Ensign: The Force Awakens
All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3
AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 30 October 2015
A few years ago I wrote a series of Ensigns titled with each of the Star Wars movies. Assuming that you recognize today's title whether you were one of the multitudes (or not) who downloaded the final trailer for the latest installment of the saga titled "The Force Awakens" and caused the Internet to crash (impressed yet?), it's important to note that awakening to the Good News of Jesus dispatched by God His Father to die on the cross for our sins and being raised to prepare a place for us is vastly Vastly VASTLY more important than the further adventures of Luke Skywalker and extended family. (Although if I'm still here, I admit I will go see the movie!)
Unlike Lord Vader his (Luke's) father, Jesus Christ does not find your lack of faith disturbing. As any health professional worth their salt will tell you, admitting that you have a problem (in this context, have a lack) is the first step toward a solution. It would be and could be so easy for Jesus to come down on His disciples then and now for their lack of faith -- but He had to have faith Himself while walking the earth. To be fully God and fully man not only did Jesus have to have faith ... in Himself, but also faith in His Father Who when He walked the earth He couldn't perceive! How could Jesus teach us how to have faith if He didn't have to have it?
This is where several of my Bible teacher friends and I skew. The passage that comes to mind for me, where the Apostles (Peter, Andrew, James, John, and the rest of the original Twelve -- yes, even Judas at this time) ask Jesus to increase their faith, and I read the next verse (Luke 17:6) like He answers the question without answering the question. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto the sycamine [mulberry] tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted into the sea, and it should obey you. Before Jesus goes to the cross the ones asking Jesus to increase their faith will have ample opportunity to exercise it.
And THAT'S the only way faith -- without which it is impossible to please God -- can increase, like any other muscle, by exercising it. Comparatively speaking, a mustard seed is quite small and a sycamine tree is quite large. But your faith, MY faith, can affect it not because of its size or our size, its proximity or our proximity, but by our use of it. As Yoda would say, "Size matters not." (Seriously, there's A LOT of practical theology in the Star Wars movies.) It's just something that we have to use, and the more we use faith, the more faith we'll have to use. Are we processing this? God can push His way into your life and mine, but He won't.
Read the Word, and from start to finish it's a matter of people letting Him in. And waking up.
David
P.S. I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch with all of you in my address book, and I hope to be an encourager to action too! If you find I'm not or you want me to get lost, please let me know -- thank you!
Thank You, Lord, that we can come to You in prayer and praise and that You will provide for all our needs, even when we don't know what they are sometimes. More often than I admit. Let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides there and around the world.
Thank You, Lord, for everyone in leadership and service both here and abroad. Thank You for the opportunities we have and the promise of new life through You. And I pray that we all seek and have a blessed week! Amen.
AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 30 October 2015
A few years ago I wrote a series of Ensigns titled with each of the Star Wars movies. Assuming that you recognize today's title whether you were one of the multitudes (or not) who downloaded the final trailer for the latest installment of the saga titled "The Force Awakens" and caused the Internet to crash (impressed yet?), it's important to note that awakening to the Good News of Jesus dispatched by God His Father to die on the cross for our sins and being raised to prepare a place for us is vastly Vastly VASTLY more important than the further adventures of Luke Skywalker and extended family. (Although if I'm still here, I admit I will go see the movie!)
Unlike Lord Vader his (Luke's) father, Jesus Christ does not find your lack of faith disturbing. As any health professional worth their salt will tell you, admitting that you have a problem (in this context, have a lack) is the first step toward a solution. It would be and could be so easy for Jesus to come down on His disciples then and now for their lack of faith -- but He had to have faith Himself while walking the earth. To be fully God and fully man not only did Jesus have to have faith ... in Himself, but also faith in His Father Who when He walked the earth He couldn't perceive! How could Jesus teach us how to have faith if He didn't have to have it?
This is where several of my Bible teacher friends and I skew. The passage that comes to mind for me, where the Apostles (Peter, Andrew, James, John, and the rest of the original Twelve -- yes, even Judas at this time) ask Jesus to increase their faith, and I read the next verse (Luke 17:6) like He answers the question without answering the question. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto the sycamine [mulberry] tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted into the sea, and it should obey you. Before Jesus goes to the cross the ones asking Jesus to increase their faith will have ample opportunity to exercise it.
And THAT'S the only way faith -- without which it is impossible to please God -- can increase, like any other muscle, by exercising it. Comparatively speaking, a mustard seed is quite small and a sycamine tree is quite large. But your faith, MY faith, can affect it not because of its size or our size, its proximity or our proximity, but by our use of it. As Yoda would say, "Size matters not." (Seriously, there's A LOT of practical theology in the Star Wars movies.) It's just something that we have to use, and the more we use faith, the more faith we'll have to use. Are we processing this? God can push His way into your life and mine, but He won't.
Read the Word, and from start to finish it's a matter of people letting Him in. And waking up.
David
P.S. I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch with all of you in my address book, and I hope to be an encourager to action too! If you find I'm not or you want me to get lost, please let me know -- thank you!
Thank You, Lord, that we can come to You in prayer and praise and that You will provide for all our needs, even when we don't know what they are sometimes. More often than I admit. Let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides there and around the world.
Thank You, Lord, for everyone in leadership and service both here and abroad. Thank You for the opportunities we have and the promise of new life through You. And I pray that we all seek and have a blessed week! Amen.
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