VOTD
(John 15:13)(Jeremiah 17:10)
John – "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. (Jhn 15:13 NKJV)” This is convicting. We speak of love all the time. We are supposed to love one another, but we forget that we are supposed to love as Christ loved the church (Eph 5:2,25). As Valentine’s Day has just past, and we have “celebrated” “love”, let us remember what love truly is. So often today we view love as mushy feelings and physical intimacy, but there is a very real Biblical definition of love: are you willing to die for your friend?
All of that Hallmark stuff is cute but what does it mean? I’m not saying this in some “I’m better than Valentine’s Day” type of way (even if I am…). But know what love is. Know true love is laying down your life for the ones you love. If you are not willing to do this, don’t sully the good name of love.
What is the “good name of love”? Well, 1 John 4:8 gives us a pretty good answer: “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. (1Jo 4:8 NKJV)” I think that in this instance it would also be acceptable to reverse this and say that he who does not know God, does not know love. So, how do we get to know love better? We seek the nature of Yahweh. The face of Yahweh (Ps 27:8). The better we understand our heavenly father, the better we understand love. And, because of this, the better we will be able to show love to others. I bet you it there’s still room for flowers (Matt 6:28) and dinner (Matt 14:13-21) and the other mushy stuff, but there probably isn’t too much about The Walking Dead (Phillipians 4:8).
Jeremiah – “"I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds." (Jer 17:10 ESV)”. Sometimes when you see verses like this you wonder when you will be given what you deserve. But, with a proper understanding of sin, if we were truly given what we deserve then we would be crying and gnashing our teeth, and stuff (Luke 13:28). The truth is probably that if we were trying to look at situations with our eyes to the Kingdom of Heaven then we would probably see a completely different picture than we see in the natural world. There’s a supernatural world – a spiritual realm – and I can’t help but wonder what situations like the ones we’re discussing look like when viewed in the supernatural realm. Is there something else attached? Does it look even remotely as beautiful? Or is there something altogether ugly about it? I’m reminded of what happens in the Lord of the Rings movie when Frodo puts on the One Ring. Is that what the spirit realm looks like when there’s evil around? Food for thought…
1 Year Bible Plan
(Psalms 21-22, Matthew 28, Mark 1, Exodus 15-18)
Psalm 21 – Sometimes when I read in the Psalms about asking for God’s wrath it strikes me as odd. Like when David is asking God to destroy his enemies – I guess it seems to me that we should seek good for our enemies (Matthew 5:44) – but I get feeling that this one is not like that. This one seems more prophetic, speaking about the fire that Yahweh will bring with Him when He judges the earth at the end of all things. I still have some work to do in the face-seeking department, but maybe this one is a piece of it.
Psalm 22 – Jesus thought enough of this Psalm that He decided to quote it as one of the last thing He said, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Expect the rest to have similar ties.
Matthew 28 – When Jesus says that “all authority on heaven and on earth has been given to me” we’re left to put the pieces together as to what this means. There are puzzle pieces throughout the entirety of the New Testament. It’s our treasure and pleasure to go find them.
Mark 1 – Food for thought: Jesus, in verse 15, to believe in the gospel. He hadn’t yet died, and He wasn’t making that part of His ministry known, or even that He was the Son of God (v.25), so what is the gospel He was talking about?
Exodus 15-16 – In Exodus 15:2 we have a fun little thing going on. In the song that the Hebrews are singing to Yahweh they say, “Yah is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation.” Well, the word for salvation here is… Yeshua/Jesus. So back here in Exodus we see a potential foreshadowing of God coming to humanity and becoming one of us. In verse 6 we see that Yahweh’s right hand is glorious in power, and that His right hand destroyed the Egyptian army at the Red Sea. But we also know that Jesus is the right hand of God (Luke 22:69). In verse 10 we also see a reference to the Holy Spirit. Yahweh blew his breath across the waters. The word used (ruach) is also used for spirit. And the Spirit of God is his Ruach.
Exodus 17-18 – We (I) sometimes question God and His judgements. I ask what I have done to deserve to be judged. Why should we be held responsible for the sins of someone thousands of years ago? Why were we brought into the world just to be judged to death? How is this different than the Israelites crying out for water and asking why they have been brought out into the wilderness to die of thirst. So God has Moses bring water from a rock. But we already have our water (John 4:14). In answer to my crying out to Yah, He has already given me the water that I might not die in the wilderness. All I have to do is drink it in.
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