Scripture: Jeremiah 31:31-34
The prophet says that a new day is coming. A new day with a new hope. The anticipation of such an event was probably high. This new day was one where God would write his commands on the hearts of His people.
This concept is pretty extreme when you consider the expression of faith known at that time. The systems of faith revolved around the priests and their rituals, and various teachers also taught those in the community the correct ways to participate with the priests. There were laws and rules to learn. Rules about clothing, molds, food, and pretty much every other aspect of life. For people to understand the correct ways o live according to the rules they needed help.
A New Day is coming. The people of God were loved, but often in strict expresions of faith people get wore out. They carry a burden of keeping track of everything to assure that the law was being fulfilled. If only there was an easier way! The prophet says a new day is coming, a day when God will write His commands on the hearts of His people.
The heart is and intresting concept. Spiritually it means much more than a mere organ at the center of our circulatory system. It is the center of your essence the place from with we truely live. This central esence is where Go is going to write you the letters of hope to encourage you to pres on to the journey’s end.
The prophet is literally saying, the day that you can have direct and personal access to God is at coming. This day is also the day preach about by John the baptizer, as well as Jesus. They stood and cried out the Kingdom of God is near, or in some cases at hand. Meaning it is here, now, all around you.
Imagine the implications of this. If the law of God is written on your heart, how would that affect your decisions? How would that affect your relationship with God? The implications are vast. Jesus said that the kingdom is at hand this means that God’s influence is right here all around, He said that the new day had come and to assure us He gave us a sign. The curtain seperating the holiest area of the temple was ripped from the top down. This symbolizes that God has left the room, and entered into the world.
The Kingdom of God is at hand, a new day is at hand, something new is just ahead of you in life. What will your new day look like? Will you enter into the light embracing God, joining with all the saints to participate in the worship of God? Or will you skirt away into the shadows? A hard question I know. How can we possibly know for sure what we will do in future? We can, however, know what we can do today.
To have the law written on our hearts we first have to seek God and open our hearts up to Him. As a Quaker, I fully believe that God does this, I believe that God Himself will encourage you in all areas of life to advance and spread His kingdom. This is why those in our expression of faith go to meetings of worship, and listen for the voice of God in the silence.
The biggest issue then is how do we know the difference between our voice and God’s? This comes through practice. To recognize the presence of the divine we must draw closer to the divine. We should read and listen to others that exerience deep relationships with God. One thing we learn is God doesn’t change, humans do. We should read the scriptures, because in them countless generations have embraced it as a reliable witness to the Word of God to be written in our hearts. We should also listen to the testimonies of other in our present day and in the near and ancient past. This basically boils down to one thing. We need to discipline our souls just as we do our bodies.
Just as it is in athletic training having a teammate helps. If you want to learn more about the expressions of Christian devotion, encourage you to read some books by Richard Foster. And also find a Meeting to Worship, these men and women can all be and encouragement.
God wants each of us to have a new day, He wants us to see something great emerge. Let us listen for his calls and when since Him leading us in activities let us join in quickly.
Have a great Day!
Scripture: Hebrews 5:5-10
Jesus the priest. How often do you think of Jesus in that light. I’m gussing about as often as you consider getting a root canal. Not to say this is a bad thing. We don’t think of Him as a priest often because for most of us a priest is something we have never seen. Even pastors that are called priests are not the same as the old testiment style of priests.
Jesus is the priest. A priest in he historic Hebrew faith I one that stands in as te representative of the people before God. They are the ones that can assure that the sacrifices were ok, or if you would have to visit a seller to find an acceptable offering. The priest assured the people that their prayers were heard, and if necissary passed on some prophetic message to the patitioner.
To simplify it even more the priests participated in worship while those that came to woship just witnessed the Levites worship for them. It almost sounds odd, yet often this is how we ourselves approach worship. Do we really expect significant spiritual growth in that manner? You would think not, but this is how we worship. We do not know how to approach God, how could we? I the closest thing to this in our human existance would be to just walk up to a king and start to chat. We have to be taken into the presence of our heavenly Father. This is why Jesus our priest is so important. He took on full humanity, he worshiped for us, he prays for us, and he died in our place. He did this so that we could once again have a relationship with our Creator.
He worships for us, but we do have a part. We participate by imitating Him, and listening to his direction. The problem with this is too often our lives are so busy we can’t seem to find the time. Let alone find the words to say. This is why I have grown to love using scripture to facilitate prayer. I read a portion of scripture and allow the Spirit of God to direct me into prayer. By doing this I have grown closer to my God, savior and teacher. I become more able to folow his comands, and I can love others in His love more easily. Jesus is our priest, He offered a scarifice once and for all humanity, he directs us into worship, and whe we do not know what to do he even prays the words for us.
Today I encourage you to listen to your eternal worship leader!
Scripture: Psalm 119:9-16
Prayer is very important to me. It is probably the number one reason that I pursued ministry in the first place. When I see people misrepresent prayer, it pains me. It is like someone telling a story about someone very close to you, but telling the story in a way that is untrue and slanders your friend. Prayer is not a magical spell where we can congure up the power of God. Prayer is a deep relationship with the one who loves you. It is speaking and listening.
The Psalmists are people that know this the most. They have conversations with God in any situaton. They get angry wth God, they complain, praise, exhault God because a life prayer is a live of conversation of relationship. In our human relationships we have arguments, laugh, cry, express concerns, and gain advice. Prayer is no different. When we live in communion with God, in relationship with the one who created us we can be honest with Him just as we are with our closest friends.
The Psalmist today speaks about how to encourage the youth to keep a pure or right path. It is to encourage them to pursue a relationship with God. The psalmist speaks of treasuring and meditating on the law and comands of God. This means more than just studying them. To meditate on the
scripture is to relate, engage, and converse with God about what He has said to those in the past and how that relates in our present age. It is not a general statment but how does the comand of God relate to you personally.
Meditation is important in a life with God. It is clearing our minds of all else to focus in on the one thing. In Christian meditation this one thing is God. It is contemplating scripture and walking along with it. When we meditate on scripture we go beyond memorizing it, or understanding it through study. Memorization and study do have their place, do not get me wrong, it is important to understand all we can and to be able to recall scripture at all times, but we should also know the Word of God intimately. The commands cease being laws but become endearing whispers from the lover of our souls.
The psalmist says that God will teach him His ways personally. The there can be an relationship deeper than knowledge. This reminds me of God walking with Adam and Eve in the coolness of the evening in the Garden of Eden. It reminds me of the countless lessons and conversations the gospel writers depict in their narratives of Jesus. The angels said that Jesus was to be called God with us. This is the truth. Jesus came to show us how to walk with God, and to provide the way to enter into the relationship.
Today I encourage you to interact with this psalm. Spend a few moments to consider each of the lines or verses. Imagine what it would look like if you were to engage life with God in that way? Would aspects of your current lifestyle change, ask yourself why or how?
I encourage you to engage with others as well when you enter into a life of prayer. We are communal people. We come together to encourage each other. We are on a journey with God personally, but we are not alone. Places like this allow us all to interact even if we are great distances away from each other. Interact here and I also encourage you to find a group where you can meet personally as well.