chaos

For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it a chaos, he formed it to be inhabited!): I am the LORD, and there is no other. I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, “Seek me in chaos.” I the LORD speak the truth, I declare what is right. Assemble yourselves and come together, draw near, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge—those who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save. Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the LORD? There is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is no one besides me. Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn, from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness a word that shall not return: “To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.” Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; all who were incensed against him shall come to him and be ashamed. In the LORD all the offspring of Israel shall triumph and glory. (Isaiah 45:18-25, NRSV)

Have you ever stopped and thought about creation?

How everything was created?

Sometimes it seems like chaos. The world around us is so chaotic that it seems like it was created to be chaos. But is that creation or the way we see it and experience it?

You see, the world was created “good”! For when God saw everything He said it was good.

So it is not chaos or chaotic, but we experience like that because we are living in our flesh and in a sinful nature, which makes us see the world as chaos, yet in God’s eye and the hand that created everything it is good and perfect. If we turn to Him, and live in His peace and see the world through His eyes, the chaos will fade and our true life will be seen.

So live in His live, trusting in His peace, knowing His creation was and is good!

apostleship

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, (Romans 1:1-6, NRSV)

Paul was called to be a disciple. Just like Andrew, Nathaniel, James and John, and all the rest of the 12 apostles.

You also were called by god to be a disciple, a learner of the teachings of Jesus and a doer of His will, and an apostle. You are one that is sent by God into the world to show the world what He has done for all of us.

Because of who Jesus was, a descendant of David, and because of who He is, the Son of God who died on the cross and rose from the dead for us. We are all called and sent to show His love and to call people to listen to Him and to allow Him to change them and bring them into an obedience of faith!

So listen to the call and heed it, and go into the world, knowing He goes with you!

change…

and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” All who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem among those who invoked this name? And has he not come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?” Saul became increasingly more powerful and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Messiah. After some time had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night so that they might kill him; but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket. When he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him, brought him to the apostles, and described for them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus. So he went in and out among them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. He spoke and argued with the Hellenists; but they were attempting to kill him. When the believers learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. Meanwhile the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was built up. Living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers. (Acts 9:20-31, NRSV)

Can a person really change?

That is what the Jews were asking and the disciples… Saul is just trying to tellus he has changed. He is tricking us by claiming Jesus is the Messiah…

But when God changes a person, that person is changed. And there is the kicker, it is God who does the change, not the person.

But when God encountered Saul, he was so different, that He had to change his name. God changed Saul to Paul, and set him on a course to set the world on fire with the love of Christ.

What will God do through you if you will let Him change you?

can you imagine…

Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” (Matthew 27:50-54, NRSV)

Can you imagine being the one who stood by His cross, pierced His side, and watched Him die?

Can you imagine having no faith in Him, but then understanding everything to be true, and beleiving?

Actually that is what happened to all of us.

Even if we were raised in a home that taught us the faith, we still at some point heard the words spoken, and the promises that were given and we believed, and made a confession, “Truly this man is the Son of God!”

And we were the ones who pierced His side, and hung Him on the cross, yet He still made those promises for us!

So imagine Him loveing you, because He does, and now go and confess Him to the world.

if

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” (john 11:17-27, NRSV)

If you had been here…

I know he will rise again…

Yes Lord I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God…

All of the statements at the end are cancelled by the statement, “If you had been here…”

If we really believe in the resurrection, and if we truly believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, then there is no if you had been here. There is the here and now, and the fact that He is always with us, even when we do not feel Him, or see Him, or know He is there.

Jesus waited 4 days, because in 3 days Lazarus could have waken up, and for the sake of the disciples He wanted them to see the true power, and sometimes we need that as well, but knowing the stories we do, we shoudl wipe if away, and always go with since…

Since I know Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, I will trust and follow and know that He will always provide and care for me!

follow me…

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” (John 1:43-49, NRSV)

Can anything good come out of Nazareth?

Truly you are the Son of God!

When we encounter Jesus, the Son of God we will know it.

And when we are calm and follow Him our lives will be filled with wonders we won’t be able to imagine.

So know that He knows you and still loves you and asks for you to follow Him.

on this rock

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah. (Matthew 16:13-20, NRSV)

Here is where the Keys to the Kingdom are given to Peter. And upon Peter the church is built…

Or did Jesus mean something different…

Not to downplay Peter and his role in the early church, but was he the center or did Jesus mean something different by “upon this rock I will build my church.”

You see Caearea Philippi was the home of a temple or worship space for Baal, and a worship center for Pan the Greek god and for Ceasar…

It was a pagan worship haven. It was the center of the world and as far from God as one could get where Jesus was.

So maybe Jesus was saying, “Peter right here upon this rock where the pagan god’s seem to control the world, we are going to build the church. Upon your confession of who I am and helping people see who they realy should be worshiping…”

So on this rock, on the place where you think God is farthest from, that is the place He wants you to place Him and to allow Him to be the center of all!

Worship Him and Him alone and allow His life to be yours!

Praise!

On the holy mount stands the city he founded; the LORD loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God. Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon; Philistia too, and Tyre, with Ethiopia— “This one was born there,” they say. And of Zion it shall be said, “This one and that one were born in it”; for the Most High himself will establish it. The LORD records, as he registers the peoples, “This one was born there.” Singers and dancers alike say, “All my springs are in you.” (Psalm 87, NRSV)

All sing my praises in you!

The Lord will sing the praises of His creation and out of that creation will come those who are His. And when they are seen everyone will sing their praises!

So sing to God praises for His creation! For you!

And allow Him to work through you!

take away their sins

So that you may not claim to be wiser than you are, brothers and sisters, I want you to understand this mystery: a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved; as it is written, “Out of Zion will come the Deliverer; he will banish ungodliness from Jacob.” “And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins.” (Romans 11:25-27, NRSV)

Israel is God’s chosen people…

But God also loves the Gentiles…

Out of Zion will come the deliverer who will banish the ungodliness from the world and will take away the sins of the people!

God will cleanse us Gentile and Jew. He will make us His people and we will be with Him forever!

This is the will of God, and it is perfect!

God’s plan will happen in His time, and we do not know when, but we can rest in the assurance that He will take our sins away!

our way or God’s way

Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders. So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, they reported the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the believers. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. But some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, “It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses.” The apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter. After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “My brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the Gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers. And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us. Now therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” The whole assembly kept silence, and listened to Barnabas and Paul as they told of all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles. After they finished speaking, James replied, “My brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first looked favorably on the Gentiles, to take from among them a people for his name. This agrees with the words of the prophets, as it is written, ‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the dwelling of David, which has fallen; from its ruins I will rebuild it, and I will set it up, so that all other peoples may seek the Lord—even all the Gentiles over whom my name has been called. Thus says the Lord, who has been making these things known from long ago.’ Therefore I have reached the decision that we should not trouble those Gentiles who are turning to God, but we should write to them to abstain only from things polluted by idols and from fornication and from whatever has been strangled and from blood. For in every city, for generations past, Moses has had those who proclaim him, for he has been read aloud every sabbath in the synagogues.” (Acts 15:1-21, NRSV)

Notice here that some of the followers of the way were putting what they had been taught into the mix of what had to happen for new comers to be a part.

The Gentiles were different and didn’t faollow the Jewish customs, so the Jews that became followers of the way thought that the Gentiles needed to do the Jewish stuff too to be followers of Jesus.

But God showed them that His way is not the ways they had followed or knew or hoped that everyone else would do.

So don’t put God in a box and allow His way to be your way!