Philippians

Tonight at Bible Study, we read Philippians, which is one of the happiest works I've ever read! Paul exudes the joy of Christ, and this is what the letter is often equated with. Instead of the typical parts about joy catching my eye, though, a different theme stood out to me tonight.

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead."

-Philippians 3:7-11

This is a huge passage, and there's a lot that can be talked about and dissected, but for whatever reason, God put the earnestness of Paul and his desire to learn on my heart. Paul is so eager to know Jesus and everything about him, how to become like him, and ultimately, how to achieve resurrection. The eagerness and readiness in this passage is overwhelming and enveloping, and I pray that we would all have hearts so eager to know the Lord more and more.

I don't know about you, but I feel that I'm in a rut of complacency and contentment, a place where I'm able to trick myself into thinking that I know enough. Of course I don't know it all, but I know enough. How could I ever think this? How could I ever know enough about a God who is infinite and holy and all-powerful and more incredible than any book could ever teach? How am I content with the little I know?

As we draw closer to the weekend (it's Thursday, I can say that!), I hope you will join will me in praying for and seeking after the wisdom and knowledge of the Lord!

On a side note, I discovered the organization Preemptive Love Coalition today and was blown away by how awesome it is! Click on the name and check out their website - you won't be disappointed!!

And if opening another tab dissuades you, I've even posted their video below for you to check out. That's how much I like these guys!

Have a wonderful day :)

JBIB

For the three or so people who read this blog, I'm sorry that I always post about school. So lame, right?! But I mean, I guess it's a good thing that my classes are sparking enough interest in me that I'd post about it?? Hmmmm. Anyways, English class this time! Our last reading of the semester is from the Jefferson Bible. If you've never heard of it, it's pretty crazy! Thomas Jefferson literally chopped up a King James Version Bible and rearranged and pasted parts to his liking. This isn't the whole Bible of course, just the story of Jesus! He's crazy though! He took the four gospels and mixed them all together into a crazy work. If you don't believe me, just check out this website. It just so happens that the Smithsonian came out with an exhibit about the Jefferson Bible. You can literally see how he used scissors and glue to make this.

For class, we just had to pick one chapter that seemed to exhibit a significant amount of cutting and pasting, compare it to the original version online, and just think about why he would have chosen those specific passages. Our teacher mentioned in class today that Jefferson took out most of the 'spiritual' aspects of Jesus's ministry, like healing and feeding 5000 people. He was instead most interested in the parables. He wanted a picture of Jesus that was merely philosophical. Most think he did this because he was trying to discern how to best run the newly independent, religiously tolerant and free America. He wanted all the little tidbits of advice without all the "unnecessary" spiritual stuff.

I chose to read the last two chapters of his Bible - I was excited to see what His version said about the resurrection! After all, we wouldn't have Christianity if Jesus wasn't resurrected... we would still be bound by sin, separated from God by the temple curtain. This story wouldn't matter without the resurrection. So i get to the end, and this is what I read:

"Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus: and rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed."


The end.

Seriously?? It's like the disciples were walking away saying "oh well, another one bites the dust" and "maybe another prophet will come along next year". That's it! Jesus was just another man who died. Big dealio.

No no no! That's not it at all. The resurrection means EVERYTHING! Jesus defeated sin, he defeated death! If Jesus wasn't raised from the dead in a literal body, then the devil has won. But no! God has won! YAY! Hahah I could honestly talk about this forever, and I wish I had time to. But honestly, I just can't get across how much the resurrection matters and how surprised I was that Jefferson had even excluded that part. Jesus wasn't just another prophet that disappointed his followers when he hung dead on the cross. He wasn't just another false Messiah. No, Jesus was the real deal, changing everything ever by his death and resurrection.

Another thing I found funny about this was that Jefferson said later that one of his main goals was to simplify the Bible "for the Indians". Because obviously an Indian could understand parables but NOT the message of grace, hope, and love? Obviously. That makes soooo much sense. Bravo Jeffy boy!

Hahah. Oh man. I'm so tireeeed. Time to go to sleepy so I can wake up and study my butt off some more for finals next week. Whoot! Gooooodnight :)

Oh, also! This video is probably the saddest thing I've ever seen, but very inspiring! My friend Jessica who goes to Michigan State told me to watch it, and asked me to spread it around if I liked it as well. This guy is a friend of one of her friends. He posted this video just two days ago, and it already has over 60,000 views. It's going viral! God always loves us!

Giving Thanks

Wow, it's been quite a while since I've posted something here... whoops! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday full of family, friends, and most of all, praise to God.

This past week, I was thinking a lot about a conversation I had with a friend a couple of years ago. We were sitting around talking about religion, and he said, "I just don't understand how such a good God would create humans for the sole purpose to worship Him. That doesn't seem like a very good God to me." At the time, I was unable to say anything. Thankfully, I've learned a few things since then!

First of all, God created us out of love. That's it! He created us without expecting to get anything in return - He gave us free will, free to turn away from Him or love Him. True love is a love that gives freely without expectation. When we realize how great and wonderful this love is, love so great that God would send His only son to die for our sins, what else can we do but fall to our knees and worship our Creator? When someone loves you, loving them back is a natural response. When a gift is given, a natural response  is to give thanks and a gift in return. Worshipping God is only natural, not something that is mandated.

In Theology class, my professor brought to my attention a passage that really highlights this response of thanksgiving to God:

"When you have entered the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it, take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the LORD you God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the LORD you God will choose as a dwelling for his Name and say to the priest in office at the time, "I declare today to the LORD you God that I have come to the land the LORD swore to our forefathers to give us." The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the LORD you God. Then you shall declare before the LORD your God: "My father was a wandering Amamean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, putting us to hard labor. Then we cried out to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, O LORD, have given me." Place the basket before the LORD your God and bow down before him. And you and the Levites and the aliens among you shall rejoice in all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household."

Deuteronomy 26:1-11

Pretty awesome! The Israelites are so thankful and so overcome with their love for God that they offer to Him the firstfruits of the crop - the first and best part of their crop. Through this image, we are able to understand why Jesus is often referred to as the firstfruits. Paul says in 1 Corinthians: "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfuits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him." (15:20-23) Jesus is the firstfruits - the best of the crop and the first to be picked. And just like the rest of the crop would have been picked at a later time, we too will be raised from the dead, just as Jesus was.

Although Thanksgiving has come and gone, let's continue to give thanks to God for creating us out of love - so much love that He would give His son for us. We love God because He first loved us :)

90 Days

Today I started a program along with some of my friends to read through the whole Bible in 90 days. It's a lot of reading every day (for a super busy person, that is!), but I'm committed to this journey! At 19 years old, I've still never read the Bible straight through. God made it really obvious that He wanted me to do this over the last week, and I'm excited to finally start something I should have done a long time ago.

If anyone reading this would like to join me, I'm using this schedule.

Also, this song is really, really doing it for me lately. I've heard it before, but it's finally in my actual iTunes! I just get so turned off my most music lately that I just don't bother to turn it on anymore! So much silence, but I don't think that's always bad thing.

I hope it's okay that my posts aren't always super thought-provoking (at least they're supposed to be!). But I guess this blog is about living as a Christian in today's world, and I'm definitely not always sitting around and thinking! There's a lot of living going on, so maybe it's okay if I put some of that on here, too :)