Posts tagged: faith

Isaiah 51:1-3 1 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, who seek Yahweh. Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the excavation of the pit from which you were quarried. 2 Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah; she brought you forth. For I called him alone, but I blessed him and made him numerous.” 3 For Yahweh will comfort Zion; he will comfort all its sites of ruins. And he will make its wilderness like Eden, and its desert like the garden of Yahweh. Joy and gladness will be found in it, thanksgiving and the sound of song. Joy in the Father # On the heels of yesterday, I’m still struggling with Joy, but here in Isaiah some context aligns Joy with Gladness (which feels very much in-line with my association of Gratitude with Happiness). So where will joy and gladness be found? It sounds to me like “Zion”. Zion is the Mountain of God. In the ANE gods lived on high mountain tops with lush gardens. Think of the cartoon example of Hercules with the pantheon up on Olympus.…

Psalm 105:43 And so he brought out his people with joy, his chosen ones with rejoicing. Joy is a toughy right now if I’m honest… Today marks the 3rd week of Advent, today we light the Joy candle. But honestly, joy is one that’s not just tough now, it’s a hard thing for me in general… “Hope” I feel like I get, I long for the consummation of Heaven. “Peace” is another one that I can’t say I experience all the time, but I know what it is, and I have felt, and do feel, “peace” to divine degrees at times. Joy though… I’m an excitable person, I’m passionate about the things I’m passionate about, but “joy” isn’t an emotion or state-of-being that I feel very familiar with. It’s probably not correct to use the word “emotion” for the Advent-pillar of, but it doesn’t feel wholly inappropriate either… I think of ‘joy’ as an outward response to a thing, and if I were to be pressed to think about what “inward-joy” might be, I think I’d default to how I understand “peace”. Joy, though, can’t only be…

Ephesians 4:1-6 4Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, exhort you to live in a manner worthy of the calling with which you were called: 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, putting up with one another in love, 3 being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; 4 one body and one Spirit (just as also you were called with one hope of your calling), 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all. Unity and Peace # Once again I say “Praise God” this morning for more words of Scripture that succinctly highlight the beauty of the Gospel. “I, the prisoner in the Lord…” No one knows better than Paul that if Jesus says “Come to me” you have no choice but to obey. “with humility, gentleness, and patience put up with one another in love, be eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”. Christian community was literally the talk of the town in the early church - it was so odd that historia…

The reflection in the BP calendar for today was only verses 14-15 but they made no sense to me without some more context Ephesians 2:11-22 11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, the so-called uncircumcision by the so-called circumcision in the flesh, made by hands, 12 that you were at that time apart from Christ, alienated from the citizenship of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, not having hope, and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you, the ones who once were far away, have become near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of the partition, the enmity, in his flesh, 15 invalidating the law of commandments in ordinances, in order that he might create the two in himself into one new man, thus making peace, 16 and might reconcile both in one body to God through the cross, killing the enmity in himself. 17 And coming, he proclaimed the good news of peace t…

Colossians 1:19-20 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile everything to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. I feel like there’s so much that could be unpacked here… “all his fullness dwell him in” - so besides the entire Gospel of John how can anyone deny that Jesus is God? I don’t understand anyone who claims to take the Bible as an authority and then deny Jesus’ divinity. “through him to reconcile everything to himself” - not all people are saved, it’s a clear reality. So what does it mean for all things to be reconciled to God? Feels like that could go a lot of places. “making peace through his blood” - before the cross there was an absence of “peace”, and through Jesus’ blood peace has been made. Moreso than just that, the “make” (eirenopoieo: εἰρηνοποιέω) is in the aorist which I understand to be a tense that means a thing “has happened” and “is done happe…

John 16:33 I have said these things to you so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have affliction, but have courage! I have conquered the world.” It’s interesting to read a little context around this morning’s Advent reflection passage/verse… John 16:31-33 31 Jesus replied to them, “Now do you believe? 32 Behold, an hour is coming—and has come—that you will be scattered each one to his own home, and you will leave me alone. And I am not alone, because the Father is with me. 33 I have said these things to you so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have affliction, but have courage! I have conquered the world.” It sounds to me like right on the heels of Jesus saying “hey, you’re gonna leave me alone for a minute out of fear” he says “I still love you, have peace, I am victorious”… I think he’s saying that the important thing isn’t the natural human response to pain and affliction to be to recede. Instead he’s saying that in his victory, by his love for us, the aff…

Zechariah 9:9-10 9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your king comes to you; he is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, and on a male donkey, the foal of a female donkey! 10 And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; the battle bow will be cut down, and he will announce peace to the nations. His dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. My king is indeed coming, and has already come. He is humble and he is victorious. Jesus can “announce peace” because the Kingdom is his - over which to announce whatever he wills. The rulers of this world fight for peace - they make announcements that reality is under no obligation to adhere to. “Peace through strength” is not a bad mentality from one nation to another, but within the nation the citizens are ruled by one king whose word either has weight or not. Often the weight of the word of the king is in the form o…

Isaiah 9:6-7 6 For a child has been born for us; a son has been given to us. And the dominion will be on his shoulder, and his name is called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 His dominion will grow continually, and to peace there will be no end on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and sustain it with justice and righteousness now and forever. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will do this. To Peace There Will Be No End # What a fantastic promise about what the King will do - to bring unending peace. I wrote about peace during Advent last year - Advent 2024 - Peace Things are as they are supposed to be What King Jesus will bring is a kingdom where every relationship is as it is supposed to be. There is something amazing and relieving about reconciling with a friend. Brokenness is everywhere, and that affects our relationship with everyone, from the best friend to the 3rd cousin of your boss’s secretary. The closer you are, the mor…

Isaiah 26:3 You will protect a firm inclination in peace, in peace because he trusts in you. This is reminding me of a blog post I’ve had in the queue for months [[autism-and-steadfast-faith]] which may never see the light of day but it ties in with this verse too well to not influence my reflection on it A Firm Inclination # What is this? I had to open another translation to get the idea, consider the ESV: Isaiah 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. I’m not going to attempt to explain any Hebrew in this one, I’m not fluent in it and this looks like more than a 1 word translation to me So in observation “sa-muk ye-ser” is the man “whose mind is stayed on (Yahweh)” is “ the man with a firm inclination” So it’s an - an inclincation to trust in the Lord… I definitely want to avoid going down any theological paths about the order of salvation, but personally this is resonating deeply as I describe myself (as do others probably) as a man…