From black-and-white to brilliant color

Today: Isaiah 23-27

If you've ever watched "The Wizard of Oz," you'll remember the moment when Dorothy opens a door to Oz--and your screen suddenly changed from boring black-and-white to brilliant color.

Becoming a Christian is kind of like that...or like getting glasses for the first time. You start to see in new ways and notice things that you were blinded to before.

In today's passage, there was an excerpt that illustrated this phenomenon. The speaker is talking to God and contrasting the view of God's people compared to others:

Who you are and what you've done

are all we'll ever want.

Through the night my soul longs for you.

Deep from within me my spirit reaches out to you.

When your decisions are on public display,

everyone learns how to live right.

If the wicked are shown grace,

they don't seem to get it.

In the land of right living, they persist in wrong living,

blind to the splendor of God.
You hold your hand up high, God,

but they don't see it.

Open their eyes to what you do,

to see your zealous love for your people...

God, order a peaceful and whole life for us

because everything we've done, you've done for us.

Here are a few of my observations today from this passage:

• God is enough to fill a hungry soul.
  The first part of this excerpt addresses a human need that we actually talked about a few days ago (see "Hunger and wholeness"). Instead of chasing after other people or "stuff" to fill their souls, we can first look to God Himself.
  
• Without God, people can be blind to grace.
  Have you ever heard people say things like, "I never knew what love was until I had a child"?
  
  I think the same experience can happen for people when they first get a glimpse of the grace and pure love of God. There's nothing that could compare to the pure love of God in human flesh dying for you . You don't deserve that kind of love, but there's nothing you can do to make Him love you more or less. There's nothing you can do to earn a ticket to Heaven--that's God's free gift to those who simply believe in Him and accept Him as Savior(see Romans 10:9). It's overwhelming when you really start to get that God loves you that much--that He knows your name and has a plan for your life.
  
• God's the one who opens people's hearts and eyes to His love.
  Some well-intentioned Christians share their faith in God with aggressive, forceful tactics resembling guerrilla marketing. Should Christians be bold with their faith? Yes. But Jesus didn't force His message on people: He loved, cared and served others. God is not a product to be sold. It's Christians' responsibility to love, care and serve people. It's our responsibility to talk about God when we're given the opportunity and prompted by the Holy Spirit. However, it's important to remember that we're the messengers--God's the Savior. He's the one who opens hearts and changes lives.
  
• Christians can impact people through their lives...and recognition of God's transformation.
  The most important message every Christian delivers does not even require words--it's how you live your everyday, ordinary life. When Christians are content, happy and at peace with God and others, we shine. Our lives are a big signal of God's transformational power at work--a practical proof point that He's really doing something in and through us. A key thing to remember? Don't take all the credit--because everything good that we've done, God started, provided for and allowed us to finish.

Tomorrow: Isaiah 28-30

Rumors versus reality

Today: Job 40-42

If you've ever watched a reality show, attended junior high or even (gasp!) a church, you know that rumors can be dangerous...and often, inaccurate. Rumors and reality are often vastly different. There's a big difference between knowing about someone and actually knowing them. And when it comes to God, the difference between knowing about Him and actually knowing Him? Life-changing.

Job was a stand-up guy. He loved God. But in these chapters, he actually got to know God and hear His voice in a real, fresh way. Here's how Job responded:

"I'm convinced:

You can do anything and everything.

Nothing and no one can upset your plans.

You asked, 'Who is this muddying the water,

ignorantly confusing the issue, second-guessing my purposes?'

I admit it.

I was the one.

I babbled on about things far beyond me,

made small talk about wonders way over my head.

You told me, 'Listen, and let me do the talking.

Let me ask the questions. You give the answers.'

I admit I once lived by rumors of you;

now I have it all firsthand—

from my own eyes and ears!

I'm sorry—

forgive me.

I'll never do that again, I promise!

I'll never again live on crusts of hearsay,

crumbs of rumor."

When we really know God (instead of just knowing about Him), it changes us. For Job, this moment marked a new start. He lived in awe of God's power and all-knowing nature. He surrendered himself to it. And when he did, God brought healing and restoration. Job moved from a place of total desolation on to a place of blessing. God poured multiple blessings on his life.

Tomorrow: Psalm 1-8

God sees

Today: Judges 8-9

I think I've probably talked about it on this blog before, but my parents used to tell us, "The truth always comes out." I used to think that it was a tactic to "scare" us into telling the truth. Maybe. But as I've gotten older, I think the statement is actually freeing...because when I believe, "The truth will always come out," I don't feel like the injustice or evil things I see in society go unnoticed. I know that God sees it, too--and that someday, the good will be rewarded and the evil will face justice.

In today's passage, we read about a pretty evil guy named Abimelech who massacred his own family in a quest for power. But at the end of the passage, God (once again) used a woman to fatally injure an evil militant--and God "avenged the evil Abimelech had done to his father."

We don't always see God's justice. But it's refreshing to me to know that He always sees us. God sees all the good and bad things that happen on this planet--and ultimately, brings evil to justice. However, we all sin at times--and because of the love, grace and sacrifice of Jesus, we can be forgiven for our sin--and experience a different kind of justice, the justice of being justified by Christ. This means that when we believe in Him and ask for forgiveness, He sees us just as if we never sinned. Wow. It's incredible to think that a just God would do that for us. But He does.

Tomorrow: Judges 10-12

Sex, drugs and rocks

Today: Genesis 30-31

I thought yesterday's reading was full of soap opera-style drama. Well, today's chapters describe some stuff that's pretty out there, too.

There's this guy Jacob who has two wives (Rachel and Leah--who happen to be sisters) and two mistresses (his wives' maids). Leah's son finds these things called "mandrakes" that Rachel trades a night with her/their husband to receive. What in the world are "mandrakes" you might ask? I looked up the definition on Google and it turns out that mandrakes are plants that can be used medicinally or as narcotics--so basically Rachel traded a night with her husband for a type of drug. Wow--and I thought Jerry Springer had a lot of drama!

What's interesting throughout this complicated story is once again how God cares about the people involved--He saw their hurt and heard their prayers.

At one point, Jacob and his father-in-law/uncle Laban make a covenant with each other and with God, symbolized by a pile of rocks. God served as a witness, watching over them and protecting them. In the midst of dramatic situations, God cared for His people and made sure they were cared for.

Tomorrow: Genesis: 32-34

What now, God? moments

Today: Genesis 19-21

(Confession: I actually wrote this post on another blog in 2008....but thought of it again when I re-read the passage today. I hope it encourages anyone reading this now.)

Have you ever had a "What now, God?" moment?

I have.

And most people I know have faced at least one--sometimes they happen when something unexpected occurs--or on the flip side, when something you do expect doesn't. So what exactly should we do in the "What now?" moments?

Today's passage included a story about a woman in the Bible named Hagar with a pretty serious moment like this. Hagar was a servant whose master, Abraham, couldn't have children with his wife (even though God promised he would be the father of nations). So his wife told him in effect, "Sleep with Hagar--maybe she'll give you a child." And it happened--but not the way God intended.

As always, God came through on His promise and Abraham and his wife had a child--the Plan A promised child. And Abraham's wife got nervous,so she kicked Hagar and her son to the curb (okay, the desert to be exact).

This was definitely Hagar's "What now, God?" moment. I'm sure she felt abandoned. As a servant, she probably didn't have much choice in the circumstances that led her to the desert--she was in a desperate situation.

But some things about Hagar's story caught my attention, so I thought I'd share a bit of it with you:

She wandered off into the desert of Beersheba.

When the water was gone,

she left the child under a shrub and went off, fifty yards or so.
She said, "I can't watch my son die."
As she sat, she broke into sobs.
Meanwhile, God heard the boy crying.
The angel of God called from Heaven to Hagar,

"What's wrong, Hagar? Don't be afraid.
God has heard the boy and knows the fix he's in.
Up now; go get the boy. Hold him tight.

I'm going to make of him a great nation."
Just then God opened her eyes.
She looked.
She saw a well of water.
She went to it and filled her canteen and gave the boy a long, cool drink.
God was on the boy's side as he grew up.

Even though she may have felt deserted, desperate and alone, God was with Hagar in her "What now?" moment. God cared about what was wrong in her life and encouraged her to let go of her fear. But the words that are repeated stand out to me--"God heard." In our moments of confusion or sadness, God hears us.

The other thing I noticed? An answer to Hagar's prayers was right in front of her face--she just had to look for it.

I think sometimes we have expectations for exactly how and when God will answer our
prayers--and those expectations drive how we look at our situations. Sometimes we just have to get a fresh perspective and look at things in a new way. Because in the "What now?" moments, God is always there. We just have to trust He's listening and have the faith to look for His answers.

Tomorrow: Genesis 22-24

He liked what he saw

Today: Genesis 4-7

They met in a school hallway.
And he liked what he saw.

They were friends at work.
And he liked what he saw.

They were on the same team.
And he liked what he saw.

How many times have you heard stories like this--typically about a romance or a "love at first sight" moment?

I don't know if love at first sight is possible, but I think it's possible that sight itself can be different from what we think. If you took the scenarios above at a basic level, they were about a guy who physically saw a girl he found attractive.

But what if the guy in the school hallway saw the girl laughing with her friends and thought her happy, joy-filled spirit was stunning? What if the guy at work saw the girl wow her clients by excelling at a project? And what if the guy on the team saw the girl who always encouraged the people around her?

There are people who see you and me and there are people who see you and me.

God definitely tends to choose the latter form of sight. I love what it said about his view of Noah in today's passage:

God liked what he saw in Noah.

This is the story of Noah:

Noah was a good man,

a man of integrity in his community.

Noah walked with God.

These are simple words, actually...but I would be really proud if God said those kinds of things about me. Does God like what He sees in us?

Seeing the story

Today: Mark 4-5

Telling stories was a skill Jesus mastered. Most often, I think that His stories were designed to give people a tiny glimpse of what the kingdom of God means, what God is like and how God desires people to respond to Him.

In these two chapters, the Story of the Scattered Seed really exemplifies that. But it's interesting how some people just don't get it...even after Jesus explains what the story means. He tells the disciples:

"You've been given insight into God's kingdom—

you know how it works.

But to those who can't see it yet,

everything comes in stories,

creating readiness, nudging them toward receptive insight.

These are people—

Whose eyes are open but don't see a thing,

Whose ears are open but don't understand a word,

Who avoid making an about-face and getting forgiven."

Sometimes I think Jesus could have been frustrated. If I would have been in His shoes, at times, I would have wanted to say, "HELLO? Don't you people get it yet?!?"

But He had this overwhelming love for people. He had insight and understanding to try and meet them where they were at. I think in some cases, He felt saddened by their disarrayed states of blindness, deafness or stubborn pride. He made an effort to connect with these people through stories...hoping that the simplicity of examples would help them to see, hear and turn toward the truth.

Tomorrow: Mark 6-7