Sunday, February 2, 2014

Father & Son

Father & Son

So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.” So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his Father, thereby making himself equal with God. So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing. In fact, the Father will show him how to do even greater works than healing this man. Then you will truly be astonished. For just as the Father gives life to those he raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants. In addition, the Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge, so that everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son is certainly not honoring the Father who sent him. “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life. “And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live. The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son. And he has given him authority to judge everyone because he is the Son of Man. Don’t be so surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God’s Son, and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment. I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will. “If I were to testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be valid. But someone else is also testifying about me, and I assure you that everything he says about me is true. In fact, you sent investigators to listen to John the Baptist, and his testimony about me was true. Of course, I have no need of human witnesses, but I say these things so you might be saved. John was like a burning and shining lamp, and you were excited for a while about his message. But I have a greater witness than John—my teachings and my miracles. The Father gave me these works to accomplish, and they prove that he sent me. And the Father who sent me has testified about me himself. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face, and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me—the one he sent to you. “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life. “Your approval means nothing to me, because I know you don’t have God’s love within you. For I have come to you in my Father’s name, and you have rejected me. Yet if others come in their own name, you gladly welcome them. No wonder you can’t believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don’t care about the honor that comes from the one who alone is God. “Yet it isn’t I who will accuse you before the Father. Moses will accuse you! Yes, Moses, in whom you put your hopes. If you really believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. But since you don’t believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?” (John 5:16-47 NLT)

Summary:

The longest scripture where Jesus himself tells about his relationship with the Father, how he and the Father are one together. Jesus explains the authority that he received from the Father, yet doesn't do anything on his own - everything I do is what my Father tells me- which shows that the Father and Son are one. 

Unison and harmony:

We have a model for a father - son relationship. The Father shows his son everything to do, and the son does exactly as his father taught him. The son does whatever the father does. 

Jesus in the Old Testament :

He clearly says that Moses wrote about him, but that you don't see or know it - establishing that he is referred in the Pentateuch and it is all about him.

Spiritual and physical dead: 

Jesus talks about the dead hearing his voice and will live again - both in the present (spiritual dead repenting, accepting him as Lord and receiving the Spirit of life) and the future (rapture), where the dead who will rise first to the sound of the trumpet.

Witness to Jesus :

Jesus says that he has a greater witness to his claim as the Son of God - greater witness than John the Baptist - which are his teachings and his miracles.

Friday, January 3, 2014

Overview of 1Cor 2 - A treatise on Holy Spirit


When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan.
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For, “Who can know the Lord ’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:1, 16 NLT)

1 Cor 2 1-16 , is all about the role of the Holy Spirit, in teaching & preaching, in understanding the message or the mystery of God's Word, why some understand and some don't. This chapter refers to the Spirit or Holy Spirit as we know, the most than in any chapter of the Bible. I believe that this was provided to us especially to our generation where everything is sought to be experiential, and a majority of us struggle in understanding the Spirit/Holy Spirit.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Genesis 39 overview


Overview of Genesis 39 -
When Joseph was taken to Egypt by the Ishmaelite traders, he was purchased by Potiphar, an Egyptian officer. Potiphar was captain of the guard for Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. The warden had no more worries, because Joseph took care of everything. The Lord was with him and caused everything he did to succeed. (Genesis 39:1, 23 NLT)

Summary : Joseph is taken to Egypt, sold to Potiphar. God's favor is on Joseph, which shows in Joseph's abilities to manage. Potiphar recognizes this, and promotes Joseph to a position over all his house hold. Joseph is a well built and handsome young man. Potiphar's wife wants an extra-marital affair with Joseph, and applies pressure on Joseph, to which he refuses. This continues over a period of time, but Joseph doesn't agree. The breaking point comes when Potiphar's wife forces Joseph to sleep with her, but when he runs away, humiliated by his refusal and publicly accuses Joseph of attempted rape. An enraged Potiphar throws Joseph into prison. God's favor being with Joseph as Joseph gets busy in managing the prison, and the warden is happy to give him responsibility.

What are the striking points and takeaways from this chapter.

1. God's favor is always with Joseph.
2. Joseph is an active, intelligent, handsome young man, with exceptional management skills.
3. Circumstances change for Joseph - slave, manger of the Pharoh's chief of guard's household - a position of influence, Opportunities to have physical relationship with his boss' wife, intense pressure and his stand against it, accused of rape, and thrown into prison, rising to manage the prison and favor of the warden.

It's easy to think this happened as God's favor was with Joseph. But we got to see that Joseph's actions are equally important. One, he was upbeat even in the worst of situations. Even as a slave, he took the initiative to lead, and grabbed opportunities to demonstrate his abilities. This lead to recognition by Potiphar, and eventually being elevated to a position of power. What if Joseph didn't do any of this instead, and wait for a divine intervention for God to pull him out of the bad situation?

Next, when he was in a position of power, and when he was sought by his master's wife, he refused. Note that this wasn't a one time incident. He was still a slave, and bound to obey anything that his master or master's wife commanded him to do. Yet he refused to obey, a sure way to face death. Why did he do this? It's because of Joseph's respect for his master and a very clear understanding of his responsibilities. Potiphar's wife was not given to Joseph, and he considered as stealing what belongs to his master. His strong belief made him withstand the overtures and resist.

Joseph May have been disappointed when Potiphar got enraged and threw him into prison. But realize that Joseph was a slave, he did not have any rights. Joseph accepted his situation but refused to give up. It is a blessing to have god's favor upon you, but question is what do I do with it. Joseph continued his initiative even in prison, grabbed/created opportunities to prove his talents and in turn get recognized.

This chapter tells us it is very important what we do with God's favor, how our attitude at prevalent circumstances are, do we take the initiative , act or wait/get depressed? Or act with the trust in God, take responsibility to work what we can do?

Why is Tamar righteous?


Judah recognized them immediately and said, “She is more righteous than I am, because I didn’t arrange for her to marry my son Shelah.” And Judah never slept with Tamar again. (Genesis 38:26 NLT)

I am surprised about the choice of the word "righteous" in the context of what happened between Judah and Tamar. I think it is purely relative - between Judah and Tamar. And Tamar is righteous in the sense that she did what she did to get a child. We need to be aware of the times and society of Tamar's time. A son represents security and who will take care of the parents and property, and honor. That was what Tamar was after, whereas Judah's reason was pure lust.

Clever Jesus


Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.” But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!” Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’? So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers. They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!” (Mark 2:5-12 NLT)

"Son of Man" is a title that Jesus took for himself. We see that Jesus directly tells everyone that he has authority on earth to forgive sins. And we know what he does to prove it, through healing the paralyzed man. We can dig deeper through these verses.

Why did Jesus say to the paralyzed man that his sins were forgiven, when he was brought for healing ? Because sin is a worst disease than paralysis, or maybe Jesus wants to use this incident to settle questions about his authority or by what authority he was doing all the miracles.

The question Jesus asks "Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ' Your sins are forgiven' or ' Stand up, pick your mat, and walk' - is a tricky one. Obviously the easier one is saying ' Your sins are forgiven', because the other option involves a miracle. So if he can do the hard part, it means he can do the easy part! This is how he proves that he has authority to forgive sins on earth. And by doing both he establishes that he is God, as the Pharisees were thinking only God can forgive sins.

Sunday, December 22, 2013

A blueprint

A blueprint


I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (Ephesians 3:16-19 NLT)

1.God empowers us through his Spirit with inner strength.
2. Christ lives in our hearts, as we trust him
3. We grow in our faith in God (God is love), become strong foundation.
4. We labor and work for good deeds for the Kingdom of God, to experience His love and power.
5. We are transformed into the likeness of Christ.

David as a precursor of Jesus

David as a precursor of Jesus


They brought the Ark of God and placed it inside the special tent David had prepared for it. And they presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to God. When he had finished his sacrifices, David blessed the people in the name of the LORD. Then he gave to every man and woman in all Israel a loaf of bread, a cake of dates, and a cake of raisins.
David appointed the following Levites to lead the people in worship before the Ark of the LORD—to invoke his blessings, to give thanks, and to praise the LORD, the God of Israel. (1 Chronicles 16:1-4 NLT)

David lead as king. But we also note that during the transfer and placing of the Ark of God, David was wearing the robes of a priest, and functioned like the Chief Priest. He also distributed bread, raisins nd dates to all the people. This is a precursor of the High Priesthood of Jesus. David is not from the tribe of Levi, nor is Jesus. Both are from the tribe of Judah. Both are not priests ordained as per the statutes or the law, but by the Spirit of God.

Kneeling

Kneeling


Solomon had made a bronze platform and had placed it in the middle of the enclosure. It was seven and one-half feet long, seven and one-half feet wide, and four and one-half feet high. He stood on it and then got down on his knees in front of the entire assembly of Israel. He spread out his hands toward the sky, (2 Chronicles 6:13 NET)

King Solomon is not a common man. He is a king, and even in those times, there would be protocol. Kings don't bow, or kneel in public. But why does Solomon get down on his knees?

He is kneeling before the Lord God, King of kings, Almighty , All Powerful. He was following protocol. He is submitting to the King. In the diplomatic world, protocol is very important. Unfortunately we don't see this attitude in the Western world. We can rationalize it as cultural, but really if you are before a king what would be your attitude? Would it be, I kinda respect you but I am my own man?

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Encouragement

It's been a while since my last post. I want to share some encouragement through the pictures and verses together. All the photos are taken by me.


Saturday, April 7, 2012

Jesus' death and resurrection

For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. (Romans 5:10 NLT) I have read many times this verse, but never realized the dual effect of Jesus's death and resurrection on me. I always believed that through Jesus's death on the cross and resurrection I am saved from eternal death. But now I can clearly see the two step process. Jesus's death on the cross washed away my sins and made me righteous with God the Father, restore friendship from the enemity. Step 2 - Jesus' resurrection saves me from the eternal fire, which would happen in the final judgement (Revelation)