What Bothers God

In his book, Until Unity, Francis Chan discusses this topic of separation. Comparing what we grieve versus what the scriptures grieve. What separates us as a people and then as followers. This book is not a feel good book.  It's a call you out book.  It's a "challenge you to do better" book.  In fact, I've had to take reading it in strides as I've tried to reflect on his points and accept his challenges.  With that said though, I've really enjoyed this book and wanted to share this particular quote that has stuck with me and to share my thoughts that I worked through one day after sitting with this quote. 

"Often the things that bother us are not the things that bother God.  Meanwhile, He is disturbed by things in which we seem indifferent." - Francis Chan

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We often talk about the superiority or the downfalls of a particular faith group or denominations. Why one is better than the other.  Why Lutherans, Reformers, Catholics, Baptists do what they do.  In a sense we align and pride ourselves on how we worship vs. who we worship. The how is what grieves us.   Maybe our focus needs to shift and align with how the Lord grieves over our differences and why we can't just find unity in the one God, and the one Savior who died on that one cross that one night so many years ago coming back to life that one time to give us life for all eternity.  I imagine this is what bothers God, -  thousands of denominations of divisiveness versus one church finding unity in Christ.

I wonder if God is bothered about the amount of worship songs and hymns we sing on a given Sunday like we are? Or the fact that a church does or does not allow coffee in the worship center/sanctuary? Do you think He cares about the building we worship in? The style? Aesthetics?

I’ll just mention politics. And of course what bothers us in the political realm doesn’t come close to what bothers the Lord.

We are a divisive nation. A segregated church. There isn’t a lot of love oozing out of us to reach the unreached. Unity is not on the top of our list of worries. Why not? 

Jesus speaks so often about oneness in the New Testament. Oneness with Him and each other. And we find oneness with love and sacrifice. If we aren’t living with those two things in mind, we are losing the basics of the Christian faith. Jesus himself lived a life full of love and sacrifice and even ended his life living out those two words for us.

So take a look today at what bothers you in life. Then in the church. Are those things that would bother God? Is what grieves you, what grieves Him? Most likely not. It wasn’t for me. So let’s take a moment to reset, shift, and turn our eyes to the Lord and His word and look to Him for what our hearts should be aligned with.

Then pray the simple prayer in words but powerful in action. “Break my heart for what breaks yours Lord.”

Difference: Word of God vs God of the Word

“There is a world of difference between knowing the Word to God and knowing the God of the Word.”

I read that quote in my latest obsessions of Tessa Afshar books. She’s a biblical fiction author and I’m on a book binge I must confess. But for me, sometimes reading these books brings about faith, grace, mercy, and the Bible and all its teachings and wisdom to what I like to call “heart moments”. I can get stuck as this quote says simply wanting to know the Bible more. Rather than falling in love with the God of the Bible. I love diving into the Bible to understand it more. To connect Old and New Testaments. To find symbolic meanings. And that’s not wrong. But I can get stuck in the trap of knowledge vs heart. Information vs soul. And to make another confession, heart and souls comes a lot harder to me than mind and knowledge. So these Biblical Fictions help me in this process. Are they semi for entertainment…. Absolutely. Do they replace the Bible… absolutely not. But I share this to show there are many ways to connect with the Lord. You don’t have to just spend mornings propped in your special chair, hot coffee in hand, pretty blanket nicely laid out, Bible on lap with your pretty journal and special pen. In fact, this idea cringes some people. Example my husband. My morning routine would bore him to death and stir him crazy rather than connect with Jesus. He would rather be out in His creation alone, on hike, run, or bike, listening to the Word and gazing at His beauty.

So if you feel stuck or dry in your daily connection with the Lord, I encourage you to switch it up. Find a new pace. A new read. A new way to let God speak to your heart and soul. Then come back to the Word. Because you need both. The God of the Word and the Word of God.

Warning From James

I love reading the wisdom in the book of James. He has short little wisdom nuggets for us as we read throughout the whole book. His writings are less about theological information and more about how to challenge us in our daily living. He includes little one-liners and metaphors that are easy to remember and memorize.

In Chapter 3 James talks about the tongue. Or our words. I was especially challenged when he warns us to be careful with how we speak about other people because those people were made in the image of God. It’s easy to talk “smack” or slander others. But when we do, we are putting down what God created. And not just created but created in his likeness.

The tongue is a powerful muscle. We talk about this often with our kids especially with them being in their playground years of life. But let us not forget this as adults. That powerful muscle God created… the tongue. Use it for good. Use it to build up rather than to tear down. Use it to encourage rather than slander. Use it for praise over insult. Use it for truth over gossip. It sounds easy to do but this is no easy task. We need to constantly be aware. Constantly be in-step with the Lord. Aligned with his will. It is not an easy thing to do on our own so it’s a good thing we have the Helper within us.

I pray that we see people, all people as images of God. Because when that shift takes place, we see them as broken and beautiful. Rather than an object.

In His likeness.

Strength In Suffering

#bereminded

Meaning of BEHOLD

Behold! That got your attention, right?! Idare you to say“behold” out loud without giggling or cracking a smile. Go ahead. Try it! While “behold” is not a common word in our vocabulary today, we do see it in scripture, and this little word is meant to grab our attention in a big way.

Before we had such a variety of translations, the word behold showed up in scripture muchmore frequently. According to Bible Gateway, behold appears1298 times in the original King James Version.As time has gone on, we nowfind it about half as often in the New King James version, 1069 times in the ESV,& 1,134 times in the NASB. The NIV no longer includes the word behold at all.

Why do some translations continue touse the wordbehold and what exactly does this word mean?Behold is taken from the word bihalden which is an Old English word. If we break this word down, it means to thoroughly hold something (bi- ‘thoroughly’ and haldan ‘to hold’).When we look to Strong’s Concordance, in the Old Testament Hebrew, behold is a translationof the wordhinneh. When this word is used, it is generallyintroducing something new or unexpected. This word indicates that we needto pay close attention to what followsit.In the New Testament Greek, the wordhinnehbecomesidou, which holds the Hebrew meaning and also ties more to our verb “to see”.So why not just say “Look” or “See”?The simple answer is because those words alone don’t accurately conveythe meaning of behold in its entirety.

To beholdis to do more than justglance or look at something.To behold is to be captivated. When you behold something, you see it with your eyes, but you also hold your gaze on it in order to search and to understand. If we take what we know from the Hebrew, Greek and the Old English definition, we’d think of the word behold as more of an intense indicator- something more along the lines of“stop, look and listen”, “don’t miss this”, “this is super important”, or “this changes everything”. The word behold is alerting us that we want to pay attention so that we can truly see and thoroughly understand. We want to behold what comes next because it is so important!

Let’s consider a fewfamiliar verses that contain the word behold.

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Luke 2:10

“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29

And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, Matthew 9:20

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. John 19:26-27

And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. Matthew 27:51

And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:20

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” Revelation 3:20

“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. Revelation 21:3

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Revelation 21:5

We probably won’t start using the word behold in our everyday lives,but we can be intentional about beholding his Word. Inthe busyness of this world, it can become so difficultto take the time to do this.When we do, we allowhis Truth to reframe what we see. Beholding his Word allows us to understand his plan for restoration, and it reminds us that we can look forward to his promise for the renewal of all things.

Whenwe truly see and seek to understand, itcan change everything!!