Good Morning Friends,
Ok we have a forty-day journey ahead of us while we practice being married to God and if we are going to get anything out of it, we must be all in the experience recognizing the arch of our lives with God has a purpose. I am not sure I have this perfect, but it seems to me that we are on this journey of love to have an ongoing encounter to help us to realize the relationship of God with us. All this has been made for us to seek an understanding of problem of sin, but also to bring us to a decision of whether we will pray in the Kingdom to come on earth as in heaven out of love. Which brings us to today’s question. Will We Allow God’s Love To Make Us Sacred?
Scripture: See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death, and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the Lord your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before your life and death, blessings, and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Deuteronomy 30:15-20 (NRSV)
saying, “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” Then he said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves?
Luke 9:22-25 (NRSV)
“Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one.
Matthew 6:9-13 (NRSV)
“Now when forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush. When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight; and as he approached to look, there came the voice of the Lord: ‘I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. I have surely seen the mistreatment of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them. Come now, I will send you to Egypt.’
Acts 7:30-34 (NRSV)
for it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
1 Peter 1:16 (NRSV)
Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
Psalm 1:1-6 (NRSV)
Message: Friends, a tool without a craftsman is pretty useless and maybe even dangerous. I imagine we all agree that Jesus gave up something on the cross that is priceless so as to help us develop a holy relationship. But we too as apprentices must give up something if we too are to pick up our own crosses each day to take something profane and through God’s power, not our own, transform it in God’s presence into something holy. Perhaps it is visiting a person in jail or loving on a person who is dying or feeding a homeless person…perhaps it is even closer to home. Part of this, a big part, is to think differently about what is sacred and what is not. We are to discover God and experience God in unlikely places. Now I imagine that many are confused as to how much of this is God’s doing and how much of it is ours. You see I cannot make myself sacred, try though I might. Oh, I might feel the presence of God for a time but my ego and fears muscle into the experience. Salvation is the gift of God won on the cross, but Sanctification is something different. A transformation must happen and be born out of love. You see, up until that point when Christ died for our sins, the cross was never the symbol of a burden, and never considered holy. It was the symbol of death. So, when Jesus is telling his disciples to pick up their crosses it is about learning to love for an outcome where one where on willing to lay down one’s life to redeem that which would be lost otherwise. Here we might just begin to see, that our love and action is to be like God’s love and action…in a small way but still skilled in being long-suffering and kind. We are to be part of a relationship that knows no resentment. This is not about boasting and most certainly not narcissistic. This relationship is not rude, nor selfish, nor short-tempered nor focused on imperfections. But like God’s love does not rejoice in injustice either, but joyfully sides with the truth. Know this, that love is what makes holiness possible. This is the marriage of the Lamb of God and is a love that can overlook faults and is full of trust, full of hope, full of endurance to sustain a friendship for eternity. And friends, this Love that brought the Word into being ups the ante for us to become skilled in the game and commit to Christ as we take up our cross daily, not a burden but out of love giving up your hopes, dreams, possessions, even our very lives if need be for the cause of Christ. Only if we willingly take up our cross may we be called His disciple. But the reward is worth the price of a life in Christ. It is a call to the absolute surrender of love. This is the way we are transformed. This is the way of holiness guided in the Holy Spirit’ power and skill that is both the gift and the cost of love in a life committed to Jesus.
And So, people, places and events and things become sacred and holy in our perception not only because of the active physical presence of God, for God is everywhere and God’s love is universal, but because we awaken to experience God in this way. The burning bush in front of Moses was sacred not because of anything it was, but because God was there. And God will be who God will be. So, it was still only a bush whether Moses took off his shoes or not. What is relevant is that the bush became a bridge between Heaven and Earth when Yahweh descended upon it. It was a means of discovering God. And this is what is supposed to happen when we pray in the power of the Holy Spirit. So too the Tabernacle and Ark were holy because they were where God uniquely indwelt with a divine presence. But do not confuse the tool and the craftsman. Unfortunately, humans tend to make idols while God is at work making things holy…even us. You see, only God’s active presence perceived and embodied in us transforms the profane into the sacred in our perception. And God’s incarnation can set apart the ordinary for the extraordinary in this regard more so than any event in history for us if we just believe. But even this is a gift from God. It is not so much that we must remove our shoes in places of holiness, but that God himself would make them and wear them for us. Friends, we were made in the image of God after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness and yes, we are to be holy, but we must accept God’s terms. And those terms include a mystery that keeps transforming…the gift of love.
Pray we are obedient to the Spirit. Pray we choose life. Pray we repent and forgive. Pray we court God as we would a mate. Pray we have the right attitude about suffering. Pray we have a mindset focused on growth of God’s Kingdom. Pray we confess our faults and forgive. Pray we are empowered by grace, atonement, and love. Pray we commit ourselves to growth in knowledge, in service, in hope, and in charity. Pray we are even willing to have our selfish ways die to glorify God. Pray for the day when God’s glory will fill the earth with heaven’s love. Pray we believe that it is only God’s love manifested in Jesus and though the Holy Spirit that gives us the opportunity to become holy. Pray we awaken to the reality that God’s love is everywhere and the life we have been given is priceless for God is in us too.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 