Sunday, February 12, 2012

Relating to the Past

Once again, inspiration has brought us together. I think, too, that the question I'm going to propose today will fill each of your heads with a different channel to relate to. To begin, we've looked at quite a few concepts so far in this study. One of which, probably more than once, has been defining "Who" you are.  To better help us define or I guess "identify" ourselves, lets consider the following:

Who am I?

We've all heard of Jews, Gentiles, Apostles, Disciples, Pharisees, etc. This time when you ask yourself who you are, ask yourself in a way that compares yourself to the people of Jesus' time. Are you a friend of Jesus? Has he placed his power in you? Do you teach in the markets and places of worship? Are you of the chosen people (in them, are you a believing and follower or are you a skeptic?) Are you someone who shows up to hear the teachers speak, but never commit or grow into the belief? Do you question the belief to grow in it, or to try and trap those who would spread the good news?

If we have a general idea about how the Jews, Gentiles, Apostles, Disciples, Pharisees, etc were, we can easily draw parallels between their existence and our own. It's been two thousand years and each of us goes through the same type of identification. Building on this analysis, once you've identified yourself (and trust me, being honest with yourself is much more important and rational that lying to yourself about where you stand), you can ask new questions along the lines of who do I want to be? How can I become this person? How do I open myself up for God to change me in this way?

As you can see, this once again touches on the realm and power of self-realization. I wanted to re-iterate this concept today because it is so undervalued.  You have to be the one who ultimately asks yourself the big questions. You can take the questions as someone presents them, but ultimately if you want to see any kind of transformation, you have to ask yourself (meaning bringing it to God) these questions. 

Also, please, don't forget that in order to put yourself in a place to transform you have to put the thoughts at the front of your mindset. Example:  If you want to remember your homework, you'll put it at the front of your mind. If you want to remember to take out the dog before you leave, you'll put it at the front of your mind. If you want to be good because God is good, if you want to love others because it is His way, if you choose to live your life in debt to Him, The Bible says, whether in word or in deed, do everything in the name of Jesus. Honor your Lord. Put good (because of Him) at the front of your mind.

Now, on a completely different note... how do you all feel about the way worship is presented in churches today? Does anyone else find it ironic that songs rarely ever encourage the way a sermon does? In my experience, worship is led by a wonderful group of people who sing about glory and death and blood and rising again and grace and then a pastor or priest will get up and talk about how you should live your life and why. Why doesn't it ever happen the other way around? Why don't we ever hear songs about the way we should live our lives and how we should act and think and the reasons why, and then see the tangible pastor get up there and offer direct praise and worship and a message of thankfulness? If anything, wouldn't it be a nice mix? Even then, we can't take a pastor with us on our way to the grocery store or to and from work, and we certainly can't expect our kids to remember and quote a pastor's words like they/we do rhythm and harmony. What then is more relevant for us to hear continually? The same old songs (no doubt good reminders) praising God, or a more relatable and encouraging way to learn to live a good, God-like life? For in reality, won't we be praising Him even more by living in His name, rather than humdrumming about blood and wine and dying and rising?

Steven Curtis Chapman - Do Everything
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVTeIMursb8&ob=av2e
Can't relate to that thought? Check out this website: http://www.preschoolrainbow.org/transition-rhymes.htm
Don't get skeptically on me now... Just as our youth go through transitions in their lives so do we in our spiritual lives, regardless of our age! Wouldn't it make sense then that we could learn and improve on a more developed, but similar scale and plan?  What does God say about our growth/transformation and children?

Matthew 18:3
And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Again, I'm not preaching here. This is our study. I encourage you all to come up with your own conclusions and interpretations and don't be afraid to share them. If you are interpreting in the way that you believe God intended for you to, you musn't have fear. This is a community for fellowship and development. I'll be the first to admit to my lack of authority.

Another discussion under our belts! God bless you today and in the coming week.

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