Having an authority figure in life will bring a multitude of thoughts and emotions to different people. The variety of these figures are endless: police officers, parents, teachers, employers, or siblings. What makes us respect someone in authority over us? An ability to administer punishment is one reason we can tolerate authority because it means that our lack of submission results in a loss for us. I remember growing up I respected my father’s authority mostly because of an illogical fear I felt. I would constantly remember my interactions with him and I would always be on the defensive in any conversation. The fear of my father developed because I was afraid of making a wrong move that would result in his anger. Punishment and fear have permeated the essence of what we think about authority. Why has this permeation happened? Is there a better way to attain authority? Continue Reading…
I think that I’ve fallen for you.
Jealousy of a husband and John the Baptist: Numbers 5 and 6
So I have a few questions about Numbers 5. What about the men who were having these adulterous relationships with the women? Could a woman accuse her husband? I think it is interesting that when a husband was jealous and thought his wife may have been unfaithful she would go to the priest and she would have to swear before God of her innocence. I would not take it lightly to take an oath before God. It would scare me to no end. Wouldn’t you rather confess your sin. The penalty for adultery death by stoning. But if you lied before God and lived under a curse wouldn’t that be worse? Today I think christians often take too light of a view when it comes to sin. I think of Paul when he talks about grace in Romans chapter 6. Shall we continue to sin so that grace can abound more? Grace is what frees us from bondage to sin but it does not give liberty to indulge in sinful behavior.
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Provision for a fast food sex saturated world: Leviticus 17 and 18
Lord,
Open these eyes to see your glory. I sit in the torrent of life and I feel beaten and bruised by all the concerns of life. Oh how easy it is to get consumed with the swirling waters around me and not focus on you. Open my heart, mind, and soul as I read Leviticus 17 and 18 today Lord. I need your help to heal my heart. I submit to you now and forever, Amen.
Throughout Leviticus I am constantly reminded about how inadequate humanity is inherently. In chapter 17 God commands the people of Israel to stop sacrificing animals to other gods like the people of Egypt. People needed to bring their offering to the tabernacle to sacrifice to God as a peace offering. In chapter 18 God restates some of the 10 commandments in greater detail regarding how people can relate to each other. After reading these two chapters I feel saddened and a little depressed. Continue Reading…
grace 1.0
Over two months ago I started a meditation on what grace is with my grace 0.5 post and this is what I have come to understand through my journey. I am a failure! How often do I find my self stuck in the muck and mire of daily life and I each time I think that I can help myself. My desire for independence clouds the reality of my hopelessness. I stand so long thinking that I am able to anything I want. I am conceded and confident because I can gain the favor of men. Since I can gain the favor of men there is no reason why I can’t gain God’s favor. This thinking is why I so often feel adrift and hopeless because I am relying and centered on what I perceive I can do. Continue Reading…
The regrets of the past nullified by God’s future: Genesis 41 and 42
How dark our thoughts can be because our past. I many times think just as the 10 brothers of Jacob in the midst of the chaos of life. I look back to something that I have done in the past and I am ridden with fear and regret. I cannot believe that God could be doing things for my good. That is the situation that the brothers found themselves. They think that they are being punished for their treatment of Joseph all those years ago. What despair they must have felt. Little do they know that they are apart of a greater story of God’s deliverance. How great the love God bestowed on them while they were still in the despair and darkness of their actions. Continue Reading…
