Hear the word of God:
When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"
Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."
Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"
Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat."
Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
"Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."
Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
(John 6:25-40, NIV)
A group from among the 5,000+ Jesus had miraculously fed on the other side of the Sea of Galilee have followed the teacher after his mysterious disappearance. Jesus, however, insists that they followed him not because they saw the signs, but because they ate the bread. The people are completely unable to alter their focus to encompass anything beyond their physical needs. As people living a hand-to-mouth existence, their entire lives are organized around securing their next meal. Jesus has another idea, though. Jesus tells the crowd that physical and material realities wear out and fade away, but spiritual realities endure.
When Jesus tells the people that the work of God is to believe in him, God's emissary, the people react lukewarmly. They ask what sign they may see, in order that they may believe. In the past, when Moses acted as God's emissary, he provided Israel with bread from heaven. These people must be blind! Even though they ate the loaves, they did not see the sign in Jesus' multiplication of the bread. They so completely failed to see the sign that they ask for a different sign. They reference bread from heaven after Jesus has already provided them with bread from nothing. They want to see a sign, but refuse to see the sign that Jesus has already performed.
Jesus explains that he is the real manna. It was God who provided the manna in the desert, and it is God who now provides Christ as bread from heaven. Unfortunately, even though the people see Jesus, they do not believe. The people asking for a sign have already seen the sign, they simply refuse to accept it. Jesus is the sign! They ate the bread, but the bread wasn't the sign. What these people have tragically failed to understand is simply that Jesus is the sign - the sign which points to God's activity in the world and his provision for his people. God gives Jesus, the bread of life, in order that those who eat of him may be fulfilled and may participate in another life at the close of this age.
Jesus, the one whom we call Christ, says to the people of Galilee 2,000 years ago and to the people of Hollis today, "I am the bread of life, the bread that gives life to all. I am the sign, the sign you are all looking for." When it is difficult to see, look for the sign and believe.
Blessings,
Greg
Showing posts with label believe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label believe. Show all posts
Monday, July 13, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Great power for us ...
Hear the word of God:
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
Ephesians 1:18-21 (NLT)
Blessings,
Jason
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
Ephesians 1:18-21 (NLT)
Blessings,
Jason
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Because of what you told us ...
Hear the word of God:
“Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, "He told me everything I ever did!" When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days, long enough for many more to hear his message and believe. Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world."
John 4:39-42
This story is such an amazing story of faith-sharing and personal spiritual growth. We have looked at a woman who was living a sinful life. Which one of us does not have this as a part of our resume? We have the meeting of Jesus and the woman, where he totally convicts her of her wrong lifestyle. This is also something that many of us have gone through. We have the woman trying to change the subject because she doesn’t want things to be that personal in her life. Am I hitting a nerve in your life yet? We are the woman. We are the person who has been stuck in the rut for so many years. We feel like we can never be more than what we have always been. Jesus comes along and challenges us to be so much more.
The story becomes even cooler. The woman was so convicted that she couldn’t help but go out and tell everyone she knew. The apostles stand around, clueless as to what is going on as the woman brings back so many from the village. They believed because of what the woman said, but after Jesus had spent some time with them, it says, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves.” They had the faith of the woman in the beginning, but after spending some time with Jesus, they have acquired ownership of their own faith. They spent so much time with Jesus that they couldn’t help but fall in love with him. But it all started with the woman.
As we have gone through this passage, I want you to realize that the story begins with you. We have people that we come in contact with every day who are hurting and need our Savior to come into their lives and make them whole. It begins with you though. I can’t say that enough. What are you doing to grow in your faith? Are your sharing these growth spurts with anyone else? The woman did and look what happened.
Jason
“Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, "He told me everything I ever did!" When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days, long enough for many more to hear his message and believe. Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world."
John 4:39-42
This story is such an amazing story of faith-sharing and personal spiritual growth. We have looked at a woman who was living a sinful life. Which one of us does not have this as a part of our resume? We have the meeting of Jesus and the woman, where he totally convicts her of her wrong lifestyle. This is also something that many of us have gone through. We have the woman trying to change the subject because she doesn’t want things to be that personal in her life. Am I hitting a nerve in your life yet? We are the woman. We are the person who has been stuck in the rut for so many years. We feel like we can never be more than what we have always been. Jesus comes along and challenges us to be so much more.
The story becomes even cooler. The woman was so convicted that she couldn’t help but go out and tell everyone she knew. The apostles stand around, clueless as to what is going on as the woman brings back so many from the village. They believed because of what the woman said, but after Jesus had spent some time with them, it says, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves.” They had the faith of the woman in the beginning, but after spending some time with Jesus, they have acquired ownership of their own faith. They spent so much time with Jesus that they couldn’t help but fall in love with him. But it all started with the woman.
As we have gone through this passage, I want you to realize that the story begins with you. We have people that we come in contact with every day who are hurting and need our Savior to come into their lives and make them whole. It begins with you though. I can’t say that enough. What are you doing to grow in your faith? Are your sharing these growth spurts with anyone else? The woman did and look what happened.
Jason
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
With a great hope ...
Hear the word of God from the book of Samuel …
The Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude; they came up and encamped at Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven. When the Israelites saw that they were in distress (for the troops were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns. Some Hebrews crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling …
Saul counted the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree that is at Migron …
Saul faces circumstances which are indeed overwhelming: his enemy has vastly superior technology (they have chariots; he has none), and they outnumber him exceedingly (there are 10 enemy horsemen to every one of his men). What is he to do? How is he to respond? The writers of Samuel rarely bother to tell us what is going on inside someone’s head, but they give an account that is so vivid that you can deduce much from a character’s actions. We have two clues. First, Saul moves his troops to a place inaccessible to chariots, and then sits down under a pomegranate tree. He is not moving, not doing anything. Second, look at his people! They are hiding in any hole that they can find. They have crossed past despair into abject fear.
What does this tell us about Saul? How a people behave tells us something about their leadership. To quote Julius Campbell from Remember the Titans, “Attitude reflects leadership.” If the people are in despair, it’s very possible that leadership is as well. And when Saul stops doing anything, that is the sign that he, too, has lost hope.
Fortunately, that is not the end of the story:
One day Jonathan son of Saul said to the young man who carried his armor, "Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side." But he did not tell his father … In the pass, by which Jonathan tried to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on one side and a rocky crag on the other; the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. One crag rose on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.
Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, "Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will act for us; for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few." His armor-bearer said to him, "Do all that your mind inclines to. I am with you; as your mind is, so is mine." Then Jonathan said, "Now we will cross over to those men and will show ourselves to them. If they say to us, 'Wait until we come to you,' then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them. But if they say, 'Come up to us,' then we will go up; for the Lord has given them into our hand. That will be the sign for us."
From a worldly point of view, it is hard to blame Saul and the people for their despair. But they have forgotten the divine perspective! Jonathan has not. He lives with a great hope: “It may be that the Lord will act for us.” Jonathan has hope that God will take care of him, but he acts with the realization that both he and God are persons with free will. Just because he wants God to act in a certain way doesn’t mean that God will. Yet, underneath his great hope is an unshakable one: “Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many, or by few.” Nothing can stop God from making hope into history! Notice one other thing: because Jonathan refuses despair but chooses hope, his armor-bearer follows his lead: “I am with you; as your mind is, so is mine.” Jonathan’s hope makes hope credible for others. What is that hope? God is the saving God. Nothing can stop him from taking care of his people. Just as this is Jonathan’s hope, it should be ours as well.
How does the story end? There are twists and turns, yet the hope and action of Jonathan and his armor bearer reveal the power of God acting for a mighty victory that day. God’s people triumph overwhelmingly. Still, someone had to hope. Some human being had to do something, even if that something seemed insignificant at the time. Jonathan was that hopeful someone.
Ultimately, hope is revealed in godly action just as despair is revealed in faithless inaction.
May God help us act today in hope of his mighty saving power.
Ron
1 Samuel 13:5-7; 15; 14:1-10 – NRSV
The Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude; they came up and encamped at Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven. When the Israelites saw that they were in distress (for the troops were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns. Some Hebrews crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling …
Saul counted the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree that is at Migron …
Saul faces circumstances which are indeed overwhelming: his enemy has vastly superior technology (they have chariots; he has none), and they outnumber him exceedingly (there are 10 enemy horsemen to every one of his men). What is he to do? How is he to respond? The writers of Samuel rarely bother to tell us what is going on inside someone’s head, but they give an account that is so vivid that you can deduce much from a character’s actions. We have two clues. First, Saul moves his troops to a place inaccessible to chariots, and then sits down under a pomegranate tree. He is not moving, not doing anything. Second, look at his people! They are hiding in any hole that they can find. They have crossed past despair into abject fear.
What does this tell us about Saul? How a people behave tells us something about their leadership. To quote Julius Campbell from Remember the Titans, “Attitude reflects leadership.” If the people are in despair, it’s very possible that leadership is as well. And when Saul stops doing anything, that is the sign that he, too, has lost hope.
Fortunately, that is not the end of the story:
One day Jonathan son of Saul said to the young man who carried his armor, "Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side." But he did not tell his father … In the pass, by which Jonathan tried to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on one side and a rocky crag on the other; the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. One crag rose on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.
Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, "Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will act for us; for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few." His armor-bearer said to him, "Do all that your mind inclines to. I am with you; as your mind is, so is mine." Then Jonathan said, "Now we will cross over to those men and will show ourselves to them. If they say to us, 'Wait until we come to you,' then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them. But if they say, 'Come up to us,' then we will go up; for the Lord has given them into our hand. That will be the sign for us."
From a worldly point of view, it is hard to blame Saul and the people for their despair. But they have forgotten the divine perspective! Jonathan has not. He lives with a great hope: “It may be that the Lord will act for us.” Jonathan has hope that God will take care of him, but he acts with the realization that both he and God are persons with free will. Just because he wants God to act in a certain way doesn’t mean that God will. Yet, underneath his great hope is an unshakable one: “Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many, or by few.” Nothing can stop God from making hope into history! Notice one other thing: because Jonathan refuses despair but chooses hope, his armor-bearer follows his lead: “I am with you; as your mind is, so is mine.” Jonathan’s hope makes hope credible for others. What is that hope? God is the saving God. Nothing can stop him from taking care of his people. Just as this is Jonathan’s hope, it should be ours as well.
How does the story end? There are twists and turns, yet the hope and action of Jonathan and his armor bearer reveal the power of God acting for a mighty victory that day. God’s people triumph overwhelmingly. Still, someone had to hope. Some human being had to do something, even if that something seemed insignificant at the time. Jonathan was that hopeful someone.
Ultimately, hope is revealed in godly action just as despair is revealed in faithless inaction.
May God help us act today in hope of his mighty saving power.
Ron
1 Samuel 13:5-7; 15; 14:1-10 – NRSV
Monday, February 2, 2009
The humidity of fleeces ...
Hear the word of God:
Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro,
the priest of Midian;
he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb,
the mountain of God.
There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a
flame of fire out of a bush;
he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.
Then Moses said,
"I must turn aside and look at this great sight,
and see why the bush is not burned up."
When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see,
God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!"
And he said, "Here I am."
Then he said, "Come no closer!
Remove the sandals from your feet,
for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."
He said further, "I am the God of your father, the God
of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."
And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Then the Lord said, "I have observed the misery of
my people who are in Egypt;
I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters.
Indeed, I know their sufferings,
and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians,
and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land,
a land flowing with milk and honey,
to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites,
the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
The cry of the Israelites has now come to me;
I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.
So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people,
the Israelites, out of Egypt."
But Moses said to God,
"Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh,
and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
He said, "I will be with you; and this shall be the sign
for you that it is I who sent you:
when you have brought the people out of Egypt,
you shall worship God on this mountain."
Exodus 3:1-12 – NRSV
This story is famous as God’s calling of Moses as the leader of the Israelites. Unlike most callings (even most biblical callings), God speaks directly to Moses. Is it any wonder in this case? After all, Moses barely believes the calling, even when God confronts him with it personally. For Moses, even the personal invitation is not enough, he wants evidence of success before he even starts: “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh … ?”
Should we be surprised that this mysterious God, revealing himself in this mysterious way, gives an answer that is a little disconcerting? “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.” You will know that you were supposed to do this thing when you have done this thing. So was this reply more about God, or more about Moses? I think it shows God’s insight into the heart of Moses. “I’ll believe it when I see it.” “The proof is in the pudding.” Moses is going to believe a little and doubt a lot until he returns to the foot of this mount to worship with a people.
Are we any different? Most of us can’t say that we have seen a burning bush. Although some of us may have been called to serve God in some interesting ways, few can claim such a clear call as Moses can. Nor should we expect our calling to be so clear, because Moses is the exception. So we feel called, yet struggle with doubt. Did God call? Did God really call me to do this? Did God really call me to do this here? Did God really call me to do this here now? You get the drift.
When our life’s experience and preparation line up with our passions and expectations for a different world, we can know what we hope to do. When opportunity opens in front of this hope, then we can feel called to act. But if we’re waiting for proof, it’s not going to come until the job is done. Gideon could check the humidity of fleeces every day for an eternity, but until he believed enough to act, it didn’t really matter.
At this place, our experience and preparation have met our passion and expectation for God’s kingdom. God has filled our little world with opportunity for these things to work together as our calling. Let’s act today on that calling. Let’s realize that this is going to take some time (Moses didn’t have Israel at Sinai in a couple of months, after all). Let’s realize that some people will reject our vision of a better world, because they have free will, after all. But let’s act!
Blessings on our callings,
Ron
Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro,
the priest of Midian;
he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb,
the mountain of God.
There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a
flame of fire out of a bush;
he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.
Then Moses said,
"I must turn aside and look at this great sight,
and see why the bush is not burned up."
When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see,
God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!"
And he said, "Here I am."
Then he said, "Come no closer!
Remove the sandals from your feet,
for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."
He said further, "I am the God of your father, the God
of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."
And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Then the Lord said, "I have observed the misery of
my people who are in Egypt;
I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters.
Indeed, I know their sufferings,
and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians,
and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land,
a land flowing with milk and honey,
to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites,
the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
The cry of the Israelites has now come to me;
I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them.
So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people,
the Israelites, out of Egypt."
But Moses said to God,
"Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh,
and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?"
He said, "I will be with you; and this shall be the sign
for you that it is I who sent you:
when you have brought the people out of Egypt,
you shall worship God on this mountain."
Exodus 3:1-12 – NRSV
This story is famous as God’s calling of Moses as the leader of the Israelites. Unlike most callings (even most biblical callings), God speaks directly to Moses. Is it any wonder in this case? After all, Moses barely believes the calling, even when God confronts him with it personally. For Moses, even the personal invitation is not enough, he wants evidence of success before he even starts: “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh … ?”
Should we be surprised that this mysterious God, revealing himself in this mysterious way, gives an answer that is a little disconcerting? “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.” You will know that you were supposed to do this thing when you have done this thing. So was this reply more about God, or more about Moses? I think it shows God’s insight into the heart of Moses. “I’ll believe it when I see it.” “The proof is in the pudding.” Moses is going to believe a little and doubt a lot until he returns to the foot of this mount to worship with a people.
Are we any different? Most of us can’t say that we have seen a burning bush. Although some of us may have been called to serve God in some interesting ways, few can claim such a clear call as Moses can. Nor should we expect our calling to be so clear, because Moses is the exception. So we feel called, yet struggle with doubt. Did God call? Did God really call me to do this? Did God really call me to do this here? Did God really call me to do this here now? You get the drift.
When our life’s experience and preparation line up with our passions and expectations for a different world, we can know what we hope to do. When opportunity opens in front of this hope, then we can feel called to act. But if we’re waiting for proof, it’s not going to come until the job is done. Gideon could check the humidity of fleeces every day for an eternity, but until he believed enough to act, it didn’t really matter.
At this place, our experience and preparation have met our passion and expectation for God’s kingdom. God has filled our little world with opportunity for these things to work together as our calling. Let’s act today on that calling. Let’s realize that this is going to take some time (Moses didn’t have Israel at Sinai in a couple of months, after all). Let’s realize that some people will reject our vision of a better world, because they have free will, after all. But let’s act!
Blessings on our callings,
Ron
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Where there's no smoke, is there still fire?
"By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people." - Exodus 13:21-22 (NIV)
When the Exodus began, God gave his people a tangible vision of his presence (although he chose not to reveal himself as he really is). This continued all the way through the wilderness wanderings and all the way up to Moses' parting from his people:
"Then the LORD appeared at the Tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the Tent." - Deuteronomy 31:15-16 (NIV)
This was not a small matter to the Israelites, because centuries later, it still remained a symbol of God's compassion for his people:
"Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the desert. By day the pillar of cloud did not cease to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take." - Nehemiah 9:19-21
What is remarkable to me is that you don't read about the pillar in the story of Joshua. When did the pillar of cloud leave? When God makes his exit, it is frequently a big deal (just look at his exit in Ezekiel 10 or Acts 1). But the scriptures never tell us when the pillar of cloud left. Don't you imagine that God's people had to wonder where God was? Don't you think that their children would be asking about it? I personally think that the pillar may have ceased to appear when the manna and quail stopped. After that, God's providence through the land became the symbol of his continual presence.
I believe that since then God has required incrementally more faith of his people. It was easier for those who had seen the mighty acts of God in the wilderness and the taking of Canaan than it would be for those who came later. The prophets, despite the things that they heard and saw looked forward to the things that would happen in the time of the Messiah: "For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it" Luke 10.24 (NIV). And finally, Jesus made it clear that "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" John 20:29 (NIV).
Yet, at the same time, God has given his written word as evidence and the Spirit as a Comforter to allow us to maintain a faith that glorify him as surely (if not as largely) as Joshua's did. God grant us a childlike faith in his presence: simple, loving, and dependent.
Grace and peace,
Ron
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