8 posts tagged “god”

  I can remember as a child, each Christmas, waiting for Santa to arrive. I’d put cookies out on a plate, a glass of milk, and a note, in case Santa didn’t know that the snack was for him. As I grew older (but not too old to stop believing in Santa), I’d stay up late, excited about my hopes in seeing him! Then I’d wake up learning that I’d missed him.  Yes, Christmas Eve is about waiting.

  After the Israelites returned from Babylon, God promised to send them a Messiah. All throughout the Israelite history, the only people known as Messiahs were Priests, Kings, and Prophets (Jesus was/is all 3!)  But He never gave them a real warning as of when…just that He was coming soon. So the Israelites, by then known as Jews, kept watch.  For 400 years, people waited, and waited, and waited.  A few times, people would give off the image of a Messiah raised up, getting the people all excited, only to become disappointed.  Can you imagine 400 years of hearing “Ahhhhh? ….awwww…”?  Hundreds of thousands of people waiting for God’s Messiah, only to be continuously disappointed when they learned that the person in whom they’d put their trust, wasn’t the Messiah at all.  But you see, they were waiting for a human, and humans continued to fail them.  They were looking for a Messiah from God, and expecting him to be human. And they weren’t too far off, but God wasn’t talking about sending a simple human…He was talking about something so much more!

Today, we’re in a similar position as the Israelites of the time.  Only for us, it’s not when the long awaited Messiah will come the first time…now, we’re waiting for Jesus to return…to come a second time.  So like the Israelites, we are waiting for the promised coming of God’s Messiah, we don’t know when He’s coming back (like a thief in the night), though we have been commanded to “Watch”, while at the same time, given landmarks to watch for, and even when we do, we remember that Jesus said they’re simply pangs that have to happen before He can return.  So in a sense we’re in the same position as the Jews of Jesus’ time.

  Wait…same?  Are we really in the same position as the early Jews?  Have we not been commanded to do more than simply wait for His arrival? 

The Jews then were called to:                                        Christians today are called to:

1.  Be a nation of God’s holy priests.                                1. Be a nation of God's holy Priests

2.  Testify of God’s history and presence among them       2.Testify to the nations about Christ's first coming

3.  Wait & keep watch for the Messiah’s first coming      3. Wait & keep watch for the Messiah's second coming.

 

Christmas Eve then was about waiting for Jesus, God’s Messiah, to finally come.

Christmas Eve is now about waiting for Jesus to come…to return.

Christmas Eve is about waiting.

---Marturo

As I continue to talk with people, it's interesting to hear their excuses for not believing in God.  And I'm amazed that the oldest one is still in circulation:
"If God exists, then why can't we see Him?".

For the sake of entertainment, let's go down the line of some gods that we CAN see...

• Hindu gods:  No, wait, I guess you can't really see them...but they do have statues of these gods, which are placed all around their homes (watching over them?).  But I don't suppose there have been any recent sightings of a 6-armed person with the head of an elephant...or any of the other assumed gods and goddesses in that faith?
• Egyptian gods: Are they still around? I mean, I know they're displayed in Stargate SG-1, but outside of TV & movies, are they really still worshiped by people today?  And if so, have there been any sightings recently of living men with the heads of cobras and birds?
  
• New Age: I was helping one day to stack books on the shelves of a Borders Book Store once, when I saw a "make your own idol" kit.  Basically from what I could see in the box, it was a block of wood, some carving tools, and instructions.  Now, as understood, the block of wood obviously cannot be a god, for what god is created by that which was created?  Instead, the idea is that something from the spiritual world actually jumps into it.  The Old Testament talks about such, and through prophets, God calls them 'not gods at all', and basically repeats the foolishness that I'd just mentioned.  The Apostle Paul talks about them in the New Testament saying that they're actually demons that jump into the wood (much like the Duke boys jumping into their General Lee), which is why people who pray to these things sometimes actually witness a response.  But technically speaking, they're still not gods.
• Self-gods: There are actually some religions that teach that you are a god...the 'I'm god, you're god, we're all god (or gods)' message (some of these also fit into the New Age category).  So when you're in a bind, sick, want something to happen in the future, or want to complain to somebody when life begins to suck, you can simply yell at yourself, pray to yourself, heal yourself, and believe that in situations that you can't control by yourself, you being a god can get yourself out of it.  Interesting, laying all our burdens and the burdens of the world upon ourselves...sounds more like the path to self destruction.  So then if we're the definition of gods, then there really is no hope.

Surely there are more to mention, but there's no need to drag it out.  My point to mentioning these is that so many complain about not being able to see God, yet they choose to believe in other things they can't see, or create something to worship and believe in, which is why I see no merit in their question to start with.

So the question is, "if God exists, then why can't we see Him?"  Or, if we turn it around: "If we can't see God, then how do we know He exists?"

In Florida, there are these little bugs.  They come out in both the day and night and are always there, but you can never see them.  But you know they're there because they devour your legs like a bleeding cow in piranha infested waters.  Their little mouths leave welts on your legs bigger than, and with more of an itch-factor than, big mosquito bites, and their bites sting like that of a flea.  I don't know what the scientific name for them is, but the people there call them "noseeums" (no-see-'ems) because they can't see them...but they know they're there.  They're like insect-ninjas.

Now, the reason we can't see them is because our physical eyes can't focus onto something their size...but there's no doubt that they're there.  But then if you were to use a strong lens, you would surely see these little high-jumping vampires.  And that's my point.  Our physical eyes can't focus onto something the size of God, either, but we recognize evidence of Him everyday.  And if you were to look through a different lens, surely you will see God, too.

While driving today, I'd mentioned to the Lord that I really don't know what to pray to Him lately...I'd prayed for a ministry, and He gave me one, sort of, so that's good.  But I've also been praying for a long time for a means of income...enough to live on.  But still, nothing.  And people continue to pray for me, and tell me not to worry because the Lord has a plan (and I know all this), but yet I still don't see anything happening.  Then mentioned that I'm not "mad" at Him, just...I don't know...I just don't know what to pray for anymore concerning our situation.

Then tonight, as I was waiting for my wife to get off work, the next fellow for the shift walked in.  The first words out of his mouth after "hello" were what my thoughts are on prophesy.  I probed the question some, then answered "well, almost all my dreams come true," then explained the Apostle Paul's take on prophesy, which is basically that if you have something to say, then you should say it, for such is in order to build up and for the benefit of the Body of Christ (the Church).  When I asked him why he asks, he said that I'd said something yesterday that sounded prophetic to him, but doesn't remember today what it was I said.
 
  I later brought it up again, and he said that basically, I said it in passing, possibly as one who just hasn't learned to develop the gift yet.  Now, I'm 36...and I'd mentioned that my dreams have been coming true since Kindergarten.  He nodded his head as if not surprised.  When I asked how to develop it, he said that when I'm ready to, the Lord will send a teacher to help me develop it.
 
  So now I'm thinking..."Thank you Lord, for something to pray about."  For the longest time, I've been trying to figure out how to develop several gifts, but never thought to ask for somebody to teach me.  I mean, I've got gifts of:

• Prophesy: a huge percentage of my dreams come true.  Plus, the Lord often speaks to me, and "tells" or shows me something to say to others when needed.
• Healing: The Lord's healed people through me several times (not always, though), but it's freaked me out, and I've often pushed it away because:
• Sometimes the illness will jump to me.  People have often said that's not supposed to happen, and that I may need to rebuke something to keep that from happening.  But sometimes, I've seen it as a sign to let me know that the Lord has taken it from them.
  
• Other times, the Lord had healed people without my knowledge of doing so, only for me to learn of it later.  For example, once while serving as a hospital chaplain, I prayed with 2 women for their mother who was expected to die that coming night.  The next morning, I'd learned that same woman had gotten up and walked out on her own...she'd been healed!
  
• Sometimes my palms will become hot, a symptom that I'd heard "healers" get.  
• Controlling the weather: Rain
  
• The Lord has often used rain to show His presence...some examples:
• When in Chicago, it rained. I flew to Japan, that same week, and it rained for 3 days straight. I prayed about it for understanding and guidance. Then flew to Las Vegas, and within an hour of my arrival, Las Vegas received the most rain it has ever received in over 100 years.
• The Lord has kept it from raining when we needed Him to:
  
• While hosting youth rallies, whenever we saw rain, we'd pray that it wouldn't rain, and it wouldn't.  One time, I promised a Christian band that it wouldn't rain.  I didn't...around the area where we were.  Everywhere else, in every surrounding state and throughout the state we were in, people said it was raining like a hurricane. Some people turned around and never arrived because the weather was so bad...but not where we were.  The band, "The ApologetiX", still to this day call me "the Rain-stopper".
• The Lord has stopped the rain in the middle of violent weather when I asked Him to:
  
• Twice, when raining hard, I'd raised my hands and said "Peace, be still!", and it stopped raining...one time was even in partial-joking.
• Friendship:  This one, I believe, I've developed, and learning to better communicate came from watching (and learning from) one of my friends.

So my prayer request now? "Lord, please send somebody to teach me how to develop these gifts you've given me."

At the same time though, I've heard in the past that the whole point is sharing the Gospel.  If the gifts are needed for the ministry, then the Lord will provide them for the sake of the ministry.  Nowhere have I ever heard anything about having to develop them.  So I'm back to confusion on this.  Maybe I should continue instead with the question, "Lord, how do you want me to use these gifts you've given me?"  I'm also up for suggestions.

John 14:1-6

In old Jewish times, when a man was interested in marrying a woman, he would first go to her father with a proposal.  Next, he would go back to his own father’s house, and build a new room onto it, where he & his new bride will live.  Once finished, he would return to the bride’s father and ask him to look at the new room. If her father approves of the room, the man will then return to his bride, and then bring her back to their new home.

 

In the context, Jesus is explaining to His disciples that this is not the end, but the beginning of something great…they will see Him again, He will bring them back with Him to His home (Heaven), and be with Him forever…it’s a marriage proposal.  But what opens this passage up to discussion is when Thomas asks, "No, Lord, we don't know.  We haven't any idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?" And Jesus replies, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me." 

 

I can imagine the disciples mocking, “Way to go, Thomas…just tell Jesus we don’t understand…you remember what happened last time with the talk about the bread!” or maybe, “Good thinking, Thomas…see if Jesus will draw us a map!”  "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."  That’s a nice map…no turns, just straightforward and to the point. 

But many refuse to believe this claim by Jesus.  Instead they want curves, shortcuts, secret passages, and for every path to lead to the same destination.  Now granted, I can understand their reasons for wanting to disagree…why they so badly want to believe that there are other ways to Heaven other than through Jesus.  Some have friends/relatives who’ve died before coming to know Jesus, and so want to believe they’ll go to heaven; or they know people who are doing such great things for others and so expect to see them in Heaven for their good works; Some even want to believe it, but are afraid of “offending” people by having to tell them of God’s Good News about Jesus Christ being the only way.  So in response, instead of straight out saying, “God, you’re not fair!” they explain it away, often using theology and scripture out of context to support their claims, such as explanations of God’s grace or the misuse of Baptism; or John 3:16 to claim God’s love for all His creation, but they leave out verses 17-18; even 2 Peter 3:9 where God’s will is that none should perish (yet they leave out the last part about God taking His time because He wants them to repent).  But Jesus didn’t only say that He is the Way, but also the Truth and the Life.  Jesus is giving His credentials in this passage:

• To get to the Father, one must know me, because I am the Way to the Father.
• The way to know me is to listen to the Truth (I am the truth...listen to Me).
• Once you listen to me and come to know me, then you will have Life.
  

If we take out 1, then we must take out all 3.  And if we take out all 3, then Jesus is neither, our message is void, and as Paul said, “we should be pitied most above all.”

 

“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Nobody comes to the Father except through me.”  Before Jesus, there was no other way to the Father.  But now, Jesus has drawn a map and it leads straight through Him.  So how were people saved before Jesus walked the earth?  By listening to the Truth and knowing the Way, they received Life.  For Jesus said, "The Father and I are one."  Those who had a close, knowing relationship with the Lord, knew the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Today, Jesus has asked us into a commitment relationship based on true love...marriage.  How can anybody argue this passage to be anything other than an invitation to true love?

As I was looking through my files to see what to post next, I came to this one.  As I began to read it, I glanced at the date in the header.  It said, "06/25/08".  Now, that's today!  So I looked at the date that it was saved last, and it said 2005.  So here's the question...how did today's date end up in the header?  Now, I know what you may be thinking...maybe I changed it by accident; or maybe there's something that updated it to today's date.  But when I closed it out, it didn't ask if I wanted to save it, which is what it would've done if anything had been changed.
  Now here's the freaky thing...I typed and saved this file on August 27, 2005 at 9-something pm.  For whatever reason, I typed today's date in the header, and today, I happen to open it. 

  So I thought I'd better post it.  Who knows?  Maybe the Lord had me put that date in, I didn't notice it those 2 1/2 years ago, and wanted me to post it today.  Either way, it is a mind-blowing experience.  So here's the message:

The sacrificial system in the past, nobody seems to understand.  God set up rules for His people, but these rules, God knew they weren’t going to be able to keep 100%.  God knew from the beginning that they would mess up. 

Originally, the punishment for messing up was death.  If you messed up, you had to die, it was that simple.  And God was no less tolerant when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit.  Those were the rules…you break them, you die. 

But God knew we’d mess up, even before He even gave the Law.  So God gave us a way out of the punishment: Burnt Sacrifices.  If we wanted to live after messing up, we could please God by killing a certain kind of animal instead of dying, ourselves.

God set up the sacrifice system as an act of mercy!  But the people didn’t see this.  Instead, after a while, people sacrificed animals as an act of religion.  They’d taken God’s awesome gift of mercy, and turned it into a regular thing they did…as if on a schedule.  It became routine…meaningless.  I believe that's why God said through Isaiah, “Enough with your meaningless sacrifices!”  God didn’t want routine motions.  He didn’t want sacrifices for the sake of sacrifices.  He wanted people’s hearts.  He wanted people to be so sorry for what they did that after killing and burning this other creature, they’d then realize that it should actually be them on the hot coals...they deserved that verdict, and at least try not to commit this act against God again (or ask God to help them to not sin).  It’s something where people should be thankful to God…praising Him on their knees and faces that it was the life of this animal instead of their own that was taken for their sin!  But their hearts were not in the sacrifices.

Remember, in the Garden, what are now wild beasts, lived among humankind in peace.  In Genesis 2:18, God said, “It is not good that the human should be alone; I will make him a helper as a partner.”  And verse 19 tells us that in response, God created from the ground (same as the human) “every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the human to see what he would call them.”  It was after this that the human realized there still was not a helper as his partner.  So God created the female human.

The point is that God values the lives of the animals, too.  Adam valued the lives of the animals, and we, as decedents of the first human, should also.

Also, when God flooded the Earth, He made sure that several pairs of clean, and 1 pair of unclean animals were among Noah and his family on the Ark.  They were not saved in order for us to sacrifice later…God cares for them as well.  We should too, as Adam (the first human) did.  Yes, we were created to be above the animals, but they are God’s creation, too.

I suppose you could say, the Israelites began killing the animals for the sake of the kill, not for the sake of sustaining life.  In the same way that poachers today kill animals solely for their financial purpose, God’s people killed animals for the sake of the kill, solely for their selfish purposes.  There is no honor in killing as a poacher does, neither was there honor in sacrificing for the sake of keeping up their “required duties”.

God wanted the people’s hearts, not their sacrifices.  He wanted them as His people, and to be their God…He wanted to be as God and humankind were before the first bloodshed in the garden (Genesis 3:21).

Jesus was the last and final (required) sacrifice…the most perfect of them all.  Once and for all, for the sake of all of humankind, Jesus took our place, instead of that of a wild beast.

Maybe one of the things God was hoping for was that we would come to understand the seriousness of the sacrificial system by having a human die for us.  Maybe in the same way, God was trying to help us understand His care for the animals by comparing it with the death of a human for the same reason.  But then, Jesus wasn’t just any human…Jesus was and is God.  God came to us and took the place, not only of the animals, but also those of us who should have been on that cross instead of Him.

See?  All throughout history, God was saying, 'you belong on that sacrificial altar.  You should be there, not this animal.  It was your fault, you are the guilty party here, and therefore you should die.'  But because God loves us so, He gave us a way out by allowing us to replace ourselves with an animal of His choosing.  And He later replaced us by dying, Himself.  This was not as a way of escape from our guilt, but an act of mercy concerning our guilt.

The animals were part of God’s act of mercy.  Therefore, we should not make the same mistake our ancestors made.  Don’t make God’s act of mercy something to take for granted.  God wants our hearts…He’s always wanted our hearts.  We need to give them to Him, full-heartedly.

---Marturo

If you don't know what I mean by "Love Languages", then I strongly suggest you read Gary Chapman's "5 Love Languages".  Love languages are what needs to be communicated in order for us to feel worth, or loved.  Granted, he's written several books focusing on several types of people in several types of relationships, but I'm talking about the purple book he wrote that got the ball rolling. 

Now, since reading the book, I've been able to recognize these particular gifts in people:
'Words of Affirmation', 'Quality Time', 'Receiving Gifts', 'Acts of service' (when we do things for them, they feel loved),  and 'Physical Touch'.  But I've also noticed some other languages that aren't in the book.  For example, my Italian grandmother enjoys cooking for people.  When we compliment her, she acts as if it's no big deal...even complains about something about it herself.  But if we don't want to eat her food, she feels rejected and closes up...so it has nothing to do w/ the words we say, but weather or not we receive her act of service.  But since this title is already taken, I call it the language of service...she feels loved and worthy in her service to us.  I've also noticed others w/ a similar type of gift.  For instance, when we ask some people for help, they're flaming w/ excitement to help, even going out of their way and bending over backwards.  Some call this hospitality, others call it a savior role or obsession.  I call it the language of necessity...they need to be needed and feel worth/loved when asked for help.

So I was thinking today, "what are God's love languages?"  Some may say "all of them".  But I have to wonder about that.  Of course, it may also have to do w/ who your god is.  I on the other hand am I'm talking about the Lord; God of the Jews & Christians; maker/creator of everything that exists.  So here's what I think:  I think God's love languages are "Quality Time", "Service", and "Necessity".  Here's why:

One of the main differences between the Patriarchs and the rest of the people in the Old Testament is that the Patriarchs all had a relationship with God.  Adam, Eve, their son who was lifted up, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, God's prophets, Daniel...they often talked with God, walked with God, and made it a point to remain in vertical communication with God.  There was a relationship there...Quality Time.  And we know that a majority of God's people didn't, have this relationship with God, for throughout the Bible, we also read about God's continuous request for them to 'repent, come back to me, and I'll dwell among you"....'we'll be together.' That's why I believe that Quality Time is one of God's love languages.

"Service"  Jesus said in John 16:24: "Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete."As long as it's in Jesus' name, He'll give it to us (I'll go into what it means to ask "in Jesus' name" another time).  God likes to give us things when we ask (please be careful not to abuse what I'm saying though). God likes to bless us, and so I believe that one of God's other love languages is the language of Service.

Finally, "Necessity".  I think God needs (or at least wants) to be needed.  We know from Ezekiel 33:11 that it's not God's desire that anyone shall perish, and that God cries out to His people all throughout the Old Testament to come back to Him and to realize how much they actually need Him.  We also know that God wants us to ask Him for things.  But notice also what lengths God went through to help us come to Him...to help us to be with Him...for God came down in the form of a man (fully God, fully human), lived among us, died with our sins laid on Him, and was resurrected so that we may be with Him.  As a result, we may spend quality time with him, we may go straight to Him, we may be with Him forever, and all we have to do...is ask.

In Sunday school today, the topic was John, but in it we got onto the story of the woman who'd been hemorrhaging for 12 years.  (Mark 5:25-34)

Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for 12 years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse.  She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, "If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well."  Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, "Who touched my clothes?"  And his disciples said to him, "You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, "Who touched me?' "  He looked all around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth.  He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease."

  Though the context doesn't say it directly, I'm willing to say that the woman was wealthy, it says that "she'd spent all she had" on "many physicians".  Unfortunately though, instead of getting better, she only "grew worse".

  Now, please understand, I'm not taking the Jehovah's witnesses' side on refusing medication.  I do believe in going to the doctor's when sick, in need of check ups, the hospital when needed, etc., so I'm neither saying to not go to a doctor when sick nor to refuse treatment.  What I AM trying to get at is...what do you suppose kept her from seeing Jesus as an option before?  For "she had heard about Jesus", and she was rich, so she could've gone anywhere by any means long ago to be healed, but it wasn't until He was walking through her town that she decided to go to Him.  

  Notice the timing...by the time Jesus was walking through her town, she was bankrupt.  For so long she had relied on her finances to take care of her, and it wasn't until they were all gone that she finally looked to God.  But she couldn't see yet because her view was blocked by her own wealth, like a fog, or a wall.
  In Daniel 4, it says that Nebuchadnezzar (famous, powerful, extremely wealthy king of Babylon), after spending years in the wilderness, lifted his eyes towards heaven, and his sanity was restored.  Then immediately after, he praised, honored, and glorified the Lord.
   Once the wall was cleared, they could both see the Lord.  And what they needed could only be granted by God.  They believed and were transformed, both physically and spiritually.

    Look today at how many of us rely on things other than the Lord.  Maybe it's money, status, popularity, our jobs, or something else.  But once we lose some or all of it, what's the first thing we do?  We cry out to God asking "why me" or "why did you do this to me?"
  There's a saying I heard on House the other day...something like, "foolish is the one who says he doesn't believe in God, but yet gets mad at Him when things go wrong".

What's the fog or wall in your life that's keeping you from seeing the Lord?  What needs to happen in order for you to finally "lift your eyes towards heaven"?

I bet I know what you're thinking...Hispanic name, Asian background, you're confused.  So I'll try to help you understand.
The background: I like the darker background, I'm a fan of Japan, and love dragonflies.
The name: Marturo is Koine Greek...biblical Greek (a dead language).  It's actually where we get the word "Martyr".  But Martyr doesn't necessarily mean what we've come to know it as (one who dies for their faith, sacrificial person, etc), but "witness".  In fact, spelled in Greek, you'd see it as: Maptupw.  Ultimately, it means "I witness".

Who am I: I'm a Christian, Caucasian male in my 30s. I've been to Seminary and earned my Master of Divinity. I enjoy talking about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, but also faith (or lack of), and religions (or lack of), or just about anything else (though I'm not much on politics).  I try not to preach to people with whom I talk, but just converse.  I welcome your comments (or complaints).  I'd also prefer to address the issue than to judge your response (or you).  To give you an example, I actually got interested in VOX from reading and commenting on a post by "atheist dad".

What to expect: Bible studies, inspirations, venting on occasion, challenging questions about your faith (or lack of), theological discussions or questions, etc.  This is not a money-making blog, but mostly someplace where I may be myself, teach and discuss God, and more while also being anonymous.

I look forward to getting this off the ground, and to our discussions.  If you stop by and read something, please comment, even if it's just a hello...not for hit points or anything...it's just nice to know I'm not the only one reading this.