#soap journaling

[thinktheology]

3/17/19 The Meaning of Messiah: Identity Revealed, Identity Explored

3/17/19 The Meaning of Messiah: Identity Revealed, Identity Explored

Mark (p. 1782) Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” (Books)

The Books of the Bible, NIV

Jesus heals the blind (p. 1782), casts out demons (p. 1781), miraculously multiplies bread to feed thousands, stills storms, and yet the disciples still don’t get it. Surely the Pharisees and leaders of Israel don’t understand who He is (p. 1782)? But finally, here, a breakthrough moment: Peter says, ‘You…

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[thinktheology]

3/30/19 Echoes in the Garden

3/30/19 Echoes in the Garden

Mark (p. 1791) do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ ” (Books)

Jesus prophesies the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple. The disciples ask ‘when will this happen and what will be the sign?’ Jesus prepares them for what’s ahead: they will be His witnesses – proclaiming the good news to all nations is their task. But there will be opposition (p. 1790)…

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[thinktheology]

What If?

Hebrews 7:16  who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life.  (ESV) The Levitical priesthood was based on institutionalism. The superior priesthood of Jesus is based on the character of His life – indestructible! I wonder if we shouldn’t model our leadership after Jesus instead of the model of institutional…

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[hungrforthegrtlght-blog]

SOAP

SCRIPTURE: Matthew 6: 19 - 21 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." OBSERVATION: It is so easy to become caught up in consumerism. We may feel that having material possessions--the newest gadgets, the latest fashion trends--will provide happiness for us. We so often forget that it is not what we have that will allow us passage into heaven, but rather what we do.

APPLICATION: We should focus on our faith and love for God and grow in our faith by spending more time on Him and his word rather than on material possessions. We should refrain from greed and hoarding, because the material possessions we have will not grant us access into Heaven. Our key is in faith. PRAYER: God, we pray that you guide us and help us to not succumb to greed. Help us to have accepting hearts so that we may hear Your word and see Your work. It is only by Your light we should be led. May you guide us and help us to rid ourselves the focus we have on material possessions. In your name we pray. Amen.

[nontypicalhero]

Everlasting Remainder

Isaiah 37:6

 O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, O LORD, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, and have caste their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. So now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the LORD

  1 Peter 1:13

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each ones deeds conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from you forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.  Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

  Observation

I felt it necessary to see and compare some parallels of these two chunks of Scripture. And while it may be true they have no great connections I  can see that both of these passages come from a heart of humility and desperate need for the Lord and his help. On one side a land that is on the brink of destruction has realized its errors and seeks help from the one true thing they know. On the other we have a people that are exiled and separated from what they love and cherish (their nation) yet they too are being encouraged to remember that the Lord is growing them and has them in his care. What enlightens me are the resolutions of these two passages. The Isaiah passage I ended with where Hezekiah acknowledges that the LORD can do mighty things and will remain and be shown to all that He is the one true God. An Everlasting remainder. And Peter ends with saying that all that is of flesh will wither and die but the word of the Lord (and I think it can be taken that Jesus is the Word) will remain forever. The one true Everlasting Remainder. There one in the same!

  Application

For too long recently I’ve been like the other nations and worshiping my false gods and holding onto them for comfort. And the enemy has wrecked me so many times when I thought I had it together. I’ve held onto my old passions of ignorance and have not been holy. But instead of moping I’m encouraged to know that God is still here. He reaches out to me in his Everlasting Word. And he is the Everlasting remainder. And so I want to apply the humbled heart of need here and realize that God will deliver me. I commit myself to his workings. He will cleanse me with the blood of Christ and purify my soul. I can rise and love my brothers and sisters in Christ once again and be growing in the hope and mercy of Christ. And we shall not fade.

  Prayer

Father,

For a really long time its felt like I keep jumping away and rolling around in the dirt. And I realize each time I do it that it is nothing compared to being with you. Thank you for having me tested by fire and remembering the love you have shown me. Lord, humble my heart and let me worship you alone. Cleanse me and give me love and joy. Take me where you want me. And help Lord. Please help me. Always be my Everlasting Remainder.

Amen

[aintnosuperstar]

Genesis 4-7

"And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear."

-Genesis 4:13

Cain must not have really known God. If he did, he would have known that God wouldn't have given him more than he could handle.

This morning, I was upset that I had to get up for yet another meeting during my Christmas break and for a second there I was thinking,all this is greater than I can bear. As I look back now, it was not all that big of deal and good things came from it. I need to remember that God won't give me more than I can handle and that good things can come out of the difficult ones.

"Lord You're beautiful. You never give me to much. Please help me to prove that I know you well enough to not give me more than I can handle by holding on to Your promises and trusting in Your holy Word. Amen."

[nontypicalhero]

Roots

"So then just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." Colossians 2:6,7

Back in action! Now those of you who follow have already seen this delightful little verse in a previous post, I guess in a sense its a teaser. But I was reading Colossians 2 and it just hit me in the face (Lord put it on my heart), to do a "mini-serm" on it. Now again I remind you I am no Pastor or theologian. Merely a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ in whom I seek.

Now to catch you up on the beginnning of Colossians 2, Paul is speaking to the church of Colosse and speaks of how he cannot be with them at the presently. BUT his main mission is to unite the church of Colosse in LOVE and the Understanding of Christ. All in this so that they may not fall to the false lies of others who "proclaim" the word of God. But he is enjoying on how he knows that they are already having a great start on seeking the Lord.

Now back to verses 6,7. It speaks of being rooted in Christ Jesus. Very similar to how we as Christians must build on Christ the solid rock. However, notice that Paul says to be rooted in Christ as well as being Built upon him. Not only are we supposed to be upon the Lord, but entwined and anchored with Him!

On a quick sidenote, I love how the Sycamore tree is a perfect example for this verse. On looking it up this is what I found. The sycamore tree grows quite tall, 20m as a matter of fact. Meaning it must be deeply rooted in wherever it is grown or KERPOWW! Besides the fact that the sycamore is strong and deeply rooted just as we should be, it naturally grows next to riverbeds. Verse 7b "and overflowing with thankfulness". Sycamores when thriving are abundant in leaves and are overflowing, definitely, with thankfulness. And lastly, sycamores have Heart shaped leaves (awww...) and they originate in the Middle East. Oh how I love you Lord, so clever.

Now, why in the world would we need to be rooted as well as built upon the Lord?

Oh my smart Bible reading readers, you know exactly why. :-)

Col. 2:8 "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ."

-All other ground is sinking sand....all other ground is sinking sand.- Paul of course knows that if we aren't rooted in the Lord, that we are sure to fall. We cannot focus or rely on human philosophies. They will infect and gut you out. We will be overtaken and consumed by these philosophies that won't be of Christ. He will not become the center of our lives. Lucky us that we know to be built and rooted on our Lord for with Him we have the solid ground needed and we're rooted. We cannot be shaken.

I know for sure that I am one not to put Christ in the center. I have very much in my past listened to all these philosophies and with that I've been ruined. I'd like to say that at one point I removed God from my life and I just fell. So I apologize if I've been pushing too much, but the truth is that this flesh cannot help us from the world. We need Him. I'm so glad to be rooted in the Lord. I will forever sing thanks! As the armies of Israel once sang "Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever."

So keep rooting yourselves and become great Sycamore trees my friends. In Christ. Pray to be forever rooted for if we are in Him, He is in us. He will guide you and reward you. He will strengthen you. Be fully committed to Him.

I love you all very much.

OHHHHH! I forgot...I'm becoming a Biblical Studies Major! The Lord has led me to become a Pastor. Please pray for me to continue listening to Him for his will.

Well lots of love from me and the King and Lean Not on Your Own Understanding,

Non Typical Hero

[nontypicalhero]

Unable to Find

-This blog post is about an understanding of God's will and a SOAP entry written by myself.

"Then I saw all the work of God that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. For though a man labors to discover it yet he will not find it; moreover, though a wise man attempts to know it, he will not be able to find it."

-Ecclesiastes 8:17(NKJV)

Solomon was the most wisest man in the world, but in the end he came to complete ruin. He admits that this happened because of his choice not to follow God. A promise which was upheld by God, but unfortunately, Solomon did hold his end up. But before Solomon came to his end, he gave us great wisdom. Instead of learning on our own God has given us his experience to help us avoid that unfortunate fate. Now Solomon reveals his wisdom in quite a peculiar way. He uses very dismal adjectives and the book of Ecclesiastes seems so depressing..in a sense it is. But the reason why we tend not to favor it as much as any other book in the Bible is probably because he tells it to us straight. No beating around the bush with him. Solomon straight out says "You will not know God's complete will EVER." God of course reveals to us what His will for us is in His timing and graces us with that. But it will take all of eternity to know the complete will of God, and even if he allows us. But I do believe that we as Christians must realize that we will not know it all. If we did, we wouldn't need God. So before anyone can say "Well I deserve to know God's will for I am holy.", last time I checked not to be rude, you're not God. He loves us very much but we're human.

Now with all this straight truth and dismal talk, there is some good if you haven't seen it yet. Though we may not know the complete will of the Lord, we must strive for it!! God has called us to do that as well as proclaim it to the rest of the world. Also striving for the Lord means we are focusing on Him. And of course he will make your path straight. If we rely on our own knowledge we will utterly fail. If we try to take control we dishonor God. He's the master at controlling things, so why don't we let him? That's a completely different topic that take probably a whole other blog.

So for a quick recap...

We won't get to know God's complete will no matter how hard we work or how wise we are. BUT we can strive for it meaning we focus on Him and have our path made straight. Not to mention a guiding light in which others can follow. Don't take control or you'll offend God.

If you want an easy prayer to pray on seeking the Lord and searching for His will without taking control, it's easy as this:

"Lord, I strive for you and wish to see you will in your time. You take control and guide me in the path of life. Amen."

Well that's all for today. May God Bless and have a great day or night. And remember...lean not on your own understanding but on God's! Jesus loves you!

Non-Typical Hero

P.S. I'm no theologian or pastor. I only am a passionate follower of the Lord and want Him to use me in whichever way. All Glory to Him!