BibleScribbler

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No Disappointment from the Father

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Why do you ask me? Ask those who have heard me what I said to them; they know what I said.”

(John 18:21 ESV)

Jesus is saying this at almost the exact same moment that someone is actually asking those who heard Him out in the courtyard. Peter is saying “I don’t know the man.” and Jesus knows it. That does not deter Him from COUNTING on Peter and John and the others to carry on after He leaves.

In some passion movie I saw, the rooster crowed and Peter wept when Jesus made eye contact with Peter and gave him some disappointed, bummed look. But that’s not in the Bible! There are numerous times when Jesus entrusts something really important to others and they don’t get it and often do the opposite of what He was hoping for – And I can’t find any spot where He expresses disgust or disappointment with them!

He weeps over Jerusalem because they don’t get it.

He is angry at the Pharisees because of their hardness of heart.

I just can’t hear Jesus saying “tsck tsck tsck, you really let me down.”

When Peter sank in the water, when the Thunder Brothers wanted to call down fire, when Peter cursed himself over Jesus, when nobody believed the crazy Marys, when Thomas wanted to stick his fingers in Jesus’ scar-holes,  Jesus showed us the Father and was gracious, patient, and caring with us.

Praying in Jesus' Name

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John 16:25-31

v. 25 “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father.

v. 29 Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech.

30 Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”

31 “You believe at last!” Jesus answered.

I wonder what they would have done if after they said, “now you are speaking clearly,” Jesus would have said, “you think this is clear? You ain’t seen nothin yet!”

Just as Jesus didn’t need people to ask Him questions to draw out the truth that was in Him, the Holy Spirit is going to be in these guys to guide and help them and teach them before they ask the questions. In Jewish culture, the way to learn and gain understanding was to ask question after question, leading you down a path of discovering and realizing the answers as you asked questions. Jesus doesn’t have to do that because He can see what is in people’s hearts to address their questions and needs before they ask.

How much more-so shall our joy be complete when we ask the Father and pray to the Father?! He knows what we need before we ask; He knows the words we speak before we speak them. THAT is how our joy becomes complete. When we ask God and see that He answers we have His perfect joy.

That word “complete” as in “that your joy may be complete” is the same word pleroo which is used for a stuffed net, filled up cup, full, stuffed, packed. I have some friends that I’m not sure would credit God with any event. Amazing displays of luck or chance are treated as random as mishaps or tragedy. I have noticed that as I ask for things from God, boldly and in detail, He shows off to me and my family by fitting into the box we put Him in. My joy gets stuffed when I see that God does answer our prayers and show off in our lives.

My call from Fire & Rain for an interview came after we prayed at lunch one day “Please God, make F&R call while we’re eating lunch today and call me in for an interview.” After lunch I sat down on the couch, kinda bummed and wondering where the money was going to come from. That instant the phone rang and the guy said, “I’m sorry to do this to you, but can you be here in 10 minutes for an interview?”

One 2-hour interview later he gave me the job.

If you look at Isaiah’s quote of God in Isaiah 29:13-14

[13] And the Lord said:

“Because this people draw near with their mouth

and honor me with their lips,

while their hearts are far from me,

and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,

[14] therefore, behold, I will again

do wonderful things with this people,

with wonder upon wonder;

and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,

and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.”

(Isaiah 29:13-14 ESV)

It looks like the main thing God wants is for people’s hearts to be close to Him. THAT is what it means to pray in Jesus’ name, to have your heart close to God.

for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. John 16:27

God LOVES it when we LOVE what HE LOVES! HE loves it so much that He responds and rewards and treats and almost teases us to ask for and LOVE MORE! When we love Jesus, we love God, and we follow His lead in reversing the wrongs done in Eden. Jesus’ life was the defining and deciding event in reversing the effects of the fall in Eden, and when we show love to God we show that reversal’s momentum in our lives.


Walking the Path around a Convent in Ferdinand, Indiana

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Outside view of the Convent

Sunday I took my two oldest sons to Family Day at the Monastery Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand, Indiana. My Aunt, who is in her 60s, has been part of the community there since she was 18.

It’s pretty cool walking around such a place. I’ve taken my sons to St. Meinrad and we’ve snuck around, but yesterday we had a tour from a lady that has lived in and even had cleaning duty on almost every part of the place except the catwalk on the roof (she said she wants to get up there sometime before she gets too old to climb the stairs or balance up there!)

There were two things that stuck out the most to my kids, and they really are the coolest things of our day there. The Monastery was built in 1915 (we found the cornerstone) and you can see pictures of that here. As we walked up to the church, we noticed a large circular window on the side, and 4 tiny square statues around it. After a closer look, I noticed that they are the four creatures mentioned in Rev. 4.

Around that circular window, you’ll see the heads of the four creatures from Revelation 4

Four creatures, one with a head like an eagle, one with a head like a man, one with a head like a bull, and one with a head like a lion. For some reason my boys think that part is super cool and draw those creatures sometimes, so that was pretty exciting. My oldest said seeing those was his favorite part of the day!

When we got inside the church after lunch and some games, we noticed something even more cool. That window that the four creatures were around? It was a stained glass window showing Jesus seated on the throne. That made the whole thing even more complete. To the outside world, they were just weird creatures, but when you’re inside the church, you can see that they are eternal continual worshipers of the King.

One of my favorite parts happened inside the church. Just inside the door, is a big marble bowl full of holy water. People in the catholic tradition have water at each entrance to the church, and when you go in the door, you dip your fingertips into the water, and then make the sign of the cross. This is a way to reflect and remember your baptism.

Note me all excited & pointing things out, and Davo chowing on a roll he stole as we passed through the kitchen.

I explained that to my boys. They were confused because the baptistry they are used to seeing is at Crossroads. It’s an indoor pool that could hold about 5 people! We’ve even seen a guy float in it with an air mattress and a cigar! But I digress. So I start talking to my mom and what does Sister Jane do? She gets her hands wet and flicks Isaac right in the face! You gotta love that. Water fight in the sanctuary! I’m just glad Isaac didn’t retaliate with a hearty YMCA splash.

We walked all around, checked out the serious pipes on the organ and the whole upstairs. We stood within inches of the ropes connected to the bells and resisted the urge to pull and bring the whole city up the hill. We walked up and down some of the turrets outside, down a hill where we heard about the real tunnel that is on the hill, and then ended up at the Labyrinth.

The details on the Labyrinth can be found here. When I read this, I thought, “this is weird. What kind of over-emphasis on spirituality and diversion from the Gospel have they gotten into!” [my fellow Bible Attack League members do refer to me as Zealboy] Then I realized that walking while praying has been a HUGE part of my life! The #1 thing that I do when I have a lot to pray about is go for a walk! So my prayer labyrinth is a rectangle around my park, or a big labyrinth through the hood–and the prayer labyrinth of the sisters is mowed in the grass of their hillside.

My boys kept calling it a maze and Aunt Jane corrected us.

“A maze is full of choices about which way you should go. A labyrinth just has one path.”

How about that! So the only decision you have to make is: will you step into the labyrinth?!

Is he praying in the middle? No, he's playing with an inch worm.
We had a great time running or walking around the path, and we did alter the rules a little bit. We didn’t pray, we played. And the soothing wind chimes in the center served as our victory bell that we rang when we got to the middle. (It took about 8 minutes at a brisk walk to get there.)

The coolest part was on the drive home, and my oldest son told me why the labyrinth was his 2nd favorite part of the day.

Dad, that labyrinth was kind of like life. You can make all kinds of choices and cut across the lines and get to the middle, and you think there are all kinds of ways to get to the middle, but they are wrong. And there are all kinds of people going to the middle all kinds of ways, but they aren’t getting there right. There is only one way, and when you take that one right way, you get to the middle, and you know you did it right!

Pretty cool. If there is one thing I’ve learned from reading the Gospel of John, it’s that Jesus is indeed the Way. He’s gone ahead of us to make the way, and He also became the Way.

All you have to do is decide if you’ll step into the Path.

Victory!

Jesus is Preparing to Go – John 14

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““Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.””
(John 14:1-7 NIV)
Just as Jesus is having a hard time knowing that He is about to leave the disciples, they are having a hard time grasping and understanding that He’s about to leave them. Their worst fear would be compounded if not only did He leave them, but also if He didn’t come back for them and if He didn’t fulfill everything He said He would. Jesus is here reassuring them. Don’t be afraid that I’m leaving. There is a place for you in the kingdom, and I’ll come back and take you there, but you can’t come now.
William Barclay said that if you ask someone for directions they can either tell you to go down the street, turn left at the first corner, go two blocks, then turn right, blah blah blah, and you forget how to get there OR they can say, “Let’s go” and they can take you there themselves. As soon as they say “follow me” THEY BECOME THE WAY to where you are going.
Jesus spent His whole life giving directions, knowing full well that our eyes glazed over as soon as He said “love your neighbor as yourself.” Since He wants us to find our way there more than we do, He also said, “Let’s go.”
THE FATHER wants us to be in the Kingdom. He is not predisposed to keep us out, like so many people believe Him to be. He is Unalterably and UNbelievably Holy; no unholiness can be with Him, so He took away our unholiness on the cross. That was the preparation Jesus talked about in John 14:3. We have no place with God as long as we are bearing our sin. “I go and prepare a place for you.” is that place of forgiveness and redemption where we will live for eternity with God.
‚ñº v.3 “I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” Jesus is ALWAYS wanting us to be with Him! The only times He went to be ‘alone’ was to go be WITH the Father! And then even after His death, He still can’t stand to be alone, but comes back to take all of His with Him. It is the source and life and overflow of the Father to constantly share life with those He loves.
When you see the character of God as displayed by Jesus, how can any of these lifestyle choices that Jesus made reflect to a God that predestined people to destruction? 2 Peter 3:9 says that God wishes for no one to perish, but for all to come to repentance & eternal life. Jesus never treated anyone like they were preset to not listen or not be saved. Not just that, but He wanted to be WITH people as He spoke to them. Too often we only want to share life with people in our same social-economic-political-race demographic. THAT is not a picture of the 12. Let us be ready to continue to be WITH the people that we come in contact with, no matter their background. If they come into the Body of Christ, or are already in it, they are family-more than that, they are a part of our body!
The Father loves company. He loves company and Jesus really wants the disciples to trust Him and know that His leaving is all for them. It’s a lot like me leaving for work in the morning. My 2 year old cries when he sees me go, but I leave so that I can work and get paid and feed him Grippo’s. My 9 year old knows that, so he is only bummed that we can’t play, but he knows that I’ll be back in the evening and we’ll be able to chow down and play.

““Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.””

(John 14:1-7 NIV)

Just as Jesus is having a hard time knowing that He is about to leave the disciples, they are having a hard time grasping and understanding that He’s about to leave them. Their worst fear would be compounded if not only did He leave them, but also if He didn’t come back for them and if He didn’t fulfill everything He said He would. Jesus is here reassuring them. Don’t be afraid that I’m leaving. There is a place for you in the kingdom, and I’ll come back and take you there, but you can’t come now.

Grippos-BBQ

William Barclay said that if you ask someone for directions they can either tell you to go down the street, turn left at the first corner, go two blocks, then turn right, blah blah blah, and you forget how to get there OR they can say, “Let’s go” and they can take you there themselves. As soon as they say “follow me” THEY BECOME THE WAY to where you are going.

Jesus spent His whole life giving directions, knowing full well that our eyes glazed over as soon as He said “love your neighbor as yourself.” Since He wants us to find our way there more than we do, He also said, “Let’s go.”

THE FATHER wants us to be in the Kingdom. He is not predisposed to keep us out, like so many people believe Him to be. He is Unalterably and UNbelievably Holy; no unholiness can be with Him, so He took away our unholiness on the cross. That was the preparation Jesus talked about in John 14:3. We have no place with God as long as we are bearing our sin. “I go and prepare a place for you.” is that place of forgiveness and redemption where we will live for eternity with God.

v.3 “I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” Jesus is ALWAYS wanting us to be with Him! The only times He went to be ‘alone’ was to go be WITH the Father! And then even after His death, He still can’t stand to be alone, but comes back to take all of His with Him. It is the source and life and overflow of the Father to constantly share life with those He loves.

When you see the character of God as displayed by Jesus, how can any of these lifestyle choices that Jesus made reflect to a God that predestined people to destruction? 2 Peter 3:9 says that God wishes for no one to perish, but for all to come to repentance & eternal life. Jesus never treated anyone like they were preset to not listen or not be saved. Not just that, but He wanted to be WITH people as He spoke to them. Too often we only want to share life with people in our same social-economic-political-race demographic. THAT is not a picture of the 12. Let us be ready to continue to be WITH the people that we come in contact with, no matter their background. If they come into the Body of Christ, or are already in it, they are family-more than that, they are a part of our body!

The Father loves company. He loves company and Jesus really wants the disciples to trust Him and know that His leaving is all for them. It’s a lot like me leaving for work in the morning. My 2 year old cries when he sees me go, but I leave so that I can work and get paid and feed him Grippo’s. My 9 year old knows that, so he is only bummed that we can’t play, but he knows that I’ll be back in the evening and we’ll be able to chow down and play.

When Worship Becomes Profanity

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And no, I’m not talking about saying cuss words in church…

Our best effort is not what the Lord wants,

Exodus 20:25 If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it.

Deuteronomy 12:8 You are not to do as we do here today, everyone as he sees fit,

1 Samuel 15:22 “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice,and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

So when we read verses like this, why in the world do we try so hard to be good and do good things without striving to hear from God?

We’ve GOT to step out of the Christian Lifestyle formula and live with and in and beside and through GOD. What if, whatever activity you did to worship God, was profane as soon as you tried to make it look good or fit better? That’s what Exodus 20:25 is all about. As soon as your worship of God is something you can be proud of, it is no longer worship of God. Of course, if you are disgusted with it and don’t like it, it’s not about God either.

I remember one time there were a group of us that wanted to sing worship songs. Someone blurted out, “But we can’t, because Eric Youngblood isn’t here.” He was the guitar player. He was the worship leader whenever we were together, and without him, that person thought we couldn’t worship. Thankfully, everyone scoffed at that and we sung and sung and sung for a good long time before he showed up.

Let us cast off our quality-control perfect worship mentality. Let us not strive to attract people with the quality of our show. Let’s live faithful to Christ and let Him do the rest.

John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”