Category Archives: Bible - Page 2

God’s Unintended Consequences

Posted by on March 8, 2011 No comments

In Zechariah 1:15 we read,

“But I am very angry with the nations who are at ease; for while I was only a little angry, they furthered the disaster.”

Israel had abandoned God, His teachings and His ways. As a result God allowed other nations to conquer Israel. He even allowed other nations to carry the inhabitants off into exile. In fact God allowed other nations to crush Israel.

Then, as this history played out, it is clear that this process got out of control. The nations that conquered Israel took the situation much further than they were justified in doing.

God allowed these nations to conquer Israel, but their free will allowed them to take it further than God had intended. With free will, even God sometimes cannot control the outcome. Because of free will, even for God there are unintended consequences of the events as they unfold.

There is a clear message for us in this passage. The first is not everything that happens to us is God’s will. However, in the long run, God’s will does come to pass. The second is, we should take care not to over step our bounds and authority even when we have been given victory in a situation or against an enemy.

So to work His will God sometimes allows certain events to take place. When He does, those involved still retain their free will. Sometimes this free will allows them to take things further than God had intended.

But no matter which side we stand on, Zechariah’s message is, God will make this right, for in the long run, He is still in control.
 

© 2011, VoiceWind. . .Greg Loveless. All rights reserved.

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Times of Refreshing and Restoration

Posted by on March 1, 2011 No comments

In the book of Acts we read:

19 "Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;
20  and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you,
21  whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.”
(Acts 3:19-21 — emphasis mine)

The following are the key Greek terms used in verse 19.

  1. καιροὶ: Times as is in the right time or a season.
  2. ἀναψύξεως:
    • “to cool by blowing”, “to refresh”, “to relieve”, “to strengthen”.
    • It also denotes the drying out and healing of a wound which the surgeon has left exposed to the air when bandaging a broken limb.
    • “liberation”

Translation — “Times of Refreshing”

To understand this passage, context means everything. Peter and John have just healed a man who was lame. It states that

7  “And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were strengthened
8  With a leap he stood right up and began to walk and he entered the Temple with them and was walking and leaping and praising God.
9  And the people saw him walking and praising God
10  And they recognized him as the lame man who used to sit at the Beautiful Gate and beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Peter then responded to the people…

“Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that the times of refreshing may come from the face of the Lord.”

This is the only use of the phrase "times of refreshing" in the Old or New Testaments.

The “times” and the “refreshing” that Peter speaks of in this passage are in the present age. The “face of the Lord” was just present in the healing of the lame man. Peter is now challenging the people as to whether it is present in them? Peter’s point is it will only come if they repent and turn that their sins may be wiped away. In this the “times of refreshing” may come by the “face” or “presence” of the Lord.

Then in verse 21 we read;

“That He may send Jesus, the Christ, appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until times of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.” (Acts 3:21 — emphasis mine)

The following are the key Greek terms used in verse 21:

  1. χρόνων: Times as is in the right time or a season.
  2. ἀποκαταστάσεως : restoration not only of what was previous, but to a perfect state as existed before the fall.

Translation — “Times of Restoration”

This refers to “time as a duration”. Thus the “times of restoration” speaks to the lasting nature of a world restored to its original purpose.

So in these three verses, Acts 3:19-21, we have the tension between what “already is” and the “not yet fully”.

Those, like the lame man, who believe, come to the “face of the Lord” and are refreshed, in the here and now. And yet they still reside in a fallen and broken world.

However, there will come a time when all things will be restored. When those who participate in the “times of refreshing” will also participate in the “times of restoration”. While those who stand outside the “times of refreshing”, will stand outside the “times of restoration”.

This is a clear warning from Peter to those in the Temple who have seen the healing of the lame man. Many of them are waiting for the “times of restoration”. In so doing, they are missing out on the current “times of refreshing” in which they could participate and partake.

Peter’s point is they should not wait for the “times of restoration” and expect to be included in this new world. Rather, in order to participate in the restoration to come, they must repent and turn so the “times of refreshing” may come from the “face of the Lord”. Once they participate in the “times of refreshing”, here and now, they are assured they will also participate in the future “times of restoration”.

So we also are not to passively wait for things to change and then hope to participate in the restored new world. Rather, we are to actively participate in the restoration of all things in the future, by participating in the “times of refreshing”, here and now. And we do this through repentance that allows us to partake of the presence of the Lord — or literally, to have the very “face of the Lord” take up residence in the events of our lives, today, here and now as it will in the times of the restoration of all things.

© 2011, VoiceWind. . .Greg Loveless. All rights reserved.

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Appended Mind

Posted by on February 25, 2011 No comments

The central part of the Old Testament teaching was “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength”. Deuteronomy 6:4-5

In the Gospels, to the first and greatest of all the commandments, Christ appends mind — “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength”. Luke 10:27

Echoing this, Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:1 and following, addresses the contrast between those who speak in tongues and those who prophesy. All though he wishes that all would speak in tongues, even more so he wishes that all would prophesy. Why?

Because when a person speaks in tongues, if there is no one to interpret the tongues, only he who speaks is edified. But when a person  prophesies, the entire church is edified.

Paul says that those who speak in tongues do not speak to men but to God. Those who prophesy, speaks to men's edification, exhortation and comfort.

Prophecy takes precedence over tongues because it loves God with the mind. Even though tongues come from the Spirit, they are secondary to prophecy because they remain a mystery to the mind. As Paul says,

2) For the one who speaks in tongues does not speak to men, but to God; for no one understands except in the Spirit he speaks mysteries.
3) But one who prophesies speaks to men edification…
5)Greater is one who prophesies than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets the tongues so that he church may receive edification.
— 1 Corinthians 14:2-5

The value of the spiritual gift is determined by the extent to which it edifies the mind. When the mind is edified we love God with that portion that Christ appended to the command "Love the Lord your God…" In this we love with the mind appended. In this we love God completely.
 

© 2011, VoiceWind. . .Greg Loveless. All rights reserved.

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Aflame, Burned Yet Unnoticed

Posted by on February 2, 2011 No comments

"And it set him aflame all around,
Yet he did not recognize it;
And it burned him, but he paid no attention."
— Isaiah 42:25

Is Isaiah speaking of not knowing in the pejorative sense? Like those times in our life when we do not recognize what is going on around us; Where we lack vision and are blinded from seeing what God is trying to tell us in the events we encounter. Is he speaking to those times when we are so oblivious to what is going on around us that we do not see the flames all around nor realize that we are being burned?

Or is Isaiah speaking to the positive aspect of a laser focus? Where we are so focused on doing what is right that even in the heat of battle, when the flames surround us and even burn us, they do not impinge on our mission.

As so often is the case with Hebrew poetry, this is not an either/or, rather it is an and/both.

As Toni Dungy once said, "Stubbornness is an attribute if you are right."

So Isaiah is saying that when we set out to do something, when things go wrong, the flames should get our attention. We then take stock in this and perhaps make a change.

But if we are right and just in our task, even when the flames surround us, they should not cause us to change. In fact, when we are right and have focus on the right, the flames around us should not even be noticed, even if they burn us.

© 2011, VoiceWind. . .Greg Loveless. All rights reserved.

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Hope To Die All Even

Posted by on December 3, 2010 No comments

For the Greeks "hope" was a pejorative term. Since hope deals with those things that we could not fully control, only a fool has hope.

But Saint Paul calls us to "hope in the Lord". To hope in the Lord is to understand that even though we may not be able to fully control the outcome of events in our lives, we trust that the Lord will work for and with us in these events. So we "hope in the Lord" and in this hand the unknown over to Him.

Implicit in Paul's statement is the fact that "hope" is still a pejorative, but for the one we hope in, Jesus Christ. It is He who turns the pejorative nature of hope into a positive and also enables it to redirect our entire life. Thus, because of who Christ is, since our hope is in Him, our hope, in many respects, is far more real than this passing life.

One also needs hope for a dream and a vision for their life. However, we cannot control how this dream and vision will play out. Because in the end we cannot control what others may or may not do and this may prevent us from attaining to our dreams and visions. So to dream brings pain and to have vision, a deep wound. Thus in the end, the best hope, vision and dream, is to be all even at the end. To owe nothing to anyone except in Christ.

This is why Proverbs says,

"God let me have two things before I die:
Keep deception and lies far from me;
Give me neither poverty nor riches;
Feed me with the food that is my portion."  
(Proverbs 30:7-8)

In this passage the writer of Proverbs asks that during his life he not be deceived so that what he does with his life will not end worthless. Then he asks to have neither poverty nor great riches but to have what is his portion.

The hope to die all even means to have spent the gift of one's life in full measure for that purpose for which it was created. We do not steal from this gift and spend our life gaining riches. Nor do we demean our life by failing to get from our life what was intended so that we end in poverty. Poverty does not sanctify a life. A life directed apart from deception will end, neither rich nor poor, but with the portion that it is due.

Basically, "to die all even, means we have finished the race, run it well and at "all even", we have won. Or so we hope.

© 2010 – 2012, VoiceWind. . .Greg Loveless. All rights reserved.

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Freewill of the Prophetic Turn

Posted by on November 24, 2010 No comments

If a nation, that God has turned against, turns from its evil, God will also turn from the calamity He planned to bring upon it. (Jeremiah 18:8-10)

This act of grace and mercy by God, to turn and do good for a nation that turns from evil to good, has significant consequences. It implies the reverse situation is also possible — to the nation that turns from good and dos evil there must be an equal response from God — to turn from the good He had promised.

After stating this fact Jeremiah then speaks a prophecy of calamity on the inhabitants of Jerusalem. His prophecy is justified, not just because it comes from God and is His will. It is justified because God is responding to Jerusalem's actions. It is justified because it is the result of Jerusalem's own choosing. It is justified because there are nations that turned from evil to good and thus deserve good in return, so Jerusalem who turned from good to evil is deserving of this calamity.

The prophetic call to turn implies free will. The refusal to heed does not imply predestination.

© 2010 – 2012, VoiceWind. . .Greg Loveless. All rights reserved.

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Silence Before Evil Refrains from Good

Posted by on November 17, 2010 No comments

When events place us in a bad situation and things are not going right, we attempt to take back control of the situation through a process of elimination. But as we eliminate events, even though we may halt the bad and even the evil within these events, we also are then cut off from the good that could arise from these events if we would just step up and act.

For it is through us, those who are bothered by the evil events around us, that the good that would transform these events would come. So when we shut down, when we become silent in the face of evil, we not only cut off the evil from us, but we cut off the good we would bring to the event and to the land.

It is in these types of situations that we can contribute to God's creation. But we can only do so if we do not remain silent. And here in lies the issue — we must speak out for good in the presence of the evil. We must take the risk.

So in Psalm 39 the Psalmist at first convinced himself that to remain silent would be an appropriate protest to the evil around him. But his silence in the presence of evil even cut off the good that he could offer.

I said, “I will guard my ways
That I may not sin with my tongue;
I will guard my mouth as with a muzzle
While the wicked are in my presence.

I was mute and silent,
I refrained even from good,
And my sorrow grew worse.

His courage to speak out will only come when he remembers,

Lord , make me to know my end
And what is the extent of my days;
Let me know how transient I am.

When we are mindful of the limits of this life in comparison to the eternal, we understand that we cannot control our outcome by remaining silent. Silence in this life may cut us off from evil in this life, but it does not provide any benefit in eternity.

In fact, since this life is but a breath when compared to our eternal existence, we should no longer fear speaking out against the evil in this world that will soon end.

In the end, our courage to act comes from the knowledge that this life is but a breath.

© 2010, VoiceWind. . .Greg Loveless. All rights reserved.

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Expects a Body Sees a Gardner

Posted by on November 9, 2010 No comments

This is a powerful image painted by John in chapter 20:14-17. Mary is looking for Jesus. She turns and sees a man standing next to her but does not recognize him as Jesus. After all how could it be Jesus, he is dead. She is looking for his body.

Like all of us Mary's vision is influenced by her expectations. She expects Jesus to be dead so she sees only what her mind will allow her to see – she sees the Gardner. This cannot be Jesus, after all he is dead.

Then Jesus, standing next to her, calls her name. It is then that Mary recognizes the one who was standing next to her the entire time as Jesus.

In life we are all Mary. We go through life looking for the right job, the right partner, the right place to live, the right school to attend. The list goes on and on. And all the time we are looking we miss what is right in front of us.

In faith, we are all Mary. We go through life looking for Jesus — How to serve him. How to get close to him. What to do to allow him to get close to us. How to worship him. And yet the whole time Jesus is standing in the midst of our lives, and yet we do not see him. All we see is the Gardner, the janitor, the homeless, the widow, the orphan, our neighbor, our coworker, etc.

Why do we miss Him? Because we are looking into the tomb of our lives and have certain expectations. These expectation limit what we see. But what if we could see all the potential? What if we could see what could be, rather than what is? What if we could see what is actually there?

Do you here Him calling? Do you hear Him calling your name? Do you see Him? Do you see Him standing next to you? Or are you looking into the tomb of your life? Are you looking for the dead among the living or the living among the dead?

John 20:14-17

© 2010, VoiceWind. . .Greg Loveless. All rights reserved.

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Know the Things Given

Posted by on October 24, 2010 No comments

In I Corinthians 2:12 Saint Paul writes, "And we have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit of God that we might know the things given to us by God."

If you ask most Christians they would say that the Spirit of God is given to them so they can be saved. But Saint Paul states that we receive the Spirit of God so we can "know, perceive and understand" the gifts that God has given to us. Among these gifts, one of these is of course our salvation.

It is not only important that we actually be saved, but it is just as important that we know that we have been saved and that this is a gift from God.

To be saved and not know it would not allow our lives to be redirected. But to have the Spirit of God teach us what gifts God has given us, then informs our minds and our actions accordingly.

So for Paul, the knowledge the Spirit of God gives to us, gives us a bases to not only redirect our lives, but our very salvation as well. Knowing that our salvation is a gift from God prevents us from loosing our salvation by thinking we can earn our own salvation.

© 2010, VoiceWind. . .Greg Loveless. All rights reserved.

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Compressed Lips Chases Equality with God

Posted by on September 23, 2010 No comments

"He who winks his eyes does so to devise perverse things;
He who compresses his lips brings evil to pass."
(Proverbs 16:30)

The discipline of Body Language says that when a person compresses their lips they are holding back information and truth.

When we hold back truth it allows events to flow in directions towards which they were never intended to flow.

Do those who compress the lips and hold back truth, hold back truth that will allow events to move in a direction where they will benefit others more than themselves? Or do those who compress the lips withhold information to give them the advantage over others? Surely the later is true.

And herein lies the issue.

When we compress the lip and withhold information what we are really doing is we are trying to get what we want outside the truth. We are saying that the full information, the truth of life that God created, will not give us what we want so we will attempt to manipulate the situation to get it.

But in so doing we have said the truth of life is less than what we desire. And since God created this life, and the truth of this life, any time we attempt to get what we want outside this truth of life, we make ourselves equal to God.

And this is the evil that is brought to pass.

© 2010, VoiceWind. . .Greg Loveless. All rights reserved.

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