God is good

I just got home from a retreat with the singles group from my church. Before we left, we met to talk about what we learned on the trip. And I have to say that I am reminded again that God is good. I'm certain there's a name for whatever my problem is but situations like this fill me with anxiety. For weeks before, I was excited by the thought and then the day dawned and I was filled with dread. This happens time and again in my life. I'm sure I have some disorder, but I'll just stick with "shy" because it sounds sorta cute.

The cause: I have an almost unchanging conviction that I am less...less interesting, less funny, less likable. And it takes me a while to work out of that shyness around any group. I've been a part of the singles group for a year. One year of listening and inching out time and again. But this weekend was a little bit of immersion...new people in unfamiliar surroundings. And then there were swimsuits involved.

I will say this about me...I don't back down. Usually. I soldier on, grimly determined that I can make it through no matter what, it'll be good for me, etc. And this weekend, I was reminded again and again that God is good. He called me to live in community with people like these...fun people, funny people, people who will encourage me and together we can accomplish great things.

Again I was reminded...God is good. And what He calls me to do, he will give me the power to do. And I did it. And I expect my relationships with this part of my Christian family to be different. It's difficult to be inauthentic with someone who's seen you in a bathing suit.

Bumper sticker theology

I saw this on a car parked outside my dentist's office on Monday and I've been thinking about this bumper sticker since then. I wish I'd had a chance to find out more about the person driving. This was just one of a collection of slogans stuck to the bumper but this is the one I remember. It reminds me of our conversation about the Galatians and of another Ghandhi quote about being the change that you want to see in the world. I guess I remember this because it's a little shocking and at the same time a great reminder that the world is watching us every day to see how we are different.

I thought the second sticker was both funny and sad at the same time. I think there are people all over the world who believe that looking busy is all that really matters...doing the right things, checking off the list of to-do items...that's what really matters. But Jesus sees the heart and it really doesn't matter. I think my bumper sticker would say "Jesus is Coming. BE BUSY."

Galatians-Week 3-How many sons does Father Abraham have?

To finish up Chapter 3, Paul writes:
26You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

16. So we're all "heirs according to the promise." What's the promise?

Thanks to Jesus, we're all heirs, God's chosen people through Abraham. John 1: 12 says: Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

We believers have been clothed with Christ. Whatever is in Christ belongs to you and to me if we believe: the love of the Father, access to the Father, the full resources of the Father.

And even more importantly...there is no distinction in our new family. Superficial and temporary differences have no place in our body.

How does the law lead us to Christ?
External conformity to the law is easy. What about internal conformity?

One last comment on the law...here's what Jesus said about it (the Message version):
Matthew 5:17-20

"Don't suppose for a minute that I have come to demolish the Scriptures— either God's Law or the Prophets. I'm not here to demolish but to complete. I am going to put it all together, pull it all together in a vast panorama. God's Law is more real and lasting than the stars in the sky and the ground at your feet. Long after stars burn out and earth wears out, God's Law will be alive and working.

"Trivialize even the smallest item in God's Law and you will only have trivialized yourself. But take it seriously, show the way for others, and you will find honor in the kingdom. Unless you do far better than the Pharisees in the matters of right living, you won't know the first thing about entering the kingdom.

Christian the Lion

I'm sure you've seen this because I'm always the last to know, but I needed a hankie to watch it. And then I researched to see if the story is true. And it is, and that just breaks my heart. For some reason, if this was a story about people who found each other again, I'd just think, "Oh, that's nice." But add an animal to it and I could just sob. And then there's the cheesy and yet heartfelt music and sentiment. I just cry. To find out more, you can search "Christian the Lion" and go to the Wiki page or the Snopes.com page to find out more. And then I launched into "Deep Thoughts" about pets like Christian the Lion and Darcy the Dog. I still don't know what I think.

Beth Moore's study listed this verse in her discussion of song. In the video,she mentions C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein, asking the question "What if they were on to something?" It looks like, at the very least,all of creation will worship Christ at His return.

Revelation 5:13 (New International Version)
13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!"

From the Message:
I looked again. I heard a company of Angels around the Throne, the Animals, and the Elders—ten thousand times ten thousand their number, thousand after thousand after thousand in full song:

The slain Lamb is worthy!
Take the power, the wealth, the wisdom, the strength!
Take the honor, the glory, the blessing!
Then I heard every creature in Heaven and earth, in underworld and sea, join in, all voices in all places, singing:

To the One on the Throne! To the Lamb!
The blessing, the honor, the glory, the strength,
For age after age after age.
The Four Animals called out, "Oh, Yes!" The Elders fell to their knees and worshiped

WARNING! Added a music player!

So I added a music player. Turn down your volume if you're at work. Not that you'd read blogs at work. Right? To make it stop, hit the pause button in the corner.

Or complain to the blogger (me) and I'll change the setting. It's too much for me today.

Galatians-Week 3-Then, what's law got to do with it?

Here's a confession: I break the law sometimes, usually on the way to work. And on the way home. I drive faster than the posted speed limits, even though I understand in my head that driving laws are in place for my safety and others. I also rip tags off of pillows and walk my dog in the park that says "No dogs allowed." I'm a rebel.
What about you? Have any similar challenges under the law?

16. If the law can't save us, why did God give it to Moses in the first place?
That answer is pretty easy. Paul outlines it in the next verses:

15Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. 16The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ. 17What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. 18For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.
19What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. 20A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one.

21Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. 22But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

23Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. 24So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. 25Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.

In a nutshell: the law makes us aware of our sin and need for salvation, our utter inability to do it ourselves.

Abraham's covenant is better than Moses' law and Abraham was saved 430 years before God gave Moses the commandments (and isn't it just another sign of Paul's superiority that he has that fact at his fingertips?). In God's covenant with Abraham, God said "I Will" but the commandments said "Thou Shalt"...dooming them to failure! The responsibility for the covenant was on God who does not fail. Only 1 part was required to do anything for success and that party was God. Unlike the commandments which was more of a 2 party agreement...that totally depended on you and me for success. And here's the truth about that: man can't succeed and God can't fail.

So then why did the tablets come down?
They lead us to Christ. They show us our sinfulness, our inability to please God through our own works, our need for mercy and grace. Grace means nothing unless you know you gotta have it. Thanks to the "Thou shalts" we know we must have grace.

Are people inherently good? Are there any laws that you routinely break? Can anyone keep the perfect law of God?

Galatians-Week 3-Let's all sing it...

For some reason, this song is coming to mind as I work on the Bible study. Now you can sing it with me!

The next part of Chapter 3 says this:
6Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
7Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. 8The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." 9So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Why do you think Abraham comes up here? Don't you think part of the Judaizer's argument revolved around the covenant God made with Abraham? Here's what it says in Genesis 15:2-6:
2Abram said, "O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?"

And Abram said, "Since You have given no offspring to me, one (A)born in my house is my heir." Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir." And He took him outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them " And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Paul's point: salvation is personal. It doesn't come through rituals or observances. The circumcision that marks people under God's covenant with Abraham had nothing to do with salvation. Abraham's belief had everything to do with his salvation, or his being made "righteous" just as it does ours. And it was credited to him...before he was circumcised.

The next part of the letter: verses 10-14

10All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." 11Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith." 12The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them." 13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." 14He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

15...Isn't "good" good enough?
Paul clearly answers that here. Only perfection is good enough. There are no exceptions. The law is a curse that no one can live with and Jesus took that curse for us when he hung on a tree. Without him, the perfect sacrifice, there is no good enough. And even more clearly, he is the fulfillment of that covenant.