Sunday, June 10, 2012

9 June 2012

This post should really have happened last weeks as the readings we will be looking at come from last Sunday, Trinity Sunday. Exodus 3:1-16. Moshe and the burning bush. Often times we are too busy watching sheep, working, or playing on the internet for God to get our attention. In Moshe's case, while tending the sheep, he sees a bush burning, but not being consumed, and he draws near to see what is happening. Immediately, God tells him to remove his sandals, because he is on Holy ground. God identifies himself, as the God of Avraham, Yitzhak and Yakob, and tells Moshe he has seen the suffering of the Hebrew people. Moshe's reaction is fear, he turns away his face because he knows he is unworthy to look upon God, and he knows he is not worthy to do the things that God is going to send him to do. "Who am I" says Moshe, but when God gives us something to do, he will give us the way to do it as well. Let us bear in mind that at this point in time Moshe is 80 years of age. Moshe also desires to know God's name, and God tells him, "I am" has sent you, and gives his name as Yahweh, that is "He is." In other words, God is the source of all other things that have existence. He is not part of creation, nor a product of creation, but above and beyond all things. He is a Holy God, totally different and set apart, but a person as well, who can and desires to communicate with us and have a relationship with us. Isaiah 6:1-8 Isaiah has a vision in the temple. The Lord is enthroned, his train fills the temple and the seraphim and cherubim worship him. Isaiah's reaction, "Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips from a country of men with unclean lips." Several things are addressed here. First, the king had leprosy of the lips. More importantly, the worship of the people of Israel was false. That is they were worshipping not with their lives, but their lips alone. They had forgotten that to worship God is something done with ones entire life, not merely what might happen in a church or a temple, but that we would do justice, practice mercy and follow the Lord's precepts. More importantly, Isaiah himself can do nothing about his sinful position. Yahweh must send an angel who touches Isaiah's lips to purify them. In other words, we cannot help ourselves. There is nothing that we can do to make our selves pure in God's sight, except recognise our position as sinners. When we see how evil we are, then God can send the angle with the coal to purify us (that is wash us in the blood of the lamb), so that we can go out to serve God. Proverbs 8:22-31 This is basically a bridge. Yeshua and the Holy Spirit are not something new. They have been with the Father since creation. The Holy Spirit gives life and the ability to obey. Romans 8:12-17 How is it then that we achieve this. We are told, we cannot live according to the flesh (that is we cannot be of this world, but it is the Holy Spirit living within us which gives us the power to do good things. It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the power to call God our Father, because when the Holy Spirit directs our lives, and we are in obedience to the Father, then we are truly his children. We are now heirs with Christ, ready to suffer with him. John 3:16 Nicodemus comes by night (for fear of the Sanhedrin to see Yeshua. Nicodemus recognises that Yeshua is indeed sent by God, for only through God could Yeshua do these miracles. But he doesn't really understand. Yeshua explains to him, that he came down from heaven, that the Spirit does as he pleases, and that man cannot have eternal life unless he (or she) is born of water and the Holy Spirit. In other words, only through baptism and the reception of the Holy Spirit can one be saved. The passage ends with the famous verse, “For God so loved the world,[i] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." In other words, when we truly beleive, we will get baptised and filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, when allowed transforms our lives into something new. He takes us out of the world and puts us in the kingdom. We still live in the world, but instead of worrying about the things of this world (money, parties, booze, friends, big houses, etc) we will worry about justice, righteousness, caring for the poor, the widow, and the orphan. We will proclaim the Gospel. So in essence. God created us. We are not worthy to talk to him because of our sins. We need to recognise that we are sinners, and we need to accept that Yeshua died on the cross for our sins. We need to be baptised and allow him to fill us with his Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit not only helps us see that we need a saviour, but when we allow him in our heart, he will transform our lives from worldly lives to kingdom lives. Do you want to be of the kindom or of the world. Harden not your hearts and seek Yeshua now. Tomorrow may be too late. Come visit us for worship. 204 Sylvan, La Porte, TX 77571 @ 10:00 AM on Sunday.