGE fan of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. I’ve watched them so many times that my kids have been known to beg me not to watch them again. Their cries of desperation fall on deaf ears, I’m sorry to say. But what’s not to like? There has never been a collection of movies with so many quotable lines. Take, for example, one of my favorite Gollumisms: “Once it takes hold of us it never lets go.” He was, of course, lamenting the power held over him by the Great Ring.  I love this scene, because we get to see that not only is Gollum a wretched villain, but he is also a tormented victim. It is times like this in the story when you feel sorry for Gollum and wish there were a way to save him.

I recently was reading Psalm 107, which made me think of Gollum, because it reads like the dialogue from Lord of the Rings. Take verse 10, for example: “Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom, prisoners suffering in iron chains.” I can imagine Gollum saying something like that. I can also imagine if Jesus had a part in this epic tale and was to meet Gollum, we would later hear him quoting verses 14 and 15: “He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains. Let them give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for men.”

There was no Savior to rescue Gollum from his deepest gloom, but here in the real world, Jesus specializes in doing just that. There is no debating this world is full of gloom. Many of us are in chains, whether they be actual chains, emotional, societal, financial – you name it. Whatever darkness it is that has you, you are not without hope. In Luke 4:18, Jesus said He came to bring freedom to prisoners and the oppressed. Why not call out to Him today? Call out to Him from your place of deepest gloom and let Him break away your chains.

Being right without being right

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

That has been a favorite of mine ever since I first memorized it in school over 20 years ago. It has always stuck with me and comes to mind often, usually when I’m not feeling that close to God. Reciting that verse as a prayer always seems to help me reconnect with Him. Interesting though, that the King James Version is the only one that uses the word “right.” The other versions all use the word “steadfast,” which has a much different connotation. After twenty-plus years of trying to be “right” with God, I finally looked the word up.  It turns out it has nothing to do with being right, in the sense of being acceptable or getting the right answer. In Hebrew, the word actually means to be firm, stable, or established.

I’ve been on a journey in recent months to escape that old religious mindset that I must keep attaining God’s love and mercy over and over. I have been learning that even when my behavior or imagination does not honor Him, it does not separate me from Him. This new discovery in an old favorite verse is yet another step in that journey. I may not be right in terms of my behavior, but I am right with God, because I am established in Him.

Perhaps what David was saying when he wrote “renew a right spirit within me” was “help me remember that in You I always have stability, even when I’m not feeling right.”

Desperately wicked, but unafraid

I’ll warn you now: it’s 3:00 am and I’m really tired, so it’s possible much of what I’m about to say is fueled by sleep deprivation.

Read Jeremiah 17. It’s a rollercoaster ride. As I was facing down an inner demon this morning I came across verse nine: “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” The KJV describes our heart as desperately wicked. That’s me: desperately wicked. Too harsh? I don’t think so - not when measured against the beauty and goodness of God.

While facing my own wickedness(I’ll keep you guessing) just 2 hours ago, I realized something. I’m not afraid. There, I said it. God is infinitely good and I am not, but I do not fear Him. Such a statement would draw gasps, a few rebukes and maybe even an expulsion in some circles, but there it is. My wickedness is laid bare, but so is His love for me. My mind is numb even as I write this, but I have never felt more secure and more qualified as an agent of His love and power than I do right now.

Why have I never felt this way before? I think I know why. I think I was cursed. Take a look at verse five: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength.” In a flash this morning, Father showed me that the hatred I held for myself, the limitations I imposed upon myself, did not come from Him, but from man. More specifically, from religious men. And as my Father, God, said in verse six, I could not see when good came and exiled myself to the wilderness. But no more! I had a God moment this morning and I’m placing my trust in Him. Is wickedness my companion? Yes, but when that vile creature, religion, tells me to fear or warns me of fire and drought, I will dig deeper into the river of God and will produce greater fruit, rather than shrinking back from the great potential that lives in me. (verse 8)

This is a game changer for me. I see this experience with my God, my Father and Friend changing the way I speak, the people I pursue, the risks I take and even the way I vote in 2012. I am not afraid.

Do you think I’m off my rocker? Maybe so, but before you add me to your prayer chain, take a minute to look at how you react when faced with that wickedness that haunts you from time to time. Do you exile yourself from His presence? If so, consider the words of one of my favorite fellas: “You must unlearn what you have learned.” As for me, I am placing my trust in God and will draw closer to His river when wickedness rears its head. I hope you will too.

I just figured out what I want on my tombstone. No names or dates, just a single word: “Loved”