If I were Job, and I lost my family, home, and animals I would not think that eventually receiving more would replace what was lost. No no child can replace a deceased child. No household pet can replace a lost pet. And—while I am not the sentimental type—there is value in the memories that places, people, and possessions can spark in our lives.

I was pondering this when I realized I was not properly recalling the setting of Job’s story. Job seems to be as close to “cave man” as the Bible exposes. It appears he was living with dinosaurs and fire-breathing dragons (Job 40-41); and so maybe losing family members and other beloved possessions was not so uncommon. When things are common, they might still be terrible, but the expectation is different; our responses are different.

Perhaps Job’s story is not so much about the loss of irreplaceables as it is about 1) every bad thing happening at once (i.e. way more than he can handle without the Spirit), and 2) the common expectation that good things happen to godly people, and that God is working everything out for His good—specifically in bringing retribution and carrying out judgement. (Theologians call this last thing the Retribution Principle: it’s the biblical version of “karma” except that it only really works from an eternal perspective.)

It would certainly have been difficult—even beyond difficult—for Job to endure so much. But I think his deepest grief came from the failure of his expectations in God. He heard God, and dialoged with God—God is ever-present with him. Yet God delays in intervening. And God allowed it all to happen. There had been a “hedge of protection” around Job (an angelic protection? a spiritual ‘bubble’? a season of blessing?) and God took it away (Job 1:10).

Job learns to trust God and let God set the expectations for his life. He cannot hold onto both his own expectation for his life to turn around and his full dependence on God at the same time (even though he was correct in believing that God wanted to bless him and that he did not deserve his circumstances). Sometimes we have to release God to heal our circumstances by accepting them, and worshiping God anyway. I am doing this in a couple areas of my own life. My husband calls it, “realistic optimism”: accepting that if things do not change it will be okay, while continuing to have hope and flexibility in actively anticipating God’s promises coming to pass—whatever the timing, and however it looks.

And that part about Job enduring way more than he could handle? Maybe God wanted Job to recognize that alone he could not handle much, but through the Holy Spirit he could pass through it all, so that nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37). He who can endure all things allows us to endure all things through Him—love is the key to this (1 Cor. 13:7: “love endures all things”). When Job is full of God’s love, he prays for his friends, and they too are redeemed. We, too, can choose to embrace God’s love in the anticipation that He knows what He is doing, and He will see us through. It is a joy through the release of our own expectations.

My senior year of high school I unexpectedly found myself taking Choir in order to meet my fine art credit. I’m not the sing-in-public type—plus was more “jock” than “musical”—so it was an interesting and empowering experience.

In preparation for an upcoming concert our teacher guided us into the auditorium, switched off the lights, and had us practice singing a cappella in a circle in the dark.

In the dark there were no distractions. In the dark our ears became more sensitive to the sounds, and we were more likely to stay on tune within our various parts. It was really beautiful—one of my favorite moments, even though I have no memory of the song itself.

I have had a shift in my spirit of embracing my challenges. And somehow, I have had more physical energy, more joy, and more peace, even though I am still chronically ill and struggling through the symptoms of my conditions.

It’s tempting, when the lights go out in our lives—when life is difficult—to stop worshipping God. Maybe we mean to worship Him, but we are so busy and distracted in trying to find the light—the way out—that it doesn’t happen. But in the darkness when our emotions and senses are heightened there is an opportunity to hear God more than ever. We can embrace the longings within our own souls, and surrender them passionately. Longing without hope becomes desperation, but longing with God leads to deep intimacy.

“May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope.” (Rom. 15:13 AMP)

 

 

I saw a commercial today for some kind of medical drug claiming to help with whichever illness it was, followed by a good 20 seconds of warnings of terrible side effects, and potentially death. I know I’ve seen similar commercials before, but this time I began to think about how terrible the people with that illness must feel in order to take such heavy risks with potent drugs.

The idea of trading one bad thing for another “lesser” bad is quite common. I learned as I was researching for a seminary paper on biblical authority over demons that one of the primary methods of spiritualist and Jewish healers in casting out demons would be to scare them out with other more powerful demons. These practices emphasized Jesus’ remarkable spiritual authority, especially since He held visible power over all demons and illnesses. It is no wonder that He was also mistaken as using the authority of the ruler of demons in Matthew 12:22-30, since His power was so beyond the norm.

Sometimes it feels like anything is better than whatever we are going through. But the Lord is the only one who can truly heal—the illnesses, the emotions, the soul—and to direct us into the methods and processes that will catalyze that healing. The safest place to be is within God’s rest: whether He directs us to traditional medicine, alternative medicine, unusual and nonsensical healing strategies (and miracles!), or if He works to redirect our focus entirely.

I have dealt with continuous chronic health issues with better and more difficult moments, and can empathize with wanting change. An experience I had a couple years ago ironically changed my heart from seeking “solutions” and helped me to push through those feelings of “what else can I do?” to the new challenge of trusting God as I rest in “the best that I can.” I had been praying to God when I clearly heard a demonic spirit say that if I would renounce God and re-join his army he would heal me in a moment. The call was so audible and so far out of the realm of possibility—God having given me so much, and the enemy having stolen so much—that I was able to put my situation in perspective. Whatever reason for being sick, whatever reason for the delay in my prayers being answered, I realized that the situation was not in my control.

Healing does not come through control, but by complete release and trust in God.

It has been a couple weeks since I have shared from my seminary studies, because it has been so busy! But I want to share a brief insight that I think is so profound:

It came up as my classmates and I were discussing the hemorrhaging woman in Luke 8:43-48—whether there would have been an issue of defilement due to her uncleanliness. My professor shared there is halakhah that the Torah is so holy that it is beyond defilement. Thus, if something unclean touches it, the Word of God cannot become unclean, but retains its purity.

Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, so this also applies to Him. When He touches the unclean, they become clean: healed, delivered, forgiven, whole. When the unclean touch Him, they likewise cannot defile Him. The atmosphere changes for Him, not the other way around.

There is so much more to say about this story; but I’ll end here: No matter how “far gone” we are, how embarrassing our issues, how hurt, how sinful, how broken, we can come to Jesus with the faith that—because He is the unchanging, undefilable, Word of God—we can approach Him to receive healing.

I just finished my first week of this new seminary school year, and I am tired and ready to start the weekend rest, so I am going to be brief in sharing a new revelation from my studies:

St. Luke writes his gospel to Theophilus, a Gentile believer who needs reassurance “of the things been taught” (Luke 1:1-4). This brings a remarkably unique account. I was amazed to recognize that while the text has a very Jewish essence—being deeply rooted in the Hebraic tradition and culture—it is also intentionally written with universal appeal. God has, from the beginning, desired the hearts of all nations, and Luke brings out that diversity without losing focus of the Jewish root of the Kingdom. It’s a fascinating paradigm.

This universal appeal is multifaceted, spanning gender, age, class, culture, and nationality. No one is left out. For example, John the Baptist was born in a miraculous birth coinciding with Jesus’ birth, but as a forerunner for Him. The parallels are immense, but among them is the obvious difference in class: John came from an important religious family who had the attention of the community, while Jesus was born humbly. Class and prominence are clearly not the indicators of spiritual worth. Also in the opening chapters of Luke, Simeon and Anna—an elderly man and an elderly woman—each recognized Jesus as Messiah when He visited the Temple as an infant, demonstrating that the Kingdom is also inclusive of both men and women. And the overall focus of Luke’s gospel is not on Jesus as a sacrificial offering (a natural continuation of Jewish thought), but on the movement of the Spirit, God’s ultimate plan of reconciliation for the world, and the Kingdom of God, which is a uniquely diverse, yet unified, collaboration of God’s children—both Jew and Gentile.

As one of my classmates pointed out, “same-ness is not the same as one-ness.” It’s important to encourage diversity, so that within our distinctions, the church can come together as the well-equipped, perfect, Body of Messiah.

It makes me excited to press forward with the goal to be my authentic self in all things.

In the past when I have considered the story of Jesus defending the adulterous woman in John 8, I have wondered, “What was He writing in the dirt?” Today as I was doing my normal household work, I recalled this story with a new focal point: He was writing. The what does not matter so much as the action itself.

It is interesting to me that Jesus does not inquire about this woman’s past or present circumstances. She had been caught in the act of adultery—an especially big deal for her setting, which insinuates all is not well with this woman without defining whether the problem is within herself or brought on by an external force (e.g. in the matter of sexual abuse). Beyond her punishable actions, she likely has emotional hurts, needs, and a life reflecting those areas of brokenness. As God, Jesus would have known these things; as man, His knowledge of her circumstances may have been limited. Either way, it appears He chooses to see her future rather than her past.

There is a parallel here to the story of creation: man being formed from the dust compared to Jesus writing in the dust. Writing is an act of creation. It is the release of a word. In the beginning God created by releasing His word (and BTW the word for spirit/Spirit is the same as the word for breath in both Hebrew and Greek, so the process of speaking words is also a release of His Spirit). Jesus now re-creates this woman’s life in a similar manner. He draws/writes in the dirt His word regarding the situation, or perhaps about her, or perhaps about Him. And through this His Spirit is also released: a spirit who desires creation, re-creation, reconciliation, and love beyond any other thing.

Jesus’ judgment for this situation—His ruling—overlooks the problem of the past/present in order to present a vision of the future. The further surprise is that although Jesus is without sin, He too is not willing to stone this women. He says, “Neither do I . Go and sin no more” (verse 11). It is natural that the sinful religious authorities be denied the right to stone her for her sins; but Jesus, having true authority and the prerogative to carry out retribution, chooses re-creation instead of extermination.

If judgment is defined as making wrong things right, His judgment is against the accusations and religious traps of these particular religious leaders and for the restoration of this woman’s full being (her internal feelings, and her external actions). Love propels this restoration; accusation solidifies the problem and hinders positive growth. Love carries the authority to say, “Go. Be renewed,” because it provides a vision for that future renewal.

In Part 1 I discuss Matitiahu Tsevat’s argument that, in the Book of Job, God and retribution cannot be simultaneous focal points; and in Part 2 that the retribution principle does not always work on our timeline, especially if we hinder God’s purposes. Is Job, then, a book teaching that our experiences are not a consequence of our deeds, or that we cannot expect God to act on our behalf? Absolutely not! It is a book about God’s amazing grace to remain with us amidst our struggles even when we cannot see Him. It is a book reminding us that the retribution principle is in effect—that justice is coming—but that God’s timing is not our timing, and justice belongs to Him alone.

We do not give up the theology of Torah, rather Torah is fulfilled—a new dimension is revealed. Without this bridge between Torah and the New Testament, the end time labor pains do not make sense. We must remember that “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward , not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). We cannot expect immediate results; we have to trust God: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Mat 6:33). And we have to recognize that we have only a partial perspective: “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known” (1 Cor 13:12).

When we recognize these things, we can comfort those who mourn, using our love for them to re-open their broken hearts to receive the love and shalom of the Spirit. We can remind them that God is near, and that He is faithful in working everything out for our good.

Job is transformed within his story because God entered his place of suffering. He manifested Himself to Job in a personal way, which broke Job’s mechanical mindset of retribution. He reminded Job of His participation in creation and the earth from the very foundations of time. And He reminded Job that His perspective is so far beyond human comprehension, yet He still chooses to manifest Himself among us. In other words, Job remembers that he has every reason to trust God because of the strong relationship they have had in the past. Job can stop worrying about what will happen next. He no longer has to struggle to survive each day, or to defend himself in the cycle of repetitive introspection and defense. He can rest in God knowing in full confidence that God has this under control—regardless of the outcome or length of the trial.

This realization creates a change in Job, which is reflected in his response: “I know You can do everything; nothing You do can be foiled or frustrated” (Job 42:2 The Voice). He trusts God because he has experienced God personally: “Before I knew only what I had heard of You, but now I have seen You. Therefore I realize the truth” (Job 42:5-6 The Voice).

Job loved God fully when He was a transcendent sovereign God. Now he has encountered God. His theology had been solid, but one dimensional. Now he has experienced God as a personal and living being, and so his theology has likewise matured to a multidimensional understanding. Through Job’s suffering, he was able to meet God in this way, presumably for the first time at this level of intimacy. Perhaps this is why God chose Job: because He wanted to personally interact with Him so thoroughly? This is not to say that suffering is ever God’s purpose, but that in everything we can rejoice in God’s greater purposes, and the hope of that ultimate reconciliation with Him, which results in the restoration of all things. Even in Job we see that the Spirit of God is with him within his suffering (e.g. Job 27:3), and that God is compassionate and anxious for Job’s complete healing.

God is with us too, regardless of what we are going through or why we are going through it. Our job is to focus first on God, and it is in Him that we find peace (not in the reconciliation of our circumstances alone). Remember the formula I suggested in Part 2: Job <---> God ---> Retribution? We cannot focus on both God and Retribution simultaneously; but if we truly give our burdens to God, we know that because of His great love for us He will carry out retribution at the first opportune moment. God’s purpose is the restoration and reconciliation of all things—He created the heavens and earth to be good, and wants that goodness restored. We have that to look forward to—both now, and in the coming days.

In Part 1 I discuss the retribution principle, along with Matitiahu Tsevat’s theory that in any given situation only two of the following elements: Job, God, and Retribution, can exist together at any single moment.

If the retribution principle is eliminated there is new freedom for a personal relationship between God and man.

But does this mean the retribution principle must be eliminated to understand the Book of Job? Only for Job—that is, for the suffering person. Job needed it removed from his primary focus so that God could move into that place. He needed to trust God’s methods without understanding them, and until he lets go near the end of the book he had been unintentionally fighting against the process in defending himself and God against his enemies (i.e. his “friends,” the spiritual battle, and even against a part of himself).

God, however, is not limited to this same time frame or struggle. From a heavenly perspective it is certainly possible for Job and Retribution to exist simultaneously. This, after all, is the nature of God: He both predestines, and changes His mind; He is transcendent above us, and immanent among us. God can interact with the sufferer, and be moved by compassion within the given moment, but He can also foresee the future, and develop plans accordingly.

God knew, from the beginning, that He would bless Job abundantly. Job considered this thought as well. But whereas Job’s focus was distracted by what should be and what is, God remained unflustered. He could see Job’s pain, recognize the necessary process for Job to fully surrender within his trial, and foresee the blessed outcome. The reader, too, should note God’s eternal mindset and patience. Neither the reader nor God needs to eliminate the retribution principle—Tsevat essentially advocates this, but I don’t think it is the best way to understand what God was doing. Rather, God put Himself in front of the retribution principle, so that Job could relax in the midst of his pain, trust God, and refresh himself in the refuge of the Lord.

The story begins with an equilateral triangular diagram as Tsevat claims, but by the end of the story it looks like this:

Job <--------> God --------> Retribution

God is no longer transcendent from the situation, but places Himself at Job’s level, so that Retribution is no longer within Job’s view. God begins above the situation (the top of the triangle), then comes down into it. God can look both toward Job (us) and Retribution, which may take place now, or perhaps not until the “Day of the Lord” when our warrior King will punish the wicked, and reward the overcomers. Thus, the retribution principle is not removed, but realized in Kingdom perspective as Job comes into contact with the living God of eternity.

More to come in Part 3.

I recently finished a seminary elective about God and Healing, and thought I would progressively share some of the richest moments of my studies. I’m going to start with some thoughts on the Book of Job, because this truly transformed my perspective.

Jewish scholar, Matitiahu Tsevat (now deceased) wrote a brilliance article, “The Meaning of Job,” in which he used a triangular paradigm to describe the relationship between people, God, and the retribution principle. (The retribution principle is the idea that good things happen to good people, and bad things to bad; God blesses the righteous, and punishes the wicked.)

Tsevat’s diagram is an equilateral triangle in which Job, God, and Retribution each take one point. The concept behind this is that we cannot look in two directions at once—we can look up at God, or across at our situation (or even backward, or in some other direction)—but we cannot face both directions simultaneously. Job’s friends understood God and Retribution to be true, therefore they believe Job must not be righteous as he says. Job perceives himself as righteous, so struggles between his relationship with God and expectation of retribution (nearly, but not quite, losing God in the process).

From Job’s perspective, Tsevat’s statement is true. Job’s attachment and forethought regarding the retribution principle (assumption of justice based on his relationship with God, including his own right-standing and knowledge of God’s mercy and graciousness) prevented him from resting in God within his sickness and dis-ease. From the perspective of the suffering person it is difficult to hold onto both God and Retribution, because they become contrary. Jesus himself speaks of this when he says:

You know that Hebrew Scripture sets this standard of justice and punishment: take an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say this, don’t fight against the one who is working evil against you. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, you are to turn and offer him your left cheek. If someone connives to get your shirt, give him your jacket as well. If someone forces you to walk with him for a mile, walk with him for two instead. If someone asks you for something, give it to him. If someone wants to borrow something from you, do not turn away. (Mat. 5:38-42 The Voice)

If we have retribution in mind, we naturally begin to put our hope in that--in justice, health, restoration--and it becomes difficult to "serve two masters" so to speak (Mat. 6:24). Our relationship with God lessons until our faith in Him is omitted, even if He was the intended source of the retribution. In this way the human yearning and expectation for retribution produces a mechanical faith, whereas resting in God is an organic, personal one.

God’s eternal perspective goes beyond this while also bringing cohesiveness to the retribution principle. This will be discussed further in Part 2.

This didn’t happen recently, but is something I’ve been wanting to get out in writing: I had neglected to test the spirit of a particular sign I was seeing in the spiritual realm, and it turned out to be really harmful. I had assumed God was speaking to me through this sign, but instead, it was a former familiar spirit trying to win me back.

Reading the passage in Exodus 32 about the golden calf, I realized the seriousness of my error. In this passage of scripture, the Israelites are in the desert after having been delivered from Egypt. (Did you catch that? They were delivered! The blood of the lamb on their door frames had saved them from the angel of death.) But then, they were in the desert, and they became confused. It seems they did desire to connect with God, but on their terms; and Moses (their mediator with God) had gone up to the mountain and was delayed in his return. They gather together and say to Aaron, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

It’s hard to imagine that a delivered people could project their worship on a physical object that they had just created. But they do. They declare: “‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!’ So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, ‘Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord.’ Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.”

What is Aaron seeing? The biblical text doesn’t tell us. The first it is italicized because it doesn’t exist in the original Hebrew: it reads more like, “when Aaron saw, he built an altar before it .” Aaron had just created the calf with his own hands, so it doesn’t seem likely that he would immediately forget what he had done and declare the calf is god—especially not the same god who delivered them from Egypt. It’s more likely he was seeing something spiritual. It’s much harder to describe seeing or perceiving the spiritual realm, so if Aaron saw something there, he may not have understood what he was seeing. Probably, he saw something spiritual, assumed it was a spirit of God, and assumed God was blessing the calf with His presence. Because Aaron connected the spirit of God to the golden calf, it became an object worthy of devotion. If he had considered his actions, he may have realized his error; but it seems he was acting without much thought.

This is, at least, what I recognized I had done. I didn’t intend to do it. I was seeing something I couldn’t describe. I’d mentioned it to several Christians who—without seeing it for themselves or having any experience with it—had encouraged me that God was showing me this seemingly positive sign as evidence of His favor and blessing in my life. And meanwhile, I was becoming increasingly physically ill and emotionally tired—and seeing the supernatural sign an average of four times a day, each time thanking God that He was blessing me. And I didn’t once consider that I should ask God regarding it. At one point, I was researching something completely different and came across an article that the thing I was seeing meant spiritual distortion and chaos, but I was so convinced by my initial assumption that I disregarded the evidence without a second thought. It is amazing, looking back, how quick I was to be confused—all because I had neglected to test the spirits, or ask the Lord what I was seeing and what it meant. It is a blessing I was eventually able to discover the truth and reconsider (and repent for) my mistake.

1 John 4:1 says: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” And to the church in Corinth, Paul warns that the devil disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Cor 11:14). The stakes are too high not to test every spirit, every sign, and every supernatural experience. Every good thing comes from God, but not every attractive thing is good.

What happens when the Holy Spirit comes upon someone? I shared earlier about my own experience with the baptism in the Holy Spirit, including the initial evidences in my own life. Now, I’d like to simply list some of the accounts in the book of Acts where believers were baptized in the Holy Spirit, along with the physical evidence that the Spirit-filled believers manifested at this time:

Acts 2: Devout Jews and proselytes from every nation had gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate Shavuot, when the Holy Spirit came upon them and filled them. They each heard the gospel in their own languages and many received salvation through Jesus. Then, Peter explained to the crowd what was happening, because this was the first time the Holy Spirit was poured out corporately in this way.

What happened when the Spirit came upon them:

• The Holy Spirit was heard/felt as a violent rushing wind (Acts 2:2)
• There appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and the fire rested on each one of them (Acts 2:3)
• They began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance--most likely other human languages (Acts 2:4-11)
• They acted as if they were drunk (Acts 2:13-16)
• Peter connected the event as a partial fulfillment to Joel 2, which prophesies that both men and women, both young and old, both slaves and free-men, will have dreams, visions, and prophesies from God when they receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:17-21)
• The effects of the Holy Spirit were both seen and heard (Acts 3:33)
• Everyone felt a sense of awe (Acts 3:43)
• Signs and wonders were taking place (Acts 3:43)
• The people had one mind and became a unified community, even sharing their possessions with each other, eating together, and praising God together (Acts 3:37-47)

Acts 4: A group of believers, including Peter and John, is arrested for teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

How did the Holy Spirit evidence Himself:

• Peter and John--uneducated and untrained men--spoke with clarity and boldness (Acts 4:8-13)
• They had earlier healed a man, and it was recognized as a noteworthy miracle (Acts 3:1-10; Acts 4:14-16)
• They had unprecedented boldness and were unable to stop speaking about what they had seen and heard (Acts 4:20, 31, 33)
• They were unified as one body, sharing everything (Acts 4:32-37)

Acts 7:54-60: Stephen is stoned to death while full of the Holy Spirit.

How did the Holy Spirit evidence Himself:

• Stephen was able to gaze into heaven and see the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God
• He was given the power to forgive them as they were violently killing him

Acts 9: Saul's conversion: Jesus appeared to Saul and spoke audibly to him (so that even the men with him could hear). The experience left Saul blind. Then, Ananias was led by God to visit Saul (a big deal, since Saul persecuted Jewish believers like Ananias). When Ananias laid hands on Saul and prophesied over him, he was filled with the Spirit.

What happened when the Spirit came upon him:

• Saul received spiritual wisdom (the scales fell off his eyes)
• His physical blindness was healed
• He became a completely different person: not only did he stop persecuting the Jewish believers, he began to proclaim Jesus openly in the synagogues

Acts 10:34-48: As Peter was preaching, the Holy Spirit fell upon those who were listening.

What happened when the Holy Spirit came upon them:

• Both Jews and gentiles received the Spirit (Acts 10:45)
• They spoke in tongues and exalted God (Acts 10:46)
• In this case, the baptism in the Holy Spirit came before the baptism in water (Acts 10:47-48)

Of course, this isn't a complete list; the book of Acts is long, and (being that it focuses on the "Acts of the Apostles") includes multiple records of signs, wonders, and miracles that I neglected to mention. It is also interesting to note that although the Holy Spirit was available in the Old Testament, this was the first time that the Holy Spirit was available in fullness (not that we receive in fullness, but that He was fully given by God). Earlier I had mentioned Shavuot--rather than the Greek, Pentecost--because it is worthwhile to understand the parallel between the giving of the Holy Spirit and the giving of the Torah to Moses. Just as the Torah was fully given to Moses, but gradually and continually understood, so is the Holy Spirit fully available but gradually and continually absorbed. This is why the baptism of the Holy Spirit is so important--not just as a one time event, but continually as we walk with God.

I also want to note that, although the followers of Jesus were completely devoted to Him while He was on earth (and baptized in water by John), it was not until they received the gift of the Holy Spirit that they were able to connect with Jesus intimately from His place in heaven, and to effectively begin their ministries. In fact, I don’t think they even understood their ministries until they were filled with the Holy Spirit—after all, right before Jesus ascended, they asked if it was the time for the restoration of Israel. They were focused on themselves, and their nation, but the “great commission” was and is for the whole world. Without the fullness of the Holy Spirit it is impossible to fulfill the great plans of the Lord.

Recently I’ve begun a hobby in sales, which has caused me to see salespeople in a new way and to consider my own sales process. I’ve also been noticing that Jesus was a TERRIBLE salesperson. Rather, He wasn’t a salesperson at all! He wouldn’t let His disciples say goodbye to their families (Luke 9:59-62), He demanded His followers give up everything they had (Luke 14:25-27, Mat 19:20-21), He spoke in parables so that only the ones who wanted to understand would hear His message (Mark 4:9-12), He ministered to people with great miracles and then told them not to tell anyone (Mat 8:2-4), He at one point confronted His disciples and told them not to follow Him anymore if they didn’t want to (John 6:60-71), and He promised them persecution (Luke 21:12, John 15:20). If “selling” Himself and His gospel was the goal, these weren’t the best techniques.

Jesus could have created a large following, changed the government, declared Himself King, stayed alive, and lived a happy human life. But it wasn’t His mission. He wanted to change the whole whole by conquering sin and death and salvaging humanity from the chains of the devil. He wanted to save the people then AND the people yet to be born (us); and He wanted to rescue us both from the pain of sin now AND from the pain of Hades that was due to us. He spent His life on us, so that we might have eternal life through Him. Later, He will come back to declare Himself King, change the government, win the war, and enjoy life with us—the earth will be baptized in fire and the heavens will open. It won’t be good news for everyone, but we get to decide carefully whether to on Jesus’ team or against Him.

I love that God does not infringe on our free will. We can make whatever choice we decide is best for us (to accept Him, or maybe not to), and He wants us to fully consider our spiritual choices. Jesus said:

"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions." (Luke 14:26-33)

Here in California there are many building developments that halted when the economy dropped that will likely never be finished. And I can think of at least one "king" who started a war he couldn't finish. But Jesus says, don't be stupid like that. Consider following Me. If you believe I'm the Messiah, that I died on your behalf, that I rose again and am still alive in heaven waiting for the harvest of My people to be ripe so I can return to remove evil from the earth--if you believe I am who I say I am and that I'm worth it: give up everything and follow Me.

Jesus didn’t come to trick and manipulate people. He’s not a conniving cult leader. And yet a portion of the Jews believed Him, began to spread the gospel and started this thing we call Christianity. If you aren’t a follower of Jesus, you should carefully consider whether He is worth following. And if you love Jesus like I do, let me remind and encourage you that it’s not our job to convince anyone of anything—just to allow the Holy Spirit to work in us, and to share the good news of the gospel in a way that allows everyone the chance to consider if Jesus is Lord.

I’ve been taking a Hebrew Aleph-Bet Class lately (did you know the word “alphabet” derives from Hebrew?), and it’s been really fun. I’ve learned about six letters now and wanted to pass on a story about the letter tav from last week’s lesson:

Tav is the /t/ sound* and means “mark”, “check mark” or “owner’s mark”. Each Hebrew character comes from the drawing of a physical object that uses the given sound, so that’s why /t/ is represented with a tav, which besides being a letter is also a separate noun.

To the Phoneticians the check mark used to look something like this: x

Over time, it changed to something like this: +

And in Hebrew the letter has continued to change. A tav now looks like: ?

Back to the +, you may recognize that the English t is also very similar to this, as is the symbol of the cross. Our t did evolve from this letter (having come first through other languages like Greek and Latin) and has the same sound.

In the Bible, there are only two instances where the word tav (which, remember, means “mark”) is used**. They are both in Ezekiel 9 and it just so happens that at this time, the letter would have looked like: +. In Ezekiel 8, people are doing some really really detestable things, and God has decided to destroy them. But, God is just and He decides to put a mark (a tav) on the people who do not like the evil in their midst. These people are saved by the tav on their foreheads:

Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub on which it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed in linen at whose loins was the writing case. The Lord said to him, "Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst." But to the others He said in my hearing, "Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare. Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not touch any man on whom is the mark; and you shall start from My sanctuary." So they started with the elders who were before the temple. (Ezekiel 9:3-6)

How cool is it that the symbol used to mark those found righteous in this passage happens to look like a cross?! I'd say it's very cool! :)

_{*it can also be a /?/ or /s/ sound}

_{**Strong’s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance only lists two usages of this word (#8420). There are several other places where the English word “mark” is used, although they have different meanings and usages.}