Faith yet?

Later that day, when evening came, Jesus said to them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake.” They left the crowd and took him in the boat just as he was. Other boats followed along. Gale-force winds arose, and waves crashed against the boat so that the boat was swamped. But Jesus was in the rear of the boat, sleeping on a pillow. They woke him up and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re drowning?” He got up and gave orders to the wind, and he said to the lake, “Silence! Be still!” The wind settled down and there was a great calm. Jesus asked them, “Why are you frightened? Don’t you have faith yet?” Overcome with awe, they said to each other, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!” (Mark 4:35-41, CEB)

Don’t you have faith yet?

You have been with me all this time and yet you are worried that we will perish while I am sleeping…

Jesus was calm enough and at peace to sleep during the storm on the water. I have been in a storm on the water, in a small boat, and I would not have been able to sleep. The simple fact that Jesus is sleeping should be enough for the disciples.

Do we really have faith?

Sometimes I question my own belief in God. But I error on the side of love and trust.

Trust God. God is faithful.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

Signs…

“There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars. On the earth, there will be dismay among nations in their confusion over the roaring of the sea and surging waves. The planets and other heavenly bodies will be shaken, causing people to faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world. Then they will see the Human One coming on a cloud with power and great splendor. Now when these things begin to happen, stand up straight and raise your heads, because your redemption is near.” (Luke 21:25-28, CEB)

Here is your sign…

I honestly think things like this were included to show us we wouldn’t know when Jesus was coming back. Because there are signs every day and depending on how one interprets the signs you can make the end time fit a lot of times in the past and present.

Actually, in a class I took during my second semester of seminary, we looked at the times and places in the Bible it talked about the end of time and figured out when the return of Jesus would be. And honestly, that is all I remember about that. Not the day or how many years, just that we did it as an exercise in futility.

I have told some people too that Jesus will return when all of us figure out the love thing. If we all loved each other, then Jesus would return, so unfortunately, Jesus will never be coming back. Seriously, if we do what Jesus came to teach, wouldn’t we be truly ushering in the kingdom of God.

Love. It is that simple.

Loving People. Loving God.

Paul in Acts…

After we tore ourselves away from them, we set sail on a straight course to Cos, reaching Rhodes the next day, and then Patara. We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, boarded, and put out to sea. We spotted Cyprus, but passed by it on our left. We sailed on to the province of Syria and landed in Tyre, where the ship was to unload its cargo. We found the disciples there and stayed with them for a week. Compelled by the Spirit, they kept telling Paul not to go to Jerusalem. When our time had come to an end, we departed. All of them, including women and children, accompanied us out of town where we knelt on the beach and prayed. We said good-bye to each other, then we boarded the ship and they returned to their homes. Continuing our voyage, we sailed from Tyre and arrived in Ptolemais. We greeted the brothers and sisters there and spent a day with them. The next day we left and came to Caesarea. We went to the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven, and stayed with him. He had four unmarried daughters who were involved in the work of prophecy. After staying there for several days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. He came to us, took Paul’s belt, tied his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In Jerusalem the Jews will bind the man who owns this belt, and they will hand him over to the Gentiles.’” When we heard this, we and the local believers urged Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. Paul replied, “Why are you doing this? Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I’m ready not only to be arrested but even to die in Jerusalem for the sake of the name of the Lord Jesus.” Since we couldn’t talk him out of it, the only thing we could say was, “The Lord’s will be done.” After this, we got ready and made our way up to Jerusalem. Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us and led us to Mnason’s home, where we were guests. He was from Cyprus and had been a disciple a long time. (Acts 21:1-16, CEB)

Here we get more of the author of Acts take on who Paul was. Paul did a lot of traveling in Acts and speaking and teaching. A lot of the stories we read on Acts about Paul are not in his own writings. They are different than what Paul wrote about. That doesn’t mean they didn’t happen, it means that the person who witnessed them saw them maybe differently than Paul did. Because most of the things in Acts are not reported by Paul or are not as detailed or important to Paul.

Paul though knew it was important to tell others about Jesus.

We need to let God’s love shine in our lives and tell the people we come in contact with that Jesus loves them.

Loving People. Loving God.

Long winded…

When the riot was over, Paul sent for the disciples, encouraged them, said good-bye, and left for the province of Macedonia. He traveled through that region with a message of encouragement. When he came to Greece, he stayed for three months. Because the Jews hatched a plot against Paul as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided instead to return through Macedonia. He was accompanied by Sopater, Pyrrhus’ son from Beroea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. They went on ahead and waited for us in Troas. We sailed from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread and met them five days later in Troas, where we stayed for a week. On the first day of the week, as we gathered together for a meal, Paul was holding a discussion with them. Since he was leaving the next day, he continued talking until midnight. There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we had gathered. A young man named Eutychus was sitting in the window. He was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell from the third floor and died. Paul went down, fell on him and embraced him, then said, “Don’t be alarmed. He’s alive!” Then Paul went back upstairs and ate. He talked for a long time—right up until daybreak—then he left. They took the young man away alive, and they were greatly comforted. We went on to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we intended to take Paul on board. Paul had arranged this, since he intended to make his way there by land. When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene. The next day we sailed from there and arrived opposite Chios. On the day after, we sailed to Samos, and on the following day we came to Miletus. Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he wouldn’t need to spend too much time in the province of Asia. He was hurrying to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by Pentecost Day. (Acts 20:1-16, CEB)

Ever heard the story of the longest sermon ever? You just read it. It was interrupted by a young man falling asleep and out of a third-story window and being revived. The man falling asleep and to his death didn’t stop Paul from preaching it was a mere bump in the time spent teaching and talking.

Paul seems to be a man on the move in the Book of Acts. He is teaching and talking every where he can to let people know about Jesus and the love of God.

Are we as talkative about the best gift we have ever received?

Loving People. Loving God.

Inner self

“A good tree doesn’t produce bad fruit, nor does a bad tree produce good fruit. Each tree is known by its own fruit. People don’t gather figs from thorny plants, nor do they pick grapes from prickly bushes. A good person produces good from the good treasury of the inner self, while an evil person produces evil from the evil treasury of the inner self. The inner self overflows with words that are spoken. (Luke 6:43-45, CEB)

You are who you are.

You can not hide behind acts that seem to be good when you are not good, and if you are good you will not do evil.

The words you speak and the things you do will show who you are.

Let love overflow from your life.

Loving People. Loving God.

Light

I didn’t see a temple in the city, because its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. The city doesn’t need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because God’s glory is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never be shut by day, and there will be no night there. They will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. Nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is vile and deceitful, but only those who are registered in the Lamb’s scroll of life. Then the angel showed me the river of life-giving water, shining like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb through the middle of the city’s main street. On each side of the river is the tree of life, which produces twelve crops of fruit, bearing its fruit each month. The tree’s leaves are for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. Night will be no more. They won’t need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will shine on them, and they will rule forever and always. (Revelation 21:22-22:5, CEB)

There will be no need for the sun or the moon, or any lights, for God will be the light for all of us and everything.

The temple also is not needed because God will be the temple.

We will worship God and be enveloped in God’s light.

All glory will be from God and for God.

We will always see and be seen.

We will always love and be loved.

Loving People. Loving God.

All means All!

Look at the large letters I’m making with my own handwriting! Whoever wants to look good by human standards will try to get you to be circumcised, but only so they won’t be harassed for the cross of Christ. Those who are circumcised don’t observe the Law themselves, but they want you to be circumcised, so they can boast about your physical body. But as for me, God forbid that I should boast about anything except for the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The world has been crucified to me through him, and I have been crucified to the world. Being circumcised or not being circumcised doesn’t mean anything. What matters is a new creation. May peace and mercy be on whoever follows this rule and on God’s Israel. From now on, no one should bother me because I bear the marks of Jesus on my body. Brothers and sisters, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. (Galatians 6:11-18, CEB)

Those who want to keep the status quo will try to get you to fit into the norm of society. They will want you to change to fit the way that makes people comfortable.

Paul tells the Galatians at the end of the Epistle that the whole argument of circumcision is not what God is worried about.

God accepts all as God made you. You do not need to conform to a human rule to belong. When God made you, God knew what God was doing and was creating a rich tapestry of humankind. Do not try to make people fit, but see the beauty everyone adds to the mix.

All means All.

Love like Jesus.

Loving People. Loving God.

How?

Then Jesus said, “This is what God’s kingdom is like. It’s as though someone scatters seed on the ground, then sleeps and wakes night and day. The seed sprouts and grows, but the farmer doesn’t know how. The earth produces crops all by itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full head of grain. Whenever the crop is ready, the farmer goes out to cut the grain because it’s harvesttime.” He continued, “What’s a good image for God’s kingdom? What parable can I use to explain it? Consider a mustard seed. When scattered on the ground, it’s the smallest of all the seeds on the earth; but when it’s planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all vegetable plants. It produces such large branches that the birds in the sky are able to nest in its shade.” With many such parables he continued to give them the word, as much as they were able to hear. He spoke to them only in parables, then explained everything to his disciples when he was alone with them. (Mark 4:26-34, CEB)

The farmer plants the seeds and then they grow. The farmer doesn’t know how.

The earth does its thing and makes the plant grow from the seed. The farmer can do more than what is said in the reading here which is sleep, but even then it might not have a good effect on the seed. I know many farmers who make sure they work the soil before planting and then weed and water and nourish the seeds but sometimes it helps and sometimes it doesn’t. Now there is a science to farming which I really know nothing about and a farmer could tell me more about, but the text while about seeds and growth is really about the kingdom of God.

We really do not know how the kingdom of God works, or how it comes about, but here the author of Mark tells us that it will come because that is what God wants. The seed will take hold and the kingdom will grow, and then the harvest and the kingdom will be fulfilled.

We do not have to get it or understand it. We just need to trust in the promise that it is coming.

We will all get shade in the kingdom.

Loving People. Loving God.

Secret

Jesus began to teach beside the lake again. Such a large crowd gathered that he climbed into a boat there on the lake. He sat in the boat while the whole crowd was nearby on the shore. He said many things to them in parables. While teaching them, he said, “Listen to this! A farmer went out to scatter seed. As he was scattering seed, some fell on the path; and the birds came and ate it. Other seed fell on rocky ground where the soil was shallow. They sprouted immediately because the soil wasn’t deep. When the sun came up, it scorched the plants; and they dried up because they had no roots. Other seed fell among thorny plants. The thorny plants grew and choked the seeds, and they produced nothing. Other seed fell into good soil and bore fruit. Upon growing and increasing, the seed produced in one case a yield of thirty to one, in another case a yield of sixty to one, and in another case a yield of one hundred to one.” He said, “Whoever has ears to listen should pay attention!” When they were alone, the people around Jesus, along with the Twelve, asked him about the parables. He said to them, “The secret of God’s kingdom has been given to you, but to those who are outside everything comes in parables. This is so that they can look and see but have no insight, and they can hear but not understand. Otherwise, they might turn their lives around and be forgiven. “Don’t you understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? The farmer scatters the word. This is the meaning of the seed that fell on the path: When the word is scattered and people hear it, right away Satan comes and steals the word that was planted in them. Here’s the meaning of the seed that fell on rocky ground: When people hear the word, they immediately receive it joyfully. Because they have no roots, they last for only a little while. When they experience distress or abuse because of the word, they immediately fall away. Others are like the seed scattered among the thorny plants. These are the ones who have heard the word; but the worries of this life, the false appeal of wealth, and the desire for more things break in and choke the word, and it bears no fruit. The seed scattered on good soil are those who hear the word and embrace it. They bear fruit, in one case a yield of thirty to one, in another case sixty to one, and in another case one hundred to one.” (Mark 4:1-20, CEB)

The secret is given to you. Do you understand?

Well, the disciples didn’t. They had to ask for this parable to be explained. Even after having been with Jesus and listening to him teach them, they still didn’t seem to get it. This really just puts most of us in good company, because honestly sometimes I struggle to understand what Jesus is saying.

I honestly wish Jesus just spoke plainly rather than in parables to make us all understand what he meant. We wouldn’t have the issues we do today with different interpretations, right? Probably not because we still have different translations.

The one thing that is clear, Jesus loved. Jesus loved everyone.

That is what we should do, err on the side of love and grace.

Loving People. Loving God.

By faith

By faith Abel offered a better sacrifice to God than Cain, which showed that he was righteous, since God gave approval to him for his gift. Though he died, he’s still speaking through faith. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he didn’t see death, and he wasn’t found because God took him up. He was given approval for having pleased God before he was taken up. It’s impossible to please God without faith because the one who draws near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards people who try to find him. By faith Noah responded with godly fear when he was warned about events he hadn’t seen yet. He built an ark to deliver his household. With his faith, he criticized the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes from faith. (Hebrews 11:4-7, CEB)

Chapter 11 of the book of Hebrews is the Faith Hall of Fame. It is a listing of the people in the Bible who lived their lives by faith. Following where God was leading them without knowing exactly what was going to happen, only that God was with them and God promised it to be ok.

Do you live your life by faith? Could we write about you in Hebrews chapter 11?

Live by faith, trusting God’s promises.

Loving People. Loving God.