John 1
I have recently started taking a Discipleship 1 class with my church, and my "homework" is to study a chapter of John a day. I'm already behind by 3 chapters, but John's such a good book that I don't think I'll have any problems looking at it more than once a day. Also as I'm writing this from a computer at school, I don't have access to any trusty commentaries (some of those commentaries in the York library are.... well hopefully you get the idea.) So for now, it's pretentiously all me. I apologize in advance.
John 1 (NIV) John 1 (ESV) John 1 (KJV)
John 1:1-18 (NIV) John 1:1-18 (ESV) John 1:1-18 (KJV)John 1:1-18 is deep and has so many tidbits, I could spend hours just teasing out some of the main themes, ideas and applications in here. Unfortunately, I don't have hours. What really did jump out to me in the section in particular was verse 10 - 11 - the idea that even though we are God's creation, we didn't even recognize him as our creator. Even though our very identity and being rests in and on him, we deny that and reject our very identity. It leads me to wonder whether this is why whenever my walk with the LORD begins to stagnate that I get so confused about where my life is going and what I'm supposed to do.
Verse 18 is intellectually curious. "No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known." (NIV) Clearly God the One and Only is a reference to Christ here if he is at the Father's side, but who has he made known? Himself? ESV puts it a little differently and it may shed some light on the issue as it says "No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side,
he has made him known." So it's Christ who has made God the Father known. This jives with other references where Jesus says such things as "No one came come through the father but through me." (John 14:6) or when he tells Philip that anyone who has seen Christ has seen the Father (John 14:8-10) [Funny how both those references are self contained within John itself.]
John 1:19-28 (NIV) John 1:19-28 (ESV) John 1:19-28 (KJV)What really stands out to me here is the way that John NEVER EVER took the glory or credit for himself but always pointed to the Christ, he who's "sandals I am not worthy to untie." John was a popular man, people were flocking to him in droves - and I'm sure that he was tempted to start trying to take credit for himself. After all, he was a man like ourselves. But the Biblical account tells us that he never did, in fact he rejoiced when Christ finally began his ministry and the people started leaving him to follow and listen to Jesus. The true heart of the humble servant of the LORD exemplified.
Another thing that I thought of here was one way to identify false prophets. Some cultist leaders and false prophets in the contemporary world often point to themselves as some sort of key feature of salvation. A true prophet should point completely and totally to Christ, would one not agree?
John 1:43-50 (NIV) John 1:43:50 (ESV) John 1:43-50 (KJV)Couple things of note prior to these verses. John again... that guy is amazing. He basically just tells people to leave him and follow Christ. What a guy.
Jesus's style of telling people to follow him - a simple follow me. Or a come and you will see. Are our lives so aligned that we can do the same? Can we say, hey come and see, and non-believers will be able to see? Another thing to consider in how we should live our lives.
And Nathanael. Man that guy reminds me of me. So skeptical. Looking for clear evidence. And yet Christ doesn't rebuke him all that hard (or so it seems on the surface anyhow) but blesses him with the fact that he will see even greater things.
Apologies for the rushed look of the last section. It is past 11:30 and I have a class to attend. I'll be back later with more on chapter 2.
1 Timothy 5:22
Though you may wonder why I skip straight from chapter four to the end of chapter five, the reason is quite a simple one. Most of chapter five is with regards to widows, women who are not eligible to be widows, and what families and the church should do in terms of taking care of widows. There is also some verses in there about elders and accusations against them. Not that I'm saying such verses are useless, but the point of these times of devotion have always been self-reflection, and the only verses I could find use to apply in my life in the present time was 5:1-2. Good advice for anyone our age... though it's interesting that Paul says nothing about how we should treat our equals in this particular passage. I guess it was besides the point... and it's not like he doesn't say in Philippians to consider other's better than ourselves in humility. (Philippians 2:3)
The references for today's devo:
1 Timothy 5:22-6:2 (ESV) 1 Timothy 5:22-6:2 (NIV) 1 Timothy 5:22-6:2 (KJV)Lots of scattered advice in this passage, much like chapter four. I'm sure that verse 22 can (and probably has been) interpreted in a variety of different ways, and I'm going to be honest and say that I don't have a clue what Paul means when he says laying on of hands. My commentary suggests that what is meant is the ordination of elders (uses 1 Timothy 4:14 as reference, as well as 2 Timothy 1:6) and it makes some sort of sense.
But what my commentary goes on to say is even more important. It comments further on the part of the verse that says "do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure" by saying that Paul was advising Timothy to be careful with the "hasty ordination of elders" as such people would be partially to blame for the problems they end up causing in the church, but lays this forth only as a potential explanation. It says, more poignantly, and I quote "Whichever is the case, Timothy was to
keep himself free from sin. One cannot deal with sin in another if one's own life is not
pure (
hagnon)." This is an incredible reminder of Jesus's criticism of the Pharisees in Matthew 7:3 or Luke 6:41, when he tells them why they seek to take the dustspeck out of their brother's eye when they fail to see the plank in their own, and an even greater reminder of my own extremely mean-spirited nature, attempting to nitpick at other's every fault (or badmouthing them behind their back because of said faults, real or not), without having the discipline to take action on my own. And yet, when can one truly say that they are pure? Purity is something unattainable to us as humans, it is impossible for us to be pure.
And that's where the amazing grace of God comes in. For what is impossible for man, is possible for God (paraphrase of Matthew 19:26/Mark 10:27). And only by his Spirit can we ever think of being clean or pure enough to have any shred of righteousness in order to even consider pointing out a flaw in someone else. Otherwise, it's just finger pointing and nasty mud-slinging.
(I'm amazed at how long I went on about that one verse. The amazing depth of Scripture. This one verse has served to remind me more of more things than I realized I needed to consider. And now, seeing as how Archie has reminded me of the massive amounts of people that could stumble onto this blog, I won't go into particulars about what those memories are. If you know me well enough, email me, and I'll let you know so you can pray about it. The only thing that I will add on to that is that Caedmon's Call's "You Created" is an absolutely amazing song. Consider the chorus. Here are
the lyrics. Scroll down past all those search hits. Thanks to Josh Robinson for giving me the much needed info so I could search it on the internet.)
-also as an addendum: That one verse gave me enough to think about. I had some observations to make about those verses in chapter 6, but they can wait, I think I need to meditate on this for a while.
1 TImothy 4:9-16
I will begin with a quick response to a question re: the commentary that I use.
It's called
The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty. The Editors are John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck.
1 Timothy 4:9-16 (ESV) 1 Timothy 4:9-16 (NIV) 1 Timothy 4:9-16 (KJV)Everywhere I go for this past hour reminds me of God's love for us, his amazing power, how we need to put our trust in him. Verse 9-10 is no exception. "...
(and for this we labour and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, and especially for those who believe." Indeed... my hope is in the living God. It feels good to hear that from the Word for some reason.
For some reason, the rest of the verses, they're there... but they don't really jump out. You know the kind of verses preached to young people all the time... do not let people look down on you... and such.
But for some reason what really speaks to me here is v. 15-16. Be diligent in these matters (i.e. public reading of Scripture, preaching, teaching [see v. 13] OR in the gifts that have been given to us [v. 14])... give yourself wholly to them... watch your life and doctrine closely. How diligent have I been in maintining my gifts. Do I even know what my gifts are? A friend of mine asked me if I've taken a spiritual gifting test... I don't believe I have. Maybe I should figure that out?
Although this is really scattered and really short, it's been helpful to pull myself out of the nose dive that my emotions seem to have taken. Being sick doesn't help.
1 Timothy 4:1-8
I'm overwhelmed. In about 22 hours, I have an assignment due, that I haven't really started yet, other than reading the necessary case law. In about 39 hours I have another essay due that's worth approximately 20-30% of my mark, which I haven't even STARTED yet (research or ANYTHING). In about 59 hours, I have a midterm for my intermediate economics course. I caught myself standing in the kitchen staring at the sink, unbearably depressed not knowing where to start.
So I decided to start with a devotion. As Martin Luther once said, "I have so much to do today, that I will start with hours of prayer." I don't know if I have the faith to start with HOURS of prayer... but I will take this time to look at Chapter 4 of 1 Timothy... a real gem I must add. One would do well to memorize it; as a matter of fact, that is what I'm going to try and do.
1 Timothy 4:1-8 (ESV) 1 Timothy 4:1-8 (NIV) 1 Timothy 4 (KJV)1 Timothy 4:1-5:
I fully identify with those who have fallen away from the faith because of deceiving spirits (and Paul's particularly harsh condemnation by calling them teachings of the devil). Paul condemns these teachings that come from "hypocritical liars," with seared consciences, forbidding people to marry and telling them to abstain from certain foods. (v.3) Paul goes on to say that "everything God created is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer." (v. 4-5) This hit me particularly strongly, seeing that I'm something of a legalist (and thus why I identify with this particular group of people... even though I probably shouldn't). I find it so easy to get caught up in the do's and dont's of Christianity, and forget the redemptive message behind the Gospel. I so easily forget that redemption comes first and works follow from that (which reminds me of that discussion currently taking place in
Andrew McKenzie's blog).
To make sure that I wasn't alone in this particular reading, I looked at my trusty commentary. It waxes long, so I'll be brief, but basically it points out to the particular historical connotations surrounding exactly what Paul was saying. The commentary mentions that early forms of Gnosticism (dualism where matter = evil and spirt = good leading to these false teachers teaching that one should reject all physical desires cravings, including the desire for food and sex) were beginning at this time, and says that such teachings were not from spiritual error, which could be easily fixed but were "more often due to the conscious strategies of God's spiritual ememies (cf. Eph. 6:12). The teachings of demons are false doctrines taught by errorists whose views are instigated by demons." It continues along this line by saying that Paul rebuts this view of all material things being evil by responding with the statement that
everything God created is good (v 4). The commentary acknowledges that, although what God created can be twisted into something evil (i.e. sex into adultery, food into gluttony), when consecrated by God by his word and prayer all things are good.
I caught myself thinking along similar lines of the Gnostics, and for much less apparent "noble" reasons. I don't know if any of you have seen the T-shirt that goes "I'll try to be nicer if you try to be smarter." That T-shirt epitomizes much of the way that I think of people when I am not filled with the Spirit. Twice, I caught myself thinking in such ways on the bus ride home. Thankfully, God reminded me of the verse that I heard preached on this Sunday (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 - Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.) I also decided to get off the bus and walk home while praying. It was amazing... I found myself nearing home and taking a detour to keep on praying.
These verses further reinforce my weaknesses without God. They reveal the "desires of the sinful nature" (Romans 8:5a) that rest within me. It is only by the Spirit that I may "put to death the misdeeds of the body." (Romans 8:13bish). Praise the LORD that he gives us a "Spirit of sonship... by him [which] we cry, "
Abba, Father." (Romans 8:15b, [which] added)
1 Timothy 4:6-8:
Verse 8 reminds me of my pastor's sermon (of which I've posted a reflection on
here) where he said that it is impossible to achieve happiness apart from godliness. And Paul only reinforces that statement here when he says "...godliness has value for all things, holding promisse for both the present life and the life to come." By being godly and training in godliness (and implicit in that command in verse 7 I read the ability to also discern what is not godly - i.e. being able to know what the godless myths and old wives tales are) I gain stock and strength to allow myself to become an instrument of God's will here in the present while I am alive on earth (your will be done on EARTH) and after I die and after the resurrection of the saints (as it is in HEAVEN). [Parenthetical references to the Lord's Prayer. A special thanks to Brad Stewart for the insight into the power of that particular prayer.] I am truly glad for the "truths of the faith" (v 6) that I have been brought up on and the "good teaching" (v 6) that I have had the immense blessing to be able to follow these past two years.
Prayer: LORD, thank you for the blessings of good teaching and godly direction that you have placed in my life - through my parents, mentors, and friends - by which you make my paths straight. Thank you for firm reminders to always think of others with love, patience, and compassion; essentially to replace my sinful way of thinking with your Spiritual way of thinking. Remind me of this lesson daily as I continue on in life and in ministry. In Jesus name I pray,
AMEN.
Then will I ever sing praise to your name and fulfill my vows day after day.Psalm 61:8
1 Timothy 3:14-16
1 Timothy 3:14-16 (ESV) 1 Timothy 3: 14-16 (NIV) 1 Timothy 3:14-16 (KJV)I know that usually the passages that I take a look at are longer than this, but for some reason these three verse felt that they deserved a post all to themselves.
Having grown up in Korean churches all my life, I got used to schisms and church splits. It almost became a fact of life, although as I got older, the church splits often would lead to some of my friends leaving our church because there parents left in a huff of anger. As I grew to understand exactly what it was that our parents were fighting about, I got angry. Arguments in Korean churches would inevitably be about which elder was not doing their job the right way, or which plot of land that the church wanted to buy to build the church, or who wasn't pulling their weight in providing the food on Sundays. Now I know it sounds like I make an exclusive claim that these problems only exist in Korean churches and I'm sure that many people were just as disillusioned about these silly arguments in their churches as well... I only say Korean church because that is pretty much all I've known my entire life.
What Paul says here in verse 14 and 15 is that he is giving us instructions on how we ought to conduct ourselves in God's household, the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth. And yet how are we the church of the living God and pillars and foundations of the truth if we can't even sort out what kind of land we want to buy for the church without getting angry and leaving the church.
Now perhaps you may be thinking to yourself, this post belongs
here. But allow me to explain why I rant a bit about this. This blog has always been about self-reflection, and the reason that I point out the above is not to condemn the actions of those people that I saw, but to condemn myself of being guilty of the same sort of thing. I do not follow Paul's list of what constitutes a proper leader or a deacon. I am not a temperate, self-controlled, humble person and so it becomes very easy for me to be right in the middle of petty squabbles that split churches apart. Thanks be to God that I have not yet found myself in such a situation, but it is a very real possiblity, and so Paul's reminder and instruction as to how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household is a reminder to me to continually breathe spiritually and be filled with the fruit of the Spirit (Galations 5:22-23).
I include verse 16 because it is just so awesome.
Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great:He appeared in a body,was vindicated by the Spirit,was seen by angels,was preached among nations,was believed on in the world,was taken up in glory.And there he rests, waiting for the day when he will return in that same glory with which he was taken up to reveal the mystery of godliness in a way that we have never fathomed before. Amen and Amen.
Then will I ever sing praise to your name, and fulfill my vows day after day.Psalm 61:8
1 TImothy 3:1-13
1 Timothy 3 (ESV) 1 Timothy 3 (NIV) 1 Timothy 3 (KJV)ESV is for Andrew because I know that's what he prefers. NIV and KJV are my two favoured versions, therefore why they are above. If none of these are to your fancy, Biblegateway has a neat drop box that lets you choose from a myriad of different versions. So much selection...
1 Timothy 3 is the standard leadership chapter. It opens with "if anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task." (v1)
There are two types of leaders that Paul talks about in this chapter, the overseer and the deacon. Clearly he's talking of church leadership, but there are certainly principles to be derived from this to be applied in my personal life.
For the overseer, Paul says that he must be above reproach, husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkeness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. Few other points that Paul brings up is that he must be able to properly manage his family, not be a recent convert, and have good reputation with outsiders so he will not fall into disgrace.
I remember at the church that I used to go to (Westside Prebyterian Church), they made up these contracts for anyone serving in a position of leadership to sign saying that they will not drink, participate in coarse joking, and many other things. That is certainly one way to go, and a very honourable one in my belief. At the same time, just as accountability software does not change the internal attitudes of the heart re: lust and sexual temptation on the internet, neither does a piece of paper saying that I will not do these things cause a change of heart either. These charecteristics must be from the Spirit, and indeed the list of things that an overseer must be mirrors the fruit of the Spirit found in Galations 5:22-23 quite closely.
Deacons have a very similar list, but there are some differences, that I wonder about. Deacons are to be tested before being allowed to serve as deacons (v10) (this verse following on the heels of the command that they must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience makes me think that the test is about the deep truths of the faith that Paul mentions in v. 9.) Paul also makes mention of the deacons wives being of similar character. I wonder as to whether there is a particular reason for this extra list of things for deacons.
But those are semantics that I can worry about later; what really concerns me is how I can conform myself according to the image of God such that I would be a pleasing overseer or deacon for him. For clearly I am not temperate, nor self-controlled. I can be very violent if I want to be and quarrelsomeness seems to run in my veins. How am I to even come close to being an overseer of God's work in the church?
By God's grace and gift of his Son and Holy Spirit. For there is none that is truly all of those things, but only through the Holy Spirit can one even begin to match up to those things. Funny that so soon after returning from summit where I made a recent revelation about the Spirit filled life in that when one is filled with the Spirit the desires of the sinful nature are completely crowded out, I come to this passage of Scripture talking about a very practical example of someone that should be filled with the fruit of the Spirit. Earlier, I mentioned that oftentimes God likes to remind you of the same thing over and over again. In my case, it may be because I listen with one ear and then oftentimes let it go out the other or get filed into the backlog of thigns to do or character traits to fix. It's definately something that I haven't been working on and is an excellent reminder for me to continue to breathe spiritually and be filled with the Holy Spirit moment by moment, depending on his strength to get me through the temptations and struggles of the day.
Paul ends on a very interesting note, and I think it deserves a reflection all on its own, (even though it's only 3 verses).
Prayer: Thank you LORD for the reminder that I need to live by your Spirit if I'm going to be a pleasing and effective servant in the work that you desire to see done here on Earth. Continue to prod me moment by moment to release my anger and impatience that often plauge me; I pray that this anger and impatience will be converted into peace and joy by the grace and power of your Holy Spirit. Empower me and strengthen me as I go through this week and this month, that is particularly busy with school work and other things, and that while putting forth my best efforts on these things, that it would not cause me to lose sight of the bigger picture.
I pray all these things in Jesus name,
AMEN.
Then will I ever sing praise to your name and fulfill my vows day after day.-Psalm 61:8
Psalm 64-65
Seeing as how it is quite late and I don't really want to get into an indepth look at 1 Timothy 3 right now (all that leadership stuff is kind of heady for 1:50 AM) I decided to jump back at Psalm. As expected, it did not disappoint.
Psalm 64: I do not know the historical context for this psalm, but it sounds pretty bad. David bemoans the evil men that lie in wait to ambush and attack the innocent man as the lay their evil plans and plot their injustices that will eventually lead to their own ruin (as we are assured of in
Proverbs 21:12). It's easy for us to think in our lives and point at others, saying "He's that evil man in the bushes, I better watch for his nets and snares." Or "I'd better watch that fool's sharpened tongue lest he lead me astray." Yet the name of the game here has always been self-reflection, and I wonder if anybody within my circle of influence would point at me and say "Watch out for that evil man and his nets and snares," or "I should watch out for that fool's sharpened tongue." Lord only knows I've given plenty of people reason to say such things of me and I am deeply ashamed.
I desire to be "the righteous" who "rejoice in the LORD and take refuge in him:" I desire to be "the upright in heart" who "praises him" and that my praise might not be detestable to the LORD but a praise of glorification to him, that is a pleasing sound in his ear. I loath to be a resounding gong in the sight and sound of the LORD. May this never be. And may this spill over into my life, that others may see the joy that I have in the LORD.
Psalm 65: As I was reading this Psalm, another picture (other than the one of God's creation that David paints wonderfully) appeared in my mind. This picture was that of York, where "all men will come." (v. 2b) Where the LORD responds to our faithfulness to Him by "answering with awesome deeds of rightesouness" and where He "cares for the land and waters it; enriching it abundantly (v.9a)... drenching its furrows and leveling its ridges; softening it with showers and blessing its crops." (v10) He will "crown the year with His bounty and His carts will overflow with abundance. The grasslands of (York) overflow, (York) is clothed with gladness." (11-12) Why? Because "(York) is covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; (all of York) shouts for joy and sings" to the almighty LORD of all, for they have heard the message and received.
A beautiful image isn't it. Despite all the sylistic gaffes in that previous paragraph, that picture painted in my mind has inspired me all the more to keep on going hard with the men in our Discipleship group. We have some solid guys, and I'm really looking forward to some exciting things this year.
Prayer: LORD you are mighty and wonderful. You convict and you inspire. You point out my flaws and weaknesses, but then you more than make up for them. Even though we ask for you to take those weaknesses away, you proclaim unto us that your grace is sufficient for us and to continue on in faith. I earnestly desire to do this. Help me not to be a man that says many things, but fails to act on those words, but that I would be faithful to the promises that I make to you and to myself as I go about my daily life. Thank you for your strength through your Holy Spirit. I ask to be filled and refreshed that it may overflow out of my life and into the lives of others.
In Jesus name I pray, AMEN.
Then will I ever sing praise to your name and fulfill my vows day after day-Psalm 61:8
