vision – BibleJournal.net

Completing A Good Work?

Today’s reading is Psalm 132.

Here the unknown Psalmist gives God praise for keeping His promise to David that although David would not himself build the Temple, David’s son Solomon would complete one of David’s greatest desires in doing so (Psalm 132:11-13).

Building the Temple for God was extremely important to David as it says in Psalm 132:2-5. In these verses it says David stated he was so dedicated and committed to it that would not sleep in his house or bed, or even close his eyes and rest, until the Temple was built. However, the prophet Nathan delivered the sobering message from God to David that he himself would not build the Temple, but that his son would in 1 Chronicles 17. We can learn from David that although he I’m sure was disappointed, he was happy that his son would serve as king and gave God praise in 1 Chronicles 17:26-27.

What have you been committed to in your life that you feel God is just not bringing to fruition? Are you working towards a promotion or career goal that’s not happening? Are you wanting to start a business but don’t feel you have the resources? Are you dedicating yourself to helping a family member or friend get on the right path to make good life decisions or follow Jesus but neither are happening? Or what is a noble goal, life mission/purpose, or positive impact you are trying to accomplish but are not completing?

Why aren’t these things happening? Well..I think the first thing we need to ask ourselves is…are we working towards and desiring these things for our own glory or His? We also need to reflect on whether or not we are asking for wisdom and guidance from God on our journey or just trying to make it happen our own way. God did not let David build the Temple because he was responsible for much bloodshed and war as God said in 1 Chronicles 22:8. God did not let Moses reach the Promised Land because he did not have the faith that God would spew water from the rock from just telling it to do so, so he disobeyed God’s specific instructions and struck it with his staff instead (Deuteronomy 32:51-52). Just like David, Moses handled the disappointing news he would not accomplish during his lifetime something he had worked most of his life towards by giving a blessing to Israel after in Deuteronomy 33.

We can learn much from David and Moses in how they reacted to not accomplishing what they thought was their life’s purpose and mission. They reacted with reverence and praise trusting in God’s decision. Also, despite them not fully realizing the fruits of their labor and the mistakes they made, the Bible still tells us there has been no prophet of the Lord like Moses (Deuteronomy 33:10-12), and God knew David was a man after His heart (1 Samuel 13:14). The Bible tells us in Romans 5:8 that while we were still sinners Jesus died for us. He still loves us more than we can imagine no matter what we have done, and there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).

We can also learn that God will accomplish His purpose in the ways and timing He sees best fit. His ways and thoughts are wiser than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). And many times, He will accomplish His purpose through us, but we just may not witness it during our lifetime or even know it occurred. God still used David and Moses to accomplish both His goals and what they strived for…even though they didn’t witness it while here on this Earth. You never know the impact you might be having during your life which you just don’t see. Maybe you had a conversation with someone about Jesus where they didn’t give their life to Christ then, but that laid the foundation for them doing so later. Or someone saw your faith and dedication which led them to do something great with their life even though they didn’t tell you so. We have heard the great things said about someone and the impact they had at their funeral which sadly people never told them while they were living, and they likely didn’t even know about.

As you reflect on the nobleness of your vision and whether it is for God’s glory and aligns also with His vision, continue to ask for wisdom and clarity from Him in your journey. As Pastor Mike Baker stated in his 3/27/2022 sermon at Eastview Christian church in discussing Jesus’ scourging and mocking in Mark 15:15-20, God sometimes allows difficult seasons and pain so something really great will come in the end. Philippians 1:6 says, “And I’m sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Are you doing a good work? This verse says it will be completed ‘‘at the day of Jesus Christ”, but it does not say it will be completed during our lifetime. We may be like David and Moses or we may not even realize His vision and purpose are being accomplished in a different way to impact others for His glory through us.

Elisha

Today’s reading is 2 Kings 2, 4, and 6 as we focus on the prophet Elisha.

A famous movie line many know from the movie Top Gun is, “I’m not leaving my wingman.” Maverick, the movie’s main character, learned his lesson after leaving his wingman earlier in the movie for selfish ambition which led to a bad outcome. When he made the decision later to stay and protect his wingman, putting others’ needs above his, good things happened, and he ultimately became the hero. Elisha was the long-time servant of the prophet Elijah. As we read here in 2 Kings 2, Elijah tells Elisha to leave him 3 separate times because Elijah must travel further. However, Elisha stays true to his master, his mission, and purpose by staying with Elijah to the very end. And what happens, but he receives a double-portion of the same prophetic gifts Elijah had. As we read on, not only does God help Elisha perform many miracles in the Lord’s name, but we see God protect him with horses and chariots of fire, who we can assume to be angels, in 2 Kings 6:15-17 when the king of Syria sends his men to kill Elisha. A few weeks ago, we read about how God rewarded Ruth for her steadfast loyalty to her mother-in-law Naomi which led her to not only receiving gifts at the end of her life, but also naming a book after her and becoming part of the genealogy of Jesus. We also know about the prostitute Rahab who showed courage to protect the prophets of Israel and as a result is referenced throughout the Bible and who also became part of the lineage of Jesus. The people we just mentioned showed an unfailing courage and trust in God for their lives. Over the past weeks we have also read in the Old Testament about many kings and rulers who abandoned God and things didn’t go so well for them.

Here is my question…what is God asking you to do in your life to serve Him, your family, and others in His name that is not an easy decision and choice to make requiring great faith and trust in Him? It could be helping a friend or stranger in need, a financial change or commitment, dedication of more of your time to person or a cause or even your own family, or could be a change in career direction. Whatever it is, I can assume it’s not easy. It may put your time or money at risk which are two things I know I hold far too tightly far to often because wrongly I see them as 2 of my most valuable resources which in my mind are also scarce. However, God sees our spiritual gifts to serve others in His name as being way more valuable and has no limitations on what He can do if He sees fit financially…and His timeline is also eternity. I have seen it time after time, and we can also see in the Bible, where it may not come for a very long time, but God rewards this faithfulness to Him and his purpose in ways we could never imagine. Yet, it is still very hard to completely trust and follow Him and His will for our lives. No, these choices will not get us to Heaven, only belief in Jesus’ loving sacrifice on the cross will (Ephesians 2:8-9), but scripture does tell us we will be rewarded when we get there (Revelation 22:12, Revelation 2:23). In what way, I’m not sure…but isn’t hearing Him say to you, “Well done my good and faithful servant” enough?

See His Vision.

Work His Mission.

Live His Values.

Show me Your Glory

A few years ago I was part of a women’s bible study called Seamless. This study guides you through the entire Bible, start to finish, showing the connections of God’s plan for us, from Creation to Jesus, to the Early Church, and everything in between. It showed the seamlessness of the Bible, and how it all fits together when you look at the bigger plan of salvation. I absolutely LOVED this study! For so many years I felt like the Old Testament was a bunch of separate Sunday School stories that were anything but seamless. I didn’t understand the timelines or eras, and while I knew some of the main characters and plots, I didn’t have it “mapped out” and how it all points to Jesus.

In the last month of Bible Journal entries we have moved from Kings to Prophets. Thanks for following along with us as we uncover these early leaders in the Old Testament. If you take a step back, you can see that God’s people have been led by Priests, Judges, Kings, and Prophets, each role spanning different time periods and for different reasons. God used the prophets to guide His people back to him. Stick with us – it really does all come together and point to Jesus!

Today I get to introduce you to Ezekiel. He (and other Israelites) have been living in exile for five years in Babylon, at the hand of King Jehoiachin. The next few days we will cover more scripture from Ezekiel – and heads up, it gets pretty interesting.

Chapter 1 he leads right off with a vision that God gave him, of the glory of God. Take a few minutes and read it. Do you need a pen and paper to draw out what he is describing, to keep it all straight? All the features, and body parts and animals? I’m not a bible scholar or dream interpreter…and it’s hard to know what to make of all of this! I read this several times and I thought and prayed… Okay Lord, what do you want me to learn from this?

I’d truly be guessing if I tried to share some big theological explanation of what his vision could symbolize and mean. When I was studying and digging deeper into this chapter, I found a lot of smart opinions and guesses out there. If you’re into that kind of stuff, your bible may have a lot of cool footnotes, or google and dig around the web. When I did an image search for ‘Ezekiel 1 Vision Picture of God’s Glory’ it was crazy to see all of the different ways artists interpreted Ezekiel’s description – the picture in my mind was completely different! I also found it fascinating how one source compared verse ten’s four faces (man, lion, ox, eagle) to Jesus. Jesus is fully man, he is king and victorious like a lion, he is a servant and sacrifice like an ox, and he transcends and is spiritually sovereign like the eagle. Chapters like this leave me curious and hungry to understand more – heaven, come quick!

There were also two things I learned about Ezekiel that really encouraged me:

First, Ezekiel is BOLD. And like I said – STAY TUNED – there’s more coming. He’s clearly being directed by the Lord, and has no qualms about telling the Israelites every detail of what he just saw. They’re living in exile, and God is using Ezekiel to share His message with His people. What message does God have for you to share? Maybe it’s not an indescribable being from a vision, maybe it’s your own life experiences. Maybe it’s not a message for a people group living in exile.. maybe it’s something God has for you to share with your family, a group of teens at your church, or some co-workers. I’m encouraged to be BOLD, even at the risk of sounding a little loony.

Second, Ezekiel is reverent. Verse 28 tells us that when he sees all of this he falls on his face. He didn’t run and hide in fear. He didn’t look the creature in the eye or give him a high five. He went to the ground, face down, to show his humility, awe, worship, and adoration. Have you had those fall to your knees or go face down moments in your faith journey? Those deeply spiritual moments you can always go back to, that can draw your heart to worship and praise? Whether the circumstances were tragic or triumphant – your only response was one of complete surrender?

I can go back to some of those moments in time in my life, like when I first made a commitment to follow Christ, or when my daughter came out of spinal cord surgery at five and a half months old. Remembering and reliving those moments of complete praise and surrender draw my heart closer to the Lord. Third Day has a song called Show Me Your Glory, and I love this part of the chorus:

Show me your glory
Send down your presence
I wanna see your face
Show me your glory
Majesty shines about you
I can’t go on with you Lord

We don’t have to wait for heaven to experience the glory of God – what a gift! Let’s ask God to help us see His glory today!

The Mystery of Transfiguration

Today’s Reading: Mark 9

“And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified.And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only. Mark 9:1-8

Hello readers, I’m so happy to write to you again on a Monday morning. We have something big to talk about today, the transfiguration of Jesus. I know, that is just so much for a Monday! So, what on earth is happening here? Let’s start with the whole concept of transfiguration. The word transfiguration comes from the Latin term transfiguratiowhich refers to the experience of momentary divine radiance. Jesus’ core group of disciples Peter, James and John accompany Jesus on an arduous journey up a mountain. When they reach the top they witness the transfiguration of Jesus as well as the appearance of both Moses and Elijah the prophet. The three of them together inherently tell the story of the promise of a life beyond what can be seen and experienced on earth. Moses and Elijah had mysterious deaths as chronicled in the Old Testament. Elijah went physically with his whole body into heaven (2 Kings 2:9-12) and Moses’ grave was never found as he was buried by God himself (Deuteronomy 34:4-7). The Jews viewed the appearance of these two pillars of faith to be a sign of the end of days. It’s not an accident that the three of them appear together. Then suddenly the disciples hear God’s voice, “This is my beloved son; listen to Him.” Mark 9:8. Moses and Elijah disappear and Jesus is the only one left. They then begin back down the mountain and Jesus warns his disciples not to share what they have seen until the Son of Man has risen from the dead. What a crazy day on the mountain!

How can we, as modern disciples of Christ make sense of this transfiguration story and apply it to life today? First and most important we recognize Christ’s transfiguration as a sign of hope as the gospel of Mark moves toward the passion. Second, we can draw the conclusion that Jesus’ predictions of betrayal, death and resurrection are accurate. That we can trust His word when He says He will return for us. Finally, this episode at the top of the mountain is evidence to us of God’s faithfulness. God does not leave us without help, guidance and most importantly He does not leave us without hope. Although it may seem that we wait endlessly for God to appear in our own life, maybe we need to trust in the glimpse that others have had. Jesus did not take all 12 apostles to the top of the mountain. But that glimpse is nonetheless a gift to all of us.

When the glory and excitement of that mountaintop moment faded away; Peter, James and John were left with a difficult reality. They had a responsibility to lead the rest of the disciples while their Messiah was dying on the cross. Are we strong enough and brave enough to lead in those dark moments when what’s left is the memory of hope? As we walk in His footsteps, not able to see Him but only remembering His promise, are we still transformed by the vision of Him? The transfiguration of Jesus wasn’t just for Peter, James and John. It was for all of us. We are called to be light and hope for a world that has not seen and has not heard. We are called to dig deep and find that light within our soul, listen to Him and let the vision transform us.

Mission Statement

misison 1 Samuel 17 – Romans 15 – Lamentations 2 – Psalm 33

It’s likely that the company you own, or work for, has a mission/vision statement. Good mission statements inspire people. More so, effective mission statements have the power to identify and establish the priorities that yield powerful results. Did you know that Paul had one too? Read it with me. Romans 15:18-21 says,

I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience—by word and deed, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God—so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ; and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, but as it is written,

“Those who have never been told of him will see,and those who have never heard will understand.”

Did you hear it? If I were to format it in today’s corporate or church language, it would sound something like this.

To bring all people from Jerusalem to Illyricum to understanding of the Gospel, through preaching, utilizing signs and wonders from the Holy Spirit and by my own example.

Pretty powerful, right? Can you imagine having a statement like that for your own life? What does your mission statement say? More importantly, what do your priorities say that your mission statement is? That is what impresses me the most about Paul. He lived it! The evidence is well documented. In fact, he lived it so well that in 2 Timothy 4, as he nears the end of his life, he says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Mission Accomplished.