Too Lightly

When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God". (Mark 12:34)

After the children of Israel are exiled, their religious leaders had a lot of time to debate what went wrong in the exile. The prophets had told them that they were too lax on their spiritual life. They took the things of God too lightly. They treated his worship with contempt. They offered sacrifices that were blemished. They gave greater value to the passing things of this life than the wonder and awe of God himself.

Therefore, the teachers of the Law decided to enact barriers around the Law in order to serve as warning signs of impending danger. The indictments in Matthew 23 against hypocrisy, titles, artificial tithing, greed, self-indulgence, self-righteousness, and spiritual disconnectivity arose from a warped understanding of God’s laws and standards. Their additions to the laws of Moses so obscured the original laws that the teachers effectively nullified and made irrelevant God’s teaching. The fundamental principle of all the Pharisees, a common factor with all modern orthodox Jews, is that by the side of the written law was an oral law to complete and to explain the written law.

The written law was regarded as a summary of the principles and general laws of the Hebrew people given to Moses on Mount Sinai and transmitted by him by word of mouth. The first portion of the Talmud, called the Mishna or "second law," contains this oral law. It is a digest of the Jewish traditions and a compendium of the whole ritual law, and it came at length to be esteemed far above the sacred text.

For Reflection:

1) How close am I to God's original intention for my life?

2) How much do I discount my own sin when wrong?

3) What barriers do I have in my life to protect me from sin and separation?

Thank you for listening and learning together,

Boyd

For Our Good - Foul Posts

The Old Testament is a striking reminder of our most basic problem – the human attempt to meet all of our needs apart from God’s presence. The Law was not meant to restrict us, to limit us, or to cause us to miss some of life’s greatest joys. The Law was meant to extend privilege to all people without my rights extending to yours. The Law provides the foul posts in which legitimate and sanctioned activity can take place for the benefit of all persons involved. When I begin to include actions and activities that are outside the limits, I not only harm myself, but others as well.

Jesus said, “The greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God, with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus said the motivation, wellspring, and encouragement to love others begins from a love for a God we cannot see. No wonder, God started with commandments one and two, in the order He did. When our relationship with God is in the right order, the rest of our relationships will begin to line up.

Idolatry moves then much closer to home than the voodoo doctors in West Africa or the Buddhist monks in Nepal or the strange Baal gods of the Old Testament. It moves right into the living room when anything that competes for my allegiance with God becomes an idol. Any time I attempt to manipulate the spiritual realms in order to satisfy a desire for power, security, comfort, or pleasure, I have placed another god before Him.

For reflection and review,

1) Remember your best baseball memory - food, sun, winning game, the company.

2) When have you strayed outside the foul posts of God's design, with regret and shame your only souvenirs?

3) In what area of your life do you need to draw back and live within parameters, self-control, and discipline? For your good and His glory?

Thank you for listening

For My Good - Ten Commandments

There are some unique qualities about the Ten Commandments that set them apart from other Near Eastern social and law codes. In the Old Testament, social and religious behaviors are intertwined. God makes it clear that my relationship to Him will affect every area of my life.

It will affect how I spend my money. My relationship with God will affect what I do in my free time. My relationship with God will affect how I parent my children. All Ten Commandments, whether the four initial spiritual or the remaining six with human relationships, all are interrelated.

Although the commandments appear prohibitive, they are not negative. They offer the boundaries and parameters of expressing true love. How many volumes would have been required to state every non-loving act? Some lawyers and law students are still discovering that fact. Rather, the Ten Commandments told us that love could never include taking someone else’s belongings, their life, their wife, their reputation, or their future. They told us that abuse of the physical life or the sexual life, and the desire for the possessions of those around us, violates our covenant relationship with God.

In the English language, the Ten Commandments are just a little more than fifty words, but they speak immeasurably about the character of the God who crafted them. They also speak about the worth of individuals at all stages of life. To God, the boundaries around each one of us are sacred. Each one of us is a unique combination of physical life, sexual identity, possessions and reputation.

The laws also make a statement about man’s dependence upon God. God created us in a way that we would need him in order to feel and truly be complete. Apart from God, our lives are shortsighted and less than He intended. People, who set themselves up as the center of their universe, have already broken the first two commandments. As we understand that we are not the suppliers of every need, we become able to respond to God at a different and more profound level.

Reflection:

1) Think of a time when someone invaded your personal space and violated your boundary.

2) Consider the importance of boundaries and lines of separation for relationships, peace, and stability.

3) Are there any relationships you need to restore as a result of honoring God's principles?

Thank you for reading, reflecting, and revising your life

Boyd

For my Good - It's all about you

Even in Deuteronomy 5:9-10, God reminded his people,

“You shall not bow down to them (idols) or worship them, for I the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of their fathers to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

The law is a reminder of the unique relationship God has with His creation. We are His creation. The intent of laws, regulations, and limits was not to prevent personal enjoyment, but to enhance it. The law provides the clear demarcation beyond which safe and prudent action will not occur. God reminded us through Moses, like the speed limit sign reminds us on the highway, excessive and reckless disregard for limitations is not freeing, but restricting.

God told Moses He would punish the sins of fathers and sons to the third and fourth generation. At first glance, it appears strong, caustic, and unmerciful. Yet, we forget the reminder His love reaches to a THOUSAND GENERATIONS for those who love Him. The law is meant to preserve our life, heritage, and legacy, long beyond our great-great-grand-children. It is meant to extend into the next millennium. The difference between self-serving, self-interest, and ego-tripping pharisaism, is that the laws which God prescribed were given in the context of covenant. Since God has given me the prescriptions for a well-lived life, it is in my best interest to seek Him, to know Him, and to follow Him completely. Christian obedience is not about what will advance my self-interests, but about maintaining my all-important relationship with God. It is all about you. It is all about me.

For My Good - Law and Commandments Part 1

Law and Commandments - Part 1

In every state, there exists a speed limit law. The law is designed to insure optimal traffic patterns, reduce risk, and maintain quality road conditions. The limit varies from place to place. Speed limits can vary from 65mph on urban interstates like California to 80mph in rural West Texas interstates during the daytime. Breaking the law by speeding is defined as traveling over the posted speeds or traveling too fast for which road conditions would deem appropriate. Now, however, there are exceptions to the speeding limit. Medical emergencies, or if the driving was considered reasonable and prudent, can be dismissed under ‘prima facie’.

Growing up in a crowded congested stretch of US-75 Central Expressway traffic near Dallas, I never imagined anyone getting a ticket in rush hour. Forward progress would have been a good thing in those times. But weekends, evenings, and late hours, provided plenty of temptation to travel a little quicker.

I can also still remember traveling about 85 miles per hour in Louisiana with the hazard lights flashing. No, I was not being chased. No, I was not getting away. It was only moments after my pregnant wife told me that her water had broken and it was time to get to the hospital. I almost felt like a racecar driver. I broke the posted speed limit because another situation demanded more prudent and immediate attention.

When Moses completed his task of rescuing the Hebrews from Egypt to the Wilderness, he found himself with a daunting task, grumbling associates, and mounting stress. His father-in-law, Jethro, wisely suggested delegation as a means to get a handle on a looming population crisis. He placed some initial guidelines in order for the people to be more efficiently served and to relieve Moses from so much stress.

As Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai and later, the subsequent ceremonial and civic laws, Israel was entering into a time of covenant with God. This initial set of laws can be divided into three sub-sets. Moral laws included those that were based on the unchanging character of God and are therefore eternally binding. Civil laws, which may illustrate moral law, were limited historically to the theocracy of Israel and are not binding on the church. Ceremonial laws were intended to prefigure Christ and ceased to be applicable upon Christ’s first advent.[1]

For reflection:

1) What one law in my area seems pointless and ridiculous?

2) In what areas am I pushing to the edges of morality, finances, and ethics?

3) What is one thing my parents tried to teach me which I inevitably learned too late in hindsight?

Thanks for listening.

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For My Good - The Ultimate Model

We are grateful it was also for our good. It was and is good for Christ to have followed His Creator fully and completely. He didn’t miss out on anything. He lived a full, meaningful, and rewarding life that only He could have lived. He fully trusted His Father despite times of deep sorrow, confusion, shame, and pain.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the JOY set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)

In every way, for every person, for every culture, and for every age, Christ is the ultimate model of a life well lived. His life not only became the model for us to follow, it became the life transferred into us by the power of the Holy Spirit at conversion.

“Do not think that I (Jesus) have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17)

For Reflection:

1) Who is your favorite current living role model?

2) Who is following your life as a role model?

3) Who is your mentor?

Thank you for reading

For My Good - The Example of Jesus

Consider the example of Christ. Since we are His followers, Jesus himself said that we should not expect preferential treatment that the Master didn’t even receive. If we are convinced that Christ was the most perfect example of mankind to ever live, then He must have received the ultimate reward for his obedience, service, and sacrifice. He humbled himself to take the form of a human. He subjected Himself to the pitfalls, foibles, and follies of a community. He became a leader in a hotbed of religiosity and ritual. He selected leaders to perpetuate His teachings. And in the end, he did not become the great leader, his followers expected.

And therein lies the great twist. At the gathering on the mountain of the elect, called, and about to be commissioned, Matthew records that some present still doubted, while others worshiped. Their perspectives were limited by pain, disappointment, disillusionment, and uncertainty. How could his departure in any way be for their good and His good?

And yet, two millenniums later, time is measured by Jesus’ birth. The church that Jesus said would continue to advance is now present in many communities around the world. Martyrs continue to give their final testimony for the way in which Jesus changed their lives.

Scripture also describes the current state of affairs in Heaven. Jesus has completed the mission the Father had prepared for Him. He prays for believers to be strong in their testimony and trials. Angelic beings, elders, and saints continually offer sacrifices of praise, worship, and adoration to Christ. His obedience to the mission God had for Him, His fulfillment of the law’s commands and requirements, and His suffering and sacrifice granted Him a place of prominence and preeminence that is reserved for no other being.

For Reflection:

1) What things in my life appear bad, but may be used for good?

2) Think of a situation which looked temporarily bad but produced a better future for your life.

3) What part of my life is God using for His glory and my good?

For My Good -

Long overdue new post:

These posts are the thoughts and considerations of the great purposes of our lives and why those often become detoured due to our own activity or inactivity. These short parts will become the basis for a book entitled, "For My Good". Your comments are essential, needed, and welcomed.

When speaking with Tomas about becoming a Christian, he just smiled and rolled his eyes as they glazed over.

“Why should I give up going to the disco, chasing girls, drinking and smoking-- just to follow Jesus? I’d lose more than I would gain. You must be crazy. By the way, I’m still too young. I’ll just wait till I’m older.”

“No one really still believes all of that ethics stuff. If you want to get ahead, you’d better wake up and get with the program. Those rules are out of date.”

From the backstreets of Romania to the boardroom of corporate America, there is an undercurrent pulling at our lives. Since the Garden of Eden, we’ve convinced ourselves that we know what’s for our own good, our own best interests, our own safety, and our future. We’ve decided to disregard God’s instructions and commandments, with little concern of punishment, consequences, or damage.

But, the Bible paints a very different picture than our arrogance, naiveté and selfishness would care to admit. Old Testament prophets saw a clear picture between religion and reward, obedience and blessing, and poverty and punishment. It is clear that some things have changed in our relationship to God since man’s demise in the Garden. The veil of sin has forever tarnished our level of trust in God. Our sources for information are incomplete, misleading, deceptive, and inaccurate. Our views of life, history, and eternity are shortsighted due to pre-occupations with pleasure, plenty, and prevention.

Strikingly, there is a Biblical model for self-inflicted/fulfilling prophecies. The measure to which we give will be the measure that is returned to us (Luke 6:38). The punishment and harsh treatment that we dish out to others will in time be returned upon our own heads. There are ample excerpts in scripture that remind us that our reward will equal our service, intentions, actions, and motives.

Reflection:

1) Do you fully trust authority, leaders, and God? If not, why not?

2) Do you think there is a design and method to the Bible's message?

Thanks for reading and listening