Wisdom from Above...

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I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. Galatians 12:11-12
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Paul calls the galatians "brothers", and states that the Gospel he preached wasn't made up. He claims to have gotten it directly from Jesus Christ, who revealed it to him.
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I often assume that what I know about God comes to me in the same way as the things I know about other stuff. I know about Los Angeles because I've read and heard a lot about it, plus, I've been there. So part of what I know about L.A. is from other people, and part is from what I've personally experienced. The Gospel is different, because it originates with God. In other words, the Gospel, or even the whole Bible, isn't made up of what other people say about God, but what God says about God. And it comes from him, even if he uses other people to write and preserve it. I need to remember that, and be impacted by the importance of what God's saying when I'm reading my Bible.
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Dear Lord, thank you for the Bible, and for your Spirit, who reveals the deep things of God through your word. Please let me always remember that when I'm in your word, I'm on holy ground.

Eternally Unanswered

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(Acts 28:26) Go to this people and say, "You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.”

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That sentence, a quotation from Isaiah 6:9-10, was a third of Paul’s last statement to these people. That statement concluded Luke’s account of the Acts of the Holy Spirit. It is not a happy ending. It describes ultimate misery because it describes the worst possible experience: unending darkness. God perpetual answers both ultimate and immediate questions. He prioritizes meaning and purpose, but some people perpetually close their eyes and ears from being healed by Him.

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The most frightening, insufferable pain is not physical but relationship and existential. It is isolation, meaninglessness, rejection (death), and loss of liberty (choice and responsibility). Rejecting the Good News of Jesus Christ leaves us only with intolerable answers. That absence leaves only everlasting and dark ignorance of real answers.

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Lord, I want to know You. I long to know the power of Your resurrection, as well as my share of Your suffering and death. Only that way may I know eternal life. (Philippians 3:10).

What Do You Want from Jesus?

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The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ. Acts 5:41-42 (NIV)

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They leave the highest court in Jerusalem, having just been rebuked and beaten, but the apostles are rejoicing. Their joy flows from their conviction that it was an honor to suffer for Jesus. They ignore the rebuke—to stop teaching in Christ's name—and continually minister, both in the place of public worship, and in people's homes.

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I see no attractive message of happiness and success in this passage, only the joy of suffering in holiness and service. I love the parts of the Bible that speak of God's blessings for obedience. I often read into those verses, "happiness and success." But I really need the other parts, the passages that serve up a hearty meal of holiness, suffering, and, joy.

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Dear Lord, please scrub my heart of any un-holy desire for comfort and ease in You. May I rejoice equally in your loving blessings whatever they bring, knowing that sometimes service comes as suffering. I pray that I will testify of Your lovingkindness even in the midst of the worst circumstances.