Numbers 11:24 – 13:33
Notable Verse – Num 11:29
But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!”
The first thing I wanted to write about was, were there still prophets and I realized that is “above my pay grade” (A special thank you to the American president for making this a household excuse).
So I guess I will take the second half - put his Spirit on them.
I think every church leader has had the same thought, I wish the whole church would believe, would live godly lives, would give sacrificially, would…. And all of those things are works of the Spirit. The sad truth is, not everyone in that room is a believer. Some may be self-deceived, others may be there for the fellowship or make connections, but they know their hearts aren’t really in it.
I guess the ultimate question at the end is “Are you one of the believers or is someone wishing you were?”
Mark 14:22 – 52
Notable Verses 22-24
22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.” 23 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them.
During the Passover meal called a Seder, there is a part where a piece of bread called the afikomen is eaten. During the meal, the piece of flat breat is broken off and is wrapped up so it can not be seen. At this point in the meal, the bread is taken out. The bread represents the sacrificed lamb. At the same time this bread is eaten, a glass of wine is drunk. The glass of wine represents the lamb’s blood and is called the “Cup of Redemption.”
So what Jesus is doing here is not anything magical like changing bread in flesh or wine into blood, he is saying. I am the Lamb of God. In the past, my coming was promised, I existed but you couldn’t see me. Now I have come to earth and I am to be a sacrifice for all who eat and drink with me. The cup is my blood; it will be shed for you.
Ps 52:1 – 9
Notable Verse – v. 3a
You love evil rather than good…
There is something instinctual about loving evil rather than good.
Evil is easier to love and it is second nature, well actually as a Calvinist, I would say evil is first nature. Because evil is easy to love, it is easy to encourage in other people.
Evil is exciting. Picture 2 people getting up in church and sharing their testimonies. One begins, “I was born in a Christian home, my parents taught me about Jesus. I knew I became a Christian when I was 6.” The other gets up and says “and I had a different girlfriend on my arm every night. The drugs were free and the booze flowed like water.” Which testimony do you want to hear and why? Wild sex stories sell better than “How I Kept My Virginity” stories.
Evil brings faster results. Take a drug addict, alcoholic, someone with an eating disorder, depression – ok, just take any person on earth. The addict says, I can go through withdrawal that will make me sick, make me feel miserable, make me remember everything that has gone wrong in my life and require hard work and change or I can pop this little pill, take a little sip, eat a few candy bars, put this gun to my head and it will all go away.
The Christian life is not easy to love. Jesus promised we would be persecuted; the life would separate father and son, brother from brother. Tonight I am teaching a class on sharing your testimony, why don’t we need a class on gossip?
The Christian life seems boring from the outside. Have you ever been ashamed of being a Christian because you know your weekend story is not as good as your co-worker’s story? You know what I am talking about.
The Christian life is a slow process and is often painful. Anyone who has ever told you that Jesus would make your life better or easier lied. Part of being a Christian is learning to embrace pain and suffering. To reflect, repent, and repair is part of the Christians daily routine. This 3R process will continue until the day we die.
Proverbs 11:1 – 3
Notable Verse – v. 1
The LORD abhors dishonest scales, but accurate weights are his delight.
No one likes getting ripped off. What about when you are doing the ripping? As I read this verse, it struck me there are more scales than the kind you find in supermarkets and airports. There are the scales that are each one of us judging people and actions.
Scales tip in both directions. There are people and actions that I will find offensive but tolerate in myself or those people I like. I may find myself defending a person because they agree with me socially or politically. I may refuse to agree with a person because they don’t subscribe to my way of thinking in general.
Before I start judging others, I better check to see if the action was done by my best friend, what my reaction would be. If I did it myself, would I accept it?
In general, I think God is more concerned with my heart scale, than the one at the airport that always says I am one kilo overweight.
