aSacredRebel

precious

Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith as precious as ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature. (2 Peter 1:1-4, NRSV)

What is precious?

An interesting thought and this should always be done with a little hesitancy is a Google search for images on a word…

Precious is gold and silver. Gems are precious… shiny things worth lots of money…

Is that what is truly precious though?

The thing that is truly precious is the thing we value most highly.

What are the top five things you don’t want to lose?

Are any of them money?

My list is (not in any particular order) wife, daughters, family, God, faith…

I can be completely broke monetarily, but I am a rich rich man, because of the love of my family and how God has blessed me.

So keep what is precious close to you and allow the world to have the rest. Showing them the love God gave you!

Sanctuary…

Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in scripture: “See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner,” (1 Peter 2:4-7, NRSV)

let yourselves be built into a spiritual house…

I read that and thought of the song Sanctuary:

Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary
pure and holy, tried and true
with thanksgiving I’ll be a living
sanctuary for You

That seems to be the verse we all know, God will sanctify us and make us pure, holy, tried and true. He will prepare us, and make us who He needs us to be.

I feel this is seen in this verse which seems to be unknown:

Holy Spirit fill this vessel
make my heart to burn within
purify me, make my life be
a sanctuary for you.

If we will come and allow the living stone to make us into a spiritual house, and the Holy Spirit to fill us and purify us, then our lives can truly be sanctified for His use!

where is hope?

As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life. (1 Timothy 6:17-19, NRSV)

Let’s make this clear, the Bible never says it is a sin or wrong to be rich. You can have resources and lots of money according to the Bible. The Bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil, not money. And our verse here says that if you are rich, don’t be haughty. Do not think more of yourself or look down on others because you have money.

You need to live a life defined by generosity and be rich in giving, and doing good works!

Generously give what you have received, so that everyone will live a blessed life.

We can have resources, it is all in how we use them. You see God has blessed all of us to be a blessing to others, so live a life defined by generosity and place your hope in God who blessed you, and not in the money that will not go with you into all of eternity.

For when my life is right, then I’ll give…

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21, NRSV)

This is a verse it seems we do not understand…

It seems to me that we hear this verse as when my life gets right and I align my heart with Jesus, then I will just give. But that isn’t it at all.

Jesus says that this world will steal and destroy our treasure, so we need to put it someplace where this world can not destroy it. We need to put it someplace that will not allow the world to take it away.

We need to give our treasure, because if you want to know where a person’s heart lies, you need only look at their check book record. This will show you where their heart is…

You see Jesus didn’t tell us to get our lives right and then we will start to give, He knows us. He told us that we need to give, and that will make our hearts follow.

Jesus doesn’t expect us to be right before we come to Him, that is why He came. Only Jesus can change the human heart! And only by following Him before we think we’ve made is the way we will change.

loss

Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:7-11, NRSV)

rubbish…

refuse, garbage, worthless material, foolishness, or foolish discourse…

That is what I count all things compared to Christ and Him crucified!

I can have all the riches in the world and have houses and cars and people all around, but if I have not Christ in my life, that I acknowledge and follow, I have nothing. My life is filled with rubbish…

And this word here is translated many ways, refuse, dung, garbage, filth, dog dung… You get the point.

This word used here by Paul is the only use of the word in the New Testament. It is the word σκύβαλα. It is a street term, the language of the day.

Paul was using it to get the attention of the Philippians to make the point of how little value everything else in his life had compared to what Christ had done for him and continued to do for him.

So is everything else except Christ in your life shit, because that is what Paul said it was, and nothing can hold a candle to the love we get from Christ!

too small…

He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.” He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.” (Matthew 13:31-33, NRSV)

Have you ever been told you are too small to do something?

Well in Jesus’ day the mustard seed was the smallest of all seeds. Yet when planted the mustard plant would take over the location in which it was planted. It could grow to be 8 to 12 feet tall. It is also very prolific and not easy to get rid of.

Like the yeast in the second parable, just a little bit goes all through the whole batch.

So never think you are too small to have an impact for the kingdom.

Don’t ever think your gifts are insignificant.

God gave you the talents you have and made you the best for what He has in store for you!

No one can take your place, even if you are small, you are not too small. Because the mustard is small too but it will over take everything, just like the kingdom of God.

So follow and know you are bigger than anyone could ever see!

flourish

It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy. How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep! The dullard cannot know, the stupid cannot understand this: though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever, but you, O LORD, are on high forever. For your enemies, O LORD, for your enemies shall perish; all evildoers shall be scattered. But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; you have poured over me fresh oil. My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies; my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants. The righteous flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God. In old age they still produce fruit; they are always green and full of sap, showing that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. (Psalm 92, NRSV)

The palm tree will flourish…

What does that mean?

Well to flourish is to grow well, to be healthy, to be very successful, to do very well according to m-w.com.

So then I thought about where palm tress are usually planted. In places where there are hurricanes. And when the storms come through, the trees bend and sway, but they stay where they are planted. That is because they have a very deep and wide root system that allows them to grow very tall and stand very straight, but also hold on and bend in the storms. They flourish because they are deeply rooted and will not be moved.

That is how we can flourish, to grow well, be healthy, do well and be successful, be rooted deeply in God and then we will sing His praises!

obvious

Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another. (Galatians 5:16-26, NRSV)

I was struck at my readin gof this passage with obvious…

Now the works of the flesh are obvious…

Really?

Can you look at someone and know they are a fornicator?

Can you look at some one and know they are impure?

Can you look at someone and tell if they are licentious?

Can you tell if someone has idols by looking at them?

Can you tell by looking at someone they are a witch? (you have to see if they weigh the same as a duck…)

Really only the last 2 listed drunkness and carousing can be seen by looking at someone, and the second one here could be a judgement call.

These might be obvious things that are works of the flesh, but they are not obvious to detect in people. And if all of us are honest we all possess some of these qualities (if not all) some of the time! We all live in the flesh and therefore the works of the flesh are a part of our life.

We need to look beyond these though and seek after the fruit of the spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love and the rest are attributes there of…

So love the world God created and put you in to be His witness to that love. Live in the Spirit and not the flesh!

pleasing

pleasing god For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9-14, NRSV)

Paul is telling the Colossians that he has prayed they will be filled with knowledge of God’s will with all wisdom and understanding so they may lead lives that are pleasing to the Lord!

How many of us lead lives pleasing to the Lord?

Paul would be the first to tell you he had fallen short.

I would be right there with him in that. There are so many times we look to others for approval and to see that we are doing what we need to in life.

Yet there is really only one person we should seek the approval of, and there is nothing we need to do to get His love!

He loves you as you are, and He is there to tell you how much of a treasure you are.

He endured the cross with patience, and prepared you for a life that will not always be easy, but will be soaked in His love. He is always with you, and approves of you, even when the world does not.

But whose approval is more important? Stop worrying what others say, and live for God!