Luke 4:14

I love that line, "in the power of the Spirit." I want that. Not so that I can be powerful, but that my life my be a vessel for that power. I want to be open and receptive to God's power living and shining through me.

Matthew 6:14-15

I've never heard this preached, but there it is as plain as day. There's no hidden meaning, no cryptic parable, no mystical symbolism, just unmovable truth. We must forgive. And if we don't there are serious consequences.

John 3:27, 34, 5:19, 30

"A man can receive only what is given him from heaven ... for God gives the Spirit without limit ... the Son can do nothing by himself ... By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgement is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me."

Just like the Israelites wandering through the wilderness and depending on God's daily provision for 40 full years, we should depend on God, in the same way, to direct and use us. What if every thought and heartbeat, every action and reaction, every split-second moment was directed by God? What if instead of a schizophrenia (split mind) we had theophrenia (God mind) and we let our consciousness be fully possessed by a the Most Holy deity? Impossible? Maybe - we can't be Jesus perfectly. But "God gives the Spirit without limit." So we can't be Immanuel but, by God, we can try.

Word up

"And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you" -Luke

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters".-Genesis

Maybe it's just me, but I love how similar these passages are. one from the beginning of time, one from when God came to be with us in the earth. I'd say this moment. of God coming down to be with man, this true moment of Emmanuel. foreshadowed by the prophets happens here. the same spirit that hovered over the chaos before creation, is now hovering and overshadowing Mary. I love this.

there is one great spirit that is the holy spirit. the creative essence of creation comes to man and wraps himself in flesh to dwell with man. This same spirit that is the son and the father is the word. the unending pre-existent logos. I love how unified God is even within himself. In the beginning was the word, in the beginning God spoke the heavens into reality. Neato

Now that's dedication

Luke 2:37 - "She (Anna) never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.

Wow.

What's our first reaction?

It's a small detail. And it's not even about Jesus (but it is).

Zechariah went into the temple to do his job and, after about 400 years, God broke the silence. He told Zechariah that today is the day (or today is The Day). And then he shut Zechariah's mouth for 9 months. 9 months! The poor guy saw an angel of the Lord, heard the news Israel had been waiting to hear for centuries, and now he couldn't even talk about it. I would be pissed. "Yeah, thanks a lot God ... jerk."

But then after those long 9 months, he could talk again. Was he mad about what he had gone through? Did he finally yell at people who might have taken advantage of his silence? No, he praised. The moment he was able, he praised.

Tears for Fears...

"And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. 12 But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers' houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, 13 so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people's weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away."

I think what struck me the most is just the idea of even these faithful Hebrews were still being broken by the gospel. to see the lords faithfulness brought these folks to tears in the midst of a great worship event. It makes me think about Dennis Fuller as he gives a talk. We've talked about this a few times and I've discovered sometimes he is or I am overcome with emotion while giving a talk, because it's one thing to prepare a lesson or sermon, and it's an entirely different thing to give it. when you say it out loud it becomes real. I see this in my life all the time i have these thoughts or feelings and it's not until i confess them or speak them out loud do i have comfort in them. I think these jews are like that, they know the lords faithfulness they've seen it before, but here they see the foundation of the temple being laid anenw and it breaks them. the Gospel breaks us, in a good way.

Into the Exile...

It has been said and I surely do believe that every passage of scripture has the gospel in it. Maybe not every verse, there are simple verses where the gospel is hard to see because it needs more context. As I was reading for the day I thought man where is the gospel here? wheres the good news? all this is is bad news, the story of a people thrown into exile a great city and temple destroyed. I felt deeply sad i was reading this passage like it was my own house or something. Exile represents a lot of different things to me here. I firmly believe that one can not fully understand God's grace and what he has done out of his love unless one examines seriously the nature of mans depravity and sin. We can see how good grace us unless we look at how sinful and desperately in need of it we are. I think the gospel is found in this here, the exile the destruction of the holy city, tells the story about how sin even if its paid for has consequences in our lives, how we are captives needing redemption needing a rescue.

there is one verse at the end of the reading that gives me great hope:  verse 29 that says "So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king's table," I read this and though what does that have anything to do with the rest of the story, the book of second kings ends in a hurry and the tag line at the end is seemingly random. Except that this passage is rough it is dark and heart breaking, but it ends in a moment of hope. To the readers being taken to a place of inner exile, we read that this man has put off his prison clothes. The rescue is coming, and has begun. in Christ we can put off the clothes that label us as prisoners, the parts of our lives that have held us captive no longer need to be worn. The last bit is a picture of grace as well. the idea of taking off the clothes of captivity and then eating at the kings table. We have much to look forward to in eating at the Lords table. A new home where there is no pain, suffering or exile. We sit and eat with the King of all Kings, the Lord who is our rescuer.

The Heart of the Issue...

When reading about David and Solomon the last few days, it's really neat to think about the differences between us today after Christ, and those people of Israel who were before him. How different our situations are, and how seemingly similar they are. The passage with David says that after he is anointed he is filled with the spirit. I love to think that this is the holy spirit, even though a good number of folks would say the "holy spirit" didn't come into the picture until thousands of years later with Pentecost, i think this is whats happening now. When you look at how David acts, and how he writes in the psalms he known, and rightfully so, to be a man after Gods own heart. He bares the fruit of Christ and is peaceful to Saul who is crazy and violent toward him. It's neat to look at Davids Heart and to see where Christ is, and how we can today read about him, and his songs and feel that same spirit moving within us.

The same goes with Solomon, who had visions or dreams, encounters with the God of Jacob.He asks for wisdom, to be the leader of a people in the best way. I often when reading about Solomon and David wish i had those kinds of hearts. That my heart would seek wisdom and seek the Lords will. That i would have the confidence that David showed when he stood up against Goliath. I guess if I have that same spirit within me, the fullness of God (Eph. 3:14-19) bringing me home, closer to Christ, and bearing more of his heart, his peace, patience and goodness. David Boldness, Solomon's humble wisdom.