Questions and Answers

Reading Mark 11:27-33 (NIV)

"They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him.  "By what authority are you doing these things?" they asked. "And who gave you authority to do this?"

Jesus replied, "I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things.  John's baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin? Tell me!"

They discussed it among themselves and said, "If we say, 'From heaven,' he will ask, 'Then why didn't you believe him?'  But if we say, 'Of human origin' …" (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.)

So they answered Jesus, "We don't know."

Jesus said, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things."

This is the same Jesus who once said, "Ask, seek, knock" (Matt 7:7), yet here is flat our refusing to answer a question placed before him.

Why is that?

It's because the heart behind the question is everything.  Often there are unspoken issues behind our questions, issues we may not even be aware of.  It is easy to see with these men they were not looking to know Jesus, but to confront him. 

Yet we can often be like them, we too can ask questions with wrong motives.

And questions like that often go unanswered by the Lord.  

James tells us, " When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."  James 4:3 (NIV)

Are there unanswered questions you have been asking the Lord?  Perhaps take a moment and ask him to help you see the real reason behind the questions.

As Michael Card once said in a song, "Could it be that questions tell us more than answers ever do?"

Heavenly Father

This past weekend I got to spend some time with my 23-year old son.  He lives about 200 miles away, so we don't get that much time together.  Normally we just text or talk on the phone every once in a while.

But we got some real quality time together this weekend, I got to hear his voice and laughter, share stories, to just enjoy being with him.  It was refreshing to me, and he told me he enjoyed the time as well.  

Phone technology is great, but there is no substitute for face time.  After he left I could not help but think of my love for my son and how much I enjoyed just being around him. 

Now thinking about the weekend, I can't help but wonder if I truly grasp how much our heavenly father just wants to spend time with us.  To have us tell him about our day, not just bring our requests before him.  To maybe even share a laugh with him.

I'm challenged by this thought; what does it truly mean to be a child of our father in Heaven?

"For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.  The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children." Romans 8:14-16 (NIV)

Victory

Last night I had a Taekwondo belt test.  Since I've only been practicing for about four months, most of the students testing with me were young.

Very very young. 

In fact my son, who is visiting for the weekend, joked that he was worried one of the parents would ask him, "and which one is yours?" by which he would have to reply, "that one" and point to the old man towering over the other students!

During the test we have to break a wooden board.  Not an easy task to do. 

There was this one young girl who was having trouble doing it.  She tried over and over again.  Even with the other students and parents cheering her on, she could not break the board in her own strength. 

Finally, Master Kim came and stood beside her;  he said, "ready?" then together they punched effortlessly through the board while the whole class cheered her victory!

This morning that image made me think of the verse, "I can do all this through him who gives me strength." Phil 4:13 (NIV)

Just like that young girl, we cannot accomplish what we need to do in our own strength,  Even though we try, over and over. 

But when the Lord is standing by our side, we have access to a power that allows us to live a life of victory!

"But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Cor 15:57 (NIV)

My Father's House

My son is coming to visit us this weekend.

So last night I got the guest room ready for him.  I was making sure everything was just right for his visit.  He lives about 3 hours away and is having car issues, so now I will drive 3 hours to go get him and then bring him back to stay with my wife and I.

Getting the room ready, and traveling 3 hours to pick him up (and 3  hours back) are a pleasure to me, because he is my son, and I love him.  I'm excited to see him, even bought him an early Christmas gift!

While I was doing this, I could not help but think about the Lord.  What Jesus is doing now, at this very moment.

"My Father's house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." John 14:3-4 (NIV)

Jesus is preparing a place for all of us, far more beautiful than anything we can imagine.  He knows we are not able to get to that place on our own, so he will come one day and bring us there.

And the Christmas gift he gives us, is nothing less than himself.

Simple - but hard

Yesterday I shared the answer Jesus gave when asked, "What is the Greatest commandment?" (Matthew 22:37)

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. 

But Jesus didn't stop there.  He then continued and quoted Leviticus 19:18, 

"And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." vv39-40

I love how simple Jesus makes this for us. "It's simple," as Preacher Mike says, "but it's hard!"

To love people when they don't deserve it, to love people when they have done us harm, to love people when they misunderstand us...  sounds like the life of Jesus doesn't it?  When he tells us to love others, he is not saying it flippantly, after all, he knows how to love people even when they nail him to a cross.

Love God, and love people.  They are two sides of the same coin.  Loving God leads to loving people, and we love people out of our love for God.

Think for a moment about the people in your life.  The ones you truly enjoy spending time with.  And then some that you could quite frankly, do without.

Can we make the choice to obey Jesus and love them all?

What is the greatest commandment?

Jesus was asked this question once.  He answered by quoting part of Deuteronomy; Chapter 6:4-5

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. "

But notice what comes after that verse, let's keep reading...

"These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."  Deut 6:6-9 (NIV)

Basically we are to be saturated with the Word of God.  There is a direct connection here between loving the Lord and knowing and obeying his word.  If you think of love as a feeling, this is hard to see.  It seems almost cold. 

But if you think of love as how it is described here, as an action, then it is pretty clear that the Word of God will help us know God, and therefor love him with everything that is in us.

Increasing our time spent in the Word of God, talking about it, thinking about it, praying it, singing it, can greatly increase our knowledge and love for the Lord.

The Holy Spirit at work

Sometimes the Holy Spirit will communicate a truth to us by having the same Bible verse brought to our attention from a number of different sources. 

A verse has been on my mind lately, then Preacher Mike used it in his sermon on Sunday, and today it again came up in a very unusual way. 

I have a habit of buying replica swords from time to time.  After a while, I got so many that I began giving them away.  So I started a tradition.  When I buy a new sword, I give away the old one.

I had given my last sword, a Gladiator sword, to a co-worker.  He had it for a week or so, and then he noticed that I had a Bible verse reference scraped into the blade.   What was the verse?  You guessed it, the very same verse.

So today he "happened" to send me an instant message, referencing the verse, saying it was a fitting one to have on a sword.  This is the Holy Spirit at work.

Here is the verse,

"I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me." Acts 26:18 (NIV)

This was Jesus' words to Paul, and I believe they are his words for us all today. 

The next step is to pray about how we can take up this charge. 

Love God, love others, do something about it.