We've Moved

Hi all,

I am still blogging meditations on the word of Jesus Christ.

I have moved my blog to Another Red Letter Day (.com). I will not be posting here in the future.

Please feel free to join me there.

Thanks for stopping in.

Ben

Perspective

In Heaven

We need to understand that Our Father has a particular perspective on our life. There are as many perspectives on any given event as there are people who view them. There was a movie released in 2008 called “Vantage Point” which took an event and replayed through the eyes of a number of people who saw a particular event. [Read More]

Our Fathers - Stories of Great Dads

Tim Biscaye writes of his dad Pierre Biscaye:

My dad evidenced similarities to my impressions of OT and the NT God.   The dad I knew growing up was much like the God of justice of the Old Testament. When I erred from the designated way there was punishment.   There were lots of house rules and requirements and he also seemed to 'hole' a lot a bunch in his office.  Heck, what did he know, he was [Read More]

Our FATHER

My dad, Robert Nelson

Our Father (Matt 6:9)

It is significant that Jesus does not teach us to pray in formal and flowery terms. Sometimes that get’s lost in the old translations, because to us they sound formal and flowery. It makes me a little sad sometimes when folks stand up and pray in public and use Thee’s and Thou’s and words they would never use in normal conversation. God is our Father.

I know that there are lots of bad examples of fathers around today, so for some “father” is the last place they want to go for relationship, but that is not the ideal. My own dad was a great father, though like all of us dads, he didn't think so himself. He loved God and was a great example to me of what it meant to live life as a Christian. When I look at pictures of my dad, I think, there is a guy who was always approachable. [Read More]

OUR Father...

Our Father (Matt 6:9)

We start this look at the Lord’s Prayer with one simple word

Our

It is not “My Father” but “Our Father”

The Lord Jesus is completely committed to community. [Tweet this] One of the things that so clearly demonstrates this fact is the small phrase “one another.” Below I have listed the one anothers of the New Testament. I would ask you to read through them. [Read More]

Pray This Way

“Pray, then, in this way” (Matt 6:9)

For the next couple of weeks I want to walk through the model prayer that Jesus taught His disciples. I plan to pick it apart into little pieces, and just see if we can find some keys to unlock our prayer lives.

To begin with this is a model prayer. While I am a firm believer in praying scripture and speaking to God using His Word, and about His Word, I do not think that Jesus was suggesting to the crowd on the mountain side that afternoon that they all go into a dark and uncomfortable place, get real serious, and recite these words by rote. Many of us can recite this prayer without flexing a single synapse (is that singular or plural – not sure.) Prayer may take many forms, but I can tell you one thing, if you are praying in a language you know, you should have your brain engaged. 

Just 2 verses earlier Jesus says “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition.” (Matt 6:7) Yet sadly many who recite this prayer on a monthly, weekly, or even daily basis, have turned it into just that.

Well, I say let’s take this prayer back and let’s make it ours! [Tweet this]

My intention is to take it phrase by phrase and see if we can improve our prayer life. As you look at this prayer, what is your favorite part?

Walk through it with me, will you?

Thanks for stopping in today.

Ben

Fulfill the Law

“Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matt 3:15)

Today I want to take just a couple minutes of your time, and ask you to think about something: fulfilling righteousness. Three verses come to mind here. This one, where Jesus is asking John the Baptist to baptize Him. John begins to protest saying in effect, You should be baptizing me.

Then in Matt 5:17 Jesus says “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.” He goes on to say that the Law would stand forever.

The third verse I want to throw in the little concoction is from Paul in Romans 8. This is where it gets a little hairy because the first two were about Jesus fulfilling the law, and we all love that. Yep – Jesus did it all, so the law is no more problem for us. We are not under the law brother, so don’t bother me with all this righteousness and holiness stuff.

But Paul has the audacity to say “in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” (Rom 8:4) Does that feel a little out of context to you? Here is the whole thing from verse one:

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

So there it is. The law was weak because we were weak, so God sent Jesus who kept the law (every little bit of it!) and took our punishment for breaking it. What a plan! So the meeting of the requirements part is done by Jesus, now all that is left is for us to walk in the Spirit, and not fulfill the lusts of our flesh! Wait – how did it come back to us being good again?

It's not about doing good works to be acceptable, it's about being accepted so you can do good works! [Tweet this] We fulfill the law when we live the Spirit filled life. (See Ephesians 2:8-10)

Let me try one more time.

No Spirit inside  Cannot keep the Law  [        ]

Spirit inside        Law fulfilled                 [Check]

If you are struggling with trying to act good, quit it! You must have the Spirit of God on the inside. Ask Him to come in, and live in you. It is what He is hoping for. It is what you are hoping for too! Does this sound really good to you?

Some of you have been involved with Church your whole life, and struggled with every kind of sin and impurity. You feel shame and guilt, maybe so much so that you quit church, quit religion, quit all of it. It does not have to be that way. The Spirit inside can change everything!

You know what to do – Ask Him to change you – to come into you. You don’t need my words. Use your own, but ask Him today.

Then tell me about it – or tell someone about it.

If you are still not sure what to do or say – check my post called “What Peace.” It may help.

Thanks for reading today. Please let me know if this blog helps.

Ben