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Monday, February 28, 2011

In the Mind of God

Solomon wrote that “[God] has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.” – Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT



It’s been a difficult thing for us to find out what is in the mind of God…but we’re all curious. For centuries we have dug into the ground, looked into the stars, analyzed and criticized each other’s beliefs, gone to war for our convictions, and pursued the who, what, and why we are here, hoping to find out how it all began.


As we’ve been learning in our ten-week series, The BIG Picture, the scope of eternity is forever past; it includes the present, and moves into the forever future. That’s a lot for our finite minds to try and wrap around.


The good thing to remember is that God chose to pursue us. But, what does that look like? Would I recognize Him? Would I know who just crossed my path today? Would I understand what He wants for me? Sadly, most of us wouldn’t, actually don’t, recognize, or see, or know, or understand. But that doesn’t mean He isn’t on the job!


I have to face it; I get turned around or even lost while driving a lot. Just because I don’t know or see or recognize where I am doesn’t mean that I can’t get there from here; I just need my bearings, some understanding of where I am and then I can calculate the next move. I need a landmark, a familiar sight, or an explanation of the map.


Enter the Word of God. The Bible. What if we were to look at it not as a road map or a behavioral guidebook, but as a diary? What if God has been trying all along to unfold to us who He is and what He is like more than having been trying to tell us what He wants from us? Abraham, the father of faith, didn’t have a Bible to go by – he had a relationship with God where God saw his faith and counted his heart righteous for it.


Peter said, “God chose Him as your ransom long before the world began, but He has now revealed Him to you in these last days.” - 1 Peter 1:20 NLT


You see, God has been thinking and planning and working on this stuff for a long time. I don’t believe He would claim to create us in His image, love us so much that He would send His only Son to die a death payment for our sins, and offer abundant and eternal life to all who accept Him and not let us in on who He is and what He is thinking!


As the bible begins with the creation story, it has been debated and scrutinized and argued over for centuries about how creation was done. I don’t think that God had it written like it is for the purpose of debating things we can never know (like Solomon said) but that it is written like it is to show us who He is and what He is thinking.


The story goes that God said this and it was so and it was good. Until He said, “Let Us make man in our own image…” It was there where God reveals a bit of Himself to us. Things around us like nature and all created things, the beauty of sunrises and sunsets, are all from God speaking them into existence. But we, on the other hand, are something different. God’s spoken word at this point was not to speak into existence, but to declare what He was about to do. He rolls up His sleeves, gets His hands in the dirt, and is personally involved in creating us. We are not just a thought spoken into existence from God; we are His handiwork, formed from the dust of the ground like a potter would create a clay pot. We have His fingerprints in our DNA.


I believe He is trying to show us how all along it has been in His mind to be personally involved with His people. Do you recognize Him?

Monday, February 21, 2011

A Bit Snowed In

My wife will tell you that she enjoys being snowed in once in a while. It takes the pressure off the busy schedule and everyone gets a bit of a break for the day. You can shut the alarm clock off, drink an extra cup of coffee, take a nap, and have lunch with family. Oh, it’s more work shoveling, plowing, rearranging appointments, making up homework, but for the most part it’s an interruption we can work with now and again here in the North Country; it’s actually sort of expected once in a while.

Me, I get a bit claustrophobic when it happens. I enjoy the snow, the break in the schedule, the time at home, and the extra cup of coffee for sure. But, as I look down my driveway at the snowdrifts that even my four-wheel-drive will not go through, my sense of independence is being shut down. I admit, I think it is a bit of pride too. My thoughts go to, “I can’t control this,” or, “I can’t leave the yard, how can I get anything done?” That’s where I give up my joy. I lose the child-like sense of awe and exploration. I forfeit the chance to enter in and gain from the experience choosing instead to worry and fret, when I know that all the worry in the world will not move the drifts from my driveway or open up the day’s schedule.


I like where David asks God to, “Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law.” (Ps.119:18) He goes on to say that he feels like a foreigner in hostile territory; that only God’s guidance will be sufficient for him to live. He is referring to the written Word of God, the Torah, looking for wisdom and instruction; I like to think he’s feeling like I do – a bit snowed in and helpless. But let’s take this same attitude into all that God is doing around us every day. “Open my eyes that I might behold Wonderful things in what You are doing right in front of me.”


We may be feeling a bit snowed in, trapped, our sense of independence being taken away, our world may seem a bit hostile, we may feel we don’t fit in anymore, we aren’t sure what is going on. I’m reminded of the apostle writing these words: “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household.” (Eph. 2:19) Thank God, there is more to this life than the mire of our everyday efforts!


This is because of what Jesus has done for us. His Kingdom is the real world. His plan for mankind is what will ultimately be accomplished. His name is what will stand the lengths of time. His purpose for each of us is His desire. The apostle John, referring to Jesus, said that the Light had come into the world and it cannot be overtaken by its darkness.


We may see controversy, we may have differing views on everything from religion to politics, but the Word of the Lord will last forever and God’s purpose will be accomplished in it all – whether I worry about it or not! So, “Lord, open our eyes that we may see Wonderful things!”


Monday, February 14, 2011

A Clear Connection

“They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity – all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.” – Acts 2:46-47



Wow, what a great turnout for our time of sharing, connection, worshipping, and celebrating Branches’ 1st anniversary! THANK YOU to everyone who organized it and to all who participated in it.


It was fun to see how so many brought something to give away. There were dozens and dozens of things. Everything from babysitting to yard work, baked goods and spending time together! These are the things that make us who we are. As we begin to use our gifts and talents and share them with each other it reminds me of how the early church began living out their faith.


Acts 2 records a clear connection between our personal faith and membership in the kingdom of God. The writer, Luke, tells how this personal faith is lived out in things like sharing meals, devotion to the teaching of God’s Word, small groups meeting house to house for prayer and communion and meals in general as well as methodically taking care of the needs of the needy. It resulted in the Lord continuing to add to their number daily those who were being saved as they did these things.


Meaning…


They weren’t just hanging out and doing these things with other Christians. In their prayer meetings, at their meals, as they talked and taught about God’s Word, there were people with them who didn’t believe it yet. As the people of God lived out their faith day to day like this Luke makes a clear connection that this is what advances God’s Kingdom! This is what we have begun at Branches Church and it is a good thing!