Security with Others

Security with Others

Ps. 7:11; 62:8; 2Chr. 29:34; Job 8:3;

 
 

How secure can we be with others? We cannot control them; we cannot be them. What is the basis for our security with others? Again, it is based in our standing with God.

 
 

While others may hurt us, we are called to serve them. That can leave us pretty vulnerable. However, God gave us His promise that when we are doing what He calls us to do He will help us with the choices of others. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that we won’t get hurt; however, God can minimize the effects of that hurt on us. He can be there with us, help us to refocus our energy, or just center us with the idea that he modeled exactly what He wants us to do and He will vindicate us in the end.

 
 

Our goal is to be like Him. Yeshua modeled this while He was here. He did not respond to others the way that I am sure he may have wanted to. He responded in love to the other person. Sometimes that love was not a pleasant remark; however, He was always motivated by the good of the other, and not for Himself.

 
 

If we take that stand, knowing that even Yeshua acts that way, we can have security knowing that we are being what He wants us to be. We are being a light to others, in order that they may come into a covenant relationship with Him. Now that’s security!

 
 

Security with Others

Security with Others

Ps. 7:11; 62:8; 2Chr. 29:34; Job 8:3;

 
 

How secure can we be with others? We cannot control them; we cannot be them. What is the basis for our security with others? Again, it is based in our standing with God.

 
 

While others may hurt us, we are called to serve them. That can leave us pretty vulnerable. However, God gave us His promise that when we are doing what He calls us to do He will help us with the choices of others. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean that we won’t get hurt; however, God can minimize the effects of that hurt on us. He can be there with us, help us to refocus our energy, or just center us with the idea that he modeled exactly what He wants us to do and He will vindicate us in the end.

 
 

Our goal is to be like Him. Yeshua modeled this while He was here. He did not respond to others the way that I am sure he may have wanted to. He responded in love to the other person. Sometimes that love was not a pleasant remark; however, He was always motivated by the good of the other, and not for Himself.

 
 

If we take that stand, knowing that even Yeshua acts that way, we can have security knowing that we are being what He wants us to be. We are being a light to others, in order that they may come into a covenant relationship with Him. Now that’s security!

 
 

Security with Self

 
 

Security with Self

Ps 82:5; Ezek 30:4; Ps 18:6; Ps 5:5; Micah 1:2;

 
 

 
 

Our security with self is based solely upon our security with God. As humans, we are completely unable to control what happens in this world. Without God’s sovereignty, we are helpless pawns in chaos.

 
 

Fortunately, God has chosen to love His creatures and He has chosen to make Himself known to us. We can see Him in natural creation, man-made creations, as well as the intuitions that He has placed in us so that we can know Him. Additionally, He has made Himself known to us through the revelation of His Word, His prophets, and Yeshua- the Messiah.

God lets us know on several levels that He is there and wants to love us and help us. What then, would we be insecure about?

 
 

God makes covenants with His people. Covenants imply conformity. While God is always faithful to conform to the covenants He makes, we are not. It is our self-will, stubbornness, and blatant arrogance that makes us walk-away from our responsibility to God. We do not want to be held accountable. So, we fool ourselves into thinking that God is not there, doesn’t really care, or that He is simply not paying attention to us. However, that is not the case, and we will be held to account.

 
 

When we do not do engage in the relationship, we start to feel that sense of insecurity. Our guilt before God starts talking. When that happens, we begin to fear, not only God, but everything around us, even ourselves. We sense our loneliness and we are keenly aware of trouble. All of a sudden, the world is not so safe.

 
 

Meditation: Where is God in your life? Are you going it alone? Why or why not?

 
 

Activity 1: Inventory the places where you don’t “need’ God. Why do you think that is true?

 
 

Activity 2: Inventory the places where you praise God for His involvement in your life. Record this in a journal that for a few days. How’s your track record? Do #1 again.

 
 

Activity 3: Listen to how you interact with others. Does your relationship with God shine through? Do others know that God is in your life? Why or why not?

 
 

Activity 4: Pray! Ask God to reveal blind spots. Renew your commitment to Him and plan action steps to do that.

Security with Self

 
 

Security with Self

Ps 82:5; Ezek 30:4; Ps 18:6; Ps 5:5; Micah 1:2;

 
 

 
 

Our security with self is based solely upon our security with God. As humans, we are completely unable to control what happens in this world. Without God’s sovereignty, we are helpless pawns in chaos.

 
 

Fortunately, God has chosen to love His creatures and He has chosen to make Himself known to us. We can see Him in natural creation, man-made creations, as well as the intuitions that He has placed in us so that we can know Him. Additionally, He has made Himself known to us through the revelation of His Word, His prophets, and Yeshua- the Messiah.

God lets us know on several levels that He is there and wants to love us and help us. What then, would we be insecure about?

 
 

God makes covenants with His people. Covenants imply conformity. While God is always faithful to conform to the covenants He makes, we are not. It is our self-will, stubbornness, and blatant arrogance that makes us walk-away from our responsibility to God. We do not want to be held accountable. So, we fool ourselves into thinking that God is not there, doesn’t really care, or that He is simply not paying attention to us. However, that is not the case, and we will be held to account.

 
 

When we do not do engage in the relationship, we start to feel that sense of insecurity. Our guilt before God starts talking. When that happens, we begin to fear, not only God, but everything around us, even ourselves. We sense our loneliness and we are keenly aware of trouble. All of a sudden, the world is not so safe.

 
 

Meditation: Where is God in your life? Are you going it alone? Why or why not?

 
 

Activity 1: Inventory the places where you don’t “need’ God. Why do you think that is true?

 
 

Activity 2: Inventory the places where you praise God for His involvement in your life. Record this in a journal that for a few days. How’s your track record? Do #1 again.

 
 

Activity 3: Listen to how you interact with others. Does your relationship with God shine through? Do others know that God is in your life? Why or why not?

 
 

Activity 4: Pray! Ask God to reveal blind spots. Renew your commitment to Him and plan action steps to do that.

Security with God

Ps. 17:15; 140:13; 1John 3:2; Rev. 22:4;

Our security with God is based on God’s attributes not ours. He is the one who initiates relationship.

He is the one who swears allegiance to the covenant.

Our job is to know that as we obey Torah, out of love for God, our security grows.

We can know that our relationship with God is stable because we are doing our part to love Him,

and because He is aware of our imperfections He does most of the work in the relationship.

That doesn’t mean that we can excuse ourselves for bad behavior or for ignoring God.

We must do our part to uphold our end. We need to be aware of God in our everyday lives.

We need to acknowledge Him before all things. As we do that, we are able to feel the security in

our relationship with Him. We are able to call Him ‘our’ God.

Why? Because we are being faithful to Him…

Security with God

Ps. 17:15; 140:13; 1John 3:2; Rev. 22:4;

Our security with God is based on God’s attributes not ours. He is the one who initiates relationship.

He is the one who swears allegiance to the covenant.

Our job is to know that as we obey Torah, out of love for God, our security grows.

We can know that our relationship with God is stable because we are doing our part to love Him,

and because He is aware of our imperfections He does most of the work in the relationship.

That doesn’t mean that we can excuse ourselves for bad behavior or for ignoring God.

We must do our part to uphold our end. We need to be aware of God in our everyday lives.

We need to acknowledge Him before all things. As we do that, we are able to feel the security in

our relationship with Him. We are able to call Him ‘our’ God.

Why? Because we are being faithful to Him…

Jesus in Context

Matt. 6:33

Whenever we read the Bible, we have to read it in context. We cannot anachronistically superimpose our own Christian doctrine on it and then say that it is true.

The verse you are speaking about, Matt. 6:33, comes from the book of Matthew. The book focuses on the Messianic Character of Yeshua, and in it, Yeshua is addressing Jews for there were no Christians yet.

The Kingdom of God concept that he refers to comes out of his declaration to Israel that he had come to bring in the Year of Jubilee that God promised them while they were in exile.

Yeshua says here that whatever you think you need is not as important as seeking God’s Kingdom on Earth. That is what Yeshua came to bring. (Luke 4:18)(Isaiah 61:1-3)

Yeshua demonstrates that Kingdom in all his miracle-working. It is being initiated in his life, death and resurrection. That was the time that the Gentiles would be allowed into the covenant that God was renewing with Israel as outlined in Jeremiah 33, during the Babylonian exile. God always intended to restore His people (Israel). They, the people of Israel, do not have to be saved to be in relation to Him, their covenant with Him does that. His covenant is eternally binding, on Him. Yeshua was bringing in the Eschaton, or so says Paul in most of his Epistles. It was good news for Israel as well as the Gentiles. Israel’s God was coming to His people, and as promised, He would begin the ingathering of the Gentiles as well. The point in the Matthew passage is that the people’s hearts should have focused on what God was doing on Earth, as God’s Kingdom was being realized. They were not to focus on themselves. God had, and would always take care of His people.

 

 

Jesus in Context

Matt. 6:33

Whenever we read the Bible, we have to read it in context. We cannot anachronistically superimpose our own Christian doctrine on it and then say that it is true.

The verse you are speaking about, Matt. 6:33, comes from the book of Matthew. The book focuses on the Messianic Character of Yeshua, and in it, Yeshua is addressing Jews for there were no Christians yet.

The Kingdom of God concept that he refers to comes out of his declaration to Israel that he had come to bring in the Year of Jubilee that God promised them while they were in exile.

Yeshua says here that whatever you think you need is not as important as seeking God’s Kingdom on Earth. That is what Yeshua came to bring. (Luke 4:18)(Isaiah 61:1-3)

Yeshua demonstrates that Kingdom in all his miracle-working. It is being initiated in his life, death and resurrection. That was the time that the Gentiles would be allowed into the covenant that God was renewing with Israel as outlined in Jeremiah 33, during the Babylonian exile. God always intended to restore His people (Israel). They, the people of Israel, do not have to be saved to be in relation to Him, their covenant with Him does that. His covenant is eternally binding, on Him. Yeshua was bringing in the Eschaton, or so says Paul in most of his Epistles. It was good news for Israel as well as the Gentiles. Israel’s God was coming to His people, and as promised, He would begin the ingathering of the Gentiles as well. The point in the Matthew passage is that the people’s hearts should have focused on what God was doing on Earth, as God’s Kingdom was being realized. They were not to focus on themselves. God had, and would always take care of His people.

 

 

Fear of the World

Fear of the World (Creation)

Psalm 121:1-8

 

Our fear of the world says a lot about what we hold to be great and powerful…what does our fears in the world say about how powerful we think God is?

 
 

A lot of our fears about the world center on the purpose of our life in creation. We often buy into the secular worldview that nature, while being powerful, can destroy us because we are just part of that nature. We are animals that are affected by nature, just as other animals, and have been created by nature to have no apparent purpose, we just are.

 
 

The biblical worldview is different because we are not part of nature; God created us! He gives us our purpose, and in fact, has created nature for us. We are to have dominion over it, not it over us. While it certainly is a good thing to have respect for the power in nature, nature itself is not the be-all end of power. God is able to intervene, and it is He that has power over it.

 
 

As stewards of God’s creation, God has given us certain abilities, like reason, to be able to manage nature. We see this in the way we are able to harness electricity, fire, air, water and even the earth for our benefit. The key is to use that ability for the good of God’s creation, including people, and not for our own selfish benefit. However, to fear creation is to deny God’s power, and like the other fears we have seen before, it is idol worship.

 
 

God tells us to worship nothing but Him. This is why we go to church. We choose a body of believers that we can worship with, grow with, and serve with that holds us accountable to a Holy God.

Don’t think that because you choose a church that the people will be perfect and nice and life will be so easy. It is not the case that Christians are better than other humans, but they certainly should be trying to practice Kingdom living. Part of Kingdom living here is trial and error. My kids have seen that in our family life. Hopefully, they are not foolish enough to reject God because of His creatures’ behavior. My children’s obligation to God is not based on someone else’s faith or lack thereof.

 
 

Another thing that church can be is a family away from home. When you are sick, when you need prayer, when you just need to be near people you know, church can be that kind of community. As a single mom for five years, my church provided a social network that my family could not be because they were an hour away. Also, during crises and times of uncertainty, a church family can provide a stable base. So, fear of the world can be partially eliminated if you have that support from your church.

 
 

Fear of the events you see in front of you need to be reoriented into God’s perspective. He created time, people, and everything you can apprehend with your senses. He is in control of all outcomes. Your perspective on what “might” happen is pretty useless. We cannot predict who will win wars, what political candidate will devastate our country, or who will come into power. What we can know is that no matter what happens, we have a loving God who promises to use all things to the good of those who are called according to His purposes. So make sure, when you are anxious about what is happening in the world that your purposes align with His!

 
 

Meditation:

What are some of the disadvantages of fearing the World? What are some of the benefits? List these on paper. Which are yours? Read the verses and think about what the verses are telling you about your fears.

 
 

Activity 1

If you don’t belong to a church FIND ONE. Visit a few different denominations if you don’t have a particular faith. Write down what you liked and didn’t like about each church. Pray and ask God to lead you to the right one.

 
 

Activity 2

Think about what it means to be a steward of God’s creation. How does that change your view of what’s important in today’s events? Write down your thoughts.

 
 

 
 

Activity 3

Make a point to watch the news. Try to separate truth from rhetoric. Listen with an ear toward God, what would He be trying to tell you about the news. How can you see the news through God’s eyes and your call to have dominion over creation?

 

A New Year: A New Focus

 

 

 

A New Year: A New Focus

 

Often at the end of a year, we re-evaluate where we’ve been and what we want to accomplish. This is true of me most years. Sometimes that is about renewing broken relationships, or striving to be better at something that has fallen short of your expectations. It could also be a new direction that will lead to growth and understanding.

This year, I am moving away from a straight line Bible Study to a study of faith and practice that includes the Bible and other works that will expand knowledge of why we believe what we do. This should impact who we are in the world. It should impact our day to day relationships.

This type of study will encourage us to read the Bible passage and its subsequent links and cross references, as well as challenge us to think about the origins of that passage and its implications on our relationships toward others who may or may not be Christians.

Uncharacteristically, for evangelicals, these studies will NOT have as a goal the conversion of others to our way of thinking but rather for us to understand the “other” in their context and in relationship with them try to discern what God is ALREADY doing in their lives. Sometimes, evangelicals in their zeal to “save one for Jesus” miss what God is already doing. They often do more harm than good to another’s fledgling or even established faith. They also damage what could have been intimate and God honoring relationships. In their zeal for heaven, they are no earthly good. We need to appreciate not assimilate that person for what God has already put in them and not for how they serve our own agenda.

New Perspective! New Relationships! New Year! Happy New Year!

 

Here is a sample of the new idea:

 

Scripture: Leviticus 23 Think about what God tells us to focus on.

Tracey Rich has a great site that explains the Jewish New Year Celebration and meditation.

http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday3.htm

Discussion: How does your faith resemble this kind of faith? How can you relate to the Israel of God?