This morning I read through Colossians, a book that I am always surprised to find is so small.
12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. - Colossians 2:12
I once heard somone use this and similar verses to parallel Jesus' time on the cross, death, and resurection with our baptism and new Christian life - they are remarkably similar. Jesus died, was buried under ground, and rose again to live forever. As Christians, we die to our old lives, are baptised under water, and rise to live in Jesus.
There is a lot of debate about the importance and need for baptism, and I really dont know the answer. This verse suggests that baptism is how we are saved, but there are no specifics on how to baptise (sprinking, full emersion, baptism of the spirit).
20 Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence. - Colossians 2:20-23
This is probably one of the most freeing verses I have read in a long time. There are a lot of rules in the world, and they all seem right. Dont drive too fast, dont stare into the sun, dont touch a hot stove, and so on. While they all make sense, there is no spiritual benefit or detriment to them - God isnt going to keep you out of heaven because you drove too fast (even if it is rude).
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Tempations
In my quest to relearn what I have forgotten, I started today with a quiet time. This essentially is alone time spent reading the bible and studying what it says, followed by prayer. A long time ago when I first started learning about the Bible, I was told to start by reading the book of Luke, and then continuing on from there, so that is what I did today. As I started reading Luke, it read just as I remembered - like a story. Nothing too exciting or revolutionary (today anyways) about the Birth of Jesus, nothing I hadn't read before. But then I started reading about Satan tempting Jesus and began wondering why those particular items were listed.
Turn stones into bread
Jesus had been fasting for 40 days, and Satan told him to make bread. Now I can’t see anything wrong with making bread or eating. The book of Ecclesiastes tells us that there is nothing better for a man than to work hard and be pleased with his work (paraphrasing), so there shouldn’t be anything wrong with working. And God gave us grain to make into bread, so there can’t be anything wrong with making bread.
There are only 2 things with this temptation that make sense for why Jesus would refuse: 1) it came from Satan, and 2) Satan questioned his authority by saying "If you are the son of God". Perhaps Satan was going to trick him? Perhaps he was going to turn the bread back into stone once Jesus turned it into bread and make a joke of him?
Be in charge of all the kingdoms
Satan stated that he was the king of all the kingdoms of the world and would give them to Jesus if he worshiped him. At first glance the answer of-course is no, but then I thought about it for a bit. If I was in charge of all the countries and states and cities in the world, I could do so much. There would be no more wars, no more poverty, global pollution would decrease, people would be given freedoms they never had before, justice would come to those who had none, and the world would be much better off. What couldn’t I do? How would the world not be better? People for generations would discuss how I joined the world together in peace and made it better for everyone. Why wouldn’t I take that deal?
But, is that the full deal? If Satan put me in charge of everything, would I be able to rule it justly, would I have the ability to make the world better for everyone, would there be unforeseen consequences to this deal with the devil?
I think back to one of my favorite movie series - StarWars. In Episode 3, Anakin Skywalker makes a deal with the Sith to bring peace to the galaxy. Through his direct actions there is no more war, no more death, and the galaxy can begin to be harmonious. However as we know, this isn’t the end of the story. Instead of the good guy he thought he was, and the peace and tranquility he was bringing, he became the evil tyrant bringing fear to everyone.
Obviously Jesus made the right choice - eternal life for everyone who follows. But this brings the temptation a little closer to me, what it might mean today, and how it might be presented to me.
Jump from the tower
Satan quotes the Bible to Jesus saying that he will be ok if he jumps from the tower. Now it doesn’t take much research into the quoting to see that the original text doesn’t refer to people jumping off buildings, and therefore shouldn’t be taken as such. But Satan also questioned Jesus's authority again by saying "If you are the son of God". Many of the demons that Jesus cast out immediately identified Jesus as the son of God, so Satan must have, but why the questioning? Perhaps it was a test to see if Jesus knew the Bible? If I was posed with a similar temptation, "If you are a follower of Jesus", would I realize that the verse quoted was used improperly?
Turn stones into bread
Jesus had been fasting for 40 days, and Satan told him to make bread. Now I can’t see anything wrong with making bread or eating. The book of Ecclesiastes tells us that there is nothing better for a man than to work hard and be pleased with his work (paraphrasing), so there shouldn’t be anything wrong with working. And God gave us grain to make into bread, so there can’t be anything wrong with making bread.
There are only 2 things with this temptation that make sense for why Jesus would refuse: 1) it came from Satan, and 2) Satan questioned his authority by saying "If you are the son of God". Perhaps Satan was going to trick him? Perhaps he was going to turn the bread back into stone once Jesus turned it into bread and make a joke of him?
Be in charge of all the kingdoms
Satan stated that he was the king of all the kingdoms of the world and would give them to Jesus if he worshiped him. At first glance the answer of-course is no, but then I thought about it for a bit. If I was in charge of all the countries and states and cities in the world, I could do so much. There would be no more wars, no more poverty, global pollution would decrease, people would be given freedoms they never had before, justice would come to those who had none, and the world would be much better off. What couldn’t I do? How would the world not be better? People for generations would discuss how I joined the world together in peace and made it better for everyone. Why wouldn’t I take that deal?
But, is that the full deal? If Satan put me in charge of everything, would I be able to rule it justly, would I have the ability to make the world better for everyone, would there be unforeseen consequences to this deal with the devil?
I think back to one of my favorite movie series - StarWars. In Episode 3, Anakin Skywalker makes a deal with the Sith to bring peace to the galaxy. Through his direct actions there is no more war, no more death, and the galaxy can begin to be harmonious. However as we know, this isn’t the end of the story. Instead of the good guy he thought he was, and the peace and tranquility he was bringing, he became the evil tyrant bringing fear to everyone.
Obviously Jesus made the right choice - eternal life for everyone who follows. But this brings the temptation a little closer to me, what it might mean today, and how it might be presented to me.
Jump from the tower
Satan quotes the Bible to Jesus saying that he will be ok if he jumps from the tower. Now it doesn’t take much research into the quoting to see that the original text doesn’t refer to people jumping off buildings, and therefore shouldn’t be taken as such. But Satan also questioned Jesus's authority again by saying "If you are the son of God". Many of the demons that Jesus cast out immediately identified Jesus as the son of God, so Satan must have, but why the questioning? Perhaps it was a test to see if Jesus knew the Bible? If I was posed with a similar temptation, "If you are a follower of Jesus", would I realize that the verse quoted was used improperly?
Monday, April 4, 2011
Who am I?
My name is Ed and this is my blog detailing my walk with God.
In the past I was very eager and zealous about God. I studied the Bible daily and prayed constantly. I could quote the Bible without thinking, and consistently felt God talking to me through his word. I was involved in a group that would use the Bible as guides for our lives and as a map to help correct each other.
After a while I began to grow tired and burnt out. Instead of eagerly searching the Word for guidance and correction in my own life, I learned how to focus problems onto other people. Before long I was deflecting onto other people, always talking about their problems instead of my own, and making myself sound better by pointing out their flaws.
This became a slippery sloap that drew me away from God. I stopped reading, I stopped praying, and my heart became cold.
Since then I have desired to return to God and bare my heart to him, but something has held me back. My wife and I just returned from my first mission trip to Honduras (http://missiontrip2010wc.blogspot.com/), and I am ready to do whatever is needed. I hope to share my heart and soul on this blog, along with everything I learn as I go.
In the past I was very eager and zealous about God. I studied the Bible daily and prayed constantly. I could quote the Bible without thinking, and consistently felt God talking to me through his word. I was involved in a group that would use the Bible as guides for our lives and as a map to help correct each other.
After a while I began to grow tired and burnt out. Instead of eagerly searching the Word for guidance and correction in my own life, I learned how to focus problems onto other people. Before long I was deflecting onto other people, always talking about their problems instead of my own, and making myself sound better by pointing out their flaws.
This became a slippery sloap that drew me away from God. I stopped reading, I stopped praying, and my heart became cold.
Since then I have desired to return to God and bare my heart to him, but something has held me back. My wife and I just returned from my first mission trip to Honduras (http://missiontrip2010wc.blogspot.com/), and I am ready to do whatever is needed. I hope to share my heart and soul on this blog, along with everything I learn as I go.
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