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Look for the Invisible.

Last week Miles pointed to Romans 8:6 (For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace) to encourage us to “Look for the lesson.”

The Holy Spirit has been counseling me in a similar way, and I want to share and encourage you again to look to the Spirit.

(Romans 1:20) “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead…”

Do you get that?  God’s invisible attributes are clearly seen.  Invisible.  Clearly seen.

That doesn’t make sense unless we can think about physical representations of spiritual realities.  God’s eternal power is invisible.  Picture in your mind: eternal power.  We can’t.  We cannot see it.

But, we can picture a pillar of fire and volcanic eruptions; roaring waves and rolling thunder; an earthquake; a man praising Jesus while having his body and skull smashed by stones; ourselves once imprisoned by an addiction, now joyfully sharing the story of triumph by God’s power.   These physical impressions testify to God’s power.  So while we cannot see God’s power itself, we can know that God is full of power.

And these representations are all imperfect.  They’re just glimpses of God’s eternal, sovereign Power.

Consider John 4:24 – God is spirit.

So in trying to see God, we need to look beyond what is physically there and consider the spiritual significance.  We can see Him with eyes of faith.  It’s important to see Him because Scripture associates seeing Jesus with becoming like Jesus, which is the goal of every disciple.

Now, don’t forget that Jesus was fully man (as well as fully God).  Don’t abandon the physical or belittle it.  Jesus had flesh and bones; He suffered as his body was broken and blood poured out.  And when He appeared to the hundreds who saw Him after He died on the cross, He ate.  And He told them to touch His hands and His side.  So don’t be deceived into thinking that the physical doesn’t matter.

But also don’t stop at mere observation of the physical.  The Bible says that Jesus is the image of the invisible God.  Jesus is the Ultimate Physical Representation of a Spiritual Reality.  God is Real, and He took on flesh to show us who He Is.

The Bible goes on to say that by Jesus all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible.  Jesus created all things.  All things were created through Him and for Him.  And everything exists for His glory.

This is a lot, but try to hold it all together.  What I’m trying to get at is the idea that everything we see with our physical eyes exists because Jesus is holding it together.  And He’s doing so for His glory.  So I encourage you to slow down as you look at the world in order to see God’s glory.

Start with the physical representations of spiritual realities that Jesus points to in the beginning of John’s gospel: destroying a temple; being born again; living water; living bread; healing sickness; light.

Just think about these things, and ask yourself what they are pointing to spiritually.  Slow down, and think about everything you see; and ask yourself how it points to God.  Ask yourself why Jesus would hold that thing together.  Ask yourself how God is glorified by it.  Do this throughout the day, and you’ll see a lot more of God–and you’ll love Him more and more as He reveals Himself to you by faith.  Set your mind on the Spirit and you will have life and peace.

wow…

…is the only word i can come up with right now.

these past couple of days, i have been at the verge ‘10 conference

with 2 bro’s, a sister-in-law, parents, and ash.

the conference essentially “called, confirmed, and commissioned” God’s plan for my life.

in no way could i write out step by step the rest of my life,

or even the next year for that matter,

because i don’t believe that is how God works…

i believe i need to get to step 1 before i have the perspective, maturity, & wisdom necessary to see step 2.

and really i had felt the “calling” before the conference, but was having a hard time tangibilizing it

(i’m pretty sure i just made that word up, but just go with me here…)

and i really felt my “commission” at my conversion a couple of years ago,

sealed by my baptism this morning that I got to partake in with my wife…

wow…

wow…

thank you Jesus for that…

wow.

it was…just wow.

but the “confirmation” was just real,

like francis chan said, “it was kind of eerie,”

the things the Holy Spirit was putting on my heart were the exact same things that were being spoken of that were on the hearts of other leaders all across the country.

i am going to stop trying to put words to what i feel right now b/c i have already gone too long & failed miserably at any sort of accurate depiction of what has gone on these past couple of days in my life;

i probably should have written nothing except, “wow. Jesus is mind blowing.”

maybe in the days to come, i’ll have some time to process what happened & was completely solidified this morning in the beautiful baptism, but for now…

wow.

anything worthy of just “wow” going on in your life right now?

i cheated

my second week into seminary, i cheated on a quiz.

to make it worse, the class was “The Bible & Moral Issues,”

or referred to as “Ethics” in the hall.

my professor sent the quiz to the class via e-mail, said take it whenever you want, don’t use more than 30 minutes.

i did the reading & popped open the quiz.

there were page numbers beside the questions,

& so i took that to mean go to this page.

i read the syllabus, checked my notes, & e-mails & didn’t see anything regarding the structure of the quiz…

so i used my book.

on monday night,

after it had already been graded,

i found out it was a closed book quiz.

i was in the dumps.

so i called my professor.

he didn’t answer, so i left a voicemail.

then i sent him an e-mail stating i didn’t intentionally cheat, but i did & am prepared for whatever disciplinary action is to follow.

he responded with this e-mail:

Ronnie,
Thank you for your email.  As far as I am concerned, the matter is closed.  It is not a matter of Eternity, and it is apparent that you have learned and applied an ethical lesson.  That is the entire purpose of the course.
Have a good day.

really?

i mean really…who does that?

who actually determines the course of action from whether or not the matter is “Eternal”?

who considers forgiveness over “justice” now-a-days?

i know i don’t,

i look for an immediate, just solution in my eyes,

i look for a way in which he can really suffer for doing wrong so maybe he’ll learn something,

i look to my mind & my pride for a solution that in the end exalts me above them…

like having a big honor council committee meeting & expelling them from school…

keeping those sinners in their place.

absurdity.

i sure am glad Jesus didn’t “love” me that way:

i deserve death & instead of God being “just” in separating me from light forever, He sent His Son for forgiveness of my failures.

when you think of how to respond to ANYTHING, do you consider the eternal implications or the immediate implications?

Look for the lesson.

i felt convicted recently that i was judging a lot.

‘ahh man, this is terrible.’

‘this is sooo sweet.’

‘it’s whatever..’

why was it terrible?

why was it sweet?

whatever ‘it’ may be, it doesn’t matter.

i was judging situations and people with a fleshly mind-set.

with human standards.

‘i hate my job because my boss is demanding and rude.’

or

‘wow, i love my job-i get to practice patience all day long.’

flesh versus spirit.

death versus life.

“the mind-set of the flesh is death but the mind-set of the spirit is life and peace.” romans 8:6

look for the lesson when you are lost.

look for the lesson when you are in pain.

look for the lesson when you are joyful.

look for the lesson when you are free.

and thank the Teacher when you figure it out.

The Power of God

The GOSPEL is the power of GOD for salvation to everyone who believes.

The only really important thing in this life is: do I believe?

I believe these things because I have seen them.  Like we know, ‘I deserve hell.’  But I know Jesus, and in Him I experience Heaven.  What could account for this but the gospel?

The gospel that says: Let light shine out of darkness.

And: A holy God made people who rebelled, but He never stopped loving them.

And: A perfect Man who is God died, but after He died He came back to life.

And: People are dead when they are born and some of them hear Jesus call them to life.

And: I was born in a hospital twenty-six years ago, and I was re-born in a hospital three years ago.

All of this is true even though none of it really makes sense to me.  For me, thinking about this mystery that is the gospel makes me fear God, love God, and want to spend time outside of time with God.  And then I sense faith growing in my heart, which makes me sure that I believe.  So the only really important thing in life is settled, and now I get to enjoy it all—captivated by Jesus.

A simple discipline that helps me love Jesus is telling myself the gospel. There are an infinite number of ways to express the gospel–generally or personally, in a few words or in many, casually or formally. Please share an expression of the gospel that’s on your mind.  (See also 1 Cor. 15:1-11 for a perfect expression of the gospel.)

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