With my old hosting provider threatening to kick me off unless I pay up for another year or two, I’m in the midst of a change. I’ve been paying for hosting for several years now, but I think I’m done with it. The web has changed quite a bit in the past six or so years that I’ve had a site and I’m pretty sure I really don’t need the pay for hosting, run your own blogging software model anymore. Welcome to Tumblr everyone.
Our Trip To The Doctor: I went to the doctor with Mommy and Daddy got me this glove. Yea!
Not sure I could move away from my old model of blogging, but Tumblr makes everything so easy. It’s kind of nice.
wow. i’m really sick today. i’ve been bouncing between ridiculous fever and freezing chills. it’s not very fun and of course it happens on day two of my effort to bring scripture notes to my site. pray for me to get better soon because i’m really out of it and i feel horribly.
in the meantime, todays passage is from ephesians 6:19-20:
Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.
this is a perfect verse for mission austin. as we go and meet homeless men and women (and anyone else for that matter) we need to pray for each other to declare the gospel fearlessly. in addition, it shouldn’t really be our words that come out. look at verse 19. …that words may be given to me…we never know what a person’s need is or what their experience has been. we need to trust the holy spirit to give us words so that we can be the effective truth-tellers that he wants us to be.
sorry i don’t feel like writing more. maybe i’ll be able to pick up tomorrow.
pray for me…
‘Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. ‘Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.’ (John 17:24-26 NIV)
this is a continuation of the prayer that Jesus prayed just before going to the garden and being captured. he’s praying specifically for all the believers that would follow the disciples, right up to the present time. i think the coolest part of this passage is in the last verse: I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.’
Jesus knows what he’s about to do. he’s about to go to an agonizing death on the cross. why? so that you and i can know the love of God. more than that, so that we can have the same love that God had for Jesus within us. and more than that, so that Jesus himself might be in us. honestly, i really don’t know how that last part works. i believe that it does, but i really don’t know how. the love of God thing, though, that i can understand somewhat. i think that’s what we’re all really searching for anyway. we try to fill that void a million different ways, but the thing we really want is to have the love of God in us. for believers, we should be experiencing that, right? but sometimes it seems that we either don’t feel it or don’t trust it for some reason. i don’t know why that is. i guess it’s the old sin nature just not wanting to die, or it’s the enemy trying to rob us of the full life that God intends. regardless, we should be on the lookout for anything that blocks us from experiencing the love God wants to implant in our souls. it’s the one thing that will truly satisfy the longings of our souls.
‘My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:20-23 NIV)
Wow…this is really powerful. It’s the continuation of Jesus’ prayer from yesterday and now in addition to his disciples, he adds all the believers since and those in the future into the mix. my first impressions: what an honor to know that Jesus really was thinking of me as he was about to go to the cross. in addition, how great is it that his life and his words weren’t just for those back in 30ad, but for all of us up to now and into the future? this really speaks to the timelessness of the gospel.
and then there’s the detail of what he was praying for – in short – unity. in his final hours before unjustly enduring the most tragic torturous form of execution ever devised by man, jesus found it important to pray that the believers of the future would be made perfectly or completely one. does that mean there should be no denominations or differences of opinion? i don’t think so. i think it’s about being unified about the core issues of the faith: the trinity, the Godship of Christ, his sacrificial death, our being saved by faith, etc. and not letting petty issues divide us. why? so that the people of the world can see that God sent Jesus to do what he did and that God loves them. when the church argues and fights over petty issues and dogmas, the people of the world disregard the church as irrelevant and pointless, and they’re right to do so. the church has to find a way to celebrate our common ground and respect our different worship styles, our different teaching styles, and our different doctrines. I realize that there are some completely false teachings out there that go against the core of the faith and we should stand against those teachings, but for everyone else we have to learn to get along. why? so that the people of the world will see the church for what it should be, a group of people who love God, each other, and the people of the world. that’s part of our mission.
I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:14-17 NIV)
in this passage, Jesus is praying specifically for his disciples just before going to be captured. note that he specifically asks God not to take them out of the world, but rather to protect them from the evil one. he makes it clear that the disciples really aren’t of the world, and that in fact the world has hated them, yet he doesn’t want to pull them out of the world.
for Christ-followers, it seems that much of the time we expect God to pull us out of difficult situations or remove us from the world somehow. we hole up in our churches, Christian bookstores, and even Christian themeparks. we boycott anything that goes against our moral code and yet we’re supposed to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. how are we supposed to enlighten the masses if we don’t ever see them and they don’t see us? i understand that we need to avoid things that will pull us down or tempt us beyond our ability to withstand. however, we can’t remove ourselves from the world. it’s just not God’s plan. his plan was for us to stay in the world to spread the good news. so that’s what we must do. don’t pray that God will remove you from the part of the world where he’s placed you, pray that God will sanctify you by the truth of his word and protect you from the evil one.
hey…i’m back. i was really out of it for a while there. i had an extremely painful infection in my mouth that ran all the way down my throat which kept me from eating any solid food for 10 days. during that time the only thing i could get down was a sugar water mixture. overall, it was a nasty experience, but i’m bouncing back – still not 100% but i do feel like working again, which is nice. thanks for your prayers while i was out. i know they helped considerably.
ephesians 6:14-18.
this is one of those passages that just makes perfect sense:
the belt of truth – making God’s truth the center of your being.
the breastplate of righteousness – the absolute protection of doing the right thing.
feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace – walking in peace with God and with the people around you.
the shield of faith – God’s impregnable aegis against the enemy’s attacks.
the helmet of salvation – God’s grace protecting our thoughts and minds at present and our souls for all eternity.
the sword of the spirit-God’s word cutting throught the ambiguities of a relativistic culture.
be alert and pray – constant radio contact with the One who can protect, heal, love, and save for all eternity.
this all makes so much sense, but it isn’t always easily put into practice. how many days do i walk out the door without putting on any armor? how alert am i really? do i pray in the spirit on all occasions? not really. what would happen if i did…if we did? i know some of the struggles of this life wouldn’t have the effects they do now. maybe perspectives on all sorts of things would change. maybe we would be able to focus a little more on the things that matter in this world, namely the things that aren’t of this world. maybe we wouldn’t be so easily wounded. maybe we would defeat the enemy when we see him at work. maybe…
