Today I went vegetable shopping. Mildly worrying that this is the highlight of the day I know but it was an interesting experience! In brighter news I might have a mobile at long last seeing as I sorted out about three years of paperwork and found my receipt buried at the bottom :) Onto business then
Today’s readings:
Genesis 32:1-33:20
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis%2032-33:20&version=MSG
Matthew 12:22-45
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%2012:22-45&version=MSG
Proverbs 2:1-11
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs%202:1-11&version=MSG
And we're onto the sports section of the Bible! Well, sports entertainment. A couple of people have asked me when I'm talking about the blog if I'm using too much jargon or not making myself clear enough. (Opinions below or on Facebook!) Well I'm sorely tempted to today as Jacob is wrestling :D I'll do my best to keep it friendly to all the non geeks though. We start off with Jacob coming back to see his brother Esau and completely bricking it. I can COMPLETELY understand this. There's been quite a few times in the life of Jon when my brother is the last person I wanted to see because I knew I was going to get absolutely battered, and most of the time I probably deserved it!
What I like about this is how God lets Jacob make all these grand plans, try and get his family safe and such but then prepares him for the confrontation by sending someone to wrestle with him. Now the Bible doesn't say it was God, though Jacob's name becoming Israel suggests it was. Maybe it was an Angel, maybe it was Jesus, maybe it was some pinnacle of male perfection like Tom Selleck or Bret Hart, maybe it was just some drunk that God had made wander through that area and start a fight. The point I think is that God knows when we're facing tough times and He will prepare us for those in different ways.
Then we get the big showdown. Two brothers, one massive and angry, the other far too fertile and manipulative for his own good. So who throws the first punch? Well no one does. Esau forgives his brother and refuses any of his gifts. There are two things I love about this passage. First is that God has provided for Esau. Esau says that he has more than enough and doesn't need any of his brother's gifts. Second, when Jacob tells Esau he saw him coming he says "When I saw your face, it was as the face of God smiling on me." Big lesson there. If you want to be more God like then be welcoming and forgiving and HAPPY to do it! What a glorious challenge we have to live our lives happy to welcome and forgive people!!
Into the New Testament we get loads more solid Jesus teaching. There's lots of challenging ideas in here and I'll do my best to pick out the key bits. If you think there's other stuff then please feel free to chip in. First off Jesus talks about warfare and how we're God's soldiers in that war. He says how He has come to prepare the world for God's kingdom and it's up to us to carry on that preparation. It's hard to think that every day you should be looking to win victories for God in everything that you do. Whopping challenge!
Then we get a little but important bit on forgiveness. Jesus points out that while all sin can be forgiven, it's REALLY stupid to sin as it removes you from God helping you in your life. Then He goes on to talk about words and how we use them. Now this is a very personal challenge to me as often I'm very dismissive of how negative or hurtful I can be because it's only words and not deeds. But Jesus challenges that by saying words are the product of our hearts and show what sort of a person we really are. Tough criticism but very true.
Finally Jesus looks at the issue of proof. Now it's the biggy for non Christians and many Christians that if they had a miracle then they'd believe. I can completely understand that but I think Jesus is right in saying what He does here. Miracles have to happen for a reason or they lose all their specialness. And how quickly would we forget or explain away the miraculous? Instead we should look at how Jesus fulfils all the prophecy God laid out and how his wisdom is flawless compared with normal people. This isn't easy and I don't mean to make it simple. But if you're not sure about the truth then look to what God has already done in your life and look to what He's done for others too.
Into Proverbs we get a fair old bit of flowery language and I'm warning you now, Proverbs doesn't change much from this style. But what is in here backs up what Jesus was saying. Wisdom is everything, relying on God is everything. If you want to gain true knowledge then focus on your relationship with God and receive wisdom through His revelations.
And that's your lot for today. Now there's a reason this one has been a bit later than yesterday's. I've been trying to source a decent video software so that I can vlog it too. Now I'll be making a vlog today, tomorrow and Saturday definitely so that I can help John out with Junior Church but if they're liked and not too much of a pain in the bum to put together, I might do them more often. Questions, criticisms and comments welcome as always
Jon
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