Look closely at the dynamics here:
So God commands Moses to make a ‘bronze snake’, so that the people who are sick from a snake bite (because of their ‘impatience’ and rebellion) can look at the snake and be healed. You can read about this in Numbers 21:4-9. It is short, sweet, and dramatic. Following this ‘revelation’ and intervention and provision of God, the people begin to focus on the bronze snake, and worship it. They begin to burn incense to it, even give it a name: Nehushtan. A good king, Hezekiah, had to destroy this ‘bronze snake’ as it no longer ‘saved’ people, but stood between them and their true Savior as a ‘false god’. (2 Kings 18:4) The irony is stark, but we are all guilty of this same thing in many ways. We take what God has given us, and begin to ‘serve’ it or worship it, rather than the Creator who made it and gave it. We forget God, and make a god of His gift. We make idols. What comes between you and Jesus? That’s your idol. Money? Lust? Popularity? Do you profess God with your words, but deny him with your actions? (Titus 1:16) Interestingly, despite the misuse of the ‘bronze snake’, Jesus won’t be deprived of its original use and meaning. He likens himself to it. He says: ‘Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.’ (John 3:14-15) We are bent on trading God’s Spirit for something tangible or material. We crave the power of ‘holding’, of ‘knowing’. (Gen 3:5-6) When Jesus bent down to wash Peter’s feet, Peter first denied him this act of servitude. When Jesus explained that it was necessary spiritually, had meaning, Peter then asks him to not only wash his feet, but his head also. Jesus simply says, ‘If you’ve had a bath, it’s just your feet that need to be washed.’ (John 13:1-10) Almost a comical response, because Jesus washing his feet had nothing to do with whether they had a bath or not, or whether their feet were dirty or not. The point here, however, is that when Peter was told of the spiritual import of this act, he tried to elevate it, add to it, get all sanctimonious about the act itself. Acts are external. Jesus is about the heart and the spirit. We are addicted to making truth visible, measurable, experiential, expandable, and in the process often lose the truth itself. Jesus says: ‘God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.’ (John 4:24) My friends, we came into this world with nothing, and we’ll leave with nothing. (1 Tim 6:7) Don’t work for a legacy here; work for a legacy ‘there’. (Mt 6:20) Let’s truly ask God to help us discern the ‘spirit’, His Spirit, in our life. Let it blow to us and through us, for his glory, not our spiritual resume. (Jn 3:8) You can’t make an idol out of spirit.
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My kids ask me for stuff. It doesn’t work. I mean, sometimes I do give them what they ask for, sometimes I don’t, but the ‘asking’ is not the key factor in ‘getting’. In fact, sometimes (most times?) I give them what they need without them having to ask. Even give them what they want, without them having to ask.
Jesus told us that our loving Father in heaven knows what we need before we ask, so not to worry. (Mt 6:8) But Jesus also told us to ask the Father for what we need and want – in Jesus’ name – because he cares, and will provide. (John 16:24) Don’t ask? Ask? Yes to both. Because what’s really going on, what really matters, is not in the asking. It’s in the spirit. Jesus told us: ‘God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.’ (John 4:24) God has come to us in person through Jesus Christ, because he loves us. (Mt 1:23) He speaks to us, because he loves us. (John 10:27) He dines with us, because he loves us. (Rev 3:20) When asked what the most important command was, Jesus told us it was to love God with all our heart. (Mt 22:36-40) Life itself, and all relationship within it, is about love, togetherness, and God. When we pray – talking to and listening to God – it is primarily about being with God, and walking with God. In this relationship with God there are things we need, we want, because this life is challenging and dark and competitive. It is OK to ask your Father in heaven for what you need and even want. (John 16:24/Phil 4:6-8) But it is not prayer that is ‘working’ here. Nothing, in fact, is ‘working’ – in the sense of putting something in and getting something out. Rather, in your praying – your sharing and listening – a living and loving relationship with God is ‘at work’. And he hears you. Prayer doesn’t work. Prayer has no power in itself. Relationship with Jesus Christ moves God’s heart, however, in a powerful way. Do you have a relationship with Jesus Christ? ‘And when you pray, do not keep on babbling… for such people think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.’ (Matthew 6:7-8) For more information on having a personal relationship with Jesus, please visit: https://1peter1three.weebly.com/first-steps.html I’m talking about real structures here – like buildings, businesses, houses, etc. Now, personally I’m a man of faith, and it was a ‘faith reflection’ that got me thinking on this, but bear with me as I share this ‘line of thought’…
So as a Christian, I believe that it is God’s will that a true faith in Jesus is at the heart of every man, woman and child. I believe that outside of this revelation and truth of God – i.e. Jesus Christ – there is no ‘truth’, and nothing that will stand. This is the teaching of the Scriptures, from start to finish. It is undeniable, it is clear. But it is a ‘faith’ reality. It is Spirit. It is unseen. Even Jesus said about his kingdom, ‘It is not seen with the eyes… The kingdom of heaven is within you.’ (Luke 17:20-21) So then I start thinking – even worrying – about how this faith is truly going to sweep the nations. How, if ‘unseen’, if a thing of faith, how are we as people going to actually believe and ‘build’ on this? We are so given to what we can see, touch and experience. We are so given, also, to our appetites for things we even know are not true, not pure, not holy. How, if God’s way and revelation is a non-tangible, how will his Kingdom be brought and established here? Surely buildings and churches and world organizations stand strong on other principles. This world is built and driven by human drive and actions and unspiritual motivations and strengths. But then I thought for a moment. I thought about that high, affluent, towering tower with that powerful CEO at the very top, in the pent-house. I thought about him for a short few seconds… I thought about how this man, sitting high on a steel foundation with platinum, anti-earthquake engineering, thinks. He thinks, he feels, he desires. High on his human structure his heart quietly covets what is not his, that woman that is not his. And quietly, from the overflow of the heart, with the ticking of time, this same physical structure is compromised by robbery, wrongdoing, deceit, malice, envy and murder. This high, human tower of beauty, caves to the human heart of sin. Over time the man decays and dies, as does the tower. My friends, this is not theory. This is what you read in 3 out of every 4 columns of the newspaper. This is reality. I leave you now with only one verse, though there is so, so much on this very issue from start to finish in the Bible. But I leave you with only 1 that came to my mind in the moment of this reflection: ‘No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.’ (1 Corinthians 3:11) For more on ‘First Steps’ with Jesus Christ in your own life, please visit: https://1peter1three.weebly.com/first-steps.html |
AuthorPeter Walker. I hope you enjoy these reflections. Please feel free to comment!:) Archives
February 2024
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