Verse 3: "The Lord is slow to anger but great in power..."
I am reminded of 1 Corinthians 13:5 "(love) is not easily angered."
When I talk to couples that are getting married I often share this verse with them about being slow to anger. Notice what it doesn't say, it doesn't say that love does not get angry, it says that it is slow to anger.
God is the same way. God gets angry, but has a tremendous amount of patience. More than you and I, put together, and then some.
Anger can be healthy, when it is shared appropriately. Anger helps us get our feelings out so that our relationships can be healthier. Anger is not something that we should ignore, but flying off the handle isn't good either. (Remember to breathe)
God wants our relationships to be as healthy as possible. That's why were created, to be in relationship with each other. Adam was alone, and God didn't think that was a good thing.
Will God's anger ever reach the boiling point? Should we be worried that in anger God will hit the earth with a divine baseball bat and send us flying towards the closest black hole?
God didn't swing when we nailed Jesus to the cross.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Zechariah 14
I invite you to read this chapter.... Just google it real quick... I'll wait.
(Waiting)
Pretty crazy stuff. I went to some books to learn more about it and this is the quote I found: “Here, in this chapter, I give up. For I am not sure what the prophet is talking about.” – Martin Luther
There are a lot of possibilities, but I'm not going to speculate.
What I do know is this, it is our destiny to be holy. Someday we will be holy. It is the goal of our lives and one day it will be so.
We will be holy and it won't be because of our actions. It will be because of God.
Other than that, I give up too. Luther was smarter than me, if he gave up, I can too!
(Waiting)
Pretty crazy stuff. I went to some books to learn more about it and this is the quote I found: “Here, in this chapter, I give up. For I am not sure what the prophet is talking about.” – Martin Luther
There are a lot of possibilities, but I'm not going to speculate.
What I do know is this, it is our destiny to be holy. Someday we will be holy. It is the goal of our lives and one day it will be so.
We will be holy and it won't be because of our actions. It will be because of God.
Other than that, I give up too. Luther was smarter than me, if he gave up, I can too!
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Zechariah 13
Verse 1: “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity."
When I hear the word fountain I think of water. Water is powerful. It is relaxing, it cleanses, our bodies need it to live, and it has the power to take life. Water cuts through rock and provides a powder that we can ski on.
Water does a lot.
It's natural, for a Christian, to associate water with Baptism.
But I think we miss the point.
Baptismal water does not was sin away like this fountain that Zechariah describes. Instead the waters of Baptism are meant to drown out the sinful creature inside of us. Baptism is about death.
There is one liquid with the power to wash away sin. The same liquid that flows in this fountain.
The blood of Jesus.
Only his blood can wipe away our sins.
When I hear the word fountain I think of water. Water is powerful. It is relaxing, it cleanses, our bodies need it to live, and it has the power to take life. Water cuts through rock and provides a powder that we can ski on.
Water does a lot.
It's natural, for a Christian, to associate water with Baptism.
But I think we miss the point.
Baptismal water does not was sin away like this fountain that Zechariah describes. Instead the waters of Baptism are meant to drown out the sinful creature inside of us. Baptism is about death.
There is one liquid with the power to wash away sin. The same liquid that flows in this fountain.
The blood of Jesus.
Only his blood can wipe away our sins.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Zechariah 12
Verse 10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son."
As the Israelites look upon Jesus, at the end of days, they will mourn for the wounds they inflicted upon him.
We all will. Jesus died for the sins of the world, not just the sins of Israel.
Christianity begins with realizing what God has done has for us and why God had to do it. It begins with mourning because our sins are the cause of His death.
And how does God respond?
By pouring out grace upon us all. Better yet, by drenching us with grace.
Have you ever been caught in a rainstorm without an umbrella and every bit of you gets wet? The water goes right through your clothes and by the time you take them off you realize your entire body is soaked, every inch of skin.
That is the kind of grace God dumps on us.
And the good news is no towel will wipe it off.
As the Israelites look upon Jesus, at the end of days, they will mourn for the wounds they inflicted upon him.
We all will. Jesus died for the sins of the world, not just the sins of Israel.
Christianity begins with realizing what God has done has for us and why God had to do it. It begins with mourning because our sins are the cause of His death.
And how does God respond?
By pouring out grace upon us all. Better yet, by drenching us with grace.
Have you ever been caught in a rainstorm without an umbrella and every bit of you gets wet? The water goes right through your clothes and by the time you take them off you realize your entire body is soaked, every inch of skin.
That is the kind of grace God dumps on us.
And the good news is no towel will wipe it off.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Zechariah 11
This chapter is an incredibly dark prophecy. It makes me shutter just to read it... Because so much of it came true.
In verse 6 Zechariah writes "For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” declares the LORD. “I will give everyone into the hands of their neighbors and their king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands.”
In 70AD the Romans started in Antioch and moved south, destroying everything.
Verse 8 "In one month I got rid of the three shepherds."
Most scholars think that the three shepherds are the prophet, priest and king. The last prophet was John the Baptist, the Romans destroyed the temple so there was no priest and following the war with the Romans, Israel ceased to exist politically for 1900 years. Israel was not on the map anymore, there was no longer a king. All three were gone.
In verse 9 God said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.”
The Romans encircled Jerusalem before they destroyed it, leading to starvation and cannibalism.
Why?
Verses 12-13 "I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the LORD.
Judas betrayed Jesus for how much? Thirty pieces of silver.
I think we all prefer to read the bible with a highlighter in one hand and a sharpie in the other. We highlight our favorite verses and black out the ones we don't like.
Instead of blacking out some texts we need to learn to live with them. There is nothing I can write that makes this chapter sound any better, any more loving.
It is what it is... It's ugly.
What Jesus went through was ugly.
What the Jews went through was ugly.
In verse 6 Zechariah writes "For I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” declares the LORD. “I will give everyone into the hands of their neighbors and their king. They will devastate the land, and I will not rescue anyone from their hands.”
In 70AD the Romans started in Antioch and moved south, destroying everything.
Verse 8 "In one month I got rid of the three shepherds."
Most scholars think that the three shepherds are the prophet, priest and king. The last prophet was John the Baptist, the Romans destroyed the temple so there was no priest and following the war with the Romans, Israel ceased to exist politically for 1900 years. Israel was not on the map anymore, there was no longer a king. All three were gone.
In verse 9 God said, “I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.”
The Romans encircled Jerusalem before they destroyed it, leading to starvation and cannibalism.
Why?
Verses 12-13 "I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the LORD.
Judas betrayed Jesus for how much? Thirty pieces of silver.
I think we all prefer to read the bible with a highlighter in one hand and a sharpie in the other. We highlight our favorite verses and black out the ones we don't like.
Instead of blacking out some texts we need to learn to live with them. There is nothing I can write that makes this chapter sound any better, any more loving.
It is what it is... It's ugly.
What Jesus went through was ugly.
What the Jews went through was ugly.
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