Blessed

What does it mean to be blessed?

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and given you peace.

- Numbers 6:24-26

Often, we seem to think it means God has given us stuff. You see someone's family photo and exclaim, "You are so blessed." Someone tries to explain away their beautiful house or fortune with, "I've been blessed."
Is that what it means to be blessed by God? He's given you stuff?

Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him; the Lord protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.

-Psalm 41:1-2

When we were growing up, we used to go with my grandmother to get our Easter baskets blessed. We'd pack the baskets with certain foods and then head to the basement of the church building with all the other families. We'd line the tables with our baskets and wait for the priests. I could never understand what he said when he finally arrived and I never knew what was in the censer he shook over our eggs, horseradish, lamb-shaped butter and chocolate cross. But, that was what you were supposed to do and that was how you received the blessing on your Easter basket.

Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie!

-Psalm 40:4

The best picture I've seen of what it means to be blessed came from watching Rocky. In the movie, before his big fight, Rocky goes to the closed church building and wakes up the priest. He begs him for a blessing as the priest hangs out the window in his bedclothes. Rocky doesn't ask for victory, just for protection. He wants to be in God's hands.

Rocky Balboa, theologian.
Who woulda thought?

Location:Columbia Pkwy,Cincinnati,United States

Immediately

9 times.

From when Jesus shows up in verse 9 until the end of the first chapter of Mark, the word "immediately" is used 9 times. One could argue that the authors (or translators) just got lazy and repetitive and kept using the same adverb to describe the events surrounding Jesus. We could also argue that the whole of Mark 1 happened in about the span of 39 seconds - each event happening right on the heals of the last. Or we could argue that Jesus is just incredible.

When he shows up on the scene, things change. Things do not go according to plan. The natural order is not followed. The timing we get used to in normal life gets turned on its head. The world with Jesus in it is a different place. Immediately.

When Jesus is added to a situation even today, we can expect results immediately. Don't get me wrong, they might not be the results we want, but there will be results.

Sell all you have and give it to the poor. You'll see results immediately.

Love your enemies. Immediate results.

Bless those who curse you. Immediate results.

Love God with all your heart, soul and strength. Immediate results.

Love your neighbor as yourself. Immediate results.

If we take Jesus at his word and truly follow him, our lives will change. Immediately.

Mysterious Fear

The (final) season premiere of LOST was last night and true to form, nothing was cleared up and more questions were raised. (Talk about split personalities!) That's the show's modus operandi and that is why people love it. It is a mystery. It keeps people guessing and never makes things completely crystal clear. We love intrigue. We love not knowing. We love to guess and dream.

But only on TV.

In real life, mystery is a whole different matter. Then we want certainty, fact and proof. If geometry class taught us anything it is that we can't just look at two triangles with two like angles and say that they are proportional; we have to write a page-long proof in something resembling a foreign language to make certain.

Mystery in real life means danger. It means we don't know what's going to happen, so we can't take every precaution before it happens. It's no mystery that driving a car into a tree, telephone pole, brick wall or another car will cause the car to stop faster than those riding in the car. We know this, so we can prepare with seat belts, antilock brakes and airbags. Less mystery, less danger, less fear.

I say forget that. No mystery means no excitement means no fun. No mystery means no fear means no faith. Jesus spends all of Matthew 24 confusing his disciples. He tells them the temple is going to come crashing down, that people will claim to be him, that there will be wars and famines and destruction and false prophets and death and destruction and that they will never know when the end is really coming. He fills them with mystery... and with fear.

Fear and mystery aren't the end goal, but they are main ingredients in what Jesus was really preparing. Faith is trusting God in the midst of fear and mystery. Jesus tells them that their futures will have plenty of both, it is up to them to trust him through it all. The same it true of us.

We spend so much time trying to figure God out, when really we should be focused on trusting him when we're scared and unsure.

Probletunities

No water --> new friends & opportunities

No food --> unlimited food

Death --> resurrection

Elijah's life could be seen as an ongoing list of problems, obstacles and obstructions. But nothing stops him. Nothing gets in his way. With God's help, each of these problems is turned into an opportunity - a way for God to show His power and control.

What are the problems or obstacles in my life? How can I turn them into God's opportunities? What (besides my point of view) is the difference between a problem and an opportunity?

Dried Up

In some ways it would be nice if things stayed the same - if we could just find our niche and stay there indefinitely. It would make things easier, it would be comfortable, it would be safe and secure and boring.

Sometimes we think that way about following Jesus. We find him, we figure out something that is in his will and we do it. Nice. Things are good, things flow naturally, life has purpose and meaning and ease. But, sooner or later (usually sooner) that changes. It doesn't happen at once, it is usually a gradual thing, that sneaks up and gently changes. By the time we realize what is going on, we're lost and we can't figure out how things got where they did. Why?

Elijah is out in the wilderness, being fed by birds and drinking from a stream. One day the stream dries up (when it doesn't rain, this is what happens). Elijah had been in a relaxed place, he was where God wanted him to be, things were easy and flowing. Then the stream dries up.

God tells Elijah to move, to do something new, to change. Luckily for Elijah, he doesn't have a choice. No water is a good motivator. God tells him to go and be fed by some people who couldn't even feed themselves. Elijah knew that he wasn't really relying on this widow and her son for food - they were all about to rely on God for everything.

When we get comfortable, God calls us to change. What we rely on Him for eventually starts to dry up. That's not because we've done anything wrong, its because it is time for us to move on. It is time for us to find other ways to rely on God. The more we're relying on him, the easier this is to see and feel. When we depend on God for something as basic and necessary as water, it is hard to miss any change that occurs. When we depend on God for less, it is easier to miss. What do you rely on God for - how will you know if it dries up?

Act & Relax

There was a bird in our attic this morning. My wife was not okay with this. The bird was not okay with this. Because of these two factors, I was not okay with this.

I don't know how the bird got in the attic, but I knew he wasn't getting out the same way. He was trapped - and frantic. I'm not sure if he was frantic before my wife saw him, but he was certainly frantic once he knew that we knew that he was there. He was flying all around the main room of the attic, hurling himself into the windows and looking for some way out.

We know next to nothing about Elijah's background. He was a Tishbite, from Tishbe. That's all we get. From relative obscurity he bursts onto the scene and makes crazy statements to king Ahab. (Crazy until those statements are proved true.) From out of nowhere, Elijah is suddenly in the spotlight. Everybody knows about him now - and most of those people are out for his head.

Elijah responds relying on God. He doesn't go running all over the place, he doesn't criss cross the countryside. He sits and waits and hides. More importantly he relies on God. For food, for water, for what to do next - and he is safe.

I got one of the windows open (only the bottom of this particular window opens) and eventually the bird found his way out, but not after a number of bumps and bruises (do birds bruise?) along the way.

Of course the bird went crazy. But, that doesn't mean we have to. That's what faith is - trust when things get weird or crazy or scary. Elijah trusted God and was able to relax after his strong words. We can find the same thing. We must find the same thing.

No Fear

When Elijah acted, he acted. He didn't plan an exit strategy, he didn't worry about the bridges he burned. He knew he was acting within God's will and that was all he needed. The first time we read about Elijah, he was standing up to king Ahab, no small feat on and of itself. And his words were not timid. He told the king that it wouldn't rain until he said so - and it didn't. More than that, he knew that since he was acting in God's will, God would provide. He went to the wilderness and depended wholly on God - for water and bread and meat. God sent Ravens twice a day to meet Elijah's needs.

Do we trust God? Are we willing to be bold in his service? Are we willing to stand up to others? Are we willing to trust God to supply our needs? If not, why not?

If so, when is that last time you actually did?

If you say so...

God told Hosea to do something crazy. He told him to do something that made no sense whatsoever.

"Hosea, go and marry a woman who will cheat on you and make you a laughingstock. Marry someone who will make you miserable, who will daily make you feel betrayed and forsaken."

Sounds like being a prophet was hard, like it took more than we could possibly imagine. Hosea's life was about to be totally devoted to God.

How often do we ignore or avoid something because we think it sounds crazy or over the top or too much? How often do we miss what God is doing to try and stay safe or because we don't see the sense in it? Maybe its time for a little crazy. Maybe its time for things that don't make sense.

Your Story

"The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, the dragged him from the Temple, and immediately the gates were shut. While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar."

Paul is facing the wrath of the entire city. People are trying to tear him limb from limb, clawing for blood with their bare hands. He is only saved by the intervention of the Roman guards. Because he is a citizen, Paul is given a chance to speak to the crowd. He could have performed miracles, spoken prophecies, proved to them that he was powerful and speaking truth. He could have explained to them the mysteries of heaven, reasoned with them about where they were wrong in their thinking. He could have pleaded with them for his life, begged for mercy. He could have renounced his beliefs and returned to Judaism. Instead he resorts to something even more powerful. He tells them his story.

He explains to them how he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. He gives them the play-by-play on how his life was changed. He was once like them. No, he was once more zealous and certain than any of them, but he found a life-changing relationship with Jesus. This story, his personal story is more influential and powerful than anything else Paul could have done. And it is something any Christian can do - provided they have a life-changing relationship with Jesus.

What does that take? Faith and action.