Sugar and Sin

For the last week and a half I have been seriously starving my body of sugar. Part of it has to do with doing the South Beach Diet in which the first phase calls for a serious drop in carbs. I don't see myself as being seriously overweight, but I needed to make some adjustments to be comfortable with myself. I've lost probably about 8 lbs when you count in the fluctuations one might have from day to day.

At the start of this, I was 201 and now when I wake up in the morning  after fasting all night in my sleep, I weigh about 190.5. My pants are certainly fitting better and I feel better, but one thing has been very apparent to me in his last week and a half. My addiction to sugar was pretty bad. By eliminating, if not limiting, anything that causes a spike in my blood glucose levels, I realized just how much I was overloading my body with toxic sugar. 

Seriously, in the morning I'd wake up and have one full glass of orange juice and if there was a piece of bread around, I'd eat it. Go check out how much sugar one glass of orange juice has and consider the fact that since it is a juice, it will be absorbed much faster. I would eat some sort of bread, whether it was toast or my personal favorite, pan dulce (sweet bread). I'd pour my cup of coffee with creamer and sugar or a flavored creamer and the day is just getting started!

Lunch comes around and I would exercise virtually no self control. Whatever sounds good, I went to go get it. Burritos, hamburgers, fries, chips, sandwiches, it didn't matter. After lunch, that mid-afternoon craving for more sugar would set in and I'd find myself at the store buying some delightful peanut butter cups or Snickers to satisfy my need for more sugar.

Then dinner comes around and I may exercise some restraint on the fast food, but it was none the better because even if I was making tacos at home I considered it "home made food." Needless to say, my blood glucose levels were off the charts all day long and with my routine at work which consists of a lot of sitting, my body was storing fat like it was getting prepared to hibernate. 

The first week of not eating this way was difficult because the cravings don't go away. You eat a high-protein, very low-carb meal and you feel satisfied for a little while. But the craving for some sugary delights kicks in very quick and you have to exercise some amount of control over yourself not to give in. 

The weekend is the hardest with the many temptations it brings. Luckily, I was home most of the weekend and on Sunday for mothers day when my wife and I went to my parents house, they cooked grilled chicken tacos and all I had to do was eliminate the tortilla. 

So here I am on Wednesday almost done with a full two weeks of very low sugar intake. Here is the biggest surprise I am learning from this experience. Our addiction to sugar is unknown until we start to cut off all the food sources that give us sugar. I'm not talking about just candy and soda, I'm talking about breads, sauces, and fruit juices, and yogurts, all of the above that have too much sugar and very little nutritional value. I did not understand how dependent I was on sugar, it is an addiction. 

Here's what I am feeling right now. My sugar addiction has subsided. I have very little need to stop at the store and grab chips and a candy bar. The morning is much easier now. I wake up and make coffee with a non-fat creamer and sweet and low and have bacon or eggs, which are full of protein. I also try to have a full glass of water.

Lunch has become a cinch. Today, for example, I had a shrimp salad with a small amount of balsamic vinaigrette. It helped that the Mexican restaurant who made it does a good job with the shrimp, but you can get a good salad like this anywhere. My only real indulgence has been diet sodas which I know are bad for you in one sense, but they don't cause an insulin response (though there are some studies that indicate some may). 

Dinner is a no brainer and is very easy if you're willing to put in the effort. The bottom line has been that eliminating or seriously limiting the amount of carbs I take in, I have effectively curved my craving for sugar. It's completely manageable. In the midst of chips and salsa and the guy next to me eating a burrito, I was happily eating my shrimp salad. I keep thinking of my progress and how good I feel and how I don't want to undermine that, so I keep on pushing on. 

Applying Spiritual Principles

How can any of this apply to spiritual principles? Sin is an addiction of sorts and if we can successfully starve the spirit that causes sin, I think we can curve the need to sin. I'm not trying to build a theology around it, but I think there is some validity to this. Just as in anything else, there is lots of discipline and practice involved in becoming an effective disciple of Jesus. One thing that can throw us off track is sin, which can be likened to sugar in this case. 

I can go right now and pig out on peanut butter cups. Or I can choose not to. Last week, it would've been easy to go to the store and take my choice of sweet indulgences. Right now, I can firmly resist because I don't have a deep sense of urgency to get sugar into my body. 

Right now it may be easy for all of us to engage in some particular sin. Maybe its really easy to get angry and hurt someone. Maybe its really easy to sit in front of your computer to look at explicit content. Maybe its really easy to cheat on your husband and wife with that guy or girl you've been flirting with for a while. 

Whatever it is, the key is to starve it. 

This takes discipline and you may not be presently tempted by certain sins, but ultimately you want to protect yourself from all sin. The way we can all do this is my exercising restraint in our life with all things concerning sin. 

If you're constantly listening to bad music that doesn't uplift and edify, too much of it will be stored in the fat cells of your spirit like sugar to the fat cells of your body. It becomes part of you. This can be applied in many other things such as flirting when your not supposed to, looking at things your not supposed to, hurting people, being angry, acting in malice, lying, etc. When you're taking too much in, it will become part of you.

When it becomes part of you and you're carrying all that extra weight of sin, you have only one choice but to starve it and work out your spiritual muscles. This requires discipline, a focus on the end goal, and lots of prayer. It most certainly requires a serious dedication Jesus. 

We want to be as perfect as we can be and seeking perfection is not done in vain. God has called us to be perfect even though we know perfect won't come until the Resurrection. But, as we know, right now we are called to live holy lives to God. If we dabble in "little" sins all of the time, like little indulgences of sugary snacks, how can we expect to resist that big piece of succulent chocolate cake when it is presented to us?

The little sacrifices we make count because they are investments in the kingdom of God. As you slowly remove your need to sin from your spirit, overtime the big temptations are easy to overcome. Yet still, sin will be crouching at the door always and we must overcome it and we can do this by first stopping it in its tracks and also occupying our lives with good works. 

The Tragedy of a Miscarriage

Writing about this is intensely personal and I hope to share just a few thoughts about my recent experience that is both a tragedy and a lesson.

My wife had a miscarriage and it was tremendously hard to take her to the doctors when we suspected something might be wrong. The whole way down to the doctors I was praying silently hoping that everything was okay and that if it wasn't going to be okay, God would give us the strength to endure.

Both my wife and I were extremely anxious about what the doctor would find out which made sitting in the lobby almost unbearable. After being called in, we sat inside of the doctors room in silence. I looked up at my wife and she seemed scared and sad. I reassured her that whatever happens, God is always here. She shook her head in agreement, but with little change in her expression.

The doctor came in and asked my wife a few questions and mentioned that what she was experiencing happens in a lot of pregnancies. This offered a little bit of hope for me that everything was going to be fine. The doctor then proceeded to tell us that we would have to do a sonogram to make sure everything was okay and it was at this moment that I became extremely nervous.

My wife closed her eyes for a moment with a worried look on her face as the doctor was preparing for the sonogram. I simply uttered prayers underneath my breath that the baby would be fine.

As the image pulled up on the screen, my heart immediately dropped. I knew exactly what I was looking at and the tears on my wife's face confirmed that she knew as well. There was no heartbeat, no movement, just dead silence. The doctor spent a few more seconds looking and looking, but I suspect she knew what she was looking at too.

It was at that point that the doctor looked up at Yesenia to say sorry and tell her that she miscarried. This of course brought tears to her eyes and my heart broke into pieces, not just for my baby, but for my wife who I could sense was immensely sorrowful at the mention that our baby was no longer alive.

The doctor finished up and left us to ourselves. I embraced my wife the way a husband should, grabbing her head to place on my chest and holding her tightly. But this was all I could do. I mourned with her and just held her there while she cried. After a few minutes, I looked at my wife in her eyes to assure her that within God's providence all things work together for good.

It is at this time that faith plays an important role in peoples lives. There are many couples who suffer much harder things. I cannot imagine what it would be like to have a stillborn or go almost full term and have a miscarriage.

To us, this was big, but at the end of the day it can't break us from the hope that is in us. I spent the next few days with my wife at home while she would go in and out of crying. It was a hard few days. We had to spend time in prayer and I had to make sure that my spiritual leadership came into serious play here.

It is with these small battles, whether in marital problems or in tragic things like miscarriages, that we learn whether or not we are up to the task to endure. This is not to say that there is no pain or heartache, or that there is no suffering. Rather, these battles show us whether we are prepared to endure the pain, heartache, and suffering.

If there is no intimacy between you and your wife and your consolation only comes at a time of trouble, it will be difficult for your wife to hear your words. I must work to gain the trust of my wife and this can only come through the discipline of living a life after the Messiah's own heart. In the discipline, I must provide my wife with guidance in our marriage all of the time and when I do so I prepare her for battle as well. Our job as husbands is to protect and provide. This is not limited to physical sustenance and shelter, but to spiritual sustenance and shelter as well.

If in my passion for Jesus I become more like him and my wife follows my example, we will be prepared to endure these battles by the armor that we have put on. We are not immune to suffering, but we can travail the rocky terrain when we encounter it and we can only do this if we have properly trained for the task.

This miscarriage is a tragedy for us and for our family. We want a child that we can call our own. But, in this tragedy I have learned the immense value in being a disciple of Jesus and the tremendous obligation to be passionately dedicated to imitating Him in every facet of my life so that my wife and future child or children will be equally prepared for the battles of life by knowing and imitating Jesus as well.

Standing below Scripture

With all of our ideas, philosophy, theology, and other scholarly endeavors (be it in school or not) there is the very real temptation to stand above Scripture in criticism not realizing that ultimately Scripture stands above us.

If we don't handle the Word of God with fear and trembling, we can make the fatal - and I mean that in a serious sense - mistake of making the Word of God a book at your disposal, ready to be used for your purposes rather than His.

Theology is necessary. Philosophy is important. Most Pastors in the evangelical realm have very little discipline in this area, which is a tragedy. But they exist as parts of the whole. Approaching Holy Scripture as a spiritual species is vital. The Bible is a Spiritual book first, not in the pagan sense, but in the sense that it is full of the Spirit. It is the living word of God, not simply a book of disposed historical facts or sayings.

I say all this as a reminder to myself. I approach the Word with my head low, not taking the study of it as a light task with highlighters and notes as if it were a text book.

This is Spiritual food, Holy Testimony. It stands above all of us.

The Clouds of Heaven

For this post we'll be discussing Mark 14:62, which reads:

“And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Now, for any regular church going Christian, this verse would mean only one thing--Jesus' second coming. But, what if I told you that's not what He was referring to?

If you simply read Scripture in a devotional way where you hand pick certain readings on a daily basis, coming to this verse may be of no help. Rather than letting Scripture interpret Scripture, we're all prone to our biases when reading certain verses. In the case of Mark 14:62, most Christians (I'm assuming) would think that Jesus is very directly referring to His second coming. But, when we allow Scripture itself help us understand Jesus' statement, we see an entirely different interpretation.

For this discussion, we have to ask ourselves the first question? What is Jesus' talking about?

If you're familiar with the book of Daniel, you'll know exactly what Jesus is talking about. We have to start there in order to "interpret" why Jesus is saying what He is saying and what it all means.

There is no dispute that Jesus here is referring to Daniel 7:13 (hover over this verse link and you'll see the verse pop up).

“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence."

Before we dive into this verse, it is first necessary to build context around it. For this we have to start at verse 9 and 10:

“As I looked, thrones were set in place,
and the Ancient of Days took his seat.
His clothing was as white as snow;
the hair of his head was white like wool.
His throne was flaming with fire,
and its wheels were all ablaze.

10 A river of fire was flowing,
coming out from before him.
Thousands upon thousands attended him;
ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.
The court was seated,
and the books were opened."

We are clearly in a heavenly court scene. The "Ancient of Days" is none other than YHWH, the Judge. So, as Daniel is watching his vision, he is seeing heaven and YHWH taking His seat. What follows is Daniel seeing the beast being destroyed and "stripped of authority."

Now we can get the verse in Mark.

Jesus is referring to himself as the "son of man" and his hearers would know that Jesus was referring to Daniel. Here's where everything gets interesting.

As I said in the beginning of this post, most people think this is speaking about the Second Coming. But, as we can see in Daniel, we get a very different meaning. Part of the confusion is language. We're accustomed to hearing about the Second Coming and when Jesus says you will see him "...coming on the clouds of heaven," we make the connection. Ah!, we say, this must be the talking about the Second Coming, what else? 


Here's what we know. Jesus is clearly, without a doubt, referring to Daniel 7:13 when he says you will see Him "...coming on the clouds of heaven." Since that is what he is referring to, we must necessarily go to Daniel to also  understand what Jesus is saying and why.

Take this into account. Daniel's vision is very clearly set in a heavenly scene, it would be hard to disagree with this. Although heaven doesn't have a locale within space and time, it is symbolically referred to as being "up there."

As Christians, we understand Jesus' final advent as a descent into our universe, coming from heaven to earth as it were. It's not that we understand it as Jesus will physically be coming out of the sky (though some do) into earth, it's just that "coming from above" is a way of saying "coming from heaven." The final advent, of course, is when all things are restored and heaven and earth are finally united.

So it helps our conversation to understand the "location" of heaven and earth as we understand it. Heaven is above, earth is below.

When Christians read Mark 14:62 here, they may imagine that this is Jesus "coming" from heaven to earth. But, as I mentioned earlier, in order to know what Jesus is talking about we have to refer to what he is referring to, which is Daniel 7:13.

When we go to Daniel 7:13, we can build some context as long as we read that verse within its own context.  Now that you've read Daniel 7:9-10 (if you haven't, do so now), lets look at Daniel 7:13:

“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence." 

I put the last sentence in bold. Maybe you know what I'm getting at already, but lets elaborate. The first sentence describes the "...son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven." Then right after, "He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence."

Who is the Ancient of Days? YHWH.

Where is YHWH's throne? Heaven.

Who is the son of man approaching? YHWH

Where is the son of man approaching Him? Heaven.

So, the "...coming with the clouds of heaven" has an upwards trajectory not a downwards. This can mean only one thing--this verse is not referring to the Second Coming.

Verse 14 adds more context to this:

He was given authority, glory and sovereign power

If what Daniel saw in his vision was the Second Coming, are we to suppose that Jesus only has authority, glory, and sovereign power at that time?

We don't need to guess. First, in Matthew 28:18, post-resurrection, Jesus says:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

And of course, Stephen see's Jesus, post-resurrection in heaven:

“I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

It is clear also that placed against the backdrop of Caesar, followers pulled no punches when they proclaimed Jesus as king:

“These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, 7 and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.” (Acts 17:5-7)

There are many other places and references we could make both in the OT and NT, but the point is that Jesus HAS authority on earth and in heaven.

This leaves us coming away from Mark with something completely different. Jesus isn't referring to his second coming, he is referring to the resurrection and everything that comes after.

This is not to say that there is no Second Coming, but that this reference isn't talking about the Second Coming. Jesus is the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven TO the throne of YHWH where he will be vindicated and given authority over heaven and earth. When he delivers the death blow to Satan on the cross, He shows his victory in the resurrection and has authority over heaven and earth. We are called to exercise that authority by preaching the sovereign rule of Jesus as King and Lord. I will be posting on this topic soon.

Within Your Temple

How can we pray and be closer to God? Where can we go to experience His warmth? How can we feel the loving embrace of His arms?

In His temple.

The words of God are like sustenance to our bodies, filling the innermost parts of our being. They supply energy to our spirit by giving us a life that comes from above. The streams of living water that flow from Jerusalem are for the healing of the nations and the nations thirst, panting like a deer by the brook.

What end does our pilgrimage find if not in the Holy City, Heavenly Jerusalem?

Genesis presents God resting in His temple, the heavens and earth. Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden because they wanted to take what wasn't rightfully theirs yet. Now they would have to learn how to subdue the earth with the knowledge of YHWH. Through Israel, the covenant people of YHWH, there would come a way for all of the nations come to the rivers of Living Water.

The great priests of old would go into the temple of YHWH and meet Him there. The tabernacle was a temporary dwelling for YHWH. The first temple was only temporary because the Israelites could not keep YHWH's commandments. Again, the chosen kicked out from the garden. But, YHWH's arm is strong and He would bring salvation to them, as He always promised.

The 2nd temple was built, but no shekina. There was the very deep sense that God was not present. The Israelites continued in their work in the temple, but God wasn't there.

Four-hundred plus years in exile! And Lo! A child is born in Bethlehem in a humble stable. The salvation of the world summed up in the Messiah.

But would we enter into a building to meet with God?

The Messiah says, I tell you that one greater than the temple is here.

Let us enter into the temple boldly! 

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscienceand having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another —and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Within His temple, we meditate on His love.

"Within your temple, O God,
we meditate on your unfailing love. " (Psalm 48:9)

Not by might

Jesus tells Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world..."

Many Christians use the concept of not being "of this world" as meaning that there is some delineation from this world and heaven and that Jesus has come to establish the fact that they are separated.

First, nothing could be further from the truth. As in the Lord's prayer, "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven...", Jesus has come to establish His kingdom here on earth.

There are a few things going on here that are worthy of our attention. First, it is probably more proper in our overly spiritualized view of Scripture to translate Jesus' words to pilate as "My kingdom is not from this world". Jesus pushes the point that if it was from this world, his followers would've taken up arms to destroy the kingdom of Rome. Of course, that's not how it happened.

There is a clear distinction here between how the world rulers reign and how Jesus reigns. Whereas the kings of this world rule with brute force and fear, Jesus rules with love and peace. This echoes what it says in Zechariah:

"Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit" (Zechariah 4:6)

It is not by might or power that Jesus reigns, but through the Spirit. Jesus is very much apart of this world. His vocation was that of what was told in the OT—The Messiah would be the God of Israel coming to visit His people and restore them.

This is our calling. To restore the earth until it is all summed up in Jesus at the end. So many Christians want to leave this world and not labor in it. But remember what Paul has told us,

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:58)

What we do in this world lasts. We are here to change it, not by might, nor by power, but by His Spirit.

Are You a "Flip and Pick" Christian?

You're getting ready to read the Bible. It's been a while and you know that you have to get in the word. So you pick it up and stare at it for a few seconds wondering where you're going to start. You know the Bible is divinely inspired so anything you read will be good, right?

So what do you do? You flip the Bible open and you blindly use your index finger to pick a random piece of Scripture out from the Bible.

Ah! Your index finger suddenly lands at 1 Chronicles 7, a wonderful list of genealogies!

Oh well, you say, lets move on to an epistle or something. And the life of the "flip and pick" style of reading the Bible goes on. We come across a nice little verse you can fit in your pocket, share it on facebook, and you've done your meditation for the day.

I blame devotionals on this. I blame pastors for doing the same thing. I blame all sorts of personalized, pocket verses that have been used, abused, and taken out of context.

If you're a "flip and pick" Christian, you're not taking your faith seriously. The Bible is extremely rich in deep theological significance. No, I'm not talking about going to seminary and studying theology. I'm talking about theological significance for your faith. The more you understand the Bible, the stronger your faith will be.

There are many Christians who abandon their faith because of some apparent problem in the text that they simply cannot get over. Maybe its the ever famous, "This genration will not pass away..." verse in Matthew 24. Or maybe its the extravagant stories and epic tales in the Old Testament. Maybe its all the laws and seemingly irrelevant regulations God gives to the Israelites. I don't know, but I am sure it is grounded in not being able to read the Bible for all its worth.

Do I have the antitote? No! I wouldn't dare try to teach you how to read the Bible. But I can point to someone that can.

Enter How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth...

This book will save you from flipping and picking and bring into a world of searching the scriptures like the Bereans did. This book is easy to read and simple to understand. You don't have to major in theology to understand any of its concepts.

You will be edified and strengthened in your faith by learning how to do what the books says, read the Bible for all its worth.


My recommendation is to pick up a new NIV Bible and this book. If you like your current translation, then use that. But whatever you do, buy this book.

I started reading it for a class and I immediately started putting the principles in practice. Because of it, I can pick up the bible and start reading with serious comprehension. It's not that the Bible is "hard to read," its just that some people cannot successfully place context around what they're reading because they've been trained to "flip and pick."

So, to conclude my book recommendation for today....GO GET THE BOOK!

Luke's Christology

I hear it around that John's gospel is the "spiritual" gospel with "high Christology." This is nonsense. Each gospel writer had intentions in mind about what they were writing and how it would come across.

When we don't learn how to read the Bible for all its worth, we miss things that are right in front of us. The Western church is very concerned right now about "proving" that Jesus thought He was God. We do this in the face of Jehova's Witnesses, Mormons, and historical critics.

The most common gospel to go to is John because it is more direct about the fact that Jesus did indeed think He was God. But, we only go to this clear Scriptures because we don't fully understand the entire implications of the Gospel story represented in all four of the Gospels.

I'm not going to go into detail with each one, but I want to call attention to one that is almost always missed. Luke, in telling the story about Jesus casting out demons from a man into the pigs, gives us a very clear implication that Luke was trying to give us.

"The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return home and tell how much God has done for you." So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him."

Did you catch it?

"...tell how much God has done for you."

and then...

"So the man...told all over town how much Jesus had done for him."


Did you ever catch that before?

This is just one little example, but there are several ways in which it is very clear in Mark, Matthew, and Luke that they were telling the story of God coming to visit His people just as He had promised.

We shall revisit this again soon...

Mary's Song

It may be that in reading Luke you came across the beautiful words of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in her song to God.

"My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever
just as he promised our ancestors."

I want to call particular attention to the last portion of her song.


"He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors."

Mary is proclaiming what she knows to be true of her Son Jesus. He is the fulfillment of the promises to Israel. Yeshua, which means "YHWH saves," has indeed come to save His people, just as he promised their ancestors. 


We can't miss this stuff in the Gospels. They are the lifeblood of the Church. We have a mission to fulfill, a vocation that Jesus has given us. We are the people of God, called to carry on what God has always said He would accomplish—redeeming the whole world to Himself.

Israel was the instrument of God's saving plan. He dwelt among them in the tabernacle in the desert. He promised to dwell with them in a temple. He did, but then He left because Israel rebelled. Now, as Mary clearly understands, God "...has helped Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever," all by becoming flesh and dwelling among them.

The Gospels are incredibly important in understanding our mission as disciples. If we can't read them in the right light, then they become what they all to often have, simple stories to "recollect" what happened or moral teachings for our personal lives. That's not what the Gospels are.

Some may simply overlook Mary's song as beautiful. But it is packed with significance that we cannot miss.

Father, give me the strength...

To lead them with strong hands.

All I want to do is love them with everything that I am. Help me to love them with an undying passion just as you love us with yours.

Help me to be everything you want me to be.

I just want everything for the love of my life and the love of my life yet to come.

Lord, all things are possible with you. Jesus, I can do all things through you. Holy Spirit, lead me in the path of the righteous so I can lead them to you.

This is all I want Lord.

Amen.

Sitting in the back seat

It becomes apparent in Genesis 1 that there is a hierarchy being established as God creates everything. This hierarchy can be seen as God creates man to rule over the earth. The writer of Genesis 1 (which is traditionally seen as Moses) isn't interested in the how of creation as much as he is in the why.

Hierarchy is extremely important in understanding creation as a whole. There is an immediate hierarchy between the relationship with God and humans from the beginning. God creates man, places him at the top of the hierarchy of His creation and gives him his vocation.

When I was going to lunch today, I noticed something that came automatic to me. My co-worker was driving and our boss was coming with us. I defaulted to sitting in the back seat to allow my boss to take the front seat. This was the manifestation of hierarchy. Although there would be nothing wrong with me sitting in the front, it was a matter of "knowing my place" in the hierarchy of my company. My boss is above me and as a result has the authority to control my actions within the scope of my job. Giving him the front seat was a way of recognizing this hierarchy.

All of life runs in this way. There is always a hierarchy. Watch the animal kingdom and see hierarchies take place. Work for a company and its immediately important.

Hierarchy is important in running things.

Jesus stands as the sole owner of His kingdom. He has appointed His people to do a certain job. We live and breath in an everlasting hierarchy and to understand this is to understand creation.

The discipline of being a disciple.

If being a disciple of Jesus was easy, we'd all be flourishing in our faith.

The difficulty is our attachment to the things in the world that vie for our worship. The "world" in and of itself is not bad. God has declared His creation good.

The problem is where our hearts stand. Do we bow before the King? Or do we worship at the altar of career, possession, and lust?

It takes serious discipline to love, to turn the other cheek, to walk that extra mile. Every facet of our lives must be occupied with the Spirit with no room for compromise. This is the challenge of the Gospel.

Whats more, we were not called to make followers of all nations. Many people can "follow" Jesus. We are called to make DISCIPLES of all nations.

There is one prerequisite for this: be a disciple.