Day 209: Word

John 1:1-18; 1 Chronicles 5-6; Zephaniah 2

The beginning of John always confused me a little bit. Why call Jesus "the Word? The reason was in the meaning and significance of the word 'Word.' To Jews, the 'word' was an agent of creation, as seen in Psalm 33:6: "The Lord made the heavens and the earth and everything in them by his word." The 'word' is the source of God's message, and God's standard of holiness: "I treasure your word above all else; it keeps me from sinning against you" (Psalm 119:11). The 'word' was something very significant and Jesus was the physical manifestation of that word. To the Greeks, who were also in the audience, it meant a principle of thought or reason. The Greeks were all about thinking and reasoning, and so the 'word' being God and being with God, was something they could begin to understand and connect with.

When we put our faith in The Lord, we don't just become servants or slaves or menial workers in the kingdom. We become his children. We have so much value in God's eyes that when we turn from our wicked and selfish ways, we are adopted as his very beloved children. To me, that means a lot, because I need to be loved dearly, and God loves me more than I could ever soak up from him.

In Chronicles it talks about a lot of generational stuff which is hard to read, but tucked in here and there are little bits of story that are interesting. In these chapters it talks about how some of the tribes started worshiping gods of the pagans, and so God sent a pagan army to capture them and lead them away. God's people disobeyed him, turned from him, and so they faced consequences. The same is true today. If we start worshipping money, eventually it will destroy us and leave us with nothing. If we start worshipping fame, it too will come up empty and we will be left as slaves. Only worshipping the true Lord will our worship be fruitful.

Zephaniah warns: God will "fiercely attack. Then every god on this earth will shrink to nothing, and everyone of every nation will bow down to [him], right where they are." First of all, I wouldn't mess around with God. He means business. Secondly, I am loved by this God who has authority over all the idols of this world. Wow. I'm glad I'm on God's side, in his family, and saved by his grace.

Day 208: Test Your Faith

2 Corinthians 13; 1 Chronicles 3-4; Zephaniah 1

Paul tells the Corinthians to test their faith and find out if they are really true to it. He doesn't say exactly how to do that, but I suppose to test your faith would mean to do or think something that is out of your comfort zone. To step out in faith means to be bold, so I suppose it could be something like that. I think we all need to do that once in a while: test our faith in order to see if Christ really is living in us or we are driven by something else.

In Zephaniah, we see a very angry God and we hear of the incredible destruction that will happen to those who do not obey him. He doesn't leave anyone out, and it makes sense because we have all sinned against him and deserve punishment. Those that worship other gods, who abuse their power, who don't believe in God Almighty, who trust in their own wealth--according to the scripture, those are the ones that have to fear the day that God will do this. But God is not unjust. I'm sure we will get to that in the next couple of chapters.

Day 207: Weakness & Strength

2 Corinthians 12; 1 Chronicles 1-2; Habakkuk 3

The more I follow Christ, the more I realize just how many issues I have and how weak I really am. Paul said that he is "glad to be weak or insulted or mistreated or to have troubles or sufferings, if it is for Christ." It is in our weakness that God can be strong. That is a weird and tough concept to understand. When I am weak, then I am strong? It doesn't make logical sense. But if we look at scripture and the stories of all the people that God worked miracles through, they weren't high and mighty, they weren't perfect people, they all had insecurities. God took these people who were such unlikely candidates for leadership and miracles and worked crazy things through them. The more we realize our weaknesses, the more God can work through them. And, if it is for Christ, we can learn to be glad in our sufferings. With an eternal perspective, such an attitude it possible.

I love th ending of Habakkuk:
"Fig trees may no longer bloom, or vineyards produce grapes; olive trees may be fruitless, and harvest time a failure; sheep pens may be empty, and cattle stalls vacant--but I will still celebrate because The Lord God saves me. The Lord gives me strength. He makes my feet as sure as those of a deer, and he helps me to stand on the mountains."

This just shows that even in the midst of hardship, we are still to praise God. Earthly prosperity is not a measure of God's love for us or even of how well we are living our lives. Instead, our faith in our Lord is the true measure of who we are.

Day 206: Suffering is Better

2 Corinthians 11; 2 Kings 25; Habakkuk 2

Paul was trying to make sure that people were believing the Jesus he knew, not a made of version of another "Christian" religion or something they created in their head to fit their lives. When we, and the Corinthians, decide to believe in a different version of Jesus, then we are not worshipping the Jesus who has the power to save. We become our own god because of our creative power. We even risk worshipping Satan because he tries to disguise himself, as verse 14 points out: "Even Satan tries to make himself look like an angel of light." This is why reading scripture with our own two eyes and our heart searching for truth is better than any church sermon. Pastors and preachers are human and can be guilty of making the message of Jesus something it is not. And instead of relying on him or her to teach us, we need to hear it from the very mouth of God, his word.

Paul also brags about how much he has been beaten and in jail and persecuted. He basically is saying (reluctantly) that he is a more devoted follower than the other fake apostles. Wow, if the scale on which we will be judged as how good a follower of Jesus we are is how much suffering we face because of our faith, then I'm a terrible follower! That's something I've been thinking a lot about, simply, how devoted am I? Am I willing to create conflict, to walk into conversations that will be difficult, to help people that may hurt me in return? Paul definitely was and he knew that that was what God wanted. He really truly was willing to risk everything for the sake of Jesus. Are we?

In 2 Kings, those who do not believe in God want to destroy everything that has to do with him. They burned the temple and broke pieces made for worship. They had no respect for The Lord and so none of that mattered except in the value that it would earn. The same is true today. People want to destroy the Christian faith and our God. We need to recognize it for what it is: a battle. But not against the people themselves, but against the dark ruler of this earthly world and his demons. Prayer, justice, and love are our weapons and The Lord of the Universe is our defender. We have nothing to fear, but we have to be brave enough to step out and risk suffering.

In Habakkuk it talks about how God will doom those who live for the world, who treat people unjustly, who seek to acquire wealth, who worship idols. However, there is one verse that is so filled with hope and awesomeness: "Just as water fills the sea, the land will be filled with people who know and honor The Lord." We are not alone! Many will come to know him!

Day 205: Fight

2 Corinthians 10; 2 Kings 23:35-24:20; Habakkuk 1

Paul says, "we live in this world, but we don't act like its people" and that they fight battles not with weapons but with the power of God. First, this is a call to be different from the world. That seems to be a message I keep hearing over and over. As followers of Christ, our lives should have a different purpose, a different goal, and a different look than those who do not love Jesus. Why? Because if we truly love and serve The Lord, then our priorities shift from wealth, status, family, etc., to faith, justice, and eternity. Secondly, he talks about the battles. Our battles should not be physical, but instead freeing people from their pride, opening eyes, and breaking down barriers. Our battle is fought with truth and love, not with physical means. Any "Christian" who acts in violence is not a true follower of The Lord. That's not to say that a Christian can't be a soldier for our country, because God says that there is a time for war and encouraged several people in scripture to fight. But our day to day lives need to be a battle against sin and against hard hearts.

The people of Judah and Jerusalem had made God so mad, that he finally turned his back on them. But didn't we think that God would never leave for forsake us? God didn't leave, he didn't abandon them, he just turned his back, meaning that he was going to refuse to help them. They chose to live in such a way that demonstrated that they didn't respect God or seem to care about him, and so he decided he wouldn't waste his efforts, accept their choice, and instead would let them follow the path that they had chosen, which led to destruction and slavery.

This still seems like a relevant prayer:
"How long before you save us from all this violence? Why do you make me watch such terrible injustice? Why do you allow violence, lawlessness, crime, and cruelty to spread everywhere? Laws cannot be enforced; justice is always the loser; criminals crowd out honest people and twist the laws around...Even if you were told, you would never believe what's taking place now." Habakkuk 1:2b-5
With the all the underground sex slavery, abortions, bombings, injustices that are happening it is hard not to cry out to God. And we certainly should. But as mentioned above, part of being a follower of Christ is living differently. Want to live differently? Here's an opportunity: fight against the things of this world that are terrible and horrifying. Fight against sex slavery, fight against abortion, fight against injustice. That's one way of how we live set apart. It is going to be tough, and we will face criticism (even from other Christians), but we have to be bold.