Recently I did an inductive Bible study on John chapters 12-17 that turned out really well. The professor and some classmates really like the application so I thought I would cut to the chase and share it with you here.
Following Christ requires great amounts of faith. For the disciples, they were there, they were able to walk and talk with Christ. And so their belief and witness of his power, their understanding of his compassion, and his zeal for his Fathers house, were all things they witnessed and yet they still struggled with faith at times. I should not expect it to be easy to follow and trust in a god that I have not seen, spoken face to face with, but only read about. The disciples seem to question Christ directly when he makes a statement that they don’t understand, why shouldn’t we? Being a student of the Bible, I believe that would be expected. Christ answered his interrogators almost every time. Albeit these answers were sometimes cryptic, they received an answer nonetheless. As we ask questions of God about things we may not understand, whether that pertains to our studies or life in general, we need to be aware that we may not always get the answer we are looking for.
Through Christ’s ministry and the onslaught of questions that are directed his way, we can be aware of and expect that we won’t always understand the answers up front. Sometimes we will need to experience something first, and in other circumstances we may not be ready to hear the answer just yet. Regardless, we can know that behind each question we have of what God is doing, or what He has said, there is an answer and a reason. We may not always get it, or understand it, but we must have faith that it is good. God is always working to reconcile his people to himself, how He does that is up to his direction, we must be faithful in following His lead.
The disciples didn’t always understand why Christ said what he said or did what he did, but it was for the good of humanity and creation that these things happened. In hindsight, the disciples were able to understand what he said and what he had to do on the cross. Faith sometimes is blind, but faith is required when you follow Christ.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Friday, July 1, 2011
In The Blink Of An Eye
In The Blink Of An Eye
It amazes me from time to time just how fast things can happen. Tonight we were enjoying a beautiful evening at a relatives house, celebrating Tylers 11th birthday with a pool party, good food and plenty of hyper boys. They spent time swimming and then eating and then back to swimming. In the course of the evening while I was talking to another relative about ministry, my youngest son came up to me and said he was done swimming and wanted me to take his life jacket off of him. I did and wrapped him up in a towel to warm up and went back to talking.
It was about 15 minutes later I hear Lisa yelling at one of the boys, saying: "Get him!! Get him!!" The fear in her voice caused me to jump to my feet and start heading her direction when I saw Ethan just going under the surface of the water unable to touch and NO lifejacket. It seemed all very slow motion for me but before I knew it I was jumping into the pool fully clothed to get him above water. I took him to the side as he gagged and coughed. I set him on the edge of the pool and all I could do was hug him, It scared the crap out of me to see his little face struggling to get above water to take a breath.
As I stood there in the pool hugging him, he said to me, " I couldn't breathe..." I hugged him again and sent him over to mom. It was at that moment I realized that I wasn't dressed to be in the pool, including my wallet, iPhone and keys. Somehow I didn't really care, in the instant I was on pure reaction to get my kid safe and sound. I don't think it bothered Ethan as much as it did Lisa and I. It really bothered me that I was the one that took his life jacket off in the first place. Thing is there was about 20 or so of us standing around and no one saw him go in except for his cousin who came and told us as we began to realize what was happening. It only took a second for a happy occasion to turn tense and dangerous.
I rode my motorcycle home from the party which gave me plenty of time to think about the events of the night. This will sound bad, but tonight I soaked everything in my wallet, soaked, maybe ruined my dress shoes, trashed my iPhone (which was borrowed)...........But none of that matters because I still have my son. I would do anything to make sure he is safe. Jumping into a pool isn't dangerous, but the truth is I would do it a thousand times over, even risking my life to save his. So if I, a sinful wretched miserable soul could do that, how much more could my Heavenly Father go out of His way to save me. For me, tonight was a huge reminder of how much God has done to rescue his children from the depths of death.
Father thank you for keeping Ethan safe, and thank you for rescuing me from death through your son Jesus Christ.
It amazes me from time to time just how fast things can happen. Tonight we were enjoying a beautiful evening at a relatives house, celebrating Tylers 11th birthday with a pool party, good food and plenty of hyper boys. They spent time swimming and then eating and then back to swimming. In the course of the evening while I was talking to another relative about ministry, my youngest son came up to me and said he was done swimming and wanted me to take his life jacket off of him. I did and wrapped him up in a towel to warm up and went back to talking.
It was about 15 minutes later I hear Lisa yelling at one of the boys, saying: "Get him!! Get him!!" The fear in her voice caused me to jump to my feet and start heading her direction when I saw Ethan just going under the surface of the water unable to touch and NO lifejacket. It seemed all very slow motion for me but before I knew it I was jumping into the pool fully clothed to get him above water. I took him to the side as he gagged and coughed. I set him on the edge of the pool and all I could do was hug him, It scared the crap out of me to see his little face struggling to get above water to take a breath.
As I stood there in the pool hugging him, he said to me, " I couldn't breathe..." I hugged him again and sent him over to mom. It was at that moment I realized that I wasn't dressed to be in the pool, including my wallet, iPhone and keys. Somehow I didn't really care, in the instant I was on pure reaction to get my kid safe and sound. I don't think it bothered Ethan as much as it did Lisa and I. It really bothered me that I was the one that took his life jacket off in the first place. Thing is there was about 20 or so of us standing around and no one saw him go in except for his cousin who came and told us as we began to realize what was happening. It only took a second for a happy occasion to turn tense and dangerous.
I rode my motorcycle home from the party which gave me plenty of time to think about the events of the night. This will sound bad, but tonight I soaked everything in my wallet, soaked, maybe ruined my dress shoes, trashed my iPhone (which was borrowed)...........But none of that matters because I still have my son. I would do anything to make sure he is safe. Jumping into a pool isn't dangerous, but the truth is I would do it a thousand times over, even risking my life to save his. So if I, a sinful wretched miserable soul could do that, how much more could my Heavenly Father go out of His way to save me. For me, tonight was a huge reminder of how much God has done to rescue his children from the depths of death.
Father thank you for keeping Ethan safe, and thank you for rescuing me from death through your son Jesus Christ.
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